Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, I know it's been WAY too long. I've been struggling with some stuff recently and I moved about a month ago, so life has been a little hectic. But I think I'm finally over my writers' block and the next chapter is one I've been looking forward to since I started this story, so hopefully it'll be up soon. In the meantime, enjoy!
While Pit, Lucina, and Henry handled things in the Overworld, Kuro's heart hammered in his chest as he led Ephraim and Remiel through the dark depths of the Underworld. Over the centuries under Nemo's rule, it had become a more peaceful realm of solitude, but it seemed Hades had decided to revert it to its original form the black-haired, red-eyed angel had first seen when he had briefly joined Pit in battling the Underworld Army while his companion was on his way to challenge Medusa. Though he hadn't completely forgotten about the way it had once been, it still unsettled him to see it return to such a state.
He dove down and landed at the edge of an open area surrounded by jagged rocks and cliffs, giving his tired wings a break as Ephraim and Remiel both joined him. The commander took a deep breath and scanned the area as he pulled his bow apart, looking over both the expanse before them and the cliffs overhead.
"You might as well show yourselves!" Nemo's voice called out, and Kuro found him standing above them a short distance away, arms crossed and a rather out of place smirk on his face. "I must admit I didn't expect you back so soon, little angels. And Remiel, welcome home!" He spread his arms wide. "Why don't you come up here and give Daddy a hug?" Remiel's anger rippled in the air as darkness erupted around his clenched fists, catching the angels off guard.
"You are NOT my father!" the prince nearly bellowed and stormed forth, his power streaming around him. "Understand this if nothing else, Hades. I will END you!"
"Hmph," Hades scoffed, shaking Nemo's head with a pointed and heavy sigh. "You do realize that 'ending' me means your father's death, right? I doubt our dear Pitty is okay with that."
"Pit is sworn to defend the Celestial Balance," Kuro spoke up as he caught up with Remiel. "And that means destroying you."
"So serious," Nemo- rather, Hades- laughed. "At least you used to be sarcastic, Ptooey. Now you just have no personality!"
"Oh, he's still sarcastic," Ephraim snorted. "Now, are we done talking? Can we just fight?"
"Do none of you appreciate a bit of banter before the battle?" Hades chuckled. "Fine, fine. I can be nice and indulge you." Nemo raised his hand and whistled briefly. "My little pet isn't too fond of intruders. And he really could use some exercise."
"What, Twinbellows?" Kuro snorted as he readied his bow. "Bring it on."
"Not Twinbellows," Remiel interjected. "Father was a little more fond of his… other guard dog."
"How many guard dogs does one guy need?" the commander inquired, and Remiel frowned.
"Depends: Do you count heads or bodies?" A loud howl pierced the air as a dark-furred canine with three gnashing heads dripping with saliva barreled into the expanse, its body about twice as large as Twinbellows and its long-furred tail lashing as the three heads eyed the intruders.
"Good boy," Nemo's voice cooed. "Do me a favor and chase these three out, will you?" At its master's whim, the guard dog snapped forth and the angels took to the air while Remiel dove out of the way and rolled to the side.
"Cerberus!" the prince called. "No! Down!" Cerberus paid no attention to him and one of the three heads bit the air where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier. Kuro took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the clasp on his tunic, calling forth his armor before he took back to the air. Ephraim did the same and circled around to the other side of the expanse.
"Three heads, one body," Kuro thought aloud. "If we can each keep a head distracted, we should be able to confuse it and keep it from doing too much damage." He dove down and slashed his bow across the side of one of its heads, causing it to gnash out at him and he barely dodged its teeth as he took back into the air. "Did you get that, Rem?!"
"Got it, Commander!" The prince replied as he dodged back and enveloped his body in an aura of light and darkness. Kuro took a deep breath and glanced up to find Nemo still on his cliff, arms crossed with a dangerous smile on his face as he observed the battle. Cerberus lashed out at Ephraim, scraping along his Orichalcum Armor and leaving a scratch in it. He stabbed forth the Winged Bow and left a cut in the side of the head he had attacked, and the head howled in anger.
Remiel sent forth a stream of darkness that cracked forth like a whip toward another head, but it fizzled before making contact, and he grit his teeth and furrowed his brow as his eyes widened in alarm.
"Come now, Remiel!" Hades laughed. "This isn't how we treat our pets. And besides. Darkness is MY element."
"But not solely yours!" Remiel shot back. "And it's not the only thing I have at my disposal." He spread his arms wide and a blinding light shot forth, disorienting Cerberus and allowing Kuro the chance to land on the creature's back.
"Whoa!" He knelt down and dug his heels in as the half-blinded canine tried to shake him off, spreading his wings in some attempt to keep his balance. He took a deep breath and propelled himself forward, gripping his bow tight in his hand until he reached the nape of the middle head's neck. With a grunt, he stabbed the blade of his bow down with about as much force as he could muster while trying to stay atop the crazed beast, and the head he'd struck let out something between a howl and a whine as Kuro hit bone and paralyzed it.
"Oop." He leapt back into the air as the other heads, eyes blazing with rage, turned on him and snapped at him, their teeth grazing his leg on one side and his arm on the other and drawing blood. He shrugged off the pain and dodged as they reared up and attempted to pluck him from the air, and let out a brief breath of relief as Ephraim took their distraction as a chance to strike. The blue-eyed angel dove down and slashed his bow along the throat of one of the heads, spilling blood and leaving his target seemingly lifeless.
The remaining head seemed to finally register that this fight was not going as planned and began snapping and lashing out desperately to obey its master's command and remove the Underworld's intruders. Its erratic movement made targeting for the angels rather difficult, and attacking one head proved rather difficult when it didn't have to worry about distraction from other sides.
"Okay," Remiel said in a dark voice. "Enough of this." He rushed to place himself a mere few paces in front of Cerberus and gathered his energy, an aura of bright light around his hands that he thrust forth with a loud shout. The attack pierced Cerberus's chest and stunned it long enough for Ephraim to strike the final head, and the canine wobbled for a moment longer before collapsing to the rock beneath it. Both angels landed by the Underworld's prince and Kuro's blazing red gaze looked up to Nemo above them.
"Well done," he applauded. "Glad to see you haven't lost your touch, Ptooey. And Ephy, you've learned well! Glad to see you still have all the spunk and strength I knew you for before all this."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ephraim demanded, lifting his bow, but Kuro motioned for him to stand down before he could ready an arrow.
"Never mind," the Commander said quickly. "Don't let him mess with your head."
"Now, now, Ptooey, you know my intentions are always honorable. Why don't you just ask that blasted Pitty next time you see him? …If you see him."
"I don't have to listen to you!" Ephraim snapped, his face flushed with anger. "Let Master Nemo go!"
"Uh," Hades scoffed. "I'm going to have to say no. Remember, I didn't exactly ask for this. He stole my power, he deals with the consequences!"
"Enough," Kuro groaned. "What is it you want? What was the point of this? Why not just fight us yourself?"
"You know I like a good show," Hades replied, and again, a chill ran down Kuro's spine at the sight of the dark smirk on Nemo's face. "It's been quite some time since I've been able to cause my merry chaos. Who says I can't have a little fun?"
"Lord Pit will stop you!" Remiel nearly cried, desperation in his voice, and Ephraim took a step closer to him. "He's done it before, and he can do it again!"
"We'll see," Hades shrugged. "Until then, I bid you all adieu." With that, he vanished in a wind of darkness, and a moment later, Remiel shouted loud enough to shake Skyworld as he fell to his knees and slammed his fists to the ground, darkness erupting around them.
"Rem," Ephraim said softly as he knelt down and placed his hand against the prince's back. "We're going to stop this, okay? It'll be okay."
"I know," Remiel mumbled as he wiped away the tears that tried to fall from his eyes. "But… I just… seeing him use Father like this… It makes me sick. He's like a puppet! I just… I want to save him. I don't care what it takes. I just want to sever the grip Hades has on him."
"And we will," Kuro assured him as he knelt down in front of him and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You have my word on my honor as the Commander of the Skyworld Army."
"Since when did you get so serious?" Ephraim wondered, and Remiel tried to smile as he sat back and tried to collect himself.
"Since Hades made a return and threatened everything we care about," Kuro replied curtly. "Rem, we're going to end this. When the time is right, we'll finish Hades and save Nemo one way or the other." Remiel took a deep breath and nodded slowly.
"Thank you, Commander Kuro," he said in a weak voice. "I'm sure Lord Pit would be proud to see how devoted you are to this."
"Whatever," Kuro shrugged and got back to his feet, and the boys followed his example as he looked up. "Now, I've got some unfinished business to attend to."