4I just ushered in the New Year by writing fanfiction when I should be asleep. 2020 is off to a great start, fellers.
But you didn't come here to listen to me ramble! So, this story is a modern retelling of Kid Icarus: Uprising, which 1 person showed interest in me writing so I took that as a go-ahead. It is not a novelization of the game or anything similar(unfortunately no 4th wall breaking). While some events and most characters are from the game, many are original. Also, most characters' personalities have been changed, for character arcs. But they'll probably be back to normal at the end of the story, maybe. This story also completely disregards the original Kid Icarus game, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, and all established Kid Icarus lore.
If all that stuff above didn't turn you away, know that this story will contain: angst, fluff, humor, worldbuilding, character development, a smol angel attempting to find his place in the world, OCs, out of character behavior, maybe a bit of whump, but most of all, family.
Still here? Cool.
"That should about do it," A young, brunette angel said to himself, staring in a full-length mirror. He was in a small marble room void of anything, save for the mirror, a dresser, and a pile of blankets on the floor. "Whadda you think, Palutena?"
"Lady Palutena," A feminine voice snapped, though there was no woman to be seen. "And you look fine, I guess. Just make sure not to tell anyone who you really are."
"Aye-aye," The angel said, looking himself over one final time. He was wearing a loose white hoodie over a grey shirt, baggy jeans, and tennis shoes. His fluffy brown hair was as unkempt and wild as ever and his warm-beige skin was unusually clean. He wore a thin, gold chain around his neck and under his hoodie, which was how Lady Palutena communicated with him.
Palutena- Lady Palutena was the goddess of light, protector of humanity, and also Pit's boss. He'd come to her, homeless and alone, a little over a year ago. Whether it was pity or need that made her do it, the goddess decided to hire the boy, as a messenger, servant, and captain of her (rather useless) army. He didn't get paid, but he did get room and board, so it was alright.
The angel's name was Pit. He was 264, which was quite young for an angel, and couldn't fly. The reason for that was a bit of a mystery to him, but he was fairly certain it had to do with the reason that there were no other angels. Either way, he didn't remember and Lady Palutena refused to speak of it.
Turning away from the mirror, Pit grabbed a white-and-gold backpack, filled with notebooks and other stationery items. He ran over to a window and threw it open, taking a moment to enjoy the cold, fresh morning air. Then, without any hesitation, he threw himself out of it, free-falling down towards the Overworld.
"Remember, you aren't going for fun," Palutena told him. "You're to study and observe the young humans. Got it?"
"Yep!" Pit cried over the howling wind. "And the school's called-"
"Seaside Heights, I know," The goddess interrupted. "I'm not stupid- quite the contrary, in fact. I even got a job as a librarian in the same town."
Then, in a flurry of light and wind, the world around Pit shifted. He was no longer surrounded by crisp, endless blue, but about 5 feet from ramming into a sidewalk. An unseen force pulled him back, then dropped him on his feet.
"Thanks," The boy said, feeling his wings disappear. "So, should I find the library after school?"
"Yes, but act like we don't know each other, alright? And don't forget- you're not here for fun."
"I got it, I got it," Pit said dismissively, looking around. There were so many people. All types, too: tall, short, light-skinned, dark-skinned, social, alone, and everything in between. And while Pit was no expert on human ages, he guessed that the oldest ones couldn't have been over 18.
They were all mingling in front of a massive, 3-story school, slowly trickling inside. Some were chatting, some comparing schedules, and some just seemed intent on getting inside. The school itself had a beautiful courtyard, the plants perfectly trimmed and the flowers bright and tall.
"Hey," A voice behind him made the angel whirl around to see a human girl, maybe 14, standing behind him. "I don't recognize you from middle school. Are you new here?"
The first thing Pit noticed about the girl was that she was taller than him. Then, that she had fair skin dotted with freckles, curly light orange hair, and grey eyes.
"I, uh, yeah," The angel said nervously. He hadn't spoken to humans in a while. But it was just like talking to Centurians, right?"I just moved here, actually."
"From where?" She pried.
Pit knew of very few human countries. Desperately thinking, he ended up going with, "Japan."
The girl looked him over carefully, her sharp eyes making Pit anxious.
"You do look kinda Japanese," She said. "But you speak perfect English and you have blue eyes. Are you half European? I'd guess you are."
"...yes?"
After another moment of staring at him, the girl stuck out her hand to shake.
"I'm Anemoa Aurai," She said. "What's your name?"
Cautiously shaking her hand, the boy replied, " I'm Pit. Nice to meet you."
"Strange name, but I guess I don't have much room to talk," Anemoa nodded. "Good to meet you, too."
A sudden and loud ding-ding nearly gave Pit a heart attack, although all the humans seemed unfazed by it.
"That's the bell," Anemoa said, walking towards the school. "Welp, I'll see you around, Pit."
Seeing everyone else head inside, Pit figured he should do the same. As he walked, he dug his schedule out of his bag and looked it over. It was written distinctly in Palutena's lettering, which was rather surprising. She rarely ever did things herself, especially for him.
Period 1- Literature, room 210
Period 2- Physics, room 104
Period 3- P.E.(elective), room 116
Lunch
Period 4- Geometry, room 320
Period 5- Spanish(elective), room 218
Period 6- World history, room 311
"Alright," he said. "Literature, eh? Good thing I brought my copy of 'The Iliad' with me."
After getting lost several times, he arrived at the right class just as the second bell rang, sliding into the only empty seat, next to a short, blonde-haired girl.
"Hello, class," A middle-aged woman said in the flattest voice Pit had ever heard. "Welcome to your first day of high school."
After 30 minutes of listening to the woman- Mrs. Hubbard- drone on about the importance of literature and reading skills, she passed out packets of paper she called "the syllabus". When Pit got his, he could only stare at it in confusion. It was impossible to read, just a mess of random squiggles.
Lady Palutena, he mentally called. Why can't I read this? What should I do?
"It's in English," Came his boss's unamused voice. "I forgot, you can only read Angelic."
Well, then...could you translate it for me? Please?
"No," Lady Palutena said. "You're in a literature class, figure it out. Besides, it doesn't matter. You're just there to watch everyone else read."
Pit groaned. After thinking for a moment, he leaned over to the blonde girl's desk.
"Can you read this for me?" He whispered.
"Bug off," The girl hissed, emerald eyes blazing from behind her bangs.
Pit winced. "Jeez, I was just asking..."
"Why, are you illiterate or something? Read it yourself."
"I can't," The angel muttered, but the girl heard him. She stared at him, her eyes coming to rest on the gold chain, barely visible around his neck. Something in her eyes changed.
"You know, it's a funny story," She said slowly. "I can't read it either."
"Viridi? Viridi Vill?" The teacher's voice snapped the girl back upright.
"Here!" She yelped. "I'm here."
Mrs. Hubbard looked at her, dully, before turning her gaze back down to a clipboard.
"Pit Y...Ypsos?" She called out next.
"Here," The angel tentatively said, hoping that it was indeed him. Lady Palutena had never discussed giving him a last name. Thankfully, no one else called out "hey, that's me" or anything like that, and Pit decided that Ypsos was probably his fake last name. That made sense; Pit didn't seem like a common human name.
"Psst," Viridi whispered, poking him. He turned and saw her now wearing a pair of cat-eye glasses with a bright green frame, and holding out another pair of glasses to him. "Wear these. You'll be able to read."
Pit doubted that. He couldn't read this because he'd never learned how, not because his eyesight was bad. But, not wanting to be rude, he took the glasses anyway and put them on.
And, much to his surprise, Viridi was right- he could read the syllabus now. Shocked, he looked over at Viridi, who was busily reading her syllabus, or at least pretending to be. Still a little confused, Pit decided to do the same. It was mostly stuff he didn't understand, but at least he could read it.
After class, he tried to give the glasses back, but the blonde waved him off and said he needed to keep them. He was almost positive he looked like an idiot in them, with their circular lenses and wire frame, but Pit was grateful nonetheless and asked how she knew his problem- and how she fixed it. Viridi just laughed and walked away, leaving the angel as confused as ever.
Physics class was uneventful, and Pit spent most of it jotting down notes about the people he saw. P.E. looked like it would be a fun class, all about sports and whatnot, and he noticed that Anemoa had that class with him. At lunchtime, Pit sadly realized he didn't bring any food and had no human currency to buy anything, so he just tried to read 'The Iliad', although it was so loud in the lunchroom that focusing on anything was difficult.
He also had geometry with Viridi, although she avoided his gaze completely, and Spanish and world history both seemed boring. History, he thought, might actually be useful, though. It might give him some much-needed information on the Overworld, which he was so oblivious about.
After school, Pit asked someone where the town's library was, and they were nice enough to give him directions and even draw him a little map. He used it to find his way across the rather small town, to a cozy-looking building with a sign that read 'Seaside Public Library'.
Pit stepped inside, the smell of old paper and candles immediately filling his nose. He briefly looked around, quickly spotting Lady Palutena. Her green hair was easy to recognize, but she'd disguised everything else about her. Instead of her normal white dress, she wore a minty green t-shirt with a bright yellow sun on it, white shorts, and had her hair in a loose bun. And with his glasses on, Pit could even read the small nametag she had- 'Ms. Palutena Ypsos'.
Remembering her previous words, Pit went off to the back of the library. He knew he was supposed to be studying the humans, but honestly, Pit was a bit worn-out. Curling up on one of the small couches he found, Pit soon drifted off to sleep.
oOo
"Get up," Someone hissed, accompanied by a hard poke in the ribs.
Blearily blinking his eyes, the angel sat up, momentarily wondering where he was. One look around, though, and he remembered he was in a human library. Palutena was standing in front of him, hands on her hips and a very ticked look on her face.
"What's wrong with you?" She demanded, keeping her voice down. "I told you to study humans, and you just fall asleep?!"
"S-sorry," Pit mumbled, sleepily grabbing his bag and standing up. "I didn't sleep much last night- I was just so excited for today!"
Palutena rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever, just hurry up. The library already closed."
Trailing the green-haired goddess like a lost puppy, Pit followed Palutena out of the library and across a few streets, into a large, grassy park with a rather lot of trees, sandalwood and Beech. They went into the grove of trees which grew so thickly together it would be impossible for a grown human to fit between them, although Pit probably could. Then, in a shining flash of light, Palutena transformed into her normal self, long hair flowing down her back and clothed in an intricately embroidered dress. Pit, too, was back to his angelic self, and in a gravity-defying whoosh, the two were teleported back up to Angelland and into Palutena's temple.
"Goodnight, Lady Palutena," Pit cried, waving to his boss and she immediately stalked off to her room. She paused for a moment, but said nothing and kept walking. The boy sighed, then turned and scampered off to his own room. He tossed off his overclothes and collapsed on his pile of blankets. In the few seconds before he was out cold, Pit wondered if this was all his life would ever be, just serving an uncaring goddess and trying in vain to gain her approval. No matter. He would serve her, and since it kept him fed and off the streets, that was all that really mattered.
Right?
That was an exceptionally boring(and poorly written) first chapter. Good thing this is fanfiction and not one of my original works, eh? Anyway, I promise it'll get exciting(or at least interesting) in the next chapter.
Please review, and have a lovely day! Happy New Year!
