Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.


Elfilis led Vesa, Osaka and Kawasaki down the castle corridor.

"Honestly," Elfilis said, "it would be best to do it in a more professional environment since I have no idea what will happen if I try to pull it out. It could be nothing. It could try to emerge and kill Kawasaki. It could turn into a creature of some kind and attempt to kill people indiscriminately. It could try to jump into a new host. Any number of things could happen. If it were a low level curse, I wouldn't be so worried. But, this was made by someone who knew what they were doing, and is thus highly dangerous."

Vesa couldn't help but shudder.

"It's located in his stomach lining," Elfilis continued, "so it's likely something he consumed directly."

Vesa focused her gaze on Kawasaki.

"Do you remember any odd dish you came across?" Vesa asked.

Elfilis concentrated their mana and immediately teleported Vesa, Osaka and Kawasaki with them. Vesa scanned her surroundings, not recognizing the place in the tower she visited before. Was it some sort of dungeon?

"This place is the best spot to fix the curse," Elfilis explained, "if it does end up turning into something, we can imprison it here and try to study it."

Kawasaki took a moment to think back about possible causes. Vesa placed a finger on her chin.

"So how does curse removal work?" she asked.

"It is a delicate procedure that for someone like you who is inexperienced with such things, you would probably need to do surgery to remove it properly," Elfilis explained, "I'm much more adept at this kind of thing, however, as Dark Matter was known to possess victims. As such, I have a heavy knowledge of breaking curses and exorcism.

Kawasaki sweated nervously.

"Curses can be broken in a number of ways. If the curse has conditions for it to work, you might be able to find a loophole," Elfilis continued, "stronger curses tend to have loopholes or conditions like that as by adding weaknesses and minor flaws, its core function can be strengthened. However, this curse isn't like that. This curse has one specific effect and seemingly no others. I assume it has loopholes in most cases. I can tell this curse was made by someone with a lot of experience and it's locked down tight. In cases like this, you need an advanced curse breaker like myself, or you need to remove the afflicted area entirely, regenerating the area afterwards if possible. I should be able to remove it with only minor potential issues. However it may take some time. I recommend finding something to do while I work as this will take a few hours."

Elfilis directed Kawasaki to a bed to lay down before they pulled out some chalk and drew a ritual circle around it. Vesa and Osaka sat down in a pair of nearby chairs.

"Well," Elfilis warned, "if you are in for a long haul, then I recommend some ear plugs since there will be a lot of screaming."

"Uhm," Kawasaki asked nervously, "can I still back out?"

"No," Elfilis shook their head, "besides, you're going to be asleep and I'll numb your pain receptors. However, you're likely going to be sore and unable to eat for the next few days and if the curse doesn't turn into a monster, you'll likely be vomiting black sludge periodically for the next few days."

Elfilis didn't hesitate as they started to sedate the orange chef.

"Hey," Kawasaki protested sleepily, "w-wait a sec—"

Vesa stiffened and checked her pocket bangle while Kawasaki passed out. Elfilis went back to writing runic symbols on the floor and even on the walls and ceiling. After some rummaging, Vesa found some earmuffs Fransisca offered her some time ago.

"This likely won't be pretty," Elfilis insisted, "this is your last chance to back away. There won't be blood, but he'll be in a lot of pain even in his sleep."

Osaka sighed before he stood up and left the room. Vesa slowly stood to her feet as she slipped the earmuffs on. Elfilis started wrapping up preparations, lighting some incense and pulling out some ink, lifting Kawasaki's apron and painting a rune just above his stomach where they intended to work. Vesa stood idly by as she checked her pocket bangle for a book related to her studies in magic. She ended up finding a book related to rituals.

"Hang in there, Kawasaki," Vesa whispered.

Elfilis pressed their hand against Kawasaki's chest and she could already tell the earmuffs were well made, as she couldn't hear a thing despite the screaming. Vesa sat back down and clutched the book to her chest. She couldn't see much apart from Kawasaki thrashing on the table and the lit up ritual circle. The lit incense's smoke seemed to swirl gently around the room in the shape of the circle as Elfilis continued.

All Vesa could do was read through the book in her hand to pass the time.

Not much changed for a while other than Kawasaki vomiting up black tar-like fluid as Elfilis assumed he would. The ultimate life-form cleaned it up with careful application of magic, storing the fluid in a large mason jar. Even Vesa grimaced at the sight of the ghastly fluid before she went to turning the page.

"Stubborn," Elfilis muttered to themself.

Elfilis did their best to carefully scrape the curse away from the orange chef. Vesa sighed as she noticed Kawasaki sweated profusely. Once an hour or two passed, a thick smoke started to emerge from his mouth, the ritual circle glowing again and pulling the smoke into the circle itself, the chalk turning a dark glowing red. Elfilis pushed Kawasaki and the bed out of the circle once it was finished and remained inside the room, waiting to see if the curse would take a physical shape. Vesa took the hint to leave the room. The last thing she wanted was for whatever the smoke was to notice and possess her instead.

It wasn't long before the creature did take shape and immediately tried to leap out, only to slam its head against a magical wall formed by the ritual circle. It clawed at the wall fruitlessly, trying to escape. Elfilis calmly approached it and grabbed it by the neck…a four-legged creature seemingly made of solid shadows with no visible eyes and its legs long and spindly like a spider. Its claws on each of its legs were clearly meant for rending flesh apart. Elfilis didn't even flinch as the creature weakened in their tight grip. After a moment, Elfilis broke the circle and exited the room, dragging the whimpering living curse with them to a cell. The ultimate life-form threw it inside and shut the cell door, while Vesa and Osaka stared in disbelief.

"He should be fine now," Elfilis informed, wiping some black goo off their hands, "he'll need to be retrained so he doesn't repeat any mistakes, but that should hopefully take a month or two."

Chef Osaka made a deep bow in response, rather speechless.

"Ah, you are most welcome," Elfilis continued.

Vesa stepped towards the entrance to the ritual room and made a brief glance at Kawasaki, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully now.

"Probably best not to wake him," Elfilis reminded her.

"Right," Vesa took a step back.

"Now I'm going to need some rest," Elfilis told Osaka, "when Kawasaki wakes up, you can tell him he can head home. He can drink as much as he wants, and at most, I would suggest you provide him with non-solid foods like soup or yogurt."


Elfilin left the tower the next day and ventured towards Kirby's house. The small chinchilla waited outside the door and waited until the pink star warrior opened it and set foot outside.

"Morning, Kirby!" Elfilin waved his paw.

"Poyo!" Kirby waved his arms.

"So what do you want to do today?" Elfilin asked eagerly, floating around his pink friend in circles.

Kirby took a moment to think.

"Poyo!" Kirby chirped, "poyo!"

"Ok!" Elfilin did a back flip.

Elfilin snickered internally, as he remembered figuring out how to change his fur color the other day. The small chinchilla followed Kirby as they traveled down the dirt path to Capupu Village. After about a twenty minute walk, they both spotted what appeared to be a large purple snail with a green shell also making his way to Capupu Village. The snail pulled a sled full of luggage with a rope. Kirby and Elfilin shared puzzled glances.

"Do you know this guy?" Elfilin asked.

"Poyo," Kirby shrugged.

The large snail seemed to ignore the both of them, even as he moved slowly compared to them considering the weight of the luggage. Elfilin floated over to the sled, blinking as he swayed his tail side to side.

"Uhh, hello?" Elfilin paused.

"Heya, squirt," the snail huffed, pulling the sled with effort, "whatcha need?"

Elfilin perked up his ears as the snail focused his gaze on him.

"You need some help?" Elfilin asked.

The snail immediately noticed Kirby stepped towards the small chinchilla.

"Well…ngh…I don't think you two would be much help here, but thanks for the offer," the snail tugged the cart ahead a little more, "besides, someone's coming to help out already. Shouldn't be too much longer…"

Elfilin placed his paw behind his head. Before long, the sound of a horn honking echoed across the village and Dedede pulled up in a jeep of some kind. Apparently, the local Waddle Dees have developed experience in mechanics after the Haltmann invasion and this was the result. Kirby and Elfilin blinked twice before rushing towards the jeep, examining it carefully.

"Whoa," Elfilin exclaimed, "that's so cool!"

"Poyo!"

"Thanks!" the penguin king chuckled, "I had this in the works for a while after the eggheads started getting' interested in the robots. That mage girl we hired says she's gonna take a look at it too eventually and see if she can't figure something out."

Kirby and Elfilin locked eyes onto Dedede as he disembarked the jeep.

"Sire!" the snail exclaimed in relief, "oh thank gods…"

"Here," Dedede offered, "lemme help ya with that."

Dedede helped haul the snail's luggage into the jeep's trunk with his incredible strength.

"You know him?" Elfilin warbled, floating over to the king.

"Yup, he's a childhood pal'a mine," Dedede explained.

"Nice to meetcha kids," the snail greeted, still a bit out of breath, "name's Escargon."

"Hired him on as a member of my advisors," Dedede added, "everyone else is a bit too friendly and up front. As much as I like bein' that way, I also need someone who can help me with other ideas of more questionable morality."

"Wait, that's what I'm here for!?" Escargon exclaimed, "I knew I was supposed to be your advisor, but I didn't know I was gonna be the local scumbag!"

"Well it's what you're good at!" Dedede laughed heartily, "I had most'a that knocked out'a me a while back, so now I need some expert opinions! Besides, the castles a lot nicer than where you were stayin'."

Dedede gave Escargon a clap on the shell while the snail just grumbled to himself a little. Kirby shrugged before approaching Escargon and offered his arm.

"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.

"Nice to meetcha, kid," Escargoon sighed, shaking Kirby's arm, "oh, momma's going to be disappointed."

Elfilin floated around the snail.

"My name's Elfilin," the chinchilla chirped, "and this is my friend Kirby!"

"Well, it was nice to meet you kids," Escargon joked, "I need to get this stuff back to the castle and help his highness. Hopefully, I can help him make some good policy decisions. Although, since I'm apparently here just to make the selfish decisions, I suggest raising taxes. Cappies have had it too good for too long."

Dedede and Escargon hopped into the jeep. Kirby and Efilin didn't hesitate as they both hopped into the back seats.

"Oh yeah," Escargon commented, "you guys were also coming this way, weren't ya?"

"Poyo!"

"You guys are welcome to come along for the ride, no worries!" Dedede smiled.

Dedede began driving the jeep up the streets of Capupu Village.

"Sire," Escargon asked, eyeing the king's crest on the steering wheel, "what even is this logo you're using? It looks like a rabbit and you're a giant flightless bird."

"What'cha mean?" Dedede jested, "it's a peace sign, like two fingers makin' the symbol!"

"I don't see it," Escargoon bickered, "I think you need to get your head examined."

"Well, your first comment ain't true anyway!" Dedede joked, "I can fly! Heh, not so flightless anymore!"

The drive lasted a while until the jeep arrived at the castle courtyard.

"Oh," Dedede paused, "sorry boys, did you need to get dropped off in town?"

"Nah," Elfilin answered, "we'll just play Hide and Seek here. We're off to decide who's it and has to do the counting."

"Poyo!" Kirby added.

Kirby and Elfilin disembarked the jeep. Escargon waited until the pink star warrior and the small chinchilla disappeared into the gardens.

"Hmm," Escargon asked Dedede, "so that little pink thing's Kirby, right?"

"Yup, that's him," Dedede nodded.

"And he's some kind of little prodigy hero?" Escargon rubbed his beard.

"Mmhmm, whatcha thinkin' about?"

"Maybe," Escargon suggested, "we could help train him up some more? I dunno, it's just that he looks so soft and puntable. Doesn't look like he can do much at all. I'm not super confident in my chances with that little marshmallow being our only line of defense other than this Meta Knight guy I heard about."

"Well," Dedede remarked, "we've got those mages and the Waddle Dees, but I get your point. Kirby's a tough nut to crack, so I don't think he'd get womped too easily. Then again, them enemies we've been fighting have only been getting' stronger."

"So my thoughts are trying to train him up a bit," Escargon clarified, "get him ready to fight whatever the next big problem is. I want that little gumdrop to have a six pack before I'm comfortable trusting him to save the planet."

"Well, how would we go about doin' that?" Dedede thought carefully, "it's not like we can just summon a monster for him to clobber."


If you remember Escargoon from Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, his Japanese name is Escargon, so I'm going with that.

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.