Chapter 25: Sharing Secrets
Upon arriving back at the inn, the group walked in to find Dedede and the Waddle Dee trio in the lobby, chatting away with some of the Sugar Gnome staff, King Dedede having a glass of juice in his hand.
"And that is why no one steals our hats! Doopity-doo!" a Sugar Gnome finished telling their story.
"Hehehe, remind me to never get on a Sugar Gnome's bad side." Dedede chuckled, taking a sip of his juice.
"Great King!" Bandana Dee waddled up to him as the rest of the group walked past them "How was the juice bar?"
Dedede took another sip of juice. "Lovely! The juice there is simply phenomenal! You'd definitely love it too, Bandana. They have amazing apple juice."
"Mmmm, tempting. I do love apple juice. But Great King, how many cups have you had?"
"Oh, not that many."
"This is the Great King's ninth cup!" the smallest Waddle Dee snitched.
Bandana Dee's face went blank. "Ninth?!?"
"Relax," Dedede ordered the Waddle Dees "it's just berry juice, I'll be fine."
Dedede took a big gulp of the remaining juice within his glass, letting out a very satisfied breath once he was finished. Bandana Dee faced his fellow Waddle Dees, and the orangest one rolled their eyes, causing him to chuckle.
A cuckoo clock then went off, making the Sugar Gnome staff look at it, and proceed to wave goodnight to Dedede and the Waddle Dees as they went off to return to their work at the inn.
For about a minute, there was peace and quiet. Peace and quiet that was ended by Marx when he entered the inn, kicking the entry door open with his foot.
"(*YAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWN!*) Man! I am beat!" he bellowed "I'm gonna go get some shut eye before we have more fun tomorrow."
The chaotic jester walked by everyone, who all gave him funny looks.
"Marx, you know we're leaving tomorrow, right?" Elfilin sniffed, the fluffy little buddy being carried by Adeleine.
Marx faced the group. "Wait we are?? Where are we going?"
"We're going to the Vanilla Kingdom." Strawberry Cookie told him "We got a letter from a friend there, and not only did he find your friend Ribbon, but he's also going to help us find the rest of your friends."
"Wait, Vanilla Kingdom? As in vanilla ice cream?" Marx got excited "Are we going to an ice cream kingdom tomorrow?!"
As someone who absolutely adored ice cream, hearing this news filled Marx with huge amounts of enthusiasm. In his mind he pictured a land filled with ice cream for snow, waffle cones for houses, and popsicle sticks for sofas. All of which, Marx also envisioned as being edible.
"Ooooh I'd better get to bed then!!"
Marx sprinted off towards the stairs that led up to the rooms, rushing right past his friends. "Ice cream!!!!!"
Once he was up the stairs, the Cookies looked at each other.
"Uh... Should we tell him the Vanilla Kingdom isn't exactly made of ice cream?" Custard Cookie III questioned.
Wizard Cookie sighed. "Just leave that nuisance be."
"He didn't even acknowledge the fact that Ribbon was found..." Kirby frowned.
King Dedede walked up to the group. "We'd better get to bed too, we're pretty excited to go somewhere new, right Waddle Dees?"
"Yes Great King!" Bandana Dee stood firm.
The Waddle Dee trio however, seemed unsure. "Hmm, I believe so Great King."
Dedede noticed the tone in the Waddle Dee's voice. "Something up?"
"We'll talk to you about it in the morning," said the smallest one "goodnight Great King!"
The Waddle Dee trio made there way upstairs, followed by Kirby, Adeleine, and Elfilin, who all said goodnight to GingerBrave and friends. Chuckling, Dedede followed after them.
"Should we be off then?" Strawberry Cookie asked as she watched the Popstar folks head upstairs.
"(*Yawn!) Yup, I'm gonna go over to my Cookie House." Custard Cookie III told his friends "See you in the morning."
Leaving with a wave, Custard Cookie III walked out of the inn, leaving GingerBrave, Wizard Cookie, and Strawberry Cookie to stand alone together in the lobby.
"I'm actually going to have a chat with the innkeeper." said Wizard Cookie "Depending on how tomorrow and future endeavors go, we could be needing more rooms for Kirby's friends, so I'm going to discuss with the innkeeper about it."
"That's nice." Strawberry Cookie nodded happily "We'll wait right here for you."
GingerBrave nodded too. Realizing he now had some spare time, he turned towards the staircase, a contemplative look on his face.
Up stairs, Bandana Dee and the other Waddle Dees had headed inside their room- saying goodnight before doing so- while Adeleine helped carry Elfilin into his, Kirby, and Dedede's room. At the door, she was going to ask if anyone had seen Magolor, only to open it and find Magolor already inside the room, sitting alone at the small table.
"Hey." he simply greeted.
"Oh, there you are." Adeleine greeted back, following Kirby into the room as the pink puff led the way to his and Elfilin's bunk.
Dedede walked up to the mage, noticing he seemed pretty glum, evident by his solemn expression and how he was resting his hands on the sides of his face.
"You okay?" the king asked.
"Meh." Magolor grunted, his ears slightly droopy.
"Yo, what's up with Maggy?" Marx suddenly said, peaking his head into the doorway.
Dedede glanced at him. "Marx, shouldn't you be in your room?"
"I was, but no one had said goodnight to me yet, so I came over to fix that!" he answered, walking into the room and prodding Magolor with his foot "Why the long face Maggy?"
Magolor pushed his foot away, which just made Marx use it to prod him even more. Frustrated, he full on gave his foot a shove, causing the jester to stumble.
"Leave me alone Marx."
Dedede closed the door, then walked over and sat down next to Magolor. "What happened?"
Magolor sighed. "I tried to go Prune Juice Cookie's vacation home and talk to him, but he never answered the door, and it sucks because he's leaving tomorrow as well, so that might've been my last chance to talk to him."
"That potion guy?" Marx questioned, getting back up "Where's he heading off tomorrow?"
"I don't know, and I don't think I'll be able to find out in time."
"Hey, he might've just been asleep, why do you need to talk to him?" asked Dedede.
Magolor recalled something. "Oh wait, I never told you. So... Dedede, you know how you suddenly got a big speed boost at the end of the Gourmet Race today and that helped you earn second place?"
Dedede's brow furrowed. "Yes, what about that?"
"Well, that happened because Prune Juice Cookie snuck a bit of a speed boosting potion in one of your sodas... and that made me lose a bet..."
"WAIT, he did that?? And you lost a bet because of it?? Pffft!" Marx leaned back and started guffawing very loudly "Bahahahaha!!"
Marx was so loud, Adeleine and Kirby noticed, both of them being disturbed since they were trying to tuck Elfilin in.
Magolor watched Marx with an annoyed expression, while Dedede just looked completely astonished. "Huh, so that's why I suddenly had super speed."
Magolor scratched his ears. "Sorry I had to bring it up."
"Nah it's fine. Little disappointing to hear I only got the placement I did thanks to a supplement of sorts, but hey, I probably would have gotten last if he hadn't done that, so I'm cool with it."
"Of course you are..." Magolor rolled his eyes.
"Is that why you surged off angrily today? To confront him about that?" Dedede questioned.
"(*Sigh*) yes, but I wish I hadn't..."
Dedede looked at Magolor in a stern way. "What happened?"
Magolor was about to speak, but was interrupted by Marx, who was still guffawing, and quite loudly at that.
"Grr, Marx!" Magolor angrily said, flicking the jester on the forehead, causing him to finally stop.
"Wah! Hey!!!" the jester exclaimed "What was that for???"
"Because this concerns you too, and because you're being annoying!" Magolor told him, turning to face Dedede "(*Sigh*) you see, Dedede..."
While those three were chatting, Adeleine and Kirby resumed tucking Elfilin into bed. Magolor had already removed the invisibility spell from Spelltwister Cookie's staff so Kirby could see it before he climbed into bed, which upon seeing, he gently picked up the staff and brought it to the end of the bed.
"Hi Spelltwister Cookie!" he said quietly to the staff. In his mind, he heard Spelltwister Cookie yawn.
Mm? Oh, hello Kirby. Welcome back, how was your day?
"It was great! I'll tell you more later though, lemme go help tuck Elfilin into bed."
Sure thing, take your time.
Setting the staff down on the end of the bed, Kirby crawled back up to the pillows and sat upright as Adeleine got Elfilin all cozy in the blankets. Kirby helped by fluffing up his pillow.
"Alright, that comfy enough?" Adeleine asked as she finished covering up Elfilin.
Elfilin nuzzled up to the pillow Kirby had fluffed up for him. "Mmhmm, thank you Adeleine."
"You're welcome buddy." she smiled.
"Ready for bed Elfilin?" asked Kirby.
Elfilin nodded, which made Kirby smile. "I'm proud of you tonight! Sharing a bit of your past with others, that was really big of you!"
Elfilin's brow furrowed. "Should I have shared more though? I don't think I shared enough..."
"What do you mean? You shared a lot about yourself." Adeleine said to him. "What else would you need to share?"
"Well, I didn't tell them about Fecto Elfilis or what they did."
"Oh. Right, that thing."
Adeleine looked to the side, she had almost forgotten that Elfilin had told her and the other Star Allies that he was one half of what was called "The Ultimate life form." Which, did confuse her a lot when she first heard about it.
Elfilin contemplated. "Part of me thinks I should, since if I tell them it might help with me getting my powers back, but I don't know how I would tell them..."
"I'm sure they'll believe you." Adeleine reassured him "I did when you told me about all that, even though I was a little puzzled at first."
"That's my point though! You and some of the Star Allies barely understood when Kirby, Bandana, and I told you about my past when I shared it with you all, how am I supposed to tell the Cookies?" Elfilin dismayed "I can't just be like: 'Oh yeah, I was once part of the Ultimate Lifeform, but then we got split into two separate entities! No big deal!' Getting split into two beings is not something that's easy to relate to, you know?"
Huh??? He was once the Ultimate what????
Kirby blinked, looking over at the staff. He guessed it wasn't that surprising that Spelltwister Cookie overheard the conversation, and naturally she would be confused.
(I'll tell you more later Spelltwister Cookie.) he said in his mind so Spelltwister Cookie could hear him telepathically (Let me talk to him first.)
Okay, but now you've got me curious.
Kirby gave Elfilin a pat on the head. That always managed to comfort him.
"I'm sure they'll understand, Elfilin! We just have to find a good way to explain it to them!"
"Maybe, I just hope they won't treat me differently if I do end up telling them about it." Elfilin sniffed.
"They won't." Adeleine promised him, patting his head as well "After all, I didn't."
Elfilin wagged his tail. "That's because you're a great friend, Adeleine."
Adeleine awed at Elfilin's compliment, giving him more head pats. "That's very sweet of you."
"You're a great friend too Elfilin!" Kirby encouraged him "Weird messed up origins or no, you're one of the kindest souls ever."
Elfilin giggled, then let out a yawn. "Thank you guys."
Adeleine stopped petting him, then covered him up in the blankets more. "You get some rest now, we've got a big day tomorrow."
Elfilin nodded in agreement. A part of him was a little worried about falling asleep, due to the interaction he had with Cream Unicorn Cookie today, but a part of him was also curious. Either way, he let out another yawn, and closed his eyes.
"Goodnight Kirby, goodnight Adeleine."
Adeleine smiled, wishing him a good night as well.
"Goodnight Elfilin!" Kirby smiled as his best friend drifted off to sleep, he then crawled over to Adeleine and gave her a huge hug "Goodnight to you too Adeleine!"
Laughing, Adeleine hugged Kirby back, their hugs were always the sweetest.
"Heheh, you go get some sleep too buddy."
"Oh trust me! I will be going to sleep as soon as possible!" Kirby told her after their hug wrapped up.
Ahem.
"Right after I chat with Spelltwister Cookie a bit."
"Okay." Adeleine nodded "Just don't stay up too long."
Standing up from the bottom bunk bed, Adeleine turned to leave as Kirby crawled back down to the bottom of the bed and picked up the staff. "Alrighty! Let me tell you about Elfilin!"
Adeleine walked by the small table Dedede, Magolor, and Marx were sitting at, initially intending on saying goodnight to them as well, but once she saw that the three were engaged in a conversation, she decided to leave them be. Besides, she could tell Marx goodnight when he came back to their room.
Walking past them, she went over to the door and opened it to leave.
Only to be met by GingerBrave standing right in front of the doorway, his hand raised as he was just about to knock before Adeleine had opened the door.
"Oh! Adeleine! Just who I wanted to talk to."
"Hey GingerBrave, what's up?" Adeleine asked, unsure as to why GingerBrave was here.
"Can I talk to you about something?" he requested.
"Uh, sure." Adeleine agreed, leaving the room and closing the door behind her- she quickly whispered "Goodnight" just in case Dedede or Magolor wanted to hear a goodnight from her, even though they were preoccupied.
Shutting the door, Adeleine now stood out in the hallway with GingerBrave. "What can I help you with?"
GingerBrave scratched his shoulder, his face seemed hesitant. "Um, pardon me for asking, but... Adeleine? Are... are you a human?"
An extremely shocked expression appeared on Adeleine's face. This is not what she expected GingerBrave to ask.
"W-wh-what??? What kind of question is that???"
"You seemed to know a lot about them at the campfire," GingerBrave explained "and you were pretty downhearted at the prospect of me and my friends not liking humans. Is that because you are a human?"
Adeleine started sweating, what was she going to do? If the Cookies found out she was a human, and if humans have a reputation as monstrous creatures, this would not end well for her.
She let out a nervous laugh. "Ahahah, human?? W-why would I be a human?? I just know a lot about them because there's lots of history about them! Hehe, w-why would I-I..."
GingerBrave gave her a look. She could tell he wasn't falling for it.
"I- I d-don't, I..." she stammered.
"Adeleine, it's okay, you don't have to lie."
Adeleine sweated some more, she couldn't think of anything that would convince him she wasn't a human. Taking a deep breath, she decided she might as well tell the truth.
"...Okay yes, you're right. I am really a human."
GingerBrave hummed.
"But I promise you! I am not bad!" Adeleine told him "I know you told me those Witches people were bad news, but I promise I am nothing like that!"
"Humans... they eat Cookies, don't they?" GingerBrave asked.
(Oh dear...) Adeleine thought, her anxiety levels were through the roof right now. She thought about lying, but quickly realized that probably couldn't work since GingerBrave and his friends have seen a human Witch eat Cookies. Additionally, if she lied, he might find out later down the line, and that could make things worse.
"Y-yes, they do, but not all of them!! And I swear!!! I would never eat a living Cookie! Honest! And I am sure my friends would never eat a living Cookie either! (Well, Marx would, and maybe Kirby, but I can't tell him that!) If you feel uncomfortable around me now, I understand, but please hear me out! I would never hurt you or your friends! So please don't think I will, please!"
Gingerbrave's expression changed from somewhat skeptical, to more concerned. "Uh, Adeleine?"
"To be honest I don't even really eat gingerbread cookies! I always preferred other sweets, and I- well I- just- I"
"Hey, hey!" GingerBrave grabbed her shoulders "Adeleine! It's okay! I'm not upset with you!"
Adeleine blinked. "Y-you're not??"
"No, you're okay!" he smiled, letting go "I trust you, you don't have to worry so much."
"You... you do?"
"Of course! We're friends, aren't we?"
Adeleine was stunned, despite GingerBrave's experience with humans, his words were very genuine. It seemed like he was genuinely accepting of her.
"You mean it?"
GingerBrave gave her a reassuring nod.
Adeleine smiled, letting out a deserved sigh of relief. "(*Whew*) thank you. I was so worried if you found out I was a human you'd think I was some kind of monster!"
"No way, you're my friend! I know you're nothing like The Witches." GingerBrave reassured her "Plus you're from another world, things probably work differently there huh?"
"They do, me and my friends are actually a lot bigger where we're from."
She thought about telling him that they can also bake cookies in their world, but held back, that might be a bit too much.
"You're a lot bigger huh?" GingerBrave looked sweetly curious "Does that mean you're super tall?"
"Heh, I wish." Adeleine chuckled.
There was a moment of silence, both individuals just kinda looking to the side for a second, then GingerBrave spoke up again.
"What's it like? Being a human?"
"Being a human? It's..." Adeleine gave the question some thought "It's... normal? I dunno, I've never really had to think about it."
"You did mention your world used to have humans." GingerBrave recalled.
"Ah, that was somewhat true. It still does, including me, but we're very few and far between."
Adeleine rubbed her shoulder. "In regards to that, being a human has been admittedly lonely."
"Aw it has?"
"Yeah," Adeleine nodded to GingerBrave "Especially since I'm kinda on my own. I don't know what happened to my family or the other humans, and no one really talks about it. It does make me feel kinda... isolated almost."
GingerBrave frowned. "I am so sorry."
"It's okay, despite being kinda an odd one out amongst the creatures of Popstar, I still feel like I am a part of the world, thanks to how supportive everyone is." Adeleine reminisced "It's helpful to have very confident and sometimes loony friends, that way they can help you draw out the best part of you, and in that way, you don't feel that different from them."
"That's true." GingerBrave's smile returned "I mean, I'm kinda an odd one out, not many Cookies out there escaped the Witches' Oven, but all of my fantastic friends help me feel like I'm normal! In a fun sense anyway, regular normal is kinda boring."
"Heheh, yup. If I've learned anything from growing up in Popstar, is that the normal in that world is either creatively wild fun, or planet level chaos!"
Adeleine brought out her paintbrush and did a quick twirl with it. "That's the great thing about being an artist, I get to express myself in art that not only demonstrates my personality, but I can also use it to show I'm just as creative and fun as my home planet!"
"Haha, nice!" GingerBrave complimented "Expressing yourself is great! In a way, running is kinda how I express myself, not only as a determined Cookie, but also as one of the bravest!"
Adeleine nodded. "Bravery is important to express, and something I definitely need to work on. ( Especially given how Zan criticized me for hiding behind my paintings during a monster attack once..)"
"Ah if you ever need help in learning to have bravery, I can help out with that!" GingerBrave told her.
"That'd be nice."
Silence came over the two again for a moment.
"So, does your world have Cookies? And if yes, are there living ones in it too?" GingerBrave asked her.
"We do have cookies, but there aren't any sentient ones. At least, not that I know of, but if there were, I assure you we wouldn't eat them." she promised "(Well, Marx would, and maybe Gooey. Kirby... he'd hopefully only eat them if they were trying to cause harm.) If I do ever end up meeting a living Cookie in my world, I would definitely befriend it. As would my friends."
GingerBrave smiled. "I'm sure you all would, you're all good friends to us after all!"
Adeleine looked at him. "You... really trust us that much?"
"Yeah! Why wouldn't I? You and your friends have been super kind to us! Err, okay Marx has been a lot, but Gumball Cookie and the Cherry sisters seem to like him at least, so even he's not all bad! You're good folks, I can tell."
"...Even me?" Adeleine asked.
GingerBrave winked. "Especially you."
An appreciative smile grew on Adeleine's face, she raised her hand to GingerBrave. "Thank you GingerBrave."
GingerBrave smiled back, and gave her a high five. "No problem Adeleine! You're cool, I promise."
"Thank you." she continued to smile "You don't suppose you could keep the fact I am a human a secret though, could you? I don't know if the other Cookies would be as understanding as you are."
"Hmm, probably not." GingerBrave agreed "Don't worry! I promise I won't tell anyone else, unless you feel comfortable with telling them."
"Would Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie understand?"
"Ummm..." GingerBrave seemed unsure "Maybe? If you don't feel comfortable telling them, you don't have to! But if you do, and they understand, I promise you they'll help keep it a secret! We'll be your trio of secret keepers!"
"Heh, thank you."
Adeleine wiped some of the sweat off her forehead. "It's honestly kind of relieving to talk to someone about this, being turned into a Cookie has been a lot."
"I can imagine!" GingerBrave said "Going from super mega tall to our size? I'd probably have trouble getting used to it too!"
"Yeah, except I am sadly not that tall, since I am still a kid/preteen."
"True, but as a fellow adolescent, I assure you we'll both become super tall when we're older!"
"Heh, that'd be nice." Adeleine chuckled, her face then went contemplative "There is something that's been confusing me since I found out there were humans in this world though. If this world has humans, then why was I turned into a Cookie?"
GingerBrave tilted his head. "Hm, I'm not sure. Maybe the vortex that sent you and your friends here transformed you into one so you'd fit in more?"
"Maybe, but it could also be due to something else." she told him "Maybe it has something to do with the world itself?"
"I don't know..." GingerBrave then got an idea "Say, if you're comfortable with telling him, we could ask my friend Pure Vanilla Cookie!"
"Would... he keep my identity as a human a secret if we told him?" Adeleine questioned.
"Yeah! I'm sure he would! He's a good friend! He'll be able to help you, just like how he's going to help out tomorrow, I know it."
Adeleine's face beamed as she nodded. GingerBrave was such a kind friend.
A very trustworthy one too...
"(*Yawn!*) I'm glad we could talk about this, thank you for telling me, Adeleine. I'd better get going soon though. Anything else I should know before I go?"
"...Actually, GingerBrave, can I ask you for your help with something?"
"Sure thing!" he agreed "What's up?"
Adeleine was about to tell him, but she realized she'd better go check in with Kirby about it first. She should also probably share this with Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie, while she was uncertain how they'd feel if she told them she was a human, she felt confident she could tell them about this. Especially Wizard Cookie, considering how most of his magic speech was still lingering in her mind. "I'll be right back, I've got to get Kirby for this. Can you go get Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie?"
GingerBrave nodded. "Of course! Be right back!"
Giving him a wink, Adeleine opened the door and went back inside Kirby's room, while GingerBrave ran downstairs to go get Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie.
Entering the room, Adeleine saw that Magolor had finished talking to Dedede about something.
"Hm, well it sounds to me like you have to go apologize to him." Dedede said in response to Magolor's story regarding Prune Juice Cookie and the stuff that happened between him and all the stuff Marx had done.
"But I did, he didn't seem to want to hear me out though." Magolor sighed.
"I apologized too, and he didn't forgive me!" Marx stated "So I ain't trying that again!"
Dedede rolled his eyes. He didn't blame Prune Juice Cookie for not wanting to forgive Marx, but he still felt the jester should do something to make up for what he did. He could worry about that later however, right now Magolor was the one who needed to make amends. "Marx, can you go back to your room? Let me talk to Magolor alone for a bit?"
"Finally!" Marx got up from his chair "Thought this conversation would never end! Jeez!"
"Wha- why are you letting him go??" Magolor questioned as Marx left, Adeleine noticing that he was leaving and holding the door open for him.
"Oh don't worry, we'll come up with a good comeuppance for him." Dedede winked "Besides, this concerns you more, and I think you should go apologize to him again."
Magolor looked to the ground, his ears lowered. "I don't think he'll forgive me..."
"Perhaps, but hey, we forgave you for what you did to us, didn't we? And what you did to us was way worse!"
"Oh you had to bring that up...." Magolor cringed. He always felt guilty whenever Dedede or Meta Knight brought up the Master Crown incident.
Dedede let out a hearty laugh. "Look, I'm not the best when it comes to these kind of things, but it sounds like you two were genuinely starting to become friends before things went south, so I'm sure if you do something nice and apologize properly, he'll forgive you. Me and Meta Knight forgave you after all."
Magolor thought about it, Dedede did have a point, but the thing was, he had apologized for all his manipulations regarding the Master Crown by building an entire amusement park! He didn't have the budget to do that again!
Plus he only needed to apologize to one guy, that would be way too overkill.
The idea of doing something super kind and generous to prove his sincerity did sound good though. Thinking on that idea more, Magolor decided he would do something special to apologize to Prune Juice Cookie. Perhaps he could get him a present? But what kind of present? What was something that potion makers liked?
A lightbulb went off in his head. He knew how he was going to apologize.
"Dedede my man, you're a genius!" Magolor did a thumbs up and flew over to the kitchen.
Dedede remained in his seat, surprised but glad by Magolor's words. "I am?"
"Hey, Dedede? Is Kirby still up?" Adeleine finally spoke up. She didn't want to interrupt their conversation.
"Yeah, I think he's talking to that weird staff ghost or whatever."
Adeleine walked over to the bunk beds and saw that Kirby was sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk, quietly talking to Spelltwister Cookie through the staff.
"After that, we found out that what remained of them had escaped into a strange dream dimension! And that they destroyed and scattered Leon's Soul-"
"Kirby!" Adeleine called him over "Can you come over here for a second?"
Kirby looked up from the staff. "Hm? Ooh! Sure thing Adeleine! I'll be right Spelltwister Cookie!"
Aww don't be long! I was enjoying your story.
Kirby set the staff down and got down from his bed, waddling up to Adeleine. "Hi Adeline! I thought you were going to bed?"
"I was, but I ran into GingerBrave and I had a chat with him." she explained "And... I think we should tell him and his friends about the staff."
Kirby gasped. "You think so?"
"I do. He's a really good friend, I think we can trust him."
That was enough to convince Kirby, as he smiled in agreement. "Okie dokie! Let's go tell him!"
Adeleine had to resist laughing. That was easier than she thought it'd be. Then again, it was very easy to convince Kirby to do something, being a very agreeable puffball and all.
"Just let me see if Spelltwister Cookie's cool about it first." he requested.
"Go for it." Adeleine told him, holding up her hand to give a thumbs up but then remembering her Cookie hands didn't have any fingers. She could still feel them though, which added to the jarring feeling.
Kirby waddled back over to his bed and hopped onto it, picking up the staff.
"I'm back!" Kirby whispered.
Fantastic, you going to tell me the rest of your story?
"Actually I've got good news! We're going to show you and the staff to my Cookie friends!"
Spelltwister Cookie went silent, which made the smile from Kirby's face slowly vanish.
"Spelltwister Cookie?"
Kirby! I told you not to do that! We can't trust these strangers!
Kirby's brow furrowed. She sounded super upset with him. "But we can trust these Cookies! They're super nice and helpful! Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie helped me save Elfilin when we first arrived in this world, and GingerBrave did so as well, on top of helping me and Dedede save the Waddle Dees! They're super kind and helpful!"
You seem so sure, but what if it's a setup? What if they're just gaining your trust so they can take advantage of you when you need them the most?
Hmm? Did you consider that Kirby?
"No... why would I?" Kirby frowned "If you're worried because of how much we don't know about them, I actually learned a lot about them tonight. Did you know GingerBrave was one of the first Cookies to escape the Witch's Oven?"
H-he escaped the Witch's Oven??
"Mmmhmm! And Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie helped him save a bunch of Sugar Gnomes from some evil Cookies, and now they're doing their best to run this little Cookie Kingdom! They're also going to reunite Custard Cookie III with his father someday! So yeah, I think we can trust them!"
But what if they can't keep their mouths shut, and someone who is dangerous finds out about me and my staff? Are you sure these Cookies can keep a secret?
"I..." Kirby gave the question some thought "I'm not one hundred percent certain, but I have faith in them! Plus even if someone bad does find out about you, I'll protect you! And so will my friends!"
He put his hand on the star shaped crystal part of the staff. "That goes for the Cookies too. So we should tell them."
Kirby waited for a response, yet Spelltwister Cookie said nothing.
"Please? I promise you it'll work out if we show you to them!"
. . . Fine. You may show them the staff.
Kirby's smile returned. "Poyo! This'll be great! I know you won't be able to talk to them, but I can introduce you to them and-"
I said you could show them the staff, I didn't say you could tell them about me.
And just like that, Kirby's smile went away again. "Why?"
You may trust these Cookies Kirby.
But I don't.
"But..."
My mind is set. Just show them the staff, and that you can get your copy abilities from it, don't tell them anything else.
Kirby went silent. He wasn't sure why Spelltwister Cookie was acting like this, but he didn't want to argue with his friend. She was currently his only means of getting copy abilities from this world after all.
"Okay... if that's what you want."
Good.
Taking the staff, Kirby took it over to Adeleine.
"Did we get the go ahead?" She asked.
"Sort of." Kirby explained "We can show GingerBrave and his friends the staff, but we can't tell them about Spelltwister Cookie."
"What?" Adeleine raised her eyebrow, Magolor looked out from the kitchen area, a bag of herbs from Herb Cookie in one hand and a water pitcher in the other. "Why? Isn't part of the reason we want to show them the staff so she can get help and we can find a way to get her out of the staff?"
"Yeah, but for whatever reason she doesn't trust them." Kirby shrugged "It's fine, we'll just have to show her that we can trust them!"
"Hmm..." Magolor squinted his eyes in suspicion.
Adeleine looked at the staff for a second or two, then shrugged. "Alright, I guess it'll be fine for now. Let's go show them the staff."
Leading the way, Adeleine brought Kirby over to the room's entrance, walking past Dedede- who was getting his sofa bed ready.
Opening the door, the two were greeted by GingerBrave, Strawberry Cookie, and Wizard Cookie waiting for them.
"Hey again Adeleine!" GingerBrave greeted, raising his candy cane "Brought my friends, just like I said I would!"
"What is this all about?" Wizard Cookie yawned "We're supposed to be going to bed so we'll be up and ready for tomorrow."
"I know, but this is important." Adeleine cleared her throat "So, confession, when we first arrived at this world we found something, but we weren't sure if it was safe to share at first."
"Oh? What is it?" Strawberry Cookie looked intrigued.
"This!" Kirby raised the staff up "Ta-da!"
"Woah!" GingerBrave exclaimed, Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie looking astonished as well "Is that a staff?"
"Yup!" Kirby confirmed "It's some kind of wand/staff that we found when we first landed in Dragon Hill within some kind of hidden passage, but we don't know much about it, or its origin."
"Seriously?? That was there the whole time??" Wizard Cookie questioned, befuddled.
"Apparently! I don't know how long it was there, but I do know it can give me Copy Abilities!"
"It can??" GingerBrave questioned.
"Yup! How do you think I got my Cutter Ability the day we saved Dedede and the Waddle Dee trio?"
"Fascinating..." Something about the staff caught Wizard Cookie's attention, and he leaned closer to look at it better.
"Wait a minute, that star shaped crystal on it! I know that type of crystal!"
Adeleine gasped. "You do?!"
"Yes! That's a Cosmo Crystal!" Wizard Cookie explained "They're extremely rare and valuable star shaped crystals that are capable of withholding and using all kinds of magic! From fire magic, water magic, to even light magic! It all depends on what kind of magic it gathers up overtime! There's a myth that they're actually stars that fell from the sky, hence why they're so powerful and rare!"
He looked at it closer. "Funny though, I had heard these crystals are supposedly enormous! But this one is so small. I wonder why?"
Adeleine and Kirby both smiled, looking down at the crystal near the top of the staff. "A Cosmo Crystal huh? Thank you!"
(Did you know that's what the crystal on your staff was called, Spelltwister Cookie?) Kirby thought, so only Spelltwister Cookie could hear.
No... I had forgotten that...
Yes I remember now, it is a Cosmo Crystal. The wizard one is right... though the detail about them all being huge is false, they can be small too.
(See? You can trust these Cookies!) Kirby thought.
Hmm...
"Anything else you can tell us about the staff?" asked Adeleine.
"I'm not sure... The top part that looks like a paintbrush looks interesting, but otherwise I'm not sure." Wizard Cookie kept looking at the staff "It is strange you found it on Dragon Hill. Maybe it's tied to some magic origins the hill has?"
Ha, nope. Not even close.
"Say, didn't Olive Cookie just explore some magic ruins recently?" Strawberry Cookie mentioned "Maybe she can take a look at it, she might know something."
GingerBrave smiled. "Great idea! Olive Cookie knows a lot about relics. We should show it to her before we leave tomorrow!"
Oh great...
Kirby almost frowned hearing Spelltwister Cookie say that, but kept himself composed.
"But if this staff has magical properties, it might be a little out of Olive Cookie's field." Wizard Cookie stated "So maybe we'll show it to Pure Vanilla Cookie when we arrive at the Vanilla Kingdom tomorrow."
Wait... Pure Vanilla Cookie?
Kirby's eyebrows went up. (Spelltwister Cookie?? Do you know Pure Vanilla Cookie???)
No, I've never met that Cookie, but his name sounds familiar... Did someone tell me it?...
As Kirby dealt with this, Adeleine kept talking to the Cookie trio. "Thank you so much, I'm so sorry we didn't show this to you sooner, but-"
"It's fine." Strawberry Cookie told her "Thank you for showing us now."
"Yeah, we can understand wanting to keep it a secret." GingerBrave winked at Adeleine, who smiled in response "Especially after crashing into a new world! You're totally fine."
"And we'll help you solve its mystery, mark my word!" Wizard Cookie affirmed "As prodigy of magic, I will make sure this magical mystery will be solved!"
Adeleine beamed, as did Kirby. "Thank you all so much! Glad we could show you this! Sorry we kept you up for it, we should probably go to bed now."
"No worries!" said GingerBrave "Thank you for showing us!"
Strawberry Cookie yawned. "But you're right, we should be getting some sleep."
"See you in the morning!" Wizard Cookie waved his wand as he and the rest of the trio left, the other two waving goodbye as well.
Kirby and Adeleine both waved goodbye as they watched them go. Once they were gone, they turned to face each other.
"That went great!" Adeleine smiled.
Kirby lowered his face to the staff. "See Spelltwister Cookie? I told you it'd be fine!"
Hm... I don't know... I still don't trust them...
"That's fine, I'm sure you'll trust them soon!"
. . .
"What's all the commotion about?" Dedede yawned, sitting up from the sofa bed.
"Nothing to worry about Dedede." Adeleine told him "Good news though, we might not need to use your golf bag to carry around the staff anymore!"
Dedede yawned again. "Sweet, but it's fine if you still need to. (*Yawn!*)"
Dedede laid back down, and Adeleine let out a yawn herself. "I'm going to go to my room now, I'm pretty tired. Thank you Kirby."
Kirby raised his little hand for Adeleine to shake. "Thank YOU Adeleine!"
Shaking Kirby's hand, Adeleine wished them sweet dreams, and walked out of the room to head over to hers next door, closing the door behind her.
Once she was gone, Magolor floated over to Kirby. "Did you get any answers about the staff?"
"Kinda! We now know the crystal part is called a Cosmo Crystal!" Kirby told him.
"Cosmo Crystal? Oooh..." Magolor shook his head "Nevermind that though, can you put the staff away? There's something I want to ask you about it."
Kirby raised an eyebrow. "Okay, sure thing."
Kirby? What's this about?
(I don't know.) Kirby responded in his mind, walking over to the golf bag and putting the staff inside it (But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.)
Once the staff was safe within the golf bag, Kirby skipped back over to Magolor. "Yes? Poyo?"
"I've been thinking... you say that this 'Spelltwister Cookie' doesn't trust others, despite her situation and the fact that most of the Cookies we've met have been very trustworthy."
Kirby hummed. "Maybe she's just shy."
"Perhaps, and yet..." Magolor continued "She says we can't trust them, but why should we trust her?"
"Huh??" Kirby stepped back "What are you saying?"
"What has she told us about herself?" Magolor questioned "Has she been open and honest?"
That was a fair point, Spelltwister Cookie hadn't shared much about herself to Kirby. Yet she had told them it was because she had a head injury that affected her mind and memory, which seemed like a valid excuse.
"She has that memory loss thing! She can't share what she can't remember!"
"I'm not buying it..." Magolor sneered "What if she's hiding something, and she doesn't want you to know? What if she's just saying that her memory is faulty so she doesn't have to tell you? Hmm? What if she's actually a well known perpetrator in these lands and doesn't want you telling others about her so you don't find out?"
Kirby's brow furrowed greatly.
Was Magolor suggesting that Spelltwister Cookie...
Might be bad?
"But... she gave me Copy Abilities!" Kirby said in her defense.
"True..." Magolor scratched her chin "There's nothing wrong with that Kirby, all I'm saying is keep an eye on her. She wants you to be cautious around others, perhaps you should be cautious around her."
Kirby looked over to the staff, still seated within the golf bag. He looked at it with a frown. Surely Magolor was just being too skeptical, right? Spelltwister Cookie had been super nice to him!
Then again, Marx and Magolor had been super nice to him and his friends as well at first... and they ended up betraying him. Yet in the end, they both made up for their bad transgressions, especially Magolor.
Regardless of those redemptions, Kirby had been tricked in the past. And if what Magolor was suggesting about Spelltwister Cookie was true, did that mean Kirby was being tricked again? If so... how was this going to turn out?
Suddenly, the whistle of a tea kettle could be heard.
Dedede leaned up. "Magolor, why are you making tea at this hour??"
"Wah!!! That's not tea!!!" Magolor exclaimed, surging over to the kitchen to check on the tea kettle.
While Magolor attended to whatever that was, Kirby walked over to the right side of the sofa bed, which the golf bag was leaning on. Walking over, Kirby reached in and put his hands on the staff.
"Spelltwister Cookie?"
Good, you're back, what did that one want?
"Nothing..." Kirby whispered "...Spelltwister Cookie?"
Yes?... Is something wrong?
"I can trust you, right?"
What? Of course you can! Why do you ask?
"... You're not a bad guy, are you?"
Excuse me??? No! I am not!
"You're not hiding anything from me?"
No!!! I swear! I'm not hiding anything that would concern you!!! I just want to get out of here! Do you think I have malicious intentions or something??
"No, I don't, I just wanted to make sure." Kirby explained, he tried to think of another question to ask, soon one came to him.
"Why can't you tell me more about your past?"
There was silence in Kirby's mind for a moment... Dedede snored, Kirby kept staring at the staff.
Finally, Spelltwister Cookie answered.
I told you! I have faulty memory as a result of my injury, and being trapped in here! If I could tell you more about my past I would! But right now I'm having trouble remembering! It won't last long! I promise!
"Okay... you're not hiding anything from me then?"
No! I am not!!!
Kirby felt unsure how to feel. Spelltwister Cookie's words did sound genuine to him, but a part of what Magolor said made him doubt.
"Can you tell me more about what you can remember? Like how you got stuck in here?"
Yes! I told you, I had to put myself in here to heal myself after a terrible battle!
"Hmm..." a question came to Kirby's mind "Who were you fighting?"
There was silence again. The silence lasted longer this time.
"Spelltwister Cookie?"
No response.
"Spelltwister Cookie???" Kirby tried asking again, sounding concerned.
I'm sorry Kirby, I will tell you. It's just... it's hard for me to remember.
Kirby tilted his head, was it him or did the tone of Spelltwister Cookie's voice sound...
Sad?
Confused but curious, Kirby chose to listen. "It's okay, you can take your time.
It's fine, I will tell you.
I was fighting a fellow mage, I don't remember her name, but she was... dangerous, I didn't realize that until too late. We had traveled together for awhile, I remember, but then... she betrayed me, she attacked me and I had to defend myself... but... she struck me in the head with a powerful blast... and that injury caused me to put myself in here to heal. That's why I'm trapped here.
"Ohhh." Kirby oohed "I see."
There was still a lot of context missing, but Kirby seemed to get the gist of it. Spelltwister Cookie had been betrayed by someone she trusted, and that greatly hurt her. Both literally and figuratively.
"Thank you for telling me."
You believe me?
"Yeah, I do." the pink puff smiled and nodded. While others would believe she was hiding something at this point, Kirby chose to adhere to his innocence by believing in her. For she was his friend.
"I trust you, Spelltwister Cookie."
Thank you. Thank you so much Kirby, I promise you, I will tell you more when I can.
Kirby gave the staff a little pat. "I know you will! And we'll find a way to free you, I promise."
I am grateful Kirby, I can't thank you enough. I promise you, I will continue to help you on your quest.
You should probably head to bed now, you sound tired.
It was true, Kirby had let out a yawn, he was pretty tired about now. "Okay, I'm going to get some rest then. Goodnight Spelltwister Cookie."
Goodnight Kirby, thank you again.
Letting go of the staff, Kirby waddled over to his bunk bed, and hopped onto it. Crawling up to the pillow, Kirby saw that Elfilin was sound asleep, so he carefully got under the sheets and covers, and cuddled up next to him.
"Goodnight Dedede." Kirby called out "Goodnight Magolor."
The only response Kirby got from Dedede was a snore, but Magolor on the other hand stopped whistling and peaked out from the kitchen.
"Going to bed? Okay! Goodnight Kirby!" he told the pink puff with a wink, quickly going back into the kitchen to get back to work on whatever he was working on.
Kirby giggled. "Poyo." he said before heading to sleep.
Right before closing his eyes, Kirby got one last look at the staff, seeing a little shine from the Cosmo Crystal. Magolor's words started to be less prevalent in his mind, regardless if he was right in assuming Spelltwister Cookie was hiding something, he decided to trust her.
Whether he was right in placing that trust, only time would tell.