Okay, so this wasn't only a memory, this was the actual past… That means that she would probably see Alex again soon too… Mia hoped that she would be able to kick his conceited butt all the way to Tundaria! She looked over at the next picture down the line… She gasped. Isaac and the rest of the group were beating a defenseless tree to oblivion! She would have to get in there just to stop them!
"C'mon, Isaac! We've gotta help that tree!"
"Wha- help a tree?"
"You're killing that tree!"
"Uh… I think that tree is killing us…"
That was absurd! There must be some mistake, a tree wouldn't harm people! She opened the gate without hesitation and pulled Isaac along with her. Their surroundings swirled again… She gasped again, the tree was ACTUALLY attacking the group. She pulled Isaac around a wooden wall to watch them duke it out. Ivan was standing back, loosing out whirlwinds as fast as he could conjure them. Garet was in the middle of the two, loosing eruptions directly under the tree, burning its life force away. Isaac was in front, taking the full brunt of each blow and psynergy the tree could throw at him. Since he was the same element, the tree could not hurt him much. Isaac would block a whipping branch with his Bandit's Sword, then as the ground below him rumbled as spiny thorns erupted below him, he would loose a small quake below him to kill the thorns before they could hurt him much, at which point Garet would loose an eruption. Ivan could not do much damage to the tree sadly, so he would try to heal with herbs and their new healing ring when Isaac took too much damage. Soon, the tree's power began to wane. The eruptions began to scorch its bark, and Isaac's sword began to slice it into pieces. Finally, the battle ended. The tree lost its power, and faded into oblivion. Suddenly, another kinder tree appeared. Mia suddenly understood: The psynergy stones released by the eruption corrupted the tree's mind! The rest of the party cheered, and Isaac stepped forward to ask the tree to release the people of Kolima. The tree pulsed weakly with psynergy, releasing faint traces of power… But it would not be enough. The tree was withering away, and with it the people of Kolima. The party lost its cheer, and Isaac prepared a Retreat spell with grief in his eyes. The party faded as it was transported outside the tree. Mia stepped forward, moved to tears by the tree's plight. Over and over, she would cast Ply, but it was not enough. Isaac stood beside her, knowing her pain. He took her hand, and contributed his own Cure spell, but nothing would work. Suddenly, Mia had an idea! She took out a small vial of Hermes Water that was left over from when their journey ended months ago… She sprinkled a small droplet over the tree, and it suddenly seemed less deathly. A small glow started to appear, and Mia hoped that the tree would live… The glow intensified, and solidified into a golden sphere. But try as they might, the sphere would not detatch from the tree.
"Oh no… Isaac, what will we do?"
"I don't know… The tree seems to not be able to let go of what force is keeping it alive…"
"How do you know?"
"I don't… it seems to be that way though."
Isaac seemed to glow again, as he prepared another Cure spell…
"It's hopeless… If the tree dies, we die too…"
The glow intensified…
"What are we going to do…"
A bright flashed erupted from Isaac's chest. Mia screamed. When the glow died, Isaac was bathed in golden light, as wings erupted from his back. What in Sol was happening?! Isaac's hand glowed brighter, and psynergy shot out from his palm at the tree. A golden hemisphere fell upon them. Mia was included in the sphere as well, and saw as the wings disappeared from Isaac's back. In fact, Isaac glowed a little less as well. His hand grew golden, like the sun… In a flash of light, the sphere closed in on them, and Isaac's palm flashed so bright that for a second, Mia could not see. When her vision cleared, a small cloud was hovering over the tree, and tears of golden light fell upon its branches. The ghost Isaac flickered once again, as if the energy it took to cast a spell of that magnitude had taken more out of him than he could take, but that didn't matter as the tree roared back to life. It was so much healthier, Mia was hopeful that the tree would be able to cure Kolima now! She ran forward and held onto Isaac to keep him there, as the golden sphere emerged from the tree again. It glowed brighter, drawn to Isaac like bears to honey. Upon fusing with his chest, Isaac glowed again, his resolve solidifying once more.
"Isaac… what was… that…?"
Their surroundings returned in a flash, and the room solidified. The boy on the ground looked healthier, but still deathly pale nonetheless. Isaac next to her on the other hand, glowed with healthy light, despite the fact that he was a ghost.
"You look a lot less ghostly…"
"… Well, I can't really say how I did that…"
"You looked like a god…."
"I FELT like a god…"
"Be sure to tell me about it when this is all over… right now we need to check out the other memories."
"Fair enough."
They faced the next picture with newfound determination.
