Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Vesa kept up with her daily magic practicing regimen with Elfilis guiding her. Each time she successfully cast a spell of her choosing for the day, she and her partner would either hang out at the library reading a book together or working on a jigsaw puzzle in the game room.
After another week passed, Vesa and Elfilis waited outside the tower courtyard. While they waited, they felt it was worth passing the time to practice the barrier spell. The ultimate life-form kept an eye on their girlfriend as she crossed her arms over her chest and concentrated.
With her mana flowing freely through her body, she managed to create a stronger barrier in less than a minute. Elfilis perked up their feelers, feeling rather proud of Vesa and confident knowing she has means to protect herself. She smiled at them before she examined her palms.
"Let's see," she said to herself, "I wonder what spell I could cast next."
Elfilis tilted their head to the side. After a moment, Vesa tilted her gaze towards the ground.
"Elfilis," Vesa asked, "what traits would an earth elemental augment include?"
"Earth tends to be a literal solid element, in this case," Elfilis explained, "it's used in both offensive and defensive spells and augmenting different base spells like your shield with it is both good and bad. Good because your barrier will become much more durable, and bad because you won't be able to see anything outside of your barrier unless you have advanced senses, since your barrier will be made of a much more durable material that tends to change depending on your level of mastery and what kind of material you want it to be made from. But such shields are hard to break for most people, but there are…other ways to get around that kind of shield as well."
"Does the element have practical uses as well?" Vesa replied.
"Plenty of earth mages did construction work back home since they couldn't make good foundations for buildings," Elfilis reasoned, "or became farmers since they knew where the most fertile soil was, and could instantly make rows for their crops among many things an ordinary farmer couldn't do. Earth magic can also be used to locate rare metals underground and so on."
"Thanks," Vesa smiled.
Elfilis pulled out a book on magic theory. She plucked the book from their hands. As Vesa went on to read through the book, Elfilis thought back to the many horrific experiments happening around them as the scientists from their girlfriend's planet attempted to harness their energy and biology for their own purposes.
The silence broke when Meta Knight appeared from the horizon. The angelic lancer spotted him as he approached the entrance to the courtyard.
"Hello," Elfilis nodded at him, "it's nice to see you again."
"It's good to see you, too," Meta Knight replied with a nod, "are you two prepared to head to the Halberd?"
Vesa blinked twice before she tucked the book under her arm.
"Uhh, yeah," she answered.
"I, too, am ready to proceed," Elfilis added.
"Very well," Meta Knight advised, "follow me."
Vesa and Elfilis followed Meta Knight across rolling plains along the dirt path. A while passed before they entered a large cave. Once inside, the ultimate life-form and their girlfriend gazed upon the Battleship Halberd docked on the ground. Sword knights and blade knights wandered around, helping move supplies and one of them was doing a little mechanical work on an exposed panel on the outside of the ship, swearing to himself in a heavily accented tone. Vesa tilted her head as she examined the ship's batlike wings and its bow which resembled Meta Knight's mask. Even Elfilis appreciated the design.
"That is so cool," Vesa commented.
"Why, yes, and functional as well," Elfilis agreed, "I can tell from here that the main deck is located in the hole of the mask. However it must have some kind of powerful barrier over it, otherwise that would be a large design flaw."
Meta Knight sweated nervously under his mask, making a mental note to put a barrier over that later. Vesa took notice of a large cannon on top of the ship.
"That is the Combo Cannon," Meta Knight explained proudly, "it can fire two flak shells at once, pulse energy projectiles, and lasers."
Meta Knight, Elfilis and Vesa began circling the perimeters of the ship. Before long, a Waddle Dee in a sailor hat approached the three.
"Sir," the Waddle Dee saluted excitedly, "the Halberd is ready to deploy on your command!"
Meta Knight nodded at the Waddle Dee in acknowledgment.
"We can depart soon," Meta Knight replied, "let the captain know to ready the reactor and engines and prepare the sails."
"Huh?" Vesa blurted.
Meta Knight led Elfilis and Vesa towards the entrance of the ship.
"Are we taking this ship somewhere?" Vesa placed her hand behind her head.
"The plan is to cruise the skies above Dreamland for a test flight," Meta Knight reasoned, "the ship is perfectly safe, even if there was a crash as it can enter a slow glide so long as the wings are even a quarter intact. This is mostly to look for any issues. I scheduled this test flight to coincide with your arrival here."
Once they stopped at the side of the ship, a set of stairs emerged and a door slid open. Vesa and Elfilis followed Meta Knight as they climbed their stairs into the ship. They meandered down the corridor and took an elevator until they set foot into the bridge. She noticed a birdlike creature standing near the steering wheel with a captain's hat on top of his head. When Meta Knight made his approach, the birdlike captain turned around and locked eyes onto him.
"Ah," the bird greeted, "greetings, Sir Meta Knight…and guests."
The bird captain gave Vesa and Elfilis a skeptical stare. Vesa fidgeted nervously, yet she still gave a deep bow of respect.
"I'm Vesa Krasniqi," she replied before gesturing to Elfilis, "and this is my romantic partner Fecto Elfilis."
The birdlike captain cleared his throat.
"I see," he replied, "I was given a briefing ahead of time, but I will be honest…this whole situation just feels weird to me."
"Well sir," a knight in purple armor with a mace clarified in a robotic voice, "it could be because of that time Kir— "
The bird captain snapped his head towards the mace knight.
"Not one more word about him!" the bird captain squawked.
The mace knight nodded apologetically and returned to his duty.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly," the bird placed his hand on his chest, "I'm Captain Vul, the one who will be commanding everyone on deck and only just below Meta Knight on the command structure for the ship. I also do most of the piloting."
Vesa tilted her head sideways with a gentle smile. Elfilis blushed as they gently curled their tail around her side. As she leaned closer to them, Vul and Meta Knight exchanged another glance.
"Do you two need a roo—" Vul began to say.
Meta Knight cut him off by elbowing him. Captain Vul quickly straightened himself before returning his focus to the crew on the bridge.
"I'll start showing you around now," Meta Knight proclaimed.
Vesa and Elfilis followed Meta Knight out of the bridge, walking down the hall and down a long set of stairs. They set foot aboard a trolley, which zoomed along its tracks. When they stepped off, they entered the reactor room. A large machine sat in the middle with a crystal held in place. Generators attached to the walls had Wheelies inside powering the reactor.
"As you can see," Meta Knight explained, "this ship's main reactor relies on not just the Wheelies in this room, but also natural sunlight obtained via the sails which double as fabric based solar panels."
Vesa tilted her head sideways, intrigued that the Wheelies didn't need to eat or sleep. She put an index finger on her chin.
"I suppose that makes sense," she commented.
"Of course," Meta Knight agreed, "the crystal in the reactor efficiently transforms that energy into both magical and electric energy for different parts of the Halberd's functions. It's critical to making the Combo Cannon work. Though, since the last time the Halberd was destroyed, I've installed several electric and magical batteries so the destruction of the reactor won't mean the ship will go down immediately. There will likely be a several hour period where it'll still function properly."
"Good to know," Vesa nodded.
Meta Knight led Vesa and Elfilis out of the reactor room and hopped back onto the trolley. The trolley zipped across the ship until it stopped at its destination, allowing the three to disembark and step through a sliding door. Inside, weapons lined up neatly on shelves and racks on one side of the room. On the other side sat various boxes of cargo. A large area nearby held containers of explosives. Vesa took note of the large seam in the middle of the floor, likely meaning it could open up and drop a payload of either cargo or something more volatile. At the corner of the room, she noticed a large mechanical lobster.
"I wonder if," Vesa mused to herself, "if my civilization was still around today, this ship could take on Redgarica's military."
Vesa made a brief glance at Meta Knight and Elfilis.
"No offense to you, Elfilis," Vesa tried to reassure them.
"None taken," Elfilis replied, "and yes, it absolutely could if we're talking about before they tore me apart to power their technology. Afterwards? A toss up, probably."
Meta Knight cupped the bottom of his mask with one hand. Elfilis and Vesa shared glances as they mentally evaluated how much of an easy victory Meta Knight would have against Redgarica's military. Nothing short of nuking the area would be capable of stopping him and even then he could still phase out and teleport to another area before they could even try.
After a minute or two, Meta Knight led Vesa and Elfilis back onto the trolley. They visited the front deck to examine the wings. All that was left was just the basics. Meta Knight led Vesa and Elfilis into the galley.
"If you need something to eat, ask the chef's and they will see about making something for you," Meta Knight told them, "I need to head up to the bridge and start preparing for take off."
Meta Knight left the galley. With not much else to do, Vesa and Elfilis sat at a table.
"So how are you doing?" Elfilis asked her.
Vesa placed the book on the table.
"I'm doing ok," Vesa answered, "it just happened to be a random thought that popped into my head."
"I know," Elfilis let out a depressed sigh.
Vesa noticed Elfilis's fur had bristled, including their tail. Sighing, she placed her hand on their shoulder. They leaned towards her and purred softly. Using her free hand, she opened the book and continued to read through the text. Elfilis let out a soft breath, trying to calm themselves a little more.
"Sorry if I brought up any bad memories," Vesa lowered her head.
"It's alright," Elfilis replied, "I know you didn't mean to."
Vesa leaned closer to Elfilis, allowing them to place their arm over her shoulder. She tilted her head up so they could give her forehead a gentle lick. The ultimate life-form blushed as their tail wagged happily. They both shifted their gaze towards the nearby window. Soon enough, they heard distant engines whirring to life. Their large ears twitched and glanced in the direction they heard the noise. They witnessed the landscape outside the window shifting, almost as if the ship began its ascent.
Vesa wasn't sure why, but she couldn't help but fidget with excitement.
Vesa and Elfilis watched as the Halberd ascended from the cave. The ship left the surface and took off into the sky. With the Halberd sailing through the sky, Elfilis and Vesa remained snuggled up together. She went back to reading the book on the table. She went on to study the magical theory as explained in the text.
"I wonder if there's a place on the ship suitable for practicing magic," Vesa said.
"I don't think this ship was made for that," Elfilis admitted, "there is a training room, but I'm sure it's more for real weapons practice rather than magical practice."
"Oh," was all Vesa could say, "I guess I'll learn earth magic later. Maybe it's worth trying to see if I could augment one of the weapons with water?"
"Water doesn't make a very effective weapon unless you pressurize it very heavily like what Fransisca did with her own water gun."
Vesa scratched her head.
"Then," she asked, "perhaps I'll work on my wind spell?"
Elfilis blinked slowly.
"A much better choice," Elfilis agreed.
Vesa grabbed her book and stood up. Elfilis followed suit. They both left the galley and took the trolley. They crossed the armory to get to the training room. They both scanned their surroundings and took note of an Axe Knight and a Javelin Knight in a sparring session. A Sword Knight and Blade Knight were also locked in combat and bickering with each other in heavily accented voices.
She swore one of them was the mechanic working on the Halberd's exterior earlier.
Vesa shifted her attention to the weapon rack nearby. She noted the amount of swords of different shapes and builds, maces, axes, spears and other exotic weapons like chakrams, flails, daggers and bows. Her finger traced along the handle of a mace with spikes on it. The Axe Knight and the Javelin Knight began to take a break when they noticed the human.
"What brings you here, ma'am?" the Axe Knight called over.
Vesa snapped out of her thoughts and glanced over her shoulder. Sword and Blade Knight paused and put their swords back in their sheaths.
"Well," Vesa answered, "I'm thinking of which weapon to augment with wind."
"Well, none of us are mages," the Blade Knight shrugged, "we've got some folks that can do minor magic, not much more than for lighting campfires or spells to help with field triage or making clean water, though."
"I…understand," Vesa shifted her gaze to Elfilis.
"Personally," Elfilis elaborated, "I believe there are a lot of excellent choices. Swords are the most famous cutting weapon, but a mace is also a good option; or a flail, since the sharp bits embed themselves in a target and then the wind will slash at their insides and deal a lot of internal damage. I recommend a crossbow, since the crossbow also does that, but at range."
The other soldiers nodded in agreement before they chattered among themselves. Vesa took a moment to think before she grabbed a crossbow off the rack.
"Oh," the Blade Knight blurted, "perhaps we could set up a target for you, if you want?"
The other soldiers seemed to fidget with anticipation.
"What kinds of enemies did you fight during the war?" Elfilis asked, "do you want me to see if I can come up with a convincing copy for you to unload bolts into?"
The Blade Knight immediately raised his hand.
"Oh!" the Blade Knight exclaimed, "do one of that bastard Yamikage! He was one of the only traitors we had during the war that went to Nightmare willingly. He was turned into a Darkness Beast but got to keep his free will. He assassinated a good chunk of high command before we even learned he defected."
"We never caught him, though," Axe Knight added.
Vesa took a moment to position the crossbow carefully. She set down the book and began to concentrate. Elfilis began to craft a series of magical dummies based on the soldiers' memories. Ironically, they seemed to have a punchable body. Soon enough, Vesa generated wind gusts with her mana and concentrated them into the crossbow.
"Wow," the Sword Knight commented, "if I didn't see you do that magic, I would think he was really here."
Having augmented the crossbow with the wind element, Vesa examined the dummies.
"Bastard killed a lot of our buddies back during the war on his way to join Nightmare as some kind of fucked up gift," the Sword Knight continued, "one night, he just started killing people in their sleep and before we knew what was going, on there were a dozen tents all with their inhabitants slaughtered. Killed most of our command structure at the time too…Gawain, Mordred, Bedivere, Gareth. Fuck."
Vesa tried aiming the crossbow at one of the targets, though she hadn't figured out how to hold it properly.
"Here, let me help," the Javelin Knight approached the human.
The Javelin Knight grabbed another crossbow and demonstrated where to put the fingers and how to grip it. Vesa followed along, shifting her hands to grip the ranged weapon as instructed. She aimed the crossbow at one of the targets and pulled the trigger. The bolt sailed true and nailed the practice dummy in the center mass. Large lacerations appeared on the outside, which seemed good until Vesa realized it was only a wooden bolt. The destruction even a normal bolt could do must be a lot, not even considering the internal damage that was probably happening.
Astounded, Vesa put the crossbow back on the rack before approaching Elfilis.
"That was impressive," Elfilis praised, "it flew straight and right where you pointed it."
"Thank you!" Vesa smiled.
Vesa leaned closer to Elfilis as they both locked eyes onto the soldiers.
"I think I got enough magic practice for today," she told Elfilis.
Elfilis proceeded to enchant the bolts, much to the excitement of the soldiers before handing them the quiver. After that, Elfilis led Vesa out of the training room.
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