Nowhere To Go But Up

Duel of Lies

"H-he's here." Magolors ears fell flat against the sides of his head, and he started shaking again. Taranza could have sworn that every step taken by Meta Knight was making him... crackle?

"Do not worry. Get under the bed, bring the tray and the mugs down there, make no noise. Is that all right?"

Magolor was taken aback by Taranza's willingness to help him in a situation like this, and had to really try to hold back tears. "Okay. Don't get hurt." He did as Taranza told him.

-.. --- / -. --- - / -... .-.. --- .-- / -- -.-- / -.-. --- ...- . .-.

Taranza got back to the deck as Meta Knight was watching the island, pacing back and forth. He seemed to be caught off guard by Taranza's sudden appearance, and quietly asked: "Have you seen him?"

The spider shook his head. "Unfortunately, no I haven't. And you might want to wrap up this search soon, because I really need to be back at the castle in an hour. Where have you checked?"

Something about this seemed to strike Meta Knight as odd. He stared at Taranza in silence for a moment, and then responded. "I checked the entire main road, which covers most of the island."

"Have you checked the side path? It is where you get from the factory area to the quiet mountains, but instead of going into the mountains, you just keep going east."

"That exists?" Meta Knight seems surprised by this.

"If you haven't already found him, he's got to be there, uhhh... I don't think I know your name. I'm so sorry."

"It's Meta Knight. And thank you for all your help."

As he was turning to leave, a thought struck the knight. "Before I go check there, may I ask you something?"

Taranza, who was in the process of heading back downstairs, turned around. "What is it?"

"Did something change?" The Queen's advisor tilted his head to one side. "I don't know what you mean."

"You just did it again." Huh? Was Taranza doing something unconsciously that was tipping off Meta Knight? How would he explain it?

"When we first spoke, you went out of your way to not use contractions. Yet now, you've used one in most sentences. Why?" Damn. That's a tough one.

"I tend to be more formal with people when I meet them for the first time. When I get more relaxed, I don't do it as much." This wasn't wrong, but he absolutely had not gotten to this point with Meta Knight yet. It was a tell that he was lying, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"I don't buy that." Meta Knight shot back. Clearly, the explanation did not convince him.

"What's down there? It must be connected." He was indicating the door Taranza had recently come out of.

"Oh, that's just the living space. This ship needs one because I pick up a lot of people who need somewhere to sleep, and they're usually pretty hungry as well." He couldn't stop himself from using contractions. At this point, why bother?

"Let me see." This was bad. He seems to be suspecting that Magolor was here. At the very least, Taranza now believed that Magolor has a good reason to be running. This guy was scary. "Unless, there's something down there you don't want me to see? Or maybe... some one ?" He wrenched the door open and went down into the dimly lit hallway.

"There's a rather pleasant smell down here. Smells like... hot chocolate. Have you been making some down here?" This guy notices everything!

"Uh, yes, I have. I made a cup just a few minutes ago. I was in the middle of drinking it when I heard you up there." How was Taranza supposed to get himself (and Magolor) out of this? Oh no, now he's going to the kitchen. It's only a matter of time before something bad happens.

"There are no cups in here with hot chocolate. Where is the cup?"

Okay, Spherical Sherlock Holmes, you need to stop. Or at least, that's what Taranza wanted to say. He couldn't open the right door, because then he'd find Magolor. He couldn't open the wrong door, because then he'd open all the other doors knowing Taranza was lying, and find Magolor. He couldn't just ask him to leave, that'd be way too suspicious, he'd search the entire hallway, and find Magolor. "Ah, it's this one, right? It looks to have been opened recently from the lack of dust on the doorknob." Are you kidding me? He opened the door. There was a fresh cup of hot chocolate on the table.

Taranza stared at it blankly, trying not to let the confused relief show on his face. He sat at the table, on the side facing the bed, so he could see Magolor underneath. The mug was even placed on that side of the table. He picked it up and drank the rest of it quickly. "So, it really was nothing, then?" Meta Knight sat at the chair facing away from the bed.

"Of course! I do not understand why you thought I was lying." Taranza held the tell for that line, to hopefully make the point more believable.

"It was merely a guess. A shot in the dark, if you will. I thought perhaps you were hiding him from me."

"Why would he even go along with that? You two are in love, right?" It was humorous to see both Meta Knight and Magolor roll their eyes at the same time, though one of them was clearly just a reflex.

"Well then, Meta Knight, I believe this is goodbye for now. I must ask you to leave, as you've been rather forceful and have another way out. I will return soon, so after you're done investigating the side road, I ask that you come back to the dock here so we may discuss his potential whereabouts, assuming he is not there. I must be leaving in six minutes at most, so please make haste to get off the airship before I bring you places to which you do not want to go." It was a good finisher to set up the ideas that Taranza had for later, and it did seem to work.

"Very well. I shall take my leave." Meta Knight left, and Taranza waited until he was sure the knight had left to get back on deck and chart the course to Royal Road. As the ship was taking off, he walked back into the room that Magolor had been cowering in and closed the door.

The wide-eyed young mage under the bed poked his head out and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much for all your help, really. I'd probably have died if it wasn't for you."

"Do not mention it, I didn't do anything special-"

"Yes, you did! He came to my shelter and challenged me to a fight to the death, and then he chased me all the way here! If it weren't for your hospitality, I'd be long gone. You're amazing, Taranza!"

"Well, we are not out of the woods yet. He is still down there, and we have not gotten Her Majesty's approval for your ship on the island yet." Taranza shrugged it off, but all the words of genuine praise from Magolor really made him happy. He knew he'd get along with Sectonia.