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 SIX. Can you believe it? I'm actually finding time enough to write this even between all the studying for exams! I'm very happy that such stressful things as the finals aren't deterring me from continuing to write what I love. I really enjoy writing this, and getting reviews is even more wonderful. Can you imagine, if I'm thins industrious now, how well and fast I'll write after the finals are over?

Chapter X

"Who are you?" the woman insisted forcefully again, her face scrunched in anger and effort.

"I..." Mewtwo thought, and his mind slowly receded out of the dream. He awoke with a start, the sun was setting already. He had slept through most of the day, and Hyrule Castle was tauntingly close, the drawbridge open and inviting. His stomach roared in agonizing hunger, and he walked over to the river to fill it with water.

It was twilight by the time Mewtwo stood at the foot of the drawbridge. The pull on his senses was yelling at him to proceed inside, and his common sense yelled at him not to. As he stood in front of the drawbridge, the lone wolf howled in the distance as night settled over the land. And as if synchronized with a cue, the wooden drawbridge suddenly jerked upwards and lifted up into a closed position. Mewtwo swore silently in his mind and drew his plant bone blade out of his knapsack. And almost as a reply, the zombie creatures clawed their way up out of the ground yet again. Their yellow ghoulish eye sockets glowed just as menacingly as before, but Mewtwo was no longer afraid of them this time around. During his five years with the Gerudos, they had trained him to be a fine swordsman with solid blades. It had taken him years of practice to accustom his weak arms to lifting solid physical blades, and they had grown muscular and toned instead of stringy and thin. As the zombies approached him, he took a deep breath and lifted his arms up and down to stretch them before strenuous use. And as the first of the creatures ran up and charged at him, he began his deadly swordplay.

The hunched creature dashed at him blindly, and Mewtwo sidestepped and lopped its head off. The head rolled to the ground and the body simply wandered off in another direction, bumping into other zombies. Mewtwo turned and slashed the arms off of another undead beast and then kicked it in the chest, sending every bone flying in a different direction. The then swept his blade along the ground, cutting off the feet of a third zombie. It fell face first in the soil and began grabbing at Mewtwo's ankles. Mewtwo dragged the blade across the ground and diced the monster's arms off as well. He then took off its head too with a final stroke. The yellow glowing eyes fell dark and the bones became permanently dormant.

The initial three creatures had been disposed of easily, and Mewtwo sighed and wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead. A momentary pause followed, and the cool night breeze was very refreshing. It was soon interrupted though, there were more faint dragging sounds as another group of the zombies crossed the crest of a hill. Eight of them were in that group, and an additional three climbed up out of the ground behind him next to the moat.

Mewtwo smiled at their poor choice of an area to attack. He raised his blade and charged at them, and struck all three of them at once with the blunt edge of his blade. They fell backwards together into the water of the moat and disintegrated as the waters released their spirit energy from their Earthly bounds. Mewtwo turned and saw the other eight were now limping toward him as fast as they could, their eyes glowing hungrily. He brought his blade level and waited until they got close enough to strike. Mewtwo swung in an X pattern and made cross sections out of the first two Zombies that approached him, and then spun around in a circle, halving another three. The remaining three managed to get close enough to strike him, one of them lunged forward and slashed Mewtwo's side with sharp claws. The wound was shallow but long.

Mewtwo grunted in pain and anger, his vision began to take on a shade of red as his blood rushed with the excitement of battle. He turned and skewered the monster that had slashed him, but the creature only reached out and clawed him on his left arm. Mewtwo shouted more in anger than pain, and kicked the creature off of his sword with a mighty blow. Bones flew individually in all directions. And suddenly, the arm of one of the fallen creatures grasped his foot and pulled him down. He fell over backwards felt a dull pain as a bone blunted his back. Another of the fiends rushed up to him and swiped, but Mewtwo raised his blade and caught the blow. He then kicked it with both of its legs and it was soon in pieces scattered across the ground. Mewtwo then kicked his feet forward, pulling himself upward in one simple motion, and diced the remaining monster with four strokes. It fell to the ground in a pile of dust and bones.

Mewtwo felt the bleeding gashes on his body and winced, they weren't severe but would become a painful hindrance if the fighting were to continue. And there were a few of the creatures still maintaining an animated state on the ground, not injured badly enough to die again. He quickly brushed their twitching bodies into the water of the Castle's moat and the brilliant blue flame erupted again as the unfortunate souls flew free. Yet another moment of peace fell upon the field as Mewtwo breathed heavily and nursed his injuries. When none of the creatures came after five minutes, Mewtwo cautiously set his blade down and opened his knapsack. He pulled out the blue potion and was about to uncork it when a new sound crept across the still grasslands.

Another of the zombie creatures climbed up the zenith of a hill. It was gigantic, nearly seven feet tall and bulkily large. It dragged its rotting bony feet across the grass and approached Mewtwo with baseball sized glowing eyes. Mewtwo wasn't surprised that this kind of thing could happen, the land of Hyrule had surprised him again and again every time he had become complacent, and this new beast was only a bigger and slower form of its fellows. Mewtwo closed his knapsack and picked up his sword again, and faced the hulking monster. As his eyes met with its, the creature let out a bone shaking bellow and rushed forward. Mewtwo stood on the tips of his toes as the monster held its fists high up into the air, preparing to smash him into the ground like an ant.

As the crushing blow fell, Mewtwo lunged forward and swung as hard as he could at the beast's legs. The bone blade clanged and vibrated loudly as it struck the bone, completely deflected off of the polished enamel. The beast looked dumbly down at Mewtwo as one who looked at a ghost that had just appeared out of nowhere. It then swung its fist down and brushed Mewtwo's tail. Mewtwo was knocked back between the creature's feet and rolled to the ground in agony. His sensitive tail screamed and sent waves of pain up his back, and the scar left by Darkest's collar suddenly throbbed again. He laid almost completely incapacitated for a few moments as the hulking monster turned and looked down at him.

Mewtwo shook off his feeling of creeping malaise and jumped back up to his feet to meet the monster's next punch with his blade. The blade vibrated violently from stress and the force of the blow pushed Mewtwo backwards, nearly ripping tendons in his ankles. His blade was bent just a slight bit, and would probably break if hit with another blow like that. Mewtwo jumped backwards and followed the last course of action he could see, he implemented his powers suddenly and swiftly. The Triforce piece on the back of his hand caught aflame of pain anew as Mewtwo used the energy to propel himself in a high jump. He landed lightly on the monster's shoulders and kicked the exposed vertebrae of its neck and hacked at them until the creature's head creaked and fell of.

The beast reeled and wobbled, but it did not fall dormant or fall apart. Its head simply lay still on the ground while the body began stumbling around the area dumbly, literally like a headless chicken, only ten times bigger. Mewtwo jumped down from its shoulders and grabbed the head which was the size of a human's basketball. He ran over to the moat and tossed the head in. He heard a crash behind him as the body suddenly fell into itself, and the bright blue flames erupted forth from the water again.

Mewtwo was tired and sore now from the blows that the giant beast had dealt out, and no longer felt like fighting anymore. The silence that laid back down over the field would have given him a chance to think if it had lasted longer, it was interrupted promptly yet again. But not by a scrabbling of zombies or shuffling of giant feet, a lone voice cried out from on top of the outer castle town walls.

"Ho there! Be you man or beast, answer now!" The voice cried in Hylian. Mewtwo jolted and turned to face the wall, seeing a large group of armor clad Hylian soldiers gathered and watching him from the top of the wall. He needn't any reason not to answer them as loudly and quickly as he could, a few of them had arrows knocked at the ready and pointed down at him.

"Hello! I am Mewtwo, and I have come wandering in this land! Might you let me into town?" Mewtwo shouted in Hylian, dredging up the memories of his completed lessons.

"We will open the gates, but come not farther than the gate house before we inspect you personally, or you will be shot!" the guard shouted.

With a suddenly groan and rumble, and drawbridge rumbled down and thumped open. Mewtwo hastily ran inside, over the wooden door and onto rough cobblestones. The wall arched squarely up over him and the gate house stood only a few feet in front of him. As he stopped in front of it, the drawbridge groaned again as it was raised and closed behind him. Mewtwo looked on into the Castle Town past the gate house and saw empty cobblestone streets, lined with squatting houses and colorfully decorated shops. The guards marched down a staircase from the top of the wall and surrounded him. They scrutinized him from top to bottom, and some sighed and shook their heads in disapproval. One of them could not stop staring directly at Mewtwo's horns. His frightened eyes showed easily through his helm.

"Tell me wanderer, why is it that you look so demonic?" The guard leader asked, stepping forward.

"Trust me by my words, I am not a demon. I was born to look this way." Mewtwo nearly gagged on the word 'born', it brought back a sour reminder that he was not a natural being and all the pain that came with this set of thoughts.

"Well, it is obvious you're not a demon by the way you speak, and your skills with the sword would match those of our best fighters, but how can we be sure you're not a bandit or a thief, or if you're not working for the Gerudos?" The guard leader said pryingly.

Mewtwo's ears perked at mention of the Gerudos. His memories flashed back momentarily to Hadara, Indiru, Ruru, and Kalana. But in this time period, the Gerudo ancestors were in a unified tribe and at war with the Hylians. He held back his urge to declare loyalty to the Gerudos, they probably would not recognize him now anyway and he would just get locked up.

"I only have these few things with me, my potions and a plant's blade. I come seeking shelter and food, I've been traveling across the field for days now."

"You've been traversing the field afoot?" The lead guard asked, his interest sparked. "You must definitely not be familiar with our land. Nobody in their right mind here travels Hyrule Field alone, without a horse, and without food! Come now, there's a poorhouse we can put you in for the night, and there is some extra food you can have."

Mewtwo thanked the guards prolifically and followed them through the dark streets to a small building at the corner of the main square. They gave him a room, extra food, and bandages for his wounds. He thanked them again as they left, and felt secure and happy for the first time again in many days. He devoured the mediocre porridge as if it were golden roasted turnkey basted in the finest sauce, and knew it was probably the best tasting food he had ever eaten. Then, after bandaging his cuts, he sat idly on the bed and found it hard to sleep.

Over his travels, Mewtwo had slowly started turning nocturnal again, and the consequences were obvious now as he spent an hour trying to sleep in the dark room. The bed was softer and more welcoming than the field grasses, and yet he just felt awake. He spent an hour idling, trying to remember the flute song, sitting and thinking. When sleep finally did come to him, it was only when he was sure that it was only a few hours away from sunrise. It was good to know that the Hylian people were this kind and generous though, and that thought alone was enough to finally pacify his mind.

Chapter XI

"Who are you?" The familiar voice shouted at Mewtwo yet again, repeating itself. But slowly, as he awoke from the mists of sleep, the voice morphed into that of a younger girl and became sharp and clear in reality's air. And a blast of cold water ran over his face.

Mewtwo opened his eyes and gasped in shock. Before him stood a girl, appearing to be 9 years old, whose face matched that of the woman he had seen in his sleep. She wore the same jeweled crown and her blonde hair was hidden in an odd looking hat with the Triforce inscribed on it. She was completely and totally identical to the woman who had prodded his mind in his sleep. She looked down at him lying on the bed with a scowl and tossed the cup aside.

"Well, I hear that you speak and have proven yourself to not be a demon, so let's hear it again! Tell me, who are you and why are you here?" The girl snarled at him.

Mewtwo sat up, still fumbling with the correct Hylian words under this sudden pressure. "My…name is Mewtwo." He said feebly. He couldn't believe the willpower that this little girl held. Her very presence was humbling and made him feel low.

"I see, so you can talk." She said, calming significantly. Her anger faded into a seemingly emotionless demeanor. "Now then, why have you been prying into my mind all of the time? And why have you come to Hyrule?"

Mewtwo couldn't make up any answers to appease this strong will personality, so he began to tell his story in its entirety. As he recanted his tale to her, he wondered what kind of position she had in Hylian society and what she would think of him after he told her of his violent past. She pulled up a chair and stared at him intensely as he relayed the story in as much detail as his imperfect memory would yield. They spent a good hour like this, and by the time Mewtwo finished, all traces of the girl's irritation were gone. As Mewtwo spoke the last word, the girl reached out and grabbed his right arm. She brought his right hand up to her face and saw the Triforce piece in his hand.

"So it is true." She said. "Link, the Hero of Time, has died." The girl said quietly. She let go of Mewtwo's arm and turned around to put her face in her hands and weep.

The mention of the Hero of Time was the most stunning mind jolt Mewtwo had had in years. The tales of the Hero had never once mentioned his name, now it turned out to be Link. And he had caused Link's death, what kind of irreparable damage to the timeline had he done? The evil King had already been defeated by this point in Hylian history, but now he realized that his presence and actions now held more consequences than he ever could have imagined. When he returned to his own time, mostly likely he would not even be able to recognize it, if the time-space fabric even survived. His need to leave this time was becoming severely dire. The girl stifled her crying and turned to face him. Tears streaked her face and made spots in the beautiful royal dress she was wearing.

"Are you the Princess of Hyrule?" Mewtwo asked, remembering more of the tales.

"Yes, my name is Zelda."

Mewtwo reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "Link died courageously in a valiant effort to save my life."

"And he has left you a bigger gift than you realized. That is the Triforce of Courage you have in your hand now, it is the symbol of the Hero of Time. If Link passed it on to you as he died, then you've been blessed with a great burden and a great gift. With each Triforce piece comes the power of the gods, and the responsibility to take up the charge of a great hero. The Triforce of Courage tests one's mind and will by cutting your magical abilities, it sharpens your senses, reflexes, and makes you less dependant on your power. That is the reason you have had trouble using your abilities." Zelda said. "I have a piece of the Triforce as well. It is the Triforce of wisdom, and it is the mark of a just, wise ruler who brings peace and prosperity to the land. And it is also the mark of a great mage, whose countless years of knowledge in the arts of magic can bring forth great power. And somewhere in the Sacred Realm, Ganondorf still possesses the Triforce of Power; The Triforce piece that, without its two fellows, drives one to insanity and to lust for more power."

"Have the three pieces ever been united?" Mewtwo asked.

"Not by any mortal man, they were found in the Sacred Realm together as a whole, but when Ganondorf touched them, they separated and have been apart since."

"I wondered why it was that I felt such a need to come North." Mewtwo thought aloud. He held his right hand up, and as did Zelda. The two Triforce pieces suddenly glowed brightly and pulled at each other. Mewtwo pulled back suddenly, breaking the connection and the glowing ended.

"The two pieces with to unite, for each piece is only a part of a whole and they are incomplete without each other. Individually they are powerful, but the sum is hundreds of times greater than the parts. I believe that destiny is acting through them, and now through you." Zelda said.

"But something bothers me," Mewtwo said, "When I saw you in my sleep, I saw you as an adult. And here you stand as a child, also wise beyond many elders it seems. How is this so?"

"Appearances can be deceiving my friend. The instrument that Link was carrying is the Ocarina of Time. It is by this that Link and I have traveled through time many times. If I were to count all the years I've experienced as a conscious mind only, I'd be twenty four. Yet because of all the time travel, my body has remained that of a child. And when we touched minds, we saw the other's true minds. When you saw mine, you saw me as my conscious age. And when I saw you…..I saw a being literally divided into two parts, resonating elemental evil and good. That is why I hesitated to truly link with you."

Mewtwo was really disturbed by what Zelda had said. He knew what would happen if he was ever to be split, and he was sure he could prevent it no matter what the cost. But if his true mind was still divided as Zelda had said, the simple possibility of his dark said being set free deeply shook his security.

"You suddenly look pale, is something wrong?" Zelda asked.

"I'm afraid…" Mewtwo said, his mind blurring between recollections and dreams, "I've concretely decided to never allow the darker side of myself to be set free in physical form, but if what you say is true….it may come to pass some day. And…..I had a dream when I was back in Termina. A dark dream where all the land was destroyed or devoured…..and suddenly it makes sense." Mewtwo whispered.

Zelda looked at him intently. "What? You have had a dream like that as well?"

Mewtwo looked into her eyes suddenly, hoping that she had not seen what he had. "Yes……but….is that significant?"

"I've…always had symbolic dreams. Often times my dreams have been premonitions, warning me of disasters or beautiful times to come. And…..I've been having nightmares recently, where Hyrule was invaded from the sky and gutted until nothing remained."

Mewtwo's mind was now paralyzed with fear. Part of him was screaming "No!" hundreds of times and panicking wildly, while another side simply nodded silently. It all seemed to fit together, if the legends were still intact within the tattered time-space continuum, this would be the point in Gerudo records where all contact with the Hylians was lost forever, assumably the time of the coming of the Empire.

A/N: Dunn dunn duuunnnnn! The time-space continuum and the plotline are both becoming seriously twisted. What will happen next? Who knows! History is being altered with every new person Mewtwo meets, so it is very possible that we might be seeing some amazing things coming in the next few chapters! And I also do believe that we will have many more than just 10 chunks this time around as well. And see, your reviews did help me write much faster!