Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.


The following morning, Kirby woke up and stretched his arms before making a brief glance at Elfilis. He smiled at the sight of Vesa and Elfilin cuddling next to them. The pink star warrior remembered Elfilis woke up several times during the night. Hyness had to keep calming them with soft words and sleep spells, considering his child had been having night terrors. Kirby didn't complain much as he would just stay asleep, not wanting to make Elfilis's panic attacks worse.

"We're probably going to need to go back to our home in Dreamland sooner rather than later at this rate," Hyness proclaimed, "I don't want to be a bother and keeping us in such a small place is not easy, especially since Elfilis takes up a quarter of the space on their own."

"Poyo," Kirby blinked twice.

Come to think of it, Kirby and the others would also have to return to Dreamland at some point. Elfilin yawned and opened his eyes, stretching his limbs before he floated to the pink star warrior.

"Morning, Kirby," Elfilin chirped.

"Poyo," Kirby waved his arm.

"Well, I guess I slept ok despite the night terrors my…sibling and I had," Elfilin nodded.

Kirby didn't need to pry much to know the intensity of the connection Elfilin and his sibling still had. The small chinchilla and the pink star warrior noticed as Vesa opened her eyes and sat up. Elfilis opened their eyes and stirred seconds later, blushing softly.

"Ah, m-morning, Elfilis," Vesa said.

Vesa took a moment to stretch her arms.

"Good morning," Elfilis simply replied.

Elfilin perked up his ears and floated over to the human.

"Are you hungry?" Elfilin asked, "we were thinking of getting some breakfast."

"O-Of course," Vesa answered.

Elfilis fidgeted nervously around their smaller fragment, both of them acknowledging the fact they both messed up ever since Elfilin split from them. After all, the small chinchilla did take Elfilis's positive emotions and their friend. They tried to capture and assimilate him. He tried to get Kirby to help him kill them and in a way, they destroyed their corporeal body, even if temporarily. That was all in the past, though.

Vesa slowly sat up while Kirby hopped off his bed. Elfilis stood up, bumping their head on the ceiling.

"Y-You all right?" Vesa stammered.

"I'm fine," Elfilis mumbled, "blunt force isn't really good at damaging me. I've been through worse."

"Well then," Hyness gestured to the door, "right this way!"

Setting foot outside, Vesa, Elfilis, Kirby, Elfilin and Hyness made their way to Waddle Dee Café. Elfilis offered Vesa support as she took slow steps, considering her legs were wobbly at that time. They could see Bandee and the Mage Sisters sitting at a table. Kirby spotted Meta Knight sitting at another table having tea and toast.

Elfilis felt pretty awkward wandering through the town filled with Waddle Dees. They should consider themselves lucky the Waddle Dees didn't know their evil fragmented self tried to enslave them since they appeared vastly different. Kirby waved at Bandee and the Mage Sisters. Bandee waved back happily while the sisters simply nodded back. Flamberge gave a small wave. While Kirby and Elfilin approached the counter, Vesa, Elfilis and Hyness sat at a table next to Bandee's table. The ultimate life-form tried relaxing a little, reminding themselves they weren't trapped anymore. They had the power to defend themselves again: their magic, life energy and body were back to full capacity. They could still feel the power of that strange butterfly inside their soul, making them stronger. Vesa took a moment to read the menu. The first option she laid her eyes on was mushroom quiche.

After a minute, Vesa and Hyness approached the counter.

"Morning, ma'am!" the Waddle Dee chirped, "is there anything you'd like to order?"

"I'd like to try the mushroom quiche," Vesa requested, "and a mocha."

"I'll order some bread for the table and," Hyness added, "some coffee will be fine."

The Waddle Dee nodded at them in approval.

"No problem!" the Waddle Dee chirped, "I'll let you know when it's ready!"

At the same time, Kirby and Elfilin retrieved their breakfast orders and carried it over to a table near Meta Knight's.

"Do we…have any money?" Elfilis asked Hyness and the sisters.

"Well," Zan hesitated for a moment, "we have star coins from Dreamland, but the currency here looks a bit different, so…maybe?"

Vesa fidgeted nervously and placed her finger on her chin upon realizing she had nothing in terms of currency.

"I could synthesize artificial currency?" Elfilis pondered.

Meta Knight, having finished his breakfast, locked eyes onto Hyness. The veteran star warrior approached his table and nodded at him. Meta Knight offered Hyness some money without saying anything.

"Ah," Hyness said, "thank you, Meta Knight."

Meta Knight simply wrapped his cape around himself and vanished elsewhere. Minutes later, the Waddle Dee brought out the breakfast orders, so Vesa approached the counter with the money in hand, which happened to be small ringlike coins of different colors, made of some kind of odd magical metal she didn't recognize.

"Here you go, ma'am," the Waddle Dee chirped, "enjoy!"

"Thank you," Vesa smiled.

Vesa picked up the tray and carried it back to the table, reaching for the slice of mushroom quiche and her mocha.

"These little guys seem so friendly," Vesa mused as she took a bite out of her quiche.

"The Waddle Dees?" Elfilis replied, "they're a species native to Dreamland. A lot of them were brought here when the other version of me opened a portal to Dreamland. I have no idea how it knew where it even was. But it needed labor for some reason, I don't exactly remember why. Plenty of them decided to stay here rather than return with us to Dreamland."

"And yet they didn't freak out when they saw you," Vesa said.

"I look different than what they saw," Elfilis clarified, "I wouldn't even consider myself and that thing as the same creature."

Vesa nodded in agreement. Her thoughts wandered back to the masked knight who approached Hyness for a brief moment.

"By the way, who was that guy in the mask?" Vesa asked.

"I have no idea," Elfilis admitted, "although based on his attire, he's likely one of the Star Warriors, last I heard before I was captured by your people. They were fighting an ancient monster known as Nightmare."

Vesa sighed and tilted her head sideways for a second before taking a sip of her mocha. Hyness sat down next to Elfilis with the coffee in his hands. The ultimate life-form lightly nibbled on a loaf of bread, a small mouth now visible not unlike many of the woodland rodents.

Shortly after breakfast, Vesa, Hyness and Elfilis made their way to the main plaza, where they could see Kirby and Elfilin conversing with Bandee and the Mage Sisters. The pink star warrior turned towards them and waved at them to approach. When Vesa took a few steps closer, Elfilin and the Mage Sisters turned to face the trio. Bandee, on the other hand, widened his eyes in surprise upon glancing at the human.

"Uhh, Kirby?" Bandee pointed at Vesa, "who's that?"

Vesa stiffened and blushed. Elfilis simply narrowed their eyes yet they remained calm.

"Oh, her?" Elfilin paused, perking up his ears, "that's Vesa. She met Fecto Elfilis long ago and they brought her with them into the future."

Vesa slowly approached Bandee as he gave her a bow of respect.

"You're…a Waddle Dee?" she asked.

Elfilis glanced away. Bandee placed his arm on his belly.

"Not just any Waddle Dee, miss," he proclaimed, "you can just call me Bandee. I am the head of King Dedede's Royal Guard."

Vesa blinked and gave Kirby a puzzled look.

"King…Dedede?" she paused.

"King Dedede is the greatest ruler there ever was of Dreamland," Bandee proudly explained, "he's really valiant and not afraid of jumping into action whenever there's trouble!"

"And only ruler," Flamberge interrupted with a snicker, "Dedede apparently just kind of showed up one day and declared himself king. He's nice enough, but he has a bit of a more spotty past as a hardcore glutton and grade-A troublemaker."

Elfilis took this moment to turn around to join the conversation.

"Well, he is a penguin," Elfilis mentioned, "so biologically, this isn't unnatural behavior."

Elfilis and Elfilin exchanged glances.

"Yeah," Flamberge snarked, "well anyway, he and Kirby were at blows for a time and hardcore rivals. Although, that was pretty one-sided, to my knowledge."

"Poyo!" Kirby chirped in agreement.

"Oh, come on, Kirby!" Bandee protested, "you can't just define the King by his shortcomings!"

"Poyo," Kirby pouted.

"He stepped up to the plate to help when it mattered," Flamberge continued, "he used to be pretty arrogant and selfish. Now he's a proper ruler, from what I've seen. I wouldn't mind being his subject at this point. I think we kind of are, aren't we?"

"Well," Zan shrugged, "we do live on his land."

"Anyway, he's an ally now and has grown a lot as a person," Flamberge concluded.

Vesa glanced over her shoulder and gave Elfilis an awkward stare.

"That's one heck of a history," Vesa commented, "don't you think?"

Vesa and Elfilis returned their gaze towards Bandee, Kirby and Elfilin.

"Why don't we show you around Waddle Dee Town?" Elfilin offered.

"I'd like that," Vesa smiled, "thank you."

Kirby, Elfilin and Bandee led Vesa and Elfilis from the main plaza and turned to their right, stopping at a building with a silhouette of a movie camera above the door.

"This is Waddle Dee Cinema," Bandee explained.

"So it's a movie theater?" Vesa clarified.

"I am not familiar with what you're referring to," Elfilis gave Vesa a confused look.

"We produce movies and display them in theaters," Vesa explained.

Elfilis still gave her a confused look.

"Well, a movie is…" Vesa began to explain.

"It's basically the equivalent of a magical portrait," Flamberge added, "but with technology instead of magic and they tend to have sound most of the time."

Vesa chuckled nervously.

"Well, that's one way to explain it," she commented.

Elfilis nodded in agreement, remembering they used to have moving portraits back at Hyness's tower before Galacta Knight destroyed their home planet.

To her left, Vesa spotted a few Waddle Dees on a stage adjacent to the theater as they were in the middle of tuning their instruments. Bandee blinked twice before locking eyes onto the Waddle Dees on the stage.

"Oh," Bandee said, "that's the band Waddle Live. They set up a corner stage and perform some neat music."

Elfilis smiled softly. Soon enough, the Waddle Dees on the corner stage finished tuning their instruments. Elfilis watched them curiously as they stood around. The Waddle Dee band began playing an upbeat catchy tune. To the ultimate life-form, it sounded nice even if they preferred music which was more vocal and melodic.

They spent a few minutes just listening in on the music. After that, Kirby, Elfilin and Bandee led Vesa, Elfilis, Hyness and the Mage Sisters to the door to the weapons shop. This intrigued Elfilis even more, even if their spear was efficient as is. Still, it wouldn't hurt to appreciate other weapons if only for the craftsmanship. Kirby led everyone inside and waved his arm at the weaponsmith.

"Poyo!"

"Good morning, Kirby!" the Waddle Dee weaponsmith waved his arm in response.

Much to Elfilis's disappointment, the weapons on sale were actually copy abilities. Apart from the Ranger, Hammer, Cutter, Sword and Drill, they were all just upgrades for Kirby. The ultimate life-form couldn't see themselves using anything other than the sword, hammer and gun on the display. Elfilis and Vesa continued browsing the display as Kirby and Elfilin approached the Waddle Dee weaponsmith and started chattering with him.

Elfilis, on the other hand, may have noticed the fact that Waddle Dee can upgrade copy abilities, presumably as some kind of magic based craft. The ultimate life-form didn't really have interest in anything on display, even when they could sense their own DNA inside that laser gun.

"I," Elfilis said, "am going to head home."

Vesa paused as she watched Elfilis meander out the door. She didn't hesitate to sprint after them, leaving Kirby, Elfilin and Bandee behind as the three sighed. By the time she caught up with Elfilis, they glanced over their shoulder.

"What is it?" Elfilis asked her.

Vesa immediately noticed she was sweating heavily as she leaned closer to Elfilis. Her legs were shaking and she had a bit of a headache.

"I-I think I might need a break, too," Vesa admitted.

"Are you ok?"

Vesa didn't say anything, but she embraced herself to Elfilis.


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