The queen did not vanish from existence at the time of 0²'s possession, as Ribbon & co. had thought. The reality was much less cut and dry than that — transported and retreated to a mismatched internal world created at the moment their minds had met. An amalgamation of the empty far reaches of vast space and all the comforts of her life of nobility, where time did not flow, and empty of all subjects & others... save for 0².

Bit by bit they entertained cordial conversation — for the queen was not afraid of the other, who's directives & things resembling emotions she could feel and comprehend as if they were her own; while 0² was always the type to speak when spoken to.

Their early banter was to be expected — simplistic, but with clear purpose, filled with queries like:

"What is this place?"
and wordy answers like:
"The culmination of everything you or I have experienced. Our internal worlds melded to one,"

while also having questions such as:

"Can I see what you're doing out there with my body?"
and curt responses:
"No."

But Queen Ripple was amicable to all; saw no way out on her own; was glad for the company if nothing else, and questions continued.

"Why did you disrupt my planet's people and life?"
"Dark Matter are ceaseless, ever-hungry for worlds to consume. It was only a matter of time."

Talking to 0² became easier after that, once she knew it was nothing personal.

Her first glimpse into the outside world was after they had come to know each other slightly more comfortably — with Queen Ripple speaking of her daily life and pleasures, and 0² of its rule of the Dark Matter and their nature.

"I am... grazing the hair at this moment," 0² spoke distantly, eye unfocused slightly as its entire body loomed in the absent night sky.
The queen smiled so, hands in the grass amidst the clovers and flowers. "Do you like it?"
"... It is very soft, against the appendages."
"Hands?"
"Extremities."
"Fingers!"

She giggled, brushing her sleeve against her mouth to hide her teeth — and swore she heard a low noise almost like an amused chuckle, coming from the ivory colored autarch.

Other times were less lighthearted, with 0² speaking ill in tones tinted with something like frustration, over the subjects.
"They do not carry out my orders as seamlessly as my own. I tire of them."
"Please, be patient with them, 0². They have a will of their own as well."
"That is... not sensible."
The queen held her tongue, and tried not to worry how 0² was functioning outwardly under her appearance, with her body — what it was saying, acting, and doing the other large percentage of the time she wasn't informed. She dispelled these thoughts. She could do nothing about them.

She missed the system of day and night the most. There was no rising sun or moon to mark the start and end of the day. She slept, but it was more out of habit than anything else, as she felt neither rested nor exhaustion, and it did not seem to pass the time any faster. She ate as well, as her pseudo-castle's pseudo-pantry was well stocked, but it seemed purely cosmetic. She spent her time wandering her halls and the gardens, crafting flower crowns and chains for absent followers, and making a star chart of the outer space residing just above her stretch of the world — 0²'s side.

After an indescribable amount of time, the more time that 0² spent in her body, its outward appearance within the world changed:
a mirror of her own body from head to toe, except for the featureless face. Just a single piercing red eye.

Queen Ripple didn't let her unease faze her excitement at having a new partner to walk the grounds with her.

"Do you possess a co-ruler?" came the abrupt question one day, as they both lay sprawled out in the master bedroom, with Queen Ripple flipping through a well-loved magazine of interstellar fashions. 0² seemed to be trying to adopt her posture.

"Nope. I rule alone."
"You need a king."
The queen giggled. "We don't have anything like those on Ripple Star."
"...perhaps another queen, then," came the thoughtful response, which a caught-off-guard Queen Ripple met with silence.

The lilting sound of a specific slow song coming from the phonograph filled the air shortly after. The turning of pages and bemused silence ceased.

"Sound does not travel in space."
"I've heard..."
"When we first arrived on a specific planet, the brightness of the foliage, the sounds of the organisms — it nearly blinded me. Now it has become commonplace."
"What planet did you first invade?"
"... I do not know the names of planets, save for yours."

Queen Ripple rose to her feet, and outstretched a hanging sleeve to the other ruler. "Do you want to try dancing?"
0²'s pupil constricted, and glanced abruptly to the left. "I have only watched the subjects practice for their balls."
"That's enough," she remarked with a smile, and 0² grasped the hand beneath the sleeve and was pulled to its feet.

The dance was a learner's dance, hesitant and slow and stiff, but with less fumbling than Queen Ripple had expected.
At one point near the end the queen rest her head on the other's chest, and there was only stillness.

On the day of salvation, the day of Kirby's arrival, 0² was preoccupied, with outward appearances, and with its own thoughts.
The Dark Matters' goal had never wavered, still hadn't — but the creeping thought that if its plans had come to fruition Queen Ripple would never be able to return to her true body, lingered, much like how 0² lingered in its true form in this strange mental world, hovering above the grass and unresponsive to Queen Ripples calls.

In the material world, the Crystal Star shone a beam of light that pierced their shared body,
and 0² let an inhuman screech loose.

"0²!" cried the queen, racing along the short foliage to where the gigantic white sphere lay, speckled rays of light piercing its body. She placed her hands against the cold organic surface looking into a very tired eye. White wings lay ragged on the ground.

"Your kingdom and life await you, highness," came a low rumble.
Queen Ripple's eyes pricked with tears and her head swam — her world coming apart at the seams. "You lied to me," she sniffed. "You said you didn't have emotions but our heart is breaking."
"It was my time with you that tainted me so."

Tears streamed, fogged up glasses, and Queen Ripple placed her forehead against the cool surface of 0²'s flesh. "You've been reborn once before, right?" she choked, "You're 0². There will be a next time. And when you're 0³, you don't have to rule over space. You can rule with me. You can be my queen."
"That will be nice."
And when Queen Ripple opened her eyes, she was face down on the cobblestone outside her castle, with some of her people helping her to her feet.

The world was piercingly bright, yet dull and lifeless.

"How have you been doing since then, your highness?" asked Ribbon one day in the fitting room, hovering to and fro nervously. It had been worrying, the way the queen would forget to eat, forget to sleep — nobody knew that in the time that had felt like an eternity before, she had no need to.

A smile graced Queen Ripple's soft features, remembering.
"Empty," she said shortly.
And the feeling of her throat tightening was only familiar by now.