And here's the second of two story commissions for Skullgirlsisbased! It was about damn time I got a hold of Palutena after everything I've done to Pit himself, and having him be the one to spearhead the ticklish torment she goes through here was the icing on the cake! I was given the creative freedom to do whatever I wanted with the overall story as long as one particular scenario was included (the one the dialogue of the cover illustration comes from), so I tried something I haven't done much with for most of my stories before: public display tickling! The fundraiser setup has been done before in my art albeit not in a story, but I can't think of any better way for Palutena to connect with the people of the mortal realm. Besides, who wouldn't want to spare some cash to tickle those massive, godly soles of hers? XD
I also had a cover illustration planned to go with this but hadn't gotten the time to finish it due to being very busy IRL. That being said, I've still got an in-progress version of it posted on my DeviantArt, and I will be continuing work on the illustration until it is finished before I add it to this post. I hope you look forward to seeing it both here and on my DeviantArt! In the meantime, thanks so much again to the commissioner for giving me the opportunity to produce this whole commission set, and I look forward to doing business with them again in the future!
All properties mentioned (c) Nintendo
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It had been some time since the deity who presided over Skyworld and its people had actually paid the surface world a visit. That being said, however, various events that had transpired until now, mostly involving her being held captive with her people praying for her greatest champion to save her as well as them, had led her to one important realization: the goddess Palutena really did need to get out more.
So it was that, after a ton of bargaining and desperate, puppy-eyed pleading, Pit had managed to cajole her into descending from her temple for a mandatory week off. The irony of her own subordinate being the one to demand that she take a break from the usual administrative business of godhood had not been lost on her.
Despite having a good time shopping, taking sightseeing trips throughout various cities and landmarks, and generally enjoying herself, however… Palutena couldn’t shake a strange feeling that had been tickling at the back of her mind even before she’d been pushed out the door with her freshly packed suitcase and straw-woven hat. But for some reason, it wasn’t a feeling she could identify…
So it was that on the last day of her vacation, she found herself on a bench in the last of the many, elaborate municipal gardens on her itinerary. The hanging garden was one of the true wonders of Skyworld’s human realm, but eleven years ago, she would’ve boasted that its grandeur couldn’t hold a candle to her temple in its prime.
The key words, of course, being “eleven years ago”.
“Where did I go wrong?” Palutena muttered to herself as she took up all the seating space on a park bench, idly reading through a cheap romance novel she’d purchased from a local bookstore. “There’s literally no funding to repair the temple, all the weapons and items are in need of a new polish, and nobody’s really up for donating anything.” She sighed in dismay as she looked up from the book to watch the world go by. “Is it really too much to ask for someone to pay me any mind? I’m the Goddess of Light, but it’s almost like nobody appreciates me…”
No response. It seemed even with her stature and grandeur, no one had the time to give her even the time of day. How disappointing… Oh, well. Being out of action for as long as she had, she should’ve expected something like this.
With a sigh of quiet despair, she returned to her book, hoping to find some manner of escaping. She would have no idea until a smidge too late that she was being watched.
As it turned out, this particular city was near enough to her home temple that it frequently saw visits from some of those attending to her whims, often when there was a need for food or supplies back at said temple. One person in particular was rather beloved by the town, and he had been planning to escort Palutena back to the temple in person since, after all, this was the last stop on her vacation itinerary.
“Greetings, Lady Palutena,” said a familiar voice nearby. She barely looked up, but she’d recognize her captain anywhere.
“Oh, hey, Pit…” She seemed oddly downcast, something which hadn’t gone unnoticed by the angel as he gave her a look-over. “Are you here to come pick me up?”
“Just wanted to check on you, that’s all.” The angel sat on the grass next to the bench, his back to the side. “Did you enjoy your vacation?”
“I certainly did. Thanks for that, Pit. But I couldn’t help but notice something…”
“Huh?” The angel looked confused for only a second, as he could already tell what she was thinking based on a quick observation of their current situation. “Oh… You haven’t been treated as well as you wanted, right?”
“How did you guess?”
He shrugged. “Oh, I dunno. Just this thing I noticed about everyone else pretending not to notice you.”
The goddess flinched. “I guess this is payback for all those times when I made fun of you, huh?”
“Oh no, I’m just making an observation. If I had to be honest, I think everyone does admire and respect you. It’s just that they feel they’re so far beneath you that they can’t associate with you at all out of fear that they’ll mess up and make a bad impression in front of their goddess.”
Palutena turned her head to glance at her captain as best she could, taken aback by his surprisingly astute analysis. “Is that why you got me to go on vacation? To get me closer to the people? I appreciate the sentiment, but it… didn’t work out exactly as you expected, I imagine.” She sighed as she returned to her book again. “I guess it’s just you and me, huh…”
The angel sighed himself, feeling understandably sympathetic towards her situation. Eleven years of nothing important happening really had led to the impression that she’d been all but forgotten, and he was quite sure the Smash Bros. tournaments didn’t exactly count. What could he do to get her out of her malaise? Could he do anything about it? He didn’t know yet, but come to think of it, there’d been a method Palutena had used on him herself previously, when he was feeling down for similar reasons…
One of his wings was dangerously close to Palutena’s feet, which were currently bare as her shoes and lone stocking had been set aside. The pads of her toes had been planted on the seat of the bench, though every so often she moved her feet to stack one on top of the other. Still, her arches were stretched quite tightly in a fashion that was too tempting to ignore — and it certainly helped that her feet were massive, bigger than his own. Fitting for her great stature, they were a nice size twenty, long and slender without a blemish to be seen.
With only a quiet, cheeky chuckle from the angel to give her a moment’s warning — a warning she was too out of it to notice — his wing fluttered idly, the soft feathers at its tip swishing against both arches at once.
“Yeeeek!” Palutena kicked both feet up, jolted out of her reading. She wondered what had caused that tickling sensation for a moment, but then sighed and returned her feet to their previous position. Perhaps it was just a breeze blowing a leaf across her feet. Though come to think of it, today’s weather was completely calm—
“GYAAHAHAH!” There it was again, the feeling of her arches being brushed. She kicked her feet up again, but this time she didn’t lower them. “Pit, I know it’s you!” she scolded, though she was still giggling and smiling. “Do you mind? I’m trying to read…”
“Hey now, I just wanted to make you smile!” Pit said innocently. “Should I have asked at least? I just thought you’d say no—”
“N-no no, it’s okay! If you wanted to, you could’ve just asked…” Palutena chuckled nervously, now feeling bad for seemingly disappointing her captain. “I guess this is payback for all the teasing I’ve done to you, huh?”
Pit was far from disappointed, though — in fact, he was hoping she’d realize what he was doing and, more importantly, be on board with it. “I guess so! Just put your feet down and let the laughter flow, Lady Palutena~”
The goddess swallowed hard, knowing full well just how ticklish her massive feet really were, but her captain had implied it would help her, so who was she to argue? With that, she lowered her feet again, pressing her toes against the seat of the bench and stretching her arches as taut as could be; if anything, this only seemed to accentuate their sheer depth, like the curve of a bow. In particular, the palest, deepest hollows of her incredibly high arches now looked especially vulnerable.
“Should I… not pull away this time?” she asked, a little nervously despite her superiority.
“Try not to if you can help it. It’d be easier on the both of us, trust me~!”
With a quiet giggle of excitement, Pit began fluttering his wingtip over her soles once again, letting their soft tips brush against the tender spots on the goddess’ arches. The results were immediate: covering her mouth in a bid to avoid making a public disturbance, Palutena still failed to suppress a flurry of squeaks and giggles slipping through her fingers. There had been multiple occasions she could recall when she’d been mercilessly tickled, including one involving the vegetables she’d accidentally brought to life with an excess of a rejuvenation potion, and another when Pandora had locked her in a treasure chest with only her head and feet sticking out before going to town with a flurry of magical feathers. These and many more such occasions had proven one thing: the Goddess of Light had some of the most ticklish feet around. Possibly even more ticklish than those of her captain…
Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of four fingers wiggling along each inner arch, with both wingtips teasing the outside arches. In an instant, she caved.
“KYAAAHAHAHAHHAHHAH! PIHIHIHIHIHIIITTT! PFFFHAHAHAHAHHAHA NYOOHOHOHOHAHOHAHHAHAHAHA!”
“Only a matter of time before you let it all out, Lady Palutena~!” Pit teased, already glancing up at the scene around them. “And it looks like we’ve got company, too!”
Blinking the wetness from her eyes and looking up, the guffawing goddess noticed at that point that they weren’t alone. Several other people who had been at the park at the time had taken notice of the commotion coming from the park bench, and had gathered around to watch and marvel at the astonishing sight: “Is that our goddess?!” “Oh my gosh, she’s ticklish!” “Her laugh is actually… quite beautiful, if you ask me…”
“GYAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAH OH MY GOODNEHEHEHEHEHESSSS!! EEEHEHEHEHEE NOT THEHEHEHEHERE! YEEHEHEHEEEEK! NOT IN PUBLIC! PLEEHEHEASE, STOHOHOHHAHAHHAHAP!”
“Too late, I’m afraid~” Pit teased, giving her one more tickle with fingers and feathers alike before moving over to help her off the bench. “And for making a public disturbance, the guard is gonna have to have you arrested. Sorry, it’s nothing personal.”
“W-WHAT?!” Palutena gasped, feeling shocked and betrayed. “Pit, WHY?!”
“Just roll with it,” the angel whispered, winking. “You’ll have to trust me on this one.” He turned back towards their audience. “Our goddess has become too much of a distraction. It’s time to give her the punishment she deserves!”
Palutena still felt like a knife had been plunged into her heart, but she had no other choice on the matter. Sitting up, she was about to put her shoes back on when Pit turned and said, “Oh, keep ‘em off. It’s for your own good, trust me. Now, right this way…”
The goddess now looked completely confused. As she got up and picked up her footwear, she found herself surrounded by her own troops as though they’d turned on her, though thankfully they didn’t have her weapons drawn. She wasn’t sure what to do. Pit had said she’d have to roll with it and trust him, but he hadn’t stated anything further, which didn’t bode so well…
“O-okay, if that’s what you want…” She bowed her head, following in his wake. “I guess with everyone being so bored, it was only a matter of time before you decided to rebel — Yiiiii! Ohhhh! Hothothothotttt!”
It was late in the summer at the time, and as the sun had been beating hard on the roads and pathways all day, the paving stones still felt like a red-hot skillet; Palutena wasn’t sure whether this was part of her punishment, but the apologetic wince on her captain’s part told her he hadn’t planned for that. Still, the whole time when she was led to the town square, she was forced to perform a jig of pain upon the scorching pavement, bouncing from foot to foot and yelping every few seconds. Pit was lucky to still have his sandals on, she mused… but where was he taking her, exactly?
Finally, they arrived at the town square. A sizable crowd had gathered around to watch their goddess now, but they cleared the way for her to make it to her destination: a wooden podium with a large pole, a cushion at the base of it — and in front of it, two stacked pieces of wood with holes in them that she recognized all too well.
“You — can’t — be — serious — owowowieeee!” The goddess tried stretching up onto the balls of her huge feet to minimize contact with the hot ground, but concentrating the heat upon those spots only just made it worse.
“The punishment was decided already, though!” Pit replied, feeling a bit sorry for what had befallen her but still eager to get started. “Now, come on, let’s get you in there…”
If anything, she was glad that her accidental hotfoot was over with, but Palutena wasn’t out of the woods yet. Not even close. The second she took a seat and the top half of the stocks was lifted, the guards picked up her ankles and placed them in before shutting the stocks back and locking them. Several more also tied her forearms behind her back and to the pole behind the seat. Oddly enough, though, there weren’t any toeties on hand, though she was quite sure that was about to change.
“Alright, everyone!” Pit addressed the crowd. “The Goddess Palutena is in need of a cheer-up! This is technically a punishment for her neglect of Skyworld, but also a chance for you to get up close and personal and help us with our financial troubles. So consider this a fundraiser with a difference! Does anyone have any heart currency to pay for doing whatever you want to these divine size twenties?”
Palutena’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected this . “Wait… You actually planned this?!”
“I heard back from some of the outposts you visited about how depressed you’d gotten even when you were on vacation,” Pit admitted. “Not to mention we needed the dough. So I got some of the guards in this town to help me put this idea together, and we asked the citizens if they wanted to service you in this way. Nearly everyone we talked to agreed, but they weren’t sure it was safe because, well, you’re a goddess . This was the best way I could think of! If you’re okay with it, that is.”
She hesitated, but then nodded shakily. “Well… I wouldn’t want to disappoint you, but… a-are you sure you thought this through? I-I’m not ticklish at aaaAAALLLHHHHAHAHHEHEHEHEEE!”
Pit had moved to stand beside her and fluttered a wingtip over her toes. “Lady Palutena, everyone can see that you’re lying to our faces,” he teased. “You were laughing yourself silly when I was tickling you on the bench! You really shouldn’t be denying it — you have no idea how many people wanted to rub your feet for good luck, but were too scared to do it!”
Palutena took a look at the surprisingly large crowd that had gathered, every one of them with bags of hearts to pay off the session. There was also a sign next to the podium, and though she couldn’t see the text on it, she knew everyone else could. It would only be after she was finally freed much later that she’d finally get to read what it said:
TODAY ONLY:
Donate to Skyworld’s temple for a chance to play with the High Arches of the Goddess of Light, Lady Palutena!
Massage = 5 hearts/minute.
Tickling = 10 hearts/minute.
Worship = 15 hearts/minute.
For 20 hearts/minute, you can choose any of the three!
As it turned out, everyone had at least twenty hearts at their disposal. Each. And there were quite a lot of people who looked like they were on the verge of tearing off the wrapping paper of a birthday present they’d wanted since childhood.
Palutena gulped. She couldn’t help it. This was going to be a very long and very ticklish afternoon.
“First off, it seems our goddess here has been getting her feet a bit dirty, don’t you think?” Pit asked cheerily. “We might as well clean them up so you folks can worship her without having to worry about the taste!”
Palutena shook her head in spite of herself, her toes curling. “Y-you don’t have to do this…”
“It’s for the people, Lady Palutena,” Pit replied as several spectators brought him a pail of soapy water and two scrubbing brushes. “I’ll start us off, and then you’ll just have to sit tight and let everyone else have a turn. For luck~”
She whimpered, the corners of her mouth already turned up, but didn’t argue. Still, her toes couldn’t help but clench as tightly as they could as she heard the sound of the angel dipping the brushes into the pail.
“Alright, everyone! Scrub or no scrub?” Pit asked, upon which the crowd responded with unanimous cheering and chanting of “SCRUB! SCRUB! SCRUB!”
“Oh, come on !” Palutena chortled, though in spite of it all… she honestly couldn’t help but look forward to what was to come. The crowd participation was actually quite heartening — even if it was at her own expense to some degree, no one had given her this much attention in years .
“Scrub it is! Now, then, let’s begin~!” With that, Pit began running the bristles of each suds-soaked brush up and down the heels of his goddess’ feet, causing them to twitch in place, her toes clenching and unclenching as the sensation hit her like a ton of bricks.
“KYAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! PIHIHIHIHIT! EEHEHEHEHEEE NO! NONONOOAHAAHHAHAHAH!”
“Hold still, will you?” the angel replied as he moved the brushes gradually upward towards her arches, scrubbing side to side like he was cleaning a pair of windows. “Gotta make sure I get aaaaaaall the dirt off~”
“C-CUT IT OHOHOHOHOHOUT!” the goddess cackled in spite of herself. “THEY’RE ALREADY CLEEEEHHEHEHEHEHEHEEAN!!”
Heedless of her demands, Pit continued brushing her soles to his heart’s content. The fact that her feet had been nicely roasted by having to walk barefooted on the burning street only made her skin even more sensitive and the scrubbing even worse. Aside from side to side motions, he also spiced it up with up and down movements and then moving them in slow circles to let the bristles reach into every wrinkle and crevice upon her soft foot bottoms. When he managed to move the brushes up to reach her wiggling toes, Palutena descended into fits of helpless giggles and chortling. But once he resumed scrubbing her arches, her laughter shot up an octave, the goddess struggling uselessly against her restraints as she threw her head skyward and screamed at the top of her voice, her toes clenched very tightly. “AIIIIEEEEEEHEHHEHEHEEEE! PIIIIHIHIHITTT! NO! NO, NOT THAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAT!!!”
It took several more minutes before the brushes finally relented. “And now she’s all clean!” Pit declared to the applause of the crowd. “It’s time for the fun part to begin, but first off: We’ll have to make sure she doesn’t move her feet around too much. Seems like she’s quite the squirmer!”
“W-wait, what do you mean—” Palutena began, but then she saw someone coming over with a ball of twine, and finally took notice of the metal loops at the top of the stocks. “No… NOOO!” Despite her pleading, though, she knew what the public wanted… and admittedly, what she’d just had to endure wasn’t too bad, either.
It was less than a minute before her big toes were tied to the stocks, followed by her pinkie toes for good measure. Now she was unable to wiggle her feet around, and she couldn’t help but notice the plethora of tools that some of the spectators had brought. There were more than a few feather dusters, along with a scattering of utensils, hairbrushes, and even at least one artist’s palette and paintbrush.
“Now, then, step right up!” Pit called out to the crowd. “For a small fee, you’re welcome to give your goddess all the love and care she deserves. Just put a smile on her face, and perhaps fortune will smile down on you in turn!”
The crowd cheered excitedly. Palutena swallowed hard, but even as the first customer paid their twenty-heart fee and twirled the feathers they were carrying, she could now hear the words directed at her:
“Glad to have you back, Lady Palutena!” “We missed you, Goddess of Light!” “May you bless us, as we’ll bless you!” “Hang in there! You can make it!” “You’re as beautiful as the day we lost you, Palutena!”
For a moment, none of this made sense. She’d been gone for so long that it was almost like she’d been forgotten by everyone in the mortal realm, and up to this point she’d been afraid that upon her return, she’d be met with scorn for abandoning the realm of man. How wrong that assumption had been. Though obviously taken aback by all the positivity being showered upon her, she couldn’t help but feel genuinely touched.
Of course, she never got the chance to thank the public for remaining faithful to her before the feathers began sawing between her toes.
“NOOOOOOHHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAH!”
“Like they said, Lady Palutena, hang in there! There’s a lot more people hoping to donate!”
“YEEEHEHEHEHHEEEEK! I SHOULD BE SO LUCKYYYYIIIEEEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHEEE!” Palutena writhed in place as some of the feathers moved downward, the customer lightly dusting the centers of her tender arches with them and playing merry hell on her plantar nerves. She still wasn’t sure yet as to whether all the praise from everyone else was genuine, seeing as this was nothing short of torturous. It would only be a matter of time before the teasing would come into play, she figured.
Cheering, hooting, whistling, and applause came from all present, almost drowning out her guffawing and shrieking. It seemed the crowd was treating her as a celebrity… a very ticklish celebrity! For now though, that was cold comfort to her as the maddening sensation of feathers dragging along the webbing between her toes and around the centers of her arches drove her nearly out of her mind.
Things only got even worse for her when the second customer came forward and gave their donation, this time with a pair of forks in hand. The one with the feathers pulled the plumes away from her right foot, but only to focus on her left… leaving the other one free to kneel down in front of her right foot and start dragging the tines of the forks over her arch and heel, while also suckling and nibbling on the toes of that foot that weren’t tied down.
Palutena would swear her screaming could be heard for miles. “YAAAAAHHHHHHHAHAHAH! NAAHAHAHHAHA EEEEHEHEHEHEEEEK! NYOOHHOHOHOHAHHAHA P-PLEHEHEASE, STOHOHOHOHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAHHHHPHAHHAHAHA!”
Her captain, of course, decided to make it a little harder for her at that point. Stealing behind her and the pole she was tied to, he promptly reached his arms under hers…
“GYAHAHAHAHAH WHAT IS THAHAHAHHAHAAAHHH?!” Palutena shrieked as she squirmed and tried to force her arms down, powerless to stop the new round of pit tickles that Pit was now administering.
“Just thought I’d make things a little more interesting~” the angel teased, flipping his wings forward to tease her ears and neck as well with their feathered tips.
“AAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEE! NO, NOT THEHEHEHEHEHAHAHARRREEE — GYAHAHAHHAHA! PIHIHIHIIHITTT!”
“Keep your head high, our Goddess!” the feather-toting customer said to her. “You’ve got this!”
“So, which of our methods tickles more, the feathers or the forks?” the other one asked playfully. “Tell us and mmmmmaybe we’ll stop~”
“I CAHAHAHAN’T TEHEHEHHEHEHEHELL!” Palutena cried, shaking her head about not only in response to the foot tickles but also to try and deter the feathers brushing against the sides of her head, neck, and shoulders, to no avail. She was struggling to push her arms down to squeeze at Pit’s fingers but that wasn’t working out, either. The public was cheering and applauding, and a few people were even tossing confetti, but half-blinded by tears and her own hair, she was too overcome by her own laughter to notice.
For the next thirty minutes, people from all over town lined up to pay for the opportunity to tickle their goddess to near insanity; almost insidiously, there was at least one focusing on each of her massive feet, and the spacing out of their payments was such that whenever one ran out of their allotted time, another quickly took their place with whichever tickle implements they had, ensuring that at least one of her feet was tickle-tortured at any given moment.
It wasn’t long before some of the more impatient customers decided they’d waited their turn long enough, and the last ten minutes of this leg of the tickle session had at least two people focusing on each foot, meaning the sole and toes were under attack from several kinds of tool at once. Some had even taken the time to tickle her pits and neck as well just for the fun of it, allowing Pit to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
At least one customer had even donated as many as a hundred hearts, and sat facing the centerline of the stocks so their fingers could reach both inner arches at once. They didn’t bring any tools, but they didn’t need any; the absolute worst tickle spots on her were tormented by way of them slowly tracing circles and figure-eights around the delicate skin, varying in pace arbitrarily to keep her mind, already awash with a haze of hysterical agony, from settling into any rhythm and growing complacent.
At several points, Pit had even provided a Drink of the Gods to help refresh his long-suffering supervisor, something which she very much appreciated. It was a lot harder to get the all-curing nectar down the hatch than they’d anticipated, however — almost every initial attempt to take a sip was interrupted by someone hitting upon at least one of the most sensitive spots of her soles, leading her to spray the sweet, pink liquid all over the front of her dress before screaming skyward in helpless laughter once again.
It was a while before Pit signaled for the crowd to give the goddess a breather. Despite some murmurs of disappointment and impatience, the group complied, though hushed whispers could be heard every once in a while as the captain of Palutena’s guard untied her toes and allowed her to clench and wiggle her digits freely.
“Having fun yet, Lady Palutena?” he asked, holding up the end of his scarf to dry the tears from the captive goddess’ face.
Gasping, panting, and feeling a little humiliated due to the spillage of the Drink of the Gods over her dress, Palutena finally managed to see clearly, taking a look at the excited crowd. Now she could see the signs some of them were holding… signs proclaiming the love they had for her after all this time. She could even see a few saying “I LOVE YOU, PALUTENA!” and one or two saying “MARRY ME!”, the latter of which got a little chuckle from her.
And there was one other realization that came to her at that point.
“I… actually am,” she replied, smiling a bit. “I didn’t think I’d enjoy this, but… here we are. I still can’t believe the lengths you were willing to go for me — or how much everyone has donated thus far!” she added with a laugh, noting the rather massive pile of hearts now filling up the donation bin. “But if the public wishes to provide for us so we can remodel our own realm ‘til it’s good as new, who am I to argue?”
“Glad to hear it,” Pit replied with a smile before turning to the crowd as he moved to stand next to her feet. “The goddess loves it, everyone! Alright, ready for the last round of donations?”
The crowd cheered again. Palutena blushed and curled the toes of her left foot, only for Pit to tickle under them and make her squeal once more.
“Ah ah ah, we’ve gotta make sure that aaaaaaall your most sensitive spots are exposed for this one,” the angel said as he picked up a long, thin piece of metal that had been hanging from the side of the stocks.
“W-what is that?!” Palutena asked, feeling a little nervous even though she still had a smile on her face.
“Oh, you’ll see very shortly,” Pit replied before calling out to the spectators once more. “Alright, anyone still got any donations left?”
The crowd cheered as many people held up bags of hearts they were eager to donate. It seemed Palutena’s ticklish fundraiser was far from over…
Before she could question anything, however, she suddenly felt the cool metal bar pressing against the balls of both of her feet at once. Sliding upward, it soon reached the base of her toes, and she realized at that moment that it was curved in such a way that it fit the stems of almost every single one of them. Whether or not this was a magical property or if Pit had had this item custom made to suit her was far from certain, but that was the least of her problems.
The metal bar in fact had two hooks at the ends that fit into the loops atop the stocks to either side of her outermost toes, but it was also just short enough that her toes were pulled back to such an extent that she was unable to even straighten her feet out. Thus, her soles were stretched tightly enough that they couldn’t curl in defense at all… meaning that the deepest, most ticklish hollows of her arches were at their most exposed yet.
“Perfect! Now, for the next part…” Pit said cheerily, sitting down in front of both huge feet and cracking his knuckles.
“A-and what would that be, Pit?” Palutena asked, before swallowing once again.
Next moment, the angel had started skittering all ten fingers over both of her soles at once, targeting the arches for obvious reasons. “Payback~”
The resultant scream was loud enough that several people at the very front of the crowd actually winced and covered their ears. Palutena didn’t notice this, however, since she was already succumbing to utter hysteria once more. “AAAAIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE! YIIIIEEEEHEHEHEHEHAHAHHAHA! NONONONO NOOOOHAHAHAHHAHAHHH!!!”
“Oh yes, Lady Palutena.” Pit had a mischievous grin as he not only tickled her arches with all of his nails, but also flapped his wings every once in a while, causing their flight feathers to brush the pads of her toes as well. He leaned in and added in a lower voice he hoped no one else would hear: “That’s what you get for absolutely destroying me and my size thirteens that one time. When I said I’d get you back for that, I meantit!”
Poor Palutena was beside herself with laughter as she made the connection. “YAAHAHAHAHAHH NYOOOHOHOHAHAHAH!” she shrieked, thrashing and squirming. “PIIIIT! I WAS ONLY TRYING TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER! GAHAHAHAHAHA EEEEEEK!!!”
“Oh, I know,” the angel replied as he continued tickling her with reckless abandon. “But these massive stompies of yours definitely deserve some good tickle treatment, too. Now, kitchy kitchy coo, Lady Palutena~!”
Ahead of her, the crowd was applauding and cheering once more. Despite the volume of her cackling and squealing, however, she could make out what some of them were shouting gleefully: “Come on, Lady Palutena! You’re almost home!” “I’ve missed that amazing laugh for so long!” “You love to see it — and hear it!” “What a lucky day I’ve had, seeing our lovely ticklish goddess in person!”
The encouragement from the spectators was steadily growing. Even as Pit alone partook in driving the verdant-haired deity out of her mind, everyone was calling for her to stay strong and let the laughter flow, for everyone’s benefit but also her own. If she wasn’t finding it more difficult to breathe, she would’ve been deeply touched. As it was, though, her inattentiveness towards the motivation from all concerned was quite understandable in light of her captain’s fingers and feathers driving her to distraction.
“PFFFFTTHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA EEEEHEHEHEHEHEEEE! NOT THE ARCHES, PLEEEHEHEHEHEEEASE! I CAHAHAHAHAHHAHAN’TTT HHHHAHAHAHHAHA!! GYEEEHEHEHEHHEHEEEE GET AWAYYYYHHEHEHEHHEEEE!!”
“Keep at it, and laugh like you mean it!” Pit replied cheerily. “There’s still quite a few donations left, but we’re almost at the finish line!”
“WAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHEASE, DON’T GO TOO HARD ON MEEEHEHEHEHEEE!” Palutena begged, tears blinding her once more as she felt her golden crown actually loosen somewhat from how hard her head was shaking about.
“No such promises there,” Pit replied cheekily. “Oh, and could someone straighten her crown for me please? And tie her arms over her head while you’re at it?”
“W-WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT?!”
“It’s for the crowd, trust me. More spots to play with~” With that, he leaned in and started licking her right arch, flicking his tongue ticklishly over it and causing her to toss her head skyward and shriek at her loudest yet.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!! GYAHAHAHAHAHA T-TREASON! TREEHEHEHEHEASOHOHON! PIT, YOU ARE SO GROUNDEHEHEHEHED!!”
Pit sighed as he watched the guard who helped readjust her crown untie her wrists only to bind them over her head in a flash. “Totally worth it~”
The crowd erupted into applause again as they got a good view of the goddess’ exposed underarms. Now more people could donate and have fun with her at once, and everyone was going to take full advantage of it!
It was a few more minutes before Pit finally stopped, stood up, and addressed the crowd once again. “She’s all yours, everyone! We’re nearly at the full amount needed to pay off the repairs for our realm, so get those last few donations in while the evening is still young!”
Everyone who still had hearts to spare surged forward, though the guards present all made sure to keep them relatively orderly so the volunteers wouldn’t rush too hard and get themselves hurt. Still, that was cold comfort to Palutena as she saw just how much money they had and what she was in for… even if she honestly couldn’t wait to see what they would do to her now that they needn’t have worried about any divine retribution. “Oh, no. No no no… Nyoooooo~!!”
Of course, all that did was get the crowd even more excited to finally get the chance to utterly destroy her. No less than four people came up to the podium, each of them depositing sixty hearts into the donation bin — and while none of them had tickle tools, they weren’t necessary. Poor Palutena only had enough time to let out a wordless plea for mercy before forty wiggling fingers dug in like their owners were children unwrapping birthday presents: each foot and each armpit were targeted. The two at her feet even leaned in to lick and nibble the balls of her soles while tickling her arches at the same time.
“YYYYAAAAAAAHAHHAHHAHHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHHHAH! UWEEEEHEEHEEEHEHEHEHIIIYEEEEEHAHAHHAH NOOOOOOHHAHAHHAHHAH!” And just like that, the goddess completely lost any composure or coherence. There were no donations or praise in her world anymore, and her captain may well have vanished as well. Her mind was completely overwhelmed by not but maddening sensation, electrifying jolts of ticklish insanity shooting through every nerve in her body. Her mouth was wide open and her tearful eyes wide as if she was screaming, though the corners of her lips were upturned, and she could barely hear the sound of her own helpless laughter and screams anymore.
She wasn’t sure if she would pass out altogether from the gang tickling that had been brought upon her. But by this point, even if she was loving every second of it, whether or not she was conscious didn’t matter — all that did, to her, for the next half-hour or maybe even longer, was the incessant, mind-numbing agony of a merciless, full-body tickling.
“UWAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH!! MEERRRCEEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEEE!!!” the goddess of light howled uselessly. “SOMEONE, AHAHAHANYONE!! PLEEEHEHEHEHEHEEEASE, HEHHEHEHEHEHEEEELLLLLP MEEEEEHEHEHEHHEHEHHEHEEEEEEEE!!!”
“Lady Palutena? Lady Palutena! Speak to me!! Hello?!?”
The goddess finally regained consciousness with a drawn-out gasp, feeling wetness upon her feet. Looking up in surprise, she saw that the last two donors had been licking her feet quite gently, worshiping her diligently despite her being totally catatonic.
“Are you okay?” Pit asked, a little concerned.
“Y-yeah… I’m fine…” Palutena sat up a little straighter, feeling tingly absolutely everywhere; her pits and soles were flushed as hard as her face and her robes were drenched in sweat as well as those splashes of Drink of the Gods from before. “H-how long was I out of it?”
“Not too long, thankfully. About five minutes, funnily enough.” Pit laughed.
“We were just about done anyway, Lady Palutena,” said one of the donors as they pulled away.
“We apologize for going a little overboard…” said the other as they bowed in penance.
“No no… It’s okay,” Palutena chuckled. “That… That was intense… But it was for a good cause, in no small part thanks to my captain here,” she added, nodding towards Pit.
“Alright, time to get you dried out, then!” Pit waved some of the guards over, and Palutena noted that they were carrying fresh towels… Pit really had prepared for this, huh?
The drying process wasn’t that ticklish, thankfully, but she still couldn’t help but giggle uncontrollably from the feeling of the fabric brushing all over her. Still, she stayed as still as she could even though the toe restraints and stocks were undone before the drying had started. It didn’t take long to dry her off, but she was still a giggling wreck by the end of it, the extreme torturous tickling still lingering. She had no doubt she’d still be giggling sporadically over the next few weeks, maybe longer.
Once she’d slipped her footwear back on and managed to stand up — very shakily — she looked back at the smiling crowd, awaiting her verdict on the whole experience.
“Well?” Pit asked expectantly.
“That… that was… amazing!” she said finally. “You really did a great job working me over, and honestly… As long as you go a little gentler next time… I wouldn’t mind another donation session in the future. And I promise that once we repair our temples, the magical protections over Skyworld will be strengthened, as my way of saying: thank you! ”
Pit took her hand and held it skyward, noting how vulnerable her armpit was as he did so. “And may Lady Palutena’s blessing shine upon you all, everyone!” he called, to the explosion of cheers, applause, and expressions of gratitude and adulation from everyone else involved, even the guards. His superior couldn’t help but smile, and when Pit glanced at her underarm a little hungrily, she nodded at him with a wink… letting him tickle it with a wingtip so she giggled cutely one last time. It was a nice little cap on a long day of tickling — one that everyone in town would remember for a long time to come.
The goddess and her captain were sad to leave everyone behind, and the crowd was sorry to see them go, but the sun was setting now and it was time to return home, though not before requesting that the guards bring the donations to their treasury and keep them secure so they’d be used to fund the repairs to Skyworld’s divine infrastructure. Otherwise, they were silent as they beamed back up to the temple, slipping off their footwear once again as soon as they’d slipped inside.
“You know…” Palutena said finally as they made their way up towards their private quarters, “I wasn’t expecting that donation session, let alone the fact that you were leading it. I honestly thought I was in trouble, though… Please don’t fake me out like that again! But you’re forgiven, Pit, given how much it helped both me and Skyworld.”
The angel chuckled nervously. “Yeah… Sorry to scare you like that. But I wasn’t sure if you were gonna resist or not! I’m glad you enjoyed it, but… yeah, I probably should’ve asked you first.”
“You definitely should next time. But I didn’t realize you’d get such a kick out of tickling me… Had I known, I’d have definitely been more careful around you, but I’d have also been happy to let you indulge if you asked nicely!”
That got a chuckle from Pit, who patted her on the shoulder as they approached the upstairs balcony. “I’ll keep that in mind for the future, that’s for sure! And if you need anyone to talk to so you can feel better, just let me know, okay?”
“You have my word,” Palutena chuckled. “Oh, and while we’re here… there’s one last thing I do wish to try,” she said suddenly.
“Hm?”
“About that time when I found you, before I tickled you silly… You were doing that meditating thing, right?”
“Yeah, I really have been getting into that! Wii Fit Trainer’s been teaching me. What about it?”
“Well… If it doesn’t trouble you too much… I’d like to try it myself. Just to see what it’s like.”
Pit looked at her in surprise, and then smirked mischievously. “Oooh… You sure you won’t mind if there’s a little… distraction every once in a while?”
Palutena giggled as she opened the door to the upstairs balcony. “It’ll take a lot more than what I think you’re planning to throw me off my inner peace, Pit. I’d love to see you try, though!”
He smiled happily at her as they stepped out into the balcony. “Challenge accepted, Lady Palutena! Though be warned… I’m just as good at dishing it out as I am at taking it. I hope you’re ready for what you’re about to get yourself into!”
Palutena promptly made her way over to take a seat on the floor with her back to the balustrade, and specifically assumed the lotus position with her soles turned upward and the backs of her hands against her knees, the pads of her pointer fingers touching those of her thumbs as she closed her eyes in contentment. “Have fun, Pit! Ohhhhmmmm… OhhhHHHHMHMHMHMMMMM…!!”
The green-haired deity had barely gotten the first mantra out before her captain’s fingers and wing feathers began dancing upon her soles once more. And it was less than a minute before she once again collapsed into the first of many helpless, melodious cachinnations that would continue long into the night, and which could be heard a not-insignificant distance away from the temple — though in fairness, she was steady enough not to break position despite all her ticklish squirming. There was no denying it: Lady Palutena was the most ticklish goddess around, and now that Pit had realized how much he enjoyed taking advantage of that, he was going to do so a lot more from now on.
She’d definitely have to watch her back around him in the future. Or her feet, as the case may be.
All the same, the green-haired deity was glad to have found some closure for her own personal troubles until now, especially now that she and her captain had come clean to one another about each of their respective concerns about the long wait for their next big adventure. It would still take time and effort to make a new mark on history, of course, but even the smallest acts of appreciation were enough to make the wait more bearable. If nothing else, she mused even as her beautiful peals of laughter carried across all of Skyworld, Lady Palutena was truly thankful to have been fully repaid and then some for her service as the Goddess of Light.
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