Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
It took a short while for Vesa, Kirby and Elfilin to recover from their motion sickness. The pink star warrior and the small chinchilla made a beeline for Waddle Dee Café. After waving goodbye to the two, Vesa followed Fecto Elfilis back to Kirby's house. Once inside, Elfilis simply laid down on the mattress, simply taking deep breaths as they stared at the ceiling.
Vesa set down the backpack filled with a few souvenirs she collected from her trip to Ioskaria and sat down next to the mattress, huddling closer to Elfilis. Hyness was engrossed in writing runes on some hand-sized rocks. She took note of the nearby large pile of these engraved rocks.
"Uhh," Vesa said, "we're back."
Hyness made a brief glance at Vesa.
"Oh!" he quipped, "I see, welcome back!"
Hyness went back to writing runes on stones. Vesa let out an exacerbated sigh as she ruffled the top of Elfilis's head with her hand. The ultimate life-form let out some soft purrs, their face reddening as she cuddled up to them. After several minutes passed on in silence, she examined the pile of engraved rocks and plucked one out.
"What kind of letters are these?" Vesa pondered.
"Oh, those are going to help me make the portal to Popstar," Hyness explained, "I'm attempting to make a stable portal that will let us travel to and from at will."
"That's…interesting," she commented.
"Yes," Hyness agreed, "it should be done in a few days. I still need to enchant these stones properly."
Before long, the Mage Sisters showed up with several bags of food.
"Oh, hey!" Flamberge chirped, "welcome back!"
Vesa smiled and waved her hand.
"Glad to see you, too," Vesa quipped back.
"So how are you two doing?" she asked.
Zan entered the house while Fransisca simply sat on the roof while reading a book.
"I got as much closure for my old home as needed for now," Vesa answered, "though, I wasn't the only one who got emotionally overwhelmed."
"I see," Flamberge frowned, "you lo— uhm, guys gonna be ok?"
"I don't know about Elfilis," Vesa sighed, "but I'll be fine."
Zan plucked out a bag and rummaged through it.
"Are you hungry?" Zan asked, "we brought sandwiches."
Vesa sat up and nodded.
"What sandwiches do you have available?" Vesa clamored.
"I'm not hungry," Elfilis muttered.
Vesa blinked slowly before she checked the paper bag. She slid off the mattress and picked a grilled chicken sandwich. Grabbing a can of lemonade, she sat at the table and started eating. This gave Fecto Elfilis some space to think. Things should be much better. They should be free, yet they were still shackled by the past. The size of this house somehow reminded them of being trapped like back then. They weren't certain whether thinking about the lab would send them into another fit or not. All Elfilis could do was take a nap for now. Zan and Flamberge sat across Vesa each with a sandwich in their hands.
"So how'd your day go?" Vesa asked Zan.
"I think it went well," Zan replied, "I did some training with Meta Knight. He has some surprising insight on electric magic that I didn't expect."
"That sounds pretty interesting," Vesa commented, taking a sip of her lemonade.
"Apparently," Zan added, "his blade has some lightning based attacks, and he gave me some instruction in weapon-based spell casting. Hopefully, it'll help me cast spells by using my lance as a focus better in the future."
Flamberge took a sip of her orange juice.
"Well, my day has been less interesting," Flamberge replied, "I went around and tried to find people causing trouble so I could get into fights, but I didn't find anything! It's just like Dreamland 95% of the year…"
Vesa took another bite out of her sandwich.
"During our trip to Ioskaria," Vesa said, "I noticed Elfilis was collecting pieces of themself from the machines that were lying all over the place."
"Ah, that," Zan commented, "the exploitation of our sibling's magical powers isn't something we're super thrilled with."
Vesa nodded in agreement as she took another sip of her lemonade.
"You think they might need help at some point?" Vesa asked, "I'm kinda worried about them."
"We've already decided we're going to try to encourage them to open up about it and attempt to work as therapists for them," Zan said, "Fransisca seems to be the best suited for it, oddly enough. Normally, she tries to spend time alone, but she seems oddly motivated to attempt this."
"Yeah, it's weird," Flamberge nodded, "must be all those books she fills her head with."
Finishing up her sandwich, Vesa placed her hand behind her head. A thought trailed back to her time as a test subject back in Lab Discovera.
"I guess my mind is just as much of a mess," Vesa admitted, "maybe not as much as Elfilis, but still."
"I can imagine that it wasn't easy despite it not being as bad as what our sibling had to experience," Zan said, "any other creature would've likely been broken by the experience, but our sibling was made to be resistant to mental illness; so resistant we had thought it was actually immunity. It seems that was rendered incorrect. It's unfortunate we had to find this out at all. The reason they were given such immunity was due to the long isolation they were sure to face in their mission to save as many species as possible from Dark Matter."
Finishing up her lemonade, Vesa focused her eyes on Elfilis, who slept rather peacefully. She stood from the table and stretched her arms.
"I'm certainly not tired yet," Vesa said.
The Mage Sisters finished up their lunches a few moments later.
"I feel like going for a walk outside," Vesa continued, "you interested?"
"I don't mind," Zan nodded.
"I'm going to stay here to keep an eye on Elfilis," Flamberge replied, "you two can go on ahead."
Vesa smiled and knelt next to Elfilis, leaning closer to their ear.
"I'll be back," Vesa whispered, "ok?"
"All right," Elfilis nodded.
Vesa stood up and followed Zan out of the house. She glanced up and waved her hand at Fransisca. The ice mage briefly glanced at the human and waved back. Vesa and Zan strolled through the town and made a brief stop at Waddle Dee-liveries. Approaching the counter, she examined the boxes displaying on the shelf. To her left, a familiar blue rounded creature with a cape and a mask approached the counter and picked up a package with his name on it.
"Ah," the Waddle Dee greeted, "good afternoon, Sir Meta Knight! Your package arrived mere minutes ago."
Vesa blinked twice and focused her eyes on the veteran star warrior next to her.
"Meta Knight?" she paused.
"Thank you," Meta Knight nodded before stashing the package under his cloak.
Vesa stiffened when Meta Knight shifted his gaze towards her.
"Hello," he greeted, "I believe we met before briefly."
Vesa remembered that moment when Meta Knight lent Hyness some money yesterday morning.
"Uhh," Vesa stammered, tilting her head sideways, "I guess?"
"I don't believe that we spoke at all," Meta Knight pointed out.
Vesa placed her hand on her chest.
"Well," Vesa replied, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Meta Knight."
"It's nice to meet you as well," Meta Knight gave a bow of respect, "you should know you aren't the last of the humans in the universe. We do know of another human girl named Adeleine from Dreamland."
Vesa tilted her head sideways and placed a finger on her chin.
"Ehh? Really?"
Meta Knight didn't say anything, but he nodded.
"Oh," Vesa blinked, "do you know where she came from?"
"I have no idea," Meta Knight sighed, "she's amnesiac. Evidently, she came to Popstar to study art, but at some point, she lost her memory."
Vesa gave Meta Knight a slow nod before she took a step back.
"I wouldn't mind saying hello to her someday," she stole a glance from Zan, "you take care, ok?"
"Very well," Meta Knight said, "I will see you another time."
Meta Knight walked away. Vesa and Zan climbed the stairs, smiling as they spotted Kirby and Elfilin at Waddle Dee's Item Shop. When the pink star warrior purchased a Maxim Tomato, he turned around and waved at Vesa.
"Poyo!"
"Hi, Kirby!" Vesa waved back.
Kirby and the Waddle Dee clerk waved goodbye. Elfilin followed the pink star warrior as they approached Vesa and Zan.
"Afternoon," Elfilin greeted, "how's Elfilis doing?"
"They're still resting," Vesa sighed.
"Oh," Elfilin drooped his ears, "so what you doing out here?"
"I just felt like going out for a stroll," Vesa shrugged.
Vesa, Zan, Kirby and Elfilin continued their stroll through Waddle Dee Town, passing by the Game Parlor. They began circling the perimeter of the Colosseum. When they stopped at the entrance, Vesa noticed a poster plastered on the reception booth. To the left of the reception booth, Vesa noticed a penguin creature reclining in a chair. Kirby smiled eagerly and waved his arm at Vesa.
"Poyo!"
"What is it?" Vesa asked.
Elfilin made a brief glance at the penguin before returning his gaze to Vesa.
"It's King Dedede," Elfilin replied, "we're thinking of going up to say hi to him."
Vesa blinked twice before focusing her eyes onto Dedede.
"I-I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Vesa stammered.
Kirby and Elfilin nodded eagerly, leading Vesa and Zan towards King Dedede. The Waddle Dee attendants noticed their approach and waved at them. Dedede spotted the pink star warrior and the small chinchilla.
"Heya," Dedede greeted in a jolly tone, "nice to meetcha!"
Kirby and Elfilin waved back.
"Good afternoon, sire!" Elfilin smiled, "you doing ok?"
"I'm doing all right," Dedede rubbed his back a little, "bruises are still healing, but I've been worse. I should be just fine in a few days, I reckon."
Elfilin perched on Dedede's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek. Dedede laughed a little and pet the small chinchilla with his gloved hand, his mellow attitude coming into full display. Kirby glanced up at Vesa and nodded at her.
"Poyo?"
"Oh," Vesa blurted, placing her hand behind her head, "I…"
Still petting the fluffy small chinchilla, Dedede made a curious brief glance at Vesa.
"Uhh," Vesa stammered, giving a respectful bow, "it's nice to meet you, sire. I'm Vesa Krasniqi."
"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you as well," Dedede nodded at her.
Elfilin hopped off, flew over and perched on Vesa's shoulder.
"She came here two days ago," Elfilin explained, "apparently, she was one of the inhabitants of this planet in the past."
"Well," Vesa added, "I'm…still getting used to my new surroundings…and my strengthened body."
"Yeah, Meta Knight already filled me in!" Dedede replied, "figured I should be kept informed on the goings on of the situation. Sorry to hear about what happened to ya, if ya ever need a place to go though we'll keep a spot for ya in Dreamland!"
Kirby took a few steps towards Dedede.
"Poyo poyo," Kirby began to explain, "poyo poyo poyo. Poyo."
"I don't remember much from when I got possessed, although I remember a lot more than most!" Dedede rubbed his face, "it happens too often for me not to remember at least some of it, plus I've gotten a lot better at resisting that kind of thing. I'm mostly just confused as to why getting possessed changed my face up so much. As you can tell, though, it's back to normal now."
Kirby made a brief glance at Vesa before he took a few more steps.
"Poyo poyo," Kirby whispered, "poyo."
"Yeah," Dedede whispered back, "I figured as much."
Vesa and Zan exchanged glances.
"Well, I suppose we'll be heading back to check on Elfilis," Zan said.
"Take care, sire," Vesa nodded at Dedede.
"Well," Dedede proclaimed, "I'll see you later!"
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