ARC 1 - CH 8 - Strange Encounters of Castle Lololo
TRIGGER WARNING: A scene in this chapter depicts a memory of emotional abuse and manipulation, with threatened physical abuse. Please take care when reading.
Kirby wasn't one to complain about the weather. At least not normally. But the fireballs raining from the sky, burning down the grasslands of Rainbow Route was probably not a very good thing.
No, this was not even normal for... whatever this place's collective name was. A long time ago Kirby may have thought it was called "Dreamland", but until the first time they had a run-in with their pink double and their multicolored clones, they never considered the name to be inaccurate. They claimed to have also come from a Dreamland of their own. Kirby, or Shadow Kirby as the one through the dimension mirror called them, was not really sure what to believe at this point. But this was no time for speculation.
They had been hiding in a cave for the past four days. Hiding away from all the fire setting their home ablaze to ash. Using their rock ability, they had carved out a small bedroom, and used whatever decayed leaves they could find for small cushions. But... at this point... it wasn't enough.
Something called to Shadow Kirby. They felt a feeling in their gut that pulled them to act. To do something. It may have been hunger, but whatever it was, it drew them to leave their little hidden cavern sanctuary they made for themself. They knew they would get hurt a lot if they went, but days of inaction had caused things to get much worse.
They left their cave and looked to the sky. Well obviously the burning clouds above didn't give much visual information. And it was a little hard to see if a fireball was heading toward them until it was really close. But what it did see was a concentration of light and fire coming directly above Mustard Mountain.
That must have been the source. And luckily for them, they actually knew the way there.
They just hoped they'd survive the journey. But one thing was very clear to them immediately:
Taranza couldn't see 5 feet in front of it over all the snow breezing past while it followed the group of allies. The wind was also howling louder than Taranza had ever experienced before. It wished it had its old winter clothes it used to have for when it visited the mountains of Old Odyssey. But this was so much colder than those icy mountains. It would normally be unable to move on. But it still followed the rest of the group. It persevered. Why?
Because Magolor's warmth against its own body pushed it to continue on. The two were as closely bound in an embrace as they had ever been. They had to be to keep from freezing. Taranza's head was scrunched into its scarf, almost mimicking Magolor's belted hood in a way. Taranza found that fact somewhat funny, but it couldn't think too heavily about that at that moment.
Lightning struck maybe half a kilometer away, which startled Taranza greatly, and reminded it of Sectonia. Magolor seemed to notice its reaction, so they leaned more into the warm embrace to let it know everything was going to be okay. It couldn't help but smile under its scarf from the attention they gave to it. Its heart would have fluttered high if it didn't feel like icicles were forming in its lungs.
"Vrrr..." a pink spraypainted Meta Knight groaned in front of Taranza, "I must admit, I would usually prefer if I had my cape on for warmth, but..." his words trailed off as his big bat-like wings wrapped around his sides a little more.
Kirby, who was using some variation of the Ice copy ability with a cozy blue and white hood, was walking in the snow in front next to Bandee, "You probably could wear your cape!" Their voice reverberated a little through Meta's mask over their face, which was fairly strange to hear. It seemed to Taranza, through the distractions, that Kirby was leading the way for the group, as they were familiar and confident with their path to Bubbly Clouds.
"Maybe," Meta Knight sighed, "but I have to take as few chances of being recognized as myself, even in these dire conditions."
"Is it really that cold for ya?" King Dedede smirked at the knight, "Seems fine to me! Maybe a lil' chillier than normal, but nothing I can't handle!"
"G-Great King..." Bandee said, walking in between Meta Knight and the king, "You're wearing r-rreally warm clothes..." They rubbed their hands together as they went.
King Dedede turned his head back to Taranza and Magolor and pointed at the two, "Yeah but, Those twos' clothes back there look pretty cozy to me."
"Uh, yeah... not really..." Magolor muttered, their grip tightening, "m-my clothes are way thinner than your fuzzy coat. W-wouldn't be shivering like this if they were made for this kind of weather." The tiny bit of Taranza that could, wondered how Magolor was able to focus on speaking or even thinking, if they were really as cold as Taranza was.
"Alright, alright," King Dedede threw his gloved hands up, "I'm joking! I just don't know why y'all didn't think to bring any thicker clothing for a blizzard!"
Bandee replied, "N-None of us have clothing f-ffit for this kind of weather... It's not like t-this sort of thing is c-c-common."
"Once this is all over," King Dedede started, "I'll personally knit all of ya your own thick winter clothes like mine."
"You can knit??" Kirby stopped in their tracks, "since when?!?"
"Since I was young," Dedede made an offended face, "I can make all kinds of clothing! How'd you think I learned to make this coat?"
"Ohhh. I thought someone else made it for you," Kirby started forward again, "Like maybe some of your Waddle Dee servants."
"I can do my own things too!" Dedede huffed, "I'm not lazy or anything!!"
"You are quite lazy," Meta Knight chuckled as he spoke, "But that is sadly a normal lifestyle here. Maybe after this, I could do something about that."
Kirby shot him a glare through his own mask, "You aren't going to try and start a war again, are you Meta? I know you have the Halberd again already..."
"Of course not," Meta Knight said as he looked away from Kirby. Embarrassment showed on his face without being obscured, "I learned my lesson from last time. I was thinking about employing a gentler approach instead. Something that doesn't force anyone out of their lifestyle, but rather encourages others to do some things at least a little bit productive. If they feel like it."
"Just know, if you do start a war," Kirby said, "I'll stop you again."
"T-that actually s-sounds like a c-c-cool idea!" Bandee beamed at Meta Knight, "I'd like t-to help if p-possible!"
Meta Knight turned to Bandee and nodded genuinely, "I will keep you in mind if I figure something out. Gracias."
Taranza could barely make out any words over the wind plus the icy numbing pain. It sniffled as the temperature gave its headache more to work with. All of its clothes were damp from the heavy snow too, which definitely did not make things any better.
Part of Taranza wondered why it even came all this way. Maybe because Magolor was planning on going. Maybe it wanted to help as an apology to its friends for dropping off the face of Popstar for almost a year. It didn't know.
But before it could even process the reason, suddenly it realized they were heading over some sort of drawbridge to the open maw of a gigantic yellow castle.
"where's..." Taranza could only whisper one word before it trailed off in pain. Magolor shifted to look at Taranza.
"Hey K-Kirby!" Magolor yelled forward, "I think T-Taranza wants to know where you're taking us." They're so helpful...
"Oh," Kirby turned to look back, "we're going into Castle Lololo. I just thought we could all use a small break from the weather in there. Also, the top of the castle might be able to take us closer to Bubbly Clouds."
Meta Knight shrugged, "Perhaps some of us could ask for something warmer to wear inside as well."
"Yeah, that too." Kirby said.
They all went though the castles dark open entrance. The foyer was decorated in yellow and white diagonal checkerboard patterns up the high walls above embeded white pillar-like designs. The walls curved fairly sharply into the ceiling with the same pattern. The snow covered floor was made up of orange and yellow square blocks, with a marble-looking texture. Along the walls in intervals were striped blocks with question marks in the centers acting as small tables housing various assorted bushes and trees on each.
A huge broken gold and crystal chandelier lay on the ground in the middle of the large hallway, with broken glass scattered along the floor. Magolor leading it to the side of the room, Taranza could see another doorway, which actually had a wooden door.
Covered at least wind-wise from the storm inside this room made Taranza a little more lucid, but it still didn't fix the headache.
"Be on guard, Kirby," Meta Knight said before Kirby stepped forward, "I am seeing broken glass. It might be safer for us all to fly over it."
"Oh," Kirby looked down at the floor just in front of them, and saw a huge glass shard, "Yyyyeah... thanks, Meta!" They puffed up and floated themselves into the air, and made sure to land at the far end of the room.
"I c-can't fly..." Bandee sighed, looking at the ground and still shivering.
"I have seen you spin your spear to fly." Meta Knight turned to them, "That is acceptable enough." He flapped his wings to become airborne and soared far over the chandelier toward Kirby.
All Bandee replied with was, "R-right." They grabbed their spear from their back and spun it in their nubby hands fast enough to take flight and followed Meta Knight in the air.
"What even happened here?" King Dedede asked, pointing to the destroyed light fixture.
"You don't think it has... anything at all to do with the storm?" Magolor shot a glaring look at Dedede, "This room is open to the elements. It's not like it has a door to protect it right now."
"Oh," The King responded, "Well yeah, duh. I knew that."
As Magolor and Taranza naturally floated over and around the debris, and Dedede puffed himself up much like Kirby and followed the rest of the group to the door at the end of the room.
Kirby opened the door with Bandana Waddle Dee at their side. Before them was a light yellow brick spiral staircase leading up and down into darkness. Taranza could see just fine, but knew from experience that the others may have a much harder time than it.
"HELLO?" Bandee yelled into the abyss, "Lololo?! Lalala?! Anyone home?"
They all waited for some sort of response, but only heard a noise in the distance. It didn't sound like a voice, though.
"Does anyone have a light?" Bandee asked the group. Everyone shook their heads.
"So many times, I hoard the Light ability whenever I can, just in case I need it," Kirby said, "The one time I don't have the Light ability. Now I suddenly need it."
"Oh, wait," Magolor said as they brought Taranza past Kirby and Bandee, "I could use my magic as a light. Lemme see..."
Magolor outstretched their left glove out of their embrace. A magical neon purple circular disk with 6 triangles out from it appeared from their palm, creating a purple tinted bright spotlight pointed out from their palm.
Kirby gasped, "Magical flashlight..."
"No, it's not just a flashlight," Magolor shook their head, "I'm manipulating the light wavelengths to be perceived as bright to the naked eye. It's actually really complicated high level magics I'm employing here. You see, technically even if it's dark, there's still some level of light that most typically can't see, so I use that fact to amplify-"
"Whatever, It's a magical flashlight!" Dedede said, "You can tell us the needlessly complicated way it all works later! Let's just move!" Magolor shrugged, and lead everyone up the staircase.
Opposite to the foyer and up the steps, there was another wooden door. When Magolor opened it, Taranza saw that it was some sort of huge throne room with a pink and blue regal chair toward the back of the room. It seemed decorated in a similar way to the foyer, but taller. Toward the top, there seemed to be tall stained glass windows to the outside. Lightning struck outside, brightening the room for a flickering second. There was no one inside the room.
"Hey wait!" Dedede yelled, pushing into view of the room, "They have thrones? But I'm King!"
"But you're only the self proclaimed king," Kirby said.
"Isnt every King self proclaimed?!" Dedede asked, "Also Lololo and Lalala are good friends of mine, I'd assumed..."
"I seem to recall both of them were considered by most general denizens of Dreamland, king and queen before you." Meta Knight added.
"Huh," Dedede frowned in thought, "I somehow didn't know. But they seemed to accept me as a king of my own and never told me this, though... I may want to apologize to as soon as we find 'em."
As Taranza looked where Magolor was taking one more scan of the room with their magical flashlight, it noticed the edge of the lit zone caught the tip of something that darted past. But it couldn't quite understand what it saw.
"M-Magolor, I s-..." Taranza trailed off as its headache passed harder through their brain in a wave. Magolor turned to see Taranza wincing in pain. three of its hands instinctively touched the sides of its head and its forehead.
"Oh d'jut," Magolor exclaimed, "Are you alright, Taranza?!"
"Huh?" Dedede squinted at them, "What was that word you just said?"
Not noticing the king's words, Magolor set their glove over Taranza's forehead.
"OH," Magolor yelled, "Taranza's burning up a lot right now!"
"Burning up?" Meta Knight asked, "You mean it has a fever?"
"Well, yeah," Magolor said, "It said it was feeling sick last night, but I assumed it would pass."
"You let Taranza leave the Lor while it was sick during a blizzard?" Bandee asked.
"What's wrong with that?" Magolor asked.
Bandee yelled, "You can't just bring a sick person out in a blizzard, Magolor!"
"Why not?" Magolor asked, "Sorry, is this some sort of custom here I'm unaware of?"
"Being in a storm like this, especially when it's unwell, is very unhealthy for a person," Meta knight shook his head, "It needs rest. This is very irresponsible of you."
"Oh," Magolor's ears dropped a little as they spoke, "I didn't know that. Sorry. Taranza wanted to come."
"Clearly it isn't thinking straight if it's sick!" Dedede huffed.
Taranza couldn't even focus on a few words at a time during the conversation. All it knew was they were all talking about itself. It felt very seen right now, which felt like a bad thing. It did not want anyone else to worry about it any further.
"I'm fine..." Taranza managed to speak only those two words when the headache wave dissipated. Everyone looked to Taranza skeptically. It wished it could dissappear. It didn't want to be looked at and judged.
"Magolor," Meta Knight said finally, "We need to talk about this once we find others and a place to rest."
They just said, "Okay..."
Further up the flight of stairs was another door with a sign labeled 'Living Quarters L1'. They all entered the hallway decorated much differently than the foyer and throne room. The walls here were made of yellow bricks, and had gothic styled iron lamps embedded in the walls. There was a hallway forward, and just to the left toward the back of the castle.
Magolor pointed their light at a nearby lamp to inspect it.
"Pretty sure these are candle holders," Magolor said, "But there's nothing left in there."
"They must have run out." Bandee noted.
Kirby knocked on the closest door ahead on the left side of the wall. No response.
They reached for the handle and opened it to a cozy looking regal bedroom. But everything was in dissaray. The red rug in the middle of the room was overturned, bedsheets were half pulled off of the mattress, and a drawer was pulled out of a big dresser. A painting was on the ground with a broken frame too.
"This is weird," Kirby said, "I don't like this."
Magolor brought Taranza inside, and opened one of the dresser drawers.
"Magolor!" Kirby shouted as they entered, "This is someone's room!"
"Yeah?" Magolor said as they opened a drawer with manipulation magic, "I figured."
"Why are you going through their stuff?" Bandee asked, stepping inside.
"Because we need more clothes if we're going to brave the cold again." Magolor said. Each drawer they checked so far was completely empty.
"Maybe we should ask first?" Kirby said, "This is kind of rude."
"I don't see a problem with this." Magolor turned their light back to the others. Was it just Taranza, or did it see something catch in the light again? It looked, but saw nothing in the air it had seen light up.
Bandee put a hand to their face in thought, "Has no one told you stealing is frowned upon here, maybe?"
"If they had, I must have forgotten." Magolor sighed sadly.
"Kirby and Bandana do have a point," Meta Knight said at the door, "but in this situation, we do not have much of a choice. We need any help we can get. Please continue, Magolor."
"Alright," the mage said, "If you say so."
When they turned around and pointed the light back at the drawer, where there was nothing just before, a ghastly figure with huge eyes and a long tongue appeared only in Magolor's flashlight magic a few inches in front of their palm.
"AAAHH!!!!" Bandee screamed.
Magolor didn't even flinch. They immediately cast a magic sphere at one of its eyes and rocketed for the door with a delirious arachnid in hand, alongside Kirby and Bandee. They shut the door behind them.
"So uh," Magolor started speaking with their back to the closed door, "Nevermind on that. I think this place is haunted."
"Haunted?" Dedede asked, "What are you all hollering about!?!?"
Just then, they all heard the sound of metal clanking and glass breaking down the hall. Magolor turned their light toward the sound, and saw an iron lamp fallen from the wall. And above was a ghost with a tongue out, pointing and laughing at them.
Dedede looked dumbfounded, "Okay, I see your point, let's go!"
They all quickly filed out of the hallway and back into the staircase, slamming the door shut. Magolor zoomed down the stairs faster than the others holding Taranza, but on the way down they bumped into a soft spherical object and fell on a cold marble stair below, dropping Taranza on its back. Ow.
"Oooooh, I'm sorry!" a high voice spoke, "I didn't see you there..."
Magolor sat up to see a scarfy hovering above them. Without a single thought, their instincts kicked in and with eyes narrowed, they charged up a Revolution Flame with both gloves outstretched toward the scarfy. A larger magical neon circle appeared in their palms.
"Hey hey hey hey! woah woah woah!!" the scarfy yelled as they floated back in terror, "Watch where you're pointing that thing!!! You're gonna seriously hurt someone!!"
"Magolor..." Taranza meekly chimed in, sitting up next to them.
It took a few seconds for that to register after they glanced at Taranza. Magolor dissipated the magic after a moment, leaving their magical flashlight to only light up ahead. Looking closer at her in the light, it was clear that the scarfy had pink skin and a red bow on her head.
"I'm sorry," Magolor said with embarrassment, scratching behind their own ear with their right hand, "I'm just very on edge, and I was carrying an unwell friend." The rest of the group caught up to Magolor one after the other.
"Who's this?" Dedede asked.
"Oh uh, me, sir?" the scarfy asked after taking a breath, "My name's Azalea, but you can call me Azza. I go by she and her!"
"Ooh, I like your name! I'm Kirby, and I go by they and them, but I've been thinking about using she sometimes." Kirby smiled.
"Hehe, thank you! I also like your name." Azza smiled back.
"Nice to meet you, Azalea," Magolor said, "We can introduce ourselves and say each others' pronouns later, but for now, we were all just leaving. And you should too. This place is haunted."
"Haunted?" asked Azza with a puzzled face, "What do you mean?"
"There are these ghosts in the living quarters!" Bandee said with panic, "With big eyes and long tongues! We need to get out of here!"
"Oh, them?" Azalea smiled, "Nonono! Those are just residents of Castle Lololo. You probably just saw a... booler? or a chuckie. That's what Lalala told me at least! Obviously you'd find them in the living quarters, since they live here."
"We saw a whooler and a whattie?" Dedede arced his hands up in confusion, looking to Meta Knight for an answer.
"Oh," the knight said, ignoring Dedede's comment, "That might explain a little bit. Why is it so dark in these rooms?"
"I don't know," Azza said, "but I think it's because they consolidated most everyone who can't see in the dark to the kitchen and dining hall to keep warm."
"And where's that?" Magolor asked as they picked Taranza back up off the floor with their right hand and floated up into the air with it.
"Down the staircase," said the scarfy, "c'mere, I'll bring you there."
Magolor turned to look at the others, and with a quiet voice, they asked, "Do you think we can trust her?"
"I like her," Kirby said, "she seems nice."
"She may be the only lead we can find for a place to regroup," Meta Knight said, "We could also ask if they have ingredients for a hot soup for Taranza."
"Hot soup..." Taranza added with a coughing laugh.
"I dunno..." Dedede frowned, "something feels off about her."
"Guys, I'm literally RIGHT HERE, you know," Azalea huffed at the group, causing everyone to turn back toward her. She showed her fangs when speaking, "being rude and talking behind my back about me, especially when I'm in the same room and can HEAR you REALLY ticks me off! Please don't make me mad, I'd rather not get kicked out by Lololo in this weather."
"Im sorry, Miss Azalea, we've just never seen you before," Bandee said, "But I'd like to get to know you! Bandana Waddle Dee, by the way. But I mostly go by Bandee since it's easier. You may call me he, they, she, or whatever you like. I don't mind." Azza closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, and then back out.
"Thanks, Bandee," she smiled, "And I'm sorry for yelling at you all. I've been working on tempering my anger a lot the past few years. Anyway, let's go where it's warm, please." She turned around and floated down the stairs. The skeptical hesitantly followed behind Bandee and Kirby.
They all went down the stairs past the entrance. Magolor still lit the way from behind the three soon to be friends. They spiraled past a door labeled 'Living Quarters B1', and another perpendicular one further down that read 'Theatre'. This looked to be a floor beneath the throne room. Just after, in the direction opposite of the living quarters was a door that read 'Dining Hall', cracked open, letting a little light out.
"This place is so convoluted," King Dedede said, "How do you live like this, with all your traffic in and out coming from this staircase??"
"Oh, I don't actually live here," Azza said as she nudged the door open physically with her cheek, letting more light out, "but... uh huh, I can see why you'd say that, Mister Dedede."
"mister...?" Taranza heard the king whisper to himself in confusion.
"Where do you live, Miss Azalea?" Bandee asked before she led them in.
"I live in Bubbly Clouds," the scarfy replied as she turned to Bandee and smiled, "I've been taking refuge here for a few days ever since the storm got bad. A lot of us from there have."
Everyone followed her through the doorway, and the very warm and cozy air in the room immediately hit Taranza, letting it become much more lucid again. The room was a long and tall dining hall, decorated in orange blocks and diagonal checkerboard patterns, similarly to the foyer, but much taller and more grand. The room was lit with candles hanging from the chandelier, and strategically placed in intervals across a big long table across the room.
Many creatures were scattered around the room doing various things. Some were sleeping next to a few noddys in the nearest corners, and some were eating out of steamy bowls at the table. A few broom hatters took it upon themselves to sweep the floors, but the floors didn't even look dirty. Various differently colored scarfies seemed to be gossiping in the left of the room with some bronto burts, and toward the back of the room near a double-door, a simirror was entertaining a crowd of poppy bros. jrs. and sir kibbles, with what looked like a deck of cards in a magic trick. There were also a lot of stragglers, not doing anything specific, but some were drinking hot drinks out of mugs.
A small blue and pink duo holding each other's white gloved hands floated across the room to the group.
The blue one spoke up, "Oh! Welcome to our castle!"
Without missing a beat, the pink one spoke too, "Azzaaaaa! Thanks for checking out the noise for us! And welcome, guests!"
The blue one spoke again after, "As you can see we kinda..."
The pink one finished their sentence, "-have our hands very full! Haha..." They adjusted the yellow bow on their head with the other hand.
"Who are these two again?" Magolor asked, unintentionally matching the sentiment of Taranza's thoughts, "I've never seen you two before."
"Oh, sorry!" the duo exclaimed at once.
"I'm Lololo! He, and him pronouns!" the blue one said.
"And I'm Lalala! She and her for me!" responded the pink one.
"Nice to meet you," Magolor nodded, "I'm Magolor, I go by they and them, and this is Taranza, but I'm sure you've met it before." They gestured, holding Taranza's body up a little to signify who they were talking about.
"O-oh." Lololo said. The duo's eyes uncomfortably looked at each other, and then glanced at Dedede.
"The same Magolor who tried to take over Popstar?" Lalala asked. Oh boy. Taranza felt Magolor's body twitch as she said that.
"Yup." Magolor said flippantly, "The very one. I can leave if you want me to."
"Nonono!" Lalala started, "It's not like that... it's just..."
"Just don't start anything or hurt anyone," Lololo said, closing his eyes and nodding, "We expect you to be respectful to our home. No stealing anything either." Taranza felt Magolor's breath waver a little, and they squeezed Taranza's body tighter into the hug.
"Lololo..." Kirby said, "don't be so harsh on them, they're not like that anymore."
"I understand," Lololo said with a serious face, "but you've trusted them once and they broke that trust. I just want to make our castle rules clear."
"By the way," Lalala started, "why are you and Meta Knight sorta trading looks? I didn't take you for the cosplaying type, Meta! hehehe!"
"We have a plan to stop the storm," Meta Knight chimed in, "however, the details of the plan aren't important right now. We have something more urgent to take care of at the moment." Meta knight gestured toward Magolor and Taranza.
"Oh," Magolor snapped alert, "Yeah, do you have something to help with a fever? Taranza isn't doing very well. It's sick."
"Oh dear!" Lalala said, surprised, "A fever?"
"I don't think we have any doctors here," Lololo said, "We'll check around, though! In the meantime, we can ask Chef Kawasaki to cook up something nice for them!"
"Some of us also need some more winter clothes to layer on for when we go back out there!" Bandee said.
"Oh," Lalala said, "I'll put that on our list of things to help you with!"
Lalala and Lololo both said in unison, "Make yourself at home, please!" They both then flew off together into the back of the room again and out of sight through the doors.
"What was that about taking over Popstar, Magolor?" Azza asked with a confused look.
Magolor didn't respond and just carried Taranza away to the side of the room next to a question marked block planter. They set it down leaning on the wall, and sat next to it.
"Oh..." Azza followed, "I didn't realize that was a touchy subject. I'm sorry."
"Hey," Magolor turned to look at Azalea, "sorry but, could you talk to the others for now? It's not your fault, I just need space to breathe."
"Oh!" Azza backed up, "Sorry, sorry! I'll- yeah, I'll do that!" She turned and floated back toward the other allies. Taranza saw that she immediately started talking to Kirby and Bandee. Magolor sighed.
"Are you..." Taranza started, but could barely muster the energy to continue its sentence, "...alright?" It sniffled weakly.
"I'll be good," Magolor rested their head on its side with a flinch and a small whine before continuing, "I'm more concerned about you right now."
Taranza didn't know how to respond at all. It just nodded and closed all of its eyes, including the 4 in the back of its head. It felt itself sink into the noise around the room. The chatter, the sounds of snoring near it in the corner of the room, but mostly the warmth let it relax enough that it could tell it was dozing off.
"Taranza?" Magolor said gently, "You gotta wake up. Lololo and Lalala came by with some soup for you."
It opened its eyes to see Magolor in front of it on the blocky flooring. They were holding a bowl with a spoon up to its face. How much time did it lose...?
With a couple of its hands, it collected the bowl and spoon from its friend and started slowly sipping at the edge of the bowl. Ow! It recoiled a bit.
"Oops, it's hot," Magolor rolled forward, "Sorry, I should have said."
It took what felt like half an hour to slowly cool off and eat the soup. It wasn't entirely sure what the soup was meant to be, but it could tell there was tofu, cubed carrots, onions, and potatoes, with what tasted like a garlic broth. It tasted great, but it wasn't sure if that was the exhaustion talking or if it was truly good. No matter the case, Taranza was satisfied with its meal, and it could think more clearly now that it had something on its stomach.
"Do you mind if I try the rest of your soup water?" Magolor asked, "Just wanna see how it tastes, since you seemed to enjoy it." Taranza looked in the bowl again, and saw there was about a couple teaspoons of the broth left.
"Uh, sure," Taranza offered the bowl to Magolor with a smirk, "It's called broth though..."
"Oh." The mage scratched behind their ear a bit before taking the bowl. They then pulled down their belt a little bit, and poured the remaining broth down their fanged mouth like a shotglass. Immediately, they seemed to regret this action as they then spit it all back out into the bowl.
"Eeugh..." Magolor expressed.
"Was it that bad??" Taranza wondered if it being sick made the taste more acceptable.
"Nono, it's probably not that, it's just..." Magolor said, "I guess my body not needing to eat at all makes me not used to having things with complex flavor like that. And my body just ends up rejecting a lot of strong savory flavors anyway."
"Oh," Taranza said, "what's that like?"
"What? Like, not eating?" Magolor asked.
"Well, yeah," Taranza nodded, "but mainly, do you feel any urges to eat even if you technically don't need to? Or do you ever feel like you need some form of sustanence in other ways? Do you get energy your body needs in some other way?" Magolor visibly shifted their weight around uncomfortably.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Taranza said, "I'll drop it if you don't want me to ask."
"It's... okay to ask, I guess," Magolor said, "I'm just worried you might judge me for the answer."
"I would never judge you," Taranza frowned, "your body is just very fascinating to me is all. Let me know if I ever cross a boundary on that with you though."
"Alright," Magolor said, "well, I think... from what I can understand at least, there's these abundant invisible 'pools' of ambient magical energy all around us in the air. I think it may be a resource mages like you and I can use to do magic."
"Yeah," Taranza nodded, sniffling as its nostrils felt a little runny, "What was it called? Chaos Essence or something?"
"Oh, okay, so you do know about it," they scratched around their cheek anxiously, "makes my explanation a little easier I suppose. I believe my body is made up of this force entirely in some way. And when more energy is needed for me to, well, exist... it pulls in the ambient Chaos from around me and dispells the unneeded 'used up' energy."
"Really?" Taranza lit up a bit, "That's actually really cool."
"You don't think it's bad that my body is constantly using up all the magic around me just so I can live, like some weird magical sponge?" Magolor tilted their head in confusion.
"Well, no," Taranza said, "I think keeping you alive is more important than conserving the resource anyway. And you can't really control how your body operates in that way anyway, right?"
"I guess you're right," Magolor sighed, "it just feels wrong. My entire existence just feels sinister in some way. It feels ominous that this is how my form works. Like... who would create a being so powerful that sucks up all the energy around it for itself? All I know about my origin is I was intentionally created eons ago for some purpose, but that purpose has not been made clear yet. And that scares me a bit, because what if that purpose truly is evil or sinister?"
"I think you should make your own purpose." Taranza said.
"What do you mean?" Magolor asked.
"You shouldn't care about what some forgotten, ancient, probably dead, creatures think about your life," Taranza continued, "They don't own you, at least especially right now. You're your own person, and you can now choose what you want to bring to the universe. And I know, regardless of your origins, that you would want to only bring good things."
"You really believe that?" Magolor's voice wavered a little bit.
"Of course I do." Taranza smiled.
"Thank you..." Magolor said. Taranza saw that tears started forming around their eyes, and it was about to ask them if they were okay. But then it noticed Magolor's mouth was still a little uncovered and revealed their small smile. Taranza instead just smiled back gently.
After a few awkward moments of staring at each other, Taranza's attention was brought to Meta Knight eyeing down Magolor, walking away from Dedede and the others in the other side of the room, and toward the two with an exhausted look.
"Magolor." the pink Meta Knight started once he arrived, "Do you think you're able to talk right now?"
Magolor absentmindedly pulled their buckle further up their face, wiped their eyes a little bit, and turned to face him, "Uh, sure? What's up?"
"Dedede and I have discussed a few things," Meta Knight said, "And we came to the conclusion that it may be best to leave Taranza here for the time being. You may still come along with us if you'd like to. In fact we would appreciate the additional protection you could give us in case something goes wrong."
"Oh," Magolor nodded, "Yeah, I think that sounds fine."
"Wait..." Taranza interrupted, "You're going to be leaving me here?"
"Yes," Meta Knight said, "This is the best place you could conceivably stay while you're sick in the mean time while we go and deal with the storm." Taranza frowned.
"I... don't really feel comfortable staying here alone," Taranza admitted, "I think I feel a little better now anyway. I think I could handle the outside now, especially if I had more warm clothes."
"I'm sorry, Taranza," Meta Knight said, "But we can't risk your health like this. Azalea told us that it's even more dangerous in the Bubbly Clouds area. There's reportedly a lot of lightning up there. I was also made aware of your lightning trigger. I just don't think you would be safe physically, or mentally where we're going."
"Lightning trigger...?" Taranza asked, "What do you mean?"
"Hmm," Meta knight put his nubby ungloved hand to his pink cheek, "Dedede may have been misinformed. He said that any time you'd hear lightning or any sort of electric spark sound back in his castle, that it would upset you and make you cry."
"Well... huh," Taranza breathed, "I... yeah, that's right I think. I never really... realized this about myself."
"I see," Meta Knight said, "Anyway, this is the best option we have as of now. Ideally Magolor would have left you in their ship."
"I don't own the Lor," Magolor added, "she's her own person. She allows me to live there."
"Right," Meta Knight nodded, "the point is, you should not have brought Taranza."
"I wanted to come," Taranza said, "and... sorry, but I don't really want to stay here."
"Why is that?" Meta Knight asked thoughtfully.
"I don't really..." it hesitated, "know or trust anyone here. And I'd rather be with Magolor if I stay here..."
"I can stay with you if you want me to, Taranza." Magolor offered.
"Hm," Meta Knight took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm sorry, but I believe we may need your protection, Magolor."
"Oh jeez," Magolor said, "you two realize you're pulling me in opposite directions, right?"
"This is partially your fault," Meta Knight narrowed his eyes a little bit toward them, "for bringing a sick person through the snow and unforgiving cold. Taranza is sick, so I'm giving it a pass, but you should know better."
"Look, I genuinely didn't know!" Magolor raised their voice, "I'm sorry. I'm not... like you. My body isn't really organic, and I don't know a lot of things about bodies which are."
"Hm," Meta Knight looked down at the ground in thought for a few moments, and then continued, "Alright. If that's truly the case, I will be lenient about that matter then. Unfortunately, as I see it right now, there doesn't seem to be a perfect solution to keep everyone safe, but also Taranza comfortable. I suppose I will leave this up to you two to decide. I strongly advise that it stays here for its safety until we take care of the storm, though." He nodded respectfully, and then turned back toward the others.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay here?" Magolor whispered to Taranza, "I promise I will come back for you once I'm sure it's safe out there. I'm realizing that your health is very important right now." Taranza didn't really understand why, but tears started forming in its eyes.
"Oh, T-Taranza..." Magolor sputtered, "do you just not want to be alone?"
"I don't know," Taranza said, "I guess, yeah... I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, but," Magolor sighed, "It really seems like they need my help. And, I don't know if bringing you along is smart..."
"I think I can push through the storm," Taranza said, "If you're there at least. I just don't really feel safe here..."
"Are you sure?" Magolor asked, "I don't see a problem with this place. It just seems like a typical castle built for royalty. Others are hiding out in here too, and it's really warm. Maybe you could make a friend with Azalea. She seems... nice enough at least, if a little bit accidentally insensitive when curious. I don't think you'd truly be alone. Plus it'll hopefully only be for a couple of hours."
Taranza looked around at the decor. The huge dining table, the ornate candle holders, the crystal chandelier. It all felt... a bit too familliar. It hated the feeling it got when it thought of why that may be. It simply just didn't have the energy to dig too deeply. But it knew at least one thing. It simply could not be here without someone it truly trusted, like Magolor.
"I can't be here without you with me," Taranza said, "It reminds me too much of... her."
"Her?" Magolor's head tilted a bit, "Who's... Oh. OH. I... think I see. She was royalty, wasn't she? Sorry, don't answer that, I'm just thinking to myself."
"Y-yeah," Taranza nodded, "she was..."
Magolor closed their eyes for a good long while, and then spoke, "Okay. I promise I won't leave without you, alright? I just need to figure out how to make sure you're as safe as possible if I'm going to be bringing you."
"Thank you," Taranza finally relaxed a little bit against the cool wall, and closed its eyes, "I'm sorry for putting you in a tough position."
"Really, it's fine," Magolor said, "If you can't stay here, you can't stay here. I won't really argue with that. Maybe Meta Knight was right though, when he said you should have stayed in the Lor."
"...sorry," Taranza said, "I didn't realize I was still sick." It felt itself slowly sink back into the noise of the room.
"Does the feeling of 'being sick' come in waves or something?" Magolor asked.
"I don't know," Taranza admitted, "Maybe? I think I'm too tired to think too hard about this."
"Oh," Magolor said, "Alright, do you think you'd want me to cuddle with you right now at least?" This woke Taranza up a little, making it open all its eyes. Its face felt impossibly warm. It looked at magolor bashfully.
"I-In front of everyone?!" Taranza exclaimed, gesturing with a couple of hands toward all the creatures taking refuge inside, "A-Are you sure??"
"Uh, sure?" Magolor shrugged with their hands, "I don't see why not?"
"Okay," Taranza nodded, "if you want to, I think I would... like that a lot."
Magolor moved and sat their body next to it. They slowly leaned into Taranza, making a small noise as was typical. With their hands, they pulled it into a gentle hug. Taranza moved all of its hands to gently rest each behind their back too. They had shaken with each gentle touch, again, but this time, their noises of surprise were quieter. Only able to be heard by itself.
It felt itself doze off quicker now that it felt comfortable.
"Thank you, Magolor," Taranza said sleepily, "I love you."
"I love you too, Taranza."
"How pitiful, Taranza," A voice boomed from the other side of a closed closet door, "You can not just hide away from me."
Tears streamed from all of their eyes, as they breathed as quietly as possible. She could not find it in here. It wouldn't let her see it like this. Not right now. It tried to stop itself from crying and put on a happy face, but it just didn't have the energy to now.
It heard things moving out in its bedroom. Furniture being scooted, blankets being thrown haphazardly around the room. What did it do now to deserve this treatment?
"I am certain you are in here," she said, surprisingly calmly, "I know I heard you crying in here just a minute ago." Fuck. She heard. It wished it could just dissappear.
"This sort of behavior is unacceptable," she snarled as it heard her throw the dresser on its side with a huge wooden thud, making it jump, "This is why your little friend had abandoned you." Friend? Who was she-
"Obviously they and everyone else left you because they were sick of having to put up with you," she continued, "Clearly, finding the Lor for Magolor was just a front. Why else would they not return after?" Maybe she was right. They had abandoned it. Its tears streamed harder at this realization.
"Of course, I would never do that," she said, "As your queen, I have my own morals preventing me from doing so. ONLY IF you come out where I can see you NOW." Taranza took a deep breath. It didn't want her to abandon it too, so it really had no other choice. It opened the closet and floated out, revealing its still crying face.
"Ah, good," Sectonia clapped her white frilly gloves together, "One more hiding spot to take note of." Taranza tried to wipe its face with 3 of its hands, but the tears just kept coming. It sniffled sadly.
"Oh, come now," the queen gently used her right hand to lift its chin up toward her face, "It will be fine. As long as you continue to obey my orders exactly, no problems will arise, yes?" Taranza didn't meet her eyes, but nodded silently.
She frowned, "I didn't quite hear you, Taranza. Say that again?"
Taranza spoke quietly, "Y-yes, Sectoni-"
She interrupted and narrowed her eyes at it, grasping at its face a little harder, "You are forgetting my full title. Try one more time."
This time, it raised its voice as loudly as it had the energy to, "Yes, Queen Sectonia!"
"Excellent," she let go of its face promptly, "Now I have a few very special tasks for you. Some resisting my command had sent the last dreamstalk seed down to the lower world. I have already dealt with the dissenters personally. You will now go down toward the surface and bring me the dreamstalk's chosen hero of the lower world. It should be obvious who the dreamstalk has chosen, as it may raise their home up toward us and cover it with its vines. Once you have done this, I command you to destroy any last semblance of that wretched plant, forever. Understood?"
Destroy the dreamstalk? But, it's such a rare plant! Could it really bring itself to do that? Before Taranza could think too hard about this, Queen Sectonia began to impatiently charge up her staff into an electric attack.
"O-Okay, okay!" Taranza blurted out, "I mean, consider it done, your majesty." It bowed its body toward her. This made her dissipate her attack.
"Good." she said, "I expect you to complete these tasks with haste." Sectonia then left the room, leaving it in disarray, along with Taranza.
Okay. A task. An important one. It could not screw this up, as it very well knew the consequences for a failed task. It slapped itself in the face to halt its tears. This barely worked, but it was enough so that it could focus. It left its room without even a thought about cleaning its room. This task was more important after all.
Taranza opened its eyes, hearing thunderous claps nearby. It didn't feel too cold here, but it realized it had warm clothes over its body, including a winter hat and ear mufflers. It was splayed over Magolor's back.
It looked to its side, and saw that the rest of the group was here, along with Azalea, who looked like she was guiding them all through Bubbly Clouds. Bandee, Kirby, and Magolor also had changed into warmer clothes.
Taranza smiled. It felt warm, not even just physically. Magolor truly didn't abandon it after all.
<Previous Chapter< - [MASTERPOST] - >Next Chapter>
(February 3rd, 2026)
Taranza} WOW! This was such a hefty chapter. Around 8,000 words long! We were reaching the word count we'd normally start wrapping up the chapter (around 5,000), but we still had a lot of ideas for the chapter, so we just kept writing!
Also sorry for the delays, we've been slowly writing this for the past few months, while dealing with a stressful move. This whole chapter was a little out of our comfort zone honestly, but we still had fun writing it. Thanks to those who still keep up with this fic! I hope this was a decent chapter for you all! I know this is at least my favorite chapter so far.
Edit: OH YEAH I hope you all liked the Shadow Kirby cameo in the beginning. Thought whatever is going on in the Mirror Dimension would be an interesting parallel to the events happening in Dreamland
