A Smash of Kings

Chapter 27: Lex Talionis

Just outside of Smashville's western gate, the Little Lord's three thousand soldiers loaded their supply chain. Unlike the northern gate, where the road went directly north through the Gerudo Valley, to the Iron Gate, and into Hyrule, the western gate was entirely open and surrounded by rolling hills just before The Great Plains. It was technically called The Road of Smash, as it showed on all the maps and eventually a dirt road did form somewhere past Ostia, but it was never properly paved; the dead grass and bumps from horses and traveller's feet, however, gave a rough outline for the rest of the road, from Ostia to Smashvile. The Orange Ocean was visible from the hills, and the dying yellow grass turned into sandy dunes. At the back of the train, Bandana Dee talked with some of Kirby's soldiers, who wore dark pink armor for the road. As Kirby readied himself, adjusting his green cap and putting his sword on his hip, Cloud and Dee walked through the gate; his armor had trims of gold, and his white cloak flowed in the wind. When Kirby saw Cloud, he walked to meet him. Bandana Dee, too, cut her conversation short and slowly trotted up to them.

"I bid you farewell, Lord Kirby," Cloud bowed his head, "I will miss having you in the Capital."

"With Dee serving as Master of Laws, it will feel like I never left," Kirby said, flashing a small smile towards Cloud, "Hopefully, by my return, all my wounds will be healed."

"Aye," Cloud nodded, cracking a small grin as well. He sighed, resetting just as Bandana Dee reached them, "I didn't have a chance to speak with you after the meeting yesterday... Meta Knight wrote a letter for us, to be delivered after his death. I've already read it, but I'll let you read over it."

Curiously, Kirby took the letter from Cloud's hand. Quickly, Kirby read through the letter; the handwriting was Meta Knight's, no doubt, but it seemed rushed and messy, and the parchment had flakes of wood, hay, and ash. The contents of the letter simply made Kirby smack his lips, disappointed, and he handed it back to Cloud. "I could not bring myself to visit Meta Knight often in his final days because of his ramblings... It seems that his final letter only assures his fall into insanity," Kirby shook his head, muttering, "Din have mercy. What did Ganon do to you...?"

"What did the letter say?" Bandana Dee asked.

"It outlined a Dream... Ganon's Dream, that I told you and Dee about," Kirby explained, "His lost his mind in the darkness."

"Perhaps these dreams mean something, My Lord... Try to remove your own biases from this, please," Cloud posed. Kirby turned to Cloud, and he reset his tone, "Forgive me... I know how you feel about prophetic visions and Dreams, and we all know your apprehensiveness towards Hylians and their faith."

"Apprehensiveness..." Kirby scoffed, "Cloud, Hylians and their faith have tried to destroy Dreamland in holy crusades centuries ago, and the same faith drove two of the most recent Crown Princesses to devise political schemes to achieve those same goals. Apprehension is an understatement."

"I'm simply suggesting that, perhaps, Meta Knight truly saw the same things that Ganon did," Cloud said, "Regardless of prophecy, don't you find it strange that Meta Knight had this Dream mere days before his demise?"

"I'm more concerned about your safety in this city, especially with Aveil's appointment to the King's Guard," Bandana Dee spoke up. She turned to Dee and said, "And you, cousin. We all know that you've merely been serving Kirby as an assistant, but will the King know? Or will he choose to believe whatever blasted things he sees in his Dreams?"

"I swear to you that I will be safe... Cloud has proven to be a good ally," Dee promised. He turned to Cloud and said, "If Kirby does not wish to take that letter to Dreamland, mayhaps we should burn it, My Lord."

"No, I will take it," Kirby said. He folded it thrice and turned around, handing it to a Blade Knight clad in pink. Afterwards, Kirby motioned for Cloud and Dee to come further out onto the road. Once they were substantially away from the gate, Kirby whispered, "Rosalina resides in Green Greens. I'm sure she has some input... Ganon has probably confided with her about such things. I will do my due diligence for the sake of an old friend, not because I believe in such nonsense."