Author's Note: This one is a bit longer than usual, but I'm sure nobody is going to complain. I don't know how long the next one is going to be, but I have a good idea. On another note, not related to the story, I have to say that all my thoughts go to the people in France right now. Being French Canadian, the French people are like our cousins from the other side of the sea. RIP to the 12 people of Charlie Hebdo. I know their ideas will never die.
Sword yawned. He was sitting under a tree, with his helmet off, to take a small break from Bun's and Kirby's training. The sun was beating hard today, and though he quite welcomed such good weather in these times, it was tiring him faster than he would have expected. Having started this morning, Blade offered to take his place and train Bun by himself instead. Now he was feeling more exhausted by the minute and he put his head back against the tree, trying to enjoy the coolness of the shade. So many… responsibilities. So many things he had to think about, to worry about. Staring at the blue sky, his eyes got heavier as each second ticked by. The few dusty clouds there was melted together and formed nameless shapes, lulling him toward what he needed most at the moment.
He blinked. The sky was no longer blue, but a dark tone, like an ominous veil had draped around the world. Thousands of dark orbs were floating down toward the earth, blinking their unique eye like fading stars. In a sudden panic, Sword stood up and searched around, only to find he was alone… or almost. Standing where the others had been training, in a field now empty of life where the grass was dry and black, was his lord… with black veils erupting from his back. He was holding his head, but let it go as soon as Sword let his presence known with a gasp.
"S… Sir…?"
Slowly, Meta Knight turned to face him. Sword couldn't look away, for these bloodshot eyes were dragging him into a world where a thousand eyes stared at him, never blinking. His skin started itching like each eye had planted a needle in his bones, but still Sword couldn't look away. He saw his master unleash a silent darkness, and couldn't… do… any… thing…
"Sword? Hey, wake up. Come on."
The apprentice blinked once more, only this time, he was brought back to the world he knew. Blade was looking at him, a hand on his shoulder, worry readable all across his face.
"You okay there?" he asked as his friend rubbed the sweat off his face with his gloves.
"Yeah… It was just a dream. Don't worry about it."
He looked behind him; Bun was laying on the grass next to a broken wooden sword, and farther behind was Kirby, under Meta Knight's watch as he inhaled both a stone and a small dagger at the same time. Each time, there were no transformation, so Kirby only spat them out and tried again. Meta Knight was standing farther to the side, wrapped in his cape, unmoving except for his eyes, which Sword looked at carefully. He half expected them to glow red, but of course they didn't.
"Did Bun make any progress?" he asked Blade, who smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised at how quickly he does. I think the thing is, he understands well what we want him to do, and that's what helps him."
Sword chuckled.
"Heh. If only we'd been like that at the start, eh?"
"Yeah," Blade laughed, holding out a hand to help him to his feet. "One would think that after so many years we'd be fully knighted by now."
They both looked back toward the fields when they heard the distinct sound of Kirby's transformation, only to see that he had become Stone Kirby. Growling in frustration, Kirby spat everything out and sat down, complaining that he couldn't do it.
"Now, now, you're giving up too quickly," were Meta Knight's words. "Stand up and try again, it's the only way you'll achieve your goal."
And they watched as Kirby breathed in and did as he was told.
"We weren't good apprentices," Sword said softly, with a clear tone of disappointment in himself. "Like idiots, we tried to act like we already knew everything. I don't think it's a wonder that we aren't knights yet."
"Well, all in due time, like Pa used to say… Besides, we still haven't paid our dept in full, have we?"
Sword smiled ever so sightly.
"No, we haven't. And it's hard to say if we'll ever pay it."
"I'm just hoping that he doesn't see us as… just some kids in the way. You know what I mean? It's just… We're not Star Warriors, we can't help him more than what we're already doing, and… I don't know, I feel… useless. Powerless."
"Don't worry, Blade," the elder brother sighed, nodding his head. "I've thought about that a lot, but I still can't find what we could do more. If we just listen to his orders, maybe we'll get a chance. Who knows what'll happen now…"
They both turned again when they heard distant calls from the other side of the training area, and they saw a group of people coming up the hill across the field. It was Fumu, with other girls and women from the village, who came to offer drinks and snacks. Needless to say that this got Bun back on his feet in a second, and it made Sword and Blade laugh.
"Just mention food, and it always gets these kids standing," Blade laughed as they walked over to them to get those welcomed drinks.
Fumu smiled as she handed them one glass each, saying:
"Here! You've all been training hard since this morning, and it is pretty hot out here."
"We thought you'd like some drinks for all your hard work," Hana, the mayor's wife, said with her usual soft voice while offering a fresh glass to Sir Meta Knight, who nodded respectfully.
"We appreciate it," he said calmly. "Thank you."
Everyone chatted among the snacks and the juices, enjoying this nice pause under the summer sun… except for Kirby. Holding his glass without taking much notice of his thirst, he could only stare at the knife and the stone, sitting on the ground a few feet in front of him. It was just so frustrating, not being able to do what he had in mind! He had the image, he knew by Meta Knight's words that he could fuse these abilities together to create a new one, but he just couldn't do it. Was it this complicated? Or was he just not… strong enough? He stared at it more, until his eyes focused only on those two objets, picturing himself later, as an adult, wearing his own armor, with a thousand abilities… If he could just… master even one…
Everyone looked up when a large shadow suddenly cast itself on them for a short instant, only to see a winged knight flying down toward them, wings opened in an arc to slow his descent.
"Please!" he called out as he landed with a clank of his armour. "Tell me you have more of these cold-looking drinks! It's hot like hell up there, there ain't even a breeze!"
With a small smile, Fumu walked over to him and handed him a glass, watching as he lifted his mask on his head to drink it whole in a few gulps and sighed in satisfaction.
"Much better," he said before handing it back. "Is it always hot like this all year long here?"
"We've seen hotter days, to be honest," she said with a chuckle. "But, yeah, pretty much the whole year. Is is a southern country after all."
"I've always been more of a winter guy," he said with a sigh, beating his wings a bit to cool himself.
Then he looked a bit beyond her, like he had seen something that particularly caught his attention. He pointed a finger, saying:
"Is the kid alright?"
Everyone turned to look at Kirby, who was still sitting there in the grass, staring silently and intently at the objets in front of him. His tired sapphire eyes looked glazed, like he was simply… absent.
"Is he sick?" Honey asked with worry, echoing the thoughts of the others around her.
"No," was Meta Knight's simple answer. "I believe he's focusing. Just wait."
And wait they did. It wasn't long before Kirby reacted; the Star Warrior stood up so suddenly it scared the villagers and surprised the others. It was with a look of determination that surprised Fumu that Kirby stood ready before inhaling. The dagger and the stone both flew up from the ground and disappeared in his mouth. Of course, Kirby transformed, and while everyone expected to see either the Stone or the Sword hat appear on his head, it was completely something else that formed when the light vanished. There stood Kirby, his skin toned a light brown with golden hues, with a strange darkened visor shaped like large googles over his eyes. He held his hands up and the transformation continued as a bright light engulfed them, shaping itself into a set of three, long and sharp claws on each hand, attached to a large glove made of a strange metal coloured like copper. The claws were slightly curved and sturdy, like those of a mole.
Around Kirby, everyone gasped and hurried closer to take a better look. The young Star Warrior lifted his googles on his head and looked himself over, looking quite surprised. It didn't stop that huge smile from forming as Fumu clapped her hands happily.
"You did it, Kirby!"
"You got a new ability!"
"Congratulations, Kirby!"
"We knew you would do it!"
While they were all busy looking at Kirby's new look and wondering what it would be used for, Galacta Knight subtly looked at Meta Knight, who hadn't moved from his spot. The winged knight couldn't help but let his guilt guide his thoughts to the past, and it was no surprise for him to see Meta Knight's eyes change colour. For a short second that he had been lucky to witness, these eyes turned purple, a swirling ocean of negativeness with many hues, ups and downs, before quickly switching to a bright, happy blue, like the lens of a camera. Galacta Knight had grown with him, so he knew very well what these colors meant.
'Hey, Shorty!'
'I'm not short! Stop calling me that.'
'Ha! What'cha gonna do, Shorty? Call your mom again?'
'I said, stop calling me that!'
'Short, short, short!'
Galacta Knight sighed at this memory and averted his gaze. If he would be able to slap his younger self, he would do it right then and now. But he remembered Meta's eyes changing to purple at this moment, before the young Star Warrior ran off crying. Meta Knight had certainly changed as well from when he was young…
His attention went back to Kirby when everyone backed away. The pink soldier lifted his new weapons and suddenly plunged them into the ground where he dug quickly and naturally, like he had done this his whole life. Like a drill, Kirby disappeared into the ground and all they could hear was his claws burrowing all around, even passing under them at a high speed. Kirby suddenly erupted from the earth a few feet behind them, forcing them to spin around, and he flew through the air like a dolphin before plunging back into a hole. With those claws, it felt like everything was made of butter!
"That ability's awesome!" Bun exclaimed. "Imagine all the foes he could take by surprise with that!"
"Sir Meta Knight, what's this ability called?" one of the village girls asked toward the knight.
Everyone turned to have the answer, and Kirby even erupted again, only this time he remained half-buried, shaking the dirt off his head and lifting the googles back on his forehead. While everyone waited for a response, Meta Knight only stood there, staring at Kirby with a look literally impossible to read.
"…I don't know. I have never reached-, um, I mean, these abilities are rare. Like I once said, it's not like I know everything about it." He marked a pause there, and Galacta Knight knew that the girl Fumu wanted to say something, but his cousin didn't leave enough time for her to do so and continued. "You should be proud, Kirby. It's the first step to being stronger, and I believe you'll be able to find more abilities from now on. Fuse many objects together, and you could be surprised by those you find. Even polar opposites like fire and ice or spark and water could work together if you work it out."
"Really?!" Kirby exclaimed, smile never wavering. "That's so awesome!"
"Hey Kirby!" one of the girls called out, "Let's go show that ability to everyone else!"
All the young ones agreed and Kirby happily burrowed back into his hole, going in front toward the village, with the others, including Bun who had a small break in today's training, running behind him. Sword and Blade helped Hana get all the glasses back together with the snacks and followed her back to the village to help bring it all back, on an order from their lord. Fumu stayed behind, and she looked at Meta Knight, who appeared to wonder why she was still here.
"What were you going to say, exactly?" she asked.
"Excuse me?"
Galacta smirked. His cousin loved to play that game, to act like he didn't know anything while he obviously did. One day, he once told him, it would be his undoing. Fumu seemed to be used to it by now for she crossed her arms and tapped her foot a bit.
"Don't. You were going to say something else, you've never reached… what?"
Meta Knight briskly turned his back on her and started walking away, making her sigh in exasperation.
"I didn't say anything," he said as he headed back toward the castle's hill. "I would keep that in mind if I were you."
Those words worried Fumu and she couldn't answer to that, Galacta felt it. He sighed and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about him," he said calmly. "He hides more than he tells, that at least never changed with him."
Her tired face looked resigned, and Galacta looked a little deeper into her eyes this time. After the month spent here, he hadn't spent much time to realize many things about this girl. Some were obvious, others took a little more time to think about. She was acting bossy with everyone around her because she couldn't stand how they could be easy-going. With a young brother as adventurous as Bun, she had understood the responsibilities of being the elder quite faster than a normal cappy would. This worry she had placed originally on her brother had went farther to everyone else, and in a time of crisis she would think that she was the only one truly seeing the darkness at work. So, he thought, while looking into those emerald eyes, she wasn't being bossy, but caring. He had heard that she had plans to make a real school in Dreamland when she would be experienced enough, and that only confirmed his thoughts about her. Wether it was all true or not, Galacta Knight didn't really care. Those green eyes of hers were still quite interesting, and he knew there was much more to know about them, if he just put the time in. He hadn't spent so much time into one place, it was a nice change for him.
"I've guessed that a long time ago, believe me," she said with a chuckle. "He's got this habit of telling things at the last minute. It unnerves me, you've no idea. Do you… have an idea what he was going to say?"
Aah, Galacta thought to himself, that question. Should he talk about it? Or let his cousin deal with it himself?
"I have my idea," he said. "But I can't say it. At least, not now, I think. He'll say it when he's ready. For now, if you'll excuse me, I have to beat the truth out of my cousin!"
With a quick, courteous bow, he backed away, before opening his wings and taking flight. Leaving the young woman behind, he flew after Meta Knight, who was surprisingly already far away, climbing the hill at a fast pace. Galacta Knight sighed as he flew over him. He knew he would regret asking this to him… He just knew it.
His cousin looked up and stopped walking when Galacta landed in a heap of feathers before him, wings opened large. He closed them again against his back and put a hand on his hip, adopting an almost smug look.
"I thought you were wiser than that," he said calmly, though his heart was pumping.
Meta Knight's eyes squinted a bit and his grip on his cape tightened.
"If I don't want to talk about it, then I won't. Simple as that."
"And one day, your enemies will use that against you. You should know better, Mety."
"Don't… call me that. I won't say it again."
"Sorry. But hey, it's better than Shorty!" Galacta laughed, even though his cousin didn't. He coughed, trying to get back to a serious mood.
"What do you want from me?"
Galacta paused, before letting out a deep breath he had been holding.
"Are you jealous of Kirby?"
Briefly, Meta Knight's eyes turned orange, but he didn't move, except for a small movement from his head. There was a long silence in which each stared at the other, one waiting for an answer, the second lost in thought and feelings. Galacta didn't force anything on him and remained patient. It came out in a choked breath, yet honest and brief.
"Yes."
Galacta's visible face took on a grave look; the shadow of guilt draped itself over his eyes, darkening his traits.
"Listen," he said quietly, almost in a murmur, like he was afraid someone would hear them. "I tried, over the last month, to apologize, and show you that I regret what happened. You have no idea how I felt when I ran away, no idea what went through my mind during all those damn years. I thought I had killed you, Meta!" He paused there, to take a deep breath and remain calm. He slowly blinked and straightened up. "Now, there's nothing more I can do. It's up to you to forgive, or not. I won't hold it against you if you don't. Just know that… I'm sorry. Honestly. You should be happy for Kirby, he's a good kid. Just think about it like he's following your steps. Your legacy, if you will. If you ever need me, I'll be there. I'll leave you to think this through, alright?"
The winged knight turned around and started to leave, heart still heavy. He had been waiting to speak like this for thousands of years now, and he couldn't really believe that he had actually said all this. It usually wasn't like him to get emotional, but it was true that the guilt had ravaged him in those years.
"Galacta Knight."
He stopped and spun around, surprised. Meta Knight wasn't facing him, but was rather staring at the ground. His back was turned, but he could still see a part of his mask from the side, including one eye, which turned to look at him in his peripheral vision. He averted his gaze, but slowly turned to look at him. The hands holding his cape shook a little, but Galacta's eyes saw it clearly.
"I need your help…"
Galacta walked closer to listen carefully, for his cousin was talking in murmurs. His voice… was shaking? This was possible?
"Something… terrible happened. I fear it will only get worse. And now, after a month, I must tell you, before… the enemy does."
Meta Knight entered their apartment and closed the door behind him, after letting Azure in first. The Wolfwrath had been waiting patiently for him back at the castle entrance, and had been rather joyful when he had come back. Now the large wolf was following his master across the apartment obediently, tongue out as if smiling. The Star Warrior walked rather slowly toward his bedroom, whose door he had left locked as always. He stopped in the doorway and looked around in silence, a hand settling on Azure's head. It felt like such a long time since he had slept in that bed. It looked as comfortable as he knew it was… For a moment there, he was tempted to climb in that bed and sleep for the rest of this life, but he decided against it. He wouldn't abandon the others like that, even if it was such a simple thing to do. To sleep…
Azure touched his cheek by poking his dry nose through his visor and that brought him back to reality. The knight petted him on the head to thank him and walked toward his personal wardrobe. There weren't much things in there, for he never liked to own too many things in case something happened, but he knew there were these special things that he wanted to keep, no matter what. After shifting some things out of the way, he pulled out a metal box, not too large but not too small either, one that could carry a good among of things, and settled it on his bed. Azure sniffed it curiously, tilting his head to the side in confusion, before sneezing from the dust. Meta Knight smiled and chuckled, dusting off the box before opening it.
"It's been a while since I looked at this," he said both to himself and the wolf, who lifted his upper body to take a look above his master's shoulder.
The box seemed to be full of various objets, strange mementos from the past, and many letters and documents. Meta Knight took his time with each object to look at it; some he remembered clearly where he had got it, some he had to think twice to remember.
After lifting some objets, he found some rolled up blueprints, and for a second, wondered what they were for. But after unrolling the first one, he easily recognized the design of the Halberd… Those were the main blueprints, at least those that mattered the most. Now that he was looking at them more closely, he could only see all the mistakes, all the things they could have done better. Maybe they could have preserved this battleship… Maybe… they could build another. As to not forget about this this time, and with the intention of talking about it to Sword and Blade later on, he rolled up the main blueprints and hid them in the hidden pocket of his cape. While doing so, he couldn't help but shudder as his hand touched his sensitive and twitching back. Then he stopped, hand still in his back… And took out the blueprints to fold them into smaller papers. He slid them inside his gloves, a place he knew they would be safer. He easily pushed it all aside, and resumed what he had been doing.
While rummaging through his old things, he was reminded of many memories, of many stories, too many at the same time, and he had to take a short moment to put things down and sit on the bed. The lack of sleep and energy made him feel more and more light-headed as time went on… He would need to be careful from now on. He breathed in and hesitated a moment, looking up at the opened door; the others were outside, and he knew they wouldn't come back until tonight. He slowly blinked, and his hands reached behind him to fiddle with the strap of his mask. He needed to breathe correctly, and for the first time in quite some time, he felt like this mask he had held onto for so long was only in the way.
He detached it from his face and looked at the words he had carved inside, words only he could understand. He put it aside, feeling somewhat better with it off his scarred face. Rubbing his tired eyes that could barely close, he looked back at the box without touching it. Azure was the first to put his nose inside and pick something up with his teeth. He handed it to his master, who smiled again and took it to look at it. It was a folded piece of paper, quite old judging by the ripped edges and the yellowed colour of the paper. Curious, unable to remember this thing, he unfolded it carefully, trying not to rip it open more… and his breath caught in his throat. It was an awfully old drawing, one clearly done by a child. These colors looked like a representation of himself, a rather large blue and purple circle with a very small mask upside down, with a smaller, pink circle next to him, their hands touching as if holding. Each of them held onto something that he assumed to be lollipops. He remembered this now. Kirby had made this drawing, many years ago, even before Nightmare's defeat. He could barely remember the circumstances, perhaps it was when he gave him some candy for some reason he couldn't put his finger on, but if he had kept it for so long, in this box no less, then it had touched a spot.
Meta Knight blinked, now more confused than anything. Was he really jealous of this child? Of this destined hero? Or was it only his resentment against himself that he attributed to Kirby…? What a mistake it was if it was the latter… For a moment there, he found it hard to breathe, for his thoughts swirled in every direction possible, to his past to the future, and, quite suddenly, back to the present. Someone had knocked on the door. While Azure started getting excited and was running over to the door, making strange screeching sounds like an angry cat, Meta Knight quickly slammed his mask back on his face and set the drawing back in the box before standing up. Opening the door at last, he was surprised to see Escargon standing there. The old snail had never looked so… worried, and nervous as well.
"Ah! Good, you're here, uh…," the king's assistant stuttered, looking at both sides of the corridor while nervously playing with his hands.
"Is something wrong, Your Excellency?" Meta Knight asked, hesitant to let him in.
"Uh… I need to talk to you, Meta Knight, about, uh…" He whispered the rest of his sentence. "… the king… Can I come in? I feel like we're being watched…"
Meta Knight was honestly surprised, but he saw no objection in listening to his warnings, especially if it concerned the king. So the knight stepped aside and allowed the snail inside, closing the door behind him and locking it, just in case. Escargon already seemed to be more relaxed, even when Azure came up to sniff his face excitedly. The snail looked around for a moment, for he almost never came in here in the first place, even after all those years living in the same castle. Without turning to him, his asked this first question.
"Do you, um… have my box of demon-maker serum?"
Meta Knight remained silent for a few seconds, not showing his surprise. He didn't think he would bring this up, even though he was sure that the king knew the box was here.
"Why do you want to know?"
The assistant turned to look at him, his movements still nervous and quick.
"I know you found it, and I'm grateful that you did."
Grateful? Now this was getting more interesting…
"His Majesty…," Escargon started, pausing to try and find the right words. "He's… not okay. It feels like he's sick, lately, in the head. It feels like it's not him talking…"
Meta Knight's eyes widened and turned orange for a brief second, alarming the snail.
"Did the Dark matter get to him…?" the knight murmured almost to himself.
If it was the case, then it would explain so many things…
"There's something else," Escargon said hurriedly, trying to keep his calm. "Yesterday, I heard him talking to someone in the throne room, and I grew curious, so I looked. It was through the screen where he used to talk to the Customer Service from Nightmare's company! I thought the thing was broken!"
"Did you see who he was talking to?" Meta Knight tried to remain patient with him.
"Not really, I just saw eyes, and an office I think. They were talking about you, Meta Knight, His Majesty was saying that he needed a new body, that yours would fit more nicely, or something like that, and also something about the transporter being repaired soon."
Meta Knight remained silent, his eyes wandering to the side as he listened carefully. So the Dark matter were possessing the king and using him to get a direct access to Dreamland, to break his mental defences from the inside… They were more clever than he had thought. It was a mistake to underestimate such a strong enemy.
"There's also… It's about the demon-maker serum."
"Go on," he said with a dark tone, so serious that it encouraged the snail to do the same, his bushy eyebrows crossed.
"The king, or rather what possesses the king, was able to use it before you got your hands on it. I swear, Meta Knight, I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen, and his hammer…" He swallowed and breathed in to remain calm. "He mixed it in with a bottle of wine he used on the night of the New Year, a few weeks ago. His plan was to use it on Kirby and get him weakened, for something I don't know about… You remember when he asked you after to spy on Kirby? It was to see if it made any effect, if it worked."
"As you must have seen from my reports to the king, it didn't," he said harshly, his anger growing faster and faster. "Because Kirby did not drink the wine he was offered."
"He… He didn't?!" Escargon repeated. "W-what did he do with it, then?"
Meta Knight turned his back on him and went to open his door. He looked both sides of the hallway, and seeing it vacant, he turned back to the snail and waved his hand to Azure, who ran up to him obediently.
"Go to the village and find Sir Galacta Knight. Tell him everything you just told me, and keep away from the king. Azure will escort you there. I will go there later."
With a large wolf growling behind him, Escargon could only slide toward the door, still confused. He turned his head one last time.
"But wait!" he said. "What did Kirby do with the serum? He didn't give it to someone else, did he?!"
With Azure hiding half of Meta Knight, all he could see of him was one eye and half of his mask. He looked… frightening, more than he remembered. The answer frightened him more.
"I drank it. Now go."
The knight whistled, and Azure growled while pushing Escargon with his head out the door, which closed behind them. As soon as they were gone, Meta Knight hurried back to his room. So much to do, so little time. He hoped the transporter was not ready yet… for if it was, and whatever had contacted Dedede escaped here, it might very well be the end for them all.
