Hello! As it turns out, I can't seem to post reviews on my own account for now, so I just wanted to say thank you so much for the review from the last chapter! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. This is my first story with such a different theme and what are effectively OCs, so I was sort of apprehensive when posting it, and it didn't help that I still can't gauge my readers' reactions from views, favourites, and follows, so reviews are always appreciated! - Persimmon

Chapter 2

For the millionth time in his short life, Dark Pit didn't know what to think. It had taken some time to come to accept Pit and Palutena as his family, but now he'd met two others that he'd managed fine without so far. He still couldn't decide whether them being Pit's parents meant that they were his parents too. After all, he was entirely created by the Mirror of Truth, and they'd never known about his existence. But still, they didn't feel like strangers, and he enjoyed the time he spent with Orion, travelling from a remote village all the way to the central plaza for Dark Pit's sake. All three of them are stupidly positive and overly helpful. I guess I have a lot to live up to, then. Not that I'm– well, technically– screw this, it's too complicated.

What was more important was keeping an eye on Pit. It'd been a while since he'd seen his twin looking so down, and he didn't like it. They spent most of the time walking to the temple in silent contemplation, but it wouldn't do any good to be like that for longer. "Did you notice that there are more trees around here in our timeline? I bet that's because of Viridi. She takes her job too seriously." Dark Pit wasn't good at cheering people up, but he tried his best, continuing to point out the randomest things until he got a smile out of his brother.

"You know what a tourist you sound like right now?"

"Aren't we tourists in a way? We don't even belong to this timeline." He sighed. "Time travel, huh? The craziest part is that you were right about two things on the same day."

He was asking for the light shove he got. "I'd like to remind you that I'm always right. Most of the time." At least Pit was laughing again.

They lapsed into a couple of seconds of silence before Dark Pit finally had the courage to ask something. "Pit? They looked so happy right now. So… what happened to them?" he asked softly.

With his twin's somber tone, it looked like he'd come to terms with it by now. "I don't know all the details, but there was a rebellion in Skyworld by some of the gods, and both of them died protecting people. Lady Palutena blames Medusa for it. Apparently, she chose not to save them out of spite. So that's why Lady Palutena sent me to grow up in a human village until she felt it was safe enough for me to come back."

"And how long do you think that'll be from now?" Dark Pit breathed.

"I was physically around a year old, so if we're in the same time as that picture Lady Palutena was showing us, probably a few years. Not long." Dark Pit nodded, and Pit added with a small smile, "I'm just happy we got to see them, so thanks for not thinking straight earlier."

"Shut up."

Pit ignored him. "Look! There's the temple! Hasn't changed much, but I think the landscaping has been updated a couple of times."

"Can't tell if her taste in design has gotten better or worse. These look kind of tacky," he mentioned, studying some of the statues and fountains. "Which way are we going in? The front entrance? There's too many people there."

"The front entrance?" his twin echoed, appalled. "That's for guests. We live here. We're going in through the side, and we can get to the main hall from there. Didn't she say she had some work to do?"

"You realize that the Palutena you're thinking of is a completely different person from the one we're about to meet?"

Pit blinked in surprise. "Oh. Right." Sometimes, it was exasperating how dense he could be, especially since he was surprisingly smart otherwise. "But this is Lady Palutena we're talking about. She's always working."

It looked like the path they normally took hadn't been built yet, so they had to detour along the small paths winding through the gardens. The twins had barely set foot on the marble floor when a cold voice rang out. "Halt. The side entrance is not open to visitors."

They turned to see a Centurion wielding a bow with an arrow pointing directly at them. "If you'd like an audience with the Goddess, enter through the front." Dark Pit was unfazed at the directness. It was no secret that the soldiers of Palutena's army were wary of him, and he'd heard whispers about 'the Captain's evil twin' too many times to care. But said Captain clearly didn't know what to do. He just stared in shock at the prospect of being ordered around by the same people he'd been leading a day ago, and Dark Pit had to intervene.

"Sorry," he said lightly, practically dragging his twin out. "Come on, let's go the other way." He waited until they were out of earshot before hissing, "Get a grip. You're not the captain of anything here. Just a regular angel. And you have to play the part, because I look suspicious enough."

It was exasperating that Pit was always ready to defend others before himself. "Pittoo, you're too self-conscious about your wings. I promise you they're teal in the sunlight."

He shrugged. Maybe Pit was right, but he could never shake the feeling that everyone was judging him for his seemingly black feathers. "I don't want people to think I'm cursed. Whatever, where to next?"

Pit thought for a second before answering. "There's another shortcut we can take!" Oh, great. As if we didn't just get caught. "It'll lead to the courtyard, and we might see her there. Believe me, she rarely used to meet people who came to visit her. She was always too busy."

It wasn't like they had another choice, so he begrudgingly followed his brother through another set of paths towards the back of the temple. If nothing else, Pit had a good sense of navigation. They were able to evade the Centurions guarding the temple fairly easily and only had to squeeze past two sets of pillars to make it inside the courtyard. "Not bad. The security here is lacking."

"I know, right?" Pit seemed more cheerful now that they were somewhere familiar. "You won't believe how many times I tried to break in so I could figure out where to station the guards."

For a minute, it looked like they were alone, but they got lucky when one of the doors was pushed open from inside. Dark Pit knew what to expect from seeing the pictures earlier, but that wasn't anything like seeing Palutena in person. She looked barely older than them, if not the same age, and she wasn't much taller either. The staff she held, the sun pendant she wore, and the crown on her head were the only things that hadn't changed about her appearance. But the way she stepped back in shock when she came face to face with them was exactly the same as the goddess they knew.

"Lady Palutena, I'm so glad we found you!" Pit didn't hesitate to dash over and give her a tight hug, and she didn't make a single movement, staring at him wide-eyed as if she was avoiding getting stung by a bee. She wasn't expecting anyone to be here, idiot! Don't surprise her like that!

What they didn't expect was for her expression to change entirely in the second it took her to make sense of the situation. She immediately shoved him away with her staff, shouting, "Do I know you?" Dark Pit froze when she glared at both of them, not even offering to help when Pit stumbled. Her speaking voice was only slightly different from what they were familiar with, but her tone was icily sharp. "I'm busy right now, but if you need me, please come in through the front. Have a nice day." Her knee-length ponytail swished around her as she lifted herself slightly above the ground, and neither of them made a move when she left without a second glance.

It took a couple of seconds for Dark Pit to process everything, but he couldn't stop himself from bursting into laughter. "The way you were so confident back there. That was total rejection."

It looked like Pit was contemplating his life. "What do you mean, 'do I know you'? You're the only person I've always known!" he moaned.

"This is why you don't hug random people," Dark Pit advised, helping his twin to his feet. "Think about it. She doesn't know who you are, because it's pretty likely that you're a baby in this timeline. Who would think that the random guy who broke into her courtyard was actually the baby she was taking care of, except older and from a different timeline?"

"But don't I look anything like either of them? If I saw the resemblance, she should too! She spends all her time with them!"

"No," he answered flatly. Maybe that was kind of harsh, judging by the hurt on his twin's face, so he elaborated. "It's not like how people mistake us for each other from a distance. On your own, you look like yourself. But if someone knew what they were looking for, it wouldn't be too hard to spot some of your little similarities with your parents– What's with that face?"

He was borderline glowing. "That's like the nicest thing you've said to me in a while!" There was nothing nice about that, though? Is the bar really that low?

He was about to tell him that when a low voice spoke up from behind them. Crap, I didn't even notice– "Well, if it isn't Palutena's latest rejects."

He recognized her voice immediately, and it only brought back bad memories. He'd never seen Medusa in person before, but he wasn't expecting this. She was about as tall as Palutena was in their timeline, with a crown resting on her dark hair, and apart from her deathly pale skin, there was nothing monstrous about her. Both angels tensed up at the prospect of being so close to her, but she didn't seem any more at ease, gripping her staff apprehensively as she studied them. "I don't usually meddle in her business, but I'll make an exception this once. What do you want?"

Pit didn't respond, so his twin had to take initiative. Again. "We came to ask Palutena for help."

"You do realize that she has better things to do than helping everyone who comes her way? If it's anything minor, I can do it just as easily."

"It's important." He felt a nervous brush of feathers on his arm, and could practically hear Pit begging him not to escalate this.

The design around her left eye deformed when she squinted. "Important? I doubt she'd want to waste her time on your whims. Besides, how did you even get here?"

He matched her tone. "Does that matter?"

"Do you hear yourself? Breaking into the Goddess of Light's temple to ask for a favour? I'd kick you out if she didn't already."

He had to admit that arguing with her was intense. He could feel his heart pounding. "We need her help, so we're just going to wait, I guess."

"Not in here, at least." Medusa leaned a little closer. "Besides, I don't think she'd even entertain a fallen angel in her vicinity."

There we go again with the 'fallen angel' thing. As if he didn't have enough identity crises already. It was infuriating that he had to rely on his brother to defend him every time, but he always seemed to need some reassurance. "He's not a fallen angel." Dark Pit was taken aback at his twin's serious tone. It was so different from his usual emphatic explanations. "His wings aren't black. They're–"

"A dark teal, right?" All three of them looked back to see Palutena approaching them, resting her staff against a pillar when she got closer. Great, both of them hate us and could smite us any second now. We're kind of screwed.

Pit decided that the best option was to do nothing. After all, he'd already messed up the first time with Palutena, but something felt different now. She formed a small orb of light in her hand and hesitantly walked up to Dark Pit, who flinched but didn't move as she illuminated his feathers. "See? It's a really pretty shade." What? Whose side are you on? They made eye contact, and she smiled sheepishly. "I… What I came here to say was that I'm sorry for earlier. That was definitely not a good way to greet you, I was just overwhelmed."

"You're always overwhelmed," Medusa sighed, tapping her lightly on the back of the head with her staff. She looked at the twins in turn. "I won't ignore that they broke in here, but apparently they need your help."

"I'll do my best!" she offered. This is more like the Lady Palutena I know.

The first thing they needed to do was introduce themselves. He impulsively held Palutena's shoulders so that they were staring right at each other. "Do I look like anyone you know?"

"Um… I'm sorry, but…" He tried avoiding Medusa's death glare, but it morphed into curiosity when Palutena gasped. "Oh, wait! Are you related to Orion? Or Lyra? Or maybe neither of them, I don't know– They live here, but both of them are away right now, so…"

That was the realization he needed from her. "What if I told you I'm related to both of them?"

"Huh?"

Here goes nothing. "I'm their son. My name is Pit."

He couldn't tell what she was thinking until she pulled away from him. "That's a complete lie." What? I thought I was making progress! "Their son isn't even a year old. I put him to sleep half an hour ago." Her eyes darted between the angels. "And even if that was somehow true, who are you?"

Pit was getting a bad feeling from his twin's smirk. Pittoo, don't you dare. "You really want to know? I'm Dark Pit. His failed clone that Pandora tried making with the Mirror of Truth. The only reason I don't look exactly like him is because he shattered it before I was fully formed. And lucky for you, that's why I'm not evil."

"What?" Palutena managed in total bewilderment. Even Medusa looked stunned.

"Pittoo, what the heck?" he gritted. His twin seemed completely unbothered. "You're not helping our case!"

"Wait… so you're telling the truth?" she ventured.

Pit couldn't help but get annoyed. "Oh, so you believe that craziness but not my well-structured argument?" His twin snickered, and he decided to offer a better explanation. "But yeah, we're from a different timeline or something. We don't know how to get back, and we need your help."

Medusa spoke up before Palutena could say anything. "It makes the most logical sense. I wanted us to meet up here because of an energy influx I sensed, and that isn't possible without some kind of portal between universes. It has to be because of these two."

For a second, he forgot how much he hated Medusa. "Woah, you can sense that?"

"You underestimate the power of the darkness," she responded coolly.

Palutena nodded slowly and carefully brushed his hand. "Pit? You're being serious?"

"Of course I am, Lady Palutena!" He felt a mischievous grin coming on. "Didn't expect me to turn out this handsome, huh?"

He steadied himself when she hugged him with a laugh. "This is all so sudden, I don't know what I expected. But it's nice to meet you!" She pulled his reluctant twin over as well. "You too, Dark Pit."

"Call him Pittoo!" Pit volunteered. He made eye contact with his brother for the whole time. This is payback for almost messing things up. "As in Pit Two, as in Dark Pit. That was your reasoning when you came up with it, but by now we've gotten used to it."

"I came up with that?" she asked eagerly.

Pit couldn't read Medusa's expression for a second, but then it clicked. That was pure sympathy. "That sounds just like–"

"See, Deuce? You and Pit aren't the only ones I made nicknames for!" Palutena declared.

"Deuce?" Dark Pit echoed. "That can't actually be what you call her."

"Mhm! Short for 'Medusa'. Although I'm not going to give Pit a new nickname once he gets a real name. I'm too attached." The energy this girl has. "Oh, right! I guess I could just wait until he gets a bit older and find out normally, but what's your actual name? Did you get a constellation name like your parents?"

"Uh…" That caught him off guard. Palutena looked so hopeful. How am I supposed to tell her they died before ever giving me a real name?

He never thought it would happen, but Medusa saved him. "Palutena. They aren't from the future, they're from a different universe with a timeline that's ahead of ours. Nothing that happened to them is guaranteed to happen to us, so stop asking stupid questions."

"Oh. That makes sense. Sorry," she murmured, brightening up again just as quickly. "But whatever happened in your timeline, I'm glad you're here! Did you get to meet Lyra and Orion yet?"

"They're the ones who sent us here! Obviously, we didn't tell them who we were. I didn't need someone else asking if they knew me," he mentioned pointedly.

"Now that I think about it, that was especially mean to you. I'm sorry." She grabbed her staff and waved the three of them over. "Come on, it's too bright for Deuce out here. Besides, I have to introduce you to Pit from this timeline!"

"And you have to figure out a way to get these two back to where they came from. As far as I know, time runs at the same rate there." Medusa shielded her eyes until they were inside, and based on what Palutena just said, Pit couldn't help but wonder if her skin was so pale because she was sensitive to sunlight.

"But you'll help, right?" Palutena asked hopefully.

"When did I say I was staying, much less helping?"

"Please? I'm totally inexperienced with this kind of thing."

Pit decided to help her point. "And she never learns either. We got here thanks to one of Lady Palutena's failed experiments."

That only served to distract her. "Pit, we're on a first-name basis."

That was not a suggestion. It was an order. "Right. Sorry, Palutena. It's become kind of a habit," he explained. She nodded contentedly.

"Wait, what?" Dark Pit looked more confused than ever. "You're fine calling her by her name now, but not any other time she's asked?"

"I mean, I kind of started calling her Lady Palutena to annoy her," he admitted. "I picked it up from the Centurions, and I kept using it until it became second nature. But it shows respect, so what's the harm?"

"What? And here I thought you were trying to be polite–"

"You three seem to be having a good time," Medusa interrupted. "I won't bother you, then."

"No one said you had to leave!" Palutena called. "Deuce, we need your help. Anything to do with energy and balance is your domain. So as the Goddess of Darkness… please?"

Medusa crossed her arms with a sigh. "Why did I even come here?"

"So you'll–"

"Yes, I'll help. It's part of my job."

Pit readily returned the high-five Palutena offered, and Dark Pit glanced over at Medusa. "Don't worry, I know how it feels."