Chapter 7: The Sanctuary of Nature
Palutena stood at the edge of a floating island, unbothered by the vast expanse of sky beneath her, and gazed at the island of Skyworld's Sanctuary of Nature as the morning sun glinted off its waterfall. Skyworld was known for its ornate classical architecture and majestic gardens, but the landscape could get repetitive without the natural features that made the Earth so much more beautiful. That's why she was grateful that Skyworld's nature deities had created and protected the Sanctuary for generations to bring a little earthly beauty to the heavens.
It looked like the current nature goddess was no less devoted to the cause. "Alright, everyone! Let's get to work!" Viridi called out cheerfully. She adjusted the simple dress she wore for gardening, and held a shovel like a staff.
"Couldn't you just use your powers?" Phosphora suggested, gesturing at the island. "I don't want to do all of that."
Viridi shook her head adamantly. "No can do. Some things need to be done the hard way."
"Sounds like an excuse to me," Dark Pit muttered, arms crossed.
"We won't be tending to the whole Sanctuary," Palutena clarified. "Divine powers can't be used along the trail, so that's where we have to work manually."
"Talk about bad design," Pit murmured. "Why would they even do that?"
They all turned when Arlon spoke up. "The Sanctuary was built as a haven of sorts," he explained. "A place for divinity to cast aside their obligations in favour of respite. Abilities stem from obligations, hence the restrictions." He brings up a good point, but I wonder if the others understood anything…
"Eloquently put, as always," Viridi approved as the twins and Phosphora collectively stared at Arlon in confusion. "I'm doing most of the work on the island with my powers anyways, so stop being lazy and get working!"
Palutena readied her powers before any of them could protest. "You wanted me to take us to the beginning of the trail, right?" Viridi nodded. Then here I go.
As the light enveloped them, Palutena relished the feeling of weightlessness and complete freedom. She opened her eyes to see wisteria vines hanging like lanterns from a canopy of leaves shrouding the trail, and admired them in awe. Viridi wasted no time, and pointed at some overgrown bushes blocking the path. "That's the first order of business. Pit, Pittoo, Phosphora– you can go figure it out. I kept some tools on the side."
Phosphora narrowed her eyes. "You're really asking us to waste our time trimming bushes?"
"Why yes, yes I am." None of them made a move, so Viridi added, "Here's a deal: we can enjoy the Sanctuary once we're done with the first bit of the trail."
That proved to be enough motivation for Pit, who left to grab a tool. "Alright, let's go! I bet I could finish this myself in no time."
"Says the guy who can't even trim hedges," Dark Pit taunted, following him. "I'll show you how it's done." Phosphora watched in exasperation as she was left behind, and begrudgingly joined them.
Palutena stifled laughter. "Well, that's one way to motivate them. I should try it next time we garden together."
Viridi shook her head disapprovingly. "Please. They're so childish, I could bribe them with candy." Palutena had a vague feeling she was speaking from experience. "Anyways! Arlon, there are some rotting branches on a few of these trees." He didn't need any further instructions, and with a sharp nod, left to get a tool. For such a skilled warrior to be so willing to serve her… Arlon really is an enigma. Viridi grinned snarkily. "And as for you… You think I should call your dear captain or soldiers? Perhaps the Goddess of Light ought not to sully her hands."
She was just teasing her, but there was no fun in staying indifferent. "Try me," Palutena dared.
"Bold, I see," Viridi remarked. "We're going to weed out the trail. Pull out everything growing on the path. It can't grow there. Oh, and don't touch anything that looks poisonous." That's… not the most specific advice, now is it? Viridi looked at her expectantly, so she nodded anyway. I'll figure it out.
The goddesses chose different parts of the path and got to work. Palutena was more than willing to sit on the ground and tug weeds loose from the moist soil, given how many disasters the dress she was wearing had seen. She was making progress, although it was tough to pull some of the firmly-rooted ones out. The strangely pleasant smell of earth surrounded her, and she winced as the leaves of one of the weeds snapped off, leaving its root intact. Oops.
A glance towards the other side of the trail revealed that Viridi was working quickly and expertly, probably a result of years of experience. Arlon reached over her to trim a few dying leaves off of a tree, and Palutena resolutely got back to her task. Maybe if I pry it out like this…
Only a few minutes later, their focused silence was interrupted by a yell of "En garde!" Oh, no.
"You're on, Pit-stain!" Dark Pit yelled in response. Palutena dusted off her hands and rushed to check what was happening.
"So immature– Hey! Get back here!" Phosphora shouted.
She made it to the now-cleared section of overgrowth, Arlon and Viridi behind her, to see Pit and Dark Pit deftly swinging cut branches at each other like swords as Phosphora tried to dodge them and strike back with a branch of her own. Palutena raised her voice slightly. "Pit. Pittoo."
The angels froze and turned to look at her. Like clockwork, Dark Pit grabbed his twin's makeshift weapon and tossed the sticks into a pile of debris on the side, and Pit gave her an innocent look as if she hadn't just caught them fighting. "Oh, Lady Palutena! How's your work going?" he laughed nervously. Phosphora rolled her eyes.
"Save the sparring for later, you two," Palutena ordered. "Focus on gardening. Now isn't the time for this."
"I expected more from you at least, Commander Phosphora," Viridi added pointedly.
She shrugged. "They started it. Just saying."
"Right, we're sorry," Pit apologized. Dark Pit mumbled a "Sorry" as well. I don't know if I should be proud or concerned that they make good partners in crime.
"You did a good job at clearing this place out, at least," she admitted, although she could tell by the torn fabric of their tunics that their clothes had been sacrificed to do it. She was glad she'd forced them to change earlier.
Viridi was less impressed. "In what world is that 'cleared out'? Get those old branches and leaves away, and then I'll give everyone something new to do. Seriously, you guys are all putting me behind schedule!" They stared at her unenthusiastically. Maybe she's a bit too ambitious.
After a lot of struggling, Pit was finally almost there. He angled his head to admire the glossy metal railing he'd just uncovered, and felt a surge of hope when he noticed how little there was left. So close! He gripped the blunt blade in his left hand to give his sore right hand a break and continued to scrape away the fine layer of fuzzy moss, leaning towards the bubbling stream under the bridge to get all angles. It's kind of sad how excited I am about this.
Probably as punishment for their sparring, Viridi had given the angels what Pit was sure was the worst job in the Sanctuary: scraping moss off the bridges along the trail. At least moss was easy to clear, so they didn't need to use much effort, unlike Phosphora, who was tasked with scraping old paint off the signs. Maybe that's the second worst job in the Sanctuary.
He slid the blade off the railing with a flourish, and stepped back to take a look. I think that's a job well done. His first thought was to check how his brother was doing, and stepping off the bridge with a nod, he turned and dashed back towards the sign they agreed to meet up at. Pit couldn't help himself when he felt the breeze under his wings, and lifted himself into the air, gliding for a few seconds before landing with a laugh. "Hey, Pittoo! Check this out!" No response, obviously.
Pit slowed down as he reached the signpost, alone amongst the branches and leaves scattered on the ground. Weird, I thought Phosphora said she'd clean that up. He walked over them apprehensively, leaning to look past the trees. "Pittoo! Phosphora! Hurry up, I'm already–" He was interrupted by a sharp crack, and before he could react, the branches under him gave out in a shower of splinters. "Waah!" he cried out in genuine fear as he found himself falling through the ground. It was a longer drop than he expected, and his feet only hit solid ground when he was chest-deep in the dirt.
The hole itself didn't give him much room to move around, and it took a second for his heart and breathing to slow down. He struggled to get a foothold on the loose earth around him, but turned at the sound of crunching leaves. Dark Pit approached him with a mischievous look that told him exactly what just happened. Pit frowned, unimpressed. "Are you serious, Pittoo?"
Dark Pit loomed over him, hands on his hips with a smirk. "Stuck in a pitfall? What a pity, Pitty."
Pit glared up at his twin. "Did you really do this just so you could say that?"
Dark Pit kneeled down so that they were at eye-level. "So what if I did?" he asked, almost playfully. Okay, so he's just trying to have fun, but still.
"It was so worth it," Phosphora agreed from behind him. "But I guess the show's over. I'll fill that up now, or Viridi's going to kill us."
Dark Pit nodded. "Let's get you out of there." He wrapped his arms around Pit securely and hoisted him up, placing him gently on the ground beside him. "You know I had to try that eventually."
"Just don't complain when I get back at you," Pit said with a grin.
"As if I'd let you," he retorted, grabbing a bundle of sticks. Pit collected an armful to help.
"You guys have time to get back at each other?" Phosphora groaned, grinding a blade against the sign and leaving a flurry of paint chips in its wake. "There's got to be a million signs here. Weren't there only, like, three bridges? Lucky."
"We each did one, so there's one left," Pit pointed out.
"Wanna do it together?" Dark Pit offered. "Not that you'd be able to keep up. I'll probably spend most of the time waiting for you."
Pit laughed, grabbing a blade for himself and handing one to his twin. "As if!"
Pit studied Viridi's expression as she examined their work on the first part of the trail. Personally, he thought it looked nicer than when they first came, and Palutena agreed. Viridi hadn't said a word yet, and the prim look she had as they walked over the bridges they'd worked on made it obvious that she was just trying to annoy them. He felt feathers brush his arm, and turned to his twin, who whispered, "Just how dramatic can you make a nature walk?"
"Someone cue the strings," Pit snickered. Palutena motioned for them to be quiet, but seemed relieved when Viridi didn't notice. Viridi was known to jump into any conversation that remotely interested her, and with the angels involved, it often descended into an argument.
She came to a stop at the end of the segment they'd agreed to do and turned around to face them. "Passable," she decided with a lukewarm nod. "Better than I expected from softies like you."
"Softies?" Dark Pit echoed. "You're the only person here who's never fought before, so–"
"Anyways," Viridi waved him off, to his chagrin. "What do you say to a swim in the lake?"
"If you told me earlier, I would've dressed for the occasion," Phosphora mentioned. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be soaking wet afterwards."
"If my memory serves me correctly, divine powers should be usable anywhere outside the vicinity of the trail," Arlon pointed out. "You may use them at the lake."
"I hear no objections, so let's get going!" Viridi called pleasantly, walking with a spring in her step. "It's not far, maybe fifteen minutes!"
"Fifteen minutes?" Pit repeated in dismay. He shouldn't have expected anything else from Viridi's idea of relaxation.
Viridi climbed over the rocks along the stream with ease. "Suck it up, buttercup! What happened to being insufferably upbeat? Have the stresses of life been getting to you?"
"Don't worry about him," Palutena spoke up, steadying herself as they followed Viridi. "He just has an aversion to anything tedious. Actually, both of them do."
"Whose side are you on?" Pit asked in betrayal. Dark Pit just glared at her.
"The view will be worth it," Viridi assured. "Just wait and see."
He wasn't so sure if it would be worth what she was putting them through. Viridi couldn't care less about climbing over precariously balancing rocks or along steep inclines, and no one wanted to be the first to complain. Somewhere along the way, Pit made the mistake of asking, "Are we there yet?"
Viridi stopped abruptly. "We are not there yet!"
She was right about the view, though. After following the stream into the heart of the Sanctuary, Pit could feel the air getting warmer and more humid, and it wasn't much longer before Viridi pushed aside some fern fronds to show them a small lake with a few waterfalls trickling into it from above. "Behold! This little lake gets water from the bigger one, but I wasn't going to take you there. The last thing I need is someone dying on me at the main waterfall."
"This looks better for swimming in, anyways," Palutena added as Dark Pit clambered onto the rocks forming a platform above the water. That gave Pit a spark of inspiration. He waited until his brother was distracted to climb up behind him and push him right off the edge of the rocks into the lake below.
Dark Pit yelled in alarm for the short fall to the water, but was cut off when he fell in with a splash. "Now we're even!" Pit announced. Phosphora and Viridi simultaneously burst out laughing.
He emerged at the surface, folding his wings to let the water flow off in large droplets, although his hair still stuck to his face. He rolled his eyes, and could clearly read what Pit was about to do, moving to the side as Pit dove in with a splash.
The water was pleasantly warm, and shallow enough to stand in near the edges. "There are even some fish in here!" Viridi said, giggling as they swam by her. Palutena admired some lotus blossoms, and Arlon took a seat on one of the rocks beside the waterfalls with his legs in the water.
The angels were used to swimming thanks to all the time they spent in hot springs together, and drifted around aimlessly, using their wings to help glide through the water. All of them were quiet, taking in the moment, with the ambient sounds of the lake filling the air. At least until they heard a sneeze. Pit barely had time to register the flashes of electricity in the corner of his eye before he felt a sharp sting. Viridi's voice rang out over their mix of shouts as they all turned to Phosphora, who climbed out of the lake, eyes wide. "Who thought it made sense to let the stun gun into the water?"
"Sorry!" she apologized. "I forgot my powers were still active. There, it should be fine now."
"I'd hope so," Dark Pit muttered as Phosphora warily stepped back in. They all gradually relaxed when nothing happened.
"Pit, Pittoo, take a look over here!" Palutena called, waving them over. She pointed at one of the lilypads once they got closer, and it took Pit a second to notice a small frog perched on it, watching them closely. "This one sure seems to be enjoying it here," she remarked.
"That's so cool!" He lowered himself into the water to get a closer look, and his twin wordlessly joined him. Palutena gently pulled a lotus closer, and the frog seemed content with its new shade. It probably looked strange for a pair of angels and a goddess to be looking at a frog with childlike wonder, but to them, it didn't matter.
Dark Pit fluttered his wings to get the small droplets of water out of them, thankful that feathers were waterproof. He couldn't say the same about hair and clothes, which Palutena insisted on using her powers to dry so that no one got sick. After their time at the lake, they were ready to go to wherever else Viridi was planning to drag them to. Or maybe Dark Pit would have been, if it didn't mean more walking. One look at his twin told him he felt the same.
"Hurry up, Phosphora!" Viridi urged, perched on a tightly-coiled vine hanging down from a tall tree, sort of like a swing. An organic swing? That's about as green as you can get.
Phosphora was still drying herself off, with sparks of electricity streaking across her skin. "I'm almost done. You can wait."
Pit had Palutena's camera, and once they finished looking through the pictures she took earlier, he tried taking some more. Viridi swung slightly on the vine, and with a soft smile, Palutena came over to push her. "I can do this myself," Viridi snapped.
"But isn't it fun to have someone else push you?" Palutena asked.
"Maybe." Viridi's annoyance faded into a relaxed smile, and the rest of them enjoyed the break they finally got. At least until the swing gave Dark Pit an idea. He only had to make eye contact with Pit for him to break into a mischievous grin, and when Pit whispered their plan to Phosphora, she nodded eagerly.
"We need a picture of this, though," she mentioned, pointing at the camera Pit held. "Give it to Arlon."
Pit was hesitant, so Dark Pit snatched it from him and handed it to Arlon, who seemed confused for a second. "We're going to push her," he murmured. "Think you can take a picture?" Arlon took the camera with a chuckle, and Dark Pit turned to his accomplices. Let's go.
Viridi didn't even notice when they approached. Palutena's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she eased into a smile when she realized and stepped aside. All three of them were ready by the time Viridi swung back, and Dark Pit watched his twin hold up his hand to count them down. 3… 2… 1.
"What the heck?" Viridi screamed as she swung higher than they expected, her long hair trailing behind her like a comet. At least she was holding on tightly. Otherwise she would have fallen for sure. After one or two swings, she settled into it a bit more, swinging her legs back and forth, although she didn't loosen her grip on the vine until she gradually came to a complete stop and glowered at them. "I'm going to smite you guys one of these days."
"But it was fun, right?" Pit tried. "Kind of like flying!"
"Yeah, no, absolutely not," she said flatly. "You couldn't, I don't know, tell me earlier?"
"What's the fun in that?" Dark Pit remarked.
"I don't know, but you sure seemed happy when you were going with it," Phosphora mentioned.
Before she could reply, Arlon walked over, camera in hand. "Is this picture adequate?"
Palutena spoke for all of them. "You took it at the perfect time!" Viridi's windswept hair and dress, along with the three of them still standing arms pushed out, captured the chaos pretty well.
"You too, Arlon?" Viridi asked in betrayal. "Whatever. I'm still going to smite all of you, but first there was something else I wanted to show you, and we're going to miss it if we don't hurry."
That meant more walking, but at least it wasn't far this time. Viridi led them to a clearing on a cliff overlooking the forest. A basket sat at the base of a large tree, and she motioned for them to get settled. "Arlon and I made some food. You're welcome."
"Really? You're the best!" Pit said, handing a sandwich to Dark Pit and taking one for himself as they sat down side by side below the tree. Palutena and Viridi joined them, and Phosphora chose to sit on the tree's lowest branch, while Arlon stood leaning against its trunk.
Dark Pit stared out into the sky, and watched in wonder as blue gave way to pale pink, which transformed into a vibrant red with streaks of orange framing the setting sun, bathing the Sanctuary in a golden glow. Pit said nothing, but Dark Pit could feel his hand on his own, and held it softly. Viridi turned to them with a smile, leaning on Palutena's shoulder. "This is one of my favourite ways to witness the beauty of nature, so… thanks for sharing it with me. But I'm expecting more energy from you when we do the rest of the trail!"
"Can't you just let us be for once?" Phosphora complained.
"The Sanctuary isn't going to maintain itself," Viridi said firmly. "I'm not going easy on you guys next time!"
"Whatever. That's a later problem," Pit decided. "All I need right now is another sandwich." Dark Pit smirked. Of course he does.
