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"Why.."
Meta Knight would've sobbed. Instead it came up as a croak in his voice as he sat in the empty grounds. Just him and one other survivor, as far as he knew. Him, that one guy, Saber was their name, and Galaxia.
"It doesn't matter anyways, knight."
Galaxia's voice was smooth as silk and calm as a mirror-still pond. It's almost like she was completely uncaring as to what had just occurred in that battlefield, or what it entailed for the rest of the galaxy. It's almost like she didn't care at all, except for the fact that her wielder had survived.
"They were weak anyways. You are strong. You will survive. And you will claim holy justice, for yourself, me, and more importantly, the Stars you serve. All that matters was that you survived. Even if it is the worst case scenario, you have survived, you will continue to wield me, and you will continue to be the most powerful."
Meta Knight had been through so much that honestly, emotions were hard to come by at this point. Sadness was hardpressed, thanks to the war basically taking everything from him. Thanks for that, war.
"You will continue to be the hope of the universe. You will continue to be my wielder."
She continued, still graceful in how she weaved her sentences. They were like gentle music in his ears, to keep him calm with her, to try and keep him unquestioning. But, well, it seems as though that didn't work very well.
"Do you really not care about what just happened? We've lost the war, every single person in the army is dead except for me and Sabre. And I haven't seen Sabre in weeks, so they've either died or fled."
Meta Knight kept his voice as steady as he could over his heart in his.. Uh.. Orb throat. He still sounded very nicely high strung, and it seemed like Galaxia didn't care too much for that either.
"Let them die or flee. It doesn't matter to me, to either of us. The strongest of the strong, we will always come out victorious. It does not matter, in a matter of numbers, whether some or all the weak die. So long as the strong do not, there is no battle lost."
"You.. You don't understand how war works."
"A war is lost if you stop fighting, knight. I will not allow evil to reign, and I will not allow you to die. Stars willing, I'd pull you from the cosmos myself if you even dared step one foot into them. And I can be very convincing."
Meta Knight sighed at her words and stared into her glimmering surface of gold.
"You don't care, so long as I don't die."
"No, knight. To me, there is no caring. I will expect nothing less than victory from the person I have chosen to hold me, because emotions are secondary. Fail me, die in body, die in strength, and you will earn my infinite scorn."
Meta Knight, when he was awake and conscious, didn't even think about how his sword was missing from his person. He'd simply did as he did after getting a Wolfwrath whatever it was again out of his head. It was only when he'd desired to go to sleep later in the evening did he see that the sword was leaned against the wall, perfectly there.
How did Galaxia get there.
He picked her up and his entire brain seized with pain, he hissed, trying to unhand her only to find his muscles were spasming from the light shocks his hand was receiving. A trembling breath of pain escaped him.
"I tasted true strength. That child is stronger than you, Meta Knight."
Galaxia's voice, smooth as always, did not change its tone. Ever. He hadn't heard her ever take on any other tone than that, but he knew of its danger sheerly from the pain his hand was in.
"Either you are growing feeble or others are stepping above you. Or maybe, it's both. Whatever it is, I won't stand for it."
The shocks creeped up his arm, making the blue knight gasp and wheeze, his other hand taking Galaxia by her blade and trying to rip her out of his own hands that way.
"Beg for my forgiveness or I'll send you to the Stars to have them judge how pathetic you are."
Her command struck him as he felt the shocks growing. They burnt him, down to his blood, and it was honestly something he hoped to never experience again. Was this something that Garlude had felt, all those years ago? But worse?
"Please, forgive me.."
He was still struggling, and the shocks kept coming. Maybe wearing those metal shoulderpads didn't help his shock resistance.
"Forgive you for what."
"Please forgive me for being incapable, Galaxia.."
The shocks stopped, thankfully, but Meta Knight's hand still didn't let go of the sword. Something kept it there, whether it be the aftershocks or Galaxia's own forces, he didn't know. It still hurt to hold her.
"You're forgiven. But I'm not forgetting your failure, Meta Knight. If you disappoint me more, like you did today, I will not be so easily swayed. I will have you beg much louder for your disgusting smudge on my name, and your own personal record if you do."
Meta Knight didn't like the sounds of how Galaxia talked. It sounded somewhat.. Egotistical, perhaps. Not wanting to be wielded by someone who made mistakes. Then again, she was a sword only the strongest could wield, and had amazing properties. It was quite a reason to be picky.
"We will only have a talk like this only a few times more. Maybe four. After that, I will pick a new wielder, do you understand me?"
"Yes.."
"Do not fail me."
When he'd dropped her, he nursed to his newly damaged hand. The damages from Wolfwrath were nothing in comparison to Galaxia's scolding electricity. Of the two, he'd rather fight another Wolfwrath, even three, than ever feel that again.
Unfortunately for Meta Knight, just a few weeks later, he fell in battle to Masher, whom Knuckle Joe and Kirby later defeated. Galaxia had watched the whole thing and scolded Meta Knight justly, and made good on her promise to truly make him beg that night.
It's a good thing the castle walls were thick stone, lest someone think he was dying.
Meta Knight had gone through failure after failure. Mostly pertaining to Kirby. Then he tried to defeat Dark Meta Knight, which failed. He tried to keep Kirby from the Star Rod as to keep Nightmare in the fountain, then failed. He'd tried to compete in the Battle Royale against Kirby, then failed. He'd tried to conquer dreamland, which failed.
It was just a string of losses, and over it, the scoldings from Galaxia got worse.
He'd upped the anty now, he wanted to redeem himself. Through his beatings, through his desire to gain more power, throughout it all, he wanted to redeem himself and be a worthy wielder.
Which is why he summoned NOVA.
Which is why he asked for the greatest warrior in the galaxy.
History repeated itself, though. As Meta Knight laid barely conscious on the blue floor of the planet they'd flown to, he could barely recognize Galaxia's voice in his head. It sounded so.. Different. Maybe it was a side effect of being so thoroughly pummeled.
What wasn't a side effect of being so thoroughly pummeled was the electrocution that singed his entire nerve into a state of hyper-tenseness, causing him a flood of pain and a flood of screaming to come out of his mouth.
"You've failed me for the last time! You've grown weak, you've grown soft, you're pathetic! You disgust me, you vile thing! How dare you misuse me, how dare you betray me so much!"
Her voice was angry. He could hear her over his own screaming, but he couldn't process what she was saying.
"You are weak, just like everything else! You've become feeble, you're delusional with how much I'm willing to put up with! You abomination and sad excuse of a Star Warrior! You've just gotten worse and worse!"
Her singe grew more and more, ensnaring him in his entirety. The knight whom Meta Knight had been fighting just stared on with silent.. Well, Meta Knight couldn't possibly know since he was focused on himself rather than the other knight.
"For your crimes against me, against the Stars, there's only one solution! To stop embarrassing me, to stop embarrassing yourself, I'll give you the end you deserve; the one of a weakling!"
Her electricity amped up as he tried to flap his wings, to struggle, to do anything other than be tortured and yelled at like he was.
"Feel no pride as my electricity destroys you, weak Star Warrior, for you ascend with a most pitiful yet just demise. You are truly the worst wielder I have ever had, and the second I've had the displeasure of dispatching myself. Goodbye."
The shocks continued with no commentary as he tried to power through it, but as they just kept up and up, eventually his screams stopped, and his brain stopped. As soon as he was truly gone, the shocks discontinued, all that was left was a slightly blackened blueberry and the knight he'd fought.
The knight kicked at the remains, before poking at the sword, cautiously. When pink knight even let so much as a finger onto the sword's hilt, a voice chimed in their head.
"Hello," the woman spoke, calm and collected, "I have recognized your power and have chosen you as my new wielder. Do not fail me."