Chapter 1: Escape room
Chapter Text
Pit’s reflection shimmered in Palutena’s golden tiara. The metal felt cold, the way his heart was without his beloved goddess. He held it tight as tears of depression came up in his eyes, but he refused to let them drip. Palutena had done so much for him. It was his turn to repay the favor.
He just wasn’t sure if he could do it without help.
Scanning around the room, everything was a mess, as if it there had been a battle. The goddesses had probably done their best to protect themselves but still failed.
He turned to Pittoo, who was standing by the door, head hanging. His expression was dimmed and blank – but Pit could tell it wasn’t a face of sympathy. It was a real face. Dark Pit had been carrying something that was waiting and wanting to be put down. He needed to help him do it.
He noticed Pit staring at him; just decided to ignore it.
His lighter twin came up to him, worried and shy at the same time.
“Pittoo, is there something you’ve been meaning to let me know?” Pit asked carefully, not wanting to be scoffed at.
The ruby red eyes stared into Pit’s, but his expression still didn’t change.
“We need to save the goddesses,” he replied, changing the subject. He scooped Pit up and flew out of the open window.
“You hadn’t answered me yet.”
His twin only shot him a glance.
“Why did you have to keep Luciel away from me? Why do you hate him so much? He seemed afraid of you when I first met him, was he? How did you even know him in the first place? Why wouldn’t you allow me to make a wish off him? Was he trying to play his hidden agendas on me? Why didn’t you tell me his motives then? And did he capture the goddesses? If so, why? And how? Couldn’t they have fought back, or did he use some sort of weird magic on them? And also, since when did-“
“How much longer are you gonna continue ranting? I’m not gonna answer you, just so you know.”
“Oh, come on! You’ve been acting very mysterious around us, as we’ve already pointed out. What are you hiding from us? I only want to know what’s on your mind.”
Dark Pit did not respond. He visualized the blonde angel in his head and thought of everything that had ever happened about him. Everything in Pandora’s diary, everything Luciel had done and tried to do.
“Luciel…” he muttered.
“If Luciel is bad, I’ll happily help you fight him. Just- please.”
That finally convinced the black angel. He took a deep breath and reluctantly and hesitantly told Pit. It was a long story, so he took a while to finish it. He told the white clad angel Pandora’s experiences, Luciel’s motives, who he really was, why he was trying to deceive Pit…
Pit’s mind was a mess the whole time, even after Pittoo finished explaining. A memory image of his twin’s “tattoo” while sitting with him in the hot spring some time ago flashed before his eyes – he couldn’t help wondering if the seemingly loving angel Luciel actually already duped his other half.
He felt bad for disapproving of his clone for attacking Luciel. He was worried about Palutena and Viridi. He was mad Luciel had tried to trick him. But more than anything, he was unsure how to fix everything, which he now had to do.
-*-
Silence is everything in a stealth mission. As Pit and Dark Pit landed at the place where Pit had first met Luciel, they braced their weapons in case they got ambushed.
“Where should we start looking?” hushed Pit.
“Where do you propose?” Pittoo replied.
“Should we split up or stick together?”
“Mm, sticking together seems safer, don’t you think?”
“Okay then.”
The angels began trotting around quietly, keeping their eyes peeled for anything suspicious or dangerous. Neither of them said anything to risk attracting enemies or anything that might be a threat to them.
Dark Pit suddenly heard the sound of air movement behind him. He turned and aimed his arrow, but there was no one.
He didn’t put down his weapon – until he saw a tiny white feather fall from the ceiling.
He then knew instantly.
“PIT! RUN!”
As expected, Luciel – and not just Luciel, his army started pursuing them. Arrows and bullets and bombs and spears launched at the two, but they dodged it all. Their pace was the same as their attackers who were about a hundred feet away.
There weren’t many of them, but they were immensely powerful.
Just then, after a brief turn, Dark Pit pushed open a tiny, camouflaged flap, meant for a cat or dog, and shoved Pit in before slipping inside himself in less than a second. He held the door flap tightly until the sound of Luciel and his army passed.
He let go and stood up, exhaling.
Pit was a couple feet away from him, staring around. The whole place inside the flap was just a wide room with no end in sight. Pit wanted to ask how Dark Pit knew about this escape room but thought he might already have the answer to it.
“We’re safe. For now,” said Dark Pit heavily, facing away from him.
“Where does this place lead?” asked Pit.
“Dunno. Never been that far in this room. Never even needed that much space to begin with. I just hide here when I’m bored.”
Pit decided to walk a little further – and came across a wooden door. It was very subtle and almost invisible since it had been painted a rosey shade of pink just like the walls and floor and ceiling and the rest of the entire place.
“Where does this door lead?” he asked. He only asked out of curiosity, not because he wanted to know in the first place.
His twin quickly came over and slapped his hand off the knob. “Just stay in here,” he snapped, “You’re always at risk anywhere outside with Luciel and his ragtag band of angels.”
“I just wanna know where this door goes!”
“It leads outside, okay? To the corridor where we just escaped a deadly attack. You wouldn’t want a repeat of it. It’s well camouflaged, so they wouldn’t see it unless you open it. So do as I say and remain where you are, Pit Stain. And quiet!” he hissed.
“Okaay…”
Pit’s voice trailed off as he noticed a tiny thin green thread on the carpet. It took him a while to pick it up, since it was so slim, almost invisible. It was really long, so he suspected it was Palutena’s hair.
“This could mean they’ve been here,” suggested Pittoo.
“It could mean Lady Palutena’s been here,” replied Pit, “but I still doubt if Viridi would’ve been in the same place.”
Dark Pit was about to respond when footsteps were heard near the flap outside. The angels held their breath.
“They’re bound to be here!” came Luciel’s voice.
Pit clutched his clone’s shoulders nervously.
A knock was heard on the flap, which meant someone had probably kicked it. It was either discovered or by accident, but either way the two were about to be exposed.
Pit grabbed Pittoo and was about to run further into the room with he broke off his grasp.
“We don’t know where it leads,” he whispered.
Seeing it about to open fully, Dark Pit opened the door and pushed Pit outside, yet the white angel refused to lose his clone. He held the door open.
“No, you’re coming with me, Pittoo!”
Dark Pit stared back at him, eyebrows drooped.
“I will, Pit. But... maybe some other time?”
One more shove and the door was locked shut. Dark Pit began to run away from the flap and door, and while he was doing so he lifted his hand with the watch he’d been wearing, pressed a dial, and hoped for the best while the flap burst open.
-*-
“Noo! Pittoo!” Pit pushed on the door with all his might in attempt to get back in and save him, but it was bolted. It was no use. He knew he wouldn’t be any help anymore, so instead he just decided to run, away from the escape room.
-*-
“Dark Pit!” Luciel hollered.
The angel knew he only had seconds to spare. Still, he ran as far as he could, but there weren’t any more lights that far into the room. It became darker and darker, which made it hard for him to see if there were any turns up front.
Before long, he heard a hissing noise, but didn’t really make it a big deal. Quite soon, though, he smelled something weird. He quickly clapped a hand over his mouth and nose to prevent himself from breathing it in, but it didn’t keep it out. Still, he gradually felt a dizzy sensation in his brain, but the mist did not drain his energy and black him out.
But before he could wonder what was it that he breathed in, he stopped moving.
-*-
The whole place was a confusing labyrinth. Good thing was that if Pit was chased, he could easily lose his pursuers. Bad thing is… he could easily get lost himself.
Pit wandered around in tranquil, worrying about Dark Pit.
All of a sudden, he felt extremely bad for abandoning him (even though he didn’t really). He knew he had to find him.
He turned around and tried to retrace his steps, but he had already forgotten what turns he’d made. He stood, feeling more lost than ever.
“Pi-Pittoo… are you alright?” he said to himself.
“Possibly not,” came a voice from his right. Pit took a step back as a young, teenage girl emerged, “he’s either still escaping deeper and deeper in the room, or already captured.”
Pit’s face furrowed in fear but acted brave, “who’re you? How do you know Pittoo?”
The girl had long, dark ebony hair that reached her waist with a golden wreath neatly arranged in it. She was wearing a pastel pink strapless short skirt with fluffy fuchsia fabric wristbands and a long patterned sock on her right leg that covered from her knee to the bridge of her foot. She held a golden staff with a small ancient carving at the top.
She took Pit by the hand and dragged him along. “You’re not safe anywhere exposed,” she whispered.
He followed her back to the escape room and hid there.
“Sorry I gave you a shock,” the girl said, “but we need to stop Luciel before it’s too late.”
Pit stared at her, “and how do you know Luciel?”
“He’s my enemy too, you know," she said with a lovely serene face.
Pit’s eyes widened.
Chapter 2: Getaway diversion
Chapter Text
“G-greetings, my name is P-Pit, servant of the goddess of light,” the angel stuttered, still not sure whether to trust this girl or not, “might I a-ask of yours?”
“No intro necessary; I’m Allana,” she replied, “goddess of harmony.”
“Really? Never heard of you, sorry.”
“That’s because I prefer to keep my identity and power unknown to the world. That way I can protect everyone in peace without some idiots,” she emphasized the last word, “going after me.”
“That’s smart.”
Allana heaved a heavy sigh, “I must apologize, Pit. I am sorry I have not let you know the truth sooner.”
“The… truth?” asked the perplexed angel.
“Yes. Because my elements of harmony had been stolen.”
“Could you explain…?”
Allana blankly backed the wall before sliding down it and sitting down, then told Pit her story.
“My elements of harmony are what keeps peace around here, both for the gods and the humans down there. One of them is trust. Luciel had thieved it, that’s why he was able to disguise his deceptive self and trick you into believing him – if it wasn’t for your clone Dark Pit.”
Pit could not find his words.
“I’m thinking he took it when you both first came to this place. You felt sympathy for him when you saw him attacked, correct?”
“How do you know that? You- you were there?”
Allana flicked her eyes across the room before answering, “Dark Pit had known about his deception for a long time and had been trying so hard to protect you from it… from getting the mark. The one you saw on his body that other day. You get it by making a contract with him – which is making a wish with his power.” She turned and looked at Pit’s beady eyes, “that’s why he would be upset whenever you get less than ten feet away from him.”
Pit turned away and avoided her eye. He didn’t know what reaction to show; he didn’t know how to react.
“But while he owned my precious gem, he could have anyone believe anything he wanted them to believe. He used it on you, and Dark Pit must’ve known about it. He was trying to keep you safe.”
“So I’m not really as innocent and gullible as others say!” Pit exclaimed.
“Sometimes,” replied Allana with a smile, “But not entirely your fault this time.”
Pit tried to smile back but found himself unable to.
“That time I happened to bump into Dark Pit while trying to get my element back from Luciel, but without all eight elements I was a lot weaker, so he helped me and we defeated him.”
“He could be nice at the most unexpected times,” muttered Pit, nodding.
Allana grinned and finished her story, “To thank him, I promised him that at any time, as long as he needed me, I would be there for him. We became friends then.”
Pit discreetly glanced at her, who was expressionless.
Allana held out her watch. It was identical to the one Pittoo had worn.
“He didn’t tell me much, just showed me his location. As soon as I saw where, I put two and two together. I knew I had to get the two of you out of this, however much hardships we might go through.”
Pit’s mind was more of a jumble than before. His chest tightened. His breathing somehow intensified. He really didn’t know what feeling this was, or what to think.
“Pittoo…” he mumbled incoherently under his breath.
Allana grabbed him by the arm. “I can read you,” she calmly whispered, “It’s not hopeless. Think of it like this. Dark Pit, Palutena and Viridi are all smart and crafty. If Luciel’s army were guarding them, that gives us chance to take them by surprise. If they were in search of us, the three would use that time to escape. If they split up, that means less of them on each side, giving them chance to escape and us to rescue them.”
Pit nodded. Her words were reasonable.
She rubbed her fingers on a leaf on her wreath. Then, holding it horizontally out at Pit, she blew, and drops of aquamarine glitter sprinkled around Pit’s head. It was the Element of Hope.
“There’s only one thing we need to do. – win and nothing else. Will you help me?”
A smile wiped across Pit’s face.
-*-
Pit and Allana stood closely, back against the wall. Allana had cast a spell to make Pit’s arrows of light glow with fire magic.
“Remember the plan?” hissed Allana.
“Yeah,” replied Pit, “…but what if those goons catch you halfway? They’ll come back and get me!”
“I’ll still protect you. You’ll be safe no matter what.”
“Grant me the power of flight. I shall come with you! I can defend you too!”
“Unfortunately Pit, I can’t. But trust me though. Whether I fail or succeed, there will be a way out, and I- we will find it. Just focus on your part of the plan, please?”
Pit was tempted to say no.
“But Lady Allana, how should I find any of them? I don’t have magical powers naturally and I can’t track them.”
“Don’t find them.”
“Huh? Ain’t that what I’m supposed to do?”
The goddess shot him a subtle smile. It was barely even recognizable as a smile, but it was already enough to dissolve the worries of the white clad angel.
They crept around for a while longer. Even though Allana was half a head shorter than Pit, he felt safe, secure and strong with her, knowing he wouldn’t have to worry.
“Ready now?” asked the goddess.
“Ready!”
They started to walk in the middle of the path like Pit did before with Pittoo. Allana held her staff diagonally like a lance, and Pit braced his Palutena Bow and his cerulean eyes twitched around suspiciously.
“Luciel is after me too,” she whispered to him, “he needs the Truth jewel to dupe others into making the contract with him.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen,” replied Pit confidently.
She nodded.
Just as planned, a few minutes later the sound of flying was heard, so the two of them moved quicker. They knew they were gonna be attacked any second now. But for some reason, Pit suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. It was as if something had pierced through it when nothing had actually. Allana must’ve sensed he was feeling something because she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him along.
“My head’s pounding, he hushed in a weak voice, “do you think Pittoo might be in trouble?”
She answered with an expression that told him “possibly”.
An arrow shot from the ceiling and just very luckily missed Pit.
“They’re after us!” He cried, dashing along the path with her.
“Let’s go Pit! You alright?”
“Yes!”
The next fork path they came to, Allana headed right and Pit headed left. The army did as they planned and split to get the two of them. There were three after Allana and two after Pit.
Managing to keep a steady pace, the goddess spun around and smashed the closest window she could see with her staff, extended her fairy-like wings, then took off with Luciel and two of his comrades still on her tail.
Pit was also doing well. He heard the sound of glass breaking, meaning the rest of Luciel’s army had probably tailed Allana out. If they didn’t, she would still be on her way to assist him. He was sure of it she wouldn’t be caught so easily.
It seemed like his intense training with Pittoo the other day had somehow boosted his ground speed, or it was just part of Allana’s magic. Dashing around and taking swift turns, losing the bastards was a damn piece of cake. He stood hiding behind a turn, watching the angels still flying around for him before creeping away. Quietly and quickly getting back to the escape room, he suddenly noticed white mist he hadn’t noticed when with Allana.
Doesn’t matter. He only needed to save his black counterpart Dark Pit now. He would know where Palutena and Viridi were, which was why they came in the first place.
He ran around the labyrinth.
There was only one problem. Allana’s hope magic was slowly running out, with Pit gradually feeling insecure again.
-*-
“You!” Allana cried, beating her wings as quick as she could.
“Divine Lady harmony, it is such a pleasure to meet you again.” Luciel smirked, increasing his speed to catch up to her
Allana’s eyes tapered and glowered. “Oh save it! I know what you’re after, and you’re not getting it!” As quick as lightning, she swiveled around and pointed the tip of her staff at her pursuers and sent a huge yellow glowing laser at them while flying backwards. It successfully knocked out one of them, with two more angels at her, one being Luciel.
She continued flying as fast as she could go but was getting tired after a few more minutes. The whole time they’d been surrounding the labyrinth at a speed so quick they were all getting dizzy. Allana had attempted multiple times to get rid of her pursuers, but obviously it wouldn’t be that easy. Luciel was well prepared, both physically and mentally to fight her, after all.
However, Allana found it strange that as much as she tried to attack them, they never rebelled back. She felt as if she was flying into a trap.
Still, she couldn’t distract herself.
An image of Pit leaving the escape room and wandering around again suddenly flashed before her eyes.
Oh yes, Pit. She thought to herself.
“Hey, Pit, it’s Allana. Do you hear me?” she asked through telepathy.
Boy was he glad to hear her voice. “Yes! Lady Allana, are you alright?”
“I am fine. You need to look for Dark Pit! I sense that he’s-”
Not knowing Luciel had been aiming an arrow at her, he let go and it hit.
Allana let out a cry of pain as her wing got pierced, and she began to free fall and there was nothing she could do about it.
“Lady Allana? What do you sense?”
The angels were still zooming down at her. They were catching up, so she quickly recited a spell that opened a sky portal below her and she fell right in. It sent her back to her home near Palutena’s Temple, Mystery Mountain.
Lucky for her, the portal closed right before the angels could fly through. They kept hovering, wondering where she went.
She was also safe. For now.
Allana stood up and entered her pagoda.
It wasn’t over until she had served her purpose for showing up at the labyrinth in the first place. And she was determined to make it happen.
Chapter 3: Hardships initiate
Chapter Text
Pit peered out every window he came across. He sometimes saw the remaining angels, but no Lady Allana. He was beginning to get worried.
What if she really was captured? What would I do if she is?
Pit held his fist up to his chest and pondered. They were here to save Palutena and Viridi, but Dark Pit was captured by Luciel before they could. He had no idea where they were, and since his telepathic conversation with Allana was suddenly cut off, he assumed something bad had actually happened to her.
At this point, Pit was just taking a fruitless stroll around the labyrinth. He knew he needed to do something, but he had no idea what to do. It was only then he realized how much he had been dependent on the goddesses for the longest time and how useless he seemed without them.
He ended up in front of a door, a pink-beige color.
“Lady Allana… is this the right way?” he muttered, hoping for a response, but there was none.
Pit’s eyes twitched around, suspecting it could be a trap. He turned around and braced his Palutena Bow, pondering to himself if he should go in or not.
Aquamarine glitter fell from above out of nowhere again, and Pit immediately recognized it. With this sudden uplift, a sense of daring washed over him.
He reached his hand to the bronze doorknob, but as he tried to hold it, his fingers passed through it. His face creased in confusion, until he realized it was an illusion.
He lowered his hand before wondering if the entire door was fake in the first place. He lifted his hand and stuck his bow at it, which went through. Then, very warily, he took a step.
Then another, until even his wings disappeared into it as well – and it was nothing but pitch darkness and the only light source was from his arrows of light. He held them out, only illuminating a very short distance in front of him, so he could still barely see anything.
Carefully, he planted the Palutena Bow in the ground and moved the arrow across in a sweeping motion but also a stance for battle anytime with anyone.
Suddenly he felt a sensation of pain erupt in his head like a fiery volcano, which made the angel gasp and let go of the arrow to hold his head. His face twisted and he shivered in agony as he continued to look around.
His gaze fell back on the glowing arrow of light on the floor around two feet in front of him. A sandal, looking like his, stepped in front of it. Pit stared at it for a few seconds before turning his eyes up to look at who it was. Right after he did, though, he felt a sharp object poking him in the stomach, which made him step backward.
He took his bow out of the ground and prepared to fight, even though he only had the slightest idea of where his opponent was.
Whoever that is, he seems familiar, Pit thought to himself.
“Pit! Be careful!” came Allana’s voice in his mind.
“Lady Allana! I hear you, but who’s-“
He was distracted as a hand picked up the arrow of light and hovered horizontally in midair, which Pit assumed whoever it was doing that had a bow like he did.
Pit instantly knew what was going to happen. He rolled over, right dodging the arrow as it hurled past him. Glaring, he braced his Palutena Bow like a crossbow, trying to be brave. The arrow that was shot at him seemed to have somehow vaporized, leaving the room in complete darkness.
Pit breathed heavily, ready for whatever was going to ambush him.
Light footsteps clicked as they gradually got closer in front of him.
-*-
Allana gasped as Pit’s attacker showed himself. She had been watching him intently through a magical image, and she knew she had predicted correctly.
“Pit can’t defeat him. If he doesn’t leave as soon as he too will lose his mind…”
Heading over to the rows of small drawers at one side of the pagoda, she gently knocked on one. It opened itself, and a poof of lilac mist shot out. After it dispersed, a scroll floated out of the drawer and landed in her hands. She then jumped on her staff like a broomstick and sailed straight into the image like a portal.
-*-
“Move out Pit Stain!”
“Pittoo? Argh!”
Pit skillfully dodged his doppelganger as he attempted to jump and strike on him.
“Call me that one more time, you die. I swear on your life.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
He did not respond. He just charged forward and began to fight Pit.
Pit flipped out of the way and instead tried communicating with him.
“I don’t want to fight you! We came together as a duo, remember? What are you doing?! It’s me, Pit!” he shouted.
“What do you think?” Dark Pit responded somberly with a slash from his staff.
“Uhm, a-attacking me for absolutely no reason?”
Dark Pit leapt at Pit, who got hit right smack and was sent sprawling across the ground. He obviously wasn’t done yet, so he quickly picked himself off the ground to avoid being hit more times.
Given the room was still dark, Pit didn’t see Dark Pit coming from the side and knocking the Palutena Bow out of his hands. Unlike Pit’s arrows, Dark Pit’s bow didn’t normally glow. He had no idea where it was now. He knew he couldn’t fight Dark Pit disarmed and it wasn’t like his twin was gonna give him any mercy either. Additionally, the burning pain in his head was getting too severe to ignore.
“Get out of here, would you?!” screeched the dark angel, slashing his staff once more.
“NO! I’m helping Lady Allana keep her vow. I’m here to save you and I’m not leaving without you again!” cried Pit.
“Who the hell’s Allana?” Dark Pit’s ears perked up.
Pit let out a shout, desperately trying to dodge the hits, but he was slowly getting tired and he knew he couldn’t keep this up any longer.
“Someone who will get you out of this trance!” came an angelic female voice. Before either of them could react, a blast of lilac light zipped through the room, and the darkness started to look like it was quickly melting away. A while later they found themselves in midair, in the daylight outside the pagoda. Pit couldn’t fly, so the last thing he saw before tumbling down was the goddess of harmony twirling her staff at Dark Pit, who fought back with his.
“AaaAAAAaAAahhHHHHhhHhhHhHH-”
There was no ground in sight, and it looked like he would be falling for three eternities if a portal with a yellow ring hadn’t emerged.
Pit didn’t know what sort of trap it was, so he tirelessly flapped his wings, trying to avoid it, which obviously failed.
Pit was now hurling towards a reddish-orange surface after the portal closed. A split second before he did, his fall delayed, letting him land softly on his feet. Glancing around, he was in a cave. There were two exits on either sides, leading to different spaces of it.
Allana was sitting on a high boulder by the walls, meditating with a scroll in front of her.
“Lady Allana?”
“Oh, Pit? I’m so glad you’re safe!”
He chuckled uncomfortably. “You defeated Pittoo already? Last time I saw you, you were still fighting him.”
“I wasn’t fighting him.”
“Then who was?”
She stood up and looked down at him, “I sent my spirit to help you. I will keep him busy while we figure out a plan.”
Pit nodded before having a look around. “Is this where you live? Seems cool.”
“This is just a cave inside my mountain. The pagoda is the source of my magic and power. That’s why we’re out of harm’s way here because it keeps all outside forces away. Think of this as a little isolated, calm place.”
Pit smiled and breathed in the cool air.
“Now, back to the serious things,” she said, jumping off with a front flip and landing in front of the angel. She then lowered her head and said a quiet voice, “Dark Pit is under Luciel’s control. He doesn’t have his own thoughts anymore.”
Pit gasped. “Do-does it have anything to do with the… mark?”
“Likely,” she replied, turning to the side.
“So how do we free him? Is he just… gone forever?” he muttered.
“First, I have come to a conclusion,” replied the goddess, “Luciel isn’t trying to trick you anymore. Since he knows about my presence now, he definitely thinks I would’ve told you what happened and that you shouldn’t trust him. Therefore, I believe he is just trying to get you out of the way while he conducts his evil scheme. Which, unfortunately, involves Palutena, Viridi and now potentially Dark Pit.”
Pit nodded thoughtfully. “And by that logic, we’re supposed to get in his way and stop or at least delay him any way we can?”
“Yes.” Allana tossed Pit the scroll she was holding, “keep it safe,” she commanded.
“Sure what is it?”
“It’s a boost anytime you need it.”
Pit saluted with respect.
“Don’t lose focus, Pit. I don’t think Dark Pit’s mind control is significant enough to actually do damage, except Luciel is using him to go against us. He does not want the goddesses back with us.”
“Why doesn’t he? What actually is he planning?”
Allana sighed and rotated her head around before looking back at Pit and asked him, “Quick question: who do you trust more, Palutena or Luciel?”
“Obviously Lady Palutena.”
“Okay, different example. Imagine you never knew about Luciel’s plan, and that you just met. If Viridi and Luciel told you to do opposite things, who would you listen to?”
“Viridi, I guess. She might be heartless and stony sometimes, but I know she’d never want anything bad to happen to me.”
“There you have it then. You know Luciel’s motive.”
Pit stared, not understanding what she meant.
Allana let out a laugh before finally explaining, “What better way to get you to do what they want by getting someone you already trust to ask you to do it?”
Pit processed her words for a while before it hit him.
“You’re saying, Luciel took the goddesses to control their minds and make them help him with his scheme?”
“They’re goddesses. Why wouldn’t you trust them?”
“But he used Pittoo to almost beat me up!”
“That was his best shot to stop you. Dark Pit wouldn’t be any help to persuade any random person else to trust Luciel, so he’s just part of his army now.”
“But the goddesses don’t have the mark!”
“He captured them. He could’ve easily given them the mark then.”
She sighed before continuing, “I’m sure Dark Pit wouldn’t have admitted defeat so easily. He definitely would’ve fought back but failed before being hypnotized. I think he knows a lot more than I do currently.”
“I got this this time,” replied Pit, suddenly feeling a surge of confidence, “once we get him back we can revive Lady Palutena and Viridi!”
Allana nodded before turning to her right. She then started talking in some ancient language or something that Pit couldn’t understand, but it simply opened the sky portal.
“Let’s go.”
-*-
The portal reappeared inside Pandora’s labyrinth. Upon arrival they started sneaking along the hallways. Pit had sensed Pittoo was near.
He glanced at the goddess, who was opposite him on the other side of the hallway.
“Remember the plan?” she said to him through telepathy.
Pit discreetly stuck the front of his head over the edge of the wall, just so revealing his eyes, to see if Pittoo was on the fork path turn.
“If he starts fighting you, lead him back to the escape room. It’s that simple.”
“What will we do then?”
“You’ll know soon enough. Don’t worry, it’ll be easy. At least it’s not difficult. You got this, remember Pit?”
“Yes!” Pit turned behind but as soon as he did, his counterpart sprang at him and knocked him over again.
Allana activated an invisibility spell. She held her thin potion bottles in her hand, careful not to spill it. She pressed the corks to secure them.
“What did I tell you about leaving?” hollered Dark Pit. “Do I really need to do it for you?!”
“You told me to scram, well I ain’t doing it!” Pit yelled back.
The two angels brawled back and forth, but with Allana’s directions Pit slowly led him closer and closer to the escape room trapdoor.
“That’s right,” she said telepathically, “only two more turns.” She swung her staff in a circle from behind, which sent Dark Pit flying, but he stabled himself although looking somewhat confused about what hit him.
Pit started running and he followed.
“It’s just there,” said Allana, “ten feet away. All we have to do now is get him in.”
“He wants me to leave, therefore he’ll chase me everywhere. I’ll get him in in a flash!”
Pit dived through the flap and his twin did the same. He then held out multiple arrows of light and launched them as soon as Dark Pit appeared inside the escape room, which instantly pinned his toga to the wall right next to the flap.
By the time Allana had also rushed in, Pit was already holding his twin and making sure he wasn’t going anywhere until she had poured all her purple potion into Dark Pit’s mouth.
As she did, though, Pit removed the arrows that held him. After Allana emptied the vial’s contents into Dark Pit, she thrusted another to Pit’s mouth without him foreseeing it.
He gasped, as this wasn’t part of the plan. He didn’t know her intentions this time but it was too late as he already consumed the potion.
By the time the thought of Allana actually being against them had got to him, he had already fallen to the ground like Dark Pit did.
The last thing he saw before his eyes completely shut was the goddess holding her staff with both hands and vanishing in a poof of pink smoke.
Chapter 4: Ghosts of thoughts
Chapter Text
Why would she do this… why did I trust her… what does she want… is this how she knows so much about Luciel… is she one of his accomplices… what has she cursed me with… how do I get out of this… will we ever save Lady Palutena and Viridi… what’s gonna happen to Pittoo… has she taken over us… so I guess Luciel won after all… did he… what do we do- now- - ?
Pit opened his eyes. He looked in front of him – the escape room. It was really far in it, and he was going further and further in it.
But how is this even possible? No matter which direction he turned his head, he saw the same thing, running deeper and deeper. He looked down and there was his body and feet, not even moving, like he was trapped in a VR game. What was he experiencing?
He heard a hissing noise and a strange scent entered his nose.
“What is this?” he mumbled under his breath.
Before long he started feeling dizzy. It was probably some sort of invisible smoke doing some magic on him or what, but Pit didn’t have the energy to think about it. He focused on the image, what he could see, to know what would happen next.
Then everything turned black.
This left the angel confused, but when he looked down he could see his body and feet perfectly well, as well as his arms when he extended them.
“What- what is this place?” he said. His voice echoed out like ripples.
A sheeny sound was heard a far distance from him, which got his attention given that there was basically nothing else there.
A figure emerged from it. She was wearing a dark blue tight long sleeved short top and a skirt of the same color that left her stomach uncovered. There was nothing remarkable about her until Pit noticed how familiar she looked.
“Lady Allana? W-what is this place?” It was then Pit also noticed that the designs on her outfit looked like the ones she had on her staff too.
The goddess was facing him and looking at him, but Pit could tell she wasn’t actually looking at him. He turned around to see if there was anyone behind him that she could be really staring at, but he was alone with her completely.
“Lady Allana, are you ignoring me or do you want to say something?” he asked, desperate for some fruitful answers.
“To you, I’m dead. To everyone else, I’m a fresh start.”
Pit tilted his head, not understanding anything she said.
“You got what you wanted, didn’t you?” she exclaimed louder, deep emotions evident in her voice before decreasing it again and saying, “thanks to me.”
Pit had no idea what to say to her. Whatever she was saying probably wasn’t meant for him, but he stayed silent to see if she would say anything else.
“I’m not doing this for you. I know he might be, but I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this to rebuild the bond between my mother and I. But trust me, if you hadn’t broken it in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened to her at all. I would’ve still been there to protect her.”
Pit’s mouth was a flat straight line, wondering who she was trying to talk to, who “he” was and who her mother was.
Allana stayed silent for a while, staring intently forward at Pit’s direction. She didn’t seem to want to be the only one to talk, so he said something at last, although he was unsure if he actually should be saying anything at all.
“I don’t understand…?”
She waited a few more seconds, then, as if replying, she spoke again.
“He had always been oblivious, hadn’t he? You warned him about Luciel, but it wasn’t until it was too late he actually believed you.”
Luciel. Finally a name Pit had heard of, but other than that she was still being too cryptic for him to understand.
“I wasn’t going to lose this chance after what Luciel had done. And… chances like these don’t come easy. That’s why I lied to him. I wanted to seem like an ally to him so he would trust me and my mother would finally accept me again. Other than that, I’m still trying to leave you in my past… but if I was going to help her I would have to help him as well,” she continued, adding a strange emphasis on the “him” which made Pit wonder what that meant, “and helping him meant helping you, I guess.”
Allana heaved a heavy sigh, closing her eyes as she did so. She shuffled her feet.
“You might’ve been the cause for our falling out, but I never regretted knowing you,” she said, this time a lot calmer and plain, “you brought me a lot of memorable experiences. Still, I’m afraid it has come to an end… a long time ago.”
She stared at Pit for a while more before turning away, her footsteps in the distance.
“I have no idea what people you were referring to this whole time,” Pit called after her, not knowing what made him yell this out loud, “I don’t even know who you were supposed to say all that to. All I know is I’ve never done anything to you, Lady Allana.”
She stopped at those words, facing away from him. She turned her head slightly as if wanting to reply but didn’t. Instead, her body faded into the darkness.
“Lady Allana!”
Pit looked around him fearfully as the goddess’ words bounced around in his head, making him think about it more. Who was this scoundrel who had seemingly caused her so much pain?
Right after she left, the darkness began dissolving away.
The image seemed to be spinning around to form a fresh one, this time with Luciel the blond angel directly in front of him, along with a few other angels that looked like him a few more feet away. The sight of Luciel scared Pit half to death.
“I see the smoke has worked surprisingly well on triggering your memories,” he said, his shamrock green eyes seeming to penetrate through Pit’s azure ones, “I’m glad I got the information I need.”
“I don’t know what you want,” came Dark Pit’s quiet voice, but Pit didn’t see him anywhere, “but whatever it is, it won’t work.”
“I know that damned white angel friend of yours was another person you cared about, as hard as you tried hiding it,” he continued, flicking his eyes to the side, “you’d help save Palutena and Viridi for him.” He let out a malicious laugh, “Glad you did.”
Pit could hear distinct breathing before Dark Pit spoke again. “But Pit is also… you… you weren’t after him anymore? You wanted him to get the mark.”
The mark, Pit thought to himself, so it really was what Luciel wanted this whole time.
“That innocent little angel was so easy to manipulate and I would’ve already done it if it ain’t for you being a burden. You have the mark too, you know. Sooner or later you’ll become my servant, doing whatever I want you to do. But I already have enough of them, you won’t matter. And I will get Pit to trust me, once you’re out of the way. Trust me Dark Pit, I know perfectly well how to do that.”
Pit noticed how the angels behind Luciel all had the mark. It meant they were once just as innocent as he was.
“You better not do anything to her,” hissed the black angel’s voice in a stern tone.
“Oh, don’t worry I won’t. She’ll very happily do it herself, I believe.”
“What makes you think Pit would believe you? Surely I’m not the only one that would’ve warned him.”
“Who else would’ve?”
Dark Pit fell silent, not saying a word.
Pit listened closely, thinking about Allana’s warnings about Luciel.
“Dark Pit had known about his deception and had been trying so hard to protect you from getting the mark. You get it by making a contract with him – making a wish. That’s why he would be upset whenever you get less than ten feet away from him. But while he owned my gem, he could have anyone believe anything. He used it on you, and Dark Pit was trying to keep you safe.”
Luciel laughed again before turning around to his other friends, “find the girl.”
They nodded, extended their wings and took off.
The blond angel then slowly turned back to him, “you’re no match, I tell you. Once she destroys you, who’s gonna protect Pit?”
“I know what you’re planning Luciel! Your schemes won’t work on me!” Pit shouted out before being able to stop himself.
But they clearly wouldn’t hear him. Pit clenched his hands into fists in frustration, thinking he had let Dark Pit down somewhat.
Then everything blacked out.
-*-
Pit’s eyelids felt heavy, as if he just woke up from ten hours of sleep in his comfy bed. He sat up on the escape room floor, wondering what had just happened. What he had seen, what it meant.
He looked around him. Allana was nowhere to be seen, and Dark Pit seemed to be peacefully lying on the ground, asleep too.
That is, a few seconds later he too woke up. Staggering to his feet, he looked quite fatigued.
“Oh hell,” Pit mumbled under his breath before dashing out the flap to avoid being attacked again.
The strange smell, the ghostly figure of goddess Allana and the conversation between Dark Pit and Luciel kept him thinking.
What was it trying to tell him? And more importantly, if it was, how could he guarantee their words were truthful? He is a gullible little angel, after all.
Chapter 5: Cave of Tears
Chapter Text
The worlds of both the humans and deities haven’t always been peaceful. In the past, there were always wars that lasted years, decades at a time. The fights would be for the usual things: land, money and power. Obviously, there were those who knew that continuous conflicts was a big problems, but none significant enough to put an end to it.
All this time, there had only been one reason for all the conflict – the stolen Elements of Harmony. There were eight of them: kindness, love, loyalty, generosity, trust, hope, friendship and wisdom. The gods and humans had no idea they existed because the first person to discover them was the one that stole it.
When blonde angel Luciel first found the element of kindness, he didn’t even know the power it had. He just thought it was a magenta teardrop shaped jewel and thought it was pretty, so decided to keep it. During his adventures around the heavens though, he kept finding teardrop jewels with different colors that looked similar to the first one he found. By the time he had collected all eight, he had realized their power and the good things it brought him. For example, the element of love brought him a lot of popularity and the element of wisdom made him a mastermind.
Luciel wanted all the power for himself. He kept them in his castle, all locked up in a shatterproof glass dome, making sure nobody could get it.
Before the Elements of Harmony were created, everywhere was just chaos. But small, rare acts of good were what formed each jewel, before they hid themselves and were found by Luciel. If he had brought the eight elements to the council of gods and goddesses, they would’ve been able to use their powers to combine the powers of the Elements of Harmony and restore peace in both the human world and deity world. But he didn’t.
One night, however, when Luciel was light sleeping, he heard a noise that made his eyes pop open. They were coming from where he hid the Elements of Harmony!
He was not going to let anyone take them. Grabbing his sword, he raced to it.
The first thing he saw when he entered the room was a figure smashing the lock of the glass dome before lifting it up.
“NOT A CHANCE!” Luciel screeched and extended his wings, soaring towards the figure.
Hearing his words, the figure turned at Luciel’s direction, revealing her face.
Luciel landed eyes on her. There was something about this girl that just hit different to him. She was beautiful, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his existence. Luciel also noticed her glittery wings. She was a fairy. Fairies generally could fly faster because their wings were lighter than angels’ and therefore could fly faster, but they were also easier to damage.
For a second Luciel was dazed but wasn’t distracted at all. He slashed at her, to which she dodged with a backward roll.
She attempted to shoot Luciel with her wand, but Luciel also dodged that no problem. Seeing her about to go for the Elements of Harmony again, which were now uncovered, Luciel jumped in and pushed her out of the way. She let out a shout before being sent flying across the room and hitting her back on the wall.
“Who are you?! How did you get in here?!” Luciel shouted, looking around frantically for the glass dome, but it was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m Sapphire,” she replied, “and I’m here because you’re not using the Elements of Harmony wisely. Therefore I’ll taking them away from you.”
Sapphire’s elegant voice was just as beautiful as she was. Luciel was also surprised by that but nevertheless still wasn’t in any way distracted.
“And who are you? Why do you have the Elements of Harmony?”
“I got them for myself fair and square, so you better STAY AWAY!”
“The Elements of Harmony don’t BELONG WITH YOU! Hand them over this instant!”
“NEVER!” Luciel and Sapphire rushed at the Elements of Harmony at the same time. Sapphire’s fairy wand turned into a lance and they repeatedly slashed at each other. Luciel kicked Sapphire hard and she was sent flying backwards once again. While she was unable to attack, he scooped the eight Elements of Harmony into his arms and made a dash for the door.
It was the middle of the night, they were in a large, dark room and the only light source was the Elements of Harmony. Luciel knew his castle way better than Sapphire did, so she knew if she didn’t stop him before he left the room, there’d be a big chance she’d never get the jewels from him.
Thinking fast, Sapphire quietly cast a spell and threw her wand at Luciel, who was so concentrated on escaping with the jewels that he didn’t notice anything she was doing. Sapphire’s wand hit him on the back and an explosion occurred. It was small but big enough to temporarily blind Luciel as the light erupted. When the wand connected with his body, he was pushed forward, causing him to also drop the Elements of Harmony.
When the magical explosion dissipated, Luciel stood back up as Sapphire’s wand flew back to her. He was now facing her, who had a slight smirk on her face.
The Elements of Harmony were gone.
“What did you do to them?!” he exclaimed. His echo bounced off the walls.
Sapphire smiled. “I didn’t do anything to them,” she replied softly, “I’ve simply relocated them.” She crossed her arms.
Luciel also crossed his arms, “oh really? So where are they now?”
Sapphire faked a pondering expression before lowering her arm and pointing down, “there.”
Luciel looked down. For a brief moment he was confused before understanding what she meant.
“NO.” he said in disbelief. He was so angry that his expression was showing more shock than rage. “You did NOT send them to the human world.”
“Oh don’t worry!” said Sapphire, her voice a little louder than Luciel’s, “I’ve hid them well! They’re in a place where they can finally bring peace and harmony to both the deity world and human world.” She sounded like she was trying to taunt him.
Luciel’s chest heaved in and out. He didn’t know how to respond.
Sapphire continued. “I did what I had to,” she said while turning her head to the right before looking at Luciel again, “as I’ve said, they don’t belong with you. Someone else needs to protect them and make sure they’re used in a right way.”
Before Luciel could react, Sapphire turned around and disappeared, leaving him alone in the doorway.
It had been days after that encounter, but Luciel’s mind was still clouded about what happened that night. He hadn’t told anyone about it, and neither did she.
Luciel had made sure that nobody, not even his closest friends, knew about the jewels. So how could she? Sapphire didn’t look familiar at all and Luciel was sure he’d never seen her before in his life.
This fairy had so many questionable things about her, but one thing stood out the most.
How can fairy magic possibly reach the human world? This was something that normally only deities could do. Was she really a fairy, and did she really send the Elements of Harmony to the human world? Since she’d know regular angels like Luciel didn’t have the power to go down there, she could easily be bluffing.
But she wasn’t. Sapphire’s magic had teleported the eight Elements of Harmony into the human world, in a more isolated and mountainous place. There was a really deep and large cave, and that’s where the jewels reappeared after the explosion in Luciel’s castle. They were still glowing with magic after landing on the sandy ground and it took a while to wear off.
The Elements of Harmony were in the human world, but they helped the deity world as well. Funnily enough, nobody seemed to notice that the past few months were free of conflict. Slowly, Luciel even started to think maybe he had been a little selfish, considering all the good the Elements of Harmony could really do.
A couple more months passed by, and there was a heavy storm. A bolt of lightning struck the mountain, which triggered an avalanche. A gigantic boulder fell, and landed right in front of the cave, making it completely inaccessible by anyone.
The magical aura of the Elements of Harmony was activated. It started to diffuse around the cave, and as lightning stuck the mountain a few more times, it shed eight tears, which fell inside the cave and landed on each of the eight jewels.
Because they were magical tears, as soon as they landed, they froze, sealing the jewels to the ground. It wasn’t regular ice either; it was much more sturdy.
Sapphire hadn’t planned any of this. She had only intended to send the Elements of Harmony away from Luciel so they would benefit everyone. She got what she wanted though: the jewels safe and secure in the cave.
MetroidPrincess on Chapter 1 Mon 01 May 2023 09:31PM UTC
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simplyhys on Chapter 1 Tue 02 May 2023 08:34AM UTC
Last Edited Tue 02 May 2023 10:02AM UTC
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