[Chapter three folks, one of the OC's is making their first appearance here, the others will come later, I have plans for them all. Now then, we shall continue]
The night in Cappy Town was usually a quiet one. Every now and again the peace and silence would be shaken by something, but for a month, things have been peaceful. Tonight was no different, everyone was sound asleep, Their dreams taking over.
The atmosphere at Kirby's house was much the same, though the sounds of nocturnal creatures was much more abundant. In The nest, Kirby slept, just below him slept Reverie, and in the house slept Tokkori.
However, peace was not how it appeared to they eye. The truth lied only within the heads of the dreamer. The only indications of the truth were the beads of cold sweat on the faces of many of the town's inhabitants.
The sun had begun to rise and the black sky turned blue, then a hint of red showed over the horizon. Morning had come. Despite that, the three at Kirby's house continued to sleep. It was not until a clicking sound was heard over a blanket of nearby stones caused any to wake. The one who reacted, was Reverie. The sound stirred him from his dreamless sleep and drew what little attention he had.
He awoke with a yawn and staggered to his little spheres of feet before seeing what had disturbed him. It came as a mild shock to see what it was, a trio of metallic spheres rolling their way by before disappearing into the tall grass. Reverie found himself struck with curiosity. Despite a slight nervousness he wanted to investigate he took an awkward and tired step forward, holding the tree to keep him up. He then yawned yet again, though louder this time. It was afterwards that he heard something moving from above him. He turned and looked up to see it was Kirby who was looking down at him. For the moment he was glad to see his friend there but didn't know what to say to him. Instead, he turned and made his way towards the tall grass.
This however made Kirby curious and he hopped out of tree, following Reverie. Reverie however made his way into the grass in an attempt to follow the trail but there was little indication of where they had gone through aside from the occasional flattened areas. Reverie turned his head to see Kirby enter shortly behind him.
"Hey Kirby" said Reverie.
"Poyo" said Kirby in response.
"I seen some weird metal things go through here. I can't find them though" said Reverie somewhat disappointed.
Kirby stood there for a moment before he himself began looking around. Reverie watched him briefly before searching yet again, following what little he could. The path thought the grass wasn't as long as it appeared however when he and Kirby stepped through the other side to more expanse of the field. The two stood still looking out over the landscape. Fortunately there was little to obscure their vision and they took notice of the castle in the distance. Reverie stared at it silently for a moment before Kirby reacted to something.
"Poyo, poyo!" said Kirby anxiously as he pointed out to a hill across from them.
There Reverie could see what it was. They were small due to their distance but Reverie was sure the figures were his targets.
"That's them!" said Reverie as he ran onward.
"Poyo" said Kirby as he tried to catch up.
At the castle, Escargon had gotten up early, a combination of not wanting to go back to sleep and a lot of work ahead of him. Making his way down the corridor he took notice of someone standing before a door, opened just a crack. It was a small, ball shaped creature, roughly the size of Kirby. His body consisted of two stubby, handless arms, purple feet, and blue skin. Other features were two strands of hair atop his head and a single large blue eye in the center of his head. He also wore a green strap attached to an ornate blue and green sheath.
It was unclear what he was staring at but slight noises could be heard from the room.
"Waddle Doo, What are you doing in front of his majesty's room?"
"What? Oh! Sorry master. I was making my rounds when I heard the king mumbling something in his room. I stopped to check on him and seen he was still asleep. He's been making noises for a little while now" the round creature explained.
"What? Move over" Escargon ordered as he rushed into the room.
He could see what Waddle Doo was talking about. Dedede was asleep in his bed, sweating and shaking as well as muttering to himself. Escargon hurried over to the bed and began shaking him.
"Sire, sire wake up!" Escargon shouted.
"Nyaaaaaaaaa" Dedede shouted as he woke up immediately, reached to the right side of his bed, grabbed a mallet, and swung it striking Escargon across the face.
"Ah, jeez sire, watch where you're swinging that thing" said Escargon rubbing his face.
Dedede went silent, mouth agape and began looking around the room.
"Escargon?" asked Dedede.
"Who else would it be?" said Escargon annoyed.
"Whew, musta been just a dream then" said Dedede sitting back down on his bed.
"Sounds more like a nightmare, you were freaking out in your sleep" said Escargon.
"I was huh?" asked Dedede looking out the window.
To his surprise however, the sun was just barely up over the horizon.
"Wha? What's this? What are you trying to pull waking me up this early!" Dedede asked.
"Just thought I'd help ya out. Besides, I couldn't get back to sleep either" said Escargon"
"So what" said Dedede.
"You were having a nightmare your majesty?" Waddle Doo asked.
"What are you doing here? You've got a job to do" said Dedede.
"Yes, I'm sorry your majesty. But I wanted to say I had a nightmare to. In fact, so did all the waddle Dees, and my assistant" Waddle Doo explained.
Escargon looked at Waddle Doo, shocked.
"Wait, you had one too?" Escargon asked.
"Yes sir" said Waddle Doo.
Escargon fell silent for a moment.
"Something wrong?" Dedede asked annoyed.
"Well, from the looks of things we all had a nightmare last night, including myself" said Escargon.
"You serious?" Dedede asked.
"Hmm… maybe we should check with the cabinet minister. If my hunch is correct then he and his family had nightmares as well" said Escargon ponderously.
"On it sir" said Waddle Doo as he hurried out of the room.
As he hurried down the hall and turned to make a corner he brushed with another occupant of the castle, one who appeared much like him without the hairs. Her skin was slightly darker however and she had a yellow star over her eye as well as a spiked red ring pattern around it.
As the two made contact the other Waddle Doo was sent spinning out before she fell to a sitting position.
"Sorry Mari, I have a job to do" said Waddle Doo as he ran off.
Waddle Doo didn't know what to make of the situation. Then again, that was not his responsibility. Still, he thought it strange that everyone, including the Waddle Dees had nightmares. All he could think about was that they had somehow gotten cursed. Waddle Doo was quick to arrive at the cabinet minister's room and swing it open.
"Cabinet minister, I need to ask you something" said Waddle Doo.
He immediately took notice of the family, all at the table, and all with bloodshot eyes.
"Yes, what is it Waddle Doo" asked the purple mustached cabinet minister and father to Tiff and Bun.
"The king had a nightmare and needed to know if anyone here did too" said Waddle Doo.
The Cabinet Minister looked around to the others at the table, all of them appeared surprised.
"Why yes. As a matter of fact all of us did. Is there something the matter?" the Cabinet Minister asked.
"I don't know. I need to go tell the others" said Waddle Doo who quickly took off out the door.
Tiff stared at the door for a moment before looking down at her breakfast.
"What's the matter Tiff?" her mother asked.
"Hmm" said Tiff bringing a slice of waffle up to her mouth.
Waddle Doo hurried back to Dedede's room only to find that neither he nor Escargon were present. Fortunately as he was about to leave Mari was making her way by, possibly knowing where Dedede and Escargon had went.
"Mari, have you seen his majesty left to?" Waddle Doo asked.
"Umm… I think I seen them going to the dining room" said Mari.
"Ok, thank you" said Waddle Doo preparing to leave.
"Hold on. What's this all about anyway? You've been crazy all morning" said Mari.
"Escargon wanted me to see if the Ebrums were having nightmares too. It looks like everyone has been" Waddle Doo explained.
"What about Meta Knight? or sword and Blade?" Mari asked.
"I don't know. Sorry, I've got to go" said Waddle Doo before hurrying off.
Mari watched as Waddle Doo tended to his business, she found herself wanting to help out in some way but lacked any idea of what needed to be done. Then she thought about how Waddle Doo sis not check with Meta Knight. With the chance that she could find a way to help, she turned back and made her way to Meta Knight's room.
Waddle Doo was quick to make his way to the dining room where several Waddle Dees were serving breakfast. The Waddle Dees were little round vaguely pear shaped creatures no larger than Waddle Doo or Kirby. Their skin was a light red but they had tan faces. Their feet were a tanned orange and they had stubby arms. Their faces showed a pair of black eyes and rosy cheeks but no apparent mouth or nose.
"Waddle Doo, there you are" said Dedede sitting ready to eat at the head of the table.
"Well, what did you find out?" Escargon asked.
"Yes, they have had nightmares too" said Waddle Doo.
"I figured as much" said Escargon.
"Well, what do you think, I'd like to get this done with and get on with my day" demanded Dedede.
"Well last time we all had nightmares, it was because of those pillows from Holy Nightmare. My guess is that this is no natural occurrence" Escargon explained.
"What are you saying? We got them Noddys somewhere in my castle!" Dedede asked.
"I imagine someone would have seen them if we did" said Escargon.
"It's that witch who came here the other day, she cursed us or someth'n!" Dedede shouted.
"Who, you mean that Labid girl? I wouldn't have my doubts about that… anyway, we should just wait until tonight until we do something. It might have just been a fluke" suggested Escargon.
"Yea, you're probably right, I aint gonna worry bout it no more" said Dedede before digging into his food.
Tiff had finished her breakfast and made her way out of her chambers into the corridors. She had grown concerned about the nightmares since she heard that everyone was having them. Unfortunately she knew nothing about it. She had recalled the incident with the pillows and the Noddys and checked her pillow just in case. There was nothing however. Now she was determined to find something out and looking to the only one in the castle capable of figuring this out himself. As she approached the door to Meta Knight's room her path crossed with Mari.
"Huh? Oh umm… Mari right? Are you here to see Meta Knight?" Tiff asked.
"Yep, I guess you are too then" inquired Mari.
"Yea, it sounds like everyone has been having nightmares. I'm hoping I might be able to learn something from Meta Knight" Tiff explained.
"Really? That's why I'm here too. It's really weird" said Mari.
"Yea" Tiff replied before knocking on the door.
"It took only a moment before someone answered the door. As it was, it was the Knight with the long blue green helm.
"Tiff, Mari, what brings you here?" the knight asked.
"Hey Sword, Mari and I came by to talk to Meta Knight. Is he here?" Tiff asked.
"Yes, he's talking with Blade, you came by just in time" sword explained.
"Thank you sword" said Tiff.
"Thanks" said Mari.
The two made their way in and took a seat on one of the pillows surrounding a table.
"Good morning Tiff, Mari. You are here about the Nightmares then?" Meta Knight asked.
"Yea, I heard from Waddle Doo that everyone had a nightmare last night. I was wondering if you did too" said Mari.
"I did, it is no natural phenomenon either" said Meta Knight.
"Yea, I thought so too, what do you think it is?" Tiff asked.
"I am not sure. I think it is safe to guess that it wasn't only the castle that came under the effects either. If you want you can ask around town for information" suggested Meta Knight.
"What about that lady that came by the other day, you know, the rabbit one? I think she was talking about magic or something, maybe she's the one who did it." Mari suggested.
"Maybe, magic can be very powerful and dangerous… however, to be able to affect the minds of so many people and over one thousand Waddle Dees would require tremendous power. Not the kind of power only a single person is capable of mustering" Meta Knight explained.
"So… no thoughts on it then?" Tiff asked.
"Hmm…" said Meta Knight thinking to himself.
Meta Knight then rose up and made his way to the door.
"Tiff, keep an eye on that new friend of yours, Reverie" said Meta Knight before leaving.
King Dedede finished his breakfast and left the mess for the Waddle Dees to take care of. Keeping true to his word he had forgotten about the nightmare fiasco and went on with his day with Escargon behind he made his way towards his throne room. As he approached however he noticed something odd, the large door leading inward had been opened slightly.
"Grrr, who didn't close my door!" Dedede shouted to the working Waddle Dees.
They all dropped what they were doing to motion to him that none of them had used it.
"Worthless good for nothings" said Dedede as he pushed open the door and entered his throne room.
The moment he entered however he was hit with shock. In the center of the room was the fully deployed demon beast transporter that hadn't seen use in a month. Of course, Escargon was equally surprised at this. They soon noticed something else, crawling over the machine were three small mechanical objects, tinkering with the machine.
They each had spherical bodies with two arms with various attachments at the end, two legs with clawed feet, and short neck like extensions with flashlight looking heads. Each part looked like it could fold into the body and form a complete ball.
"Hey you pests, get of that there machine or you all get the death penalty!" Dedede threatened.
One of the machines turned it's head backwards, looking at the king, then continued it's work.
"That's it, you asked for it!" Dedede shouted as he took hold of a mallet lying nearby.
He made a charge towards the robots and swung at one only to have it dodged. When it landed it simply found a different spot to work on. Dedede growled in frustration and attacked another which also escaped him. As he was about to strike another he took notice of motion near the door. When he turned to look, it was just who he had thought. It was Kirby followed shortly by Reverie. Dedede took a moment to think, once more about the nightmares, he pointed out to himself that this is the day after he had arrived.
"Reverie! This was your fault, you must be the one who don caused all them nightmares. I knew you was gonna be trouble, now you gonna get punished. You too Kirby, you're an accomplice" growled Dedede who was ready to charge at him when he took notice of the machines rolling away.
He turned to see that they had left the demon beast transporter. Turning back he noticed the spheres rolling away as well as seeing Kirby and Reverie fleeing.
"Dog goneit get back here!" Dedede shouted as he charged after them.
As Tiff made her way through the corridors she could hear the commotion just around the corner. When she made her way over to investigate she was nearly clobbered in the chaos. First came the spherical machines rolling past her. She peeked around the corner to see Reverie and Kirby being chased by Dedede who was beginning to fall behind. Recalling Meta Knights suggestion to keep an eye on Reverie she joined them in their running when she had the chance.
"Reverie? Kirby? What did you guys do this time?" Tiff asked.
"Pooyo" said Kirby as if to say 'nothing'.
"I don't know, he said it was my fault people were having nightmares then chased us" Reverie explained.
Tiff fell silent for a moment.
"Well what are you doing here?" Tiff asked.
Reverie pointed to the machines rolling away in front of them. Tiff looked to them as they turned the corner leading to the front court yard.
"What are they?" Tiff asked.
"I don't know" Reverie replied.
The three continued running until they left the castle far behind. Along the way they lost track of the little machines and took a rest beneath a tree. Tiff thought to herself for a moment. Usually she'd never place much credibility into anything Dedede said, but somehow she found herself doing so. That combined with what Meta Knight told her she couldn't help but be bothered by it. She looked to Reverie who was trying to relax. As they sat there they heard a voice from nearby.
"Tiff!" called a voice from a distance.
Everyone turned their heads to see three young Cappies running over to them.
Each of them had called to her but the one Tiff took note of was the voice of the female. Her unique features consisted of two small pigtails on the sides of her head tied with orange beads.
The one in the middle of the group was distinguishable by a blue and light yellow shirt, a dark yellow hat with blue band, and pink rosy cheeks.
The one to the left was distinguishable by his swirly pink cheeks as well as spiky hair in the center of his head tied by a blue hair tie.
"Hey Tiff, is Bun around anywhere? We were all going to play soccer" said the spiky haired one.
"Sorry, I'm not sure where Bun is" Tiff replied.
"Hey, who's your friend Tiff?" asked the girl.
"Wait, is this Reverie? Mayor Len told us about him and to greet him when we see him. Welcome to Cappy Town" said the one with the hat.
He was shortly followed by the other two.
Reverie stared at them, unsure of that to say.
"What's the matter?" asked the one with the spiky hair.
"Maybe he doesn't know how to talk, kinda like Kirby" said the one with the hat.
"Poyo" said Kirby quizzically
"I can talk" said Reverie.
"Don't pick on them you guys" said Tiff growing defensive.
"We're not picking on them" said the one in the hat.
"C'mon, we can get started without Bun. You guys should come play with us some time" Said the spiky haired one.
Before they left however Tiff had to ask them something.
"Iroo, Honey, Hohhe, did you guys have any nightmares last night?" Tiff asked.
The three looked at each other, somewhat shocked.
"That's kind of a weird question Tiff" said the one in the hat.
"Sorry, but I've gotta ask. Last night everyone in the castle had one. I need to see if anyone outside the castle did too" said Tiff
"I did, I was really scared, I don't think I've ever had one that bad before" said the girl Honey.
"Yea, I had one too" said Hohhe, the one in the hat.
"Me too. And I heard some of the adults talking about it, a bunch of people went to Mabel to see if it meant anything" said the spike haired one Iroo.
"So it was true…" said Tiff.
"Well, we're gonna go. See you guys around" said the one with the hat as they took their leave.
Tiff went silent for a minute. Milling what Meta Knight had said around in her head as well as Dedede's accusation. Was it true? After all, the nightmares did occur the night after Reverie's arrival. She looked to him and he seemed to be staring out towards the forest in the distance.
"Reverie… is it true? Are you really the one who made us all have nightmares?" Tiff asked.
She almost couldn't believe she was asking this to him. But she had to be sure. Reverie looked to her confused.
"Well?" Tiff asked.
"Nightmares?" Reverie asked.
"Yes, did you make them happen?" Tiff asked.
"No" said Reverie still confused.
"I see" said Tiff.
It was hard to tell anything from him. He seemed sincere about it but he may not have understood the question. She couldn't picture Reverie doing anything like he was being accused of. Before she could gather any more thoughts, she heard someone else approaching.
"Ah, there you all are. Good news, we have all decided to have a big feast to welcome Reverie to town, just like we did with Kirby" said the voice.
As it was, it belonged to Mayor Len. Reverie looked up when he heard his name and feast seemed to draw Kirby's attention.
"Really?" Tiff asked.
"Sure, it wouldn't be fair to welcome Kirby to town and not do the same for Reverie. Be sure to be in town by dinner time because it's gonna be huge" said the Mayor enthusiastically.
"Wow, thanks Mayor Len. Sounds like fun" said Tiff happily.
"Poyo!" said Kirby excitedly.
"Thank you" said Reverie with a smile.
"It's our pleasure. Well I shall see you all there then. I need to be off to help prepare, goodbye" said the mayor before leaving them.
Reverie smiled as he watched him walk away, then returned his attention to the forest. Tiff took notice of this however, something about his gaze drew her curiosity.
"Is something the matter Reverie?" Tiff asked.
Reverie stared silently, before something came into his head for a response.
"No… just… I think there's something there I've gotta do. I think I have to go back to that machine I was at before" said Reverie.
"Your space ship? What for? Tiff asked.
"I don't know" said Reverie.
Tiff could see it in his stare that he was feeling some compulsion to return to the forest, back to his ship. Although she couldn't know the reason, she decided to help him.
"Alright then. Kirby and I will come with you" Tiff offered.
"Poyo!" said Kirby.
Reverie looked to Tiff, then to Kirby, then smiled.
"Thank you" said Reverie as he stood up and began walking towards the forest.
As it was, Meta Knight had been hiding nearby and began to follow them. The forest was much like it had been when they first made their way through. Though they didn't recall the way, Reverie seemed to be drawn in one direction and they followed him. In the distance they found the same scene as before. The crashed machine opened into the form of a computer lab, though something was different. aside from the antenna at the back of it there seemed to be a large canister jutting up from the floor in the center. It seemed to be filled with a dark purple liquid.
"That's weird. I don't think that was there before" said Tiff.
"Poyo" said Kirby.
Reverie stayed silent and approached the lab, checking it over a bit before approaching the canister.
"Careful Reverie" said Tiff.
Reverie looked to her and gave a faint smile though he found himself compelled to place his hand onto the canister. He slowly but casually reached his hand over and rested it on the top of it. In a moment his head became stuck to the canister. In a panic he attempted to remove it with his other hand only to have that one get stuck as well. He began to twist and jerk to free himself but he was stuck fast.
"Reverie! Reverie! What's wrong!" Tiff asked panicked.
"Pooyo!" Kirby shouted.
Reverie looked to them, a horrible fear in his eyes. As he did so a purple light shone around him, swirling through the air.
"Reverie!" Tiff yelled.
"Poyo poyoo!" Kirby shouted as the moved towards him. However, the energy around him made approaching him difficult.
"Kirby! Tiff! Please… help me!" Reverie shouted as tears began to leave his eyes.
"Stop!" Shouted a voice from the trees.
In a moment a figure dropped down and held Kirby and Tiff back.
"Meta Knight! C'mon! we need to help him!" Tiff shouted.
"Poyo! Kirby shouted in agreement.
"No, there's nothing you can do for him now. I don't know what's happening to him but as you can tell, you can't even get close to him" said Meta Knight.
Kirby squirmed and struggled to get past Meta Knight but Meta Knight held him tightly. Tiff didn't want to believe Meta Knight, she wanted to get over there to save her friend.
"Reverie!" Tiff shouted again.
Reverie stared down at them. His friends being prevented from reaching him. By now he could barely see them, his eyes flooded with tears of fear and sorrow.
"T-Tiff, K-Kirb" he began to say but choked on the tears.
The energy surging around him grew fierce and violent, he felt as if he were being pulled. He took another look at his friend, their grief clear in their expressions as they tried to reach him. Suddenly he was enveloped by a white light that engulfed him and the machine he was on. Tiff and Kirby stopped struggling for a moment and watched as the machine was swallowed by it. The light then began to pulsate and flare before it vanished, taking the machine and Reverie along with it.
[And there we have it, to any OC's I used I'd like to know if I did them well. Anyway, chapter 4 will be coming along shortly. Keep in mind I will still accept OC's if anyone else wishes to submit. Hope you enjoyed and will see you next time.]