Wow, this has been a while. I'm amazed it took me so long to get this done.

Guess I'm lazier than I thought.

Anyway, rather nice plot and character development here.

And Celebi seems to flit between awesome, badass and total jerk a lot in this Act.

Oh, and Eve's so dumb it's almost cute. Almost.

So, shall we depart? (There, I actually found something that sounds dumber than "So let's go!")

Worlds Apart - Act Five: One Path

It was impossible. The child-clone had somehow managed to take down a Shadow that even Celebi had struggled with. Completely impossible, if Celebi didn't know better, he would have thought that Lady Luck watched over her. Then he spotted the Scizor twitching, and it was more than mere death throes. She had not killed it after all. The fairy growled to himself, pushing the burning sensation to the back of his mind, trusting in his body's healing abilities to work on their own, as his wings slowly started to move, providing just enough lift to pull him upright, allowing him to see more than the tainted bug in front of him.

And Celebi did not like what he was viewing. Eve was quivering, shaking, looking like her legs were going to give at any moment, while she struggled to hold onto the blood-stained kitten in her arms. No, not kitten, Mew was not that much younger than Celebi, only a few hundred years seperating the two, practically nothing to those who were essentially immune to the tests of time. Mew would not falter now, not in the face of his injuries, not after all those years, that was one thing Celebi knew was true, so he pushed the worry back to join that dark fire. He had to focus on the present, on what he had to do to keep everyone alive and pure, or as pure as a being such as Eve could be.

"Damnit," he cursed in his mind, she was essential now, even if he hated to admit it, he could no longer view her as an unwelcome virus in the world. Something to be hunted down and destroyed... she was not such a thing, and that Scizor was. The burning was making it had to concentrate, but he needed his psychic abilities if he was to fight, "Focus!"

...It was hard, but Celebi managed to gather enough strength to float into the air, his movements becoming easier as his regerative abilities toiled away. He was able to fly, slowly, inch by inch, towards the stunned psychic, her wide red eyes finally meeting his own.

"I-" He already knew what she was about to say, he had heard the words many times before, over the many centuries, from the throats of those who had stole a life in their desperation.

"You did not kill it." His voice was unsteady, still shaking from the supressed agony that was only now starting to fade, "you merely stopped it. It can no longer regenerate fast enough to recover, only enough to keep itself alive." He decided not to tell her that there was hardly anything left of the Scizor, the bug destroyed by the parasitic energy that had tainted its soul... it was not something she needed to know, not while she was still recovering from the act itself.

"But... I-I stabbed it in the eye! In the head!" She was starting to panic, her chest rising and falling with each rushed breath.

"You didn't penetrate far enough, barely scratching the surface of the brain, damaging only a part that Shadows do not use anyway. Speech, memories, Shadows have no need for them. So, all you did was paralyse it, if you removed that makeshift spear, it would heal, it would get up, and it would kill." Now that, she needed to know, she needed to accept what she was being told, otherwise she would not understand what Celebi had to do next.

He floated over to the frozen insect, watching it's minute movements. His body had recovered enough from the cursed attack, the twisted blast of energy he had been struck with, that he was able to extend the reach of his mind, searching along the floor of the forest, before settling on an object that fitted his purposes. The long stick floated into the air, heading for the fairy's hand, even as the stunned clone watched. Celebi moved over the Scizor's face, pointedly not looking down at that feral expression, he needed all his energy to keep his powers up, he could not afford to feel the fear from looking into those bloodthirsty eyes.

Well, eye, he chuckled to himself, the damaged one was completely obscured by the wooden item that impaled it. The clone's twig could not penetrate any deeper, could not do any real damage to the beast's twisted mind. So Celebi had the job of finishing what he had started, what she had interrupted. He pulled back his paw, concentrating his powers on the much thinner stick. It was sturdy, it would hold long enough to do.

"Scizor have two eye holes for a reason!" He growled, his paw shooting down, releasing the pent-up energy behind the weapon, the wood shooting down, hitting its mark, piercing the vunerable flesh. Celebi smiled, no mockery of life, no twisted creature could defeat him. He was the Holy Paladin; and the damned would fall.

--

Eve's breath caught in her throat as the makeshift spear penetrated through the Scizor's right eye hole. There was no doubt that it was a fatal blow, the stick sinking in far enough that it almost vanished completely into the bugs skull. She knew what it was, what it would do, and yet the sight of such a brutal, merciless end was too much to bear. Her cheeks were turning green, visable through her fur, as she fought the urge to lose those doughnuts from earlier. Still, her sickness faded as a weak mewling came from the creature in her arms.

"If you puke on me, I'm grounding you for life," Mew muttered, his blue eyes blinking up at her. Eve now found herself fighting the urge to squeeze, to hug her brother, knowing that the act would aggrivate his wounds further.

"You're okay!"

"Well, as okay as he can be, considering," Celebi flew over, Eve having to resist the urge to back away... even knowing what the thing had been, watching Celebi kill it had almost been too much. The fairy, seeming to realise this, slowed his flight, approaching slowly as he held his paw a few inches over Mew's head. "You sure you don't want to be unconscious for this?"

"Can't be in anymore pain than I am right now."

Eve paused, what the hell did that mean? But, by the time she'd came to a conclusion, Celebi had already closed his eyes and concentrated, his paws starting to glow a vibrant green, one that seemed to illuminate Mew's wounds, the light spreading. Eve could only stare as the light moved, focused solely around the injuries, which seemed to stop bleeding all at once. She guessed it was like watching Recover in slow-motion. There was one problem, when the healing started on the wounds themselves instead of sealing the bloodflow, Mew suddenly tensed up, his tail actually cracking Eve in the leg as his eyes squeezed close, small whimpers escaping him.

"You're hurting him!"

"And, if you drop him, it'll hurt worse, without actually healing him in the process. So hold still!" Celebi snapped, moving back as the recovery moved on its own, the female having to avert her gaze as the glow got even brighter, and Mew's flailing got stronger, forcing her to clutch tighter to keep her grip.

But, her eyes opened in shock, she wasn't holding onto wounds anymore, just flesh. The healing ability had started on Mew's sides, allowing her to hold onto him without fear of hurting him worse, before spreading to the injuries on his head. Now, as these were really severe, Eve was fully expecting Mew to start screaming. But there was none, she could see him fighting them back, clenching his jaw so tightly it looked as though it might snap. But, if it did, the glow would just go and fix that too, so she supposed there was no worry. Celebi had taken hold of the pink feline's tail, stopping it bruising Eve further, to which she was grateful.

Then the light finally started to fade, Eve really staring as it revealed Mew's form once more. There was not even a trace of his wounds, Celebi's spell has even managed to regrow the pink fur to cover the healed flesh. He still looked pale, but he was no longer so tense, slowly relaxing and letting his eyes drift open.

"...I always forget just how painful doing that while awake really is," his voice shook slightly, and Eve noticed a few green sparks fixing where he had bitten his lip to stop himself screaming.

"Not as bad as that time you got impaled by that spear a thousand years back," Celebi shrugged, while Mew merely winced at the memory, or as the sparks ran one more time over his body, Eve guessing to remove scars under the fur. Celebi continued without a pause, "besides, most people pass out from the pain eventually anyway, you're one of the few who can withstand it."

Mew looked confused, "...I thought I was the only one."

"Scyther." Celebi merely stated, before pausing for a moment, "oh yeah, we'd better get moving, don't want to be standing around for another Shadow to just jump us. I'd rather fight them on my terms."

"Which are?"

"We live; it doesn't. Which isn't going to happen if we stand here gossiping, so let's move it!" Celebi turned and flew off into the trees, Eve sighing and following behind, Mew still in her arms. Healed or no, the clone didn't really believe Mew should be flying, so she kept a firm grip on the kitten as she weaved through the trees after the fairy.

--

They traveled in silence, Eve couldn't tell for how long, stopping at every little sound, a rustling leaf, a twig breaking, every tiny little sound could hide danger. Eve hated it, both the silence and the fear, they made every second near unbearable. She was almost hoping for something to show up, or for Mew to crack a joke, or even tell her off for fighting that thing, anything!

"Eve..." the kitten in her arms mewled, only a whisper above the wind.

"Crap." She knew that last part had been asking for it, Mew had probably been waiting for that exact thought.

"T-thank you." The words were hesitent, shaking, almost as if he wasn't sure that he could say them, even if he knew that he must.

They caused her to stop in her tracks, staring down at him, her red eyes meeting his blue, the colour dulled by pain and tears. That- that had not been what she'd expected to hear.

"How what now?" She winced as she said it, why did she keep saying that?!

"You saved me." Mew glanced to the side, his tone slowly turning hollow and empty again, "in more ways than you know."

"­Mew..." Would he ever cheer up and be his old self again, she sighed, it was really starting to seem like it wasn't going to happen...

"Hey, Princess, Puff-tuff, stop yapping for a moment!"

"What did you just call me?" Mew snapped back, practically snarling, while Eve just found herself staring. He did not just say that.

"Puff-tuff, after the annoying pink things." The fairy shrugged, "Would you prefer Jiggly-wiggly?"

"No, puff-tuff is good."

"Thought so." He turned to Eve, who was still trying to figure out if she should be confused by the conversation, or insulted at what he'd called her. "You going to imput anything?"

"How what now?" Jir-damnit, she winced, where the hell did that keep coming from. Even Celebi looked puzzled, turning away.

"Ooookay then; moving on."

He guestured to a small side path, Mew's eyes widening further at the sight of it. Now Eve was really confused, it was just a normal path... then she spotted the ground, the way that grass was growing in between stones... not stones, gravel. A gravel path, in a forest.

"That is not right." There was no way that happened naturally but, considering the rest of today, little suprised her. Mew finally floating out of her arms and glancing over at Celebi, however, did.

"Let's go." He ordered.

"You can't be serious." Celebi grumbled, wings fluttering as he protested, "We have Shadows on the loose."

"That will lead to people!" Mew's tail lashed, voice cold. He actually looked kinda scary, the way his eyes flashed that vivid purple, the way his entire body hung in the air, going from limp to tense with each breath...

"Who will be dead, or being deadified at this very moment."

"They could need our help." The pink kitten's voice got colder, older, he sounded even worse than Mewtwo had.

"They could be the reason that those monsters are around anyway!"

"Guys..." She had to stop this, somehow.

"We're supposed to help and protect people!"

"Which we are doing, we're going to help and protect us!"

"Guys." Her necks were starting to hurt from the way she was having to look between the two of them.

"Oh, so that's the great Holy Paladin's real feelings then? Screw the Humans, I'm a super-psychic?!" Now he'd gone from cold to sarcastic, and yet the words still sent a shiver down Eve's spine, she could feel her fur starting to frizz.

Okay, the hell with it, she knew how to stop this. She walked between the two of them, heading down the gravel path. And, to top it all off, she grabbed ahold of an antenna, and a pink ear, just to get their attention.

"We're going."

"Fine," Celebi was growling, "just let me go, before I chop your hand off."

"Do it and die!" Mew shot back.

"I'd like to see you try."

...She almost prefered the Shadows, she decided. They gave her less of a headache.