Shades of Grey - Chapter 7
Meta-Knight and the others were not quite sure what to expect when they had reached the castle of King Dedede. The more imaginative members of the little group had envisioned an entire horde of slathering zombie-like former monsters crawling all over the castle. The less imaginative had at the very least expected the castle to be guarded. The last thing anyone expected was to find the castle completely desolate. The only monster to be found was the Kracko, who continued to lurk through the skies like a dark omen. However the interior of the castle was very, very empty. The only sound was the padding of their feet. The silence was eerie. No soldiers. No monsters. No Dedede. No Escargoon. Nothing!
"Something is definitely not right…" Joe finally dared to whisper as the group walked down the hallway. Meta-Knight's wings twitched as his hand trailed to the hilt of his sword.
"With King Dedede allied with Nightmare, this place should be swarmed with monsters," Meta-Knight said softly as they neared the throne room. He looked over to Lololo and Lalala, who flew closely behind him. "The castle wasn't this empty when you two were here earlier, was it?"
"No.." Lololo whimpered. He along with his sister were terrified by the sheer emptiness of the castle. Kirby also followed his mentor closely, mewling softly in the process. Tiff and Tuff walked alongside each other, between Kirby and Joe.
"Where did all the people go?" Lalala mewled.
"Look, Lord Meta-Knight," Sword said as he gestured to a group of doors that lined the hallway. "There's our room, as well as the armory. Maybe we should stop here for a moment. The kids need a weapon, and you need to change your mask." The elder star warrior placed one hand on the cracked and dented object that concealed his visage.
"Alright," Meta-Knight said. "But for only a moment."
Meta-Knight walked into his room as the children walked into the armory. His room was just as empty as the rest of the castle. A slight tremor made its way through his wings. This situation was more unnerving than if they had found a thousand monsters roaming King Dedede's castle. At least if they had found a thousand monsters roaming the castle they would know exactly what they were up against. With this frightening emptiness, he had no means by which to prepare, no answers to his many questions. How many monsters had been revived? How many still-living monsters were there? Where were they? Meta-Knight had suspected that the entire reason that Nightmare allied itself with such a careless and weak tyrant at all was because of the convenient location of his castle. The castle was situated so very close to the last living star warriors…
It didn't make any sense.
None of it made any sense.
Meta-Knight took off his dented mask and noticed that his hand was shaking.
What if…
What if somehow they knew?
Knew Meta-Knight and the others were coming?
What if…
They were lying in wait…
…waiting to strike…
Meta-Knight threw his mask down as a tinge of self-anger flared up.
Don't be so paranoid.
Even if his crazed thoughts were correct, what else could they really do? They couldn't just turn around and walk out. Meta-Knight picked up a fresh mask from his drawer and fastened the straps. All they could do was go on with their plan, and take any unexpected challenges as they come.
"Ooh!" Tuff breathed excitedly as he raced over to one of the largest swords in the armory. "This sword's got my name on it!"
"Tuff," his sister scolded. "Make sure you can actually carry the thing. It's probably better if you have a small sword that you can carry as opposed to a big heavy sword that you can't carry!"
"I can carry this sword!" Tuff declared as he attempted to lift it. However, he couldn't even get it off the ground.
"Your sister's right," Blade said as he walked over and easily lifted the sword that Tuff was attempting to pick up. "You're too inexperienced and untrained to handle a sword this heavy."
"Um…" Lololo glanced over at his twin. "We don't really know how to use swords at all…"
"There's other weapons here…" Lalala looked over the various instruments of destruction and cringed. "But…we really don't know how to handle them…"
"Hmm…" Joe rubbed his nose. "It might be better if you don't carry any weapons then. They would only hinder you."
"What about me?!" Tuff cried. "I'm big and strong! I can carry a weapon!"
"How about this…?" Tiff suggested as she handed Tuff a small dagger.
"I can carry a bigger weapon than that!" Tuff snapped.
"It's not the size of the weapon that's important," Meta-Knight said as he walked in. "It's how you use it."
"Oh alright…" Tuff picked up the belt that belonged with the dagger and tied it around his waist. Sword and Blade also picked up a few daggers and hid them within the hidden folds of their respective armors. Once they were finished, the group made their way to the throne room, which was as deserted as the rest of the castle.
This is it.
Meta-Knight and Kirby stood before the Monster Transportation Device, the others standing behind them.
This is what all of our training comes down to.
There was still no sign of life, monster or otherwise. They had checked the monitor to see if there would be any monsters on the other side of the Transportation Device. There were none, not even the Nightmare Enterprise Executive was there. It was as desolate as the castle they currently occupied.
"This is freaky…" Tiff said as her frame shivered.
"Tiff…" Meta-Knight turned to face the young girl. "When we use the device, you should probably leave the castle. We have no way of determining what's going to happen…"
Tiff shook her head. Even the freakish emptiness of the castle failed to shake her resolve. "What if someone comes back? I'm going to stay here and make sure no one follows you. Even if I can't completely prevent it, I can at least provide distraction and grant you as much time as possible."
"Just promise to be careful, alright?" Joe stated.
"Yeah sis," Tuff crossed his arms. "You better not get yourself hurt."
"Don't worry!" Tiff shook her head. "I know how to take care of myself. Now go! We're running out of time!"
Meta-Knight nodded to her as he and the others simultaneously stepped onto the device and were spirited away in a pillar of light.
Tiff watched their exit, glad that her expression did not give away her apprehension. "Be careful guys…" Tiff said softly, her small voice echoing throughout the large, empty room…
Author's Notes: Sorry it took me so long to complete this chapter. Until recently I have not had access to a functional computer. I know this chapter's a little bit short, but I wanted this chapter to lead into the next chapter. I finally know how I want to handle the upcoming chapters! ::Happy dance:: Finally the evil Writer's Block has been defeated once again! Bwahahaha! The next chapter should be coming soon, since I know what I want to do and how I want to do it. Thank you very much for your patience, and I hope to make your long wait worthwhile!