The Crossing of the Paths
By MMM/AJ
Part III: Of Darkness and Light

A/N: Like Part II, I plan on posting this one in chunks as well. This is Chunk THREE. I've been in a bit of a writer's speed slump lately, which is where I can still write, it just comes to me a lot slower. I'm sure you've noticed already, it's the reason why the first 2 chunks of this book were so short. Well, because of my current workload and writing speed I'm going to shorten my standard chunk length from 10 pages to 6. I'll write more than that if I feel up to it and have the time. Even with shorter chunks however, I can still promise you quality writing!

Chapter IV

"Is he worthy?"

"Time will tell, we must be patient."

The voices subsided into the darkness as Mewtwo slowly came back into consciousness. A searing pain was blazing in his forehead and on the back of his right paw. Before he even opened his eyes his face cringed from the fiery pain that was etching his body. When he did finally open his eyes, sunlight shining over the field met them. The city and its tower still stood proudly over the surrounding grasslands and to his left was the ledge that dropped off to the beach.

Mewtwo groaned and sat up, only vaguely remembering what had happened to him last night. He remembered burying the green clad boy, and a golden glow, and the words "Is he worthy" echoing in nothingness. He slowly lifted his right hand to see what was causing the pain, and remembered the triangle that had flown from the boy's body. Here it was, infused in the back of his hand, shining in the sun off of its polished surface. It had shrunk in size to only about 2/3 of a centimeter in its dimensions, and it seemed to have effortlessly merged with his hand.

Mewtwo then reached up to his forehead, and felt burned skin. A triangle shaped patch of his skin had been severely charred where the Triforce had entered his body, and his skin cracked and shattered as he touched it. He winced in pain again.

Mewtwo looked down at the Triangle in his hand. Suddenly, a memory clicked in his mind. He remembered the Red Elder telling him about the Hylian legends of the Triforce, and artifact so old and powerful, it was said to contain the power of three Goddesses. He remembered that she had told him that the Triforce could split itself into three pieces, but she hadn't told him why it would do that. Here he had one of the three pieces, passed down to him by the young child who had fought the mask creature. He was pondering this intently when suddenly a small boy with a blue cap skipped up over the pinnacle of a nearby hill and saw him.

"Monster! Monster!" The boy cried and turned and ran. Mewtwo stood up and looked as the boy sprinted towards the massive doors of the city, crying out for help. He swallowed hard as the boy entered and the double doors creaked shut.

"I needn't be seen again." Mewtwo said to himself. He cloaked himself, and suddenly cried out in crippling pain. The Triforce piece in his left hand suddenly burned with a staggering new pain. It felt as if his hand was being dipped in lava. Streaks of purple light ran down his arm and disappeared into the triangle, which was now glowing in a light tinge of purple.

Mewtwo let go of his cloak and suddenly the pain stopped. He fell to his knees, panting and sweating. The triangle had sucked at his very life energy, triggered by his using of his powers. As the pain finally subsided, Mewtwo's face contorted with rage.

"Why is it that there's always something preventing from using my abilities?" He screamed in his head. "Is this the curse that the voice mentioned? Am I to be helpless again? The Red Elder's legends certainly didn't mention this!" He raged on, still keeping his voice silent.

Slowly, the double doors of the city opened again, and a group of armored guards carrying spears trotted out. There were ten of them, and they were all heading directly towards Mewtwo's current position. Mewtwo let go of his anger for the moment and stood up and ran south west towards the swamp. He knew he could lose his pursuers there.

The guards were quick in their stride, quicker than Mewtwo with his less than ideal shaped legs. They gained on him quickly as he sprinted toward the swamp. He could hear them shouting and whooping behind him, spears at the ready, and all of this because he had frightened the little child in the blue cap. Mewtwo was still too confused and caught up in the chase to think about turning to talk to the soldiers. He didn't remember that the Hylian demons and monsters didn't talk, and that he could prove that he wasn't a monster simply by saying something. He continued to run towards the swamp that grew larger as he got closer to it.

Once he reached the edge, he saw how different it was from the swamp he had known with his 5 years with the Gerudos here. It was a lot less overgrown, and the water was not nearly as mucky. He waded in and swam like a dog in a pond. A small hut also stood on stilts at the edge of the swamp, but he didn't bother seeking shelter where there might be more people who would be frightened. He swam with all his will, not looking back.

After a few minutes it became obvious that the guards had not followed him in, the edge of the swamp was out of sight and there was neither sight nor sound of his pursuers. Only the gentle chirping of birds and sloshing of the water around him met his ears. It was more like a wet forest that a swamp here now. Everywhere bright colored foliage sprang up from the ground in bursts of colors like fireworks. This swamp was completely unlike the one he had known, the swamp where he had lived was a complete drab grey brown, and all its plants were drooping blobs of mush that hung from the branches of long dead or dying trees. Here however, the trees were full of life and surrounded by vivid shrubs and other flora.

Mewtwo didn't want to stay in the same place for too long, the people might bring a raft of some sort to pursue him with. He waded and then paddled further into the dense forest. The water he swam in was almost completely clear, and it was cool and refreshing on his tired body. He rounded the trunks of many trees and past many boulders, twisting and turning like a mountain road. A large hill rose up out of the water ahead of him, and a jetty jutted out in front of a path that followed a low furrow in the hill. Mewtwo decided that this was a safe bet, so he climbed out of the water and onto the jetty. He walked down to the path and followed it around several twists, and around the last one a tall house on stilts rose through the furrows of the hill.

As Mewtwo slowly walked around the corner, something slowly floated up into the air out of the top of the hut. Mewtwo craned his neck and saw two hunched figures hovering on brooms rising up into the air. The two flyers rose just a bit higher before rocketing forward in separate directions. They flew out of view quickly, and Mewtwo rubbed his eyes and blinked. The flying figures looked oddly familiar, and the smell of must and age flashed in Mewtwo's mind.

Curiosity once again exerted its influence on Mewtwo, and he assumed that whoever those two flyers were, they were the only inhabitants of the hut. He almost tried to fly again to reach the hut, but the memory of the pain stopped him. He climbed the skinny ladder up to the raised platform and opened the door to the hut. The inside was incredibly cramped; a great furnace took up a good portion of the space inside. The walls were lined with shelves covered in all variety of odd looking knick knacks, many different unrecognizable pictograph pictures, and bottles containing liquids of many different colors. And a small counter on the end of the room had three bottles set on it.

"Can it be?" Mewtwo wondered aloud. The leftmost bottle was bright red, just like the potions Fara had. Mewtwo grabbed a sharp pointed stone off of the other end of the table and jabbed it into his arm. Blood trickled out slowly. He then reached over and popped the cork off of the red filled bottle. He took a light drink and looked down at the hole he had punched in his skin. It slowly shrank and disappeared, leaving only the little dab of blood that had seeped out. It was now apparent; this was the same kind of Red Potion that the Gerudos used on their injured.

His common sense kicking in, Mewtwo decided that he needed to take the potion with him. He had been carrying the flute instrument in his right hand while traveling this land, and carrying the potion with him would only be more of a hindrance. Thinking of that, he reached up and grabbed a large knapsack off of one of the shelves. He put the potion and the blue flute into the sack and slipped it onto his back.

Two bottles still remained on the counter, one containing a green liquid and one containing a blue liquid. Mewtwo picked the green one up curiously, wondering what malady it would cure. He popped the cork off and smelled it. It held the same refreshing and sharp odor as the red potion, only with a tingling sensation. He took the pointed rock and scratched himself again, then took a small drink of the green drought. It had a distinctly different flavor, not smooth and mild, but it was like taking a swig of Worcestershire sauce. The cut did not disappear from his arm, and the potion burned his mouth to the point where he nearly spat it out. But before he did, the burn wore off and a new feeling replaced it. Suddenly, an electrifying feeling of energy flooded his body, energizing him and heightening his senses. It was like his metabolism had quadrupled in a few seconds, and the Triforce piece on his right hand suddenly glowed iridescent green.

The feeling of energy that flowed through Mewtwo compelled him to try and use his powers. He tried lifting a trinket off of one of the shelves, and smiled widely when no pain came when he did. But the energy that he now possessed was slipping away quickly, it was slowly traveling down his right arm and into his third of the Triforce.

Mewtwo was sold on this new type of potion, he corked it and stuck it into his knapsack. He then reached for the blue filled bottle and uncorked it. He took a drink and found it to be a half and half taste of smooth and spicy. The cut disappeared off of his arm and the jolting energy renewed itself in his system.

"I'm liking these new types of potion." Mewtwo said to himself as he corked the blue potion and stuck it into his knapsack.

"Thief!" an old, craggy voice cracked through the air.

Down through a hole in the roof, two old, wrinkled Gerudo women hovered down on brooms. They were sitting stoutly on their brooms, and they landed on the floor, and Mewtwo fell backwards in shock and fear.

"Ko….Kotake and Koume!" Mewtwo sputtered in a disbelieving voice.

"How do you know our names, thief?" Kotake growled.

"I…I…Aren't you supposed to be in the Spirit Temple?" Mewtwo stammered, completely confused.

"Spirit Temple? I don't have the foggiest idea of what you're talking about! Now return that pack and the potions you stole!" Koume shouted.

Mewtwo's better sense told him that it would be best not to fight two witches as powerful as these, but by now he was so confused and frightened that a fleeing instinct kicked in and he flew up out of the hole in the roof and out over the trees of the swamp. Kotake and Koume followed on their brooms, tossing fireballs and ice bolts after him. Mewtwo blocked them with his shield and kicked into his highest flying speed, leaving a bright blue glowing contrail behind him. Kotake and Koume were left in the dust as Mewtwo rocketed straight North towards Snowhead Mountain.

Chapter V

Thick white clouds encased the entirety of Snowhead Mountain, and a deep layer of snow covered the ground. The long and winding paths up the mountain and the craggy peaks at the top were equally covered in pure, blinding white. As Mewtwo approached, the last of the energy that the potions had benefited him was slipping away. The Triforce piece in Mewtwo right arm slowly started to hurt, the pain increased as the energy dropped. He descended slowly and landed on a path on the mountain, and his foot sank deeply into the snow. He suddenly shivered violently, wondering if this had been the best place to lose Kotake and Koume. He tried to fly again, but by now the energy afforded by the potion had faded and the searing pain returned in full force.

Mewtwo trembled in the cold, his breath puffing out in a cloud before his eyes as snowflakes came to rest upon his head. He slowly pulled out the green potion and uncorked it. He had used a good portion of it in his test, and suddenly he hesitated to drink it. He might need it for later, if he ran out of red potion he would need to heal himself. And not too far off through the thick falling snow, a warm yellow light flickered invitingly. Mewtwo corked the potion and trudged through the snow while holding his arms around himself and shuddering with violent shivers. His feet sank three feet through the snow and became numb very quickly, as did most of his skin. He was beginning to lose almost all of his feeling in his limbs when he approached the light source, a warm looking cabin made of wood with a smoking chimney. He didn't care if the people inside would be scared, he'd rather stay here than use his potions to fly off of the mountain. He fumbled up the steps and knocked on the door.

A harsh creaking noise punctuated the door swinging open quickly. Inside the door stood a thin pasty man in long underwear and holding a cup of steaming coffee. When he saw Mewtwo's form he instinctively recoiled in fear and almost closed the door, but Mewtwo spoke first.

"C-Can I p-please have a warm place to s-stay?" Mewtwo managed to say through his chattering teeth. The fur on his body was frozen to him and he looked pale blue on the outside.

"You're not a monster, you can talk!" The man inside the door said.

"Y-yes, can we please discuss this in f-front of a fire?" Mewtwo asked in his best pathetic voice.

The skinny man showed Mewtwo into the cabin, and Mewtwo realized that it wasn't a cozy log home that was tucked away amongst the snows, but rather, a hot, cramped, blacksmith's shop. A great forge stood on the other side of a wall to wall counter at the end of the one room shop, and it was attended by one of the most hideous, disfigured men Mewtwo had ever seen. The skinny man saw Mewtwo's horrified expression and expounded.

"Him, he's my partner. He does all the hard work while I do the business deals. Name's Jacob, might I ask who you are, my frighteningly demon-like friend?" Jacob asked.

"I was named Mewtwo by my creators, I've been living in this world for almost six and a half years now, just…" Mewtwo cut himself off before he could say that he was new to this time period.

"Creators? You're an odd fellow. Me myself, I've only been here for a few days. I've been covering for my brother who owns this shop. He left with most of the people of Clock Town to escape the moon." Jacob said, rambling just a bit.

"Clock Town?" Mewtwo asked.

"You're quite ignorant of the landscape for someone who's been here for six years! It's the big city just south of here in Termina Field! It's only the main hub of all daily life and trade in this land!"

As Jacob spoke, a swift knock made itself heard on the front door. The deformed man tending the forge grunted in alarm and Jacob growled at him for quiet. He then motioned for Mewtwo to step behind the counter and hide. Mewtwo did so, and wondered what the trouble could be as a draft of icy air from the opening door swept around the counter to swirl about him. Jacob's voice intermingled with the voices of two unfamiliar males, and a short pause was filled with the howl of the fierce snowstorm outside. Then, a few more inaudible words were said and the door slowly creaked shut again. Mewtwo stood up deliberately and saw a slightly worried look in Jacob's face.

"Come here." Jacob said sternly.

Mewtwo walked over to the table, shaken by Jacob's sudden change in attitude. "What is it?" He asked.

"Those were two guards from Clock Town. They were carrying this." Jacob said, and rolled a piece of parchment onto the table. On this parchment was a rough sketch of Mewtwo's form and his face, and under it was written "Danger!" in big bold letters.

"Can you explain?" Jacob asked, looking into Mewtwo's eyes.

Mewtwo stifled back a shudder, and spoke. "I was wandering through….Termina Field, when suddenly I stumbled onto this playing child. I tried to speak to him and tell him that I wasn't a monster, but he ran screaming back into the walls of Clock Town before I could say anything!"

"I can see how someone could fear you at first look, what with the horns and all, but they told me that you robbed a local potion shop owned by two innocent old ladies!" Jacob snapped.

"Innocent old ladies? What are you talking about? They were Kotake and Koume, stepmothers of the wicked King of Evil and the ones who brainwashed Nabooru the Spirit Sage! I'm sure they could part with three potions!" Mewtwo shouted, now thoroughly agitated.

"Are you pulling all of this out of thin air? I haven't met those women personally, but they have a good reputation in the community as having been honest potion makers all their lives! I've never heard any of this Evil King fiddle faddle before in my life!"

Mewtwo was out of things to say, maybe the two witches were doppelgangers of the original Kotake and Koume, or maybe they were brought back to life and memory wiped to live here. Either way, Jacob spoke again before he could think of something to reply with.

"I should have turned you in to those guards right then and there, but I knew there was something about you that was special. Somehow, you were going to end up giving me good fortune, or maybe getting me rich, so I told them I hadn't seen you. But by the Gods, you'd better not try to steal any of my things or I'll have this big brute pulverize you!"

"Of course! I haven't need for swords or other metal worked items, I just need a place to stay until the storm settles down!" Mewtwo said hopefully.

"Hmm, well, all right. But for your sake, my intuition had better have been right, this stay isn't free for thieves!" Jacob said.

Mewtwo sat and waited most of the rest of the day away while the snowstorm raged in blind fury for hours. The snow piled up many more feet, it covered half the door by nightfall. Darkness approached eagerly, aided on by the heavily clouded sky. Jacob gave Mewtwo a plateful of roasted beef for dinner and the three of them sat down at the counter and ate dinner. And once it was time to hit the sack, Jacob gave Mewtwo a small rollout sleeping bag. The bulky smith with his great deformed body put out the forge and pulled out an unfolding bed from behind his counter to sleep. Jacob laid down on his own mini-mattress and soon fell asleep as well. Both smith and shopkeeper slumbered, but Mewtwo found his sleep disturbed as the snowstorm buffeted the cabin.

"Where should I go now?" Mewtwo thought to himself. "What is my goal in this time period? Maybe I should try using the flute to return to the Gerudos." He thought. He looked at his right paw, saw the shining metal of the Triforce glinting in the darkness, and knew that that option would probably be unlikely. His obtaining of the Triforce was a sign, one that told him that he needed to do something here in this time period. He just didn't know what. And as he thought, he also realized the paradoxes that were now inherent in the time stream. As he had created the green clothed child's grave, he didn't realize that he had made it to the exact size, shape and appearance as the one he had found back in his own time. It was an obvious creation-cause paradox, and yet he was still here, and the time-space continuum hadn't collapsed. Something was seriously goofy with this dimension, in any other world the entire fiber of reality would have been shredded by such a paradox, but not here.

Also, what was up with Kotake and Koume? Now that he was no longer being interrogated by Jacob, Mewtwo had time to mull this matter over in his mind as well. It seemed to be yet another paradox, two evil women who were supposed to be dead were still alive, and living lives of peace selling potions. This clearly defied the legends that the Gerudos had passed down, and the stories that were written in the Spirit Temple itself. It was true in their time, but not in this one. It might have been possible that the Gerudo Elders had been changing the legends over time as they were continuously passed down, but to defy the writing in the Temple, which was obviously made during the Hylian time period; it seemed to make no sense. Mewtwo decided that these two witches here in this land called Termina must be some form of doppelgangers or identical twins, maybe there had been four at birth? It didn't matter, his mind was moving on again after satisfying itself.

As he began thinking about his next item that bugged him, Mewtwo didn't feel the outside influence acting on him at first. It was only a simple message, a directional attraction to the North, which implanted itself almost subliminally in his mind as he slowly began to lose his concentration on his thoughts and to drift to sleep. By the time he decided to give up on his ruminations and let the sandman do his work, the Northward attraction in his mind was just as strong as the Eastward attraction that Darkest had used to lure him in. Only this Northward attraction was not controlled by sinister forces, but by the power of the other two Triforce pieces, which were now calling to their brother. They wanted to become whole once more, and now a brooding dark feeling was descending on one of their possessors.

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who has been reviewing lately, the outpouring of support you've been showing has just filled me to the brim with good feelings! It's good to know so many people like my writing, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you who has helped me, even after my little fit of depression. YOU GUYS ROCK!