This chapter contains mention of eye trauma, mention of death, mention of hand trauma, mention of crushing and blood. If anything needs to be up here in the warnings, let me know.

Prologue and Chapter One

Prologue

Sectonia was a lot like a time bomb to the residents of Floralia. Many were afraid of her, and some didn't even realize it. She was constantly ticking, threatening to go off at any moment. When she did go off, she left a lot of destruction in her wake.

Royal Road was a prime example of this.

The walls were heavily damaged, and the gate still had a perfectly hero-sized hole in it from when Kirby stormed the castle in the final day of her reign. The palace was crumbling from the grip of her vines, and the stones were cracking. It wasn't just the exterior either. Many pieces of priceless furniture had been desecrated. For instance, two very important ornamental axes had been all but destroyed, and the floor was burnt from magic damage. The walls were cracked from people being flung into them, and the expensive carpet was torn and burnt around the edges (Kirby had gotten his hands on the Fire ability). Not even the windows were spared. In short, it looked like a grizzlo on steroids had been released in the place. But the buildings weren't the only things that were damaged.

Kirby was still very young at the time of the incident, and nearly being crushed to death by a gigantic vine had been quite terrifying for him. Dedede had slept through most of it, but he was sure that he didn't want to remember it anyway. Bandanna Dee had become increasingly paranoid for The King's safety. The residents of Floralia, though the Dreamstalk was gorgeous, would never look at it as anything other than a reminder of the Queen and her wrath. Most people working on the castle had been to afraid to enter the throne room for repairs. Many were convinced that it was haunted by Sectonia's spirit.
But it wasn't just superstition that made working on the palace hard. Some had to clean up blood from duels and assassination attempts gone wrong. And most importantly, some had to experience her wrath first hand.

And let me tell you right now, betrayal is not a pleasant thing to experience. Especially if one is too stubborn to share their experiences with others, even if it's for their own good.

And I don't think anyone ever cleaned up that blood stain from where I landed.

Like I said, Repairing Royal Road was a hard task for some. It contained many bad memories and past pains. Yet Taranza insisted that he helped. I guess he felt that in a way it was his fault that the place was in such a wreck in a first place, and that such a disaster had occurred.

He thought long and hard about this as he dumped a cleaning solution on a stubborn blood stain that just wouldn't go away. He glared down at the offending filth and assaulted it with a sponge. He was sure that the castle would decay from erosion and he would be long dead before that bloodstain would even begin to fade. Even so, he continued to try.

Footsteps announced the presence of a worker. He looked over his shoulder.

"How long have you been scrubbing that?" The worker mused.

"Not long enough to get it to fade, apparently." Taranza huffed. There was a beat of silence.

"Dude, you should take a break." Taranza stopped.

"Why?"

"You're obsessed with this place. Remember last week?" Taranza sighed.

"Yes. I fell asleep by an open balcony and I nearly fell off. But this stain won't kill me." The worker backed away from him.

"Okay, but if you fall face first into that bucket of bleach I'm not paying your medical bills."
The door shut and Taranza was alone again.

"Obsessed," He sneered to himself. "It's not like you're helping much at all." He pondered what the worker said as he attacked the stain.

"Obsessed." That word lingered in his mind. He had been trying to clean up this stain for a while. He looked down at his sponge.
Bits of dirt- no, brick had collected on it. He really had been eroding it. He sighed. The worker was right about one thing, he had been working on this stain for a while. He stood. Perhaps a break wouldn't hurt. He needed to switch sponges after all. He gathered his cleaning supplies and headed to the nearest supply closet.
The halls were looking a little better. There was hardly any debris laying around anymore, and most of the bricks had been replaced. He was happy that at least some progress had been made. But there was only so much even a thousand people could do in a month.

"I told him to take a break, but he wouldn't listen. I swear, he's going to work until his fingers fall off."

Taranza paused. Out of the corner of his back eyes he could see two workers huddled in a corner, watching him. He pretended to be inspecting the wall.

"Did you tell him he'd get nerve damage?"

"Yeah. I told him that three times today, but he never listens. It's like he's possessed or something."

That word lingered in his head. "Possessed." How silly. The superstition in this place was ridiculous.

"Would you like me to hire someone to exorcise this palace?" He mused. The workers fell silent.

"Um... No." They both looked down at the floor in shame. One grabbed one of his antennae and squeezed.

"Thought so." He continued on his way, but kept his eyes trained on them. They began to whisper again. He ignored it and continued on his way.
The halls were silent and empty. The sun shone through the windows and illuminated dust motes that floated through the air. He stopped.

What was he doing here? He had completely forgotten what he was doing. He sighed and buried his head in his hands. Before he could stop himself, he began to wonder why he was in Royal Road in the first place. Did anyone even want his help? His eyes wandered to a painting he didn't even notice.
It was a picture of the past Queen. It was beautifully painted with every color of the rainbow included in it. He felt a little like it was staring down at him. Judging him for his actions. He began to reminisce on the day she died. He had caused quite a lot of destruction too. He gently brushed his hand against the painting's surface.
"I'm so sorry," He whispered. Something warm and wet ran down his cheek. He wiped it away.

"I have no use for a fool who cannot follow orders."

His hands curled into fists. He really didn't want to remember that, but it would probably never leave his mind. He sighed and continued on his way.

Footsteps announced someone's presence. He stopped.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw someone. A child in a white cloak. He whirled around to get a better look at them, but they were gone as quickly as they came. He swallowed hard. Maybe Royal Road was haunted after all. He continued on his way, but made sure to look over his shoulder often.
He passed by a couple of guards, all whispering about something. As they passed, they fell silent. Gossiping, as always. He pretended to not hear them.

"Yeah, I saw it too!"

"See, Larry! I told you! His eyes are totally red! He's possessed or something!"

"So that automatically makes it Dark Matter? You're just being paranoid."

Taranza froze. Dark Matter? Red Eyes? This was getting ridiculous. But at the same time, it sent a chill down his spine. He turned to say something, but nothing came out. A few moments passed. They stared at him.

"I... It seems that I have forgotten where I was going." He said softly, and decided to see if the library needed cleaning.

"...Okay, maybe his eyes are red, but that doesn't mean-"

"Dude?"

"Fine. Maybe it is Dark Matter, but we don't have any proof! They won't listen to us! You can't just call the Queen of Ripple Star and expect her to-"

"I don't care. I'm still calling."