crystalline reflections in rose flavoured ice

by kvrobas

Summary:

Galacta Knight knows how this goes. They are summoned. They fight. They win, or... perhaps, they lose. Either way, they’re sealed away again. Repeat ad infinitum.

This “Kirby” is different. They promise them a life of peace, a life of good food and naps. A life of… friendship.

But although their memories are fuzzy, Galacta knows where this path led them before.

Notes:

i love galacta knight so bad. so bad. and i have SCRAPS to work with but by god will i work with them. come into my enclosure i promise i won't bite [bites you bites you bites y
i'm writing this as i go and i have adhd so who knows what'll happen. ahhhhh (that's me screamin)
UPDATE: there are illustrations now

Chapter 1

They felt the thrum of the extra-dimensional road as it buzzed against their consciousness. The crystal prison weakened, fracturing at the sides. The most sensation they’d felt in ages, it left just enough room to allow them to wiggle a paw free, gathering energy into the limb. Using the power accumulated, they violently blasted away the rest of the crystal seal, scattering the glass-like shards around them.

Finally, Galacta Knight could open their eyes.

First: Who was the greatest threat? Many warriors had tested their strength against Galacta Knight’s lance, only to meet their end.

Before them, they could see two creatures. A small, pink puffball and a larger, navy blue one cloaked in armour. The pink one had nothing on their person, though faintly, Galacta could feel a veritable wellspring of power stored within them. The blue one was armed, but his sword remained in its sheath. There was a soft buzz in the air emanating from it alongside the cape on his back. Magical items. His eyes were wide, little yellow pinpricks glowing through his visor.

“I... didn’t expect that to work.”

The smaller one started hopping up and down. “Hi! Hi! My name’s Kirby!”

“Kirby, maybe we should—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence, because Galacta dropped and slammed their lance into the ground, creating a violent shockwave. The two of them yelped as they were knocked back by the explosion, but the blue one acted quickly and drew his cape around himself, disappearing into nothing. A dimensional cloak of some kind, then—one that could manipulate space.

Galacta drew themself up, easily slipping into a battle-ready stance. They flapped, hovering in midair, then pointed their lance upwards as they spun, magic gathering in the ground beneath them.

The small one—Kirby—ran forwards. “Wait! Wait! We’re not!” They skillfully dodged every laser column that shot out of the ground. “Here! To fight!”

There was a pop behind Galacta Knight and they whirled around to block the blue one’s strike, his golden sword finally drawn and streaked with electricity. Up close, there was something familiar about him...

“Meta Knight, wait! We’re supposed to talk to them!”

Meta Knight? They shoved the knight away. Why did they know that name?

They’d spent aeons in that damn crystal, pulled between this dimension and the next. Floated endlessly through space until summoned again and again. Time was strange to Galacta. It stretched and distorted, but they felt as if, somewhat recently, they’d seen him...

Their memories flitted away like petals in the breeze.

“Kirby, they’re not listening to you. We can’t let them go, they’ll destroy everything!”

“Well we’re not going to get a chance to talk if you’re at each others throats!”

What in the stars were they talking about? A chance to talk? Galacta Knight hadn’t spoken in thousands of years. There wasn’t any need to. All they knew how to do, and all they needed to do now, was fight. Fight to survive, fight to prove themself, fight to win.

It was a merciless existence. They raised their lance in preparation.

Kirby threw themself in front of the warrior, paws outstretched. “Stop it! No fighting!”

Their crimson eyes narrowed. They stared down the blue knight. Neither lowered their weapon.

Kirby looked back and forth between them, mouth forming an O. “Please...?”

…..

Meta Knight relented, letting out a harsh sigh as he resheathed his sword, though his eyes never left the other. Galacta Knight, still unsure, continued to stand there with their weapon raised. Kirby tilted their head and smiled. “It’s okay. Meta’s just overprotective.” They gasped as they remembered something, running over to the knight and rummaging around in his cape.

He spluttered. “Kirby, what are you—”

“Got it!” The child cheered, proudly holding up a handful of... round, red items. Ignoring Meta’s muttered “when did you put that there,” they walked over to Galacta, who was still eyeing them distrustfully. Kirby stopped a respectable distance away and held one out. “Want one? They’re yummy!”

What were those? Some kind of native fruit, perhaps? Curiosity filled them, something they hadn’t felt in a long while. Kirby placed it on the ground and sat a small distance away, munching happily on the rest. Meta Knight sat beside them, nervous energy coming off him in waves.

Kirby grinned at the knight next to them. “Apple?” they offered.

“No.” His eyes wouldn’t leave Galacta. Kirby batted him lightly.

“Meeeetyyyy, you’re gonna make them nervous,” they whined.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Dedede calls you that all the time.”

“Dedede does whatever he wants. Don’t be like him.”

What was this? Galacta couldn’t even begin to make heads or tails of the situation. They weren’t blind, they could see that the blue one had only fought in response to Galacta’s own aggression. And the pink one hadn’t even tried to get a hit in, not even when Galacta was distracted with the knight’s attack. In fact, they’d spent the whole fight actively de-escalating. Was... was Galacta Knight really not summoned to fight? They squashed the flutter of hope igniting within them. They couldn’t trust this. It would only hurt more later.

...but all they’d done in the past millennia was fight. Perhaps a small break would be okay.

They ignored the way Meta Knight went rigid as they took a step forward, slowly lowering their lance. Galacta stood in front of the fruit—an apple, Kirby had said—and stared at it. The warrior hadn’t eaten since their imprisonment began. They hadn’t needed it. They didn’t need it beforehand, too, a thought they viciously pushed down. There was no use thinking about before.

They dropped into a sit, sheathing the lance and shield on their back. Their guard was still up, but they could take a hit if necessary. It was fine. Pushing their mask up slightly, they took a small nibble from the fruit.

Oh, that was good. A pleased sound escaped them before they could stop it. They took a bigger bite. Then more, and more, scarfing down the fruit until there was nothing left. There wasn’t any need to worry about poisons—their healing could take care of it—and any magical effects would have taken hold by now.

Kirby giggled and rolled another towards them. “I knew you’d like it! If you want, we can get more later.”

Galacta perked up at that, then cursed themself for seeming so eager. This was a trap. They cleared their throat and spoke, voice scratchy and hoarse with heavy disuse. “Where are we.”

“So they can talk,” Meta Knight murmured, earning another bat from Kirby. He glared at the child, raising his voice to speak to Galacta directly. “We’re in Dreamland, on the planet Popstar.”

They didn’t recognize the names, but of course they’d grown up in a different time period in possibly a different dimension. They simply nodded, now halfway through their second apple. “Why am I here.”

Kirby swallowed an apple whole, which Galacta Knight couldn’t even begin to develop a reaction to. What. “Meta Knight told me about you.” They pointed to Meta Knight. “That’s Meta Knight.”

“I thought it was sad... how are you supposed to take a nice nap or eat good food trapped like that? That’s no way to live. And the way he described you, you seemed so angry...”

Kirby shuffled, looking vaguely uncomfortable. They glanced at the knight next to them, then turned back to Galacta. “So. I wanted to set you free and show you a bunch of nice things! I have a lot of friends who were mean before, so don’t worry if you’ve done anything bad like destroy a planet. You just have to be better now!”

Freedom...?

Just like that?

Wait, what was that about destroying a planet—?

Meta Knight cleared his throat to grab their attention. His gaze on the magenta warrior was heavy. “Kirby is willing to give you a chance and I trust their judgement. I have no quarrel with you, so for now we may be acquaintances. But if you make any move against this child or this planet, I will strike you down,” he promised.

“But that won’t happen!” Kirby waved frantically. “Because we’ll become the bestest friends ever!”

Friends, huh? Something about that struck a sour tone. Kirby shuffled around in Meta’s cape again and pulled out an orange device. They presented it to the warrior. “Hai! I got you a phone! It lets us talk to each other from super long distances! We can message each other, too!”

Galacta held it gingerly at a distance, like it might explode. Kirby pulled out their own phone and tapped away. “Let’s exchange numbers! I can show you how to use it!”

Meta Knight sighed. “I don’t have time for this. Kirby, will you be alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” they waved. “Can you ask Dedede if he got my message?”

“How did you know I was—nevermind...”

The navy knight wavered, gazing between the two, before launching into the sky.

“He’s such a worrywart,” Kirby giggled, typing in numbers on Galacta’s phone. “There! Now I’m a contact in your phone, so you can call or message me.”

Galacta hesitantly pressed a few buttons. They jumped when the phone started producing a low tone, and accidentally summoned a handful of energy swords that launched themselves into the ground. A second later, Kirby’s phone started playing a bright song.

“Yay! You called me!” They pressed a button on their phone, completely unfazed by the sudden use of magic. Both screens changed. “Moshi moshi~” they singsonged, voice echoing out of both speakers and feeding back into each microphone. Galacta grimaced as the noises grated on their ears. “Oops, that’ll happen if we’re too close to each other.” They clicked the same button and the sounds blissfully stopped.

Trying a different sequence of inputs, the knight managed to open up a different screen. Kirby grinned. “Those are the messages! You can type whatever and send it to me!” Their expression flipped back to neutral, head tilting as they observed Galacta staring at the screen. “Do you know how to type?”

They shook their head. They vaguely felt as if they’d had some exposure to computers, but whatever it was they’d worked with was different from this device. Kirby spent some time sitting with them, showing them the keyboard and some tricks. Curiously, Galacta Knight realized that they shouldn’t understand this planet’s language. Was there some kind of translation magic at play? Well, if it worked...

“I like messages,” Kirby smiled, bringing them out of their thoughts. It was a kind smile, but smaller and timider than before. “Sometimes, I just don’t wanna talk. Or I feel bad and can’t. They’re good for that.”

The warrior jolted, stunned by the torrential wave of understanding that rose up within. It was another feeling they hadn’t felt in a while.

Galacta knew that they’d always been quieter than most—a silent loner, even. A large part of it was simply preference, though there were definitely times at which they couldn’t talk, such as when they were upset. It had caused some friction when socializing or communicating, but personally, they’d never seen it as an issue. They were a warrior with unparalleled power. They didn’t need to talk to do their job.

However, in contrast, this was the chattiest, happiest child they’d ever met. It was surprising to hear that they could feel that way, too.

Kirby’s phone beeped. They looked down at the screen, wide-eyed.

Galacta🕊: me too.

Kirby smiled, leaning into the other. Galacta Knight tensed. After a few moments, they relaxed slightly. Kirby’s paws reached around them in what they could colloquially describe as a... hug.

When was the last time...?

Maybe... no. They couldn’t get close. But... surely, there wasn’t any harm in staying and at least playing along? If these people, these Dreamlanders, were willing to give them any amount of freedom...

Then Galacta Knight would take it. By force if necessary.

They hadn’t felt the breeze in such a long time.

Notes:

In place of tyrannical rage, will they find...naptime? Gentle breezes? Treats?

 

i have, no joke, been trying to write some kind of “galacta knight becomes a star ally” fic for like 3 years now. riding a vyvanse high, i sat down and wrote several thousand words in a single day. and then i worked on this for like a week straight. galacta & kirby. i need them to be friends

• kirby’s ringtone is the original kdl green greens
• every one of their contacts has an emoji :) meta knight is a bat

Chapter 2

Kirby: hi

Kirby: hi

Kirby: hi hi hi

Kirby: hi hi hi hi hi

Kirby: metanaito

Kirby: hi

Meta: Kirby. Please.

Kirby: that’s me!!! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Kirby: did ddd get my message

Meta: Yes.

Kirby: ok good because i’m bringing them now ^7^

Meta: Why do you always send several messages when one is enough?

Kirby: fun :]

Kirby: should i give galacta your number omo

Meta: Yes, you might as well.

Meta: Actually, give me theirs.

 

---

 

Meta Knight: This is Meta Knight, the one from earlier. Kirby should be able to show you how to add me as a contact.

Galacta Knight: [IMG001.jpg]

Meta Knight: Kirby, stop taking selfies and give them back the phone.

Galacta Knight: (=_=)7

 

---

 

Kirby laughed joyfully at the fluffy cloud tickling their face.

A few moments ago, the child had pointed off in the distance and told Galacta that they were going to go—together—to Dedede’s castle. Its pastel yellow walls made from stone, the structure sat at the crown of a rocky mountain. Seeing this, the warrior had shrugged, stretched out their wings, and offered a paw to the child. The two could walk, but what was the point of wings if you didn’t use them?

That was how Galacta found themself ferrying the small puffball above Mt. Dedede. The knight’s wings could easily hold both their weights; Kirby was as light as a feather. A small mercy that the long imprisonment hadn’t harmed Galacta’s endurance.

It was freeing to fly just for the sake of it. Just because they could.

“You’re gonna like Dedede’s castle. He has a whole army of Waddle Dees and they’re all super friendly! Especially my best friend, Bandee! He’s really good with a spear. And, mmmmm, they have lotsa yummy food...”

Galacta grunted, unable to communicate with the child holding onto their paws. They didn’t know what a Waddle Dee was, but they couldn’t deny their excitement at the prospect of food. Had it always tasted so good, or had they simply forgotten after being locked away in a crystal prison for thousands of years?

…they still had a hard time believing they could be free. They were certain that any second now someone would pop out from behind a corner and say the magic words necessary to take it all away. Or Kirby would turn around and start a duel to the death, either worked.

Distracted by their thoughts, a tug on their paws reminded them where they were. Upon their arrival, Kirby directed Galacta to land on an ornate golden balcony. After touching ground, the child grabbed Galacta’s paw and pulled them along through the corridors.

The halls were filled with numerous round, brown and orange creatures without mouths—smaller than Galacta but a little bigger than Kirby. The warrior guessed that those were the Waddle Dees mentioned before. Small gold statues of a penguin-like creature lined the walls, manned by some Waddle Dees idly dusting them.

One of the Dees—a patrol, judging by the spear—spotted them. Kirby waved. The patrol’s eyes widened. They let out a quiet, surprised wanya!—a reaction that put Galacta on edge—and ran down the hall, turning the corner. Hardly a moment later, a reddish Waddle Dee with a blue bandana tied around his head sprinted into view and rushed to meet them, golden feet skidding on the tile. “Kirby! Is that—?”

“Bandee! Meet Galacta Knight!” Kirby chirped, holding up the other’s paw. The child let go and draped themself over the Waddle Dee with an exaggerated expression. “Bandee, I’m so huuuungryyyyy...”

“You’re always hungry,” he giggled, patting them on the back. Turning to Galacta, he gulped and held out a paw in greeting. “I-it’s nice to meet you. I’m Bandana Dee. I’m in charge of all the Waddle Dees at the castle.”

Galacta stared down at the paw, unsure what to make of it. Bandana Dee seemed to grow nervous, and after a moment pulled it back to his side.

Kirby didn’t notice. “Didja get a room ready?” They leaned off of the Waddle Dee.

“Um, the Dees are still cleaning it... but dinner’s almost ready!”

“Yay, yay, yay!” The pink puffball blinked. “Oh, Bandee, gimme your phone.”

Bandana Dee didn’t argue, handing over the device. “What’re you doing?”

“Galacty can’t talk too much.” The mentioned warrior blinked, taken aback by the nickname. Their phone beeped, alerting them to a message from Bandana Dee. The message just said :D. “Now you’re contacts!”

“Add the Great King, too, Kirby. Why didn’t you put us all in their phone from the beginning?”

“My bad!” The child took Galacta’s phone and handed it back again only a moment later. They noted that their contacts page had grown by two people: Bandana Dee and King Dedede. “We can add the others when you meet them.” The others? Kirby’s… other friends, most likely.

“You should just add them all now—”

A loud horn interrupted the spear wielder. Kirby’s smile grew impossibly wide, immediately breaking into a run down the stairs. “Dinner time!!!”

Bandana Dee sighed fondly and gestured for them to follow. “Come with me, we prepared enough for everyone.”

 

---

 

The oversized penguin bent over, looking Galacta Knight up and down.

They glared back impassively.

After an uncomfortable few seconds, Dedede leaned back and laughed, a hearty bellow that echoed throughout the room.

“This is the Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy? They’re smaller than you are, Mety!”

They were doing an amazing job hiding their irritation. Really. Galacta Knight deserved an award. Their paw twitched.

...they were only a little smaller. And who had cool horns? Not Meta Knight.

“Don’t call me that,” Meta Knight raised a brow. “And you should know by now not to underestimate people based on their size. How many times has Kirby beaten you?”

“Th-that’s not important,” Dedede flushed.

“Don’t be rude to your guests~!”

“Kirby, you’ve never counted as a guest.”

“Because you love me so much that I’m part of the family, right?” They squished their rosy cheeks, turning the cuteness up to eleven. Dedede cackled.

“No, because you’re a little pest who won’t leave my house!”

is this normal, they texted Meta Knight, their first text to him since registering his number. He fixed them with a long-suffering look. Unfortunately.

Bandana Dee chose that moment to walk into the dining room, carrying several trays in their paws. Another couple of Waddle Dees followed behind, but as a collective they could only hold a fraction of Bandana Dee’s haul. Galacta had to hand it to him, he seemed stronger than they’d pegged him at first. “Sorry to keep you waiting! Dinner is served.”

Kirby clapped. The trays uncovered to reveal a veritable feast. Galacta gaped at the sheer amount of food placed before them. It tickled their brain, and they remembered some of the royal feasts they’d attended, standing stoically off to the side—

Stop. They had to stop thinking about before.

Bandana Dee sat down in the seat between them and the king, jolting them out of their thoughts. Were they always so distractible? Kirby and Dedede immediately reached for several dishes, grabbing as much food as they could. Meta Knight and Bandana Dee, in contrast, were much more reserved with the amount of food on their plates.

Galacta Knight didn’t know where to begin. They didn’t even know what half these meals were. A crimson eye twitched, annoyed.

Bandana Dee paused when he noticed their stillness. “Is everything okay?”

“I—” they coughed, throat starting to tighten painfully. They pulled their phone out and Bandana Dee jumped a little, reaching for his own. i dont know what to eat.

“Why not try a little of everything? I’m sure something here is to your taste.”

Their taste?

With a start, they realized that they couldn’t remember. As hard as they tried, they couldn’t remember any of the food they used to eat. Not their names, not their flavours, not even what they looked like. What did they enjoy?

Galacta hid their sudden alarm by taking a small amount from each platter within reach. With their plate filled to satisfaction, they hesitated for only a moment before pushing their mask up, uncovering their face.

Kirby and Dedede gasped. Bandana Dee squeaked, covering his eyes. Meta Knight stared, eyes wide and unmoving. Galacta tilted their head, confused. What was with these reactions?

Kirby squealed, eyes sparkling, squishing their cheeks and wiggling their feet. “Omigosh you look like me!!!”

Bandana Dee blushed, averting his gaze. “S-sorry, it’s just that Sir Meta Knight never takes his mask off, s-so I thought—um—”

Meta Knight groaned, covering his visor. Dedede cackled, patting him on the back.

What, did the other knight have some kind of complex about his face? That was none of Galacta’s business. They shrugged, turning back to their food and ignoring the looks directed at them.

“Am I gonna grow horns? Or—or wings? Ooh, what kind?” Kirby giggled.

Meta Knight’s voice was muffled from behind his paws. “I don’t know. Go back to eating.”

Time passed by afterwards mostly uneventfully. At some point, Kirby and Dedede entered what Bandana Dee told them was called a Gourmet Race Lite, which was a... fancy name for an eating competition, or some such? Apparently the real thing involved a lot more running. That seemed like a bad combination—Galacta was pretty sure food and exercise didn’t mix that way.

As for their own food tastes, they found that they preferred fruits and cake the most. Not particularly surprising, but they also enjoyed the meat and some kind of spicy noodle soup. They poked Bandana Dee and gestured questioningly at it. “That? It’s spicy tonkotsu ramen. Kirby likes it.”

“Kirby likes everything,” Dedede yawned, leaning back in his seat. He seemed comfortably full.

Kirby’s pose mirrored the king’s. “That’s true. But I love spicy food more!” They drooled. “And I like sweets and candy even even more.”

Meta Knight lightly pushed the king. “Get up before you fall asleep in your chair.”

“Aw, come on.”

Kirby’s eyes twinkled. “Bandee, Bandee, Bandee, can we show Galacta their room?!”

“Yes, but, um—”

“This isn’t permanent!” Dedede pointed, begrudgingly standing up at Meta Knight’s insistence. “You gotta find somewhere else to stay sometime soon, hear me? And don’t you dare wreck the place!”

Galacta Knight nodded, silver-white mask back on their face. It didn’t really matter where they stayed. Kirby cheered, grabbing them and pulling them out of the room. “Sleepover! Sleepover!”

“Who said you could stay, runt!?” Kirby blew raspberries backwards at Dedede’s indignant cry. Bandana Dee rushed out of his seat, sprinting to catch up with them.

The Waddle Dee led the trio up some stairs and more halls, walking at a much more sedated pace than Kirby had been before. “Sorry, His Majesty doesn’t like having guests over.” Galacta grunted noncommittally. What that weird king thought didn’t matter to them.

They winced. Their feet had been aching ever since arriving in the castle. At first it was light and easy to ignore, but it was getting stronger and would soon tip over into pain. Now that nobody was grabbing onto them, they took the opportunity to hover up the stairs and the rest of the way. It was simple to expend the magic required; really, it barely cost any.

Kirby glanced over—curious, but they didn’t say anything. Good, they hated explaining. People always looked at them differently. Like they were weak. The child turned their attention back to Bandana Dee. “Oh! Oh! Is it one of the rooms with the balcony? I like those rooms!”

He giggled. “Of course it is, they have wings.” Stopping in front of a door, he nodded. “Yep, this one.”

Inside the room was a bed, plush rug, and a few other niceties. There was an ensuite bathroom and a large balcony with burgundy curtains draped over the entrance. Through the balcony, they could see the orange sky darken into twilight. Kirby cheered. “Yaaay! I love this room.”

“If you need anything, just ask one of the patrolling Dees,” Bandana Dee yawned. “Kirby, you’re staying?”

“Yes!! Sleepover!” They faltered, looking at Galacta Knight. “Er—I mean, I can go somewhere else if you don’t want me here...?”

Take the out, they thought. Tell Kirby to leave.

Logically, it was the correct choice. The day had been nothing short of confusing, and they wouldn’t be surprised if the group had simply been waiting for Galacta’s guard to drop. Kirby could slit their throat in their sleep or something. On the other hand...

They suppressed their impulsive nature and took a step back to assess the situation. Bandana Dee was a determined and hard worker, painfully earnest. He probably didn’t even know how to lie. Meta Knight fought dangerously and seemed protective, but he was honourable. He wouldn’t make the first move unless Galacta gave him reason to. Dedede... well, they didn’t understand Dedede at all. He talked and acted almost completely in contradictions. It didn’t make sense. Maybe he was embarrassed about his feelings? Anyways, at the end of the day, Galacta knew they could take the king in a fight, so it didn’t actually matter.

Kirby was... interesting. Galacta could feel immense power deep within them, easier to detect now that they’d spent some time together. It smelled of stardust. It reminded them of another being, something far older that they couldn’t quite put their finger on—but the child was so honest and straightforward that it was hard to think negatively of them. Even that earlier hypothetical about a slit throat seemed silly.

Interactions with Kirby felt like the cool breeze on a warm summer day.

Galacta Knight sighed.

They gestured for the child to enter, earning a squeal as they hopped around the room. Bandana Dee yawned. “Goodnight.”

Kirby turned to them as soon as the door clicked shut. “What do you wanna do? Wanna play a game? Wanna watch a movie? Wanna play dress-up?”

Galacta raised a brow. They pointed at the bed.

Kirby immediately flopped down on the lower half of the bed, yawning. “Yeah, sleep works too.”

A chuckle escaped the warrior, surprising themself. Shaking their head, they laid down on the other half, wings draped over the side of the bed. Kirby giggled at the feathers that landed on them. “That tickles!” Galacta shrugged apologetically. They couldn’t really do anything about it with a bed this size. Kirby repositioned themself to get more comfortable and sprawled their limbs out, perfectly relaxed.

“Good night, Galacty...”

Galacta Knight hummed in response.

Notes:

bandee: kirby why didn’t you add all our contacts at once
kirby: i forgor💀

thank you all for the kind comments and kudos and bookmarks..!!!!!! i don’t reply but i read them all :)

• bandee is a they/he in my mind but for the purposes of this fic he’s a he/him
• i drew the illustrations for ch 1 + 2 then immediately afterwards my fingers hurt for like two days. fate is such a cruel mistress
• not depicted: the really heated discussion between ddd and mk where ddd had to come to terms with the fact that his castle was volunteered against his will to house an alleged deranged lunatic. bandee’s composure is held together through sheer force of will and unwavering hospitality

Chapter 3

Notes:

patch notes: “forgotten land spoilers” tag added

Galacta Knight knew that time was passing.

They knew it from the way that the sun in the orange sky had lowered, inch by inch, until the world was pitch black outside, replaced by a crescent moon. Beyond the inky darkness, the unfamiliar stars and galaxies twinkled gently, oblivious to the knight staring them down.

Yes, of course time was passing; it rarely stopped. It was simply hard to feel time, laying there doing nothing, since apparently Galacta Knight couldn’t feel tired, either.

Not a wink of sleep. Oh, they’d tried. They’d laid there for what must have been hours—although, maybe it was only a few minutes—with their eyes obediently shut. They didn’t move. They slowed their breathing. And yet, nothing. Thousands of years stuck in a rock, and they couldn’t even sleep when it was over.

At some point, they’d taken to watching over Kirby out of sheer boredom. It would be easy to slip out onto the balcony and fly off unnoticed. Go on a nighttime flight, just to stretch out their wings and pass the time, expend some extra energy. But...

The child wriggled, interrupting Galacta’s musings with quiet discomforted noises. They’d been doing that for a while now, to the warrior’s confusion. Sleep, after forgoing it for so long, had become one of those memories that was rather low on their list of priorities. That being said—while the small details were admittedly scarce to them—they didn’t think you were supposed to move around so much.

Kirby jerked and cried out—wide, deep blue eyes landing on Galacta Knight’s guarded crimson. Their tiny body heaved with the force of their breathing. Galacta tilted their head, a questioning gesture met with an impossibly sad look—one that had no business existing on Kirby’s face.

Galacta’s heart panged betrayingly.

No. They weren’t going to get attached.

But it was such a foreign expression on the child. Kirby didn’t look at anything as they pushed themself against the footboard, procuring their phone from whatever pocket dimension. Galacta’s own phone began beeping with notifications.

 

Kirby!: sorry

Kirby!: i had a nightmare 8(

Kirby!: the foutnain of dreams is suppsoed to protect us from bad dreams but it doens’t always work on me

Kirby!: sry. typos

 

Galacta hummed in acknowledgment—ignoring the incomprehensible string of letters at the end—and pushed themselves up. A nightmare—yes, they had an idea of how debilitating those could be. They moved until they were sat next to Kirby, brushing a wing along the other’s back. It was small, but the child smiled a little and leaned in.

 

Kirby!: i didn’t wake you up did i?

Galacta Knight: no.

Kirby!: ok good O_O

Kirby!: meta tells me t ocall him after a nightmare but i feel bad ;_;

Kirby!: he has insomnia so i don’t wanna wake him up

Kirby!: we’re sleepy buddies o_o

 

The child wiped away a few stray tears, making a quiet poyo noise. Galacta’s wing curled around them further.

 

Kirby!: i’m ok! it was just scary :(

Kirby!: i‘m happy you’re here :) your wings are very soft

Kirby!: why weren’t you asleep?

Galacta Knight: not tired.

Kirby!: wah……..

Kirby!: that’s ok

Kirby!: you musta slept a bunch in that crystal =7=

Galacta Knight: no.

Kirby!: oh

Kirby!: ...never ever?

Galacta Knight: ive slept outside the crystal.

Galacta Knight: i dont remember most of my imprisonment, but i dont think i slept.

Kirby!: you can’t remember? :O

Galacta Knight: why bother.

 

There wasn’t any point in trying to hold onto thousands of years of nothingness, after all.

 

Kirby!: i seeeee

Kirby!: it’s ok ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ we can make lots of cool new memories!

Kirby!: ...in the morning though

Kirby!: i’m sleepy -_-

Galacta Knight: what are those symbols you keep using.

Kirby!: symbols?

Kirby: oh, you mean like :) or ono?

Kirby: they’re faces! can you see them? some of them are on their side. like :O

 

Galacta scrolled up. They’d already identified a few of the more obvious ones, but it was far easier to recognize the rest now.

 

Galacta Knight: yes.

Kirby!: yayy :)

Kirby!: um

Kirby!: can i sleep like this? you’re comfy ~.~

 

Oh, stars.

They took their time typing their response, cursing every deity they could think of and then some.

 

Galacta Knight: yes.

Kirby!: :) !!!!

Kirby!: gn =w=

 

Kirby yawned loudly, putting their phone away. They leaned in closer to Galacta Knight, who held their silent vigil until morning.

 

 

---

 

Kirby: y’know, those stories about galacta were wrong :|

Kirby: i mean i figured

Kirby: but i’m always happy to be proven right :)

Kirby: they’re nice!!!!

Kirby: i had a nightmare and they sat with me until i fell back asleep =D

Meta: Are you alright? You can talk about it if you wish.

Kirby: i’m fine! =w=

Kirby: barely even remember what it was about

Kirby: i dunno if they slept much last night tho. or at all?? :/c

Kirby: did you know they didn’t sleep EVER in the crystal? they told me

Meta: Yes. It would have put them in stasis.

Kirby: no naps! ;A;

Meta: Nope.

Kirby: that’s sad ;-;

Kirby: i’m glad we freed them!

 

---

 

Precipitation tickled Meta Knight’s face through the mask.

He descended slightly, the ground below revealing itself to him through the clouds. Flying with his phone out was dangerous, yes, but he considered it a sort of mental training.

After the Jamba Heart incident, he’d studiously experimented with his magic until he could replicate that ability to make copies of himself. Without the Jamba Heart’s support, these copies each required intense mental strain to control—he could hardly maintain more than one. As a result, Meta Knight found opportunities to train his multitasking ability wherever he could.

He put the device away, hiding his conversation with Kirby from the world. Unlike what he’d told the child, he hadn’t explicitly known, per se, that the warrior hadn’t slept, though he had suspected it. Meta guessed that the crystal prison worked via some kind of temporal effect that froze time within. It wouldn’t be too out there—there had been reports of the mysterious Ancients dabbling in time magic, and Kirby had discovered the schematics for the Time Crash ability in the New World…

After facing Galacta Knight all those years ago, Meta Knight had to admit that his curiosity had been piqued. He’d spent many hours locked away in different libraries throughout Dreamland and even the galaxy as a whole, searching for any sliver of information on a Galacta Knight.

With only the name and face (mask?) to go by, there hadn’t been much. He’d figured out that the warrior was connected to Halcandra and from there could do a little extra research on the Ancients, but it still amounted to almost nothing. A few scary stories, at most. He’d gotten to the point where he’d seriously considered asking Magolor for help, but given the mage’s track record at the time, it would have been 50/50 on whether or not the information was truly reliable. And… okay, maybe he’d still been a little bitter over the whole Master Crown thing.

It had seemed like Meta Knight would never know the truth. He’d given up his search, content to let mysteries be mysteries… if only it weren’t for their latest trans-dimensional adventure.

The threads were hardly obvious, but with careful examination (and the tiniest bit of help from Magolor, who was the only Ancient historian they had), they’d managed to connect the New World to the Ancients. The mage was understandably ecstatic at the project. He scoured everything he could for information and even managed to figure out a rudimentary way to translate the strange language. It wasn’t precise, but he claimed it could get fairly close to the real meaning.

With that new cipher on hand and the Beast Pack befriended, Meta Knight left Waddle Dee Town and ventured throughout the New World. He navigated rusty metal and overgrown surfaces until he’d stumbled upon a long abandoned library. The books were old and falling apart, but, miraculously, a large chunk were still legible. There wasn’t anything driving him—it was just curiosity for curiosity’s sake—but something caught his eye.

On a shelf, near the back of the building, was a journal. It stood out among the other books with its worn leather cover and handwritten ink. The writing was a little messy, but the knight could still interpret it. It talked about crystals, time magic, and creatures of legendary power. Mostly, it was just musings and hypotheses, nothing concrete. He caught a few sketches of clockwork stars and Landia, even.

Meta Knight had gasped in surprise when he read Galacta Knight’s name. The pages described—vaguely—how they’d been sealed away. And it detailed a theoretical method to summon the warrior without a clockwork star’s power.

By creating an extra-dimensional road with a specific wavelength, one could manipulate space into letting Galacta’s crystal pass through. Inside, the crystal’s strength weakened, awakening the warrior and giving them the opportunity to break free. Afterwards, the only way to reseal Galacta was to defeat them and send them back through the extra-dimensional road. Creating a road was hard enough, but to maintain it for long enough to defeat them? Or to even create another? This method was suicide. Nobody would consider it an option.

Nobody, that is, except Kirby. Kirby, who didn’t care about resealing them. Kirby, who wanted to befriend them.

Meta Knight sighed.

Honestly, he’d been fully prepared for a fight to the death when the two summoned Galacta Knight. Why did he let slip the warrior’s existence to Kirby? His only point of reference was Star Dream’s vague comments and his own heated battle. The warrior severely damaged a clockwork star. In a single strike! Not even Kirby, with the help of robotic armour and full control of the Halberd, could manage that! Galacta Knight must have earned their reputation as a deranged, murderous lunatic, because they definitely had the strength to match.

...a deranged, murderous lunatic who had spent the night comforting a child from a nightmare.

What did I get myself into?

Meta Knight wasn’t heartless. He didn’t jump to conclusions... most of the time. He understood Kirby’s line of reasoning—if he hadn’t, he never would have agreed. And, admittedly… he was insanely curious about the other knight’s whole deal. Plus, tactically, there were benefits. If they could get Galacta Knight on their side, then Planet Popstar would be in good hands. It was one of those high risk, high reward situations.

Meta had to admit, the adrenaline sent his heart racing in a good way. Not that he’d ever say it out loud—Dedede would never let him hear the end of it.

As the sun moved from dawn to morning, Meta Knight finally found his destination. The Lor Starcutter gleamed at him from where it was parked below. Nearby was one of the theme parks Magolor had built as an “apology” for Kirby. The kid had fun with it, but it was obvious to everyone except the recipient that it only existed as a cheap way for the Halcandran to make some money. There was no way those attractions were up to code. And Dreamland didn’t even have a code.

Meta swooped down. It was a coin toss whether or not Magolor would be awake right now. As far as Meta Knight was aware, he usually got up at dawn, but his sleep schedule was… irregular, at best. And if the knight was really unlucky, Marx would be around, too.

Luckily, he spotted Magolor, awake and alone, sitting under a nearby tree and scribbling into a sketchbook. Probably a new attraction or some addition to the Lor. The sound of Meta’s flapping wings grabbed the magician’s attention, drawing his gaze upwards. He stood as soon as Meta Knight’s sabatons touched the ground. “Oh, hello Meta Knight!”

“Magolor,” he greeted cordially. From his cape, he took out the extra-dimensional device that the Halcandran had loaned to him. With his other paw, he took out a bag of cookies. Magolor’s favourites, as payment. Meta offered them to the other, who wasted no time giddily gathering them into his hands. “Thank you for lending this to me. It was a great help.”

“No prob. Anything for a buddy!” He replied, high-pitched voice muffled from chewing a cookie. “What was it for, anyway?”

“Well...”

Meta Knight thought about it for a second. It’s not like it was a secret. If Kirby considered Galacta a friend already—and they most likely did, considering the way they talked about them—then the other knight was going to be introduced to the rest of the Star Allies. Soon. He supposed there wasn’t any harm in telling Magolor early.

“Kirby wanted to summon Galacta Knight.”

Except as a choking hazard, that is.

The mage coughed violently for several seconds. Meta Knight patted him roughly on the back, though the knight had no way of knowing if that even did anything with Magolor’s biology. Eventually, the Halcandran calmed down, sipping at some water he’d taken outside with him. “Kirby what?”

“Summoned Galacta Knight.”

“Are they insane? And you helped?”

Meta Knight wisely chose not to answer. They had a sleepover, he thought weakly. “What do you know about Galacta Knight?” he asked instead.

Magolor hummed, always happy to infodump about his favourite topic even when so unsettled. “Not too much, unfortunately. Mostly stories and legends passed down through the eons. But the gist of it is the same: they’re dangerous and unstable. Destroyed a few planets, so they were sealed away as a result. Many tried to battle them, but none survived. Some people speculated that they were the same as the legendary Aeon Hero, but… I don’t know. That seems kind of far-fetched.”

“Aeon Hero?”

“Some heroic champion from the Ancients’ time. Like I said: far-fetched.”

Meta Knight tucked the name away for later.

Magolor eyed him warily. “You did seal them away again, though, right?”

He looked away. The magician gawked. “What are you doing here instead of back there?”

“Kirby wanted to free them,” he explained. “They managed to calm Galacta Knight down. Then...” he sighed for what felt like the hundredth time in two days, realizing how silly this would sound. “Gave them a cell phone to chat with. And then the two of them had a sleepover at the castle. We ate dinner together.”

Magolor stared.

Then he started giggling, growing in intensity until those giggles morphed into full-blown laughter.

“Oh, I should have expected that!” He laughed between giggles, wiping away a hysterical tear. “Only Kirby could coerce a violent criminal into a sleepover! What, with that bleeding heart of theirs... so,” he gulped, catching his breath. “What’s the deal? I suppose we’ll have a new face at the Star Allies meets?”

Meta nodded, tight and uncomfortable, refraining from letting out the long-suffering sigh he really wanted to. “Most likely, if all goes well.”

Magolor giggled again, sitting back under his tree. “That’ll be neat. Kirby certainly knows how to keep things interesting, huh? Thanks for the cookies, I’ll see you then.”

A few minutes later, Meta Knight—at an altitude high enough to avoid anyone else in the air—drew his sword.

Breathe in on a count of four.

Hold it for four seconds…

He slashed violently at the clouds. Made a small tornado for the hell of it.

Exhale.

Stars, the stress Kirby put him through would kill him someday.

Notes:

kirby: can we free gk
mk: what? no
kirby: 🥺
mk: [sigh] what time

[joker meme voice] flying with his phone out is Normal to the meta knight

I DIDNT FORGET ABOUT THIS FIC i’ve just been so busy. finished a depressing year-long internship and then got a week to relax and clean my room before getting thrown into summer school. ogh. i’m so tired but now i have a relatively calm schedule so... im going to relax for the next 4 months.... thank u all again for the kind words. mwah mwah

• the summoning method mk describes is (mostly) the explanation the light novel uses
• now feels like a good time to say that most of the mainline game canon is intact with the exception of robobot... and maybe one other? some of these changes might be obvious by now but it’s not super straightforward
• i’m so obsessed with magolor what is wrong with that catboy
• i do have a timeline of events in my head for galacta’s backstory :) don’t worry about it

Notes:

https://twitter.com/froggyblitz