PART 13: Soul of a Star Warrior

I stand alone.
All by myself.
I don't cry when people die,
I keep on moving.
Sometimes, you just can't stop...to...cry.
You have to press on,
You have to finish what you started,
Sometimes you just. Can't. Stop.

"Sometimes, I wonder who I am. Who made me? What did they make me for? Was I made? Do I have parents?"

Sometimes, you find it hard to think.
Sometimes, you find it hard to breathe.
Sometimes, you want to stop.
And you want to cry.

"How long will I live? How long will my friends live? Will I continue living years after thier deaths?"

Sometimes, your thoughts take over.
Sometimes, death is all you want.
But you just have to press onwards...
You have to press onwards...
Even though all you have left...
Is all you've got.

"What happens when you die? Where do you go? Do you go anywhere?"

Because you gotta keep on going,
When all hope fades away.
You gotta keep on moving,
No matter what they say,
Because when all hope has faded,
When your world is covered in fog,
When you're blind and deaf at the same time...
You still have to keep on going,
Or waste your life. And stop.

"What happens if I win though? This world will still be the same. People will still die and still fight....my friends will still be gone. And there still won't be anything left."

You can't let hope slip away,
Like a dove within your hands.
You can't let it fly away from you,
Or you'll sink within the sands.

"These questions...so many of them. So little answers. So little hope."

Sometimes, you'll question your purpose.
Sometimes, you'll miss your friends.
But even when society ignores you...
Even when all hope is lost...
You still gotta carry on.

"Is there such thing as Heaven?"

Sometimes, you'll lose all faith.
Sometimes, you'll lose all hope.
Sometimes, you'll lose everything.
But you gotta continue moving,
For it's pointless just to stop.

"So much pain. So much death. So much loss. How can I, a mere child, bear it all on my shoulders?"

When all hope fades away.
You gotta keep on moving,
No matter what they say.
Because when all hope has faded,
When your world is covered in fog,
When you're blind and deaf at the same time...
You still have to keep on going,
Or waste your life. And stop.
Sometimes, you'll miss the simple joys of life.
Sometimes, you'll miss the sunshine.
Sometimes, you'll wish that the rain would go away,
Sometimes you'll wish to love again.
Sometimes. It's hard to. Stay alive.
Knowing. How few are.
Sometimes. It's hard to. Stay alive.
Knowing. How. Much you've lost.
For then it's hard to live and love,
Then it's hard to love and live,
It's hard to stay awake,
It's hard to fall asleep,
It's hard to fight the cold.
It's hard to stop the burning,
It's hard not. To. Cry again.
It's hard not. To. Cry again.
It's hard not. To. Cry again.

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Kirby swallowed an apple, and winced slightly as a scar below his right eye started to stitch itself back together. In under five seconds, the wound was healed.

"This medallion...what does it mean? Does it try to tell me something? What are it's powers?"

Now eating a leg of chicken, a gash on Kirby's back began to disappear quickly, the process of healing sped up greatly.

"I've heard of a thing called true love...what is it? For me, is it possible? Is there any others like me?"

Now swallowing an enormous piece of cake, a few scars on his arms vanished in seconds. On reflex, he shook his arm around.

Good as new.

"The smallest of treasures can be the hardest things to piece back together. But, in the eyes of the beholder, the smallest treasures are worth much more."

He swallowed a tomato with a red M on it, and in an enormous flash, all of Kirby's wounds vanished as if they were never there.

"There is a kind of wound that never heals. That wound will hurt forever."

As soon as he had finished, he picked up the pieces of the doll and walked out of the ancient dining room, the sounds of his footsteps swallowed by the dust that hadn't cleared. He walked through the old hallways, past large suits of armor and under ancient chandaliers. He walked past the arch shapes in the walls, dust flying up around his feet. As he breathed, he could see it appear in the air.

For it was freezing cold. The sounds of a blizzard seemed to come from the very walls, and it was the only noise around him, surrounding him in stereo. It was steadily getting louder. Shivering, Kirby hugged himself to keep warm and walked onwards. As he continued to walk, the medallion began to shake around wildly, as if magnetically attracted to something.

The medallion began to float in the air, still around Kirby's waist, and began to pull Kirby forward. Kirby didn't bother struggling, but he held his ground.

It turrned quite a few corners, rushing past more ancient statues and suits of armor. Eventually, it stopped in front of an enormous silver door, with a picture of a lion's head adorning the front of it and two enormous suits of armor next to it. The suits of armor were over fifty feet tall, about as large as the door in fact, and carried swords twice that size. The hallway he was standing in and the door were enormous.

The medallion stopped floating and fell back against Kirby's waist as the enormous silver door started to creek open, slowly revealing an enormous balcony, which was covered in snow. Kirby could see the fog floating outside the balcony, as if the entire balcony was protected. As the door stopped, Kirby slowly walked through it and onto the balcony. The snow crunched under his feet, and it was very cold. Kirby held his arms again and shivered.

A visible breeze of wind blew across the edge of the balcony and turned into a fine, transparent, blue mist. The mist began to gather at the balconies edge and spin around slowly like a small cyclone. The mist did this until it began to take the form of something.

The form of the fairy he had seen before appeared, now made out of the transparent blue mist. It was not facing him, and was looking over the balcony as if there was something there. Everything was suddenly silent. No crunching of snow. No sounds of a blizzard. No sounds at all. Just silence.

The small fairy turned around. Her eyes were a solid transparent blue, without any pupils at all. Slightly frightened, Kirby backed away.

"Why do you run from me?" whispered a soft voice that sounded like the very wind itself. Kirby looked around frantically. He didn't see the fairy speak, but she was the only other thing around. Kirby backed off even further.

"Why are you so afraid of a spirit?" whispered the voice. "There is no reason for you to be afraid." Kirby still didn't see the fairy move at all, but he didn't back away.

"Do not run, Kirby. Come closer." whispered the voice. Slowly, Kirby walked closer until he was right in front of the strange spirit.

"Yes, Kirby. Now..." it continued. Kirby stared at it for a few seconds.

"LET ME LOOK INTO YOUR SOUL!" roared the strange voice, now incredibly deep and menacing. The door behind him slammed shut as the fairy's eyes turned a dark shade of red, as the mist it was made out of turned into a dark black fog, as enormous transparent tentacles burst from it's back, as it transformed into a vaguely humanoid mutant...made out of the black fog. Before Kirby could react, the mutant fog creature grabbed it in it's enormous tentacles and opened an enormous mouth, revealing transparent, dripping, blood-red fangs.

Icy, bone-chilling laughter broke through the silence and echoed in Kirby's mind just as the demon vanished, as quickly as it had come. Kirby fell to the ground and hit the cold snow with a crunch, his eyes wide in horror and the image of the demon engraved upon his thoughts.