A/N: A few months ago while editing another fic on this site, I accidentally deleted the first chapter of this and had to rewrite it by memory. Since people have PMed me about it, I rewrote the first chapter in order to republish it and plan to finish off the remaining chapters as well. This story is Halloween themed and rated T for graphic/gory content!
"Come on, guys!" Bun cried as he, Kirby, and a gaggle of Cappy children ran up the steps to Pupu Village's brand new museum.
"Careful, guys! Don't run too fast up the stairs or you could fall and get hurt" Fumu chided as she walked behind the younger children, in step with their tour guide Mr. Curio. Despite the children's antics, she was unable to keep the smile from her face.
After many years of campaigning, Pupu village had finally gained its own museum. The building was off-white in color and quite large, crafted from marble and grand in both size and scale. On each side of the base of the steps leading to its front door, two stylized brass statues of King Dedede stood. The only caveat to getting the building approved and funded was that much of the museum housed "evidence" of the Dedede clan's existence in Dreamland, evidence that both Fumu and Mr. Curio were convinced were hoaxes.
Fumu rolled her eyes to the ceiling as the group entered the front door and was immediately greeted with the displays in the expansive Dedede exhibit, filled to the brim with questionable artifacts such as primitive toys, art pieces, and various tools.
"Wow, look at this!" Bun cried, hidden eyes sparkling with excitement as he gawked at a supposedly ancient Dedede hammer.
"Y-yes, the Dedede clan's history is quite fascinating..." Mr. Curio began carefully as he quickly ushered the tour group out of the room. Like Fumu, he wished to steer the children in the direction of real, authentic pieces, many of which he himself had donated from his own private collection.
The group of children walked down a hallway filled with glass displays of taxidermied animals, Curio briefly discussing their biology as they passed by. Bun slowed his pace as he eyed the animal exhibits along the wall. In one glass display, a Whippy cat was posed emerging from fake bushes while a Twizzie tried to escape mid-flight. Behind the two specimens was a painted backdrop of a forest, surrounded by artificial but convincing flora. The dynamic movement of the taxidermied creatures' poses was contrasted by their lifelessness, staring forward with unblinking eyes, trapped in their display case and frozen in place forever. It made Bun uncomfortable.
The next exhibit was devoted to Cappies, covering their ancient history via a row of displayed tools and relics. Fumu's heart began to quicken in excitement. Though not a member of the same species, she was fascinated by the Cappy's history and culture.
"Welcome to the ancient Cappy exhibit!" Mr. Curio proclaimed as they entered the dark brown room. While smaller and less flashy than Dedede's exhibits, all pieces in this room had been verified by Mr. Curio himself. Eager to see everything, the children began to scatter and stare at the various display cases.
"Did you know that there's evidence that Cappies have lived in this region for eons?" Mr. Curio began. "Before settling down and building modern society, our ancient ancestors survived by living in the forest and wearing large mushroom caps on their heads to fool predators. Rumor has it that a few scattered tribes still exist deep in the jungle, living the same way uninterrupted for thousands of years..." he continued, the children tuning out his droning.
"Woah! What's this creepy thing?" Bun exclaimed as he pressed his cheeks to one particular display glass, Kirby doing so next to him.
Among a few other small pieces laid a tiny doll made of wood and clay, a trinket small enough to fit in the palm of their hands. The doll was dark brown and crudely shaped like a Cappy with a mushroom cap on, hollow eyes open wide and mouth frozen in an eternal scream. Something about the doll felt deeply unsettling.
"Why, that's a Capiwa doll. One of very few to survive to this era, in fact" Mr. Curio explained.
"A capi-wha?" asked Bun.
"Capiwas were small Cappy dolls crafted by ancient peoples. A variety of Capiwas existed, serving as effigies, objects of prayer, and even sometimes vessels of magic. This doll in particular was said to be created by a powerful shaman, and rumor has it that it still contains great power. However this little doll has changed hands for centuries without anything supernatural happening, so it's safe to say that it's just a legend."
"Hey, I wanna see!" Iroo cried as he hopped up and down, too short to examine the contents of the display case.
Fumu stepped in with a smile as Mr. Curio blathered on, gently lifting little Iroo up so that he could see what the others were looking at. She was thrilled to see the children take a genuine interest in history.
Later that day, after Fumu and Bun returned home, Fumu cracked open a novel she had been reading while Bun watched a Channel DDD show. A couple of years had passed since Nightmare's demon beasts attacked Popstar, and while Bun was still very much a young boy Fumu was beginning to grow out of her childhood interests and become more interested in romance.
Funu blushed as she read, embarrassed to even be seen with a literary genre she had previously dismissed as tripe. Despite this, she admitted to herself that the books were a guilty pleasure. The book she had chosen followed the adventures of a dashing knight, who had just saved a princess from a terrible monster.
Fumu's green eyes scanned the page as she leaned back, reclining on the family's couch. 'The knight rose to his feet, gently holding the pale, delicate hand of the princess in his gauntlets. The young woman blushed lightly in response, too shy to look her savior in the eye. The handsome man smiled as he leaned closer to her...'
"And then they got closer, and closer, until they kissed! Smooch!" Bun said over Fumu's shoulder.
"BUN!" Fumu cried as she jumped in surprise, red-faced from both anger and embarrassment.
Bun snapped the book up from Fumu and hopped on top of the couch, waving it around teasingly as he laughed at her.
"Ugh, it's so dumb and gross! How can you read this junk? 'Oh, my knight in shining armor!'" Bun teased, wrapping his arms around himself in a mock embrace and making loud kissing noises.
"Bun, you jerk! If you don't stop I'll feed your Super Dee toy to Kirby!" Fumu snapped.
"Pfft" Bun snickered, knowing Fumu was lying. "I'd feed this lovey-dovey book to Kirby for revenge, but it's so sappy he would just throw it back up!"
"Just give it back, Bun. Bun! Mooooom" Fumu whined as Bun hopped off the couch and ran around the room with the novel, clearly enjoying tormenting his sister.
"Behave, children!" Parm called out from another room. "Be quiet - your mother's on the phone, you know!"
Bun sighed and half-tossed the book back to Fumu, who gripped its edges while giving her little brother a death glare. Even if he got in trouble later, the look on his sister's face was worth it.
A sudden, piercing wail rang through the castle's walls, causing both children to stop what they were doing. Fumu and Bun looked at each other with panicked expressions, their sibling rivalry forgotten in an instant as the book slid from Fumu's fingers and hit the floor. The two ran into the room the cry came from.
Fumu and Bun arrived in time to see Memu, their mother, on the phone. She looked pale, her hand shaking violently as she clutched the phone to her earhole.
"Y-yes... yes, I understand. We will make arrangements. Thank you" Memu managed to say, hanging up the phone.
"Honey?" Parm asked as ran into the room and hugged his wife, knowing just from the sound she made that something was terribly wrong. Memu had remained somewhat composed until that moment. She buried her face in her husband's shoulder and began to sob loudly. The two children stood in the doorway, jaws dropped as they witnessed the sudden and dramatic change in their mother's mood.
"Mommy?" Bun asked, his own voice quivering.
Memu was unable to speak for several seconds as she cried, Parm gently leading her to the livingroom so she could sit on the couch.
"What's the matter?" Parm asked gently.
Memu looked up, eyes red and mascara -stained tears running down her cheeks as she tried to find her voice.
"It's grandpa Lumu. He's... he's gone."
All three family members gasped.
"Old Lu? Oh honey, I'm so sorry..." Parm said gently as he sat on the couch next to Memu and held her in his arms.
"Grandpa? No. NO!" Bun screamed before bursting into tears as well, head held down and shoulders shaking.
Fumu and Bun ran to their parents on the couch, clinging to Memu. The family cried together.
Roughly one week later, Fumu's family as well as a few village residents stood outside in attendance at grandfather Lumu's funeral. After debating with herself for minutes, Fumu finally found the courage to look into her grandfather's open casket. His eyes were closed and his arms were draped across his chest, dressed in his finest suit.
"It just... it looks like he's just taking a nap. You know?" Bun managed to say.
Fumu nodded, throat choked with tears. Being at a funeral had forced her to come to terms with the fact that her dear grandfather, the man who read to her and taught her fishing and chess, was gone forever. She would rather have had her last memory of her grandpa be of him smiling, laughing and alive - now all she could see was his body, devoid of warmth, a cold and waxy husk.
Old Moso the mailman stood up to the podium, clearing his throat before beginning the funeral proceedings. "Greetings, everyone. We are all gathered here today to mourn the passing of a wonderful man, a dear friend to many and a pillar of Pupu Village..."
From an overlook nearby, three armored figures stood and watched the funeral from a distance.
"Those poor kids..." Sword said quietly.
"Yeah. To lose someone special at such a young age..." Blade added.
Meta Knight stood in front of Sword and Blade, closest to the cliff edge as he looked down at the group of mourners. His emotionless yellow eyes slowly rose back to a neutral position before he turned with a whirl of his cape, walking down the overlook. He passed Sword and Blade, pausing briefly.
"It never gets easier" the Star Warrior stated. He then walked off, Sword and Blade falling into step behind him.