Hello! Here's yet another story (the obligatory backstory of sorts) that started off as a oneshot for Skyworld Slice of Life and ended up becoming a full-length story in itself (someone remind me to focus on one thing at a time-). It'll most likely be fairly short, but I'll make sure to update my other stories too, and thanks for putting up with my really inconsistent posting schedule! I hope you enjoy this one, it's been pretty fun to write so far! - Persimmon

Chapter 1

Pit peered past Palutena's arm at the album she held open on her lap, stealing a glance at her nostalgic smile and his twin's inquisitive head tilt before looking at the pictures. He liked browsing through old photos and videos together, and he could practically feel the teenage Palutena's excitement when she snapped these ones years ago. He usually didn't find it embarrassing, but for now, he couldn't for the life of him tell how much of Dark Pit's commentary was genuine curiosity or snarkiness. "Are you the one who's giving him a bath in this one?"

"Mhm! Although it wasn't the best idea to try taking pictures at the same time. He almost splashed water all over my camera."

Pit had to talk over his brother's snide laugh. "Look, is a baby supposed to know not to splash water around?" Maybe he just didn't like being made fun of for things that weren't under his conscious control. "Let's look at the next page."

That didn't change anything. Palutena didn't notice the blush on his cheeks, but Dark Pit did and was capitalizing on it. "What's he even doing? Eating his foot?"

"Okay, babies do that all the time! It couldn't be more obvious that you have no experience," Pit added pointedly.

This time, his twin ignored him. He was just curious. "But why?"

"Maybe it's comfy?" Palutena offered. "I don't know, it's been a while since I was a baby."

Dark Pit blinked at her in confusion. "Huh? I thought gods just spawned in, or something."

"Seriously? Everything that's alive must've been born at some point, and not all of us are broken out of a mirror," she mentioned, playfully tapping him on the head. "Also, no one is ever born a god. Can you imagine what a toddler would do with divine powers?"

Pit had heard that reasoning multiple times before, but he realized he'd never asked something. "So what were you? Like, before you became the Goddess of Light?"

"Haven't I told you I was born a human?"

"No way," Dark Pit breathed. Woah. I never knew that either.

She shrugged. "There's a reason I need the Power of Flight in this form. This body was never meant to have wings." Notice how she said 'this form'. Sometimes, it was kind of scary how little he knew about Palutena. "But between being born a human, raised by angels, and ending up as the ruling goddess of Skyworld, I'd say I've lived a pretty well-rounded life."

"Raised by angels?" Dark Pit repeated.

"We usually grow up under our predecessors," she explained. "But mine was kind of distant, so her messenger and tactician took care of me instead." She gestured at Pit. "His parents. So I guess they're also your parents? There has to be a picture somewhere in here…"

Pit observed his twin's reaction while Palutena scoured the album, but he seemed equally unbothered at not getting to feel what a normal family was like. I mean, we're not normal in any way, but the three of us count as a family too, right? It wasn't like Pit didn't know who his parents were. Palutena mentioned them every time she talked about the past, and he knew exactly what they looked and sounded like. The only thing missing was an actual memory with them, but obviously that couldn't happen anymore.

Palutena's voice snapped him out of his musings. "It doesn't look like there are any good pictures in this album, but you can sort of see them in the background there? I'll show you a better one next time. Their names were Lyra and Orion, by the way." While they pored over the photo, she gingerly pulled another one out of a pocket in the back of the album. "Also, I forgot we had this. Want to guess who she is?"

Pit barely needed a second to get it. "That's Medusa." It looked like she was resisting being dragged into the frame by Palutena, who was holding him with her other arm, probably trying to get a group picture. Even though he couldn't see most of Medusa's face, she looked strikingly similar to the goddess he fought in the last war. Except with dark hair in place of the snakes he was used to seeing.

"You look just as annoying as Pit-stain," Dark Pit noted. "Can't help but feel sorry for her."

"You're not wrong," she laughed. What's that supposed to mean? He would've challenged her if he didn't notice her smile turn bittersweet. "This was all before that first rebellion. Before the betrayals and deaths, and you already know about the wars that followed. Sometimes, I wish I could've just done something back then… or at least have taken a nice photo together."

"It's nothing to beat yourself up over," Pit reminded her gently.

She nodded quickly and tilted her head away. "Right. Sorry. This kind of stuff is the last thing you need to hear from me." Their gaze fell on the photo at the same time, and Pit couldn't help but wonder what went wrong to get them where they were now. How did things get so bad so fast? It was strange to think that it wasn't long before that smiling teenager and the baby she was holding ended up at war against the same friend she was trying to get a good picture with.

"I don't blame you for complaining. You would've had a nice family and your best friend, and I wouldn't have existed. It's a win for everyone," Dark Pit said airily.

Pit reached across Palutena to hit him on the arm. "No self deprecation in this household!"

At least their antics were able to lighten the mood. "You're one of the few things I don't regret about how things turned out. Anyways! That's enough reminiscing for one day." She took some of the other albums off the shelf to rearrange them, but all three of them stopped and stared at the faint glow emanating from the book at the top of the stack.

"What's that?" Dark Pit murmured, reaching to touch it.

"That's– Well, it didn't work anyways, so it doesn't matter!" Palutena swatted his hand away, dropping the picture she was still holding. Neither of them seemed to notice how the book shone brighter when the photo fell onto it. "I have to get back to work, so don't bother me unless it's important."

"Sure, keep hiding things from us," Dark Pit called sarcastically. She just gave him an exasperated look before telekinetically pulling her staff into her hand on her way out. "As if we can't make decisions for ourselves."

Pit was still thinking about the book. "Is it just me, or did it get brighter as soon as that picture touched it?" he asked, carefully pulling it off the shelf.

Dark Pit frowned. "Huh. You're right for once."

"For once?" he echoed in amusement, taking a look at it from different angles. "It's got to be enchanted somehow. If it's an album… oh, what if it's a time machine?"

"You think so?" That got his brother intrigued. "Let's see."

"Um…" This was the problem with having a twin. It was hard enough to convince himself not to try some of his more reckless ideas, but here was another guy who was even more determined to get his way. "We really shouldn't be messing with Lady Palutena's magic. It never ends well. Ask me how I know."

"What happened to the excitement you just had?" He didn't resist when Dark Pit wrenched the album out of his hands. Admittedly, he was still kind of curious.

"She didn't want to tell us about it. Maybe there's a reason for that?"

"Chicken," he muttered, taking a seat. "You do you."

"Hey, I'm not a chicken! You're the one who isn't thinking straight. If we're going to try it, we should be together, just in case." He sat down and peered past his brother's shoulder. "I mean, chances are nothing will happen. She even said it didn't work. Right?"

"Right."

They were absolutely wrong. They barely had a chance to breeze through the album's empty pages before a blinding light enveloped them. Oh no, this is exactly what I was worried about… There was a surge of panic when he realized he couldn't feel Dark Pit's arm resting on his leg anymore. "Pittoo?"

Pit had more than enough experience with teleportation to brace himself when the light faded, but it was a relief when he didn't fall out of the sky. He opened his eyes to a sunlit field, empty except for some grasses and wildflowers, and squinted to take stock of his surroundings while his eyes adjusted. The droning of insects filled the air, and it was hard to tell whether he was in the Overworld or Skyworld, but he wasn't going to accomplish anything by sitting around. He got up with a bounce and took a deep breath before carefully setting off, slowly stepping through the field and occasionally turning to look around him. Nothing.

Sometimes, thinking through his situation only made him more stressed out, but it was usually good to put things into perspective. Okay, so I don't have a clue where I am, and Pittoo and I got separated, and I see literally no way to get anywhere. I should try to contact him. Oh, maybe Lady Palutena can help! Why didn't I think about that earlier?

He had no hope when he activated his telepathy. "Pittoo? Can you hear me? Please respond, I just want to know you're okay." He added in the last part expecting not to be heard, so he tried again. "Lady Palutena? We need your help. Sorry for not listening to you earlier. Please?" The silence was deafening. "Then I guess I'm on my own. This isn't the worst that's happened to me."

Maybe it wasn't the worst, but it was definitely up there on the list. Pit was sure he'd spent half an hour walking around and getting nowhere, and it didn't help that there was no sign of anyone ever being there. It was too lonely, and the constant sunlight was wearing him down. He trudged a couple more steps before the nagging feeling of needing to talk to someone became too much. "I'm okay. I just have to find a way to get somewhere." With a grin, he tried an impression of Dark Pit's voice. Sure, maybe he abused the ability to copy it perfectly, but it wasn't his fault they had the same vocal cords. "Yeah, right. Good luck finding a lead in the middle of nowhere, idiot. And how can you be so sure it'll be helpful?" He switched back to his own voice. "It doesn't hurt to be positive! At least–"

"Um… do you need help with anything?" He froze when a voice he never thought he'd hear called out to him. There's no way…

He couldn't help but stare at the angel approaching him hesitantly. She'd probably been in the air until then for him to miss her, but that wasn't what was making him question his sanity. Between the fluffy black hair she'd tied back and the slate grey wings, she looked exactly like he remembered from their old family photos. So either I was right about the time travel or I'm hallucinating. Or maybe my mom had a twin like I have Pittoo! But then she wouldn't be this young, right? Okay, I'm really starting to lose it. Still, it felt completely unnatural to even think that one of his parents was literally right in front of him.

"Unless you don't need anything!" She held her hands up, fingers splayed, clearly startled. "Sorry for bothering you! It's just that I thought you looked lost, and no one usually comes around here for no reason." If there was any doubt in his mind, her reaction cleared it. Pit knew for a fact that he would've acted the same.

"No no, you're totally right! I just… My brother and I got lost, so I'm looking for him, but I don't know how I got here." That was close enough to the truth.

"Then I'll help you find him!" she offered with a bright smile. She was way too trusting of someone she met randomly, but honestly, he couldn't imagine doing anything different. "Where were you headed?"

"We agreed to meet up at Lady Palutena's temple if we couldn't find each other," he explained, hoping that his twin would have the same thought process.

That made her surprisingly suspicious. "Was there a reason to go there specifically?"

"Uh…" Her sudden change in demeanour caught him off guard. "It's one of Skyworld's landmarks, right? And we wanted to meet the Goddess of Light, so…"

It looked like that was a decent answer, because she switched back just as quickly. "Makes sense! I'm sure she'll be willing to help, but don't be surprised if she's a little on edge." It was easy to forget that even though they weren't much older than her, his parents had pretty much raised Palutena. Of course they'd be worried for her. But he never thought he'd get to see it firsthand. "There are some ways you could walk back to central Skyworld, but flying would be much faster. Are you up for it?"

He nodded, feeling suddenly self-conscious when she effortlessly took off into the air. At least he could fly for pretty long distances by now, but lifting himself off the ground was always the hardest part. He steeled himself for the embarrassment when he leapt up and beat his wings, flailing and almost falling before she grabbed his hands firmly to steady him. "You okay?" she asked with an amused smile.

"Yeah. Thanks." It was better once he was able to catch his balance, and she glided slightly ahead of him, leading the way across the vast stretches of land under them.

"Don't worry, it just takes some practice. You'll get there in no time," she assured him. "By the way, I don't think I asked what your name is?"

This was going to be a problem. Lying wouldn't help, but he didn't want to raise any suspicions by having the same name as the son she may or may not have had by now. I'll just hope this doesn't screw anything up. "My name is Pit."

"Oh?" She seemed surprised, but more content than confused. "So it's a more common name than I thought, huh? I'm Lyra, nice to meet you."

"Same here." You won't believe how nice it is to finally meet you. Pit had never thought much about how good it felt just to talk to her until now. It reminded him of Palutena, but there was something different about her tone, even if she didn't know that she was talking to her son from an entirely different timeline.

"What about that brother of yours? Who exactly are we looking for?"

"Well, we're twins, so he kind of looks like me. I mean, he looks exactly like me, just with darker hair and feathers."

"Twins? Aw, do you guys have matching names?" Lyra asked pleasantly.

"Um…" Never mind, this was worse than telling her his own name. Come to think of it, what kind of a name is 'Dark Pit'? Is that really the best you could do, Pandora? "I was born first, so he goes by Pittoo as a nickname."

"That's adorable!" she gushed. "I'm sure we'll find him soon, so don't worry, okay?"

"Got it!"

As the dirt trails snaking along the ground below morphed into gravel roads and eventually paved pathways, the Skyworld he knew was becoming more recognizable, and he could tell just how much it had changed since then. He could've managed by himself as soon as some familiar sights came into view, but he wasn't going to ditch Lyra like that. He just nodded as she enthusiastically pointed out all of the landmarks before they came in for a landing at the main plaza. "Alright, now to find Pittoo!" she declared. Heh. He's going to hate me when he realizes I got our mom to call him that as well. 'Our mom'. It still felt weird.

He'd forgotten how many more angels there were before the wars. And that there were humans living in Skyworld too. But right now, his main goal was not to get lost in the crowd. Lyra wordlessly grasped his hand to make sure they stayed together, and they barely managed to make it to a more secluded area when they heard a voice from behind them. "Lyra!" Judging by the grin that blossomed on her face, neither of them even needed to turn around to recognize the angel waving at them. What are the odds that I'd run into both of them?

"So you're the one who found the other twin?" Lyra called, nudging Pit with a smile. "That's Orion, by the way. My husband. And there's your brother." Orion gave him a friendly wave, and that's when it really struck him how young both of them were. Physically, neither of them could be past their early twenties, and yet they were doing some of the most important work in Skyworld. Runs in the family, I guess. Dark Pit peeked out from behind him, and his face lit up for a split second when they made eye contact, although he caught himself and waved indifferently. Nice try. I saw that.

"It's a good thing we were able to find each other," Orion remarked. Maybe it was his white feathers and bouncy movements, but he could feel the resemblance right away, despite his honey blond hair. "The main plaza is a busy place."

"Don't you have places to be, messenger boy?" Lyra teased.

"I could say the same to you!"

"Ah, sorry if we bothered you!" Pit apologized hastily. "Now that we're together, we can figure out our way."

"You're no trouble at all," she laughed. "We're just messing with each other. I have time until that meeting, and it can get pretty dull talking about military tactics, you know? Thanks for giving me something fun to think about!"

"I could show you to Palutena's temple if you need," Orion offered. "But if you'd rather go yourselves, you just have to go east from here, and there's a pathway that'll take you there. It's pretty hard to miss."

"We can manage," Dark Pit spoke up. "You should go and get those messages delivered. But thanks."

"No problem!" he beamed. "Take care, you two!"

Lyra waved and they got ready to leave, but something didn't feel complete. "Wait!" They turned, and Pit impulsively dragged his twin over and pulled all of them into a hug. Their first-ever hug together. "Thanks for everything."

They were obviously surprised, but it wasn't long before they returned the hug. Even Dark Pit didn't seem to mind as much as usual. "We're just doing our job. You guys are too cute!" Lyra lowered her voice and murmured, "I'm speaking for both of us when I say that this is the kind of moment we work for. Sorry if that was a bit personal, but thank you."

"Good luck with everything!" Orion added. "But maybe start by getting a bit better at navigating this place?"

"We will!" The whole thing felt surreal, even after they took off with a shared smile and flew away into the sunlit sky.

He barely registered Dark Pit tapping him on the shoulder. "What was that for?"

"It just felt natural. You know we both would've regretted it otherwise."

"Yeah." He paused. "Hey, you okay? You're tearing up."

"I'm not– Okay, fine, maybe I am."

Dark Pit didn't look at him when he pulled him closer with his wing. "Let's figure out a way to get back to wherever we came from before a certain someone starts scouring the realm looking for us."

"Right. Lady Palutena is our only option right now, but don't worry, I know where to go from here." Pit led the way as the twins walked hand in hand through the streets. "As long as we're together, I'm sure we'll be fine."