A/N

I know I'm uploading two chapters at once, but honestly, it just seemed a good place to cut Chapter 2 off... Anyways, here's the last chapter, not including the 'Alternate Ending' that I'll be posting as soon as I have it written. (Despite my plan to post an alternate ending as a new chapter, I'll still be changing the story's status to 'complete.')

Disclaimer: I own none of the stories referenced in this story.

Pit looked warily up at the Palace of the Fates. This place, too, would have to be defended against Chaos' forces when all was said and done. Otherwise, his agents may use it to enter the Realm of Light. He would have to find a way to defend it without moving the Gods away from the main portal on Olympus. Perhaps, if he made a deal with the Titans after this was over. It might just keep them from fighting again if he could give the Island of Creation to them, but then there would have to be a fail-safe to keep them from abusing the Threads.

Shaking his head, he resolved to think about it later and continued onward. As he entered the Palace, however, he heard a small noise behind him. Turning quickly, his bow in hand, he placed one of the blades to the throat of whoever was behind him. His eyes widened in surprise.

"S-Sophia, what are you doing here? You were supposed to stay in the Realm of Light!" he said, pulling the bow away. "And don't sneak around me! I'm already too jumpy as it is!"

She looked abashed. "I'm sorry about sneaking Pit, but I knew you'd never let me come. And I couldn't just stay behind! I saw, when you got hurt fighting that... that beast!" She was clearly very angry. Trying to calm down, she continued. "You need me here in case he injures you again."

"But you could get hurt! You should go back to the Realm of Light right now!"

"No! The Goddess has already given me her blessing. I am not leaving you behind!"

"Stubborn girl!"

"Stupid boy!"

The two glared at each other a moment, before Pit sighed. No one, and he meant no one, could hold up long against Sophia.

"Fine. But there are some conditions."

"Great!" she said cheerfully, skipping ahead a bit. Pit gaped at her sudden change of mood. She turned when she noticed he wasn't behind her. "Coming?"

Pit just nodded and they walked side-by-side.

"Okay, first, you have to stay hidden while we fight! I don't want you to come out for anything until he is dead or has left. I mean it. If he's about to kill me, you still stay hidden. Got it?"

"What? No! If he tries to kill you, I'm gonna-"

"Sophia! No, listen to me. I mean it. He won't hesitate to kill even someone like you. You must stay hidden, because there is no point in both of us dying!"

"But-"

"No buts! This isn't negotiable."

"... Alright... but you owe me big for this!"

Pit smiled. "I promise, after this is over, I'll give you whatever you want!"

She smiled. "Good!" she said, as the two entered the Temple of the Fates.

Kratos had on his perpetual scowl as he entered the Throne of Lahkesis. There had not been a single obstacle. Not one thing to stop him. He had expected that.

What he hadn't expected was for the boy, Pit, to be waiting for him in this place where he had fought one of the Fates.

Pit watched as Kratos entered the room scowling at him. So, he was right. Kratos had intended to use the threads again. He shot a quick glance at the place Sophia was hiding- behind a pile of rubble that used to be a wall that had been conveniently left behind from the fight that took place here.

"Kratos," Pit said, getting into a defensive stance.

Kratos glared. "Pit, wasn't it? You lost to me once before, already. What makes you think you stand a chance this time?"

"I can't allow you to access the Threads again. Last time, I underestimated you." Pit's eyes hardened. "I won't do that again!"

He charged forward, swinging one of the two bladed halves of his bow horizontally. Kratos knocked it aside easily, and swung one of Athena's Blades. Pit backflipped, jumping over it. In midair, he put his bow back together and let loose an Arrow of Light the second he was on the ground. Kratos, quickly drawing the Blade of Olympus, hit the arrow away, where it exploded on a wall.

Using the momentum from the swing where he hit the arrow, he hurled the sword at Pit. Pit instantly placed the Mirror Shield in front of himself, and when the Blade of Olympus hit it, its momentum completely reversed, sending it back at Kratos. Pit charged forward right behind the sword, which Kratos caught and used to block Pit's slices. Kratos pushed, forcing Pit back and jumped, flipping and bringing the Blade down in a horizontal slice that Pit barely dodged. It had come close enough to cut his hair, and barely scraped his shoulder.

Sweating, Pit stabbed forward with his right blade. Kratos let it strike, and Pit, knowing what was coming next, let go of the blade and backed away as Kratos swung the sword where he was.

Pit recalled the blade still inside of Kratos to its other half, and flew into the air. He shot an arrow, which Kratos dodged. Just as Kratos was about to jump after him, he felt a pain in his back and turned. A trail of blue was just disappearing. What?

Pit fired a volley of arrows, which Kratos again dodged. He watched them a moment, then, to his shock, he saw them curve in their paths, right back at him!

Pit continued firing arrows, and curving them until the hit Kratos. His face was the picture of concentration as this happened. Kratos, frustrated with the rain of arrows, spun Athena's Blades quickly, reflecting them into the walls around the large room. Each arrow broke off a good chunk of the walls, littering the room with rubble.

Pit landed, once again glancing at the place Sophia hid. It seemed fine. Kratos took note that Pit kept looking there, and made sure to remember to watch it as well.

Meanwhile, Kratos took the offensive by firing Typhon's Bane at Pit, who once again used his Mirror Shield. The rings around Pit's wrist glowed, and he swung the arm they were on. They flew off, forming bright, white bursts of holy energy. One of them hit Kratos in the chest, but the other was dodged.

Before the dust from the blast could clear, Kratos came charging out of it, chest burnt but none the worse for wear. Oh, and he was wielding a giant, spiked hammer! He swung it down, and Pit rolled to the side. He gaped a bit at the crater the Barbarian Hammer left. What surprised Pit more was the large number of souls that came at him! Spinning his bow rapidly, he tried knocking them away, to no avail. They managed to get to him, and began attacking. It was only then that he realized they really didn't damage him all that much. A diversion!

Turning quickly, he only barely managed to knock aside the large, purple spear. It pierced his side, but the wound was only about half an inch deep. Ignoring it, he kicked at Kratos' head. This proved to be a mistake, as Kratos ducked under it, hitting the ground and causing chunks of it to fly out in each direction. Pit was hit repeatedly by them, and backed away.

Kratos activated Cronos' Rage, and lightning lanced out at Pit's wings. Pit bit back a cry of pain and retracted them, pressing them against his back. He pulled the bow apart and swung them, one after the other. Kratos caught each blade with one of Athena's, and the two were locked into a stalemate, each pushing against the other's weapons with their own.

But Pit, who was still young and relied on his special weapons, didn't have nearly the same amount of strength as the Spartan warrior, and was quickly losing ground. Gritting his teeth, he extended his wings and flapped them, jumping into the air and forcing Kratos' blades back, before front-flipping and bringing both of his own down. Kratos blocked again, but this time Pit had gravity on his side as the two pushed their weapons against each other.

Very suddenly, Kratos stopped pushing and Pit, surprised, drove his blades into the ground. Kratos used the chain of Athena's Blades to perform a sweep, forcing Pit to jump and wrapping the chain around both the blades in the ground. Kratos pulled, causing the blades to fly at him, and he caught them both deftly. Using Pit's own weapons, he charged and swung, but just before he could hit, Pit reached his hands out and the blades disappeared, reappearing in his own hand. He brought them up and stabbed them into Kratos' stomach. Kratos used one of Athena's Blades and stabbed Pit in the same place. Pit, who had the lower pain tolerance, backed away, before the blades were pulled by their chains and ripped out of him.

Pit's vision was blurry as he backed away slowly. How? How could any mortal be so powerful? Pit didn't notice that he had backed right against the place the other angel was hiding. Kratos spat blood onto the ground and pulled Palutena's Bow out of his gut, spilling blood everywhere.

He walked slowly, painfully to the place where Pit sat and tossed the bow down beside him.

"You did well, boy... but you never had a chance to defeat the God of War!"

Pit looked up and coughed, more blood dribbling down his chin. "You're no God! You are nothing. You have no idea, who it is you're truly up against!" He coughed again, closing his eyes. "There are more of me where I come from, and despite being their leader, I'm far from the strongest!" Pit stumbled to his feet. "The only thing separating me from a regular angel is my weapons... Weapons which, while the Goddess of Light is well, will return to her should I die... I know she'll find someone worthy to wield them. I have no doubt that when that happens, you'll die!"

Kratos scowled at Pit slightly.

"Thanks for the warning," he said, before bringing The Blade of Olympus up, "but it wasn't needed." He swung it down toward Pit's heart.

Pit closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come. But, rather than the sharp, piercing pain he expected, he felt a dull thump. Opening his eyes in surprise, he saw the third person at the Temple on top of him, arms around his neck and protecting him with her own body as a shield. Kratos had stopped his attack, and was staring at the two.

"S-Sophia!" Pit choked out, "You promised you would stay hidden!"

She ignored him and looked up at Kratos, tears in her eyes. "Please... stop!"

"... Calliope?"

Pit and Sophia stared at Kratos in confusion. "Calliope?" Pit questioned under his breath.

Meanwhile, Kratos was having a flashback, caused by the girl who had so much resembled his late daughter. His hand, the one holding the Blade of Olympus began shaking, as he was suddenly holding not the Blade of Olympus, but one of the Blades of Chaos. Sophia was no longer Sophia, but Calliope. Pit's damaged and bloody body was his wife's mangled corpse, caused by his own hand.

Pit saw what was happening, and, pushing through the pain of his wounds, shoved Sophia aside and retrieved Palutena's Bow, before driving it into Kratos' heart. Kratos looked down numbly at the blood flowing from his wound. His eyes met Pit's, and Pit would have felt bad about what he had done, if he hadn't known this man had very nearly destroyed everything he had worked for since first picking up the Bow of Palutena.

Kratos fell back and didn't get up again.

Pit staggered his way over to where Sophia was and fell to his knees, before throwing his arms around her.

"You promised to stay hidden..." he said again.

"... I know..."

"... Thank you." he said, pulling back a bit.

She put her hands on his stomach and they started glowing a soothing, white light as she began knitting his wounds together. "You're welcome."

"What happened?" he asked. "What made him stop? I know you have to know, Sophia..."

"... I look like his daughter, Calliope. He was forced to kill her."

"I figured that much. There's more, isn't there?"

"... After Kratos' family died, despite the pain he felt, he became rather... promiscuous. He moved around a lot, so I'd imagine he had many children he never knew about."

Pit's eyes widened. "Wait! You're...?"

"Yes. Kratos was my father... that's why I look so much like Calliope."

"I... I-"

"No. Stop. Don't say you're sorry I had to see him die," she said firmly, "I never actually knew him... the only reason I knew in the first place was because my mother described those chained Blades he used to me when I was alive. I don't care."

Pit nodded and sighed. "This is so messed up..."

Sophia nodded. "It is sad, but it's his own fault. His decisions led him to this, no one else's."

She removed her hands from him, having finished healing him a while ago. "So... what now?" she asked.

Pit put his hands on her shoulders. "You're really okay?"

"Yes," she said, exasperated.

Pit nodded. "Alright, then."

Pit let out a large breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he stepped back into Palutena's Palace.

Pit had left the Blade of Olympus with Zeus once again, and had managed to find new guardians for the Threads of Fate, though he didn't know how reliable they would be; he would watch them for a while. Sophia hadn't been lying; she really wasn't all that affected by Kratos' death. She had died before they ever knew each other.

Pit had only just finished helping the Gods repair Mount Olympus, and was just about to go to his quarters and take a good long rest, when a centurion flew up to him quickly. "Captain Pit! Lady Palutena is requesting to see you!"

He sighed. Sometimes, he wished he could just give up this job, but... well, there was nothing for it.

As he approached the room, he wondered what was happening. Chaos couldn't be making another move so soon, could it? He approached Palutena, who stood over the Scrying Bowl. She pointed into it, saying, "An old enemy of ours is back..."

Pit, confused, looked into it, and his jaw dropped. "No... this can't be! I recognize those Dark Realm troops! Are saying Medusa's been-"

"Resurrected. Yes. Though the Goddess of Darkness was killed long ago, we obviously can't underestimate her powers."

Pit grit his teeth. "Where is this? You can't be scrying them directly, so you must be focusing on the place."

She looked up from the bowl. "A few miles away from here."

Pit looked up sharply. "How did they get in? The Gods are guarding the main route here, and the back ways Medusa and Orcos used were sealed long ago."

She shook her head. "I don't know, but we have to stop them. Are you ready, Pit?"

He nodded and immediately commanded a nearby Centurion to gather as many troops as he could, all the while walking outside, holding Palutena's Bow in one hand and one of Athena's Blades in the other. He had a lot of work to do.

Meanwhile, a very pale man with red tattoos stared at the sky from his place in the Underworld. He sat up as a woman with a black tattoo on her face and snakes for hair walked toward him.

"So? What is your decision?" Medusa asked.

The Ghost of Sparta looked up at her and spoke. "I'll do it."

A sly smile crossed her face. "Good. Welcome aboard, General Kratos."

A/N

Yeah... I'd say by the way this ended, I definitely have material for a sequel. For those who don't know, some of the dialogue at the end, between Pit and Palutena was actually taken from a Kid Icarus: Uprising trailer. Once I've beaten that game, I'll come up with a sequel!