"What won't work?" asked Molly aloud.
"But it has to work," said the Harvest King aloud and telepathically, "we have nothing else to use on this island!"
"Meet us at the top, you two," ordered the Harvest Goddess to the team of two men, "and I can explain properly."
The king knew perfectly well what she meant by properly: so Molly could understand. It frustrated him that Molly could not communicate with them in that manner to make things simpler. The Goddess could feel his annoyance and it made her realize something. "Molly, where is Finn?" Molly shrugged her shoulders and responded, "He said he had to tend to business for you, and that he'd be back soon. That was two days ago, and I wanted to ask you about him, but it seemed like a bad time to try." The Goddess said with some positivity, "That is what I thought. You saw how my sprites all turned to stone when I was attacked, correct?" Molly nodded. "That is because I sensed something was wrong, but I could not figure out. When danger comes and I am hurt, the sprites turn into stone if they are still on my island. Finn is the only one capable of leaving the island due to his wings and helpful spirit, so in order to protect you and Finn, I sent him somewhere else to make sure another Goddess was all right. I can try to call him back, but I cannot say for sure if he will. I should have noticed the moment you came, and I am sorry that I did not."
"I understand, Goddess. If you can try to get him back, I would appreciate it. I miss him, but everything that's happened so far has kind of made me…lose track. I feel bad for not trying harder."
"Do not worry. But let us make haste to the top so we can get him back. I have a feeling this could make things a lot of easier for us."
They trudged up the steps again, with Molly asking why they couldn't just teleport upward and she explained, "Molly, I am not quite in a state where I can do that so easily. It has a lot to do with darkness attacking a being like I; anything else and I could bounce back fine. I have to recover, so my magic is limited." She nodded and begrudgingly climbed the steps with her before a fire swept them up and they found themselves at the top. "I understand, Ceria" the Harvest King told her telepathically. She went behind her tree towards the open world and placed her hands on her heart. "Finn, hear my words: Molly and I need you on Castanet again. Return to us." She kissed her hands, and blew the message away in a blue light, going off towards the direction of the sun. It took a few moments before eventually you could hear a shrill, shrieking voice squealing something in the distance. As it came closer, they could hear "GOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS". It seemed much clearer that Finn had returned, and when he did, he went straight for a hug by the Goddess, and said "Hi" in a small voice.
The Goddess held him like a child, and he told her how scared he was on the island. "I lost connection with you and I was worried. I didn't know if you were hurt or something, but a promise is a promise so I stayed. It didn't look too good, Goddess. It was dark and scary, and a lot of things were destroyed. The Goddess on that island was hurt, but no one could do anything. I was scared, and I was really glad when I could feel you again, but you didn't call me back, so I waited and waited..." Finn went on about the island and his duty to it. When he finished, the Goddess told him "Finn, you lost connection with me because I too was attacked by the same thing that destroyed that island. If it were not for Molly, Wizard, and the Harvest King, you would still be there. I should not have sent you off, but I did not want you to turn to stone. But now, you're back, and Molly needs you, and I need you with Molly."
"Yes, Goddess!"
He flew gleefully back to Molly's side and told her "I missed you. I could have used a buddy."
"Me too, Finn. You missed a lot here."
"Explain the details to him later, Molly. Now why are we back here? Why did the three of you reject the plan?"
"Finn, I am going to say these things telepathically. I want you translate to Molly."
As she transmitted her thoughts, Finn kept up amazingly well. "The Happite and Gledium will not be enough for this. It is far stronger than before, and Finn coming back from that island confirmed a hypothesis: this is not just our Plague, but the Plague that has combined from the feelings of the world. It spread amazingly quickly, and we need something far stronger than a potion with those minerals. I cannot say what, but I have a feeling that it can be helped by restoring the islands that the Plague is feeding on, but not yet destroyed. Those towns were like ours before Molly came along to restore and ring the bells."
"That was Molly?" Wizard asked, shocked by the revelation.
"Yes. I asked her to do it."
"She is also the reason I am here. After the bells had been rung, she climbed up to my throne and restored my power. I watch over the town with…the Goddess. But you do realize, Goddess, that if those islands are to be restored, neither you nor I can help."
"I do… Harvest King… but the three of them are not limited to this island."
"Now, hold on," Witch Princess demanded aloud. "I'm not going anywhere until my forest is at least on the path to healing!"
The Goddess turned to her. "I concur. That forest is an important source of magical life, and we will need all the help we can get. We will help your forest, but in exchange, you must follow Wizard and Molly to the islands without question."
"Deal. Just help my forest."
"Harvest King, do you think you could take us there?"
A fire swept them up again, just as it had before, and brought them to where the entrance to Fugue Forest should have been. Molly's eyes were damp with tears when she saw what had happened. Horn Ranch had been destroyed. The remains of the old farmhouse where she bought her first calf were shattered, and the barn was merely a shell of its former self.
"Before you have a nervous breakdown, your humans are safe", explained Witch Princess. "They're in that thing you call a clinic. I…kind of brought them there…"
Wizard stared at her in shock. "What a… incredibly selfless thing to do…"
She blushed with embarrassment and snapped back with "Well, it probably would have been a royal pain in the ass for me if I didn't. All the questions and stuff…"
Wizard smiled at her and Molly choked out, "Thank you."
"Don't expect me to be so helpful to the other mortals, the ones that aren't like you. You're different; I can trust you."
The Goddess and the king looked to each other and she asked "Shall we dance?"
"If you insist."
They walked into the forest area and took each other in a dance position. "Music, please," she asked. Wizard flicked his wrist and a record player with a waltz by Strauss in the record area appeared before him. He placed the needle on the record and strings played their waltz. They moved intricately and gracefully, and looked happy to see each other for once. Their rhythm with one another was incredible and well-practiced; nothing seemed clumsy and awkward about it. They spun around and were in the air, the king holding the Goddess in her arms as he tilted her backwards, and they spun and spun until reaching a great distance. A symphony of red fire and blue sparkle came together in front of their eyes and it placed itself gently on the ground. As they moved and danced, it spread itself across the ground, and instantly, the life of the forest could be felt again. The grass that could be seen through the color was already greener than the dead yellow and brown that was there before. Saplings appeared, and life was starting to return once again before finally, they settled down at the end of the waltz and the fire and sparkle spread across the area of not only the forest, but the two ranches were once again green and lush. Although the structures were still destroyed, it was indeed a lot better than what was there. In response, Molly gave them applause and Wizard joined her, and the Goddess smiled and bowed, while the Harvest King did nothing as he did not understand why she was applauding a ritual.
Wizard and Witch Princess had come together to fix the barn and home, at least on the surface. Molly turned and asked, "What was that dance?" The Goddess answered, "It is a way that we are able to restore life in large quantities. It's a better routine if darkness was involved. We completed that ritual after the first plague attack."
"Molly, come see this," Wizard yelled from the distance at the barn, "I think you'll be pleased!"
She ran towards them and looked inside. She saw a baby calf feeding off her mother. "I think their farm will be okay", he said. Molly was overwhelmed with joy, and wiped tears off her face. "We should leave this to Horn Ranch. We have things to attend to." Wizard nodded and looked to Witch Princess, saying, "They healed your forest. It's time to go."
"All right, Mr. Wizard." They left the barn and went to the Goddess. "Goddess, can you tell us where it is?" In that instant, he received an image and heard the name "Waffle Island. They have their own person to help, but it would certainly help if you could secretly help. I do not quite know how the town would react to you three showing up, so it would be best if you operated in secret."
The three of them nodded, and Witch Princess made her broom appear in front of her. "Bet you can't beat me there!" She hopped on and left the island in a flash. Wizard rubbed his temples and looked to Molly, telling her, "Don't worry. I have… my own way to get us there. Follow me." They walked towards the beach near her house and looked out towards the ocean. "If only this was during night… it could have been faster. I guess I'll…have to deal with it." He lifted up enormous piles of sand with levitation, waving around his arms and making the sand solid. At first, it appeared like soft earth, but slowly, it transformed into something better, more solid; it became metal. It appeared to be like a boat, but with railing. He placed it down gently into the ocean and hopped in. "I can help you in… if you want." He held out his hand, which she took gratefully and went into the boat. "Have a seat and hold on tight." She sat down and held on just as she was told and in an instant, the boat moved at a fast pace. She watched as the island slowly looked farther and farther away. In one way, she was excited to go on the adventure, but in another, she was sad to leave a place she felt like she just came to.
"It'll be a while until we come back, won't it, Wizard?"
"I think so, Molly… but I think it'll be worth it."
They looked towards the horizon and with his magic, Wizard turned the boat to the direction of Waffle Island.