If there was one thing Pit absolutely hated about Angel Land, it was the lack of outlets.

Seriously, all he wanted to do was charge his phone. That was it! But instead of being able to plug it into an outlet in the wall like any other totally normal human being, he was stuck with going to Palutena every time he needed a charge. But then again, Pit was not normal nor a human being, so this was honestly his only realistic option. The other option would be to fly down to Earth, find the nearest building, and charge his phone up that way, but again, that was much too complicated.

Pit sighed and stowed his phone away into one of the folds of his toga. It was dead at this point, and only Lady Palutena's light power could charge it. It looked like he needed to pay a visit to Lady Palutena. Again.

Pit slowly walked around his neat room and out the large door. His skin immediately burst into goosebumps. His jaws clenched together as he rubbed his hands over his arms. It really wasn't all the cold, but he had hit a nippy breeze and his body was not happy with him. Winter was on its way. Pit would have to remember to start pulling out his long sleeves and thicker togas as the weeks went on. He wouldn't want to be stuck in the snow in racing gear and a sheet.

He watched as younger angels flew past him in flurries of color. Early morning rush, as usual. The young angels were always in a hurry to make it to wherever they were going. Whether it was battle practice, or gardening, or preparations for the autumnal festival, they were speedily making their way there. Pit, on the other hand, was enjoying his stroll, and really had no need to go any faster. He would eventually end up where he needed to go. He had no one to train today, after all.

Fighting was, of course, the major task young angels chose to take on. The thrill of adventure and the fighting was too much for them to turn down. They were usually only fighting against minor Underworld monsters, but generally they didn't care. Though, there were a few angels who helped take care of Angel Land in other ways. There were always gardens to look after, young angels to teach, and festivals to help prepare for.

He took a long breath of air as he walked along, hands warming in his toga and legs keeping a quick pace. The air was fresh and crisp with the coming of autumn. Leaves blew gently on a warm breeze, flowing over the green grass with almost a chill of excitement. The season's changes were always beautiful, but the fall was one of the largest. Winter became spring very gradually, and spring transitioned to summer slowly in a way that could be unnoticeable. But when autumn came dancing at the angels' doorsteps, the preparations for the changing of heat to chill were taken very seriously by everyone.

Even Pit, which was saying something. He had had a little while to mature, but Pit was still really a child at heart. He adored teaching the younger angels swordplay, archery, and basic flight, and enjoyed learning about each of them as well. But it also made him slightly nostalgic.

"Good morning, Pit!"

Pit turned as a figure landed next to him. "Good morning, Cedar." He smiled at the young female angel, who matched his walking pace as she touched down.

She brushed back a strand of her long brown hair, which had come out of its usual braid. She was a pretty young angel girl, probably only around thirty years old (in human form, she would be around thirteen). She was small and very thin, but she had a knack for flying that probably came from her lack of body weight. "What are you doing today? Are we going to practice fighting? Or shooting? Or how about flying?"

"I'm off-duty today."

"Aw, really?" Her expression became visibly sadder, and her grey and brown primary feathers dropped a little. "I was hoping we could practice."

Pit ruffled the girl's hair good-naturedly. "I'm sure Kestrel would love to help you with your flying today. She's practicing for the Airball Tournament, but by lunch she'll probably be finished."

Cedar tipped her head slightly, contemplating Pit's words. "Okay," she finally said. "But can we practice in a few days, like when the festival is over?"

Pit smiled. "Sure.

"Where are you going then, if you're off duty?"

"To see Lady Palutena."

"Any particular reason?"

"Cedar, what did I tell you about snooping into my affairs?"

The girl sighed and crossed her arms. "It's rude and none of my business, I know, I know." She rolled her dark eyes. "I'm just curious."

"I know you are, and it's good to be curious. Just respect people's privacy, alright?"

Cedar nodded, still looking down. "Alright…so, I'll see you later then?"

"Of course."

"Good!" Cedar grinned widely and threw herself into the air, catching a gust of wind in her beautiful creamy wings and shooting up into the air on the updrafts. Pit waved her goodbye and continued on his way.

At this point, he was passing through the areas of Angel Land that split. The other islands were only about fifteen feet away, but it was large enough to force Pit to abandon his walk and take to the air. He unfurled his long, white wings and leapt into the open air with an inaudible grunt.

The cool wind whipped through his scruffy hair. He would never get tired of the feeling of flying, the air rushing through his hair, pressing against his skin, taking the air from his lungs. He couldn't help but smile, tilting his wings ever so slightly so he cut through the wind with precision. His practice had paid off. He had gone from only taking five minute flights with help from Lady Palutena to being able to fly for extended periods of time without any help at all. His wings were powerful and strong.

He landed on the other side of the crevice and continued his quick stroll. There were no houses here, only large temples to the gods, massive gardens, and huge empty fields that were quickly being filled with tents and stands. Pit watched the angels who were putting the tents and stands up for a moment, observing their work, before he continued on his way. Maybe he would go and help them later, and get a few of his friends to help too. Or maybe Lady Palutena had another job for him.

Finally he walked up to the largest temple. Palutena's temple was in the center of Angel Land. As their patron goddess, her temple was the biggest, as well as the most lavishly decorated. Even Zeus' temple was smaller than Palutena's, though if Palutena didn't directly rule over Angel Land, Zeus' temple would have taken precedence.

Palutena's temple was a beautiful building, constructed entirely of polished white marble and alabaster. Elegant Corinthian columns were edged in gold at the top. But despite its beauty, even the temple itself was being spruced up for the festival. The columns were being polished, and inside Pit could see that large, gold, silk cloths were being draped from the ceiling.

Pit walked inside the temple, dodging angels as they rushed past him. He smiled in amusement at their hurry, and continued his meander to the back of the temple, where it connected to the garden.

The full bloom of the flowers in Palutena's garden was fading with the summer. As the seasons changed, the flowers and plants began to lose their color. But Pit wasn't worried. They would come back, the way they always did, with spring.

Pit found Palutena exactly where he knew he would find her, in the back of the garden, on the large balcony overlook. Her back faced to him, long green hair making up most of her silhouette. Pit stopped about ten feet behind her, getting to one knee and bowing his head. "Lady Palutena."

The woman turned, a smile on her flawless face. Pit smiled back up at her cheerfully. She always managed to make him smile, no matter what. "Good morning, Pit. It's good to see you awake for once."

Pit stood and rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, well…I've been working on it. The dreams aren't helping much, though."

"What dreams?"

"Oh, the usual: drowning in Nutella quicksand, singing with rock bands at parades, and the ever present falling to my death but being saved by flying rowboats. You know, the regular stuff."

Both Pit and Palutena managed to keep a straight face for a few seconds before they burst out laughing. Pit hadn't been kidding, his dreams were usually that odd, but saying them out loud made them so much more ridiculous. Palutena nearly cried from laughing so hard. Pit had passed that point half a minute ago.

Finally, the two managed to calm down, though even looking at one another set of fits of giggles for a good minute or so. Palutena managed to straighten up, brushing back a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face. She smiled widely. "Thank you for that, Pit."

"Always happy to help!"

Palutena turned back to the balcony, motioning for Pit to follow her. He did so, walking up to the edge and looking out over the lower levels of Angel Land. From this point, he could clearly see the airball field, where Kestrel and her team were practicing, and the archery range.

Palutena smiled gently. "She's doing quite well, isn't she?"

Pit followed her gaze to the archery range where a shoot off was occurring. He knew immediately who she was talking about, and his eyes found the right figure in moments. All he could see was the top of her head, a rich golden blonde that shone from the bright sunlight. Her wings were tight against her back. He could easily tell that she was not comfortable with the bow she was aiming. She held it stiffly, rigid, with no sense of ease or skill. And when she let the arrow fly, it hit the target, but barely.

Pit winced. "With a bow, she could use a little work."

"I meant in her persistence. She's been here practicing all morning, and morning before that, and basically over the past week. She wants to make a good impression at the festival."

"She doesn't have to make a good impression with a bow!" Pit protested. "She's fine the way she is!"

Palutena frowned a little. "Pit, this may be hard for you to hear, but even Kaitlyn understands that she's not a normal angel. Her choice of weapons is more than unorthodox, it's unheard of."

"I use a gun…kind of…"

"Anything you use has magical properties. In fact, all angels use weapons with magical properties. Kaitlyn is…well…unique in that way. The problem, Pit, is that we don't know how the other angels will react to her, or how they will treat her. Of course we'll be trying to protect her in case anything gets rough, but there are some angels who won't take to Kaitlyn in the way we do. Kaitlyn is a human by blood and an angel through magic. I didn't create her the way I created you and the other angels."

"So you're telling me that the other angels might not like her because she's different?" Pit asked, getting steadily angrier.

Palutena nodded. "Most of the angels here have accepted her. The centurions find nothing wrong with her, even if she uses rifles and pistols rather than bows and palms. There are a few angels here who I am sad to say have not welcomed her, and we've had to work through that as well."

"There have?"

"Yes. But Kaitlyn is strong, and she and I have worked through those problems as they've come up." Palutena sighed before looking at Pit with a raised eyebrow. "So, why did you come to see me in the first place?"

Pit pulled his cellphone from his toga. It was nothing special, a regular flip phone with no extra gadgets or anything of the sort. He grinned sheepishly and held it out to her. "I was up late talking to Jenny last night, and I kind of ran out of batteries…again…"

Palutena smiled and took it in her hands. A muttered incantation was all she needed to do and the flashing energy bar on the front of the phone was quickly filled.

"Thanks!" Pit slipped the phone back into his robe. "So, about the preparations for the festival…when are the angels from Pallasa coming?"

"In four days," Palutena said, smiling a little. "It'll be good to see the older angels again. It's been a while."

Pit shrugged. "I've never met them before, so I'm really excited! What are we planning for events?"

"The usual: archery, discus and javelin throw, running, flight, wrestling, and sword fighting." Palutena smiled at him. "Any idea of what you want to enter?"

"Archery, definitely!" Pit said immediately. "And maybe sword fighting. Those are my favorites, and I'd say I'm pretty good at them too!"

"Indeed, you are!" Palutena laughed. "If you want to enter them, you'd better go talk to Nighthawk about it. He's in charge of setting up all the events."

"I'm not surprised."

Palutena turned back to watch Kaitlyn's archery practice, and Pit did the same. Kaitlyn was nothing but determined when it came to archery. Pit had tried on multiple occasions to teach her to use the bow properly, but she just couldn't get the hang of it. Finally she set down the bow and pulled the rifle off her back, where it usually hung nestled between her wings. She took half a second to aim and pulled the trigger. In a bang that caused birds to flee from their perches in flight, the bullet shot across the archery range and thudded into the target.

Nearly a perfect bulls-eye.

Kaitlyn, obviously pleased with herself, locked the safety and swung the gun over her shoulder once again, where it hung.

Pit shot a glance at Palutena, who visibly sighed. It was clear she was proud of Kaitlyn, but her spring green eyes betrayed her fear. Though, what she was afraid of confused Pit. Was Kaitlyn that dangerous, or was she in danger?

Palutena composed herself and turned away from the balcony. "Pit, why don't you go get Kaitlyn and you both go and see Nighthawk? I'm sure he'd be happy to find jobs for you. After all, the festival starts in five days!"

"Will do!" Pit said, straightening into a salute.

The goddess smiled. "Good. I'll let you head down there, and I'll see you in a few days."

"See you then!" Pit threw himself off the balcony, extending his wings so they caught the air. He hardly had to flap them in any way, simply maneuvering down on the drafts until he landed on the archery range.

Kaitlyn didn't walk over to him immediately, but smiled at him from across the range. Forest green eyes met his pure blue, and the young woman smiled. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, falling in waves down her back, covering the barrel of her rifle. "You're awake," she said sharply, raising an eyebrow. "Since when does that happen?"

Pit grinned. "Since we have a festival to get ready for!" He walked up to her, giving her a tight hug. "So," he said, pulling away, "are you ready to meet the other angels?"

Kaitlyn shrugged. Her spare strands of hair tickled Pit's face. Kaitlyn was still rather short, only coming up to about Pit's nose in height. Pit was sure she would grow more, but Kaitlyn had told him that she was probably done growing, and if anything, Pit would continue to get taller. "I don't know," she said. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She shot an annoyed look at the bow she had been holding earlier, now tossed rather unceremoniously on the dirt. "I'm never going to get a hand of it, am I…?"

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually!" Pit said encouragingly.

Kaitlyn shook her head. "I doubt it, but thanks for the encouragement. So, what were you and Lady Palutena talking about up there?"

"Just the festival, and everything that's going on to get ready for it. She said I was supposed to take you with me to go and see Nighthawk. Apparently he'll give us our assignments."

"Sounds good," Kaitlyn said. "Where is he at the moment?"

Pit thought for a moment. "Probably in the residential district somewhere. If not, then in one of the fields."

Kaitlyn nodded and unfurled her wings to take flight. They were beautiful wings, covered with blue feathers, streaked with black, white, and grey. They perfectly mimicked a blue jay's wing pattern. The other angels had mostly been named after birds, so Kaitlyn's affectionate nickname among the other angels was "Blue".

The two set off to the higher Angel Land islands. Thankfully there were heavy updrafts, and Kaitlyn didn't need much help getting up. Kaitlyn, unlike Pit, was still a little shaky on her wings, and grew tired of flying relatively easily. Pit wasn't surprised. After all, Kaitlyn hadn't been born with her wings, and that made her much less steady in the air. Her entire body structure wasn't built the same as an angel's, but what she lacked in flight power, she made up in with her physical strength. Because her bones were thicker and her muscles larger, she was physically much stronger than most of the angels, a feat of which she was very proud. It had been three years since she had been turned into an angel, three human years. In angel years, it had been much, much longer.

The two landed in the residential district of Angel Land, on the edge. The sun was finally starting to warm up the air, and angels were taking advantage of this fact to tending to small gardens while there was still sun to do so. Lady Palutena had ordered that Angel Land be cleaned up and look as nice as possible for the festival, and the angels were taking her words very seriously.

"So," Kaitlyn said as they began to walk around, "why are we having a festival in the first place? Nothing like this has happened since I've been here."

"They're not very often, really," Pit replied, keeping his eyes open in case he should happen to see his best friend walking around giving orders. "In fact, we never really see anyone else from the Skyworld around here. After all, Angel Land is only really for young angels. The adult angels live in Pallasa, Corinthia, and a few other places. Centurions are from other places, and the higher order of gods live in Mount Olympus. So this is one of the few times we get to see the older angels at all."

"Why do the adult angels live somewhere other than Angel Land?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Well, Angel Land is here especially for the training of newborn and young angels. When we get older, we're sent to one of the other cities and put to other tasks, like protecting important gods or humans."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. I'm going to miss this place, though."

"Me too," Pit said, smiling a little. "It's the only home I've ever had, so it's a kind of near and dear to my heart."

The young woman giggled a little, flashing Pit with her brilliant smile. Pit grinned back, before nodding to the large building in the center of the residential district. "Nighthawk must be in there."

"How can you be sure?"

"About ten angels just came out of there so fast you'd think the building is burning. And that probably means that Nighthawk is giving out orders."

The two of them wore amused expressions as they entered the large marble building. Just as Pit had guesses, his friend stood in the middle of the large entry room, surrounded by a flock of angels. He was yelling something, holding up a clipboard and pointing at various angels. They nodded fervently at him and flew out of the room in flashes of multicolored feathers. Pit watched them go, and he and Kaitlyn waited patiently for Nighthawk to finish before approaching him.

Nighthawk stood in the center of the room, muttering to himself as he tapped his clipboard. His dark wings hung at his sides as he paced back and forth, muscles twitching anxiously. His eyebrows were furrowed, and every once in a while, he ran a hand through his short, ebony hair. His ambery-gold eyes flitted back and forth, jerking up to look at Pit and Kaitlyn when they drew near.

"Finally!" He said loudly, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Do you know how much help I've needed from you two? We have to finish cleaning the streets, set up tents, get all of the sporting areas ready, find accommodations for everyone and get all of that set up, and have it all done within the next three days! Do you guys know how much stress I'm under?!"

Pit gave a small smile and grabbed his friend around the shoulder into a tight hug. "Nighthawk, chill out! It'll be fine, I'm sure. Lady Palutena wouldn't have given you the job of getting everything ready if she didn't think you could do it."

Nighthawk's thin lips pinched together and he nodded slowly. "I know, I know. I'm just not very happy with the help I've been getting. All of the new angels are flighty and jumpy and less than able when it comes to fixing and building. All I can do with them is put them on cleaning up the streets and fields. But halfway through, I always seem to find them slacking off on their work and practicing their fighting instead!"

Pit and Kaitlyn looked at one another for a moment. Kaitlyn gave Nighthawk a warm smile. "Well, we're here to help now, and to sign up for some of the events."

"Oh, alright." Nighthawk flipped through his clipboard to another piece of paper. "What are you guys interested in competing in?"

"Archery and sword fighting!" Pit said immediately.

"And I want to sign up for wrestling and javelin," Kaitlyn said, tossing back her ponytail as though daring Nighthawk to oppose her. Nighthawk and Kaitlyn's relationship had always seemed slightly awkward to Pit. Kaitlyn had been a human until only a few years ago. Nighthawk was born and bred angel, and was a stickler for the rules. To have his best friend dating a human-turned-angel was probably a red alert on his inner radar.

But Nighthawk merely scribbled down her name under the two events. "Pit, do you know what your apprentice is doing? I haven't seen her all day."

"Cedar? She's watching the airball team practice. I told her Kestrel would take over her training today, seeing as you'd probably have me work my butt off all day anyways."

Nighthawk nodded, not smiling as he again flipped through his clipboard. The papers rustled as he went page by page. "Great. I'll get the airball team to start work after they're finished with their practice. And then I'll get Cedar to help put up the ribbons and clean the upper windows in the temples, and then…" and he broke off muttering to himself as he scribbled on his notebook and scratched his head, deep in thought.

Finally after a few moments, Nighthawk looked back up at both of them. "Okay, Pit, I want you to go and make sure all of the competition arenas and fields are finished being set up. Kaitlyn, some of the younger angels are having trouble setting up pavilion tents and things like that in the far field. I need you to go and help them."

The two angels nodded as Nighthawk went back to his thinking. Kaitlyn smiled at Pit. "I guess that's our cue to leave."

She grabbed his arm and led him from the room to back out on the streets. "I'll see you around, then?"

Pit nodded, giving her a quick hug before she flew off. She struggled for a moment under the harsh breeze, but righted herself and made her way over the buildings to where the far field was. Pit watched her go, his gaze lingering on the building that covered his view of her. For a moment, he thought about what Lady Palutena had said. But he quickly dismissed the thought and turned to leave.

If you're reading this, I'm going to thank you profusely for waiting for me :)

You are reading the first chapter of the sequel to my ever-popular Grounded story. I hope I can live up to the expectations that have been laid for me. I hope you enjoy this and the next chapters. Expect some crazy gods and goddesses you've never heard of, as well as some old favorites.

If you're reading this and you're confused as heck, check out my story Grounded (at the moment, it's at the top of the "reviews" filter for the KI archive) and read that first. That's how you'll know who the heck Kaitlyn, Nighthawk, and Kestrel are.

Love you all loads! Thanks for reading!

~Pixie