Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Elfilis raised their hand into the air, summoning their spear. Vesa set down the book and stood up, taking a step closer to the angelic lancer.
"So…"
"You probably haven't truly started yet," Elfilis blurted, "my apologies. Typically, younger mages tend to bite off more than they can chew and start practicing spells in their free time, so I honestly expected you to have little experience."
Elfilis closed their eyes softly for a brief moment, flexing their wings.
"If you were a more powerful mage or had more magical energy," they continued, "I would've warned you away from experimentation before you were ready. However, that's only an issue for mages with more mana than smarts. They tend to get themselves killed experimenting too early, but you don't have enough mana for that to be a problem, I imagine."
Vesa and Elfilis shifted their gaze towards the lake.
"Most mages have their mana unlocked at a young age," Elfilis added, "it tends to be easier to just brute force mana unlocking at a young age so it has more time to grow. You don't have that benefit, so you'll have smaller reserves than most. I suppose the first thing to talk about is what happens when you run out. When you run out of mana, you'll face a backlash if you try to use another spell. Your mana will try and pull at other sources of energy to fuel a spell, typically at your stamina first, slowly draining you until you can't move. If you push further, it'll start to drain your soul for power."
Vesa shuddered at the last few words.
"Do you know what happens if you overstress your soul?" Elfilis asked.
Vesa took a moment to think over the question.
"It could kill you," she answered.
Elfilis turned to gaze into her eyes.
"Worse," Elfilis added, "you just cease to exist, no chance of an afterlife, no chance of reincarnation. Nothing short of an act of a deity could save you. This is something to avoid at all costs."
"I…understand," Vesa stammered.
Elfilis gave Vesa a gentle pat on the head, letting her lean forward a little.
"It's a terrifying thought, to just suddenly blip out of existence," they said, "you'll know if you ever get to that point, because you'll feel whatever spell you're trying to cast deeply. I've been told it's a violating feeling…like something is ripping your essence apart at your core. I…somewhat understand the feeling myself."
Elfilis thought of the butterfly-shaped brand on their soul.
"Hopefully," Elfilis concluded, "you won't ever be pushed to the point where you need to risk something like that."
Vesa nodded in agreement.
"I hope so, too."
"Do you know what spells you want to try and have them memorized?" Elfilis asked her.
Vesa focused her eyes on the lake again.
"I'd like to practice a temporary elemental enchantment first," she requested, "a water enchantment, to be more specific."
"Water seems to be more geared towards support or pushing others to the side most of the time," Elfilis replied, "but I suppose it'll do."
Vesa approached the water and held out her hands. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Elfilis noticed the spell circle beginning to take shape in her hands. She took a few deep breaths as a small mass of water emerged from the lake. When she opened her eyes, she turned her palms towards herself. The mass of water changed shape. She held out her palms as she allowed the mass of water touch down. She glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes onto Elfilis.
Elfilis rotated their spear. Vesa levitated the water blob until it touched the tip of the spear. She kept concentrating until the mass of water dissipated into mist and swirled around the tip of the spear. Elfilis kept their spear steady as it absorbed the mist. In a matter of seconds, the tip of the spear began to glow. Elfilis withdrew it and examined the water droplets on the blade, closer to a gentle fog. They sensed the water augmented magic was a simple support spell. Vesa focused her eyes on the ultimate life-form, slight weariness taking a toll on her body.
"Did I," she asked, "did I do ok?"
"You did well," Elfilis told her, "there are still things you can work on; but overall, you did a fantastic job. Not many people can cast a spell on their first try at attempting it. Most people barely get a puff of mana to leave their bodies on their first attempt."
Vesa smiled softly.
"Thank you!"
Vesa shifted her gaze towards Kirby. The pink star warrior and the small chinchilla paused what they were doing as they saw what she recently did. The Poppy Bros. Jr. even clutched onto the boomerang in his hand.
"Poyo!" Kirby happily waved his arms.
Elfilis returned their attention to the others.
"So," Elfilis asked, "did you have any other spells you wanted to try?"
Vesa picked up the book and flipped through the pages, examining the many support spells it listed. Her finger tapped on a barrier spell.
"Hmm," Vesa mumbled to herself, "maybe for that spell…"
Vesa returned her gaze to Kirby.
"Hey, Kirby?" Vesa requested, pointing at the Poppy Bros. Jr., "can you ask your friend over there to toss that boomerang at me?"
Kirby and Elfilin widened their eyes in shock.
"Poyo?!" Kirby exclaimed.
"You're kidding!" Elfilin objected.
Elfilis twitched their feelers.
"You do realize you aren't skilled enough to make a barrier fast enough to block it yet, right?" Elfilis pointed out, "you took a full ten minutes casting that water enchantment. You might not have realized since you got so focused, but a lot of time passed there. In a couple months or maybe weeks if you're good enough, your casting time will improve dramatically, but you aren't quite there just yet."
Vesa froze in a moment of silence. Elfilis actually had a point. She took a moment to feel for the remaining mana in her body. She only had enough to cast three more spells. The Poppy Bros. Jr. nodded and patted his chest, seeming to have approved of the plan.
"If you can't cast the spell before it hits you," Elfilis advised, "I'll stop it. Right now, it's not safe for you to stop casting even if you fail and can't do it in time. I believe I mentioned rebounds earlier."
"Ok," Vesa set down the book and widened her stance.
Elfilin covered his eyes with his paws.
"I can't look," the small chinchilla whimpered.
Vesa closed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she began to concentrate. Elfilis stood next to her as they kept an eye on the situation. The Poppy Bros. Jr. shifted his gaze between the two, so he simply held out his boomerang and began waiting. He could've just lobbed the boomerang immediately, but chose not to. Before long, a couple more Poppy Bros. Jrs. showed up, both of them riding on unlit bombs. A third similar figure trailed behind them while balancing on a beach ball.
"Hey hey hey!" he called out.
Kirby immediately recognized the jester balancing on one foot and snickering.
"Who's the dame about to get beaned in the head?" he glanced over at Kirby.
"Poyo," Kirby answered.
"Ok," the jester continued with a creepy giggle, "well, what's she doing here? There aren't a whole lot of humans left, after all. There aren't many places on the planet more dangerous than here. So why are you dragging around the remnants of an endangered species?"
Kirby scratched the back of his round squishy head.
"Poyo," Kirby tried to explain.
"Well, that makes sense, I guess," the jester replied, "they aren't strong in anything but technology. Heck, Shiver Star is still covered in an eternal winter because they wrecked it with that technology."
Elfilis began glaring at the little jester. Elfilin removed his paws and shifted gazes between Kirby and the jester.
"So who's the big guy and little guy?" the jester squinted at Elfilis and their small fragment, "they remind me of Daroach and his crew. But the big one has way too much magic for it to be that easy…not as much as me, but he has a lot."
Elfilin blinked as he circled the jester.
"You mean Fecto Elfilis?" Elfilin gestured to his sibling, "my name's Elfilin, by the way."
The small chinchilla patted his chest with his paw.
"Yeah, I was talking to you guys," the jester snickered, "none of you hold a candle in mana to me and the big guy there. Well, maybe Kirby, but he's special. My buddy Magolor doesn't even have the mana me and the big guy have. He has better control of it than I do, though. I just let my magic do its own thing and then copy the results for later."
"So you're suicidal?" Elfilis gave the jester a puzzled stare.
"Nah," the jester answered, "I'm a minor god of chaos and insanity! Since chaos is my domain, it makes sense I can't be hurt if my spells backfire or go wild!"
Elfilin felt a chill down his spine. Vesa didn't pay much attention to the conversation as she felt her mana stir in her body. Elfilis narrowed their eyes.
"You play a dangerous game, jester," Elfilis snarled, "you're aware there aren't many gods in this universe for a reason, right?"
The jester and Elfilis focused their eyes on Kirby, who responded with a confused look.
"Gods were mostly wiped out by Void Termina," Elfilis continued, "we don't know why exactly. It could've been a whim, or it might've been on purpose. But they're gone for the most part…except for you, I suppose."
The jester made a brief glance at the Poppy Bros. Jr. who still stood his ground and held onto his boomerang. Before long, a large runic circle appeared in the air and a short mage popped out, approaching the jester.
"Marx," the mage called, "what's taking you so long?! I thought you…"
The mage paused mid-sentence and locked eyes onto Kirby.
"Oh, we have company!" he blurted, clasping his hands together, "how's it been, Kirby?! It feels like forever, but it can't have been more than a couple months! How have you been?"
Kirby's face lit up and waved his arms.
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.
Marx, Elfilin, Adeleine, Zan, Flamberge and Elfilis paused and turned their gaze to the mage.
"Heya, Magolor," Marx recovered from the shock in a matter of seconds, "not too often these days that mages can get together like this…especially not so many."
Magolor nodded and blinked before focusing his eyes on the small chinchilla and Elfilis.
"I…you look familiar," the mage squinted at Elfilis.
Elfilis focused their gaze to Magolor for a brief moment before returning their gaze to Vesa. By then, a spell circle started to form in front of her hands.
"Oh, I remember now!" the mage exclaimed, "you were mentioned in some of the notes I salvaged! There were pictures and everything…it's where I first found mention of the Lor Starcutter and how I knew to find it. You're like some kind of living petri dish of different species, right?"
"That's correct," Elfilis nodded, "my goal was to destroy Dark Matter. Unfortunately, I was…out of commission for some time."
Elfilis lowered their head.
"Oh dear," Magolor sighed.
"Yeah," Marx added, "well, monster mash here is busy teaching this human girl magic, I think."
"H-Human?!" the mage paused, shifting his gaze between Adeleine and Vesa.
"Err," the crazy jester replied.
"Well," Magolor snapped, a bulging blood vessel forming on his forehead, "I haven't seen one before, so how was I supposed to know?!"
Adeleine grimaced before giving Elfilin a puzzled look.
"Well," Marx looked away while snickering, "I drew up those diagrams and pictures since you were curious and the Forgotten Land was supposedly home to them. Did you not read them yet?"
"I would have if you showed up earlier on time!" Magolor barked back, although more playfully than in actual rage.
All of a sudden, Vesa's concentration paid off as the spell circle morphed into a magical barrier. At that point, all eyes focused on her.
"Well," Marx commented, "not bad for a first try, though I can see it crumbling at the edges there. See?"
Elfilis noted the mana breaking away at the sides of the barrier, turning to blue dust and vanishing.
"Yes, yes," Magolor added as he inspected the barrier, "it's a bit too brittle."
"Well," Zan shrugged, "it's good for a first try."
Vesa's eyes fluttered open and stared in awe at the barrier she conjured. Turning her head, she gazed into Elfilis's eyes.
"You're doing fine for now," Elfilis told her, "although I suspect it'll only block a single blow for now."
Vesa nodded in agreement.
"Let's test it!"
Upon cue, the Poppy Bros. Jr. threw the boomerang. It flew at her fast and smashed into the shield with pretty damaging force. The barrier shattered into shards like glass. Luckily, it knocked the boomerang off course and bled its momentum, making it land in the grass a few meters away.
"All right!" Elfilin chirped and did a happy back flip.
"Poyo!" Kirby jumped up and down, "poyo poyo! Poyo!"
"Great one, Vesa!" Adeleine called over.
Vesa recovered from the shock and waved her hand at Adeleine.
"Thanks!" Vesa smiled.
"It held together well enough," Elfilis said, "I'm sure it'll get stronger over time."
Marx rolled up on his ball. The mere sight of the jester caused Vesa to freeze in place, her widened eyes focusing on him and Magolor.
"If I had hands," the jester said with a hint of sarcasm, "I assure you my applause would be…it wouldn't be loud, but I would be clapping. So how long have you been practicing? Can't be that long based on your mana levels. You haven't really grown your reserves at all."
"Uhh, Elfilis?" she stammered, gesturing to the jester and the floaty manipulative mage, "who are those two?"
"Two locals of Popstar," Elfilis explained, "the jester is crazy. The floating one is a mage who moved here some time ago based on what I was told. I'm not sure why they're down here, though."
"I'm down here to meet up with some old pals of mine!" Marx chimed in, "Magolor came with me so he would have a nice place to read."
"It feels like being a parent sometimes," Magolor let out an exasperated sigh, "and not in any of the fun ways."
"Aww," Marx snickered with a wink, "but you love me!"
"I do and you're a handful," Magolor responded.
"Wait," Flamberge paused with a confused look, "since when were you two a couple?"
"That actually started after the Void Termina situation," Magolor explained, "we were already friends, we just didn't really get along together too often. Marx and I traded information a few times, and both had information about the Ancients that the other wanted. I wanted information on Intergalactic travel and the Master Crown. He wanted information on NOVA, where and when it would show up, and how to turn it on. We traded info and kept in casual contact through magical communication. After I moved here, we started hanging out more, and only got closer after we all almost died."
"We aren't like…mates or anything yet," Marx added, "or as humans would say 'married', but it might get to that point eventually in the next few months."
Marx hopped off his beach ball and sprouted his wings from his sides, giving Magolor a little kiss on the cheek.
"Well," Zan gave a soft smile, "congratulations, you two."
Kirby and Elfilin exchanged glances and a fist bump.
"Thanks," Marx chirped.
"Yeah," Magolor added, his blush apparent in the darkness of his cowl, "so far, it's going pretty well so far. Although, I'll say I'm learning a lot more about his spells than I ever wanted to. They are a freaking mess, I swear; looking at them on paper gives me an aneurysm. His spells just chug mana and I can't see how anyone else could reasonably use them. I've been helping him fix the errors in efficiency that they have."
"I can do that on my own," Marx remarked, "but he's a better mage than I am, even if I have more power to throw around."
"What about you?" Elfilis narrowed their eyes on Marx.
The jester retracted his wings.
"Well, I have been living with Magolor on the Lor Starcutter. Before that, I was kind of just living in a hole in the ground I dug using magic. I was doing that even before I obtained godly power," Marx answered a little darkly, "I wasn't happy with my life. These other people might be happy with it, but I wasn't. No one really wanted to be friends with me when I was younger, not when I was so different. I'm not exactly a known species and have no idea who my parents were. Not to mention I'm not exactly sane either. That was enough for people to avoid me."
Marx sat down.
"Eventually, I made a couple of friends; Kirby among them," he continued, "I decided to hatch a scheme after I saw Kirby crack the ground so hard he made a ravine in a martial arts competition. I decided that I was going to become that strong myself! And I had a vague idea on how."
Magolor approached Marx and sat down next to him.
"I heard rumors of an odd structure somewhere here, in the Great Cave. It was an abandoned lab, inside were all kinds of plans and blueprints, old records talking about celestial objects, things I couldn't even fathom at the time! A mechanical star, called NOVA," Marx added, "a literal wish granting shooting star! I began to scheme right away after that, and decided to enlist Kirby in my plans. I needed to get more information though so I contacted Magolor through some…sketchy contacts. I needed more information on NOVA."
Marx and Magolor shared glances for a brief moment.
"Luckily, the lab I found had data on the Lor Starcutter, and where it last docked," Marx proclaimed, "we traded info and that was that. As for Kirby, at the time I didn't really see our friendship as anything but something to use for my own gain, and Kirby was a very useful and gullible tool. I started by convincing Mr. Sun and Mr. Moon to fight, telling each of them that the other was planning to take over their job. And I told Kirby that to stop them he would need to convince NOVA to help. And after that everything just kind of came together."
Kirby shivered nervously, so Elfilin gave the pink puffball a pat on the head to give him some reassurance.
"It was amusing when right in the middle of my plan, Meta Knight tried to subjugate Dreamland though," Marx mentioned, "but soon after that Kirby summoned NOVA, I kicked him out of the way and wished for the power to control Popstar, and it was granted to me. I have never felt such a rush before or after that! But unfortunately, NOVA didn't have the power to grant me my wish entirely since Kirby was still stronger than I was."
Vesa took a moment to stash the book she borrowed back into her backpack.
"Is anyone ready to return home?" Vesa asked, "I think my training has gotten me rather tired."
Elfilis nodded before lifting Vesa into their arms.
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