AN: Sorry for the late update. Pumping out 3000+ words a week is a bit difficult for procrastinators. Which is why this chapter is a bit rushed.
A tip to aspiring writers out there - if you're trying to write something serious, don't watch AFV. Writing serious stuff and semi-angst is impossible when you're laughing your guts out at a kid jumping on a trampoline and then smacking himself on the head with a random soccer ball. Which is why Meta Knight's dialog/narration is kinda silly. (By the way, since I didn't follow my usual 'line means change of POV' rule - the POV line-up is Marth-Marth-Meta. Hopefully it isn't too confusing.)
My favorite part of this chapter? Meta Knight can't get anyone's name right.

Hoshi Kara Dākuboidokurīchā
Chapter 3: Bujoku

Marth woke to the sound of paper shuffling, and clanks of metal on stone. He sat up, casting a glance out the window – it was light out, probably around nine or ten in the morn. He looked around, searching for the source of the sound that had woken him.

He found said source near his chair, where the little blue creature was sitting, flipping through a stack of books. The creature's bright gold eyes skimmed the book's pages quickly, flipping to the next page after a mere moment. Marth could only stare.

"Uh…? Creature…?" he stood up, eyeing the creature warily. When did it start moving…? Gold eyes snapped up at him, stared, and returned to the book.

"Yes, human?"

He nearly jumped – now it was talking? Not only that, but it's voice…!

"… uh…?" he stared stupidly, jaw nearly touching the ground. The creature looked up at him again, setting the book it – he – was reading aside. The creature jumped down from the chair, wobbling on his feet and grabbing the side of the chair to steady itself.

"Kuso…" the creature let go of the chair, walking over to him. The creature's walking was sluggish, and looked more like limping. How it managed to walk at all with no legs, he didn't know. It looked up at him, eyes glowing like hot coals.

"Well, human? Can all you do is stare?" the creature seemed to growl. Marth shook his head, leaning down so he was kneeling on the ground and staring the creature straight on.

"I… just… wow." Wow. He was talking with what could be his guardian angel, and all he could say was wow. Stupid!

The creature gave him a look, before rolling his eyes. "And here I thought you actually use 10 percent of your human brain."

Was the creature insulting him? "Excuse me?"

The creature waved a hand dismissingly, the other hand lifting to disappear into mask slit. The shadows covered it, before it re-emerged and hung by the creature's side. He stared at it, before returning his gaze to the creature's eyes.

"If your face is shadowed, then why can I see your eyes?" he asked – well, at least he wasn't stammering again…

The creature gave him a look. "My eyes have chemiluminescences in them."

"Chem-wha?"

"The reaction of different chemicals mixing to create a glow."

"Oh."

Silence. He shifted on his heels, occasionally glancing at the small creature. He tried to smile, offering a hand out to shake.

"I'm Prince Marth Lowell of Altea." He smiled at the creature, waiting for it to shake his hand. "Do you have a name?"

"Lord Meta Knight." The creature lifted a trembling hand, curling his large palm around Marth's small – in comparison – hand.

"You're a lord?" he wondered out-loud – this creature looked nothing like a lord! It was too small and too round to even be a knight… and Lord Knight? Did that even make sense? What kind of creature had a name like 'Meta Knight' anyway?

"Of course." Meta Knight let go of the prince's hand, eyes glowing brightly. "What did you think I was? Someone's lost pet?"

From the way Meta Knight spat the word 'pet', he guessed the puffball was not happy with the way he had been treated.

He reached a hand out, poking the bell affixed to the creature's mask. "Well, you do have a bell around your…" did the creature even have a neck?

"Don't remind me." the creature growled, tugging at the bell's collar, making it jingle. Marth couldn't help but giggle – the creature, angry mask and all, was adorable.

Meta Knight glared at him, and growled lowly. "How would you like to walk around with this thing?"

"I would hate it." The prince admitted, motioning for the creature to turn around. Meta Knight gave him a look, turning and lifting his wings slightly so the bell strap was visible. The prince undid the leather knot, and pulled the bell away.

Meta Knight weakly kicked the bell, before falling flat on his backside. Marth giggled, setting the bell on a shelf. The puffball glared at him, before his eyes snapped over to the door.

"Someone's outside." The knight growled, standing up. Marth turned, staring. He hadn't heard anything… wow, the knight must have excellent hearing! Even though the puffball had no visible ears…

"Marth!"

Marth's eyes widened. Father! He stumbled, quickly running around the room, putting away several of his more… feminine things, such as one of Mother's dresses, and some jewelry. He shut them in a closet, locking the closet door and hiding the key under his pillow. He grabbed his clothing, and ran into the washroom.

"The door is open, Father! I'll be out in a moment!" the prince yelled over his shoulder, before closing and locking the door to his changing room.

The bedroom door opened, and the King walked in, followed by Elice. Meta Knight glanced at the tall, dark-blue-haired human, his eyes dilating and brightening.

Elice noticed the little puffball on the floor, and walked over, holding her skirts in one hand. She bent down, picking him up and sitting him up on the chair.

"Hello there, little creature. How are you today?" she cooed, patting the knight's head. His eye twitched, and he reached up to weakly push her hand away. She stared, making a soft sound of surprise. Her eyes glowed, gently brushing a hand against his.

She stared, glancing quickly at her father, who was looking at the bell on the shelf. The King picked it up, and looked over.

"Elice, bring that thing over here. It seems Marth doesn't realize he needs to put collars on his pets." The King shook the bell, making it jingle. Elice glanced back at the Knight, noticing how large the Knight's eyes had grown. He gave her a 'don't make him put that thing on me' look.

"Sir, don't you think we should trust Marth on this? If he doesn't want this creature to wear a collar, then he has a right to that." The Princess tried to reason with her Father, who narrowed his eyes.

"Nonsense." The King walked over, grabbing the creature by its wings – Meta Knight would later deny the shrill, bat-like shriek that came from his throat. The human seemed unaffected, and tied the bell around his mask again. He weakly struggled, wings aching from the rough hand wrapped around the clawed joints.

The King dropped him, shaking his head. The puffball landed with a clank, eyes clouded over by the shadows in his mask slit. Elice rushed over, picking the little creature up and holding it.

The door to the changing room opened, and Marth, dressed in a gold embroidered tunic and dark blue and red cape, walked out. He immediately noticed his sister holding Meta Knight, who was fruitlessly, and weakly, tugging at the bell around his head.

"Father, what-"

"Marth, when you have a pet, you need to keep it on a leash or on a collar – it might get lost otherwise." The King interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest. Marth flinched at his Father's tone – it reminded himself of far too many occasions where the King caught him doing something he shouldn't… and as much as he wanted to argue, one doesn't argue with a King. He searched the room for a different subject to distract his Father from yelling at him.

At his Father's belt, his many swords glinted impressively in the light – the Prince noticed a new sword on his Father's belt - a gold one with a giant ruby on its hilt. The handle looked too large and too blocky for his father to hold, as if it was made for someone with large hands…

"New sword, Father?" he quickly changed subject – he had no desire to be yelled at by his Father today. Swords always made his father happy…

His Father beamed – or beamed as much as a roughened warrior could. A hand drifted to the golden sword, pulling it from its sheath – the sword itself was large, with sharp spikes on the sides. It looked well crafted, and reminded him of the Goddess' bow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Meta Knight look up, and the knight's eyes glowed brighter.

"Isn't it beautiful? One of my soldiers gave it to me." the King admired the sword, running a hand over the blade. "It's so sharp, I sliced a 10 pound brick perfectly in half with it."

"Impressive, Father." The Prince said automatically – best keep his Father pleased… the King walked out the door, continuing his explanation of how great his new sword was, and how impressed the King of the nearby Kingdom of Hyrule would be. Marth and Elice followed, the Princess still holding onto Meta Knight.

"What happened?" Marth whispered to his sibling, who was running a glittering hand over Meta Knight's clawed wing joints – no doubt, healing him, using her sage powers.

"Father wasn't happy about the creature not wearing the bell. Grabbed it by the wings and put the bell back on." She whispered back, holding Meta Knight to her chest – Marth noticed some orange bruising around the wing joints, and how dark the Knight's eyes had grown.

"His name is Lord Meta Knight – he can talk, and understands us." The prince whispered, making sure to keep his voice low – he did not want his Father to hear that. His sister gave him a startled look, glancing from Meta Knight to her brother.

"I'll talk to you later, afterward. Not safe here." The prince explained, jerking his head in their Father's direction. She nodded, shifting her hold on Meta Knight so he was closer to her chest, and safer from their Father.

The 5th Day Ceremony had gone over as usual – the High Priest kept glancing at the little Knight on Elice's lap, but otherwise the day was the same as all other 5th days. Afterward, Elice took Marth and Meta Knight to the Royal Library so they could talk alone.

She sat in a chair, setting Meta Knight on the table so he could look at them eye to eye. Marth sat next to his sister, leaning on his hands and staring at the knight.

"What are you, and where did you come from?" Elice started, staring at the knight. Meta Knight gave her a look, and chuckled.

"No 'Hello, my name is…'? And here I believed you two were fairly intelligent for your species and culture…" the knight's tone was sarcastic. It quickly returned to his typical, polite tone. "I am Lord Meta Knight – I am a Batty-Batamon hybrid, and I hail from PopStar. Take me to your leader."

The knight chuckled at that last sentence, and the royal siblings stared in confusion. The knight gave them both looks, and rolled his eyes.

"Why are you here?" Elice continued, her bright eyes focused on the small knight.

"It's all questions with you humans, isn't it?" the knight sneered, before sighing. "I came here by accident, Miss… Alice?"

"Princess Elice. How did you get here?"

"Miss Elita. I came here through means you wouldn't understand – I can assure you, it was purely by accident. The likelihood of landing on this planet was just as low as landing on any other planet in this Galaxy."

The siblings looked at each other, then at the knight. "Galaxy…?"

The knight blinked. "You don't know what a Galaxy is? ... Do you know what a star is?"

"The spirits of our ancestors in the Goddess' domain, of course." Elice answered – Marth said nothing. His talk with the High Priest about what may lay beyond the sky left him wondering.

Meta Knight stared at them for a few seconds. "You're kidding… right?"

The Royal Siblings said nothing. After a few moments, the knight fell over laughing. His laughter was almost maniacal, quite shrill, and a bit on the frightening side. The knight rolled back onto his backside after a while, still cackling.

"You humans are so… stupid!" he cackled, eyes flashing in mirth. "All this talk of non-existent deities and 'Goddesses' and 'spirits' is so ridiculous!"

Elice stared, before she narrowed her eyes and stood up. For a woman, she could be incredibly intimidating – her eyes and hands could glow at will. Meta Knight seemed unaffected, his own eyes brightening – no doubt, the knight was taunting her.

Marth stood, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder, trying to calm her down. It would do no-one any good if the two got into a fight… Luckily for him, the door to the library opened, distracting his sister.

A servant stood outside the door, holding a tea tray - he recognized the servant as his sister's personal assistant.

"Your Highness, Elice… I brought tea…" the servant had a very quiet voice, and downcast eyes. Elice sighed, casting an angry glare at Meta Knight, before sitting down in her chair and motioning for the servant to set the tray on the table. The servant followed suit, placing it down, occasionally glancing up at Meta Knight curiously. He watched the servant girl, eyes following her as she left.

After the servant left, Elice sighed again and picked up a teacup. She sipped at the tea, letting out a long exhale. Marth reached for his a cup of his own – Elice's assistant was rather good at making tea, after all – and held out the last cup for Meta Knight to take.

The knight took the cup, hands visibly trembling. The little creature spilled a few drops, but managed to lift the cup to its mask and seemed to drink. He set the cup down, seeming to take great care not to drop it or make the cup fall over.

"Better?" Marth glanced at his sister, taking his attention off the knight. She smiled gently at him, and nodded.

"Better. Mary's tea is very calming." She replied, taking another sip. Meta Knight grunted, possibly in agreement or in disagreement – Marth couldn't tell. But the knight took another sip of his tea, and made a sound akin to a hum.

"Do they have tea where you come from, Meta Knight?" Elice looked up at the small knight, who apparently reopened his eyes (the knight's eyes had momentarily disappeared in the inky blackness of his mask slit) and looked directly at her, carefully setting his cup back down.

"In a way." The knight nodded his head, letting out another hum. "It tastes different, but it's still tea."

Elice smiled, setting her own cup on the table. "That's nice to hear – at least we have something in common."

"A planet without tea is a bland one, indeed." The knight agreed with her, previously snarky attitude apparently soothed by a simple cup of sweet black tea. Marth smiled, bringing his own cup up to drink. Perhaps that was the way to understand this strange creature – talk to him over a cup of warm tea.

"Anyway, as I was saying… I suspect I'm very far away from my planet – but I'm not sure how far it is, exactly." The knight continued, ignoring the fact that he had actually been insulting their religion before Elice's servant came into the room.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Marth finally said something, looking up.

"Help me with what?" the knight locked eyes with him, piercing golden eyes seeming to stare right through him. "It's obvious that you two know nothing of your own solar system, let alone whatever Galaxy this is."

"… We have Star Charts that sailors use to navigate the seas. Maybe that will help you?" he honestly didn't know what he was talking about anymore – a part of him wanted to impress Meta Knight, because the knight seemed so disproving of him… it was very much like how Marth was always trying to impress his ever-disproving Father.

"I doubt it." The knight took another long sip of his tea, before affixing his eyes on the prince. "On the other hand… I do have a question."

Elice looked up from her tea, curiosity showing on her facial features.

"Have either of you ever heard of…" the knight paused – possibly for effect, or perhaps simply searching for the right word. "… Ginga no Shinsei?"

The royal siblings stared at him for a few moments with confused looks on their faces. Neither had heard a language like that before – but it seemed suiting to the knight's strange accent, nonetheless.

"Ginga… Gehla… Galactic…" the knight was muttering to himself now, possibly trying to figure out how to repeat himself in their language. "Shinsei… Sheh… Noah… Nova…"

"Galactic Nova!" the tone of the knight's voice was triumphant – Marth was sure that, under that mask, the knight was grinning. "Have either of you heard of the Galactic Nova?"

He received two blank looks.

After that, he remained silent.

Judging by the human's blank looks, they had no idea what he was talking about. He had decided to simply remain silent and think things over – a tactic, he absentmindedly noted, that would likely become useful for the time he was trapped here. Being able to phase out and essentially disassociate was a useful skill to have.

The humans had turned to talking amongst themselves, although the male human – Marth, was it? – stared at him the entire time. He wasn't in denial that the human obviously had an interest in him – likely, it was simply curiosity, as humans were known to have an insatiable curiosity for the world around them.

He sighed, drawing himself from his thoughts and back into reality. Looking around, he found himself in the human's room, being cuddled by the same human who had been dominating his thoughts moments later.

"Human… let go of me. Now." he growled out, weakly pushing at the human's arms. The human looked down, shifting so they could look eye-to-eye. The human smiled at him, and hugged him tighter.

"Why? You weren't responding to anything earlier, and you just looked so cute…" the human giggled, nuzzling his face against his wings. He stiffened, eyes widening and face heating up.

"I am not cute. Let go." His voice sounded pathetic, even to himself. He inwardly seethed, face burning under his mask – must not rip to pieces, must not rip to pieces, must not rip to pieces…

"Yes, you're cute." The human replied, rolling him over so they faced each other. The human smiled at him, and patted his head.

"You're cuter."

Everything seemed to freeze for a few moments. His eyes widened, heat rushing up to his face and the ends of his wings as he realized that, yes, he had just said that. It was a complete accident – sometimes, he would speak before thinking (which, logically, he knew that everyone did, but it still made him feel like an idiot), and it often got him in trouble.

Marx or Mars or something – whatever the human's name was – stared at him, eyes wide and pupils tiny. A deep, red blush had settled itself on the human's face, clashing rather horribly with his blue hair. Admittingly, the human was attractive – Mars had a softness to his face that he found vaguely enticing.

The human pushed him away, causing him to roll of the bed and smack face-first onto the floor. He looked up, rubbing his masked forehead, eyes narrowing. He looked over the side of the bed, eyes focusing on the human's back – at some point, probably after he got shoved off the bed, the human had rolled over, facing away from him.

"What's the matter… Marx?" he asked, curious. Now, whatever had he done wrong? Human were rather… 'sensual' and 'love'-oriented creatures – surely, the human was used to being flirted with by now.

"Meta Knight, you're male, right?" the human didn't look back at him, voice quiet and wavering. He tilted his head slightly, pulling himself onto the bed and sitting down.

"In a manner of speaking… yes, I am male." Batamon and Humans weren't very similar, physically speaking. He wasn't 'male' in the same way that Mars was, but… still, he was, as Axe might say, 'a dude if I ever saw one'. Whatever that meant.

"Then don't say things like that." Was the human actually upset at him? Jeez, he would have never pegged Martha as something of a prude or unflirty, considering how he acted sometimes.

"Why not?" And it wasn't as if he was a flirt, anyway – hell, the only person he actually really cared for was Dee, and they weren't really in that sort of relationship with her… then again, there was that one time he made a rather... sensual comment about one of Dedede's assistants, but that was only to piss Dedede off. It had worked wonders – Dedede's expression was priceless.

"Why not?" Marx looked up suddenly, glaring at him. The human's eyes had a pink tint to them, and his face was still beat red. "Mendon't flirt with other men! It's… it's…!"

"Unholy? Disgusting? Disturbing?" so, the human culture here was homophobic? Well, that seemed to make sense – not that it made sense in the first place - considering how religious they seem. "Not so – I don't pretend to understand how you humans prefer things, but in the end, does gender actually matter?"

Marna was silent, having turned his head away from him. He watched as the human got up, still silent, and walk into the adjoining room, closing the door behind him. He stared at the door, before sighing. He hopped off the bed, spreading his wings to glide over to the chair –

Only to remember that his wings were bound.

He heard the door to the adjoining room open, and he was sure that the human was staring at him. He didn't bother getting up – his face was hurting, and he felt too weak to move from his face-down position on the floor.

"You deserved that." The human's tone was smug. He, in proper Vul-inspired response, flipped Mars off.