A True Hero

44 - Familiar Faces

Nearly Seven Galactic Years Later

The fire crackled warmly in the hearth of the giant fireplace, glowing yellow, orange, and red. Dark hooded figures walked past me, eyes bearing down on my and breath hot. I could smell it from where I sat, alone at a far table in the corner of the tavern. My hot apple cider steamed in my cup, but I didn't dare remove my black mask to drink it now. Rick sat at the bar counter, dressed in navy blue armor and a dark brown cape. I watched his gloved hand reach under his stool and tap the bottom of the seat twice. This was it.

Nearly seven galactic years ago, almost 14,000 solar years ago, I had been saved by The Sage, who sacrificed himself for me, and then I was rescued by Captain Vul, his crew of knights, and Magolor. They took me to New Arkiva, where I was given my mother's kimono, and I spent one solar year recovering. One year out of fourteen thousand.

Richard, who I now called Rick, had chosen to come with me. Together, we appointed a new king and queen to watch over New Arkiva, and we left with Vul, Magolor, Mace Knight, Axe Knight, and Sailor Dee. I had one mission: find Meta Knight and Kirby. That became my next thing.

I remembered what I had learned while seeing my family. Kirby would go where there were the most monsters. So I did what everyone feared to do now: became a monster hunter.

Rick was not in support of me at first. Since the final day of the Galaxy Soldier Army, Nightmare had been hunting down any remaining Galaxy Soldiers or Star Warriors and killing them. As it turned out, more had survived the battle than I had originally thought. But most of those soldiers tried to start a new rebellion in public, and they were quickly defeated. I learned early on that no one could know my real name, or it would leak to NME and he would send monsters after me. So I became a monster hunter under a new name: Hayakage, after my mother.

I worked for no compensation other than this: information on where Meta Knight was. This made finding work nearly impossible for the first galactic year. Meta Knight was thought to be dead by everyone in every galaxy we visited, and if he had been somewhere, he left no traces, and the people he trusted with his identity were very loyal to him. For the first 2,000 years, Rick, Vul, the knights, and I had no trail to follow.

Then one day, while walking through a busy street on a small, technologically advanced planet, Rick caught wind of someone who knew of Meta Knight. He arranged a meeting with the person, a young woman, and I discovered that the planet was being plagued by small monsters. There was some kind of delivery system, and she promised that if I would destroy it and defeat the monsters, she would tell me what she knew of Meta Knight. So, for one solar year, a tracked down the monsters, pinpointed where they were coming from, and destroyed the monster transporter. Some evil company was keeping it in the ground floor of their business complex, and I had to use much of my ninja tactics to slip in and out without being seen.

When the job was done, the young woman trusted me when I told her I was an old friend of Meta Knight's, but I told her my name was Hayakage. Strangely enough, she said Meta had mentioned me by the name Hayakage, but he thought that I was dead. She told me that her mother had helped Meta Knight two solar years ago, and he was traveling with two other knights. They were asking what the monster status was like on the planet and wondering where the most danger was. Her mother said it was here, so Meta Knight stayed with them for a few weeks. One night, however, a severe monster siege hit the city, and by the time morning came around, the monsters were gone, but so was Meta Knight. He left the mom and daughter a note, saying, "I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but we are needed elsewhere. I trust you with my name and my life. Thank you for your service, and may the Galaxy Soldier Army forever be indebted to you. MK."

"He left no clues as to where he went?" I asked, and she shook her head. I was disappointed, but I had a new hope to cling to. Meta was still alive. And he was on the move, looking for a monster planet to go to, too. He had gotten my message from Kabu. He was on the hunt for Kirby.