Hello my good readers! How are you doing? I know, I know, I am late. I was so worn out yesterday that I went to bed directly… I apologize for the delay. Without further ado, I'll let you dive into it! No needs for warnings this time around, if I can actually remember the content of this chapter x)

Yours truly, Circle of J.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from the Kid Icarus series. The deities mentioned are taken from Greek Mythology, remastered the way I imagine them. What I own, on the other hand, is the plot.

Kid Icarus: Heirs of the Light

Chapter 19: Unexpected medicine

Pit split his bow in two blades and slashed them at the face of his enemies, growing more and more desperate. They were way too numerous, he had no way of beating them. He had had the bad luck to close his eyes, since his latest journey in the Underworld had made him pretty tired… When he had woken up, the Sanctum was flooded with Reapers. Of course, Dark Pit and Aphrodite weren't back yet, so he had to deal with dozens of them on his own. Needless to say, he was in a terrible mood.

The angel of light quickly brought his blades together and shot a fully charged arrow at the Reaper rushing in his direction, but he growled in frustration when he saw the little to no damage it did. He quickly avoided a bite attack, sneaking behind the Reaper's back, and used his swords to slice its head off of its body. The Reaper screeched, thus alerting the others, who turned simultaneously and headed right for Pit. The angel jumped back, quick enough to evade a vicious attack, and stabbed the Reaper who had assaulted him. The creature shrieked and its big yellow eyes dived right into those blue of its opponent. It tried another bite, nearly munching on the angel's arm but he was too agile.

Pit dashed to the side, though he was dragged backwards by a Reaper who had caught his scarf. He wiggled around to break free, his scarf sliding off of his neck, and spun around to stab the Reaper in the chest. All of its comrades turned to them and launched themselves towards the angel. Pit grasped the hilt of his two blades and immediately brought them together to spin his bow and generate a shield. The Reapers cried out at the bright light that emanated from the blades. Pit took advantage of their dizziness to steer his luminous shield towards the enemies, disintegrating them upon touch. The troop of enemies retreated, only for more of them to appear, seeking Pit's blood. The light angel groaned, holding his weapon tight, and swung it at the faces of his adversaries. He was so swift in his movements that the Reapers had trouble catching up with his speed. In the blink of an eye, the entire army of Reapers had been decimated.

Pit breathed in heavily, panting, and let go of his bow. The weapon fell to the ground, startling him when it clanged against the wood, and the angel of light stretched his wings. Nothing made him more aggro than having to fight early in the morning; he really missed Palutena's commentary, it was what normally helped him soothe down. Without paying attention to his thoughts, his blood still pumping because of his recent battle, he leaned in and scooped up his fallen weapon. He checked the blades, to see if they had been fractured, and his eyes trailed along them with a weird admiration. Holding this bow reminded him of all the good times he had spent in Palutena's company, and brought nostalgia to his heart. He sincerely hoped that they would find a way to bring her back to her senses, and to kill Hades one more time. Though he knew that it would take time, and it hurt him to think that his Goddess was out of reach.

The angel shook himself out of his trance and glanced at the state of the main hall: it had been wrecked by the battle. Several objects had fallen to the ground, and some dead weeping willow branches had been cut by his blades in midst of the fight. In order not to worry Aphrodite and Dark Pit, he'd have to clean up the mess, and also to stitch the cuts and bite marks on his body. They were not major, for they didn't hurt at all, but still visible enough. Pit motivated himself and cleaned up the room, sorting everything that he had picked from the ground to throw them in the right trashcan. There were so, so many of them… Something like twenty, if he could count them well. Viridi sure had been thorough about sorting her trash… In the memory of the little Goddess of Nature, he could at least keep things as tidy and organized as she had wanted them to be.

Soon, it was the neighing of Phos that caught his attention. Pit bit his lower lip, since he had no time to stitch up his wounds—or even to pick up his scarf, for that matter—and hid in the office. He secretly hoped that they wouldn't notice his torn scarf on the ground. The light angel lied in his bed and turned his back to the door, faking being asleep. He picked up the sound of Dark Pit's voice and his heart skipped a beat: he was okay, he had been healed, else they wouldn't be back. He nearly sprung to his feet and ran to hug him, but knew that his darker twin would be pissed beyond words if he saw his wounds. Then again, he could not hide in his bed forever… Pit jumped when the door opened on Aphrodite, and he forced his eyes shut. He grasped the blanket over him, squeezing it in his hands, and stopped breathing when he felt the Goddess of Love leaning above him. She chuckled, and he couldn't help but look up when he heard her. However, he still played it off as though he had just woken up, rubbing his eyes with his fists… Fists that were riddled with cuts.

Aphrodite gasped and sat on the edge of the bed, examining those hands with concern. "What happened to you? Why are you wounded?"

Pit sighed and hissed when her fingers trailed along his right hand, stopping on a bite mark. He didn't say anything, closed his eyes and turned his face towards the wall. He really didn't want to worry them, he felt perfectly fine. Aphrodite raised her head when she heard footsteps behind her, and smiled at Dark Pit, who had a sharp expression in his ruby eyes. He put a hand on his hip and slightly frowned when he loomed over Pit. "Are you fucking kidding me? Reapers attacked you and you're trying to keep it a secret?!" the dark angel snapped at his twin, who instantly looked up and blushed in embarrassment.

"It's nothing, really! It doesn't even hurt—Ow!" Pit yelped in pain when Dark Pit forced him to sit up, holding him by the hand. Tears flowed down his cheeks, he gritted his teeth, and his lips started trembling. The light angel glanced over to his darker version, who squinted his eyes at him. "Pittoo—"

"Shut up, you stupid! What in the Underworld is wrong with you, Pit-stain?!" Dark Pit snarled, forcing Pit to stand up and tugging at his hand towards the Viridi's personal infirmary. Pit tried to break free from the horrendously dolorous hold that the dark angel had on his hand, to no avail. They stormed through the corridors of the withering Sanctum, both of them nearly tripping down because of the dry branches in their way, and Dark Pit eventually forced open a door that had been locked, or so it appeared. He pushed it, slamming it against the wall, and led Pit inside what seemed to be Viridi's old private quarters. It was a huge room with lots of dead flowers all around, even hanging above the bed. The sheets were moth-eaten, with small holes everywhere on them, and the furniture itself smelled awful, like a potpourri.

Dark Pit pulled him towards another door, in the corner of the room, which led to a new room filled with more dead plants in pots. There was also a small bed in the far end of it, and that was where the dark angel wanted Pit to lay down. He didn't insist and did what he was asked to, waiting for more instructions. His injuries were throbbing, blood pouring out of them and tainting the green sheets underneath him. Dark Pit ran out of the room, surely looking for something, and soon came back with a needle and what looked like a string made of blades of grass. He sat down, refusing to look at Pit in the eyes, and leaned towards his hands. "Since you've shown yourself to be such a strong little angel, no anesthetic."

"Anesthe-what?" Pit blinked, confused as to the meaning of this foreign word, and discovered it all too late: the dark angel buried the needle in his skin, piercing his flesh, and his lighter version gritted his teeth, on the brink of tears. Was Dark Pit going to stitch his wounds without putting him to sleep first? Was that what he called 'ane-something'? Pit attempted to draw back, but that only caused more pain, so he stayed still and waited patiently. That was, until Dark Pit buried the bloody needle in his skin again. "Stop! It hurts!"

"Boohoo!"

"Stop making fun of me or I will… I will… Ughhh!"

The dark angel eyed at him, unimpressed, and held his twin's hand tighter to ensure that he couldn't recoil. Pit fought back, since the pain was unbearable, but soon was immobilized when Dark Pit sat on top of him, on his stomach, restraining his movements. Although he didn't seem to be delighted by the contact and their proximity, he kept focusing on stitching up his twin's wounds. His fingers brushed against a bite mark which looked pretty deep, and Pit hissed at the sore feeling in his hand after that. He was about to yell at him, demand to be left alone, when he felt wetness on the injury. He blinked, surprise in his blue eyes, when he saw Dark Pit kissing the wound. Immediately, it seemed like the pain had been blown to smithereens. The light angel blushed wildly and buried his flushed face in the pillow under his head, much to the darker twin's amusement.

While Pit was distracted, Dark Pit applied one of Viridi's magical leaves on the open, bleeding injury. It instantly sealed it, and soon after that it vanished altogether. The light angel raised his head, astonished by the efficiency of this medicine, and eyed at Dark Pit. The dark angel had widened his eyes and murmured: "Well, that worked."

"Pittoo, we should use these more often!"

"I'd refrain from doing that," the darker angel said, before he folded his arms. "We don't know what kind of… side effects they could have. Plus, we don't have a lot of them left. They're immune to withering, but Viridi isn't there to make more of these."

Pit nodded and dived right into Dark Pit's red eyes with a strange, secret passion gleaming in his sapphire orbs. The dark angel tried not to focus on them, still stitching up the few remaining wounds on Pit's arms, though he couldn't deny that his heart was pounding. His mind started to feel rather foggy at the sight of those blue diamonds; he felt himself drowning in them, so much so that he even forgot to breathe for a moment. He coughed and shook his head, concentrating on the stitches to steer his thoughts away from the gorgeous angel, all his', who lied down under him. He could do so many things to him… But for the time being, he needed to take care of those injuries.

Dark Pit dug the needle under Pit's skin, gaining a yelp of pain from the other, and successfully stitched that one cut. He moved on to the one on Pit's shoulder bone, before he felt a hand wrapping around his wrist and preventing him from doing so. He raised an eyebrow at the light angel, whose cheeks were covered in red.

Pit pushed his hand off of him and pinched the needle from his fingers, setting it on the table beside the bed. He slightly crawled up, which caused Dark Pit to draw back, and sat up, face to face with the panicked dark angel. "Those wounds don't need your attendance, they're fine."

"Pit, let me take care of you."

"You could do that in a way that it would please both of us instead of piercing holes in my flesh," Pit said, slightly frowning since it still stung him.

Dark Pit was about to reply and, quite frankly, jump off of the bed, when he felt Pit's hands trailing along his arms. The dark angel, on edge, moved back and slapped those soft, wandering hands off of him. He sprung to his feet, his cheeks completely red, and turned his back to his lighter half. Before Pit had time to ask about what was wrong, he stormed out of the room and went to the armory. Pit blinked, disappointed, and stood back up, deciding that it was perhaps better if he moved on and checked on the situation with Aphrodite.

So that was what he did, he went back to the main hall and met the Goddess of Love, asking her about what should be their next step to save Palutena. Aphrodite told him that, apparently, Hermes had gone missing, and that Zeus was looking for a solution to the 'Hades issue'. Pit was satisfied with those answers and asked if they would take part in the fight to save the Goddess of Light, but Aphrodite told him that they still needed to head for Dark Pit's dimension and, thus, take the direction of the Labyrinth of Deceit. The angel of light cringed at the memory of that place but agreed nonetheless.

The Goddess of Love then suggested that he went to exercise a little, since there was a lot of fighting to come, but when Pit nodded and went to the armory, he saw Dark Pit already there, hitting a target that he hung on the wall. The fire blazing in his red eyes, the nervousness behind his movements, the rage behind the curving of his lips, Pit had been frightened by that view. Thus, he stood at the door, staring in horror at the dark angel who muttered under his breath, expressing his wrath which was directed at none other than his own self. He aimed his new, wooden bow at the target and growled in anger, shooting a few inches away from the center. He wasn't proud of himself at all; he cursed and threw his weapon to the floor, nearly breaking it.

Pit cleared his throat to reveal his presence, which startled the other angel, and stepped up to the bow. He picked it up, scanned it with his deep blue eyes, before handing it to Dark Pit. The dark angel didn't say a word and aimed it at the target again, trying to keep focus despite his unsteadiness. Pit stood behind him, his hand over that of his darker twin, and looked over his shoulder. "A little more to the right."

"No!" Dark Pit snapped at him, trembling even more since he was heavily frustrated; he never managed to hit the center of this stupid target. "I'm supposed to—"

"A little to the right, Pittoo," Pit interrupted him, steering his twin's shaking hand to the exact position he wanted. He smiled, closing one eye to make sure it was the right angle, and nodded in satisfaction. "Now shoot."

Dark Pit growled and positioned his hand like he had it before, only for Pit to move it to the right again. "That won't work, Pit, stop bothering me!"

"Try to shoot it!"

The dark angel sighed and complied, extending the string of his bow. A purple arrow manifested, sparkles bouncing off of it and brushing against Dark Pit's skin, and he shot it. Right in the middle. The darker version of Pit blinked, bewildered, and turned around to look at Pit. The angel had been sitting down on a chair after he had directed his twin's hand and watched proudly—though Dark Pit couldn't tell if he was proud of himself or of him, maybe both at the same time. Pit stood up, clapping, and a wide grin spread across his lips. Dark Pit rolled eyes, lowered his bow, and folded his arms. "You were just lucky this time."

The angel of light smirked and looked right into the other's eyes. "Oh yeah? Well, let me show you how 'lucky' I can be with bows."

After he said that, he snatched the bow from Dark Pit's hands and aimed for the target. He only took a second before adjusting the position of his arm, extending the string. An arrow of light was summoned and shone brighter than the sun itself, before it was shot and hit the middle of the target.

His darker twin was about to tell him that he'd been lucky again, so Pit shrugged and shot another one, once again hitting the center. Ridiculed, Dark Pit grabbed the bow and pouted, looking off. He knew that he had good aim… But it was true that, compared to his lighter half, he wasn't such a good archer as he thought he was. The dark angel growled and gritted his teeth. "You're a fucking cheater, where'd you enter the cheat code?"

"What are you talking about?! I didn't cheat!" Pit defended himself, raising his hands in the air to prove his innocence. "I'm just better than you!"

Dark Pit's eyes were blazing with anger as he spun around, putting the weapon back on the shelves, and opted for his staff. He knew that there was no way that Pit could wield this one better than him, and that brought a sense of security in his chest. He thought he could poke fun at him? Ha! He'd see: he who laughs last laughs longer, and he'd experience it in the front row. Pit looked at him when Dark Pit aimed his staff at the target. As soon as he pulled the trigger, a fully charged shot hit the target, tearing it to shreds. Bits of paper flew around in the room, while Pit watched in awe.

Dark Pit turned to face him and handed him his staff. "See if you can do better this time around, Mr. I'm-the-best-fighter."

"But I've never—"

"I don't care, stop complaining! You seemed so overly confident, I want to see how far you can go with this," Dark Pit sneered, raising his hand in the air, then he moved towards the wall in order to hang a new target. He made sure to hang it upper than the other one. Pit nodded and grasped the weapon, aiming it in front of him. Dark Pit clicked his tongue and said, in his ordinary know-it-all tone: "You're supposed to shoot it sideways, you fucking moron. You're pathetic, you make me feel ashamed! Here, let me show you how it's done."

Pit held onto the weapon when Dark Pit placed himself behind him, his hand around that of his lighter twin. Both of their right arms outstretched, Dark Pit wrapped his left arm around Pit's waist and moved him to the side, so that he didn't face the weapon anymore. Pit turned his head to aim with the staff, slightly blushing but trying to keep his composure. Indeed, it seemed easier to shoot this thing in this position. But why use a weapon sideways? Pit narrowed his eyes, staring at the target, and pulled the trigger of the staff. A blue arrow hit the wall, rather far away from the target itself. "Well, I still gotta get used to it: my weapons are well-made and don't require to be shot from the side—why even use a weapon like that?!"

"Aw, so you're a sore loser, Pit-stain?" Dark Pit snickered.

"No! I just have to get used to it, this thing is stu—hard to handle, I meant to say."

"Riiiight~!" Dark Pit nodded, focused, and pulled Pit's hand more to the left. He also told him to raise his arm a little, so that he was exactly at the right spot. When the light angel shot, it hit the middle and the target was blown to pieces. The dark angel smirked: he was proud of his little Light Pit, even though he wouldn't say it out loud. Instead of that, he snorted and said: "Took you long enough."

Pit stood proudly, folding his arms and smiling wide, before he gave the Dark Pit Staff back to its owner. "See? Seeeee~?! I'm still the best!" he beamed, much to his darker counterpart's amusement. The light angel ruffled his own hair, patting himself on the head and wishing that Palutena would tell him he had been perfect, then his glistening eyes fell on his dark twin's figure. He had moved to the shelves again and was rummaging through them, looking for a specific weapon. Since they had been training up with bows and staffs, he thought that the next logical step would be to try with a palm.

Dark Pit thought that they would also need to train with cannons sometime in the near future, for they needed to master each and every weapon in his arsenal. They didn't know which one they would have in hand at times of battle; thus, they had to be prepared for every eventuality. Orbitars would also be a good idea, however, since they were mainly used for defense, they couldn't focus their attention on them. If they had spare time before their next battle, they would try them out, but until then they had more important things to focus on.

While Dark Pit searched for the Midnight Palm amongst all of those others he had, Pit had stepped up behind him and suddenly wrapped his arms around his waist.

Dark Pit froze for a second, his body urging him to move away, however he stayed right where he was. The warmth of his lighter half's body was enough for him to fight his fear; it was so nice, so delicate, so gentle, how could he refuse it? Why would he ever refuse a hug from this angel, this sunshine that he had longed to make his own for months? Pit's eyes zoomed through the different palms that Dark Pit pushed aside, before he planted a kiss on his darker version's shoulder. Dark Pit froze again but kept his composure, since after all he had absolutely loved that surprise kiss. Finally, after what had seemed like ages, he found the Midnight Palm. He took it, put it on, and faced Pit. The light angel's wings fluttered up and he let go, stepping back so that Dark Pit could walk up to the cross marking on the ground and aim for a newly hung target.

The dark angel squinted his ruby eyes, focusing on the target, and held out his hand. A deep blue orb formed within his palm, orb that he shot at the target—although he missed. He clicked his tongue, annoyed, and tried again, only to fail once more. Pit sat back on his chair, since he also sucked with palms, and watched his darker twin give it all he had. Eventually, after nothing but failures, Dark Pit raged and turned away from the target, cursing under his breath. Pit chuckled; the mere sound of his laughter lifted the dark angel's spirits immediately. "Don't give up, Pittoo! You've nearly got it!"

"You're willing to try? Those things are beyond stupid."

"No, we're just bad at using them. They are better for defensive measures…" Pit countered, before he stood up and put on the Midnight Palm that his twin had been handing to him. He went up to the 'x' mark, looked up at the target on the wall, and shut his eyes for a moment. Once he had collected himself, he opened them again and outstretched his arm. A dark blue orb appeared in his palm, identical to that in Dark Pit's, before he shot it. Even though he had been looking at the target in the eyes, he managed to shoot in the wall, far away from the piece of paper. He burst into laughter, shaking his head, and heard Dark Pit snort in his back. "See? We just don't know how to use them, but we can learn to master them!"

"Or, we can forget about them entirely and keep them for 'defensive measures'," Dark Pit sneered.

Pit rolled eyes and slowly took his palm off, putting it away in the shelves, amongst the dozen of other palms that were stored there. He briefly eyed at the stitches riddling his hands and winced; they didn't exactly hurt, but they were ugly. Maybe it'd be a good idea to wear gloves, at least for a while. That would ease his own mind on the matter.

Dark Pit glanced at him, perplexed by his lack of movement, and swiftly stepped closer to him. He gulped down his fright and grabbed Pit's wounded hand, bringing it to his lips to give it a gentle kiss. Pit's cheeks flushed and he laughed nervously, taken aback. The dark angel let go of his lighter version's hand and leaned towards his face, kissing him on the cheek. He wanted to be closer to him so badly, but his body wouldn't let him. Although he knew that Pit would never hurt him, fear still lingered in his stomach and prevented him from making a move. Pit plunged his blue eyes in the ruby orbs of his twin and slightly parted his lips. Dark Pit raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're thinking so loudly that I can almost hear you."

"And what am I thinking about?" Pit inquired, his eyes sparkling with joy.

Dark Pit pulled the light angel closer, his arms wrapped around his waist, and he leaned to his ear. Pit blushed and stood still, not daring to hug Dark Pit back, since he knew that one wrong move would ruin the moment. He didn't want the dark angel to run away from him again. "You're thinking about palms, of course~," his darker twin whispered in his ear, which sent shivers down Pit's spine.

"Hm. Depends on the perspective," Pit answered, shutting his eyes and enjoying the embrace. He felt free in Dark Pit's arms, freer than he'd ever been in his life before. He knew that he would hold onto those arms for the rest of his life. "Although I may indeed be thinking about palms, just not those in your shelves."

"Could it be those around your waist, by any chance~?" Dark Pit asked, though he already knew the answer from Pit's sudden tension. The dark angel snickered and drew back, looking right into those blue oceans that he loved to drown into. His arms still wrapped around the other, his heart started racing and his eyes instinctively fell to the angel of light's lips. He wished to kiss those away, but could he? Would Pit allow him—mainly, would his debilitating fear of contact allow him to? Would his memories allow him to? He cringed at the thought of them; he could almost feel those impatient lips forced on his own…

Dark Pit shivered and hesitated to recoil, however he managed to suppress those thoughts to focus on Pit. The light angel was looking at him with that light gleam in his eyes, and the dark angel's heart melted instantly. Deciding that he'd been way too cautious around the love of his life, Dark Pit took a deep breath and leaned forward. His heart was screaming in his ears, begging him to do it, to stop thinking too much and to let his feelings lead the way, however… A few inches away from Pit's mouth, he opened his ruby orbs and froze on the spot. Too close, way too close. Memories started rising in his mind and he gulped loudly. His body started shaking, and soon enough he had pushed the light angel off of him and ran away from the room.

"Wha—Pittoo, wait!" Pit's eyes blinked open, for he was confused, and watched sadly as the dark angel rushed out of the armory, once again fleeing. He bit his lower lip, heartbroken, and sat in the chair next to him, taking his head between his hands. What made it so difficult? He didn't understand, he had made sure to stay still… He had made sure to remain motionless, so that they avoided this situation. "What did I do?" he asked himself out loud, voicing out his worries from within.

That was when he noticed a figure standing next to him, wearing all pink with bright, blond hair. She rested a hand on his shoulder, just next to his new medallion, and squatted down so that she could be at his level. "That didn't go the way you wanted, did it?"

"He's scared of me," Pit replied, his voice cracking up when he said those painful words. He shook his head, left in the dark as to why it was the case: he had never done anything… Why was it all so complicated, when really it should be the simplest thing? "I don't know why but he is."

"I bet that he's not scared of you specifically," Aphrodite asserted.

"Then what is it that he fears, Damsel Aphrodite? I don't think I'm doing anything wrong…"

The Goddess of Love sighed, also perplexed by the dark angel's attitude, however she still managed to give advice to the hopeless little white angel at her side. "Perhaps you should take it slow with him. It's visible that he craves your touch, but for now he's scared… of himself, I would say. Give him time to fight his fear, you are probably his first love. With what he's been through—"

Pit groaned and clenched his fists. "But he never tells me anything! You know, earlier, I thought about asking him. I thought about it, but I'm scared of hurting him in the process. I get that he's been through a lot, so have I! I just want to understand what's happening, I want to know! I'm willing to listen to what he has to say!"

"Well then, Pit-stain. Follow me, in private," Dark Pit's voice arose.

To be continued…

Updated: 02/11/2019