Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
No sooner did Elfilis leave the dining hall than Vesa set foot into the kitchen.
"So what are your plans for the foreseeable future?" Bandee asked, "I'm just going to go back to work with the King soon and ensure he's kept safe."
"I haven't thought as much as Miss Vesa did, really," Elfilin sighed.
Vesa walked up to Kirby, who gestured to the ingredients on the counter. Vesa shredded some cheese while the pink star warrior cut up some ham, vegetables and mushrooms purchased from the market.
"Well, you don't need to do anything," Bandee tried to advise, "you can always just stay here and learn magic."
Everyone paused what they were doing when Elfilis returned to the dining hall.
"All right," Elfilis announced, "I'll need samples from everyone, just some hair or something similar will do."
"Ok," Bandee nodded.
Bandee, Vesa and Kirby approached Elfilis. The ultimate life-form started by plucking a few hairs off Vesa's head. They went on to collect a few skin flakes from Kirby and Bandee.
"That's it?" Bandee rubbed his arm.
"I don't need all that much," Elfilis nodded.
Elfilis left the dining hall, so Kirby and Vesa made their way back to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. While the pink star warrior prepared the frying pan, Vesa cracked a few eggs in a bowl. Elfilis returned to the dining hall minutes later and sat down in a chair, watching curiously. As soon as Vesa finished beating the egg mixture, she handed the bowl to Kirby.
"Bandee," Vesa called, "what would you like in your omelette?"
"I don't really mind," Bandee shrugged, "anything is fine with me!"
Vesa watched as Kirby poured a portion of the egg mixture into the frying pan. The pink star warrior would keep an eye on the pan while he gestured Vesa into handing him an ingredient for the filling. As soon as he flipped over the omelette, Kirby added an assortment of fillings before rolling it up.
"So what are your plans for today?" Bandee asked Elfilis.
Elfilis placed a finger on their lower jaw.
"I plan to investigate the Fountain of Dreams shortly as I recently learned it should be here since this used to be an Ancient station, a place where they would do testing and develop new technology or magic. I want to investigate soon and ensure it's working properly."
Bandee glanced sideways.
"That's…interesting."
Stepping out of the kitchen, Vesa carried a plate of an omelette and a mug, placing it on the table in front of Bandee.
"Your breakfast is ready!" she winked.
"Why, thank you!" Bandee chirped.
Vesa made her way back into the kitchen while Kirby poured the next portion of the egg mixture. They continued on with this method, completing an omelette for Elfilin. When it was Vesa's turn to have her omelette made, Kirby poured the egg mixture into the pan. Vesa waited until the pink star warrior gestured to her to flip over the omelette. She added mushrooms, ham, mozzarella cheese and diced tomatoes. Soon, she rolled her omelette and slid it onto her plate.
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped and waved his arm.
"You're welcome," Vesa smiled.
Vesa brought out her omelette with a mug of hot chocolate, sitting next to Elfilis as Kirby went on to make his own omelette. Just then, Fransisca and Zan Partizanne entered the dining hall.
"I set up the ward stone," Elfilis told Zan, "apparently, father hasn't installed one yet, so I took it upon myself to do so. Really, I'm not sure why he didn't, it seems like this planet is under attack often enough that it would make sense to do so."
Zan blinked twice.
"I see," she replied.
Fransisca observed as Bandee, Elfilin and Vesa were eating their breakfast. Kirby made a brief glance at the lightning mage.
"Poyo?" Kirby called over.
"I wouldn't mind one," Zan nodded with a smile.
Kirby nodded and as soon as he finished his own omelette, he went to work making the next one.
"When you're done, you should get the others and sync yourselves to the ward stone," Elfilis mentioned.
"All right," Francisca replied.
"I should get going," Elfilis added, "and find the Fountain of Dreams. It shouldn't be too far from here and it won't take too long to redo the enchantments."
At that point, Flamberge entered the dining hall followed by Hyness. Elfilis made their way outside, using their feelers to sense for the Fountain of Dreams. Their senses pointed them to their left. The ultimate life-form followed after the wispy and ethereal feeling of the dream energy. The flight had them soar over Jam Jungle and then Echo's Edge.
Before long, Elfilis arrived at Rainbow Resort, floating down to the large half sphere island hanging in the sky. Ahead, they could see the Fountain of Dreams. They frowned as they waded through the inch deep water. It may not be an inconvenience, but they weren't a fan of the design choice by whoever was responsible for it. Before long, they stopped just before the fountain itself.
The Star Rod sat on top of the fountain, still glistening with light. With a flick of their hand, a series of runes appeared in the air, working almost like computer code. While examining the runes, Elfilis noticed a lot of them were fading and some were a much darker color than they should be. They quickly started rewriting the faded ones and started purifying the dark ones.
How could they have gotten corrupted like this?
Next, Elfilis checked the fountain for any discoloration. They noticed a dark sand at the bottom, almost silt-like in texture. They couldn't help but wonder if that was why Vesa had that nightmare last night. Elfilis summoned the Antares and poked at the darkened sand a little, eyes slightly narrowed. Its dark presence didn't really have the power to all that much at the moment. Whatever it was, it was feeding on the dream energy of nightmares, and it could likely induce them as well.
Still, they knew it shouldn't just be left in the Fountain of Dreams. Elfilis didn't hesitate as they began to purify the substance, only for it to wiggle and develop a purple and yellow starred pattern. The strange orb retreated from the fountain seconds later. Immediately, they pursued it, which was moving fast for anyone other than maybe them or Meta Knight. Without warning, a thought in their head reminded them they were underestimating the threat.
"Die!" Elfilis shouted.
Their fur turned white and red again and their eyes changed to black with red pupils. With a thrust of their spear, they pierced through the orb entirely as dark fluid sprayed from its wound. The orb shrieked in pain. Elfilis kicked it into the ground and pinned it as they repeatedly stabbed into it over and over. Even after it turned into a puddle of black goo, they didn't stop. The ground underneath shattered, covered in holes.
"Poyo!"
Elfilis didn't respond, still stabbing at the puddle of starry goo that was slowly evaporating and turning to dust. Kirby, hovering on the Warp Star, had a worried expression on his face. He didn't hesitate to descend below. The pink puff hopped off the Warp Star and sprinted towards Elfilis.
"Poyo!" Kirby called out again, "poyo! Poyo poyo!"
Elfilis glanced at Kirby, but only for a moment as they went back to focus on their target.
"Poyo?" Kirby reached out his arm.
Elfilis locked eyes onto Kirby again. They pulled their spear out of the ground, the puddle of black fluid now gone. In some indescribable way, Elfilis felt better like a mysterious weight was lifted off their shoulders. The pink star warrior took in some air before he floated up to the ultimate life-form's eye level. Elfilis half-heartedly swatted at Kirby, their body still burning with white hot rage as memories of their time in the lab kept repeating in their head. The pink star warrior, having maneuvered out of the way, released a puff of air before grabbing onto the ultimate life-form's arm.
With Elfilis still in a trance, Kirby leaned forth and nuzzled their cheek. Not much effect was shown immediately. Though slowly, Elfilis stopped acting on their violent impulses, their fur slowly gaining its color back.
"Poyo, poyo poyo," Kirby assured Elfilis.
Soon, Elfilis dazed and zoned out, not paying attention to the pink star warrior. A few moments later, they felt light-headed.
"O-Oh, that's new…"
Elfilis passed out, falling face first into the inch deep water. Kirby let out a startled yelp as he was flung off and landed into the water. He hopped onto his feet and sprinted towards the unconscious Elfilis, shaking at their shoulder.
"Poyo!" Kirby called, "poyo! Poyo!"
Elfilis wouldn't budge. Kirby sighed softly and simply pushed at their face, trying to turn them over to their back. Much to his dismay, they wouldn't budge. The pink star warrior felt like maybe he should call someone to help them as soon as possible. As soon as he thought of someone he could reach out to, Kirby checked the Fountain of Dreams for a moment. The pink star warrior hopped onto the Warp Star and soared into the sky, making a beeline for Castle Dedede.
When Kirby touched down at the courtyard, he sprinted up the stairs and waved his arms at the Waddle Dees patrolling the large front door. The Waddle Dees nodded and opened the front door, allowing the pink star warrior to sprint his way into the throne room. The king was currently filling out paperwork for new homes to be built in the area, hopeful that some of the Beast Pack from the other side of the portal will decide to make Dreamland their new home.
"Poyo!" Kirby waved his arms, "poyo?"
"Yup," Dedede nodded, "come on in. I hope it's not another disaster. We just had one of those and I was hoping we'd at least get a year to ourselves."
Kirby nodded and approached the king. Using his limited speech and various body language, the pink star warrior explained to Dedede about how he found Elfilis at the Fountain of Dreams minutes after he finished eating his own breakfast and making breakfast for the others in Hyness's tower.
"Alright," Dedede rose from his seat, "well, let's get going. It sounds like from what you told me, they must have finished off some remnant of Nightmare that we didn't even notice. Honestly, it's probably a good thing he was there."
King Dedede still remembered Nightmare, which was part of what gave him the kick in the pants he needed to become a better person. Kirby and Dedede made their way out of the castle. They rode on the Warp Star to the Fountain of Dreams. Upon arrival, Kirby sprinted towards Elfilis and checked on them. Relieved to find out the ultimate life-form was still asleep, he gestured to Dedede. The king lifted Elfilis into his arms.
Dedede carried Elfilis to the Warp Star, where Kirby already hopped on and was waiting for him. Once the king climbed aboard, the Warp Star took off and arrived at the entrance to the tower. Kirby and Dedede disembarked and made their way to the entrance with Elfilis in tow. It wasn't long before Hyness emerged from the door.
"Oh, dear," Hyness sighed, "bring them inside."
Dedede and Kirby entered the tower and set Elfilis onto a couch on the foyer. The pink star warrior sat on the arm of the couch. Minutes passed until Vesa came downstairs. She blinked twice as she locked eyes onto Elfilis.
"Elfilis?" Vesa paused, "what happened?"
Vesa dashed towards the couch, pausing in her tracks when she spotted Dedede nearby.
"It seems like they tussled with Nightmare a bit and pulled what was left of him out of the fountain," Dedede told her, "from what the marshmallow told me, they kinda had a bit of a fit for some reason and got really mad, to the point where even after the fragment died they was still just jabbing at the ground with their spear."
Vesa and Kirby exchanged glances.
"Will they be ok?" she asked.
"Poyo."
"They should be fine, hopefully," Hyness told her, "this happened earlier when they tapped into this new form as well, remember?"
Vesa gave Hyness a blank stare.
"New form? You mean…?"
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.