Hello! I'm so sorry for the really long, unannounced hiatus here, but I think it's safe to assume that I'll only be posting once a month or longer at this point. Since my account has been losing some functionality, I've been moving my stories to Archive Of Our Own, starting with Skyworld Slice of Life, but I plan to repost all of the other ones there too! I plan to finish publishing Relived Memories here, but Skyworld Slice of Life and Reflecting Your Light might not be completed on this website; I have to see, because maintaining accounts on two sites isn't easy. That being said, I appreciate all the views, favourites, and comments I've gotten here, and I'm glad to know you've enjoyed my work! Thank you! - Persimmon

Chapter 3

Maybe Pit was supposed to feel weirded out to be holding his seven month old self while his clone-turned-brother watched from over his shoulder. But it felt totally natural, and he bounced the baby on his knee until he started to giggle. "Aw, see? He likes it!"

If meeting Palutena and Medusa wasn't enough, this little guy was living proof that pictures and videos couldn't capture everything. He already knew that his hair had darkened a shade and become spikier over the years, but he never realized how soft and warm it felt to support the baby's head in his elbow. And right now, he was looking into the exact same deep blue irises that he was used to seeing in the mirror. Downy feathers tickled his arms as the baby reached up to him, babbling contentedly. So I guess I was always a little touchy and talkative.

"I can't tell if it's easy or hard to believe that you're all technically the same person," Palutena mused, slipping the book she'd been reading under her arm to watch them. "You're the only person I know of who's existed in three different forms at the same time."

"There's got to be a record for that, right?" Pit asked eagerly. "I'm not surprised it happened to me of all people. It would be unfair to keep this much awesomeness in only one– Ow! Pittoo, what the heck?" His twin wordlessly pulled back his hand from where he'd hit him on the back of the neck. The baby seemed to find that funny as well. His laughter was contagious. "Hey, whose side are you on?"

"You guys seem really comfortable with each other!" she mentioned. "Even Pit, and he can get a little clingy sometimes. He's making progress!" It took a second to remember that she wasn't talking about him.

"Progress?" Medusa didn't look up from the book she was skimming through. "The kid was almost in tears when you handed him over. You're delusional."

"He's doing his best!" Palutena returned defensively.

"Focus on getting through that book first. We'll never be able to help if you don't do some legwork too."

Pit laughed at Palutena's resigned eye roll, looking back down when his infant self tugged on his chiton. "It's going to get confusing if all of us have the same name. It's okay if we call you Pitthree, right?"

"Absolutely not," Dark Pit decided. Palutena couldn't contain her laughter, at least until Medusa shot her a glare and she went back to reading, a smile lingering on her face.

"Why do you have a problem with that?" he retorted, pausing when he realized that his twin wasn't in the mood to argue. Dark Pit seemed more intrigued with how the baby– whatever, I'm calling him Pitthree– held onto his finger, and that gave Pit an idea. "You wanna try?"

"No." Pit continued to stare at him until he faltered. "Maybe. But I don't know what I'm doing."

"Like I have any experience apart from holding human babies in the Overworld." At least Pitthree was cooperating, reaching out when he was held up. Dark Pit just stared at his twin helplessly, and he resigned himself to giving step-by-step instructions. "Hold him here, and you can do whatever with your other arm. Support his back if you want– Not that tight! You carrying groceries, or something? That's better. See, it's not that hard!" Dark Pit was clearly too tense, but Pitthree couldn't seem to care less, leaning on his chest and fiddling with his scarf.

"Do you two go to the Overworld often?" Palutena asked as Dark Pit continued making adjustments. Maybe Medusa wanted to know as well, because Palutena wasn't immediately ordered to get back to work.

"I mean, you always say that 'it's important to maintain good relations to know how we can be of service'. So yeah, pretty often." Pit could've sworn that his impression of Palutena's voice brought a hint of a smile onto Medusa's face. He'd never thought she was capable of a pure smile before.

Palutena herself didn't appreciate it as much. "That's because I'm right! If we don't know if our work is effective, how can we possibly improve?"

"I'd agree if people weren't intimidated every time I go without a disguise."

"Well, you are an angel. But it doesn't take that long to disguise yourself! It's important to get exposure to other places. Skyworld isn't the only realm on this planet," she explained sagely. As if any amount of exposure would've been helpful during the wars. "Wait, so if you're visiting the Overworld, does that mean you're a messenger like your dad?"

He shrugged. "I'd say my job is more like my mom's. I'm the Captain of your army, and Pittoo is second in command, so we do a bit of everything."

Emerald eyes widened. "You're the Captain?" Somehow, her shock hurt almost as much as her rejection earlier.

"I wouldn't trust you with yourself, let alone the command of an army," Medusa spoke up. There were a million ways he could argue with that, but there was something about her tone that told him she wasn't trying to demean him. She was just teasing him like Palutena always did.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" he complained. "I'd tell you about my heroic exploits, but you know what? You can wait and see for yourself."

"Spoiler alert," Dark Pit called. I swear, if you make this any harder for us– "He's destroyed gods and beings of pure chaos before, so I'd avoid getting on his bad side."

"He did what? Then what was I doing during all of this?" Palutena asked incredulously.

"Ordering him around!" Dark Pit answered readily. Pitthree squirmed in his arms to look around at everyone as they spoke.

"Stop it, Pittoo!" Pit turned to her and added pointedly, "Sorry about him, he just happens to be a jerk sometimes. But you're our guide and strategist and…" He trailed off when Palutena's expression became even more perplexed. He was probably saying more than he should. "Never mind, I don't think there's any title that sums up everything you do."

"Aya!" Pitthree chimed in for no good reason other than seeing everyone else talking.

At least that distracted Palutena from the twins' attempt at an explanation. "Aya!" she repeated, leaning over to give him a kiss on the forehead. "Don't get any ideas. You're not commanding anything until you're older, got it?"

It was cute to see how easily they laughed together, but hardly a few seconds later, Palutena straightened abruptly enough to startle the baby and the angel holding him. She frowned in concern, staring off into the distance, and Pit could take a guess at what was going on when her halo glowed behind her. She isn't here right now. But why so suddenly?

"They need my help," Palutena murmured, nervously weaving her fingers through a stray lock of hair from her ponytail. "No one's going to get there in time. I have to do something."

Watching her mumble to herself was unnerving, but it looked like this wasn't new to Medusa. She telekinetically pulled Palutena's staff over and gently placed it in her hands. "Here. Go ahead." Palutena looked down at it and gripped it carefully, and Medusa gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You'll do fine."

Palutena nodded and gave her a quick hug before levitating and heading straight to the hall, but Pit couldn't decode Medusa's expression when she left. "Don't worry about her, she's fine," she explained. "This happens every time someone calls on her. She's doing her best, but being the Goddess of Light is taxing."

"Tell me about it," Pit sighed. "She's always working in our timeline." He stopped abruptly when he remembered his rule to interact with Medusa as little as possible. But why did she feel so approachable?

"You know how long we can live for. She's been training for this role for centuries, but you can never learn enough. At any rate, she's progressing much faster than I did," Medusa admitted.

"Then what's your job? As the Goddess of Darkness?" Dark Pit had no qualms in asking her directly. Are you crazy? You know how easily she could kill you?

She responded surprisingly readily. "Maintaining balance. It's perfectly possible to have too much of a good thing. I work behind the scenes while she goes out to everyone. So when any being is in need, it's usually Palutena they call on." That was probably more than Medusa wanted to divulge, and she looked back at her book. "You're distracting me. All three of you, out."

Pit didn't argue. It was finally dawning on him that Medusa wasn't the monster he'd grown up believing her to be. She and Palutena cared for each other, just like him and his twin. I thought I knew what Lady Palutena was going through without her all this time, but I guess I had no idea.

He stole one more glance at Medusa as his brother dragged him out of the room with his free hand, muttering something about him being a dunce. He wasn't paying attention with the thoughts swirling in his mind. If Medusa wasn't evil incarnate, then what exactly was she? And if this world is headed to the same future that we had… is there anything we can do to change that?

Dark Pit never thought he could handle kids. He usually left social interactions to his twin, and children in particular were so unpredictable that he avoided all of them except for Aurelia, the girl who saved Pit when he was stuck in the Chaos Ring. "I forgot all that craziness is going to happen to you someday. Get ready," he warned, tapping his twin's seven-month-old self on the nose. Pit had started calling him Pitthree, and the nickname was growing on him. This is exactly what happened with 'Pittoo'. Either I don't care enough or I'm weak.

"Uwah!" Pitthree responded. It was surprising how he could already hold a conversation, even if neither of them could understand each other.

"Uwah," Dark Pit echoed, deadpan. He only dared because they were alone, wandering the halls of the temple. It made the baby laugh, so it was worth it, and he felt a smile form on his own face. "Wanna check on your… I don't know, sister? Sounds about right." It was mostly to make sure that a certain someone wasn't doing anything stupid. "And my dumbass brother."

Locating them was easy: he just had to follow the voices echoing in the hallways. Peeking into the library, he could see they were having an animated conversation, Palutena's long-forgotten book half-opened on the table beside them. "Pit, look right here," Palutena ordered. They were leaning into each other, eyes locked intensely. Is this a staring contest or something? Her eyebrows furrowed until she gave up, throwing herself back in her chair in resignation. "What do people mean when they say you have your mom's eyes? You don't look or sound like either of them!"

"What were you expecting? A clone?" Pit countered. "Not even me and my twin look that similar."

"It's still kind of surreal to think you have a twin," she reflected. "I was hoping for twins before you were born. It's nice to have someone who's always by your side, huh?" He never actually thought about it like that, but she was right. Maybe he didn't have the best start with his twin, but now they were inseparable, for better or for worse. Usually for worse.

Pitthree squirmed to reach out to them, so Dark Pit slipped away before they noticed. He didn't hear his brother's response, but for some weird reason he was satisfied just knowing it had been said. "Come on. Last thing you want is to be roped into something. Ask me how I know." The baby wailed his indignation and the best thing Dark Pit could think of doing in his panic was placing him on the ground. "You never showed me if you can walk yet, right?"

He very nearly dropped him, but the sudden jolt seemed to be enough of a distraction, and Pitthree was back to giggling and fluttering his wings. Would've been great if that didn't almost give me a heart attack. It turned out that he could stand on his own, but was a little unsteady when walking and grabbed onto Dark Pit's finger for support. "Better get used to this until you're old enough to fly by yourself."

The kid was determined to get back up every time he lost balance, but Dark Pit had only looked away for a second when he crawled over to grab the decorated hem of a dark violet dress. Dark Pit noticed Medusa with a start. When did she get here? The baby was more comfortable, beaming as he hoisted himself up. "Boo!"

Medusa didn't smile, although her expression softened apart from the cold glance she gave Dark Pit. "Is that an attempt at surprising you?" he asked nonchalantly.

"This is how we greet each other. I originally did it to scare him." She flinched at his disturbed look and hastily added, "Only because I know he won't be frightened. This child has no fear apart from separation anxiety."

He could only think of the time his twin hugged him after being saved from Hades and refused to let go until he got kicked in the stomach. "He's still exactly like that. What an astute observation, Deuce."

She could hear his sarcasm. "Medusa. To you it should be Lady Medusa, but I'm not one for titles. Don't try getting too friendly just because I offered to help."

"A stupid nickname isn't the end of the world. You can tell she's not being condescending." He smirked. "And you're doing a bad job at hiding that you care about her. There's no other reason why you've been letting her do nothing after her crisis."

Medusa tsked. "She doesn't need to bother. I've already found something that should help you two. I came to inform Palutena, not to talk to the likes of you. But since I'm here…" She carefully pried one of her sharper ornaments out of Pitthree's hands before continuing. "When were you born, Dark Pit?"

He eyed her warily. "Why do you care?"

She maintained an intense gaze. "Because if things went as planned, you wouldn't exist. I gave the Mirror of Truth to Pandora for safekeeping, since she wanted to study it. But it's dangerous, and I have no idea why she'd want to clone Pit."

"If you're so sure it's dangerous, do you even know what it does?" he challenged.

She raised her voice to match his. "I don't, and that's the problem! It's a source of imbalance that needs to be eliminated."

"Why is everything with you gods about eliminating things? You can't just let it be?"

"Why would I allow it to continue creating entities that aren't supposed to exist? Keeping it around is a risk. We're better off without its creations," she decided coldly.

As much as he wanted to stay calm, he couldn't control his frustration. "You realize who you're talking to, right?"

He didn't expect her to look so startled. "I didn't mean–"

"There's only one way you can mean that!" he yelled.

"I'm–" She was cut off by a sharp cry, and they both looked down to see Pitthree burst into tears, clinging onto Medusa's dress. "What's wrong?"

Dark Pit had no idea what to do, but the baby refused to be touched by either of them. "What the hell?"

"Palutena, get over here!" Medusa had barely called her when she stepped in along with Pit, whose glare at him clearly confirmed they'd heard everything. I'm screwed.

Palutena ignored them and hurriedly took care of the infant first, lifting him into her arms and gently rubbing between his wings. "It's okay, you're okay." He didn't calm down immediately, but it was better than nothing. "The noise level here was probably too much for him," she suggested pointedly. "We could hear you from the library."

Medusa glanced away and nodded, but Dark Pit didn't get to say anything before he was grabbed by the arm and dragged into the hallway by his twin. "Okay, first off: what the heck are you thinking sometimes, Pittoo?" Here we go.

"Ignore it. It was nothing."

"It clearly was something!" Pit whispered tensely. "Look, I don't like Medusa either, but we're just trying to get back home. So please don't pick fights."

Normally, he would've argued back and they would've gone on for hours. But right now, he didn't want to worsen his twin's very obvious anxiety. "I won't. Sorry," he conceded, giving his hand a small squeeze. "Relax, we'll figure something out."

Pit smiled faintly and nodded, but flinched at another piercing wail. "Yikes. Maybe I should go help Palutena and atone for everything she's had to deal with because of me."

Dark Pit smirked. "The weirdest thing about this is hearing you call her by her name. And that's only because she told you to. What a yes-man." He was too slow to avoid getting hit on the arm, but he managed to get back at his twin before they returned to the hall less agitated than before. That was more helpful than I thought.

He wished he could say the same for Pitthree and Palutena, who was looking more anxious by the second until Pit came over to help. He didn't understand why, but somehow both of them talking about the randomest things was working fairly well to calm the baby. He never thought anyone could find a discussion about optimal Tetris gameplay soothing, but maybe that explained why Pit was such a devout gamer.

"Dark Pit." This was the second time he'd been startled by Medusa. He mentally prepared himself for an argument when she spoke. "I didn't mean what I said earlier, so for that I'm sorry." Wait, what? She continued, only occasionally making eye contact. "Uncertainty worries me, so I wanted to know where my plans failed. Perhaps I was wrong to say the Mirror of Truth is dangerous. I just meant that it could be harmful in the wrong hands. Whatever happened to create you, I'll admit that the world is better off."

Dark Pit had to take a second to process her words. That was literally the nicest thing anyone other than Pit or Palutena had ever told him, and it was coming from the Goddess of Darkness, of all people. He was thankful neither of them was the sentimental type, so they could get this over with quickly. "Thanks. If you really wanted to know, I was born a few years ago. And I guess you're right, 'cause Pandora's goal was to make an evil clone of him." That was all he was going to say.

Medusa nodded, unconvinced, but she didn't question him further. "Hm, they managed to calm him without his parents' help. I'm surprised those two can be so resourceful," she mused as they looked at Pit and Palutena, who were now debating the best Mario Kart stages.

It took them a while to realize they were being watched. "Oh, you guys figured it out without any help!" Palutena cheered, reaching up to throw her free arm around Medusa's neck. "That's progress, Deuce!"

"I'm not a child," she retorted. "May I ask why you're so much more willing to help with this than with finding a useful spell? This is why you're becoming too reliant on me for these things."

"Sounds about right," Dark Pit quipped. "You know how many times we've had to deal with your experiments?"

"That's probably only an occasional thing, right?" Palutena asked with a nervous laugh.

"Sorry, Palutena, but I have to agree with him on this one," Pit remarked with a grin. He tapped Pitthree on the cheek. "You should be prepared to deal with sentient vegetables sometime soon."

"Wait, what? You're being serious?" Palutena looked at each of them in turn. "Okay, maybe I have some room for improvement too."