Hello, folks! This is my first time on FF, although I'm certainly not new to fan fiction itself. I've dabbled mostly in Pokemon on various forums in the past, but after reading some fantastic Fire Emblem stories on here, I decided, what the hay? I'll sign up and give this place a shot!

Since I'm still getting used to this system, I thought I'd post a little lighthearted piece I've been working on lately. It's something I've been wanting to try for a while, but didn't really get the inspiration I needed until recently. Basically, a crossover between Nintendo and Kingdom Hearts. It's probably been overdone to tears, but still-write what you know, right? Chapter length might be irregular at first, just because I'm still trying to figure out the system and what not.

Anyway, sorry for the long note! Let's begin in Kid Icarus' world...

Chapter One: Back in Action

Men came to call those days the Golden Era of the Goddess, the age without fear. The fall of the Lord of the Underworld brought peace and prosperity to all worlds of Angel Land, from Overworld below to Skyworld above. Watching over it was none other than the Lady herself, with the faithful assistance of her servants.

Admittedly, 'faithful' did not always equate to 'effective'.

Lady Palutena was grateful for the peace, of course, but she noted that it had the tendency to make people lazy. Particularly her people. Without enemies constantly threatening to break down the walls, the Centurions suddenly had found an alarming amount of free time that they hardly knew what to do with. Unfortunately, most resulted to sleeping on and off the job.

The goddess sighed as she passed yet another group of peacefully dozing guards. The simple oafs meant well, and would gladly lie down their lives for their goddess's will, but lately they hadn't had much opportunity for that. Sadly, however, the centurion army wasn't what it used to be—Medusa had seen to that.

The one person Palutena knew she could consistently rely on was the one person she was having a hard time tracking down. After the war, she had given him some space to let him recuperate. Taking out Hades had been no simple task, and Pit of all people deserved a break. But with morale taking a deep dive, she needed him back on the job. Now was as good as time as any to whip the Centurions into shape.

She thought that she might be able to find him on her own; after all, the little guy couldn't get very far on his own with his small wings. The task was proving more difficult than she anticipated. Her temple might as well have been empty for all the lack of activity on its grounds. Giving up, Palutena decided to turn to her telepathic powers. Sliding her shield off her arm, she turned its reflective surface towards her.

"Pit? Pit, where are you?"

An image of the angel replaced her reflection, jumping slightly as he heard her voice. Perhaps out of practice, Pit glanced left and right before remembering how her powers worked.

"L-Lady P-Palutena!" he stammered as he fumbled with something in his hands. Jerkily he hopped onto his feet and saluted her. "Er, I… Can I help you with something?"

The goddess tilted her head, half amused, half confused. His behavior was a little… off. "What are you doing?" she asked with a small chuckle.

Pit placed his hands behind his back, milking a façade of innocence. "N-nothing. Nope. Not doing anything here. Just a whole bunch of… nothingness."

That certainly didn't remove him from her suspicion. She narrowed her eyes playfully, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Pit, you do know I am an all-seeing god. You can't hide anything from me."

He shifted uncomfortably before apparently remembering he had to keep up his act. Plastering on a smile, he waved dismissively. "Of course I know that… Anyway, was there something you needed?"

Palutena didn't need total omniscience to see that obvious attempt at changing the conversation. However, she decided to let it slide. Sobering, she said, "Yes, actually—have you been patrolling the borders lately?"

"Well… No, not really… I… kinda thought you were mad at me." He rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Mad at you? Why would you think that?"

"Cuz, well, you weren't talking to me. For a while. I thought that… maybe I might've done something wrong."

The goddess of light chuckled again, slowly shaking her head back and forth. "You haven't done anything wrong, silly. I was giving you a brief vacation."

"Oh. Huh. So… is it over now? Can I go back to serving you?" His face lit up in eager anticipation.

"Of course."

The angel jumped into the air, pumping his fist. "Yeah-ha-ha! Sah-weet!"

"Yep. You can start with that patrol I mentioned."

"Right! Er…" Sheepishly, Pit pulled out something from behind his back. "Can I finish this battle real quick first? It's against the gym leader…"

Palutena grinned as she sensed the fourth wall moaning. How long had it been? "Is that what you've been up to? Fine, just hurry and get it done. I want that patrol done as soon as possible."

The angel frowned. "Why's that?"

Her smile faltered for a fluttering second. "No reason. Let's just call it a dry run. Thanks, Pit."

Pit stood straight and saluted the goddess, nearly knocking his handheld device from his hold. "It's always a pleasure to serve you, Lady Palutena!"

After preparations, Pit stood at the edge of a precipice waiting for his goddess. As he stared down into the clouds below, he heard her voice enter his mind.

"Ready, Pit?"

"Always!" was his enthusiastic reply. Pit felt more than prepared to end his so-called vacation. The rest had been nice, but he missed his two favorite things about his missions: flying and Lady Palutena's company. Admittedly, Pit wished he could go flying on his own; what kind of an angel couldn't use his own wings anyway? Before Medusa's first uprising, all the angels had been able to fly. But then, she turned them to stone and… Well, that was one reason why Pit felt so sensitive about his shortcomings: he was the last angel of Skyworld.

"Here we go!" Lady Palutena warned.

Pit glanced over his shoulders at his wings and watched as they lit up with the goddess's power. Grinning from ear to ear, the angel launched himself from the ledge and met with the wind. It ruffled his thick brown hair like an old friend in greeting, blasting it free from his face. Feeling an adrenaline rush wash over him, Pit hollered on the top of his lungs and twisted his body into a tight barrel roll. Palutena let him drop into a steep dive before swooping out over one of the guard towers.

"It's been way too long, Lady Palutena," said Pit when he leveled out.

"Well, if I had known you were ready to end your break, I would have contacted you sooner. At any rate, let's check out that perimeter."

Pit tightened his grip on his bow as the goddess controlled his flight path, taking him on a wide turn around her palace. Even though times of peace had fallen upon the realm, Pit's deep sense of duty kept his eyes sharp. Not even the serene beauty of the skies around him distracted him for a second. Five minutes was all he had to run his perimeter check, and the last thing he wanted to do was fail the woman he served so faithfully.

The first few minutes passed by without much incident. As much as Pit hated to admit it, his mind began to wander. Some time had passed since the Underworld Wars, and he wondered how the humans he had fought so hard for fared. He didn't have the omniscience of his goddess, so he had no idea if they had successfully rebuilt their lives. Were they growing things again? Were they happy and safe? At the very least, he hoped the goddess of nature, Viridi, wasn't giving them trouble.

"You're awfully quiet today, Pit," Palutena observed. "Did you lose your gym match?"

Pit shook himself from his thoughts. "Hmm? No, no, I won. I was just thinking."

"Uh-oh. That sounds dangerous," she teased.

The boy angel scowled. "Hey, I resemble that remark!"

To his chargrin, the goddess giggled. "I think you mean, 'resent'."

"I've heard it both ways," the angel huffed. "You know, you've been rather quiet yourself." He paused, giving this trip more consideration. "Why are we out on this patrol again?"

The goddess took her time to reply. "I'm not sure."

That took Pit aback. How could Palutena, of all people, not be sure? She was an all-seeing goddess! "W-what do you mean?"

"I don't know. It's just… I've had this nagging feeling these past few days. Like something should be wrong, but as far as I can tell, everything is going just fine."

Pit frowned, still feeling confused. "Maybe it's just gas?" he suggested.

"Er, I don't think so. It's… probably nothing. The power of flight is running out of time. We should get you back to the temple."

The angel's frown deepened. Had that much time passed already? "Aw… Can't we go a little further? Just to the other side of that cloud, maybe?"

"All right, we'll go a little further."

Pleased, Pit gave his wings an unnecessary flap. Although he had hoped the extra mile would drag out the time, they reached the other side faster than he would've liked. To his disappointment, there was nothing to be seen.

"Here we are," Lady Palutena's voice announced. "And here we g—"

The skies fell dead silent.