Author's Note

The terminology and character personalities used within this fanfiction will often switch between the English and Japanese versions in the appropriate moments, i.e. the power of flight would be referred to as the "miracle" of flight when cast for instance, but would still be referred to in mention as a "power".

The visual style intended for this fanfiction is akin to that of the Thanatos Rising 3D short that was created to promote Kid Icarus: Uprising. If this isn't your cup of tea, you can always imagine it in your own style or even the alternative styles that were used to promote Kid Icarus Uprising such as Palutena's Revolting Dinner, Medusa's Revenge, or even the in-game cutscenes.

Kid Icarus belongs to Nintendo and Sora Ltd. I in no way own the IP in any way, shape, or form. I am just a humble artist who is sharing their love for the series in a respectful way without profit.

= Chapter 1: Distress Signal =

In the early morning of Skyworld, a lone angel is outside practicing his skills with his trusty bow, gifted to him by the goddess he dedicated his seemingly eternal life to. Despite the commotion of his strong swipes and battle cries, virtually no one could hear him, which is what he wanted. The last thing he'd want to do is disturb everyone who is still sleeping at this hour, so he goes to the farthest island to train. It has never been a dull moment with the angel, he would keep himself busy even when everything was peaceful and relaxed.

With another calculated, but fierce strike with the blade that was once an entire bow, the angel skidded a bit with a posture that truly showed that he was experienced in battle. Not only was he skilled, he was the captain of what is known as the Icarus Army. The Centurions that are part of this army however, couldn't hold a candle to their captain in terms of strength and determination. The knowledge that they will inevitably be brought back to life if they expire gave them no real motivation to get stronger. This causes their goddess, Palutena, to just send their captain out to basically act as her entire army. This was never a problem for the angel as he truly cherished his time spent out in the field, showing just what he was capable of, even if it got scary at times. And to top it all off, he is able to simulate an ability that he unfortunately lacks, the ability to fly. Even though he had wings, they were mere decoration as they were virtually too small to carry his weight; he could only do so much.

After a few more slashes at the air with all the speed he could muster, he stood up straight, calling it quits for the time being. He put his bow back into one piece and looked out at the horizon, his hair, tunic, and wings moving gently in the light breeze. Skyworld was truly a beautiful sight, in the morning, in the afternoon, and even at night. Even if he had seen it all routinely, it never ceased to make him feel at peace, knowing that he continues to serve as its protector from any evil wrongdoing. After gazing at the habitual dance of the clouds afar, the captain walked back to the main section of the islands, ready to start the day. Things may have been peaceful since the defeat of the lord of the underworld, but there was still some cleaning up to do in the Overworld. The monsters continued to linger, and it was the angel's duty to rid of the stragglers.

"Good luck, Pit!" The goddess telepathically speaks to Pit as the angel rushes out through a hallway and leaps out a door that wasn't there before, being transferred to the outer reaches of Skyworld and down to the Overworld below with the Miracle of Flight granted to him by Palutena's will. In the back of his mind, Pit knew very well how long he had until the miracle would inevitably burn his wings, a situation he never wanted to experience again even if it was to save someone he cared about. Each time he is sent out, he has to brute force his way through any and all enemies standing in his way, which has got better with time. While he was a good shot, his aiming was near perfect now as each and every underworld monster he passed by gets sniped with pinpoint accuracy. It wasn't a stretch to say that Pit was enjoying himself while doing his job, it was adrenaline pumping and the monsters weren't really all that tough to begin with; a cakewalk if you will.

As Pit was metaphorically sweeping up unwanted dirt from the Overworld, Palutena started sensing something strange…

"I'm picking up some sort of energy spike from the underworld. It almost feels like a distress signal."

"A distress signal?" Pit questioned.

"Yes, and it's unlike anything I've felt before."

Palutena pondered for a moment.

"Though, it kind of feels a bit familiar somehow."

"Well since I'm making short work of what's left of the Underworld army, should we go check it out? Maybe someone is calling for help down there." Pit added.

Once more, Palutena thought about it for a moment.

"I don't know. There's something about this 'signal' that doesn't seem normal."

Pit started to ponder about the situation as well, the thought of a major energy spike occurring near the underworld made him think about two people he didn't like very much: Hades and Medusa. While Hades has no actual body to speak of, the possibility of Medusa coming back… somehow was on his mind. But then he remembered why she kept coming back in the first place. With Hades gone, Medusa is nothing, but dust particles in the wind now that she can no longer be reconstructed with the souls of millions. She's even more harmless than Hades was at this point. Soon Pit came to another conclusion: maybe someone, a being with immense power, was genuinely calling for help and happened to feel his presence in the area. Before he could say anything, Palutena had similar thoughts.

"You know… maybe we should go check it out." Palutena said with a bit of reluctance in her tone. "We cleared out the majority of monsters that are near the towns. All that's left are the ones that are mindlessly roaming about the fields. Thankfully, they won't reach the humans anytime soon. Though, I'm still reluctant to send you there, Pit. If anything happens, I'll pull you out immediately."

Pit nodded his head in response knowing she could see him. "Right. I'll be careful, Lady Palutena."

Soon, the angel's wings glowed a mystical light blue color and went full speed towards the source of the energy spike. When he got closer, Pit could feel the change in atmosphere and even air pressure. It wasn't quite the Underworld as it seemed to have been on the outskirts almost as though toeing a line between the Overworld and Underworld. Whatever the case may be, it wasn't a friendly environment. It almost gave Pit flashbacks of the Reaper Fortress and how lifeless and intimidating it looked. Jagged rocks lined the walls that were ready to shred any creature with soft and exposed flesh. The source was within a dark narrow corridor, wide enough for Pit to squeeze through without getting hurt, but narrow enough to not leave room for error. The farther Pit went in, the more unnerved Palutena felt as the feeling in the back of her mind told her that this was definitely not a good idea. She immediately heeded it when it reached its peak.

"Pit, I think we should turn back."

Pit glanced to the side in confusion. "Huh? Why?"

"I have a bad feeling about this. I'm pulling you out now." Palutena immediately tried to extract Pit and teleport him back to the temple, but Pit was still in the crevice.

"What's wrong?" Pit asked, trying to mask his nervousness. He was failing miserably.

Palutena kept her cool despite internally freaking out. She did this so as to not spook her captain, who already could tell she was losing her cool.

"Something, or someone is preventing me from bringing you back! Hold on, let me see if I can-."

Before she could finish her sentence, her connection with Pit was abruptly cut off. And in response, or rather lack of response, Pit's wings no longer glowed with heavenly light. His wings instead reverted back to their useless form, which caused him to fall down to the ground below. Pit screamed in surprise as he fell, trying to instinctually flap his wings in a desperate attempt at staying afloat, but to no avail. He soon landed, belly flopping to the ground with a rough bounce. This left him severely dizzy for a moment or two. The fall would've killed a normal person, but because Pit was an angel, his durability was not something to sneeze at, but it was no less painful.

After a moment, Pit slowly stood up, groaning softly in pain. He started looking around, realizing that he was in the thick of it now. The walls spread out a bit, but were still narrow and probably very hurty. Pit subtly raised his wings a bit nervously as he was unsure of what to do now. He had been through this situation before with being cut off from Palutena's communication, although the circumstances in which it happened he could easily live without. He soon started walking as there was nothing, but an abyss behind him. The farther he went in, the more he felt a presence far larger than himself. It started to make itself known soon enough.

"You… your presence feels like that of an angel. Who is this? Have you come to finally take me out of here?" The voice was that of a male, deep, yet subtly feminine compared to Pit's young teenage-like voice. It was a bit hoarse, seemingly due to the source not being able to speak for quite some time.

"Oh, so you're the one who sent that distress signal." Pit realized. "I am Pit, servant of the Goddess, Palutena! I am here to help!"

The voice was suddenly overjoyed. "Oh thank the stars above…! You have no idea how hard it was to conjure up enough energy to send out a signal. And then the one who answered it was none other than my old friend, Palutena of all people? Beautiful, simply beautiful~!"

Pit had an incredulous look on his face. "Wait, old friend?"
The voice sounded confused upon hearing Pit's question.

"Wait, you mean she never spoke about me? Oh.. now I feel hurt, absolutely full of heartache."

Pit couldn't help but roll his eyes from how dramatic the voice was being.

"No matter, let's focus on you for now, Pit. At the end of this pathway you'll find me, I'll help you if you help me."

The angel continued to walk down the path and started seeing colors other than grey, blue grey, and the faint smell of death in the air. There was a faint color of cyan that grew in intensity the closer he got before he inevitably came across a small chasm. Within that chasm sat a figure, unkempt and withered. They had large cuffs on their wrists and ankles while glowing, mystical chains haphazardly floated around within the wall they embedded themselves into to keep the figure in place. The most striking thing Pit had noticed when looking down at this sight was the figure's large golden wings. An angel? Here of all places? After a moment, Pit leapt down into the chasm and stood in front of the figure. The winged man slowly lifted their head when they heard the sound of something landing in front of them. He smiled weakly at the sight of Pit.

"So you really are what I sensed you were. Fascinating..." The figure said with intrigue. He glanced at Pit's wings, subtly confused by how tiny they are in comparison to the figure's own. Pit did not catch on to this.

"If you don't mind me asking…" Pit said as he walked up to the chained man. "Are you... also an angel?"

Pit's words confused the withered being for a moment before realizing what he meant. He soon chuckled in response. "No no, I'm no angel… Well, at least not like you anyway."

Pit didn't catch on to the phrasing of his words until it was too late to retort. The man cuts him off before he has the chance to do so.

"Oh my, I haven't even introduced myself yet! I.. am Eros, God of Love, primordial so to speak. That's not really important. What's important is that I have been wrongfully trapped down here for longer than I can remember! Nobody ever pays me a visit, not even as a joke. I mean seriously, the giant pests that live down here are having the time of their life compared to me! It's sad."

Pit simply stared at Eros through the winged god's speech, annoyed by his passive insult. He then put his attitude aside and tried to focus on the task at hand.

"So, how do I get you out of here?"

Eros froze for a moment and shuffled somewhat awkwardly. "I'm.. not sure actually, I was so desperate for someone to come down here to free me that I didn't come up with a plan to actually BE freed."

Pit nearly dropped to the floor from the revelation. How in the world is he supposed to help if there's no real way of setting the god free? This made the angel rightfully irritable.

"If Lady Palutena was here, she would've come up with a way to free you."

Eros smiled awkwardly. "Err… You could always use your weapon to break it. Right?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not that easy." Pit remarked.

Eros chuckled apologetically as he started realizing the gravity of the situation. Despite this, Pit tried the method anyways as the chains didn't seem to harm him in any capacity when touched. The weapon he had with him was of the Blade class, so it wasn't going to be too difficult. Or so he thought. As Pit was trying his hardest to break the chain, something was on the god's mind.

"Tell me, Pit, I know this is rather random to ask considering the circumstances, but... what is it that you desire?"

Pit divided his attention on Eros and the chains, making sure he didn't accidentally injure the god in the process. "... Well, I wish to fly by myself. I got here by the miracle of flight given to me by Lady Palutena."

Eros blinked in surprise. "I see. But I'm pretty sure that isn't the end of it. You desire something else, don't you?"

Pit's wings ruffled slightly at Eros' prying. "Nope. That's all there is to it."

The being laughed. "You can't fool a god like me, dear Pit. We can sense these kinds of things you know. You have a mind of your own, you crave independence. It's honestly a lot more blatant than your disability that's for sure."

Pit ignored Eros' insult and continued to try and break the chains, not wanting to entertain the god anymore than he had. The winged deity was getting too personal for the angel's liking, but the chain refused to make their interactions be cut short. Come on, just break already!

"Tell you what, if you manage to free me, I can grant you the ability to fly. You wouldn't need to worry about some faulty 'miracle'." Eros continued to flash a friendly smile in spite of his insensitivity.

"Sounds a bit redundant to me." Pit uttered almost nonchalantly.

Eros scoffed in annoyance. "No it isn't. Like I said, you won't have to rely on the miracle of flight anymore. You would be able to fly to your heart's content. No limits, no pressure, and your goddess wouldn't have to keep throwing you about like a rag doll every time you're called into action."

The angel took offense to Eros' choice of words and started channeling his anger towards the chains that continue to not budge from his strength.

"Lady Palutena and I work as a team, and I am eternally grateful to her for gifting me with the power to fly, in spite of its limitations. Sure it'd be nice to fly on my own and be independent, but I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for her kindness and guidance."

Eros sat there, unimpressed and indifferent.

"So you prefer to be stuck down here is what you're saying?"

Pit looked at the god in frustration.

"Palutena isn't here to help you out of this chasm now is she? She can only do so much and isn't exactly the most powerful of us gods. If she was, then you'd 've been out of here long before I had the chance to speak with you. I'm bargaining with you so you won't be stuck down here while I'll be free from my shackles, flying off to who knows where."

Pit glanced to the side for a moment, knowing that Eros has a point. Palutena's power had been challenged many times throughout their previous ventures and it more often than not caused Pit to get in danger because he was far too dependent on her graces. He then sighed softly and admitted to himself that Palutena isn't the most perfect goddess, but he continues to respect her nonetheless with what she can do. But before he could say anything, a familiar voice was heard again.

"Pit?! Oh thank goodness! Are you okay?"

Pit was almost taken aback by the sound of Palutena's voice.

"Lady Palutena?!"

Eros' expression was that of shock at first that Pit didn't notice as he looked up as though he could see Palutena physically. After recovering from the shock of hearing his goddess' voice once again, Pit focused and updated her on the situation.

"U-um, yeah, I'm alright. I managed to find the source of the distress call, it's-"

"HELLO, PALUTENA OLD FRIEND~! It's been years, how have you been~?" Eros gleefully introduced himself, cutting Pit off in the process.

"Oh no..." Palutena muttered in slight irritation. Now she remembered why the energy reading felt familiar. It had been so long since she had seen Eros that she had forgotten that he was there. "Pit, we should probably reconsider our decision."

Eros frowned. "Oh come now, don't be like that. The angel agreed to free me from my chains. At least give him a chance."

"This would've been easier if you had some idea on getting freed!" Pit said as he fanned his wings out in anger.

Eros shot Pit an exasperated look. "Well sorry for being desperate!"

Palutena simply watched them both bicker from her mirror with a blank look on her face. She then shook her head and interrupted them before it got pointlessly more intense.

"Look Eros, you were banished here for a reason. I cannot go against what has been set in stone just because you're feeling slightly uncomfortable about your predicament."

The god snapped bitterly. "Slightly uncomfortable? I'm literally sitting on a bed of jagged rocks! Just from the slightest shuffle, I can feel them being shoved right up my-!"

"Can we please come to some kind of conclusion?" Pit interrupted, feeling uncomfortable with where Eros' sentence was going.

Eros paused in response and cleared his throat, noting his outburst. "'Slight' discomfort or not, it doesn't change the fact that I want to be freed from this nonsense!"

"May I remind you of why you're in there?" Palutena spoke with a stern tone. "Your antics had caused Zeus to involuntarily create the Minotaur!"

"That was totally on accident, I swear!" Eros objected.

Pit did nothing, but stood there, bewildered by the reason Eros got banished. He didn't know the context and had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he might hear if he asked now.

"Palutena, please listen to me! I don't want to stay here forever over a mere accident! Zeus' retribution was disproportionate, I don't deserve this!" He then looked to Pit. "For heaven's sake, don't you agree with me at least, Pit?"

"Hey now, don't drag Pit into this." Palutena said as she narrowed her eyes. "We are not going to betray Zeus' trust for your sake and that's final."

Eros started to pull forward out of fury, glaring at the sky as though he too could see Palutena. "Why do you have to listen to Zeus?! You're a goddess, you can do whatever you want, whenever you want! Do you not have a mind of your own?!"

"Like an angel has to serve their goddess, can't the same be said for any god who serves under Zeus? He is the ruler after all. What makes you so different?" Eros spun his head straight at Pit after hearing the angel's blunt words. It definitely struck a nerve as Eros' expression was that of pure anger. Palutena looked on in surprise, but said nothing in intrigue. "Look, I don't like the idea of leaving you here like this as much as you do, but it seems to me you've been doing all sorts of things to Zeus. It just got to the point where he had enough of your mischief and banished you here. Don't act like you're so innocent."

"You little-! Shut your mouth right now! You have no say in this! I thought I could trust you, and this is what you say to me?!"

Pit crossed his arms and had a solemn look. "Oh I'm sorry, I guess you don't like the idea of me having a mind of my own now, huh? Admit it, you were just going to use and then leave me stranded here. But because you made fun of me, you had a change of heart and wanted to give me something I already have."

"Wait what?" Palutena said in confusion.

"He was going to grant me a miracle that makes me able to fly indefinitely, but I already have the miracle of flight, so it's pointless, right?"

Palutena was silent for a moment, but sighed softly. "In a sense yes, it is redundant. However, the only way you could have that kind of power is if he was willing to lend his own essence to you." Palutena glanced to the side uncomfortably, remembering what Pit's dark counterpart did when the goddess of calamity, Pandora, was defeated in battle all that time ago. "Not exactly the most graceful solution, but it would work in some capacity."

"See? Even she understands. But since you said such hurtful things, I'm deciding against it."

"It's not like you're gonna free yourself anytime soon." Pit shrugged.

Eros' face became red with anger and embarrassment. "Enough! I've had it up to here with your snide remarks, you impudent angel!" The god snarled. "Since you two chose to be useless, then fine… I'LL FREE MYSELF FOR ONCE!"

The winged god's fury was enough for him to somehow have enough strength to finally break the chains. One by one, the chains exploded like tiny firecrackers once one of the links were severed. Pit exclaimed in surprise at this display and started backing up to keep his distance. Palutena's eyes widened in shock.

"L-Lady Palutena, what do we do now?!"

"Don't worry, I can handle this!" Palutena soon placed a miracle onto Eros to immobilize him. This did nothing, but made him even more furious.

"I. Will not. Stay here. Any longer!" He spoke under the strain. "Father, give me strength!" He soon shouted in a rage and busted out of his confinement. The shock wave of his leap made Pit yelp in surprise, unable to rebound safely when he got swept off the ground from the wind.

"I'm free… I'M FINALLY FREE!" The god shouted at the clear sky at the top of his lungs. His voice echoed across the realm with such ferocity that it made Palutena uncomfortable. With the flap of his wings, Eros could feel his strength returning to him. He had nearly forgotten what made him who he was to begin with, at least until his final attempt to free himself. His father was the infamous God of War himself, Ares. That anger fueled power coursed through the young god's veins, of course it would've been enough to free him from his predicament! Subconsciously, he couldn't help, but thank Pit for unintentionally pushing him to his breaking point. What a great "friend".

Pit slowly got up, shaking the dizziness from his head.

"Pit, are you alright?" Palutena said in a worried tone.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Where did Eros go?"

"One thing's for sure, he's not anywhere near this area anymore." Palutena said, unnerved by the speed in which he took off. "I had forgotten how fast he was."

"The Lightning Chariot should take care of that problem, right?" Pit said as he dusted himself off. "We pretty much got all we need to stop Eros from causing havoc."

"That is true. But for now, let's bring you back. We need to figure out what to do about Eros before word gets out that he escaped."

As she spoke, Palutena was finally able to extract the angel who stood in place, ready to come back to Skyworld in a beam of light. Today had left the angel uncomfortable and irritable; The situation has gone from simply cleaning up Underworld stragglers, to a full on wild god chase. Despite this, Pit had conditioned himself to be ready for anything and started to prepare accordingly.