Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Vesa had been resting in a different cavern chamber for some time. While she nervously waited for Elfilis to show up, she read through an instructional book on magic with a flashlight active.
The peaceful silence broke when she heard chirping sounds from within the cave.
"Huh?"
Vesa placed a bookmark and stashed the book into her pocket bangle. She kept her ear out for the source of the chirping while holding onto the flashlight. Soon enough, she spotted a juvenile bird of sorts half her size.
"O-Oh?" she blurted, "hi there, little guy."
Vesa took note of the red vest the bird wore, which didn't seem to make sense to her. She noted feathers were starting to replace its yellow fuzz. It chirped again as it examined the newcomer. She tilted her head sideways, and the bird imitated her gesture.
"Are you lost?"
The bird shook its head. Vesa gave the young bird a confused look as it turned around and flew farther into the cavern chamber. She didn't hesitate to follow it, only to gasp when she saw a large nest in front of her. The juvenile bird hopped into the nest and chattered with the other two birds. When Vesa looked up, she stiffened at the sight of a much larger bird with white feathers on her body and red feathers on her head. This bird, likely twice Vesa's size, wore an armored vest secured with a sapphire brooch. The bird's mohawk bristled as she spread her wings, displaying her rainbow feathers tipped with metal feathers, giving her a piercing stare.
"I," Vesa stammered, "uh…"
Vesa took one step back as the large bird leaned her head forward, carefully examining the human and tilting her head sideways. Vesa tried to keep her breathing steady as she lowered the flashlight. The bird let out a call which reminded her of an eagle's back at her home planet.
"I-I was just hiding out in here," Vesa tried to explain, "I'm waiting for my friends."
The large bird didn't say anything in response. She felt the large bird projecting a sensation of ease towards her, with an undertone of caution. From what Vesa could interpret through this mental projection, the mother bird could tell she wasn't a threat. That gentle warning still lingered, so she suspected she shouldn't try pushing her luck. The bird then let out some melodic chirps as she remained in her nest, keeping an eye on the human.
"Ok," Vesa nodded with a soft smile, "good to know."
Vesa simply sat down by the nest. She turned off the flashlight before stashing it into her pocket bangle. Minutes passed as she listened in on the curious juvenile birds chirping away. The seemingly peaceful moment continued on until…
"Poyo!"
Vesa lifted her head as she spotted Kirby enter the cavern chamber, almost as if he was searching for someone.
"Kirby?" Vesa paused.
The large bird shifted her attention towards the pink puffball and chirped. When Kirby returned his gaze, his face brightened with a smile and he waved his arms happily.
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.
Vesa stood up while Kirby scampered towards the nest. Soon enough, while the pink star warrior chattered with the juvenile birds, Meta Knight and Elfilis entered the cavern chamber.
"Elfilis!" Vesa exclaimed.
Vesa sprinted towards her partner.
"Did you subdue him?" she asked.
"Yes," Elfilis nodded, "he's currently unable to do any harm so long as we keep his blade away from him and you keep your distance. Meta Knight will be holding onto both Galaxia blades for now."
Elfilis made a brief glance at the large bird, who gave them a similar mental projection.
"I just didn't imagine I'd meet a bird larger than I am," Vesa shrugged, "until now."
"I'm aware of many birds of similar size," Elfilis replied, "but like most creatures I assimilated prior to my capture…"
Elfilis lowered their head in sadness. Vesa sighed and gently grasped their hand. She shared a brief glance with Meta Knight.
"Dyna Blade is an endangered creature who migrates to Dreamland from elsewhere every year," Meta Knight explained, "I imagine Dyna Blade migrates from either Nature's Navel or Vocal Volcano."
Elfilis perked up their feelers.
"I personally don't care much for the subject," Meta Knight shrugged, "but I made a point to look into it after certain events transpired."
"What events?" Vesa paused.
Kirby turned around and hopped out of the nest, scurrying towards Vesa.
"Poyo poyo," Kirby explained, waving his arms, "hungry babies poyo. Poyo, poyo poyo."
"Not the event I was referring to," Meta Knight raised his brow, "but I suppose that's also true."
Dyna Blade gave Meta Knight an amused look for some reason. The veteran star warrior returned his gaze, no longer having any quarrel with the bird. Kirby waved his arm goodbye at Dyna Blade with a smile before he left the cavern chamber.
"Ok, take care!" Vesa called over to Dyna Blade.
Meta Knight and Elfilis exited the cave with Vesa trailing close behind. The veteran star warrior dragged along a disgruntled Dark Meta Knight by the cape. Once they met up with Kirby outside, Vesa made a glance at Meta Knight's mirror counterpart. He glared at her while his hands were tied behind his back. Kirby didn't hesitate to summon the Warp Star before he hopped on. Elfilis scooped Vesa into their arms. Meta Knight proceed to tie some string to Dark Meta Knight's leg and took off into the air, dangling his mirror counterpart underneath him. Kirby and Elfilis exchanged glances before they took off into the sky. During the flight, the ultimate life-form watched with amusement as Dark Meta Knight flailed around and shouted swears at Meta Knight.
After a while, Kirby, Meta Knight and Elfilis arrived at the entrance to the tower. The pink star warrior disembarked from the Warp Star before leading Vesa, Meta Knight and Elfilis through the courtyard. The veteran star warrior paused to think, realizing he's been acting like a bit of a jerk despite his slight catharsis. Once he landed, he untied his mirror counterpart. Dark Meta Knight gave a grumpy expression as he followed the others through the main entrance. Elfilis led the others through the foyer, making their way back to Hyness's study.
"Hey, we're back!" Vesa called.
The wizard glanced behind his shoulder, approaching Dark Meta Knight.
"Ok," Hyness declared, "here's a visual representation of the runes I need you to write on the mirror on your side."
Hyness handed Dark Meta Knight a detailed drawing of the mirror covered in runes with precisely drawn visuals of what he needed.
"It doesn't have to be perfect," Hyness continued, "it just needs to work once, then I can fix it when I move to that side."
Dark Meta Knight took a moment to examine the schematics.
"Hmmph," Dark Meta Knight huffed.
Dark Meta Knight immediately stepped into the mirror. All Vesa, Kirby, Meta Knight and Elfilis could do was wait. Before long, the mirror counterpart returned from his trip.
"It is done," he told everyone, agitated yet resigned.
"Excellent!" Hyness praised, "now I shall do my part."
Hyness entered the Dimensional Mirror. From there, Elfilis released the binds on Dark Meta Knight's magical power.
"My blade," Dark Meta Knight demanded.
Meta Knight sighed before reluctantly handing his mirror counterpart his silver Galaxia. Dark Meta Knight took a step towards the mirror before giving Vesa, Elfilis, Kirby and Meta Knight an intimidating gaze.
"You have all made a powerful enemy this day," he warned them.
Vesa shuddered as Dark Meta Knight reentered the Dimensional Mirror. The human hugged her arms to her chest, so Elfilis placed their hand on her shoulder.
"I wouldn't worry too much, he isn't strong enough to pose much of a threat to me," Elfilis tried to assure her, "he might be able to do temporary damage to my physical body, but he cannot defeat me. At most, I think he would attempt to use you as a hostage. He doesn't strike me as the kind of person to kill without reason or even particularly blood thirsty. He seems to appreciate a challenge more than anything, but he does it in pursuit of power."
Several minutes later, Hyness emerged from the Dimensional Mirror.
"All right," Hyness proclaimed, "the mirror should be repaired completely from the other side now."
"Thank you!" Vesa gave Hyness a smile.
"Either way," Elfilis commented, "I'll start preparing the tower for mirror based magic attacks should he decide to return, even if his attacks won't likely be direct."
Hyness approached Meta Knight and Kirby. Elfilis didn't hesitate as they got to work.
"I thank you for bringing Dark Meta Knight here," Hyness told Meta Knight.
Meta Knight made a mere glance at the wizard, but he didn't bother to respond.
"Anyways," Hyness continued, "you're dismissed."
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped before he darted out of the room.
Meta Knight also left the study with Vesa following close behind. Elfilis draped cloth over the Dimension Mirror and Hyness went on to create additional rooms for a makeshift prison for Dark Meta Knight.
Once Vesa and Kirby arrived in the foyer, she opened the door, allowing Meta Knight to step outside.
"I'll see you soon," Meta Knight drawled as he walked through the courtyard, making his way onto the dirt path.
Vesa and Kirby waved goodbye before the pink star warrior darted into the dining hall.
"What?" Vesa blurted, "you're hungry already?"
Kirby paused and glanced behind him.
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.
Vesa sighed and followed Kirby into the dining hall. When they entered the kitchen, they found Elfilin rummaging through the pantry.
"Poyo!" Kirby waved his arm.
Elfilin paused and glanced over his shoulder.
"Oh, hey guys!" Elfilin chirped, "I was just looking for something to eat. I can do photosynthesis now, but I think eating is still better."
Elfilin went back to searching the pantry. Kirby joined in while Vesa simply grabbed a bagel, spreading some blueberry jam on it before heading to the table. Elfilin eventually found a bag of dried apple slices. Kirby picked out a package of strawberry shortcake. While the pink star warrior and the small chinchilla sat near Vesa, Elfilis and Hyness entered the dining hall several minutes later.
"Oh!" Elfilin perked up his large ears, "heya, Elfilis!"
"Hello," Elfilis simply replied.
Elfilis started carving runes on the frame of a nearby window. Hyness soon emerged with a cup of tea in his hands. When the tall space rodent finished installing the runes in the dining hall windows, they sat down across from Vesa.
"I'll be back shortly," Elfilis told her, "I need to do the other windows."
As Elfilis stood back up, their smaller fragment finished eating the last apple slice. Elfilin immediately raced towards his sibling just as they turned to leave the room.
"W-Wait a minute!" Elfilin blurted, "can I talk to you for a moment?"
Elfilis paused and locked eyes onto the small chinchilla.
"Of course," they nodded, "you can come along."
Elfilin glanced over his shoulder as he and Kirby waved goodbye. The small chinchilla followed Elfilis out of the dining hall while Hyness sat down across from the pink star warrior. Elfilin followed his larger fragment into the living room, watching as they started engraving runes into a window.
"So what is it that you wanted to talk about?"
Elfilin let out a slow sigh, lowering his head.
"I've been thinking a lot," Elfilin admitted, "ever since that day the lab was destroyed."
Elfilis listened carefully, their feelers twitching.
"When I first met Kirby," Elfilin continued, "when we went on adventures together, I didn't think much when we explored the treasure vortexes."
Elfilin drooped his large ears and hugged his arms to his chest.
"When I think about where I came from," he added, "I feel like a heavy burden just for existing."
Elfilis blinked twice as they twitched their feelers.
"Well, you were ripping apart my soul at the time. I don't hold much animosity towards you for that," Elfilis assured him, "you wouldn't have been able to do it on your own, from what I understand of the mental challenges I concocted at the time to protect myself. Most of them required abilities you just didn't have the power to access. Kirby was uniquely suited to pass any trial I threw at him at the time."
Elfilis finished engraving runes into one window, so they started working on the next one.
"I'm recovering more of my memories as my soul slowly heals itself, and with the information I gained recently regarding these vortexes, I'm remembering more about them. I mostly blame Kirby for what happened there, but even my anger at him is dwindling by the day. The longer we talk about these subjects, the more I just want to put it behind me, to not think too hard about it," Elfilis sighed, their eyes glazing over slightly, "I don't blame you for existing, I'm mostly upset through the process of how it occurred. You're what remains of my childish side, my innocence. You are pure of heart, you don't have the memories of the experiments and torture."
Elfilin blinked as his tail swayed side to side.
"You don't have my programming that forces me to kill Dark Matter wherever I see it, and urges to explore the stars to save and assimilate creatures," Elfilis continued, "you don't have a brand on your soul that intensifies all the anger you feel and makes you lose yourself to insanity. You are a pure spirit…untainted by the world, don't let what has happened to me drag you down. Things even now are getting better, I am recovering, I have someone who I cherish with the entirety of my broken soul. Things are going well, better than they have in centuries."
Relief flooded Elfilin's mind. The small chinchilla gave his sibling an affectionate headbutt on the cheek.
"Thanks," Elfilin chirped, "maybe one day when I grow up, I could help you bring back those species you went out of your way to save?"
"Doing it wouldn't be easy," Elfilis nodded, "in theory, you might be able to piece the DNA smoothie of information we currently have together, but the experiments ruined almost everything I have access to, aside from simple creatures and simple life forms like that slime I made, and things I obtained from the Forgotten Land. Almost every creature I could've made is nearly impossible to recreate in its entirety now. Theoretically, you might be able to do it, but it would take a lot of time. I wish you luck if that's what you plan to do."
Elfilin nodded with confidence brimming in his eyes.
"Sure! I might as well get some more practice while I'm at it."
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.