Author's note: Well MyKnightLife, if you thought you were blessed because of an update, what do you think of two updates, in the span of a few days? I've been working on this story like crazy lately, so I can have an excuse for the next time I take forever lol. Nah, just kidding. And, later in the chapter I will mention the dungeon of Dededes castle. I don't remember how it looked in the anime so I improvised, so if you wondered why it didn't seem like it did in the anime when you read that part, that's why. Anyway, responses to reviews:

MyKnightlife: The mirror will be used on Meta Knight in this chapter, so just read on to find out what happens! And I have been working on chapter length, as shown from the difference from the prologue and the last chapter; 159 words compared to 1,041 words.

RedDawn: As you can see, there is more! I'm planing on seeing this story to the end, especially as I have some great plot twists in mind. My lack of updates usually stem from two things: Either lack of inspiration or lack of free time. I've had a great idea in my head for a while, and I had it all planned out; the scenery, the thoughts going through the characters head, all the details of it. All I needed was a place to use it. And I finally am using it in this chapter. Yay!

Anyway, on to the chapter. WARNING: Blood ahead for the next paragraph. Part of the reason I switched this to a T.


Chapter Four

The Mirror of Truth

Meta Knight's Perspective

I opened my eyes quickly. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was going to the solitary clearing... Then that pain again, though this time I couldn't have blacked out shown by the fact that I was standing. I looked around at my surroundings. I was standing on a river bank with the forest a few feet away behind me. On the other side of the river the trees were much closer to the bank; They leaned over the river making it impossible to see the sky. Suddenly, I felt something bump against my feet. I looked down and felt horror stab through me. There was the bloodied body of a forest creature lying dead at my feet. In its body Galaxia sat, its edge covered with the animals blood. Said animal appeared to be a wild boar. It was not easy to tell however, as its body was butchered nearly beyond recognition. I felt sick to my stomach. Did I do this? I had to, I was the only one who could wield Galaxia besides Kirby, and he was nowhere to be seen. But why did I do this, and why couldn't I remember doing it? Could Nightmare have...? No. He couldn't have. He hasn't done so in thousands of years, so why would he do it now...? I shook my head. Now was not the time to be mulling over how the boar had died; something had to be done about its body. I reached down and pulled Galaxia out of its body and cleaned it in the river quickly. I noticed as I cleaned Galaxia that my gloves were soaked with blood as well. I grimaced. Apparently, whatever had happened, I had very clearly been making this poor animal's death as painful as possible. But why would I? I had never taken pleasure in the pain of others, so why would I ever do this? I sighed. All these questions and no answers. It made me feel like I was young again. Weak, defenseless, and helpless. I shook my head decided to stop dwelling on what had happened and concentrate on getting the blood out of my gloves.

A few hours later I had finished burying the boar and I had taken a step back to examine it's grave. It was mostly unmarked, with the only sign that it was a grave was the rock I had placed on it, and that could be dismissed as a natural occurrence. I felt a pang of sorrow. Its life had had been taken needlessly. Much like the thousands of lives the war had taken... I felt a tear trickle down my face. At its touch I quickly stopped thinking about the war. There was no need to dwell on the past. It was gone and there was no way to change it. I shook my head looked up at the sky, trying to gauge the time. The act was futile and unnecessary. One, I could not see the sky as the trees were thick in the part of the forest I was in, and two, I did not need to see the Sun's position to know that it was three hours, forty-two minutes and twelve seconds precisely until sunset. For anyone else it would have taken them more than double that time to get out of the forest, but I knew the forest well from exploring it frequently to make sure I was never unprepared for having to go in it. I gave my gloves a slight shake to get some dirt off of them and ventured into the shadows of the forest to take the quickest route I knew to get out the forest. With any luck, I would get back to the castle two hours, ten minutes and fifty-five seconds exactly before sunset.


I walked over the drawbridge of the castle and frowned. I had arrived at the castle ten milliseconds late. "Too slow..." I thought. I sighed. Another imperfection to fix. I wrapped my cape around me in my usual fashion and began heading to my room to meditate.

"Meta Knight-kyo! Wait!" I heard Waddle Doo call. I turned. "His Highness King Dedede requires your presence in the dungeon right away!"

"In the dungeon? Why?" I questioned. His Highness wasn't very fond of the dungeon, as it wasn't nearly comfortable enough to his tastes. I was more neutral towards it; it just brought back memories that I would rather forget. Waddle Doo looked uncomfortable at my question.

"He... Didn't say. He just said it was urgent." I noted his hesitation between 'he' and 'didn't'. Something was amiss. Normally I would ask for a period of time to prepare before such an occurrence, but what Dedede was planning could have something to do with the odd happenings lately.

"I will head there right away." I told Waddle Doo and walked quickly to the entrance of the dungeon. As I walked, I wondered exactly what the king wanted. When I got to the entrance of the dungeon, I saw Escargoon waiting for me.

"You're late." He sneered.

"My apologies."

"Well come along. His Highness is growing impatient." Escargoon led the way down the long winding stairs that led to the dungeon.

"META KNIGHT YOU LAZY BONES! YOU'RE LATE!" King Dedede yelled when he saw me. He was standing just beyond the archway that led to the room that was just before the cells of the actual dungeon and was obscuring my view of the room beyond him.

"My apologies Sire. I was tending to other matters."

"No matter. I need you to look at something!" If I hadn't already known that something was wrong, I would certainly have then. The king never forgave things that easily. His Highness stepped aside and motioned for me to walk into the room that lay beyond him. I did so and surveyed my surroundings. It looked as it normally did, empty, dusty and old, aside from one thing. A giant gold mirror adorned with wings, four stars, and a crown.

"That is a... Pleasant looking mirror Sire. Now what did you want me to look at?" My voice tightened at the first part of the sentence. I never was one for looking at my reflection, and that mirror was a little too... Fine for my tastes. I preferred more practical things. Not things that were purely meant for decoration.

"The mirror you fool! Look at the mirror!" Dedede exclaimed.

"I... Do not understand sire. Why did I need to come examine a mirror?"

"Just take a close look at it!" Dedede ordered.

"...As you wish Sire." As I moved closer to the mirror I began to feel the chill that I associated with something bad about to happen. I regretted not asking for a period of time to prepare. I mentally scolded myself. It was just a mirror. I had faced many more terrifying things than a mirror. Eventually I was right in front of the mirror. Slowly, I placed my gloved hand on the mirror. Instantly the mirror's surface turned dark. I jumped back. What was going to happen? Slowly, the mirror became light once more... Except for the very center. The darkness at the center slowly formed a shape. It was slightly circular, and it wore a tattered cape and held a sword. Ever so slowly, it gained color until it had red shoes, a dark grey body, a silver mask with a deep crack in it, a grey tattered cape, a silver sword, and pale yellow eyes. With horror, I realized it was a mirror version of me, aside from its coloration of course. I stepped back and drew Galaxia. Even if it could not leave the mirror, it was better to be prepared than dead.

"What is this mirror?" I asked King Dedede. Instead of getting a response, instead I just got a laugh. I grimaced. Evidently I was to "investigate" the mirror on my own. I watched the mirror for a few more seconds, when to my horror, the mirror version of me began to move. My grip on Galaxia tightened. Was it going to attack? To my surprise, it simply got in a battle ready stance and didn't try and leave the mirror. I narrowed my eyes underneath my mask. What was my mirror self trying to do...? A minute passed of just me and the mirror version of me staring each other down. Then suddenly, faster than you could blink, my mirror self rushed forward out of the mirror to attack. I was able to dodge the attack, but just barely. I attempted to counterattack, but my counterpart blocked it. We stayed at a stalemate for a while, neither one getting an attack in. Then Dedede yelled, "Just get an attack in already! This is so boring to watch!"

Surpised by the sudden noise, I looked over at him. The mirror copy took advantage of this and slammed the blunt side of it's sword against my head. Stunned by the hard hit, I could do nothing as my counterpart picked me up and threw me into the mirror. It's surface rippled and I felt a sensation similar to going underwater when I hit its surface. The next thing I knew was that I was in the mirror looking out at my counterpart. As I watched, he snapped his fingers and his appearance changed to look like me. I realized what Dedede's plan had been. Trick me into getting stuck in the mirror, then use my counterpart to fight Kirby. I realized what a fool I had been. I deserved to be in this mirror. I had acted idiotically and now I had to pay the price.

"Heh hehe! Now, Dark Meta Knight, go fight Kirby!" King Dedede laughed. "Dark" Meta Knight nodded and ran out of the room. I felt a stab of concern for Kirby. I had always held back from using my full strength whenever I was around him, the townsfolk, and even Sword and Blade. But Dark Meta Knight certainly wouldn't. There was no way Kirby could stand against my full strength. I would have to find a way out of my glass prison, and fast.