Personal Sacrifice
Chapter. 2
It's a special day today.
Tulok is now one more year older, and the boy couldn't have been more excited. So keen on proving himself a big kid that he wound up staying up far too late past his bedtime, so while the party is usually in the mornings, this year it's a little bit later.
No matter, Kes thinks. Ample time to get the house ready for his celebration.
But still, nothing about today is quite...right. Tulok's birthdays are always quite loud. If not with the presence of friends, then with his brother's bright presence filling the home with laughter and noise, jokes, decorations, even just excited footsteps down the hall. Kes can always remember those laughing matches her two boys would get into in younger years, or Kirby sneaking into his room to surprise him. It always pulls a smile on her face.
But. Not today, it seems.
The sun is streaming in through the window, the kitchen filled with the scent of sweets as Kes works on an ice-cream cake for the little one, but it's terribly quiet. Tulok is in his room with Meta presiding over getting him ready, the boy probably complaining the entire time, and Kirby...
Kes glances over at the living room.
A little more sparse compared to last year. Not so many decorations or streamers, and certainly hardly any balloons. Kirby, her great white-winged warrior, is on the couch, where he hasn't moved since...well, since he got up this morning. Staring up at the ceiling, listless, empty, dead-eyed even, he looks like a shadow of something that used to exist, and Kes feels her frown deepen.
Tulok's birthday won't erase the pain she imagines that Kirby is feeling over Gooey's absence. Even now, the Dark Matter is a recluse.
In the living room, Kirby looks down at the frankly pitiful bag of balloons in his hands as his mind drifts. Usually he's a lot better about it - who /doesn't/ like balloons? He and Gooey would have such a fun time racing each other to see who could blow the most of them, dozens if they could. But. Well.
If it's not with Gooey, it's just not that fun at all, he guesses.
His frown twitches and he sets the bag down, turning to look over the couch towards the kitchen at his mother's back. She's cleaning up now, putting the cake aside, and water sounds quietly as she starts to do the dishes. So close, but in some sense, so far away, and his chest pangs with a foreign kind of loneliness.
Kirby lets out a breath. It isn't right. None of this feels right. It's like his mind is running in circles, a movie on repeat with questions and no answers. Gooey. What's wrong with him? He hasn't come out all day and Kirby doubts he's going to do anything at all. Is he actually going to come celebrate? He doesn't know. He wishes he did.
He closes his eyes, and how long he lays there, he doesn't know. Trying to quell his thoughts as well as he can.
And then a door opens somewhere down the hall.
Kirby is up before he realizes it, heart pounding like a drum in his ears. It's him, it's Gooey, it's--
"Kirbyyy!"
"Oh-- Hey, Tulok!!"
Tulok is fresh-faced, clean, grin wide on his face, and a party hat sitting neatly on his freshly brushed head. He looks good, better than usual, and Kirby can see his father stepping out calmly behind him when Tulok dashes over with another party hat in his hands. Kirby is quick to kneel down to scoop his brother into his arms, laughing and tossing him once high into the air where he flaps and shrieks in excitement.
"There's the Birthday boy!"
"Birthday booooy!!" Tulok echoes back, and his hands hold out the hat for Kirby to take, so little compared to him, and of course Kirby wears it. How could he not?
It's not Gooey, Kirby thinks with a grin. Not Gooey, but just as good. And what is he doing here, moping around, feeling sorry for himself, today of all days? Today is his brother's birthday! He needs to be happy!
"Hey pal, you wanna help big bro out?" Winking, he reaches back to take the bag of balloons, pitifully empty. "These balloons won't blow themselves! Come on, let's race! Bet you can't be me!"
And Tulok goes for it, grabbing for the first balloon he sees with a wicked grin. "Yes I /am/! Just watch!"
"Oy!"
Pain, mild but sharp, shoots up Kirby's wing and he hisses. Meta is staring at him pointedly, smiling but certainly exasperated, and his hand lets go of the other's wing just as quickly as it had grabbed hold.
"Enough of that. Instead of giving your brother a potential asthma attack on his birthday, why don't you come with me to pick up the helium tank I rented out this year?" He shrugs idly at Kirby's questioning look. "Thought I would try something different. Come on, you're not in a hurry to be anywhere."
"A-ah- Yeah..."
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"So, uh. Why'd you drag me out here?"
Kirby knows asks, but he knows why. They both do. He's thankful for it, honestly. He needs to get out of the house, away from all his problems.
"I wanted to talk about Gooey."
Okay, maybe not.
He looks over at his father from the corner of his eye. Meta's expression is turned pensive, amber eyes narrowed and gazing off at nothing with a cloudy look. "I heard from Kes about what happened last night. With Gooey. You've been tearing yourself up over it for quite awhile now."
Kirby wonders, just for a second, why people can't try to leave well enough alone, but banishes the thought with a sigh. "I just- I don't know, you know? What could I possibly have done to make him so upset? I've tried everything I can think of, but he won't budge. What more can I do?" He gestures with his hands, throwing them up in the air. "Heck, he wouldn't even come out to decorate for Tulok's birthday party! He /loves/ decorating!"
"Guardians may be our other halves, but they're beings with needs and emotions just like us. Even they need some personal time to themselves once in awhile."
Kirby feels like choking on the disbelief he feels. "You can't be telling me he just wants some /me time./"
"No, I don't think it's that, either..." Meta's gaze skims downwards to examine the dirt under their feet, the path that trails ahead of them. He looks adrift, in a different galaxy, and Kirby knows that he's thinking of something deeply. "Whether they need personal space, or they've had an argument, they usually come back and make things up. It's only natural."
Kirby turns the words over in his mind, mulling on them. He hadn't really thought of it that way before. It...could make sense. "So," He starts tentatively. "Have you and Aunt Margalo had issues like this? It's, what. Normal?" Because if it were, he would be...not happy, but certainly relieved.
His father's expression twitches. "No," He starts softly, "Not like this. We're opposites, but not to the point where we /avoid/ each other for days on end. She's bubbly, and I can be reserved, but it's not such a huge issue. Gooey, I think, is something else."
He had been turning the idea over in his mind since last night, what it could be. Gooey is Kirby's Guardian, but Dark Matter as well. One of those rare few that have been corrupted. One of those few beholden to the negative nature of beasts, a quiet part of him thinks.
It's a thought that Meta has never wanted to think about, not for years since Gooey in all his glory came to be. The boy was Dark Matter, but he was /good/ and Kirby's Guardian, a sweet child and a sensible adult who would never wish anyone harm. Gooey has been nothing but goodness and Meta loves him like he were is own, right there with Kirby himself.
But the thought lingers, and now that this is happening, it won't stay quiet. Because a Dark Matter, even one who was once a Guardian, is still a Dark Matter, and Dark Matter are always corrupt, selfish, vile, greedy creatures. He's seen what they do to Guardians, has met a corrupt one himself. He knows what they can do.
The thought lingers. Quiet, sinful, but resolute. That Meta will protect his family, even if it means turning against Gooey. Even if it means striking him down.
And if striking him down means Kirby would strike him in turn... He'll accept that. Without resistance.
"Dad...?"
Meta twitches, blinking to clear himself of his distraction. Kirby looks at him with a frown, confusion, uncertainty, and he hastily tries to give him a grin that conveys only optimism. It's not an issue, he thinks. He's being far too pessimistic about something that's never happened and never would. Gooey is a good boy.
"Not to worry. I'm sure Gooey is just going through something right now and needs time to himself. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be a big deal." And his smile softens. "If he isn't here for the birthday party, I'll see if I can't check up on him, alright? Now come on, I see the shop up ahead..."
The rest of the trip is uneventful. Kirby carries the air pump back from the store with a joke that Meta's a little too old to be handling heavy equipment now, is he? Which just earns him a pinch of the wing that he takes with only a little complaining.
Soon enough they're back home right where they started. Kirby doesn't notice anything off at first, too busy dragging the tank on up the steps to the door. But when Meta step over to reach for the door, to help him in, he feels it. Something familiar, nestling in the back of his mind. It's--
And- The door opens.
"Kirby, you're back!!"
Tulok's voice flits over to meet him, excited, beaming. Tulok, who is being held in Gooey's gentle grip, and Gooey, who is sitting nestled on the floor. Old, familiar, home.
Kirby doesn't know what to say. How to say it. What to even think. Gooey is there, after what feels like eternity of nothing from him at all, and it's almost surreal being able to look at him now. He didn't know if he'd actually come out...
Gooey sets Tulok down gently, patting his head once before looking at Kirby with an unreadable expression. What does he say? What does he /say/? There's so much he needs to ask him, to tell him. What is he doing? Why is he here? Why has he been avoiding them? But when his mouth opens, nothing comes out.
"Hello Gooey!"
Kirby is pushed aside with all the grace of someone herding cattle. Meta is grinning, his eyes on the other with an easy confidence that Kirby can't help but burn in envy of. "I'm glad you're here to celebrate! We haven't seen you all day - I was beginning to worry you wouldn't show! Come on, Kirby, drag that thing inside, would you?"
Kirby, with no word, does as he is told.
The celebration goes like this.
The balloons are filled. The cake is cut. Food is eaten and games are played. Tulok is having the time of his life, giggling and flapping his wings and swallowing down food like it's his last night on this star and his mother has to tell him to /slow down/ before he chokes himself. Kirby encourages him, just because he knows the joy of eating cake and can't /not/.
Everyone is having a blast, except not everyone, because Gooey is still avoiding him whenever possible and Kirby is /this/ close to tearing his feathers out in a rage. He won't look at him. Won't wave, won't acknowledge he even exists. Kirby has not heard a single thing in his mind from the other, no greeting, no apology. It's like Kirby may as well not exist.
Kirby is going to thrash him. Metaphorically. But not yet. He's not that kind of guy. It can wait until after the party, because they still have presents, and boy does Tulok have a lot of them to go through. He's not ruining that.
Tulok's excitement is hard to put to words, but the way he absolutely rips the wrapping paper to shreds is telling enough of how he feels. Toys, lots of them, most of them from Kirby because he absolutely loves spoiling his little brother no matter how much their dad tells him to maybe slow down because his toy chest is overflowing already. He gets toys and plushies from Kirby, a nice little candy jar from Meta, some hand-carved hilts from Kes. All of them are given grateful attention and excited words of thanks, always a respectful little boy that he can't help but be proud of.
And then Gooey's gift. As Tulok sets about opening it, Kirby chances a look in Gooey's direction, to scoot just a bit closer while the other is distracted. He'd been trying to get something out of him this entire time, but it hasn't been working. Maybe while they're preoccupied, he can gloat. Do something to get him out of his shell...
But the moment he opens his mouth, something. Happens.
Gooey /yelps/. Curling down, clutching at his head with two hastily forming hands, something in his throat burbles with a keening noise that Kirby has never heard or ever wants to hear again. He knows what pain sounds like. He knows what agony sounds like. Gooey is hurting, shaking and flinching like someone had stabbed him with a hot needle, and Kirby is at a loss. What--?
"Gooey? Are you okay?"
Tulok's voice comes from out of view, soft with concern, and when Kirby turns his head the boy is standing up to make his way over, present untouched. Kirby wants to say something, but he's not sure what, why even, and watching Tulok step over he gets a sense of something off. Something's not right.
"Do you have a headache? Or a tummy ache? Gooey?" And he reaches out to touch his side, eyes wide.
Everything happens in slow motion.
Tulok goes flying with a yip of pain, a long tongue lashing out behind him where he soars directly into the living room wall behind them. The sound his little body makes is sickening when he hits the surface, and his body tumbles to the floor with a dull thud. He doesn't move.
Kirby moves before he's aware of what's happening. His parents behind him, frantically rushing to check on their son, he hikes his wings up and /snarls/, stance wide, hands fisted, expression twisted with all the rage a Star Warrior can possess, ready and more than willing to strike whoever it was that would dare hurt his family, only--
He looks. He stares.
Gooey looks /broken/. His eyes, wide, wild, tears forming and trailing down his cheeks in thick tracks, he looks nothing the monster that Kirby is impulsively expecting to fight. He looks the exact opposite. He looks morose, terrified, not of Kirby but of himself, and Kirby- doesn't understand.
Kirby stares at him, wordlessly. Trying to think. To form words.
And then Gooey is gone in a blur of black. Hand at his head, curled forward in pain, down the hall and back inside his room. Gone.
Numbly, he looks back behind himself. Tulok is sitting up now, Kes holding a hand at his back as Meta soaks a towel at the sink. Blood dribbles down his face. His little brother.
He moves. Racing to Gooey's room, no thought on his mind but to see him, and the door can't stand a chance against Kirby's bulk when he slams into it, nearly knocking it off of its hinges.
"Gooey!"
It's the same as it ever was. Tidy and well-kept. But it's empty, and when he looks over he sees the window wide open, curtains fluttering gently with the wind. Gooey is gone. Long gone by now, probably, fast as he can be. Kirby feels his heart sink.
This isn't right. None of this is right. Gooey...isn't like this. Gooey is good and kind, he loves Tulok, he's /decent/. He's not...violent. What's going on? What's happening to Gooey?
Tears are in his mind, burned deep. Gooey in pain, staring in horror. Gooey, filled with a self-loathing that no demon beast could ever have the ability to feel. Remorse. No, Gooey isn't violent, not like this. Something had forced his hand. He wouldn't have acted so upset otherwise. Something is wrong. Very, very wrong.
He needs to find him.
But.
Kirby steps back out into the hallway, back into the living area. Tulok is a little more there now, and Kes is stroking his hair, wrapping bandages over his head while murmuring soft words, something about it being a small wound, nothing a little doctor's visit can't visit. He's sniffling, wiping at his eyes, leaning against her. Kirby doesn't have the heart to make his presence known.
Guilt weighs heavy in his stomach.
At their side, Meta stands motionless, expression unreadable, but the way his eyes bore holes into Kirby's frame says everything. Do something, or Meta will do it for him.
So Kirby motions him away, back towards the hall. Takes a breath and lets it out. Speaks.
"Something is wrong with Gooey." His words are flat. Blunt. Trying not to let emotion get the better of him because he has no right to feel this way after what's happened with Tulok. "I think something is hurting him. Some/one/, even. You didn't see it, but I saw it, and I felt it. Gooey didn't mean to do what he did. There were tears in his eyes. There was regret. He's in /pain./"
Kirby takes a second, and Meta is silent. His father knows what's coming.
"I'm going after him. He needs me, dad, and I'm not coming home until I help him. However I can."
Meta's expression doesn't change, doesn't twitch. Kirby watches him and waits. Not for permission. Acknowledgement.
And then he sighs. The kind of long, weary sigh that only a tired old veteran can give at seeing a rookie run off to their death. "Fine," He allows, and it's the most reluctant he's heard Meta sounds in a very long time. "You know Gooey better than any of us. I trust you know what you're doing. Just-- Be careful. Take Galaxia with you, and my Warp Star just in case I'll know where you two are if something happens. Alright?"
"Right."
"But, Kirby." And the mask on Meta's expression cracks, just the barest bit, and he sees then, just how tired his father looks. "Corruption does things to a Guardian. I know Gooey would never hurt Tulok if he could help it, but a corrupted Guardian...they aren't who they used to be anymore. Sometimes, there's a limit to how much you can help them. Do you understand?" His eyes are dark with something Kirby can't name.
"Be careful."
Kirby is silent. He just turns and starts off to get himself ready.
He'll bring him back. Even if it kills him.
Tulok is now one more year older, and the boy couldn't have been more excited. So keen on proving himself a big kid that he wound up staying up far too late past his bedtime, so while the party is usually in the mornings, this year it's a little bit later.
No matter, Kes thinks. Ample time to get the house ready for his celebration.
But still, nothing about today is quite...right. Tulok's birthdays are always quite loud. If not with the presence of friends, then with his brother's bright presence filling the home with laughter and noise, jokes, decorations, even just excited footsteps down the hall. Kes can always remember those laughing matches her two boys would get into in younger years, or Kirby sneaking into his room to surprise him. It always pulls a smile on her face.
But. Not today, it seems.
The sun is streaming in through the window, the kitchen filled with the scent of sweets as Kes works on an ice-cream cake for the little one, but it's terribly quiet. Tulok is in his room with Meta presiding over getting him ready, the boy probably complaining the entire time, and Kirby...
Kes glances over at the living room.
A little more sparse compared to last year. Not so many decorations or streamers, and certainly hardly any balloons. Kirby, her great white-winged warrior, is on the couch, where he hasn't moved since...well, since he got up this morning. Staring up at the ceiling, listless, empty, dead-eyed even, he looks like a shadow of something that used to exist, and Kes feels her frown deepen.
Tulok's birthday won't erase the pain she imagines that Kirby is feeling over Gooey's absence. Even now, the Dark Matter is a recluse.
In the living room, Kirby looks down at the frankly pitiful bag of balloons in his hands as his mind drifts. Usually he's a lot better about it - who /doesn't/ like balloons? He and Gooey would have such a fun time racing each other to see who could blow the most of them, dozens if they could. But. Well.
If it's not with Gooey, it's just not that fun at all, he guesses.
His frown twitches and he sets the bag down, turning to look over the couch towards the kitchen at his mother's back. She's cleaning up now, putting the cake aside, and water sounds quietly as she starts to do the dishes. So close, but in some sense, so far away, and his chest pangs with a foreign kind of loneliness.
Kirby lets out a breath. It isn't right. None of this feels right. It's like his mind is running in circles, a movie on repeat with questions and no answers. Gooey. What's wrong with him? He hasn't come out all day and Kirby doubts he's going to do anything at all. Is he actually going to come celebrate? He doesn't know. He wishes he did.
He closes his eyes, and how long he lays there, he doesn't know. Trying to quell his thoughts as well as he can.
And then a door opens somewhere down the hall.
Kirby is up before he realizes it, heart pounding like a drum in his ears. It's him, it's Gooey, it's--
"Kirbyyy!"
"Oh-- Hey, Tulok!!"
Tulok is fresh-faced, clean, grin wide on his face, and a party hat sitting neatly on his freshly brushed head. He looks good, better than usual, and Kirby can see his father stepping out calmly behind him when Tulok dashes over with another party hat in his hands. Kirby is quick to kneel down to scoop his brother into his arms, laughing and tossing him once high into the air where he flaps and shrieks in excitement.
"There's the Birthday boy!"
"Birthday booooy!!" Tulok echoes back, and his hands hold out the hat for Kirby to take, so little compared to him, and of course Kirby wears it. How could he not?
It's not Gooey, Kirby thinks with a grin. Not Gooey, but just as good. And what is he doing here, moping around, feeling sorry for himself, today of all days? Today is his brother's birthday! He needs to be happy!
"Hey pal, you wanna help big bro out?" Winking, he reaches back to take the bag of balloons, pitifully empty. "These balloons won't blow themselves! Come on, let's race! Bet you can't be me!"
And Tulok goes for it, grabbing for the first balloon he sees with a wicked grin. "Yes I /am/! Just watch!"
"Oy!"
Pain, mild but sharp, shoots up Kirby's wing and he hisses. Meta is staring at him pointedly, smiling but certainly exasperated, and his hand lets go of the other's wing just as quickly as it had grabbed hold.
"Enough of that. Instead of giving your brother a potential asthma attack on his birthday, why don't you come with me to pick up the helium tank I rented out this year?" He shrugs idly at Kirby's questioning look. "Thought I would try something different. Come on, you're not in a hurry to be anywhere."
"A-ah- Yeah..."
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"So, uh. Why'd you drag me out here?"
Kirby knows asks, but he knows why. They both do. He's thankful for it, honestly. He needs to get out of the house, away from all his problems.
"I wanted to talk about Gooey."
Okay, maybe not.
He looks over at his father from the corner of his eye. Meta's expression is turned pensive, amber eyes narrowed and gazing off at nothing with a cloudy look. "I heard from Kes about what happened last night. With Gooey. You've been tearing yourself up over it for quite awhile now."
Kirby wonders, just for a second, why people can't try to leave well enough alone, but banishes the thought with a sigh. "I just- I don't know, you know? What could I possibly have done to make him so upset? I've tried everything I can think of, but he won't budge. What more can I do?" He gestures with his hands, throwing them up in the air. "Heck, he wouldn't even come out to decorate for Tulok's birthday party! He /loves/ decorating!"
"Guardians may be our other halves, but they're beings with needs and emotions just like us. Even they need some personal time to themselves once in awhile."
Kirby feels like choking on the disbelief he feels. "You can't be telling me he just wants some /me time./"
"No, I don't think it's that, either..." Meta's gaze skims downwards to examine the dirt under their feet, the path that trails ahead of them. He looks adrift, in a different galaxy, and Kirby knows that he's thinking of something deeply. "Whether they need personal space, or they've had an argument, they usually come back and make things up. It's only natural."
Kirby turns the words over in his mind, mulling on them. He hadn't really thought of it that way before. It...could make sense. "So," He starts tentatively. "Have you and Aunt Margalo had issues like this? It's, what. Normal?" Because if it were, he would be...not happy, but certainly relieved.
His father's expression twitches. "No," He starts softly, "Not like this. We're opposites, but not to the point where we /avoid/ each other for days on end. She's bubbly, and I can be reserved, but it's not such a huge issue. Gooey, I think, is something else."
He had been turning the idea over in his mind since last night, what it could be. Gooey is Kirby's Guardian, but Dark Matter as well. One of those rare few that have been corrupted. One of those few beholden to the negative nature of beasts, a quiet part of him thinks.
It's a thought that Meta has never wanted to think about, not for years since Gooey in all his glory came to be. The boy was Dark Matter, but he was /good/ and Kirby's Guardian, a sweet child and a sensible adult who would never wish anyone harm. Gooey has been nothing but goodness and Meta loves him like he were is own, right there with Kirby himself.
But the thought lingers, and now that this is happening, it won't stay quiet. Because a Dark Matter, even one who was once a Guardian, is still a Dark Matter, and Dark Matter are always corrupt, selfish, vile, greedy creatures. He's seen what they do to Guardians, has met a corrupt one himself. He knows what they can do.
The thought lingers. Quiet, sinful, but resolute. That Meta will protect his family, even if it means turning against Gooey. Even if it means striking him down.
And if striking him down means Kirby would strike him in turn... He'll accept that. Without resistance.
"Dad...?"
Meta twitches, blinking to clear himself of his distraction. Kirby looks at him with a frown, confusion, uncertainty, and he hastily tries to give him a grin that conveys only optimism. It's not an issue, he thinks. He's being far too pessimistic about something that's never happened and never would. Gooey is a good boy.
"Not to worry. I'm sure Gooey is just going through something right now and needs time to himself. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be a big deal." And his smile softens. "If he isn't here for the birthday party, I'll see if I can't check up on him, alright? Now come on, I see the shop up ahead..."
The rest of the trip is uneventful. Kirby carries the air pump back from the store with a joke that Meta's a little too old to be handling heavy equipment now, is he? Which just earns him a pinch of the wing that he takes with only a little complaining.
Soon enough they're back home right where they started. Kirby doesn't notice anything off at first, too busy dragging the tank on up the steps to the door. But when Meta step over to reach for the door, to help him in, he feels it. Something familiar, nestling in the back of his mind. It's--
And- The door opens.
"Kirby, you're back!!"
Tulok's voice flits over to meet him, excited, beaming. Tulok, who is being held in Gooey's gentle grip, and Gooey, who is sitting nestled on the floor. Old, familiar, home.
Kirby doesn't know what to say. How to say it. What to even think. Gooey is there, after what feels like eternity of nothing from him at all, and it's almost surreal being able to look at him now. He didn't know if he'd actually come out...
Gooey sets Tulok down gently, patting his head once before looking at Kirby with an unreadable expression. What does he say? What does he /say/? There's so much he needs to ask him, to tell him. What is he doing? Why is he here? Why has he been avoiding them? But when his mouth opens, nothing comes out.
"Hello Gooey!"
Kirby is pushed aside with all the grace of someone herding cattle. Meta is grinning, his eyes on the other with an easy confidence that Kirby can't help but burn in envy of. "I'm glad you're here to celebrate! We haven't seen you all day - I was beginning to worry you wouldn't show! Come on, Kirby, drag that thing inside, would you?"
Kirby, with no word, does as he is told.
The celebration goes like this.
The balloons are filled. The cake is cut. Food is eaten and games are played. Tulok is having the time of his life, giggling and flapping his wings and swallowing down food like it's his last night on this star and his mother has to tell him to /slow down/ before he chokes himself. Kirby encourages him, just because he knows the joy of eating cake and can't /not/.
Everyone is having a blast, except not everyone, because Gooey is still avoiding him whenever possible and Kirby is /this/ close to tearing his feathers out in a rage. He won't look at him. Won't wave, won't acknowledge he even exists. Kirby has not heard a single thing in his mind from the other, no greeting, no apology. It's like Kirby may as well not exist.
Kirby is going to thrash him. Metaphorically. But not yet. He's not that kind of guy. It can wait until after the party, because they still have presents, and boy does Tulok have a lot of them to go through. He's not ruining that.
Tulok's excitement is hard to put to words, but the way he absolutely rips the wrapping paper to shreds is telling enough of how he feels. Toys, lots of them, most of them from Kirby because he absolutely loves spoiling his little brother no matter how much their dad tells him to maybe slow down because his toy chest is overflowing already. He gets toys and plushies from Kirby, a nice little candy jar from Meta, some hand-carved hilts from Kes. All of them are given grateful attention and excited words of thanks, always a respectful little boy that he can't help but be proud of.
And then Gooey's gift. As Tulok sets about opening it, Kirby chances a look in Gooey's direction, to scoot just a bit closer while the other is distracted. He'd been trying to get something out of him this entire time, but it hasn't been working. Maybe while they're preoccupied, he can gloat. Do something to get him out of his shell...
But the moment he opens his mouth, something. Happens.
Gooey /yelps/. Curling down, clutching at his head with two hastily forming hands, something in his throat burbles with a keening noise that Kirby has never heard or ever wants to hear again. He knows what pain sounds like. He knows what agony sounds like. Gooey is hurting, shaking and flinching like someone had stabbed him with a hot needle, and Kirby is at a loss. What--?
"Gooey? Are you okay?"
Tulok's voice comes from out of view, soft with concern, and when Kirby turns his head the boy is standing up to make his way over, present untouched. Kirby wants to say something, but he's not sure what, why even, and watching Tulok step over he gets a sense of something off. Something's not right.
"Do you have a headache? Or a tummy ache? Gooey?" And he reaches out to touch his side, eyes wide.
Everything happens in slow motion.
Tulok goes flying with a yip of pain, a long tongue lashing out behind him where he soars directly into the living room wall behind them. The sound his little body makes is sickening when he hits the surface, and his body tumbles to the floor with a dull thud. He doesn't move.
Kirby moves before he's aware of what's happening. His parents behind him, frantically rushing to check on their son, he hikes his wings up and /snarls/, stance wide, hands fisted, expression twisted with all the rage a Star Warrior can possess, ready and more than willing to strike whoever it was that would dare hurt his family, only--
He looks. He stares.
Gooey looks /broken/. His eyes, wide, wild, tears forming and trailing down his cheeks in thick tracks, he looks nothing the monster that Kirby is impulsively expecting to fight. He looks the exact opposite. He looks morose, terrified, not of Kirby but of himself, and Kirby- doesn't understand.
Kirby stares at him, wordlessly. Trying to think. To form words.
And then Gooey is gone in a blur of black. Hand at his head, curled forward in pain, down the hall and back inside his room. Gone.
Numbly, he looks back behind himself. Tulok is sitting up now, Kes holding a hand at his back as Meta soaks a towel at the sink. Blood dribbles down his face. His little brother.
He moves. Racing to Gooey's room, no thought on his mind but to see him, and the door can't stand a chance against Kirby's bulk when he slams into it, nearly knocking it off of its hinges.
"Gooey!"
It's the same as it ever was. Tidy and well-kept. But it's empty, and when he looks over he sees the window wide open, curtains fluttering gently with the wind. Gooey is gone. Long gone by now, probably, fast as he can be. Kirby feels his heart sink.
This isn't right. None of this is right. Gooey...isn't like this. Gooey is good and kind, he loves Tulok, he's /decent/. He's not...violent. What's going on? What's happening to Gooey?
Tears are in his mind, burned deep. Gooey in pain, staring in horror. Gooey, filled with a self-loathing that no demon beast could ever have the ability to feel. Remorse. No, Gooey isn't violent, not like this. Something had forced his hand. He wouldn't have acted so upset otherwise. Something is wrong. Very, very wrong.
He needs to find him.
But.
Kirby steps back out into the hallway, back into the living area. Tulok is a little more there now, and Kes is stroking his hair, wrapping bandages over his head while murmuring soft words, something about it being a small wound, nothing a little doctor's visit can't visit. He's sniffling, wiping at his eyes, leaning against her. Kirby doesn't have the heart to make his presence known.
Guilt weighs heavy in his stomach.
At their side, Meta stands motionless, expression unreadable, but the way his eyes bore holes into Kirby's frame says everything. Do something, or Meta will do it for him.
So Kirby motions him away, back towards the hall. Takes a breath and lets it out. Speaks.
"Something is wrong with Gooey." His words are flat. Blunt. Trying not to let emotion get the better of him because he has no right to feel this way after what's happened with Tulok. "I think something is hurting him. Some/one/, even. You didn't see it, but I saw it, and I felt it. Gooey didn't mean to do what he did. There were tears in his eyes. There was regret. He's in /pain./"
Kirby takes a second, and Meta is silent. His father knows what's coming.
"I'm going after him. He needs me, dad, and I'm not coming home until I help him. However I can."
Meta's expression doesn't change, doesn't twitch. Kirby watches him and waits. Not for permission. Acknowledgement.
And then he sighs. The kind of long, weary sigh that only a tired old veteran can give at seeing a rookie run off to their death. "Fine," He allows, and it's the most reluctant he's heard Meta sounds in a very long time. "You know Gooey better than any of us. I trust you know what you're doing. Just-- Be careful. Take Galaxia with you, and my Warp Star just in case I'll know where you two are if something happens. Alright?"
"Right."
"But, Kirby." And the mask on Meta's expression cracks, just the barest bit, and he sees then, just how tired his father looks. "Corruption does things to a Guardian. I know Gooey would never hurt Tulok if he could help it, but a corrupted Guardian...they aren't who they used to be anymore. Sometimes, there's a limit to how much you can help them. Do you understand?" His eyes are dark with something Kirby can't name.
"Be careful."
Kirby is silent. He just turns and starts off to get himself ready.
He'll bring him back. Even if it kills him.
-End Chapter 2-
<< Chapter 1 .5 (Gooey's POV) | Chapter 2 .5 (Gooey's POv) >>
Artist Comment:
Date: N/A
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Date: N/A
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Species © Nintendo/ HAL Laboratory
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem
