Skygardening
From the Kespuzzuo Lore Compendium
Skygardening is a narrative poem written by Kespuzzuo. It's part of the Kespuzzuo Fanwork Corpus. The protagonist is Queen Sectonia, who forms the Council of the Seven Years to stop Dark Mind from attacking Popstar and the Mirror World. Povynn narrates the story as he enters Floralia and investigates about Dark Mind and about Kirby, who has gone missing.
Concept and creation
The idea of a story featuring Queen Sectonia as a hero has been planned by Kespuzzuo since at least 2022, but it wasn't spoken about publicly until 2024. Originally, Sectonia was supposed to have a much different story, which involved her going through different worlds, and defeating a different villain at the end of her overall story. In addition to this, Sectonia's story was meant to have the events of Triple Deluxe happen, but, through a twist, it would manage to have Sectonia remain alive at the end. Kespuzzuo changed his mind in mid-2023 and instead decided to start fresh and clean with a story where Sectonia would remain in Floralia, trying to investigate and defeat Dark Mind. It was also decided that the storyline was allowed to deviate from Kirby canon, and have its own take on it and its lore.
Skygardening had some names during its conception. In its early days, it was called PMD: Garden Competition, and it consisted of Povynn, Emronia, and Quentin visiting Floralia and competing against Sectonia and Taranza in a set of challenges. This idea remained until the first draft. The name Skygardening was chosen because it reflected the characteristics of Floralia, and it was supposed to be the story that would introduce the audience to Floralia. Before the first draft, Sectonia and Taranza were supposed to have a rivalry against Povynn and the other lakesprits, and were supposed to not join their side. Neblino was also supposed to be an assistant to Sectonia. Some of these ideas never made it into the first draft, and some were completely dropped by the time the final version was shown.
First draft
The first draft was posted on January 11th of 2024, which was the 10th anniversary of the Japanese release of Kirby Triple Deluxe. Kespuzzuo revealed Sectonia for the first time, and posted several drawings of her. The draft was posted at the end of the day through a link to the Internet Archive. This draft featured the competition plot, but it also included the plot of Sectonia fighting against Dark Mind. Neblino was also drastically different in this version, and went by the title of "Silk Guardian", which was related to the idea of him assisting Sectonia. Despite this, Neblino never allied with Sectonia in this draft.
Second draft
The second draft was posted on March 26th. This draft is drastically different from the first one, as Book I to Book VI are rewritten. The competition plot is gone, in favor of having the entire plot dedicated to fighting against Dark Mind. This draft also incorporated more elements from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. The ending remained mostly the same as the first draft.
Following drafts
The drafts following the second one made more minor changes, rather than major ones. The third draft had all of the planned endnotes written, and incorporated a footnote system where footnotes indicated references or links towards endnotes. Endnotes were used as a way to tell the story from a different perspective or time period, since this story was told in first person present tense. The fourth and fifth drafts focused on developing the characters and worldbuilding. The ending was rewritten. Finally, for the final draft, a few errors were fixed, and some aspects of the lore were changed.
Plot
Book I
The poem begins with Povynn, Emronia and Quentin arriving in Floralia, a country that floats over Planet Popstar, only for Emronia to have her make-up kit to be taken away by the guards, who explain that mirrors have been banned from the country. The lakesprits then explore Royal Road, the capital of Floralia, and learn about the culture. Eventually, Povynn gets into a fight with a group of scarfies, who are trying to attack Taranza. After one of the scarfies blows up in front of Povynn, Taranza thanks him for his help. Taranza then tells the lakesprits about the Council of the Seven Years, who is a group that intends on finding and defeating Dark Mind. Dark Mind is a malevolent entity who intends to conquer both Popstar and the Mirror World. Povynn and the Lakesprits join the council, and plan to meet the rest of the group the next day. In the evening, the lakesprits go around Royal Road and find a hotel to dwell in during their stay.
Book II
The next day, the lakesprits come to the Royal Palace, where they meet Queen Sectonia. She invites the group to the lowest island of Floralia, Fine Fields. She discusses and explains the conflict Floralians have been having with Dark Mind. The lakesprits ask about Kirby, who has been missing for some months. Sectonia doesn't have an answer, but hopes that Kirby comes to save Popstar and the Mirror World. The group then meet Lolo and Lala, who are also part of the council, and have a picnic together under a tree. The council separates, and they go their own ways. Emronia and Quentin go to deliver fruits to a factory. Povynn hangs out with Taranza in Royal Road, and watches the spider show his magic.
Book III
In the next morning, the lakesprits try to gather clues on where Kirby has gone, and find people having philosophical questions about Kirby and his ethical decisions. The lakesprits then are invited to go on an expedition to the Mirror World, where they are supposed to gather mirror shards for a mirror that is supposed to be a portal to Dark Mind. The council gathers at the portal to the Mirror World, and explore that world. They arrive at a mansion, where they split up and look for clues. The lakesprits get into a fight with a tower-sized golem, called King Golem. They struggle during the fight, and are chased by a mob. After the fight, Lolo and Lala take out a mirror shard out of the golem, and gather with the rest of the group. They go back home, to Floralia. During the night, Sectonia gives Emronia and Quentin some weapons, and the group watches over the stars while having a conversation.
Book IV
The day after that, the lakesprits have breakfast with Sectonia and Taranza, and then leave Floralia in order to continue investigating the disappearance of Kirby. They arrive in Dream Land, and head towards King Dedede's castle. They try to convince the waddle dee guards that they need to know about Kirby. Eventually, King Dedede arrives and tells the lakesprits that he doesn't know where Kirby went, but also mentions that another waddle dee went with him. The group and Dedede don't know how to contact the Dedede, so they continue the investigation. Dedede also considers joining the Council of Seven Years. The lakesprits go back to Floralia, and find out that Dedede arrived there too, by boarding the Halberd along with Meta Knight. Meta Knight is then mistaken for Dark Meta Knight, and Sectonia apologizes for it. Dedede and Meta Knight join the council. In the evening, Povynn is attacked by a robot, that came from the Kingdom of Eggerland. Hai arrives and defeats the robot. Povynn then leads Hai to the hotel, and works out a deal to have him and Hai share a room. After that, Povynn finds Neblino, and chases him towards his hideout, the Roundkick Lodge. Neblino introduces himself and his crew, but then makes Povynn sleep by playing smooth music.
Book V
Povynn finds himself in the hotel, and learns that he was rescued by the council after they found him sleeping at the lodge. The council gathers up for another expedition, this time towards a space station in the Mirror World. In there, they confront Master Hand, who later teams up with Crazy Hand. During the fight, Povynn is flicked out of the area, and lands far away. He stumbles upon Neblino and his crew again, who decide to tease him. Povynn then holds onto a warp star and heads back to the fight, crashing the star into one of the hands, and finishing the fight. In the evening, Povynn, Hai, Lolo, Taranza and Quentin go to a desert in Floralia, to check on Dedede. They find him, but they also find Neblino badmouthing Kirby, and spreading lies about him. Dedede and Lolo debunk the lies that Neblino says, and have a duel with him. Neblino runs away, and the group decides to hang out at a pub.
Book VI
Lolo and Lala go to the Kingdom of Egger Land to fight King Egger's nephew, King Mayon. In the meantime, the lakesprits and Hai find out someone has the phone number to the waddle dee who went missing with Kirby. The waddle dee is known as Bandana Waddle Dee, also known as Bandee. The lakesprits and Hai go to a planet where Kirby and Bandee are supposed to be, and find them hanging out by a lake. They spend some time together, and chat about why they haven't gone to Popstar. The waddle dee says that Kirby was taking a vacation due to how everyone was begging to him to fulfill their promises, even if they conflicted. The waddle dee then says that Kirby hopes the lakesprits and Hai could be heroes too, and says they can finish the job of defeating Dark Mind on their own, without Kirby's help. The lakesprits and Hai come back to Floralia, and find out that Taranza caught Neblino. Neblino challenges one of the members of the council to a duel, and Povynn steps in. The two then have a fight, where Neblino gets unconscious at the end. Emronia also fights Kinsello, one of Neblino's allies. When Neblino is placed on a hospital, Crettu, another one of Neblino's allies, spills information on what Neblino has been doing, and informs that the actual mirror shards are stored in the lodge. The council then goes to get the shards, and prepare for the fight, which will be the next day.
Book VII
The council assembles the mirror the next morning, and are greeted by Dark Mind, who unleashes his minions. A battle breaks out in Royal Road, where everyone fights with the lackeys that Dark Mind sent. Sectonia and Taranza confront Dark Meta Knight. After the fight, the council prepares to head into the mirror.
Book VIII
The council goes into the mirror, to find Dark Mind, who's gained the appearance of a masked lord or wizard. They have a fight against him, and shatter his mask. Dark Mind then reveals his true form, which is of a giant lava-like eye. The council brings out miracle fruits, which enhance their abilities when consumed. They all fight him once again. Povynn gets injured, and proposes to fuse his weapon with Sectonia's rapiers. The weapons fuse, and Dark Mind shows a third form, where he has wings made out of mirrors. Sectonia swings the fused weapons at him, and then shoots beams from them, but they are absorbed by Dark Mind. When Dark Mind blows the beams back at her, she creates a portal in front of him and another one behind him, and causes him to shoot the beam back at himself, self-destroying him. Sectonia then creates a portal for the council to go back to Floralia, and informs her citizens that the war is over. A week later, the council disbands, and Floralia rebuilts itself.