Star's Allies
Extra - Burning BODIES, Constant TRAVEL
It reeked of smoke. Everything was burning. Colours of orange and red surrounded the poor young girls. It had become a source of fear, of hatred, of pain.
Everything was lost in the fire. She only had two siblings left, and only one of them was coping with the tragedy. It's as if she took the fire, seared it into her heart, and with an undying vow, swore to protect them all.
It's as they say. Fight fire with fire.
The other panicked, erratically looking at the dead, burnt bodies and the man who caused the fire, still alive even in the hellhole they were all now in. Unable to make her stand, she brokenly stared off to nowhere, eyes blank.
Thunderous roars rained down. From her stance, she yelled up to the clouds.
The last cried, cried, cried until she could cry no more. The tears trickled down her lovely face, ruining it into a mess as the fire consumed it all. The man cackled, cackled, and cackled some more, as it all felt like an eternity, forever and ever and ever and ever and-
The man was dead. And all who witnessed it looked at the corpse. It was clean. One of the girls shrieked, over the verge of breakdown. The two others, calm and collected; relieved, even smiling at the death of man.
That was when a young, cloaked individual extended her hand to the youngest. Immediate distrust. Who are you? What are you? You…
No sound came from the being. It simply smiled sincerely, its hand held out for those who would take it.
The youngest acted first, half-crying and subconsciously went to hold the stranger, find comfort-
Her sister gripped her hand, and dragged her away. She had had enough. No more fire. No more pain. Pain, pain, pain wracked across their entire bodies, despite only being slightly burned. She took the fire and made it her passion. And yet it hurt.
Emotional pain; the pain from the heart; coursed through, bulging in every artery and vein they have, as Flamberge dragged Francisca away from the strange cloak-man.
Running away in fear from further despair, the young Flamberge grabbed Zan Partizanne and ran into the fire. Should they escape, they would never have to face the world again.
Escape. Escape from the man. Escape from the cloaked being. Escape the world.
It was funny to think of that, because the pain returned. The fire licked their skin, burning, burn, burned.
The flame raced across their dirtied clothing as the cloaked individual watched on. Zan Partizanne could no longer take the mental and physical abuse to her body, as the child broke down amongst the big red walls, laying down.
Flamberge panicked. She must keep all of them alive. What would be a big sister if there was no other sister left?
Hugging Francisca for dear life, Flamberge turned and faced her death. It was inevitable, the fire would soon reap all of their souls, as it leapt from burning building to trees to bushes to them-
And it all cleared. One blink, and the fire was no longer there. It was as if it was all a dream. Remembering a certain technique passed down from their mother, Flamberge slapped her own face in disbelief. It had hurt. It wasn't a dream.
they were fine they were fine they were fine and all it took was a blink a blink in the system a blink of life and they were fine fine fine fine fine
The cloaked individual stood there, hand raised.
Flamberge looked forward to this peculiar individual. They were alive. By a miracle. So, how did it happen? Her distrust to this being slowly lowered to a smoulder. Then, the being spoke.
"My name is Hyness. I am one of the great mages, and it is my job to rescue people such as you. May I ask for your name?" Hyness queried, dropping his-
No, her hood. Below that hood was a beautiful woman, a face unlike any other; simply unique in its features. She had a small string tied to her hair as an accessory in a triangle shape, keep what would otherwise be hindering hair out of the way.
Flamberge, taken aback by this, responded to the question with another question. "Why… why did you come for us?"
Hyness smiled. "It's my job. Earnestly? I like helping people. It brings joy to me to see young ones like you be so happy to have a chance at life."
Flamberge liked this adult. She softened, letting down her guard. Hyness approached. "How about you come with me? It's been a while since I had people like you with me. It'll help with your sisters, as well…
Hyness looked behind Flamberge to see two unconscious children and a treasure trove of trauma.
Hyness looked back at the eldest. "Are you sure you're alright, too? I'm getting more worried by the second, keke…"
Hyness let out a small laugh, iconic to the mage. Flamberge looked confused, and deemed it as an adult thing. "No, I'm not hu-" she looked back down at herself, and continued, "just, help these two. Please."
Hyness grinned. "Of course! It's what I do that makes me proud! Saving lives!" With a flair of her arms, she extravagantly swung them open. Sensing no response from the young child, she awkwardly backed down.
"W-well, would you like to come with me?"
Flamberge looked around the sea of ashes. The environment was blood red, and there was no way she wanted to be here. She wants out out out out out out…
Out of here. Nothing is left. Nothing was.
Nodding, Flamberge shivered as the Hyness touched her. Like a mother coddling a little child, Hyness walked with Flamberge, bringing her sisters back with her.
The starship was amazing. In the shape of a top, it had achieved maximum speed in under five minutes. Flamberge wowed as space flew by exceedingly quickly.
A star went supernova a good few lightyears away. Shaking up the ship a bit, Flamberge felt the shockwave and went to warn Hyness.
A good walk across the ship later, Flamberge walked up to Hyness.
"Ms. Hyness!" Hyness turned to see the curious girl. "What's that burning ball doing?"
Entertaining the little girl, Hyness ruffled her hair a bit. "It's going boom boom. After that, it'll be gone. But now, let's watch it, okay?"
"Yay!" Flamberge began to drag her adopted mother to the window's location. Zan Partizanne, who was wandering around with Francisca, simply followed them too. Francisca, after noticing that she was too short to see through the window, pouted and left them alone.
Hyness noted the personalities of the children. The blue haired one doesn't seem to remember anything about the event. The yellow one had fragmented memories; luckily, nothing too brutal.
Flamberge, though…
She knew that the hot-headed and curious girl was holding it all in. Acting as a sponge, she took the trauma and forcefully beat it down.
That said, though the effects of trauma sometimes caught up to her, she seems fine… until you hear her sobbing alone in her room.
The first time Hyness had heard that was when she had been strolling around late at night checking on the conditions of the children.
She soon began to take extra measures to rid Flamberge of that sadness. Whether it be cheering her up occasionally, or giving her toys and such. Sometimes, those moments are truly the one she wouldn't hesitate to smile on.
A genuine smile towards these young survivors.
A good fourteen days into her journey had done her this. Sheesh.
Well, she enjoyed it. As with any other happy moment, this one became a file stored in a cabinet soon enough. And it kept piling up. More and more days would pass, and Hyness would become even happier.
This happiness is mutual. Hyness could feel it. The kids also probably can, too. She wanted to have them around. Seeing as they already got attached to her…
It would be best if she got attached to them, as well.
…
Returning back to home base, Hyness offered her best meal to the three children. Feasting on the good food, Hyness thought of the report she was about to make to the higher-ups. Adoption was one of the things she hadn't even considered before she found them, but now, faced with the option…
She would.
Filing the papers into a small shelf, Hyness slept off the worries as she woke up prepared for her next assignment… and hopefully her kids.
…
Arguing with higher-ups never had been Hyness's forte, but she managed. Pulling a lot of string along the way, she had managed to keep the children and not allow them to go into the system.
She had a gut feeling, though…
"We would like you to help our allies, the Halcandrans, and bridge along our connections with the two species."
That task had been the gold she was looking for. It paid well, gave her an easy job, and a team-building exercise for her children. Her children. It had been so easy to call them that, now.
Hyness smiled again. This was a mission that she'll take kids to. They definitely have to see this.
The sisters had grown up. Other than being slightly taller and much more mature, they hadn't changed much in fashion sense.
Hyness thought it would be nice to mention that they were taking a very important job from the government.
Francisca complimented her on the responsibility, as she always would. Zan Gartihan (Hyness seemed to always get her name wrong, to which Partizanne pestered her about and she apologized immediately after) gave a simple thumbs up before returning to what she would be doing.
Flamberge, however…
She had always been one to actually give her doubts. This time, it was no different. "This seems fishy. All we've been doing is the normal tasks, and yet here comes a high-profile mission out of nowhere?"
"It's an important job. I would gladly risk my life for the betterment of the two species. It's a must that peace and friendship be spread across the universe, you know?"
Flamberge stared at Hyness. "Well, whatever you say. I'll just be in my room."
"Ah. She has finally entered the teenage phase," Hyness nonchalantly commented. Flamberge turned red and stormed off grumbling. Hyness chuckled, before Francisca pouted yet again. "Ms. Hyness, can you not tease sister? I like a tease from you, too!"
Ah, this child demanded a tease.
"You're so cute, Fran!" Hyness ruffled the girl's hair.
Francisca smiled. "Yay!"
Such was the innocence of a child. The knowledge of the world, spread so far and so high never reached these types of individuals, so much so that they become a sacred treasure.
Ah, the joys of life.
Hyness smiled again and enjoyed the moment. Little did she know that she soon would taste despair, too.
The Halcandrans' base was a magnificent beast on its own, as Hyness parked the ship right outside. She had expected warm welcomes.
Not a goddamn military squad. Especially a military squad aiming at her.
...Their paranoia was off the charts. "Er… hello?" she started. Soon, someone welcomed her. "Welcome to Halcandra. Please, follow me inside. I've been told you're bringing three children along with you?"
Boldly, Hyness answered back. "Yes. What's with the-"
The soldiers aimed their guns at Francisca, who came out from behind Hyness. Tensing up, the young girl hid behind her mother.
The spokesman talked for a few moments, before yelling "Stand down!" at his comrades. "Sorry for the tense situation. We've just got… justified paranoia, that's all."
"Right. Please come this way."
Hyness and the three children followed the spokesman past several guard checkpoints and metal detectors (at least, that's what the spokesman told them what it was) as the four women tensed at the atmosphere.
The spokesman talked some more, though it was an attempt at making small talk rather than an actual conversation. As they walked around, the spokesman walked into a dead end.
Frustrated, the spokesman was enraged. "Did they change the layout again!? This has been the eighth time-"
A deep breath was taken. "Right. We're going to the other entrance."
Grumbling, the spokesman stormed off, and the four followed without question. It was after they had passed the actual entrance and several more guard checkpoints did Hyness realise something.
They were in deep shit.
The last set of doors had opened, and inside was the king.
Unable to do anything, Hyness watched as the king smiled and laughed at the predicament.
"They actually did it! I can't believe it!" the man shouted, choking on his laughs all the while. The three behind Hyness were starting to get unnerved by the man as the king continued.
"You do know what position you're in, right? Please tell me your ruler has told you that much. There is no way they would send their best mage out into the wild like this."
"I was informed that this would be a negotiation for peace and an opportunity to bridge connections."
"Then you are a fool, for having believed your government so easily."
The next line came as a terrible blow.
"You do know that your king and I have declared war on each other, right?"
Hyness stood shocked as the king frowned. "No? What in the hell is that idiot thinking… Anyways, yeah. As per specified, we were to receive a special package of four sacrifices within the span of this month, otherwise we would launch our superior weapons against your world."
"No… no, I refuse to believe…"
Complete 180.
The king scoffed. "Believe what you want, but your king has played this on long enough."
This must be a joke. I had trust in my country…!
The king motioned to his guards. "Take the children away through the portal. Hold this woman in a cell. Immediately."
For the betterment of two species, they said. Lies. Hyness exploded in a fury, unleashing magic straight at the king. It killed him in one hit.
The guards shouted obscene words at her before shots were fired. The entire kingdom began in an uproar as they restrained Hyness physically, as to prevent her from casting such magic. She yelled and screamed at the top of her lungs as her children were taken from her.
Flamberge yelled at her, asking her to come back to them, as they were tossed in a portal.
True to the king's words, all four of them had been done over.
They were naught but pawns in a game. Rather, it was Hyness who was the pawn. Those three simply got dragged along.
Enticed by the money, the sudden order and the satisfaction of being picked over all the others had led her to this trap.
Hyness choked out tears as the guards heartlessly pounded her until she could retain consciousness no longer, from blood loss and the mental pain. Regret consumed her.
The next she came to, she was locked in chains attached to the wall. Something cracked in her.
"C-curse you…" she muttered, unable to retaliate any further. She would fight. And fight. And fight.
For the sake of her children and herself.
Days passed. No food or water came. Sleep became hard, what's with the lack of warmth and what not. Some guards looked at her, and walked away. Some other guards looked at her for way too long for it to be healthy anymore.
Her mental state had been broken. God truly hated her so. She cursed god. Cursed her planet. Cursed her government.
That was when an epiphany struck. A night of joy had returned.
"Interesting. You'll accept my offer."
Hyness croaked out bit by bit in this otherworldly scenario. "Of… course…. any… thing…"
And the cages burst, and the chains loosened, and hell smiled upon her so.
Her skin had turned purple, but that was fine.
It was all fine.
She looked around. Dead. Dead and dead and dead.
That was when rumors began to spread among the Halcrandrans that the 'Mad Witch' was about to get them. Most people laughed.
Others snickered at the thought.
And so Halcandra exploded, covered in red and ash, as Hyness stood on top of it all.
Termina chuckled. "Yes, yes. With time and effort, we will bring back salvation and glory."
Hyness laughed crazily and heartily amongst the flames she had caused. It was time to hunt. Her children must be in danger. In the portal. But first…
She must slaughter all of Halcandra. For Termina.
For Jamba.
For the Void.
A young Halcandran child crawled up to her, begging, begging and begging oh so hard for the witch not to kill her. And so she didn't. She didn't have enough heart for that.
She did however smash the girl's hands, effectively making her one-handed, as Hyness slit up her eye and blasted open half of her body. Using recovery magic, she then healed the girl up, though only half of her remained now. Still in mortal shock, the girl could only squeak out small sounds as half of her mouth was gone.
Hyness cackled, cackled, and cackled in this bloodshed desert.
…
The portal had been her key. It was the key to victory. Back to her children.
So, she entered the portal. And promptly blew up the joint.
The portal rippled for a few seconds, but stayed stable as guards were taken out left right and centre. Hyness was mad, and it showed in her attacks.
As she stormed through the lab, magma crackled and flowed into the base. Avoiding those, she began her murder spree in the Halcandran base.
Searching for her kids in the meantime, she lobbed off a scientist's hand and shot a three-pointer using a head.
It had been fun, but now she needed to find her children. With resolve and a lot of self-control, she navigated the lab once more and searched for her children.
A room full of test tubes was discovered. Hyness bombarded the glass as fluid came out of the chambers containing her children. With a gasp, Hyness cradled her children as her humanity returned, even for just a moment.
Flamberge opened her eyes.
Hyness stared at the red-haired girl. "Hello. Mother is finally here."
The next moment brought pain. Pain. Pain. Pain.
"Who are you?"
Hyness's already small heart cracked. "Should I know you?" It was crushed. "Where am I?" Pulverized into atoms.
Hyness pulled herself together as she confronted her child. "I am Hyness. And I have just saved you from the monsters. I follow a god named Termina. We follow a religion of Jamba. Now. Will you follow me?"
The distrust was long gone. The name rang a bell, but it was too soft. All that remained was the subconscious trust between the both of them.
"Of course."
Passing through the portal, Hyness boarded her ship (which had been kindly locked up by the king) and set sail for a good destination.
Her home.
She was about to massacre everyone there, children included. Her species was scum. The Halcandrans were scum.
…
They say murder becomes a habit. The more you murder, the more you get addicted to it.
Soon, it just becomes 'murder'.
That was certainly true with Hyness, whose goals were now radically different from what she had in mind months ago.
Extermination of life. Life was too dangerous to be let alive.
With that ideology, you might say that Hyness will also kill her daughters one day.
Hyness did have that in plan. She planned to kill her daughters at the end of it all, along with herself. Finally, a happy ending.
But now… she had other things in mind. Like dropping a bomb right on a major city on her planet.
The plan worked quite well.
All in the name of Termina.
"Run! The Mad Witch- augggg-"
Someone yelled in pain as Hyness looked down upon it.
Without emotion, one slice was all it took for it to separate into two. It was too late for the crying world to repent.
Hyness had incited thousands of spells at her planet.
All that was left had been nothing but ash, ice and lightning. The power, too, will soon be her childrens'.
All it'll take is one little push.
Her children did not know that she went out to murder. Bringing a feast back home, she carried the food up to her spiral ship, where Flamberge patiently waited.
"You're back."
"Of course I am, ke. In the name of Termina, I present this." Hyness dumped the feast on a nearby table, it's smell attracting the two younger sisters to come out. Francisca and Partizanne ate and ate as Flamberge sighed and dug in herself.
The Mad Witch's face held no emotion. What was there was simply a blank slate.
All of them had lost their memory of meeting her. And she had no idea why. Those Halcandrans...
Nevertheless, she'll patch it up.
She'll patch it up.
She patched it up.
And they start anew.
…
Night came and they went to sleep. Hyness prodded around a bit, fiddling and biting what's left of her purple fingers before going in the children's room.
Good. All of them were asleep. Preparing her good hand, she cast a spell right over Flamberge. With a flow of light, fire became her affinity, and in exchange, Hyness lost that.
Turning to Francisca, Hyness did the same, losing water and ice.
Above Partizanne, she waved in circles until her light and lightning was gone.
She still had other magic tricks in stock, after all, though she'll miss the flames she used to kill…
Ignore it.
Shaking and gripping her head, Hyness trembled as an intense surge of pain raced through her. After the episode, she calmed herself down, took deep breaths and went out.
Her lessons will start tomorrow.
There had been a moment when her sanity returned. Sweat dropped from her forehead as she went to the girl she forgot the name of. "Partizanne…"
"You actually got it right?"
The yellow-haired girl turned in surprise at the cultist leader.
Gripping her arm, Hyness begged this surprised child of hers. "Please, please please please stop me when I become crazy. When I become crazy, bad things happen. Bad things happened. The dark lord has brought me debt, debt debt debt debt-"
Zan Partizanne, unsure of how to respond to this, stepped away frantically, leaving a slowly crying Hyness behind.
The girls had become proficient enough in magic, years later. As a parent, Hyness was ecstatic. As a commander to Termina?
Three valuable assets.
She turned her eyes to the prophecy she had written down, as prescribed by Termina, in addition to the information she found out within her planet.
She needed to take down (or recruit) multiple people to and for the cause of Termina. A vague description was given, and yet…
Irrationality began to take over. Leaving it to that side of the head, she focused on the plan for tomorrow.
A barrage of hearts was to be spread across Dreamland, as a test of world invasion before unleashing it full-scale across the universe.
Termina had wanted her to do so, and so she did.
The old hag now had one last job. The resurrection of Termina. Using dark energy manipulated from everyone's hearts (plus Dark matter), she had been able to get the process underway in an albeit slow manner.
Luckily for her, Popstar in particular had especially great people for her plan. The many incidents on the planet had been a great source of energy, though she had to relocate to Ripple Star once because Dark Energy had been stronger there.
All in all, it was smooth sailing from then on. To her knowledge, the planet is behind on technology and pretty dumb, so their invasion should be able to take place relatively soon without trouble.
Closing off her spying device, she hummed to herself as Marx, the child of tricksters, strolled about.
She needed him to play a certain part, because of his involvement and his suggestion.
This "Kirby" will be eliminated and taken prisoner.
A flawless plan indeed.
On stage and ready on site, Hyness began her speech. It was rather short.
"For Termina! For Juh-" Hyness stumbled a bit before continuing. "Jamba! Kekekeke!"
Rather, it wasn't a speech at all. However, it did manage to bring some energy to her children.
Ready on their places, Hyness counted. That was when a sudden warning came from Francisca, who had been using the spying device.
"Uh, miss Hyness? There is a ship entering the star planet."
Hyness cocked her head. No matter. It's not important. "Ignore! Ignore ship and we'll be fine!"
"R-right away! Ignoring!" Francisca turned the other way and closed her eyes.
Flamberge facepalmed herself at the sight of this.
"We've managed to do it…! Now then your highness, time to activate it, and the recovery of our lord shall go unhindered," Zan Partizanne said, to the delight of Hyness.
Definitely a loyalist and a great asset to Jamba.
"Kekekeke. Let's do it then!" Hyness gave the go command as Flamberge lazily flipped the switch. In moments, black hearts; Jamba hearts, rather, came out and off into space.
Hyness cackled more. This had been the final price to pay. And the final debt she had.
Now, she'll get to enjoy her new family. From square one.
No, not from square one. They had made progress in those years after the events in the hellhole she was dropped in.
Halfway there, then. A rough estimate, but we're somewhere, at least.
Yes,
Halfway there.
AN: Well, there you have it.
This chapter gives us a look on what this fic's Hyness had been up to before Star Allies had happened.
With this, we can only advance. I wish you all luck and stay safe from the ongoing epidemic.
EveningEmerald: Despite most of my… questionable writing, I do at least try to make a functional story close to canon. This is a fanfiction after all, hehe~ Nice to see people liking the story so far, I really like describing these types of events, especially after the part where nearly nothing happens.