The Interpretation of Dreams

Chapter One – By the Pricking of My Thumbs

Finding a monster in King Dedede's castle was nothing unexpected nowadays. The king was nearly constantly ordering up something new to come after Kirby or to create general havoc; his hobby was an expensive and irritating one. And the matter of his bill… it was something that no one even wanted to think about, much less try to calculate. Probably the only ones who had a running tab on Dedede was Holy Nightmare itself, and heavens knew that the king would never pay back his debts if he could possibly get away with it. Even if he couldn't possibly get away with it, he still would try.

At this time of night, however, the entire castle was silent. Even Dedede refused to call up monsters at this late hour; he was a lazy thing and often indulged in a bit of sloth, sleeping late into the day. He would have never been caught doing anything at this time of night but snoring and perhaps dreaming of hammering certain pink puffballs into the ground.

For some, though, the night was sleepless. It was not an unusual occurrence, but somewhat vexatious nonetheless; a lack of sleep was not conducive to vigilance. But there were times that rest would simply not come, and there was little use in lying in bed, staring up at a dark and empty ceiling. The night air was at least refreshing, and, for a while, Meta Knight could stand upon the ramparts, his cloak wrapped tightly around his body, and secretly gaze upward at the heavens. Stargazing was something that he did not often have time to do, and perhaps it might have been an odd pastime for him to engage in—after all, he had seen more of the stars than could ever have been visible in this inky-black sky. For some reason, though, the pinpricks that glimmered like diamond dust were comforting, and for a long time he would stare at them, and remember those who he was not staring at them with.

Meta Knight was old, far older than anyone really believed him to be, and he had seen skies like this shift and change over the passing of many, many years. He had seen stars die, had even at one point seen a supernova from as close as a star warrior could safely travel; it had been spectacular, the descent of that sullenly glowing red sun into a brilliant blast of vivid white and then a corona of every color, growing outward in fantastic shapes taken straight from a dreamscape. That star-death had been magnificent and terrible at the same time, but its beauty was undeniable and had etched itself immutably into the knight's mind. It was not something that he would ever forget nor would he have ever wished to. It had been like a symphony with a cadence vaster and more complex than the universe.

The sights from this planet were not as impressive as the view from space, as the atmosphere created unfortunate distortions of the light… and there were all sorts of physics that made the sights less stunning, but, even so, there was enjoyment in looking up at the heavens. This night there was a meteor shower, only visible at these dismally late hours, and the skies were streaked with silver trails. The air was chill, as well, but with his cloak for protection Meta Knight felt comfortable enough on the barren rampart. He watched it for more hours than he cared to count, until the brilliant threads that slashed the sky had faded entirely away. The horizon had begun to lighten, signaling the coming of dawn, just barely beginning to glow faintly in pastel colors.

With a gentle sigh, Meta Knight stepped down from the parapet upon which he had kept his silent vigil, and began to walk the chill, empty halls of Dedede's castle. Silence still reigned, though that suited him fine—it was more peaceful here when everyone was asleep and unable to cause mischief. His footfalls, soft as they were, echoed off of the stone walls; the sound followed him along his path. Eventually his footsteps led him far down into the castle, and, with his dark cloak still wrapped around his form, he entered into the kitchen door that had come up on his left.

Inside, the hearth was lit with a roaring fire, making the area seem stiflingly hot; Meta Knight released the material of his cloak from his grip, allowing it to fall gently into place behind him. It was too warm here for its protection, even though he would not be staying very long. There would be Waddle Dees around somewhere, preparing for the king's morning meal—more like a feast—though they were not present at the moment. The silence remained unbroken.

After locating a teapot, Meta Knight lit the stove and put the water on to boil; he normally had a cup of tea to break his fast, but since he was up so early he was used to making his own. The loose Tamaryokucha leaves were kept in a tightly-sealed jar in a cupboard, which the star warrior soon located and opened, placing some of its contents into a tea strainer. It was not too long before the water was almost to boiling, and he took it from the stove and poured it into a cup with the strainer.

In a few minutes he had his usual cup of green tea, and had left the kitchen once he had cleaned up after himself. As he again took up his customary perusal of the hallways, the old knight lifted his mask a little to sip at his hot tea and was content in the knowledge that, for the moment, all was well. Or as well as it could be, at least.

He had hardly gotten to halfway through his tea when, in passing the king's throne room, he heard the sound of voices from within. Later in the day this would not have been an unusual occurrence, but at this hour it was suspicious… Meta Knight moved closer, pressing a gloved hand against the wooden door to push it open just enough to slip through. The tea was left behind in the hallway as he moved silently; it could be attended to later, when more important things were finished. It was easy enough then to blend with the heavy shadows of the massive pillars, where he could wait and listen.

"So you're telling me that this monster will get rid of Kirby?" that was the voice of the king, undoubtedly. It was hard to miss his loud, demanding tone.

"Of course. Well, then, we'll prepare the special merchandise for you, King Dedede." The voice of Customer Service drifted down from the television screen. Dedede was seated as usual on his throne, Escargon beside him, though the snail seemed to hold some derision in his expression.

"There's just the small matter of your bill…"

"I'll pay it later!" Dedede slammed his fist down on the armrest of his throne. "Just send that demon beast over, and make it quick!"

"I'm afraid that we can't process that request quite so early yet," Customer Service replied, adjusting his orange sunglasses mildly on his face. "It will be sent right over as soon as it's ready. Have a good day, your Majesty!" The screen went blank as Customer Service left to go wherever it was that he went, possibly to some deep inner chamber of Holy Nightmare's hideout. As silent as the shadows that concealed him, Meta Knight slipped from the throne room; he had heard all that he needed to. There would be a new monster coming later in the day, so, despite his lack of sleep, he would have to remain vigilant. Kirby and this entire town would need him to keep a sharp eye out, and he could not fail them.

Upon emerging, he found that the cup of tea that he had so carefully placed outside of the door was gone; the Waddle Dees had probably taken it away to be washed. With a sigh, he decided that he had better things to worry about than what became of his tea, and instead resumed his usual route through the castle. He would have to prepare himself… make himself ready for whatever battle would be arriving through Nightmare's transporter. Even if he did not usually have to interfere overmuch in Kirby's fights, there was always that chance that, perhaps, he would. If this was that time, he would be just as ready as every other time to come to the rescue of the young star warrior who was his charge.

Once he had finished the normal morning routine, Meta Knight found a secluded portion of the parapets to begin training, sparring with an invisible partner. There was no one here yet that would have been a skilled enough opponent; Sword and Blade were good fighters, but they were not of the same caliber as the old knight. Fighting them would not have been laborious at all, and Kirby… well, he needed far more training to become a serious sparring partner. Perhaps there would be time later, he thought as he thrust at his imagined foe, to train the young puffball a bit more in swordsmanship. He could learn much on his own, but there were some things that he had to be shown, and the only teacher here was Meta Knight.

The star warrior sheathed Galaxia and lifted his mask to draw the back of his gloved hand across his burning face; it was turning into quite a warm day, and the heat underneath his metallic mask was stifling. Not for the first time he questioned his choice in materials for it.

"Sir Meta Knight!"

The mask was nearly slammed back over his face, concealing it entirely from view before it could be spied. He turned sharply, and before him stood the out-of-breath forms of his trusted subordinates, Sword and Blade, both of whom appeared to have run a marathon before reaching their lord. Surprise and anxiety at being caught with his face exposed soon faded into concern, and he approached the two with his cloak drawn close.

"Sword, Blade. What is going on?"

"The… the king…" Blade gasped, trying to regain his breath enough to speak. "He's… gotten another… monster. It's… uncontrollable…!"

Those words had scarcely left his mouth before there was a deafening crash from somewhere within the castle; the sound of screams accompanied it. Meta Knight threw the dark cloak back and drew his sword, and it crackled with electric energy. This was the monster that Dedede had ordered in the morning… he thought he would have more time than this. It did not matter now, however—there was, now, only the duty that he saw before him. He had to protect the people in this castle and, dislike him as he might, his king.

"Let's go!" The star warrior hastened away, his footfalls echoing in the stone corridors along with the heavy paces of his subordinates, moving steadily and unerringly towards the source of chaos and destruction.

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A/n—Kirby and the Kirby anime series are products of their respective owners, of course. I own nothing but the storyline, which is a product of a particularly stubborn plot bunny. Since I have only seen the Japanese version of the show, that's the one I'm going by for names and such. Thus, it translates as follows:

Customer Service – Salesguy in the American version

Escargon – Escargoon

Holy Nightmare Co. – NightMare Enterprises

Galaxy Soldier Army – Not mentioned in the US dub, but it was a group of soldiers who fought against Nightmare. Some were star warriors, but not all.

Fumu – Tiff

Bun – Tuff

If any of these names are confusing, just let me know and I'll switch them back to the American versions. I use them because they're familiar to me, but I only watch the Japanese subs of the show… I like them better than the dubs. (Meta Knight sounds like Zorro in the dub… '')