Illusions and Lies (A Super Smash Brothers fan fiction)

CHAPTER THREE: ON AN ANGEL'S BROKEN WINGS.

Pit's words sent the group into shock. What could he possibly mean by he had finally found them? Robin frowned. None of this made any sense, even to his augmented intelligence. Thanks to his Gift, Fell Dragon's Blood, he had enhanced intelligence and the blood of an ancient dragon in his veins. Unfortunately for him, his Gift manifested in a pink mark on the back of his hand, like a tattoo. The only other person with a physical mark from their Gift was Lucina. She had a cyan-colored mark in her left eye.

"What do you mean?" Link asked, voicing everybody's thoughts at the moment.

"The leader.. she's been looking for you... for years..." Pit coughed and fell back. Blood spattered Samus's face. She had caught him when he fell back, and she wiped at the crimson staining her face.

"Pit, who's you leader? What do you mean, she's been looking for us?" Link asked, since he seemed to have taken the role of interrogator.

In response, the angel boy merely coughed again. This time, Samus pulled her head away, but Pit raised a hand to block the blood. "I'm dying. Just like mum said I would if I kept up my expeditions." He didn't sound sad, just dazed.

For some reason, Robin's heart ached for the kid.

"How old are you?" Roy asked, speaking up for once.

"Thirteen." Pit wheezed, holding back another cough. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth instead, signaling that the end was surely near. Samus tried her best to prop him him up, in an attempt to ease his pain.

It was in vain. One of Pit's wings fluttered weakly, causing him to wince in pain. This drew Robin's attention to the wings themselves, which looked battered and... broken, now that he looked at them.

Those evil bastards. Pit was just a kid, and yet they had beaten him to the brink of death.

"Pit, can you tell me who your leader is?" Link asked again, this time a little bit of kindness and pity creeping into his voice.

"No. I promised not to tell." Pit said weakly, shaking his head for emphasis. "She made me promise... she'll be here to get you, though."

"Why is she coming to get us?" Link asked, looking just as confused as Robin felt. A quick glance around at the others told him that everybody else was confused as well.

"Can't say... supposed to be a secret..." Pit choked out, spitting up more blood. "Can't risk... them finding out..."

A racking cough shook Pit's small frame, making him double over from his half sitting position. Robin got a better look at Pit's back, and...

Oh, gods. He almost wished he hadn't.

The angel boy's back was a mess of lash marks, which were half covered by the shifting of the bloody, gashed tunic he wore. Pit's left wing was snapped so badly that bone peeked through the bloody skin. Feathers fell from his wings and drifted to the ground.

Instead of being the snow white color that they had been, his feathers were soaked with blood. He laid back down once the coughing fit had passed and turned his head towards Robin, staring sightlessly at him.

"Where's Marth? I have a message..." Pit whispered, voice barely audible.

"I'm here." Marth said. He touched Pit's right hand lightly to guide the blind boy's attention to him.

"Try to remember her.." Pit whispered, blind gaze now focused on Marth. "Miss Talys has been looking for you... for all of you... since that day eleven years ago..."

Marth hesitated for a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about... All of us have been here since we were small."

Roy was quick to back Marth up. "He's right! We can't remember anything from before being brought here."

At this, Pit frowned. "No... that's not right..." the angel boy choked out, looking confused. "That's not what she said would happen!" He looked panicked, although Robin guessed that this was because Pit thought that his death would be for nothing.

"What were you told would happen, Pit?" Marth asked softly.

"You were supposed to remember!" Pit snapped, an expression of rage twisting his features. Almost as quickly as it had come, however, it was gone. "I'm sorry." Pit mumbled weakly.

His next words almost broke Robin's heart, despite the fact that he'd only known Pit for barely thirty minutes.

"I'm sorry, Mother... I should have listened when you told me that this was going to get me killed." Pit wheezed, more blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"Wait, Pit, don't go yet." Marth said, grabbing the angel boy's wrist. "There's still time, right?"

Weakly, Pit shook his head. "It hurts..." Pit whispered. "I want to go home." He stated plaintively, like a child. Which he was. He was just a kid, after all this. A kid who had been tortured and beaten.

"Okay, Pit. Sleep well." Marth whispered, letting go of Pit's hand.

Pit closed his eyes. One last, shuddering breath wracked the teenager's frame, followed by an exhale.

He didn't breathe again.

Marth reached over and closed Pit's eyes. Then, he stood up and left without a word. After exchanging a worried glance with Robin, Lucina stood up and followed her brother.

The others sat in silence, staring at Pit's corpse.

"Oh my god." Zelda mumbled. She looked like she was going to be sick, and she was holding on to Sheik's upper arm like he could save her. Unlikely, judging by the blank expression on his face.

It was unlike him. Usually, he was ready comfort Zelda, but now... he just looked dead. No matter how anxious the boy was, he always reassured his twin. But not now.

Almost as if he was forcing the words out, Sheik whispered "It'll be okay, Zel. I won't let h-him hurt you."

"I think we should all take a break." Samus said, standing up from her kneeling position and staring down at Pit's lifeless corpse.

"I agree." Robin said, glancing at Pit's body once more. "No more blood must be shed today."

Wordlessly, the others stood and shuffled out of the spare cell. Usually, all of them gathered here to relax, but today... it wouldn't be surprising if a few of them found it hard to enter this room again.

Robin exited the cell and headed in the direction of the one he shared with Ike, who was quite possibly his best friend. The two of them were the brains and the brawn of the group, which was probably why they got along so well.

Ike was close behind Robin, stony faced as usual. "So, Robin. How are you holding up?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

"I'm okay. And you?" Robin replied, opening the door and holding it for his friend.

"As good as I can be after watching somebody die." Ike said bluntly, nodding his head in gratitude and entering the cell.

After Robin had stepped into the room, he closed the door and moved to sit on the bed against the left hand wall. Well, perhaps "bed" was a generous word. It was more of a cot.

Ike had already laid down, and the blue haired boy was staring up at the ceiling. "You should get some sleep, Robin. Don't overexert yourself."

"Touché." Robin said as he laid down, exhaustion hitting him like a ton of bricks. "Sleep well, Ike." Robin murmured before closing his eyes. Thankfully, he fell asleep quickly- before he could even hear Ike's reply, Robin was asleep.