Right when Bandee had finally come up with something to say, their phone started ringing. "Hey, it's Dedede. We found the ship." But how helpful would that be at the moment?

"Can you get ahold of it?"

"No."

"Fine. Taranza and I will pursue our current lead and get back to you." They hung up.

Taranza was displeased. "Bandee, what was that? We need to investigate the Lor!"

"No, we don't. I already know where Magolor is."

"Really?"

"Never been more confident about anything. Let's go!"

Bandee quickly ran into Castle Dedede and came out with a map. "C'mon! This way!"

"What makes you think this is where he is? You can't see anything more than a few inches in front of your face!" The mist was already giving Taranza a bad impression.

"It's clear from the footage that Magolor was hiding from the Starcutter. And where better to hide than somewhere no one can see?"

They traversed in silence for another few minutes. Then, Taranza spoke again. "Is this really a good idea?"

"What do you mean?"

"If Magolor's out hiding, it's because he doesn't feel safe out in the open. Is it really a good idea to go looking for someone who's this scared?"

"Scared? I don't think he knows that word. Have you ever met him before?"

"I have. He's like one of those dolls that you open to find another doll inside, and you just keep going and going until you get to the true self in the center."

"I suppose I haven't been doing much opening, then. Not for a lack of effort, though. I've been trying to figure him out since I met him, and I still don't have a clue what he's actually thinking most of the time. You're really good at reading people, right?"

"I can't say I've ever thought of myself that way. I know I'm not stupid, but I can rarely ever tell what's going on in your head, or Meta Knight's, or-Watch out!" He grabbed Bandee as they were slipping.

"Thanks. I've noticed a few things, too. Like how whenever Magolor gets in trouble, you're usually the first to try and give him an excuse to leave, or to defend himself. Are you just generally that protective of others, or is there something about him in particular?"

Taranza hadn't realized this himself. They weren't wrong, though. He did often try to help Magolor whenever he needed it, but that was just because he felt bad for him, right? Regardless, he thought it would be best to just play it off. "I guess it's just a general thing, though I can't really be sure."

The rain had started to come down, and there were distant claps of thunder echoing throughout the woods. "I hope we find him soon, I'm cold." Bandee was shivering.

Taranza seemed to be able to tolerate it just fine. "You two might not be that different after all." He spoke with an edge of humor.

"Well, that's not something I want to be hearing."

"Can you still read that map? It's already tough enough finding our way around, I hope you can at least keep the map intact."

"It's getting a little worse for wear. Damn this guy for making us come all the way out here in this weather."

"Can you stop? He didn't even want us to follow him, and there's no way he predicted the weather. Besides, there's still a chance he's not around here."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I just can't stand storms."

Taranza scratched his chin. "Neither can Magolor. Hey, what was your first instinct when it started raining?"

"Try to find shelter."

"Okay, keep going."

"You want more?"

"It could lead us to him."

"Okay. I'd look around for some kind of structure, like a cave or something."

"Well, let's check for one of those. There might be one down this cliff here…"

"Wait! This is it! I've fallen off this cliff before!" Bandee started waving their arms excitedly.

"You what?"

"This cliff. Back when Magolor first came back to Popstar after the crown incident, I saw him land out here and fell off this cliff looking for him. He saved me back then, so if there's any shelter around the bottom of this cliff, he'd be in there."

"Well, let's look around."

Bandee skidded down the cliff, losing their balance on the way down. They tumbled down the rocks toward the bottom, only stopping when they hit a tree. "Not again…"

"Definition of insanity, my friend. Definition of insanity. I'll look around to see if I can get you out of the rain. Give me the map." They obliged. Taranza tucked the map into his clothes. There were some rock formations around, some of which looked like they could provide shelter. After building a rudimentary roof-like structure, He went back and brought Bandee under it. "All right, I'm gonna look for something more substantial. You try not to fall off any more cliffs while I'm gone, okay?" They nodded.

Taranza went looking. It was, of course, difficult to figure out anything from all the mist, but there were a lot more rocks around here than there had been elsewhere. He moved some of the loose ones around to get a better look at what lay beyond them. He saw a sudden flash of light from behind a pile of rocks. It was extremely subtle, and he thought for a moment that it was just lightning. But upon moving a moderately sized stone, he saw an opening into a cave.

It went down at first, and then led Taranza into a little stone corridor underground. Water was pouring down from above, and it covered the floor of the cave completely. The mist was much easier to see through down here, so it didn't take long for Taranza to find the source of the light from earlier. One of the many winding tunnels down here was the source. It was pretty high up, and far from the exit, so it would be almost completely dry. Before going in, Taranza covered up the entrance again. Magolor would be in bad shape and any unwanted visitors might just make it worse. If Bandee came down here, they'd almost certainly approach it with a more accusatory attitude, and that was never the way to go with him. Slowly, calmly, He entered the moderately illuminated tunnel.

It went on for a bit before he found the source of the light. There were a few candelabras set into the walls, and the candles in them were lit with purple flame. This network of caves seemed to be used for something a long time ago, but what that was didn't matter at the moment. What did matter was the rustling that came from behind a nearby wall of rock. Taranza approached cautiously, and was met with a rather familiar scene, although this one was much scarier than the previous time.

Magolor was sprawled out on the floor, twitching erratically, yet in a way that made it seem like he was constrained somehow. His movements were gradually becoming more and more subdued, but it wasn't a good indication. "I can't… I, I'm not… no… not… ready… please…" He was reaching out right at Taranza, gesturing as if he was begging him for help. "Taranza… Kirby… somebody… help…"

Taranza couldn't take seeing him like this anymore. Even if Magolor'd be mad about it, it was just too heartbreaking to watch. He rushed over and shook Magolor until his eyes fluttered open. "Magolor! I'm so sorry, but you looked like something really bad was happening to you. Can you talk?"

Magolor breathed heavily, and blinked a few times before responding. "Uhh, you're… Taranza. Yes, that was it. Could you let go, please?"

"Right. I'm sorry. Did something happen to you after you left? You seem a little confused about everything." Taranza backed off, trying to remain empathetic.

"I… left… remind me what that was again?"

"You were throwing paper into the fire at your souvenir shop. When you finished, you left, and this is the first time anyone's seen you since." Taranza chose not to bring up that he knew what was on the drawings. Clearly, the events of the day had messed up his brain.

"Mm. Could you give me a moment to get my thoughts in order? And back up a little more. You look like your head's on fire." He smiled weakly.

After a few minutes of Magolor just looking around, he slid the buckle on his scarf to the other side. His cape fell loose from his back, and he further unfolded it into a cape far larger than he was. He wrapped it completely around himself and leaned back against the rock wall. "I imagine you're wondering why I ran away, right?"

"Yes. if that's alright with you."

"... The Master Crown wasn't complete."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Until I put the crown on, it wasn't complete. It was missing a tiny fragment of itself."

"What does this have to do with what happened last night?"

Magolor tightened his grip on the cape. "The missing fragment was embedded in my brain. I had always wondered how I managed to completely discard rationality in the way that I did, and it turns out it was because there was something in me influencing me. Not that I'm blameless, of course, but that sure explained a lot. If only I knew that at any time before last night, maybe things would have gone better. And they could have, but the Lor didn't tell me a thing. I saw that fragment in a scan that was done back when I first found the Lor, and I never even looked at it in detail then. It just said that I didn't have any diseases, so I kept looking around like nothing happened. As far as I knew, nothing DID happen."

There was silence for a few moments. Magolor further tightened the wrapped cape around himself. He was trembling slightly, but it was clearly an improvement from earlier in the morning. Taranza came a little closer, and then sat on the ground. "That sounds like it would be very hard to process. Is that why you were burning pictures of the Lor?"

Magolor's eyes dimmed. "I imagine so. I don't remember anything I did today in detail, though. It's all very hazy. Where are we, anyway?"

"This is a cave in the misty forest. Bandee figured out that you'd be here somewhere, so we followed this map that they had to get to this cliff they fell down a while ago. I found the entrance to this cave near the bottom."

Magolor loosened his grip slightly. A corner of the cape fell away from him. "They kept that…" He muttered.

"Everyone's worried about you. Maybe not all for the same reasons, but I'm sure they'll be relieved to see you're doing better. At the very least, the fact that you started speaking again should help."

Magolor's eyes formed into arches. "I stopped talking completely? I'm surprised they didn't attack me on the spot for being possessed." His expression changed back to being unreadable. "Why are you being so relaxed about all this?"

Taranza covered his mouth. "I'm not relaxed. I was really worried about you. I needed to make sure you were okay…"

"You really came all the way out here because you were worried about me?"

"Yes."

Magolor was trying to hide it, but he was holding back tears. "That… that… you…"

Taranza backed away a little bit. "Do you need anything?"

"I don't understand…"

"What?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" He could hold back no further. Tears started pouring out of his eyes.

"I just wanted to make sure you were safe. You're really important to me."

"How?"

"You saved my life. I had nothing left after Sectonia died, and you got me somewhere to go. A way to move forward. If I let anything happen to you, I'd never forgive myself." For the first time in over a year, Taranza smiled. "I don't imagine you hold me in as high regard, but if I can stop you from getting hurt, I will."

Magolor stayed silent for what felt like an hour. Then he moved next to Taranza. "Do you mind if I hug you?"

"Well, no, but are you really okay with that?"

Magolor smiled. "No. I just wanted to know what you were gonna say. Isn't it about time we get going? I want to get out of here."

"Back to normal, I see. Aren't you worried about the Lor?"

"I am. But I'll be going back alongside someone who'd do anything to protect me, so whatever malicious intentions she has towards me, I don't think I'll be in danger." His tone was lighthearted, like he was making fun of Taranza, but it was clear that what Taranza told him meant a lot. "Really, though, I want to get out of here. The sounds of thunder are a little more ominous when you don't know what they're doing."

Taranza's small smile grew larger. "You really are one of a kind. Let's go. It's this way."

Magolor was awestruck by the central passage. "Whoa! This place is so cool! I'm definitely gonna want to investigate here further." He threw a handful of gravel into the water at the bottom. "I still have the same taste in setpieces, even when my brain is collapsing and I'm living in fear of my own home. That's nice."

The surface was covered in mist, as usual. Taranza went over to the shelter he'd built for Bandee. "Hey, are your injuries doing be-they're unconscious."

"How'd they get hurt?"

"Fell off the cliff again."

"Wow. Was it on purpose this time? Trying to get inspiration from something?"

"Yes, actually."

"I was joking."

Taranza held Bandee in a sphere and began carrying them away from the shelter. He pulled out the map, and looked at it for a few seconds before turning to Magolor. "Did you draw this?"

"Yeah. How'd you guess?"

About an hour later, the three of them got back to Castle Dedede. Taranza released Bandee from the sphere to keep King Dedede from panicking, and then waved goodbye to Magolor for the time being. Magolor went to the Lor, she gave him an apology, and they reconciled. It was all to keep Magolor's delicate mental health in check. Eventually, It got more and more difficult to tell him about the fragment. A few hours later, the Lor Starcutter took off for somewhere no one on Popstar could identify.