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Chapter Text

Elfilin was laying on the grass right next to the Fishing Pond in Waddle Dee Town, beside him was his flip phone that is used to keep in touch with Kirby between worlds.

It has been three days since he had become whole and while the events of that are certainly....unusual (Elfilin doesn’t like thinking back on that day) everything after that was surprisingly going normally.

Okay, he does have tons of powerful chaos energy and powers that Elfilin doesn’t how to use yet, the worst part being that the power can just randomly activate at anytime, in fact, when the chinchilla first arrive in the town, he basically destroyed the watchtower by complete accident but luckily, the Waddle Dees were able to rebuild it quickly and understood that he didn’t mean to do that.

Plus, Elfilin has been having these strange feelings that are alien to him, he is not sure how to feel about them yet…

With a gentle sigh, he looked at his reflection in the water, he now has white and red fur (with a bit of chest fluff) with the inside of his ears (which are now a bit bigger and more wing like) having a black-crimson pattern, admittedly, Elfilin still hasn't got used to his new look.

While looking at the pond, he could see a very shadowy figure with bright white eyes behind him in the reflection for a brief moment before disappearing.

Oh right, Fecto Forgo.

They now linger in Elfilin’s mind and body, sometimes appearing as a sort of phantom behind him though, Elfilin couldn’t tell if only he could see them or not.

Forgo has been very quiet since they have been reunited, only making grunting sounds of annoyance whenever he tries to check up on the psychic beast.

But yet, Elfilin could still feel that Forgo is bothered,that it wants something but doesn’t know what it is (and so does Elfilin if he were honest)

So, he figured that now is the best time to try to talk with them again so he cleared his throat and said-

“Hey- um, Forgo? I know you are in there”

No response at first like Elfilin expected so he tried again by adding-

“I know something is bothering you cause y’know, we share the same mind now so perhaps it would be for the best if you would like to share that, eh?” The chinchilla did an awkward shrug kinda movement and smiled a bit nervously as he made the offer.

For the next few moments, it was silent with only the noises of the water and the distant Waddle Dee chattering with each other filling it up.

Then, to Elfilin's surprise, Fecto Forgo actually did respond.

”I want to be left alone. I lost. Tried to get missing half. Succeed. Then failed. Tried to get a new body. Got hijacked by butterfly. Other half adorbs my soul. Other half won. But yet? You still bother me.”

His ears drooped as Elfilin heard the words echo through his mind, he didn’t mean to annoy Forgo at all and just wanted to help them……

Despite everything, they were still technically the same entity at one point after all.

“Well, I’m sorry for bothering you, I-I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay, considering that now you are apart of me, I should be making sure everything is fine”

”Hmph”

Elfilin just continued to stare at the pond, watching the small Blippers swim around without a care he wishes that he could be like them, not worrying about anything ever again

Then, after a few minutes, the white soul started to feel……bored.

Impatient even, mainly because Kirby said that he would call once he was ready for Elfilin to open the portal to Dream Land, but the puffball hasn't called all day since he went back to Popstar yesterday!

He shook his head, it was selfish for him to expect Kirby to be with him all the time, he had a life too!

So instead of dwelling on that boredom, he wanted to try fishing but instead of using the rod, Elfilin did something different instead.

Clawroline (or just Carol) did a bit of fishing earlier and used her paws (and teeth at one point but the Waddle Dees stopped her since they don’t want the leopard to hurt the fish) to catch a Blipper so the chinchilla wanted to do something like that too.

After some stretching, he got in a ‘feral’ pouncing stance and started to gently drip his paws into the water.

A small Blipper start to curiously and playfully nibble on the paws until-

SPLASH

His paws threw the fish into the air and caught it before the Blipper could hit the ground, Elfilin giggled as it flopped around in his grasp.

When he went to put it back in the water, an accidental misstep caused him to slip into the water, Elfilin quickly went back up and softly laughed at his slight clumsiness.

Then,a certain other half decide to comment on his small accomplishment

”I don’t get you. You caught the fish. But do not use it in any meaningful or resourceful way. Why? You are just wasting time”

So as Elfilin shake the water out of his white fur, he responded with-

“It’s just for fun, sometimes we do things just because it brings joy to us even if it seemly doesn’t matter in the long run”

He can just feel Forgo rolling its eyes.

”Sounds foolish. And dumb.”

Elfilin was about to say a counter argument when he heard his flip phone ring, swiftly picking it up and answering it,he could immediately tell that Kirby was the one calling due to his signature “Hiiiii”

After saying “Hi” back at him too, the chinchilla went as far from Waddle Dee Town as he could to open the portal to Dream Land since because of his unstable Chaos powers, the portals can potentially suck up unwanted bystanders so he had to be careful.

Focusing as hard as he could,Elfilin managed to open a large portal, the green fields of Dream Land could be seen from it, quickly hopping in and found not only Kirby but also Bandee.

He quickly went to give the pink puffball a hug as the Waddle Dee chuckled at the sight, then after that, Kirby started to explain why he called.

“Well, I think enough time has passed since our adventure that it’s time to meet the Star Allies!” Elflilin gasped excitedly, he had heard all about Kirby’s other friends by him alongside King Dedede and Meta Knight but didn’t think he would meet them so soon!

Bandanna Waddle Dee nodded as he added “Yep! We told all of the Star Allies about you in our weekly meeting that takes place in Castle Dedede and they can’t wait to personally meet you, urm, most of them atleast”

A squeal of happiness escaped Elfilin’s mouth, the chaos chinchilla couldn’t wait to meet his potential new friends plus learning more about Popstar in general was a bonus since this planet is so fascinating to him.

Kirby watched Elfilin’s excitement with glee but then suddenly said “Oh, before I forgot, we need to tell you something a bit important” the fairy like being stopped his squeal instantly to listen up

“We also discussed this in the meeting that your uncontrollable powers alongside the origin of it and your new form led to a single conclusion, it is possible that you are a “Soul” and apart of the few “Souls” in Dream Land which are a group of people that I previously fought that were revived into a new body with lots of powers” he said in a more serious tone “They started to appear one at a time after their defeats and we sorta group them all together once we notice the similarities they had so we would like for you to meet them in hopes to getting used to your new self”

Elflilin ears perked up in curiosity,bthere was more people dealing with the same problem that he is, and apparently Forgo was thinking the same thing as he heard them say-

”Beings just like us. Just like me. How intriguing.”

He decided to reply as well with “Sure! I really do want to control my powers more plus new friends are always a joy” hearing that, Kirby let out a happy giggle, so did Elfilin and Bandee.

Then suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching them and the friends turned to the source of the sounds.

“Howdy mate! Is this the new friend you were talking about?”

Elfilin saw a hamster, a owl, and a fish going up to them, or atleast, Elfilin thinks they are those animals, the group certainly look like them.

Kirby’s face lit up as he waved “Hi Rick, Coo and Kine! Yeah, this is my friend Elfilin as I talked about in the meeting”

The floating chinchilla chuckled and waved to the trio as they greeted and introduced themselves, he wasn’t expecting to meet three of Kirby’s friends so soon.

”Such fine specimens. Would’ve been great for my plans” Forgo commented, Elfilin tried to ignore them.

While having a conversation with Kirby’s Animal Friends, he couldn’t help but think about the future and how bright it is, no longer will he run and hide from the Beast Pack, questioning his origins, he will finally have friends that love and care for him.

Sure, Being a chaos soul with powers beyond control is kind of a burden but hey, the other “Souls” Kirby talks about might be able to relate to him and help Elfilin cope with this permanent change.

Perhaps he could even connect more with his other half no matter how stubborn it is.

Elfilin couldn’t wait to see what the future held for him.

Chapter Text

They don’t know how long they have been in this capsule.

It has been years, that was for certain but the passage of time was muddled to them.

The only thing they could do is watch the researchers do their work and get experimented on.

All day, Every day.

Admittedly, the experiments weren’t painful most of the time but that wasn’t the main reason for their anger.

The reason was how the researchers thought that they were above them, how they treated them with such low respect, almost like it wasn’t a living being at times.

How dare they! Those lower lifeforms couldn’t even comprehend the nature and power of their true being, hell, they could beat them all in a matter of seconds!

(But then again…..if that were true, then how did they capture it….)

The only source of comfort they had was their dreams, dreaming about their own world that is similar to the one they are stuck on.

Usually, they just destroy their world out of frustration but sometimes, in the quieter moments, the being would just drift and think.

Think about the researchers that will one day pass away, that one day they will think how worthless their puny, mortal lives were before their last breath.

It wouldn’t happen anytime soon but it was comforting to know that one day they would die and the captured Lifeform would get the last laugh.

One day………….

For now though, the captured being can only find true solace with a phrase that is shared throughout their invasive and assimilating species-

Chaos is the only constant; the only truth. Embrace the entropy and suffer naught.

“Hey Elfilin!”

He jumped a bit and blinked a few times as his vision cleared, he was sitting under the shade of a tree next to a worried Kirby.

“Oh sorry, I must have spaced out” The chinchilla said while chuckling nervously, his friend smiled before they both heard a stomach growl.

Noticing that it was coming from him, Kirby got up and announced “Woah, I’m hungry, let me get some food for the both of us!” He then rushed off to somewhere while Elfilin watched.

After a few seconds passed, he sighed, thinking about the brief flashback he just had.

Why did he have that vision of the past? Elfilin already knew that he and Forgo were the same being once before the split but he didn’t think that he would have a unexpected flashback.

And while it is just a memory, Elfilin could still feel a bit of rage and vengeance like in the past, why? Despite everything those researchers did, he wouldn't dream of their death and they were perfectly valid to capture them since they invaded their land.

Right?

He groaned a bit, the white chinchilla still isn’t used to having memories of Elfilis' imprisonment nor has he ever had these kinds of emotions before, it was just so confusing and frustrating.

“Hey Forgo, did you also have that brief memory of the past?” he asked curiously, secretly hoping that they could help him through it.

”I can confirm. I had the same vision. Not pleasant at all. Makes me feel vengeful again.” Well, atleast Elfilin was not alone in that small feeling, if that’s a good thing…

Before the pair could talk any longer, Kirby comes back with some fresh apples, he tossed one to Elflilin who didn’t hesitate to take a big bite.

Being the hungry puffball he is, Kirby inhales some apples very quickly which makes both of them giggle, Elfilin is glad to have a friend like Kirby.

They spent the rest of the afternoon eating and talking, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
—--------------------------------------------------
It was now the next day and Elfilin is feeling a bit nervous.

Today is when he is supposed to meet one of the “Souls” or rather, two of them.

He already met some of the Star Allies, all of the Animal Friends, Gooey, Adeleine, Ribbon and Daroach, they were all very nice to him and he can’t wait to see them again (even if Forgo doesn’t).

Thankfully, his chaotic powers haven’t acted out while meeting Kirby’s friends though they were certainly some close calls.

Anyways, the reason for his small nervousness was because of how Bandanna Waddle Dee, who is currently guiding him to Cookie Country, the place of the meeting, described the two souls.

“They are a chaotic pair and while they are ‘Reformed’, I will be keeping a close eye on them during your meeting, one of them even personally tricked Kirby!”

Now, Kirby did describe Bandee as being extremely iffy on some former villains which happens to be most of the Star Allies (even King Dedede and Meta Knight did some villainous things in the past but those are long forgotten) and being paranoid that they might be just playing nice even if they have actually changed.

But on the other hand, what if he is telling the truth? What if the duo are really that unhinged and random?

There is only one way to find out.

Elfilin is sitting on a big rock while Bandee was busy escorting the souls to the meeting area, his tail wagging in curiosity.

Finally, he managed to hear the Waddle Dee distant voice as he walked, seeing him from a distance “Alrighty, here he is, remember to play nice, especially you Marx”

In an instant, Elfilin subconsciously teleported right where Bandee is (One of the many powers he is trying to control), who was startled by the chinchilla's sudden appearance.

The two right behind him were certainly very unique compared to Elfilin’s expectations.

One was a big floating melting pink ball with five yellow eyes and a large gaping mouth and the other one was a grape jester, who almost looked like a Noddy, who was bouncing on a ball and had snake-like eyes along a golden necklace.

”They look like Freaks. Yet I sense they have the same energy as us. Could be useful for future plans.” Forgo stated, Elfilin quickly whispered back at them “Hey! Be nice” also trying to ignore the ‘Future plans’ part, whatever that means…

Nevertheless, The cheery fairy-like soul waved to his new potential friends and greeted them with “Hello! My name is Elfilin, nice to meet you two!”, he also tried to hide his excitement and nervousness.

The soul duo blinked for a moment before the jester muttered “I didn’t know the new soul was a chump” Bandee proceeded to whack his spear on top of jester’s head in response.

Then, the Waddle Dee said “I will be watching from a distance near that tree so no shenanigans, okay?” The three of them nodded (though the grape jester was a lot more annoyed)

After Bandee walked away to a decent distance, an awkward silence filled the air as Elfilin waited for a response.

Eventually, the pink gooey ball cleared her throat(?) and said in a elegant voice “I’m Drawcia, the painting sorceress and future famous painter”

Then her friend went in front, bouncing on his ball excitedly “And I’m Marx, local jester and epic prankster, wanna see something cool?”

Elfilin curiously titled his head and let out a small “Hm?” sound as he got closer to Marx.

All of a sudden, He lunged out, spreading his two sharp wings with a hot pink like color and three talons on each of them, he laughed like a maniac as he showed his fangs and tongue.

The chinchilla let out a scared yelp and flopped on the ground, leaving a small hole on it, Drawcia just rolled her eyes playfully as Bandee gave a threatening glare to Marx but not much else.

Forgo also added input with ”How obnoxious. Perhaps that Waddle Dee had the Right idea to hit them.

Marx then stopped laughing and said “With that outta way, I think it’s time to share your backstory with us newbie” the jester using his wings to float above his ball.

As he got off the ground, Elfilin spread out their ears while trying to think of what to say next.

He then decided to just shrug and say “Well, it’s a bit of a long story but to start, I used to be turquoise and alot cuter, atleast in my opinion of course”

“In my opinion, your current color reminds me of a strawberry sundae! Mmmmmmm” Marx randomly proclaimed, licking his lips loudly, Elfilin tried to brush aside how gross that was.

“So how about you all go first, what’s the story?” He then curiously asked, not only wanting to delay talking about those events but also because he was legitimately curious.

This time, it was Drawcia that responded, presumably striking a dramatic pose the best way she could.

“Oh, I was just a poor forgotten painting that decided to remake Popstar into a beautiful masterpiece alongside turning Kirby into a ball but my magic paintbrush betrayed me and help him defeat me, I even turn into my current form for just a slim chance of victory but alas, it wasn’t enough, when I returned for revenge, Kirby managed to change my heart for the better and I pursuited a path of being remembered once again”

The painter said with such emotion in her voice, putting her whole being into the story.

“Oh, and Marx tricked Kirby into summoning Galactic Nova then he crashed into it and came back looking like this” Drawcia suddenly said in a quick and monotone voice.

The mentioned soul nodded and added “Yeah, and I absorbed Nova’s parts which makes me this rad half robot, though, floating in space for years was………not fun”

Elfilin noticed that Marx’s voice and expression changed to a more sensitive tone before he switched back to his usual cheery self, like he didn’t want to talk about it, was there more to this jester than he first thought?

Magic Paintbrush. And Galactic Nova. Sounds……Powerful. Hm. Forgo said in an interesting tone,Elfilin was also interested in those artifacts but he would have ask Kirby about that later.

He wondered if those are connected to the items those researchers made with their power Quickly changing the topic, he then asked “What about my Soul Powers? They can get a bit uncontrollable and I want to know how to control and use them better!” As soon as he finished that sentence, Marx was trying to hold back his laughter, trying not to be disrespectful “You want to know a way to control your powers?” He parroted while letting out a giggle. His friend, however, was a bit more serious and answered with “There is no real ‘way’ to control these powers, even after all this time, our powers can still go out of control especially when we get extremely emotional, but we can try our best to help you know and use these powers a bit better in our own special methods” she also let out a giggle in a more light hearted manner. He will admit, Elfilin was a bit disappointed by Drawcia’s words, the soul really wanted to know the definitive way to control his chaos powers, but as long as he got help from his friends, there is nothing he won’t overcome! So he gave a determined nod to them and Marx's face lit up with excitement “Oh Oh! Soul Powers can be crazy cool if controlled right, like like, for example you can do this!” Then, Marx casually splits in half with green goo and gears being visible from each of his halves, Elfilin let out a squeak in shock by the sudden action. “Marx, You could already do that even before your soul transformation, remember?” Drawcia countered “Oh, yeah” The jester was thinking for a brief moment before he clicked his talons “I got it! I can also do this-“ His two halves turned into two balls of paint, one was light blue and the other was pink, then the parts of the balls shot up to the air until nothing was left. And like a heavy rainstorm, the paint started to splattered all over the area, some of them got into Elfilin’s white fur and Bandee’s head (He will admit, he forgot the Waddle Dee was watching them) safe to say he was not amused. Drawcia just cackled as the paint stopped and Marx reformed back to his usual self “That was GREAT, though, I personally think that my Splash Rush is way cooler” “I agree ....that was .…cool” Elfilin chuckled in a hesitant way as he tried to get the paint off his fur, he could also hear Forgo growl in annoyance. “If you thought THAT was cool then you would love my other attacks! I got this Shooter Cutter attack, um, Oh! I can make a black hole, that one is a classic, and-um-“ The messy chinchilla continued to clean himself as Marx rambled on, he really did think that it was cool (if not fascinating) he really do but he also wished that the jester gave some warning before performing the attack, not only did it make a mess but it also sorta hurted him and Bandee, he didn’t want to bother him about it though. “OH OH OH! I can also do THIS!” Marx suddenly held his breath for a second and spat out a beach ball similar to the one he was bouncing on earlier, the ball smacked Elfilin’s face before going to the ground, Marx quickly let out a small “Sorry! Heh” A major feeling of anger boiled inside Elfilin’s body. He wanted to yell at Marx for hitting him in the face but held back in fear of upsetting him and Drawcia, it was just an accident after all and there is no use crying over a small incident. The same could not be said about Forgo however.

”Too loud. So Annoying. Won’t shut up ever. THAT’S IT.

All of a sudden, Elfilin felt a strange sensation from their back, phantom-like noises can be heard alongside what seems to be someone charging something.

He did not understand what was happening but like a instinct, he yelled out “STOP” while shaking his paws, both the sensation and noises stopped a few seconds which made Elfilin sigh in relief (despite feeling Forgo’s intense rage right now)

“Erm, what the sigma”

Elfilin’s ears perked when he just now noticed that both souls heard and saw him, well this was embarrassing.

Drawcia in particular was blinking her five eyes at a rapid pace before stuttering “Did-Did a weird shadowy fetus just appear from your back?” the chinchilla was taken aback from her response.
Heck, even Bandee seemed to be on edge, not really sure what to do next, Marx just seemed more baffled and curious than anything.

But trying to take courage about telling them about his other half, he said “I think what you saw was my other part of me, Fecto Forgo, we used to be the same being and- I thought I was the only one who can see them but-”

“WOAH WOAH” Marx interrupted as he flew closer to him “What do you mean “We used to be the same being?”

Knowing that this was inevitable, Elfilin took a very deep breath and explained his story, the forgotten land, Fecto Elfilis among other important details, it was really hard for him but it went better than he would have expected alongside Bandee helping him in some places.

After finishing the story, both Marx and Drawcia were stunned, clearly trying to process what they had been told.

“That is crazy” they said in unison, the friends turned to each other and excitedly exclaimed “Jinx!” Elfilin laughed at their small friendship moment, it seems that they really are that close.

Then, the Bandanna wearing Waddle Dee noticed the sun setting and announced “Alrighty, the meeting is over” while raising his spear, they all didn’t expect the meeting to go by that fast and Elfilin especially wanted to know more about the duo of friends.

As Bandee went to his side, Drawcia bowed in a theatrical way as she said her goodbye “I’m excited to hang out with you more little rodent but for now, this is where we must take our leave” Marx meanwhile, gave Elfilin a little noogie on his head with his talon and said “I would love to play pranks with you the next time we meet!”

Elfilin just waved happily as the painter and the jester left, after they left his plain of sight, he turned to Bandee “Well, that could have gone way worse” the Waddle Dee remarked, the white and red soul nodded in agreement but was clearly still deep in thought.

He felt Forgo’s voice in their mind again "Why didn’t you let me attack him? He was obnoxious. Also you were clearly annoyed too.” Elfilin didn’t respond to their words this time

While it is true that he got angry with Marx throughout the meeting, he would never say those feelings out loud because it would hurt his own feelings a lot and he hates seeing people being sad

Ever since he became whole, Elfilin has been having those feelings every once and while, Elfilin is not an angry or hateful chinchilla, he just wants to have friends but nobody would be pals with someone who is mean.

This is a flaw that he would have to work on by himself, afterall-

It would be silly to burden his friends with his problems.

Chapter Text

“Woah, we are so high up!” Elfilin giggled

He (alongside Kirby and King Dedede) were on a big plant stalk called the “Dreamstalk” apparently, Kirby climbed this very plant long ago to save Dedede.

The Dreamstalk is also connected to a place called Floralia which used to be ruled by a tyrannical queen that Kirby ultimately defeated.

Of course, that's just the very simplified version of the story.

Elfilin enjoyed the gentle breeze as Kirby and Dedede took in the view of Dream Land which seemed so small due to being so high up on the Dreamstalk yet, it was still very much beautiful.

“Ah, I remembered when the Dreamstalk first bloomed like it was yesterday” The penguin said while twirling his trusty hammer

Kirby nodded in agreement “I just can’t wait to visit Floralia again!” He then turns to Elfilin happily “Oh, right! This is gonna be the first time visiting the place, trust me, it’s amazing”

Elfilin giggled in excitement, not only was he gonna meet Sectonia, one of the other “Souls” but also visit this amazing Sky Kingdom.

It has been two weeks since he met up with Drawcia and Marx so the chinchilla can’t wait to meet them again soon!

Also, last week, he met with Dark Meta Knight, a mysterious warrior from the Mirror World, he was also very interested in meeting again.

As Kirby and King Dedede talked about the locations that they would like to visit again in Floralia, Elfilin just continued to sit and look at the cloudy sky alongside the view of Dreamland.

”What a curious location. Also. I hope that with the next soul. They won’t be so irritating.” Forgo suddenly says

The chinchilla then defensively replied with- “Marx and Drawcia weren't irritating! They were a bit strange at times but they were still very nice and I want to see them again!”

Forgo let out a scoff ”Other half said the exact same thing about the dark knight. Who may I remind you. Tried to start a fight with us. TWICE.”

“Well, um- maybe that’s how Dark Meta Knight makes friends y’know, maybe that’s how he shows that he likes someone, everyone has their own way to show love and appreciation!”

A moment passed with nothing but the sound of the wind and the distant conversation that Kirby and Dedede are having, then Forgo bluntly said-

”You are dumb.”

For whatever reason, that comment got Elfilin more emotional than it should have so he squealed out-

“I’m not dumb! I just like nice things that make me happy like talking to people! Atleast I don’t want to be mean all the time unlike some people!”

Then after his little outburst was done, a red orb appeared out of nowhere.

Elfilin immediately forgot the whole exchange and focused on the red ball that was floating in front of him, where did it come from and why did it appear?

”Anomaly spotted. Hypothesis: It’s creation is other half’s fault.” Forgo stated in a more robotic tone then usual

He didn’t even have time to counter their statement before Kirby said “Hey there Elfilin! I heard you say something so what is it? Just curious”

The white and red soul panicked, trying to get rid of the orb before the puffball could see it, luckily, it seemingly dissolved in thin air which made the fairy-like chinchilla sigh in relief.

“Oh,it’s nothing Kirby, just mumbling to myself about the scenery heh” Elfilin said while scratching the back of his head

The hero spotted a curious and almost suspicious look, like he believed that something else had happened, but he quickly dropped the expression and smiled before going back to talk with the King.

Elfilin also gleefully joined their conversation, not wanting to think about what just happened with that red orb.

Was it because of his small,pointless outburst that it appeared?

Either way, it didn’t matter right now because they’re about to visit the Kingdom of the Sky!

—————————————————————----------------------------------------------------------------

Floralia is wonderful, to the various fun locations, to the beautiful scenery plus all of the locals were nice, it was an absolute treat to visit.

Fine Fields was Elfilin’s favorite place as he made Flower Crowns for himself, his friends, and even Forgo despite not wanting one and not being able to wear it anyways.

But now it was time to go to Royal Road where Kirby’s friend Taranza was waiting for them.

There was a huge castle, similar to Mt Dedede, a lot of insect-like guards were around the area and waved to the group when they passed by.

When they reached the tall door to the castle, Dedede gave it a few knocks and a few seconds later, the door was opened by a floating, arachnoid figure with silver hair and two orange fangs.

“My, my, my, if it isn’t Kirby of the Stars and King Dedede of Dream Land, a true pleasure seeing you all here.” He said in a dramatic voice, off the bat, Elfilin was reminded of Drawcia except the spider seemed to be way more into the dramatic act surprisingly.

The penguin meanwhile gave a gentle wave and greeted with “Hi there Taranza” then he gestured to the chinchilla “This is Elfilin, our Buddy that we wanted you and Sectonia to meet”

Taranza immediately locked eyes on him and was fascinated “Ah, Elfilin, I have been excited to see you, I’m Taranza, the Master of Puppetry and Magic” he then shaked his paws using one of his hands which Elfilin accepted.

“Nice to meet you Taranza” Elfilin happily squeaked out though admittedly Taranza’s demeanor felt a bit off putting to him, he can also just feel Forgo intensely staring at the arachnid.

The puppeteer's smile grew wider as he got more excited “Oh, I just can’t wait to show you around the castle and introduce you to Her Majesty, finally, A soul besides Sectonia that isn’t completely unhinged!”

His orange horns (or are they pincers?) move as he continues “There will be tea and perhaps afterwards you can check out my amazing puppet collection” Taranza let out a hearty laugh, Dedede and Kirby followed along and chuckled as well but in a more somewhat awkward way.

Finally, Elfilin heard Forgo speak up.

”Analysis complete. Conclusion:We need to kill him. Like. Right Now.”

—————————————————————----------------------------------------------------------------

The castle, just like everything in Floralia, is breathtaking, tons of great views of the sky and the general architecture was nothing that Elfilin have ever seen (though it was fairly easy getting lost in such a big castle)

“And this is where you will be meeting up, she personally requested it” Taranza said while leading the group to a corridor, this one specifically had a view of the Dreamstalk Flower which Elfilin briefly gawked at.

In the distance, a figure could be seen laying on a chair beside a fancy looking table, Kirby and King Dedede seemed to recognize the figure and smile.

Taranza then put his hands together and announced “Alrighty then, Elfilin can introduce himself to Sectonia while I make some tea for them” Kirby then jumped a little as he happily added in “And we can help make tea too!’

So, as the three went off to do that, Elfilin was left alone to chat with Sectonia, he was very nervous, even more so than his first meeting with Marx and Drawcia, because the chinchilla was about to meet actual royalty (According to Meta Knight, Dedede was only self proclaimed) so he can’t mess up!

”I hope the next soul isn’t like that jester. And god forbid if they are like that spider.” Forgo commented once again as the approached the figure in the chair

What they saw was a blue wasp head with dark red eyes, 6 bright red antennas, four very detailed golden wings and a light blue crown.

Despite her somewhat unusual appearance, Elfilin must say that she is certainly elegant.

It also seems that she was reading a book which Sectonia promptly closed using her wings and greeted him with “You must be Elfilin, I’m Sectonia, former queen of Floralia, always a pleasure meeting another soul”

Elfilin cheerfully waved to her which made the blue soul softly laugh, though, Elfilin is a bit confused on why Sectonia called herself a ‘former queen’ despite Taranza saying otherwise but that was a question for later.

The wasp then gestured to another fancy looking chair that he just noticed and immediately sit on it, the seat was so comfortable that he let out a small purr.

After a few seconds of sitting on the chair, the fairylike soul heard Forgo speak up in his mind ””Hm. Looks like she is actually not a royal lunatic. However. Something about her is…….familiar.”

Familiar how? Elfilin couldn’t help but wonder what Forgo meant, in fact, this is the first time that they actually seemed very intrigued with someone so he can tell this meeting was going to be very interesting.

Sectonia made eye contact with Elfilin which made him try to hide his nervousness and start small talk with a simple question “So, how was your day?”

“Oh! It was a fine one, Taranza and I planted some new flowers in our garden but besides from that nothing much but it’s those more slow, simpler days that I love” Sectonia said in a calm but sweet voice, her unblinking red eyes were unnerving to Elfilin but it would be rude if he pointed that out so he just told Sectonia about his day.

“It was pretty good, mainly because I got to visit the Kingdom of Sky! It reminds me alot of my home expect even more wonderful!”

It seems that the queen was extremely eager to hear that response as she seems to be beaming with joy “That’s splendid, Floralia has been my home ever since I was born and even now, the amount of natural beauty it has still amazes me” she closed her eyes in blissful thinking.

A moment passed until Kirby and friends came to them with two cups of tea alongside a teapot, it smelt like a grassy field, King Dede and Taranza handed the cups to the two souls while Kirby put the pot down in the middle of the table.

Since Elfilin never tasted tea before, he was curious on what it would taste like, the cup seemed very warm in his paws and took a tiny sip.

Elfilin smacked his lips, trying to find out how he feels about the taste, it tasted exactly like how it smelt if that makes sense, he supposed that the tea wasn’t the worst thing in the world (he had tasted things worse before he met Kirby) but there also something about it that made him just want to gag a little bit.

He was actually going to gag but stopped once the chinchilla saw Sectonia happily drinking the tea using one of her wings with Taranza having a very pleased look, he didn’t want to make him sad about possibly not liking the tea so he tried his best not to gag.

Who cares if he wasn’t honest to himself or others,he didn’t want people to feel bad

”Tastes like dry grass.” His other half grimly commented, oh right, Forgo can taste whatever Elfilin is tasting and most of the time,it thinks that the taste is uninteresting or disgusting (though, why the hell did Forgo know what dry grass tastes like?)

“Ah, my favorite, green tea, perfect for an afternoon talk” The bee soul said in a relaxed state, Taranza just grinned and chuckled “I picked the leaves at their most fresh state, all for you my Queen” he then did a dramatic bow.

Just for a split second after the spider said “my Queen”, Sectonia’s face flashed a emotion that Elfilin couldn’t quite grasped, it looked like a face of sadness, regret, reflection with even a bit of frustration and disappointment all in one, it didn’t seem that anyone else notices the brief change of her mood so he decided to not point it out until him and her were alone again.

For now though, he just took small sips of his tea as the group had some small talk which Elfilin eventually joined in.

The talk went on for around nearly 30 minutes before King Dedede suggested “Ah Sectonia! How about you show Elfilin the garden and maybe even talk a bit more about, uh- Soul things” it looked like the penguin still doesn’t quite get the whole Soul stuff (Elfilin can say the same as well)

The other three in the room nodded and expressed their agreement, with Sectonia finishing up her tea and getting out of her chair, the white and red rodent meanwhile, was only halfway through his tea so he just awkwardly put it on the table.

As the two souls were about to depart, Taranza then excitedly proclaimed “Trust me, This garden is something from a paradise that you can only dream of!” the group gave a small chuckle while Elfilin heard Forgo let out a loud sigh of annoyance.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they first stepped outside, the queen and the chinchilla closed their eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air alongside the sweet smell of the flowers, when Elfilin’s eyes opened again, he was awestruck by the sight in front of him.

A garden overfilling with lush green leaves and a variety of colorful flowers, butterflies and other small insect flying around, with a full, closeup view of the Dreamstalk flower to top it all off, it reminded him a lot of the forgotten land with it’s greenery overfilling the abandoned buildings expect with extremely pretty flowers.

Heck, it even seems that Forgo was impressed with the garden scenery which was a bit surprising considering how much it claimed that it was only filled with anger and spite.

Forgo must have known that Elfilin noticed them being unusual from it’s negative behavior so the other half quickly muttered ”Ugh. Garden is too bright. Too much green.” Classic Forgo.

Meanwhile, Sectonia goes to check a patch of flowers that are clearly still growing, he also went to check them out out of curiosity

“Oh, are those flowers blue chiffon roses? Cause the color and growing petals kinda remind me of them-” Elfilin commented, he must admit that he didn’t know a whole lot about flowers but a few Waddle Dees did tell him a bit about flowers one time.

“Yes, they are beautiful aren’t they? I can’t wait to see them fully bloom” the blue soul said while nodding, then her wings shined gold and some vines covered in red thorns suddenly popped out of the soil, gently touching the leaves.

He let out a yelp of surprise while the wasp can only chuckle “Don’t fret, it’s just one of my powers that I got after I was reborn, I don’t usually use it though since the vines can cause quite a mess to the castle sometimes” she let out another little laugh which Elfilin also did.

Both this place and Sectonia were wonderful but the chinchilla still couldn’t shake off his curiosity about her status as a queen so after a brief moment of hesitation, he let out “U-um, I have a question for you”

She then turned her attention to Elfilin, tilting her head while doing so.

“W-well, Are you currently a Queen or not, b-because Taranza calls you ‘Your Majesty’ and things like that but you refer to yourself as a ‘former queen’ and you looked briefly sad when he called you a queen so uh, what is it?’ Jeez, since when asking a question was so hard for him?

The question seemingly caught Sectonia off guard as she took a step back and her vines immediately retracted, though the bee recovered quick from her shock as she then responded with “Heh, you are a lot more observant than I thought”

He was relieved that she didn’t seem upset with his question as Sectonia let out a long sigh nad continued “To answer your question, allow me to tell you a story”

“There was once a spider named Joronia who was going to be a queen, her and Taranza were best friends so as a gift for her coronation, Taranza got her a very special mirror” A special mirror? Elfilin couldn’t help but think of the Dimensional Mirror that acts like a gateway to Dark Meta Knight’s home, the Mirror World, he wanted to ask about it but held it off so she could finish her story.

“What he didn’t know is that mirror was corrupted by a dark force, so the more Joronia looked into it, the more she became warped version of herself, of her flaws, then using her species parasitic nature to make a new body and declared that she was now Queen Sectonia, the ruler of the heavens’

Elfilin suppressed a gasp, he already knew that Sectonia used to be nice before becoming evil and then become nice again but Kirby was already a bit vague about the details, meanwhile Forgo in his mind had a sudden spark of interest ”Parasitic Nature? Like us? Like me?”

“Queen Sectonia would rule over Floraila with a iron fist while Taranza only stood aside, following her every order, eventually, the heroes of Popstar would defeat the queen and she would be reborn as a soul, which is of course, me, yet even if she regrets her time as a queen, she was still different from what she started out.” Sectonia’s voice held a heavy and somber tone, when absorbing all of this new knowledge, something clicked in the chinchilla’s mind, ”Wait, you don’t mean?….”

She nodded her head slowly “Yes, I have no memories of being Joronia and according to Taranza, I have different mannerisms from her, so I refer to her as a different person”

His ears drooped, it seemed that the subject was very personal to her and he felt bad for even asking that question in the first place.

He then felt one of Sectonia’s golden wings wrap around his small body “Don’t worry, those events were a long time ago plus both Taranza and I had time to think and talk about it so we are currently at very good terms, it’s just that he still trying to fully move on” she reassured while he let out a small sigh of relief, focusing on the garden again.

Just then, a certain spider comes in “Greetings Elfilin and Sectonia, I just dropped by to check up on how you all were doing in this glorious garden?” he asked in his usually ecstatic voice.

Sectonia immediately flew up to him and responded with “We are doing good, just talking about a bit of our lives” then they proceeded to have a mini conversation while Elfilin let them do that, the rodent examining a flower that is red and white like his own fur.

”What does she see in that spider. He is so annoying and such a loser.” Forgo claimed with such disdain, Elfilin muttered back to it “Hey! Don’t say that, they are clearly close friends who care for each other!”

”Oh please. He is the reason why she is an abomination now”

“It’s not Taranza”s fault! How could he know that mirror was corrupted, all he wanted was to make his friend happy”

The fetus-like ghost then let out a loud,childish noise of annoyance as they announced ”Anyways. Sectonia’s parasitic species is peculiar. Could be connected to us. Must do more research to confirm similarities.”

Elfilin just looked at the red and white flower more as he thought about what Sectonia just said to him.

Despite her claims, it seems to him that she still needs some help for her problems as suggested by her brief reaction to Taranza’s “My Queen” comment, her backstory could be described as absotutely tragic.

In fact,while they didn’t go into much detail about it, both Drawcia and Marx also had something traumatic happen to them too in the past and seem like they still haven’t fully moved on.

They need help from dealing with their bad memories and emotions

And Elfilin will be the one to help them through it.