Chapter 4

Fumu sat by the window of the coffee shop, looking out the window from time to time. She sat on one side of the booth, Bun sitting on the other. Fumu sipped her orange juice, picking at the coffee cake in front of her with a fork. She hadn't eaten yet and knew she should be hungry, and she loved coffee cake; but she just could not bring herself to eat it. There was too much on her mind.

"Poyo poi?"

A little pink arm began to creep across the table towards her coffee cake. Fumu put her hand out to gently grab it, pushing it away.

"Yes, Kirby, I AM going to eat that" Fumu stated tersely, annoyed. "Don't worry. Your meal is coming out soon."

"Poyo" Kirby responded as he leaned forward on the table, face propped up with his arms while he stared at the coffee cake silently like a begging dog.

Kirby's gaze eventually drifted towards the window, watching the Cappies walk by. His attention was caught by a blue, caped form that looked nothing like a Cappy. The caped warrior walked across the window and pushed the little store's door aside, a tiny bell ringing on top of the door to signify that another guest had entered.

"Poyoyii!" Kirby cried, waving to him from their booth.

Fumu smiled as Meta Knight made their way towards the three. He sat down next to Bun, facing Fumu and Kirby. A Cappy waitress walked out shortly, using both hands to carry Kirby's order. It was a plate overflowing with cakes, doughnuts, buns, scones - nearly the coffee shop's entire stock of baked goods. She placed the pile of pastries in front of the pink creature and turned to the others, seeing if they wanted anything.

"Coffee", Meta Knight stated, raising his arm. "Black, please."

"Black?!" Bun scrunched up his face. "Eeeew. The only way coffee is even drinkable is if it has lots of sugar in it. Milk, too!"

"Bun likes his sugary milk with a side of coffee" Fumu joked. She turned to face the knight as the waitress walked off, her green eyes meeting his yellow ones curiously.

"Sir, I believe you wanted to discuss what we witnessed yesterday..."

Meta Knight nodded slowly, proceeding to tell Fumu about everything Shieldmaiden relayed to him. He watched Fumu's cheery face fall as he explained the new threat on the horizon, Dark Matter, and how a holy relic of great power was needed to stop it. Meta Knight paused to sip his coffee, dipping the small cup underneath his mask to sip the hot beverage as Fumu's brow furrowed in deep thought.

"So from what I can gather", Fumu began, "You need me to gather as much information of all of Popstar's holy relics as I can in the hope that we can find something powerful enough to combat Dark Matter?"

"Yes", the Star Warrior replied, gently setting his cup back on the table. "It's a long shot, but Popstar does have its share of powerful relics. They may be far beyond Pupu village. They may even be on the other side of the planet. But they're out there."

"How do you know that? If you don't mind me asking", Fumu added, her growing frustration causing her to twist her fork into her coffee cake.

Meta Knight's expression remained unchanged to her; she could not see his hidden smile.

"Shieldmaiden's ship may be totaled, but the machine that tracks relics powerful enough to stop Dark Matter survived. It is still operational. The problem is, it lit up in multiple areas of Popstar. It's a flat radar sensor, and we have no way to sift through what is the best relic for the job or which items are powerful but not enough like Galaxia. We need to know which one is the most useful."

"And the only way to know that" Meta Knight continued, after another brief sip of his coffee, "is books."

Fumu couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't know whether to be honored or terrified that so much of the mission to thwart Dark Matter rested on her shoulders.

"Sir Meta Knight", Fumu stammered, "I'm flattered that you think I'd know enough about the world's relics to have an idea of what could best help us. Honestly, though, I don't. The topic interests me, and I have read about it in the past, but this is going way deeper into the subject than anything I've read. There has to be some way..."

Fumu narrowed her eyes and stared at the table in front of her intensely, focusing on nothing. After a moment of deep thought, her eyes popped open wide. She put both hands on the table and pushed forward so suddenly it caused everyone present except Meta Knight to flinch, Fumu nearly knocking over her plate in the process.

"Of course!" she cried. "Curio!"

The four finished their breakfast quickly in their haste to leave. Kirby, after being told to hurry up, finished his in record time as he literally inhaled his food. Fumu put on an embarrassed smile as she paid the annoyed waitress an extra generous tip after Kirby ate the plates of everyone else at the table, the silverware, and the tablecloth.

Fumu, Bun, and the two Star Warriors then exited the little coffee shop and quickly headed down the streets of Pupu Village, heading towards Curio. In time, they reached the small antique shop that doubled as a museum.

As the four reached the store Meta Knight, who had been leading the group, held the door open and stepped aside to allow Fumu to enter first. She pushed the creaky door open to his shop, the strange and slightly musty smell of old antiques flooding her nostrils as she entered. Bun, Kirby, and Meta Knight walked in behind her afterwards.

Curio practically leapt out of his chair to greet them, so happy was he to have visitors in his quiet and rarely busy store.

"Hello Fumu, Bun! Greetings, Sir Meta Knight and Kirby! Welcome, welcome", the old Cappy said with a broad smile. "Do let me know if there is anything I can help you with."

"Actually, Mr. Curio, there is..." Fumu replied, rubbing her chin.

Curio raised a hairy eyebrow in response. "What can I do for you, Fumu?"

Fumu looked around at the antique store and museum, filled to the brim with old nick-knacks. Everything from outdated tools from the past several centuries of Cappy civilization to ancient, valuable artifacts, a few protected in cubed glass cases, sat on display. Fumu loved it here; she memorized every "exhibit" by heart, made an effort to learn all about any new goods or relics that Curio had procured, and spent an extended amount of time reading his old history books. But today, she could not simply enjoy uncovering the mysteries of the past for the sake of learning; she had a job to do.

Fumu cleared her throat. "Mr. Curio, do you happen to have any books about relics that are exceptionally powerful or magic in nature?"

Curio stroked his moustache thoughtfully "Oh, um, well, let's see...ah! As a matter of fact, I do!"

Curio turned his back to the group and walked towards the back of his store, reaching behind a stack of unorganized antiques to grab a creaky ladder. He moved it over to a section of shelves nearby, climbing up the wobbly ladder with no small amount of effort. Meta Knight, sensing an accident in the making, rushed over to hold the ladder steady while Kirby, following the older warrior's lead, followed him and held the other end.

"Oh thank you...you didn't have to do that" Curio said from above, before his body was wracked with hacking coughs. Having leaned far into the back of the store's shelves to move books kicked up a terrific cloud of dust, which cascaded down from Curio's perch on top of the ladder and fell on the two Star Warriors.

Kirby scrunched up his face and coughed lightly, managing to avoid the worst of it. Meta Knight, however, caught enough of the dust cloud that it seeped into his mask through the opening for his eyes. He shut his eyes briefly, feeling a tingle in his nose holes. He held it in, quaking slightly, then sneezed so hard his mask got knocked off center. The ladder shook slightly, Kirby using both hands to steady it as well as he could while Curio leaned back and forth dangerously.

"...Sorry" Meta Knight muttered sheepishly, sniffling slightly and using one free hand to readjust his mask back into place.

"Quite alright, old boy. Happens to me all the time!" Curio replied with a chuckle from on top of the ladder, reaching as far towards the back of the shelf as he could.

In time Curio descended, carrying a large and heavy book. Fumu gripped the dusty old tome at the bottom of the ladder and prepared to thank him before the old man ascended again, coming back down the ladder with book after book. By the time he was done both Fumu and Bun were quaking from the weight of thick books, carrying a dozen total between the two of them.

"Wow, Curio..." Fumu managed to say. "Thank you! We just need to do some research for something specific - we'll return them as soon as possible."

Curio flashed them a grin as he dusted off his sleeves. "Anytime. All I ask is that they don't get too beaten up so that future generations may gain knowledge from these books as well."

Fumu smiled warmly. "You know how I treat your things, Curio. Trust me, they won't get damaged."

The four left the shop, with Kirby and Meta Knight lightening the children's burden by carrying a few books each themselves.

"Sir..." Fumu said, turning to Meta Knight. Meta Knight looked at her out of the corner of his eye silently in response.

"These are going to take a while to go through. I had no idea there was so much written on the subject of ancient relics. This could take days, even weeks."

Meta Knight nodded, grunting slightly as he shifted the weight of the books he carried from one arm to another.

"I understand that. Sword, Blade and I can help you go through these. I'm sure our new friend would be willing to lend her assistance, as well. With any luck, we should have time to conduct enough research to make an informed decision on how to protect the kingdom before...before anything bad happens."

"I can help too, sis!" Bun piped up, his face invisible behind the large stack of books he carried. "I may not read as fast as you, but I can still read!"

Fumu nodded, smiling. "Thanks, guys. We will get through this much faster with multiple people working on this."

"Poyo! Poy!" Kirby interjected, looking at Fumu.

"Ahh...thanks Kirby, but just leave this one to us." Fumu replied kindly. She knew that Kirby wanted to help, but he couldn't even read yet.

The four walked back towards Dedede's castle, the warm sunny day making their laborious book-carrying feel like less of a burden.