Chapter 9: A Soldier's Recollection

Meta Knight's room on the Halberd was indeed different compared to the one on the main base.

While it was still tidy, there were more signs that he lived here. The furniture set up was similar to that of the main base with a bed, a desk facing the window with a lamp and chair (currently occupied by the room's owner), a dresser, and a large bookcase whose contents were protected by a glass door. The difference was that this room also had a filing cabinet with books stacked on top, a wastebasket currently filled with scribbled-on paper and what seemed to be candy wrappers, a jar of what appeared to be candies sitting on the bookshelf, and a nightstand. Ledo stepped further into the room and knelt a short length away from where the desk's chair was. The last thing he wanted to do right now was make the knight defensive.

Outside of the faint sounds of the engines, the only thing that could be heard in the room was the sound of writing. Getting a better look, the desk had a few books stacked on top, a cup with various writing utensils, a metal dish full of yellow candies, and a photo of Meta Knight with Kirby, Dedede, and Bandana Dee. The young man shifted and continued to look around the room. The walls were mostly barren outside of a wall calendar full of writing that probably indicated that it was a schedule of some sort and a poorly drawn picture of the knight. Based on the level of skill, Ledo assumed the drawing was a gift from Kirby. Then the smell of the room hit him. It heavily reminded the young man of the reading room on the ship, likely due to the number of books in this room. He couldn't exactly describe the scent, but the first word that came to mind was nostalgic, like this was home. Beneath that was another layer of sweetness, but also a faint vanilla scent, likely from the candy and books. He remembered that Meta Knight mentioned that the scent of books was comforting to him in one of their language sessions, and the young man could understand why.

Suddenly, the blue puff cleared his throat, turning around to face the ensign.

"You wanted to speak to me, Lord Meta Knight?" the young man spoke through Chamber.

The knight nodded. "First, I'd like to apologize for my behavior at the café. You saw a side of me that I am quite ashamed of, and it would help to clear my conscience if I apologized." He bowed, slightly averting his eyes as if humiliated.

"No need. Left ship without permission." Ledo responded.

The blue puff looked up, as if surprised "Really? According to Captain Vul, Kirby dragged you off the ship before he could give you approval to leave." Well, that wasn't entirely wrong. "But Vul did give his approval upon being notified by Chamber and you finished your duties before you left, so I won't hold that against you." He calmly replied.

"Appreciated." The ensign bowed his head.

"But, on to the reason why I wanted to talk to you in the first place, are you adjusting any better to life on the Halberd?" the knight seemed to become a little more tense upon asking that.

"Slightly better. It ok." The young man replied.

Meta Knight nodded and breathed in deeply before giving his next question "Ensign Ledo…are you still considering returning to the Galactic Alliance?" The ensign paused for a moment before speaking, Chamber following "As of right now, Chamber and I plan on returning to the Galactic Alliance as soon as I hear word about where our allies are. However, if I am unable to contact them for whatever reason, I shall remain in Dreamland and as part of your crew."

"I see…" there was something slightly different about the tone he used that time. There seemed to be a tinge of disappointment in it.

"Ensign, why did you meet with Susie? I'd like you to be honest."

The young man pursed his lips before speaking through Chamber again "I have been investigating what your true face looks like. Everyone on the ship and Kirby didn't want to tell me, so Kirby took me to see Susie, since she would likely know."

The knight's eyes turned white and then turned to red as he began to yell at him "Why in the name of Nova would you-?!"

"Do not trust!"

The blue puff's eyes changed back to white upon hearing that. "You…don't trust me?"

Ledo seemed to gasp upon realizing what he had just said.

"Lord Meta Knight, I believe what the ensign is trying to say is…"

"He doesn't trust me because I don't show my face..." The puff sighed.

The young man began to speak, Chamber following "It's difficult for me to tell what you're thinking more than half the time, which is why I have such a hard time trusting you."

Meta Knight nodded slowly as his eyes turned back to their normal yellow color. "…I see." The young man couldn't help but clench his fists upon hearing that cursed, murky phrase. There was a chance that he would be thrown off the ship right there, and that caused a pit to develop in his stomach.

He swallowed and began to speak with Chamber's help "Lord Meta Knight, if you do not mind, would you explain why you hate Susie?"

The knight seemed to advert his eyes before speaking again. "I guess I should tell you about it since that ties into that outburst I apologized for earlier. But first…" The blue puff stopped talking for a moment. "…Ensign Ledo, I must emphasize that I do not do this lightly."

The young man tilted his head in questioning until he saw the knight hesitantly reach up and unfasten a clip on either side of his mask. The puff paused for a moment, as if he was thinking about whether to continue further, but then fluidly took it off. Ledo gave a small gasp upon seeing the face underneath. Chamber's hypothesis was correct! Outside of his blue body and white eyes, Meta Knight looked almost identical to Kirby!

"…sorry to disappoint you, ensign." The knight gave an annoyed frown, which was almost exactly like his student's annoyed expression. The only thing he lacked was Kirby's child-like pouting.

"Like…Kirby…" the ensign uttered.

"I thought you would say that…" the blue puff sighed, placing his mask on his desk and wrapping his cape around himself as he turned back to the young man.

"Related?" Ledo asked.

"No, we aren't related by blood, if that's what you're asking. Most is that we're the same species." The puff answered as if the question had been asked before. "Now, onto our next subject…I want you to tell me everything that Susie told you." The serious expression and tone of his voice combined with the cute appearance of his true face was almost jarring, making the young man feel more intimidated talking to him. As expected of someone like Meta Knight.

"She seemed to be interested in Chamber and wanted me to work for this group called the Haltmann Works Company in exchange for the information I wanted. I turned down her offer. Other than that, she mentioned that she fought Kirby before, and her company mechanized Popstar in the past." Ledo spoke through Chamber. Upon hearing that, the blue puff's expression became more troubled.

"I see…that gives me an idea of where to start…" he seemed to pull his cape tighter against himself.

He then gave a sigh before talking "When the Haltmann Works Company began their invasion a few years ago, my first response was to attack their base with the Halberd. Admittedly, it was not the best of ideas, as we were shot down almost immediately. I then went on the attack on my own but was ambushed by their soldiers and captured."

"Such actions were quite reckless, Meta Knight." Ledo's AI partner commented.

"Indeed, but even I'm not immune from committing impulsive actions sometimes…" his voice quieted in embarrassment while he slightly adverted his eyes and his cheek blushes became more pronounced.

"Continue please." Ledo said.

The knight nodded and continued "Everything else was a blur, but when I fully regained consciousness, the first thing I saw was some kind of laboratory. I tried to move, but there were wires embedded into my body and I couldn't. If I tried to move too much, my body would start to hurt. Actually, everything hurt…and it smelled awful. Even as someone who enjoys working with machines, the amount of oil, smoke, and hot metal in that room was just nauseating. I was hyperaware of everything, like my entire body was on overdrive. All my senses felt like they were on maximum output. My mind was racing as it struggled to process all the stimuli around it. It just…hurt. So much that it was a struggle just to focus my thoughts."

Suddenly the knight reached over to the dish of yellow candies on his desk and popped one into his mouth. It twitched a bit, likely from the flavor, before he continued speaking "By the time my thoughts were sufficiently organized, I realized that I didn't have my sword, mask, or armor. Understandably, I couldn't help but panic internally. That was when that…wretched woman entered." the puff seemed to spit the phrase "I won't forget her first words to me: "Popstar Test Subject Number 02260 Meta Knight has regained consciousness. That's quite impressive, usually people don't wake up until after being converted." That was when the pain began to get worse. She introduced herself as the private secretary of the Haltmann Works Company and said that I held immense power that made me worthy of a high position in their company. But first I'd need a few…modifications, to use her wording."

Meta Knight reached back to the dish and popped another of the yellow candies into his mouth. "I asked how she knew my name, and she apparently had some information extracted from my mind." Ledo looked shocked. Not even the Galactic Alliance had that kind of technology! The knight continued his story "I remember vividly what she said their goal was: prosperity and efficiency. I was harshly reminded of that day several years ago where I attempted to take over Dreamland." Ledo's mind recalled what he had been told about that incident and hesitated to answer.

He then suddenly spoke through Chamber "While such measures of action are extreme, I believe that focusing on raising the efficiency of such lazy natives is…"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

The ensign winced back. If looks could kill, the glare the blue puff gave the ensign now would've killed him several times over "Do you know how horrifying it is to not be in control of your own body?! How it feels to find out that all your painful memories and secrets were learned by some despicable company?! I…I've never felt so violated in my life!" the knight panted a bit, before his eyes began to widen in horror upon seeing the young man trembling while struggling to keep his poker face. "…dammit…I did it again…!" the puff reached over to the bowl of candies and put two into his mouth, clenching his head.

"Forgive me, ensign, I…"

"Do not. Should not have said."

Meta Knight seemed to be surprised by that response and flinched back a bit.

He nodded and then began to speak again. "In any case, Kirby was able to free me, but I couldn't work with machinery for a year. The first week after that happened, I tried to perform maintenance on the Halberd, and I threw up. The very thought of it made me sick to my stomach. Additionally, while the Fountain of Dreams gives people good dreams, it doesn't stop people who have undergone traumatic events from having nightmares about them. Because of that, I often had nightmares about the experience I had in that lab. That resulted in several sleepless nights and several missed training sessions with Kirby. The only things I had to be thankful about were that my crew was safe and that the scars from the mechanization process healed. Well, all except…" the knight pointed to a small, barely noticeable scar next to his right eye.

"Can barely see." Ledo sighed, squinting.

"That's true, but to me, it represents the fact that, while physical scars can heal, emotional scars can stick around for a very long time." The ensign noticed a tinge of depression in the knight's voice. That was when he remembered the box next to him.

"Lord Meta Knight." The young man held out the box to him.

"…what is this?" Meta Knight hesitated to take it.

"From Bio Spark. Asked to give to you. Lemon tart."

The blue puff's eyes lit up for a moment before taking the box. "T-thank you very much…" the ensign noticed a small smile creep onto his face. The knight's smile felt a lot different than Kirby's. If Kirby's was bright and sparkling with childish wonder, Meta Knight's was calm and gentle with the elegance of an adult. It gave the young man a warm feeling inside. "I didn't know it was that obvious that I eat lemon drops to calm my nerves…" the knight then uttered in slight embarrassment.

Ledo paused for a moment before talking through Chamber "Is that the name of those candies you were eating?" he pointed to the bowl on the desk.

"Y-yes." He turned away to put the box on his desk.

"Ensign, one more thing before you are dismissed." The blue puff turned back around "Do not speak of this to anyone. If you tell anyone about what just happened, I'm using you and Chamber as target practice." The young man couldn't tell if he was joking or not due to the lack of a dead-serious tone but decided against saying anything just in case. The knight turned back around and began to put his mask back on. By the time he was done, he noticed that Ledo hadn't moved at all "…what's wrong?" The young man shifted uncomfortably.

"Legs…asleep…" the ensign uttered. He could've sworn that he heard Meta Knight suppress a laugh.

Upon exiting the room, Ledo saw Kirby fidgeting by the room. "You…talk to him too?" he asked.

"Yeah…I'm a bit nervous about it." The pink puff averted his eyes.

"Worry not. In better mood." The young man responded. The child smiled and nodded before walking in. A few minutes after, the ensign could faintly hear their conversation, which seemed to be mostly Meta Knight trying to calm his student, who had burst into apology-filled crying. That's when he felt someone tapping him. He looked down to see Sailor Dee.

"Would you like to come help me with dinner?" the Waddle Dee asked. The young man nodded and followed him off.

The two worked together in mostly silence until Sailor began to speak up. "So…um…don't be mad, but I heard your conversation with Captain Vul and Lord Meta Knight yesterday about you being worried about being useful." The ensign immediately turned his head to face him. The Dee continued to speak "I understand how that feels. When I first started working for Lord Meta Knight, I thought I wasn't useful because I didn't have any combat abilities."

Ledo hesitated to speak before beginning with Chamber "You don't have any combat abilities?! Why are you on this ship!? Such a thing wouldn't be allowed in the Galactic Alliance! The war with the Hideauze does not have room for those who can't…"

"I had the same thoughts as you at some point. "Why did he even accept me if I can't fight?" "Wouldn't I just be dead weight to everyone else?" You know, things like that."

"However, the goal of the Galactic Alliance is to eradicate the Hideauze. Those that cannot perform that task are instantly culled."

The Waddle Dee gave a look of concern. "It's as Captain Vul said..." he murmured to himself before speaking again "Say all the Hideauze were defeated. What would you do then?"

The ensign paused for a moment before speaking with Chamber. "I would standby and await further instructions."

"What if they never came?"

"I would continue to standby."

"Well then, we're quite similar, aren't we?" The young man gave a confused look. "Well, you have to live if you're standing by, right?" The ensign couldn't think of a proper response to that.

It was seven at night by the time Ledo and Sailor Dee themselves sat down to eat. The rest of the crew had already eaten, so they had the table to themselves. As the young man began to have his meal, he realized that Kirby and Meta Knight hadn't come yet. It seemed a bit ridiculous for their talk to take several hours, even after remembering that the knight was trying to calm his student down when he left. Perhaps he wanted to do some training and that was why they were taking so long.

"About our conversation from earlier…I don't see myself as unnecessary or useless anymore." The ensign looked up at the Waddle Dee. "I was part of the main crew during Lord Meta Knight's plan to take over Dreamland. When the ship was going down, everyone else evacuated…except for me. I don't really remember why at the time, but I stayed on the ship and barely escaped with Lord Meta Knight."

"I did not expect you to have performed such reckless actions." Chamber commented.

"I don't know if that's meant to be a complement or not, but I'll take it. Anyway, after that incident, Lord Meta Knight fell into a deep depression. It was a bit understandable, though, he practically threw millions of dollars into the sea, he broke the trust of his own student, and he broke the trust of what seemed to be everyone in Dreamland. Then, the crew of the Halberd came through to support him and remind him that he wasn't alone! While he did eventually make amends with Kirby and the others, he probably wouldn't have done it as quick without us. We even worked together to help raise the Halberd out of the sea!" the Waddle Dee scratched his head and continued "I guess the whole point of that whole thing I told you is that, despite how distant and cold he seems to act, Lord Meta Knight needs us! That must mean someone needs you as well! That's the reason why you survived, right?"

Ledo stopped eating and began to talk "Only those that can continue to fight the Hideauze are fit to survive."

There was a pause in the conversation as Meta Knight and Kirby silently sat at the table. Both of them seemed to be exhausted and the pink puff's eyes seemed to be slightly red with a few wet streaks on his cheeks, as if he had cried a lot. The ensign wanted ask what happened, but Sailor Dee began to talk again.

"Then is there someone you need? I'm not just here because I need Lord Meta Knight or he needs me, I'd argue I'm here because I want to be here."

"But that is not…" Ledo burst out speaking for a moment before dropping into his own language to have Chamber take over "To the Alliance, that which is useless should not have the right or any desire to exist."

Sailor Dee tilted his head "Then why do you make those claw flute things? I don't see how you could use that for war."

"A…flute?" the ensign took out a completed claw that he had always carried on him. "This?"

The Dee nodded. "May I see it?" The young man handed it over to the subordinate, who examined it. "Yup…it's a flute…you mind if I play it?"

"Play?"

"Yeah, you blow into it and sounds come out through the air holes! If you string various sounds together, it creates music! Watch!" Sailor Dee began to play the flute, and within Ledo's mind, several faint memories began to emerge.

They seemed to have been locked away for years.

A memory of someone carving a claw in a similar manner to that flute.

A memory of it being gifted to him by a young boy greatly resembling himself.

Smiling back at each other before the boy's pod was released into space.

The shock upon it happening and the realization of what that truly meant.

It created a black hole within his heart. One that drew in so many emotions that he couldn't just pick one in particular. Slowly, one began to emerge. It was a painful, gnawing feeling that he did not recognize, as if something important to him had been lost and could never be found again. The more he thought about it, the stronger that emotion became.

"Ledo, why are you crying? Is something wrong?" The young man was snapped back to reality by Kirby's voice.

Wiping his face, he could indeed feel wet streaks of tears running down his face.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know my playing was that bad!" Sailor Dee seemed to panic.

"No…I…why…" the ensign continued to wipe his face.

"Perhaps Sailor Dee playing the flute caused you to recall a sorrowful memory." Meta Knight analyzed.

"Is…that it?" the young man asked.

"I don't see why not. Memories, good and bad, can tie themselves to certain objects, sounds, and locations and make you recall them whenever you think about things associated with them." The knight explained.

"Is...that so…?" that was the only response Ledo could give.

"By the way, you two are eating dinner later than usual, aren't you?" Sailor Dee asked.

"I wanted to come after apologizing, but Meta Knight made me do extra sword training…it...really hurt, especially since he didn't hold back as much as he sometimes seems to..." the pink puff wiped his cheeks, as if suddenly remembering they were wet. Based on the two puffballs' numerous cuts and exhaustion, the ensign assumed that was true. The older puff even seemed to have a new mask on, likely since the other was broken.

"Consider it your punishment for dragging Ledo off the ship without proper permission." the knight momentarily flinched, as if in pain.

"META-SENSEI, YOU BULLY! AT LEAST PUNISH LEDO, TOO! I DID THAT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR SECRET IN THE FIRST PLACE!" The knight seemed to laugh as Kirby pouted in his usual childish way.

"I am aware…" The young man appeared to be confused.

The blue puff cleared his throat before speaking again "Ensign Ledo, while Vul did approve of you leaving the ship, you still tried to investigate my true appearance, an act which is considered punishable. Thus, I have decided on a fitting punishment for you. Kirby was considered an accomplice in this matter, which is why I had him undergo his beforehand."

"BUT I'M NOT EVEN PART OF YOUR CREW!"

"Yes, but you are my pupil."

"META-SENSEIIIIIII!" the pink puff yelled as he shook his mentor.

"Ack! Kirby! For the love of Nova, be careful! OW!" That caused Sailor to immediately run into the kitchen.

The ensign frowned after hearing Meta Knight mention "punishment". "Throw off ship?" he asked.

The older puff shook his head "I said I would allow you to stay on my ship until you can return to your allies and I am a man of my word. Instead, you will be performing all maintenance work on the Halberd for a week. Alone." He seemed to emphasize the last part.

"But that's…!" The young man stopped, apparently realizing it was useless to try to further discuss such matters. At least that reminded the ensign that he should probably thank Captain Vul at some point.

"I can at least guide him to each task he needs to do, right?" Sailor Dee asked, returning with an ice pack wrapped with a paper towel. The knight took the pack and placed it on his arm.

He then paused for a moment, as if he was thinking "…I believe that is fair enough. He can't do any fixing if he doesn't know what he needs to do." He finally said.

"Understood. Start…tomorrow." Ledo replied.

The blue puff gave a nod before turning to his pouting student. "Kirby, you did well during our intense training session. I believe you deserve to be rewarded with dessert for that."

The child's eyes immediately lit up. "Really?! Thank you, Meta-sensei!"

Fairly short chapter this time.

To be honest, this might be one of my favorite chapters so far (I've actually completed up to Chapter 12 by now and am currently working on 13). It was enjoyable for me to write, and I hope it was enjoyable for you to read. My current worry is that the formatting makes it hard to read, but I guess it's fine if no one said anything about it.

It seems there are a lot of people enjoying this story, and I'm very grateful for that.