Taking a quick splash in the cool waters of the river had certainly been helpful. Pit was glad he had taken heed to (y/n)'s suggestion. The heat of the rainforest wasn't as bad as it first was when they arrived thanks to the cooling effect the water had on them.

        "How much further do we have to go?" Dark Pit complained. He was at the back of their short line. He didn't appear to be tired, but the heat was taking a serious tole on him.

        "It's just a little further," (y/n) wiped her forehead free of sweat. "As long as we keep following this river, we'll reach the waterfall that marks the beginning of his domain. You'll know it when you see it. Nymphs love to see angels since there are hardly ever any around in the human realm. They'll greet us as soon as they see our wings." Pit paused for a moment to catch his breath. "We can take a quick break though. We've been walking for a while."

        Pit didn't hesitate to take a sharp turn for the river and splash into its cool waters once again. "You weren't kidding. Getting there is no joke," Pit noted before sinking below the surface of the water. He quickly resurfaced and shook the water from his hair and wings. Dark Pit sat at the water's edge and scooped a handful of the liquid to take a drink. (Y/n) looked at him in horror as he made a disgusted expression before finishing off the water. Pit couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

        "If it's harmful, the snakes will just cure me," Dark Pit muttered as an excuse when he noticed (y/n)'s reaction.

        They remained seated at the riverside for a moment longer than intended, but soon continued on their journey. Nothing had bothered to attack them along the way. "There it is, finally." (Y/n) pointed ahead of them towards a waterfall trickling down the face of a cliff. The trio quickened their pace now that their destination was in sight. Just as (y/n) predicted, Pit began to see nymphs sticking their faces out of their hiding places. They were small, reaching up to Pit's knees in height as they came out to greet them. Pit didn't understand their language. It sounded like high pitched squeaking to him.

        "We need to meet with Demetrius," (y/n) said to some of the nymphs that greeted her. "Can you take us to him?" The excited nymphs all fell silent. The one that (y/n) spoke to gave her a look of worry but nodded her head to answer the question. The lot of them all began to gather together with the intention of leading Pit, (y/n), and Dark Pit to wherever Demetrius was.

        "Why did they react like that?" Pit whispered to (y/n) as they stepped into the waters where the nymphs led them.

        "I don't know. I've never met him myself. Asclepius told me everything I know about him, so be on your guard," she whispered back. The nymphs used their powers to open up a door that had been perfectly hidden behind the waterfall. An elevator awaited them. The nymphs began to scatter, leaving one to speak to them. "This is as far as they can take us," (y/n) informed the two angels. "If we just go straight as soon as we get off, then we'll run right into his throne."

        "What's the underling of a goddess doing with a throne?" Dark Pit mumbled as the elevator lowered them underground.

        "That's none of our business," (y/n) thought aloud.

        They remained quiet as the light from the sun vanished and was replaced with the glowing of the elevator. It traveled pretty slowly, which Pit didn't mind, but it did grow the tension building between them as they waited to be freed from the confined space. When the elevator let them off, they quickly began to head straight. A dirt path led them through palm bushes and trees.

        "It's been quite some time since angels have visited this place." The voice came from the end of the path, startling Pit. He could see the throne ahead of them. On it sat a man with long curling dark green hair and skin almost the color of gold. As Pit got closer, he noticed that the man's clothes were formed from an assortment of leaves threaded together with vines. Jaguar fur lay across his shoulders and back. His bored expression landed on them. "What do you want? It better be important."

        "We are here to ask just one question that only you know the answer to," (y/n) said. She gave a short bow before continuing. "Asclepius has fallen, so we ask that you tell us the location of the rewind spring."

        "No," Demetrius said. (Y/n)'s eye twitched.

        "Surely you wish to help an old friend? Asclepius has made many trades with you in the past. This-"

        "This is a matter that I care nothing about. You can't offer me anything in return for my knowledge. Besides, you've brought that with you." His eyes landed on Dark Pit. "I should have you all thrown out for bringing a clone here. It's against Viridi's laws to bring pollution into her domain."

        Pit was about to speak in his twin's defense, but Dark Pit beat him to the punch. "The name is Dark Pit, not 'that'. The only thing polluted is your attitude, so I suggest you fix it before I fix it for you," he growled.

        "See, you're already spouting nonsense. Useless beings like you only damage the environment." The grip of Dark Pit's weapon tightened. Demetrius failed to hide the smirk forming on his face. "Oh? You wish to challenge me?" He stood up from his throne. "You're pretty bold for a copy."

        "He isn't a copy!" Pit yelled. He wasn't going to stand there and let anyone talk about his family that way. "He's not pollution either! He's my brother!"

        Demetrius wasn't even fazed by Pit's outburst. "I want to fight that one," he said as he looked at (y/n). "If I lose, I'll give you the location of the fountain. If it fails to defeat me, then all of you will leave and stop bothering me."

        Pit felt (y/n) put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from walking right up and punching Demetrius. He had never found himself this angry before. "It's fine, Pit." He looked at her ready to complain about how not fine this situation was, but he kept silent upon seeing her expression of seething rage. "We accept your conditions."

        "Very well," Demetrius said with a condescending grin. He rose his arms out to his sides causing the ground beneath them to shake. Pit instinctively caught hold of (y/n)'s arm to steady himself as the trees and bushes slid away from the dirty path to form a large enough area for them to fight in. "I will give you time to prepare yourselves though this fight should not take me long. Go on, use your cheats or whatever." He closed his eyes and made a fanning motion at them.

        (Y/n) immediately turned to Dark Pit and reached for the snakes around his neck. "You've got this," Pit said to him.

        Dark Pit fiddled with his own bladed bow. "Of course I do. He isn't getting away with talking to me like that."

        "Here, you'll want this," (y/n) said as she allowed her wings to appear. Just like before, her wings began to glow until one pair disappeared entirely, now leaving her with one set. The glowing power transferred to Dark Pit, granting him the power of flight. "I won't send you in there without covering all our bases. Now go on and kick his a-"

        "Are you all done yet?" Demetrius asked with slight irritation.

        "Yeah, done with your bullcrap," Dark Pit spoke up.

          "Good." Golden ropes appeared out of nowhere and latched onto one of Pit's wrists. He gave a slight noise of panic as the rope pulled him away from his twin and trapped him against a tree outside of the dirt arena. It let his wrist go, only to tie him against the tree, tightly binding his arms to his sides. The same had happened to (y/n), but she had been pulled to the opposite side of the dirt arena. Asclepius' snakes hissed at the ropes as they avoided capture by wrapping themselves around (y/n)'s arms like long bracelets. Even from this distance, Pit could see that she was extremely uncomfortable.

        "Can't have any outside interface." Demetrius held one hand up in front of him. In it appeared a weapon, a large scythe in the shape of a sickle. The weapon stood as tall as Demetrius who was already a few feet taller than Dark Pit. "Try not to lose too quickly. I've been in need of some entertainment all day, so I want to play a bit."

        "Don't let him get to you!" Pit yelled out to his twin. He could see Dark Pit getting angrier by the minute and hoped that his hot-headed mindset would not lead him to failure. This would be the first time Pit would be witnessing his other half fighting. He assumed it would be the same as his own combat, but he was curious regardless. He had already seen how quickly Dark Pit reacted when he drew an arrow at Pandora.

        "You may begin," Demetrius said. Neither of them moved.

        "Did you really think I'd make the first move? I'm not stupid," Dark Pit said. He returned Demetrius' condescending tone. "It's okay if you're scared to fight me." He smirked and lifted one of his dual blades in Demetrius direction to make a taunting gesture. "Come and get me, plant man."

        Pit wasn't sure if Demetrius fell for the taunt or just decided not to waste any more of his time. All he knew was that Demetrius had moved so quickly that he had appeared behind Dark Pit before he finished his taunting action. Seeing it gave Pit chills. The feathers in Dark Pit's wings briefly flared up to express his surprise just before he dodged the attack. The scythe swept across where Dark Pit would have been standing if he hadn't ducked.

        "He's trying to kill him!" Pit realized. He looked over to (y/n) who was just as surprised as he was. That couldn't have been a good thing. This wasn't supposed to be a fight to the death!

        The clashing of weapons snapped Pit's attention back to the fight. Dark Pit had parried a head on attack from the sickle scythe by crossing the blades of his bow. Demetrius didn't leave him time to get in any attacks of his own leaving Dark Pit to stick to defensive action. That's what Pit thought until Dark Pit stopped parrying the attacks entirely and began to just dodge them. That was when Pit realized for certain that Dark Pit was faster than his own combat speed.

         Right as Demetrius swung his scythe at him, Dark Pit put his blades back together in an instant, and drew an arrow just as quickly. He missed. In order to dodge the incoming attack in time, he had to move before he could completely aim the shot leaving the dark purple arrow to slash across Demetrius' shoulder. The scythe swung right over Dark Pit's head, but he bent too far backwards and fell. If it had not been for Demetrius' retreat from the little damage he took, Dark Pit might have lost right then and there.

        "Not bad for trash," Demetrius spoke. "But it's time you go back to where you came from. The shadows will certainly welcome you," he hissed. "I've played for long enough."

        Pit had already been trying to free himself all the while, but he became more anxious to get free when the speed of the battle began to pick up. Dark Pit was not fast enough to keep up with Demetrius' new speed. Ever so often, Dark Pit would barely avoid the blade of the sickle leaving him with small cuts in his clothes and one across his cheek. Pit could tell that he still saw which direction the blade would come from, but didn't have enough reaction time. His twin hissed in pain as the blade met skin again, leaving a deep cut across Dark Pit's right arm.

        In an attempt to turn the tides of the fight, Dark Pit took flight. Pit finally felt his own weapon beginning to cut through the magic ropes. He watched his other half remain outside of the scythe's range while raining down arrows. The god of harvest was visibly growing tired of having to stay clear of the projectiles despite Dark Pit's aim being slightly off due to his recent injury.

        "Enough games!" Demetrius shot a gold rope from his hand that wrapped around Dark Pit's ankle. One yank had the dark themed angel falling to the ground.

        "You cheater!" Pit cried out. He felt the ropes snapping behind him as he cut them as best as he could.

        Dark Pit didn't seem to care that he was falling. He kept his arrow aimed and shot it anyway. It flew just before he crashed into the dirt. Had it been any more accurate, it would have taken out Demetrius' eye but instead left a cut behind on his cheek. "You insolent-!"

        Pit snapped free of the ropes just as Demetrius shot forward. There was no time. It was too late. Dark Pit cried out in agony instantly shattering Pit's heart.
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I will be updating twice per week following my new writing schedule for those who did not see my announcements. Until next time you amazing readers!