Weeks had passed. Kirby kept thinking about the butterfly, and what Hyness had said about it. Something so pretty couldn’t be dangerous… could it? The Dreamstalk was pretty, but that ended up being dangerous. But then it bloomed and went back to being pretty.

Over those weeks, Kirby always sounded preoccupied. Everyone was worried for him, even those he had asked about the butterfly. It wasn’t like Kirby to be like this.

This was worrying King Dedede a lot. And being the king, it was his duty to make sure everyone in his land was okay.

As another morning rose with no action from him, he decided to mull things over during breakfast as he made his way to the dining hall.

As he entered the near-empty hall, he saw Meta Knight jump up on the counter, a perplexed look on his face and a bowl resting next to him. Dedede grabbed his bowl from a cupboard, then made his way to the rightmost end of the long dining table.

“Morning, Meta,” Dedede said as he sat at his spot at the table.

“Good morning, Dedede,” Meta Knight replied, briefly looking away from the cupboards to greet the king. He returned to the cupboards immediately after.

Dedede watched for a bit as Meta Knight opened and closed just about half of the cupboards he could reach. He knew he wasn’t going to ask for help.

“Whatcha lookin’ for?” Dedede asked.

“The soup sachets,” Meta Knight replied, turning to look at Dedede.

Dedede pointed to a lower cupboard and said, “Down there.”

Meta Knight jumped off the counter and opened the cupboard he pointed to. And just as Dedede said, the soup sachets were in that cupboard. Meta Knight grabbed the box and turned to Dedede.

“You want some too? The Waddle Dees won’t be here for a while.”

“Sure,” Dedede replied, leaning back in his chair.

Meta Knight walked over to the table and jumped up on it to get Dedede’s bowl. He frowned at him and said, “Don’t lean back on your chair.”

Dedede pouted as he sat back up normally, and Meta Knight jumped off the table with Dedede’s bowl. He jumped back up on the counter to get his own bowl, jumped back down, grabbed the box of soup sachets and headed off with both into the kitchen. It was a while before the soup was ready.

Meta Knight returned holding both bowls. He held up a bowl for Dedede, who took it from his hands.

“You want me to put your one on the table?” Dedede asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Meta Knight replied. He then jumped up onto the nearest seat left to Dedede, then, on his tiptoes, gently placed his bowl of soup onto the table without spilling a single drop.

Dedede picked up his spoon and gently stirred his soup. “So… Kirby’s been actin’ a little strange recently…” He looked over at Meta Knight and asked, “You know why?”

“Yes.” Meta Knight only looked at his soup. He didn’t pick up his spoon or anything.

“...You wanna tell me? Kinda my responsibility to know, since I’m the king and all.”

“A few weeks ago, Kirby asked me about the red and yellow butterfly,” Meta Knight explained, “He said that Hyness mentioned something about it being dangerous. I don’t know any other details.”

Dedede groaned, and put a hand to his face. “Not THAT guy…”

“Unfortunately, yes. It was him.”

“What would he even want from a butterfly?! Jam?” Dedede ranted.

“I wouldn’t know. But it would seem that Hyness knows something we do not. Kirby does have a knack for seeing this very fact.”

Dedede sighed. “You’re right, you’re right. But I can’t help but worry about the lil guy. He doesn’t rest until he’s got answers.” He paused before adding, “Should I just lie to him?”

“No. That would be wrong - and Kirby would be quick to figure that out,” Meta Knight said.

“Then what should we do?” Dedede asked.

“Let him figure things out for himself. We’ve let him do it before, and I doubt it will hurt to let him do it again. And if worst comes to worst, we intervene.”

Dedede was silent for a moment before saying, “...Sounds good.” Only then did he start eating his soup.

The sun had almost set. The sky was cloudless, leaving it a deep purple. There was no breeze, and all the Dream Landers were inside their homes. The first few stars had come out, and twinkled softly. Kirby had managed to find the butterfly and lead it to his favourite spot in all of Dream Land. Now, he stood under his favourite tree, and the butterfly had landed on a nearby flower.

Kirby exhaled. Earlier that evening, before he had found the butterfly, he had managed to sneak into Castle Dedede’s armoury and steal the exact sword that granted him the Sword Copy Ability. He knew stealing was a bad thing to do, but he had to do it. He had to know.

“...Butterfly, I wanna know,” Kirby said, “I wanna know why Hyness was so angry at you. I wanna know what he meant when he said that you were a monster. I wanna know why he thinks that way of you. And and and… I just wanna understand. None of my friends know anything about you, and I wish they did, because then I wouldn’t have to do this…”

The butterfly twitched its antennae as Kirby choked up.

“If I can’t get answers from anyone I know, I’ll have to get them from you… And I only know one way to do it...”

Kirby drew his sword and held it out in front of him.

“I want you to land on my sword.”

The butterfly hesitated for a moment, but rose up from its perch regardless. It fluttered over to Kirby’s sword and gently landed on it.