Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.


Vesa and Fecto Elfilis returned to Castle Dedede the next day with Kirby and Elfilin accompanying them. Along the way to Capupu Village, they ran into Marx and Magolor, who were traversing towards the intersection from a separate path.

"Oh!" Vesa blurted, waving her hand, "morning, Magolor!"

"Good morning, guys!" Magolor waved back.

Magolor and Marx joined up with the others as they all traveled down the dirt path. Entering Capupu Village, they meandered down the streets.

"So how's the wedding planning going for you?" Elfilin asked.

"So far, things are going well!" Magolor chirped, "the entire thing isn't going to cost much either. Some people Marx used to work with were willing to sponsor almost the whole thing, in fact."

Kirby gave Marx a puzzled look as they turned a corner.

"Poyo?"

Marx rolled on the beach ball as he followed the others close behind.

"Yeah," Marx admitted happily, "I used to do work for them for a while. Though, after the boss came down with a nasty case of death, the company dissolved and I was left to my own devices!"

They passed by a library, where Vesa noticed an elderly mailman Cappy depositing some envelopes into a nearby mailbox.

"On my way out," Marx continued, "I snagged as many documents as I could, including the last known location of the Lor Starcutter. Magolor and I became magical pen-pals after trading the document in exchange for information on Nova."

Elfilin placed his paw behind his head.

"But yeah, I guess they are kind of responsible for my creation," Marx added, "I'm kind of the result of heavy experimentation, dark magic, purified madness, and fusing two creatures together. Although, that last part is how kids are normally made, I'm pretty sure, so I'm not that different."

Soon enough, they exited Capupu Village. Elfilis led the others up the hill until they arrived at the entrance to Castle Dedede.

"Good morning," Vesa waved to the Waddle Dees, "is Zan Partizanne available?"

The Waddle Dees nodded before opening the door and ushering the guests inside. They waddled off towards the tower with Vesa, Elfilis, Kirby, Elfilin, Marx and Magolor following close behind. They stopped at the entrance to the tower and waited until the mechanical door opened. Inside, Zan Partizanne glanced at the visitors from her desk while fiddling with some sort of magic reader, a kind of device that would let a novice see magic on the visible spectrum.

"Welcome back," she greeted.

Vesa nodded and stepped inside.

"So how are you doing this morning?" she asked, "I hope to practice my telekinesis today."

"I'm doing fine," Zan muttered, "just…thinking about some old memories. I don't want to talk about it."

Elfilis twitched their feelers.

"I understand that feeling," Elfilis replied.

Zan put away the device and approached the entrance.

"Ready to get to work?" Zan asked Elfilis.

"I'm ready," Elfilis nodded.

Zan Partizanne emerged from the tower, closing the door behind her. The thunder mage led Elfilis, Vesa, Kirby, Elfilin, Marx and Magolor down the hallway.

"So what's this about treasure?" Marx inquired, rolling a bit closer.

Zan narrowed her eyes at the jester.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about, jester," she snapped.

Marx pouted and blew a raspberry.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Magolor assured her with a nervous chuckle.

Turning at a corner, Zan led the others to the entrance leading to the throne room. Once inside, they noticed Escargon, Bandee, Meta Knight, Sir Parlam and Lady Merim gathering around King Dedede. Fumu and Bun simply stood on the sidelines.

"It looks like they're having a meeting," Zan whispered, "we'll go in quickly and inform the king before leaving to do our jobs."

Zan Partizanne turned her gaze to Magolor.

"You," she pointed at Magolor, "keep the jester here and out of the way."

Magolor sighed and nodded.

"I will," he proclaimed, "we'll wait until the king's available for discussion of our wedding venue."

"Very well."

"Oh, come on!" Marx whined, "can't we just have the discussion with the king now?!"

Zan pointed at the jester.

"The answer is no," Zan narrowed her eyes, "wait…your…turn!"

Marx blew another raspberry at the thunder mage, causing the crafty mage to sweat nervously.

Zan Partizanne led Vesa, Elfilis, Kirby and Elfilin into the throne room, approaching the king's side. Sir Parlum ranted about the lack of a proper meeting room while the two kids stared in boredom. Meta Knight didn't do anything more than just make a brief glance at the lightning mage. He nodded at her, so Zan made her approach to the treasury, where Sword Knight and Blade Knight stood at attention. The two knights stepped aside, so Zan opened the door and entered the treasury. Kirby and Elfilin stayed behind while Vesa and Elfilis followed the lightning mage inside. The pink star warrior and the small chinchilla turned to sprint towards Fumu and Bun and started chattering with them.

Zan Partizanne didn't hesitate as she immediately got to work.

"Let's see," Zan said to herself, "where to start."

The large room they stood in had been organized. Large chests filled with gold stood neatly in one section. Shelves holding golden objects were secured on the walls. Various paintings adorned the walls, mainly consisting of penguins or other birdlike beings. Several jewelry cases sat on a table. An umbrella stand at a corner held staves, canes and umbrellas. Several weapon racks lined up another section, covered in swords, daggers, axes, a couple bows and a morning star. Elfilis fixated their eyes on a glass case with an artifact they recognized. They remembered having a hand in its construction, splitting a star into three separate ones with their spatial magic, even if the rest of the artifact was derivative of the Star Rod. How did it end up here?

As they inspected the treasury, Vesa kept her hands clutched to her chest while huddling closer to Elfilis.

"That's the Triple Star, isn't it?" Zan mentioned, approaching the case and inspecting it from outside the glass.

"I believe so," Elfilis nodded, their feelers perking up, "it's amazing how so many of our powerful artifacts find their way here."

Elfilis lowered their head.

"Honestly," they admitted, "I consider it a bit…frightening."

Elfilis began thinking of why these powerful weapons were showing up. There could be endless possibilities really. Perhaps there might be an oncoming time when the planet would begin drawing in any means to defend itself, or maybe higher powers were at play?

"And you don't have the means to make more of them these days?" Vesa tilted her head sideways.

"We could make more," Elfilis corrected, "but such a task could take several years, even back home. Here? It would probably take at least a decade to make something of middling quality. We simply don't have the proper tools or manpower to make them."

Elfilis paused for a moment.

"Back at home," they continued, "there were several nearby stars we would siphon power from. They didn't provide much actual power, but the symbiology is essential for giving something like this the power of the star."

Vesa placed a finger on her chin. Her eyes wandered as they examined the contents on a nearby shelf. Several different chests, boxes and different artifacts lined the shelf. She lowered her head and examined her palms. Meanwhile, Elfilis began detecting various cursed items, like a red spear which radiated with bloodlust. Vesa noticed as her partner's feelers perked up.

"Elfilis?"

Elfilis blinked and focused their eyes on her.

"Yes?"

"Is there a table here we can use to sort out cursed artifacts?" she asked them.

"I can make one," Elfilis advised, "although you should probably stay back and not touch anything."

"Not even telekinesis can protect me?" Vesa paused.

Elfilis shook their head before they produced a table. The ultimate life-form glanced at a lamp, and used their superior senses to confirm a malicious djinn kept inside. Vesa sighed in disappointment before she settled near the entrance. Her partner twirled around the cursed spear a little, sensing the semi-sentience radiating from it, eager for bloodshed. As much as it was a good weapon, made from some kind of magical wood and enchanted with runes, they figured it would reject a user deemed too unskilled. They put it back on the rack and began working their way through a jewelry box filled with cursed rings. Elfilis went on to break curses on each ring, including one particularly malicious curse which slowly corrupted the user over time and clouded their mind with greed.

Zan, observing her sibling doing their diligent work, jotted down notes.

After an hour passed, the table held a large pile of different artifacts which have been repaired, though there were some which Elfilis didn't have the resources needed to fix completely without destroying them. They might want to ask the king's permission to take these artifacts home for study or secure them in a safer location. For now, they decided to simply leave the spear behind, leaving behind a note warning anyone to not touch it.

Elfilis nodded at Vesa before they both followed Zan out into the throne room. By then, Meta Knight, Sir Parlam and Lady Merim had already left. Kirby and Elfilin were playing a game of hide and seek with Fumu and Bun. Bandee approached the entrance to greet Marx and Magolor.

"Hey hey hey, it's you again," Marx asked, "I think you were also part of that whole giant alliance thing we all did, right?"

"That's right," Bandee saluted, "so what brings you here today?"

"We're here to do wedding stuff," Marx explained, "I wasn't really paying attention."

Magolor placed his hand on his chest.

"To be more precise," Magolor clarified, "we'd like to check in with Dedede on the venue for our wedding."

"Oh yeah, that stuff."

Bandee nodded and gestured the mage and the jester into the throne room.

"Right this way," he advised, "and do behave yourselves."

"No promises," Marx remarked in a singsong voice.

Marx and Magolor followed Bandee into the throne room, approaching the penguin king. Escargon gave the jester a bewildered look.

"Sire? I didn't think you had a court jester," Escargon gave Dedede a confused look.

"Yup," Dedede snarked, "just hired one the other day and his name is Escargon."

While Escargon folded his arms, Marx narrowed his eyes.

"Hey! I was a great court jester, you know?" Marx griped.

"For all of four days before you started causing mayhem!" Dedede reminded, pointing at Marx.

"Oh, wow," Magolor gasped, "that long?"

Magolor was rather impressed as far as Marx having control of himself and not doing things impulsively went. Vesa and Elfilis exchanged glances while Zan Partizanne placed her hand under her chin. Magolor took a deep breath.

"We decided to have our wedding on Halcandra," Magolor declared, "it has some emotional significance to me and it was the place I really turned myself around for the better."

Elfilis twitched their feelers, reluctant to ever return to Halcandra and wanting to keep their home in their memory as it was.

"Halcandra?" Escargon paused.

Elfilin peeked out from a pillar.

"It's the home planet of the Ancients," Magolor explained, "they're largely responsible for most of the more important magical artifacts that currently exist. If my guess is right, then they might've even been the first people to arrive on Popstar."

Fumu and Bun also paused in their game of hide and seek. It didn't help that Kirby tagged Elfilin.

"Well, that's certainly interesting," Escargon commented, "what's the area like? If the planet is destroyed, is it even possible to hold a wedding there? It doesn't sound like it would be able to support an atmosphere or even have gravity at that point."

Vesa, Zan, Elfilis, Magolor, Dedede and Bandee gazed at Escargon in slight shock.

"What's with the looks?" Escargon barked, "I do astronomy as a hobby!"

"Well," Bandee mentioned, "the king, Sir Meta Knight, Kirby and I have been to Halcandra before."

"So how was it?" Escargon asked, "freezing, I imagine, unless the planet's core was still warm enough."

"Well, it was fine when we went last and I can't imagine it changed much," Magolor answered, "the ambient mana in the air is working as a kind of pseudo atmosphere. For anyone without magic, going there would be fatal for sure. Of course, all of you have magic enough that it shouldn't be an issue, even if you can't use it. The air might feel a bit humid and thick, is all."

"Good to know," Vesa blurted.

Dedede raised a brow, perching one hand on the throne's arm.

"Well," Dedede shrugged, "there are worse places you could've picked, I guess."

"Excellent!" Magolor clapped his hands together, "now we can focus on the decorations and the food!"

Kirby's eyes lit up upon hearing the last word in Magolor's sentence.

"Poyo?!" Kirby couldn't help but drool from his mouth.

Marx's eyes also lit up for similar reasons, being just as ravenous as Kirby.

"Uhm," Magolor stammered, "Marx?"

Marx snapped out of his thoughts.

"Anyways," Magolor continued, "thank you so much for your audience, Your Majesty."

"Same here," Marx added, "something something."

Zan and Dedede exchanged nods before the lightning mage gestured Vesa and Elfilis to follow her out of the throne room. Kirby and Elfilin led Fumu and Bun as they followed suit. As Magolor turned to leave, Marx paused for a moment.

"By the way," Marx smirked, "I brought back a souvenir."

Reaching into his pocket dimension with his wing, Marx pulled out a brochure and handed it to Dedede. The penguin and the snail gave the jester a puzzled look. Escargon opened his mouth, but…

"What is it?" Marx interrupted before Escargon got a chance to ask, "it's a pamphlet."

Marx glanced at Dedede like he just asked the dumbest question, making the king even more glad he fired the jester.

"Holy Nightmare Enterprises, huh?" Dedede muttered.

Dedede opened the brochure and read through it. Escargon also got a brief glimpse of the contents, but he still grimaced as the jester made creepy giggles.


In case you're wondering, Holy Nightmare Enterprises is just a mashup of Holy Nightmare and Nightmare Enterprises from the Kirby anime.

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.