Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Zan Partizanne sighed, opening the door to the room she’d hardly ever been in. Hyness hadn’t answered the door when she’d knocked, and she needed to hand over the final few fragments she, Francisca, and Flamberge had collected.

The fragments burned with magic in her hands, and Zan almost wished she wore thicker gloves.

Hyness turned his head at the noise, blinking at the sight of Zan in the doorway. “What are you doing in here…?” He asked. His voice was soft. Still caring, but there was a strange edge Zan recognized in it. One she only ever heard when Hyness was on the edge of a great discovery. One she faintly recognized from her late mother whenever she got talking about some strange planet she’d gone to before Zan was born.

“The girls and I found these. Should be the last few.” Said Zan, holding out the crystal fragments in her hands.

Hyness’ gaze softened at the sight of the crystals in Zan’s hands, and he lifted them with his magic, carefully inspecting each one before bringing them to the altar. “Thank you, Zan Parmesan.” He said.

Zan pursed her lips. “Still not my name, sir.” She said, tired of Hyness forgetting her name. “It’s Partizanne. Not parmesan. Like the weapon.” She gestured to her weapon at this, and Hyness chuckled.

“I know, dear girl. It’s just… When you get to be my age, you forget certain things.” Hyness smiled behind his veil, and Zan wondered – not for the first time – just how old her adoptive father truly was.

Despite all these wonderings, Zan never asked. It wasn’t her business to, after all.

Instead, she asked, “are you certain this is a good idea?”

Hyness’ eyes narrowed, and Zan tensed. That was a bad call. “Are you questioning the will of Void?” He asked. His voice was low. Dangerous.

Zan’s ears pinned back beneath her hat, and she started to panic. “No! No, it’s just that, well, in the books you showed us when we were younger, the Jamba’stíon looked… Different? It was brighter… Like those illustrations of friend hearts, but still very clearly the Jamba’stíon. You know?” She was gesturing with her hands to get the point across, though it only served to further show her nerves.

Thankfully, Hyness turned away from Zan and walked towards the altar. “Books are always bound to have some difference from reality, you know.”

Zan resisted the urge to point out all the differences, to show that something was wrong. She didn’t want to be punished. She had already worked so hard these past few months with her sisters. She just wanted a break after all that work.

So she dropped the subject, letting it hang in the air between them.

“…I’m going to check in with Frannie and ‘Berge.” Zan said, leaving before Hyness could answer.

Hyness didn’t even hear Zan, too focused on the task at hand.

It was another terribly peaceful day in Dreamland. The sky was a soft blue, the clouds were fluffy and fun to find shapes in. And the temperature was just warm enough for everybody to enjoy as best they could.

It was perfect.

Magolor sat beneath a tree, reading some novel. It wasn’t very good, but it was something to pass the time, something to give him an excuse to sit in the sun and soak up what would likely be the closest to Halcandra’s volcanic temperatures he could get outside of Nature’s Navel.

Besides, with Marx hanging upside down from a branch above him, there was only so much he could do without getting distracted. No way he could get any real work done with somebody like Marx serving as the ideal distraction.

“I don’t see how you can stay like that for as long as you have.” Magolor finally commented, laughing as Marx somehow shuffled further along to branch to be face-to-face with Magolor.

“You get used to it!” Marx said cheerfully. He was practically holding his glasses to his face so they wouldn’t fall to the ground like his hat had.

Magolor rose a brow, marking the page in his book and setting it aside so he could put his whole attention on Marx. “You get used to the blood rushing to your head?”

Marx grinned in response. “Yup!” If he was being honest, the ticking in his ears was a little annoying, but it was worth it to see that goofy grin on Magolor’s face in his professional opinion. “Besides, there’s not much else to do ‘round here.”

It was hard to disagree with Marx’s comment. The edge of Fruity Forest could genuinely be boring at times, even if it had some of the perfect trees to take a nap under. Magolor nodded, offering an apologetic smile. “Sorry. That’s what you get, offering to take me out without a plan.” He half-joked, tapping Marx on the nose with the corner his book.

“Guess so.” Marx admitted, swinging himself upright and hopping down. “Though, I guess hanging out on the ground isn’t half bad, either.” Marx looked up at the sky, an idea coming to him. “Hey! Wanna cloudgaze?” He suggested, leaning back against the tree and slumping into a sitting position.

Magolor smiled. “Sure.”

Despite Magolor agreeing to cloudgazing, he actually didn’t do much of it, rather watching the leaves tremble in the breeze and enjoying a day free of headaches or Meta Knight. He did occasionally chuckle when Marx pointed out a particular cloud’s shape and offered his own commentary, even if he didn’t quite see the shape himself.

Magolor was mostly zoned out, honestly. He’d been mostly daydreaming all morning, another reason why he’d only gotten through a few pages of his book since they’d stopped to rest under the tree.

What snapped him out of his daydreaming, though, was far from pleasant.

A brilliant flash of light in the sky was the first thing Magolor became acutely aware of. Then, the strong tingle of magic in the air. Old magic, likely older than any he’d encountered in his lifetime before this. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and his mouth taste bitter and acidic. Then, the dark cloud-like trails created by brilliantly shining… somethings. It was too far to see from where they were, and Magolor didn’t want to look any closer than he had to. He was already feeling a headache coming on from the flash alone. He didn’t need to see what was happening any more than he already had. He’d be more than happy to hear about it from Kirby later. Preferably once he was medicated and had a hot drink in his hands.

Memories were flooding back again. He was back at the edge of the abyss, blood in his mouth and tears streaming down his face. How many times did he have to relive this moment? Wasn’t once enough for one lifetime?

Marx glanced over to Magolor at the sound of the mage whimpering softly, frowning at Magolor’s expression. Marx didn’t know exactly what had gone down after Magolor had made him retreat aboard the Lor, but it couldn’t have been pleasant, if his reactions to bright light were still so bad after two years. Marx smiled sympathetically, carefully taking the hand that wasn’t brought up to Magolor’s head into his own and squeezing it.

Magolor blinked in surprise, his vision slightly blurry for the tears in his eyes. He hadn’t quite realized his reaction had been so noticeable. A twinge of shame struck him, and he laughed awkwardly. “Ah, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Mags. Happens to the best of us.” Said Marx, grinning at Magolor and wiping a few stray tears from the mage’s cheeks. “Wanna go home? We can keep hanging there. Let Kirby deal with whatever’s goin’ on again until we’re good to go.”

Magolor smiled. “I’d like that.”

Marx grinned and stood up, extending a hand for Magolor to take.

Magolor took it.

Chapter Text

Magolor sighed softly, ignoring the differences between himself and his reflection as he downed a glass of water and a couple tablets for his headache. It was hard to think right now, with his head hurting so badly.

And to think today had been going so well until then.

“Thanks, Lor.” Magolor mumbled, patting the countertop with a small sigh. The Lor responded in turn by silently continuing her soft humming, warm and comforting around him. He stepped out of the bathroom, feeling quite a bit better despite the medication not having taken effect yet, smiling at Marx when the jester looked up from the puzzle cube he had been fiddling with.

“Need a hand with that?” Asked Magolor, nodding to the cube. Marx had been trying to solve it for days, now.

Marx grinned, shaking his head. “Nah. I’ve got it. ‘Sides, if I ever need a hand, I’ll just leave it on your desk.”

Magolor laughed. “Is that why there’s been half-finished puzzles just showing up on my desk?”

“Pretty much.” Said Marx, spinning the top segment of the cube as he spoke, mostly just to hear the soft clicking sound it made.

Another laugh as Magolor sat on his bed, leaning against the headboard. Marx had essentially taken up permanent residence in his room recently, not bothering with sleeping in his own bed these days. That night after the confrontation with Meta Knight two years ago had really been a gateway to many more sleepovers in the name of having company. “Man, and here I thought I was just being haunted by the spirit of some sort of puzzlesmith, or something.” He joked, lightly elbowing Marx.

Marx snorted. “Nah. Just got stuck and needed a hand.” He admitted, still spinning the cube’s segments with no real pattern or recognition of the solving method. Magolor absently wondered if Marx just liked the sound of the cube clicking whenever he spun it.

Magolor nodded in understanding. “Fair enough.”

The duo lapsed into silence for a while, just enjoying one another’s company.

Eventually, Magolor broke it.

“What do you think that was, earlier?” He asked, looking down at Marx, who had moved to his lap at some point in the conversation’s lull.

Marx shrugged. “No clue. If it’s somethin’ big, I’m sure Kirby and the gang will handle it, though.”

Magolor nodded. “I hope so. It felt weird.” He said, cracking open his laptop. He wanted to see if he could at least find any sort of information on the event he’d just witnessed.

Might as well do something useful with his time, he thought.

Francisca nodded at Zan’s explanation of the situation. “Gosh, we finally get all the fragments, and something goes wrong, huh.” She sighed, slumping over a little. It was strange to see the normally composed cryomancer so out of it.

Flamberge shook her head. “Man, and here I thought we were home free, too.” She laughed. “Guess we’ll hafta find ‘em all again!”

“You’re awfully optimistic.” Said Zan, tapping away at the computer to determine coordinates of each heart fragment that had split off from the Jamba Heart.

Flamberge grinned, bouncing a little in place. “Well, somebody’s gotta be, right? And as much as I love you guys, you ain’t exactly the sunniest people!” She teased, lightly pinching Zan’s cheek.

Zan swatted Flamberge’s hand away. “Cut it out, ‘Berge, I’m working.”

“You’re no fun.” Flamberge complained. “What happened to the fun Zan Pan? I miss her.”

Francisca laughed softly. “I mean, she is working. We probably should be too, honestly.” She admitted.

Zan smiled at Francisca’s reasoning. “Thank you, Frannie.” She said.

“Of course. Flam, would you like to spar with me in the meantime?” Francisca offered, partly to help get Flamberge out of Zan’s hair.

Flamberge lit up at this, her mood practically doing a 180 at the offer. “Would I!” She said excitedly. “Come on! Last one to the training grounds is a rotten egg!” She took off laughing down the hall.

Francisca laughed, hopping up to follow Flamberge. “You can’t do that when there’s only the two of us!” She shouted down the hall, still racing to keep up as if the idea of being a rotten egg was the worst thing in the world at that moment.

Now alone in the room, Zan let out a soft chuckle at her sisters’ antics, continuing to type away at the keyboard. She wished she could have joined them in sparring, honestly, but she had a job to do.

There was a lot riding on finding those heart fragments. Finding their landing sites was now priority number one.

She didn’t want to let Hyness down.

She couldn’t be goofing off like her sisters.

No matter how much she wanted to.

Kirby climbed the ramp into the Lor Starcutter alongside Bandana Dee. If Dedede was up to his old tricks after so long, it would probably be a good idea to check in on Marx and Magolor, just in case they were up to anything, too.

Bandee sighed softly. “You sure this is a good idea? I mean, say they are plotting something, wouldn’t it be a good idea to get somebody else on the case with us?” They tried reasoning, if only to find something they could do in order to avoid going into potential danger with only the two of them. They were just a simple footsoldier, after all, Dedede’s adopted kid or not.

“Of course. Between you and me, we can handle anything, right?” Kirby signed, trying to channel some optimism into the conversation. “Please? It’s not like I can really do it.”

Bandee sighed again, shaking their head at the request. It was less of a denial and more of a ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ as they took in a deep breath, then called out loud enough to wake the dead.

“Marx! Magolor! Are you guys home?”

A minute passed.

Then another.

Then, just as Kirby was about to open the door to the living quarters, the door opened on its own to reveal Magolor and Marx, with the former hastily pulling his scarf up over his mouth and clutching his laptop, which was still half-open.

“What’s up, you guys?” Marx asked, brows raised so high Kirby could hardly see them beneath his hair.

It was pretty odd of Kirby and Bandee to show up at the Lor Starcutter unannounced, but this was a serious situation. Kirby took the lead, smiling at Bandee to show he had it covered. “Dedede is stealing all the food in Dreamland again!” They signed.

“Yeah. Thought it would be a good idea to check in with others to see if it was some isolated thing or not.” Bandee added, fiddling with their hoodie strings as they spoke.

Marx nodded slowly. “Huh. Weird. Well, we’re not up to anythin’ other than hangin’ out today.”

“Yup! Though, I have been looking into that flash of light from this morning. That, in combination with some sort of fragments raining down really makes it an interesting case.” Magolor explained, shuddering slightly at the memory of that morning. “Maybe the incidents involving Dedede and those fragments are connected, somehow?” He had to stop himself from rambling more, lest his gesturing cause him to accidentally drop his laptop in the process. No need to risk breaking it, even if all his data was backed up to the Lor’s hard drive.

Bandee nodded slowly, crossing their arms. “Maybe… Magolor, could you let us know if you find anything else out about this? Might be handy in case something else happens.”

Magolor lit up at the prospect of being able to research something like this. “Of course! I’d be happy to! If you could bring me whatever you can find relating to it, a fragment of whatever fell, or something, I could—”

“Yeah, no.” Bandee said, cutting Magolor off. “We might’ve forgiven you, but we’re not giving you another chance to get possessed by whatever’s going on this time.” They said.

Magolor’s ears drooped a little at this. “Ah, right. Got it. That makes sense…” He laughed a little. “Didn’t think of that, honestly.”

Kirby laughed. “That’s okay! We all forget things sometimes.”

“Thanks, Kirby.” Magolor said softly, ruffling the young star warrior’s hair affectionately. “So then, I’ll be working on that. I’ll let you know if I figure anything out.”

Marx grinned. “Got it! Anythin’ I can do to help?” He asked. “Not much I can really do to help Mags out, since I’m not the best researcher, so I might as well ask you guys if you need a hand!”

Bandee hummed thoughtfully, considering if Marx would be able to help the team out before Kirby hopped in front of them. “Why not come with us? The more the merrier, right?” He offered, smiling brightly at Marx.

“Yeah. I’ve heard enough to know you’re a good fighter.” Bandee added.

Marx nodded, his grin widening. “You bet! I’ve been wantin’ to do something more than sparring for a while now, anyways!” He said brightly.

Magolor chuckled softly at Marx’s enthusiasm. “Alright. You three be safe, I’ll let you know if I discover anything.” He said, before adding, “wait! Would it be alright if I ask Susie and Taranza for help? They’re no archaeologists, but they’re both bound to know a thing or two!”

Kirby grinned, practically bouncing in place, now. “I don’t see why not so long as it gets done!”

Bandee nodded. “Go nuts.”

“Got it, thank you~!” Magolor said. “Now, I really oughta get started on looking up references for this!”

And with that, Magolor disappeared into the ship’s living quarters, no doubt bound for his study.

Marx grinned at the heroic duo, quickly fastening his cloak. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Chapter Text

Magolor shut the book he’d been flipping through for the better part of an hour, now, sneezing at the puff of dust that had flown up when he’d done so. He really hadn’t read that one in a while. Looking down at his scribbled list of possibilities, Magolor shook his head and crossed each one out. None of them matched what he’d seen.

“Any luck?” Susie asked, scrolling through HWC files on similar topics on her tablet.

Magolor slumped over his desk. “No. Nothing I look at seems to fit. Might have to go into my mom’s old stuff at this rate.” He complained, letting his eyes slip shut with a heavy sigh.

Taranza nodded solemnly, shutting another book and adding it to the steadily growing pile next to him. “Has anyone sent us any more information to go off to figure out what happened?”

“No, that would make it a whole lot easier, though, wouldn’t it?” Magolor said with a dry laugh.

Just then, Magolor’s tablet pinged, and the trio looked over in surprise.

“Is it Bandana Dee?” Susie asked, setting her own tablet aside to watch Magolor pick up the device to check.

Magolor smiled softly at the caller ID and answered the call. “Marx! Any good news?”

Marx dropped a firecracker ball he’d been preparing to toss; glad he hadn’t yet detonated it as it bounced harmlessly away from him. Whispy seemed to have calmed down somewhat, though he hadn’t gone down without a fight. “Weird he’d just attack us outta the blue like that.” He commented, and Gooey nodded slowly.

“Maybe… Hurting.” Gooey mumbled, pointing to an object that had fallen to the ground near the forest’s guardian.

Bandee looked up at Whispy, before turning to Marx, Gooey, and the animal trio. “Hey guys? Can you guys come check Whispy with Kirby and me?” They asked, nodding toward the massive tree.

Gooey and Rick both nodded, following after Bandee to investigate and ask Whispy a few questions. Kine followed suit as well, not wanting to get separated from the group.

Marx hung back, along with Coo, and wandered over to the object that had fallen from Whispy in the fight. A dark purple crystal, vaguely shaped like a heart, sat among the grass and fallen apples on the clearing’s floor. It practically oozed magic, seeping into the air itself and making the jester’s hair stand on end. It felt familiar, and Marx’s fingers brushed over the small pink friend heart in his pocket. “Weird…” Marx mumbled, kicking it a little only to receive a small shock for the action. He winced at the feeling.

“Hang on. Coo, can you try touchin’ that thing?” Marx asked, gesturing to the crystal on the ground.

Coo leveled a look at Marx that indicated he was not willing to touch the object that had just shocked Marx. “I’m no fool, you know.” He said, crossing his arms and looking down at the thing apprehensively.

Marx shrugged. “Eh, worth a shot.”

“Though, it is interesting that it fell from Whispy Woods…” Coo added with a thoughtful hum.

“Oh! I should call Magolor and show him this!” Marx realized, pulling his phone from his pocket and quickly ringing the mage.

Not even one ring had gone by before Magolor picked up, his face displaying on the screen. “Marx! Any good news?” He asked.

Marx chuckled. “It’s goin’ that well, huh?” He said, before nodding. “Yeah, actually. Take a look at this!” He flipped the camera around, pointing it at the small crystalline heart. “This look familiar at all to you guys?”

Taranza hummed thoughtfully on the other end, but he didn’t say anything. Susie shook her head. Magolor sighed softly, and Marx noticed a notification at the top of his screen that a screenshot had been taken of the call. “It does look a lot like those friend hearts Kirby gave us all, but I can’t think of anything otherwise. Especially not since our hearts don’t do whatever it seemingly did to Whispy. We’ll keep an eye out for anything similar, though!”

“Cool. Good luck you guys.” Marx said, reaching to tap the ‘end call’ button. “See you soon, Mags.”

Magolor laughed softly. “Bye, Marx.”

The call ended.

Marx hadn’t even heard the soft rustling among the trees until the heart started floating. It was an unnatural, shaky float. The sort one would expect of someone who wasn’t quite comfortable with a basic telekinesis spell. Marx blinked in surprise at it, and Coo leapt to capture the heart before it flew off only to receive a shock for his efforts.

The heart disappeared into the trees, and Marx swore he saw the silhouette of a girl running between them for a moment.

“Weird.” Marx commented.

Coo nodded. “We should return to the group.”

As he said this, Kirby called out to Marx and Coo, waving along with Gooey.

“Shake a leg, guys!” Bandee added to Kirby and Gooey’s cheers.

Marx laughed, running to catch up while Coo flew overhead. “Coming!”

Zan smiled down at the shard in her hand. It hurt to hold, certainly, but she had felt worse.

Void knows she had felt worse.

Certainly Hyness would be pleased with her progress. She could fill in her sisters once she’d gotten her hands on a few more heart fragments, anyways. They would no doubt need a rest after sparring, right?

Zan almost felt jealous she had to do so much work while her sisters had such fun.

Almost.

Magolor sighed contentedly, setting his tablet back down and clapping his hands together excitedly. “That was great! Now we actually have a basic idea of what we’re looking for!” He cheered, rolling his office chair over to the bookshelf containing his mother’s old tomes. There were only a few she’d left on Halcandra when she left, but it was better than nothing. “Now, let’s take a look!”

Taranza adjusted his reading glasses on his nose, pushing them up to his upper eyes. “Can you bring me another book while you are over there? My stack is all gone, and I cannot recall much looking like the shard Marx showed us in any of them.” He offered Magolor an apologetic smile.

“Of course! Just one second!” Magolor said brightly, chuckling at Susie’s mimicking of Taranza’s adjustment. She hadn’t worn glasses since she was a teenager, and yet it seemed like the habit had stuck.

Susie rose a brow, yellow pupils becoming question marks rather than their normal crosses. “What’s so funny?”

Magolor laughed once more, pulling a few tomes from the shelf. “Ah, nothing. Just thinking how little you’ve actually changed since we were kids.”

“Sentimental weirdo.” Susie sighed, her voice full of affection despite her words. “Come on, we’ve got Kirby counting on us.”

“Right.” Taranza said, taking a few books Magolor held out to him with a spare set of hands while he started going through the first of the handful of books Magolor had handed him, while Magolor started on his own small pile of books from his mother’s collection.

Before properly returning to work, Magolor turned his attention to Taranza once more. “Please be careful with these, by the way. They’re precious to me.” They were more than precious, but Magolor felt odd admitting out loud that these dusty old books were the only real connection he had to his mother.

Zan stepped through a rift and shut it behind her. “Lord Hyness. I’ve got some new heart fragments. There’s over a dozen just on this one planet alone, it’s honestly incredible.” She said, setting the fragments down on the altar before her.

Hyness looked back at Zan, carefully using his magic to lift each one. “You were careful not to be seen?” He asked.

“Of course. I know better than to be seen on a planet we’re unfamiliar with.” Zan said, her expression completely serious despite the small fib. No way she could be relaxed when she was discussing her mission with a higher-up. Even if Hyness was more of a father to her on better days.

She never knew her own father, after all.

Plus, those days had been fewer and farther between, these past few years. Roughly coinciding with when they began searching for the dark hearts together, now that she thought of it.

Hyness smiled softly beneath his veil. “Good. I knew I could trust you and the other generals. Do not be afraid to ask for my aid, should you ever need it.”

Zan nodded, despite knowing she couldn’t accept the offer. Hyness was busy. He always was. “Alright. I’ll be back. The other generals need to be updated on the situation.”

“Go on, then. I don’t want to keep you.” Hyness said, turning to continue his work on the now shattered Jamba Heart.

Zan smiled, turning on her heel and taking in a small breath, congratulating herself on a job well done.

Even if the job was far from complete.

Plus, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d been seen back in the clearing.

Chapter Text

“You started the search without us?!” Flamberge shouted, a hand dramatically pressed to her chest. She wasn’t really that upset, it was just fun to mess with Zan at times like these.

Zan Partizanne sighed, running a hand over her ears. “For the last time, yes. I needed to be certain that planet was a landing site, and that it had just as many dark hearts as the program had claimed.” Another long-suffering sigh. “I don’t get why you’re so surprised.”

Francisca chuckled softly. “I think Flamberge is just a bit surprised you’re so gung-ho about all this.” She explained.

“I’m not. This is just my job. It’s yours, too, but I wanted to lighten your load.” Zan said, placing her hat back on her head to avoid further messing with her hair.

Flamberge grinned, wrapping an arm around Zan’s shoulders in a hug. “Thanks a bunch, Zan Pan! We owe you!” She said brightly.

Zan barely suppressed a small laugh at Flamberge’s affection. “It’s no problem, ‘Berge.” She said softly, pushing her younger sister off. “Now, let’s get going. We can split up once we’re on the planet.”

Francisca smiled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were just looking for an excuse to spend more time with us.” She teased.

“Shut up.” Zan grumbled, gripping her partisan tighter. “It’s just that neither of you can use dimensional rifts the way I can. It’s faster.” She explained, despite Francisca’s remark being almost totally correct. She loved spending time with her sisters, and they’d gone too long without some proper bonding time. “Get everything you need, then I’ll meet you by the docking bay.”

With that, Zan Partizanne left the training grounds and her sisters to their own devices, bound for the docking bay with her bag slung over her shoulder.

Francisca and Flamberge shared a look of worry for their sister before going about their usual routines for leaving Jambandra. They didn’t want to keep Zan waiting, especially when they all had a job to do. They missed the days when it was just them and Hyness against the universe.

Even if Hyness had always had some strange fixation on the deity the heart sealed away.

Marx walked through the halls of Castle Dedede, taking in the strange feeling of being within its walls for a reason other than work or checking in with the king. He noticed a few new paintings Dedede must have commissioned Adeleine to do adorning the walls, and hoped the girl was doing alright. It had been a while since he’d seen her around, but it was probably just because she was busy.

“What’s on your mind?” Bandee asked, slowing from Kirby’s side to follow Marx’s pace instead. “You’re never this quiet.”

Marx blinked in surprise at the sudden question. “Huh? Oh, I dunno. Just thinkin’ about how weird it is to be here like this.” He said, keeping it vague in hopes that Bandee would drop the conversation.

Bandee pressed on, seemingly not noticing the way Marx’s eyes were focused on something much farther away than the wall at his side. “Yeah. It is weird. Dedede hasn’t tried this stunt since, well, right before you tried taking over.” They laughed awkwardly, averting their eyes.

“Yeah. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” A quiet, mirthless chuckle. “So much’s changed.” Marx said, almost wistfully, as he trailed a hand along the wall. “You and Kirby seem pretty much the same, though. A little tougher, but still pretty much the kids I knew back then, heh.”

Bandee rose a brow, hands going to their bandana to have something to do. “What do you mean by that?” They asked cautiously. They thought they’d changed a lot. They were quite a lot braver than they were then, for one. Kirby had helped a lot with getting them out of their shell.

“You guys are just still so sweet, y’know? So trusting and kind and weirdly unflappable. Hell, I think Kirby’s been through the most outta all of us, and he’s what, fourteen? And they’re still just as full o’ love as ever.” He said, watching the young hero as he held out a friend heart to a random Dee, who nervously laughed as they let Kirby place it in their pocket, before continuing to run towards the throne room bearing armfuls of fruit that seemed to have rotted long ago.

Gross.

Bandee nodded slowly, their hands falling back to their sides and into their jumper pockets. “I guess so. Weird to hear it put into words, though, haha.” They mumbled; the words further muffled by their thick mask. “Thanks, though. I needed a bit of a pep talk. Stuff’s been kinda weird today.”

Marx grinned. “No problem, but don’t expect this to become a thing, kid. One time deal.” He joked, earning a laugh from the soldier.

“Got it. One time deal.” Bandee echoed, smiling back down at Marx from behind their mask. It was weird to be talking to Marx like this. The most they knew of him before he got blown up was that he used to work for the king, before getting fired for striking a nerve a little too closely with jokes surrounding the numerous Dark Matter incidents.

Marx, meanwhile, found it strange how he was enjoying talking with Bandee. Before befriending Kirby again, Bandee was just some random, shy kid Marx saw around the castle. They hadn’t even gotten their signature bandana until a little while after he’d been kicked from the castle for reasons he only sort of understood. (Maybe it was a royalty thing to hate jokes at one’s expense so much? He wasn’t sure.) It was cool to see how much they’d grown since then, but a little surreal at the same time that they were really that much braver – not to mention taller – than they once were.

Kirby calling for them to catch up with a small cheer was more than enough to break both Marx and Bandee from their personal thoughts, being met with the gazes of the others on either side of a massive set of double doors leading into the throne room.

“Ready?” Bandee asked, looking over the faces of everyone who had joined them, which was a fair few considering Kirby had been handing out friend hearts left and right since they discovered they could now create them from essentially nothing.

Everyone nodded, and Kirby pulled on a heavy door handle while Bandee raced over to pull the other door open. Might as well make the party’s entrance known.

Susie’s pupils had long since switched from their usual crosses to question marks, scanning over pages upon pages of information at a much slower pace than she ever read anything. Taranza’s blinks had become slower, and his lower set of eyes had shut almost completely. He let out a small, barely audible yawn every now and then, but didn’t show his tiredness more than that beyond a slightly slumped posture.

Magolor, too, was beginning to feel tired of sitting at his desk, poring over old texts and carefully examining illustrations that had faded with age. He was currently examining a particularly well-worn volume, which didn’t help at all with the eyestrain situation.

Finally, Magolor let out a heavy sigh and pushed the book back, forcing himself to stare at the wood of his desk for a few moments before he looked to his two best friends. “Since we’ve been working for a while, how about we take a break?” He suggested lightly, mostly as an excuse to move about and stretch his legs. “I could make tea, or something.”

Taranza perked up a little at the suggestion of tea. “That sounds perfect. I was just thinking I could use a moment to rest.”

With the suggestion having been approved by Taranza, they both looked to Susie for her response, only to see her still focused on her tablet, the faint sound of old pop music around her when Magolor crept closer to stare her in the face. She looked up at the sight of Magolor in her peripheral vision, staring at her the way he used to as a kit. “What?” She asked, pushing one side of her headset off to hear what the mage had to say.

“I’m making tea. Would you like any?” Magolor asked, still leaning down despite the way his back ached.

Susie’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “Sure. Just get out of the way so I don’t hit my head on you again.” She said, and Magolor laughed and stepped out of the way.

“You two know where to find the kitchen!” Magolor said brightly before disappearing from the study and dashing down the hall, his footsteps echoing through the empty hallway.

Taranza and Susie shared a look, before both letting out quiet laughter at their friend’s odd mannerisms.

Susie found it entertaining to know Magolor still had the same habits as when they were both kids.

Zan Partizanne looked up from polishing her partisan excitedly at the sound of two sets of footsteps coming down the hall, her ears pointed towards the door. She knew them to be her sisters’ – unless the jammerjabs had been practicing walking more like them, in which case she’d need to tell them off about the mimicking again, which wouldn’t be fun for anyone.

Sure enough, the massive bay doors opened, and Flamberge walked through the door with Francisca following close behind. It made for a sort of funny sight, with how short Flamberge really was in comparison to her younger sister. Zan barely held back a small giggle as she waved them over.

“Got everything? We’re not coming back here until we’re done on Popstar.” Zan asked, trying to at least keep the tone of their mission.

Flamberge grinned and patted her sword, which was neatly tucked away in its scabbard at her waist. “Yup! Got everything I could ever want for something like this!” She said brightly, as if they were just going to take a road trip or something. The pyromancer genuinely did want to have fun with this, work or not.

Francisca chuckled and rolled her eyes a little at Flamberge’s wording. “Yes. I’ve got all I need.” She said with a small sigh. “Neither of us ever forget anything, Zan. If anything, we should be asking you that. Remember when we went to Planet Towara, and you—”

“Yes, Francisca. I remember. Need I remind you that I was still rather stuck in my own head, then? I probably should have just stayed home for that, but I didn’t, because I’m dedicated.” Said Zan, smoothing her hair down more out of habit than anything.

Flamberge frowned a little. “We were just messin’ with you, Zan Pan. You don’t gotta take everything so seriously.”

Zan squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose to suppress the headache she knew was coming. “I know. Just… I wanna get this over with as soon as possible. So we can get back to when things were better. Normal.”

Things were never normal, but none of them really knew that.

They’d grown up like that, after all. Surrounded by the abnormal.

So, brushing the conversation off, Zan focused herself enough to raise her partisan and plunge it into the fabric of reality itself, tearing it just wide enough for her and her sisters to step through and into the quiet woods of Dreamland once more.

Chapter Text

Magolor flitted about the Lor’s kitchen, humming softly to himself while he busied himself with mugs and tea leaves in anticipation for the water to finish boiling.

“I think I’ve heard you hum that song dozens of times, yet I still don’t know what it is.” Taranza commented, pulling a small bag of sugar from the shelf.

“Oh, really?” Magolor asked.

Taranza shook his head. “I suppose it just never crossed my mind until now to ask.”

Magolor nodded slowly. “I actually don’t know what it’s called, honestly, but it’s a lullaby my dad used to sing to me all the time. Kind of stuck as the thing I hum when I need background noise, I guess.” He explained, taking the sugar from Taranza with a small thanks.

Without looking up from her tablet, Susie said, “and yet you still won’t take me up on my offer to burn you a copy of all those old CDs you gave me.”

“It’s not the same and you know that.” Magolor said, his small smile breaking into a grin. “It’s not as special.”

Susie grinned back. “Uh-huh. Well, you know where to find me if you ever need to listen to Mamma Mia.”

“I’ll let you know if I ever do.” Magolor replied with a small laugh.

Taranza looked between the two of them and blinked a few times, only sort of following the thread of the conversation.

The trio lapsed into silence then, the only real sound being the bubbling of the kettle and Magolor’s humming starting back up.

None of them really wanted to get back to work just then, but the kettle beeping softly was the signal that they would soon need to return to Magolor’s study.

Francisca found it surprisingly easy to sneak into the castle, all things considered. The few ‘guards’ on duty were much like the jammerjabs back home, but with far less effective weapons. As she wandered the seemingly empty halls, she couldn’t help but wonder what sort of ruler would have so little in the way of fortifications.

Sure, she had to sidestep a few dees and maybe freeze a few who saw her solid, but it wasn’t like it was hard to stay out of sight when they seemed to follow a simple walking pattern down the halls. Though she did feel a tiny bit bad for freezing the waddle dees solid. They were terribly cute.

Finally, Francisca found her way to the throne room by tailing a dee laden down with food.

The huge double doors were wide open, and she snuck a peek through the door.

Kirby countered blow after blow from Dedede with his own punches and kicks. It was chaotic, fighting alongside so many people, but offering a friend heart didn’t seem to work the way it did with everybody else.

He let a little bad for the dees that would no doubt have to fix the floor Dedede had somehow managed to bust through, but he couldn’t exactly focus on that now.

Dodging a swing of Dedede’s arms, Kirby almost tumbled into Bandee, who managed to jump out of the way in time and land a strong blow on the arm that had been about to hit Kirby. “Everything good?” They asked, offering the young hero their hand since Dedede seemed to be targeting Marx for now.

Kirby nodded, taking Bandee’s hand and gripping it tightly, pulling on their arm to signal they wanted to try something.

Bandee nodded, and Kirby picked them up and threw them full force at Dedede, knocking the both of them over and Dedede down to the ground. “Ow, Kirby! What was that for?” Bandee groaned, rubbing the shoulder they’d landed on with a small hiss of pain.

Kirby offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry.” He added, before kneeling down to check on Dedede, who had finally stopped moving.

Despite all the damage everyone had done, Dedede seemed mostly unscathed, save for a bit of soot on his robe from a stray firecracker ball that had gone off after the fact.

“Everythin’ alright, old man?” Marx asked, nudging Dedede with his foot.

Dedede opened his eyes and glared up at Marx. “I’m not that much older than you.” He grumbled as he sat up, rubbing at his temples. “Nova, I’ve got a headache. What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Bandee asked, quietly waving everybody else over as they spoke. “With all due respect, sir, I can’t believe that you would just forget stealing all the food in dreamland again…” They said apologetically.

“Amnesia…?” Gooey mused, looking around the room curiously.

“No. I doubt that is the case.” A voice echoed from the shadows, and everyone looked around in surprise at the sudden new voice in the room.

Coo rose a brow at this. “And why might that be, mysterious voice?” He asked.

“Because I’ve seen something similar before.” The voice said once more, this time from a visible source. Dark Meta Knight had emerged from a corner of the room, his cloak wrapped around himself almost protectively. “Corruption.”

Dedede crossed his arms. “Yeah. I bet you’d know tons about that.” He said flatly.

“If you are referring to what occurred in Floralia, I must tell you I had nothing to do with that.” Said Dark Meta Knight. “It was that damned conniving bastard of a—”

“Man, what happened here? I heard somethin’ was goin’ on, but I guess I missed the party.” Daroach called from above, unintentionally cutting Dark Meta Knight off in the process. “Eh, at least I didn’t drag the whole squad out here for nothin’.” He added, nimbly hopping down to join the rest of the group.

Dark Meta Knight sighed, looking at the thief with what could only be described at frustration. “Ahem, as I was saying before you two cut me off…” He leveled a look at both Dedede and Daroach. “I believe this to be a case of some sort of corruption.” He explained.

“King Dedede! I finished that painting you asked me to—what’s going on?” Adeleine asked, clutching a huge canvas to her chest while Ribbon flew close behind carrying a small case of paints.

Rick shrugged.

Kine nodded in agreement to Rick’s shrug. “None of us really know.”

“Friends… Corrupted.” Gooey added, a small frown in the place of his usual cheery smile.

“But what coulda caused it? Corruption don’t just happen like that.” Marx snapped his fingers to emphasise his point, glancing around the room for anything suspicious.

Coo seemed to have a similar idea, checking under bits of rubble for anything similar to whatever they’d found back in the clearing.

Neither found anything of note, but the strong feeling of magic in the air was definitely a lead they should be following.

Francisca smiled to herself, tucking the heart fragment in her satchel as she slipped out a window and floated gracefully to the ground below.

Hopefully her sisters had gotten more done in the time she’d taken to get just one. That castle’s defenses had to be the terrible layout of it, she had decided as she took off for Nature’s Navel, where they’d agreed to meet up once they’d all collected at least one fragment.

Magolor sighed softly, placing his mug in the sink. “I’ll be heading back to work, now. You two come back when you feel up to it.” He said.

Taranza nodded, and Susie said, “yeah, we’ll be there once we finish our tea.”

Magolor nodded in response and made his way down the hall in silence. It had been a while since he’d felt so tired of reading, but there was only so much he could think of to delay returning, and Kirby was counting on him to figure out what was going on.

So, in spite of how achy he was getting from sitting in one place, Magolor returned to his chair with renewed determination, feeling a little more refreshed after a break from reading and a cup of tea.

“You only got one fragment?” Zan asked, a little exasperated as she took the fragment and tossed it in her bag.

Francisca’s brows creased a little and she nodded ashamedly. “In my defense, that castle is horribly laid out. It’s a nightmare navigating that place.”

Flamberge whistled lowly. “Really? I thought that’d be the easy job, but my fragments were a breeze to nab!”

Francisca giggled softly. “Well, that’s good.”

“Right, well, Frannie, I was wondering if you could get the fragment in the area known as Echo’s Edge. It’s too cold for either myself or ‘Berge to go.” Zan said.

“Ah, a polar region, is it?” Francisca said, suppressing another small giggle at Zan and Flamberge’s furious nodding. Her sisters really were terrible with cold. “Alright, I’ll be back soon.”

“Love you, Frannie!” Flamberge called, and Zan chuckled affectionately at the outburst, waving Francisca off, as well.

Chapter Text

Magolor smiled brightly at the sight of Taranza and Susie in the doorway. “Alright, back to it!” He said, trying to sound excited despite how bored he was getting. Research was fun, but only to a certain extent, and usually on Magolor’s own terms.

“Hopefully we can get this squared away soon.” Said Susie, booting up her tablet and returning to the data she’d been going over before. “I can’t spend all my time doing research with you two.”

Magolor nodded. “Yeah, but I feel like we’re getting somewhere! Like we’re finally going to uncover what’s going on!” He said, turning the page in his book and practically freezing at the illustration he saw on the page.

Taranza tilted his head at the sudden pause in the mage’s movements. “What is it?” He asked, looking over Magolor’s shoulder. “Oh… I see.”

“That does seem to fit the bill, doesn’t it?” Susie added.

Magolor traced his fingers over the page’s lines. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, don’t we?” He asked, laughing nervously. “A god of destruction…”

The three shared a look between themselves, and Magolor let out a small sigh and shot Marx a text to know where they were headed. He could better explain (and show off the book) in person.

While they’d uncovered what the shards were, Magolor was left with another question fresh in his mind while he read over the texts beneath the detailed illustration of what the book referred to as a Jamba’stíon – a Jamba Heart.

Why exactly would Magolor’s mother have a book that refers to such a deity so reverently?

Kirby ran up the last few steps to the highest point in Sacred Square, ecstatic at the sight of Meta Knight – his world’s Meta Knight, as opposed to Dark Meta Knight, who trailed behind him alongside all his other friends.

Only to be met with the much less comforting sight of a sword plunged in the ground before them.

A silent challenge Kirby knew all too well from Meta Knight.

Meta Knight glanced at Kirby, and Kirby noticed the way Meta Knight’s eyes seemed to be just a tinge darker than they normally were.

They took the sword in their hands and readied themself for battle as Meta Knight flew down to the huge stone arena below, sword in hand.

“Zan? Everything okay?” Flamberge asked, looking Zan over. She looked much worse than when they’d arrived.

Zan shook her head, rubbing her temples with a small sigh. “No. I think we’ll need someone to come get us, or something, once we’re done here.” She admitted.

Flamberge smiled. “Used up too much energy and can’t get us home, huh.” Zan nodded. “Coolio, I’ll shoot the jammerjabs a message and they can bring a ship over.”

“Thank you, Berge.” Said Zan, smiling a little.

“Don’t mention it! That’s what family’s for, right?” Said Flamberge, pulling Zan into a tight hug.

Zan didn’t resist the hug like she normally would, instead leaning against her little sister and letting loose a heavy sigh.

She was so tired.

Magolor smiled at his friends, tossing a few gem apples in the air just to remember their exact weight. “Ready?” He asked.

“As I’ll ever be!” Taranza responded with a smile.

Susie nodded. “We should get going. I’m sure everybody’s wondering what we’ve found out.”

Magolor sighed, patting the book in his satchel. “Right. Let’s go, then!” He said brightly, gripping Susie and Taranza’s hands and pulling them both into a rift with him.

Hopping out at Sacred Square, the two who were (mostly) used to the process dusted themselves off, chuckling softly to themselves about how long it had been since they’d gone so far without anything between them and the rift.

Taranza, on the other hand, was not so calm about the whole affair. “A little warning next time would be nice.” He said, light tone just barely masking how shaken he was.

“But I told you we were going.” Magolor said, tilting his head slightly at the comment. “Ah, no matter. We’ve got information to sha—” The ground shook. “What was that?”

The three looked to the sky, finding the sun blocked out by some sort of spacecraft.

Magolor’s face fell, and he let out a deep sigh. “Not again.”

“We should hurry.” Said Taranza, and the other two nodded.

They took off at a run towards the top of Sacred Square, ignoring the questions and strange looks from passers-by.

“What are we doing waiting around here?” Asked Meta Knight, pulling his arm away from Dark Meta Knight.

Dark Meta Knight sighed. “Well, if you had been listening, you’d know that, wouldn’t you?” He said, grabbing his light counterpart’s sleeve. “Now let me take a look at your arm. It’s bleeding.”

Kirby smiled sympathetically, setting his sword down to better communicate. “Magolor had an update. We’re waiting just until he can get here and tell us what he knows.”

Meta Knight chewed his lip to prevent from voicing his discomfort at everything that was happening. “I’m amazed you’re relying on him, of all people.” He said instead, clenching and unclenching his fists while Dark Meta Knight treated his injured arm.

“Not like anyone else on this planet would know anythin’.” Said Marx with a grin. “Mags is smart, you gotta at least accept that.”

“Of course you would say that.” Meta Knight muttered.

Marx crossed his arms. “What does that mean? Like, I’m actively trying to be friendly here!”

“I just mean you would try saying things to make me like Magolor. It makes sense, is all.” Meta Knight said matter-of-factly, pulling his arm away once Dark Meta Knight finished with it.

Kirby looked between Meta Knight and Marx with a small frown, uncertain what to say to keep their friends from fighting. There had been a sort of tension between Meta Knight and Marx for ages, now.

Bandee sighed softly, shaking their head. “Sir Meta Knight, Marx, maybe you guys should, er, avoid talking for now, at least until we’re ready to move out again.”

“Fine by me.” Said Meta Knight, turning his face away from Marx.

Marx sighed. “Fine.” He said, walking to the edge of the platform and sitting down to watch for Magolor and the others.

“I’m sorry you and Meta Knight aren’t getting along.” Adeleine said softly from next to Marx.

Marx blinked in surprise, turning to look up at Adeleine. “Oh, we never got along, just generally. Nothin’ to do with anythin’ right now.” He said, waving a hand.

Adeleine nodded slowly. “Oh, okay.” She said before sitting down next to Marx, kicking her legs in the air. “Can I watch for the others with you?”

Marx grinned. “Sure, kid.” He said. He noticed a tiny fairy girl leaning over Adeleine’s shoulder, but he couldn’t quite remember her name, if he’d ever heard it.

Maybe he’d ask Kirby about her later. The kid was good with names.

Zan pinched the bridge of her nose, already feeling a headache coming on. “Are you serious? I asked you to just bring it into low orbit. Just close enough that I could warp us on without any problems, and you crash it into the planet?!” She shouted.

“We’re sorry, general Zan Parsnip!” Said one Jammerjab.

“It’s Partizanne! It’s not that hard to remember!” Zan cried, her magic crackling at her fingertips and making her hair stand on end.

“Zan, relax! It’s not that big a deal!” Said Flamberge, gripping Zan’s sleeve to better grab her sister’s attention.

“We’re going to need to spend so much time to remove the jambastion from this stupid planet, ‘Berge, and we weren’t even supposed to need a ride!” Zan shot back, pulling her already trembling hands from Flamberge’s grip lest she shock the pyromancer. She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she hurt her family. Not again. “Gods, Lord Hyness is going to be so disappointed in us – in me.”

Francisca frowned. “If Hyness is upset with you, he’ll have to be upset with all of us. And I, for one, doubt he can be upset when we've already recovered so much in one day.” She reassured Zan, squeezing her sister’s hand.

Zan still didn’t relax. If anything, she was even more tense, but she relented. “…Fine. But have Pon and Con guard the jambastion gates. Just as a precaution.” She ordered.

“Yes ma’am!” Said the jammerjabs, scattering about the room and outside.

Flamberge smiled at Zan. “If anythin’ happens, you can count on us, yeah?”

Francisca nodded. “Yes. We’re always available to lend you a hand, Zan.”

“Thank you both.” Said Zan, a small smile on her face.

Then, she pulled them both into a tight hug, letting out a quiet sigh.

Flamberge grinned, wrapping her arms around Zan. “No problem.” She said.

Francisca paused, but also returned the hug with a small smile.

Zan felt a little better, then, surrounded by her family, and squeezed them both as tightly as she could.

How long had it been since she’d returned a hug from either of them? How much longer since she’d hugged them both first?

She couldn’t quite remember.

Chapter Text

Magolor’s chest hurt from just how long he’d been running up stairs, but he didn’t let up at the sight of the top. If anything, he ran up the stairs even faster, eager to tell everyone what they’d found.

He was out of breath but didn’t want to expend too much magical energy. Who knows what could be on that ship?

Magolor had to admit that he was curious.

Marx lit up at the sight of three figures making their way towards the platform, already preparing to take off and meet them halfway before remembering Adeleine next to him. She seemed to have noticed his sudden change in demeanour and was also looking down at the figures.

“Is that them?” She asked excitedly.

Marx nodded. “Yep! I’m just gonna fly down to meet ‘em. Can ya let the others know they’re here?”

Adeleine nodded, and she and the fairy girl took off towards the main group.

With Adeleine gone, Marx spread his wings and let himself fall, trusting the air beneath him to catch him as he soared down to meet Magolor, Taranza, and Susie.

Magolor noticed Marx first, having been keeping his eye on the sky the whole time they’d been climbing the stairs. He slowed down a little at the sight of Marx, partly due to just how winded he was already and partly because he was genuinely excited to see the jester. “Hey!” He called out.

“Hey.” Marx responded, landing right in front of Magolor. “Need a lift?” He asked.

Magolor chuckled softly. “I wouldn’t mind one.”

“It would certainly make it faster for us all.” Mused Susie.

“Alright then.” Said Marx, taking to the air once more and lifting Magolor with him. “Let’s go, I’m bettin’ you guys found somethin’ big!” He said brightly.

Magolor nodded, keeping an eye on the massive fortress above them in an effort to avoid looking down. “Something like that.” He said with a small sigh. “Definitely something big.”

It wasn’t long before they’d reached the top, and Marx let Magolor go before landing, himself, offering a grin to Susie and Taranza. “C’mon. Everyone’s been waitin’ to hear what you guys found.” He said, leading the small group over to the main group.

Meta Knight looked Magolor, Marx, Susie, and Taranza over. “Well? What is it we’ve been waiting to find out?”

Taking in a deep breath, Magolor started his explanation.

“Any idea on how long this is gonna take?” Asked Flamberge, tossing her cap in the air.

Zan sighed. “For the last time, I don’t know. We can only hope that nobody will come checking the jambastion in the meantime.”

Francisca nodded in agreement, pushing herself away from the wall. “I think I’ll take a walk while we all wait for an update. I need some fresh air.”

Flamberge hopped up at this. “Oh! I can come with!”

“…I’d actually rather be alone right now, Flam.” Said Francisca, offering a small smile in response to Flamberge’s visible disappointment. “Maybe next time.” She added before disappearing through the doorway.

Zan chuckled softly at how quickly Flamberge had gone from bored to excited to disappointed. “Oh, you’ll be fine.” She said lightly, having to hold back another laugh at the way Flamberge pouted at her comment.

Flamberge could be so dramatic.

“…I see.” Meta Knight sighed, messing with the ends of his sleeves. “I have to admit, you do have some skill with uncovering information.”

Magolor smiled proudly at this. “Of course I do! It is technically my job.” He said lightly.

“But if it’s that big a problem, are we really going to be able to handle it?” Asked Adeleine.

Ribbon nodded. “I mean, we’ve dealt with things like this before, right?”

Kirby grinned. “Yeah! We can do this even if it’s something big and scary.”

“All this optimism is great, but if we’re goin’ to be dealin’ with this, we oughta check out that fortress. Who knows if it’ll be stickin’ around for long.” Said Dedede, who had been getting nearly as restless as Meta Knight was to get going.

Susie nodded in agreement. “Right. We might have a time limit, for all we know. And I, personally, would not like to find out what the time limit is.”

“I can’t believe I am agreeing with her, but I do think we should get going.” Said Meta Knight, making a point of not looking at Susie as he stood up and started towards the closest point to the fortress. “Let’s go. Kirby, call the warp star.”

Kirby nodded, pulling the star from his cloak and tossing it into the air, the small star growing into his preferred mode of transportation. “Hop on, everyone.” He signed excitedly, hopping onto the warp star next to Meta Knight.

Dedede and Bandee hardly hesitated, with Gooey and the animal friends close behind.

The others shared a look before hopping onto the large star-shaped vessel. Might as well. Not like Kirby would intentionally lead them into danger.

At least, not without a good reason.

Francisca sighed softly. All was quiet on the eastern wall.

She leant against the wall, contentedly humming a tune Zan had taught her. It didn’t sound Jambandran, which intrigued her.

It was pleasantly peaceful.

She couldn’t quite remember the last time she’d had a proper quiet moment. There was always something going on back on the station.

But here, on some strange alien planet, Francisca felt strangely at peace, looking out over the landscape beneath the jambastion.

At least, for about five seconds.

Not even a minute into her reflection on life and the sound of a fight reached the cryomancer’s ears.

Typical.

But this fight didn’t sound like the bickering of the jammerjabs or friendly sparring.

This was the sound of a serious fight.

Francisca straightened at the sound, gripping her labrys as she looked out over the wall once more, now focused on the gatehouse.

Sure enough, Pon and Con were doing their jobs, guarding the jambastion against a surprisingly large group of intruders.

Francisca watched the guard duo curiously, hoping they would at least scare the intruders off.

They didn’t.

The gate opened.

Francisca gripped her labrys tighter.

Of course.

Francisca would have to take things into her own hands, it seemed.

Not that she minded, of course. She’d been hoping for a proper fight for a while, now. She couldn’t just go all out on her sisters, after all.

Too bad she’d left her soda gun back on the station.

That would have made for some real fun.

Oh well, she could drive them off just as easily with nothing but her labrys.

Deciding it would be best to retreat to a room she could fight better in, Francisca stalked off towards longview corridor.

Consider it a challenge, intruders.

Kirby waved to Pon and Con as they lead everybody through the gate, carefully pushing it shut behind them so the duo could lick their wounds without having to move more than absolutely needed.

They were nice… when they weren’t working under orders.

Magolor sighed softly, looking around at the eerie red sky with a worried look in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Kirby signed.

Magolor just waved his hand. “Ah, nothing.” He said, omitting the fact that the deep red of the sky gave him a strange nostalgic feeling for a planet he hardly considered home.

Kirby furrowed his brows, noting the way Magolor’s ear twitched. It was his easiest to identify tell. “You’re lying.”

“Me? Lie?” Magolor echoed Kirby’s words, dramatically placing a hand to his chest. “I would never do such a thing!” He couldn’t help it; a laugh broke through his words on the final syllable.

Marx rose a brow at this, holding back a laugh of his own to continue the bit. “Uh-huh. Most trustworthy guy in the galaxy!” He added, snickering as well.

Kirby giggled at this. “Definitely.”

Meta Knight smiled softly at the interaction. While he didn’t trust Magolor or Marx in the slightest, it was at least nice to see them getting along with Kirby from so close.

Maybe he was too hard on them.

Maybe they’d really changed for the better.

But then again, there was that occasional flash in Magolor’s eyes when he got talking about a new project. The way Marx’s pranks just teetered on the line between safe and dangerous. The way the duo still couldn’t help but lie to others about the little things.

Perhaps Meta Knight had been too hard on them, but he wasn’t just going to turn around and trust them just like that.

They needed to earn that.

Chapter Text

Francisca was bored. Terribly and utterly bored.

Sure, they wouldn’t have made it to longview corridor within a minute or two, but it wasn’t that long a walk unless they were really messing around or actively wrangling people who kept wandering off.

She just wanted to take them out and go home, maybe keeping one or two as a trophy for her collection. Was that so much to ask?

Apparently, considering she’d been waiting here for nearly half an hour with no sign of them.

“Would it kill you to stick with the group?” Asked Meta Knight, gripping Magolor’s cloak. They were indoors now, but there were so many side rooms that it made it difficult to keep everyone in his line of sight.

Magolor sighed. “Would it kill you to trust me even a little? I’m not going to get us killed just for being curious about how this thing is constructed.”

Meta Knight didn’t let go, starting to walk to catch up with the rest of the group. “Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘Curiosity is what killed the cat.’”

Magolor’s ears flattened. “Yes, and it finishes with, ‘and satisfaction’s what brought it back.’ Just so you know~!” He countered, pulling his cloak from Meta Knight’s hand a little harder than he needed to, earning a glare from the knight.

Bandee sighed, looking over their shoulder at their friends’ argument. “Go ahead, Kirby. I gotta talk with Sir Meta Knight.” They said, and Kirby nodded in agreement, having also noticed the way Magolor and Meta Knight were – or rather weren’t – getting along.

Magolor had paused to run a hand along the wall, noting the star-shaped lamp overhead. It looked rather ornate, and Magolor wondered what it was made of. Seemed like some sort of magical alloy, like the rest of the machinery around. He wondered if it would be leaving anytime soon. The place seemed ancient, and he would love to learn more about its construction and general functioning.

Meta Knight, once again, had slowed his pace to keep an eye on Magolor, and Bandee set their sights on speaking with the knight first, since Magolor had been really helpful so far today.

“Sir, could I talk to you for a bit?” Asked Bandee, tugging on Meta Knight’s cape to get his attention.

Meta Knight looked at Bandee with a small frown. “What is it?” He asked.

Bandee glanced at Magolor, who was muttering something to himself in halcandran and scribbling notes down on a pad of paper he must have tucked into his satchel along with the book he’d brought. They sighed softly. “I think you’re being too hard on Magolor.” They said, already preparing themself for the inevitable ‘no I’m not’ that Meta Knight always gave when Bandee suggested he relax a little.

“I’m not. Need I remind you that he—”

“Tried to take over the universe? No, you don’t. I was there, too, remember?” Bandee said, a little sharper than they normally would have. “All I’m saying is that you cut him some slack. You’ve at least got to admit he’s been a big help today.” They added, sighing softly.

Meta Knight looked away, focusing his gaze on Magolor, who was now running to catch up to Susie, Taranza, and Marx, seemingly satisfied with the notes he’d taken. “I’m not going to forgive him so soon.”

“And I’m not asking you to.” Bandee insisted. “Just lay off him a bit, okay? Let him have his fun.”

“I – fine. I’ll let him investigate this place a little more thoroughly.” Said Meta Knight. “But if he does anything that puts us in danger, I’ll—”

Bandee crossed their arms. “You’ll let me or Kirby know before doing anything. You don’t trust him, and he doesn’t trust you. He won’t tell you anything because he knows you won’t believe him.”

“And you think he trusts you?”

“More than he trusts you, at least.” Said Bandee with another small sigh. “Just don’t jump into anything you think Magolor’s doing without us. Kirby and I can at least try to get him to explain his thought process.” They offered Meta Knight a small smile.

Meta Knight didn’t return it, his gaze focused on Magolor once more.

Bandee sighed. “At least promise me you’ll get me or Kirby involved?”

“I will promise you that much.” Said Meta Knight, letting loose a tired sigh of his own and smiling.

He had to admit, friendships made his duties both easier and infinitely harder.

Francisca heard footsteps down the hall. None of them sounded like either of her sisters, nor Pon or Con, and there were too many sets for it to be a jammerjab or two on patrol. She lit up at this, gripping her labrys with newfound enthusiasm. If these people were going to show up at the jambastion, they weren’t going to make it very far.

It wouldn’t do for outsiders to come here without being shown a warm welcome. It simply wouldn’t do at all.

Should she introduce herself? Perhaps explain what was going on and why they were here? What should she say?

Before she could figure out what exactly she should even do before dealing the outsiders their fates, the doors opened to reveal a surprisingly large group of people, seemingly of all sorts.

She even noticed a stray dark matter, if her senses didn’t betray her.

The leader, a child with pink hair and a rather cute-looking cloak waved cheerily at her, calling out a cheery, “hi~!”

Francisca gritted her teeth. Might as well explain the plans. Not like these outsiders will live to tell the tale once she was done with them.

“Bonjam.” She began, chuckling at the way some of the strangers froze at the word.

“Bonjam.” The girl had said, and Magolor tensed.

That was a halcandran word. Why did she know a halcandran word? Just what was going on here?

Magolor felt a hand in his own, and looked over to see Marx with an equally confused look on his face. He knew bits and pieces of halcandran – or at least the version Magolor grew up speaking – and recognized the greeting. Looking to Susie, Magolor noticed the way she had paused at the word as well.

“Heh, are you surprised?” The girl continued, a smile on her face. “That is how we greet people on my planet.” She added.

Meta Knight took a step forward. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” He asked, already prepared for battle.

The girl giggled, bringing the hand that wasn’t clutching the massive axe to her mouth. “I am Francisca. I am one of the three generals of magic, and the only one you shall meet!” She said brightly. “Together, my sisters and I command this fortress of shadows, jambastion!”

Another halcandran word. Was it really halcandran? This girl didn’t look halcandran. Her ears were a dead giveaway on that front, even if her eyes looked a lot like his own, with those glowing white pupils. Magolor chewed his lip. Marx squeezed Magolor’s hand tighter. He was still there. Magolor focused on that.

“Yeah, but what are ya doin’ here?” Dedede repeated the second half of Meta Knight’s question.

Francisca stopped smiling. “Ah, yes, that. We wish to assemble the Jamba Heart pieces our dear leader had scattered across the universe, and several of them happened to land on your planet, you see!” She pulled the fragment she’d picked up at Castle Dedede from her pocket, showing it to the group with a small chuckle at the way everybody seemed taken aback at the sight of the object. The same one they’d all seen fall from Whispy and Meta Knight.

Bandee took a step forward. “What will you do once you find them all, miss?” They asked.

“Hmm… Once we find them all, we’ll be able to summon our god, and our most twisted of visions will be…” Francisca paused, muttering to herself. “Untwisted? No, no. Unthawed? No, that’s not right… Unfurled?” She spoke back up again at that. “Unfurled! Yes, that’s right!”

Kirby frowned, signing something Magolor couldn’t see from where he was.

Francisca furrowed her brows at whatever Kirby signed. She must not have understood him. “Ah, well, I don’t want to waste too much time with pointless chatter.” She said lightly, waving a hand. “Just know this. Should you try to oppose us…” She gripped her axe, pointing it at the group. “…I’ll have no choice but to put you on ice… Forever!”

Kirby and Bandee nodded to one another, and Bandee turned to the rest of the group. “Come on, everyone! Either fight or retreat!” They shouted, dodging a shard of ice that embedded itself in the floor where they once stood.

Everyone nodded amongst themselves, and either chose to stay with Kirby or retreat into the hall to avoid the fight getting too chaotic.

Magolor was one of the ones who retreated into the hall, along with Taranza, Susie, Marx, Dark Meta Knight, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Daroach.

Most made sense. Ice users and those who didn’t have any fire abilities to speak of. Magolor was really the only one who did use fire magic, but he was too focused on the fact that the girl – Francisca – spoke halcandran, or some version of it.

The more he thought he knew about this situation, the more questions kept cropping up. He looked down at his notepad with a small sigh, looking over the sketches of the architecture of the jambastion with yet another question in his mind.

Why did it look so much like the ruins on Halcandra?

Chapter Text

Francisca stumbled back, leaning against her labrys and glaring at her foes. She was feeling surprisingly worn down. “Kh… You’re certainly strong, at least, but how would you like this?” She said, floating into the air and freezing the water in the air into shards of ice, sending them flying into the ground and letting the moisture on the floor freeze into spikes.

Kirby jumped back from the ice, jumping into the air and slashing at Francisca with his sword, barely managing to use the momentum from the attack to force their body back and landing in an area without any ice spikes.

Gooey, on the ground, cloaked themself in flames and melted the ice spikes, letting everybody else continue fighting without limited terrain.

Meta Knight unfurled his wings, taking to the air and attempting to knock Francisca to the floor with increasingly aggressive slashes of Galaxia, which Francisca dodged surprisingly gracefully as she cast her spells and eventually landed.

Kirby continued fighting on with all he had, slashing at the cryomancer with his sword and even getting off a sword beam or two. Dedede swung his mallet with all he had. Rick, Kine, and Coo did what they could with parasols and flames. Gooey took to the air and blasted Francisca with magic. Even Bandee was going all out, jabbing at Francisca with an enthusiasm they usually reserved for sparring with Kirby, Dedede, or Meta Knight.

Finally, Francisca stumbled once more, landing on the floor in a heap. She hissed in pain, clutching her now-bleeding shoulder as she stood up. “Jamblasted! I’ll remember this.” She spoke, her cool tone from before long gone. Her eyes fell on Kirby, then. “You’ve just made yourself an enemy of Jambandra. I sincerely hope you know what that entails for you and your little friends.”

With that, she flew off, bound for the depths of the fortress.

Kirby frowned, watching as Francisca fled. He didn’t like making enemies, but what choice did they have when people declared themselves enemies so often?

Maybe one day he’d make friends with Francisca. She was scary, but seemed nice enough if you ignored the whole attacking thing.

For now, though, Kirby called for their friends to come back into the room, now that Francisca had been taken care of. It seemed there was more to this place than just what they’d seen so far, and exploring it could uncover more clues to this mystery.

Flamberge and Zan Partizanne had been chatting idly when Francisca stumbled into the hall, clutching her shoulder, which had stained her uniform’s shirt and her hand a deep red.

“Frannie! What happened to you?!” Flamberge asked, running to check Francisca’s injuries with a worried look in her eyes.

Zan nodded in agreement, approaching Francisca as well, though much slower. The smell of blood was already bad enough from a distance. And, as much as she adored her sister, she wasn’t quite up to dealing with a headache on top of everything else, just now.

Francisca shivered, pulling her hand away from her shoulder to Flamberge could look it over. “I was just walking, and I noticed a conflict at the gate. There were – would you stop prodding at the cut – there are intruders in the jambastion. A child was leading them… Terribly strong.” She was breathing heavily, having come as quickly as she could to warn her sisters despite her injuries. “I tried fighting them off, but…” She gestured to her injuries, showing off the results of the fight.

Flames came to life at Flamberge’s fingertips, now away from Francisca’s injured shoulder. “Oh, those bastards!” She shouted angrily, the small flames quickly engulfing her arms as her emotions grew in intensity. “Where are they? I’ll show ‘em what happens when they mess with us!”

“I fought them in longview corridor, but – but be careful. They’re impressively strong, even without their entire team fighting.” Francisca said between deep breaths, her entire body trembling from the exertion.

Francisca hadn’t even finished her statement before Flamberge had run through the door, sword in hand. Nobody messes with her family and gets away with it.

Zan Partizanne was already pulling the first aid kit from her bag. “There goes ‘Berge, running into danger. Typical.” She said with an affectionate sigh. “Come here and sit down. Can’t have you bleeding out, right?” She said lightly, patting the ground next to her while her other hand unzipped the red bag.

Francisca nodded, pulling off her jacket and working on unbuttoning her shirt. Zan had always been the one to patch her of Flamberge up after any sort of physical fight, even though her healing magic wasn’t too strong. A bit of first aid was all it took to get them to the point that her limited healing was good enough to fix up most nonlethal injuries.

“Thank you.” Francisca said softly, clenching her teeth as Zan started disinfecting the wound.

Zan’s eyes flicked up from her sister’s shoulder briefly, just long enough to be sure Francisca wasn’t feeling too much discomfort from the cleaning. “Don’t mention it.” She said, continuing to work at patching Francisca up as best she could.

If the intruders somehow got past Flamberge, they would no doubt try coming for this place next.

Then, it would be her turn to protect her family.

Zan chuckled to herself. No pressure. It was her job as the eldest, after all.

Right?

It was surprisingly quiet as the star allies walked into another open hall.

“Huh.” Bandee said quietly, looking out at the view. “You know, it’s been a while since we took a break, and it’s pretty quiet right now. Maybe we could rest here for a little while?” They suggested, turning to face the rest of the group to see what they all thought.

Various words of agreement, as well as the occasional protest, were exchanged, and eventually everybody agreed to just rest for a few minutes. Just long enough to talk and go over what to do should another fight occur.

Everybody dispersed through the room once the agreement had been made. Some leant against walls, other laid or sat on the floor, others leant on the wall and looked out over the planet below.

Magolor slid down one of the walls, finally coming to sit on the floor with a small sigh. “What a day…” He muttered.

Marx grinned, taking a seat next to Magolor. “I’ll say. We’re barely even halfway through the day, too!” He added, leaning against Magolor’s shoulder with a small laugh. This was definitely one of the more exciting ways he’d spent a morning since returning to Dreamland.

“Don’t remind me. I’m spending my day off on this.” Susie complained, running a hand through her hair to detangle a knot or two.

Taranza nodded in agreement. “I’m personally enjoying all the excitement! It’s been a while since the last major excitement in my life~!” He said brightly in an effort to channel some optimism into the conversation. Though, he did hope this excitement would end better than the previous ones.

Magolor sighed once more. “Clearly you don’t have Meta Knight on your tail constantly. Nothing’s dull with a knight following you… Except perhaps the knight himself.” He laughed softly, glancing at Meta Knight across the room, who seemed to be speaking with Kirby, Dedede, and Bandee. No doubt they were trying to figure out where to go from here.

Taranza nodded slowly, looking at Dark Meta Knight briefly. “Aha, yes, I suppose that would make things less dull, wouldn’t it?”

“I mean, it does get boring. Just not the way the everyday Dreamland stuff does.” Marx chimed in.

“Oh? How so?” Asked Taranza.

Marx grinned. “For one, he’s—”

The doors the group had yet to go through burst open, and a girl dressed similarly to Francisca ran through them, already fired up.

“HEY, YOU! You... little pink kid!” The girl shouted, pointing at Kirby with her sword.

Kirby blinked in surprise, pointing to himself with a confused smile on his face.

“Yes, YOU! I’ve got a burnin’ question for ya!” The girl growled.

“What is it?” Kirby signed.

The girl blinked at the signs, clearly not understanding what Kirby was trying to say. “Huh?”

“What is it you’re asking?” Meta Knight repeated verbally, taking a step forward to stand at Kirby’s side.

The girl lowered her sword, feeling as if she’d gotten her point across. “You guys are the ones who were so rude to sweet Frannie, weren’t ya?!” She laughed when the scattered members of the team looked between one another, as if considering telling her Francisca had been the one to attack. “Oh, don’t even dare try to deny it!”

“We didn’t tr—” Dedede started, only to be cut off.

“AUGH! Fiends! Cowards!” The girl cried, gesturing angrily with each word. “If you touch another hair on that perfect blue head of hers, you’ll burn for it!”

Bandee gripped their spear, readying themself for a fight. “We’re sorry, but she was the one to attack us first. We were just—”

“Ohh, jamblasted, jamblasted, JAMBLASTED! I’ll never forgive any of you for this! Now, you gotta face Flamberge!” She grinned wildly. “Oh, I’ll scorch you all to such a degree, that even the most perfect marshmallow will look like an ice cube compared to you lot!”

The group was quiet.

“Who’s that?” Adeleine asked after a beat of silence.

“That’s me, you dolts! Come at me!” Flamberge shouted, brandishing her flaming sword with another energetic cry.

There wasn’t any time to organize for others to retreat before Flamberge came at the star allies with all she had.

Chapter Text

Magolor rapidly dodged rocks and his less-fortunate allies, helping Gooey up from the floor. “Here we go.” Magolor said, more to himself than to Gooey as he pulled Gooey into a rift to avoid a blast of fire.

Gooey blinked in surprise, looking around at the deep blue space of Another Dimension before turning to focus on Magolor. “Thank… you…” They said.

Magolor opened another rift and peeked out. He was a little surprised how unaffected Gooey was by the rift. Perhaps just an effect of being dark matter.

Deeming it safe to come out, Magolor widened the rift and floated through it, letting Gooey go and jumping back into the battle.

It was chaotic, with everybody fighting at once, and spells and weapons alike were barely missing the other star allies. No doubt, some would need to leave to recover once this battle ended.

Zan grinned at Francisca, disabling her magic and pulling her hands away from the cryomancer’s shoulder. “There we go. Should be good enough now. Keep the bandages on, though, just in case.” She said.

Francisca smiled, stretching a little now to test if it hurt. It did a little, but nothing too bad. “Thank you, Zan.” She went to put her shirt back on, only to cringe at the damp fabric against her hand, as well as the huge slash in the shoulder. “Ah, seems I won’t be able to salvage this.” She said sadly, instead pulling her mostly undamaged jacket over herself instead. It was better than just her undershirt, even if she no longer felt cold the way others did.

“Damn.” Zan said with a sigh. “We’ll grab a spare once we’re back on Jambandra, I suppose.”

Francisca chuckled. “Jes, I suppose we will.”

They lapsed into silence then, and Zan started messing with her hair. It was standing on end from all the built up electricity in her.

She chuckled, then. How long had it been since she’d been unable to keep her hair from sticking up the way it was, now?

It had to have been back when she was on that tower, clinging to it in hopes that the storm overhead would strike her down.

The way she had…

No.

She wasn’t going to remember that. Not now.

Not when she was in such a good mood. She needed that to last as long as she could.

The doors opened, and Flamberge stumbled in, her hands trembling and hair standing on end as if she’d been hit with Zan’s magic.

“Frannie wasn’t kidding around. Those guys are tough.” Flamberge said with a strained laugh, clutching her chest.

Zan offered a tired smile. “C’mon. I’ll do what I can.” She said. At least Flamberge wasn’t bleeding beyond a few scratches on her face. She must have retreated before any real damage could be done. That, or it was all magical.

Either way, Flamberge sat in front of Zan with a small hiss of pain, rolling up her sleeves and undoing the top two buttons of her shirt. “Not much outside, thankfully. Some guy threw himself at me pretty hard, though.” She said, showing off the beginnings of a bruise peeking out from the top of the bandages that were already wrapped around her abdomen.

“Jeez. Who’d do something like that just to get a hit in?” Zan asked incredulously, already firing her magic up as there wasn’t much she could do with her first aid supplies.

Magolor shook his head with a small laugh. “I can’t believe you headbutted her.” He said, placing a hand on Marx’s head and firing up a healing spell.

Marx shrugged. “Couldn’t do much else. She was too close to get a good shot off without blowing myself up, too.”

The star allies had agreed to regroup in the room they’d battled Flamberge in, healing those who needed it and allowing those who were too worn out or badly hurt to keep going for now to return to the planet below. Kirby was gone for now, bringing Adeleine, Ribbon, Kine, Rick, Coo, Taranza, and Daroach back down to Planet Popstar. Some were injured, others simply had other business to attend to.

Susie rolled her eyes at Marx’s excuse. “You’re lucky you didn’t concuss yourself.”

“Not as bad as some of the other junk I’ve been through.” Marx said with a small grin.

Susie blinked a little, thrown off by how casually Marx had brought it up. “I – I suppose so? Still, you shouldn’t do anything stupid just because it’s not as bad as getting blown up.”

Marx just shrugged and continued to allow himself to get healed by Magolor.

“Magolor. I mean this in the nicest way possible. But I have no idea how you manage to live with Marx.” Susie deadpanned, earning a loud laugh from Marx.

Magolor laughed as well, shrugging as he brought his hands away from Marx, now healed. “I don’t quite know, myself.” He admitted, and Marx only laughed harder.

“Well, you’re stuck with me now~!” Marx said in a sing-song voice, leaning against Magolor and laughing softly. He was kidding, mostly.

Magolor snorted, letting himself rest against Marx, as well. He shut his eyes. “I suppose I am.”

Susie sighed, shaking her head a little. “You two are ridiculous.” She said.

“Always have been, thanks for noticing.” Said Marx.

A moment passed. It was quiet between the three.

The tapping of boots on the ground was enough to alert Magolor to someone approaching. Almost reflexively, he began preparing a spell without even looking.

“Relax. I’m not going to fight you.” Said Meta Knight.

Magolor paused, looking up at Meta Knight. “What do you want?” He asked, not dismissing his magic just yet.

Meta Knight sighed. “I’d like to speak with you.”

A moment of silence, then Magolor let his casting hand fall to his side. “Alright. Go on, then.”

“Alone.”

Marx shifted next to Magolor, no doubt to look up at Meta Knight as well. “Why not talk to all of us?”

Meta Knight clenched his teeth. “I don’t think this conversation would go as well if either of you—" He looked pointedly at Marx and Susie. “—were here for it.”

“It’s not Magolor’s fault you dislike us all.” Susie said flatly. “If anything, it’s impressive you’ve held a grudge against him so long.”

“Yeah! And he’s been tryin’ the hardest of all of us to get ya to like him.” Marx added.

Magolor, though, stood up, dusting off his robes. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.” He said.

“Thank you.” Said Meta Knight. “Follow me.” He took off to the hallway, not looking behind him to see if Magolor would follow.

Magolor nodded. “I’ll be right back.” He said before running after Meta Knight.

Susie and Marx both sighed. Hopefully this went better than either of them expected.

Out in the hall, Magolor crossed his arms. “Alright, what is it you so desperately wanted to tell me that you dragged me out here?” He asked.

A moment of awkward silence. Meta Knight glanced around the hall, as if avoiding eye contact.

Magolor appreciated that, even if it wasn’t intentional. He never was a fan of eye contact.

Finally, Meta Knight found what he wanted to say. “I wanted to apologize.”

“…What?” Magolor was dumbfounded. He was honestly used to Meta Knight simply watching him from a distance, perhaps with the occasional comment whenever they were in closer quarters – a common occurrence when Kirby was a major player in both of their lives.

Meta Knight sighed. “Bandee spoke with me about my… behaviour today. While I still do not trust you, I will admit that I’ve been too hard on you.”

Magolor furrowed his brows. “You want something from me, don’t you?”

“No. I just – You’re… A decent man, as strange as it feels to say. I’ll try to be less… confrontational with you from now on.” Explained Meta Knight, still not looking Magolor in the eye.

Magolor gave an awkward laugh. “Ah, alright… Well, I’ll try my best, too.”

Another awkward pause. Neither moved to return to the group.

“What about the others?”

Meta Knight blinked. “The others?”

Magolor clasped and unclasped his hands over and over. A nervous habit. He wasn’t quite certain where he was going with this. “Susie, Marx, Taranza… Are you going to extend them the same courtesy you’ve offered me?” He asked.

“…Why are you asking me this?”

“Just curious.” Magolor said lightly. His ear twitched. He was lying.

Meta Knight sighed. “I will try my best, but your… friends are less…” He trailed off.

Magolor smiled, a mask he hadn’t worn in a long time. It was unnerving. “Choose your next words wisely, Meta.” He said, the light tone from before now masking something less pleasant.

Magic gathered in the air, faint, but detectable to Meta Knight.

A silent threat.

“Less… Agreeable. Than you are.”

The magic dissipated.

Magolor’s smile disappeared alongside the magic in the air. “I see. Well, I suppose that’s better than I could have hoped.” He said. He sounded almost sad, beneath his formal wording. “Are we done here? I’d like to have at least some time with the others before we continue on.”

He didn’t wait for a response.

He left the hallway, leaving Meta Knight alone.

Well. That went about as well as Meta Knight could have hoped.

At least there wasn’t any real arguing.

Mostly.

Chapter Text

Kirby cheerfully waved to their friends as they all went in different directions. That took longer than expected to navigate the interior of the fortress, but hopefully it would take less time as just himself. Less people to manage that way.

Flying back up to the jambastion, Kirby looked up at the sky as it changed from the blue they’d known all their life to a deep red. The air also felt different. Harder to breathe, similar to the air he remembered breathing on Halcandra.

Strange.

Kirby continued pondering the similarities between this strange place and other planets he’d visited as they ran back to the group, eager to continue exploring this strange place.

Maybe he’d ask Magolor if he knew anything about this place when they were done with this adventure! It should be over soon… Hopefully.

Magolor returned to the open hall, feeling a little worse than when he had left.

“What’d he want?” Asked Marx, already making himself comfortable leaning against the mage.

Magolor smiled at Marx’s ability to get comfy seemingly anywhere, distracting him from his current thoughts. “Ah, Meta Knight just wanted to apologize for being so hard on m… us.” He explained, hoping Susie had been gone long enough to have forgotten his tells.

Susie rose a brow at Magolor’s pause, but she didn’t comment further. She seemed too engrossed in whatever she was writing on her tablet to bother with pointing out the blatant lie.

Marx grinned. “Definitely better than other ‘talks’ you’ve had with ‘im.” He commented.

Magolor laughed softly and nodded. “I suppose so.”

Kirby slowed at the sight of Meta Knight’s wings, stretching from the doorway of the hall they’d agreed to regroup in.

The young hero tilted his head.

Meta Knight never let his wings out unless he was fighting or flying.

Or feeling unwell.

Kirby frowned a little, approaching Meta Knight quietly and tapping his shoulder.

Meta Knight immediately whipped around, hand flying to Galaxia’s grip instinctively. “Who’s the—oh.” He relaxed slightly, though his wings didn’t twist themselves back together into his cape. “What are you doing, sneaking up on me?”

“Sorry.” Kirby signed, though he couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Are you okay?”

“As okay as I can be.” Said Meta Knight. “I spoke to Magolor.”

Kirby lit up at this. “That’s good. What did he say?”

“He was… Skeptical.” Meta Knight said, looking from Kirby towards Magolor, Susie, and Marx across the room. “Assumed I wanted something of him, at first.”

Silence.

“I don’t blame him.”

Kirby tilted his head. “Why?”

Meta Knight sighed, allowing his wings to twist themselves back into his dimensional cape once more. “I’ve been… less than courteous to him, when you aren’t around to see it.” He admitted. “It makes sense that he would be skeptical of my motives, though I have to admit it’s a bit upsetting, being on the receiving end of such skepticism.”

Kirby giggled once more. “Now you know what it feels like. Being doubted and distrusted.”

A quiet chuckle escaped Meta Knight.

Kirby furrowed their brows. “What is it?”

“Ah, nothing. Just wondering when you got so grown-up, I suppose.” Meta Knight admitted, smiling softly at Kirby.

Kirby laughed. “When you started acting like some weathered old man, maybe?”

Meta Knight snorted. “Maybe. Though I don’t appreciate you calling me an ‘old man’.”

“Then don’t act like I’m just a little kid.” Kirby joked. “We should keep going, though.”

“Agreed. Should I tell everybody it’s time to go?” Asked Meta Knight.

Kirby hummed softly, shaking his head. “Maybe a little longer. Everyone seems comfy right now, and we’ve already fought a lot today.”

“Alright, then.” Meta Knight said, letting out a soft sigh.

They stayed like that a moment, standing in the doorway in silence.

Then, Meta Knight spoke once more. “I meant it, you know, when I called you grown-up.” He said. “I remember back when you’d first come here. You didn’t know any better.”

“What do you mean?” Kirby asked.

Meta Knight smiled at the memory. “Ah, it was just refreshing to see somebody so willing to go against King Dedede. You could say it… Inspired me, in a way.”

Kirby smiled a little as well. The memory of taking down the Halberd wasn’t fun, but it was always good to know that they eventually won Meta Knight over, at least. “I’m glad.” He signed, before leaning against Meta Knight.

Meta Knight blinked a little in surprise at the feeling of Kirby leaning against him, but quickly found himself smiling once more. “I’m glad, too.”

Another quiet moment passed, until Kirby finally straightened himself with a small huff. “I think we’ve waited long enough. I want to know what’s happening.” They signed. He took a step further into the room, clapping his hands to get everybody’s attention.

Meta Knight nodded, stepping forward with Kirby. The room was too big for Kirby’s signing to be effective, so Meta Knight translated Kirby’s signs for the group. “It’s time to get going, everyone. It doesn’t seem far to the top, but everybody should still prepare for a fight, just in case.”

Everyone muttered among themselves about what might be at the top as they gathered near the exit that lead further into the fortress.

Kirby hoped it wouldn’t lead into a fight, but considering everybody else here they’d met seemed to be itching for a fight, it seemed likely the depths of the fortress would bear a similar result, unfortunately.

Zan Partizanne heard the footsteps of the intruders before they’d ever come near the hall itself. Magic sparked to life at her fingertips at the sound.

They were coming.

She had hoped they weren’t.

There had been nearly half an hour of nothing.

And yet…

Zan shook her head.

“Frannie, Berge, I’m gonna need you guys to get down to the planet below as soon as possible.” She ordered.

“Zan, what the hell’re you planning that you need us outta the way for it?” Flamberge asked incredulously. “I mean, I’m all for kickin’ these guys out, but you can’t be doing something that drastic!”

Zan pursed her lips. “I’ll do what needs to be done.” Her ear turned in the direction of the door, twitching slightly beneath her hat. “Go. They’re coming.” She repeated, opening a rift into the forest they’d used as cover before, ignoring the headache it brought her to do so. She pushed Flamberge in before she could protest, but paused at Francisca’s injured shoulder.

Francisca hesitated as well, looking at the rift in the floor. “Zan—”

“Go! I’ve got this.” Zan hissed, eyes focused on the door. She needed these intruders gone for good. And she wasn’t willing to risk her only remaining family for it. “Please. Just – just let me handle this.” She added, squeezing her eyes shut. She had to stay calm. For her family. 

Francisca sighed. “Just come back alive.” She said, before taking the step into the rift.

Zan closed the rift, tracing her partisan along the edge until it was little more than a tiny crack in the ground.

Then, she sat herself in the throne – the throne Hyness should be sitting in, though she didn’t quite care right then – and waited for these strangers to show themselves.

Chapter Text

All was quiet when the star allies entered the deepest point of the jambastion.

Save for the electricity which crackled in the air, making everyone’s hair stand on end. Not to mention the smell of ozone, strong enough for those with more sensitive senses of smell to feel dizzy once they entered the room itself.

Kirby lead the way, looking around the large room with wide eyes. It was beautiful, all vibrant oranges and deep browns. The sort of colours one might find around a campfire.

But this was far from a camping trip.

A girl sat on the throne near the back of the room, a view of an orange capsule containing some sort of energy core behind her. She was dressed like Francisca and Flamberge, but something was different about her.

Most didn’t notice right away, but Magolor did.

It was like being hit with a thousand volts – impossible to overlook without some sort of conscious effort.

Her eyes were yellow, like his own, but she had black slit pupils, rather than the white pupils of the other mages. Her nose, too, was more similar to Magolor’s than he could brush off as simple coincidence.

Whatever this girl was, she felt familiar in a way Magolor couldn’t quite place beyond a blurry face from an old photo album.

Zan rose from her seat, looking over the intruders curiously. Most were unfamiliar. Strange aliens befitting this strange alien world.

One, however, felt like a punch to the gut.

A man, with eyes like her sisters’, and ears like her own, stared at her the way she stared at him. A mix of familiarity and confusion was on both their faces as they looked one another up and down. More than anything, he looked like the old photos she kept tucked away. The last remnants of her old life.

One question plain on both their faces.

Why are you so familiar to me?

Magolor’s head hurt. Fuzzy memories he couldn’t quite reach floating at the edge of his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut.

It was just the smell of ozone messing with him.

Right.

Just that.

Nothing else.

Hell, even if his sister was alive, he would have run into her before now…

Right?

The girl cleared her throat, and Magolor perked up once more.

“Bonjam.” She said.

Magolor nodded. He knew what to expect as far as language by now, at least. “Bonjam!” He echoed.

The girl blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting a response, at least not in her native language. Still, she pressed on. “I am Zan Partizanne, the eldest of the three generals of magic.”

Zan… That also felt familiar. More hazy memories of photo albums and stories from years gone by.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Yeah. That’s it.

His sister wasn’t called Partizanne. Magolor thought that much, at least.

Just a similar prefix. He told himself.

Kirby turned to Bandee, signing something for the dee to translate.

Bandee happily obliged. “Zan… Particle, right? Kirby was wondering if he could call you Zan! Since they’re not sure how to spell the, uh, the other word.”

The air around Zan Partizanne crackled with electricity when she growled in annoyance. “It’s Partizanne. And no, he may not.” She said coldly. “Now, as I was saying…” She held her partisan to her chest protectively. “At first, I thought you lot were just some simpletons with a knack for annoyance. But it’s clear to me now that you’re all interfering interlopers.”

“Nice alliteration there, parabola!” Marx chimed in.

“Silence, clown.” Zan Partizanne commanded, pointing her partisan at Marx. Her irritation was mounting with each butchering of her name. “I’m afraid your… Unwanted wanderings must end here. By the will of our beloved liege, Hyness, Officiant of Doom…” She adjusted her grip on her weapon and took a fighting stance, a grin spreading across her face. “I shall destroy you here and now!”

Even while Zan zapped around the room, casting everything she could and avoiding what attacks the strangers threw her way, she couldn’t help but wonder something.

How did that man speak jambandran? He obviously wasn’t jambandran. No self-respecting jambandran mage would dress in such a way, and what in the world was with his ears?

Not to mention the fact that this guy was on some random backwater planet. She wouldn’t ever be caught dead living in a place like this.

Zan zapped between objects that looked like apples, careful not to touch the strange objects as she rapidly slashed at her foes. A beach ball came flying at her face.

…A beach ball?

“What?” Zan muttered, faltering slightly at the sight.

It exploded directly in her face.

Zan spluttered angrily, zapping into the air. She’d show them. Raising her partisan to the sky, she summoned her drums.

Magolor giggled at Zan Partizanne’s reaction to the firecracker ball exploding in her face. He had been hit by them before, and they certainly were a surprise if you weren’t expecting it. He fired off a magic sphere at his opponent, making sure the attack wouldn’t hit any of his allies. With so many people fighting in close quarters, it could be hard to identify who was where.

Still, he quickly dodged the balls of electricity Zan Partizanne set loose throughout the room. He had always been good at evasive maneuvers, both in and out of the Lor.

Until he stumbled, tripping over a spear Bandee had thrown and neglected to pick up in the heat of the battle. He fell directly into the energy ball in the centre of the room, unable to open a rift to catch himself in time.

Magolor felt the electricity course through him, hissing in pain and anger at himself for not paying enough attention to his surroundings.

How long had it been since he’d goofed up this bad in a fight? His mind was too fuzzy to recall even once the electricity dissipated and he could move once more.

“Mags! You alright?” Marx called from across the room, barely audible over the overwhelming noise of the fight in Magolor’s ears. He was kicking as many firecracker balls as he could at Zan Partizanne between desperate attempts at dodging her attacks.

Magolor offered a tired smile in response. “I’ll be fine.” He said, though he doubted Marx would be able to hear it. Marx’s hearing was good, but even Magolor had struggled to hear Marx at top volume from across the room.

Zan Partizanne landed, and every melee fighter in the party closed in in turn, while more ranged fighters took to the air in any way they could to fight without risking hitting allies.

Finally, Zan Partizanne collapsed, leaning against her partisan with a hiss of frustration and pain.

“Ugh… Jam… Blasted…” She huffed out, forcing herself back to her feet and glaring at the star allies. “How could there be such an opposition on a measly backwater planet like this?”

“Hey! That’s our home you’re talkin’ about!” Bandee said angrily, still gripping their spear lest Zan Partizanne try to continue fighting.

Zan Partizanne hissed once more, but this hiss sounded much angrier than before. “I don’t care if this is your home! You’re all a bunch of nuisances!” She screamed, before forcing herself to calm down once more. “Ah, but it matters not. All the jamba’stíon fragments from this planet are already within our grasp.”

The tension in the room seemed to rise at the mention of the Jamba Heart. They knew what would happen should they complete the heart.

“Listen here, you bunch of backwater bastards! For all I care…” She cursed under her breath, forcing herself to stand at her full height as she took aim at the energy core behind the huge throne. “…You and this jambastion can rot in ruin forever!” She cried, blasting the core with magic.

The core exploded.

Thankfully, the party was just far enough that they only felt the unbearable heat of the blast, rather than being caught in the blast itself, but the jambastion shook violently beneath everyone’s feet, and many yelped in shock and fear. Zan Partizanne practically cackled at everybody’s reaction to her actions, zapping into the air and away from the falling debris. “Good luck escaping this! Jambuhbye~!” She called before zapping away out of the party’s sight, leaving only the crumbling ceiling and the red sky where she once floated.

Chapter Text

Hardly even thinking of any other possibilities, the team scrambled for the exit of the hall, practically tripping over themselves in the effort to avoid the debris falling from the rapidly crumbling ceiling.

Magolor couldn’t help but laugh uncomfortably as he hopped over a fallen pillar. “We’re lucky the core’s explosion didn’t reach us!” He said, barely loud enough for his teammates to hear.

“We can consider ourselves lucky for that, at least.” Meta Knight agreed, flying overhead and using the galaxia to break up or knock away any larger pieces of debris that threatened to fall on the party.

“Less talkin’, more runnin’, you two!” Dedede shouted over his shoulder, swinging his mallet to clear debris too large to jump over or go around.

Magolor nodded quickly, his ears flat to his head from both his own stress and the noise in the small corridor. “Sorry!”

Kirby smiled sympathetically in response before returning their attention to clearing debris with Dedede.

It would be a long while until they’d be out, if the journey up was any indicator.

After what felt like forever, the group had reached the jambastion’s gates. Magolor tried to catch his breath while Kirby called the warp star to get everybody back down to the planet’s surface.

“Meta Knight.” Magolor said.

“Yes?”

Magolor took a deep breath. “…If what Francisca said was true, I – I don’t think we can just let them go without any sort of pursuit.”

Meta Knight nodded slowly. “I agree, but why are you bringing this up now, of all times?” He asked.

“You did sort of… threaten to kill me if I ever left planet Popstar, for one…” Magolor reminded the knight, an awkward laugh escaping him.

Meta Knight pursed his lips. “…So I did.” He admitted. “But why would we bring you along?”

“Lor could transport you all much faster than the warp star could. Or the Halberd, for that matter.” Magolor suggested. “And we could even search other planets for those girls without the full party! Some of us could wait while others explored planet surfaces, or even have multiple parties searching planets at once!”

A moment of silence, then Meta Knight nodded. “I’ll check in with Kirby about this. I suggest you prepare the Lor Starcutter for takeoff.” Then, Meta Knight smiled. It was brief, just a ghost of a smile, but it was there.

Magolor grinned widely. “Gotcha!” He said brightly, holding himself back from chirping excitedly at the prospect of being able to go off-planet once more, even if it was with a significantly more crowded ship.

“Magolor! Are you coming down with us?” Bandee called from the warp star.

“Ah, sorry, I gotta go! Meta Knight can explain! Gather everyone back up and meet us at the Lor Starcutter, okay?” Magolor said, his eyes brighter than they’d been in ages. “C’mon, Marx!” He added hurriedly, opening a rift and stepping through.

Marx nodded and hopped off the warp star, following Magolor through the rift with a surprising amount of enthusiasm for what they’d just escaped.

Meta Knight took his place on the warp star, and Kirby and Bandee shared a look with one another. Both seemed just as confused, as well as a little surprised, that Magolor had trusted Meta Knight of all people to explain where he was going.

Magolor stepped out of the rift with a bright smile on his face, immediately dashing to the console without even putting his bag down.

Marx rose a brow at this, looking over Magolor’s shoulder to see he was rapidly typing something into the console in halcandran. “What’s got you so worked up?” He asked.

Magolor looked as if he was about to burst with excitement as he kicked his feet rapidly without much use. “Meta Knight’s letting us go off-planet!” He practically blurted out, spinning around to grin at Marx.

“Wha – really? Has the guy finally lost it or somethin’?” Marx asked incredulously.

“Ah, well, I think he just meant for transporting everybody else for today…” Magolor admitted, his ears drooping slightly at the thought that that was it. “But! Maybe if we prove we can be trusted, then we could maybe get him to reconsider the whole death threat thing? It’s a long shot, but it’s a shot either way.” Magolor rambled on while he continued typing commands into the console. 

Marx grinned. “Yeah. A shot either way.” He echoed, leaning over the back of the captain’s chair with a small hum. Without even thinking, he wrapped his arms around the chair and Magolor’s shoulders, staying there comfortably while Magolor worked away at the console.

It was nice, being away from all the chaos for a moment, in a quiet place, just the two of them. The only sound was Magolor’s soft purring and the clicking of the mechanical keyboard Magolor had hooked up to the console.

“Hey… Did that Zan Partizanne girl feel… familiar to you at all?” Magolor asked out of the blue, finally stopping his typing once the monitor lit up with a cheery beep.

Marx hummed thoughtfully. “…Nah, not really. ‘Bout as familiar as the other two, so, y’know, not at all.” He said. “Why?”

Magolor sighed, his ears drooping slightly. “Ah, nothing, really. She just… It felt like I knew her, somehow.”

“I mean, you do know a lot of people. Like, you’ve been all over the place, right? Could just be an old customer, or somethin’.” Marx suggested.

Magolor shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve met her like that. It was like – like running into an old friend you barely recognize… Or, like, a relative after you’ve both grown up and are totally different… If that makes sense.” He explained, laughing awkwardly. “…I probably sound crazy, talking about this girl like she didn’t just try to kill us twenty minutes ago…”

Marx shrugged, moving to sit cross-legged on the console like he had a hundred times before. “Nah, life’s just weird like that.” He said with a small grin. “Least ours are.” He added after a moment of thought.

“Heh, maybe Popstar is just some sort of weirdo magnet.” Magolor suggested, chuckling softly. “I doubt anywhere else has ever been through half as much as here…”

Marx nodded. “Yeah, ‘cept maybe Halcandra, but that place has issues.”

Magolor chuckled softly. “It really does.”

The two lapsed into silence once more. The bridge was always a nice place to be, even when neither really had any sort of work to do.

“Hey! Sorry we took so long!” Bandee called onto the bridge of the Lor Starcutter once the hatch opened. Lor greeted them with a warmer humming than usual and a cheery greeting they knew they were the only one to hear. Bandee wondered briefly if Lor had spoken to Magolor yet as they offered the mage a small wave.

They assumed not, Magolor would probably be ecstatic if it did happen, likely wouldn’t stop bringing it up for the next several weeks, if Bandee had to take a guess.

Magolor spun around in the captain’s chair at the sound of Bandee’s voice, a bright smile on his face. “No worries! Find somewhere to, er, stand, and we’ll get going!” He said, spinning back around while the star allies filtered into the bridge of the ship. His hands flew over the keyboard, no doubt typing in commands for the Lor to follow so he wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the day in the uncomfortable-looking captain’s chair.

The hatch closed once the last few allies boarded, and the Lor Starcutter left the planet’s surface for the first time in over two years.

Susie leant against the console, giving Marx a bit of side-eye for being in the spot she used to occupy when she and Magolor first started travelling together.

It felt so long ago, now.

Marx just snorted at Susie’s attempt at getting him to move and shuffled over slightly.

“It’s nice to see the Lor back up and running again.” Susie commented, her usual customer service smile replaced by a slightly nostalgic look across her face.

Magolor rose a brow. “She’s been running the whole time, actually.” He corrected, still half focused on getting the Lor out of Popstar’s atmosphere.

Susie tilted her head. “Why? It’s not like she was being used for anything.”

“I dunno.” Magolor said with a shrug. “I do, however, know she’s got a soul. Perhaps she doesn’t want to be put back to sleep.” He mused, running a careful hand along the console’s surface. It was warm to the touch, a far cry from how he’d found it with Susie and his father when he was younger.

Susie nodded slowly. “Perhaps.”

Zan wrapped her injuries with not even half the care she did her sisters’ in the quiet forest clearing.

Francisca rose a hand to Zan’s, trying to get a grip on the roll of gauze in Zan’s claws. “I could help y—”

“No way. You get some rest.” Zan insisted for what felt like the tenth time, but was probably only the second or third at most.

Flamberge crossed her arms. “Dude, you were stabbed. Let us help you out for once.”

“So was Francisca, and she still helped us out when she had to.” Zan shot back, pinning the end of the cloth to the rest of it before starting on a new injury. “I’ll be fine.”

The gauze was ripped from Zan’s hand by Francisca’s magic. She winced at the pain in her shoulder, but held it out of Zan’s reach all the same. She couldn’t let Zan work herself half to death again. “Let us help for once.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as her hand closed around the roll of gauze. “Please.”

Zan swiped at Francisca’s hand, leaning on her other hand for support. “Come on! We have a job to do!” She complained.

“And we can’t get it done until you’re in better shape! Get your shit together and let us help you out with something the way you help us for once in your life!” Francisca countered, easily dodging clumsy swipes of Zan’s claws. Zan wasn’t much use without her magic, and she was exhausted.

Zan faltered at this.

Francisca never swore.

She felt a hand on her back.

The cuts on her arms and torso scabbed over and closed. Bruises, both from combat and other sources, faded until they were nothing more than the slightest discolouration on her skin. She felt lighter, more energized than before.

“Wha…”

Flamberge patted Zan’s shoulder and grinned. “Thanks for the distraction, Fran!” She said brightly, holding her hand up for a high five.

Francisca dropped the hand clutching the gauze, staring sadly at Zan. She looked like a kicked noddy.

A moment of awkward silence between the three sisters.

Flamberge lowered her hand, looking off to the side uncomfortably. Francisca never left her hanging.

Then, if only to feel more comfortable, Zan reached for her partisan.

Francisca kicked it away, and it skittered across the forest floor until it stopped at the base of a huge tree.

Zan knew that tree. She’d seen it earlier that day.

She didn’t bring it up. Instead, she said, “Francisca, we can’t just stay here. Lord Hyness will—”

Francisca’s jaw clenched, tears welling in her eyes as her brow furrowed in frustration. “Do you ever shut up about father?!” She screamed. “It’s always Lord Hyness this, Lord Hyness that, have you ever thought about what we want? What you want?!”

“Fran—” Flamberge started, only to pause at Francisca’s expression. As much as she loved Zan, she did not want that frustration pointed at her.

Zan was tearing up now, too. Not from the pain in her side, not from the headache that always came with these sorts of situations, but from the realization that she didn’t know the answer to that question, either.

She looked down at the forest floor, then up at her two sisters.

And she let out a broken sob.

Tears spilled on the forest floor.

Flamberge tried rubbing Zan’s back to calm her down, and Zan shoved her away, terrified of a repeat of what got her here in the first place.

Zan felt like that poor thirteen-year-old girl again, desperately running from what she’d done, tears and snot running down her face as she tried to keep herself composed.

She was all alone, then. But now, she had the people she loved most right there with her.

…

…So why did she still feel so isolated?

Chapter Text

The tears finally stopped flowing down Zan’s cheeks. She couldn’t have known how long she had been sobbing there, surrounded by trees while her sisters watched in silence, uncertain how they could help.

The sky was a dark grey, and the air reeked of ozone.

Zan’s ears flattened instinctively.

Storms.

Zan used to love storms.

The way the rain sounded, the way the ozone made her skin prickle, the smell of the rain and how it mixed with every other smell around her. Even the dampness was okay if she knew her mother had a dry towel and a warm drink ready after the fact, towelling her off with many a teasing jab at how she’d just had a bath and now she’d smell like rainwater all day.

It was nice.

She loved everything about stormy weather.

Or… She used to.

Zan didn’t remember much of the actual event.

She only remembered the moment both she and her mother collapsed in a crumpled heap, brought down by the magic Zan thought she was unable to use.

Zan woke up.

Miyabi didn’t.

Even now, Zan tried to force herself to view that day as a happy day.

She lived, didn’t she? She was brought back to live with Lord Hyness. Francisca and Flamberge, too, a few years down the line. She was taught to use her magic safely. After years of being completely incapable of moving even a pencil.

So why didn’t she think of it as a good thing, deep down?

Zan wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t help but feel selfish for wishing her mother had woken up. That she hadn’t climbed that stupid tower.

She sometimes wished they’d never gone to Planet Towara at all.

Zan was forced out of her memories by a pale hand on her own. Her hand, stained with dirt and grass her own tears.

Zan blinked back more tears, sniffling softly.

Francisca lightly squeezed Zan’s hand. “I’m sorry, Zan… I – I didn’t mean it.”

She was lying. She meant it. All three of them knew it.

But still, Zan gave a half-hearted smile, even as Flamberge tentatively placed a hand on her back, rubbing gentle circles between her sister’s shoulder blades.

None of them said anything for a while, but Zan did wipe her tears away.

Magolor kept a close eye on the monitors overhead, watching for Dark Meta Knight, Taranza, Daroach, and Kirby to return.

Falluna Moon seemed relatively safe, but Magolor wasn’t willing to risk it. He’d made that mistake enough to know better by now.

“Mags?” Marx’s voice was the thing to bring Magolor out of his own thoughts, like it usually was.

Magolor lifted his head from his arms. “Yeah? What’s up?” He asked, still half-focused on the monitors.

“You look exhausted.” Marx commented. “You wanna go lie down or somethin’?”

“Can’t. I gotta make sure things are running smoothly.” Said Magolor, barely suppressing the urge to yawn. He hadn’t been sleeping much lately, truth be told. It wasn’t that he wasn’t tired, and rather that he just couldn’t sleep for whatever reason.

Marx frowned. “Can’t Susie fly the Lor?” He asked.

Magolor sighed. “I – I guess, it’s just a matter of if I trust her, there. The Lor’s a delicate machine, you know? And it’s been such a long time, and, well…” He trailed off.

“You just want to keep working, don’t you?” Susie asked, leaning over the back of the chair.

Magolor nearly jumped in surprise at the sound of Susie’s voice. “No! I just…” They weren’t in Dreamland right now. Who’s to say what he’d see if he slept out here. Magolor shuddered at the thought.

He’d certainly given his mind plenty to go off over the years.

“Hey, thirty minutes. That’s all I’m askin’ for.” Said Marx, having noticed the shift in Magolor’s demeanour at the suggestion he rest.

Magolor looked down at the console, staring intently at the multicoloured keys as he considered it. “…Fine.” He said after a moment of thought. Thirty minutes wasn’t so bad. He pushed back from the console and stood up. His head swam for a moment, the sudden shift in position throwing him off more than it normally would.

Susie took Magolor’s place in the chair with a small grin. “Sleep well.” She said before turning her attention to the monitors Magolor had been watching before.

Magolor nodded at Susie’s words, though they only sort of registered in his mind. His exhaustion always had a way of catching up with him once he was reminded of it. He sighed softly as he opened the door to the living quarters and stepped through, feeling a little more comfortable now that it was just him and the Lor.

Making himself comfortable on the sofa, Magolor considered just reading for the thirty minutes he’d promised. That usually re-energized him just as much as a nap did. He might even get some new information for the team to use.

The door opened once more just as Magolor opened the book he’d kept tucked in his satchel. Marx stood in the doorway. “Knew it.” He said with a grin, crossing the room and taking the book from Magolor’s hands. “I said sleep, dude.” His tone was light despite the worry on his face.

Magolor sighed. “I can’t sleep when there’s so much going on. It’s like – like…” Magolor couldn’t find the words to describe how he was feeling in that moment. “I don’t know, I just… I can’t sleep when there’s the possibility that something might happen to the others.” His ear twitched without him even noticing.

“That’s a lie.” Marx pointed out, setting the book down on the end table. “What’s really eatin’ at you, dude?”

What wasn’t eating at him, would have been a better question. “I don’t know. That’s the problem.” He twisted his hands together, unsure what to do. His brain felt foggy.

Maybe it would be a good idea to get some sleep.

But…

“I don’t want to sleep alone.” Magolor admitted.

He used to love being alone, but things changed.

He’d changed.

Now, out in the vast expanse of space once more, no longer protected by the Fountain of Dreams, Magolor felt hopelessly small.

Marx chuckled softly. Magolor glanced away, only to see Marx’s hand rest atop his. “Dude, you could’ve just told me.” He said softly.

Magolor smiled. “Aha, sorry. I’ve never been any good at revealing secrets at the right time, have I?”

Both laughed at this. The laughter felt hollow, but it helped dissolve a little bit of the tension in the air.

“’S fine. C’mon, before Susie sends someone to wake us up before we’re even asleep.” Marx said with a small grin, pulling Magolor to his feet and running down the hall with the mage in tow.

Magolor laughed a little harder as he ran after Marx down the hall. He felt a little better in that moment, his overthinking pushed to the back of his mind.

He loved Marx for that, how the jester could help him out in such small ways.

It meant the world to him.

Francisca knocked coolly on the door to the divine terminus’ altar. Her jaw was clenched and her brows were furrowed as she clutched Zan’s satchel close to her chest. Zan and Flamberge stood at either side of Francisca.

It was a strange reversal of roles between the three, with Francisca taking charge for once.

Zan tried once more to reach for the satchel. “I can—”

“You’re going to take a break. Stay here and rest while Flam and I handle the rest of the fragments.” Francisca said coldly, swatting Zan’s hand away with the hand that wasn’t holding the satchel.

Zan chewed on her lip in frustration. She'd figure out something to do here. Even if it was just cleaning the weapons in the armoury or sparring with a jammerjab. She couldn’t just goof off. She had to do something to help.

…What was the point if she didn’t?

They stood before the massive door, looking out at the expanse of stars beyond the station while they waited.

Hyness never came to answer the door.

Typical.

Francisca pulled the door open and walked in by herself.

She looked back at Zan and Flamberge with a reassuring smile.

It was okay.

Maybe.

Zan leant back against the wall while she waited for Francisca to come out, staring out at the stars.

She’d have tried to go, to get some work done while Francisca was in with Hyness. If it weren’t for Flamberge keeping a close eye on her. Zan sighed heavily, looking out at the stars.

She remembered an old astronomy book from the planet she was born on. Tucked away in her desk drawer with the old photos

Maybe she’d revisit that drawer while she was under sister-imposed station arrest.

Who knows?

She might find something out about that strangely familiar guy from the jambastion.

Oddly enough, Zan hoped he might somehow still be alive.

“Weird.” Zan mused, looking out over the sea of stars with that sense of familiarity washing over her once more.

Chapter Text

Francisca took the satchel back now that she’d given Hyness the fragments. She had taken it back harsher than she normally would have.

She was letting her frustration show more than she’d liked.

Hyness tilted his head at Francisca’s sharp movements. “What has you so upset?” He asked.

His voice was too soft.

Francisca glared at Hyness. “I hope you’re aware Zan is working herself half to death for all this.” She spoke. Her voice mimicked Hyness’ tone when things went slightly off-kilter – still soft, but with an edge of thinly-veiled anger.

She’d learned that tone from a young age and knew well what it meant.

Hopefully her father understood the weight of her tone as well as she did.

“…She is?” Asked Hyness.

“How are you not aware? I can’t recall the last time she’s slept, and you don’t even notice?” Francisca was quickly losing her cool. “I can’t believe this.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut to nip her brewing headache in the bud.

Hyness faltered at this. “She… doesn’t tell me things.”

“Because you don’t ask us! You’re always locked away in this room doing Void knows what instead of spending time with any of us!” Francisca shouted angrily, tossing her hands in the air.

“…It hasn’t been that long—”

Francisca practically snarled. “It’s been nearly ten years, father! I can’t remember the last time we were all truly happy, and you’re telling me it ‘hasn’t been that long’?!”

Hyness furrowed his brows. Had it really been ten years? He really needed to find a better way to keep track of time. “Francisca, dear, I’m—”

“Sorry? I hope you’re sorry.” Francisca’s chest heaved with every word. She couldn’t think straight. She was running on adrenaline and anger directed entirely toward Hyness. “Though, I think I’d be less surprised if you weren’t.”

At least it wouldn’t hurt as much to call him out on such things if he wasn’t sorry.

“Francisca, is that any way to—” The telltale lowering of Hyness’ voice, but Francisca didn’t cower the way Zan would. In fact, she cut him off.

“Let Zan Partizanne rest until we’re back. If I find out you put her to work at all, I’ll… I’ll…” Francisca looked down at her hands, still tinted blue despite the years gone by. She couldn’t find the words.

Hyness chuckled softly. He knew how his youngest child always faltered when it came to wording things all too well. “You’ll what?”

“I’ll figure something out!” Francisca clenched her fists around the satchel’s strap. Her head hurt. She couldn’t think straight. This room always did that to her.

Francisca remembered now why she always let Zan handle speaking with Hyness these days.

A moment of silence. Heavy, oppressive silence.

Francisca felt like she was suffocating as she watched Hyness piece together the Jamba’stíon fragment by fragment.

She wanted to leave.

But she was frozen in place for a reason she couldn’t identify.

It had been a while. Zan was getting bored waiting for Francisca to emerge from the room.

“Hey, Berge?” Asked Zan.

Flamberge blinked, looking away from the stars. “Huh? What’s up?”

“Do I usually take this long when I speak with father?” The word ‘father’ felt foreign when Zan spoke it. Although her sisters called Hyness father all the time, Zan hadn’t called Hyness such a thing since…

Huh.

She couldn’t quite remember.

Flamberge sighed. It was weird to see her so calm. Not relaxed, but less excitable than normal, Zan supposed. “…Yeah. It’s usually a while. That’s… Kinda why we usually wander off.”

Zan nodded. “That’s fair, I suppose.”

They fell into silence once more.

It was so peaceful, looking over the sea of stars. She wondered if it was always so pretty, and she’d never really noticed.

Magolor’s eyes snapped open. His head hurt. His mouth tasted acidic and bitter. He felt horribly sick.

All sound in the room was drowned out by Magolor’s heartbeat, louder than it had ever been.

Magolor scrambled out of bed, chest heaving as he leant over the old trash bin he kept next to his desk.

At least he hadn’t eaten much in the past few days.

Marx’s voice said something. Probably Magolor’s name.

His heartbeat and his own breathing were too loud for much else to come through the fog that had settled over his mind.

Magolor wiped at his mouth. His throat closed up when he tried to speak.

Marx placed a hand on Magolor’s back, and the mage instantly pulled away at the feeling. His memory of the dream was already fading, but he distinctly remembered hands.

Hands everywhere.

“Mags, what happened?” Marx repeated, clearer than before, but still muffled in Magolor’s ears.

Magolor shook his head, hoping Marx would understand what he was trying to say.

He wasn’t sure.

He gripped the trash bin tighter, shoulders shaking.

Marx sighed softly, sitting next to Magolor on the floor.

Magolor took in a shaky breath as he stared down into the trash bin. He tiredly leant against Marx after a moment.

“…Sorry.” Magolor mumbled.

Marx smiled, rubbing circles on Magolor’s back. “’S alright.” He mumbled softly, leaning back against Magolor.

The two lapsed into silence for a moment, and Magolor felt himself calm down a little, his grip on the trash bin loosening slightly.

It had to have been far longer than half an hour by now, but neither moved to get up.

They needed a quiet moment to themselves right then.

Besides, Susie knew better than to crash the Lor.

Kirby hopped back onto the Lor’s bridge with a skip in their step. Searching Falluna Moon hadn’t taken nearly as long as he’d expected. Hopefully Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandee were having as good luck as Kirby had on Misteen and Caverna.

They paused slightly at the sight of Susie in the captain’s chair. He hummed curiously, skipping to Susie’s side and tapping her on her shoulder.

“Welcome back. Let’s get going, lest Meta Knight assume we abandoned him in the middle of nowhere.” She joked, typing in the coordinates to Planet Misteen as if she knew them by heart.

Kirby giggled and nodded. “Mhm!” They agreed. “But what are you doing at the console? Is Magolor okay?” He added.

Susie waved her hand with a small chuckle. “He’s in his room, taking a nap.” She said simply, tapping the enter key and allowing the Lor to take off. “There we go. We should be able to rest until we arrive on Planet Misteen.”

Kirby nodded brightly, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Susie. Seemed they were getting himself comfy for the long haul.

Or, at least until the next planet they were asked to check out.

After a while of looking between the mostly unfamiliar faces and the monitors plastered across the wall, Susie sighed softly.

It had been nearly an hour.

“Kirby, could you do me a favour?” Susie asked, knowing full well the answer would be yes.

As expected, Kirby gave a nod in response, already looking up at Susie from their spot on the floor curiously.

Susie glanced back up at the monitors. They’d be landing on Misteen soon. “I need you to check in with Magolor. I trust you know where his room is?”

Kirby nodded once more, hopping to his feet with an energetic grin. “Sure do.” They signed, rocking back and forth in place just in case Susie wanted to say anything else.

Susie smiled a little, turning back to watch the monitors. “You’re a good kid.” She said under her breath.

Kirby smiled brightly at Susie’s words and ducked out of sight into the Lor’s living quarters in search of Magolor.

Now alone, Zan stepped into her room, claws ghosting over the leftover marks from the early days of learning to control her magic.

How long had it been since she’d slept in her own bed? She usually slept at her desk, if at all.

She laughed softly, the sound echoing through the room.

A beat-up scarfy plush rested atop her faded yellow blankets. It was missing an eye. According to her mother, there was a matching plush, once.

Who knows where it went?

Zan opened the bottom drawer of her desk, sighing softly at the sight of her old things.

Just the same as they always were.

She tentatively pulled the small stack of photos from atop the astronomy book and sat atop her bed.

How long had it been since she’d last looked at these photos?

She only recognized herself in a few of them, with her unruly, undyed hair. She was so tiny back then.

Some photos were of her mother, smiling and laughing in a way Zan never really recognized in her own memories of her mother. Sometimes her mother was with a man she didn’t recognize. Her mother had told Zan that was her father, back when she could tell Zan things.

There was a boy in some of them, as well. He always looked a little surprised in the photos, though he seemed happy enough.

Zan smiled to herself, tracing the outlines of each person in each photo like she’d done a hundred times before.

“I miss you, ma.” Zan muttered, squeezing her eyes shut to hide the tears welling in her eyes.

Who was she hiding the tears from? Herself? Hyness?

She wasn’t quite sure.

Zan wiped at her eyes and laughed softly, smiling through the tears as she looked down at the photos in her lap.

She wished she knew the other people in the photos.

She did know one thing, though.

She was tired.

So, so tired.

Zan set the photos down on the desk, placing them between half-drunk coffee mugs and old documents she couldn’t care less about in that moment.

Clutching the beat-up scarfy plush against her chest, Zan squeezed her eyes shut once more. This time, however, wasn’t to hide her tears, but to rest.

Just like Francisca suggested.

Chapter Text

Magolor sighed softly, opening the photo album for the first time in what must have been several years. It wasn’t in the best condition, with bits of the cover having been replaced and patched up several times over the years. Photos that were added later stuck out beyond the edges of the pages.

Plenty of the photos were from Magolor was around six, and plenty featured Susie, but Magolor ignored those in favour of the older photos. The ones from before he could remember, the ones with his mother and sister.

There was that feeling of familiarity again.

No, no.

It had to be a coincidence.

It wasn’t as if his sister could be… He would have run into her by now, in any case.

Zan was probably just a common name prefix for Jambandrans.

…Right?

Magolor ran a hand through his hair in an effort to calm himself down, though he cringed at the feeling of cool metal. He felt worse, then. The reminder of the worst decision he’d ever made causing his stomach to churn once again.

Still, Magolor continued reading the small descriptions for each photo, smiling softly at his father’s handwriting.

Marx sat down next to Magolor, glancing at the old photos curiously. “Hey, who’s that?” He asked, pointing to a photo of Magolor and his sister.

“Oh, that’s… my sister. I never really knew her.” Magolor shook his head, trying to push away the feeling of familiarity. “All I really have are these few photos and a handful of stories my dad used to tell me.”

Marx nodded. “Well at least ya got the photos, yeah? I only have the memories of some of my siblings, if anything, so it’s cool you’ve got something like this.” He tapped the edge of the page, grinning. “Pretty special, if you ask me.”

Magolor smiled a little, running a hand through his hair once again. “Yeah, you’re right. I should… Probably go through this album more often. Maybe even add some of the photos I’ve taken over the years since—” Magolor stopped suddenly, ears perking up at the sound of a knock at the door. Marx seemed to have noticed the sound as well, turning to face the door with his own ears pointed up in curiosity.

Ah, well. Quiet moments could only last so long.

Magolor set the album aside and quickly crossed the room, pulling his hood up over his ears before opening the door.

Kirby stood on the other side, perking up at Magolor opening the door. They smiled at the mage in a way Magolor had grown used to from the young hero.

“Hey, Kirby. I’m assuming Susie sent you?” Magolor asked lightly.

“Mhm!” Kirby smiled a little. “Susie wanted me to check on you. See if you were ready to get back to work.” He signed much slower and more carefully, aware that Magolor wasn’t as fluent with DSL as most of their other friends.

Magolor returned the smile, the practiced one he used more often than his true smile. “Tell her we’ll be on the bridge in a few minutes. I need to get some stuff in order, first.”

Kirby nodded. “What sort of stuff?”

“Ah, just a few documents and books. Nothing exciting.” Magolor said with a wave of his hand.

“Hmm.” Kirby seemed skeptical, but didn’t protest, instead turning to return to the bridge. Though, before properly walking off, Kirby gave a small wave to Magolor as way to tell him they were leaving.

Magolor shut the door and sighed, eyes slipping shut as he pressed his forehead to the metal.

“We gotta head back out?” Asked Marx.

Magolor nodded. “Sounds like it…”

Marx shrugged. “Too bad. It was nice to have a break.”

“Yeah. It was nice, wasn’t it?” Magolor said softly, taking a deep breath. “But hey, it’s not like we could hide in here forever, right?”

“I dunno, we could probably be pretty comfy in here for a while.” Marx joked.

Magolor laughed, rolling his eyes. “Sure, sure. But as much as I trust Susie not to kill us, I’d prefer it if I were piloting my ship.”

Marx snorted. “Uh-huh. Come on, seems like Kirby’s waitin’ for you.” He said lightly.

Magolor smiled softly. “Better not keep them waiting long, eh?” He added, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to Marx’s cheek. “C’mon. I’ve still got most of what I wanted to bring out tucked into my bag.”

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna do more research.”

Magolor shook his head. “Not exactly. It’s more… personal than that, you could say.”

Zan Partizanne awoke to… Nothing.

No alarms. No frantic jammerjabs, telling her something was going wrong. Neither of her sisters, knocking at her door. No Hyness, leaning over her, asking for her help with something he likely could have done himself, if he had to.

Just silence. Complete and utter silence.

Zan sighed, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to ignore the rising urge to do something, anything that wasn’t just lying there. 

She was supposed to be resting, for Void’s sake!

And yet, she just couldn’t get herself to relax enough to get back to sleep.

“Jamblasted electric magic.” Zan muttered under her breath, rolling over and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

Training wouldn’t count as work, right?

With that in mind, Zan picked up her partisan and made for the training grounds.

Susie looked up from the console at the sound of the door opening. Sure enough, Magolor and Marx stepped through, and she smiled a little.

“Good to see you survived your nap.” She said, standing from the chair and offering it to the mage wordlessly.

Magolor rolled his eyes, sighing softly as he placed his satchel on an empty spot on the console. “You say that like I don’t sleep.” He complained.

Susie rose a brow. “Oh? Then tell me, how many hours have you slept this past week? Not factoring in the nap you just took, of course.”

“I… er…” Magolor paused, flipping a pencil in his hands. “That’s hardly fair to ask!”

Susie shook her head with a small sigh, turning to Marx. “Tell me, Marx, how much have you seen Magolor actually asleep this past week.”

Marx hummed softly, considering the question. “I usually get to sleep before Mags, and he’s up when I get up pretty consistently, lately. I think I’ve caught him dozin’ on the couch two days back, though! Usually buried under a lot of work, but sleep’s sleep, right?”

Magolor put his head in his hands, sighing softly. “You’re really not helping my case, here, Marx.”

“I doubt he’s trying to help. He and I both agreed to get you to take a break, after all.” Susie explained, crossing her arms.

Magolor’s ears drooped further. “Can’t believe I’ve been betrayed by my own partner…” He said dramatically, placing a hand to his chest as if he had been wounded. Though a small smile did break through his dramatic appearance of woundedness.

Marx grinned, going along with the bit. “I know, how could I?” He tried and failed to hold back a laugh.

Susie rolled her eyes at her friends’ antics, taking over the controls and landing on Planet Frostak. “I would recommend wrapping yourself up, Magolor. Frostak is bloody cold and I don’t need you complaining.”

Magolor rolled his eyes, but wrapped his cloak tighter around himself, nonetheless. “I don’t complain that much.”

“Uh-huh.” Susie rose a brow, but chose not to comment on Magolor’s sensitivity to lower temperatures. “Just keep warm, alright?”

Magolor grinned at this, nodding.

He could do that.

Chapter Text

The Lor’s bridge was cold, even with the hatch shut, but it wasn’t as if Magolor could leave for the warmer parts of the ship. He had a job to do, whether he liked it or not.

He probably should have stayed waiting on Grott Moon. Sure, it was still chilly, but it wasn’t as cold as Frostak, nor was it as humid as Mareen Moon.

Looking over the old album on the table, Magolor felt a little relieved that Susie had elected to go explore Mareen Moon with some of the others. She’d no doubt have some questions as to why Magolor was taking notes on such a thing, much less in reference to the other material he’d scattered across the console.

He was alone now, in fact, with everyone else having gone off in their respective squads to search for fragments before the mages could reach them.

It was nice, having nothing more than the Lor Starcutter herself for company.

“Just like the old days, eh, Lor?” Magolor said softly, hardly expecting a response.

After all, she never responded before.

And, despite the strangest feeling of something changing on the bridge, she didn’t respond now.

Magolor sighed, continuing his note-taking and comparisons. He had a lot to figure out and not much time to do so.

Things were adding up fast, and Magolor wasn’t certain he liked where these additions were taking him.

Zan took a deep breath, spinning on her heel and blasting a training dummy with electricity channelled through her partisan.

She should have been able to do such a thing without her weapon.

She didn’t trust herself to.

She couldn’t control it. Not the way her sisters did, at least.

Sure, Francisca and Flamberge had casting focuses, as well, but they used them as failsafes. They could use their magic perfectly fine without such things.

But Zan needed her partisan to cast.

Unless she wanted to blast everything within a fifteen foot radius with enough voltage to kill most organic creatures and shut down most machinery, that is.

Because, for some jamblasted reason, she couldn’t just figure out how to control it.

Hyness would tell her she just needed to be patient. To figure out what worked for her. And, as luck would have it, she did find what worked for her. The partisan. A casting focus.

And yet Zan still couldn’t use any offensive magic safely without the stupid thing.

She tried bringing this up to Hyness once, but he just smiled and waved that off.

“So long as you can cast safely at all, the methods you cast with are essentially meaningless.”

Zan knew this.

She really did.

But she still felt a little bad for how much she relied on her focus.

She was supposed to be the reliable one. The golden child.

And yet she still relied on something as childish as a spellcasting focus, while that weirdo she saw back in the jambastion could cast perfectly fine without knowing basic form or even the difference between a fireball and a light spell. He didn’t even dress like a mage, with his wannabe engineer robes and that heavy-looking cloak.

Whatever.

Zan allowed her eyes to slip shut and continued her practice, going solely off the energy flowing through her to identify her targets.

She only missed once.

Magolor rested his head on the console, listening to the hum of the Lor all around him, feeling it within and all around himself.

At least, the personal aspect of it all.

He had to figure this out, and while he appreciated his friends’ support, they could be… distracting, to say the least.

And, even if he was making progress, he’d rather the results weren’t what they were.

Magolor chewed a little on his scarf.

It was just coincidence.

It had to be.

He would have run into his sister if she were still alive. Probably.

Well, if this were the case, he supposed he had.

But then again, it just… It didn’t make sense.

Magolor shut the notebooks, the photo album with too-familiar faces, the old beat-up history books that had too-similar architecture illustrations to the jambastion.

Maybe he’d get some answers from the source. That might work.

But then again, the mage sisters weren’t exactly friendly.

He was back at square one, it seemed, as he glanced back up at the

Now just to wait. Shouldn’t be too long.

Perhaps he’d ask Meta Knight what he thought of his findings while they made their way to Grott Moon to pick up some of the others.

He wouldn’t sugar-coat it.

A rift opened. A small pile of heart fragments fell onto the floor before Zan, who had been taking a short break from her training, polishing her partisan almost absentmindedly. A scrap of paper landed atop the fragments, as well.

Zan blinked in surprise, picking up the note before even touching any of the crystals.

“Fran and I picked these up. Thought you’d wanna drop them off with dad! – Flamberge” A small heart was drawn next to Flamberge’s name.

Zan smiled fondly at the note. At least they were trying to include her, in some way.

Turning the paper over, Zan noticed there was more.

“P.S. Don’t tell Francisca I sent these your way. Never know if she’ll be mad or not lol.”

There it was, of course.

Well, it wasn’t like Zan was just going to ignore the fragments her sister had sent her way. Might as well hand them over.

Zan had to remind herself that it wasn’t work to simply forward the pieces Flamberge and Francisca had already picked up.

It was all she could do to keep her frayed nerves from getting to her as she knocked on Hyness’ door.

Magolor spread out the evidence he’d tried to put against his assumption, despite it clearly showing the opposite, on the console for Meta Knight to look over. He’d already given a rather rambly explanation of some of the vaguer or less coherent parts of his notes.

“…What do you think? Am I being ridiculous about all this?” Magolor asked, hoping and praying to whatever gods there might be that Meta Knight would tell him that he was wrong. That he was being silly.

This was the first time Magolor had ever hoped to be incorrect on a matter.

Meta Knight looked over Magolor’s shoulder at the notes, the photos, the illustrations, and he sighed. “You’re right.”

Magolor’s heart sunk, though he clung to a sliver of hope, even still. “You mean I’m right about my being wrong, right?”

The look Meta Knight gave Magolor at these words made it clear that, no, he was right in his initial assumption, or so it seemed from the scattered ramblings of a man who hadn’t seen any of his blood relatives in over ten years.

“…Oh.” Magolor glanced back at the papers and books that covered the console, a nervous laugh bubbling up without him even realizing. “Well, damn. That makes all this a lot weirder, doesn’t it?”

Meta Knight nodded. “I’ll admit, it is strange to think you’ve found your sister after so long, but all this evidence, while circumstantial, points to your heritage at least somewhat lining up with hers.”

“Yeah, but…” Magolor sighed. “What if I am wrong? I mean, it’s possible, right?” The bridge rumbled a little. They’d landed on Grott Moon. “I just… I’d assumed my family was gone, and, even if they were alive, that I’d never see them again, and now it’s just…” Magolor pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gods – it’s insane to think that I’m onto something, here.”

Meta Knight placed a hand on Magolor’s shoulder. He didn’t squeeze, didn’t do anything but offer a sympathetic look. At least, it seemed sympathetic. The mask made it hard to tell. “If… if you need someone to listen, I could…”

“Don’t offer your help if you’re still gonna hate my guts behind it all, dude.” Magolor said, a little more abrasively than he’d intended. “I have others I’d rather go to with this stuff, anyways.”

“I’m only saying that I know what it is like to have… conflict. With family. And that I may be able to offer my perspective on that. But… I will not offer my help unless you ask for it.” Meta Knight paused, then added, “you have my word on this.”

Magolor smiled half-heartedly at Meta Knight. “Thanks. I’ll… I’ll keep it in mind.”

Chapter Text

“You are supposed to be resting.” Hyness commented, taking the fragments from Zan’s outstretched hands. He didn’t sound upset, at least. Simply curious about why his daughter seemed to be up and about, especially that she seemed to be working.

Zan sighed, glancing off to the side. “I know that.” She admitted. “Flamberge just asked me to bring these to you while she continued her search. I… I’m hardly doing anything.”

Hyness didn’t respond to that, and Zan didn’t say anything else.

She just left when Hyness turned his back to her.

She’d never done that before.

The rest of the explorations of the other planets went by relatively quickly. The last exploration had just begun, with Kirby, Taranza, Gooey, and Daroach having just set out on Sizzlai Moon.

The bridge was perfectly warm, enough for Magolor to consider putting his hood down.

Then again, he didn’t want to get questions from some of the star allies who didn’t exactly… Know about what had happened to him.

Not even Susie knew the full extent of the crown incident. It was just Magolor himself, the dream team, and Marx who knew the truth. And even then, Marx wasn’t there for the fight itself, and Magolor’s memory was fuzzy at best as to all that had gone down after Kirby swung that blasted sword at him.

Magolor sighed softly, pushing away from the console.

He’d just dropped the team off. He could take a step away to let his ears breathe and just generally enjoy the warmth of the moon without getting any raised eyebrows or questions from his friends and allies.

The door to the living quarters opened when Magolor pressed his hand to the cool surface.

Now alone on the other side of the door, Magolor let out a soft sigh, climbing onto the sofa and pulling his hood down. He stayed perfectly still for a moment, just taking in the sounds around him. His hearing was still good with his hood up, but there was something distinctly different about how the world sounded with it down. It was clearer, without the rustling of his own movements being so loud.

It was nice, to take in the quiet humming of the ship, the voices of the star allies just beyond the door, the soft hiss of the door opening.

…Wait.

Magolor quickly pulled his hood back over his ears at the sound, only for a soft chuckle to reach him.

“Relax, Mags. It’s just me.”

Oh.

It was just Marx.

Magolor laughed a little at his sudden reaction, embarrassed at how quickly he’d reacted. “Sorry about that.”

Marx waved it off, climbing over the back of the couch and landing with the soft jingle of his hat. “No worries. Well, not about that, anyways.” He grinned, pulling Magolor’s hood down again so the mage’s ears could have some proper breathing space.

“Juh?”

“What have you been thinking so much about? It’s gotta be big if you’re so against sharing it until you’re certain, yeah?” Marx asked. “I mean, you haven’t even really been talking to anyone. Just mumbling to yourself at the console.”

Magolor glanced away, uncertain how to go about explaining his thought process. “Ah, right… That.” He sighed. “So, you know how I felt like Zan Partizanne felt… familiar?” He started, already beginning with his vague hand motions in an effort to better communicate his thoughts.

“Yeah? What about it?” Marx asked, raising a brow.

Magolor sighed. “I think I know why she feels as familiar as she does.” Marx’s curious expression remained, and Magolor decided to just rip the bandage off. “I think that Zan Partizanne may be my sister. The one from the photo album I showed you.”

Marx blinked a few times, the words beginning to sink in before his expression shifted. “Oh. Huh. Yeah, that makes this whole thing really freakin’ weird. Weirder than it already is, anyway.”

“That’s what I said!” Magolor laughed a little.

Marx nodded. “Cool, cool. Does anybody else know about this?”

“I’ve told Meta Knight to try and get another opinion, but nobody else knows as of now, I don’t think.”

“Gotcha.” Marx glanced up at the ceiling, then back down to Magolor. “…Should we tell anyone else? Could just make things messier.”

“And might get people to suspect me of helping them, which would not be ideal, considering so few of them actually trust me already.” Magolor added, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah.”

Magolor sighed. “I think that we should keep this quiet, for now, at least. If it turns out to be true, we can tell the others later, but for now, I think we should keep this to ourselves, and Meta Knight, I suppose.” Magolor knew Meta Knight wouldn’t spill anything unless it was truly important. He could let the knight keep a secret like this, even if neither really trusted one another under normal circumstances.

Then again, when had circumstances ever been normal between them?

Marx nodded. “I can do that.”

“I appreciate it.” Magolor said softly. “I’ll probably go back out in a minute, it’s just nice to be somewhere warm again.”

Marx grinned. “Coolio. Lemme know if you want to kick me out, but it’s nice to have a break from everyone, sometimes.”

“No need to leave. I like having you here.” Magolor admitted, leaning against Marx a little and sighing contentedly. If he were any more relaxed, he might have started purring.

But he could only relax so much when he had so many questions he wanted to ask to the girl who had done not much other than try and kill him and his friends.

He needed answers.

Zan wrapped Francisca’s newly disinfected wounds, a little more force in her movements than was probably necessary.

“I should have been there. I could’ve stopped this from happening again, I…”

“Stop that. You needed a break, so you took a break. I’m not even that badly hurt.” Said Francisca, carefully applying bandages to her knee.

“But—”

“No buts. I’m tired of you acting like you have to deal with this alone. You can rely on Flamberge and me just as much as we rely on you.” Francisca insisted.

Zan sighed, nodding slowly. “If you really want me to, I can try, at least.”

Francisca smiled at that, even if it was a half-hearted response. It was better than nothing, at least.

A moment of quiet as Zan finished wrapping Francisca’s injuries.

Zan preferred the quiet, but she couldn’t help but ask what had been sitting at the back of her mind for some time, now.

“Hey, you know that guy we fought back at the jambastion? The one dressed in those weird modified engineer’s robes?”

Francisca nodded slowly. “The mage? What about him?”

Zan took a deep breath, closing the first aid kit with more force than was likely necessary. “I felt like I met him before, somehow. Which is weird, because I’m certain I would remember someone like him.”

“Hm, that is odd.” Francisca agreed, but before she could offer her opinion on the matter, Flamberge burst through the door in a similar state to Francisca.

“Those jerks got onto the station somehow.” The pyromancer huffed out, clutching at the torn fabric of her jacket’s sleeve. She seemed to be smoking, and not from her own magic, for once.

Zan and Francisca shared a look, and Zan almost immediately stood up. “Frannie, can you handle Berge’s injuries?” She asked.

“Zan, what are you planning to do?” Francisca questioned.

Grabbing her partisan from where it leant near the door, as well as the heart fragments that both Francisca and Flamberge had gathered, Zan turned back to look at her sisters. “I’m going to protect father, of course.”

Ignoring Francisca’s protests, Zan slipped out of the room and took off at a run down the hall.

As she’d told Francisca and Flamberge, protecting Hyness was her top priority.

And yet, some part of her hoped that she might be able to get some answers, too, should she run into that strange mage once again.

Chapter Text

Magolor followed closely after Kirby and the rest of the dream team, clutching his satchel tighter than he normally would.

He would have been carefully examining the architecture and construction of the station, but he didn’t want to delay getting answers any more than he already had, and the way Meta Knight eyed him had Magolor keeping time with everyone else.

“Why is he even comin’ with us?” Dedede asked Meta Knight in a whisper. He must have assumed Magolor couldn’t hear him.

Magolor hated his sensitive hearing, sometimes.

But he put on a smile and pretended like he hadn’t heard, though his ear still twitched a little in annoyance.

Meta Knight glanced back at Magolor, seeming to notice the shift in Magolor’s demeanour, and offered what Magolor assumed to be a sympathetic look before returning his attention to Dedede.

Meta Knight had always been the most observant of the four.

“He has personal business with this place.” He responded in a similar whisper, though his glance back at Magolor confirmed that he knew Magolor was eavesdropping. “I will keep my eye on him, but he at least deserves to try and find the answers he seeks.”

Dedede sighed. “Fine. It just feels a li’l sketchy to me, considerin’ what we know about these guys.”

Magolor felt his chest hurt.

He had thought Dedede had forgiven him.

No, no.

This was fine. He just had to prove that he was useful. That he could be trusted.

Meta Knight did not whisper back, and the team continued their trek through Jambandra.

Zan hastily pulled her hat on as she ran into the altar room of the Divine Terminus, hardly even bothering to knock. There was no time for such formalities, not when there were invaders on the station. Hyness stood before the nearly complete Jamba’stíon, not having noticed Zan yet. He seemed to still be adding the last of the fragments from the batch she’d given him earlier.

She cleared her throat. “Lord Hyness, I have the last of the fragments for you. Frannie and Berge just got them back.”

“Thank you, Zan Pineapple.” Hyness spoke, turning to face Zan properly.

“It’s Partizanne, sir.” Zan corrected, once again. “But you’re welcome.”

“Ah, yes. Apologies, my dear girl.” Hyness chuckled softly to himself, beckoning for Zan to come up the stairs to stand at the altar with him. “Zan, I have a question for you.”

“Sir, there are more pressing matters at hand, here…” Zan started, though she did come up the stairs. She didn’t intend to. She shouldn’t be coming up these stairs.

Only Hyness should stand at the altar.

But she couldn’t say no. Not to him.

“Pressing matters? More pressing than the return of Void Termina?” Hyness questioned.

Zan nodded. “There are intruders on the station. They’ve come to interrupt Void Termina’s return. The girls and I have tried to stop them, but they’re too powerful for us to stop on our own.” 

Hyness glanced past Zan to the door and sighed. “…I see. Will you be able to hold them off, should they be able to reach us before the ceremony is complete?” He asked. His voice was soft, but not in the way it was when he was upset.

He was trying to imply that he trusted Zan.

“I… I should be able to do that. Probably.” Zan said, though her uncertainty was clear.

Hyness smiled, only shown to Zan by the way his eyes crinkled at the corners, softening slightly. “Thank you, Zan Partizanne.”

Zan felt her chest tighten at the sound of her name being said correctly, and she nodded.

A moment of silence passed, and Hyness started on restoring the Jamba’stíon.

Then, Zan spoke up. “What was the question you had meant to ask me?”

Hyness paused, before taking another fragment and carefully returning it to its rightful place, sealing it there with magic. “Ah, yes. That.” He sounded almost sad.

Zan wondered if it had been a bad idea to remind him, but Hyness started once again before she had a chance to tell him it wasn’t a big deal.

“I wanted to ask if you were happy, living like this.”

Zan felt like she’d just been punched in the gut by that question. She might as well have been, with how ill the question made her feel.

The words hung in the air a while.

Finally, Zan replied. “What makes you think I’m unhappy?”

“Francisca told me. That you had been working yourself to death for our cause.” Hyness took another fragment as he spoke. He was avoiding looking at Zan directly. “She told me you haven’t been sleeping, either.”

Oh.

Zan clutched her partisan close to her chest. Why did she feel so guilty?

“I’m… I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.” She was thankful for her hat, as her ear twitching would have certainly given away her lie. “I will do anything to ensure the revival of Void Termina, as will Frannie and Berge.”

“…Anything?” Hyness asked softly. His eyes glinted strangely, but it might have just been a trick of the light.  

Zan nodded, even though she was beginning to feel lightheaded, standing so close to the endless, droning hum of the Jamba’stíon. “Anything. You have my word.”

So long as it would make him proud of her.

Hyness nodded, but didn’t respond after that, absorbed in his casting.

Zan sighed, sitting on the floor. It was so cold.

The conversation had left Zan feeling worse than she had in a long time. Even if he’d shown the slightest bit of concern for Zan, Hyness still didn’t seem to even notice the lie.

Perhaps he was less observant of Zan’s mannerisms than she’d thought.

That hurt to consider, but it seemed the most likely option, right now.

The glow of the stars outside filtered in through the seemingly open walls and ceiling, and Magolor had to tear his eyes from the sight to keep up with the dream team, who seemed too focused on the task at hand to even notice the beauty of it all.

It was annoying, if Magolor was being honest, but he had to keep moving.

The faster they got to the top, the faster he could get his answers.

Magolor had a feeling they were getting close, if the map of Jambandra from his mother’s book was still accurate despite its age.

“Guys, I think we’re pretty much at the top.” Magolor said after a moment. “We should take a moment to prepare, just in case a fight’s waiting for us.”

Dedede rose a brow, folding his arms over his chest. “How do you know we’re at the top?” He asked.

Magolor faltered, but answered as honestly as he could. “I’ll admit I can’t be certain, but I have a book on Jambandra, and it contains a map. It’s old, but it might still be accurate.”

Kirby nodded slowly. “Is that what you were reading about on the Lor?” He signed.

“…Something like that.” Said Magolor with a small smile. “I just think it would be wise of us to prepare. Just in case my map still is accurate.”

“It might also be a good idea to figure out an escape plan, for if something like what happened on the jambastion happens again.” Bandee added.

Meta Knight nodded in agreement. “Magolor has proven himself to at least know what he’s doing when it comes to this place.”

“He did keep us from getting squished by those moving platforms…” Dedede admitted. “Fine, let’s take a break for a few minutes, but then we gotta keep goin’.”

Magolor grinned, nodding. A short break to prepare in any way he could – mentally, physically, or emotionally – was certainly better than nothing.

He was going to get answers in any way he could.

The door creaked open, and five figures filtered into the room.

All ones Zan Partizanne had seen before, but only one truly got her invested in her goals beyond protecting Hyness and bringing about Void’s rebirth.

That jamblasted mage.

Zan gripped her partisan and leapt to her feet. She would make Hyness proud if it was the last thing she did.

“Stop right there, you lot.” She commanded, pointing the end of her partisan at the small party. She briefly wondered where the rest of them were, but couldn’t bring herself to care too much.

Kirby smiled, waving at Zan. Zan didn’t return the wave.

“I’ll admit, I did not expect you to survive your visit to the jambastion. And not only that, but you somehow bested my darling sisters not once, but twice. Colour me impressed.” She shook her head, . “But I’m afraid that your luck has run out, for it is the dearest wish of my lord Hyness that nobody interferes!”

With that, she leapt into action, channelling her energy into her partisan and lashing out at the nearest foe, the mage she’d been so frustrated by all day.

Wait, where did he go? He was there a second ago.

A giggle from behind Zan was the only warning she had before a spell circle appeared at her feet, and she only barely managed to zap away from it before it tore the ground open into a black hole.

Wait a minute.

That spell circle looked familiar.

No, no.

It was just a coincidence.

It had to be.

Zan growled in annoyance, barely dodging a thrown spear only to be smacked by a heavy wooden mallet and knocked against the wall.

“Gh—Just knock it off already!” Zan shouted, doubling down on her attacks and launching balls of electricity at her foes.

The mage seemed distracted by casting something, so she took aim at him first.

Until he grinned, eyes flashing with excitement as he held his hands out.

That same spell circle.

Just a coincidence. It had to be.

Even if it wasn’t, now wasn’t the time for that.

Light burst from Magolor’s palms, wrapping around Zan.

It was hot enough it could have been a fireball, had it actually been fire.

He giggled, slinging an extra ball of magic for good measure before backing off and slapping one of his friends’ hands, as if tagging out. “She’s all yours, Kirby!” He said brightly, though Zan took note of a strange tint to his voice. The slight crease of his brow. The falter of his smile.

That telltale twitch of his ear. The same as her own tell for lying.

Oh.

Oh no.

It all finally added up, just as she was knocked down.

Zan Partizanne collapsed onto the floor, clutching her partisan like a lifeline. She needed support. She couldn’t just…

Hyness sealed the last of the heart fragments in place, and finally turned his head to look back at the room.

“Help… Hy – Hyness… They…” Zan tried to speak.

“…Juh?” He spoke softly. The same tone he’d used when he seemed on the edge of scolding Zan or her sisters. “…What is this… Interference?” He properly turned to face away from the altar and came down the stairs. It was hard to tell if he was walking or floating.

Zan smiled a little. The enemy was going to be in for it now.

“You… you seem to be in my way.” Hyness whispered to Zan.

Zan tried to scramble out of the way, only to find herself too sluggish to move. Hyness knocked her away, instead, and Zan hissed in pain.

She needed her sisters.

She had to reach them, somehow. Tell them it had all gone wrong.

Hyness cleared his throat, then, and Zan’s thoughts went fuzzy.

There was so much magic in the air.

It practically fell from the now complete Jamba’stíon and oozed into the air around it.

But… But that was impossible.

It was just a crystal. A beautiful crystal, one they’d spent years rebuilding. But crystals don’t have souls. They simply don’t.

Perhaps it was those glowing pink spears. They radiated magic, but it wasn’t the sort that filled the room, now, clouding her thoughts.

She couldn’t even focus on Hyness’ words, despite being used to him speaking quickly, nigh incoherently.

The magic was too much. Too thick in the air. She couldn’t breathe.

They were fighting. Hyness seemed fine enough to fight, at least. That was good.

He must have been more resistant to the thickness of the magic in the air. Probably just another effect of… however old he was.

She saw the door open, saw her sisters’ boots in her field of vision. Felt the cool sensation of Francisca’s magic coursing through her veins.

…Was she being healed?

Wait.

That wasn’t it.

She felt Hyness’ hands on her, lifting her into the air.

Wait. Wait, no. She needed answers, she…

Before she could articulate her thoughts, it all went black.

Magolor’s head felt like it was stuffed with cotton as he only narrowly dodged blast of ice magic, barely able to sling a magic sphere at Hyness before he had to throw up a shield to block a pillar of flame.

…What was wrong with this guy? Using his own subordinates as little more than weapons?

As if you had not done the same, once upon a time. The voice at the back of his head reminded him.

The doomers.

Magolor felt his stomach twist at the reminder, and shut his eyes, blocking out the voice and focusing instead on casting.

The voice never bothered him when he was casting, at least.

Magolor squeezed his eyes shut.

Fireball, warp, magic spheres, shield, wait.

The rhythm was at least relatively easy to follow.

He sighed, glancing back at his teammates. They seemed less in-tune than he was, somehow.

…Could they not sense the shift in the energy in the air before every spell? The pull towards that crystal?

The headache brewing in place of the cottony feeling the longer the fight went on?

Ugh… He’d need to get out of here soon. The air in here was doing something to him.

Strange how it didn’t seem to affect anyone else, though. They were still fighting without being so strongly attuned to the room, to the power radiating through every atom of the space.

…To the massive artifact atop the steps.

Magolor felt sick by the time Hyness finally went down.

“You…” Hyness hissed, gaze fixed on the five of them. “How could you defeat me… the lord Hyness?”

Was this really the same guy his mother had once scribbled notes about in the margins of the books she’d left behind?

…Perhaps just a case of rose-tinted glasses.

He turned away, staring at the massive heart almost wistfully. “An offering to our dark lord… Perhaps there is… an offering…”

Magolor took a step back, tail lashing and ears pinned back.

“What to do…”

Magolor’s father had always said that his mother was odd in her mannerisms, her traditions, sure, but this… this was too much. Even by Magolor’s standard of weirdness.

“Only one option remains…” Hyness glanced around the room, gaze finally falling on the mage sisters.

No.

He… He wouldn’t.

Magolor took a step forward, then another, and another, uncertain just what he was going to do.

But it was too late.

Hyness had lifted Francisca, Flamberge, and Zan Partizanne with a brief spell, bringing them up the stairs faster than anyone could react.

And even then, Dedede and Meta Knight seemed more concerned with keeping Magolor away from the heart – the Jamba’stíon – while Kirby and Bandee ran in front of Magolor, worried just what was going to happen.

Hyness took in a shaky breath, too worked up to properly calm himself down for a ritual like this.

The cottony feeling came back when Hyness started speaking once more, magic filling the air and drowning out anything else in Magolor’s senses.

“Those who harbour the greatest of magic, I call upon you… Make it so, accept my aid…”

Magolor could hardly hear the words as Hyness spoke them, calling out to the ancients in an increasingly desperate tone.

“I pledge myself to you, dark lord of destruction… I do this, so that our dark lord may be reborn!”

Francisca disappeared first, then Flamberge, then finally Zan Partizanne.

“Rise, destroyer of worlds, rise, Void Termina!”

Then, finally, Hyness threw himself into the Jamba’stíon.

And the cottony feeling both doubled and faded all at once, only giving a moment of reprieve before the magic exploded into being once more, darker, heavier, and infinitely more powerful.

Magolor was left standing with Kirby, King Dedede, Bandee, and Meta Knight.

And all Magolor could think to ask himself was why. Why would his mother leave when this place was clearly just as bad as Halcandra?

But Magolor had no answers, not even to the question that had been brewing for the longest in the back of his mind…

Where exactly did he belong?

And the truth was that he had no clue.

Chapter Text

The ground shook beneath the team’s feet, and Magolor had to shift into a float to keep from falling over. It seemed like those among the others who couldn’t fly or float were having similar struggles with keeping their balance.

Magolor felt sick with the feeling of cotton stuffed in his head in combination with using his magic to float, but it was marginally better than potentially falling and hitting his head.

“…Where do we go from here?” Bandee asked nervously, using the wall as support. “I mean, this is a god of destruction.”

“I dunno, but you guys have dealt with a lot before now, right? You’ve defeated plenty of universal threats!” Magolor was trying to encourage himself, just as much as he was trying to encourage the dream team. “Come on! It’s not like this so-called god will have the Master Crown, or anything, right? We’ve got this!”

Kirby nodded. “Mhm!” They looked around at their friends, all struggling to remain standing, and frowned a little. He had to do something.

The magic humming in the air might be a good place to start. Kirby took a deep breath, drawing in the excess energy like they had so many times before.

Though, usually he had a failsafe, an artifact of some kind to keep things from going totally wrong, like the star rod or rainbow sword. But still, he had to try.

The fate of the universe was at stake.

Clutching the warp star tight, Kirby let the magic flow through them, squeezing their eyes shut and focusing everything into the vessel they’d been using for magic the most over the years. Pink tinted Kirby’s vision when he opened his eyes again, and there was a distinct feeling of magic at his back, like when he used the wing ability.

But this was different. The magic felt stronger, older. The sort of energy left behind by Landia, the Master Crown, Zero Two, and many other foes along the way. The sort that got under your skin and burned if you were on the receiving end.

This time, though, Kirby was in control. And they knew what to do. “Hop on.” They signed to the others.

Meta Knight, Dedede, and Bandee all jumped onto the Sparkler without any hesitation, but Magolor paused, glancing to the door.

“What’s the holdup, Magolor? Get on so we can chase that thing!” Said Dedede.

“…I’m gonna go to the Lor Starcutter. Let everyone know what’s happening.” Magolor started, already feeling the stares of confusion and disapproval from the others. “I’ll get to the fight as soon as I can. I swear it. It’s just that I’ll be able to make myself more useful this way.”

Before Dedede could respond, Meta Knight shook his head. “We are in no place to argue.”

Magolor grinned, turning to leave. “Thanks, Meta Knight! We’ll be there as soon as possible; you have my word!”

Meta Knight seemed as if he wanted to say something else, but Kirby was antsy to get going, so he just nodded. “I’ll hold you to that.”

The Star Allies Sparkler took off towards the very top of the station, and Magolor opened a rift.

This was a do or die moment.

Magolor practically fell out of the rift in front of the Lor Starcutter, and, with a quick knock at the entrance, the hatch opened.

Nearly everyone was on Magolor at once, bombarding him with more noise than he could handle at the moment.

“Everybody quiet!” Susie shouted over the overlapping voices, loudly clapping her hands together to get everyone’s attention before stepping between Taranza and Ribbon. “What happened up there?”

Magolor’s hands shook as he looked around at the faces surrounding him, some familiar, some less so. “Void Termina’s been released. Kirby and the others went ahead to take it on, and I told them we’d be up there to lend a hand as soon as possible.” He explained.

Ribbon tensed at the mention of Void Termina, as if she’d heard of the god before. “We have to tell Queen Ripple! The great crystal could be in danger again!”

“What about the dreamstalk? We should set up protections there!”

“The mirror could be a target.”

Voices were quickly overlapping again, discussing what artifacts and power spots might be targeted.

“Guys.” Magolor started. “Protecting things is important, but we need a game plan, still. Void Termina’s a god, according to the things I've read, so we've gotta be careful, even before we go in to help with those on the Sparkler.” 

Susie nodded in agreement. “Plus, there’s the matter of priorities. I doubt a god is going to try for something like a plant, even if it has sentimental value.”

“But things like the great crystal—” Ribbon started.

“Are exactly the kinda thing Void Termina would try to mess with.” Marx agreed.

Magolor nodded, turning to face the monitor. “Lor, how fast can you take us to Ripple Star?”

Silence, but Magolor felt a shift in the humming on the bridge.

Not long. Perfect.

Susie rose a brow at Magolor’s small smile at the monitor, but chose to say nothing.

“Popstar’s teeming with magical artifacts in general, right? We should have at least a few people there to protect it, should anything happen.” Magolor wove between his allies, taking a seat in the captain’s chair and inputting coordinates for the Lor to jump to once Ripple Star was confirmed to be protected.

Daroach nodded. “The squeaks and I can handle at least part of Popstar.”

“Gooey, Rick, Kine, and myself can cover what ground Daroach and his crew cannot.” Said Coo.

“I’ll protect Floralia and the Dreamstalk!” Taranza added.

Dark Meta Knight glanced at Taranza. “I’ll handle protecting the mirror.”

“But that’s in—”

“Floralia. I know. Just let me protect my world for once.” Dark Meta Knight’s tone was icy, practically daring Taranza to object.

Taranza opened his mouth to say more, but the hatch opened to reveal Ripple Star’s palace.

Queen Ripple came running out. “What’s the Lor Starcutter doing here?” 

“No time to explain, your majesty.” Adeleine responded. “The great crystal could be in danger, so Ribbon and I are here to help!”

Ripple furrowed her brow, glancing around at all the unfamiliar faces. “…I’m definitely going to need an explanation.”

“We can definitely do that! Just wait until we’re at the crystal itself!” Ribbon responded, dashing out of the Lor and motioning for Adeleine and Queen Ripple to follow as she led the way to the great crystal’s terrace.

Magolor wished he could wave them off, but there was only so much time.

Void Termina had been downed once already, and inside the beast’s body, there was no way of telling if the Lor Starcutter had arrived or not.

“Magolor should be here by now!” Said Bandee, dodging a massive drop of what seemed to be blood before tossing a spear at the huge beating heart.

The heartbeat was deafening.

Dedede leapt into the air, bringing his mallet down on the heart. “He could’ve been lyin’ about showin’ up. I’d buy it with his track record.”

“He couldn’t be.” Said Meta Knight, ducking out of the way of a wave of darkness. “I know his tells.”

“Tells?” Bandee echoed, tilting their head.

The heart stalled a moment, and Kirby waved for everyone to follow him out.

Meta Knight sheathed Galaxia, following after Kirby. “I’ll tell you once we have a moment of peace.”

“Alrighty!”

Back on the Sparkler once again, Void Termina’s body twisted and morphed before taking to the air.

“What the hell is this?!” Dedede shouted, pulling the Sparkler to the right while Kirby took aim at the eyeball that had materialized on Void Termina’s chest. “How’re we supposed to hit this thing when we can barely fly on this thing?”

Just then, a star-shaped portal opened up, and the Lor Starcutter came flying through, already raining down star shots at Void Termina.

Meta Knight couldn’t help the smile that came to his face. “I knew he wasn’t lying for once.”

Kirby waved excitedly at the starship before continuing their own barrage on eye after eye, until, finally, the one on its back shattered once again.

Void Termina screeched, the final eye appearing on its forehead, just like when it was bound to the shining, almost crystalline ground of the arena.

And then, it raised its head high, and the Master Crown appeared to unleash hell upon the arena.

Chapter Text

Magolor froze, his chest tightening at the sight of the crown, of the beams of light raining down upon his comrades.

No, no, no.

It couldn’t be real. It was just an illusion. Some sort of sick joke.

He couldn’t even think straight, his hands trembling at the controls.

Memories flooded his mind. Ones he thought he’d forgotten, ones he couldn’t access no matter how hard he’d tried before.

Everything was muffled.

The sounds of the fight outside. The sounds of Marx and Susie’s voices as they ran from their stations to see why the Starcutter had suddenly slowed so much, as if autopilot had taken over automatically.

Everything was so bright on the monitors. On the bridge.

His vision was blurry. From tears, from the sudden influx of light, from something else entirely, perhaps.

But it was too much.

It was all so, so much.

Someone placed a hand on Magolor’s back.

Magolor recoiled from the touch, slumping over the console and trying desperately to block it all out.

He felt sick, his mouth tasted acidic and bitter.

Voices tried to reach him. He recognized them. He just couldn’t focus enough to listen.

It was all just so overwhelming.

All he could really hear was the ceaseless beating of his heart in his ears. The magic coursing through his body practically pulling him towards the beast outside. Towards that jamblasted light.

What in the hell was happening to him?

“…What the fuck.” Magolor hissed, barely lifting his head to see the replica (was it a replica?) of the crown was gone from the monitor.

The pull remained, but weaker.

He could hear again, at least, his heartbeat quieting just enough that the ambient noise could reach him again.

A hand on his shoulder again.

Magolor glanced back up to see Marx and Susie, both staring at Magolor with concern.

“Mags, you okay?” Asked Marx, carefully rubbing circles into Magolor’s back. “I came down as soon as I saw the crown.” 

Oh. Magolor’s ears drooped at the realization that his reaction was so easily predicted.

He really couldn’t hide anything from Marx, it seemed.

“You look like a wreck.” Susie commented, and Magolor couldn’t help but chuckle half-heartedly. It was an accurate assessment of the situation, at least. Then, in a softer tone, she added, “…what even happened to you?”

Magolor grimaced at the idea of having to fill Susie in on such an event. “That’s… not important.”

His ear twitched, but it wasn’t as if the tell was needed to identify the blatant lie in such a situation.

“You and I both know that’s a lie.” Susie sighed softly. “Listen, you don’t need to tell me right now, I just… think it would help me understand what happened to you after… everything.”

They both knew what she meant by that.

Neither wanted to go further than the memory itself, though.

Not right now.

“…Sorry. Just… I’ll explain later. Probably.” Magolor sighed. “Hey, Lor? Could you handle something for me?” He added, hardly expecting an answer. The Lor would handle things, either way. It was just out of habit, at this point, to ask as if she would reply.

He just needed to know.

…

“Certainly, captain. What is it?”

…What?

Magolor blinked a few times, looking around the bridge. He’d never heard that voice before, and yet it was soft, almost familiar to him.

As if he’d been hearing it for years without realizing.

He couldn’t help it. He laughed, wiping at his tears.

“Mags?” Asked Marx. “You good?”

Magolor nodded. He was fine. It’s just… Why now, of all times, would the Lor respond to him? Why, after everything, was this the moment that she would reply?

Susie was eyeing Magolor curiously, the yellow crosses in her eyes having shifted to question marks.

Oh, stars above, he must be losing it.

But still, he smiled a little. “Thank you, Lor. Could you just… analyze what’s going on with that crown, get some sort of soul signature? See if it’s the real deal or not?”

“I can certainly do that.”

Magolor took a deep breath, nodding slowly. “Gotcha. Okay, okay, okay, okay…” He kept repeating ‘okay’, as if that would make it true.

It wouldn’t, but it was worth a shot, either way.

“Alright. Alright, alright, alright.” Magolor repeated for good measure, if only to keep himself calm and distract himself from the still-painful pull in his chest. “You guys can, er, go back to managing weapons, if you want.”

Marx took his place on the console – the same spot Magolor had once told him to just take a chair rather than sit in – and laughed a little, just enough to alleviate some of the tension that had been building. “No offense, Mags, but I’m not leavin’ you alone in this kinda state.”

His light tone sounded forced.

Susie glanced back towards the steps up to the deck. “…I think I’m going to get back to weapons. Apologies."

“It’s fine, Susie. No worries either way.” Magolor said with a faux light tone of his own, turning back to the monitors. “Void Termina’s gotta be stopped somehow, right?”

“Thank you.” Said Susie, slipping out of the bridge and leaving to contribute to the battle.

She never had been good with comfort, much like Magolor.

Perhaps that was why they were bound to have drifted apart when they were children. 

Kirby glanced up at the Lor Starcutter once the eyeball on Void Termina’s left arm had been shattered.

It had stopped attacking briefly, only to continue once again, as if nothing had happened.

…What in the world happened to the crew on the Lor Starcutter? He knew that the Master Crown had had a serious effect on Magolor, but why did the attack pattern change so drastically in response?

And was Magolor okay?

Narrowly avoiding an arrow from Void Termina, Kirby continued their barrage on the final eyeball.

They were so close to victory.

With the final eyeball shattered, the dream team approached Void Termina’s body and leapt in to finish the job.

“Hey, Mags?” Asked Marx. “You okay?

Magolor glanced down from the monitors, keeping a close eye on Void Termina’s body, should it start moving once again. “I… I’m fine. No need to worry.” His ear twitched, but it was clear to tell he was lying even without such a thing.

“I’m gonna worry either way, y’know. Least you could do is tell me the truth so I could try and help.” Marx sighed softly. “I thought we could rely on one another for stuff like this.”

Magolor squeezed his eyes shut, shoulders shaking slightly. “I don’t know. I just… I thought this could be fun, you know? Helping Kirby in a way that mattered, for once, but it hasn’t been. It’s just been crazy discovery after crazy discovery. And now I feel like I could be torn apart at any second because of something so ridiculously out of my control.”

“Hey, hey. If you’re torn apart, I’ll put you back together, okay? You can count on that.” Said Marx, wiping at the tears that had started their way down Magolor’s cheeks. His tone was more reassuring than the words, at this point.

In actuality, the words did little to calm Magolor’s fears, but he appreciated the effort all the same.

“You’ve been one of the only things I could count on for a while now, ahah…” Magolor admitted with a small laugh. “Thank you, for listening, I mean.”

Marx grinned, wrapping an arm around Magolor and pulling him close. “Anytime, man.”

Magolor laughed at suddenly being so close. “I guess I should be used to this by now, but it’s always like it’s the first time you’ve pulled this.”

“It’s called the Marx effect.” Marx joked.

“It’s really not, but alright.” Magolor replied, shifting a little in Marx’s grasp to press a small kiss to Marx’s cheek.

It was nice, to just be for a moment. Magolor hummed softly to fill in the quiet.

“I just hope this’ll be over soon. I’m tired.” Magolor said after a moment.

Marx nodded, yawning softly. “Same. I can’t wait to get some sleep once this is all over.” He agreed.

Magolor chuckled softly. “Yeah. And, with the fountain, we won’t have to deal with the nightmares.” He added. “Then again, I can’t help but wonder…”

“Wonder what?”

“Those girls, the mage sisters, I mean… What’ll happen to them?” Magolor wondered aloud. “I mean, are they okay? They disappeared, yeah, but…” He sighed. “I dunno, I had so many questions, so it’s weird to think I might never know the answers.”

Marx hummed softly, considering the possibilities. “No idea. Knowing Kirby, he’ll probably find ‘em one way or another.” He concluded. “Who knows? Maybe it’ll be another grand quest you could take part in, get your answers a little quicker.” He joked.

Magolor rolled his eyes, but laughed all the same. “Yeah, sure, a ‘grand quest’ indeed, searching for what’ll likely just be a bunch of shells at the end of the day.” He said sarcastically. “I really doubt they’re alive, honestly.”

“I mean, they said the same about me, and I’m still kickin’ right?” Said Marx, kicking his legs a little to prove that he was, in fact, still kicking in the most literal sense. “Besides, it seems like everyone who’s ever run into Kirby in some way ends up with some crazy luck or somethin’, yeah? Totally possible that they’ll be fine.”

“True, true. I just worry a little.” Magolor admitted.

“Maybe you should worry a little less and live in the moment a little more.” Marx suggested. “I mean, think about it, there’s a whole universe out there to explore! And now that we’ve got the all-clear from Meta Knight, we could see it all, yeah?”

Magolor smiled a little at this. “Yeah, if Meta Knight’s ‘all-clear’ extends beyond just today, that is.” He added. “I think I’d like that a lot, y’know. Exploring the universe with you.”

Another moment of silence. Magolor fiddled with a bell on Marx’s cap while Marx ran his fingers through Magolor’s hair.

“There’s a lot of the universe I’d like to show you, if we ever get the chance.” Magolor added, his eyes slipping shut. “A doomer migration, especially. I think that’s one of the most magical experiences one can ever experience.”

Marx grinned. “You’ll just hafta show me one day, then.”

Magolor smiled softly at the idea, though he quickly tensed once more at the sound of Void Termina stirring once again.

Well, there went that moment of peace.

Chapter Text

Void Termina’s body stirred, but it did not rise again.

Rather, Kirby and the dream team came flying out, followed closely by… something.

Kirby glanced back at the core of the beast and had to suppress a shudder as he spun around to properly face it.

Now or never.

Void Termina opened its mouth and fired a beam of pure energy, and Kirby could only respond with an attack of his own, light erupting from his small hands at the massive soul given form.

“We’ve got your back, Kirby!” Bandee shouted, placing a hand on Kirby’s shoulder and giving an encouraging grin when Kirby glanced back. Kirby hadn’t noticed at first, but Bandee was allowing some of the magic’s effects to be passed on to them for Kirby to continue fighting, as well as offering their own energy in turn.

King Dedede nodded in agreement, doing the same and pushing his magic into Kirby. “You can count on us, kiddo!”

Meta Knight just offered an encouraging look and a smile to communicate his own feelings on the situation, grasping one of Kirby’s arms and aiding in guiding the magic, contributing his own power, as well.

Kirby wished he could thank his friends in some way, but with his hands busy there was only so much he could do. So, they just nodded with renewed determination and turned back to face Void Termina.

As if all of Popstar and beyond was with them, the dream team managed to push Void Termina back before Kirby’s vision was overtaken with white light.

…

“Kirby, Kirby, wake up!” Bandee said, gently shaking Kirby’s arm.

Kirby opened his eyes, glancing around at the remains of the arena and his three friends. They were so tired; they could hardly even move enough to do that.

Meta Knight smiled a little at the sight of Kirby awake, and gave a sigh of relief. “At least you’re alive. Even with all of our help, I had my concerns.” He commented.

“Nothin’ can kill Kirby, Meta. You know that.” Dedede said proudly.

“As far as we know, at least!” Bandee nodded cheerfully, but quickly returned their attention to Kirby. “Are you okay? Can you call the warp star?”

Kirby nodded slowly, lifting a hand to grab at their hairpin, only to feel it missing.

Ah.

Raising his hand high, Kirby used what little energy he had left to call the warp star to him.

They would just take a really long nap upon their return to Dreamland.

The Lor Starcutter landed on Popstar, as she had twice before, and all Magolor felt was exhausted, and perhaps more than a little disappointed.

He had no answers, no way of knowing if the mages had even survived being consumed.

And, on top of that, he had had his old wounds metaphorically reopened with pinpoint accuracy.

“You can talk to Kirby about searching for that lot after a good night’s rest.” Susie had said before she had left.

So, Magolor had planned on getting a proper rest. It wasn’t as if he would be awoken by nightmares now that he was back on Popstar once again.

But he couldn’t help but feel anxious about getting some sleep.

He couldn’t, not when there were still so many mysteries afoot.

“Mags, c’mon, it’s been a long day.” Said Marx, practically pulling Magolor with him towards his room.

Magolor shook his head, though. “I’ll get to bed soon, I promise, I just… I gotta check something first.”

Marx recognized that look in Magolor’s eye. It was the same he’d had when he had been fixated on the Master Crown, back then. But this time, it was less hollow. His eyes shone a little brighter this time, properly present rather than just a bystander in his own story.

There wasn’t any sort of talking Magolor out of it the last time he’d gotten so fixated on answers, but this time Magolor was in control.

So, Marx didn’t drop his hand from Magolor’s this time around. Didn’t smile and say goodnight like he would have back then.

Instead, he stood his ground.

“Magolor.” He emphasised Magolor’s full name. It felt weird to say in place of the nickname he’d gotten accustomed to over the years they’d known one another. “I get that it’s not that late and you barely sleep these days or whatever, but you still need the sleep after all this. You were pretty much dead on your feet all the way back from Jambandra.”

Magolor’s ears drooped a little, and he looked away. “But, what about all of this? Lor will be done her analysis of that crown soon, and we still don’t know the position of the mages, and…” He took a deep breath. “I just don’t want to sleep just yet.”

Marx sighed. “I get it. It’s been a weird day, but that analysis’ll still be there when we wake up, and Susie's right about the mages. We can look for ‘em tomorrow. Kirby’s probably passed out by now anyways, so it’d be pointless askin’ for his help until he’s up again, anyways.” He offered a small smile. “Listen, the fountain’ll keep the nightmares at bay, and if one somehow slips through the cracks, I’ll be there when you wake up, alright?”

“I…” Magolor started, but he stopped himself. “Fine. Fine, I’ll wait until tomorrow to go over everything. It might help, too, to look at things with a clear head, and all.” He reasoned with himself, causing Marx to chuckle softly.

“That’s the spirit. C’mon, let’s get some sleep.” Marx said lightly, pulling Magolor towards his room.

Magolor didn’t raise any more objections, allowing himself to be pulled down the hall.

Another Dimension was cold.

That was Zan Partizanne’s first thought upon coming to.

It was cold, yes, but she didn’t feel the discomfort at the temperature like she normally would.

She glanced down at her hand.

It looked wrong, off-colour.

Hm.

She glanced around at her surroundings, in search of her sisters and father.

Only her sisters were there.

And they seemed to be in a similar state to Zan.

Zan sighed, wrapping her arms around herself to at least try and stay warm.

What she would give just to have the ability to cast even the smallest fire spell, right now.

Magolor awoke feeling surprisingly okay, all things considered.

Well, more than okay. It had been the best (and longest) sleep he’d had in ages.

As Marx had said, he hadn’t been awoken by nightmares even once, and even when he did finally wake, the jester was there.

Marx was still sound asleep when Magolor awoke, snoring softly as he always did, an arm loosely draped over Magolor’s shoulder.

Magolor smiled softly at the sight, pressing a small kiss to Marx’s forehead.

He’d have gladly stayed in bed longer, had it not been for the questions still left unanswered. And, with Lor’s analysis likely having been completed by now, he could properly see the results of it and get at least one such question answered.

He hadn’t even finished pulling his coat on by the time he stepped out onto the bridge, taking his seat in the captain’s chair as he fastened his cloak around himself. “How’s the analysis of Void’s crown coming along, Lor?” He asked brightly.

The monitor lit up at the sound of his voice, and the Lor’s voice reached him once again, echoing within his mind. “It went as well as it could have, captain.”

Magolor grinned at this news. “Perfect! Thanks for all this!” He spun the chair a little in excitement before returning his attention to the monitor.

“It’s hardly any problem.” Lor said. “The crown we saw yesterday doesn’t seem to be the Master Crown you’ve had… experience with in the past. The magic signatures just don’t match up.”

“But then, what is it?” Asked Magolor, furrowing his brows.

The energy on the bridge shifted somewhat. “I can’t say. My best assumption is a construct from memory, of some sort. Perhaps Void Termina had some connection to it in some way.”

Magolor pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. That was certainly an answer, but it also raised more questions.

Ah, well, he’d look into it later, when he felt less wound up over the crown itself. “…Thank you, Lor. For all this.” He said after a moment.

“It’s no trouble, captain. Feel free to ask me anything else.” Lor replied, her voice caring.

It felt like a hug, even if the ship had no way of hugging him.

Magolor wondered briefly if the Lor Starcutter would want to hug someone like him, but he filed that thought away as something much less pressing.

He had other things to attend to, after all.

But for now, he’d just prepare some breakfast.

Chapter Text

Bandee knocked at Kirby’s door once, twice, and, after no answer either time, a third time.

After a third round of no answers, Bandee let out a soft sigh and pulled the key Kirby had given them from their pocket. They preferred not to use it when possible, but if Kirby wasn’t answering the door, it would probably be a good idea to at least check on him.

“Kirby? You awake?” Bandee asked softly, poking their head in through the door.

The only response was soft snoring from Kirby’s bed.

Ah, that would explain it.

Though, Kirby sleeping in so late was odd. Even after the most strenuous of adventures, Kirby would be up bright and early the next morning, even if it was an hour or two later than usual.

It was already past noon, though, and Kirby was still sound asleep. Lights off, curtains drawn, hairpin replaced by a little cap, the whole nine yards.

Bandee frowned a little, stepping into the small house and turning on the light. Kirby didn’t even so much as stir, still snoring softly.

“All that magic yesterday must’ve tired you out, huh.” Bandee mused, taking a seat on one of the cushions.

Might as well wait for Kirby to wake up. Not like he’d sleep all day, or anything.

Magolor set his plate in the sink and stifled a yawn.

“Oh, stars… I must be more tired than I thought.” He laughed to himself. “I mean, all that sleep, and I’m still yawning.”

“You could always go back to bed.” Lor suggested.

Magolor waved a hand nonchalantly. “I’ll get back to sleep later! Probably…”

“I see.” If Lor had eyebrows, she would no doubt be raising one at that remark. “Well, I suppose I can’t force you to get some rest, can I?”

“Nope!” Magolor grinned. He was about to leave the conversation there, but a thought struck him. “Say, why’d you choose yesterday to finally talk to me?”

The energy shifted somewhat, as if the Lor was sighing. “I’ve been speaking to you this whole time, captain.”

Magolor’s eyes widened. “What? But then… Why haven’t I heard anything?”

“I can’t say for certain, but I do know that I speak through the heart and mind, so that might hold some sort of clue, if you ever get the urge to play detective.” Said Lor. “…But for now, I’d suggest you just take a break and rest for a while. Yesterday was a rather… full day, to say the least, so it would be a good idea to at least spend a day getting your energy back before starting anything else.”

Magolor chuckled softly to himself. “Fine, fine. I won’t work myself too hard. You remind me of my dad, telling me to take it easy for once like that.” He joked.

Lor seemed to laugh as well, if the shift in the energy was any indication. “I do, do I? I cannot say I got to know Rivun well, considering how little time I spent with him, but I’ll take your word for it.”

Magolor smiled a little. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m glad to hear that you will.” He said softly. “Dad was pretty awesome.”

Lor didn’t respond to that, and Magolor couldn’t quite tell why.

He just tried to shrug it off and go about the usual duties he saw to on his days off from his usual work.

It was fine.

Even if something inside him started to gnaw away. That nerve-wracking feeling that he’d lost his connection just after he’d finally heard her voice.

Francisca was next to come to, with Zan practically leaping over to check Francisca over for injuries.

Her body was colder than ever, as if made of pure ice.

“Zan, I’m alright, trust me.” Said Francisca, lightly pushing her sister off.

Zan rose a brow at this, glancing back at Flamberge, still unconscious. “Really?”

Francisca nodded. “Really. I feel better than I have in ages. If a little, er… melty.” She sighed softly, scooching away from Flamberge, and casting a quick spell on her arm, which did seem to quite literally be melting as Francisca had mentioned. “Honestly, I’m more worried about you. Your eyes are glowing. Not to mention the air feels like you’re moments away from going off.”

Zan drew away at this remark, her ears pulling back a little. She couldn’t afford to hurt her family again. “I hadn’t noticed. I was too focused on if you and Flamberge were alright.” She felt as if she’d gone back much faster than even when she used her lightning dodge, as if her whole body was powered in a way that didn’t require her to use magic for such a trick.

Weird.

Perhaps Hyness would know what was going on. He was more knowledgeable on these topics than any of them were.

For now, though, they’d stay put until Flamberge awoke.

Even if the idea of just picking her up and carrying her around did occur to Zan once or twice while she waited.

If it weren’t for the fact that their weapons were nowhere to be seen, she probably would have suggested it out loud.

The sun was setting when Kirby finally rolled over and opened his eyes to the sight of Bandee dozing at his table. He still felt a little sleepy, but it was the sort of sleepiness that came with having just woken up, rather than the pure overwhelming exhaustion that came with the use of magic as powerful as what he’d used yesterday.

Ah. Bandee probably came to fetch them earlier. Kirby probably should have let them know just how tired he was before bed the night before, but, well, he was barely awake enough to get to his bed before totally crashing.

Kirby giggled softly at the sight of their best friend, wrapping their blankets around themself and shuffling across the room to check on Bandee.

It took little more than a small shake on the shoulder to wake Bandee, with them being a much lighter sleeper than their little brother figure. They awoke with a small startle, jolting back and turning to see Kirby looking at them.

“Hey, Kirby.” Bandee greeted with a small smile, visible for once thanks to their mask sliding down while they slept.

Kirby grinned. “Good morning, Bandana!” He signed cheerfully, blankets slipping off his shoulders slightly.

“More like evening. I thought we’d be able to play today, but the sun’s already down.” Bandee remarked, looking past Kirby to the darkening sky outside.

“Hm…” Kirby turned to look out the window for a moment before turning back to Bandee. “That’s never stopped us before. We were up all night that time we explored Nutty Noon looking for energy spheres.”

Bandee laughed softly. “I guess so, but… I dunno. I think we should be taking it easy. You never know when the next crazy thing will happen.” They sighed. “Plus, I’m still kinda tired from everything. Maybe just a game or two in here? King Dedede’s been helping me get better at chess.” They suggested.

Kirby brightened at this, nodding excitedly. “I’ll go get the chessboard.”

The bridge had that familiar feeling of quiet Magolor had gotten used to over the years. And yet, he felt a strange sense of unease.

Perhaps it was just that he was on edge in general. Yesterday was stressful, with so many weird events and new threads to follow.

Perhaps it was that the Lor had just left their previous conversation hanging when Magolor brought up Rivun and hasn’t spoken to him since. Perhaps it was that the first time he’d seen his sister in years ended with her being sacrificed to a dark god after trying to kill him thrice. Perhaps it was his first nightmare in a long time catching him off-guard. Perhaps it had been his ‘reunion’ with the Master Crown. With that godsdamned light.

Or perhaps it was a mix of all that and more piled together.

Magolor pushed the office chair away from the console, rubbing at his eyes and sighing in frustration.

He needed a new project.

Maybe he could figure out where the mage sisters had gone while he waited for a response. He needed to feel productive, even with his maintenance work done for the day.

Then again, who would know such a thing?

Magolor drummed his fingers on his thighs, looking over the monitor.

Perhaps someone who was alive in the times when Void had originally been sealed? But who would still be alive from then?

Wait a minute.

Lor was an ancient vessel. Perhaps she knew a thing or two.

Besides, it wasn’t like he was gonna be falling asleep anytime soon. He was too wired after a full night’s sleep and a probably concerning amount of coffee.

“Hey, Lor? I have a question.” He asked to the quiet of the bridge, ignoring the sinking feeling that told him he’d lost that special connection again.

Chapter Text

Flamberge groaned. Her head felt foggy, as if she’d just been stuck with some boring chore that she couldn’t focus on.

But she wasn’t doing chores. She was lying on the ground, staring up at the sky, a chaotic mixture of stars and patterns akin to a bowling alley carpet.

The air around her shimmered with heat, like it had the day she’d met Hyness, but she didn’t feel the burning sensation the way she did then, the fire making its way up her body. Didn’t have smoke filling her lungs or stinging her eyes.

It was weird, but not unwelcome, even as she sat up and felt her headache worsen.

“’Berge! You’re awake!” Zan nearly immediately scrambled over to check on Flamberge, recoiling upon touching her, as if she’d been burned. Francisca kept her distance, watching Flamberge carefully.

The air crackled with electricity. Dangerously close to exploding at any moment.

As if it was the very first time they’d all met. When none of them had a proper handle on their magic.

But they were grown, now, so why did everything feel like that once again?

And why did her sisters look so different?

Like they were made of magic itself, almost.

“Another Dimension… Hm. That would be our best bet, yeah.” Magolor muttered.

“I detected the opening of a rift near Jambandra, as well. That rift may well be the key to finding them.” Lor added. “Would you like me to contact your friends about this? It would be wise to bring them along.”

“They’re, uh, only kinda friends… I think only Kirby really sees me as a friend, but… yeah. If you could do that, it’d be nice.” Said Magolor.

“Understood. I will try to reach Bandee. They have always been the most likely to hear.”

The Lor fell silent once again, and Magolor let out a soft sigh of relief.

It was okay. He hadn’t lost his connection.

…Maybe the Lor was right about getting some rest. He was exhausted.

He could probably sneak in a nap before Bandee brought everyone. It was still pretty early, anyways.

Bandee was half-asleep when they heard the Lor’s voice in their head, having dozed off at Kirby’s table shortly after Kirby had put away the chessboard. Sunlight was coming through the window, now, and Kirby was nowhere to be seen. Probably just out and about. They almost always got an early start to the day.

Bandee had gotten used to the greetings upon entering the ship and the occasional remark in a conversation, but it had been a while since they’d heard her outside of the ship itself. Unfortunately, with the distance, it was hard to properly hear her while still in a semi-asleep state.

“…Sorry, could you repeat that?” Bandee requested.

“Apologies for waking you. Can you bring Kirby, Meta Knight, and King Dedede here? There’s a possibility the people sacrificed to Void Termina may still be alive.” The Lor explained.

Bandee blinked a few times, processing the request. It couldn’t have even been five in the morning, and yet here the Lor was, waking them up with a request to find the people who’d tried to end the world not even two days ago.

Not the strangest thing Kirby’s been through, all things considered.

“…I’ll try to bring them around in a little while.” Bandee agreed after a moment.

That familiar warm feeling settled in Bandee’s chest. The Lor was thanking Bandee in her own quiet sort of way.

It was nice.

Magolor sighed softly, not even bothering to remove any of his extra layers and instead flopping onto the bed, similarly to Marx’s current state, though his hat had fallen off the bed, and his glasses had been carefully removed by Magolor shortly after he’d crashed two days prior.

Marx stirred at the disturbance, eyes cracking open slightly to see Magolor’s blurry form, fully dressed, face-down on the bed. He couldn’t help it; a small laugh broke past his lips at the sight.

“Mornin’, sleeping beauty.”

Magolor rolled over, just enough for his eyes to shine a faint light on Marx’s face. His expression was unclear, too blurry to make out with him so close without his glasses, but he chuckled softly all the same. “Morning, yourself.” He replied, leaning closer to press a small kiss to Marx’s lips. “Did I wake you?”

Marx shrugged. “Nah. I woulda woken up sooner or later. You just jumpstarted that a little.” He suppressed a yawn, eyes slipping shut. “How long’ve you been up?”

Magolor blinked a few times, processing the question. “Uh, at least twenty hours, I think.” He admitted.

“Twenty hours? Mags, the universe was just saved. Can’t ya put some projects on the back burner and take a break?” Marx asked, pulling Magolor a little closer.

“I will, I will! I just – I need to know they’re okay.” He explained. “If I’m right, that makes her probably the only family I’ve got left, blood-wise, I mean.”

Marx sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I get that. But until we’ve got the chance to track ‘em down, you gotta take it easy, yeah?” He pushed Magolor’s hood down, scratching behind Magolor’s ears.

Magolor glanced towards the clock just past Marx’s head, and let out a soft sigh. “Fine, fine. Should be a few hours at least until Kirby and the others arrive, anyways.” He smiled, leaning into the touch and biting back a small purr.

Marx’s face broke into a grin, and he kissed Magolor’s nose. “Perfect. Now c’mon, get some sleep, you doofus.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d quit calling me a doofus.” Magolor said through a yawn.

Marx hummed, combing his fingers through Magolor’s hair. “Fine, fine. Even if you are a bit of a doofus.”

Magolor just rolled his eyes at that, scooching closer to Marx and burying his face in Marx’s shoulder. “I might be, but so are you.” He wrapped his arms around Marx’s shoulders and shut his eyes. “G’night, Marx.”

“Sweet dreams, Mags.”

Here’s hoping the fountain of dreams was intact.

Chapter Text

Marx yawned softly. He was getting sleepy with Magolor purring so loud, and he didn’t exactly want to get up, either way. Magolor didn’t really purr unless he was really comfortable, so it was nice to hear.

Or really out of it, but that was a whole other can of worms.

At least for now, it seemed to be the former, even as Magolor’s eyes regained that glow as they opened and focused on Marx’s face.

“How’re ya feeling?”

Magolor shrugged. “Still tired, but I should be able to make it through the day. What time is it?”

“About nine-thirty.” Marx said without even needing to check.

One of the few perks of running on clockwork, he supposed.

Magolor held back a yawn. “Should have the time to make breakfast, then.” He mused, rolling onto his back and making a small sound in annoyance at being tangled in his cloak. “I probably shouldn’t have slept in these…” He muttered.

Marx laughed, reaching for his glasses. “Ya think?” He lightly elbowed Magolor.

“Just a thought.” Magolor replied, detangling himself and hopping off the bed. “C’mon, I wanna get something in our systems before we head off.”

“You got it!” Marx threw his cap on, one of his horns poking out from the brim. For once, he didn’t particularly care about it.

He’d fix it later, when the others arrived.

But for now? It was fine to leave them exposed. Magolor didn’t care whether Marx had horns or not. The horns were just as much part of Marx as anything else.

And that was reassuring to know, even if the words were never said outright.

The sun was warm on Kirby’s skin, his eyes slipping shut at the calm breeze that blew past.

Dreamland was the same as always today. As if the universe hadn’t nearly ended two days ago.

It was nice to know Dreamland would always be familiar. No matter how many nightmarish abominations Kirby defeated.

Kirby’s mind wandered back to the massive melting ball of chaos matter, here, laying on the grass in their yard.

Why did it feel so familiar? The magic was tinged with the sour note of corruption, yes, but beyond that sourness, it felt… almost like home.

His first home. Before Dreamland. Before the warm breeze they’d awakened on under the shooting stars.

But that couldn’t be the case. Why would Kirby remember a being as terrifying as Void Termina as home?

He ignored the way its face changed and morphed, starry eyes reflecting against Kirby’s own.

That was not something Kirby wanted to consider right now. He couldn’t stand the thought.

Not when the sun was shining down, not when the clouds were perfect for cloudgazing, not when the rings caught the light and made the sky practically sparkle.

It was the perfect day, so why not enjoy it?

The sound of a door could be heard, followed by Bandee’s footsteps.

Then, Bandee’s face came into Kirby’s field of view.

Kirby grinned, looking up at his best friend. “Good morning!” They signed cheerfully.

Bandee couldn’t help but smile back, taking a seat next to Kirby on the grass. “G’morning.” They said through a small yawn. “Anything special planned for today?”

Kirby shook his head.

“That’s – that’s good.” Bandee hesitated a moment, before letting out a small sigh. “Hey, could you come with me to the Lor Starcutter soon? Lor called me there, along with you, Meta Knight, and King Dedede. She said it was possible the mage sisters were alive.”

Kirby practically bolted upright at this, eyes wide with surprise. “Do you think they’d want to be friends?” He signed.

Bandee shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe if we save them, but… I can’t say for certain.”

This seemed to put a damper on Kirby’s enthusiasm, but they nodded all the same. “That’s okay. I want to help them either way. Unless they need help trying to end the world again.” A small laugh left him at this, but he didn’t seem happy. “What time do we need to go?”

“The Lor didn’t say. I’m assuming any time is okay, though.” Bandee said, looking up at the clouds for a moment. “I just hope it won’t be too big an adventure this time. I’m all adventured out for now, I think.”

Kirby laughed again, genuinely, this time, and Bandee glanced back at Kirby.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’m just happy to hear I’m not the only one tired after everything.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty reassuring to me, too.” Bandee agreed.

The world was finally at peace once more, with the weather reflecting that in every way.

It was a perfect day for cloud gazing.

The Lor Starcutter could surely wait a little while longer while they took in such a perfect day.

Another Dimension’s layout was confusing.

It reminded her of home in a way she couldn’t quite place. Familiar-feeling ruins and the blurry edges of memories she couldn’t quite place. Spires reaching the sky and breaking past the clouds, while others collapsed and created ramps to climb up, not that they needed it in their current state.

It made her head hurt to contemplate her memories too much, so she kept her focus on now. On finding Hyness, keeping her sisters safe, and finding a way out of here.

How that would even work with the ever-shifting nature of this place, she wasn’t quite sure.

But she wasn’t one to give up.

Even in a dimension crawling with monsters. Even with memories she couldn’t quite piece together.

It was one of the few things she took pride in knowing about herself.

“Heya, Zan, what’re you thinking so hard about?” Flamberge asked, breaking Zan from her thoughts.

Zan shook her head, a small smile crossing her face. The heat radiating from Flamberge was a nice break from the cold of her surroundings. “Nothing important. Just wondering how we’ll get out of here once we find Lord Hyness.”

Flamberge rose a brow. “Really? That’s all? I thought it’d be a bigger problem than that.”

“Lord Hyness’ absence is a big problem.” Zan shot back, almost reflexively as she returned her attention to their surroundings. She sighed, trying to keep herself calm. The air crackling around her certainly wasn’t helping her nerves.

“I think,” Francisca stepped in, “that Flamberge was just commenting on your shift in attitude since we got here. It’s like you’ve gone back to when we were kids again.”

Flamberge nodded, but she didn’t add anything else, just hurried on ahead, hoping to find something in this endless expanse of space.

Francisca didn’t pick up her pace, though, she just stuck by Zan’s side, a tired look in her eyes. “I hope we can get home soon.”

The words were reassuring, even if they felt somewhat hollow.

Was Jambandra even okay after everything? Zan vaguely remembered the terminus beginning to collapse before it all went black.

Stars, she hoped it was alright.

It was the only home she truly remembered, now.

Chapter Text

The edge of Another Dimension was a sight to behold. Magolor held his breath as he stepped off the Lor onto the floor of what remained of the Divine Terminus, looking at his surroundings in awe.

“So this is it.” He spoke softly. The air around him crackled with energy, as if the magic from the battle two days prior still hadn’t dispersed.

Kirby nodded. “Mhm.” They approached one of the many portals strewn about the area, feeling the destabilization in reality against their hand. It tingled, turning Kirby’s hand to light.

“Be careful, Kirby! We don’t know if these rifts are stable.”

Kirby grinned, shaking his head. “It’s okay! Stable or not, we explored lots of these rifts before. Just need to avoid the crushing walls and stuff.” He paused a moment, thinking back on what else he’d seen in those rifts. “Though I did like the sphere doomers.”

Magolor shook his head. “I could go without sphere doomers. They’re real pains to deal with. Especially when energy spheres are involved.”

“I think they’re sorta cute, in a weird way.” Bandee commented.

“Suit yourself, but I wouldn’t let one of them on the ship.” Magolor shrugged.

Meta Knight sighed. “We should get to searching. Another Dimension is too expansive to waste much time.”

“Right. I’ll hang back and keep an eye out for any other rifts that might open.” Said Magolor.

“It would be great to have someone keeping an eye on rifts!” Kirby signed, looking back to the rift. “Thanks a bunch.”

Magolor grinned, turning back towards the Lor Starcutter. “I’ll see you on the flipside, Kirby!” He said lightly, shutting the hatch with a small wave towards the dream team.

Kirby waved back enthusiastically before returning their attention to their friends. “Come on! We have a whole set of dimensions to search.” He signed, before running into a rift without a moment’s hesitation, with the rest of the team following close behind.

Magolor sighed, looking out over the remains of the Divine Terminus.

It was still beautiful, even after being broken. Even with the remains of the ceiling and walls floating off into space, mixing with whatever made up the arena of that final battle.

It was soothing, almost, to be back in space, away from the nonstop sunny skies of Dreamland and back in his element.

Dreamland was fine. Of course it was. Dreamland was probably built on the essence of sunshine and rainbows and whatever. It was just… not where Magolor belonged, long term.

And being back out here, watching Marx fly among the wreckage, listening to the familiar sound of destabilizing reality and Marx’s joyous laughter and the Lor’s quiet humming, it clicked.

“…I don’t know if I want to stick around Dreamland much longer.” Magolor admitted to himself, barely even loud enough for himself to hear. It was weird to say, and he changed it a little in his head.

He didn’t want to leave forever, returning once in a while would probably be really nice.

He just… needed time off-planet, away from everything. To get his head right.

The Lor hummed in agreement, but she didn’t chime in. Magolor wasn’t certain whether he appreciated the lack of input or not.

He could get his answers first, maybe establish some sort of weird schedule to visit or something, but… that didn’t mean he had to stay on Popstar forever. There was so much to the universe, and he wanted to see it all, no matter how impossible that might be.

…He’d talk it over with Marx later. Get his opinion on things.

For now, he’d just enjoy the time he had out here.  

Kirby hummed softly to himself, scooping up another friend heart and waving to his friends.

Between the four of them, they’d already gathered up well over a hundred friend hearts, by now.

“Why do we even need these, anyways?” Dedede asked, tossing the few he’d picked up into Kirby’s bag.

Kirby shrugged. “I’m not sure, but these sorts of things have always been important before, so I’m running with it.”

Meta Knight chuckled softly. “They seem to be everywhere, as well. But given the number we’ve collected; I’d say we’re nearing the end.”

Bandee placed the few small pink hearts they’d scooped up into the bag, as well. “I’d sure hope so! This place feels all sorts of spooky. Like it’s a totally different Another Dimension from the ones we’ve explored before.” They sighed, looking out at a flock of sphere doomers in the distance. “At least the doomers aren’t hoarding anything this time.”

“That’s a bright side, at least.” Kirby signed, turning towards another winding corridor and taking off down it, a silent signal for their friends to follow.

It had been during a short break that Zan heard it – the sound of a fight up ahead, followed by Hyness’ voice.

It was faint, but still clear enough the Zan darted up immediately, surprising Francisca and Flamberge with the sudden movement.

“I think it’s about time we press on.” Said Zan, though she also wished she could rest just a little longer. Manifesting her magic into a relatively solid recreation of her partisan, she smiled a little to herself. Her magic had been getting easier to use since she’d gotten herself stuck in this form.

She briefly found herself wondering why as she took off towards the source of the sound, followed closely by Francisca and Flamberge.

She could speculate on why all she wanted when everyone was home. Preferably all in one piece, but she probably wouldn’t complain if she was stuck as some sort of lightning ghost for the rest of her life if pit came down to it.

Well, she might miss the occasional tackle-hug from Flamberge or Francisca gently rubbing her back when she awoke from particularly bad nightmares.

But she had to keep to her duties before worrying about such things.

Hyness had fallen, but the mage sisters were still nowhere to be found. Kirby frowned, kneeling to check on Hyness before a loud voice interrupted his concerned thoughts.

“Lord Hyness!” The voice called, and before Kirby could even draw away from Hyness’ collapsed form, a jolt of electricity made them jump away from the priest. Then came the zap-zap of Zan Partizanne moving at her top speed, though significantly louder than it had been before. Zan Partizanne sped into view, glowing eyes focused on Hyness. “Oh, perfect. All in one piece…” She muttered to herself. “And we seem to be back at the edge of Another Dimension! Oh, this is incredible!” She spun around excitedly, before her gaze landed on the dream team. “Wait, that pink child…” Any joy in her voice faded as she connected the dots. “It’s you.”

Kirby waved slowly. “Are you okay? You look really different.” He signed his concern, taking in the crackling electricity that seemed to make up her body, now. They looked between the collapsed forms of what they had assumed to be the mage sisters, and the ghosts before them.

This made things a little more complicated.

“I only came this far in search of Lord Hyness, who we’d assumed to be swallowed by the abyss, but it seems you had the same idea…” She muttered, eyes narrowing as she considered this. “Francisca, Flamberge! Hurry up and get over here!” She called.

Streams of water and fire flew in and settled into forms similar to that of Francisca and Flamberge.

Flamberge looked around the new area, eyes wide with recognition. “Whoa… it looks like home…” She muttered under her breath. She flared up at the sight of the four heroes. “Oh, it’s you again.” She spat, clutching her sword angrily. “I can’t even think of anything to say but jamblasted! Vun jamblasted!”

“Flamberge, please try to remain calm.” Said Francisca. Rather than conjuring a weapon, she knelt next to Hyness’ collapsed body, placing an icy hand on the priest’s shoulder. “Oh, look at you…” She whispered, a bittersweet note in her voice. “You’re nothing like the Hyness who raised us, are you?” She sighed. “I wonder if you still remember those days when you’d lead us toward a bright future…”

Zan Partizanne shifted her grip on her conjured partisan. “Girls. There’s no time for sorrow. I think it’s about time we repay our debt to Lord Hyness.” She said, turning her gaze from her sisters back to the dream team. “And for that, you… small pink… oh!” She snapped her fingers, her face lighting up as she remembered Kirby’s name. “Kirby! It seems our final confrontation is at hand. We, the three mage-sisters, will bring this conflict to its end…”

She brandished her conjured partisan at Kirby, with Francisca and Flamberge following close behind with their own weapons. “Once and for all!”

Kirby sighed, adjusting his cap and readying his yo-yo while Bandee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight raised their weapons.

This was going to be a tough fight.

Chapter Text

Zan Partizanne collapsed, the magic she’d concentrated into a weapon dissipating as she tried to maintain a stable form. “You…” She tried to bring herself to go off again, to blast the dream team back to that stupid backwater planet they’d come from.

But she couldn’t, not with her energy already running so low. Everyone had been run ragged from the fight, injuries scattered across the dream team while the mage sisters’ magic threatened to dissipate alongside their souls from such overuse. Zan felt lightheaded even trying to keep herself together, and she was probably in the best state of her sisters.

She was ready to just accept her death again, the sparks becoming weaker with each ragged pulse of magic she could manage to keep her form stable.

Darkness crept into her vision, her entire being threatening to give out from exhaustion, to just dissipate into the ether.

But Kirby just… held out a hand to her, a smile on his face despite everything.

For a moment, Zan considered not taking the hand. Considered ensuring everyone here would never meet again – even in the fields.

It was tempting, certainly, but her sisters at least deserved better.

She sighed, turned back to face Kirby, and took his hand. “This does not mean we’re your friends.” She said, and Kirby just giggled.

Bandee shrugged. “Maybe not yet.” They said, taking Francisca and Flamberge’s hands the same as Kirby had Zan’s.

Zan rose a brow at the odd wording, but she was quickly distracted by Kirby leading her to her shell. She didn’t even hesitate, immediately flying into it.

It felt good to have a proper body again… for all of three seconds. Then, the pain from injuries incurred from the past few days came back, and she had to clench her teeth to put up with the sensation. Not to mention the nausea and chills that always accompanied pushing the limits of one’s soul. Francisca and Flamberge seemed to be having similar reactions to their respective returns to being made up of more than magic and soul matter.

Meta Knight and Dedede both watched the three sisters cautiously from a distance, but Zan found it comforting in comparison to the way Kirby and Bandee seemed to welcome her family with open arms after everything. She sighed softly and cast her eyes up to what looked to be the way home.

She sighed softly, climbing onto the warp star with her sisters in tow. Hyness, too, clung to the star, looking about as rough as Zan felt.

It was bright on the other side of the rift, the familiar sight of the divine terminus before her, now in ruin. She would have felt ready to jump off the warp star and get right back to restoring the place, had it not been for the way she felt sick just from the idea of doing more than following after the dream team, using the walls as support.

Her head hurt and her vision was getting darker by the moment, but at least she was still alive.

Kirby didn’t stop at the empty bridge, much to Zan’s frustration. He just continued through a doorway and down the hall, finally stopping at a door and opening it.

Zan hadn’t noticed until she had collapsed on one of the cots in the room that Bandee seemed to have left the group at some point, only now returning with Magolor following close behind. At least lying down was helping with her vision problem somewhat. Magolor seemed a little uncertain about it all, muttering to himself in Jambandran – though an unfamiliar dialect – the whole time he flitted around the room, digging out first aid kits and moving about equipment Zan had never seen before in her life.

Then again, Hyness had always been more of a magic user than a technology user. These were probably completely normal things that she’d just… missed.

She rolled over, despite the pain she felt at the small action. She’d done more with worse injuries before. She should be fine.

But she wasn’t, for whatever stupid reason, and she hated it.

Perhaps pushing her soul’s limits before returning to a body bordering on broken had been a less than wise decision on her part, but she hadn’t exactly been thinking at the time.

She didn’t listen in on the conversation, voices blurring together on the edges of her consciousness. She just went to sleep.

Exhaustion from everything had completely set in, and she didn’t want to bother with any of these people right now.

…

Zan awoke to a familiar melody – one she’d heard her mother sing when she was a little girl. The lullaby felt like a punch to the gut before she’d even opened her eyes.

It probably wasn’t even that special. It was probably just some common melody that Zan had only heard from her mother because she’d lived off the station for so long, but it hurt all the same. That was mother’s song. At least, it was in Zan’s mind.

Magolor just continued singing softly to himself, seemingly unaware Zan was awake as he continued tidying up around the medical bay, messing with equipment and tossing the now empty cots’ blankets into a laundry basket.

“…Where are the others?” Zan asked, sitting up in the cot. Her head still hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, at least.

Magolor paused his tidying at the question. His hood and cloak were gone, probably because he’d assumed she’d still be asleep. Zan noted the metal shards peeking out from his tangled hair. Odd, especially for something so magically viable as what looked to be gold. “My best guess is that they’re at castle Dedede for now. King Dedede mentioned wanting to keep you guys close by for the time being, but you were still asleep at the time.” He explained, returning to busying himself. “Didn’t wanna move you while you were still out, I guess.”

Zan furrowed her brows at the explanation. “Supervision? But we have no intention of causing any more harm.”

Magolor just shrugged as he set a box on the floor, beginning to pick through the contents and put them away in various drawers and containers. “Yeah, but it’s a sorta security thing, I guess. They did it with me and a couple others, too. No heading off-planet for a while, no messing with whatever lead to the situation in the first place, that sort of thing.” He said, a small edge of bitterness in his tone for a moment before he brightened again, just like that. “Don’t worry, it’ll be over before you know it!” He added, turning to face Zan and give a thumbs-up.

“Why would you be detained? Sure, you seem powerful, but—”

“Let’s change the subject, yeah?” Magolor interjected quickly, ears pulled back, looking almost afraid. “I told Francisca and Flamberge I’d head back to Jambandra to retrieve anything important, but I didn’t think you’d be awake so soon. You were pretty wiped out, after all.” And just like that, back to that smile as he continued his sorting.

It was a little unnerving.

Zan chewed her lip, uncertain how to respond. She didn’t like being far from Francisca or Flamberge – especially not after something like this – but then again, she wasn’t quite certain she would be ready to face Hyness yet. It just… felt strange to look back now, compare how she remembered him, and…

“I know what’s important. Let me come with you.”

Magolor paused, considered it for a moment, his eyes flicking around the room as he muttered things Zan couldn’t quite make out.

Then, he smiled, genuinely this time, it seemed. “Certainly! I’ve actually got a lot I’d like to talk to you about, anyways.” He said.

“Likewise.” Zan said, and it felt a little strange to just… talk like this. With someone she hadn’t grown up with. Someone she didn’t know well at all. A complete stranger for all intents and purposes. But it wasn’t like she could get answers from anyone she did know, and he seemed pleasant enough.

Even if the sudden switching from serious to lighthearted was a little strange. She just brushed it off as a weird aspect of a weird guy. Similar enough to his manner of dress, or the fact that he seemed to live on a piece of magitech more impressive than anything she’d ever seen, even in her fuzzy memories with mother.

Magolor continued with his singing at that, quieter this time as he worked on sorting some supplies from a box into various parts of a cabinet. It seemed to be a mix of things Zan recognized and completely unfamiliar objects. There seemed to be a lot, too, but it wasn’t like it mattered.

As jarring as it had been to hear the song at first, it was nice to hear again.

Silence hung in the air for a while when he finished his sorting, and Magolor shifted his weight from one foot to the other, empty box in his hands, as if unsure where to go from here.

He finally just sat on the edge of one of the empty cots, still holding the box and looking up at the ceiling with a small sigh. “We’ll probably be at Jambandra soon. The Lor’s quick enough the trip only takes a few hours.”

Oh, perfect.

Just a couple hours before Zan would be stuck on a nowhere planet for the foreseeable future.

She must have visibly deflated somewhat, because Magolor smiled mischievously then, eyes lighting up a little. “I mean, I could say we ran into a little trouble and ran late because of that.” He suggested.

“You’d really do that?” Zan asked, sounding much more hopeful than she’d intended to.

Magolor grinned. “Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t.” He said lightly. “Besides, getting stuck on Popstar sucks, no matter how nice a place it is. I’m willing to bend a couple rules. Least I could do in exchange for a helping hand.”

Zan rose a brow at this. “For someone allied with someone as naïve as the pink kid, you seem awfully eager to break the rules for someone who helped nearly end the world.”

“I wouldn't say break the rules. Just... a bit of a bend here and there.” Magolor said, a small smile on his face. “Now then, you’ve been out for a while, yeah? Might be a good idea to get something in your system before we get to Jambandra.”

And with that, Magolor disappeared from the room, a short call for Zan to follow echoing behind him.

Zan hesitated a moment before getting up to follow after him.

Chapter Text

Marx extended a wing to Magolor in greeting upon seeing him enter the kitchen, a grin coming across his face at the sight of Zan following close behind.

“Hey there, Zan Palindrome!” He called, waving with a metallic hand.

Zan narrowed her eyes at Marx’s words. “You know that’s not my name.” She grumbled.

Marx shrugged. “Do I?”

His voice was too sweet. It made Zan grimace at the sound.

Magolor just giggled, raising a hand to his mouth as he crossed the kitchen, still floating for whatever reason Zan couldn’t quite figure out. He paused at Marx’s spot on the counter, giving him a quick kiss before continuing on to the pantry.

Zan blinked in surprise at Magolor’s easy show of affection, before the surprise that he was showing affection to the clown of all people properly set in. She furrowed her brows, and Marx had to hold back a laugh at her expression.

“What? Ya got a problem there? Never seen a noddy before or somethin’?” He asked, swinging his legs up to allow Magolor more space to move about.

Zan shrugged, trying to ignore Marx’s sharp-toothed grin. He certainly didn’t look like a noddy to her, but that wasn’t her business. “No. I just thought he’d have better taste.” She commented, taking a seat at the table.

Marx laughed at the comment, adjusting his glasses. “Gee, thanks.”

Zan just tossed one of the many balled up papers at him in response before turning her attention to the books, notes, and miscellaneous papers scattered across the table’s surface. One book in particular caught her attention, with its cracked leather cover and the mismatched papers poking out from the edges of old pages.

It looked older than anyone currently on board, that was for sure.

It was a beautiful day out, but Francisca just laid on the floor of her room at Castle Dedede, unfocused gaze turned to the ceiling.

She couldn’t think straight, her thoughts all jumbled together with no clear indication of which thought belonged to which ideas in her mind.

She could knit. Her knitting bag was back home. She could go out. She wanted to stay in. She should check in on Flamberge next door. She wanted to be alone. She should face Hyness. She wasn’t ready.

She needed sleep. Her body and soul were still reeling from all the magic she’d used two days prior.

She rolled onto her side, the cool flooring feeling nice against her cheek as she stared ahead.

The bed was nice, sure. Cozy and covered in blankets and pillows.

But it wasn’t her bed. It didn’t have the blankets she’d knit from before she’d been taken in. It didn’t have Zan’s first attempt at a plushie tucked in next to her. It didn’t have the lamp Flamberge built on the bedside table.

Reluctantly, Francisca crossed the short distance and curled up on the bed, dragging an unfamiliar-smelling blanket over her head. She didn’t turn the lights off, nor did she draw the blinds. She just shut her eyes and let sleep wash over herself.

One of the very few perks of magic overuse is the fact that sleep is easy to come by.

Unfortunately, so are nightmares.

The halls were so quiet like this, all the other residents of the station having likely either escaped or met their fates in one of the many collapsed hallways they had come across already.

Zan stayed on the floor, while Magolor remained floating.

“Why do you bother with the floating?” Zan asked, if at least to fill the silence. “I just can’t imagine it’s any easier than walking.”

Magolor shrugged. “Old habit. I got used to floating around so I didn’t have to hear my own footsteps, back when I lived alone.” He explained, looking up at the ceiling. “Kept me from being reminded I was by myself, I guess.”

Zan was going to further question him, but they had reached their final stop on this trip. She stopped at the small panel set into the wall.

“Need me to open the door again?” Magolor suggested easily, already going for the multitool in his pocket.

“No need. I have the password for this one.” Zan said simply, quickly punching in the code and listening to the soft hiss of the door opening. It was a little baffling (and at least a tiny bit impressive) how easily Magolor opened the last two doors, but she didn’t need it this time.

Her room was the same as she’d left it. The mess that had built up over the course of the fragment search wasn’t the same as Flamberge’s organized chaos, but it felt familiar all the same as she sidestepped a precarious stack of books, grimacing at the sight of dishes she’d neglected to bring out.

“Hey, I think I had a similar plush as a kit.” Magolor commented, floating past Zan and picking up the old scarfy plush.

Zan furrowed her brows, but ultimately ignored the comment. Scarfy plushes were probably common. “We’re bringing it back.” She said simply.

Magolor nodded, placing it on the bed like Zan had before with the other “keep” piles they’d put together for Francisca and Flamberge’s things. “Anything else?”

“I’ll get them.” Zan said, kneeling to open the bottom drawer of her desk. As always, her astronomy book and small stack of photos greeted her. She took them out carefully, placing them on the bed with her plush.

Magolor tilted his head at the photos, leaning closer for a better look. He squinted at the photos, then asked, “…Is that my dad?”

Zan froze, looking between the photos and Magolor a few times.

What was she even supposed to say to that?

“How should I know? I’m hardly even a toddler in those photos.” Zan shot back, opting for defensive. It had worked for most of her life with topics she wanted to avoid. No reason why it would stop now.

Magolor shrugged, picking up another one of the photos and turning over in the air with it. “No way… This is me!” He said, looking wide-eyed at Zan.

“Give that back!” Zan shouted, swiping at the photo in Magolor’s hand.

Magolor giggled, floating further out of reach. “Y’know, I had my suspicions, but I think this pretty much proves it.” He said, still upside down as he plucked another photo from the pile. “I mean, that’s clearly me. I’ve got similar photos back on the Lor to prove it. And if that’s you…”

Zan tried to grab the photos once again. “Can’t you talk about your theories without manhandling the only childhood photos I have?!”

Magolor shrugged, dropping the photos on the book. “Sure I can! It’s just that I was surprised to find myself and my father of all people in your childhood photos, y’know?” He grinned. “Also, it was funny.”

“I now see why you live with the clown.” Zan sighed, carefully tucking the photos in the astronomy book.

Magolor tried to contain his laughter at Zan’s words, losing his concentration on the spell and landing not at all gracefully with a small, startled shout followed by the laughter he’d been trying to contain. Zan also burst into laughter at his lack of concentration causing such a spectacular failure of his own magic. He must have been self taught if he needed concentration to maintain a simple float like that, Zan noted.

Once the laughter died down, they lapsed into silence. Zan packed up her things quietly, and Magolor just… contemplated what to do with this information.

“So… my guess was right. That’s… kinda weird to consider.” Magolor said, looking up at the ceiling.

Zan nodded. “Strange to think my last living connection to my old life is the biggest loser I’ve ever met.”

“Hey!” Magolor protested.

“Am I wrong?” Zan asked, but the smirk wouldn’t leave her face.

“…Not really.” Magolor sighed, sitting up and turning to face Zan. “So, I’m assuming mom’s gone, then? If I’m the last living connection?”

Zan frowned, looking at her small pile of belongings one more time before wrapping them up in her old blanket. “…We’re done here. Let’s go.”

She didn’t wait for Magolor to get up. She just took off.