Angels of a Feather (Kid Icarus fanfic)

4. Exploration

I got so sick of asking the same questions over and over again that I complained to Lady Palutena, saying we should put up a billboard with answers to frequently asked questions. She just gave me a look. "I understand you're feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, but we can't just treat these like another fight. These are the angels, Pit, your own kin! Each one deserves as much attention as another." I tried not to frown in a way that came off as too upset, but ever-perceptive Lady Palutena saw my expression and sighed. "But you've been working almost non-stop since Viridian first showed up, so I think a little break will do you good."

I blinked and stared up at her, hardly able to believe my ears. "Really?!" I cried happily. "Oh, thank you so much, Lady Palutena!" I ran up to her, gave her a big hug, and ran off before she could change her mind.

It was so nice to just feel the breeze blowing that I took off across the clouds, running and waving at everyone I passed by. It was... actually kind of weird to see Skyworld so full again. It'd been close to 30 years since anyone besides myself, Lady Palutena, and the centurions had lived in the kingdom in the clouds. It would probably just take some getting used to.

I wondered briefly where Viridian was, but dismissed the thought with the idea that he was probably busy in the infirmary, helping people. Maybe he was still helping-

"Pit?"

A vaguely familiar-but-not-really-familiar voice made itself known to me as I approached the compact housing. I didn't see the owner of the voice for a second until I spun to the left to see an actually familiar violet-dressed angel approaching me, followed by Uncle Viridian.

"Oh, hey Aurora!" I called out, running to meet her halfway. "Glad to see you up and about! We were kinda worr-"

"How do I know your name but not my own?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips indignantly.

I shot a look towards Viridian but he looked just as bewildered as me. "Uh... what?"

"Aurora woke up with a pretty severe case of amnesia," my uncle explained. "She said she didn't even know her name until I told her it."

My eyebrows shot up and I looked at the teen incredulously. "No way, seriously? That's pretty rough."

She huffed impatiently. "Especially since I saw you and immediately recognized you, but no one else. Why is that? Did we know each other before the war?"

"Um... no, not really," I admitted honestly, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand. "I didn't really... stay the same age between now and then..."

Those stormy blue eyes narrowed and she tilted her head. "So... you were younger back then? A lot younger than you are now?"

I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding - I was just so tired of people being surprised and uncomfortable at the fact that I had aged while they hadn't. Thankfully, Aurora didn't seem fazed by it. "Yeah, the first war took place almost thirty years ago," I explained. "Since I was the only one to survive, I didn't have the luxury of being turned to stone to keep me from getting older," I tried to joke, though it sounded flat even to me.

Uncle Viridian, from his same place just behind Aurora, rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded. "We keep age groups pretty separate until they graduate from flight school," he remembered. "Pit was only, what, eight? You're about fifteen, I think, so you wouldn't ha-"

"Wait, hold on," Aurora interrupted, frowning in less of a hostile way and more of a confused way. "Pit was eight thirty years ago? How does that work?"

"Oh, thirty human years," I was quick to fill in. "I was eight angel years, give or take. It's a weird conversion system," I admitted. This was common angel knowledge, it seemed strange she would forget that. Then again, she had forgotten her own name, so...