“WHAT!?
No, that’s impossible, Nightmare was killed about 23 years ago... and what do
you mean by this mind?”
“I’ll
explain later. Come on, we have to leave here, Terakka, NOW!” He said as he
motioned to me and then took off running. I followed him, easily catching up but
oddly enough couldn’t keep up for very long. God, what’s with this place? It
occurred to me suddenly that he knew my name, but I didn’t know his.
“What’s
your name?”
“Kinobator.”
Those
were the last words that I heard from Kinobator for awhile. He led me down a
worn, used path of rotting watermelons that was winding and twisted, like the
Oripeon’s cave. Speaking of which, where the hell was Onyx? I should’ve seen
him by now, and to see somebody I know would really be comforting right now.
Kinobator
had led me to an underground sanctuary that seemed to be guarded by rocks and a
pale red creek. Inside, it was almost as strange and odd as Kinobator. Jars of
things like bluish snake scales and what I hope wasn’t blood lined the walls,
and the same symbols on Kinobator’s face decorated everything. I mean that,
too; every jar and inch of stone floor had that pattern painted onto it.
There
was another weird thing, the ashes that lay in front of the doorway. It was a
thick line of ash that left a bitter taste in my mouth, and the ashes themselves
where not black. They were bright, glowing red, like a demon’s eyes.
Kinobator
had started a fire in the center of the room, which was red-orange with a blue
center. Once again, something was weird about the fire. It emitted no light. All
of its light stayed as the fire itself, and therefore casted no shadows on the
wall.
“So,
what did you mean by ‘this mind’ earlier?” I asked him timidly.
“You
haven’t caught on yet? This very land is not at all a land, Terakka; it is the
imagination of somebody. We’re within the deepest, most secretive area of it,
the area where no amount of thinking can change the mindscape. And it’s being
invaded by demons created by one named-“
“-Nightmare.
I know. But how can he still be alive? Sir Meta Knight killed him 23 years
ago.”
“If
even the smallest fraction of an evil still exists, then it can regenerate until
it can create and enslave on the smallest measures.”
Rifsakkia..,
I thought.
“How
can this evil still exist in an imagination? Wouldn’t it have to be a part of
the spirit of the body itself?”
“Exactly.
Whoever the spirit of this mind was last, it was enslaved by Nightmare before
it’s physical death. Therefore, that tiny fraction still survives inside of
the soul.” Kinobator fell silent, then his eyes widened.
“Stay
quiet.” He said seriously.
A
huge, circular shadow passed by the doorway, seemingly not noticing us in our
little sanctuary. Once it passed, Kinobator grabbed a brown bag from a hook on
the wall and stuffed a few random items into it including the snake scales, an
empty jar with no cork, and a strange necklace with a blue orb held on by a
metallic claw.
“Come
on.” He said sternly, “We need to find the memory base at the center of this
world; it might hold some clues to this.”
I nodded rapidly and followed him out of the sanctuary and back outside
towards a vast, open white space in the middle of this mindscape.
It
was amazing. The memory base was just this empty space in the very fabric of
this “world”, and a thick, white haze seemed to conceal the contents. I
suddenly realized that, through these memories, I could figure out whose mind we
were in! I shivered at the thought, as what if the person who owned this mind
noticed that we were here? Could... could s/he erase us forever from his/her
mind and from time itself forever?
“Come
on, Terakka, and whatever you do, don’t fall.”
Fall?!
That can’t be
good. And if it is, than Kinobator must be hiding something.
He
motioned to me, and he walked to the edge of the space. I looked down, seeing
nothing beyond the whiteness. What if I did fall? Would I ever land on anything,
or would I just keep falling forever? I backed away slightly, not anymore eager
to continue.
I
looked into the whiteness again. There seemed to be a chunk of rock just
floating not too far from where I stood. In fact, when I looked harder, I saw
hundreds of thousands of similar rocks, floating slowly and randomly around the
space. None of them ever seemed to come even close to the edge of the space.
“When
I say to, jump.”
I
suddenly knew what he meant. He really said, “When I say so, jump onto the
rock that I did.”
“...JUMP!”
he said suddenly as he leaped onto the closest rock, which happened to be
several meters away. I followed the action, though not so willingly as he.
It
was... odd. The moment I landed on the rock, a flash of light encircled us. I
could not see for a moment, and when my vision cleared, I could not believe what
I was seeing.
I
was (or seemed to be) in a rocky crag, but everything was slightly blurred at
the edges. In the distance, I saw a small pinkish figure, not much bigger than
the rock he was resting against. Kirby...
wait. I’m in Kirby’s mind?! That would
explain all of the watermelons, I guess...
Suddenly,
past-Kirby shrieked in pain, his cry eventually fading into a whine I knew so
well. Me and Kinobator seemed to zoom in on Kirby, and I saw that he was bruised
in various places, and a long, shallow, jagged cut ripped down his backside. He
also appeared to have been crying, but now the pain was apparently too intense
to cry anymore. I know that I said, ‘Oh...’ aloud, but I didn’t hear
anything.
I
saw an indigo, cloaked figure in the distance, rapidly getting closer to Kirby.
He was running, and as he approached us, I recognized him as Sir Meta Knight,
the man who had died to save the universe.
Kirby
and Sir Meta Knight’s eyes met, and the bright flash of light once more
engulfed me and Kinobator. Only this time, when it faded, we were back on the
rock, somewhat off balance.
“That
was a memory. Every one of these stones holds a different memory from a
different time. It’ll take awhile, but we should find something useful
here.” Kinobator said firmly, as if he was determined to find out what was
going on. Hell, I sure was! If Kirby had something weird going on in his head, I
should know. ‘Cause then I can tease him about it after the problem was
solved.
We
jumped almost simultaneously to the next rock, which a memory that I did not
understand. It took place on a battlefield, but I couldn’t see Kirby anywhere.
Instead, I saw hundreds of other Star-Warriors fighting a huge, never-ending
army of demons. That memory is now part of mine own, as I still cannot forget
the final cries of the many Star-Warriors that fell fighting. This
has to be from Kirby’s point of view, I thought blankly.
Once
it ended, Kinobator said to himself, “That was strange. I thought all of these
memories were from a different point of view than the owner’s...”
A
very long period of time passed like this, and no other memories that I saw were
like the second. Something has to be special about that memory. I thought, but
what?
*** Kirby ***
I
don’t want to be here. Let me go, I thought aloud.
Oh,
I would Kirby, but I’m not quite finished with you yet. You’ve done me too
much damage for me to let you go unharmed, and, I promise. You will be with your
precious Sir Meta Knight soon enough.
I knew
that voice. I knew it. But I couldn’t believe whose it was.
Nightmare?
Author’s Note- Oooohhh, spooky stuff! And, yep,
Nightmare’s back and ready for revenge on Kirby. WARNING: The next chapter is
very short and is a very bad place to stop reading. You can finish it in about
fifteen minutes, keep reading!
