Angels of a Feather (Kid Icarus fanfic)

5. Sazahra

The first thing I remember after the awful chaos that was the attack on Angel Land was a horrifying, soul-chilling darkness. I lost all sense of direction and time, feeling like I was stuck in free-fall without actually falling.

Then... it stopped. I actually fell, from where I had apparently been standing, face-first onto the cold, damp store floor in front of me. Warm, steady hands lifted me up and kept me stable when I wobbled, unable to keep my balance. An unfamiliar voice murmured in my ear, "Careful, I've got you..." They looped one of my arms over their (slightly shorter than mine) shoulders and guided me forward, step by step.

I tried looking around, to get my bearings, to feel something other than aching numbness, to even figure out where I was or how I got there, but it was like my brain had a handicap lock on it - it wouldn't allow for a thought more complicated than leaning on the person guiding me and putting one foot in front of the other.

However, one thing managed to stick out to my utterly melted mind: the person helping me hobble along was holding a long, staff-like object in their free hand that glowed a brilliant silver-white. It hurt to look at it, as my eyes refused to focus, but I figured that was how my rescuer was seeing, even if I couldn't.

We walked through the horrible, hostile darkness for what seemed like forever until, all of a sudden, we were surrounded by light. Actual, glorious, warm sunshine. I still couldn't see, as the change in brightness was too much for my sensitive eyes and I had to keep them squinted shut the whole time, but we kept making progress. My rescuer urged me to put one foot here, another there, and I vaguely realized we were climbing up. No longer were we stumbling through thick darkness - now, we made a journey across the overworld, up what must have been a mountain. It took a long time, the air growing chillier the higher we ascended, but my rescuer seemed experienced and practiced: they had made this trip many, many times before. They knew exactly where to step and where not to step, where to hesitate when the wind blew too hard and where the safest, most comfortable places to rest were.

And we continued onward.

Eventually, we stopped. I had begun to try opening my eyes, but I still couldn't see anything beyond extremely vague details. My rescuer was nothing but a dark blob against the pale mountainside. "Stay here," they said firmly. "They'll come get you and I'll fend the monsters off." Then their presence was gone with a shuffle of shoe against stone and cloth against skin. I tried reaching out for them as they left but I was too sluggish, too unstable. I slumped against the mountainside and spun into unconsciousness again.

When I woke up a second time, I could actually see and think. I realized how much my bones ached, as if I'd laid in bed for days without moving and only just got up. I realized I was situated in a golden hot spring, the healing steam wafting around me and a handful of other people. They were... other angels. Chatting casually and happily, albeit looking as beat-up as I felt. When they noticed I had regained consciousness, they waved happily and scooted over towards me.

"Wh... what happened?" I slurred, tongue feeling swollen and dry in my mouth.

"An attack on Skyworld," one angel said solemnly. "Every one of us was turned to stone, and we only just now became un-petrified."

I frowned. "'Only just now'?" I echoed uncertainly.

The other angel twisted their mouth in sympathy. "It's been almost thirty years since the attack, Sazahra."

I didn't think my head could spin any more than it already was but it proved me wrong. I almost sank into the hot spring face-first, had the other angels not quickly caught me.

"I know it's a lot to take in," the first angel sympathized, helping to keep me steady in a fashion eerily similar to how my rescuer had done so. "Just stay here until you've fully healed and we'll get someone to help you settle back in, okay?"