Chapter Text
Jammie hadn't considered how bright it was going to be.
The jambandra base had received quite a few nicknames in it's time. Supposedly it used to be called “Gaide Astera Majuhalgalor”, or “the great magic star, our new home”, and then after the passage of time it was simply home to jambandrans – the Jambandra Base. But, offhandedly, in it's journey across the stars, it had been known to outsiders by more mysterious or sinister names - “the land where the light doesn't reach” sprung to mind.
Living in a land where light doesn't reach all your life makes things like natural sunlight much more overwhelming. So Popstar, despite being a beautiful and pleasant place, was hellish on the jammer's senses.
Lord Hyness and the many other jammerjabs seemed to share this sentiment, but the three mage sisters were unfazed by the light, dashing out ahead of the group with excitement and laughter.
“Last one there is a-!” Flamberge began calling out playfully before Zan Partizanne accepted the challenge immediately, lightning-skipping her way past her two sisters and shouting something incoherently joyful from the beach in the distance. “Oh, you- cheater!”
She zipped her way back over, laughing all the way, her cheeks flushed red in her delight. “C'mon, hurry up! It's not far!”
“Easy for you to say!”
“Is there any shade over there?” Francisca questioned, “I know it's the whole point of a beach day, but it is rather hot...”
“Hm. The water's probably cold enough for you, not that you brought a swimsuit or anything... wearing dark clothing probably isn't helping you much, though.” her older sister responded.
“Dark clothing?” Flamberge asked, sneakily passing by Zan in order to get there first-
The lightning mage wordlessly, yet cheekily, zipped and placed herself just ahead of Flamberge again, much to her quiet dismay, “Yes. Black clothing soaks up the sun, so you'll be warmer.”
“Oh, really?” Flamberge promptly whipped her hat off her head and tossed it back into the crowd of jammerjabs behind them for someone to catch. Francisca laughed at her antics while Zan rolled her eyes, the colder mage taking off her hat in favor of using it like a fan.
“I actually brought a different hat to wear, but I'm worried it won't fit me... if you'd like, Franny, I could give it to you. It's meant to protect you from the sun!”
“Hm! I'll consider it!”
Zan Partizanne turned around and scanned the crowd of jammerjabs. She met Jammie's eyes and gave them a grin, before finding Hyness and zipping over to him quickly.
“You have my hat, right?”
“Uh- jes, here,” he pulled the straw sunhat from behind his back and offered it to her, avoiding looking her in the eye and backing away as he did.
She took it and removed her general's hat, placing that in his open hand instead. Then she took a hold of his robe and made to pull him with her.
Hyness pulled away from her, sheepish. "Janno, you- you still need time."
She raised an eyebrow at him, still smiling. "Is that what you've convinced yourself?" she approached him again, unafraid. "If I wanted time, I would've asked for it. I don't want you to leave. Come on!" Zan Partizanne took the end of his sleeve in her hand and dragged him towards the beach with a little laugh.
He still seemed uncertain, but he followed along with her, even letting out a little laugh and telling her to “slow down a little!”
She stopped once she reached Francisca again, Flamberge nowhere to be found. The blue mage raised an eyebrow at Hyness, though it seemed more curious than malicious.
“Here, Franny, you try this first. It's a sunhat, it's meant to help with the light in your face and being too warm.”
Francisca made to take the hat from Zan Partizanne, only to flinch back with a shudder. “Oh... I do not like that grassy texture. Scratchy, splintery...”
“Ah, that's fair! Japologa.” The blonde twirled the hat with a flourish and covered her head. Just as she did so, a gust of wind threatened to carry it away, and she held it to her head as a result. “Oh, this is definitely a little too large... oh well. It serves it's purpose!”
“And you look great, too! Jawaii!”
“I'll take the artist's word for it, I suppose!”
“Jes, jes! You look all-! Summer-y! It's very nice...!”
Zan Partizanne looked past Francisca over to Flamberge, who was going as fast as she possibly could, rocketing her way over to the sandy shore. She snickered a little at the attempt before lightning-dashing right ahead of her.
Francisca burst into a fit of giggles as she shouted “oh, come on!”, sounding faint due to the distance between them.
However, she paused and lifted her head, seemingly hearing something that Jammie couldn't. Whatever it was also caught Hyness' attention.
“We'd best hurry up,” Franny said, dashing off after them with Hyness right on her tail.
The troop of jammerjabs quickly became a stampede as they made to catch up with their leaders, Jammie being forced to take the rear due to their limping, stumbling gait. That was, until they remembered they had a javelin.
Soon, they were giggling and pole-vaulting over everyone, with the group slowly following their lead, hopping around on staves with a childlike glee.
Jammie realized what the others had noticed when they saw the warp star flying overhead.
It didn't quite look like an ordinary warp star – most warp stars didn't have wings, to Jammie's knowledge, but it was still clear what this meant for their group, so they hurried a little more.
They arrived at the scene shortly after the star landed, Kirby and a handful of their friends disembarking and running towards the group excitedly.
“Glad you could make it-!” was all Jammie could understand before the lovable pink puff descended into excited rambles. Adorable.
Jammie just took a seat in the sand, plopping down and listening to what they had to say. Even if they could only understand about half of it. The mage sisters and Hyness seemed to have no problem following along and chipping into the conversation.
Eventually, they really understood a word - “jammerjabs!”
Kirby gestured towards the crowd as they spoke, asking a question to the four in front of them.
Listening closer, Jammie was able to register what they'd said based on Flamberge's response: “These guys are here to have fun too!”
Quickly followed by Zan's rebuttal, “No- they're here to help us, they're here to work. But if we don't need help... then they are here to play, too.”
“What work do they do normally?” the curious puffball questioned.
Hyness chirped, “Lots of things! Depends which one you ask,” then pointed at a random jammerjab in the crowd and said, “It's hard to keep track, but I believe this one cleans. It's a little dusty, so you can tell.”
“Hi, Dusty!” Kirby waved to them.
The jammerjab in question waved back, slightly sheepish or shy.
The high priest scanned the crowd a little afterwards, before adding in Jambandran, “A lot of you should probably wash up more often. I know you work with the stuff, but you shouldn't be covered in dust all the time!”
He gave Jammie a very pointed look.
“What do the rest of them do? Like, uh, like that one!” Kirby pointed again.
“That's a...” Hyness stopped. He grumbled to himself, “Repairperson. Repairer... jamblasted, what was the word...?”
“They fix stuff!” Flamberge helped.
Kirby seemed ecstatic at this little game of eye-spy. They caught sight of Jammie.
“Oh, oh! What does he do?! Lemme guess, uhhh, does he work with... fire? Or maybe, um, water!”
“Who?”
“Jammie!” the puffball squeaked in delight.
All three mage sisters smiled, but they quickly fell. All of them seemed lost in thought after a moment - Francisca staring off into the distance, Flamberge seemingly counting on her fingers, and Zan humming thoughtfully to herself, a hand on her chin.
“Emotional support!” Hyness answered instead.
...That checks out.
Kirby tilted their head, however. “How come he's all sooty then?”
“Emotional support for three incredibly powerful elementals.”
The puffball nodded thoughtfully. “You have a very important job,” they acknowledged. Jammie assumed it was a compliment.
Kirby's next words were too fast for Jammie to hear again, not that they were the intended audience anyway – but they could hear words like “work” and “play.” Flamberge called out excitedly in agreement with whatever they'd said.
With little warning, Flamberge took off towards the water with a cheer. Flames flickered to life beneath her as she approached the waves, before they burst out and rocketed her upwards into a high jump.
Berge did a little flip in the air, curled into a ball and called out one last “woo!” before disappearing into the sea with a gratuitous splash.
The two remaining sisters looked at each other before staring back at the water again.
Flamberge resurfaced with a shriek - “It's really cold!”
Zan Partizanne burst into laughter, while Francisca, giggling, made her own way over to the shoreline. “Don't mind if I do!” she called as she hopped in as well.
Kirby looked over at Zan, who stayed in place. “Are you gonna go with them?”
She looked out over the water.
Steam curled from Flamberge's bright red locks, and frost glittered in Francisca's.
A little wind blew Zan's bangs into her eyes, and they faintly crackled with static electricity as she brushed them back into place. “I can't swim.”
“Oh! Okay!” Kirby took in stride, and offered her something that Jammie didn't understand. It made Zan Partizanne perk up quite a bit though, and the two shortly began playing a little chasing game together. Ah, that made sense – Zan really, really enjoyed any excuse to move quickly.
With that, Jammie settled down and quietly watched the mage sisters playing happily.
It was such a sweet sight. The three had been through so much turmoil, so many struggles, that seeing them still able to smile and laugh and work past it... it filled them with a sense of love and hope.
Maybe when Kirby had said their job was important, they'd meant that they were doing a good job.
The thought had them grinning. They'd done well! They'd made sure the mage sisters were happy.
Kirby seemed to be doing a good job of that, too. Flamberge and Francisca had left the water at this point, and now Kirby and their friends were all playing with them, all talking and laughing.
Jammie leaned back until they were laying in the sand, comfortable and confident in the mage sisters' security.
They shot up suddenly upon hearing one of their tones of voice, however.
Flamberge was still speaking with the others in Common Star, so Jammie couldn't understand her well at all, but they recognized the sad, hopeless tone. In distress. She needed them.
They quickly began making their way over, they needed to help and protect her, make everything okay-
One of Kirby's friends addressed her. They were talking to her, telling her something confidently... she seemed surprised at their words, interested.
Jammie slowed.
Their tone changed to one more soft, comforting. Flamberge responded. Their voice rose again, then sounded reassuring... it was helping.
They were helping Flamberge. Cheering her up, figuring out what was wrong, fixing the problem, caring for her.
Jammie stopped.
Berge gave them a grateful hug, then said something chipper that caused them both to laugh.
Jammie didn't need to do anything.
She had someone else to help. It wasn't all up to them on their own.
They took a deep breath at the immense weight that had just been lifted off their shoulders. Jammie hadn't realized just how badly they needed someone else to help them for once, someone else willing and able to comfort and care for them. Now that the three were all in good hands, with good friends in the making in a safe and fun environment... they felt like they could breathe for a moment.
Numb – but not in their usual sense, more just “oh, what do I do now” - they wandered back over to the hill, where a few scattered jammerjabs and Lord Hyness were relaxing.
The slight slope of the hill, just a little more tilted than they were used to on the base, proved to be a slight challenge to climb with their limp. As Jammie readjusted themselves and found a way up, Hyness passively watched them, before tilting his head a bit at their struggle.
“...how come you're walking like that, hm...?” he questioned once they wandered close enough.
“Juh?” Jammie replied as Hyness nonchalantly lifted them up to give them a look-over.
“You've got a limp... oh! I see, your slipper's all messed up! The ankle's all worn and there's a hole in the heel... worry not, I have plenty of spells for mending fabric... hold still for me?”
Anxious about what would happen if they did move, Jammie froze as still as a statue while Hyness worked his magic, humming softly before chirping “there!” and setting the jammer back on the ground where they belonged.
Jammie shifted their weight from foot-to-foot to test it. They'd gone weeks and weeks with this unchecked, to the point where not having to account for the injury felt a little odd. They walked in a little circle, balanced on their once-bad foot, stood on their tiptoes, did a little jump.
“Aw, good as new!” Hyness said with a smile, “Well. Except for the rest of you.”
He pulled them close again, talking more to himself as he turned them around and over to give them a full checkup, “You've got quite a few scrapes and pulled stitches, after all... yikes, this one on your glove, between the back of your hand and the cuff? If that comes undone it would be very bad news for you, you'd lose the hand! That needs to be taken care of real soon...” he squinted, “Also, don't take this personally but you really need a bath. You know that you don't need to ask for permission to wash yourself up, right? Soap's free. So are the tubs. I know it might not seem that important, but being clean really does wonders for feeling good and-”
“No, jamanke, I'm fine,” Jammie interrupted.
He blinked in slight confusion. “That's not really... a suggestion. If you won't take a bath of your own accord, then I'll get you cleaned up myself.”
Jammie quickly struggled and broke free of Hyness' hold, as though just touching him would remove all their little marks.
“Hey now! What's wrong, little one-?”
“Absolutely not!” They gestured broadly at themselves, “every speck is important! It shows where I've been, how much I go through, everything I've done! Without it, I'd just be...!”
They looked over at the other jammerjabs around them. All featureless, just the same patterned hats and scarves, plain staves and unmarred fabric. The only way you'd be able to distinguish them would be their voices... and there's only so many variations one can make with four options to choose from.
“Oh...” Hyness gave Jammie a pitied, worried look, “Oh, you have more problems than I thought, juh... I hadn't considered that, japologa. You rely on these markings to be recognized by them...? That's fair. I understand... you're your own little individual... hm.” he looked at them, then around them at the other jammers thoughtfully, “I bet I could fix that, too. Jammerjabs aren't really meant to be individual, it's not part of the intended design... but you can think your own thoughts and your own feelings, you're entitled to those. So we'll have to make some adjustments for you in particular, or any other jammer who might want that! Fair's fair.” Hyness seemed pleased by whatever conclusion or plan he'd come up with, but looked back to Jammie with a concerned frown once more.
“So... you're gonna let me stay unique?”
“Jes, of course! That makes you happy... you definitely still need to be cleaned, unfortunately for you, but you can be clean and stand out! I can help with that.” he hesitated for a moment, “but, ah, I do want to ask what started that kind of thought process... you consider yourself worthless without your struggle? That's not very good. Also not very accurate. If I were to ask the mage sisters, I imagine they'd recognize you for the love you give them, and not for how much you suffer for them, goodness... anything else you're having trouble with?”
How much they suffered for them? It sounded like such an intense, cruel word, but they found it being accurate. It was of no fault to them, it was their duty to take care of the three... really, it was more of their fault for believing that would be a simple task.
“...um... bonjam? Jammerjab...? Oh, you have a name don't you, what was it...”
Really, did Jammie actually fail to consider how complex a person's needs could be, let alone three young children, growing up in such abnormal circumstances... not even mentioning the hell they'd been through, how they'd died to be here! And then how Hyness' sanity had seemed to spiral, how more work needed to be done to undo his damage and the normal damage, there was always so much to do-
“Um, Jam'ya? Jam...bie? Jams, Jamsy? Ugh, I'm so terrible with names... Jamily?”
Oh, right, they were having a conversation or something. Jammie blinked away the static. “Jes?”
“Oh, did I get it right-?!”
“Janno.”
“Jamblasted. Are you okay...? Kinda lost you for a minute there...”
“Oh, that happens all the time, japologa,” Jammie waved it away, “what did you ask me again?”
“...that happens all the time? Do you have some kind of memory issue?” he asked, but then quickly tacked on, “...as well?!”
“Oh, no, my memory's perfect! I remember things in perfect detail all the time! It's like I'm there again. Would be super helpful if I could do that at will, though... or choose memories that aren't super stressful, heh... but no, I just get kinda daydreamy and spacey. Most of the time I don't even feel like me, like I'm just watching things happen. It was a lil scary, but at this point I'm just used to it.”
They intended to put Hyness at ease, but for some reason he seemed even more concerned.
“That...! Hm! I am no expert by any means, but... dissociation? You've been... dissociating, and having traumatic flashbacks... so often that you consider them a normal part of your day.”
“...is that not good?”
“No. No, it really really isn't.”
“Okay.”
“...okay?”
“I mean, I don't know what to do about that... I feel much better knowing that it's a thing that happens, though! Even if it's not a good thing, it just feels good to know that it's not just me or something. How do you fix it?”
Hyness let out a sort of sigh.
“You can't fix it, can you.”
“You can help it! We can stop you from being that stressed out, among other things. Mind-related problems... don't usually involve a fix.”
Jammie flopped backwards onto their back, laying down on the hill. “I mean, you seem pretty fixed.”
The high priest laughed loudly, smacking a hand against the ground. “Oh, stars no! Absolutely not! I've been messed up for ten thousand years, and I don't expect that to change any time soon.”
“Well, something changed. You were getting worse, and then you suddenly got better... Flamberge said something about your magic.”
He winced a little. “Ah. That. That... is true. I... have a lot of knowledge on magic. Knowledge that would drive most people mad. I like to think I keep it managed, but then... sometimes, it only takes something small to set it all off... I'd received a vision of Void Termina. Dreams are vague, of course, but it conveyed to me that if Void Termina was summoned, unsealed in their negative state, then it would free them of their rage and suffering, along with bringing about an era of peace. Which seems a little counter-intuitive, but by that point the energy already had a hold of me... and...”
Hyness looked over to the beach, where Kirby was playing happily with all their friends and the three mage sisters, laughing and cheering.
“Well. Seems to have worked out fine, somehow.”
He turned to look back at Jammie. “...this is nice, I think. It's been far too long since I've left my little fortress of solitude and made a friend or two. I'm sure the girls will feel much better with some more companionship, too.”
Jammie agreed.
...
All of them had returned to the base, and after a few days Jammie was starting to wonder if Hyness had forgotten his threatening promise.
Unfortunately for them, they stumbled upon Hyness at some point in their usual rounds, who immediately went “oh, right!” and scooped them up, not considering whatever they'd been doing before or if it was important.
It wasn't important. Jammie was just upset about it.
He sat Jammie down on the ground and started running the water, also grabbing a little sewing kit and prepping a table.
“I'll need to fix your glove before we begin so you don't lose it in the water,” Hyness elaborated as he lifted Jammie up once more and placed him in his lap. “Here, hold up your hand for me?” he asked, grabbing a needle and thread.
The cranky jammerjab complied, if only because they didn't know what would happen if they didn't. They worried for a brief moment about if this would feel like being stabbed over and over, but they were quickly proven wrong – they wondered if he'd quietly cast a spell to help with that, or if Jammie simply wasn't designed to experience a lot of specific physical pains. It definitely felt a little odd, though.
“Done.” Hyness set down his sewing supplies. “Before I do anything else, I'd like to get you cleaned up. You can go ahead and do that while I keep setting things up over here.”
Jammie found themselves on the floor once more, whereupon they did their best impression of someone crossing their arms, given their absence of the limbs in question.
“Hm? What is it?”
They tried to make themselves look even grumpier, sitting down and scrunching up to the best of their ability.
“Oh, don't be like that... fine, I guess I'll do it then.”
And so the high priest picked them up before they could react and lightly tossed them into the tub.
Jammie's complaining immediately became louder as they tried to scramble their way out, before giving up as they realized they were too late, unable to stop the inevitable cleanse now that they were already soaked. They sulked like a sad ball of laundry as Hyness laughed at their misfortune.
“Trust me, this is much better,” he said as he worked, covering the jammerjab in some sort of soap and scrubbing. The bath quickly filled with bubbles, which did not provide any delight to Jammie, who continued whining and complaining as Hyness washed away all their markings.
“If I don't do this, well, you'll stink. As a ball of perception spells in a scarf, you would definitely be able to tell, and I doubt you'd enjoy it.” he rinsed them off and came back with a different soap, “Another issue is you might grow some kind of mold! Incredibly unpleasant. If that happens I might have to replace some of your vestments entirely, and even as an artificial construct, I'm sure you still grasp the concept of what is essentially surgery being uncomfortable.”
Their torturer struggled slightly, paying a lot of attention to the back of their hat. “What is this, some kind of- oh! Ah, of course you'd have been there when Francisca performed her little stunt. You just didn't come to get cleaned when you found yourself covered in carbonated sugar water... because why not, I suppose.”
He continued, “And goodness, you're practically turning the water black, here. You really had no objections to all the ash and soot? You looked like you'd been in the Fire District when Flamberge burnt it to the ground!”
They did not like the past tense on “looked.”
Suddenly, Jammie yelped in pain and Hyness hissed softly to himself. “Oooh... japologa about that...”
“What happened?” they finally spoke to him willingly.
“Pulled a loose thread. Japologa vun... how'd you even get these little nicks anyway? Dancing with a seam ripper? Accidentally catching yourself with your sharpened staff? Has Zan Par been using you as a pin cushion in your spare time?”
“Something like that.”
“Which one?”
Jammie didn't answer, remembering that they were supposed to be acting stubborn in protest of bathtime like a child.
Hyness scoffed a little at their defiance, but kept washing them quietly.
“...and... I think you're all set!”
He picked them up and put them on the ground... and even more on the ground, as Jammie refused to stand and simply laid there like a disgruntled pillow.
“I don't take it you want a mirror?”
They groaned.
“Alright then. Give me a moment and I'll fix all your little seams.”
Jammie shut their eyes, trying to just fall asleep on the floor.
Soon, Hyness had the little construct in his lap again, working away at different parts of their hat and shoes, which had taken the extent of the damage in their work. Unable to feel what he was doing once again, compared to the incident while they were still being bathed, they figured that they had been given some kind of painkilling spell, in fact.
He turned Jammie all the way around, retrieved something out of his little box, and started stitching at the front of their hat, on their emblem.
They opened their eyes at this. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, don't worry. You'll like it, I promise.”
Not exactly a reassuring response.
“There we go! All done, Jam-buddy!”
He pulled out a mirror and Jammie immediately turned away.
“Oh, you're gonna want to look, trust me on this one.”
Jammie protested for another minute, before taking a tiny peek. Clean clothes, tiny stitches, something colorful out of the corner of their eye- juh?
They turned to face the mirror.
Embroidered on the front of their hat was a heart patch with three colored stripes – blue, yellow, and red.
“Ta-daa! How's that? Now, it's one hundred percent crystal clear who you are and what you do, and you don't look like you've been dragged through hades!”
They gently pressed a clean, white glove against the glass, completely fixated on their new appearance. “It's... perfect.”
“Yeah! Lookit you, all-! Pretty or handsome, whatever you'd prefer! Squeaky clean. You're free to go whenever you'd like.”
Hyness himself gave them a nonchalant little wave and wandered out, leaving them to their thoughts.
After a few more minutes of silent staring, they pried themselves away from the sight and walked out into the halls again.
What now? They'd start checking up on the mage sisters... as they did all the time, every hour of every day, but the three had seemed to be doing fine recently. Between their newly opened line of communication with their new friends, and Hyness cleaning up his act, Jammie's job was about to get a lot easier.
The Jambandra Base was an awfully large place. Surely they'd find something to do by making their usual rounds.
A break in the pattern of the carefully chiseled walls caught their eye.
Looking closer, they found that it was a scuff on one of the doors. Odd. What could've caused that?
They tested the door by opening and shutting it, and found that as it slid it made a scraping sound both ways. A quick check found the source of the problem – there was a part of the wall that came out too far in between the door and it's frame, and it would scratch off that piece as it moved.
They simply chiseled away at it, then tried the door again. Success! Now that they'd removed the source of the problem, no more damage would be done.
It took many hands to maintain every single aspect of the base, and they were set on this one for the time being.
Jammie quietly got to work on fixing what had been broken, calm and content.
