Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Vesa watched Fecto Elfilis open up a portal before they scooped her into their arms. She tightly wrapped her arms around them just as they took off. It took them only a moment to arrive in White Wafers. The tall angelic rodent sensed the frigid and dry air. Shortly after Elfilis set her onto the ground, Vesa pulled up her scarf until it covered her nose and mouth. She then surveyed her surroundings, taking note of trees dotting the area which had snow of differing colors covering their leaves. Patches of ice were exposed among the snow and when she got a closer look at the ice, she observed hexagon patterns which seemed to form naturally. She recognized the wafer shaped rocks dotting the snowy terrain, but they were blue and also had hexagonal patterns formed into them.
"Not unlike Marx's wings," Elfilis commented idly, observing the crystalline structures.
Vesa gave Elfilis an inquisitive look as they both strolled down the snowy terrain. A flock of Ceruleans glided over a nearby igloo and circled a tree covered in snow colored like a stack of ice cream. A herd of Nruffs raced past a few Bouncies. A Waddle Dee bundled up in a thick fleece coat beckoned a Broom Hatter into another igloo. As the tall alien rodent and their girlfriend continued their scenic walk, Vesa noticed a Chilly circling a small hole in the patch of ice. She peered carefully from a distance for a brief moment until a white snowy sphere with a face popped out and floated midair.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed.
Elfilis watched with interest as the creature then flew back into the ground, a few more following suit in a similar manner. Already, the ultimate life-form began pondering if those white creatures were magical in nature or had some biology to them. After a moment, Vesa shifted her gaze towards her partner.
"Do you know what they are called?" Vesa asked.
Elfilis lowered their head with a sigh.
"I'm not familiar with them at all, I'm afraid," Elfilis admitted, "I imagine they're a snow elemental of some variety."
Vesa shrugged before she approached a nearby ice patch, carefully treading along to avoid slipping. She peered carefully until she found a small hole with steady puffs of air fuming out. She rummaged through her pocket bangle to find a net or something similar, but she had no luck. Still, Elfilis curiously tilted their head.
"Do you want one?" they asked her.
Vesa paused before she snapped her head towards Elfilis.
"A-Actually," she corrected, "I wanted to help give you a chance to study one up close."
Elfilis couldn't help but blush.
"Oh," they blurted, "well, I appreciate it, but you don't need to go so far."
Vesa and Elfilis returned their gaze towards the icy fumarole until another snowy sphere popped out. Using a minor application of telekinesis, the tall alien rodent gently grasped it. The spherical creature didn't react much as Elfilis examined it closely.
"I believe it's a full elemental," Elfilis observed, "you can tell because it's so cold for one, but also due to its low intelligence. There's no panic; it barely understands what's going on. It does seem to be sentient enough to have original thoughts and even think with words, but I believe that wild deer are smarter than this creature."
Vesa placed a finger on her chin.
"I see," she commented.
After a moment, Elfilis released the spherical elemental and watched it pop back into the fumarole. Vesa grasped on to their hand as they both walked off the ice patch. From there, they approached one of the trees. Standing near the trunk, Vesa took note of the solitary leaves sticking out from the ice-cream-like snow coating the tree. She took note of a Snowl perching atop the tree. She glanced over her shoulder and observed several Poppy Bros. Jr's competing in a snowball fight from a distance. One of them juggled unlit bombs, which wasn't too out of the ordinary. A Lanzer acted as the referee while a crowd of Chillies and Waddle Dees cheered on for their favorite opposing teams.
"They sure look like they're having fun," Vesa smiled, "don't you think?"
"I suppose," Elfilis shrugged, "it's a little cold out, so I'm honestly surprised some of them are still out here."
Vesa took a moment to adjust her scarf when she spotted a pop flower with bulbs shaped into a diamond. Crouching slightly, she brushed along her hand until the pop flower opened up into hexagonal petals, spawning two bowls of hot soup.
"Oh," she gasped, "I forgot to pack lunch, yet I got so lucky here!"
Elfilis perked up their feelers as Vesa retrieved one bowl of soup.
"Well," they agreed, "they do draw upon Popstar's natural affinity for dreams for such a process."
Vesa handed the other bowl of soup to Elfilis as they both took a few seconds to examine them. Both bowls had potato soup, consisting of ham, mushrooms and onions to add to the protein. Vesa lowered her scarf before she readied the spoon she had also been provided. The tall alien rodent gently sipped at the soup, not minding the taste. Vesa also took a sip of her soup and savored the flavor and warmth it offered. As they continued to eat their soups, they felt gradually more energized with each sip.
Well, Vesa felt more replenished than Elfilis did, anyway.
Several minutes later, they both finished their soups, so Vesa stashed the empty bowls into her pocket bangle. While they both went back to strolling in the snowy fields, she held her hands to her chest as she focused on ignoring her mana within her, mentally reaching out for any external mana in the air. Well, the mana in the air felt "chilly", for lack of a better word, its energy suffusing the area. Elfilis wanted to remind her that she shouldn't pull any of the outside mana into herself.
Fortunately, they didn't need to as Vesa snapped out of her thoughts, having stopped sensing the frigid mana. She quickly tilted her head to her left as a Needlous barely outran a large snowman which just fell over.
"A snowman!" Vesa chirped, clapping her hands together, "I wonder if I can use the magic I learned to make one."
Elfilis perked up their feelers.
"Potentially," Elfilis replied, "remind me, what spells do you feel you're most proficient in?"
Vesa took a moment to think as she pulled her scarf back over her mouth and nose.
"I've practiced my healing spells," Vesa recalled, "my barrier spell, my ice, water and wind augment spells, my rust removal spell, my enchantments and my telekinesis."
Vesa pulled out her wand.
"Maybe if I build plenty of snowmen here," Vesa proposed with a wink, "how about we see who can smash the most of them?"
Elfilis placed a finger on their lower jaw as they flexed their wings.
"Perhaps putting a barrier around a large section of snow would create a good snowman," they suggested.
Vesa nodded in agreement as she held out her wand, concentrating her mana into it. She conjured a magical barrier in a matter of seconds within the mound of snow. Elfilis sat on the ground in a cross-legged position as she then shrank the barrier. In turn, dozens of snowballs rolled themselves along the ground, expanding in size. The medium sized snowballs stacked themselves on top of the larger snowballs and then the smallest snowballs stacked atop of them. With another flick of her wand, the barrier dissipated hence the snowmen were complete.
Well, they didn't have any eyes.
"Here," Elfilis rose to their full height and approached their girlfriend, "let me show you something."
With a brief flex of their power, they made a large bucket out of chitin and blue dye, along with a pair of dark wood chips shaped into ovals.
"Take this one and place it on its head," Elfilis suggested, "as well as these."
Elfilis held out the bucket and wooden chips. Plucking them out of their hands, Vesa approached one of the snowmen she created and placed the bucket on top of the small section. She then plastered the wooden chips slightly beneath the bucket to make the eyes. Elfilis gently took her hand and pushed a trickle of magic into her, encouraging her to spread it out across the snowman. Vesa watched as the decorated snowman turned its head slightly.
"Notice how quickly the magic we have become attuned to ice and frost? This is a minor ritual, most snowman making is. They can come into being naturally without any intervention, or normal snowmen may change on their own as well. This Chilly we made ourselves, however, it is likely this will become a very powerful Elemental in time who will protect the area," they explained, "many small actions that are performed often enough can have power, such as making a snowman. What people are doing is they're making a fake person, and over time, that action gains power. If enough magic is in an area, it can create an elemental like this one, or if a man-made snowman is in contact with magic, it could become a Chilly just like this one."
"That's so cool!" Vesa smiled.
"Thank you," Elfilis replied as they perked up their feelers, "many rituals have great power, even if you aren't aware of it."
Elfilis placed a finger on their lower jaw.
"On a related note," they added, "do not infuse magic into gingerbread shaped like people. It never ends well."
Vesa placed her hand behind her head.
"I'll keep that in mind," she proclaimed.
"Good," Elfilis added, "the one time father tried that, we found him tied to the kitchen table about to be ritually sacrificed."
Vesa grimaced as a mental image of Hyness being tied to a table with a sentient gingerbread person holding a sacrificial dagger formed in her head.
"Well," she blurted, lowering her head, "I wonder how shaken he was over that situation."
"He walked away fine and most of Halcandra have pretty thick skin about that kind of thing," Elfilis shrugged, "honestly, any experiment you can walk away from with magic is a good experiment."
While Elfilis lowered their head, Vesa turned her gaze towards the newly sentient snowman as it glanced around its surroundings.
"It will soon begin to make a home for itself somewhere nearby, I imagine," Elfilis observed.
Vesa nodded in agreement as she brought her wand closer to her chest.
"Now," Vesa reminded, "about the other snowmen…"
"Hmm," Elfilis mentioned, "it might be best to move this Chilly out of here first."
Upon cue, Vesa turned around and gave the Chilly a gentle push. Elfilis picked it up and teleported it to one of the colder areas of the region, gave it a pat on its head and returned to their girlfriend's side.
"That's all taken care of now," Elfilis said, "apologies, I had wanted to educate you a little bit before you began your target practice."
Vesa tilted her head.
"Aren't you going to join in?" Vesa winked, "I did suggest a little contest, didn't I?"
"I can if you'd like," Elfilis warned, "but I'm certain you cannot win if I were to actually compete?"
"Who cares as long as we're having fun out here?" Vesa shrugged, "who needs prizes for this sort of situation?"
"I suppose that is true. Would you prefer I go easy on you or do you want me to do my best?"
Taking a moment to think over the question, Vesa clasped her hands behind her back for a brief moment.
"Maybe go a little easy on me, then?"
"As you wish," Elfilis nodded with a smile.
As Elfilis brought out their spear, Vesa readied her wand while they both shared a glance.
"Are you ready?" Elfilis asked, several energy spears manifesting in the air around them and aiming at half of the snowmen in the area.
"And…go!" Vesa declared.
With that, Vesa concentrated her mana into her wand and unleashed a beam spell on the first snowman in front of her, letting it explode into snow. Elfilis let all of the energy spears fly, each piercing right through the head of a snowman though not destroying them entirely, but cutting through like a hot knife through butter and simply stopping right in the middle. While Elfilis started making a few more energy spears, Vesa kept flailing her beam attack onto each subsequent snowman within her reach. Snow kicked up as the energy flail sliced through all the compacted sections right in the middle. Elfilis held back more and watched as their girlfriend smashed the rest of them.
Honestly, the fact that Vesa could manage an attack spell spoke great things of her ability to adapt to her affinity.
By the time she finished, she took some time to catch her breath as she observed the mounds of snow left over from her excursion. She turned to gaze into her partner's eyes. Elfilis perked up their feelers as they placed their hand on her shoulder.
"Well," they commented, "I feel like I should be teaching you some magic you might be able to make use of in a fight. Since your affinity naturally lends itself to support, there are not many options for attacking you would normally be able to make use of."
Vesa tilted her head.
"However," Elfilis continued, "barrier magic can have many creative applications if you think it through, as you no doubt saw with the snowmen you made earlier, and there are a lot of potential applications for it. If you learn how to move your barriers around, this spell can be highly versatile. One example I believe you could potentially make use of are 'discs' of magic. These can be used like mobile shields, blunt weapons, cutting weapons if you make them thin enough, many smaller disks almost like a swarm if insects can potentially cut an enemy mage to ribbons."
Vesa watched as Elfilis gave a demonstration, creating a disc out of mana.
"I'm not nearly as good as a master of the art," Elfilis added, "but thanks to my nature as an artificial creation, I can bring the blade down to a single molecule in size and push in enough mana to reinforce its strength, giving it incredible cutting power. It will not beat a legendary blade or someone who can use such powers properly, but it's effective for cutting through non-magical barriers and weaker opponents."
Elfilis demonstrated this by flinging the disc at a decapitated snowman head.
"A true master of barrier magic could do much more than this, even creating barriers for concepts," Elfilis continued on, "such as light, allowing you to bathe an area in total darkness, or even, in one instance to my knowledge…time. To my knowledge, the barrier master who put that spell up made it last a long time. It couldn't be penetrated because once anything was pushed inside, it stopped moving entirely at the entrance to the barrier as time stopped on the inside. Nothing can move in or out of such a barrier. I'm unsure if it was ever dismantled. That would be an interesting field trip if it's still there."
Vesa clasped her hands behind her back briefly.
"I'd love to come along with you on such a journey," she smiled softly.
Elfilis closed their eyes slowly as they purred.
"Wonderful, I'll begin preparations for the trip and get some help with divining its location from my father."
Feel free to leave a review so Kirby can use them to buy snacks for him and Elfilin.