Twisted Heroes

Act 14 - Child's Play

The next morning, that eerie cloud loomed above them as always, but, with their current position, they could also see a bit of a normal morning sun as the ball of fire supplying the means for life climbed into the sky above the horizon of the vast ocean which glittered like jewels. Dark Pit awoke, his wings fluttering as he tried to sit up, but, D-Link's arms... "Forgot about that. Oi! D-Link! Time to get up! I need to stretch my wings and you're holding me as tight as a bear! Wake up!"

The dark Hylian lied as still and heavy as a log, still deep in slumber, not budging an inch.

He groaned in annoyance before pulling back his elbow and giving a blow to his lover's ribs. "I said I need to stretch my wings!"

The sleeping D-Link's response was to wrap his arms around the angel even further and mutter, "Pittoo..."

"You ass. Wake up!" he yelled in amusement as he tried to struggle free, a few grunts of effort being made in the process which was to no avail. "Fuck you. Lemme go! D-Liiiinnnnkkkk... we gotta get to the templlllleeee... Get uuuupppp!" he whined, a cute edge to his voice.

"Pittoo... stop being so cuuuuuuute..." he mumbled after 'hearing' the unusual whining.

"...Cute?! I am not cute, dammit! Now wake up!" he snapped as he gave another elbow to the ribs.

"...Mmm..? Good fucking morning, Pittoo..."

"Good fucking morning to you, too, D-Link," he replied with a pout in his voice, his arms crossed.

It was here that the Hylian noticed that he was holding his lover. "Uuuhhh..." he uttered as he let him go, a tiny bit embarrassed.

"Finally!" he exhaled as he stretched his wings to their full. "Oh. Do me a favor? Never call me cute again."

"...What?" he asked, clearly confused. Again...? When did I call you cute?

"You were half asleep and called me cute after you got me to whine, somehow."

"...Okay. I won't call you cute." Outloud anyway...

He put his hand on his hip and sighed, his eyes closed, his gaze slightly downward. When he opened his eyes again, the rust brown color shimmering a bit, he spoke, "I can't stop what goes on in your head... so think away."

"How did you know that?"

"Your expression was all I needed to know."

"Oh... Well, umm... I guess we should get going."

"Lead the way."

The duo trekked through the remainder of the Haunted Wasteland, which lived up to its name with the desolate marshland, cracked, dried, and empty of any signs of life other than plants as knarled, twisted willows loomed over them, seeming so meloncholy. After the marshes, they came across more desert, with sand and wind so thick and loud that one must have the way memorized completely to prevent getting lost. "Aaaaannnd this is where I no longer know the way..."

"Then... what are we suppossed to do? Just wander around aimlessly until we get lost indefinately? The sand kicked up in the wind here would make it impossible for me to even try to get an ariel visual, so I can't help this time..."

"Hmm... I remember this riddle- wait. I got it..." He took from his pouch the Lens of Truth. He found it in a well when he was but a child. So... For things like this, they come in pretty handy. Using the rare magical item, he found what would be their guide from here on out... a poe. Of course, a spirit would know the way to the Spirit Temple...

"...? Wait... it's beckoning us... Usually that's not a good sign... But, I guess the rules are different in your world..."

"Poes usually try to kill you, but... I guess this one just doesn't care, or something."

"Huh... Wonder why. And wait... Poes? I thought it was just a ghost or soul or spirit... or at least something along those lines."

"Yeah... They're pretty much all the same fucking thing, more or less."

"I see... Oh look. It lead us in a circle... twice."

"It looks like it's laughing. Maybe it just likes loops..."

"...Asshole."

"They all are."

Finally, they had arrived at the Spirit Temple where, on the steps, staring at the sky, was the last person they expected to see. His white wings were folded neatly against his back, his brunette hair swept in a slow breeze, his blue eyes alight with that hope they always seemed to have. He heard their footsteps as soon as they came within his earshot, and he turned to face them, only to do a double take. They were hand in hand... something he didn't really ever expect to see, especially since it was Pittoo...

"What the hell are you doing here...?" D-Link questioned. What. The. Fuck...

"...Uhhh... hold on a minute. What's going on with the two of you?" he inquired, clearly distracted.

"He's mine, that's what."

"Yours...? Oh! I get it! Congrats!"

"Yeah, yeah, warm fuzzies all around. What do you want?"

"...Link gave me this before... you know. He said to wait to give it to you until you got here because something might've happened to mess with your head before you'd need it, and he was right... Anyway. He said to play the Song of Time in order to solve the first part of the temple. He also told me to warn you not to freak out," he explained as he held out the blue ocarina carefully cupping it in both hands.

"The Ocarina of Time..." he muttered as he grabbed it, holding it in his hand, staring as his thoughts ran. ...He thought this far ahead... I won't let it be in vain, Link.

"...I'm surprised you didn't break it, idiot..." mused the dark angel playfully. This wasn't the time to start a fight, and he knew it.

"I can be careful..."

"Granted, but only rarely."

"Hmm... I wanna do something to help, but I don't know what I can do..."

"...You can come with us. There is no way I'm refusing any help," the dark Hylian stated bluntly.

"Awright!" he cheered, jumping slightly. "I might not be able to fly, but I'm really good in combat."

"..." Fuck.

"Alright then... Let's do this," D-Link said before placing his lips on the mouthpiece of the ocarina and playing. A rift in time opened and pulled them back just as the hands on the clock did rotate backwards. Surrounded by white, they fell, all the way to around seven years ago. However, while it didn't look like reversing time had affected the angels at all, D-Link was a different case. He had become... a child again!? What...!? Woah... Remember Link's words... Don't. Freak. Out. But... "...?!"

"D-Link? What the hell... uhhh... you-you know what? Nevermind," Pittoo stammered awkwardly.

"He's... a k-"

"Shut up!" he hissed as he clamped his hand over his light counterpart's mouth.

"I-I... umm..." he uttered nervously. His voice was no longer a deep baritone, but higher and more boyish. Which made sense; clearly, he was a child again... and that brought back unpleasant feelings. Feelings such as fear. "I'm... seven, again..." he spoke Normally, he could just bear it, push through it, and he still retained the memories of everything that had happened... in the future? But... he had the mind of a seven year old kid now. His head was running in loops with all sorts of emotions as he struggled to process everything. For now, he was almost speechless.

"Hmm... Pit. Come on. Look around. See what you can find. I'm gonna stay here and..." he trailed off, unsure what to say, but still. A thought popped into his head that made him snort back a laugh before it grew into a full bout of laughter. I'm taller than someone now.

"I found a tiny opening... up there," stated the captain of Palutena's guard as he came back to the others, having done what he was asked.

"Great. Well, let's get a move on. D-Link? You okay?"

"...Y-yeah, I'm fwine..."

The dark angel blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Fwine...? Oh. Fine. Okay. That's gonna take some getting used to... Come on, kiddo. Let's go. Pit. You said there was a small opening. How small?" he asked as he grabbed the young Hylian's hand. This feels weird... My hand's smaller when he's...older?

"It's small enough that D-Link can crawl through it. Not sure if we can follow..."

"We're gonna damn well try! He's not doing this alone!"

"Uuhh... I... I don't thwink I can do dis alone..."

Thwink... Gotta be 'think'... And... dis is 'this'. Got it. "We'll find some way..." sighed Pittoo.

"On it! Lady Palutena!" called the other angel.

"I've been listening through your laurel and it sounds like you could use some help," she chimed in as a beam of light shot into the room and she appeared, her long green hair flowing at her ankles. "I whipped this up for you. Remember how small you were when you first fought Medusa?"

"Yeah! Things towered over me!"

"Drink this. You'll get that way again. Once you've finished here, I'll change you back." She offered her angel a bottle full of blue liquid which he downed without question as she vanished.

A few seconds later, he was the size he was back when he'd first quested to find the Three Sacred Treasures. "...Woah!"

"Ugh. And now, I'm stuck babysitting..."

"You go see if you can get any infoer...info...information! We got this down here!"

"Litterally."

"What is?"

"Augh. Fine. You keep him safe, got me? If anything happens to D-Link, it's your ass. I will personally knock you out," he sniped with a smirk.

"...Don't get hurt, Pwittoo..." the little Hylian said as he looked up at Pittoo, his adorable, slightly fearful eyes lingering on the dark angel's for a few more moments before he let go of Pittoo's hand. "...L-let's go... Pwit..."

"I'll try not to... but, you be careful, too, D-Link..." Even though it felt awkward saying it now with his lover being so little, the dusky angel added, "I love you..."

Aww... Pit thought, summoning up a weapon with a snap. It was a smaller bow, but it worked very much the same as all of his others. In fact, it looked close to the Palutena Bow he normally used, but with a slight alteration. Where his usual weapon had purple insets, this one shimmered a soft teal, the arrows themselves identical to the color of the golden rings on his arm when he pulled back to create the drawstring. It still feels like an extension of my arm. Good!

"I love you too..." with those last four words, young D-Link got down on all fours and crawled through the small opening. The sooner we do this... the better. I don't like being a kid again...

"Don't worry about him, Pittoo... I will pwo...pro...protect him." With a quick nod at Pittoo and a final reassurance, the small, white feathered cherub followed the dark Hylian through the crawl space. "Everything is enor...enormu...enormous!" he assessed randomly as he stood up in the next room. I can't say big words without tripping up on them now! Awesome! Now I have an excuse to say small words! Yaaaay!

"...Y-yeah..." He stuttered nervously. Dammit, D-Link. Stop stuttering!

"Why are you st...stuttern...stutten... oh forget it. Why are you nervous?"

"...I-I'm not nervous..."

"Okay! Umm... So what do we do in here? There's a sharp, moving thingy over there! It sounds like if I was making my weapon scratch ag...again...against the ground."

"...Dat wall... see how it's cwacked...?" he asked, pointing at it. "Ummm... some-someting's behind it..."

"So we break it?"

"...Uuuhh... Y-yeah. ...We bwow it up!" the little Hylian said enthusiastically as he pulled a bomb from his pouch and lit it, holding it, watching the wick go down, tossing it at the wall at just right before it went off. Kaboom!