Both Pit and Lucina hurried out of the Skyworld Temple, and the god could feel his heart hammering in his chest. He silently begged Henry and Remiel to hurry, desperate to ask the first prince what he knew of their father. His mind could barely work to wrap itself around what had happened and he tried not to jump to conclusions, but doing so proved difficult. In his distraction, he found himself running into a certain someone coming toward the temple just as he was exiting it.

"Oof!" she complained once she'd stepped back from their collision. She rubbed her arm and looked up into Pit's eyes with her own deeper blue that mirrored Lucina's. "Father? You're white as your wings! What's wrong?" Pit shook his head to bring himself back to the present.

"Forgive me, Aegle," he pleaded of his daughter, and she waved him off with a reassuring smile.

Aegle had grown quite a bit from the infant he'd held in his arms for the first time fifteen years previous. Her brown hair seemed eternally messy, just as his was, and she'd inherited his grin while her mother had given her the blue eyes and fair skin that made up most of her appearance. She dressed herself in a sleeveless white tunic with a split up the side that met the brown belt she tied around her waist, and under this she wore a dark undershirt and leggings. Over her knees were cream colored boots of sorts that, of course, sported sandals. She wore tanned, fingerless gloves on each arm, one of which hid the Brand of the Exalt on her wrist. Though young, she proved herself to be quite powerful, and Kuro had made a point in training her to fight.

"Come on, Father," she urged. "What's bothering you?" His lips parted to begin forming a reply, but his voice caught in his throat and nothing came out.

"We're not entirely sure," Lucina admitted as she came forward. Aegle frowned.

"Does this have something to do with Uncle Kuro and Captain Ephraim running off so fast?"

"The Underworld Army attacked an Ylissean village," her mother explained. "Your father can't find Master Nemo or Levica and Remiel is injured. Henry is bringing him here right now." Aegle's eyes widened in fear.
"No..." was all she could manage to say. They waited in worried silence for a moment until Kuro and Ephraim finally appeared toting Remiel's unconscious body and Henry followed close behind, riding the light and darkness around him with a small mob of crows following him. The angels set Remiel down gently once they had reached the islet where Pit and his family stood and Henry shooed the birds away quickly as he joined them.

Remiel was limp, his eyes squeezed shut like he was trying to block some awful experience out of his awareness. His clothes were torn and his skin was bruised and bloody, his lip cut and a streak of red on his face that stained his blond hair. Pit felt his heart jump and clench, and he said nothing as he carefully scooped the boy into his arms and headed back into the temple with the rest of the assembled group following him. Kuro slipped ahead and opened the doors leading to the large Hot Spring near Pit's chamber, and the god hurried in and placed his burden gently in the water.

"You really have no idea what happened?" he asked Henry as Lucina and Aegle went about tending to Remiel's wounds. Aegle seemed to have a gift for healing, and Lucina knew much more about treating wounds than he did. Henry watched his brother with concern, holding his cape tight around his body.

"No," he replied dully as one of the crows following him came to rest on his shoulder, and it seemed he didn't have the energy to shoo it away. "I heard some commotion or other in the shrine and went to go see what was going on, and I saw Remiel limping outside. He passed out just as I got to him. I didn't know where Dad was, so I thought it'd be better to bring him here."
"Alright..." Pit nodded slowly. They fell silent until Remiel finally stirred a short while later, groaning and blinking his eyes open. He sat up quickly with wide, fearful eyes before he hunched over with a moan of pain.

"It's all right, Remiel," Lucina said softly as she placed her hand on his shoulder. He scanned around wildly until it seemed to occur to him where he was and who it was around him. He let out a heavy breath and looked down, but said nothing. Pit motioned for his partner and daughter to step back, and they complied as he approached the boy.

"Are you okay, Rem?" he asked, and Remiel's red-violet gaze slowly crept up to meet his eyes.

"Lord Pit..." he mumbled. "How did I get here?"
"Henry brought you," Pit replied. "Do you remember what happened? Who attacked you? Where's Nemo?" At the mention of his father's name, Remiel's eyes blanked again and he brought his knees up close to his chest as he dropped his gaze.

"Father..." he choked. "I don't know what happened..." Pit swallowed his panic and took a deep breath.

"Please, Rem. I need to know what's happening in the Underworld." Rem looked up again weakly and sighed.

"F-Father attacked me," he finally uttered, his voice strangled. Pit felt like his heart had stopped, and he looked up at his brother in alarm. Kuro seemed about as shocked as he was, and merely shrugged as Pit stared at him. The god returned his attention to Remiel.

"What do you mean he attacked you?!" he demanded a bit sharply, and Remiel flinched.

"I..." he inhaled slowly and deeply. "I noticed that some of our troops were attacking the Overworld, and I went to talk to him about it since I didn't know why he was there. But when I got into the audience chamber..." His voice broke and he paused to calm himself for a moment. "He had ordered a couple of them to imprison Mother." Henry inhaled sharply behind them. "That's when I confronted him. He... He said he was tired of waiting and he was acting on his part of your bargain. And..." Remiel paused and looked up into Pit's eyes. "He said if you try to do anything to stop him, then you'll be at war."

"Too late," Kuro mumbled harshly.

"I tried to talk him out of it," Remiel went on. "I wanted to know why he was doing it, what had happened, but he said it wasn't any of my business. But when I tried to stop him, he attacked me and caught me off guard. I don't know if I escaped or he let me go... but he said to tell you that your deal is off." He paused. "The next thing I know of is waking up here." He turned his head weakly toward his brother. "Thank you, Henry."
"Hey..." Henry replied dully. "Couldn't let you die. But... Dad really attacked you?" Remiel nodded. "Why? What... That doesn't make any sense."
"No, it doesn't," Pit agreed as he got to his feet. "None of it does. He's acting on his side of our bargain? That means he's rewriting existence as we know it. But the only reason he'd have to do that is if he decided the humans were beyond teaching, that they were too violent to let live. And they've been at peace since Grima fell." He started pacing, an action Kuro and Ephraim knew meant he was deeply disturbed and concerned. "And he imprisoned Levica and attacked his son. I don't care what the circumstances are... Nemo would never do that. He'd never hurt his family."
"Well, he basically declared war on us," Kuro pointed out. "And we've got to protect the humans."

"They can't handle an invasion," Lucina mumbled. "Not now... not even Ylisstol. They're still recovering from Grima." Pit nodded.

"I know. This..." He massaged his forehead and sighed heavily. "I just... This doesn't make any sense! Nemo wouldn't... would he?"

"Dad may get a little bloodthirsty when he's mad, but he wouldn't do this," Henry pointed out. "Not on his own. Maybe something is controlling him?"

"But no one attacked the Underworld," Remiel replied. "And I didn't sense anything strange about him when I confronted him. I know it's strange, but... I think I'd be able to tell if something was controlling him."
"So you're saying you're positive it was really him," Kuro prompted, and Remiel looked down to the Hot Spring's water.

"I... I don't want to be," he admitted. "But I really do think it was him. But why..." Again, he fell silent.

"There's something wrong," Pit said firmly. "And we need to figure out what." He turned to his Commander and Captain. "We're going to the Underworld as soon as possible. I want to talk to Nemo personally- face to face. If there's something wrong with him, maybe I can help get it out."

"Yes, sir," Ephraim dipped his head.

"Lucina," Pit continued as he turned to her. "Keep an eye on things here, will you?" She nodded, though her concern was obvious on her face. "Aegle, I want you to look after Rem, okay?"
"But-" Remiel began to protest, but said nothing else as Pit turned back to him.

"You're in no condition to go back down there," he said. "I'm your guardian and I don't want to see you get hurt any more." Remiel watched him for a moment longer before nodding slowly.

"I understand," he mumbled. "Thank you, Lord Pit." Pit turned around toward Henry.

"I guess you can go or you can stay," he said, and Henry shrugged.

"If Dad managed to make mince meat out of Rem, then I wouldn't stand a choice. I trust you, Lord Pit. If it won't kill anyone, I'll stay here with my brother."
"That's fine," Pit agreed. "Then Kuro, Ephraim, it'll just be the three of us. But I bet if anyone can take whatever this is, it's the three of us. And I don't want to waste any time, so we'll head out as soon as you two are ready. I know the last battle wasn't exactly easy on you."
"I'm fine," Ephraim insisted. "It's nothing major." Kuro nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Then we'll head out immediately."

"Be back soon, Rem!" Ephraim called to his friend, and the angels and their god headed for the entrance, but Lucina grabbed Pit's arm and stopped him. He turned around to meet her worried gaze.

"Be careful," she told him, and he gave her a soft smile as he touched her cheek.

"I will," he promised and pulled her in for a brief kiss. "We'll be back soon. I promise. And hopefully we'll have answers."

"Good luck, Father," Aegle bade as she crouched down to tend to a nasty bruise on Remiel's arm. He didn't look at her nor anyone else, only the waters around him. "Come back in one piece!"
"Don't worry," Pit replied. "I'll see you all soon. And Rem, feel better." Remiel looked up with a pained and somehow guilty look in his eyes, but said nothing. With a small, soft sigh, Pit turned and hurried out to meet Kuro and Ephraim and prepare for their journey to the Underworld.