Chapter 3
Kirby, Fumu and Bun walked behind Sword and Blade. At first Fumu thought she would be full of questions but the more she thought about it, the more she didn't even know what to ask. She mulled over her thoughts quietly, brow creased in concentration as the group walked. Bun, not wishing to keep his thoughts quiet as the other three were, instead went on about how cool watching the ship crashing was, and how weird it was to see another one of Kirby's species, and what was the point of such a big shield, and would that ship ever run again, and so on. Kirby was the only one willing to engage Bun in conversation, though his repeated responses of "Poyo" didn't exactly answer any of Bun's questions.
Meta Knight hauled the unconscious Star Warrior to the castle by air, using the breeze and growing thermals of the warm day to ease the burden of the body's weight on his wings. In time, he landed a short distance from the castle. He chose to land and carry the body on foot rather than swoop right in, in case he ran into Escargon or worse, King Dedede.
Meta Knight walked around the castle's entrance with the body slung over his shoulder, choosing instead to enter the rear entrance only used by the castle's Waddle Dee servants. As he entered it, he caught sight of a Waddle Dee doing the laundry. The Waddle Dee looked up and began to wave its arms, rattling off in their strange indecipherable tongue. Meta Knight simply dipped his head to it politely before ripping a body-sized towel off from its stack of clothes, draping it over the unconscious Star Warrior to conceal her. He then carried the covered, spherical body to Sword and Blade's room, gently easing her down on a creaky spare bed which had sat unused in their room for some time.
In time Kirby, Fumu, Bun, and the two knights reached King Dedede's castle. They filed in one by one, each making a beeline to Sword and Blade's room. They all crowded in with Meta Knight, glancing at the unconscious stranger laid out on the bed. They noticed that someone, presumably Meta Knight, took the time to wrap the female in blankets up to her mouth.
"She's fine" Meta Knight said in a low voice, cape wrapped around him as he eyed the others. "Give her time to rest" he instructed Sword and Blade. "When she is able to talk, find out why she landed here."
The Star Warrior spun on his heel and exited the room, still wrapped in his cloak. Without turning to face the others, he uttered one last thing.
"Something tells me she her landing here wasn't a coincidence."
The others filed out of their room after taking the time to look at her, one by one. Kirby left last, having to be ushered out by Sword after he stood quietly at the fallen warrior's bedside. He kept looking at her face; the fact that there was a face laying there that looked almost exactly like his own, that it wasn't a different face like Fumu or Bun or Dedede or the Cappies, blew his mind. He wanted to wake her and ask her things, but he knew that would not be right. In time, aided by Sword Knight's gentle urging, Kirby reluctantly left the room.
Hours passed, and day turned to night. Sword and Blade kept vigil at the sleeping warrior's bedside, checking to make sure she was still alive from time to time. As dinnertime approached, Sword and Blade both continued to sit in their room but did so with growing concern.
"We have to go eat in the kitchens..." Blade began, voicing the opinion both knights had. "The King doesn't like us trekking food off to our own rooms."
"We can't leave the Star Warrior, though" Sword replied. "What if her condition worsens in the time it takes for us to eat dinner? It's too risky."
"What can we do, then? Starve?" Blade shot back. "If we don't go eat, we'll waste away until we're the ones who need medical care. If we bring food back, we'll anger King Dedede and might even give him a reason to follow us up to our room. There's no winning this. We'll just have to squirrel away food that doesn't need preparation in a kitchen for future use, such as cereal. But for now..."
Blade glanced at the creature in bed. "We have to go eat. Quickly. Let's just go into the kitchen and shove whatever we can into our mouths."
"Why don't we leave one at a time?" Sword asked. "If we have to, that is..."
Blade shook his head in response. "We can't act abnormal. We always eat together. If anyone else is down there, they'll ask what's wrong. If you stayed behind and someone asked me what was going on, I'd have to say you were sick or something. Then they might come by to check on you. It's better if we just go, eat quickly, and come back as if nothing was out of the ordinary."
Sword hesitated, his stomach then growling so loudly that Blade took notice and snorted back a laugh. Sword felt his concealed face redden.
"Fine" Sword relented. "Let's do this...fast."
The two knights left their room together, Blade leaving first. Sword paused as he left, taking one last look at the sleeping warrior before closing the door behind him.
Sword and Blade walked back up to their room approximately 20 minutes later, walking in as quick of a pace they could manage without breaking into a run. Sword tilted his head downwards slightly, hand on his stomach.
"I think we set a record" Blade said cheerfully, elbowing his friend.
"I think I have heartburn" Sword replied flatly.
The two reached their room and looked around, each head turned in the opposite direction to examine both sides of the hallway at once. The hallway outside of their door was silent in both directions. They then looked to each other, nodded, and walked into the room with Blade Knight entering first.
"Halt!" an unfamiliar voice commanded, a long spear lowered to aim at Blade's throat. Blade gulped and inched back slightly, hand dropping towards his weapon.
"Don't you dare" the voice said.
The two knights stood in surprise at the sight. Their fallen warrior, who was left unarmored and sleeping peacefully in their spare bed, had apparently regained consciousness and suited back up while they were gone. She was apparently well enough to utilize her weaponry, as evidenced by how quickly she pointed her spear at them.
Blade reacted quickly. In less than a second he withdrew his own sword and held it against the spear, grunting with effort as he used his strength to steer the dangerous pointed end of the spear away from his neck.
"Get help!" Blade shouted to Sword, who nodded and dashed off in the direction of Meta Knight's room.
"Please, soldier, stand down" Blade begged. "I am not your enemy."
The armored Star Warrior remained unconvinced, pushing the spear back against Blade's sword in an attempt to level it at his throat again."How can I trust you? Who are you? Where am I? And WHY was I unarmored?!"
"No, miss, I'm deeply sorry but we had no choice!" Blade replied frantically, the two locked by each others' weapons.
The door to Sword and Blade's room suddenly flew open, surprising them both. A stout blue knight stood with Galaxia unsheathed and ready, the sword glowing like candlelight in the dim room and reflecting off of his mask and armor.
A deep voice roared "At EASE, soldier."
"S..Sir Meta Knight?!" the female gasped, her wings flaring in surprise. She quickly slackened her grip on her spear and shield, letting both fall to the floor. She then got on one 'knee', dipping her head respectfully to him.
"Sir Meta Knight. You were known throughout the Galaxy Soldier Army and beyond for your exploits...it is an honor to stand before you" the female stated. She then lifted her head, turning to look at Blade. "My deepest apologies. I see now that you were telling the truth, um..."
"Blade Knight. Just call me Blade" Blade replied, sheathing his own sword in response. "It's okay, no worries. I can't blame you for being upset. You did just go through a lot, after all."
Her blue eyes rested on Sir Meta Knight's masked, emotionless visage before traveling down to look at the golden, fiery blade wielded by him.
"The sacred sword Galaxia...no!" she said, cursing and covering her hands with her head.
Meta Knight eyed his own sword curiously, everyone a bit confused by her reaction. Thinking she exclaimed out of fear, he quickly sheathed the sword and wrapped the scabbard as well as his body in his cape.
"This sword would not be used against you unless you chose to attack us", Meta Knight replied in a voice calm and measured to diffuse the situation. "We know that you are a fellow Star Warrior."
"Thank you, Sir, and now that I know you are allies I would never raise my weapons against you" the shield-wielding warrior responded. "I... apologize for my outburst. The sacred sword Galaxia is indeed a fine weapon, a blade of incredible craftsmanship. But it could be why I landed here, and if it is than my readings were wrong."
"What readings? Why are you here, in Dreamland of all places?" Meta Knight asked, eyes narrowing to yellow slits.
The female took a deep breath through her armor, wobbling slightly on her feet. Sword noticed and gestured towards the bed.
"Please be careful. Your ship crash landed earlier today...you might not want to over exert yourself. You're welcome to use this bed."
The female nodded. "Thank you. I am Shieldmaiden, by the way."
"A Shieldmaiden! Fancy that" Meta Knight said, eyes tinting green. He bowed lightly towards her, adding "Pleasure to meet you."
Blade nodded in agreement as Sword tilted his head slightly. "A Shieldmaiden?"
Blade turned to Sword. "Shieldmaidens were a branch of winged, all-female Star Warriors. They were known for having two distinct groups of warriors who either practiced mastery of the shield or lightning magic. They were never very numerous, though."
Shieldmaiden nodded. "Indeed; my sisters are no longer with me. But back on topic" she continued, quickly changing the subject. "I was brought here by my ship in search of a relic powerful enough to stop a great enemy. The power readings on my ship apparently chose Galaxia, which must be why I landed here, in this exact spot of Popstar. However, Galaxia is not enough to defeat this thing."
Meta Knight's eyes began to shift in color. "What thing?"
Shieldmaiden held her gloved hands, wings drooping. "An ancient, malevolent force known as Dark Matter."
The three men gasped, exchanging nervous glances.
Sword turned to look back at Shieldmaiden first."I've heard of Dark Matter... thought it was just a scary story. You mean to tell me it's real?"
Shieldmaiden nodded. "How I wish it was just a story. Dark Matter is real, and it has recently come back after disappearing for eons. Rumor has it that during the war against Nightmare, the chaos his army caused brought the sleeping Dark Matter back to life."
"Not much is known about Dark Matter at all besides that it is incredibly dangerous. It can consume entire planets in record time, possessing all sentient inhabitants and forcing them to do its bidding. It will eat the souls of those it possesses from the inside out until there is nothing left but a lifeless husk. It then moves on. No one knows if it is a single entity, or an entire species of creatures. No one knows if its motivations are consuming for survival or for the sake of causing destruction. All we know is that for the sake of the galaxy, it has to be stopped."
"To make things worse," Shieldmaiden continued, "Dark Matter is ethereal and cannot be harmed by a mere weapon; swords, lances, clubs – they all pass through its form as if one were attacking a ghost. The best thing one can accomplish when attacking it is knocking it out of it's host body, if the host becomes too badly injured for Dark Matter to utilize it. Legends say that the only thing that can stop Dark Matter itself is powerful, divine magic. It is what I was trying to find when I set out to look for a powerful holy relic. That's why I got so upset upon seeing Galaxia...for all of its power, it can't stop Dark Matter either."
The other knights mused quietly in response. Meta Knight glanced at his two comrades before his gaze settled on Shieldmaiden again, an unblinking glare.
"Is this thing heading for Popstar?"
Shieldmaiden nodded. "Though I don't know where it is exactly, or what its doing, when I set course for your planet Dark Matter was very close by. It could attack tomorrow, or not for a thousand years. Still, for the sake of Dreamland and beyond, we should find a way to destroy it."
Meta Knight gave a terse nod, Sword and Blade nodding in unison.
"We will have to formulate a plan" the veteran noted. "Thank you for letting us know about Dark Matter, Shieldmaiden. You are welcome to stay here as long as you wish."
Meta Knight turned to Sword and Blade. "Assist Shieldmaiden in rest and recovery. Afterwards, we will all have to redouble our training efforts. Tomorrow we should consult with Fumu regarding this 'Dark Matter' threat. She is quite well educated; perhaps she would know if this planet has anything else that could assist us in our fight against it. We need to take this warning and treat it as if the threat will arrive tomorrow. We were awarded a rare blessing in learning about our enemy's intentions so far in advance."
"Yes, Sir" the two men replied, saluting their leader.
Meta Knight then dipped his head to them, turning to face Shieldmaiden and bowing afterwards. "I must take my leave. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Sir" Shieldmaiden responded, watching the veteran turn and leave.