Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Elfilis met up with Fransisca in the library the following morning. They both sat down in lounge chairs facing each other.
"So," Fransisca asked, "how are you doing today?"
"I'm doing…ok," Elfilis admitted, "I'm still not pleased with Kirby over his part in stealing the fragments of my broken and at the time still mending soul. However, it has been long enough that I'm starting to simmer a bit more."
"I see," Fransisca nodded, "how well have you fared in your interactions with your brother?"
"I feel like they're going well," Elfilis raised their brow, "and you don't need to talk about him like he isn't your brother, too."
Fransisca let out a half-hearted chuckle.
"But I suppose it's going alright," Elfilis continued, "I don't feel the urge to assimilate him back into my soul anymore. My own healing will take time, but I might've recently found a shortcut…maybe. I'm not entirely sure if I should attempt anything with it, however. Currently, I'm a little over three-quarters who I used to be, with Elfilin being my remaining quarter. I might be able to mix myself with this new idea. The Dreamstalk has some peculiar fruits that seem to affect the soul, so I feel like it might be able to assist my recovery decades ahead of schedule."
Fransisca raised her eyebrows as she kept taking notes.
"So when did you go to investigate the Dreamstalk?" she asked, "yesterday?"
"Yes, just before the party," Elfilis nodded, "I'm hopeful that this will assist in my own self repair. However, I'm aware it's also risky on the highest levels. To test it, I would need to find someone else with a shattered soul willing to undergo the treatment, and I would never shatter the soul of another being on purpose. Currently, the plan I could think of is to experiment a little in small doses."
While Elfilis thought back to Leongar, Fransisca took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Well," she asked, "do you feel comfortable talking to our father about it?"
Elfilis twitched their feelers and placed a finger on their lower jaw.
"I plan to," they answered, "it's not something I planned on hiding at all."
Fransisca nodded in agreement.
"Then I'm sure to hope your endeavor goes well," she said.
"I hope so, too," Elfilis sighed, "because I dread to think of the consequences of it not going well."
After a moment of silence, Fransisca gave Elfilis a gentle pat on the head, eliciting soft purrs out of them.
"So," Fransisca suggested, "why don't we schedule our next session a couple weeks from now?"
"Thank you, sis," Elfilis nodded, "take care."
Elfilis and Fransisca left the library and parted ways. Elfilis made their way to the training arena where Vesa and Flamberge were waiting, the former clad in her apprentice robes.
"I see you are dressed appropriately," Elfilis commented with some mirth in their voice.
Vesa smiled sheepishly and clasped her hands behind her back.
"Thank you," she said.
Vesa and Elfilis made a brief glance towards Flamberge.
"So are you ready to start?" Elfilis asked, "this should be fairly easy for you."
"I'm ready," Vesa answered.
"Great!" Flamberge chirped excitedly, bouncing on as the grass around her started to blacken at the tips, "so first things first, I'll help you out by demonstrating the spell!"
Vesa watched as Flamberge put her hands out and ignited one of the fires. She held herself back even if it was clear she wanted to rush the lesson.
"So," Vesa clarified, more to herself, "that shouldn't be hard."
"Hopefully, it won't be," Flamberge elaborated, "the spell can be scaled up for more effect. The more magic you push into it, the bigger the fire can get, but it can get harder to control. It can be used as a weapon and it works as a just in case tool."
Vesa put one foot forward and held out her hand, aiming it at an unlit brazier as she concentrated her mana. Flamberge took a step back as Vesa took a few deep breaths, clearing her mind. Within a few minutes, tiny embers started igniting from her fingertips. Those tiny embers slowly grew into a small flame in a matter of a minute. Elfilis perked up their feelers as they sensed something odd.
"Enough," Elfilis instructed, "you did the spell properly, but it seems that whatever your affinity is, it's interfering with your spell."
Vesa snapped out of her thoughts and extinguished the flame in her hand, tilting her head towards Elfilis.
"You're burning a lot of mana doing that," Elfilis reminded her, "and you'll tire yourself if you keep pushing it."
"Is it because I'm not used to it yet?" Vesa lowered her head.
Elfilis approached Vesa and took a moment to examine her.
"I'm not sure," they admitted, "part of me is assuming your affinity might be fighting against it."
Vesa lifted her head and gazed into her partner's eyes.
"You can still learn it," Elfilis continued, "but it'll certainly be harder."
"Ok," Vesa nodded slowly, "are we still continuing the lesson, by the way? It would be a bummer if we ended it early."
"We can," Elfilis answered, "I suppose this is a good segue into discovering your affinity."
Elfilis placed their hands on the ground and grew a table, pulling out a deck of cards from their pocket dimension.
"The process is pretty simple and slightly esoteric in nature," Elfilis continued, "it helps figuring out more simple affinities. Though, the more complex an affinity is, the harder it is for this method to work."
Vesa walked up to the table and picked up a card, carefully examining it. The instant she noticed the label "Death", she quickly put it back down. She didn't know anything about Tarot cards, but it sounded bad to her.
"This kind of magic, divination, was debated back home," Elfilis added, "but it's one of the best ways to find an affinity. The meaning of cards is obscure at times, and I hope I'm not too rusty at divining the present and sometimes the past."
Elfilis took the card Vesa pulled, putting it back into the deck and shuffling the cards. Vesa placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head sideways.
"Now, are you ready?" Elfilis asked her.
Vesa thought about the question for a moment before she nodded.
"Then let us begin."
The world around them suddenly seemed to grow quiet, birds no longer chirping, the wind seeming to stop blowing all together, and the light from the sun seeming to get less intense. Elfilis drew the first card and laid it on the table.
"The World," Elfilis said, "it means fulfillment, harmony, completion, integration, travel and unity."
Vesa blinked slowly as she examined the card before her. Elfilis pulled out another card and set it in front of her, which had the image of a stylized Star.
"The Star," Elfilis continued, "the symbol of hope, renewal, creativity, inspiration, generosity and healing."
Vesa raised her eyebrows upon hearing the last word. Her mind immediately recalled the decision she made during her final day in Lab Discovera, while never being able to see her family again was the price she had to pay, it was still the reason why she was still alive and why she had been healed.
The next card Elfilis drew and set on the table, which read "Tower", faced them this time.
"The Tower," Elfilis fluttered their feelers anxiously, "this card represents intense and sudden change, release, painful loss, tragedy and revelation. It is reversed, however, which means resisting change, avoiding tragedy, a narrow escape, delaying what is inevitable."
Elfilis began to get a small headache. Vesa lowered her head, examining her palms. Her partner pulled another card.
"Temperance," they said, "the card representing balance, moderation, good health, cooperating with others, and finding solutions."
Vesa glanced over her shoulder, exchanging a brief glance with Flamberge for a few seconds.
"All right," Elfilis let out a soft breath, "we are finished with this deck. We still have another one to draw from, however."
Elfilis pulled out a second, larger deck and started to shuffle the cards.
Vesa glanced around in search of a chair. Elfilis created one in a matter of seconds, so Vesa sat down across from them.
"Now let's start," Elfilis proclaimed.
Elfilis drew a card from the Minor Arcana.
"The three of Pentacles," Elfilis continued, "a card meaning teamwork, focused effort, and mastery. It's looking more like your affinity is something centered around support of some kind."
"Oh?" Vesa blurted.
Elfilis drew another card.
"The nine of cups," Elfilis stated with intrigue, "meaning wishes coming true, fulfilled dreams and prosperity."
Vesa perched her arms on the table, staring with keen interest. Elfilis pulled another card, the headache starting to get worse.
"Seven of cups," Elfilis continued, "meaning an abundance of options, choices and opportunities."
Vesa noticed the discomfort in Elfilis's eyes, and her face made a worried expression. They drew again.
"King of wands," they added, "meaning protective, innovative, inspiring and magnetic."
Vesa shifted her hands until her palms lay flat on the table, ready to soothe Elfilis if needed.
"Ok, that's all of them," Elfilis's voice cracked slightly, making a sound which was almost like static.
Vesa and Flamberge winced slightly as they heard the crack in their heads.
"Are…you all right?" Vesa asked.
"I'll be fine when we finish here," Elfilis tried to reassure her, "channeling the planet through your mind when you don't have the appropriate talent for it is…stressful."
Vesa let out a soft sigh while Flamberge approached her from behind. The fire mage offered her hand, allowing Vesa to gently grasp it.
"Here goes," Elfilis muttered to themself.
Elfilis began to channel the planet again, trying to figure out what parts of each card were applicable to their girlfriend, which parts weren't accurate, and what was vaguely true. At that point, they felt parts of their fur start to turn back to its liquid state. Soon enough, they seemed to have come to a conclusion, but the dark spots in their vision brought them to the verge of passing out. The world around them seemed to come back into focus as they suddenly fell over onto the table, eliciting a startled yelp out of Vesa. Flamberge examined her sibling for a quick moment, liquid more visible on the surface of their body and their face resting in a puddle of their dripping biomass.
"I think they'll be ok," Flamberge told her, "they're just strained, and their body is giving out a little. They just need some time to rest."
"O-Ok," Vesa stammered.
As Vesa slowly approached her partner, Flamberge noticed Elfilin flying into the training arena with an envelope in his paws. The fire mage silently gestured him to shoo for now. The small chinchilla drooped his ears and sighed as he turned for the door. Vesa took note of the envelope in his paws.
"I'll be with you in a minute," Vesa told Elfilin, "is that ok?"
"Ok," Elfilin nodded sheepishly before heading back inside.
Vesa turned towards Elfilis, exchanging glances with Flamberge.
"You wanna help me get Elfilis to their bed?" she asked the fire mage.
"Should we use gloves?" Flamberge mentioned, "they're kinda sticky and gooey all over the place."
"Do you have some?" Vesa raised her eyebrows.
Flamberge took a moment to reach into her pocket dimension and handed a pair of gloves to Vesa, allowing her to slide them on.
"Oh, wait," Flamberge blurted, "I have a better idea!"
Flamberge scooped up Elfilis and placed them in her pocket dimension.
"But how?!" Vesa warbled, "how did you manage that?! They're larger than you!"
"Well, the better you get at it," Flamberge mused, "the more things you can put into it, and the bigger those things can be. Technically, Elfilis is probably bigger than the planet, given that most of their biomass is kept in their pocket dimension, so if we're going by your logic, there's probably nothing that they can't pocket."
Vesa gave Flamberge a puzzled look before they left the training arena. They made their way to Elfilis's room. The fire mage withdrew Elfilis and set them onto their bed. After that, she shook her hands around a little.
"Eww, so sticky," Flamberge muttered.
Flamberge lit her hands on fire to get rid of the goo on them.
"Maybe I should've let you wear the gloves instead," Vesa remarked, folding her arms.
"Maybe," Flamberge still shook her hands a little, "it's always gross to be covered in another person, ick!"
Vesa somehow got the unintentional mental reminder of that one time when Hyness and the Mage Sisters went crazy for a while and wrecked havoc until Kirby put a stop to them. Vesa crouched near the bed and her eyes softened at the sight of Elfilis still resting.
"Please take care, Elfilis," she whispered.
Vesa left Elfilis's room with Flamberge following close behind and wandered a little until she found Elfilin in the foyer.
"Elfilin?" Vesa called over.
The small chinchilla perked up his large ears and floated towards Vesa.
"H-Heya," Elfilin replied, seemingly uncertain as to what happened, "seems like things aren't going great?"
"I think it'll be a while before Elfilis wakes up," Vesa shrugged, gesturing to the envelope, "what you got there?"
Elfilin checked the envelope still in his paws before handing it to Vesa.
"Well," Elfilin explained, "Magolor told me he was inviting us to his and Marx's wedding. He said you, Kirby, Elfilis, Hyness, Fransisca, Zan, Flamberge and I are all invited."
Vesa opened the envelope and took a moment to read the invitation.
"Oh," Vesa commented, "that's two months from now."
"I guess we have some time, then," Elfilin giggled nervously, "I dunno why, but for some reason, I thought it would be sooner."
Vesa smiled softly and scratched behind Elfilin's ears. The small chinchilla let out a happy purr, leaning into the touch.
"Well," Vesa suggested, "while we wait for Elfilis to wake up, why don't we do a jigsaw puzzle?"
"Sure!" Elfilin chirped, doing a back flip, "that sounds fun!"
Vesa led Elfilin to the game room and grabbed a jigsaw puzzle box from the shelf.
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