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One :
Stellar Knight sighed, his feathery wings going back into their soft cape form as he landed safely on the metal deck of the GSA’s base. The knight was asked to come from the other side of the galaxy to take a student, again, since that one was… “too hard to control” his higher up said, looking at him. He honestly didn't really want to do it, a nap would be great today, after all. But… Stellar heard screeching, hissing… and maybe a curse of someone who got badly scratched as he and his boss approached a door. “...Yeah, I can hear that. What is he, a cat ?” He asked, looking at the poor and tired Nonsurat who brought him here. “A demon. That kid is a demon beast.”
Stellar Knight didn't believe it at first, but when he saw that kid, his long dark, blueish hair in a true mess, like if he was fighting for days, his piercing red eyes and the dragon wings, yeah, his mind changed. “Ok, ok ! I'm leaving you alone !” Almost screamed Yamikage, his arm bleeding. “You should go see a doctor for that.” Stellar said with a little smile. “Oh, go fuck yourself...” the ninja mumbled, but the venom didn't reach the knight. Instead, he looked at the kid, now growling at him and the Great General. “It's the fifth one to give up on him. He's different from other demon beasts, he came here by himself and was… never that hostile to any one, except maybe to authority he didn't trust. I know as much as you how strong you are, but please be careful.” Nonsurat said calmly. “You can leave us, I want to speak to him alone.” The knight whispered to his boss, who nodded and left.
“So, your name is Meta, right ?” He smiled. “Mine is Stellar Knight. They want me to be your new teacher.” “Leave. You’ll just be like the others, don't waste your time, because you're wasting mine.” The kid sharply said. “Why would I ?” Stellar sat on the metal floor, crossing his legs, still looking at his future student. No response to his second question. “...Yeah, it's my name.” “Happy to meet ya !” Stellar shined. “...Your mask is creepy as hell” “Oh, I'm sorry. Let me just…” the knight took it off, keeping his eyes closed. Meta didn't need to be more scared than he already was. “...Put it back on, it's worse.” Stellar laughed, putting it back on. “You don't like my scars, huh ?” he joked, still smiling. A loud sigh from the angry kid made the knight a little calmer, bad time to joke, understood. He looked around with his eyes, trying to find a subject…
Oh, he knew. “And what type of weapon do you want to master ? Or maybe you want to put those claws to use ?” He gestured towards Meta’s hands, the pure black with scales in a gradient with his dark skin. He had obsidian black claws, different enough from the plates of different sizes depending on where they were, those had a little purple hue in the light. His student looked at them. “...Sword. I like swords.” He mumbled. “Longswords, shortswords ? Maybe daggers, even ? You could be very fast with them” The knight continued, seeing it made the kid calmer. “...shortsword, probably.” Meta replied, the red in his eyes disappearing for a soft forest green, before becoming silver. The only constant with his eyes is the yellow sclera, good to know.
“So, do you accept me as your teacher ?” Stellar asked, his eternal smile still there. “...I had a choice ?” The kid blinked, his eyes becoming white before returning to silver. Stellar needed to learn the patterns, the colors seemed to show his emotions. “If I were you, I wouldn't like to be forced to have a teacher I hated. I’ve been there, it was bad." The knight had a little shiver remembering his own teacher. That man was scary. “So ?” He finished, shaking his head to regain his attention on his future student. “...I still need to think about it.” He said, calmer. “Take your time” He smiled softly, noticing the scales disappearing and the claws becoming simple pointy nails. Even the black on his forearms went back to his wrists with the same little gradient.
Stellar knew at this moment, he couldn't give up on this kid.
Two :
“Meta, please, get down.” Stellar sighed again, for the what… fourth time in a row this week, his student went up a tree and wouldn't get down, because he wanted to read in peace. His student stuck out his tongue before ignoring him, his eyes orange. “Really…? You need to eat, Meta.” “Nuh uh.” “...What do you mean “nuh uh” ?- you're a living being, you need to eat...” Stellar Knight put his hand on his forehead, at least, where it is on his mask. “I'm a demon beast if you remember well.” “And demon beasts still need to eat. Down, now. Or no candies for a month.” The teacher crossed his arm, looking at his student with a tired look. “.....You can't do that to me !” Meta moved rapidly, almost falling, pointing Stellar and the knight thought for a second he would have a cardiac arrest. He now knew why King was this scared for him when he jumped out of high places without his wings out. “Meta, careful-”
“Yeah yeah, I have wings. I would have been fine.” Meta said, throwing the book in the air for it to disappear in stars and darkness to his pocket dimension. “No you wouldn't. In that high, you would not even have the time to get your wings out, you would have been on the ground.” Stellar said severely to Meta. “Says the one who jumps out of tall places without his wings out.” “The key word here is tall, a tree is not a tall place.” Meta rolled his eyes at the saying of Stellar Knight, looking at his teacher with a defiant look on his face, his eyes orange again. “Now get down and let's go eat.” Stellar said. “Still not hungry.” “So, no candies ?” “I hate you.” “I love you too, Meta.” The young hero of DreamLand sighed loudly before teleporting to the ground, in front of his teacher. “Happy ?” “Almost” Stellar smiled. “Just one sandwich, ok ? If you're really not that hungry.” “....ok. Just one.” Meta crossed his arm, looking away.
He ate nine. Nine whole sandwiches. In ten minutes. “Not hungry, huh ?” The knight smiled. “Oh shut up. Your sandwiches are just really good.” Stellar Knight laughed. “Anyway, do you still have a place for dessert ?” “Always have a place for dessert.” Meta smiled a little. “Here, a parfait. Your favorite” the teacher brought it to his student. Meta smiled more, his eyes becoming a bright sky blue. “Thank you…” Stellar patted his head with affection with his wing. “But no more tree reading if his majesty, your friends or I are not there to look after you.” “Mhm, whatever… Stars, those things are great…” Stellar laughed again, his student was too focused on his parfait.
Stellar Knight really likes this life, everything about it, even Meta’s teen tantrums. Having him around gave him a hope that maybe, maybe, he could start from scratch again. It didn't take him that long to really get attached, when he thought about it, even with his inner promise…
Three :
Stellar Knight hasn't approached a mirror for months now. And Meta was concerned, he knew it. The knight sighed and looked at his student. “I'm fine, Do not worry.” He said. “You're not.” Meta declared. He sat on the stone fortifications of the castle and looked at Stellar, frowning. His eyes went from ocean blue to red to purple to the starting blue again. “It's that mirror guy, right ? What was he called again… whatever. Bitch number… seven. It's because of him, right ?” He asked. The knight faintly smiled and patted Meta’s head with his wing. “Yeah… I’m… I can't stand my own reflection anymore. I'm… scared it would be him instead of me.” He almost whispered. Meta said nothing for a little while. “I hate him. He hurt you.” he finally said, the red coming back in his eyes for a few seconds. “You hate a lot of things.” Stellar said softly. “But not you. Even if I was really mean to you, uh… I’m sorry.”
Stellar Knight looked at his student. “Don’t be. I understand why.” “No, it was…- you didn't deserve all that. I'm not a good person. I'm…” Stellar stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder. Meta’s eyes were ocean blue again. “I know you didn't mean all those things. I can recognize the difference between you being mean because you were frustrated and you being mean for the sake of being mean.” “I’m still sorry.” “And you are forgiven.”
The silence between them was broken by Meta sobbing. He hugged his teacher and Stellar hugged his student back. “I was really scared when I saw this other you, this… evil doppelganger locking you up in that mirror… I lost hope multiple times, because you were not there… I hate it when you just can't help me…” “But you didn't and you saved me. Thank you for that.” Stellar whispered, in a comforting tone. “Fighting him was hard… He took your appearance. Twice…” Meta talked about the whole journey to repair the mirror, his own doppelganger, the tyrant he had to put an end to, the Mirror World as a whole…
Stellar Knight listened to everything with great attention. It was hard for both of them, but it was needed. They were there for eachother, and it's all that mattered.
Four :
Stellar looked at his student, his majesty and his majesty’s right arm, they all were visibly tired. “Let's take a break.” He said. “Good idea, I can't feel my feet anymore.” Sighed King Dee, planting his spear in the ground and using it as a support. Dedede nodded multiple times and went to sit under a palm tree, eyes closed. “I was about to ask.” He said. Meta stretched out his wings.
A wizard with golden wings for arms fell with his ship a few days prior, Marx was his name. He was desperate and stuck in DreamLand, so Meta offered his help, after talking with Stellar, to find the missing pieces for him to go home. Marx was over the moon with this offer and promised the group a trip to his planet as a thanks. The wizard also talked about a legendary sword to Meta named Galaxia and other ancient built artifacts, and of course, the young hero was very interested. Stellar smiled a bit hearing of Galaxia, he really needed to find her; Meta was her true wielder, after all, and the knight was sure she couldn't wait for the kid anymore.
Stellar sat down on the sand and gently petted his student’s head with a wing, as he stuck close to him, Meta looking at the water. “It's so hot around here… Stell’, how do you do with your feather cape ?- Or your wings, they must be hot too” King declared, making wind with his hand. He was probably almost about to take his bandana off his head and blow some wind with it. “You insisted on keeping your kimono and all its layers when I told you it was going to be hot this morning, and I'm a soldier, I’m used to it.” said Stellar Knight, still petting Meta’s hair with his wing. Stellar took off his mask, he was suffocating with that thing on his face, one eye closed and the other looking at King, taking advantage of the fact only the Waddle Dee looked at him. The hero snuggled on him, closing his eyes to rest the more he could. “At least without that thing, but yeah, it is really hot.” Finished the teacher, using his mask to make wind, closing is eye. “We can't lose time…” Meta said, sleepy. “You're about to fall asleep, Mety. And we all want to rest.” Dedede said, making himself wind with his kimono, half asleep himself. “Also thanks for not letting me out with my coat, Stellar. I wouldn't have survived” he chuckled. “Knew it.” He simply said.
After almost 40 minutes and a little nap later, the group started to walk again, to at least bring back all energy spheres of the beach to Marx. They found the last one in that area, but uh… “How the hell do we get that one ?” Asked Meta, confused of how that energy sphere even got stuck behind walls of stone. “One of us could swim…” Dedede said, seeing a hole full of water that went to the other side. “Too deep. Only Meta could fit in that and I'm not letting a kid drown today.” King Dee said, looking at both teens. Meta shrugged his shoulders. “Eh, done worse. Like killing my own father.” he looked severely at King, who sighed for the fiftieth time today. “I panicked, I don’t have dream magic like you, I have no magic at all.” The Waddle Dee crossed his arms. “No fight, please. Can't you teleport on the other side ?” Stellar asked. “Not enough space. I would only hurt myself.” Meta said. “I have good lungs, it's not that that will kill me.” “...Still, we could just let that one go and come back later.” King proposed, still not sure.
“We could, but we would still be missing one. Only one !” Meta said. “Ya really want to go in that hole.” Dedede said, chuckling. “I'm a perfectionist, and only missing one energy sphere hurts my perfectionism.” The hero replied, preparing himself for the dive. Stellar declined with his head. “If it's too hard, come back up. It's not dramatic to give up if it's for your safety.” “Ok” Meta said, taking a deep breath before putting himself in the water.
It… went well. Meta got the energy sphere and teleported back to his friends. He was safe, but also soaked. “Let's go, you’ll be sick if we stay here.” King Dee said. “Yeah… the water was cold as hell.” Meta said.
Stellar Knight knew he could trust Meta’s judgment, but seeing this kid hurt, a kid he considered his son, is the last thing he wanted. Now looking back, he regrets nothing about taking him under his wing.
Five :
Stellar Knight looked at the Dreamstalk, blinking fast three times in a row, but nobody noticed it, because of his mask. “What is that..?- I leave for three months because the army needs me and I come back to… that.” “That's the Dreamstalk, a plant. Up there is Floralia, the sky kingdom.” King said, looking at the huge plant. “And you were telling me you were kidnapped by a girl called Sectonia because she thought you were DreamLand’s hero ?” Stellar looked at his king. “Yeah. Meta was there to save me and make her understand who's the real hero.” King laughed. “What a bad knight I am, huh ? Couldn't even save my king from a kidnapping” Stellar laughed. “You were called by the army, you idiot” the Waddle Dee lightly pushed the soldier with a little smile, hidden by his fabric mask. He then sighed and closed his eyes. “I hate bees…” “Why ?” “Their King, Taranza, he was one. Before he died.”
And that's how Stellar later found Meta looking at the sky on a bench, his silver eyes on the huge flower, slowly dancing in the wind. “I still hope she will find peace. She wasn't mean, just too much in love.” He said. “This Sectonia lady ?” Stellar asked. “Yeah. King told you everything, huh ?” “Indeed.” He sat near his student. “You know, there was a type of seed on that thing that formed a really really big sword when I took it. It was really cool, you would have loved it, I’m sure. Looked a lot like your sword.” Meta looked at him. “But uh… yeah. Never again.” “Why is that ?” The knight asked. “...He really wanted to die, you know ? He said to me, well, more screaming at me he couldn't hear her anymore, ‘made him go crazy. And she... she wanted to save him from his suffering.” He paused. “There was no other way.”
“So you…” Stellar didn't have to finish that sentence. Meta nodded. “If you need to talk, I’ll always be there. Or I could find you a professional in the army if you prefer.” “I know. It's ok, I did worse.” He looked down. “Floralia was very pretty. Very uh… Floral. I think I’ll go later to the main city. Sectonia offered us a full visit as a sorry gift.” “Do you want me to come with you ?” The teacher asked. “Yeah, it would be nice.” The student answered.
A little vacation would be great for the four of them. Saving the planet and the universe is great, but it's tiring, especially with two teenagers… one of them being an overpowered demon beast, but nevertheless a teenager. Like a… family vacation. Yeah, King, Dedede and Meta… they are his family.
1 :
He was stupid. So, so stupid. Thinking he would bring down a whole company by himself… of course not. Stellar Knight was suffering, he almost didn't feel alive anymore. He was forced to stay up, again, near this stupid man who mechanized him, his back burning, his skin shattered by screws, cables and metal plates. Even his wings weren’t spared, blades on their ends. And that tail, that metal spear, made to impale, he didn't even want to know why he had that, now.
“Here you are, little demonic native ! I have a surprise for you !” He heard him say. “Please allow me to present to you our latest product, hot off the production line. We made lots of upgrades on it with the best of new technologies. Capable of working for 24 hours without recharging and programmed as a merciless fighting machine. We call it: Mecha Star ! I hope you enjoy it ! Goodbye~” Max Haltmann said, patting his back then getting quickly out of the room. Oh, he would adore to smash his face in the metal wall, but he wasn't able to move. He was already almost unconscious and unable to see anything. Then suddenly, he moved into a fighting position and he had no control over himself. Oh. Oh no.
—
Meta was disgusted. He understood quickly that Mecha Star was still his teacher under all of that metal. How could this man do …that to him ! AGAIN. The hero prepared his sword, Galaxia, eyes red of rage. He will free Stellar Knight from this mechanical prison, he just needed to survive this fight.
The fight started sword against sword. Galaxia's spirit helped him get through the attacks to do damage to the metal armor. He had to fly a bit to avoid getting stabbed by his teacher’s spears and their choc waves, but at least, he didn't use any element. It was hard, it was exhausting. Not like with bitch number seven, where it was just the appearance. This time, it was Stellar Knight, in flesh, bones and those stupid metal plates.
Meta forgot his teacher could materialize his other weapons, not just his spears. His axe was horrible to dodge and he knew one hit from that, and he could say goodbye to that body part. And that spear-tail… It was really fast ! And his wings had lasers ! The hero needed to be quick, he knew that machine would exhaust Stellar Knight to death. He tried using his claws and to destroy the mechanical parts and it worked well enough he had the confidence to break the mask. It was the mask that controlled him, from what he could see. So Meta swung his sword the hardest he could on the mask and-
CRACK
Everything stopped, the machine broke down. Meta looked at Stellar Knight, one hand trying to catch him even if he was too far. He saw his face, his eyes. It was not the first time he saw his face, with burn-like scars on both eyes, but he thought his teacher was blind because of them and it was why he never opened his eyes without his mask. They were a deep purple. When he put one foot in front, Stellar put one back.
—
Stellar was terrified. It was too late, he hurt his own student. Why would he try to catch him ? He moved back. And back. And back again. Meta needed to stop approaching him… then, he felt it. His foot was in the void, he tripped and he fell. Meta tried to catch his hand but was too slow. He fell down, losing consciousness before hitting anything. The last thing he heard was Meta calling him dad.
……….
…….
…..
…
When Stellar woke up, he felt pain in his whole body. He was sure to have broken bones… which also means he survived his fall. His environment felt… warm, like a bed. He opened his eyes with difficulty. A room, the smell of medicine… He was in a hospital room. He looked around to confirm, then looked down on himself. He was connected to machines, those things to know the pulse, he never learned how it was called, and more. It was dark, except for a lamp and the medical instruments. The knight looked at that lamp and saw him. Meta, sleeping on a chair with a book on his chest, near him. The door opened and closed softly, but he didn't look at who it was.
“You're awake… Thank Star Dream you're alive…” whispered a voice he knew too well. It made him look. King, with the most relieved look he ever saw him have. “Wha…” Stellar wasn't able to finish that, his throat hurt like hell. “Don't talk yet, you need to rest…” he said, approaching. “You were mechanized by the Haltman company, while I was under the castle’s ruins… Dedede did all he could to save us trapped… Meta finished the company and Galactic Nova, their “greatest project”... He was the one to bring me to you, and I carried you here for you to receive the care you needed…” King explained all, keeping his voice down. Dedede was too in the room now, going to wake Meta up.
Stellar mimed a thank you to his king, closing his eyes. “...huh..? He woke up..?” He heard Meta say. “Yes, but he still needs rest.” King told him. “...Teacher Stellar ? I'm sorry. I wasn't able to catch you…” the knight opened one eye to look at his student and faintly smile. “They're blue…” he said, looking at him, his eyes turning green before going back to silver. “I'm happy you're ok, now…” Meta smiled. “We all are.” said Dedede.
He didn't even realize it.
Stellar Knight was happy.
He had his son, his king, his friends… his family.
He truly is happy.
And who could need more than that.