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He dreamt of falling onto his knees against a cold stone floor, panting heavily with the air thick in his lungs. His breaths echoed throughout the hallway before him, marked out with black and white like a chessboard. Sculptures of monks and clerics lined up high above, gazing upon him with indifference. He could only walk onwards, forcing himself to do so, dragging his heels with sword in hand. He was shaking with fear and exhaustion riddled throughout his system, the sword in his hand a simple design of bronze hilt and thin blade. All he wanted was to leave this place, this unholy cathedral. The stained glass windows of the circular atrium ahead giving him some form of solace, that perhaps they could be an exit. All he had to do now, was to face whatever came from that black hole in the center of it. Surely it had not been built there originally. He looked at his hands, one of which held the long sword that dragged along the ground, the other holding a strange looking book, weighty with pages upon pages of arcane words and dark mysteries unseen by mortals for the better. The book's cover felt like human skin, wrinkled and well-maintained like preserved herbs, the spine of the book literally that of someone's spine, bony and ridged, digging into his sides whenever he walked forwards with it. He could have sworn he heard his name being whispered by the statues around him. And soon he felt the ground begin to tremble. The source came from the cavernous hole before him, and he struggled to keep his footing in the reverberations of the earth. It soon turned louder, and his vision shook even moreso as he almost dropped the book in his stumbling before he soon saw something burst from the hole, floating before the raptor. In the dark moonlight of the atrium, he could see its shape perfectly.

A gigantic creature, reminiscent of a jellyfish of incandescent blue, its breaths like that of demons long asleep under the sea. Soon it spoke downwards to its guest, its voice ancient with unearthly lore. "So...the boy uncovers the mystery that has so shaken his very soul. A boy with a moniker that I can read many things from. You desire to be a hero, the knight of a children's fable. Yet you will fail to do just that, forever dreaming of your castles in the sky to become something greater than the worthless thief you already are." "I know all about you," said the raptor unconsciously, "I know what you and this book all mean! I won't let you take over this world, even if I have to die to keep it safe from monsters like you!" "Your bravery is admirable James, were it not such a cliche of mortals who dare to dream above their station. How tragic that you cannot accept what you are, to always strive towards a pointless death." "It won't be pointless when I kill you!" He opened the book mightily before the abomination, chanting out a spell, an ancient magical energy surrounding him. "Bankorok Pargon Redgormor Xel'lotath Pargon!" With his words spoken, the magic solidified around him into a shield around his body, gazing through the deceptively filmy aura towards the beast, who merely floated before James unimpressed. "Pathetic. Not even magic can protect your soul against that which you do not know." "Try me!" "If you insist, James." The beast brought out a tentacle to whip across the shield, shuddering from the painful impact as a green texture began to permeate all across him. But it did not stop, and James stood him down, smiling smugly, bringing up his sword for the next strike. Cleaving through one tentacle the next time it swung around, he chopped it into a stubby pus-ridden end that brought an unholy roar from the creature, and a chuckle from James. "HAHAHAHAHA! What's the matter, jellyfish!? Can't suck your tentacle anymore!?!?" "Your arrogance is your greatest mistake, as well as your inexperience." Despite the pain the creature was in, it spoke without changing its tone, always the calm patronising voice of knowledge, and its words struck something familiar to James. Something he had heard before, but his dreams could not pinpoint where for the time being. When James finally realised what he meant, his shield disappeared. Shaking with surprise in his eyes, he was too caught up in his confidence to even see the next tentacle coil around him suddenly, picking him up into the air to strangle his entire body, crushed slowly like a beer can. "HUK-AAAAAAUUGH!" "Now do you see what becomes of you, James?" "Hhuk...ugh...oh god...p-p-please...h-h-hhhhhurts..." "Now you beg for sympathy. You cannot even stay true to yourself in the face of death...like a coward. And now I shall show you the price of your arrogance. Your soul."

He saw before his very eyes only darkness and starlight, which slowly wrapped around him like a cloak against his screaming refusal. His body started to burn with a horrifying anguish, as if he was being slowly digested. Acid-like pains smeared through the insides of his body, his soul torn from him like it was his own flesh, naked and exposed. When he could finally see out of the darkness, he was staring at the blue sky. Shaken. "HHHUUUUUH!" "J-james, what's wrong!?" "Ah...u-um...uh...n-nothing..." "Bad dream?" "Oh god you don't even know...it started out all kinda good and scary but it...there was this huge ancient monster and I was fighting it and...I felt my soul was being eaten alive!" "Awww...you want some ice cream? That might calm ya down." "M-maybe?" "Okay, you just sit there and I'll get some for us." Sailor Dee got up and hurried away to a stall as James got his bearings back. The dream was so vivid that it burned into his mind like the acid he imagined on his skin, or deeper. He still hurt from Meta-Knight's deep wounding, the very concept of his soul being cut as something he could never get out of his mind. It scared him. He was frightened of Meta-Knight now, and he wished never to see him again. For now he kept his gaze on the beach and its beautiful blue sea, the most soothing sight he could possibly need after such a phantasmagoria. "Jesus calm down James," he said to himself, "just a stupid dream cuz you lost in a fight, he probably just did some kinda kung fu shit and hit a pressure point...yeah...yeaaaah thassit! Yeah! He just did some kind of five-finger thing and made you hurt all over and said "oh I just cut your soul, no biggie" just to scare ya! That's what I'd have done, yeah. Hahaha..." James laid back with better ease as his explanations helped calm him down. Yeaaaah you fell for it so easy James you stupid asshole. Hahahahahaa, ohhhhh man if I told Sarah about that she'd tell me the same thing and that's why you don't go looking for trouble in the Korean side of town...heh...kinda surprised Chicago had one actually." He started giggling to himself about memories of Sarah, particularly one incident where she met a Korean who spoke Spanish, and managed to converse with him fluently so, but she would laugh afterwards about how the guy had the worst accent she ever heard. He remembered her describing it as "An Englishman trying to speak French", which was lost on James at first, but he took it as humour anyway and it became a running joke between them. Mainly on how anything that was or sounded really out of place would be described as just that. She said she heard it in a book once, but he couldn't remember the name, something really upper-class English about a butler and his idiotic master. By the time he was halfway through his memories relating to this, Sailor Dee came back with ice cream, in the form of two delicious-looking sundae glasses. "Aw sweet, thanks Dee!"

The ice cream was white vanilla at the bottom, with caramel fudge of a golden brown oozing at the top. It also appeared to have chopped slices of cookie dough littering the sides and top like floating corks. Digging in, James was truly in heaven, and his troubling nightmare slipped away into nothingness thanks to the sweetening cold taste. "Enjoyin' that, James?" "Mmmmmmph yes...mmmnom, ahm ahm....man I have not had ice cream in so long." "Ice cream really should be taken at least once a month I think. It's too good not to be!" "Yeah until ya get brain freeze, haha." "Well yeah that's why you can't have it every week or so. Plus it's not as special if ya do." "Mmmm totally." James tried not to wolf down the ice cream, taking his time to savour the taste. The way the cream just melted and spread out on his tongue coolly so, trickling back as he swallowed it into his stomach. The tiniest cooling sensation that somehow made him feel better about the pain in his body was just delightful. Trying to drown his nightmare in ice cream and sunshine, the raptor cast his eye across the sea and his neighbouring beach-goers. A variety of creatures, several he had already seen included merely basking in the rays all over the place haphazardly. One particular area however seemed to have quite a focus of people around one particular person. "Hey...there a party going on over there?" He pointed the group out to Sailor Dee who tried to focus his gaze upon them, trying to make out the details. "Looks like a bunch of 'em are crowded around one guy...I wonder why." "Maybe he's doing some awesome tricks or telling a story. Wanna see?" "After we finish our ice cream." And so they did, scooping dollops into their mouths gently, trying to avoid brain freeze from fast eating until their sundae glasses were finally empty. They returned the glasses to the stall on the way to the group. In the midst of the commotion, encircled within a large group of admirers, was a rotund blue penguin lying on a specially-made golden deck-chair, designed like a throne with armrests, but with the durability for the beach. Strangely in this weather, the penguin wore a knitted red-and-yellow hat as well as yellow mittens that covered his flippers. He was currently lying against the chair like a cushion, a large regal-looking coat made of something very soft and thick draped over the head of the chair. Currently he was wearing only a pair of yellow speedos that stretched around his frame as he continued talking.

"So then Kirby's all up in mah face tryin' to stop me messin' with the Fountain of Dreams, and ah try to explain but, just like Kirby, the li'l pink jerk just BULLRUSHES in and wrecks me up, though only after ah fought him a looooong hard battle course, and then he messes with the fountain and the Nightmare King's out! Now you all think Kirby's some kinda hero, but all he is is just a punk, tryin' to stop me from what ah wanna do!" "Who is this guy?" asked James lowly to Sailor Dee, who just stared with amazement. "It's...King Dedede." "Someone don' know my name?!" The penguin stared directly at the source of the voice, the raptor and the waddle dee looking suddenly uncomfortable. "A-ah forgive me your highness, we didn't mean to interrupt your awesome story! My friend here's from elsewhere and he's new to this land." "Oh yeah?" The penguin leaned over one armrest of his chair and beckoned the two forwards out of curiosity, looking more towards James. He felt nervous, especially when he noticed on the other side of the seat a huge star-marked hammer leaning against the headrest. "What's yer name, pal?" "James Campbell, your highness." He bowed respectfully, even for a king less regal in appearance and dialect than he expected. "Huh, weird name, but welcome to mah kingdom of Dream Land. Ah rule the place an' everyone here knows it!" He offered a handshake to which James shook back happily, feeling the very warm soft mitten grasp his hand and shake heartily so. "I appreciate it sir, but I'm not hanging around too long." "Ohhh? You on a journey or sumthin'?" "Well I'm trying to get home is all, and I got stuck with this guy here who got lost and is also trying to get home back in...Vegetable Valley was it?" "Ahhhh good place, lotsa food. Ah been wonderin' about you actually, mah people been seein' ya around the place." "Yeah?" "Since Castle Lololo, had a li'l problem there right?" "Ohhh...yeah they mentioned they were working for you. Uhhh it's okay, we're not gonna file any complaints sir." "HAH, course not, just a misunderstandin'! Speaking of which, ah heard you had one with Meta-Knight back there." "Yeah I sure did, he thought I was kidnapping his crew member here!" "Bah, ya think a guy like him would know how to keep a cool head, or least not look afore he leaps...so whatcha do?" "Well he won, beat me down pretty hard as you can see."

He showed off a few bruises that remained from the fight which made Dedede wince slightly. "But well...heh...I kinda got my back on him a bit." "Ohhh yeah? Whatcha do to him?" "I uh...kicked him right up his ass when he wasn't looking." "...pfffffthahahhaha, hahahahaa, HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA! Ohhhhhhh DAMN kid that's friggin' hilarious, you got guts!" "Ahhh...well I guess, but he didn't like that, that's for sure." "AH BET HE DIDN', HAHAHA! Whooo...yanno, if yer hangin' around after ya take yer pal home, you wanna come up to the castle?! We're having a feast cuz well, ahm hungry!" "If I could, I'd totally jump in sir, buuuut I am kind of on a journey and well...can't really sidetrack off it." "Ohhh right right, aw well, more for me! Now, you just have yerself a good journey ahead of ya, alrigh' kid?" "Sure your highness, thanks!" "No prob, anyone who tries to make a fool outta that Meta-Knight is A-OK in mah book! Good guy, but he really gotta lighten up a li'l! S'like he's always got another sword shoved uppa his butt!" "Well...hang on, doesn't he always carry a second sword around so he can "fight fair" against his enemies?" "...yyyyyyyeah?" "Well...where'd ya think he keeps it?" The penguin's eyes started to slowly widen with a beaming beaky grin of hearty growing laughter. ".....aaaah hahahaa HAHAHAHAAAA! Ohhh man yer a dang comedian kid, ah like you! Ya sure you can't stick around fer the feast?" "Really wish I could but I can't get delayed any longer." His other reason was less polite, being that he had enough fun in this world as well as a good fill of the food, and wanted to move on. That and Meta-Knight soured the entire experience to the point that he actually wanted a change of scenery. He wondered briefly on if he was going to become some sort of interdimensional nomad. He didn't want to be just that. Dedede merely patted him hard on the back and said: "Thassa shame kid, you'd have been fun! Could've even had a battle or two if Meta-Knight hadn't cut ya down to size a li'l!" "Against that hammer!? Nooo way sir, I know when a fight's too big for me." "Haha, glad ya realise that now huh? Alrighty, well you take care now alrigh'?" "I will sir! And thanks for your time!" "I'll tell Meta-Knight where he can stick his other sword, HAHA!"

With a wave goodbye, Sailor Dee and James headed off down the beach, their curiosity sated and feeling more well-rested after being in the presence of the hearty king, the sand crunching musically under their feet. "Well he was an awesome dude," quipped the raptor. "Yeah he can be when he's real happy." "Pretty open about his emotions huh?" "Everyone in Dream Land is, it's a pretty honest place." "Well I definitely liked that guy, I would have gone to his feast if I could." "Well, why didn't you? You coulda said you could after taking me back home." "I...well two reasons. One, I'm a li'l unsure about this place since that Meta-Knight guy...did something to me. I wanna see another world, don't get me wrong this place is awesome. But...it's too...happy?" ".....you wanna be somewhere less happy?" The waddle dee merely gazed upwards in confusion. "Not like that, I mean a world more realistic, if that makes sense." "Nnnnnope." "This place feels like...well, a dream, that's cool for me if I wanna hang here a few days but not the rest of my life. I've never been in a place so full of sunshine and candy and smiles, it's making my head hurt from having too much of it!" "...mmmmnope, can't see it, sounds real weird to me dude." "Ah well, never mind. There's also the fact I'm real nervous about being with royalty, I mean what the hell do I wear at a feast!?" "A tuxedo?" "Uh...you do realise I don't go walking around with a wardrobe, right?" "Hehee, nah I know...oh well, wanna get outta here?" "Yeeaah I think I've had enough of the beach for now." And with that, they departed from Ice Cream Island, with Sailor Dee itching to get home and James feeling rather headsick from the saccharine-sweet atmosphere this world had. He didn't want to admit it. but he was starting to feel ill for some reason, and he wasn't sure if it was the ice cream or the soul-deep wounds from Meta-Knight. Either way, his body started to get queasy as they entered a forest.

Vegetable Valley was, like every other area of this world, picturesque in the way that a child would imagine a forest when hearing the word itself. Trees tightly clustered yet well spread-out, somehow uniform in rows upon rows to creat many easily navigable paths. It allowed an almost autonomous walking pace for James and his companion, which he really needed when he was feeling more ill despite the peacefulness of the woods. Sunlight shafted in from between the trees, the sounds of the sea fading away as they traversed deeper inside the forest. Yet it never turned darker, not even by a glimmer, always bright. The trees looked as if they wore coats studded with a thousand emeralds, each leaf twinkling in the afternoon rays which slowly began to turn orange. Sunset was coming in, and the trek through the forest was longer than James expected. At one point he sat down under an apple tree and heaved in some air, worrying Sailor Dee. "H-hey, you alright?" "Y-yeah...ahhh...I...I uhhh feel a li'l sick is all." "Awwww...musta had that ice cream too fast huh?" "Yeah thassit...mmmngh..." It wasn't actually a stomach pain at all, it was more a general sense of dizziness that had been slowly coming over him, starting to lose his sense of balance slowly. Getting his senses back and slightly strengthened once more, he got up again when something fell on his head, making him feel slightly worse with a bit of a headache. "OW goddamnit!" A solid red apple had fallen off his head and onto the ground before him, making James look at it then upwards to see the rest of its litter. Grumbling to himself, he decided to just take the apple and eat it on the way to nourish himself, with Sailor Dee in front leading the way through the not confusing woods. Other waddle dees passed them by, the travellers greeting in passing on such a splendid day in Dream Land. James began to wonder if there were any days that weren't splendid in this world. He could live here, if he could endure the sweetness of it all. Or he could keep travelling and find a world better suited for him, something that made him feel less sugary.

After a long walk between apple trees and accompanied by the whispers of the breeze through the woods, they arrived out of the forest to be welcomed by a beautifully quaint little area of hills and an inland lake. Houses were peppered all over with iconic little windows, wooden doors and chimneys. They were also quite small. Walking past them through the hills made James feel like a giant, at the very least able to touch the tops of the chimneys were he were a few feet taller. The doors were fittingly sized for Sailor Dee's height, doors for children's heights really. Sailor Dee had a smile beaming on his face as he neared his home, heading towards one specific house, making James smile moreso when he realised he was finally at the end of his self-appointed journey. "I can't believe I'm finally home," said the waddle dee gently to himself. "Well, believe it Dee." "And...I mean I coulda been stuck on that island forever with those monsters if it wasn't for you!" "You'd have gone through eventually, I just got you through sooner was all." "But still...thank you. My mom might be home, you can say hi to each other before you go!" "Sure." James was still queasy, but he kept a brave face as Sailor Dee knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it opened to reveal an older looking waddle dee, bespectacled with pinafore dress, blinking slightly before gasping with a flinch at the sight of who stood in front of the door. "Ah...is...issit...you?" "Hi mom...I came back home." "Oh...oh my little sailor!" The two embraced heartily and tightly, nuzzling happily, James watching from out of sight with a smile. "Oh my little Dee, where have you been!?!?" "I got stuck on an island mom, but finally got back sooner than I thought I'd be." "Oh by the sun and the moon, I thought you were dead!" "Ohh...m-mom...I'm sorry I-" "No no I'm not blaming you, of course not, I...oh I just can't believe you're here! I didn't want to give up on you but you'd been gone for so long and when your captain Meta-Knight informed me personally of your disappearance and they couldn't find you and...a-a-and..." She broke into tears and hugged her son tighter than possible, not wasting a single moment more without contact from each other, crying into her son's shoulder. The whole scene made James get a little moist around the eyes. "It's so good to see tha-...that your captain was wrong." "Well I...I wouldn't have made it back here without my friend."

Sailor Dee beckoned James closer, who did so shyly to not scare the woman. Admittedly she did become nervous at the sight of a taller scaly unknown creature with claws. "This is James. He got stuck on the island with me, he helped me get back!" "Oh...I...s-s-sir...thank you for bringing my son home." "No worries miss, I've been trying to get home myself so I know how he felt." "Well I...I'm sure your mother misses you too, and I hope you do get home sooner than you think." "Yeah...she does." Pensive for a moment, he patted Sailor Dee's head, almost starting to noogie him with a rub that nearly threw the hat off, as Sailor Dee's mother moved to one side with a warmer tone in her voice. "W-would you like to come in? You must have walked so far." "Uhh...if that's okay with both of you sure!" Smiling at the prospect of some home-made food before leaving, he walked into the rather small place. He to bend down somewhat to enter, easily towering above their child-sized bodies before sitting down at a table, sitting next to his friend. "Your mum's really nice, man." "She is, and she makes the most delicious food!" "I'll just hang here a bit before I go, help you get acquainted with everyone again." "Don't worry, I just had to get to here, you don't have to hang around long." "No worries...oy..." The queasiness continued but he stood firm, even though Sailor Dee noticed. "You're not okay, are you?" "I think...I think your boss cut me deeper than he thought, I can't seem to focus and my head's spinning." "Who wants hamburgeeeeers!?" The chirruping voice of a happy mother from the kitchen beamed to their ears as they replied positively, as they were soon given two delicious plates of several burgers for each. They were smaller than usual for the raptor but all the better to easily digest the soft meat and buns. He'd never experienced such warm buns alone, making his mouth moisten as he let Sailor Dee and his mother talk away about their adventures and letting them catch up. After a while of talking, she talked to James to not keep him out of the loop. James did his best in explaining where he came from and where he was going, trying not to be too honest to confuse them but said he was, as Sailor Dee put it: "A star traveller trying to find his way back home."

With little more to ask, he merely added details to Sailor Dee's account of their adventures, various little anecdotes. Soon he felt he had stayed long enough with only a couple of burgers left on his plate, before saying goodbye. "Oh," began the mother, "you have to leave now?" "Sooner the better if that's okay. I just wanted to make sure your son got back home safe." "And I thank you VERY much for doing so, mister Campbell." "Hey hey, call me James, I'm not old enough to be a mister." "Hehehee, alright then James. It was lovely having you. I hope you'll visit again whenever you have time." "I'll try." Smiling at feeling he'd done a good deed, he left the house with his friend following him to give a more personal goodbye. "So...I guess this is it then?" "Seems so, Dee. I'm gonna kinda miss this place." "Why cantcha stay then?" "Because...I'm scared that if I waste anymore time something might happen back home." "Oh...well, then...you will come back right, I mean even if just for a li'l bit, don't be a stranger now." "Oh course I will, if I can! Once I find my home, I'll come back and have a vacation here or something, hang out, go to Ice Cream Island again or somethi-....whoa..." A headache suddenly awoke in James' head, and he felt his entire body start to experience the same pain, shuddering as he stepped away from Sailor Dee. "Aw man, you still sore!?" "Y-yea-UNGH!" "L-lemme help-" "No no no it's okay, I don't want your mum worrying or anything, I have to leave anyway!" "O-okay." "H-hey...hhhhh...stay safe okay Dee?" "I will James. Bye now!" And so the raptor tried to teleport himself away from Dream Land despite the pains in his body, hoping that a good cold sleep would shake his body free of any ailments, whatever they were. Sailor Dee merely saw a blue light slowly envelop the raptor in a rip of reality before his very eyes, surprising him and making him leap back a little to see his friend get sucked inside it, as if the light was swallowing him whole. The only thing that went through James' mind at that point was lines. Dozens and dozens of lines. He couldn't think of anything else for some reason due to his headache, groaning as he felt himself fall before he was sucked in. Falling...lines...why can't I think properly...what did Meta-Knight do to me... What would come to him in the next couple of days would make James wish for more of the sweetness of Dream Land, a land so blissful, so innocent and so self-fulfilling that only the greedy would become unhappy. It was a world too perfect for the raptor, his mind too attuned to a world rift with sinners and saviours for some kind of balance. And with that, he would soon get the chance to have an experience balancing out the innocence of Dream Land. Even if he didn't want it.