The Crossing of the Paths
Second Edition
By MMM/AJ
Part I: Desert Wind

A/N: Hello lovely readers, I hope this week has seen you well! I am still doing well at sticking to this update schedule, so here's the next chunk for you to bite into. Returning readers of the old edition will notice A LOT of new additions here, and going forward this will continue to be a trend all the way to the end. In the first edition of the story, both Desert Wind and Darkness & Light combined together totaled just over 100,000 words, but in this rewrite just Desert Wind alone has hit 300,000! So get ready for tons of new detail. I also got a question last chunk about why Mewtwo can speak Japanese, that's because in my interpretation of Pokemon lore, Kanto is a region of Japan and it makes sense that anyone native to Kanto can therefore read and speak Japanese. I also assume most people there can also speak English, as it makes things easier. Mewtwo probably learned a lot when he read the minds of the scientists who created him, including how to build the cloning tech he then constructed on New Island during the first movie, so it's not a huge assumption he'd pick up both languages from the scientists too. But I should be wary and not answer questions in A/Ns regularly, since FFN still has that rule about No Interactive Fics. If you have any questions you can hit me up on Discord, my username is mmm-aj # 2391 without the spaces between. Hope you enjoy, and thanks to all who have reviewed, faved, and watched!

Chapter 7: The Song of the Valley

The brilliant reddish-orange light of sunset was just beginning to fade down into supple shades of violets and blues as Mewtwo stood quietly alongside Kalana and Ruru outside the base of the Sulaaq Tower. The joy and pride he had enjoyed for rescuing Ruru from the Sulaaq had rapidly faded away to nothing once he had been faced with the task of burying the bodies of the thralls that he had failed to save. He had used telekinesis to do the actual work of digging the graves and interring the dead, and now the three of them were sharing a quiet moment out of respect for them. Absolutely no wind was blowing that evening, leading to a terrible stillness and closeness in the air that accentuated the painful nature of that silence. Before it could linger too long however, Kalana knelt down and began to speak in the Gerudo speech. Her tone was soft and formal, befitting of a funerary rite. Ruru didn't join in, but she did hold Kalana's hand tightly the entire time. Despite the fact that Mewtwo couldn't understand a word of what was being said he could still hear and feel the sincere emotions behind them. After several mournful sentences Kalana paused a moment and then continued in English instead.

"We, the Granddaughters of Din, commit the souls of our sisters back to the embracing arms of the Goddesses. May Nariva and the Three Divine Mothers give them peace everlasting."

Then, with the rites finished, Kalana began to wordlessly sing. The song was simplistic and unfamiliar to Mewtwo's ears; it utilized groups of four ascending notes that formed a consistent pattern. But it was simultaneously both sorrowful and hopeful in a way that took Mewtwo off guard and made him pause. He was already struggling to hold back the tears after putting all those people to rest and Kalana's heart-felt singing was enough to make him lapse just a little. The song lasted a few short minutes and left them standing together swimming waist deep in a pool of their own stirred emotions.

"That was beautiful." Mewtwo said quietly.

"It's the Song of the Valley, mom taught it to us both. It's supposed to be a song for the good times and the bad." Ruru chimed in.

Kalana nodded with a somber expression. "It is sung at both funerals and births, as bookends for a person's life. I can tell you more, but unfortunately we shouldn't be wasting any more time. The Moldugas are going to start hunting soon and there is no way we will make it in time to avoid them."

There was a brief pause during which Kalana locked eyes with Mewtwo. It seemed for a moment that she was struggling to speak. Eventually she said "Are you going to go home now?"

"There's still a part of me that wants to. But my conscience is protesting violently. If we could take down this Sulaaq Tower together, Kalana, then it's possible that we could take down others. I know we just failed to save all those thralls, but if all it took was one blow from your Scimitar to stop the Chosen's attacks, then they're not nearly as powerful as the legends have played them up to be. On top of that, I think I know what they truly are beneath all those illusions." Mewtwo said with growing confidence.

Both Kalana and Ruru looked over at him with surprised expressions. "Really? What do you think they are?"

"They're a creature called Zoroark. They are known in my world to have immense powers of illusion that allow them to mimic anything that lives, much like your world's stories. They also have impressive combat powers which can often seem like magic to those who don't know their true nature. But I do know their true nature, and I know their weakness."

"Oooh! What's their weakness?!" Ruru asked, looking very hopeful and excited suddenly.

Mewtwo hesitated for a brief moment, unsure how to describe it in terms that they would understand. After all, if he were to just say that they had a weakness to the Fighting type then it would be implicitly referring to Pokémon moves specifically, and he didn't think a punch to the face from a normal human would actually do much to a Zoroark. How could he describe the difference between a Pokémon's moves and a human's? He shook his head and said "There's a specific magical energy pattern that they are desperately vulnerable to. I can match this pattern with an ability known as Aura Sphere. I learned how to harness it a few years ago, but I don't think most humans or Gerudos can."

"Why didn't you use it earlier in the battle then?" Kalana asked skeptically.

"I did! It was that glowing blue orb of light that I hurled at the Chosen after it showed its true face. The one that it somehow managed the dodge, and ended up accidentally striking Ruru's shoulder." Mewtwo replied remorsefully.

"No wonder my shoulder hurt so bad when I woke up. You must have some great healing spells then!" Ruru interjected, not holding an ounce of grudge against him.

"Why didn't you try it a second time in the ensuing fight?" Kalana asked insistently.

"I'm sorry Kalana! I should have. I'm not too proud to admit a mistake. I was distracted with rage at his display of callous murder and lost myself in my reaction. But I swear to you, should we encounter a Chosen again I will keep my bearings straight! I have actually defeated a Zoroark in combat before I came to this world and I know I can do it again, especially now that I know to expect their trickery."

"Fair enough, but how are we to proceed right now? Do you actually want to try to convince my mother to let you stay here with us? It won't be easy, especially after the stunt we just pulled by sneaking out here." Kalana replied.

At this point, Ruru puffed up her chest and put her fists at her waist in order to put on a look of toughness and sheer determination. It was utterly adorable and heartwarming considering she was a little kid who was less than 4 feet tall and comparatively scrawny.

"Hey, you two just saved my life! Mewtwo included! That should count for something. If Mom won't let him live in Ven'rakesh for awhile then I'll walk out with him myself!"

Feeling utterly touched by the solidarity and bravery of the firehearted little tyke, Mewtwo looked up at Kalana and smiled. "I can tell she's your sister, Kalana."

Kalana sighed but also smiled a little too before kneeling down in front of Ruru. "I know mom will listen to you Ruru, you're even tougher than me now. You survived being a thrall for the Sulaaq for two whole years, that's more than I ever could handle."

"Don't worry sis I know you'll get as tough as me someday!" Ruru replied, still holding that boastful pose.

Kalana chuckled and then tugged her sister into a tight hug. Mewtwo bit back the urge to let out an impulsive "Awwww", but he did smile as he watched the two. Once they finished, Kalana stood up and said "We really should get back soon then, the more time we waste here then the more time we spend dodging the moldugas along the way, unless you both want to camp here for a few hours until the twilight hunting hours are over."

"It's alright, the drain device is down and that means I can teleport us back to Ven'rakesh in an eye blink." Mewtwo offered.

"Really?! How does that even work?" Kalana asked with a mildly shocked look.

"It's one of my psychic powers, I can open little shortcuts in the fabric of reality. It becomes more and more energy-expensive the greater the distance traveled though, so I need to be judicious with its use. We're several miles away from Ven'rakesh so this will probably be the last significantly strenuous thing I can do with my powers until tomorrow."

"That's still incredible! I was impressed with the scope of your abilities before, but you continue to surprise me again and again." Kalana replied in amazement.

"Wow, this means we're really gonna save the world then doesn't it?!" Ruru asked, bouncing up and down in excitement.

Kalana glanced down at Ruru with a look that churned with a bevy of conflicting emotion. "Ruru, there's not really much left in this world to save-"

Kalana trailed off when she saw a sad expression starting to form on her sister's face. She hesitated for just a moment before continuing. "But Mewtwo and I are going to try and save the last few people left on it, yes."

"Awesome! I want to come along too, we can do it together!" Ruru replied. Her enthusiasm came roaring back with zero delay.

"Oh no no no young lady. That sort of attitude is what got you caught by the Sulaaq in the first place, I absolutely will not have it. Didn't you suffer enough while you were stuck working as a thrall?"

Ruru crossed her arms stubbornly and scowled. "I don't even remember what happened while I was there! I remember us getting ambushed, then a whole lot of grey blur, then waking up in the basement right before you guys fought the Sulaaq together."

"Ah, I forgot that the incantation dulls memory. You're really really lucky then Ruru. But regardless, I'm not risking you again. Everyone in Ven'rakesh was heartbroken to lose you and frankly it's a miracle from the Goddesses that we got you back at all. I'd rather give up my own life than lose you again." Kalana said firmly.

Ruru gave her sister a heartbroken look in response to this. It wasn't just any heartbroken look either, but the kind of look that could smash boulders to pieces with the sheer blunt force of its sadness. Mewtwo could understand now why Kalana had given in before and let Ruru come with her that one terrible day. He had to fight the urge to scoop her up and hug her himself.

Inspiration struck Mewtwo suddenly, so he piped up while Kalana was silent. "Well Ruru, tell you what. It might not be wise yet to bring you along into combat, but I do think that if you're strong enough to survive years as a Sulaaq worker then you deserve to help at least a little bit with our plans. I think it'd be fair to let you play a couple of other important roles, like sitting in on our planning sessions, training with us, and a bunch of other stuff. I do need someone to teach me Gerudo culture so that I don't offend your mother or the other people in Ven'rakesh."

Kalana looked over at Mewtwo with a frustrated scowl as he said this. She apparently didn't like being undercut like this, but Ruru's heartbroken look changed to a look of indecision, as if she liked the deal but wanted more.

"But the fighting is the best part! I wanna kick Sulaaq butts and save people just like you two did!"

"Hey, you should listen to your big sister too though, alright? She's right you know, and she does have a good reason. It may seem like you just got back to her after a quick nap, but to her and everyone else back home, you've been gone for two years. They all thought you were dead. They're going to want to take every single possible precaution to keep you safe, and I think it'd probably be a little bit out of my station to try and argue with them. But I'll make you a deal. If you sit tight at home, I'll stick around and teach you some of my own combat tricks so you can be tough in the future, just in case, ok?" Mewtwo offered.

Ruru looked sobered for a moment, then gave him a thoughtful look. "Ok, but only if we get to make a cool heroic pact together and promise to keep each other safe! That's what the Eight Heroines did in all the old Gerudo legends, and I want to do it too."

"Just as long as you understand it means we're not taking you to fights!" Kalana replied in an exasperated tone.

Mewtwo lowered his brows and gave Kalana an unimpressed stare. Ruru joined in too, and the duo's pressure broke Kalana's resistance. She heaved a sigh and then shrugged her shoulders. "Alright fine."

"Ok so we put our fists together standing in a triangle pattern just like the triangles on old Hylian art. Then say "Three heroines, protect each other to the end!" Ruru said, sticking her fists out.

Feeling utterly charmed, Mewtwo didn't even bother to correct her to "Hero" instead of "Heroine" for his title. He simply put his fist out against hers and said the salute, and Kalana followed suit.

"Yes! Now we're a team and those Sulaaq don't stand a chance!" Ruru shouted, tossing both her fists into the air and dancing around a bit.

"We should think about how to handle the teleport back though. I could take us directly to the little hut you were keeping me in while my leg healed, but I'm not sure that Chief Hadara will appreciate us letting ourselves into the settlement like that." Mewtwo pointed out.

"Hmmmm yeah, you're definitely right about that. Can you take us just outside the main gate? We can then have the watchtower guards call her over so she can see Ruru from atop the walls with her own two eyes." Kalana posited.

"Yes, that's easily doable. I'll just need you two to take my hands and hold on the entire time. It will be fast, just an eyeblink with a flash of bright light. You might feel a slight shifting sensation akin to a few seconds of motion sickness, but that will wear off rapidly. Just hold onto my hands until we're clear and settled onto the sands outside the gate, ok?"

Ruru and Kalana nodded in response and offered Mewtwo their hands. He took them and gave them both a slight squeeze, noting the feeling of rough callouses on both of their palms. For a brief moment he felt a sense of camaraderie and togetherness with the two of them unlike anything he'd previously experienced. It solidified his decision to stay in Ven'rakesh for the foreseeable future, assuming the Chief allowed it. He focused his mind then and twisted the fabric of spacetime around them, causing the world to blink out and back into existence again in a bright flash of white light. He felt a considerable drain on his psychic reserves due to the distance crossed, but they landed safe and sound on the sand just outside the huge, rusty, rivet-covered gates. While Ruru jokingly made an over-exaggerated gagging noise in response to the motion sickness, Kalana waved up at the guards in the two rickety watchtowers just behind the gate. They shielded their eyes from the sunset and shouted down at them in the Gerudo tongue, initiating a brief exchange with Kalana before one of them scrabbled down the ladder, presumably to go find Chief Hadara. As they waited for a response Kalana reached over and lightly smacked Ruru on the shoulder.

"Shush, you little drama queen. We need to be serious for mother." She scolded in a more lighthearted tone.

"Heheh sorry. Seriously though that was really cool Mewtwo! You should show me some of your other powers later!" Ruru said, giving him an enthusiastic grin.

Mewtwo smiled and nodded to her. Before he could reply to her he heard the sounds of shouting inside the walls of the town, followed by the rattling clanking of the chains pulling the doors open. Tension built on the air as Mewtwo watched the gates slowly swing open, and for a brief moment he only saw a small squad of heavily armed Gerudo guards coming through. Then the hunched, elderly figure of the Chief emerged with a foul, wrathful look on her face. She pushed aside a few of the guards and spotted Ruru, and almost immediately her expression transformed dramatically. She suddenly sprinted across the sand with shocking speed for her age and scooped Ruru up into her arms for a protective hug. She didn't really seem capable of conjuring up words, she just clung tightly to her daughter and softly cried. Kalana soon joined them too, wanting to share that powerful family moment. Mewtwo watched with a warm smile, just glad to see the results of his work coming to fruition. After what seemed like multiple minutes, Hadara finally managed to speak.

"My little Véta, I thought I'd never see you again! It's been so long, yet you have hardly a scratch on you. You don't have any internal injuries do you? No pain anywhere?"

"Nope, I'm fit as a fiddle. Mewtwo saved me and healed me up really good, I feel sharper than a Cucco's beak."

Slowly the three of them released their hug and Hadara turned a surprised gaze at Mewtwo. "You did this, you brought my daughter back to me?"

Mewtwo nodded as he replied. "With Kalana's help. We took down the nearest Sulaaq tower together, defeated a Chosen as a team, and saved Ruru. She gets an equal share of the credit."

When Hadara still seemed too floored to conjure a reply, Kalana interjected to back him up. "It's true. He fought beside me with the same bravery and strength as our best guardswomen. The Chosen we faced would have enthralled me easily if it weren't for his aid."

Hadara's shock melted into a confused sloshing mess of emotions. Gratitude, disbelief, uncertainty, happiness, and a few others flickered over her as she tried to conjure up a reply. "I see. I'm not sure how to respond to this, other than with my deepest gratitude and an apology for sorely misjudging your character."

There was a brief pause as Hadara's confusion resolved into determination. She walked up to Mewtwo and then hugged him firmly; it was a gesture that surprised him at first and then filled his heart with warmth and relief. He allowed himself to briefly put his arms around Hadara in return; a gesture that the old woman didn't seem to mind at all. He caught a glimpse of the guardswomen gawking at this embrace but at this point he was too relieved to care. Once it was over and Hadara let go and stepped back, she cleared her throat before speaking further.

"Mewtwo, I need time to think about how to tell the rest of the village about this. Right now I just want to spend some time with my daughters, I'm sure you can understand."

"Of course. If you will allow it, I will wait in the same small house you kept me in before while my leg was healing. I'm just happy to have a safe place to stay for awhile longer."


Mewtwo hadn't exactly been eager to go to bed that night; he fully expected the Gaze of the Sulaaq to return to haunt his nightmares again. Not only was he correct, but it compounded the difficulties he had been having with adjusting his sleep schedule from nocturnal to diurnal. He tossed and turned until 3AM just trying to get to sleep, and when he did sleep the Gaze tormented him and woke him back up. This happened multiple times until sunrise, and by the time the sunlight was beginning to peek through the windows he finally began to get some restful, uninterrupted sleep.

Uninterrupted at least until Kalana barged into his room, gently shook him awake, and urged him to eat a quick breakfast before they could put a plan into motion to introduce him to the people of Ven'rakesh. Resisting the urge to growl at Kalana and hurl insults at her over her timing, he took the offered ration of green meat jerky and began to eat while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"So what exactly is this plan?" Mewtwo asked between bites of that vile, gamey jerky.

Kalana, who had taken a seat on a dusty old wooden chair across from his bed, was chewing on a small dose of her own jerky as she explained it to him. Mewtwo briefly considered asking her just what kind of animal produced such tough, tasteless meat, but he realized that he probably wouldn't have liked the answer and kept his trap shut.

"Here's the deal. Last night I sat down with my mother to discuss how to handle this introduction and she came up with one good, solid point. Gerudo culture places a very strict importance on the necessity of respecting traditional rituals and history. Any ceremony, even one of comparatively mild significance, demands that its participants and bystanders allow it to complete without interruptions unless a matter of life or death is at stake. We can take advantage of this, but it will require a specifically timed setup. Mother can summon everyone to the square and explain to them that she plans to give an honorary membership to a strange-looking outsider who did a great service to our people and then start it without you present. I come down here to wake you up and feed you, and together we wait until we hear the loud echoing sound of the Buzán and Maraqé music that indicates it's nearly time for your part in the ceremony to begin. With a little bit of swift and stealthy movement I will bring you over there right in time, and ideally the people will hold back any shock or fear they might feel when they see your strange appearance until the ceremony is over. By the time it's actually over though, you'll be an honorary member of the Rakeshan tribe and legally protected from any backlash. From there, you and mother can explain your nature to the people and they will hopefully be mollified."

Mewtwo had no reason to doubt Kalana and Hadara's assessment of their fellow tribe members. The two of them did know the Rakeshan people better than he did after all. He shuddered a bit as he forced himself to swallow a mouthful of the sour tasting jerky before replying with his own question.

"What should I do during this ceremony? I fear I may end up interrupting it with my own lack of knowledge about Gerudo culture."

"Good question. Fortunately for you, our ancestors understood the fact that brand new honorary inductees probably aren't really going to be well-versed in our ways, so there's no real fancy dancing or special lines for you to say. When I lead you up to my mother at the head of the square, just kneel in front of her and quietly let her perform the rite without interruption. She will paint the Gerudo symbol on your face, and once the music ends she will ask you if you accept the honor of her offered induction. Just say yes and then let her finish out with her chanting. You'll know it's over when she begins speaking casually to you and the crowd."

"I understand. Though I suppose that the "Buzán" and "Maraqé" that you mentioned earlier are musical instruments?"

"That's right, one is a traditional Gerudo instrument dating back to ancient times long before our people even met the Hylians, the other is an adaptation of an old Hylian instrument that we grew to love before the coming of the Sulaaq. There's a lot of history behind them, but we should keep our ears open for now since the music could begin shortly. Just listen for the whistling of a windy instrument accompanied by the pluck of strings." Kalana instructed.

Mewtwo nodded and heaved a bit of a sigh as he stared down at the pitiful little remainder of his breakfast. A thought struck him at this point, what if he used the opportunity of the Sulaaq tower being down to temporarily go back home, just long enough to bring back a ton of food and supplies for the Rakeshan people? If they were surviving on these pitiful hunks of dried meat and rationing their healing potions, imagine how much of a difference he could make if he brought them modern antibiotics and palette loads of canned food from Earth. Of course he had limited time to do this since the Sulaaq could rebuild their drain device at any moment, so he mentally began to plan out a quick flight to Earth and back sometime that night after everyone had gone to bed. He was going over the specifics in his mind when the beautiful sound of the music floated through the door and windows of the house. Kalana pocketed the leftover rations she hadn't finished and jumped to her feet, then took Mewtwo's hand and tugged him along out the door.

"We need to be quick, come on!" She whispered.

Mewtwo shoved the last bit of jerky into his mouth and winced a bit as he followed along clumsily. Sleep was still fogging his vision and making him fumble his movements. He nearly tripped and fell multiple times as Kalana took him around the edges of the square, which was full of a distracted throng of Gerudo people. He estimated at least 250 women were gathered with absolutely no men among them, a fact that subtly puzzled Mewtwo's subconscious before a growing seed of anxiety began to germinate in his belly. Kalana quickly led them into a back alley and worked around the square so they could emerge directly where Hadara was holding the ceremony, but that seedling of terror continued to jab into Mewtwo's mind. What if they all thought he was a Sulaaq and formed a mob? He had to remind himself that at least as long as he had his powers he could defend himself just fine, even against a throng that large. They passed by huge stacked wooden crates and barrels in the sandstone alleys before finally coming out into the square.

Mewtwo took in the details with all the attentiveness of an anxiety-sharpened mind. Hadara had drawn a circle on the cobbled sandstone bricks that made up the square using some sort of red paint or dye, then drawn Gerudo letters in small, intricate geometric patterns around her. She was sitting in the center at the head of the square on one of two soft red velvet cushions inside the circle and playing what looked like a flute that had been carved out of ivory or bone. The style of the flute and the sound it made reminded him of middle-eastern flutes that he'd heard humans play back home on Earth. Apparently she was quite talented, as the technical skill on display in her playing was absolutely impressive. The flute fluttered through rapid, feathery notes like the wings of a hummingbird as Hadara bobbed her head in tune to the song. There was another velvet cushion waiting empty in the circle, which Mewtwo cautiously walked over and knelt on as Kalana had instructed. He could see three other Gerudos sitting nearby, just outside the circle, strumming very gently and softly on string instruments that reminded him of lutes. The song continued to play and Mewtwo remained respectfully quiet as he waited for them to finish. He felt sorely out of place being immersed this deeply into a culture he knew nothing about, but he decided not to let his mind focus on the fear so much and instead forced himself to pay attention to the music instead. His own horrible tendency to obsess over negativity was what drove him nearly to madness over his origins as a clone before, and he wasn't about to let it control him now. Now too much was at stake. He purposefully ignored the crowd even though he could feel their shocked stares drilling painfully into the backs of his necks.

The song began to slow down after a minute or two and Hadara stopped playing the flute portion with a poignant diminuendo. The strings continued on, albeit at a much slower and quieter pace, laced with fluttery, expressive vibrato. At this point Hadara set the flute down and began to softly speak a chant in the Gerudo tongue that Mewtwo couldn't understand a single syllable of. Amazingly, it seemed like the crowd was remaining totally still and quiet just as they had hoped. Mewtwo winced slightly when Hadara grabbed his face by the chin and tilted his head sharply to the side. Her other hand picked up a small paint brush that was sitting in a bowl of red paint and deftly drew on his face with a handful of practiced, fluid motions. He couldn't exactly see what she'd drawn but he figured it was that same symbol that looked like the wrench between the two caps that he'd seen all over the town's decor. The music finally ended as she finished painting him, and after a few more sentences she finished her chanting too.

"I, Hadara Quindalo, Third Chief of the Rakeshan Gerudo Tribe, choose to formally offer to this outsider all the rights and responsibilities of an honorary brotherhood with our people. Outsider, speak your name and your birthplace to those who would be your sisters."

"My name is Mewtwo, of Kanto on the world of Earth."

"Mewtwo of Earth, if you accept the mantle of our name then you will be expected to learn our ways and, in time, uphold all the duties and laws of our people. The hardship and scarcity of life in the Vile Desert forces us to work together as sisters and to share our burdens as equals. All of us must pull our own weight, and all of us must protect each other as kin. But in that kinship we find dignity and the will to endure. As kin we bleed together, but as kin we survive together. Do you accept?"

"Yes, I swear to do my best to help and protect the people of Ven'rakesh."

Hadara nodded and resumed her chanting, and at that point the music picked up and rose to a crescendo. Hadara's words seemed to shift from a ceremonial chant into a part of the song itself, gaining a melodic quality that her normally raspy old voice had never possessed before. Mewtwo recognized the next portion as the same song that Kalana and Ruru had sang before: The Song of the Valley. He was briefly awed by the beauty of the singing; he forgot his fear of the crowd for just a moment while taking in the ending of the tune. It was over all too soon however, leaving him to tumble back into the awkward anxiety of reality.

"There, it is done. Please, relax and sit. I feel it is important for us to speak together before the people as friends, and to offer up explanations about the events of the last two days." Hadara said, her tone becoming informal and relaxed. She sat down on her cushion and gestured for Mewtwo to match her.

Mewtwo did his best to put on a facade of complete confidence as he shifted to a sitting position and crossed his legs. He turned to face the crowd and saw all those eyes on him and instantly the reality of his situation sank in. Like beads of red hot metal burning their way down into a block of soft fluffy foam, he felt a single daunting truth descend searingly into his conscious mind. All his mental strength and bravado had been built upon his reliance on his psychic powers, and he had zero experience with something as intricate and potentially delicate as speaking to an entire crowd of people at once. Especially ones who were sending him very blatant stares of fear and mistrust. At least with Pokémon battles he could calculate likelihoods of success based on type match-ups and move power; here he was adrift without any sort of guidance or knowledge. He found himself wishing that he had taken the time to learn more about socialization back when he had been reading the minds of the humans on Earth to educate himself. He'd taken the knowledge of science and engineering from the people who had built the lab and created him, he'd taken the knowledge about Pokémon and battling from the Rockets as well as the trainers he had fought, he had even taken knowledge about the natural world from all the Pokémon he had met! But he had neglected to bother learning more about basic social mores time and time again since he had always seen himself as a loner who would never find himself in the situation he was now precisely dealing with. He had to focus sharply to maintain his usual air of cool-headed dispassion even as simmering doubt and grinding anxiety chewed on the back of his brain. Fortunately, Kalana came forward to sit next to him, bringing a cushion of her own to sit on as she began the explanation for him.

"I can begin. I was on patrol a few days ago, walking the borders of the Lizalfos encampment near New Toruma Mesa, when a sandstorm kicked up. The storm grew in intensity, spawning the ominous red lightning that those rumors have been flying around about, and I saw a strange object coming down out of the sky. It was bright red with blue streaks and it seemed to careen from the heavens and come to a stop right in the center of the storm. I went to investigate but the lights vanished before I could find anything. I nearly gave up, until I heard desperate shouting through the howl of the storm. Following the sound I eventually came across Mewtwo, who is the one sitting here with us. I nearly struck him down, understandably thinking him to be Sulaaq, but he spoke, and told me he had a name. I decided to take the risk and bring him back to Ven'rakesh. Mother was suspicious but allowed me to give him a potion ration to heal the wounds on his leg. While he was healing, I spent the evening speaking to him and learning more about him. He told me where he came from, but it would be easier if I let him repeat it himself now." Kalana explained.

Mewtwo felt a little chill zip up and down his spine as the eyes of the crowd shifted over to him after Kalana finished. A lump of sheer terror formed in his throat as he tried to decide whether to mention his murder of Gary Oak at all to this crowd of strangers. Would it be dishonest to gloss over it after admitting it so readily to Kalana? Wouldn't he risk them not accepting him if he told them right away that he was a murderer? Had Kalana told Hadara about his crimes? He needed to speak now though, there wasn't time to sit there pondering when all those eyes were on him. He had to wing it, and he had to look confident as he did.

"Back in my homeland in Kanto, humans always viewed me as a monster or a threat. They wanted to imprison me and control me like a slave in hopes of utilizing my powers to their own ends, and I couldn't stand the treatment any longer. I wasn't the most innocent person myself of course, but I knew it wasn't fair to be hounded day and night by hunters until my very sanity was at risk. So I used my powers to open a portal to another realm and fled, ending up here. Though I was foolish and did not properly prepare for the journey, and ended up nearly dying on the way through the space between realms. I passed out as I made the journey and must have fallen from a great height as I arrived, and Kalana found me and saved me."

Kalana picked back up from there, much to Mewtwo's relief. He hoped she wasn't disappointed in him for hiding the truth via omission, but for now she didn't seem to show it. He just savored the relief as he saw the eyes turning back to her as she spoke.

"Mother didn't trust him though, and I understand why. His appearance is fearsome after all, and nearly matches some tales of the Sulaaq Chosen. But I could sense there was a portion of him that truly regretted the mistakes of his past and wanted to make amends, so I went with him when mother asked me to escort him out of the village after healing his leg with a potion ration. It turned out my assessment was correct, since he couldn't bring himself to just leave, he asked me to help him free the thralls in the nearest Sulaaq tower, hoping to use his powers to defeat any Sulaaq we might encounter. To make a long story short, we failed to save most of them because of the terrible power of the Chosen who came to confront us, but we did save one of them. My sister, Ruru, was the only survivor, and it was thanks to Mewtwo's help that she is even alive now."

This got gasps and murmurs from the crowd, especially when Ruru emerged from the same alley where Kalana had brought Mewtwo through. It seemed like Hadara and Kalana had orchestrated this whole thing very carefully for maximum impact. Ruru smiled with an unabashed glee as she walked over and sat in Hadara's lap. The elder chief smiled warmly and hugged her from behind.

"This is why my daughter is back among us. I was hasty and irrational in my initial judgment of Mewtwo as a Sulaaq infiltrator, and for that I apologize to him deeply. I ask you all now to give him the same fair consideration that Kalana did."

There was a brief pause as the crowd digested everything that had been said. Murmurs rumbled around the group of women wildly, some louder than others. Then one of the Gerudo women stood up and glared at Hadara with a steely, stoic glare.

"While I respect the ritual and your decision my Lady, I feel it is my duty as Ataran of Ven'rakesh to dissent."

Hadara narrowed her gaze in frustration as she replied. "Q'diri, I understand that you take your duties seriously, but are you certain that your recent loss of your sister to the Sulaaq hasn't colored your judgment and made you overly suspicious?"

"My Chief, I feel that it is the Ataran's job to be suspicious. My family's mourning is irrelevant, if anything your recent familial turmoil and subsequent regaining of your daughter is more suspect because you have had everything to gain by trusting what could be a Sulaaq Chosen in disguise."

"That's not fair! What else could Mewtwo even do to prove that he's not a Sulaaq?!" Ruru suddenly shouted.

"Shush Ruru, it isn't your place to argue with the Ataran." Hadara scolded her quietly before turning to address Q'diri. "Then what are your formal accusations for prosecution, Ataran Q'diri?"

"I accuse Mewtwo of using magic to brainwash yourself, Kalana, and Ruru to gain our trust. I also accuse Kalana of violation of the direct orders of the chief." Q'diri shouted, pounding the end of her staff on the cobblestones.

"Then we will convene at the Ataran's Grounds for a trial tonight, two hours after sunset. All who care to witness or speak are encouraged to attend." Hadara declared with a deadly serious scowl.

Chapter 8: The Ataran's Judgment

A sick feeling of dread burrowed itself into Mewtwo's guts as he followed the procession of Gerudos out of Ven'rakesh's main gates into the cold dark of the desert night. A squad of two dozen guards marched along the outsides of the crowd of Gerudo civilians, and Q'diri and Hadara were leading at the front of the group. Night had already draped the dunes around them in darkness, but the moon was out in full that evening and its light was illuminating the sands in a beautiful pale glow. The guards still carried torches with them to supplement the glow so that those with reduced vision could make out their path just fine. Mewtwo himself was walking near the front, just behind Hadara and Q'diri. Kalana and Ruru were walking next to him and quietly talking to him to help him prepare.

"So why exactly does Q'diri have the authority to do this?" Mewtwo asked.

"She's the Ataran, or "Arbiter" in the common tongue. Every Gerudo tribe has one, they're meant to act as a check on the tribe chief's power so that she can't go around abusing that power in an uncontrolled fashion. She's the only one who can contest the chief's decisions, and when that happens we have a trial, like right now. Atarans are chosen every 5 years by a popular vote, and they also have the duty of carrying out sentences against the convicted and bringing criminals to justice."

The pit of dread in Mewtwo's stomach intensified as he listened. He clutched his cloak tighter as he replied next. "What is the trial's procedure like?"

"My mother and Q'diri will each present their side to the audience, and usually both will be expected to provide some evidence and testimony. Once both sides are satisfied they have said everything they want to say, the audience members are given a chance to vote on whose side to support. All commonfolk can vote like this, giving more power to the people in these cases where the leadership is deadlocked like this. Whoever earns more votes is the winner, and their sentence, idea, plan, or whatever it is they want to accomplish becomes law. Mother and I already had a quick discussion about how we plan to offer your case, but because your fate is ultimately in the hands of the people it's going to be impossible to tell how this turns out in the end. Do you feel comfortable with testifying in front of the crowd? Q'diri is most likely going to want to question you and I can understand how much pressure this will put on you."

"I think so." Mewtwo replied in an entirely unconvincing tone.

Kalana furrowed her brow with concern. "I wish we had more time to prepare and practice, but an Ataran's challenge is meant to be held impromptu so that nobody has time to practice a lie. It's meant to be very informal and unstructured so that the commonfolk can follow along easily without being confused by complex legal terminology or bored by long stretches of dry process."

Mewtwo nodded silently in understanding, not really knowing what else to say. If there wasn't a heap of procedures to learn he could at least take solace in the fact that there wasn't much for him to mess up. But he wasn't alone with his thoughts for long, as they passed over a dune and came within view of the Arbiter's Grounds fairly quickly. The place looked like it had been a smaller stone mesa that had had half of its mass carved off at ground level to create a sandstone amphitheater. There were 8 sandstone pillars surrounding the amphitheater on the outside that looked to have been carved out as continuous portions of that mesa, and there was a single passageway carved into the face of the intact half of the mesa that was too dark to see inside. Above that passage was a 30 foot tall statue carved into the face of the stone that had been made in the likeness of a Gerudo warrior wielding a large scimitar in one hand and a round shield in the other. Her stoic pose seemed to imply she was guarding the passage at her feet. The entire place was covered in beautifully etched carvings of Gerudo lettering, including the seats and the floors. There were metal braziers for torches placed strategically all around the place, and the guards began to stick their torches into the receptacles as the procession arrived. The crowds of Gerudo townsfolk filed in between the pillars and began to sit on the rows of stone seating while Q'diri, Hadara, Kalana, and Mewtwo headed together to the speaking platform at the center. Ruru sat on the front row near them so that she could be close to Hadara, but was obviously not acting as a part of the trial. From inside, Mewtwo could see that the inner surfaces of the pillars also sported carvings of Gerudo warriors, each one wielding a massive longsword with the tips pointed down at the ground. Their faces were all stoic scowls, adding to the already tense atmosphere of the present events.

"Ataran Q'diri, restate your accusations for the record, and for any of those who may not have been present for this morning's ceremony." Hadara ordered in a formal tone.

"I accuse Mewtwo of being a Sulaaq Chosen, and of using his magic to hide his true nature and mind control the people of Ven'rakesh. I also charge Kalana Quindalo with direct disobedience of an order from the Chief." She replied firmly.

"On what basis do you levy these charges, knowing they are in direct contradiction with my own decrees?"

"For the first charge, I levy on the basis of all of our known historical records about the nature of the Chosen, as well as the Legend of the Traveler and its incomplete prophecies. On the second charge, your own direct words."

"Are you prepared to present these documents to the assembly as evidence in support of your accusation?"

"Yes, I have consulted the archives and found the scrolls in question. If the assembly is ready, I will begin with a reading of the first historical record of a Sulaaq Chosen."

The crowd remained deathly silent, but Hadara and the townsfolk all seemed to nod in assent. Mewtwo clutched the rough sandstone edges of his seat nervously as he watched Q'diri produce a leather scroll case and open it. She took a few moments to unfurl it and find the relevant passage before speaking.

"This scroll is an account left behind by the ancestors of the Rakeshan Gerudos taken from nearly 500 years ago. Predating the settlement of our ancestors into the four tribes we know today, these Gerudos were nomads who were fleeing into the Vile Desert in the wake of the Sulaaq invasion of the kingdom of Hyrule. Constantly on the run, they were actively pursued by Sulaaq soldiers who were spreading out over the desert and beginning the construction of the towers that now stand today. Skipping a description of their nomadic wanderings, the relevant passage begins as follows:"

Q'diri cleared her throat and turned her gaze away from the crowd in order to focus sharply on the tiny printed script on the parchment. "It was unknown exactly when the perfidious infiltrator entered the camp that night, but his cunning and guile must have been supernatural to pass over the circled wagons without being spotted by the night guards or making a sound. What we now know about that night could only be deduced after the fact; he slipped into the Chief's wagon in the dead of night and, without waking the guards who were sleeping in the wagon with her, slit her throat and took her body to bury somewhere in the sands outside the camp. He must have then utilized his magic to disguise himself as the chief, for when morning came none of the tribeswomen were the wiser about the danger lurking among them. The people ate their meager breakfasts as the sun rose over the horizon of the Vile Desert and then set out for another day's travel. The Chosen somehow even mimicked the physical shape of the Chief's body when touched, as even her sister reported nothing amiss when they shared an embrace of kinship before departure for the day. It was only after several hours of travel that he made his move. As the caravan approached the edge of a large cliff, he issued a command to the driver of the lead wagon to turn and lead the entire group over the cliff to their deaths. When the driver justly refused the suicidal order, he utilized his vile magic to control her mind and force her to obey. The chief's sister, seeing the unnatural events at play, attempted to argue with her but was soon made a thrall as well. Under the control of the monster, four of the fifteen wagons plummeted over the cliff and fell fifty feet or more to their demise. The others, seeing their sisters falling to their doom, managed to steer away in time and come to a stop. But before they could chart a path down to the base of the cliff to search for survivors among the wreckage, the drivers in the front three of the remaining wagons witnessed a great and terrible creature soaring through the air above the wreckage."

Q'diri paused and looked over at Mewtwo with a suspicious scowl, as if driving emphasis home on her point in a way that was clearly visible to the audience. She coughed slightly, then continued to read.

"The Chosen was possessed with two arms, two legs, one head, and a long, thick tail. His body structure was thus humanoid in baseline, but the structure was grotesquely misshaped with massive thighs and legs as well as spindly arms. He had dark grey skin and eyes which glowed red, matching the Gaze of the Sulaaq which every villager had witnessed in their sleep. His face had a bizarre, short snout and he was as tall as the strongest of Gerudo warriors. He twisted his tail around himself as he flew away, and before he vanished into the sky above the caravan he used his magic to project a thundering voice out over the desert for all to hear. His words have been transcribed below. "You shall never look upon your sisters with trust and safety again, for any of them could be one of our Chosen in disguise!" Once he was gone, the tribeswomen managed to make their way to the wreckage, and out of the 21 Gerudos who had been riding the wagons when they plummeted over the ledge, only the chief's sister survived. She relayed her tale to all of us and claimed that the Chosen had saved her from death so that she might tell us what she had seen."

Q'diri then dramatically held the scroll up for the crowd to see, displaying a charcoal drawing of the Chosen at the bottom of the text. It certainly did bear a more-than-passing resemblance to Mewtwo, but the coloration didn't match. She then rolled up the scroll and gently slid it into its case. Mewtwo could psychically sense the growing emotional tension on the air all around him. His psychic senses were tasting the palpable dread that was beginning to well up in the myriad minds all around him. He had to actively tune out his empathic senses or else those dark flood waters risked interfering with his own ability to maintain a state of calm.

"Are you ready to present your second piece of evidence to the assembly?" Hadara asked.

"I am. This is the last known portent of Mireth Lasheera, founder of the Vha'an tribe and famed Seer. It was written in the Ancient Hylian dialect, which I will attempt to translate to the best of my ability." Q'diri replied, then took another brief pause to fetch a second scroll.

"Many years into the distant future, when henceforth all the Gerudo people and all the Sulaaq slavekeepers shall be settled quietly within their homes upon the sands, a time of quiet desperation shall fall upon the Vile Desert. Just as the people of the four villages begin to descend into sorrow, a stranger from unknown lands shall approach them and seek their protection. Though his ways shall be strange and his face monstrous, his honeyed tongue and enchanting charisma shall buy him trust amongst the Granddaughters of Din and he shall live among them til the coming of the end times. Then, when the red storms split the skies and fissures yawn open in the face of the desert, shall the Traveler go into the East and bring about the End of the Age."

"How exactly does this legend support your claim?" Hadara asked incredulously as Q'diri rolled the scroll back up.

"As you know, the legend was unfinished. Mireth wrote it upon her deathbed and passed on before she could complete it or discuss the context of the ending with her tribeswomen. Even now to this day scholars such as yourself have argued about the potential meanings, since Ancient Hylian is a dead language and there are none left alive who can grasp all the complexities of context and subtext in the words. Even just the phrase "End of the Age" itself can have multiple interpretations, causing different groups to form factions based around their interpretation. Those who call themselves "Doomseers" believe that the age which shall end is the age of all life, and that the Traveler shall join with the Sulaaq to destroy all the survivors which remain upon the face of Hypalia. Those who call themselves "Hopeseers" believe that the Age of the Sulaaq shall be what the Traveler brings an end to, and it will be by his hand that the Chosen are slain and the Thralls set free. Both interpretations are valid in their own ways, but they present us with a terrifying conundrum. If the Traveler is real and among us, then aiding him is essentially a gamble between saving the world and ending it. And if you look closely, you will notice a common theme between both of the texts. The written description of the Sulaaq Chosen describes his power to control minds as magical, and Mireth's prophecy describes the charisma of the Traveler using the exact same description. Given the distinguished credibility of Mireth and her portents, then I propose that the links between these texts and the matching description between Mewtwo and the Chosen presents us with a conundrum with consequences too dire to ignore or handle flippantly. If there is even a very small, slight possibility that Mewtwo could be the Traveler, then our taking him in represents betting all our lives on the side of the Hopeseers. And even if he is not the Traveler, his power to magically control minds could be strong enough that our chief could very well be under his thrall already, much like the chief who led her people off the cliff. It is my belief that the Doomseers are correct and Mireth's Portent was a dire warning about the final plans of the Chosen to end our world. I believe that Mewtwo is the Traveler, and that the Traveler is a Sulaaq agent sent to buy all of our trust and lead us into the end times. To those who believe otherwise, I ask you this; is your belief in the integrity of a foreign Voe that you have only met a few days ago worth the risk of killing every single sapient being on Hypalia?"

Q'diri then stepped aside to sit down on one of the stone seats. Hadara stepped up to the center to present her case next, looking completely calm and collected. After being rattled by the cool, calculating logic of Q'diri's presentation, Mewtwo felt at least a touch of relief at the sight of her confidence.

"My case is based on testimony, of which I shall present my own first. I was skeptical at first when Kalana brought Mewtwo to us, to put it lightly. It is my duty to know the old legends after all, so I knew instantly how closely his appearance matched the passage which Q'diri read to you all. But a pair of doubts struck me and stayed with me when Kalana explained his plight to me. Mewtwo couldn't have been a Sulaaq Immortal, as all of our legends described them as mute and nameless, and it was highly unlikely that he could be a Chosen either since all our historical records of the Chosen describe their infiltrations as beginning covertly. They all hide their fearsome appearances first, but Mewtwo didn't even attempt it. But that evening after granting him a temporary stay I re-read Mireth's Prophecy and came to the same conclusion as Q'diri, and the following morning I convinced Mewtwo to leave. I felt the same pressure and fear that Q'diri now does, but I now realize that I was allowing that fear to cloud my own moral judgment. Perhaps it is true that outsiders are not entitled to any rights in Gerudo society and I was under no obligation to give him a trial, but even our most distant ancestors who practiced thieving and banditry against the Hylians understood that killing senselessly was an immoral waste. What I had done was tantamount to sentencing an innocent Voe to his death. So when he brought Ruru back to me safe and unharmed I knew I had been dead wrong. Perhaps the Arbiter will think that I am biased, and that I am only arguing on behalf of Mewtwo because he has done a great deed for my family and lineage. But I will offer this pre-emptive retort, would you feel any different now Q'diri if it had been your own sister who Mewtwo had rescued from Thralldom?"

Q'diri narrowed her eyes and scowled firmly at Hadara but failed to produce a retort for several seconds. "Present your second piece of Testimony please, my Chief."

"Of course. I would like to call my daughter Kalana to testify."

Kalana got up off her seat and stepped forward to speak. "I can understand why all of you would be frightened of Mewtwo, I felt that exact same fear when I first found him. Even if I struggled to understand the Ancient Hylian texts when mother taught me all the legends as a child, the drawing that Q'diri showed you still stood out clearly in my mind. But the nature of his speech stayed my hand, and I was grateful to have acted with a cool head in the hours afterward. Not only did his deeds match the intent behind his words, but he did those deeds while also under the influence of the magic-draining device on our local tower. No matter how convincing the stories about mind control magic are, I know that no Sulaaq would be able to use such powers under the effect of that device. In fact, I am convinced that the device is why the Sulaaq have to use the Incantation to control their thralls, it must have some special property that the Chosen themselves do not possess. The fact that Mewtwo proved to be trustworthy and selfless in a consistent manner both before and after the device's destruction is proof enough to me that he is honorable and not a part of the Sulaaq. I saw him attacking the Chosen inside that tower with such a sincere ferocity that there could be no doubt in my mind. But the thing that struck me most was the tears he shed over the deaths of the thralls that we both failed to save. Though Mewtwo was able to rescue my sister, the Chosen we faced was quick to the slaughter and struck all the other thralls down before either of us could act. In the aftermath as we tried to find any potential survivors of the battle, I saw in him the strongest possible contrast between Mewtwo and the Chosen. To the Chosen, the thralls were mere puppets; they were tools it could throw away just to cause us emotional suffering. But Mewtwo saw the value in every single one of the lives that had been discarded, and the loss of those lives brought out cries too sincere and anguished for any guile or treachery to mimic adequately."

Kalana paused for a moment to take a breath; she was pouring her heart out in front of these people and it was obviously putting no small degree of emotional strain on her. Mewtwo almost didn't care now whether the rest of the Gerudos voted to cast him out; at least he'd made a difference in the lives of Kalana and her family. She gathered her thoughts and continued.

"Even if you don't believe a word of what I just said, and you think I'm only doing so because I've been mind controlled to do so, I still want to make a closing appeal to whatever sense of morals you might still hold onto. It's like my mother said during Mewtwo's induction ceremony, the Vile Desert makes us into sisters out of necessity. We take care of each other as kin because the alternative is to be divided by petty mistrust, thievery, and betrayal. Such lives cannot be sustained in the unforgiving wastes that we are forced to live upon. We all swore oaths at our coming-of-age ceremonies, and among those was an oath to protect the lives of our sisters as if they were our own. The only "crime" that Mewtwo has committed was to be born looking similar to an ancient drawing, and to throw him out and abandon him now would be the gravest miscarriage of justice I've ever witnessed. My sisters, I don't ask you to grant Mewtwo your trust because he saved the life of my sister. I don't ask you to trust him even based on the strength of my word or my mother's word. I ask you to trust him because the alternative is to betray the spirit of the oaths that every single one of you swore to uphold."

With a look of fiery, righteous indignation on her face Kalana then turned and walked back over to seat herself after she finished. Before Mewtwo could finish digesting the entirety of what Kalana had just said he heard Hadara call him up to testify next. A part of him was utterly terrified of the prospect but there was also a part of him that felt reinvigorated by the sheer confidence and righteousness in Kalana's speech. His stomach was still tangled up in knots as he stood up and walked out into the center of the stage, but he didn't falter like he thought he would.

"I hope you will all forgive me for my lack of oratory prowess compared to Kalana, I have not the skill nor experience with this sort of speechcraft so I will speak to you with the plainest honesty I can muster. I cannot provide any sort of logically structured argument or tangible proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am not mind controlling Kalana or the others. The legend which your Arbiter read did not have any strictly-defined rules or limitations to the abilities and power of a Sulaaq Chosen, and in the absence of that clarity the reader is free to imagine those abilities reaching a truly incredible scope. A chosen could enthrall an entire village. He could perfectly disguise himself as an outsider like myself. He could wait days or even weeks before springing his trap. Nothing I could ever say or do will ever be able to fully prove I am not one of them, especially not to those whose entire purpose is to foresee every possible threat to the lives of their people. The only thing I can think to try is to offer to you the same token of trust that I offered to Kalana on the night she brought me to Ven'rakesh. It is a terrible shame that I hold close to my chest, knowing that were it to become known, it would destroy anyone's trust in me. I offer it to you because I know that the only way to earn your trust in the long term is to have no secrets from you, and because I hope you would realize that a Chosen who wanted to sneak his way into your good graces would never risk sabotaging his own efforts. My great shame is this: I am a murderer."

There were a few quiet gasps in the crowd the moment Mewtwo admitted to this. Q'diri was even taken off guard; she arched her eyebrows and gawked a little.

"I do not know the precise amount of total lives I have taken, because the first incident out of two was one where my method was indirect and indiscriminate. I was imprisoned by humans who intended to use me as a slave and harness my abilities to conquer and destroy their foes. They had created me but they had not taught me anything of morality or the importance of protecting life, so when I used my powers to destroy their base of operations and escape I did so with no regard to the collateral damage I might cause. In a fit of rage and a need for escape I cast forth a great explosion of energy from myself, destroying the machinery they had been using to keep me prisoner and propelling myself upward to freedom. An untold number of them were killed in the blast, and I never even bothered to look back and count their numbers. It was only many months after the fact that I learned the true horror of what I had done. I suppose one could argue that the heinous stain of the deed upon my conscience could be mitigated by the fact that I didn't know the implications of what I was doing, and the fact that I was doing so out of a sense of self preservation in the face of their evil. But when I found myself put in the same situation a second time with another human slave driver, I should have known better. I should have controlled my anger and my fear so that I could find a non violent way to escape the trap that this human had sprung upon me. But I repeated my past mistake and lost myself in my anger, and now his blood is added to that of the others on my hands. That is what brought me to this world of Hypalia, I came here to exile myself so that I could never take another life. I didn't expect to even survive my own exile, much less meet someone as utterly selfless and caring as Kalana."

Mewtwo paused again, finding himself at a loss for words for a brief moment. He looked up at the eyes of the Gerudo people who were watching him; they were absolutely rapt at attention and hanging off his every word. Some looked shocked or repulsed, but most seemed genuinely neutral or sympathetic. Now was the chance for a big grand finisher; he needed something snappy to wrap up his case. He didn't really have any powerful inspiration though, so he lowered his arms to his side humbly as he finished.

"So, there it is. My shame. Now all of you know it, and I will not blame you or hold it against you should you choose to side with your Arbiter and have me cast out. It may ultimately be the most prudent decision you can make. But remember this when you cast your vote: when I trusted Kalana with this story, she in turn trusted me with her story about Ruru. It was that first mutual offering of trust that led her to defy Hadara's orders to throw me out and to follow me to the tower. It was that display of selflessness by Kalana that inspired me to stay here on this world after destroying the drain device to try and save Ruru when I could have simply returned to my world immediately. If you can find it within yourselves to continue offering that trust back to me, then I will swear to do everything in my power to help you all. I never had any brothers or sisters back home on Earth, but I hope I can find some here."

Mewtwo then bowed deeply to the entire crowd before returning to his seat. More muted murmurs moved through the masses as Hadara returned to the stage. She cleared her throat, then turned to address Q'diri.

"Ataran Q'diri, do you wish to offer a rebuttal to our case?"

Q'diri, who looked slightly shaken by all that Hadara's side had said, shook her head. "No, my Chief."

"Very well. Does the assembly vote to move to questioning or to skip to issuing a verdict? All for questioning?" Hadara shouted to the crowd.

A scant few in the crowd shouted "Aye!" while the majority remained silent.

"All for moving to the final verdict vote?"

"Aye!" Called out a clear majority.

"Very well. On the first charge against Mewtwo, of being a Sulaaq traitor, all who vote guilty?"

About a quarter of the crowd shouted "Aye!"

"All who vote innocent?"

"Aye!" came the resounding majority.

Mewtwo sank backward on his little stone seat in relief. He released a pent up breath and nearly got up to hug Hadara, but she continued her calls to the crowd.

"And on the secondary charge against Kalana for disobeying a direct order from the Chief, all who vote guilty?"

The crowd seemed confused and unsure how to react. A few shouted aye while most remained silent, and several people whispered and exchanged glances.

"All who vote innocent?"

A similar small reaction from the crowd followed. Hadara raised an eyebrow, then turned to Q'diri as if waiting for her response. Q'diri coughed slightly, then said "It is my belief as Ataran that despite the fact that Kalana acted in what she believed to be the most moral course of action, the Chief has not provided a thorough and adequate defense of her actions in the context of the letter of the law. Given the fact that we have a hung assembly, I would like to offer a legal middleground to Chief Hadara. I ask that you concede your defense on the second charge against Kalana in exchange for a lesser sentence, so that this trial not be drawn out any further than necessary."

"What are your proposed terms?" Hadara asked.

"That Kalana be sentenced to double shifts in her acting duty as Guardswoman of Ven'rakesh with no subsequent elevation in payment, rather than the full prison term as would be prescribed by the law." Q'diri replied firmly.

The crowd watched silently as Hadara pondered this. She turned and looked at Kalana as if asking her if she was willing to accept this, and she actually stood up and came over next to Hadara to reply.

"I accept your terms, Ataran, and change my plea to Guilty."

"So be it. Ataran do you feel satisfied with ending this trial now that all charges have been settled?"

"Aye."

"Then I declare that in the Eyes of the Goddess of the Sands and the Eight Heroines who stand in stone around us, that Justice has been done."


All was quiet in Ven'rakesh when Mewtwo activated his psychic cloak and silently flew out of the town that night. He had waited until the early hours of the morning to make this little covert shopping trip and thankfully Kalana and all the others were sound asleep, minus a few night shift guards on patrol. Even if they had shone their spotlights directly up at him by pure chance the cloak would have kept him safely hidden from view. He flew slowly up toward the sky at first, not wanting to accidentally leave a glowing contrail of psychic energy behind him by going too fast. Heeding Mew's warnings he headed for low orbit, wanting to clear the atmosphere before opening the dimensional gateway back to the space between realities. It was fortunate that those energy draining devices didn't seem to have much vertical range, as he was certain that his orbit would take him above active towers as he began to stabilize his path around the planet. Once he got high enough to be out of visual range of the Gerudos he dropped his cloak and rapidly increased speed until the atmosphere fell away behind him.

Mewtwo didn't bother to look back this time as he focused his energy on creating the portal. He knew how to get back to Earth, and now he knew the path he could take to reach Hypalia, so he wouldn't need to be gone for more than an hour or two. He just needed to raid a hospital and a grocery warehouse to bring back supplies and then come right back here ASAP without accidentally bumping into any more trainers. His heart was soaring at the thought of how much good this was going to do for the people of Ven'rakesh. He was going to prove to them that they had been right to trust him. Once he'd gathered a sufficient amount of energy and focused hard enough, a pinpoint of glowing light formed in front of Mewtwo just like before. With practiced ease he shoved the portal open rapidly and almost immediately he was met with an unexpected and terrifying outcome. The gateway erupted with a colossal plume of swirling, glowing plasma and energy!

Mewtwo didn't have time to react, his psychic air bubble was slammed with a massive beam of superheated matter going at tremendous speed. He managed to hold the bubble together thankfully, and for a brief moment he caught sight of something eerie before he lost his grip on the portal entirely. Just inside the circular opening in the fabric of spacetime he saw the same vortex as before, opening up and guzzling energy from the interdimensional space like a giant drain. That was what that massive blasting column of energy was, he'd been struck by all the chaotic energy as it was sucked down into this reality like a whirlpool. Thankfully the moment he let go of the portal it snapped shut and cut off that flow before it could deal any further damage.

It only took Mewtwo a moment to right himself in space with a little more telekinetic force. He rapidly stabilized his orbit and caught sight of something even more curious. The huge glowing stream of plasma that had come blasting out of the portal had dispersed into a floating, glowing cloud after striking his shield, and now that cloud was beginning to rapidly sink and fall toward the planet. Of course it was harmless, such a comparatively small cloud would dissipate entirely upon contact with the upper atmosphere before it could cause any problems. But it was the pattern of the falling plasma that caught Mewtwo's eye specifically. As the stuff descended it began to spread out and fade, and that spreading cloud seemed to separate into smaller distinct segments that appeared to be moving downwards in a grid-like pattern. Feeling intrigued Mewtwo decided to follow them and watch to see what happened next. It wasn't long before they eventually cooled enough to go dark and dissipate entirely, but Mewtwo noticed a pattern to their descent as he watched them fall. The night sky above Hypalia was incredibly clear, and even from this height he was able to discern tiny little pinpricks in a square grid pattern all over the orange surface of the desert planet. On the light side where the dawn was starting to illuminate the sand, these pinpricks were like tiny black specks. On the night side, they were the only lit up spots on the whole planet. The grid was too regular to be natural, it had to be the network of towers that the Sulaaq had built. Most tantalizing of all, the individual segments of falling cloud had seemed to be honing in on those towers as they fell.

Again all the pieces of the puzzle seemed to click into place. No wonder there had been such a gigantic imbalance in the way the energy flowed to this universe, the Sulaaq towers must have been built so incredibly well for sucking energy out of the fabric of this reality that they were even affecting the interdimensional space too! This helped Mewtwo understand his situation a lot more clearly, but it also had some truly terrifying implications to boot. If he couldn't even open a gateway to the interdimensional space without the gates turning into massive plasma cannons, how was he ever going to get home? Maybe if he flew far away enough from all the towers on Hypalia he could escape the draining effects of the towers? No good, he had no idea how far he would have to go; it could very well be hundreds of thousands of miles, or even light years. Mew had taught him a lot about dimensional mechanics but even she hadn't known anything this extreme. If he tried flying out away from the planet to escape he could very well be putting himself back into the same trap as before, risking running dry of psychic reserves in the middle of deep space before getting far enough. For now it seemed the most practical way for him to get home was to follow through on his desire to overthrow the Sulaaq once and for all. Though a little voice of paranoia whispered in the back of his mind, what if they had towers on other planets? He looked out at Hypalia's moon, which looked visibly identical to Earth's moon back home, then shuddered in fear. He decided to put that concern out of his mind and focus on Hypalia first. Better to start with something even vaguely attainable, at least he'd save the Gerudos and any other people that might still be alive on this world.

He looked back down on Hypalia and studied the surface in more detail. It was a gorgeous planet when viewed this high up, even though most of its land was barren orange desert. He couldn't see the entire planet all at once of course, but what he did see was one massive super-continent 99% covered in barren orange desert and surrounded by deep blue ocean. The super-continent was practically as big as Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, and a lot less mountainous. There weren't any lights from any electrified cities, excluding the grid of Sulaaq towers, but he did spot a few tiny black specks here and there scattered across the illuminated side of the super-continent. He tried to look closer, thinking that these might have been Sulaaq cities, but he was simply too high up to make them out. The biggest one was roughly in the center of the super-continent, several thousand miles east of Ven'rakesh. It was definitely jagged and unnatural looking like a city. Then he spotted something else that stood out, a small patch of green not too far west of that huge black thing. Was that a forest?! He felt a little surge of renewed hope as he strained to see it. He knew he couldn't fly down there to look however, he didn't actually know how high up the energy-draining effects of the towers reached and the last thing he needed to do was blunder into one and plummet out of the sky. He had been lucky enough already not to have pasted himself on arrival at Hypalia after getting shot out of the interdimensional space! That gave him pause to think, just how had he survived that anyway?

Suddenly, a great sickening sense of dread seemed to set in. Mewtwo felt this horrible, crushing feeling of terror flood through his mind and body, causing him to instinctively swivel his head around like a prey animal that was aware it was being hunted. He recognized this sense of horror, it was the same exact feeling he had gotten in the basement of the tower before the Chosen had showed up. Something deeply instinctual in the back of Mewtwo's mind urged him desperately to get the hell out of there and head back to the planet, so Mewtwo renewed his cloak and made for the atmosphere on a course back to Ven'rakesh. He didn't even bother to try slowing down enough to avoid a re-entry burn, figuring the Rakeshan Gerudos would chalk up his flaming re-entry to a shooting star. The roaring flames engulfed his shield and nearly deafened him, but they were no distraction from that growing sense of panic. He could feel a pair of eyes watching him from behind, almost as if something was chasing him down through the atmosphere. He felt a compulsion to turn around and look. There was a small circular spot directly behind his shield where the flames weren't obscuring his vision. Through it he could see a faint red speck of glowing light following behind him, too far off to see clearly. Once the flames began to clear and the atmosphere clouded his view however, the glowing dot moved off and disappeared entirely. At nearly exactly the same time, the feeling of impending doom also faded away to nothingness.

Mewtwo was completely puzzled. He floated above the town for several moments as he wracked his brain for any explanation for what had just happened. Still cloaked, he made his way silently back to the familiar little sandstone and adobe house where he'd spent his last few nights sleeping and then teleported through the wall inside. Heaving a disturbed sigh, Mewtwo dropped his cloak and sat down on the straw-filled bed. Now all there was left to do for the night was to go to sleep, but the lingering sense of apprehension from that atmospheric chase had his heart still racing in his chest. Tomorrow he was slated to spend the day learning Gerudo culture with Hadara so he knew he needed to try to get to sleep, but he also knew that either the Gaze of the Sulaaq would return to his dreams once again, or in its absence his mind would concoct its own little nightmares about what he had just experienced. He glanced over at the window in the wall of the house and debated going to wake Kalana and talk to her for comfort, but he decided against it. She was up against a 16 hour patrol tomorrow after what she'd done to save him and he didn't need to make it any harder on her. Ultimately he decided to steel himself and lay down to try to sleep anyway; Arceus knew that if he could actually face a real Sulaaq chosen in battle then he certainly could handle this.