If you are an old reader, chapters 1 to 4 have been revised and some parts had been rewritten. The changes are minor, but you may want to check them.

Bad Omens

After the adventure in Auguste, the crew was finally back at the Grandcypher, though things were not the same as when they had left.

Firstly, they now had a demon beast aboard. At first, Meta Knight refused to allow Dupler in the ship, as he considered a demon beast with high reasoning capabilities to be too dangerous. However, after he noticed that the slime had emotions, he agreed to Dupler's staying with them. Still,even if Dupler could not return to his creator because he believed him a traitor, the demon beast considered his opponents to be his enemies by nature, and there was mutual distrust between the two parties. As a result, the slime would be treated as a prisoner for the time being. He had been left in the custody of Cagliostro, who had shown great curiosity about his "incomplete" status and would run some tests on him later to figure out what was actually going on with him.

Secondly, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede had finally reunited. Bandana Dee was the only member of the Defenders of Dreamland quartet (or Team Kirby) who was missing. The king had quickly informed his two companions that the brave spear-wielding Waddle Dee had been left behind in Dreamland, which had disappointed Kirby. After all, he and Bandee had become inseparable adventure partners. Dedede had quickly encouraged him, saying that Bandana was most likely looking for a way to reach them and would almost certainly bring reinforcements, and the thought of seeing all of his friends again made the puffball light up again. Meta Knight groaned in exasperation at the potential outcome of Susie being among those reinforcements if the king's prediction came true.

They didn't have much more time to chat, due to the urgency with which Sandalphon and Zooey had called a meeting with the captains and their closest companions: Katalina, Rackam, Io, Eugene, and Rosetta. Cagliostro had also joined the meeting, once she had secluded Dupler in her lab, since she had been the first to deduce that Nightmare was an Astral, and she had also dealt with Lucilius' plans both in the distant past (though not directly: she had tried to be recruited by people who worked for him) and in recent times.

After a brief round of introductions, Sandalphon, Zooey, and Dedede revealed everything they had discovered on Dormitia Island. No one took the news that Nightmare and Lucilius were allies well. Nine of the fifteen people gathered had nearly died in their confrontation with the primal beasts' creator, and knowing that another of his associates was on the loose had brought back bad memories of that battle, which they had won thanks to a miracle.

But what had shocked and enraged Gran and Djeeta the most was learning that Nightmare was Phoebe's long-awaited father and how the reunion the girl had hoped for had actually transpired. How could he have treated her so cruelly?

" Now it's personal," the twins thoughts simultaneously. They were determined to stop Nightmare's plans and rescuing their dear friend.

"Let me check if I got everything right. The crazy Astral that almost destroyed the world and that Nightmare guy were friends, or at least allies, in the past. At some point, the madman and the perverted angel betrayed him, and that is why Nightmare hates them. After that, he dedicated himself fully to his research about dreams by doing experiments on the inhabitants of an island, and during that time he created Phoebe. Then one day, one of the experiments he was working on exploded, destroying his body and sending what was left of him straight to the dimension Kirby and his friends came from," Vyrn summed up once Sandalphon, Zooey and Dedede finished telling the somewhat convoluted history. The trio nodded. "This is insane!" the red dragon exclaimed.

"Lucilius and Belial betraying someone is a complete surprise," Djeeta remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I have a question: what is a pevert?" Kirby asked because he had never heard that word.

"It is something very complicated and boring to explain. I'll tell you when you're older," Dedede responded quickly, as uncomfortable as the rest of those present with the question.

"I don't know. There are a few aspects of this story that bother me," Meta Knight said, thoughtfully. "Hasn't it crossed your mind that perhaps it was all a lie to increase your fear? This Lucilius individual seems to be a formidable foe who has caused numerous hardships in this world," the knight asked Zooey and Sandalphon.

"No. There was true hate in Nightmare's voice when he talked about either of those two," Dedede refuted. "Even I noticed it and had no idea who he was referring to."

"But Nightmare is a very old entity according to the story of our universe. The Ancients already wrote about him back in the time when Void Termina was recently sealed by the four heroes of Yore," Meta Knight argued back. "How could he have lived as an Astral in this world until about 1500 years ago?"

"Maybe it has something to do with that broken Nova he had in the lab. Or maybe time travel is involved. I don't know, there has to be some explanation. You're the story nerd, not me," Dedede replied with a shrug. The king then noticed that Kirby was on the verge of falling asleep. Dedede slapped the table next to the puffbal to wake him up and scolded him saying: "pay attention, this is important!"

"Sorry for diverting the subject, but who or what is Void Termina?" Zooey inquired, intrigued.

"According to some legends, Void is a cosmic entity known as the "progenitor of origin", an omnipresent being that exists in infinite dimensions in different forms," Meta Knight began to relate, attracting the interest of those present,except Kirby's, who had a gloomy expression on his face that went unnoticed. "It is said that it was born from the combination of chaos and all possibilities, as well as the union of the Matters that make up our universe: Dream, Soul, Heart and Darkness. If Void is brought to the material world through negative energy, the form in which he manifests is called Void Termina, a destroyer of worlds. Void, as well as incarnations of him, are considered gods by certain cultists. A couple of years ago, one of those cultists managed to break the seal that contained it and we had to defeat it."

That information astounded the inhabitants of the Sky Realm present in the room. It was difficult to believe that these three adorable-looking beings had not only fought but also defeated such a powerful creature.

"Hold on. Are you telling me that Dedede really wasn't exaggerating about the god of destruction thing?!" Sandalphon exclaimed. "I ended up believing that you had simply faced a very powerful creature that was revered as a god, akin to some primal beasts. I didn't expect that it actually was such a complex being!"

"First of all, these are all legends collected in ancient religious writings which veracity can be questioned," Meta Knight exposed. "Secondly, our king enjoys being the centre of attention far too much," he added with a reproachful tone, looking askance at Dedede. "He was just one of the many people who took part in that odyssey. Kirby ended up summoning a whole battalion of friends and even a couple of former enemies to stop both the cult and Void Termina."

"Those 'Star Allies' that Kirby mentioned in our first meeting, right?" Gran recalled.

"Yeah, poyo!" Kirby replied with a smile. The mention of his friends had taken the gloom from his face, at least temporarily. "I'm very happy with that name. It makes us look like a bunch of cool superheroes."

"I'll tell you a secret: in reality, after that, the only thing he has convoked the Star Allies for are picnics and playdates." Dedede whispered to Io, who was sitting next to him. The girl blinked in surprise.

"And what would happen if instead of using negative energy, positive energy was used to summon Void?" Lyria wanted to know.

"It is unknown if such a situation has ever happened in history," Meta Knight replied. "But, without a doubt, it would be a powerful creature, though rather than causing destruction and despair, it would most likely use its power to save and bring happiness to the universe."

"Can we please stop talking about Void?" Kirby asked, a bit overwhelmed.

"Right. This is about Nightmare, not Lucilius or whatever that being is," Gran said, to refocus the topic. Although he didn't understand Kirby's reaction, it was clear that the topic tormented the puffball. Even Meta Knight seemed a bit regretful for mentioning it.

"The whole situation is more serious than we initially thought," Katalina said, glaring at Gran. "We should consider warning our allies on other islands, and possibly even in other skydoms," she suggested, crossing her arms over her silver armour.

"I don't know. If this becomes too public, panic could spread, and that guy feeds on fear. Isn't that the reason why Zooey and Sandalphon wanted this meeting to be as private as possible?" Io remarked.

"While I understand their point of view, I believe we should not keep the rest of our allies in the dark about what is going on. They need to know what they are up against in order to defend themselves," Rosetta stated.

"Yeah, you're right about that," Io agreed with her after thinking about it. "It would be unfair not to share what we know with them."

"According to what Zooey, King Dedede and Sandalphon saw in the lab, Nightmare seems to be creating a large number of demon beasts. Could he be planning a large-scale attack?" Eugene asked Meta Knight with a stern expression.

"It's possible, but I can't confirm it," Meta Knight replied. "This world seems to be his last resort, but apart from wanting to turn it into a demon beast farm, we don't know anything about what he's really up to."

"If what he wants is to rebuild his intergalactic empire, he should know that the Sky Realm lacks sufficient exploitable physical resources to achieve it, so his interest has to lie in something else." Cagliostro stated. "The real mystery is what he is actually after."

"So you don't know? Now that's weird," Rackam questioned her as he ran his hand through his hair. "You usually have at least a vague idea about this kind of stuff."

"On the contrary: I can think of of far too many things he could be after, but I don't want to speculate," the alchemist replied. "As much as I'd like to know what's inside that guy's head, in both a literal and figurative sense, what we need to do is focus on restoring the Star Rod and defeat him before he carries out whatever his plan is. Nonetheless, I agree with Rosetta: Our allies require an explanation for what is happening."

"Okay, let's vote. Who agrees on informing our allies?" Djeeta asked. Most of those present raised their hands, although some thought about it more than others. "And who is against the idea?" Sandalphon was the only one who raised his.

"I don't want to involve more people in this," the angel denied.

"Sandalphon, a lot of people came to our aid when we were dealing with Belial's plan," Djeeta reminded him. "It would be contacting the same people again. They will know how to handle the situation discreetly. I'll figure out a way to keep the information from reaching third parties," she promised.

"Fine," the angel reluctantly agreed. "But I don't want to hear anyone complaining if things get out of control."

"Well, does anyone have anything else to say?" Gran asked, implying that the meeting was coming to an end. Kirby raised his hand. "Yes, Kirby?"

"Are we done? I'm hungry, poyo."

"Well, let's end the meeting," Gran said with an amused expression on his face. The attendees got up and began to leave the room. Kirby was the first, dragging Dedede and Meta Knight with him and sprinting to the kitchen.

"And I thought this would be over in a couple of days," Rackam lamented as he and the twins exited the room. "Seriously, can't that Nightmare guy give us a break? I feel more and more exhausted and have a harder time concentrating," he added as he lit his cigar.

"Maybe you should take a few days off," Djeeta told him. "Gran and I can pilot the Grandcypher while you rest."

"No way. I'm not going to sit idly by while you two take care of everything again," Rackam flatly refused.

"And we will not tolerate you becoming ill," Gran replied. "You are our trusty helmsman: we will never reach Estalucia without you. Though you're right; I wish we could have at least one night free of nightmares."

– – –

"Do all beings from your world usually eat this much?" Wilnas asked.

"No. That's exclusive to these two," Meta Knight grumbled, exasperated.

As soon as they set foot in the kitchen, the trio of Dreamland heroes had been well received by Wilnas. Kirby had enthusiastically greeted the dragon and introduced Dedede to him. The dragon then invited them to dine with him. Kirby and Dedede wasted no time in devouring the dragon's food.

"So you're actually a dragon..." , Dedede said to Wilnas while eating. The dragon nodded. "Why would a legendary being like you want to do something as mundane as cooking?"

"I'd like to become a good cook so that I can feed the people of the city that I accidentally burned when I materialised," he explained. "The Singularity, I mean, Gran and Djeeta's companions have been teaching me, and I've gotten to the point where I can run the ship's kitchen in the absence of the people in charge."

"Again that Singularity thing..." Dedede took notice. The king had first heard that word when Phoebe had spoken with Nightmare, and then again when Sandalphon had examined Kirby. "What does it mean?" he wondered. Sandalphon had promised to explain it to him, but he hadn't had time to do it yet. He could ask the dragon, but he was hesitant to do so in front of Kirby. After what happened during the fight against Void Termina, the young puffball avoided discussing issues concerning his existence. And he couldn't blame him: if he discovered that the core of a fabled god of destruction had the same face as him, he would suffer existential trauma as well.

"Well, I wish you luck in your culinary learnings," the king told the dragon instead.

"Thank you," the being said, smiling. "Although I'm sorry that the taste of my food is not yet worthy of a king," he apologized. According to what little he knew of mortal social conventions, kings were more picky about the taste of food, though he didn't understand why.

"Bah. It's good enough for me. After a couple of days of eating forest fruits and monster meat at the bonfire, something prepared with care and dedication is greatly appreciated," Dedede responded honestly. "Besides, after eating Meta's food, even dirt tastes delicious," he mocked his partner.

"My cooking isn't that bad," the knight replied, a bit offended.

"Meta, your crew has forbidden you from using your own kitchen," the penguin argued. "For Nova's sake, once we gave Kirby something you cooked and it activated the poison ability!"

"But he didn't suffer any harm, which is what matters," Meta Knight countered.

Wilnas was perplexed by the king's and his knight's conversation. Even a creature like him, who was above mortal hierarchy and customs, understood that such a casual attitude between two people of different status was unusual. Kirby, for his part, could only smile. He had missed those moments so much! In their still recent adventure through the Forgotten Land, both Dedede and Meta Knight had gone separate ways from him and Bandana Dee. Meta Knight had become the defender of Waddle Dee City after exploring the new world on his own, while Dedede... well, the important thing was that the monarch had returned to his usual self after that terrible experience.

"Too bad Bandee isn't here. I know he also missed Dedede and Meta's company on our previous journey," Kirby sighed. It seemed that fate insisted on keeping the four heroes of Dreamland apart on their latest adventures. Despite this, Kirby, like Dedede, firmly believed Bandana would soon join them.

And once they were all together, it didn't matter what Nightmare had planned, as they would prevail.

The director of Dormitia Island's library couldn't help being anxious.

Very few people knew that the traditional festival of that region was, in reality, nothing more than a celebratory party. It had never truly worked to ward off "evil spirits," because this island lacked a primal beast, priestly rite, or magic capable of doing so. Not that they needed one if those evil spirits had never existed in the first place. The entire story behind the festival had always been a tale to soften the truth and aid in the healing of the wounds caused by the great war in its inhabitants.

And because she knew that the festival did not serve as protection, she was sure that something terrible was about to happen.

Everything that had happened in the previous few days had been a bad omen. The visit of the Supreme Primarch warning of a possible threat, eyewitnesses claiming to have seen strange creatures crossing the sky, and the fact that the whole town had been having nightmares for several nights in a row led the director to believe that the actual "curse of the island" had returned. There was no way a mere party could protect them from an Astral and/or his beast.

But it didn't matter how much she had begged and explained to the mayor why they had to cancel the festival, because in the end it had been to no avail. The mayor only cared about tourism. The festival was the only time of the year when the island received a large number of visitors, and therefore money. The evidence that something dangerous was brewing on the island jeopardised his financial plan, so he chose to dismiss it as mere conjecture created by a paranoid mind that read too many books. The discussion between the librarian, who had the support of the security team, and the mayor, seconded by the party committee, had lasted for hours, and the shouts of both groups had been heard from outside the Community Center. Finally, the mayor had lost patience and had sentenced:

"This festival will be celebrated even if the Moon starts falling down!"

That was the situation: she was reading manuscript after manuscript, trying to find a way to avoid a potential disaster, while the townspeople prepared to celebrate a festival that was duller than usual due to the fear of the locals and the uncertainty of the tourists, who didn't understand what was going on. Even if nothing ended up happening, that year's festival would go down in history as the worst ever.

Still, once the sun had set and the celebrations had begun, the librarian could hear the music along with the lively voices and laughter of the party goers. It seemed that in the end, people were having fun and the festival was running smoothly. She waited, but for the first two hours, everything remained the same. In the end, it appeared that everyone was having a good time and that the festival was running smoothly. She waited, but for the first two hours, nothing changed. The librarian let out a sigh. What if it was all just paranoia? The Supreme Primarch and his companions had come to investigate. Perhaps the threat was something else. Perhaps it was all coincidence.

It was then that the laughter of the people turned into screams.

A huge, sinister, ghostly-looking figure had appeared in the centre of the square, accompanied by various monsters that made her heart clench with fear just by looking at them. She could see the figure smiling with cruelty, delighting itself with the frightened cries of the islanders. The monsters surrounded those attempting to flee and attacked those trying to protect themselves, gradually forcing everyone present to gather around the figure. The screaming stopped immediately when the figure spoke, but the fear increased. Even with the windows closed, the librarian could hear the being's voice, clear and powerful, as if it were speaking in her mind.

"Greetings, inhabitants of Dormitia Island. You probably don't know who I am, but I knew your ancestors. I'm the one you've dubbed 'the curse of the island', and that is a name I'm grateful for. You cannot imagine how much power I get from the ancestral fear hidden behind the legend with which you have drawn my figure."

The librarian fixed her gaze on the creature. That being did not resemble an Astral, nor did it fit the description of the primal beast found in the texts. And yet, there was no doubt in her mind that what the being had said was true. She could feel her entire body trembling with fear, not only of the present but also of the future. It was clear that the being hadn't to only ruin the party.

"By the way, thank you for the festival in my honour. It's a nice welcome present. Those costumes are adorable," the being mocked as it pretended to applaud. There was a brief pause in its speech before it continued: "Why have I come back?" That is an excellent question, sir," the being congratulated, still in that petulant tone of mockery, while pointing with his staff to someone in the audience. "Certain circumstances in my life have made me require your service again. And by your service, I mean your absolute servitude."

The last two words made the librarian's blood run cold.

"A company cannot function without employees, and right now Nightmare Enterprises is in need of staff. We specifically require manpower and test subjects. So congratulations! You are the first humans, draphs, erunes, and harvins to work for an intergalactic corporation. And, as your new boss, I expect nothing less than your complete obedience and devotion." There was another brief pause in the being's speech after that. Someone in the audience had probably dared to ask another question. "What do you mean by 'what will happen to you if you refuse'? My responsibility as your boss will be to penalise you for failing to meet my demands. For example, I can fill your dreams with the most terrifying visions you can think of. Or I may twist your minds and souls in such a way that you will regret being born. But don't worry about your lives; I'll let you keep them. After all, the dead do not fear or dream."

Impotence. It was the only thing that could be felt in that situation besides fear. That being had the fate of all the inhabitants and visitors on the island in its hands, and the fear that had seized their hearts prevented them from acting against it. They could only do one thing: obey and survive.

"May the gods protect us," the librarian prayed.

– – –

The dark cloak of the night had also descended on the Grandcypher, slowly trapping the exhausted crew in Nightmare's domain. The screams of terror from the mortals would soon fill the ears of the primal beasts aboard the ship, who could do nothing but watch their comrades struggle.

But one of said beasts had grown tired of feeling helpless. She was going to put an end to it at any cost.

Every airship created by the Astrals required a core to function. And it was said that the core was the ship's the heart and soul. Therefore, in order to put her plan into action, she needed to reach it. Luckily, it wasn't like it was in an inaccessible place either, although she didn't expect to find it unguarded. She was certain that she would have to deal with Noa, the ship's patron primal beast, in some way in order to get close to the core, but fortune smiled on her and he was absent.

"He will understand. It's not like I'm going to do any damage to the ship."

The beast approached the core with determination and placed her hand on it. She then closed her eyes and summoned a crystalline-looking sword, imbued with her own power. She opened her eyes, which had a strange gleam in them, just before firmly embedding the sword in the ship's core.

"That should suffice."

Once she had finished her job, the beast left the room, satisfied. Now she only had to wait for her three wishes to be fulfilled. The first was not to be discovered, because the captains would surely object to what she had done. The second requirement was that her plan actually work. The third...

The third wish was that her body would not crumble until the source of everyone's nightmares had been destroyed.

I apologise to Orologia; the events in this fic are going to make them work overtime behind the scenes lol.

There are a couple of references in this chapter. The first is to this Inufaiya comic: /inufaiya/694609052564619265/inufaiya-y-aun-meta-knight-continues-with-the-idea-de. The second is much more obvious, especially if you have played a certain game from the Legend of Zelda saga.

Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe is amazing! I'm playing it with my sister (and sometimes even my mother joins), and it's a delightful experience. But because of this, I'm progressing very slowly, so I've yet to reach Magolor's Epilogue.