A Spark of Happiness

Chapter 6 - A Lurking Shadow

Bandana Dee widened his eyes and waved his hands to stop her idea. "I don't think I should tell you, it's possibly something too personal, even I can't enter that room." He pointed to himself as he said the last part, but that did no avail to stop her. 

"Come on, I swear I won't make too much profit from it, after all, he knows about my entire life, why can't I know a little about his?" She shrugged and snapped her fingers. "I'll teach you some moves to pay this debt of ours." The girl raised her eyebrows.

The boy tried holding back his excitement, he almost did it, but in the end, he couldn't help but smile at the offer. "Okay, but I'll only show you the door after Taranza finishes today's lessons." He offered his hand for her to shake, doing a mysterious face, almost as the thing he was doing was something criminal. "We have a deal." She extended her own hand and shook his.

A few minutes later, the waddle dee was shocked. "I almost forgot! Mr. Taranza is waiting for me to bring you!" He jumped and made a gest with his hand. "Come on Zan, we must go." 

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At the top of Floralia, there was another floating island, this one was way smaller and contained a single purple tower; at its top was Taranza, he had cleaned the place that was not touched for years. It was difficult for him, every frame had the face of his lost queen, but after an hour or two, he was finally done, all there was left was to wait for his friend to bring Zan Partizanne.

The wait wasn't long, he could already hear the sometimes obnoxious voice of his soldier in training, along with the cold answers of his special guest. He chuckled and fixed his hair. "Bonjour, dearest spear attackers, I present to you a task for you both to complete." 

Confused, Zan and Bandana Dee looked at each other, then turned back to face him, pointing at themselves just after that. "Us both?" They talked at the same time, which made the boy widen his eyes. "We said the same thing! Just a matter of time before we become spear friends!" Zan forced a smile. "You can't be serious, can you? I'm perfectly fine by myself." 

The spider nodded in response. "I am indeed, if you want to achieve full happiness, you must learn how to work with others. For today's lesson, you two must paint this blank frame that is right behind me. It must contain the thing that makes you two happy." He looked at his 'pulse watch'. "Now if you excuse me, I have people to help."

As he made his way towards the exit, the girl ran up to him, stopping right in front of him. "Please, I'll do anything else but this, don't leave me with that fanboy, he is a nice person, but can become quite annoying after some time." Taranza slightly smiled. "Don't worry, miss Partizanne, this is the best I can give you, it will make you feel better, you have my word. Anything else?" Zan sighed in response.

Remembering something, she asked one last time. "Actually, I have a question for you. Why do you stay in your secret room every morning?" That made the spider gulp and he looked to the ground below him. "That is confidential information, I cannot tell you. I must go." He quickly left the room.

"Okay, there's juicy stuff for me to find, I'll defeat you, bowl cut, just wait and see..." She looked at the frame beside her. "This wasp can be the first clue..." 

After that, she returned and saw the waddle dee drawing in his notebook, he drew a bottle of apple juice. "Apple juice? That's the thing you like the most?" She asked, the boy then nodded and started talking. "Yes, it made me stronger, here the full story: you see, It all started when I served King Dedede..." Zan facepalmed and thought: 

"This is gonna be a long day..." 

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"Whoa, you have to try this, sis!" Flamberge was the first client of Dedede's new business, she had a bag of spicy chips on her hand. Francisca shrugged and ate a chip, but it was too hot for her, she coughed and spat literal fire, almost burning her sister's face; she then put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath.

"Oh my, that was too much, what's in it?" She pointed to the bag. Flamberge turned it and read the description. "Made of peppers harvested on the hottest volcanoes in Endless Explosions. Wow." She smiled, ashamed that she gave it to her cold sister, literally. "Sorry about that." She apologized.

Before her sister could say something, someone stormed through the door, it was their adoptive father, Hyness. The red-haired girl immediately stopped what she was doing and ran to hug him. "Hyness!! I'm so happy to see you!" All the man could do was smile and hug her back.

Francisca also came to greet him, never losing her formality. "Welcome back!" She took a deep look into his face and saw that it was a little red. "What happened?" He chuckled. "Nothing to worry about, I didn't expect that the closest star was that close. But that's information for another day, something bad is about to happen." 

The two girls looked at each other with a worried expression. "Sheesh, how bad?" The oldest one said. Hyness breathed in and explained his vision.

"That doesn't sound good, okay everybody we have a month." Flamberge had finished eating the rest of her chips. "Now I must go to figure this out, I'll spend a week meditating then I'll speak to the authorities. But, before I leave, I want to see Zan, where is she?" He looked from side to side.

His two daughters laughed and grinned to each other, Francisca then raised her hand to speak. "She's having a little moment with a new friend of hers, she went to learn how to value her life more. You should've seen her face when she accepted it, I wish I took a photo." Hyness' face beamed with amusement, and he nodded to himself. "I didn't know she had it in her. When she returns, could someone inform her about this vision?" She nodded and took him to the house's entrance.

After she had closed the door, Flamberge facepalmed, an action that made her confused. "I can't believe I forgot to tell her!!" The fire mage punched the table. "Tell her what?" Francisca asked.

Sitting on the couch, the middle sister sighed. "Dedede warned me that Taranza had a tragic life and asked me to tell our sister for her to avoid asking about his past, that would break him. I got so excited with this idea that I forgot." Francisca patted her sister's back in comfort. 

"It's okay, we are talking about Zan, what could she do that would sadden him?"

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Back at Floralia, Zan had finished her task, it took a lot of patience for her, but, in the end she had found a way to work with the waddle dee. They have even finished it early! So the lightning mage taught him some tricks, which made the boy show her the special room's door.

"And here we are! The top secret, ultra confidential, extremely unsettling, private room!" He shook his hands to emphasize the moment. "Now that I've paid my debt, I'm back to work! Don't enter this room!" He warned her with an exaggerated expression and left her alone.

Zan looked both sides and quietly opened the door, the inside was filled with pink flowers, lots of mirrors and frames of that same wasp; out of everything she saw, one thing interested her the most, it was a little frame with Taranza and another girl, she looked exactly like him...

A noise from the hallway stopped her thoughts, she then left as silent as possible and closed the door. The girl went to her room and sat on her bed, ending the day with her endless thinking.

"I need to know who that girl was... She could be connected to his weakness..."