Interlude I: A little piece of divine intervention
Sitting on the Grandcypher's bowsprit, Meta Knight watched over the sea of clouds, vigilantly.
The sun had already set, a blanket of stars covering the celestial vault of the Sky Realm. The puffball wondered if any of those distant stars was Pop Star, though he doubted it, as that world seemed a long way from any planet he had ever known. Were he and his companions even in the same universe as their home at all? He had no way of knowing.
Kirby was on the deck, looking at the stars alongside a primal beast called Yuni. The young girl was telling the pink puffball about the constellations that had been named by the inhabitants of the Sky Realm, and, as she pointed at them, Kirby looked at the sky in wonder. Meta Knight had told his friend not to stay up late as he needed to rest, but Kirby seemed wary of it. Meta Knight understood the reason, even if Kirby didn't say it out loud: the young hero disliked nightmares and wasn't looking forward to another night full of them.
Meta Knight wrapped himself in his cloak and directed his thoughts towards the source of the terrible dreams that were plaguing that world. Despite having spent much of his life fighting against their enemy's creations (as well as other forces of evil), he truly knew nothing of Nightmare's past. He had just discovered that there was a whole world of creatures just as powerful and apparently hungry for conquest as Nightmare was. That idea was chilling in itself.
Because of how the dragons had described the Sky Realm, it appeared to be an unstable land with an uninhabitable surface, making the amount of natural resources on that world extremely limited, at least in comparison to any regular planet. For that reason, he doubted that the Astrals were after the said resources, but then what had they been after? What made the Sky Realm special?
"You shouldn't be here, warrior of the stars."
Meta Knight spun around at the sound of that feminine voice behind him. How could he let his guard down so much that he hadn't detected someone approaching?
The person or being that had spoken to him seemed to be a young woman, not much older than Gran and Djeeta, though shorter than the twins. Their golden hair shone flawlessly despite the darkness of the night, and their large red eyes stared at him with intensity. They had something in her mouth, like a muzzle... or maybe it was a pacifier? Their outfit, a long black dress, fluttered in the wind.
Meta Knight could easily detect that there was something supernatural about the being, some kind of archaic force contained behind their eyes that felt even older than dragons. And those words that they had said to him... Could they be another detractor of him and Kirby being in that world that had come to expel both puffballs?
"It's supposed to be my turn to watch the sky, and you're in my favorite spot," continued the being, in a voice that sounded annoyed rather than furious, as if that was just a minor inconvenience. Meta Knight blinked in surprise at the being's casual tone.
"Oh, excuse me..." the knight began to apologize.
"My name is Shalem. If you wish to show me your respect and adoration, you may call me 'Madame Shalem'" the being interrupted him, guessing that he didn't know how to refer to her.
"Madame Shalem, what is someone as distinguished as yourself doing as a mere watchman?" the knight asked her with curiosity, in a respectful tone.
"I like you: you really know how to treat someone of my status," Shalem commented, flattered by the knight's respectful attitude. "The captains have asked me to cover this position as a personal favor. I'll collect that favor later" she continued, using a playful tone in the last sentence.
Meta Knight would rather not imagine how a creature such as Shalem was going to collect that favor, as that tone unnerved him.
"On the other hand, you should go back inside and rest. Or I will take the fact that you are here as a lack of confidence in my faculties and, therefore, as an offense" she told him in a tone that sounded vaguely threatening.
Meta Knight took that as a sign that he should get out of there. "I think I have already fulfilled my quota of angering ancient beings of this realm with that dragon. It's better not to antagonize anyone else" he decided internally.
"I shall leave the surveillancy to you, Madame. It has been a pleasure to meet you" the knight said goodbye with a bow, before opening his wings.
"The pleasure has been mine," she answered politely. "May your rest be a blessed one, warrior of the stars."
Shalem watched as Meta Knight flew back to the deck of the Grandcypher. When a few seconds passed after the knight left, she felt a presence next to her. She didn't need to turn around to know who she was: the other Speaker of the God who had created that world.
"So, what is your opinion, Sahar?" she asked the newcomer aloud while she continued gazing at the horizon.
Next to her now sat who appeared to be a handsome young man with white hair and blue eyes, clad in light black armor with a gold breastplate, two small rounded wings protruding from his back.
"About the Singularity from the Land of the Dreams and their companions?" the newcomer asked back. "Personally, I don't think they endanger the integrity of this world. What's more: the Sky Realm, as it is now, needs them all. I think our Lord would agree with me."
"Interesting. So your opinion is just the opposite of the dragon of light" Shalem pointed out, turning towards him. "Well, Lu Woh tends to disagree with our Master's vision more often than not. Those six are like spoiled children..."
"So, what about you? What do you think as an Inquisitor and the Dusk Speaker?" Sahar wanted to know.
"Does my opinion really matter? My lone labor is expurgation and inquisition in favor of the divine design. What I think has zero impact on what I have to do" Shalem replied to her companion, crossing her arms. "We have done enough by preventing those shards from falling to the bottom of the sky, despite the fact that we swore millennia ago not to intervene in the conflicts between the Astrals and the skydwellers."
"This current ordeal is not so different from the ones instigated by our Astral replicas in recent times. If we had stayed on the sidelines, those shards would have crossed the barrier that leads to the Otherworld, which would have resulted in a calamity. Our Lord would not have wanted that. Also, is it correct to still consider that invader an Astral?" Sahar argued.
Shalem contemplated the words her fellow Speaker had spoken. It was ironic that the replicas of those closest to the Omnipotent would be the ones to almost destroy His handiwork.
Lucilius and Beelzebub were the most terrible foes the Singularity of the Sky Realm and the Supreme Primarch had ever faced. Without the intervention of the Speakers, both Astrals would have succeeded in unleashing the Chaos on the world (the former to destroy creation, the latter to control it) despite having been defeated in combat. Was Nightmare truly a threat equal to the divine replicas?
"I guess you're right, Dawn Speaker" Shalem finally gave in. "But, wouldn't it have been easier to hand them those shards over directly? At this point, they still don't even know how to locate them," she remarked.
"The key to finding the fragments is already in the hands of the girl in blue: it won't be long before she realizes what she has to do" Sahar exposed. "On the other hand, the bounds that unite the Singularity, the protectors of our world and the heroes from the stars must grow stronger if they wish to succeed in their quest against that creature."
Shalem cast a questioning glance at her companion. She knew he was hiding something behind that amused smile of his.
"Besides, a tale that just gives its heroes what they need is boring" Sahar revealed, asserting his true thoughts while shrugging his shoulders. "In any worthwhile adventure play, there is always a battle to win, a test to surpass, or a mystery to solve for the protagonists to get the treasure."
"You and your analogies with that entertainment of mortals" Shalem reproached him. " 'Lucio, the actor'... I'm not totally convinced by that 'mortal' identity of yours. I don't think it suits you."
"I, however, believe that it is rather appropriate. Aren't we all actors in the wonderful play written by the Omnipotent?" Sahar replied, still with that smile on his face.
Shalem sighed deeply, a little exasperated.
"Sometimes, I don't know if you are doing all of this on our Master's behalf or because it entertains you," she claimed.
"What's wrong with doing both?" Sahar replied with a chuckle. "We are living in interesting times, Shalem. At last, winds of change are beggining to blow in the Sky Realm. And the creatures that have arrived from beyond our stars will make it all the more exciting."
"A new age of evolution is to come, brought by the hands of the Singularity of the Sky Realm" she claimed. "Now then, will it be under the designs of our Lord, or will we enter into a new order?"
"That only depends on those four" Sahar sentenced, thinking of Gran, Djeeta, Vyrn and Lyria. "We will limit ourselves to observing and transmitting the designs of our Lord, unless our divine intervention is required to prevent an irreversible catastrophe. Although if they ask me for my help in any of their quests, I certainly will not deny it."
Shalem gave him an inqusitive look. "Would you lend them your aid even if they decided to go against the will of our Master?" she was tempted to ask him, but she didn't get to say that question out loud, as she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer. In fact, she didn't even know what she would answer to that question herself. "My Lord, what is this strange age doing to me?" she asked herself in her mind.
"May everything we do be for the sake of His creation" Shalem ruled.
"May everything we do be to protect this world" Sahar decreed as an answer.
At that moment, a butterfly adorned with the colors of the sunset flew towards them. Shalem reached out for the delicate insect and the creature perched on her finger, greeting her as if they were old friends, even though technically they had just met two nights ago.
"And what about you, my fellow child of dusk?" Shalem asked the butterfly. "Have you decided your role in this tale yet? Will you put your power at the service of this world's predestined protectors, or will you become one more of their ordeals?"
Sorry if updates are getting slower. I'm having problems with the next chapter of the Spanish version, and I'm mostly focusing on getting it done right. If you are following that version too, I hope to publish it next week.
I wrote this interlude to address the issue of the Star Rod shards most likely falling onto the surface rather than an island. If that had been the case, Nightmare would have won by default, as I doubt Kirby, Gran and Djeeta would have been able to go to the Otherworld to retrieve them. Also, I'm pretty sure the Otherworlders would have found a way to use the shards to ruin the world; they wiped out an entire timeline in the last Main Story Quest, after all. So yeah, it's a good thing that Gran and Djeeta have the power of God and anime on their side for now (even if Bahamut is a terrible environment designer).
Also, I love Shalem and Lucio, and I long for more interactions between those two.
As for the butterfly... if you are a Kirby fan, you know what is going on with it :3