"Jeeze, he's heavy," Lina complained as she and Celina literally threw Acero onto the couch. "Well I'm carrying the couch potato!" Pit grunted as he tromped into the living room, flipping his counterpart into a chair. "So, how do we wake 'em up?" Lina asked, turning to her friends- the ones that were conscious- in turn. "Slapping people always works." Celina said as she raised her hand, making a slight swinging motion.
"Nah, my head already hurts." Pittoo said, finally coming around. "Slap Acero, see if I care." He said as he put his hand to his forehead. When he moved his fingers away, they were stained red. Lina took one look at his hand and jumped slightly. "I'll fix that," She said as she ran to find her medical kit. As she ran by, she felt the dark angel run his hand along her wing. Now he's creeping me out Lina thought to herself, cringing.
"Guys, he's coming 'round," Pit said as he kneeled by Acero. Acero groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "W-what happened?" He asked, slurring his words. He raised a hand to his forehead, and sucked in sharply. He cringed in pain and lowered his hand to his chest. "First things first, what happened to the wolf thing, and how did you get there?" Pittoo questioned, raising his hand to his head in attempt to stop the cut near his eyebrow from bleeding more.
"Rin-Tai assaulted my- your- troops," Acero said to Pit, immediately correcting himself. He had been Captain- before Pit came along. He still wasn't used to '2nd place', as he called it. "What?" Celina and Pit said in shock. Rin-Tai is on our side! Celina said to both Pit and Acero telepathically. "Well, not anymore. Hades has infected him. His silver scales are black as death- he transformed your troops into monsters- including me. He sent us to Earth to wreak havoc among the humans." Acero said, shuddering as he remembered what he felt when he became a wolf.
"So the rumors are true." Pit said, his brows furrowing. He put his hand to his chin and was soon lost in thought. "Yes, Hades has merged with Lady Koriel. He plans on eliminating all of the Gods and Goddesses, along with their armies and loyal servants. I would be happy to assist you in kicking Hades' butt." Acero said, smirking. He decided he would try and use the new 'hip' slang that the young angels used. "Not working for you, Ace." Pittoo said. Acero frowned and cringed as a throbbing feeling ran down the back of his head. "What's wrong?" Lina asked as she came back with some medical tape and gauze.
"Kiara- you're dead, aren't you?" Acero asked, springing up in his seat. He seemed oddly excited. Pit had never seen Acero so happy. "I'm sorry, that was quite rude of me to say." Acero said, flicking his amber eyes downward. Lina smiled slightly and tilted her head to the side. "Its fine, Acero. And Kiara is dead- I'm a reincarnate- apparently. I'd prefer it if you called me Lina, though."
"The Savior's Charm gave me Kiara's memories so-" Acero cut Lina off. "The Savior's Charm?" Acero's eyes opened wide. "You mean a Savior's Charm. There are many of them." Acero said, his eyes still open wide. "Okay- a Savior's Charm. I used it to turn you back into an angel- or at least that's what I think happened." Lina said. "And in what way did you use it to change me?" Acero asked, leaning forward in his seat. "Lina pressed it into your wolf form's forehead, and you sort of absorbed it." Pittoo piped in after Lina finished bandaging his wound up. There was already red seeping through the first layer of gauze. Acero's amber eyes sparkled with curiosity. "I think I know what happened after I absorbed it." Acero said as he raised his hand to the long thick locks of hair that covered one of his eyes. He slowly moved his hair away, and on the left side of his forehead, was a fresh scar- shaped like a star.
xXx
"Why didn't I think of this earlier?" Lady Palutena asked herself as she sprung from her bed. She had been pondering what to do about the disappearance of her many angels- including her Captain and main trainer. She had gotten word that her search party had suddenly disappeared from 'radar', and on top of that, there were monsters following the activated beacon!
"I could speak to my angels by sending them thoughts- they cannot speak back, but I can speak to them!" She said, sounding childishly eager. When she tried to speak to Pit, she was surprised to find out that no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts could not be sent to anyone- not even another Goddess.
I hope you don't mind me cutting in on your power, pretty Palutena. A voice cut in "Koriel?" Lady Palutena said aloud. I am both Koriel and Hades. The ominous voice of the Goddess echoed eerily in Lady Palutena's head. "Hades, release Lady Koriel and return to the bowels of the Underworld." Lady Palutena said, raising her voice slightly. The room had suddenly gotten very cold, and the usual bright light was now nothing more than what a small flame could give off. Oh, but I adore this form so much- and it would take me twenty five years to be reborn- and it is so easy to maneuver this slender, beautiful body. Ah, Lady Koriel may be even more beautiful than the Goddess of Light herself." Hades said nonchalantly.
"If you choose to torture Koriel, I will be forced to terminate you myself." Lady Palutena said, nearly yelling, as she summoned her staff to her aid. "Oh, pretty Palutena, you were always so stubborn." A strong feminine voice said from behind Lady Palutena. The Goddess of light whipped around to see a woman smiling at her darkly. "L-Lady Koriel?" Lady Palutena stuttered, quite afraid of what had happened to the Goddess. Her once silver hair was black as night, and seemed to be made of the very fire the Underworld was born of- her once soft brown eyes were black and red- the Goddess of fate looked more like a wife to the God of the Underworld now. "You will serve me- or die." The voice of Hades said through the body of Koriel. "Never!" Palutena shouted aiming her staff at the corrupt Goddess. Koriel lunged at Palutena and the two Goddesses tumbled to the ground, wrestling.
Koriel ripped Palutena's staff from her opponent's hands, and threw it aside. Koriel slapped a hand across Lady Palutena's mouth, and held down all of the Goddess of Light's limbs. From above, the image of Hades' face loomed. "You'll never get away with this, Hades!"Lady Palutena screamed, her voice muffled by the hand over her mouth. "Well, I think I already have." Hades said with a dark laugh. In less than a second, the room became a void of blackness. "Say goodbye, Palutena." Koriel said with a smirk. Koriel jumped and hovered in the air by Hades, as the Goddess of light fell to the Underworld, Hades laughing darkly.
xXx
"What the heck?!" Pit said as he nearly tipped out of the chair he sat on. "What did it do to you?" Celina said as she stalked towards the Commander. "It kinda put a star scar on your head." Pit said as he examined the scar. "No- duh!" Pittoo said as he brushed the wrinkles out of his uniform. "Shut up already- or I just might give you a swirlie MYSELF!" Celina said as she whipped around, glaring at Pittoo. The dark angel opened his eyes wide in terror and huddled in his chair, re-wrinkling his uniform. "Not again- not again- not again…" He squeaked. "Great, you're rubbing off on me." Celina muttered as she turned around to face Acero- again.
"I don't know too much about what happened, but I feel odd- almost energized- but not in a way most would perceive being energized. It's almost like someone supercharged my magic skills." Acero said as Celina flicked her gaze toward him with a confused look plastered onto her face. "But you have no magic skills- only a select few angels have it." She said, obviously eager for a reply. "O contraire," Acero said, his amber eyes glimmering with ancient knowledge. "We all have some magic inside of us- sometimes we just need a boost to find it. In ancient legends, it was said that if one of the divine bestows upon you the knowledge of the past, your magic is brought to its maximum peak of power. In my case, since I absorbed some of Lady Palutena's power, I have gained more knowledge than any of you could ever learn in a thousand lifetimes. I know what has happened since the dawn of time, to what is happening as we speak." He explained.
"One side effect of absorbing the Goddess's magic, is I have become a being formed of raw power." Acero said. As Acero finished his sentence, everyone's jaws dropped. "You're kidding," Pit said as he eyed Acero. "If I was kidding, you wouldn't have met Lina, and none of us would be here," Acero said, a grim edge entering his deep voice. And you wouldn't have found my daughter's reincarnate Acero wanted to say, but he held his tongue.
"We are on the brink of the most deadly war ever to be recorded, and the five of us are caught at the heart of it." Acero said as he stood up, and held his hand out to the side. Within seconds, Pittoo's blade appeared in his hand. "You'll need this later on." Acero said as he handed it to the dark angel. "Awesome," Was all he could say. "The universe has once again called upon the angels to save humanity. From now on, I dedicate myself to the safety of this world, and all others. I dedicate myself to keeping time on track- and making sure that no more lives are lost." Acero said as he looked at Lina, a deep sadness entering his gaze. "Count us in!" Lina said, grabbing Pittoo's wrist and lugging him towards the door. "Us too!" Celina said, following Lina's example and grabbing Pit. The five angels made their way to the door, unaware that beyond the safety of the house was the biggest nightmare imaginable.
xXx
When Lady Palutena awoke, the cold had dug into her bones. Wait, cold? Where was she? Lady Palutena slowly opened her eyes to find herself bound to the floor of an ice cave, in nothing but a flimsy shirt and trousers. The material was poorly made, and obviously meant to retain the cold, and not her body heat. Her emerald green hair had been lopped off so it reached only to the part of her neck which held her head upright. "Well looky here, Palutena's awake." Koriel said as she walked over to the shivering Goddess. "Koriel, what has Hades done to you?" Lady Palutena asked, sounding quite defeated. Lady Palutena felt an odd emotion- fear- but it wasn't fear of herself being tortured, but fear of someone else being tortured- but who?
"Oh, don't worry. Hades has released me, but I simply adore the Underworld. I have been given more power than anyone could imagine. Hades doesn't need to survive inside of me anymore." The inverted Goddess said as she circled Lady Palutena. "How is he able to do that?" Lady Palutena asked. The feeling she had kept amplifying, but she just couldn't put her finger on who she was worried about. "That's simple. He's drained you of your power and is using it to rapidly restore himself- you are nothing more than a mortal now." Koriel said with a dark laugh.
Lady Palutena's face went pale. She instinctively tried to grab something and hold it close as if it was precious to her in order to protect it from the dark Goddess. Wait- what was she trying to do? "Why do I feel odd?" Lady Palutena asked, narrowing her gaze at Koriel. "Well, why don't you see for yourself?" Koriel said with a snicker. The dark Goddess waved a hand over Palutena, and a long mirror appeared. When Lady Palutena saw her reflection in the mirror, her green eyes opened wide. Beside her lay a small boy- soft green hair and green eyes. His lips were blue from the cold and he looked at Lady Palutena longingly, yet he had determination hidden in his gaze. He had been what she was reaching for. He was her son- the child she had always wanted. "Harlan," Lady Palutena said quietly as she turned her head towards the boy. He replied with a simple nod of his head. He was too cold to speak.
The former Goddess whipped her head towards the Goddess of fate. "Why create a son for me?" Lady Palutena asked. She knew the reason was not good. "I looked through your fantasies to find a way to make you suffer. I found out that you longed for a son. I took that fantasy and made a reality from it. He will grow to be the next ruler of the Underworld, and the one to kill that do-gooder Pit- the perfect way to torture you!" Koriel said with a sneer. "If he is to be the next ruler, then why torture him?" Palutena asked. "When I created him, I could not darken his soul. You guarded the thought well," Koriel said. Palutena smiled. "I had to try different ways to darken his soul, and this seemed to be the best way to do it. It's currently the most effective. A couple more hours and he'll be darker than a demon." Koriel said with a laugh.
"What about the flaw?" Palutena asked Koriel. The dark Goddess immediately stopped laughing. "Ah, yes. Born with wings, he was." Koriel said as she walked towards the mouth of the cave. "You made him an angel- of some sort. It's going to be a while before I crack the shell." Koriel said. "Well now, I must bid you ado, mortals. Goodbye." Koriel said as she walked away. Of some sort? Lady Palutena wondered. He should be just like Pit
"I won't rule the Underworld," Harlan whispered. Lady Palutena turned her head towards her son. "I won't let them kill you either." He said as he clenched his hand into a fist. He flicked his gaze to his fist and Lady Palutena did the same. When Harlan opened his hand, inside was a small figure- a green dragon. It crawled to his wrist and in one small burst of flame burned the rope that held its master captive. The rope turned to ash and it proceeded to the other ropes. When the ropes were gone, it hopped onto its master's shoulder and made a growling sound in his ear. Harlan stood up without a sound and Lady Palutena stared at his wings in wonder. Protruding from his back were not feathered wings, but silver-green scaled dragon's wings. He spread them wide and turned to look at his mother. I'll be back for you, Mum. I have to find the guardian Harlan said telepathically. Palutena smiled a she watched her son fly off. She knew he would be back. After all, he was an agent of fate.
Writers Notes: Whoa, mind blowing chapter. That was really hard to write. I just finished reading a series called The Last Dragon Chronicles. To those who have read it, the name Harlan and the dragon that Harlan had may remind you of the story. To those who have not read it, READ IT NOW. No flames about this please, I am NOT making a Kid Icarus/Last Dragon Chronicles Crossover. Here is an explanation as to why I used a similar idea:
I like the name Harlan for some reason :P
I like dragons and it adds a mystifying air to the plotline
Harlan came into my mind and I knew I had to use him somehow
Well, that's all for now.
With best regards,
-Kid Icarus Girl