"This is my new room? It's... really big! Thanks, Meta! You're so sweet to think of that!" Elfis sang, eyes scanning the room. "I really didn't think anybody would even try to hide me from the king! Thank you, thanks, thank you so much! I knew a real, true king would protect his people!"
"Uh, yeah."
Meta Knight didn't feel as upbeat as Elfis. Felt extremely... down. He just wondered why Kirby and Elfis didn't get along. They seemed like they would...
"Really, I appreciate your kindness! If I could, I'd—"
"Yeah, it's... alright."
Elfis paused, blinking up at the knight and giggled happily. "I didn't finish... but... really, I want to thank you somehow... I promise I will." She twirled around the room, finally ending up at the window and sticking her head out of it, pouting cutely. "Aw, I wish I could freely explore this castle with you! It's a pity I can't..."
With a suddenly realisation, Meta Knight whispered distantly, "His Majesty has a checkup every month." Eyes widened, Elfis took a step back. What? "If he finds you... I..."
"No... it's fine! I'm sure my knight in shining armour will arrive, won't he?" Elfis smiled gently, placing a hand on his.
"More like... mask." Meta Knight withdrew his hand. "I'll be out to speak with Kirby. Stay safe and hidden, Elfis."
"She actually would rather get kicked out of the castle?! What stupidity!" Dedede roared. "I can't believe her!"
Kirstie and Kirby stared at each other. What, he expected her to actually obediently trot to the throne room? That was stupidity. After all, she already refused to call him a king. Why obey anyone else?
"Then..."
Kirstie mentally facepalmed. Ah, crap. He had shit to say.
"...find her and bring her to me."
"She could be anywhere," Kirby stated. "That should be a job left up to the Waddle Dees. Kirstie and I will simply patrol the castle, in case she has actually stayed in it, rather than left it. How does that sound?" Hopefully better. She was convinced Elfis didn't leave the castle.
Thankfully— "That sounds just dandy. Then get to it! Although, why would you think she'd stay behind? She doesn't like me! She likes that stupid knight!" Eyes lighting up, Dedede said, "Why don't I just fire him?"
"Because," Kirstie sighed, "you'd lose a knight and that's not worth for a stupid girl. And it won't help the matter."
...She had a point. "Fine, don't fire him, but ask the Waddle Dees to keep an eye on him and restrict his movements," he ordered, saddling in comfortably back into his throne. He watched the two girls leave, muttering among themselves. He folded his hands together, with a smirk evident on his face.
"She's in the castle," Kirstie announced, not a hint of doubt detected in her voice. "The problem is, just where would she be? I suppose it's best if we confront Meta Knight, hm? Then, we should—"
"Wait. Why do you even think she's in the castle?" Kirby frowned at the very thought of it.
"Kirby, she radiates bitchiness. You think she's gonna get out of the castle?" Her reply was an innocent nod. "God, you're naive. But whatever. You're wrong, she wouldn't. She'd somehow stay in the castle, and if my deductions are correct..."
Kirby's eyes widened slowly. Deductions? "H-Hold on, Kirstie. Remember what we agreed on? You aren't supposed to deduce things anymore. I mean, the last time you did, we ended up in a ditch. A really deep ditch."
"Pft, that was because Blade that fucker decided to screw it up! He's not around this time, so there definitely won't be any obstacles!"
Kind of... tricky.
They ended up in front of Meta Knight's room. Kirby blinked, and the other girl knocked on the door once. Following immediately after, they heard a muffled swear. That sounded like... Blade, maybe?
Blade opened the door, looking at them, seemingly nervous. "Good—Good afternoon. Sir Meta Knight is looking for you, Kirby. He wanted to speak with you," he said, hand on the doorknob, as if ready to close it anytime.
"Oh... I'll... speak with him later." Kirby tilted her head and smiled. "Right now... I just want to know if you've seen a really pretty girl called Elfis. We're looking for her. She's meant to be exiled... but... she might be here."
"I... no, I haven't seen her." Blade shook his head.
"Really?" Kirstie raised a brow, expressing her doubt. "Well... you sure? I could give you a little grace period... just in case you're remorseful or something. You know? You sure?" Seeing she was getting nowhere, she sighed. "Have you seen Elfis? Answer that question truthfully and immediately."
"No."
"In that case, let's give your rooms a little checkup!" Kirstie beamed. "Huh... since, well, you don't have much stuff to keep neat... let's give you... the checkup will be at three o'clock, 'kay?"
Blade glanced at the clock on the wall in the room. "That's... five minutes away!"
"You've got nothing to hide," Kirby mumbled. "So... it's okay, right?"
"I—"
"Bye!" Kirstie chirped, swinging the door close.
Kirby nibbled on her bottom lip and glanced at Kirstie, brows furrowed. What... What... What was she thinking? Having a checkup? She couldn't possibly think... that Elfis was hiding in Meta Knight's room?!
"How would you know Elfis is with Meta Knight?" She couldn't help but voice her concern.
"Well, I don't. It's not 100%... but it's most likely, judging her and Meta Knight." Resting a cheek on her palm, Kirstie continued, "You did see the way Elfis acted around Meta Knight? He's a pretty stoic guy, but..."
"Kirby, I was looking for you."
Meta Knight literally showed up out of nowhere. Kirby stared at her mentor with disinterest. She admired him, but that slutty bitch was interfering with their relationship and so it wasn't very nice to think about right then.
It was then the knight noticed the two girls were standing right in front of his door.
"What... are you two doing in front of my room?"
Kirstie whipped round with her mouth open, arms folded, but Kirby silenced her with a wave of her hand. She closed her mouth indignantly. "His Majesty asked us to search the castle for Elfis, in case she stayed back instead of leaving. We... have no choice but to obey, Sir Meta Knight, I hope you can understand that. Do you know where she left to, is I may ask?"
Stuck was a good word to describe how he seemed. "...She left the castle. I watched her until she was out of my sight."
"Liar!" Kirstie snapped, before covering her mouth and sighing. "I mean... yeah, so we're gonna have an inspection on your room today. Since it clearly doesn't matter. Hear there's some nasty rodents around."
His eyes hardened visibly. "No. It is alright. I am no girl. I do perfectly well around mice."
After muttering something that sounded like "Rude!" under her breath, Kirstie continued, "They might contain some sort of disease, you see, and we're afraid of that. If there's anything you need to tell us, you can tell us right now. There'll be no punishment involved, we promise. We'll let you off the hook without a word."
His mouth hung open slightly, but then he shut it and shook his head.
The pink-haired girl hugged herself loosely. Was this really going to be alright?
It was about three...
Whistling a certain tune, a troop of Waddle Dees rushed to Kirstie's side obediently. "Go on in," she instructed. "If you see any living creature apart from Blade, Sword or Meta Knight, bring them out here immediately."
A harmonious nod, then they rushed in. A few seconds later, half of them brought out a struggling cloaked figure. Kirby inwardly smiled, reaching out a hand to yank off the hood when the cloaked figure spoke.
"Let me go! I'm a normal resident of the castle!"
That wasn't Elfis.
Automatically, she pulled off the cloak, to reveal... Sword? Her jaw dropped in realisation that... it was to buy time. But for what? It only did confirm that Elfis really was hiding in there.
"Sword, why the hell're you dressed in a cloak?" Kirstie snapped. She didn't wait for a reply, and instead stormed into the room uninvited.
"Wait! Please!" Sword yelled from the entrance, Kirby following Kirstie timidly. "Please stop!"
They reached the room where Blade was in. He was backed up against the window, trying to shoo away the remaining Waddle Dees, but to no avail. Kirby frowned in dismay; no sign of Elfis. She looked at Kirstie worriedly when the black-haired girl spoke.
"Get Blade and pull him out of the room."
They did so obediently, and when Blade was forcibly torn away from the window, the rope he was holding was revealed. Kirby stared at it, finally connecting all the dots and growled.
"You... You really do have Elfis!" Hurt swelled in her. Meta Knight... would actually keep such a slutty girl who showed off nothing but her cleavage? "And you're letting her escape!"
"N-No, I—"
"Shut up!" Kirby snapped, glaring heatedly at her fellow apprentice. She was angry and upset, so she vented her anger on the nearest target: Blade. The three had a competition for Meta Knight's attention all the time, too. "I wouldn't mind if Elfis is dead."
"His Majesty would," Kirstie replied in a swift mumble, glancing out of the window thoughtfully. "Is she near the bottom?"
Blade paused, then decided there was really no point in lying. "...Yeah."
With a brief nod, Kirstie jumped right out of the window.
"Wait! Don't! You'll die!" Blade screamed, even though it was too late. Seeing Kirby made no effort to stop her, he looked at her in surprise. "You're all right with your friend doing that?"
"She'll survive," Kirby replied airily. "But in any case, Waddle Dees? Please take Blade, Sword and... Sir Meta Knight and lock them up for the time being. I will get to them later. Thank you very much."
"Don't you hate to imprison your own sir?" Blade asked hesitantly.
"Of course I do!" Kirby burst out angrily. "I hate it," she corrected in a calmer manner, "but there isn't much I can do. Once everything is over, and Elfis is gone, we'll go back to a normal life. Won't we?"
That was a long way to come.
"Couldn't catch her."
Kirstie's airy remark stopped all conversations in the throne room. Everyone—the random bystander Waddle Dees, Dedede, and Kirby—looked at her in astonishment. Kirstie couldn't catch Elfis? Impossible... Kirstie was always quick on her feet. How was it possible she couldn't catch Elfis, who knew less about the castle than an official guard?
"It's okay, Kirstie," Kirby comforted, "we don't mind."
"No, I couldn't catch her, but I saw her." Kirstie put on a glare. "It means that she really was hiding with Meta Knight, and that he's a traitor. He's not an innocent character in this."
Kirby had hoped he was.
"It's okay. He's a guard, she isn't. We'll boot her out," Kirby pointed out. "Meta Knight's locked up along with his other two apprentices, which means Elfis has nowhere to flee now. We will catch her, sooner or later."
"I never said anything about catching!" Dedede scowled, earning himself two glares. "Well... I did, but no need to go so far. All I want is Elfis to see me so we can... talk. She's very interesting. I'd like to have her all to myself."
"We know that."
Kirby stared at Kirstie, then at Dedede.
Was this really the way to a happy ending, anyway?
In this rewrite, there is a major change, so I don't advise reading the next chapter. I'll get to rewriting as soon as I can because of that.
