The Trophy War (Super Smash Bros. Fanfiction)

Chapter Eight: Palutena

   As we were lead through Skyworld's cloudy fields, Pit excitedly bounded around even despite his injuries. However, his counterpart, who we had been introduced to as Dark Pit, did not look very happy to see him. "Pit, I must ask, what brings you back to Skyworld?" The goddess turned and asked, stopping our walk. It took a moment for Pit to explain, but once he did, Palutena's expression turned grave. After a moment of thought, she nodded. "I knew something like this would happen eventually. Do you know who is behind it?" For whatever reason, Ike tensed when she asked, but he didn't answer. "No," Pit replied. Then, Dark Pit spoke up. "So you're saying people are basically getting turned to stone, and you have no idea where you're going or who you're hunting?"

"Well..." Pit trailed off, looking defeated. Then, Ike opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again, looking a little unsure. "Actually," I countered, "We do have one lead. But the problem is, our lead is pretty much a puppet."

"Oh?" Palutena's turned to me, a curiosity in her eyes that was slightly unnerving. "Please, do explain, Samus." As I explained Meta's whole debacle, her expression contorted into one of worry. She thought for a moment once I finished explaining, giving Dark Pit time to speak up. "You mean, he ran off with the statue of his kid, and wanted to fix it himself? Why didn't he just go with you guys?"

"At first, he thought it was us. I guess, through whatever happened, he realized it wasn't us, but by then it was too late to go back." The angel nodded, red eyes sparking with interest and eyebrows furrowing as he thought. Palutena was silent as she continued walking, still deep in thought. We walked in silence for a little while, until, finally, we came to Skyworld's gates. Behind the gates were a multitude of what looked like floating islands, with statues, fountains, commons, and in the center of it all was a large, temple looking building. "Wow..." I heard Toon breathe, taking in the sights against the flawless blue sky. Palutena turned to face us with a gentle smile lighting up her features, looking regal as a goddess should against the golden gates. "Welcome to Skyworld." Pit was practically jumping up and down with excitement, losing a feather from his wings every now and then. "I will allow you to stay in the temple, and I will heal your wounds there. Then... I will need to talk to you about... All of these things that are going on. Come now! The temple is not far away." She snapped her fingers and the gates opened almost ceremoniously, then she waved her arm and a pathway appeared that seemed to lead straight to the temple. "I will guide you. Please, if you can help it, do not get lost." As she turned away and began walking down the path, Pit and Dark Pit went behind her, the light angel waving for us to follow. The dark one didn't even acknowledge us, however. As Toon ran to catch up with the other two, Ike and I fell behind a little bit. "Hey," I said finally, making the mercenary jump slightly. "Is everything alright? I saw you tense a little back there."

"Oh, yeah, I'm alright." Yet, despite his reassurance, I could hear the lie in his voice. Ike was never really good at lying, especially not to me. "You're lying. Is there something you aren't telling us?"

"No, no, I'm not hiding anything. Just..." He sighed, seemingly giving in to himself. Then, in a hushed voice, he spoke again. "I know who's controlling Meta."

"What?!" I couldn't help my surprise. "Ike, why didn't you tell me- Tell us?" 

"Shhhh! It's a really personal thing for Meta. He told Marth and I about it, and told us not to talk about it with anyone else. I don't wanna betray his trust." 

"Ike, this is a different situation." I said critically, causing shame to appear in his expression for a heartbeat. "Yeah, I know. But you've got to understand. He broke down in tears telling us about it. He could barely form a coherent sentence after he told us. He was stuttering, shaking, the whole nine yards." Even though he had teared up while I was interrogating him, I had a feeling that it was a more fearful situation for him right now. "He never did that, at all. You know. He refused to show any emotion besides anger. Now... He's coming undone. I don't want to betray him now, when he most needs my trust." I understood perfectly, but at the same time, I wanted to know. "He's been through a lot, Samus. Just... Give it time, okay?"

"Alright." And for the rest of the way, we were silent. We had to jog a little bit to catch up with everyone else, but after that, we were pretty much already at the temple. Up close, it was even more impressive than it had been in the distance, the intricacies in the marble shimmering in the sunlight. As Palutena walked us inside, I noticed how there wasn't much else around except for an altar. "One moment please." A shimmer of magic, and there was practically an entire feast conjured in front of us. "All of you must be starving. Eat as much as you would like."

"Thanks, Mo- Lady Palutena!" I heard Pit correct himself as Dark Pit suppressed a snicker, giving his counterpart an amused glare. "Did you really almost call her mom?"

"Shut up! It was an accident!" Palutena's laugh was like a windchime, beautiful and ethereal. When Pit heard her laughing, he turned redder than Dark's eyes and attempted to cover his blush, with the other angel still trying to suppress his own laughter. I smiled to myself while watching their antics, piling my plate with food absentmindedly. Ike had already cleaned his plate once, and was going in for more as Toon was just sitting down. The only place we really had to sit was on the floor, so I went to join the boy, watching Zelda approach Palutena out of the corner of my eye. "She seems nice," Toon said, a smile nearly closing his eyes. "Look at all this food!" I nodded as Pit walked over to the table that she had conjured and started grabbing everything he could find, almost clashing with Ike over some ham. I took a bite from a turkey leg as I watched them, savoring the perfectly cooked meat and watching their antics. "Who, Palutena? Yeah, she does." I replied after I finished my bite. The young swordsman scooted towards me some and leaned on my arm, taking another forkful from his plate of food while leaning against me. I felt a surge of affection for the youth as I continued eating, trying to resist the urge to ruffle his hair and call him "kiddo". This is what a mom must feel like, I thought, then feeling a burst of panic. Wait, what? Why do I feel like a mom? Am I really that protective? It was a little confusing, but I decided that it wasn't something I had to stress over. Ike had always jokingly called me 'the mom friend', so in the end I concluded it was just that aspect of my personality coming into play. As we finished up our plates, Palutena and Zelda walked over together, a concerned look in Palutena's eyes as Zelda was telling her about what happened yesterday. "Then he hit the ground, and that was it. We all decided that Samus should interrogate him, but..." Zelda's green eyes traveled to me, prompting Palutena to look the same way. "She never told us the outcome, and he escaped after she went to eat." Then, it hit me that I never told them about anything that he had said. Shit! I thought to myself, Toon beside me looking a bit confused as I tensed. "Samus? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Toon, I just realized... I never told you guys what happened during the interrogation!" As the princess and the goddess walked over, Toon tilted his head, but remained quiet. "So, Samus... What did he say when you questioned him?" As I explained it, Zelda began to look more and more concerned. "That is certainly odd. So you've concluded that he is being controlled?"

"Yep."

"That would explain that," Palutena interrupted. "She told me earlier about it."

"Wha- When?!" Zelda looked a little confused as her eyes darted between the two of us, Palutena breaking into a knowing smile. "As we were walking. You were most likely distracted. I would like to know more about the controller, though." At that point, I wasn't really paying attention as they walked off, still chattering about everything the past few days had held. When I looked back at Toon, though, his head was tilted and his eyes were curious. Yet, he didn't say anything as we sat and watched the sun fade down the horizon.

A/n

I have a little anxiety about this one, to be honest. But, the next chapter will probably be better. I'm sorry if this isn't what you guys are expecting, but I'm still trying to come up with a concrete plot. I might shift some things around in the future, so please, stay patient with me! If there's any plotholes, please, let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!

~Zero