AN- This is an idea that's been floating around in my head for quite some time. I don't really know where it came from, but I suppose it's a little based on a oneshot of Reevee12's I read a while back, I think called Featherweight? I just remembered that now, so I guess it was sitting in my subconscious and combined with my ideas of Pit being the one who chose the roster of newcomers for Smash 4 to make whatever this is. Why Pit, you ask? I hope that becomes clear as this goes on. So, only my ideas are mine, thank you, and enjoy. –Twilight Joltik

Angel of Asphodel

Prologue- Pit

Asphodel, the dark void of a place where those forgotten by the so-called World of the Light ended up, the place where Pit had been tossed after his adventures had ended, never got any less unpleasant. Anything at all would be better than just being stuck in that nothing for the rest of time, even the Underworld itself, and he was certainly talking from experience. He had seen both places, travelled through both places for far too long, and unless his memory was abysmally selective, he would have welcomed finding himself climbing from the depths of the realm of Hades again with open arms and wings if it meant leaving Asphodel behind.

Not even Palutena's light could reach that realm. He hadn't seen her since he briefly exited the realm to battle Orcos to protect her, and to be entirely honest, he supposed he could probably bear wandering Asphodel forevermore if he could at least do it at her side. It didn't even have to be Palutena, he supposed, if he could just have someone to talk to other than himself. Even Medusa herself would be preferable to this solitude, but countless eons had passed with him alone, and surely countless more would pass before either he somehow faded into nothing or perhaps just went mad and lost all sense of self in that place.

Darkness and solitude and memories, that was all he had, and he was certain it was too late for that to change. No matter how much he looked for a way back to the World of the Light, they had forgotten him, and no one would ever come for him. Those ancient phantoms he vaguely and fondly recalled- Samus, Link, Mega Man, Simon Belmont- he couldn't even know if they'd been sentenced to the same fate as himself. Perhaps they'd been remembered and called upon; he certainly hoped so. Not even the vilest of demons deserved to suffer such a fate, and certainly not the most shining of heroes.

Nothing changed in that place, nothing would ever change, he was certain of that, but then he saw something he hadn't seen in countless ages: light. More specifically, he saw a faint rip of white leaking into everything in the distance, and in that faint light, a lone figure. A lovely woman in a flowing dress with a ribbon tied around her waist, seemingly tied to the light itself. The ribbon glowed as if it were made of the very light that was now leaking into the realm, making slight waves in the eternal darkness.

He stared in awe at the woman for quite some time, simply unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Had he at long last expired in this place? Was she some sort of angel? She was moving towards him, that much he knew, but something about her appearance looked almost foreign, like something that shouldn't belong in that realm.

It took him a moment to realize that what he was noticing was color. The pinks of her gown, the blues of her eyes, the golds of her hair; it made him want to cry, realizing color wasn't a thing he'd seen in several eternities. Something so simple had become miraculous, and somehow, he knew that even if this woman was to vanish suddenly and be the only thing he ever saw in the darkness again, it would be more than enough to satisfy his hunger for light and color and beauty for the rest of time.

But then, another miracle happened: she spoke. "Pit!", she called out. His name, how long had it been since he'd heard it said out loud? Not since the last time he'd muttered it himself to pray he wouldn't lose it to the voids of Asphodel. The voice was loud and a burst of something in a world of nothing, but much to Pit's surprise, it was also familiar. Though it took him a moment to place, he soon realized that the woman in front of him was Princess Toadstool, the liege of the great hero Mario.

"Princess… Toadstool?", he called back, but his voice came out like sandpaper. After all this time, it sounded so unfamiliar to use it as a response to one other than itself.

She gave a small chuckle, and the sound of laughter filled the nothingness as it hadn't in ages. "I go by Peach now," she explained in honey tones. She was close enough now to touch, the ribbon training behind her like a bird's tail feathers.

He attempted to apologize for his error, but was cut off by her extending her hand to lightly brush his cheeks. Judging by the small spatter on her white gloves, she had been wiping away tears he hadn't realized he was crying. "It doesn't matter," she assured him with a smile. "But this place, it's really awful, isn't it?"

A small nod was the only response he could force out. The look she gave him could only be one of pity, but somehow, it made him feel better. Someone cared, it seemed, and that alone filled his heart with a warmth he scarcely recognized. Another small giggle came from the princess. "Good thing I'm here to get you out, huh?"

The words, they didn't make sense. How could someone be coming for him, why now? There was so much he wanted to ask, but all that came out was a sob. His tears suddenly blurred the dimly lit void into a single streak of pure white light, and Peach's arms quickly enveloped him in an embrace.

Being near someone again, letting out everything he'd been feeling for so long, the promise of an end to the solitude, the light and the color and the sound and the laughter, it was more than he could take. It felt like she forced him to end the hug after a short eternity, though he was certain it had only lasted a few seconds. "Pit, you need to hurry if you want to leave," she instructed. "Follow the ribbon back to Master Hand, he'll tell you what to do when you get there, got it?"

He had no idea who or what Master Hand was, but he didn't question it, given how her voice had assumed a direness he wouldn't dare challenge. He held tight to the ribbon as he raced towards the harsh light, and it flowed like water in his fingers. Was it truly made of light like he'd thought? Doubtful, but it radiated a soft, beautiful light all the same. The closer he got to the light, to his salvation, the more it hurt his eyes and made his heart beat like thunderclaps. The moment that Asphodel seemed to end and a room beyond the light hit his feet, pure joy washed over him and he was certain that no matter what that place held, nothing could ever make him happier than entering it had.

Seven years later, and though Pit had experienced many moments of immense joy, he was still fairly certain he'd been correct in that assumption. Despite being reunited with Palutena, being told he'd exist in the world of the light for quite some time alongside many great heroes in an event known as "Super Smash Brothers", going on a third adventure all his own to defeat Medusa and then Hades, and barely even going back to Asphodel for a second, he was still pretty positive nothing had matched finally leaving that forsaken realm.

And that, as he sat in Master Hand's office, waiting for the preparations to be made, was exactly why his heart was beating so quickly. He was to retrieve newcomers for the next Super Smash Brothers tournament as Peach had retrieved him and many others for the last one. He was to be an angel for lost and forgotten heroes as Peach had been for him. This wasn't a job he was even remotely qualified to do, he knew that much, but it was also one he wanted very much. Even if the thought of searching Asphodel made him sick, the prospect of saving people like he'd been saved made a smile remain on his face.