Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Vesa waited at the courtyard fountain the next day, staring at the constantly running water. To her right, she could see Kirby and Elfilin taking a nap on the bench. Fecto Elfilis stood nearby, staring up at the clear blue sky. She smiled as their tail swayed side to side and their winglike ears flexed at slow intervals.
"Let me know when you're ready to start," Elfilis glanced over their shoulder, "I'll monitor you and give advice if needed."
"Ok," Vesa nodded.
After a minute, Vesa stood up from the edge of the fountain and approached her partner.
"Now I'm ready," she told them.
Upon cue, Elfilis turned to face her.
"Now what do you plan to start with?"
Vesa made a brief glance at the fountain.
"The water augment spell."
Elfilis sat down at the edge of the fountain, summoning a small dagger.
"This should help," they explained, "it's a special kind of dagger I made to help with your training. The runes I put into it will let it change how receptive it is to magical energy."
Vesa plucked the dagger out of Elfilis's hand and carefully examined it. With one hand, she kept a tight grip on the hilt. The fact its blade was too dull to pierce or slice anything gave her some bit of relief. She held out her other hand towards the fountain and began to concentrate. Her mana stirred in her body as a portion of the fountain's water began to rise in a blob-like shape. She levitated the water near the dagger. Soon enough, the blade absorbed the water, letting it shape itself into an edge. She got the feeling she could give someone a nasty paper cut this way.
Vesa took a moment to brush her fingers through her hair, only to notice something peculiar.
"Oh, it's…not even windy today," Vesa said to herself.
"I suppose we can practice casting without a source of an element at hand," Elfilis perked up their feelers.
Vesa somehow got the feeling Elfilis might somehow be annoyed at her, remembering the blessing she got from the Star Rod. How much time did she have left before it ran out?
"I-I'm sorry," Vesa lowered her head, "I should've practiced more often."
"Why are you apologizing?" Elfilis asked.
Vesa stiffened.
"I-I know I was supposed to use the Star Rod's blessing to my advantage," Vesa admitted, "but I guess…I've been keeping that reminder in my head not to exhaust my mana resources too hard."
"I'm not upset," Elfilis tried to reassure her, "it's certainly not ideal. Without the blessing of the Star Rod, you could seriously stunt your own growth and lack the mana needed to perform larger spells or grow beyond what you're capable now. I'm not sure if it's too late or if the blessing will take. Your caution is understandable, but too much of it can be a detriment to your determination and willpower. Thus, it can hamper the blessing since I can't even feel it on you anymore. It might not be too late, but you'll need to continue to practice at least once a day, take an hour or so to use a spell."
Vesa tried to examine herself inwardly. She might be of a race which had no magic, and yet…
"I-I don't know what happened to my determination," she confessed, "or my willpower."
Elfilis placed their hand on her shoulder.
"Well," Elfilis sighed, "luckily, the blessing wasn't a magical promise. Otherwise, this would be a bigger concern and there would be backlash for failing to keep your end of the deal. In this case, you simply won't develop your magic beyond that of a novice should the blessing fail."
Vesa took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Her mind reminded her body it was no longer in a constant state of danger. She no longer had to worry about when the next sepsis episode would hit her.
"I-I'll give it a try," Vesa proclaimed, "I still want to grow stronger."
"I'm glad to hear that," Elfilis replied, "if the blessing doesn't work, we may need to seek out…other methods…of fixing your magical issues. I have some ideas, but this was the one with the least amount of risk involved."
Vesa followed Elfilis through the courtyard garden until they reached a raised platform. She took another deep breath before she turned to face her partner. With the dagger still in her hand, she began to concentrate again, tapping into her mana reserves. At that point, her own magic had yet to learn how to sense anything. Taking deep breaths, she closed her eyes, her mind focusing on the dagger's blade.
Several minutes passed on in silence before she could feel light gusts of wind circulating around her hands. Elfilis noticed she was starting to sweat a little. Still, she kept her spine straight as she continued to concentrate. They summoned their spear and leaned on it a little. A few more minutes passed and the wind gusts she generated intensified in strength. Elfilis quickly noticed she was overcharging the enchantment. They worried she could run out of mana before she could even finish. By then, the dagger began absorbing the wind gusts, amplifying its power. Now the dagger was probably as sharp as it would normally be if it had an edge now.
Vesa slowly opened her eyes and examined her progress.
"D-Did I," she stammered, "did I do well?"
"You did," Elfilis nodded, "but you might've brute forced it at the end there. You probably have some papercuts from the amount of wind you summoned, but otherwise, you did well."
Vesa blinked twice as she examined her hands, taking note of the small cuts around her fingers. No blood seeped out of the cuts, but they felt sore. Elfilis approached her and reached into their pocket dimension.
"Here," Elfilis pulled out a magical candy bar.
Vesa offered the dagger while she plucked the candy bar from their hand. When she took a bite, she watched as the cuts on her fingers healed instantly.
"Thank you," Vesa smiled softly.
Once Elfilis took the dagger from her hand, Vesa leaned closer to them, wrapping their arms around their waist. Already, she was tired from the bit of practice today. The ultimate life-form dispelled the enchantment before stashing the dagger into their pocket dimension. They lifted their girlfriend into their arms and nuzzled her forehead.
"Do you want to head back?" they asked.
"Sure," she nodded.
Elfilis carried her back into the tower, making their way into the living room and sitting down at the couch. Vesa rested her head on their chest. The ultimate life-form purred deeply and pressed their head into the side of her neck. With one hand, she gently scratched the underside of their jaw.
"Elfilis?"
"Mm-hmm?"
Vesa took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts.
"If I still have the blessing," she said, "I want to know how much time I have left with it."
Elfilis slowly closed their eyes.
"I understand you're worried," Elfilis replied, "we can just keep up with your practice anyway. Whether or not it's still there, we'll be able to tell if your mana increases at all."
"Ok," she sighed.
Vesa continued scratching the underside of Elfilis's jaw while she perched her chin on their shoulder. The ultimate life-form purred even more as their tail wagged excitedly. The deep purrs soothed her to the point she held her partner close. Their tail curled around her side.
Kirby and Elfilin met up with Vesa and Elfilis out in the training arena the next morning. The ultimate life-form sat in a folding chair, waiting on standby in case their girlfriend needed any help.
"So what'cha wanna practice?" Elfilin clamored.
Vesa took a moment to collect her thoughts.
"I'm thinking of practicing my water augment spell this time," she answered.
Kirby and Elfilin exchanged glances. The pink star warrior stood on the tip of his toe.
"Poyo!" Kirby suggested.
Vesa blinked twice, trying to understand what the puffball meant.
"Really? How?"
Kirby took a moment to reach into his pocket dimension. Elfilis watched curiously as the pink star warrior seemed to enter a trance. It took them a few seconds to realize he was astral projecting himself into his own stomach. Minutes passed before Kirby pulled out a peculiar yellow cap with tiny wings on each side. He inhaled it and became Cutter Kirby.
"Peculiar," Elfilis mused, their feelers perking up.
Kirby turned and gave Elfilis a confused stare.
"Poyo?"
"Kirby," Elfilis told him, "we should speak later since I believe I have some training that could benefit you in the future."
Kirby curiously took a step closer to Elfilis as they rose from their chair and approached him.
"After we complete Vesa's training for the day," Elfilis continued, "we can attempt to help you with your own. I'm sure Meta Knight would appreciate the chance to bond with you over some training."
Kirby's eyes lit up at the mention of his father.
"Papa poyo!" Kirby chirped, jumping up and down excitedly.
Elfilis smiled and shifted their attention to Vesa.
"Once your mana reserves increase," Elfilis explained to Vesa, "we can see about upgrading to more advanced spells. We can have Fransisca train you in ice magic. If you have enough skill at that point, you can ask Flamberge and Zan to teach you the more dangerous fire and lightning magic. I could teach you spatial magic if you want me to, but that's even more dangerous since you don't seem to have an affinity for it."
Vesa blinked twice as she processed the information.
"Ok," she nodded, "I'll keep it in mind."
Kirby waddled over to Vesa, seemingly bouncing on his feet as he eagerly waited in anticipation. Like the lack of wind yesterday, there was no source of water nearby to rely on.
"Here goes," Vesa whispered to herself.
Vesa straightened her back, closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Elfilis watched carefully. As she took deep breaths, her mana stirred in her body. Nothing seemed to happen until several minutes later, tiny water droplets began appearing around her fingertips. A soft fog started to appear around her arms and hands, the air getting more dense with moisture. As Vesa continued to focus, Elfilin rubbed his head with his paws, the small chinchilla sensing water droplets in his fur.
"Uh-oh," Elfilin muttered.
Elfilin immediately flew over to Elfilis and buried himself into their chest mane. His sibling let out a startled squeak.
"Sorry," Elfilin blurted, "didn't wanna get wet."
"No worries."
Elfilis held the small chinchilla close and gave him a familial lick on the forehead, causing Elfilin to let out a cute squeak of his own. By then, the water droplets Vesa summoned grew into small wisps of water. Elfilis placed their little brother on top of their head between their antlers. Kirby watched in excitement as Vesa positioned her hands in front of her. Keeping herself focused, she manipulated all the water wisps surrounding her into a water blob.
Upon cue, Kirby pulled the boomerang blade off his helmet and raised it high in the air. Vesa levitated the water blob closer until the boomerang blade absorbed it. The pink star warrior smiled, even if he knew the spell made an alteration to his copy ability.
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.
Vesa opened her eyes and examined her progress.
"So how is it?" she asked.
"Poyo!" Kirby smiled.
Vesa returned her smile.
"Thank you, Kirby."
"You did fine," Elfilis added, "with more practice, you'll do great."
Upon cue, Vesa turned to face Elfilis and approached them.
"Say," she asked, "I wonder if I should practice my barrier spell, or—"
All of a sudden, a plume of fire exploded out from a window higher up and Flamberge landed in the yard on fire, eliciting a startled yelp out of Vesa. The fire mage rose to her feet, small burning flames dotting her hat and her dress.
"I-I'm ok," Flamberge coughed out a small smoke cloud.
"I suppose it would be a good idea," Elfilis responded to Vesa's earlier question.
Elfilis lifted their hand and gathered up all the shattered glass, moving each individual shard back into place and repairing the window.
"Poyo!" Kirby scurried over to where the flames were.
Kirby threw the water enhanced boomerang blade at the small flames on the ground, extinguishing them in the process. Elfilis floated up to the room Flamberge flew out of to survey the damage. Luckily, no books were destroyed beyond repair and the room was mostly scorched pitch black. Maybe she got overeager in practicing a spell? If that was the case, it might've had a rebound since she messed it up somewhere. By the time the ultimate life-form floated back down, the fire mage already finished extinguishing the flames off her clothes. Vesa gave her partner an awkward stare.
"Do I want to know what happened?" Vesa tilted her head sideways.
Elfilis focused their eyes on Vesa.
"This is likely what a rebound looks like," Elfilis explained, "they're essentially magical backlash that can affect the body, mind, and soul depending on what kind of spell you're using. When you're interrupted when casting a spell, or not paying attention, you might suffer a rebound. The level of severity differs depending on the power and kind of spell, but in the worst cases, a rebound can hurt you and people around you badly if you mess up. If you're interested, I could show you a story of two young mages who suffered a particularly severe rebound."
"I see," Vesa replied.
Vesa and Kirby exchanged glances.
"Anyway," she continued, "I hope I have enough mana to carry out this."
Elfilis placed their hand on her shoulder, pausing her in her tracks.
"I suggest you take a twenty minute break and catch your breath," they advised, "this isn't a combat situation, so you can take your time until you're ready."
Vesa gave Elfilis an awkward glance.
"Oh, right," she blurted.
Vesa and Elfilis led Kirby, Elfilin and Flamberge back inside the tower, making their way to the foyer. By then, Kirby shed his copy ability. Vesa and Elfilis made a quick trip to the library, where she retrieved a couple instructional books relating to magic. When they returned to the foyer, they sat on the couch, Kirby and Elfilin gathering around them. As Vesa read through a book she picked out, the ultimate life-form locked eyes onto the pink puffball.
"This is probably a good time to teach you Astral Projection," Elfilis told Kirby, "you seem to be using a blunt and crude method of using it already to access your pocket dimension in your stomach."
"Poyo?" Kirby blinked twice.
"This skill can be taken further and used for more subtle things," Elfilis continued, "such as becoming a spirit temporarily and seeing others while they cannot see you. Attacking like this is impossible, but it'll be quite safe when I teach it to you. Right now, you're pulling your soul along with your consciousness. Taking your soul with you like this is quite dangerous, as you only need to project your consciousness out."
Kirby tilted his head sideways.
"Poyo."
"Learning this skill will likely give you better access to copy abilities in combat," Elfilis added, "alongside other consumed items. You should have some talent at it, considering you managed this much without assistance."
Kirby jumped up on the couch.
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded in agreement.
Elfilis invited Kirby to read along on the book on astral projection. Twenty minutes later, Vesa set the book in her hands aside and stood up.
"I'll help you practice in a little bit," Elfilis told Kirby, "but don't do so without me. You can continue doing what you were doing before."
"Poyo!"
Elfilis handed Kirby the book before they stood up and approached Vesa.
"Are you ready?" Elfilis asked, "if you need more time to recover, just let me know."
"I'm ready," Vesa answered.
"All right," Elfilis instructed, "follow me outside. After you cast it, we can test its durability."
Vesa followed Elfilis out the front door and into the courtyard. Standing at the center, she locked eyes onto her partner as she straightened her back. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate, her mana stirring in her body again. Elfilis watched as her mana moved into her palms. As she took a deep breath, she focused on not overusing her mana. A few minutes passed, and a magical barrier began to form in front of her. It seemed weak as it wobbled a little.
"That looks pretty good for a second try," Elfilis told her, "are you ready to test its durability?"
Vesa opened her eyes.
"Sure!" she smiled softly.
Elfilis summoned an ordinary hammer and gave the barrier a few gentle taps. After that, they gave it one solid "thwak" and the barrier shattered.
"Looks like it can stand up to one blow with about the force of a simple punch," Elfilis observed.
"So like the first time I cast it?" Vesa clarified.
"Pretty much," Elfilis nodded.
Elfilis led Vesa back into the foyer. While she rested on the couch with Elfilin perched on her shoulder, the ultimate life-form began supervising Kirby in his lesson on astral projection.
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