Chapter Two: Simirror
It took a few days for Kirby to feel that he was mentally prepared enough to visit his friend, Simirror. He was firmly reminded why the moment he entered her house. Simirror's house was a literal house of mirrors, with the floor being the only place to not be covered in mirrors.
"So…uh…which way should I go…?" he uttered, only to realize he should make himself known beforehand.
"Ah! Simirror! It's Kirby! I've come to visit!"
There was no response, so he began to walk around. The more he walked around the house, the more disoriented he began to feel.
"H…hello?" he called out, shortly before walking straight into one of the mirror walls.
"Ow…" he shook his head in pain and walked further into the house.
"Hm… maybe she isn't home today?" he wondered aloud.
It might be because of how disoriented he was, but nobody seemed to be home right now. This continued on for several minutes until he came to what appeared to be another intersection of mirrors. The puff decided to go left and immediately slammed into another mirror. Kirby blinked a few times as he began to process what happened. He was slowly starting to realize that he was lost in his friend's house and let out a quiet sob at the thought that he would never step foot out of this home again.
"Ah…don't cry, Kirby! Oh, I may have gone a bit too far this time…"
Kirby froze upon hearing the voice and turned around to see that it was Simirror.
"H-how long were you standing there!?" the puff finally yelled when he was able to process his thoughts again.
"Um…sometime around the time you last called out for me…I would've said something earlier, but it was a bit amusing to watch you walk around my house…" The puff now had a teary-eyed pout on his face. Why did she want to watch him suffer like that? "Oh, but I think I went a bit too far…would you like to have some tea and cake?" The idea of food was enough to drain any annoyance or frustration Kirby had.
"Really?! Thank you!" he immediately ran towards his friend.
"Ah, Kirby, that's a mirror…" the puff slammed into the glass and was immediately out cold from the impact. "…maybe I shouldn't have so many mirrors in my house…oh well, it's not my problem."
The tea was ready by the time Kirby regained consciousness. There was a throbbing pain in his head, but it was blocked out immediately the moment he saw the cake and tea on the table.
"I see that you've finally woken up."
He had awoken to see Simirror reading a book upside down across the table from him.
"Yup! Ah…how are you able to read a book like that?" he asked with innocent curiosity.
"What's my specialty?" she asked in response. Kirby took a moment to think.
"Ok, but you're still reading it upside down."
"I picked it up like this and it makes no difference regardless. Once you get used to something, you can do it without thinking."
Kirby only silently drank the tea in response. It was typical of her to attempt to sound wise to others.
"Now it's time for me to ask my own question. Why have you come to visit me unannounced?" she questioned.
"Do I need to have a reason to visit a friend?" Kirby replied back.
"Generally, you do…especially if it's unannounced." she sighed.
"Oh…" he took a drink of tea. "Well…um…you seemed a bit lonely recently, so I thought we should hang out today!"
It took a moment for Simirror to process what had just been said, and she responded by clearing her throat.
"I appreciate your visit, Kirby." She then took a piece of cake.
"It's not a problem! I'm always happy to hang out with friends!" The puff was beginning to make work of the remaining cake on the table. Seeing this and remembering her friend's massive appetite, Simirror thought quickly.
"Well, if we're going to hang out today, would you like to play some chess?"
"Sure! If that's what you wanna do today!" Kirby's response was immediate.
"Then would you like to start playing now?"
"What's the problem with waiting until after lunch? Do you have something else planned for today?"
"…how much do you have to eat to consider it lunch?" she nervously questioned, finally deciding to bite the bullet.
"I dunno. I guess we can start when we're done with this cake." The puff gave an unsure shrug. Ok, so it was just the cake then. That put the mage's mind at ease a little more.
"Alright, then we'll do it after lunch." She nodded.
The room that Simirror kept her chess set in was the only one Kirby had seen that wasn't completely covered in mirrors, to his surprise. Was this possibly because she didn't want the mirrors to distract her opponent? Because it could be seen as cheating? Whatever the reason, Kirby was fine with it. The absurd number of mirrors in this house was starting to give him a headache.
"So, Kirby do you know how to play chess?" Simirror asked as she began to set up the board.
"I've never really played chess before..."
With a nod, the mage continued. "Then I'll teach you the rules before we start." The two sat at the table.
"You at least understand the basic goal of chess, right?"
"Um…you're supposed to capture the biggest piece, right?"
"That's correct, or checkmate the piece. That piece is called the King piece." Simirror continued to rattle on about how the pieces were moved until she noticed that her friend hadn't responded for a while.
"Kirby, are you paying attention?" She asked, now seeing that the puff had fallen asleep. Irritated, she created a mirror copy of herself, which teleported behind him and smacked him over the head.
"Ow…what was that for?" Kirby asked, rubbing his head.
"You fell asleep while I was explaining how to move the pieces in chess. Now, pay attention this time."
Kirby nodded and Simirror began to explain how each of the individual pieces were moved, how to win the game, and various other rules and techniques that are used while playing the game. It was a lot for Kirby to remember, but he thought he understood it.
Simirror easily won the first and second games. It wasn't that much of a surprise, as Kirby was still mostly unfamiliar with the game. By the third game, the puff seemed to have gotten the hang of the rules and movements of pieces. Upon losing the third game, Kirby suddenly spoke up.
"I get it! I understand it now!" he yelled, startling the mage.
"What is it? What do you get?" Simirror replied quickly, nervous at the sudden shouting.
"I think I understand how to play now!" he replied.
The mage gave a nod and began to reset the board.
Could he really have learned this quickly? Or is he saying that to keep her from feeling bad about constantly winning the past three games. While he did seem to be getting somewhat better, it was clear that there was a gap between their playing abilities. Perhaps she should go easy on Kirby to at least give him a chance of winning this time. Then, to her surprise, the puff took one of her pieces. This was something that had never happened in any of the previous matches they had played, so that put Simirror a bit on edge. She would have to take this seriously again. What followed was silence other than the back and forth tapping of pieces on the board. While Simirror had known the puff for some time, she was internally in awe about how quickly Kirby had improved when it came to playing this game. The puff was already known for his Copy Ability, which allowed him to use the powers of whatever he swallowed to turn the tide of battle in his advantage. However, he generally knows how to use those powers he copies instantaneously. Simirror was slightly envious of Kirby due to that, as it meant that she could spend all her time mastering mirror magecraft, but her friend will always be better at it than her because of that Copy Ability. This was not the case here. Anyone could play chess, but to play chess well, it took practice and learning. Kirby had been getting better at it through playing against her. Is improving himself in such a short time another ability that he had? Is that the secret to how he can use his Copy Abilities with little to no prior practice? For what reason would he need to train then? Was he even aware of this quick learning ability? Was this exactly what their mutual friends were talking about when they discussed his limitless potential? Was this what powerful fighters such as King Dedede and Meta Knight feared? The hidden power of a being that struck down eldritch monsters like it was shoveling a sidewalk?
"Simirror, are you ok?" Kirby finally asked.
The mage blinked a few times. "Oh, I'm fine, Kirby, now let's see here…" She looked down at the board. While Simirror had more pieces on the board than Kirby, it was clear that no legal move could be made.
"…is something wrong?" The puff asked.
"I can't make any moves, Kirby. We've reached a stalemate."
The puff gave an understanding nod before looking outside. "Ah! It's getting late!" he hopped out of his chair. "I have to get up a bit earlier for training tomorrow! So I have to eat dinner earlier today!" he continued with a stretch.
With a newer understanding of how her friend's Copy Abilities work, Simirror gave a nod. "Very well. Thank you for spending time with me today, Kirby. I really did appreciate it."
"It's not a problem! We should get together again sometime!" He said with a beaming smile before turning to the door they entered. He hesitated for a moment, as if remembering what happened when he entered the mirror maze earlier and stepped forward.
"Oh, wait a moment, Kirby." Simirror stopped him. "Look to the left."
Kirby turned and saw a straight hallway that led directly to the front door. "Ah! Thanks!" he was about to run down the hallway when he stopped himself and looked back at Simirror.
"Hey, we should play chess together again some time! That was a lot of fun!" he said.
His friend gave a nod in response. "I agree. It was quite fun playing against you. Feel free to come over at any time."
"Sure!" With a smile, Kirby walked down the hallway and exited the house.
This is a lot shorter than any of my usual chapters, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless.