Chapter 33 – Desert-Night Dialogue
Starry-Night Desert – Sand Canyon
(Based on the 4th level of Sand Canyon.)
Soon after getting the Poison Ability (my favorite one by far), we got through Gigabyte Grounds and ended up at a part of the desert named Sand Canyon. I was grateful for many reasons. One was the fact that this place had a normal name for once. And second, it was actually nighttime right now. And the sky was super pretty to look at.
"*sigh* The sky is beautiful in this world." Ringo said.
"Sure is." Maguro said. "And it's easy to see unlike in our world."
"Yeah, true. The lights make it impossible to see anything. But here, we don't have to worry about it."
"Hey, that reminds me…" Adeleine said as she turned to the duo behind her. "I've heard that the night sky sets the perfect mood for couples. But I've never experienced it myself. Is it really true?"
"Well…I'm not sure." Ringo said. "I've never had that happen to me either."
"Same for me." Maguro added.
"Huh? You mean you guys haven't looked at the sky together? Just the two of you?"
"Together?" Maguro asked.
"Just the two of us?" Ringo asked. "I'm not getting it."
…
Adeleine went silent for a bit. Then asked the two of them a question Arle and I have been DYING to ask since the day we met them.
"Aren't you two dating?"
"D-Dating?!" The duo shouted while gaining extremely blushed faces. Their reaction was purely hilarious. Me and Arle couldn't stop laughing. We even fell to the sandy ground and continued to laugh. It felt so good that someone finally asked that. It was bugging us for a while now.
"A-A-Adeleine! W-W-We're not dating! W-We're just friends!" Ringo shouted.
"Y-Yeah. J-Just friends." Maguro, on the other hand, didn't shout at all. In fact, he looked rather shy and embarrassed when he said it. Which was a first for us.
"Really? Wow. That's odd. You look like you were." Adeleine said.
"Thank you!" Arle and I said.
"Shut it, you two!" Ringo yelled at us.
"Hey, Adeleine. There's something I've been meaning to ask, but couldn't find a right time." Raffina said.
"Huh? What is it?" Adeleine asked.
"Is it just you here? Wh-What I mean is…are you really the only human in this world?"
Adeleine went silent once again and this time grew a sad look on her face. It took her a while to answer this. As the reason she's on this planet is truly dark and disturbing.
"*sigh* Yeah. I am." She finally answered. "I was the youngest of the remaining survivors. And we each fled to a different planet just in case the aliens tried to come back for us. I don't know the condition of the other survivors. Or even if they're still alive. So I just believe that I'm the only one and not talk about it."
"O-Oh. I'm sorry for bringing it up then."
"It's alright, Raffina. Getting something like that off my chest really helped a lot."
"Well, that's good…I think."
As we continued to walk through the dark night sky of Sand Canyon, a faint noise was starting to be heard from really far away. It was really hard to tell what it was. But as we kept walking, the noise (now more recognized as a voice). Until we finally saw from a short distance where the voice was coming from.
"I feel it! I feel it! I feel it!"
"Isn't that Yu, Rei, and Chilly over there?" I asked.
"Looks like them." Arle said. "Hey, guys!"
We soon got the attention of the trio as they ran/floated/slid over to us.
"Yu rang?" Yu asked her most famous question.
"I thought you guys were checking out a haunted house or something."
"We were." Rei said.
"Then what are you doing all the way in the desert at night?" I asked.
"Chilly. Chilly chilly."
"Hey, Lidelle…"
"He said they were at the haunted house in Lollipop Land when Yu started to feel something." Lidelle translated.
"Chilly chilly chilly chilly. Chilly."
"They then followed her all the way here where she started shouting about "feeling it". Although, he has no idea what exactly she's feeling."
"I see."
"Wait, you can understand him?" Francisca asked.
"Yeah. It's a special talent I have. I used it when we fought Dubior and revealed the legend of the Red Puyo Hat."
"I see. That's an interesting talent."
"*giggle* Thank you, Francisca."
"So anyway, Yu. What exactly were you feeling?" I asked.
"What else? My eternal soul! I sense part of it nearby! And I'm going to get it back!"
"Wh-What?!" Most of us shouted.
"Huh? What's an eternal soul?" Flamberge asked.
"It's something that makes Yu what she really is. A *gulp* gh-ghost." Ringo explained.
"And I'm gonna get it back! No evil clone or mage woman is going to keep what's mine!"
"Y-Yu, wait a second! You can't face that clone on your own!" Lidelle said.
"I'm not on my own. I got Rei and Chilly with me."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Lidelle's right! We're coming with you!" Raffina added.
"Huh?!"
"Yu, you're forgetting that these are clones of Arle, Ringo, Lidelle, and myself. We want to defeat them as much as you do. So we're going. And we're not taking no for an answer."
Yu went silent as she turned away from us. From the looks of it, she really wanted to face the clones on her own and take back her eternal soul without any help. But with her as a human and the clones having her power, her facing even one of them can result in death.
But now that I think about it…if she died, wouldn't she turn back into a ghost?
"*sigh* Okay, fine." Yu finally gave in. "I sensed it coming from up north."
"Up north, huh?" Adeleine asked. "Hey, Dee. Isn't that where the entrance to Radish Ruins is?"
Bandanna-Dee nodded in response to the question.
"The entrance to Radish Ruins?" I asked.
"It's another area in the Mirror World. One way of getting there is to go through Sand Canyon." He wrote.
"I see."
"Well, what are we doing standing around for? Let's go already!" Yu yelled as she went on ahead without us.
"H-Hey! Yu! We said wait for us!"
We soon caught up with Yu at a giant dome-like cave that looked like it had a face on it. And inside the mouth was a mirror. The same one Bandanna-Dee, Lidelle, and I saw back on Star Lavadom. Unlike that one, though, this one looked…rather ominous.
"Th-This cave. I-It looks rather creepy." Ribbon said while hiding behind Adeleine.
"Yeah, it kinda does. Even I'm a little creeped out." Misuki said.
"Hey! You undeserving piece of life! Come out here and give me back my eternal soul!"
"Yu! Calm down!" I yelled at her.
"Calm down?! How can I when one of those soul thieves is around here?! I'm ready to beat down whoever it is!" This was a new side of Yu. And it was starting to scare me.
"Rei. She's your sister. Can't you do something about her?" I asked him.
"Nothing." Was all he said.
"Great."
"Are you willing to take that challenge to your grave, you loudmouth mortal?" We heard a voice. I say a voice because it wasn't exactly new. We've heard this voice before, but it sounded…distorted.
"Wh-Who said that?" I asked.
"G-G-Guys. L-L-Look." Ringo stuttered in fear as she pointed upward.
There on top of the dome was a black shadowy figure that was hard to see due to the brightness of the moon. The figure then jumped down and landed in front of us. It was then that we got a good look at what this figure was.
Or…more like who.
"H-Holy crap…" Misuki said.
"I-Is that…" Adeleine was barely able to talk.
"R-Raffina. I-It's…" Lidelle stuttered.
"My clone…" Raffina said. Slowly getting angry.
It was true. We were now in the presence of Raffina's clone from the Shiver Star Factory. She looked similar to the original Raffina, but with some differences. Her pink hair straightened out instead of the curls in the back. And a bunch of orange markings were all over her body.
Her outfit consisted of an orange short-sleeve jacket with a hood in the back. On the left side of it was the same black soul symbol Amitwo has on her sweater.
The rest of her outfit was a pair of baggy black shorts and a pair of orange and white sneakers. Other things about her were the fact that she was floating, much like Amitwo. And also the angel hairpin that's usually on her hair is gone. But one thing did stand out about her hair. One of the strands in her hair wasn't pink like the rest.
It was a dark-ish orange color.
"So you're this other Raffina I've heard so much about? Geez. When Amitie told me that I was based on you, I thought you would be prettier. But I guess I was wrong. Oh, Da-Ti-La!" Her voice sounded exactly like Raffina's. But in a distorted, almost creepy tone.
"Grr…Like you're one to talk!" Raffina shouted. "Look at the crap you're wearing!"
"H-Huh?"
"You haven't noticed?! And yet, you're MY clone! That jacket is way out of style, those shorts are God-awful, those sneakers are tacky as hell, not a single piece of jewelry anywhere, and what did you do to my hair?! You straighten it out?! What are you, a peasant on the street?! What do you have to say about that, huh?!"
"I-I…I-I…" The clone stuttered.
"No! you know what?! Don't bother explaining! We're pretty much going to kill you anyway. That way I won't have to look at that monstrosity you call an outfit. God, I think I almost puked in my mouth when I first saw you."
"I…I…I…*sniff*…WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"H-Huh?" Arle reacted.
"Is she…crying?" Ringo asked.
"Geez, Raffina. I know she's an evil clone and all. But did you really had to be so extremely mean like that?" Misuki asked with a look of disapproval.
"B…B-But I…" Raffina didn't know what to say.
"Uh, Amitie…what the heck just happened?" Adeleine asked me.
"Well…Raffina's known to be a fashion expert back in our world. And she takes it rather seriously. To the point where, if provoked enough, she'll start criticizing other people's sense of fashion. And in the most brutal way possible, too."
"Br-Brutal?"
"WAAAAAA! I'M SORRY! I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN! I TRIED EVERYTHING TO LOOK ALL PRETTY! BUT I JUST LOOK UGLY COMPARED TO YOU! I KNEW IT FROM THE START THAT I WAS UGLY! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING WITH THIS HORRIBLE BODY! I'M SO USELESS AND PATHETIC! AND I'M NOT EVEN REAL, TOO! AND NOW I'M GOING TO DIE THIS WAY! WAAAAAAAAAAA!" The fake Raffina continued to cry heavy tears as she dropped herself to the sandy ground in a defeated sitting position.
"R-Raffina…"
"I-I-I swear! I-I-I'm not always like this! I'm nice! I really am!" The real Raffina tried to clear her reputation.
"Do you even know what "nice" is?" Marx asked.
"That depends, Marx. Do you even know what my fist is?"
"You're not really proving your point, Raffina." Maguro said.
"Tch!" Raffina held back her fist away from Marx. "W-Well, why are you guys looking at me?! Look at the clone! She's acting really weird. Nothing like me to be exact!"
"*sigh* Does that even matter?" Yu asked. "You guys said that Amitie's clone made her using my eternal soul. So let's just kill her already and get part of my ghost self back." She said that last part while putting her hand right in front of Fake Raffina's face and started forming fire from it.
"N-N-Nooo! Pl-Pl-Please don't! I-If I don't stop you guys, Amitie's going to kill me! Please have mercy!"
Amitie's going to kill me? Does she mean…
"Hmph! Tell that to Satan when you're burning in the fiery pits of hell, you abomination!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"YU, STOP!" I shouted as I stepped in between her and Fake Raffina.
"Amitie! Get out the way!"
"No! I won't! I don't know what's gotten into ya, but you need to calm the hell down! At least let us hear her out!"
"Hear her out?! But she's a clone! You said it yourself that they're trying to destroy this world! And now you want to sympathize with one of them?!"
"Guy! Help me out here!"
The others didn't say or do anything. In fact, they were rather hesitant to help me with this. Yes, I said that these clones are no doubt evil and are helping Amitwo and Zan destroy this world. But after seeing how Raffina's clone acted just now, I'm starting to have second thoughts.
"Guys?" I asked.
"Amitie. I really don't think we should…"
"I'll talk to her." Raffina interrupted Arle.
"Huh?!"
"R-Really, Raffina?! You'll do that?!" I asked with glee.
"B-But Raffina!" Lidelle said. "Sh-She's your clone! A-An evil clone! Created by Amitie's evil clone!"
"Yeah, but…I kinda feel bad for what I said earlier. A-And besides, heard something that got me curious. A-And I want to know more."
"Are you for real, Raffina?" Yu asked.
"Yes. I'm for real."
"Thanks, Raffina. I knew I could count on you." I said.
"*sigh* Y-Yeah. S-Sure."
Raffina walked up to her clone and sat directly in her face to hopefully talk to her without making her feel worse than she already is.
Good luck, Raffina.
Chapter 33 Special – Elegant Chat
Raffina's POV
I sat down on the sand (something I would normally not do) and directly faced to face with my clone. Being this close-up, I gotta admit that she looks almost identical to me. Aside from the dark orange part of her hair and the orange markings all over her body.
Or is it my body?
"*whine* What do you want?" I asked myself.
"What do you mean "what do you want"? I want to talk."
"Talk? Does your meaning of "talk" include making me feel worse about myself? You're a huge meanie. I don't talk to meanies." The clone then looked away from me with a pouty looking on her face and her folded her arm together.
*sigh* This is going to be harder than I thought. There's gotta be something I could do to get her to trust me. Oh. Maybe I could try that.
"Hey. I got a question."
"I just said I don't talk to meanies."
"Just hear me out." I took a deep breath before continuing on. "If you're me, then does that mean you can speak French?"
The clone didn't respond. I was about to just give up and let Yu kill her for her soul…
When suddenly…
"Ouais. Je peux parler français. Je suis toi, tu te souviens? Quel est votre point, de toute façon?"
(Yeah. I can speak French. I am you, remember? What's you're point, anyway?)
Whoa. She can speak it. And it's almost as perfect as mine. Then again, she is me. It's to be expected.
"Mon point est ... si cela vous met plus à l'aise avec moi, parlons en français. Cela fonctionnera-t-il pour vous?"
(My point is…if it makes you more comfortable around me, let's talk in French. Will that work for you?)
The clone went silent for a bit. Then she eventually turned to face me with her arms still crossed together.
"*sigh* Je suppose. Mais comment saurai-je que vous ne me direz plus rien de méchant?"
(I guess. But how will I know you won't say mean things to me again?)
"Regardez. Je vais admettre que je suis désolé d'avoir dit ces choses à votre sujet. J'étais juste ... euh. Comment devrais-je dire cela?"
(Look. I'll admit, I'm sorry for saying those things about you. I was just...uh. How should I say this?)
"Tu peux répéter s'il te plait? Une autre chose méchante? Aller de l'avant. Je m'en fiche. Ce n'est pas comme si je ne l'avais pas entendu auparavant."
(Say what? Another mean thing? Go ahead. I don't care. It's not like I haven't heard it before.)
"Entendu avant?"
(Heard it before?)
I stopped to think to myself on what I meant by that. Then it came to me. How she was created. It gave me some idea on where to take this conversation.
"Tu veux dire avec Amitie? Je veux dire votre Amitie?"
(You mean with Amitie? I mean your Amitie?)
Once my clone nodded, she began to cry again. I didn't want the others to think that I made her cry again. So I went over and hugged her. Letting her cry over my shoulder.
"C'est horrible! Complètement affreux! Depuis ma création, Amitie n'a été qu'une brute envers moi! Elle m'appelle idiot, lent, faible ... principalement parce que je n'ai aucun pouvoir! Elle me traite comme de la merde! Et même les autres à faire la même chose! Et finalement ... j'ai commencé à y croire."
(It's horrible! Completely awful! Ever since I was created, Amitie's been nothing but a bully towards me! She calls me idiot, slow, weak...mainly because I don't have any powers! She treats me like crap! And even got the others to do the same! And eventually...I started believing it all.)
"Tu ne devrais pas."
(You shouldn't)
"Pourquoi? C'est vrai. En dépit de cette âme éternelle, je n'ai aucun pouvoir. Je suis le plus faible de ceux-ci, comment dites-vous ... des clones. Mais ensuite Amitie m'a parlé de vous et de vos amis. Et je me suis porté volontaire pour vous descendre les gars. Mais j'ai réalisé que je ne savais pas où vous trouver. Alors je suis rentré. C'est alors que j'ai entendu Amitie et les autres m'appeler par des noms tels que faible et attardé. Et comment leur plan pour détruire l'univers fonctionnera mieux avec moi mort que vivant."
(Why? It's true. Despite having this eternal soul, I don't have any powers. I'm the weakest of these, how you say...clones. But then Amitie told me about you and your friends. And I volunteered to take you guys down. But I realized that I didn't know where to find you. So I went back. That's when I heard Amitie and the others calling me names like weak and retarded. And how their plan to destroy the universe will work better with me dead than alive.)
"Cette salope!"
(That *****!)
"Regardez, est-ce que nous avons fini, encore? Je suis presque sûr que tes amis veulent me tuer pour sauver l'univers et tout ça. De plus, une fille veut retrouver son âme éternelle. Personne ne va me manquer. Je suis un clone. Un faux vous. J'ai été créé pour te détruire. Mais je ne peux même pas le faire correctement. Je suis si pathétique."
(Look, are we done, yet? I'm pretty sure your friends want to kill me to save the universe and stuff. Plus that one girl wants her eternal soul back. No one's going to miss me. I'm a clone. A fake you. I was created to destroy you. But I can't even do that right. *sniff* I'm so pathetic.)
"Arrête de dire cette merde!"
(Stop saying that crap!)
My clone looked at me again with more fear and sorrow in her eyes than before. She looked like she was going to cry again, but I stopped her just in time.
"Ecoute, je suis désolé d'avoir encore hurlé. Mais vous devez cesser d'écouter ce que cette abomination d'une fille vous dit. Elle est une entité maléfique au cœur froid."
(Look, I'm sorry for yelling again. But you need to stop listening to what that abomination of a girl tells you. She's a cold-hearted evil entity.)
"Mais c'est elle qui m'a créé. Elle est mon maître. Elle est peut-être cruelle envers moi, mais c'est tout ce que j'ai. Je n'ai nulle part ailleurs où aller."
(B-But she's the one who created me. She's my master. She may be cruel towards me, but she's all I got. I-I don't have anywhere else to go.)
Her master?! Okay, that's it! I can't have her go back to that vixen! It's like if the original Amitie started bullying me. There's no way I would stand for that! And I won't stand for my clone getting the same treatment!
"Viens avec moi."
(Come with me.)
"H-Huh?!"
"I said come with me."
"Wh-What?!" The others shouted.
Honestly, I forgot they were there the whole time.
"R-Raffina! Wh-What are you saying?!" Amitie asked.
"What do you mean? I can't let her go back to that damn Dark Soul. She's miserable there! Constantly getting bullied. I can't say that I understand what she's been through since being created. But I do know one thing. Sending her back, or even killing her right here right now…will be the biggest mistake of my life. And I won't let that happen."
Everyone kept staring at me with looks ranging from "Are you crazy?!" to "Since when were you this caring?" I was prepared to stand here all night and wait for the answer I wanted to hear.
Luckily, I didn't have to wait that long.
"Poyo."
"Huh? You're serious, Kirby?" Amitie asked him.
"Poyo. Poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo."
"*sigh* Yeah. I guess that's true."
"Uh, Amitie. What did he say?" I asked.
"Oh, right. He said…your clone can come with us."
"R-Really?!" Both me and my clone yelled in shock.
"He made some pretty good points. We shouldn't judge her based on where she came from. And if she's willing to help us stop Amitwo's plans, then she's welcomed to join us." Everyone else agreed to the idea. I almost cried when I heard that. But I held it in.
My clone, on the other hand…
"Waaaa! Thank you all very much for taking me in! I promise I'll do everything I can to help! You don't know how happy this makes me!"
"O-Okay, we get it. Can let me go? You're squishing me."
"Oops. Sorry, uh…me. *giggle*"
This girl's the complete opposite of me. It'll take a while to get used to her personality.
"By the way. Since we look exactly the same, can I call you "Sis"?"
"S-Sis?!" I started to blush a little. Then looked away from myself so that I could avoid her puppy-dog eyes.
"O-Okay, fine. J-Just don't overdo it, alright?"
"Yay! Merci, Raffina!" My clone cheered as she hugged me with a lighter grip this time.
(Thank you, Raffina!)
"Oui peut importe. Sois prêt quand nous donnerons enfin cette Amitie pour quoi! Je l'ai?!"
(Yeah, whatever. Just be ready when we finally give that Amitie what for! Got it?!)
"Chose sûre! Nous ferons tous les deux payer Amitie!"
(Sure thing! We'll both make Amitie pay!)
"Wh-Why did it sound like she said my name in a threating way?" Amitie asked.
"She means your clone, Amitie. Nothing to worry about." I said to her.
"O-Oh. Okay, then."
"So we have two Raffinas on our side, huh? Wonder how this is going to play out?" Ringo asked.
"An endless nightmare, I can tell you that." Marx grumbled to himself.
"What was that, Marx?"
"What was that, Marx?"
"Nothing. Sheesh."
My clone and I both looked at each other with a smile on our faces. Enjoying each other's company already.
Oh yeah. I think we'll get along just fine.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Soul Raffina joins the party! This was originally going to be a boss chapter. But then I wanted to make her the opposite of Raffina's normal personality. And after asking kirbymanx for advice, I was able to make it work to at least how I like it.
Plus, the next chapter is DEFINITELY going to be a boss chapter. And I didn't want 2 bosses back-to-back.
And I'll tell you guys a secret. Sky Sands from Kirby Air Ride was originally going to be the setting here. But after watching a video of it, I couldn't make it work for the story (as in, I couldn't get a solid background of it. It's so plain.)
Anyway, thanks for reading. Review, favorite, and/or follow it if you want. Next up is Radish Ruins from Amazing Mirror. Until then, later.
