Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
While Kirby and the gang hopped through the portal, Elfilin floated his way back towards his larger counterpart. By now, Elfilis was unconscious. The small chinchilla perched onto the floor and placed his paws on their head. When Elfilin began to concentrate, Elfilis squirmed, the small chinchilla getting visions of the cruel experiments they had to go through all this time which caused him to grimace. Still, he pushed a fair share of his emotions into his counterpart, with large amounts of anger receding. However, a solid core of anger lingered, still hidden deep within them which he just couldn't remove. Moments later, Elfilis's fur changed color back to turquoise. Elfilin sighed in relief as his large counterpart remained asleep for now. The small chinchilla glanced over his shoulder and locked eyes onto Hyness.
"It seems we've done it," Hyness said, "hopefully, anyway."
Elfilin nodded in agreement and flew over to Hyness.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Elfilin asked, "if not, we can provide you a home."
"I don't," Hyness admitted, "we just got into town. I'll need a bit of time to open a portal back to Dreamland."
"Ok," Elfilin replied, "it looks like my other half needs a place to rest."
"Well, not much of a half and probably closer to a twelfth," Hyness corrected, "you would be the same size if it was a half."
Elfilin blushed as he leapt through the portal. While Hyness went in to retrieve Elfilis, the small chinchilla followed Kirby to the main plaza. Meta Knight called for a few Waddle Dees to find a few available mattresses and a few available blankets. Hyness returned with Elfilis in tow. Kirby and Bandana Dee arranged the mattress and blanket on the floor in Kirby's house, allowing the wizard to place his long lost son on the mattress to rest. Hyness sat alongside Elfilis and gently stroked their fluffy ears. The Mage Sisters made their way inside the house and sat down. Kirby walked up to Hyness while Elfilin perched on Kirby's bed. The sorcerer nodded at the pink star warrior while his adoptive daughters snuggled next to their sibling.
"Poyo?"
"Oh," Hyness replied, "I'm fairly certain I already mentioned it, but they're my child. Not really in a conventional sense, so to speak. But I did create them through the use of magic."
Kirby stared at Elfilis in awe.
"I actually made them before I met my wonderful daughters," Hyness continued, "after that, we were a family. Due to the destruction of our planet, Galacta Knight was sealed away by the magical portion of our society. Those with an aptitude for technology started to fear us and sealed me and my daughters away. Elfilis had already gone out on their mission at that time, to preserve as much DNA around the universe as they could, to help bring back species destroyed by Dark Matter."
The mention of that particular name immediately rang bells in Kirby's mind.
"Poyo!" Kirby exclaimed, "poyo poyo!"
"I figured based on what I've heard," Hyness mused.
Elfilin's ears perked up. His counterpart began to stir, so everyone else quieted down. The small chinchilla exchanged glances with Kirby.
"Well," Hyness suggested, "I believe Elfilis might need some rest."
"Yeah," Flamberge nodded.
"Probably," Fransisca agreed.
The Mage Sisters backed away from Elfilis, giving their sibling some space. Likewise, Kirby and Elfilin left the house.
The following few days continued on quietly. Soon enough, Elfilis started to wake up, feeling better than they had in a long time. Zan Partizanne glanced up from a book she was reading when she noticed her sibling's winglike ear twitch. Fecto Elfilis opened their eyes and turned to the side only for everything to freeze for a moment.
"F-Father?" Elfilis gasped softly, quickly tearing up.
They quickly pressed their head to his side and embraced him, crying loudly into his shoulder. Elfilis could hardly believe, being allowed to reunite with their father after all this time. Likewise, Zan Partizanne set down the book and nodded at Fransisca and Flamberge. Hyness couldn't help but smile as he returned the embrace.
"It's all right, my child," Hyness whispered, "you're safe."
"Did I die?" Elfilis whimpered, "is it over?"
Hyness shook his head. The Mage Sisters shared worried glances at that statement, figuring they'll have their work cut out for them if they wanted to partake in the role of therapy for their sibling.
"Your sisters are here, too," Hyness mentioned, gently nudging Elfilis.
Elfilis turned and sniffled a little as they laid their eyes upon their sisters. It didn't take the mage generals long to embrace Elfilis, making a long group hug.
"We missed you so much," Flamberge told Elfilis.
"I-I missed you more. I've been so lonely. T-There is so much," Elfilis stuttered and breathed heavily, "t-there is someone, I-I need to help her. M-My fragment, he has her, I need to…"
Elfilis zoned out as their collective trauma finally caught up to them, now on the verge of a panic attack.
"Wait, her?" Fransisca paused.
Elfilis took around thirty seconds to calm themself long enough to collect their thoughts.
"Y-Yes," Elfilis stuttered, "she helped me when…when…"
Elfilis broke down into tears again. Hyness ran his hand along his child's head.
"I-I met her at the lab," Elfilis continued, "s-she was being tested on and helped me. I promised to help her and kept her safe until my fragment took her."
Zan Partizanne, having listened to what her sibling had to say, placed her hand on her chest.
"Excuse me while I find Elfilin," Zan offered, "he can't have wandered off too far."
Zan left the house to begin her search. Turning her gaze, she spotted Kirby and Elfilin relaxing near the fishing pond.
"Kirby? Elfilin?" Zan called over, "do you have a moment?"
Kirby yawned while Elfilin stretched his limbs and floated from his beach chair.
"What is it?" Elfilin paused.
"Can you come inside for a moment?" Zan requested, "Elfilis is awake now and we have some questions for you."
Kirby leapt off his beach chair and exchanged glances with Elfilin.
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded.
Kirby and Elfilin followed Zan Partizanne back into the pink star warrior's house. Kirby noticed as Elfilis nuzzled against their father and purred, almost as if they were relishing in the affection they were receiving for the first time in millennia. The ultimate life-form made a brief glance at Kirby and glared at him.
"Poyo," Kirby uttered.
Elfilis looked away from the pink star warrior. Zan Partizanne let out a sigh.
"Well, we're under the impression that our new little brother has something he shouldn't have," Zan explained, "well, probably a lot of things, actually…the most important being someone significant to his older sibling. And the second is probably a lot of things from his pocket dimension."
"Huh?" Elfilin blurted, "what does that mean?"
Zan sighed and facepalmed.
"Here," Zan muttered, "let me just…"
Zan thrust her hand into the air next to him, her arm disappearing as she seemed to rifle through something.
"There!"
Elfilin suddenly felt lighter weirdly enough and felt like he was producing more energy than before.
"I just detached their pocket dimension from you," Zan told Elfilin, "you should have your own, but you took most of theirs when you left."
Elfilis, having seen what just happened, breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'll bring her back in a little while," Elfilis said, "I just…need some more time with my family first."
Kirby and Elfilin exchanged brief glances in a moment of silence before the pink star warrior stepped towards Elfilis.
"Poyo," Kirby offered, "poyo poyo, poyo?"
Elfilis lashed their tail a bit at the pink star warrior's suggestion, still annoyed at Kirby for defeating them in their past battle and ripping Elfilin away from them. Kirby gave Hyness a worried expression.
"Poyo?"
"They're…probably not the kind to trust easily anymore," Hyness sighed, "you probably know more about that situation than I do, and saw more of it than I would want to."
Elfilin closed his eyes for a brief moment and floated closer to his counterpart.
"I know how you feel," Elfilin told them, "but really, Kirby…or rather, we'd like to make it up to you for everything. Maybe if I bring her out for you, would it help a little, at least?"
"I could do it myself, you know," Elfilis teased.
Elfilin folded his arms and shifted his gaze towards Zan Partizanne.
"Perhaps I can come along," she offered, "I'll show you how to awaken her and bring her back to the physical world."
Elfilin floated back to Kirby as they exchanged glances. They turned to face Zan after a few silent seconds.
"Sure," Elfilin nodded, doing an excited back flip, "that would be great!"
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.
Elfilis huffed once again, not liking the idea of strangers peeking through others' pocket dimensions like that without asking. Though, Elfilis did forgive Elfilin as he was now considered family. They placed their hand on Zan's head and she seemingly vanished. Elfilis offered their hand to Kirby and Elfilin while they looked away. The pink star warrior and the small chinchilla thought for a moment before they both grasped Elfilis's hand.
Fecto Elfilis didn't hesitate to pull Kirby and Elfilin into their pocket dimension.
The pink star warrior and the small chinchilla found themselves on a circular platform attached to a dome shaped island by a bridge. The dome consisted of large circular archways converging at the top, but they gave no indication of glass windows. Pillars lined each side of the makeshift bridge. The chromatic patterns in the expansive void were a mixture of pink and red. Large neurons connected by axons appeared in the background, flickering with light and pulsating at intervals.
Elfilin blinked and scanned his surroundings in search of Zan Partizanne. The pink star warrior briefly glanced at the floor composed with cells similar to the platforms in the treasure vortexes he visited. Kirby and Elfilin looked up and gazed at the destination ahead of them: Sanctum Forgo.
Kirby spotted Zan near the bridge and waved his arm at her.
"Poyo!"
Zan glanced over her shoulder and beckoned Kirby and Elfilin to approach her.
"We're not too far from where we're supposed to go," Zan told them, pointing at the dome, "she should be up ahead."
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.
Kirby and Elfilin sprinted across the bridge and stepped through the archway. At the center, they spotted an egg-shaped capsule. The small chinchilla immediately noticed a human floating inside it with a thick tendril attached to the back of her neck.
"It's her," Elfilin gasped, "it's really her!"
Kirby and Elfilin sprinted towards the egg-shaped capsule and peered closer at the girl inside. The base of the capsule consisted of cells organized in rows and veins dug themselves into the casing. The small chinchilla pressed his front paws on the capsule.
"So Zan Partizanne and Fecto Elfilis were both right," Elfilin sighed, "I never imagined she was with me this whole time."
"Poyo," Kirby agreed.
After a moment of silence, Kirby noticed Zan Partizanne approached the capsule from behind. Elfilin's ears perked up and turned around.
"So how do we get her out of there?" Elfilin clamored.
"Elfilis will open it for us shortly," Zan said, "just give them a moment."
Minutes passed before Kirby and Elfilin noticed a giant eye open up in the expansive void. They felt chills run down their spine as Fecto Elfilis stared down at them. They snapped out of their thoughts when they noticed the cell pattern floor started pulsating rapidly. Kirby and Elfilin turned to face the capsule. In a flash, the tendril quickly withdrew all of its veins and detached from her neck. The liquid drained out of the capsule. The casing disintegrated into particles, leaving the girl floating midair as she gently floated down onto the floor. The dimension started shaking slightly and Kirby got the feeling he should get out of here fast.
Kirby, Elfilin and Zan gathered around the human and carefully examined her while she was fast asleep. The thunder mage lifted her into her arms.
"Come on," Zan ordered, "follow me!"
Zan Partizanne led Kirby and Elfilin out of the dome and across the bridge with the ancient human in tow. Without warning, Kirby whimpered as the ominous voice began echoing across the expansive void over and over again.
"And here we are! Let's meet the ultimate life-form: Specimen ID-F86!"
Kirby, Elfilin and Zan Partizanne barely managed to make it back to the circular platform despite the constant echoes of that haunting phrase.
"What is with these Jamblasted words?!" Zan grumbled.
"Poyo," Kirby stammered.
"Well, they sure bring bad memories!" Elfilin proclaimed.
The dimension still kept shaking, so Elfilin tried to concentrate. Sadly, nothing happened. Zan Partizanne thought fast and opened a small vortex. With the girl in tow, she pulled Kirby and Elfilin through, bursting back out into Kirby's house. The small chinchilla and the pink star warrior panted as they took a minute to rest. Kirby noticed as Fransisca and Flamberge hugged Elfilis as the ultimate life-form muttered that phrase from the ancient lab over and over. Hyness muttered something about necromancy and the things he'd like to do if he knew how to accomplish such a thing.
Zan Partizanne proceeded to lay the ancient human on Kirby's bed while the pink star warrior stepped towards Hyness.
"Poyo?" Kirby waved his arms, "poyo!"
Elfilis blinked twice and lifted their head before laying their eyes on the ancient human. They moved over to her side, still shaken from a flashback they recently had. They sat next to the bed at her side, gently shaking her.
"Vesa?" Elfilis whispered, "can you hear me?"
Not a second later, she made a sharp groan as her fingers twitched. Elfilis caressed the back of her head while she slowly opened her eyes.
"E-Elfilis?" she whispered.
Feel free to make some fanart related to this fanfic!
And leave a review so Kirby can use them to buy snacks for him and Elfilin.