Chapter Text
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The faint sound echoed out across the inky black of space, quiet enough that few could ever hear it, nothing more than a phantom resonance.
Tick. Tick. Tock.
Large, crystalline eyes creaked open. The stars danced brightly in their dazzling blue depths, but showed no hint of emotion. No sympathy or malice, nothing beyond the power imbued within the ancient clockwork machine.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Galactic Nova drifted; the grand comet’s gears steadily turning as it passed by lesser planets and asteroid rubble without any thought, alone in this forgotten corner of space.
Tick.
It had been crafted ages ago, in an ancient time long forgotten to all but a few; for all but one, star-blessed purpose: to grant wishes, those born from the depths of the heart.
Tock.
The stopwatch fell silent.
The clockwork star held no interest in the affairs of organic lifeforms, though it retained the memories of them easily.
When The Ancients wished from the bottom of their hearts for their Aeon Hero to be held under guard, locked away in a sealing crystal for all eternity, it was granted. When the first new soul to summon the comet wished to fight said hero, it was granted as well, no issues.
The cycle repeated on, eons into the future. All until a single knight had reigned victorious, rendering any past and future wishes pertaining to the greatest warrior in the galaxy, null and void.
The title was passed on, but the previous, still-holding wishes had been made with the expectation that Galacta Knight would always possess it, preventing them from transfering to a new host. The magic and spell castings couldn’t handle such conflicts between the will of the heart and the mind of the soul, and they simply fizzled out, no longer valid.
It was something The Ancients had never planned for, but not many of them were still around to argue against it. Wishes couldn’t override each other, but they could be played with. Interpreted, if allowed enough room. But, most of all, broken, if enough immense power was concentrated against one. Power, such as a backfire born from The Ancient’s own magic.
The Aeon Hero was free again.
Nova was apathetic to it all, as always.
The clockwork star held no duty to protect anymore, and it wouldn’t, for as long as no one wished it so.
Galactic Nova shut its eyes, still drifting aimlessly. It would wait.
In time, a new wish would come.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
-
The throne room was vast; more inviting than imposing with the warm tones of red and yellow decorating the stone walls and the floors. Pillars lined the sides of the room, carved from the same sandy stone, and cast the outside edges in a shadow that flickered from the lantern light, keeping up the pleasant ambiance. A few golden statues of Dreamland’s King sat in cut alcoves, staring forward as they reflected the soft light.
Galacta Knight decided it was passable, for what he’d expect from a ruler. Besides, he knew it wasn’t all that met the eye.
Beneath where he stood was the location of the teleporter that first brought him here to Dreamland nearly a week ago; the Monster Delivery System. It certainly wouldn’t be delivering monsters anytime soon, though, but it might not be the only thing hiding around here.
“So, what do you think of the place? His Majesty sure is pretty impressive.”
Crimson eyes flickered over and honed in on the smirking snail who had just spoken: Escargoon. He seemed eager to bask in any appraisal the warrior could give, looking forward intently.
Galacta Knight was content to say nothing, staring until the King’s advisor started to break into a nervous sweat.
Escargoon gave a warily laugh, glancing to the side like he would much rather make a break for it out the nearest exit than spend any longer than he had to in the vicinity of the temporal warrior. “Well, I can see that we’ve just rendered you completely speechless, huh!” He clapped his hands together, plastering on a forced grin while using his elbow to nudge the blue penguin who sat in the throne at his side. “Sire, do something—” The snail hissed through his teeth.
King Dedede conked him on the head with a fist almost immediately. “Hush you, can’t ya see I’m thinkin’? You’re interruptin’ my train o’ thought.”
Escargoon let out a yelp before rubbing his head tenderly, muttering just loud enough to hear. “I think we both know that you’d need to actually have a thought for that to happen in the first place…”
“What was that now?” The King broke into a wide, false smile, starting to pull the wooden handle of a mallet out of his robe. “You wanna repeat that a little louder?”
One of Galacta Knight’s lavender wings flicked out in annoyance, watching them bicker.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sire—“
After a moment, the warrior took a purposely loud step forward, his platinum sabaton ringing out against the hard floor rather jarringly. The two swiveled their heads to face him at the sudden noise, falling silent. He let his irritation bleed into the words. “Why did you request my presence here?”
Out of the corner of his eye, the warrior caught a flash of a blue cape and a pair of yellow eyes as a figure slid behind one of the surrounding pillars, swathed in the shadow.
He bit down a hiss. So he is going to eavesdrop. Tsk.
Not too long ago, maybe half an hour at most, Galacta Knight had been flying a certain pesky knight back to the castle after getting the promise of receiving a tour of the place. He’d be honest for once, he had been looking forward to it just a bit, but no sooner had he touched down, releasing his grip on the other, had the guard commander—Waddle Doo, had been his name— found them and passed on a message. The King of Dreamland wanted to see Galacta Knight.
Meta Knight even had the audacity to nod and then silently walk off in the other direction, pretending all the while that he wasn’t going to spy as the winged warrior was led away by Waddle Doo, and off to the throne room.
He’s lucky I don’t feel like pestering him over it at the moment.
“Now now, there’s no reason to get your feathers in a twist,” Escargoon said, putting on another grin and trying to placate the warrior. Galacta Knight’s red eyes narrowed, glowing faintly with annoyance.
“That’s right,” King Dedede jumped in, letting out a boisterous laugh. “Ya see, I got a little prop-o-sition for you here.”
The temporal warrior tipped his head to the side ever-so-slightly. Proposition? Do they mean to hire me for a quest of some sort? It’d been quite awhile since he took up doing anything like that.
“The days have been crawling along pretty slowly since Kirby destroyed that no-good Nightmare Enterprises,” Escargoon chimed in. “And I would know slow, I am a snail after all.”
“It’s boring ‘round here,” the King stated bluntly, a hint of anguish edging the words. “I don’t got any more monsters to teach that pink puffball Kirby a lesson, or even any new catalogues to pass the time with!” He exaggeratedly wiped a tear from his eye, before his expression turned gleeful.
“But you—” the penguin emphasized, pointing a finger forward at the warrior, “are the first interestin’ thing to show up here all week!”
Oh, it had been an interesting week alright. The King didn’t even know the half of it.
“I don’t see the point you’re trying to make,” Galacta Knight said, drawing himself up a bit taller. He was in front of a king, however stupid, it might do well to put on a bit of the theatrics. He didn’t have any sort of reputation in Dreamland, aside from what Meta Knight might have explained briefly.
“I wanna hire you,” King Dedede said impatiently, before switching to smiling again. “I could use a new fighter ‘round here, especially to help with givin’ that Kirby the clobberin’ he rightfully deserves.”
Galacta Knight’s eyes narrowed again. “I thought Kirby defeated this ‘Nightmare’ that was terrorizing all of you?” Why does the King want to hire someone to attack him?
“And?” The King crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, like this wasn’t conflicting in any way. “I just told ya, it’s been gettin’ boring here in measly old Dreamland.” He let out a sigh, moving to rest his head on his palm, looking longingly in the distance. “So boring…”
“We’ll start your payroll at ten whole D-bills an hour!” Escargoon announced enthusiastically, as if the warrior had already accepted. He looked up from a calculator he had found somewhere, which he had spent the last minute typing away at. “Majesty,” the snail quickly whispered afterwards, trying to discreetly hold the device in the other’s face. “We might actually be able to afford this if he accepts such a low rate.”
D-bills. So this was going to be a job offering of sorts. That must be the currency here. “I’m not interested in money.”
Both immediately looked up, jaws dropping. “You’re not? ” They exclaimed at the same time, appalled.
The warrior shrugged. “I don’t have a use for it.” It was technically the truth. Besides, he had better things to do with his time. Like harassing Meta Knight.
He spared a glance to the pillar he had last seen said-knight hiding behind, but there was nothing there now. Galacta Knight wasn’t foolish enough to think it meant the other actually left. He’s still lurking around here somewhere.
“But— How will you afford things if you don’t have any money?” The snail grimaced. “You couldn’t even get food poisoning at Kawasaki’s for the price of nothing.”
The King nodded his head in agreement, starting to look a bit desperate now that he’d come across this sudden roadblock. “Yeah! And I won’t just be offerin’ handouts at my castle for free. You gotta work for ‘em.”
I just scavenge for fruit in that forest, anyway. It’s what he had been doing the first few nights he spent camped out in that ravine, all the way on the farside of Whispy Woods.
Or, he could even just steal from Meta Knight. The star warrior did have a fridge in his room.
“You can’t just be a guest forever,” the advisor pressed, as both tensely waited for a response, leaning forward a bit.
“What incentive do I have to work for you otherwise?” The warrior questioned. He rather enjoyed the freedom he currently had. Though, he wasn’t one to turn down a good fight.
This seemed to aggravate the King. “Incentive? Fine. I got your incentive right here--” The penguin rose up from his seat and pulled out his large mallet in one, swift motion. He twisted it in his hands a few times, making it spin menacingly.
Galacta Knight scoffed, shifting his stance to one more suited to deal with a surprise attack. “Are you trying to threaten me with that?” Brute force won’t win out against me. Especially with someone who moves so slow.
“Depends on what you answer next,” the other huffed, gritting his teeth as the warrior analyzed him. All in all, the King didn’t pose any sort of real threat, aside from his ruling authority.
“Sire, maybe you should— Oww!” The snail was quieted with a bash on the head.
King Dedede scowled, fed up with how this was going. “Now, you gonna take this job or what?”
That sounded like a challenge. Galacta Knight drew his lance and shield in preparation, the metal ringing softly as his angelic wings flared out behind him. He smirked from behind his platinum mask. Perhaps this will be interesting. “If you can land a hit on me, I might consider it.”
“That’ll be easy!” The King laughed again before starting for the warrior, hammer poised above his head as an overconfident smile broke out on his face.
He made it three steps before Galacta Knight shot forward in a swift blur, slashing out with his pink lance.
The King stumbled back to dodge, nearly losing his balance as he brought the mallet down haphazardly with a thundering crack. The warrior side-stepped easily, much faster, while watching the heavy blow miss. The tile beneath it split, not quite so lucky. He has physical strength, at least.
“Why you little—” The penguin lifted his weapon back up, anger rising.
Galacta Knight snickered, launching backwards and into the air above, hovering out of range. A few lilac feathers drifted down, taunting. This is almost fun.
King Dedede leapt up a few times, the air whooshing by as he swung wildly, trying to reach the temporal warrior. “Hey! That’s cheatin’. I can’t fly!”
“Such a shame,” the warrior lamented sarcastically, before completing a neat loop higher in the air, nearly touching the ceiling. Then, he fell into a sudden dive, aiming right back for the King. His lance point gleamed threateningly, poised in front of him.
The penguin snarled, preparing to swing his hammer in a baseball bat-like manner at the rapidly oncoming assailant.
“I can’t watch this,” Escargoon groaned, covering his eyes with his arm.
Galacta Knight closed in, crimson eyes alight as the King moved to swing his mallet, just a second too early. Got you now.
Smack.
The hammer smashed into the floor, another miss, just as something else rammed into Galacta Knight, throwing the warrior off course a split-second before he could stab his lance downwards.
Who would dare—
He collided with the floor, rolling hard, disoriented along with his attacker as he attempted to buffet them with his wings. A flash of golden steel caught in the edge of his perception, along with sudden feather-light presence of an enchantment.
Galaxia.
He came to a stilted stop, wings pressed flat under his back as he held his shield in front of himself protectively, obscuring his vision momentarily. A sharp clang echoed out as the top point of the legendary blade was effectively blocked by the gleaming platinum, the weight straining his arm with the amount of force put behind it. Galacta Knight prepared to jab forward with his lance in response.
In an instant, the weight on the shield lifted and the pink weapon was wrenched from his gloved hand, caught by one of the sword’s many shining prongs and flung out of reach. It clattered when it hit the ground.
The warrior hissed, lowering his shield just a tab. Amber eyes, simmering with irritation, looked back at him.
Meta Knight.
I should have already guessed so.
“What, you don’t approve of me fighting anyone else besides you?” Galacta Knight teased, mouth quirking up in the hint of an invisible smile. From this close, he could even see the small gouge of metal still missing from the top rim of the other’s mask, a mark courtesy of the warrior’s lance when they had attempted a rematch, nearly a week ago.
“You were attacking the King,” the knight said, putting on a disapproving tone despite looking like he wasn’t surprised at all by such an outcome.
“He started it.” Then Galacta Knight twisted suddenly, kicking out as the sharp tip of his sabaton dug into the other and made him jump back with a hiss. The warrior regained his footing, keeping his gaze locked on Meta Knight while inching across the floor and towards his lance. He scooped it up, making a show of re-slotting it into place behind his back. A resignation.
“Meta Knight! You helmet-head, stop attackin’ my guest,” King Dedede yelled, shaking his hammer to hypocritically emphasize his point.
The star warrior sheathed his sword before falling into a light bow, nothing but calm now. “My apologies, Your Majesty. I was only performing under my sworn duty to defend His Highness.”
The King huffed, crossing his arms and turning away. “I oughta’ throw you back in my dungeon for insubordination.”
“Sire, as meddlesome as Meta Knight is, he did just save you from getting shish-kabobed,” Escargoon reasoned, looking at the temporal warrior like he thought it might happen to himself instead.
“Well fine then. But you—” The penguin spun, turning back to face Galacta Knight. He let go of the mallet in an instant, clasping his hands together instead, almost pleading. “C’mon. What do you say about takin’ the job? Won’t you help out little ol’ me?”
Galacta Knight took a step back, immediately on-guard. “I’m not swearing myself to you as a knight.” It had only ended badly the last time he chose to do such a thing.
The snail walked up next to the King, waving off the refusal disinterestedly. “No no, we already have Meta Knight and his little ensemble for that. You’d be more of a part-time fighter, a warrior-for-hire, perhaps?” He broke out into his earlier smirk.
The temporal warrior shot Meta Knight a wary glance, seeing the star warrior shaking his head in what was a definite ‘no’.
That made it an easy choice, then.
Galacta Knight looked back to King Dedede, a bit of a mischievous grin forming behind his mask as his earlier apprehension faded. “When would I start?”
—
Meta Knight really shouldn’t have been surprised, and yet.
All things considered, if Galacta Knight was going to be staying in Dreamland for an extended period of time now that they had formed a friendship, then eventually he would have needed to find a way to earn money and afford things. The star warrior just figured that they’d cross that bridge when they got to it; only to stumble in and find that the bridge was right around the corner, and that he had almost no time to plan ahead and figure out if it was going to collapse halfway through everyone waltzing on over it.
Well, it was a little too late to do anything else now, besides follow after.
Meta Knight exited the throne room, cape drawn around himself and legendary warrior in tow as he started down the hallway with a half-hearted sigh.
“Oh don’t be so dramatic,” came a familiar hiss, followed by the soft scrape of metal shoes on the castle stone as Galacta Knight caught up to the knight. The warrior looked far too pleased with himself, knowing well enough that he purposely chose the option that would annoy the other more.
Now I have to watch out for when Dedede orders him to attack. Well, that was if Galacta Knight actually chose to take it seriously and listen.
“The only one being dramatic there was you,” Meta Knight muttered. For someone who seemed to pride himself on not caring about appearances, the warrior certainly liked to show off when he was fighting.
One of Galacta Knight’s wings flicked absently, a tick Meta Knight was starting to realize meant the other was irritated. “You were spying on me the whole time.”
“I watch over most of His Majesty's meetings,” the knight replied calmly, gaze set forward as he continued down the hallway. Sword and Blade usually cover any I miss. “Besides, now the King’s given you incentive to actually start fights.”
He took a sudden left, starting down a new corridor. Galacta Knight followed, still irritated.
“Pesky knight.”
Meta Knight bit down a quiet chuckle, eyes flashing a brief pink in amusement. “Is that supposed to be an insult, or some sort of nickname?”
The warrior huffed, shooting the other a light glare. “Both.”
The knight grinned behind his mask. “You know, you’re almost tolerable when you’re not destroying everything out of spite.” That earned him a deft whack on the head with one of the warrior’s lavender wings, disturbing the top of his cape. It felt like getting hit with a mildly-upset feather duster.
“Hm. I take it back, you’re unbearable and I’m not giving you a tour.”
Another whack.
That time Meta Knight paused, turning, yellow eyes narrowed as he shot the other a look.
Galacta Knight still had one wing extended out, hovering over the star warrior’s head in a manner that would have been a lot more threatening if it weren't covered in nothing but soft feathers. Amusement shone in his scarlet gaze, no traces of anger to be found. It was… pleasant, almost.
The knight started forward again, purple sabatons clicking silently as he walked. “We’ll stop by the library first, it’s the closest from here.”
There was a silent stir of wind as the warrior lifted off to follow from a few feet in the air, wings spread wide and giving tiny flaps to keep himself stabilized. “If you say.”
Meta Knight eyed the other as he took another turn around a corner, relying on his mental map of the castle for navigating. “That’s rather tricky to pull off without a lot of room,” he commented, still observing the other’s flying.
“I’m sure you’d fall flat on your face with your measly wing control.”
The knight faltered for half a second, momentarily panicking before relaxing in quick succession as he remembered that Galacta Knight already knew, very well, all about the star warrior’s own wings. I forgot for a moment there .
“Don’t ever mention anything about them here, or in the vicinity of anyone else,” Meta Knight whispered sharply, voice turning serious as his eyes darted around to search for anyone in the hallways.
Galacta Knight scoffed, but lowered his voice. “Yes yes, you’ve already proven that you’re willing to die to keep such a thing secret.”
“If you say one word to anyone—”
“You’ll come after me with a vengeance or that petty sword, I’m sure.” The temporal warrior looked down at him from his place in the air, something strange passing over his eyes.
Meta Knight frowned slightly. Was that... guilt?
“Relax,” the other snapped, expression closing off quickly. “It may have been a while for me, but if I remember, friends are supposed to trust each other.”
“I know,” the knight shot back, a little prickly.
They both immediately fell quiet after that, realizing something.
Do we trust each other?
The short, most obvious answer was no, but the long answer was more of a complicated mess that would probably give him a headache if he focused on it for too long.
Best not to dwell on it now. He’d had enough of digging around in his own thoughts for a while, it was time for a nice, peaceful tour instead. Granted, if Galacta Knight didn’t start a fight with the first unlucky soul they ran into.
Brushing it aside, the knight and the warrior continued on in silence.
A few minutes later, they finally came upon the library double-doors, each decorated with a golden Dedede statue placed on pedestals at either side. Meta Knight pushed them open as the hinges gave a soft creak, breaking the spell of quiet. He peered inside.
It was empty, for the moment.
The star warrior pushed the doors ajar all the way, amber eyes locking in on Galacta Knight as the pink warrior swooped through them from above, before giving a small loop in the air. He landed gently next to one of the bookshelves, observing it, as a few feathers drifted down from his wings, shaken loose from the action.
Meta Knight fought the urge to roll his eyes. Show off. He pretended he didn’t feel the slightest hint of bitterness about having grown so clumsy with his own flying.
Hopefully that won’t even matter again. He certainly didn’t have any plans to reveal his wings to anyone else, that was for sure. Still, he would admit that occasionally he missed flying. He hadn’t actually had to face it so directly in years until Galacta Knight turned up here.
The knight sighed inwardly as he shut the doors behind him, and stepped forward. “The castle has quite a diverse collection of books,” he started explaining, letting his cape sweep back behind him as it fell away from his arms. “I’m sure a few in here even mention you.”
Faintly, Meta Knight could recall a time long before Kirby arrived, when he had come searching for books here of that exact sort. At the time, it was nothing more than passing curiosity for the fallen hero who had been condemned to live on for eons in crystal, defeated at the hand of the knight. Now, the thought just brought with it a quiet jab of guilt, but there was nothing much he could do about the past, anyways. Might as well just stay content with the present.
Galacta Knight’s eyes narrowed down to slits as he picked a book off the shelf at random, scrutinizing it. After a pause, he flipped it open and began paging through it. “None of those stories about me are correct; they’re all twisted in The Ancients' favors. Besides, my title isn’t right either. Not anymore, at least.”
Ah, that was right. Another important thing that had slipped the star warrior’s mind. I’m still the greatest warrior in the galaxy. They never actually finished an official rematch, meaning the outcome hadn’t changed and he still held the title. Not that anyone outside of his friends knew that now, though.
Not even the other remaining star warriors ever knew. They only thought that he had gone on a quest seeking out a wish-granting comet, only to come back with nothing more than scratches and bruises. The only one he had told the entire truth to was Jecra, and that was ages ago, back when his closest friend had still been alive and uncorrupted by Nightmare. The recollection brought with it a pang of loss, but the knight shook it away quickly, refocusing.
Strangely, the temporal warrior wasn’t acting as bothered by it as Meta Knight had feared. In fact, right now he seemed more concerned about whatever was in the book he was holding, rather than his lack of a legendary title.
“What… is the name of the language this is in?” The other asked after a moment, sounding hesitant. He held the book upside down a moment, as if that would tell him, before turning it back up.
Meta Knight tilted his head slightly, puzzled, before waking up beside the warrior. His amber eyes narrowed, skimming over the current page it was open to as he looked for anything that might be amiss. It…. just seemed to be about forest ecosystems, from what he could glean. Perfectly readable.
“We just call it the common language of Popstar,” he finally answered. It’s the same in most parts of the galaxy, if he remembered right, from his old travels from planet to planet. The warrior probably had a different, fancy, ancient name for it, causing a conflict.
“Oh… Of course, yes.” Galacta Knight almost sounded nervous of all things, as he shut the book with a sudden clap, before trying to haphazardly stick it back on the shelf. It rattled the entire bookcase from the use of force, causing the next book to fall over on its side, and then another. A domino effect of sorts started along the entire row.
The warrior hissed, trying to straighten them back up as his eyes darted along the various titles on the spines.
Meta Knight watched the entire scene, perplexed, and not quite knowing if he should ask what that was about, or step in to help. Either would likely get him another smack on the head with a feathered wing.
Galacta Knight got it fixed before the knight could come to a decision, though his wings were now ruffled up and a few of the books were upside down on the shelf. It was the effort that counted.
“Do you have any magic tomes?” The warrior huffed afterwards, shooting a glare at the knight even though he hadn’t done anything.
Meta Knight frowned behind his mask, mulling over it. It was an intriguing request, but the star warrior probably wasn’t the right one to ask. “Not exactly that I know of. Though, I don’t have much of any experience with magic—”
“Nonsense,” Galacta Knight cut in, glancing at where Galaxia was sheathed at the knight’s side. “I can sense you using it when you attack with your sword.”
Oh, that’s right. The warrior had mentioned something about ‘sensing’ an enchantment on Galaxia when he had retrieved it from the canyon. Meta Knight didn’t really know what that was about. It made him curious, at least. “If I am, I’m not… aware of it then.”
The other glared again, as if this was somehow a great offense. Then he turned away, muttering something about learning magic and wasted potential as he wandered off to a different bookcase.
“Glyphs? Runes? Anything like that?”
Meta Knight sighed. This was starting to sound like something that would only be found in Curio’s home, down in Cappy Town. Perhaps they’d have to venture over when the knight felt sure enough that Galacta Knight wouldn’t wreck havoc on the place. “No, not that I know of. What exactly is it you’re looking for? There might be a more modern equivalent.”
The warrior let out an irritated huff, disappearing behind a shelf. “It’s nothing important.”
I’m sure that’s not as true as he would like me to think.
And, speaking of things that apparently ‘weren't important’, Meta Knight still had the unreadable note that the other had left him previously, tucked away safely in the Dimensional Cape. It needed to be translated.
I doubt there’s any books in here that can translate Halcadrian. If that was even what it was written in; it was only going off an assumption. Unfortunately, the only one who could easily tell him, was also the least likely to do anything that the star warrior wanted.
All these vast amounts of books, and yet none of them are the kind either of us are actually looking for. It was inconvenient, but then again, anything involving magic just inherently sounded as if it could cause trouble, definitely so if it fell into the wrong hands.
It’s probably good there’s nothing like that lying open around here.
The knight was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of the library door opening again, its noisy hinges betraying the arrival of whoever was on the other side.
Meta Knight spared the warrior a glance before turning around, immediately catching sight of a certain pink puffball, who was peering at him from the doorway.
“Poyo?” Kirby questioned, tilting his head to the side.
The knight drew his cape back around himself. “You can come in, Kirby.”
“Poyo,” the smaller star warrior chirped happily, running in and over to Meta Knight’s side without further hesitation.
The knight reached out and gave him a fond pat on the head, the hint of a smile forming behind his mask. Kirby’s presence always seemed to radiate a positive happiness, something that was a bit contagious at times. “What are you doing all the way in here?”
“Poyo, yo!”
The hinges creaked again, causing the two to look over as another oncomer appeared. In the background, Meta Knight registered the faint sound of more books being pulled off a shelf.
“Sir—?” Sword peaked his head inside, spotting the two star warriors. He shuffled in, shutting the door behind him and giving a hasty salute.
“Sword Knight,” Meta Knight nodded in acknowledgement, quickly shoving down the instinctive panic that tried to take root in him. I’m not hiding from them anymore, and Galacta Knight is a friend now, not a foe. If only he could adapt to peace as well as he did to fighting.
“What brings you and Kirby here?”
His knight started forward, explaining. “We heard news about the King having a meeting with Galacta Knight; Blade already went to see if he can gather anything else on it beyond rumors. I came to inform you, but Kirby wanted to tag along.”
Meta Knight bit back a sigh. “It already happened. I watched over it; King Dedede hired him to fight with Kirby, but he hasn’t decided when.”
“Poyo?” Kirby tilted his head to the side, confused by such news.
“He doesn’t hold a grudge towards you,” Meta Knight assured, turning back to the puffball. “Galacta Knight just enjoys a challenge.” And getting on my nerves.
The temporal warrior took that as cue to emerge from the bookshelf he was behind, causing Sword to startle and grab for his weapon on instinct. Galacta Knight paid little mind. “None of these books are useful.”
“It would be easier to help if I knew what to look for,” Meta Knight answered, watching as Kirby curiously padded over to the warrior.
Galacta Knight paused, wings flaring out slightly as he watched the puffball approach and come to a stop in front of him. “What do you want?” He hissed, voice low.
“Poyo!” Kirby announced, reaching a paw forward in a gesture of friendliness.
The warrior’s wings flared out further, trying to be intimidating. His crimson eyes narrowed to scathing slits. “Is that a threat of some sort?”
“It’s a greeting,” Meta Knight clarified, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.
“Poyo,” the small star warrior repeated, reaching out and giving a light pat to the top of the warrior’s platinum mask, trying to get his friendly affection across.
Galacta Knight froze, red gaze boring into Kirby. The feathers on his wings ruffled up in warning.
Stars, he better not be debating what his next counterattack will be. Meta Knight sighed, starting forward with a palm raised, already prepared to interrupt yet another fight. “That’s not a threat ei… ther.”
The words promptly fell short as the knight watched in genuine surprise, as the ancient warrior stretched a wing forward, and lightly hit the large, outer feathers over Kirby’s head.
The pink puffball smiled, attention immediately shifting to them. He balanced up in his tip-toes, trying to poke one as Galacta Knight held it up just out of reach. A few smaller feathers drifted down, which Kirby tried to grab.
Something about the scene filled Meta Knight with a sudden, pleasant fondness, momentarily pushing any worries he had to the side. He does have a calmer side to him, however hidden it may be. Kirby also just kind of had that effect on most anyone he met. Even Dedede, at times.
Sword stood by, just looking extremely confused.
Meta Knight decided that he’d just try to explain later.
Galacta Knight tucked his wing back in after another minute, much to Kirby’s dismay. The puffball recovered quickly though, motioning to the warrior, then to himself, and finally back to the door. “Poyo,” he chirped again, trying to get his point across.
Galacta Knight’s gaze sharpened. “You want me to follow you, child?”
The small star warrior nodded quickly, before switching to pat his stomach. “Poyo.”
“I think Kirby wants to take you to get something to eat,” Sword spoke up, still sounding a bit wary. He shot a glance at Meta Knight, who simply gave a light shrug in response.
“Friends… do that,” Galacta Knight muttered to himself, just loud enough to hear. He spared Meta Knight a glance, unsure, then he straightened up. “I’ll accept your request, young one.”
Kirby’s eyes sparkled, happy at the outcome and the prospect of food. “Poyo,” he declared, grabbing the edge of Galacta Knight’s glove and trying to urge him forward with it.
The temporal warrior complied, falling quiet as he seemed to observe Kirby.
Meta Knight already started to follow from a few paces behind. “Kirby, you know the way to the kitchens?”
“Poyo!” The puffball affirmed, still leading Galacta Knight by his glove.
Sword walked in-step just behind the older star warrior, the only one seeming to question what exactly was going on.
For once, Meta Knight didn’t feel the need to stress over it.
As far he could tell, everything was finally starting to settle down.