Hello everyone! This time, I am not late but early—it's a miracle, I know. An enemy switches camps (she never really does but shhhhh) in this chapter, I'll let you guess who that is! To discover it, I'll let you dive right into the reading! This chapter is, to me, a lot of fun. Tell me what you think about it!

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 20: Darker prospects

Dark Pit glanced at Pit once he was done with his very scarce explanation. The light angel was shocked, if his wide eyes and his lack of response meant anything. The revelations had been painful, they had brought back horrendous memories that the darker version of Pit would've loved to forget until the end of Time. But he knew how necessary they were, how essential they were to the future of their relationship; after all, Pit needed to learn about Dark Pit's past at one point or another if they were together, it was inevitable. Now of course, he hadn't given all the details, he had been very selective in what he had chosen to say.

He had mentioned the rise of Evil, but refused to say that it was because Palutena had been killed. He had talked about his servitude for Hermes, but did not touch a word on the fact that he had been banished; he instead had played it off as though he had had enough and left on his own account. Although he had kept many secrets, he had been honest with the reasons why Medusa and Hades had been rising and wrecking everything: they wanted to dominate the Universe, which was also why their incarnations in this dimension wanted dominance.

Pit had asked a few questions, mainly about his darker twin's personal backstory, and Dark Pit had denied him any answers; he couldn't tell him that he was different before, that he wore a cyan blue outfit, he couldn't tell him that he had bright, amethyst eyes, and that was more of a luminous person in the past—although he came with his pack of bad mood as well, there was no denying that. Dark Pit couldn't tell him, because it would hurt his pride. The Days of Darkness had changed many people, most noticeably the Gods, but also their subordinates: humans had grown greedy and cruel, the members of the Gods' armies merciless, and Dark Pit himself, after he had witnessed countless bloodbaths and other massacres, had become bitter and violent, things that he hated so much when he was still his own self.

But those were details that Dark Pit never wanted Pit to know, because he secretly feared that, if he did know, he would dread Medusa's upsurge so badly that he would stop fighting, in order to hide in a corner of his dimension and hope never to be found again.

Pit remained awfully silent, lost in his own thoughts on the subject, because he felt that Dark Pit wasn't entirely true with him. Their connection didn't lie to him, he could see right through Dark Pit like an open book—actually probably better, since he couldn't read… Anyhow —the angel of light had a gut feeling for those kinds of things as well, so it was not entirely their connection which gave it away. He instinctively knew when he was lied to, even with Palutena—most of the time, that was. Though, Pit also knew that, if his twin refused to tell him about something, it was probably for his own good and that of others: with the upcoming threats, perhaps it was better to keep some details secret. Medusa could've been spying on them this whole time, and she certainly didn't need to know how her other incarnation succeeded at dominating everyone. That could give her ideas… and that was arguably the last thing that they needed.

The light angel, sitting on his bed right next to Dark Pit, joined his hands and hummed. Maybe he could ask him a few more questions… He had noticed that his darker version had refused to answer to most of his questions when they revolved around himself, but why was that? Why did he keep so many secrets? If it dealt with his own person and his previous life, Medusa couldn't use it against them, right? So what was the point of keeping those important details hidden?

Dark Pit eventually sighed and folded his arms, tensed by the oppressive silence between them. He hoped that Pit had no other questions, for he would not answer them either way. "Now you know everything you need to know," he said to fill in the void, since it had started to stress him out.

"No, I don't: I know what you wanted to tell me, but that's already a good start," Pit replied, dead serious.

"That's why I said: 'everything you need to know'. Everything else doesn't matter, they're pointless details that nobody cares about."

His lighter half wasn't so convinced: he had that slight frown, that curve on his lips that told his darker counterpart he was aware that he had lied to him and omitted details. However, the dark angel decided that, if he faked not seeing it, he would not be asked about those missing parts. Since that suited him well, that was what he chose to do. Pit resigned to the idea that he'd get no more, but couldn't help with asking: "Have you always been working for Hermes? Or did you work for Lady Palutena? Wait, did she even exist in your world? You haven't mentioned her."

Dark Pit gritted his teeth, his heart pounding: no, he couldn't tell him that she had been killed. He had no will to wreck his heart. So he just snorted, his eyes gleaming with tears nonetheless, and said: "I don't know, I never met her if she existed." when in reality, he had witnessed her death. He remembered her, the bright little Goddess with long green hair, screaming at the top of her lungs and begging him to save her. In his dimension, she was just a child; a harmless little girl, who was supposed to be under Zeus' constant protection. Except that, when Hades had taken control of the Pantheon, Zeus had been defeated and had succumbed to darkness. Thus, he had sold his own daughter's life… Dark Pit cringed at the memory, turning his head away so that Pit wouldn't see it.

The light angel looked lost in his own thoughts again, probably knowing that he had lied—although Dark Pit wouldn't bet on it, Pit could still be an oblivious idiot when he really wanted to—and lied in the bedsheets with a sigh. That had surely been a lot of information to take in, and it foreshadowed a very unfortunate future for this dimension still held in the light of the sun. Pit was a highly sensitive little sweetheart: learning about horrors and massacres, bloodsheds and wars could easily ruin his day. Though, this time, he seemed to handle it pretty well. Yes, he looked absolutely torn apart, but at least he wasn't crying yet. "Thanks for telling me all of this, Pittoo," Pit whispered, and Dark Pit almost didn't hear him.

"Oh, don't thank me yet. You'll thank me once we've saved your dimension from that hell," Dark Pit retorted, before he also lied down in the bed. He had made sure to be laying down with his feet next to Pit's head, so that the light angel would not even think about hugging him. The darker twin's ruby eyes watched the ceiling while the two angels lied down in silence, both thinking about the revelations.

Pit eventually rose up, sitting back on the bed, and his eyes met Dark Pit's. "That still doesn't tell me why you fear my touch."

"It's not your touch, Pit," Dark Pit sighed. "It's everyone's."

"How come?"

The dark angel looked up, glancing into those shiny blue orbs, and pulled himself up so that he could start explaining. Speaking while lying down was a pain in the long run; he knew that telling Pit about his fear and its origins would take him longer than two minutes, so he had chosen to sit up. He looked away from Pit, trying to find his words and selecting what he would and would not mention, until he was ready to talk his heart out.

Dark Pit glanced back at Pit and forced himself to grab his hand, holding it and squeezing it so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "You see, during the Days of Darkness, which means our current era, there are a lot of… horrible stuff that happen to people. Since I've been observing humans, I've seen those things. I've witnessed people being torn to shreds by their best friends, I've witnessed women being raped by their children, I've seen all those things. Whenever someone touches me, the images come back to my mind—it's not your fault, it's not anyone's. If anything, it's probably Medusa's. Whenever someone gets close to me, I see the horror on the human's faces when they were killed, abused, deceived by their closest relatives. Also there was that one time, where I had been threatened. It was a human, so I didn't exactly feel afraid, though maybe I should've. He had lost it, the darkness of the skies had consumed his soul. So when he had seen me, with my dark wings, he had been appealed. He told me that my aura was highly attractive, and that he longed for it. Of course, him being a human, I played it off as though he couldn't do anything."

"But he did, didn't he?" Pit inquired, heavy tears at the back of his horrified eyes.

Dark Pit gulped and hesitated: should he tell him what happened? He already looked so worked up… Maybe it wasn't a good idea to talk about this at all. The dark angel shook his head and attempted to stand up, to flee the conversation, however Pit pulled him back to the bed and asked him to tell him. Thinking that it'd probably worry him even more if he refused to say, Dark Pit lowered his head and started explaining again what happened that dreadful night: "He raped me. Ever since then, I have been terrified at the idea of loving someone, because that would mean that I'd have to give them my body—that same body that this human had taken against my will. So, trust me Pit, it's not you. It's surely not you, you're so… gentle, and sweet, I know for certain that you'd never hurt me. But my body is still scarred."

Pit nodded, understanding, and squeezed Dark Pit's hand to reassure him. The dark angel didn't draw back, only looking into his blue eyes as though to make sure that he wouldn't take advantage of his weakness. The lighter twin smiled, his eyes sweating with tears, and said: "I'll give you all the time that you need, Pittoo. You know I would never force you."

"I like it when you force me into a kiss though," Dark Pit smirked, and that warmed Pit's heavy heart. If he was back to being his playful self, then that meant that everything was better. The dark angel recoiled his hand and stood up when he saw Aphrodite walking in. She seemed to be concerned, but no words came out of her mouth. Dark Pit rushed to her side, put his hands on her shoulders and asked, panicked: "What's wrong, Mother? What's happening?"

Aphrodite hugged him tight, which was sudden and unexpected, then turned to look at both of the angels. "They have Hermes!"

"Good, that'll teach him something: be less of an asshole to everyone—even those who trust you with their lives—and you'll have less enemies trying to get that ass."

Dark Pit looked definitely satisfied, even though the situation was worsening: that jerk didn't deserve less than to be abducted and tortured by the Underworld. Although he was not the God he remembered him to be, it still pleased him to think that, to some extent, the God of Travel was paying for what he did. Now he wished that it'd have been his dimension's incarnation, but it was better than nothing.

Pit, on the other hand, sprung to his feet and ran towards the door, almost jumping over the staircase that led down to the main hall. He hurried to the armory, went to the shelves and scooped up his Palutena Bow along with the Dark Pit Staff, then sprinted out of there to hop in the Lightning Chariot. Dark Pit ran up to him, grasping his staff, and frowned, wondering where Pit was heading. Aphrodite soon joined them with her own bow, which shot cutesy arrows with hearts instead of a traditional pointy tips. She sat on the back of the vehicle, panting already.

Dark Pit jumped aboard and Pit wasted no time, asking Phos and Lux to head straight for the Labyrinth of Deceit. The dark angel admitted that he was a little perplexed by this agitation: was something happening? So what if the Underworld army had a hold on Hermes? Why the Labyrinth of Deceit, of all places? Since he was growing sick of being confused and left in the dark, he decided to ask Pit: "Why are we going there? Now that's one place I know for sure that you hate."

"I do," Pit answered, nodding, but he didn't take his eyes off of his path. "But that's also where the Mirror of Truth, or what remains of it, is located. And we have to get there before Medusa."

Dark Pit rolled his eyes, wearing his usual bored expression, and slightly shrugged it off. "I'm sure this thing doesn't w—" then he gasped in realization. Oh fuck, shit, that's bad! he thought to himself. He quickly snatched the halter from Pit's hands and whipped the unicorns mercilessly. The magical horses neighed at him threateningly, but he didn't care and only whipped their backs harder than before. "Hurry, for Zeus' sake! We've got no time to waste!"

And thus they sped towards the hidden Labyrinth of Deceit, in a clear night sky—that was, until dark clouds gathered above their vehicle. Dark, unnatural clouds that threatened to fry them on the spot with burning hot lightning. Pit stood up in the Chariot, despite the fact that Dark Pit had told him to stay hidden from sight, and raised his bow towards the angry skies. Medusa's figure appeared in the distance, sneering at the trio and their attempt to overtake her. She looked at their Chariot and snapped her fingers; a dazzlingly bright flash of lightning struck Phos. "Phos! Are you okay?" Pit cried out, his heart pounding in his chest, and he clenched his fists. "You'll pay for that, Goddess of Darkness!"

"Aw, you're so adorable, Pit! I can't wait to turn you into one of my puppets, you'll be so much fun~!" Medusa giggled, then she tried to strike him with lightning. He used one of his blades to counter the attack, and even though it seemed almost impossible, he successfully reflected the strike. The Goddess of Darkness snarled: he was getting on her nerves, but she would take care of him later.

Dark Pit patted the back of the hurt unicorn. "Keep fighting it, Phos, we're nearly there!" Pushing his own limits, Phos kept on going despite the growing pain in his entire body, knowing that it was a matter of life or death for his master on board. Lux whinnied in horror when his partner's legs turned to stone, and eventually the unicorn's entire body was transformed and fell from the sky. Dark Pit tried to counter the sudden dive of the Chariot, but soon enough Lux had also been struck and the vehicle started its descent towards the Overworld below. "Shit, Pit, we're losing it!"

"Pittoo, please, think of something!" Pit begged him, still reflecting the lightning strikes with the tip of his blades; sharp reflexes, Dark Pit had to admit.

"I'm trying to think, but I can't with you screaming in my ear!"

Medusa snickered and watched them with deep, profound bliss, while Pit still managed to reflect her lightning with his pointless, though bothersome little blades. Eventually, when he had grown sick of having to watch out for every strike, the angel of light brought them together to form his precious Palutena Bow. He spun it with such speed that it generated a shield made out of pure, blue light. He stood before his partners, thus making sure that they were under protection, and smiled since every bolt of lightning was deflected effortlessly by the shield of light.

Dark Pit told him to keep it up for as long as he could, while he himself was considering their options. He turned towards Aphrodite, about to ask her if she could give them the Power of Flight, before he heard Pit calling him out. His shield was weakening, they didn't have a lot of time on their hands.

Irritated, the Goddess of Darkness charged up one devastating thunderbolt, which struck Pit's shield and obliterated it. The angel gasped and quickly jumped to the side before the next strike, perfectly aimed, could hit him. Dark Pit demanded that he hide in the Chariot, but the fool didn't listen: he evaded another bolt of lightning and lost his balance. "Pittoo, help me up!" he panicked.

"Fuck, Pit! Why don't you ever listen?!" Dark Pit snapped at him, before realizing that his twin was on the verge of falling off the Chariot. His wings stretched in horror and he dived right for Pit, trying to grasp his hand and pull him back aboard; however he was too late and Pit fell from the vehicle. "No, Pit! No, fuck, no!" Dark Pit screamed at the top of his lungs, slamming his fist against the side of the Chariot. "Fucking no, dammit!"

Overflown with a boiling rage in her stomach, Aphrodite promised Medusa that she would take her revenge and that, no matter how hard she tried, they would stop her, but threats only made the Goddess of Darkness laugh as a general rule. "Aw, how ridiculous can you be Aphrodite?"

Dark Pit watched Pit fall from the sky and soon lost track of him when he entered a wild forest. The dark angel felt his eyes burn and looked daggers at Medusa. "Now trust my fucking words: you're fucking dead. No matter where the fuck you're planning to hide, I'll find you. YOU'RE DEAD, YOU HEAR ME?!"

Medusa sneered and considered that she had done enough to slow them down. She vanished from sight, her laughter echoing in the skies, and the Chariot crashed into a field.

Dark Pit was thrown to the ground, face first in the muddy grass, and Aphrodite had managed to jump off of the Lightning Chariot and land on her two feet. The dark angel raised his head, spitting out some blades of grass and coughing at their horrible taste, and looked around in order to find the forest Pit had fallen into. His eyes filled with tears when he did not see it: they were located in the middle of tall, snowy mountains, and there was absolutely no forest in sight. Dark Pit forced himself on his feet, his heart on the brink of exploding, and turned to face the Goddess of Love. She looked just as desperate as he was: they were supposed to do this together, the three of them. And they had been split, with close to no chance of finding Pit ever again. With the Lightning Chariot decommissioned, they were highly restrained in their movements. First thing: they were unable to reach the Labyrinth of Deceit before Medusa, which meant… very bad news—and second thing: they couldn't head back to Viridi's Sanctum nor look around for Pit by zooming across the land.

In blunt words: they had just been defeated.

Aphrodite felt heavy tears roll down her cheeks and gave in to her disappointment, sobbing loudly. "I'm so sorry, Dark Pit… I thought we could do it, I believed that we could stop her together… I should've known that it was too late, what did we hope? Us Gods, we can be very stubborn… With the increasing threat of the darkness, we thought that we could still save one dimension…"

"What do you mean 'one'? What about the others?" Dark Pit asked, puzzled, until he understood and horror crept in his eyes. "You mean that all of the other dimensions have already fallen?! Not just mine?!"

The Goddess of Love fell to her knees, bringing her hands up to her face and whimpering in desperation. That was enough to answer Dark Pit's question. The dark angel felt the cold breeze brushing against his skin and let tears flow down his cheeks. He sniffed, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. His wrath was unprecedented, he had never felt so enraged in his existence. He couldn't let go, for he had hoped to save the universe. He had hoped that his union with Pit would successfully repel the darkness. And he knew that it could, they had to hold onto the faint possibility that they would cross paths. He couldn't let go, he wouldn't let go: he remembered the horror in Pit's eyes when he had told him about what had happened to his own dimension, he had no will of witnessing it again. Dark Pit would fight against Medusa until the very last one of his breaths.

Aphrodite looked up at him, her pink eyes flooded with sorrow, while the dark angel was growling like a wild animal kept in a cage. "Forgive me, Dark Pit… I thought we could save the universe, but I should've known better…"

"No, you should know better right now," Dark Pit countered, then he met her eyes. "I'm ready to kick her fucking ass back to the Realm of Souls, whether it be for Destiny's sake or simply for personal revenge."

.oOo.

"Pit! They're coming! Please, open your eyes, tell me you're not dead!"

Wake up, Pit! Pull yourself up, you've got to go!

"Pit, come on!"

Hands shaking his body. Pit moaned in pain, confused, feeling blood running down his forehead. What had happened after he had fallen from the Lightning Chariot? He had been… in a forest or something like that… It had lots of trees, that he remembered clearly, since his body had crashed into most of them… But what after that? He couldn't remember, he had thought he would die. He had thought about Dark Pit, he had hoped that he would make it out alive, even if he didn't. And… then he blacked out. Right? Pit slowly fluttered his eyes open; his whole body was a living pain, as though he had been stabbed a hundred times. There was… someone leaning above him. It was a she, if the sweet, high-pitched voice told him anything… A woman then, with… long blue hair, or something like that. She had eyes similar to Aphrodite's, pink with hearts in them… Was he dreaming? Was he dead?

The hands shook him again, and he soon understood that that woman was trying to talk to him. Though, he couldn't hear her words anymore… He suddenly felt as if his head had been plunged underwater and gasped to breathe. His vision immediately went back to normal, and the pain was completely gone. Pit had to guess that it had been hot spring water, and that this woman, whoever she was, had saved him from certain death. The woman, yes: she had long blue hair attached in a ponytail and wide pink eyes. She reminded him of someone, her… energy did, although it was way stronger than he remembered it to be. "What is… this?" he asked, his voice still very weak, and the woman smiled widely.

"Oh, Pit! You're awake, thank Zeus! Here, you need to take this!" the woman said, pushing what looked like the frame of the destroyed Mirror of Truth. She forced him to take it into his arms and turned away, listening at the door in front of them. There were voices on the other side of the door, which seemed to wake Pit. The woman smiled again and walked up to him, cupping his face with her hands. "Shh, I know you're confused, but if Light fades from this world, everyone goes with it."

Pit blinked and frowned, then he recognized the patters on the ground. The Labyrinth of Deceit? How did he end up there? And that woman, who was—"Pandora!" he cried out, quickly stepping back with the Mirror of Truth in his arms. Wait… Why was she helping him? Wasn't she working for Medusa, wasn't she one of her commanders? Shouldn't she be giving her the remains of the Mirror of Truth? Pit shook his head, perplexed, but wore his determined expression nonetheless. She was an enemy, and he was going to fight her, even if it was to be the last thing he ever did! "Pandora! Goddess of Calamit—"

"SHHHH!" Pandora exclaimed, a finger on her own lips to signify that he had to keep quiet. The voices had stopped talking, probably had they heard him, and Pandora walked up to Pit. "I know it's confusing, trust me. I'll warp you back to Viridi's Sanctum before they find you."

"Before who finds me?" Pit asked in a low voice, then his eyes lit up with hope. "Pittoo is here? You found him too?"

The Goddess shook her head negatively. "Medusa wants the Mirror of Truth, she's here with Thanatos."

"Him? Again?"

"Yes, now, shh. Here," she said, then she snapped her fingers and a portal opened behind Pit. Through it, the light angel could see the main hall of Viridi's Sanctum. Pandora gestured towards him, asking him to walk in. "Save the Light, Pit."

Pit didn't ask anymore questions, making sure that he still had the Mirror of Truth against him before he walked in the portal. He briefly looked back, quick enough to see Medusa open the door to Pandora's room and scream at her face, demanding that she stopped. Pandora had closed the portal instantly, and Pit hoped that it had been fast enough to prevent Medusa from knowing where he was hiding.

.oOo.

Instantly after that, Pit let out a sigh of relief, still puzzled by what had just happened, and went to the office where he set the Mirror of Truth. He carefully placed it on his bed, looking at it in disbelief. "Good thing is, Medusa doesn't have it yet," he said to himself, running his hand over the frame of the broken mirror. "Bad thing is, she will probably be coming to kill me now."

The light angel's wings fluttered up at the thought of Dark Pit and Aphrodite, and he wondered if they had made it. His heart ached when he recalled seeing his dear Phos and Lux falling to their death, but he tried not to focus on them. They had done what they had to do to save them. Even though they hadn't done it in the end, he was very proud of them, and prayed Zeus that they rested in peace and quiet. His precious unicorns… He would miss them dearly, and always cherish the memory of them. He could remember the time he had seen them for the first time, zooming through the sky before him; they were so majestic, and so faithful to their master. They had loved Pit, and had had no trouble expressing it in their own ways.

Pit teared up at the thought and shook his head to look back at the Mirror of Truth. However, that didn't help him, since his thoughts drifted towards Dark Pit and he found himself believing that he had died. He would've saved him if he wasn't dead, he knew that he would've. Or perhaps he was lost? Maybe, with the crash of the Lightning Chariot, he was lost somewhere and had no idea how to find him? How he wished that he could tell him he was alright and safe…

All thanks to Pandora. He chuckled at the thought: "Pandora of all people! Pandora saved me, but why? What's in it for her? She's one of Medusa's commanders, and she's also a Goddess! Why would she save me? Didn't Viridi use to say that angels were 'insignificant'? Oh, no, maybe she said that about humans. Still! Why would Pandora help me escape from Medusa—with the Mirror of Truth? That makes no sense… I wonder what Lady Palutena would've said. Maybe she'd have said: 'But Pit, it's because you're handsome and she wouldn't want to waste that!'. I agree with that, now that's one thing that makes sense… Heh, maybe… Maybe I should stop talking to myself…"

Pit looked off to the side, only to see his abandoned scarf. He stood up and grasped it, examining it closely and noticing the bite marks in it. "Stupid Reapers: scarves are not food! Ugh… It still probably tastes better than bones though. Or, well, souls, Lady Palutena said that they were soul gatherers. So… I wonder what a soul tastes like: does it vary? If it's a woman, is it like eating a fruit? Or a flower? Wow, Pit… Your mind is drifting off right now, and you're still… talking to yourself…"

Pit sighed and put his scarf on, a bit reluctantly since it was completely torn apart, but it was an important part of his attire. Then his eyes focused on the bed he should've been sharing with Dark Pit and several questions came to his mind. "Okay, last time talking to myself, but… What about Pittoo? And his story? It seemed too real to be made up, so maybe he wasn't completely messing with me. So his… dimension or whatever has fallen in the hands of Medusa and Hades? I can't help but wonder where Lady Palutena was. I can hardly believe that she didn't exist, since it's an alternate… reality—something like that. Now I can't help but wonder: why did Pittoo stop working for Hermes? He looked happy when Damsel Aphrodite mentioned him being held captive by the Underworld… Did they argue? Did they fight? Aw, man… Wish I'd been there to see it, it must've been the fight of the century! Pittoo's a beast, and I've never seen Hermes fight, so I would've loved to see it… Maybe I can find a replay or something on the internet. Okay, okay, I'm done talking to myself this time!"

With those words, the angel of light sat down on the bed and eyed at the Mirror of Truth next to him. He decided that it would be a good idea to take a nap, thus he went to the door and pushed Viridi's old desk in front of it, to make sure that no Underling could break through during his slumber. Satisfied with the defense system that he had come up with, Pit lied down in his bed. His thoughts lingered around Dark Pit, and eventually he found himself snuggling into his numerous pillows and kissing the one under his head in his sleep.

To be continued…

Updated: 02/11/2019