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It had been a few days after Yin Yarn’s attempt to take over Dreamland, and Kirby decided to return to Patch Land for a visit. They brought Meta Knight along, as he wasn’t able to explore much of the place when they were here. They explored Patch Castle, Grass land, Hot land, and all of the rest.
But Meta knight stopped, and took some time at space land.
He looked around the area, noticing all of the difficulties that the poor young warrior had to go through, just so they could fight him. Just so they could bring Patch Land together, to stop Yin Yarn, and to save their mentor from the grasps of being possessed.
Just for you to hurt them even more.
You goddamn failure.
They eventually reached the area where the two battled, and Meta Knight’s eyes glowed a bright green under his mask, signaling his deep train of thought.
Why was my mind so weak?
Why didn’t I resist harder?
Why couldn’t I be better?
Kirby’s voice broke the silence lingering between them.
“Meta? Are you okay? We’ve been here a while.. and I want to get back to the castle.”
“O-oh! Sorry Kirby, I was just…
thinking.” Meta knight turned around to face Kirby, eyes still glowing green. The pink puff, now worried about the old knight, starting thinking as well.
What was he thinking about that made him so silent?
…Was it the battle we had?
Kirby hadn’t noticed that Meta knight had started walking away, and he turned back to look at them.
“Come on, let’s go.” He waved his hand in a signaling motion, and Kirby caught up with them. They walked together, and Kirby had started retelling stories of her travels through this world, until they reached her apartment.
Kirby opened the door, showing Meta Knight her nicely decorated room. The walls were a nice shade of green, as they were not too bright, but not too dark. The floor had a soft blue color, and had a similar shade to the green walls. A bookshelf near the end of the room was filled to the brim with books that were most likely, never read. Nearby, a white bean bag next to a white coffee table had a weirdly accurate plushie of the elder Star Warrior, causing Meta Knight to beam a large smile under his mask. He continued to look around the room, finding a place to sit nearby a plain white bed, which Kirby said was the guest one.
He finally had a chance to take off his mask, and they had a proper chance to breathe. He set the mask down near him, right on his side, and he and Kirby were able to talk about their time here.
“So..what did you have to fight in water land? I know that you went through there, but we didn’t go underwater.”
“Oh, water land? I had to fight this thing.. this octopus, named Capamari. They were a tough one to defeat, and I almost died multiple times..but I eventually got it! Thankfully, I know how to swim underwater for a while.”
Meta Knight’s heart felt heavy as he heard that Kirby was in actual danger, and especially in a situation they didn’t actually know how to fight in.
“Really? Sounds like a tough squid. Thankfully you got it.”
“Yeah..and in snow land..You won’t believe it, but King Dedede got possessed Again.”
“Not again..well did he at least put up a challenge this time?”
“Actually, he did! Since he was being pulled by strings, it technically wasn’t how the king normally fights, besides the other fact that he was made of yarn.”
“Huh.. thats actually very interesting.”
“And in space land..well..” Kirby didn’t feel the need to finish the sentence, as they both knew what happened then. They both turned away from one another, and the knight’s eyes slowly turned a light shade of green.
So we are going to talk about it.
Or maybe not.. I’m actually not sure.
Meta Knight felt the need to address what had happened, but before he could, Kirby said that he was tired. Which was fair, as he fought a lot a couple of days before. But, due to the his age and observations over the years, the elder warrior also knew that it was hard for Kirby to talk about a topic such as possession, especially if it’s about someone he deeply cares about. Kirby heads to his side of the apartment, and settles in for bed. Meta wishes him a good night’s sleep, and he eventually settles in as well.
Let’s hope I can sleep tonight.
——
A few hours later, deep into the night, Kirby wakes up. Thankfully, it wasn’t a nightmare, he just woke up involuntarily. He rubs his eyes, and slides off his bed. He walks over to Meta Knight’s bed, hoping to sleep next to them for the night, but he noticed that his mentor was shaking. Badly.
Are they okay? Why are they shaking?
Kirby has always had a sense of someone having a nightmare, so he questioned if the nightmare Meta was having was about him. He knew that the poor knight hadn’t gotten any sleep since Yin Yarn tried to take over, and he was getting concerned. Kirby looked around for the sleep ability, and grabbed ahold of it. He held it in his hands, questioning to himself if he should really barge in on his mentor’s privacy like this, to interrupt something he wasn’t supposed to.
Is this the right choice?
What if they get mad?
Kirby pushed those thoughts away, and settled on a decision. If Meta was having a nightmare, he would help them. No matter what. Kirby settled into the pillows beside the knight, making sure they were comfortable, and soft. He snuggled under the sheets, and absorbed the sleep ability. Kirby was thankfully, able to quickly fall asleep, and they were able to join the knights slumber.
Kirby couldn’t have prepared for the sight that waited him when he joined the other’s dream.
They were back in the room where the two fought for the first time, but something was off. The multicolored swords that awaited the knight were gone, and he was on the floor, his eyes constantly changing purple and yellow shades back and forth.
Oh no. I knew it! I-I need to help him!
Kirby charged forwards, ready to snap his mentor mind back into reality, when the knight stopped her in her tracks.
Except, he didn’t actually make contact with Kirby, no, The young Star Warrior had actually heard the Knight’s thoughts.
I’m sorry I failed you, my little star.
Kirby couldn’t believe what she just heard him say, or thought.
Little Star?
What.. exactly does that mean?
Kirby’s train of thought was abruptly stopped, as she noticed Meta Knight look up at her, purple finally setting in.
Shit! He’s possessed!
The Star Warrior jumped back, ready to fight, as they did before. She knows how he will fight now, and she knew not to hold back. Meta Knight quickly took to the air, dodging the spikes at the top of the dome. He unshielded Galaxia, and used his signature sword beam attack, and Kirby was ready to roll it up. As the sword beams came closer, she rolled the first one up, unaware of the second that was rapidly approaching. It hit them in their side, causing both of the beams to unravel. Kirby cursed, picking themselves up after the attack, guard up high.
Why did that beam.. hurt so much? It.. never hurts like that..
What’s going on?
Meta knight swooped down, raising the sword up high, and slashing down onto the floor with flames bursting everywhere. Kirby ducked just in time, slightly getting burned by the fire. Meta took to the air again, and unleashed 5 more sword beams, all of them coming in at different sides.
Get the closest one, and dodge the rest.
Kirby jumped up, and rolled up a sword beam. He dodged the rest of the heat seeking ones, and prepared for when the Knight would come back down. Fortunately, that was very soon. Meta Knight dived down, and summoned two room-wide tornados, another one of his signature attacks. He left his guard down for a couple seconds, and Kirby used this to his advantage. He threw the tooled up yarn at the other’s blind spot, bringing back some of their consciousness back.
“Ugh..oh god..” Meta knight finally regained some control, but purple still laced his eyes. He looked up, and his eyes caught Kirby’s.
What is he doing?!
Why is he here?!?
“Kirby? W-what are you going?! If you stay here, you’ll-You’ll get hurt!”
“I’m here to help you! I noticed you were having a nightmare, and I came to help you!”
Oh no. This is bad. This is really, Really bad.
He could get hurt like this!
He.. he’s in my dream..
“Kirby! You..You joined my dream....” Meta Knight broke off, Aggressively coughing into his glove.
Oh fuck.
There was blood on his glove.
All of a sudden, Meta Knight was back on the Halberd, and instantly, he knew what was about to go down.
The Halberd was sinking into the orange ocean, and he had a very little amount of time to escape. He had to leave the bottom deck, to the top in around 20-30 seconds.
Not again. Not again.. This..its can’t be..
It Can’t Be Happening Again!
Meta knight transformed his cape into wings, but a sharp, stabbing pain, shot through him, forcing him to remember that his wings were injured, and that he couldn’t use them. He looked around, and he was in the ship’s engine, with darkness surrounding him. He had just gotten out of the battle with Kirby, and he had to leave. He started to panic, as he saw water from the ocean start to fill the room. He started to climb the metal pipes of the Halberd’s engine, before he snagged his glove on a sharp, broken end of a pipe. And his hand, started to quickly bleed through his glove.
They kept climbing through the darkness of the engine, trying their best to ignore the excruciating pain that was traveling through them, both from their wings, and their freshly wounded hand. They reached the top of the engine, where an emergency exit had been installed. They tried their best to open it, pounding on the bottom of the door, but the pain got the better of them. They collapsed, curling into a ball, wings trying to cover their body. Since their mask had been broken during Their fight against Kirby, they had nothing to protect the only part part of them they wanted to keep secret, and the only part of themselves that they were self conscious about. Hot tears started rolling down their face, hyperventilating, and mind circling with one singular thought.
When had I become so weak?
“M—a?!”
“Me—!”
“Meta!”
Kirby’s voice snapped him back to reality.
“W-what? What happened?” Meta Knight’s voice was weak, barely rasping out an answer to the young one’s calls.
When the knight looked up, he noticed that Kirby looked gray, signaling that he had been hurt.
“What happened to you? D-did I do that?” Meta Knight started to panic again, his memories flashing back and forth.
“Um.. Kind of- but that doesn’t matter! Are you okay? You were talking when you coughed into your hand, and you became possessed again! But.. midway through the scene changed…to..the Halberd?
“Kirby.. I need you to do something.”
“What is it? I-i can’t find any food around here, so I can’t heal you but-“
“No—cough—I need.. I need you to wake up.”
“I-I’ll try!”
Kirby jolts awake, processing what just happened in that nightmare. She shakes Meta awake, and he wakes up soon after.
“Ok..now that we’re safe..I’ll..explain.” Meta Knight rasped out their words, and cleared their throat to try and gain Kirby’s full attention.
“So..what do you want to know?”
“Well.. why were you dreaming about..
yknow..that?”
“I haven’t gotten a chance to properly process what happened that day. As you know, when you came to the “arena” I guess, I was fighting off Yin-Yarn as much as I could. But.. I haven’t been through this type of experience before. When you fought the king, you may have noticed that he recovered faster, and perhaps he might be able to..well, sleep. But I have never been possessed, or brainwashed before. And it hurts. A lot.” His tone was heavy, and his voice was quiet. As if he was reliving old memories lost to time.
“How?”
“For starters, you feel as though a part of you is locked away. That part of you, is your ability to escape mind control. It can be avoided, but it takes a lot of effort and time. Another thing, is that you can sometimes still have your own thoughts. But what you say, could be something completely different.” They explained, leading Kirby to understand their situation that day.
“Is that why you were saying those things back when we fought for the first time here?”
“..Yes. I realize I said some..hurtful things to you during our battle. But what I said isn’t true. You didn’t fail me, you didn’t fail the king, and you didn’t fail Dreamland. You actually saved all three, you have never been a failure. I, on the other hand…”
Just say it.
Admit it.
Admit you’re a mistake.
Admit that you don’t deserve to be a hero.
“I..I am. I have been unsuccessful in protecting our world, and.. I don’t think I deserve to be a hero. Even after all of the times we worked together, I haven’t been able to protect the people I love. I get mad at myself, and..and I feel as though I can’t even protect you, my own child!”
The words that came from Meta Knight’s mouth slipped their mind. His eyes have long since glowed a bright green, and he went silent.
Did..he just say that?
Am I..his..child?
No..that, that can’t be right.
..Right?
A long silence between them filled the room. The words sank into Kirby’s head, leading the two to think deeply about the events and words that have been said. Kirby brushed his hand against Meta’s, and leaned against him. Meta wrapped a wing around the pink puffball, providing a type of comfort that only a parent can deliver.
Kirby needed to test her theory.
“Dad?”
Her voice broke the silence between them, and Meta Knight’s eyes changed color to a light pink color.
Never seen that color before.
Or maybe a couple times.
I’m not..exactly sure when though.
After a long minute, Meta finally speaks up.
“What did you say?”
“Dad. I said dad.”
Tears began to form at the old warrior’s eyes, and he nods. He scoops Kirby up from his spot, moving his wing away just in time. He holds Kirby close, and the young Star nuzzled into his cheek in response. He embraces the child, unafraid to show his unconditional love for them. He nuzzles Kirby’s cheek, and plants a small peck between their eyes. Kirby snuggles up close, and they hug Meta back. The knight wraps them both in his wings, adding additional comfort.
When was the last time we did this?
It’s been too long, my little star.
“..I missed being able to do this, little one.” Meta Knight finally Admitted, as he begins to rub circles into Kirby’s back.
“..I..have one more question.”
“Hm?”
“In.. all of our fights, and revenge plots..
what went through your head?”
“That..well, I was training you. In almost all of our previous battles before this one, I was teaching you things you’d have to learn to survive. But I realized that I had sometimes been a little too harsh. So I would beat myself up over it, thinking that I was overdoing it, or that I had screwed up again.”
“Huh. One last thing. Why..did our dream change mid-battle? It suddenly went from the space land dome, to the lowest deck of the Halberd. Why is that?”
Oh.
Nova, I hate that memory.
But..it won’t hurt to talk about it.
Maybe I’ll feel better.
“The reason it changed was because.. I was reliving something. I was reliving our battle on the Halberd a couple years back, and how I had to get out before it fully sunk. I had.. been Through a lot that day. And I..I went through an experience I don’t usually get.”
“Okay.. well, I hope you get better meta.”
The two stayed silent after that, for at least a good 5 minutes, before they decided to go back into bed. They settled in, and prepared to sleep again.
“So.. you’re my dad huh?” Kirby asked, hesitant.
“Yes. Yes I am.” Meta knight confirmed, holding Kirby close to their chest protectively, enjoying every last moment with his child, before Popstar encounters danger again.
“Good night dad.”
“Good night, my little star.”
The end.