*runs in* Couldn't wait any longer! New chapter! Must! Update!

Disc- NO TIME!

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She remembered being outside in the street when the monster grabbed her. With sharp claws and an iron grip, she couldn't pry away as she was dragged across the landscapes, her skin getting scraped and bruised as it was dragged over rocks, brushes, and dry grass; it was a painful blur, feeling like a nightmare.

And then she was dropped into darkness, having to find her way out, the mimic taunting her with the voices of the friends she thought she would never see again…

That was all Kim could think about now, as she and Oliver were taken by Salem. The young wizard was holding onto the collar of his cape as it was choking him- trying to undo it possibly, in order to escape if not be strangled-, while she hung on to his waist for dear life. Mist sprayed around them, giving them the hint they were still crossing the ocean, and she had a fearful notion that the monster would release them and leave them to drown in the middle of the sea.

Oliver hung onto his collar with one hand, and with his free hand tried to reach for his wand, but with the turbulence of the rush he was afraid it would fling out of his grip and be lost; the same would go for summoning a familiar- if it popped out of his chest it would end up flying off. Instead, he reached and grabbed an arrow from Kim's quiver and, as delicately as he could, jammed the point into Salem's shoulder.

With a screech, Salem let them go; the two sunk below the waves. Holding their breaths, they both stayed under in case their foe turned around to grab them. When their lungs began to ache, they surfaced, looking around and seeing a rock formation nearby, swimming over and climbing on; it was in almost a 'C' shape, giving them cover.

After catching their breath, Kim looked at Oliver. "…where are we?" she asked.

"I don't know," Oliver answered. He couldn't see any islands. He did notice the sun starting to rise. "He must have dragged us all night… or we're in a different time zone,"

Kim wrapped her arms around herself. "This is terrible… Oh my gosh, the others! Swaine and Fangs were kidnapped! Everyone else…!"

Oliver took out his wand. "Don't worry, I'll take us back! We can get help and find them!" he held up his wand, trying to cast the 'Travel' spell, but his wand flickered out. "Huh? I-I thought I had enough magicka…! Something is cancelling it out," he checked on his person, lightly cursing. "I left the dragon horn back in my bag at the inn!"

"Well… we can't just sit here and wait for someone to find us! That monster could be back any second,"

Oliver tapped his chest, summoning a Spotted Naiad. "Here, this is Zoey. You can use her in case we have to fight."

Kim stroked Zoey, looking at Oliver. "I can have your Familiar?"

"Yeah. You can trade familiars with others, and can keep up to 3 with you. If you collect more, they go to the Familiar Retreat. It's best to have a few with you just in case,"

"Thank you," Zoey receded into her chest, and the teen girl sighed. "I'm so scared, Oliver… I mean, Biff and I have been in tough spots before, but this is out of our league!"

"It's okay, we'll find everyone, and get you all home. It's okay to be scared, but don't give up!" the young wizard looked out at the calm tides. "I remember feeling hopeless… When I found out I couldn't save my mom, I almost gave up. Pea was the one who helped me realize there was more to my quest than just one goal,"

"Pea?"

"Well, Cassiopeia's child-self… It's a long story. Right now, we have to find a way back,"

Kim peered behind the other side of the rock, seeing fog in the distance. Squinting, she made out a shape. "Oliver, look!" she gasped, tapping him on the shoulder. "There's an island over there…"

"I've never seen that island before… Those monsters must live there,"

Kim gulped, but took a breath. "…Then that's probably where our friends are. We have to at least search—sitting here won't help at all,"

Nodding, Oliver summoned his Mermite to dive into the ocean and scout ahead. After a few minutes, his familiar returned to him. "Weird… there's barely any creatures near that island."

"Still, we should be careful,"

Slipping into the water, the two swam under the waves towards the island, coming up every several seconds for air. At one point, they had to summon Mitey and Zoey to help support them when their arms and legs began to tire out.

After almost two hours, they finally reached shore, summoning back their familiars and lying on their backs. The first thing they noticed were the dark clouds that lingered above and the beach was covered with black sand. Behind them were cliffs that were as high as the clouds, making it impossible to see the landscape.

Once their energy returned, they began walking down the beach. Calling out was out of the question, as they didn't want to attract the attention of their foes.

Kim paused, looking over her shoulder at a dune. "Oliver… was that there before?"

"I don't think so…" Oliver picked up a rock and tossed it at the dune. Both of them gasped as it shifted! He looked at Kim. "Run!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

Racing down the sand, they looked back, watching as the dune moved after them, though seemed to 'dive' down. That only made them increase their pace… until something caught Kim by the ankle! Shrieking, she grabbed an arrow and jammed it into the sand. Oliver helped her back on her feet, both of them watching as a slimy, snake-like creature breached in the sand, followed by 3 more that were wriggling about, trying to snag Oliver at his heels.

Summoning their strongest familiars, they attacked the creatures. Kim shot the creatures with her arrows, impaling one through the head… and out of the ground burst a massive creature with black scales and sharp teeth- the four snakes working as its tongues! Oliver had Mitey use 'Arc Fire', making the creature draw back.

Looking over they saw a boulder, racing over to it and climbing up, watching as the creature rushed under the sand after them until it bumped into the rock, its 'tongues' scouring it, but its prey was out of reach. "It can't climb," Kim sighed with relief.

Oliver looked over. Grabbing another rock, he threw it… watching as it sunk below the surface for a moment until it was 'spat' back out. "There's more of them over there, too…" he told her, and looked at his wand. If only he could cast a 'Levitate' spell.

Kim looked over at the cliffs, seeing long vines growing down them. "We'll have to climb up," she realized aloud. Crawling around the boulders, the twosome made their way towards the cliffs, while keeping their eyes on the sand-snakes.

Once they were at the wall, Kim hoisted Oliver up so he could reach the lowest vine and start climbing, before jumping up herself and beginning her ascension. The vines, they quickly found, were withered and could easily break, so they either had to grab onto ones that were still green enough and wouldn't become uprooted so easily, or thick enough so they wouldn't break so quickly.

They had made it up ten feet when they felt a rumble. "…What was that?" Kim asked, freezing.

"I don't- AUGH!" Oliver screamed, as a snake-tongue burst out by his head! The other three popped out around him, the earth giving way as the monster prepared to envelope him in its jaws! Pushing off quick, Oliver swung out of the way, but his vine snapped!

Kim acted fast and caught his hand, both of them watching as the monster spat out dirt before going back in! There was more rumbling, and they could feel the sand-worms were tunneling up the cliffs! It was too high to jump, and they couldn't climb fast enough to escape them…

The vine they hung on gave a tug, beginning to give away. Kim felt the rumbling intensify… "Hang on!" she told Oliver, having him hang onto her back. Waiting until the last three seconds, she pushed away from the cliff as the monster's mouth shot out, its tongues trying to wrap around them. She planted her feet on its head while grabbing another vine, the tongues swinging upward to try and grab them, but quickly she summoned Mavis to attack them, her familiar hitting the tongues with gusts of wind.

Another sand-worm began to shoot out its tongues next, but Oliver- following Kim's example- summoned an Ullaballoon to distract them as well. They climbed up, as their familiars managed to outwit the snake-tongues by making them grab onto each other, the sand-worms pulling at each other as their slimy tendrils got tangled! The worm that was furthers out ended up being pried out of its tunnel, falling to the ground and pulling the other worm with it, both creatures hitting the boulders below, their bodies bursting in a splash of blood and guts.

Kim and Oliver summoned back their familiars, the young wizard grabbing onto a vine and climbing on his own once more as they made their way to the top. After another good fifteen feet, they pulled themselves onto a ledge, finding a path that led further upward.

"We'd better keep moving. If there's more of those things tunneling their way up, we might get pulled under." Oliver told her. "They seem to respond to movement,"

"I noticed. We managed to make it this far up, at least… hopefully there aren't-" Kim began to state.

They felt the cliffs shift again. The two remained still, watching as- from the side of the cliff, five feet below them, a snake-tongue poked out, 'looking' around as if trying to find out where they had gone. It receded back in after a minute, and all was still.

Kim and Oliver waited a moment, a bit relieved… until suddenly the ground below them began to cave in! The sand-worm was tunneling and trying to make the path collapse! "RUN!" Oliver cried, and they ran up the path as fast as they could, making it to a treeline and- without hesitation- climbed up.

They watched as the tunneling stopped at the treeline, before turning and going another direction, going back downward. "It must not be able to navigate because of the tree-roots. They must get in the way," Kim guessed.

"Still, we shouldn't take any chances," Oliver said, looking towards the jungle. As thick as the trees were, they could make their way around on the tree branches. Keeping balance, they began to 'walk' along the boughs, while keeping watch.

Kim tapped his shoulder, pointing over at some black trees with even blacker leaves. "Oliver… are black trees common in this world?" she asked in a whisper.

The young wizard shook his head. "The only time I saw black trees was in the Miasma Marshes," he replied back quietly. "But it was so dark there that everything looked black, except for the poisoned pools,"

"Something about them gives me the creeps…"

Oliver looked around; there were no other trees in reach they could climb on. Looking, he noticed something odd about where the black trees grew. "Look, it's all rock! We can walk from here,"

Kim nodded, and they carefully climbed down, making their way through. Keeping close, they moved around the black trees; the teen girl kept her eyes on them, remembering a scene from The Wizard of Oz where the trees were alive… and she was afraid of what would happen if these trees happened to be sentient. What would happen? Would they close up around them? Strangle them with their branches? Crush them?

However, after ten minutes, nothing had happened. The trees remained still.

A little too still…

Oliver noticed as well. "It's so quiet here," he whispered, though even his quiet tone sounded like an echo. "I figured more monsters would have been here,"

"I know… I didn't even see anything in the trees," Kim agreed, looking closer at the trunks. Strange, not even insects were crawling on them.

Suddenly she wondered if the black trees were the reason the sand snakes stayed at bay.

The wind blew just then, making the treetops shake, and a leaf came loose, floating down unknowingly towards them. It touched Oliver's head; Gasping, Kim quickly flicked it out of his hair- looking at her finger, she noticed her nail-polish suddenly crack and chip, falling off like sand, and her nail looked a bit yellow.

Oliver rubbed his head. "I feel sick… *hurk!*" he gasped, and suddenly vomited!

Kim knelt by him, staying at his side until his heaving stopped. After five minutes and some shaky breaths, Oliver was back on his feet. "So that's the problem… Those trees are poisoned!" she realized. "Probably deadly, if a single leaf made you sick,"

"We have to get out of here," Oliver grunted, still feeling hazy. Kim kept an arm around him, helping him walk as they tried to make their way through the trees. It soon got to a point where she had to carry the young wizard on her back, as he was suddenly too exhausted to walk.

After a while, she was beginning to grow tired, too- not from the weight of the wizard, but as if she were falling ill. It was as if the trees were producing poison like how normal trees produced oxygen! Holding her breath, she pressed on, only taking a breath when her lungs began to burn.

Then she saw the black leaves fallen on the ground ahead. She turned around to find another path… only to watch the trees grow extra branches that blocked her path!

She looked ahead. There was green grass in the distance, but it was too far for her to chance a run. A soft wind blew, making some of the leaves shift and show hints of rock beneath. Getting an idea, she summoned Mavis. "I need you to clear a path for us, Mavis."

With a chirp, Mavis flapped her wings, summoning a whirling wind that made the leaves scatter further apart. Kim walked onward, as her familiar would 'sweep' leaves out of her path. They were at the edge now…

*crack!*

A branch broke above, falling towards her! She ran and jumped out of the way, Oliver rolling off her back and onto the green grass in front of her. She panted, looking back…

Seeing the branch on her ankle. Quickly she kicked it away, but her leg was going numb, and dizziness overswept her. Mavis perched beside her, as she began to puke in the grass, the nausea too great to overcome, and she passed out.

…

Oliver sat up, groaning and rubbing his head. "Kim…?" he murmured, his vision clearing and he saw the teen girl passed out on the ground. "Oh no! Kim!" he shook her shoulder, but she made no movement. He examined her, seeing a black bruise with a purple outline on her ankle. Looking forth, he saw the edge of the green grass beginning to grow yellow before fading to black. The poison from the trees was spreading towards them!

Mavis, still conscious thankfully, squawked and pecked at Kim's shoulder in a desperate attempt to wake her up. Oliver laced her bow around his abdomen at an angle, before grabbing her beneath the arms and, with as much strength as he could muster, pulled her away from the spreading poison. Suddenly his foot slipped; looking behind him, he noticed they were by the edge of a slanting cliff, leading down to a purple river- no doubt poisoned as well; as soft as the dirt looked, chances were those sand snakes could be lying in wait as well.

He looked around desperately, finding the other side was solid rock and void of anything poisonous. If only his magic worked, he could use a 'Bridge' spell!

Something caught his eye- vines were growing on the cliff here as well, untouched by the poison. He looked at the bow and arrows, his mind racing furiously. "Mavis, gather some vines quick!" he told Kim's familiar.

The Minor Byrde chirped, obeying his order and prying as many vines out of the cliffs as possible. Oliver got to work weaving them tightly, while keeping an eye on the approaching poison. He then handed one end of the makeshift rope to Mavis. "Go wrap it around that tree over there," he ordered.

The familiar began to listen… but fell onto the ground, her stamina low. Oliver lightly cursed; he grabbed an arrow, tying a vine around it. He picked up the bow, taking aim and shooting at the tree.

No good.

He began to hyperventilate. The poison was still approaching; even though it was growing slowly, it was only a matter of minutes before it reached them.

Kim stirred, coming to. "Ugh, my head…" she groaned, sitting up.

"Kim! Thank God… Can you shoot an arrow across this ridge?" Oliver asked her.

Kim stood up, taking her bow. "I-I can try… I feel lightheaded… and my leg feels numb,"

"Hurry- the poison is spreading towards us!"

Kim shook her head, looking at the ground. Seeing the urgency had increased, she forced her mind off her nausea and pain. She summoned back Mavis, finding her familiar was growing weak, and its warmth helped her clear her head. Breathing deep, she took aim and fired.

The arrow didn't reach far enough. She retracted the vine and tried again, but still didn't make it.

Oliver looked, seeing the poison was only a couple feet away, the grass they stood on starting to turn yellow! "Kim!" he cried, moving her away, but in the process ended up making her stumble due to her null leg.

Both of them fell over the cliff, rolling down towards the river! Oliver managed to dig his heel into the dirt and slow down the slide, grabbing Kim as both of them now were at the edge of the bank. The ground began to rumble again, however, giving them the notion the sand snakes would be upon them soon…

Kim summoned Mavis back, having her Minor Byrde take the vine and wrap it around a hanging branch on the other cliffs. Grabbing Oliver, they jumped and swung across, just as a sand-snake's tongue popped out where they stood.

The only problem was there wasn't a bank on the other side, so once again they had to climb up a cliff. It was difficult with Kim's bum head, and the nausea was returning to both of them. Still, they pressed on, not stopping until they reached the top.

Once on level ground, both of them collapsed beneath the tree, their energy gone due to the poison, Kim summoning back Mavis once more. "Oliver… I'm sorry… I couldn't make the shot…" she panted.

"It's okay… I couldn't make it either… at least we're away from the poison…" Oliver breathed. He looked over, seeing that this area was different; rather than a deep forest and rocky cliffs, there was thick jungle foliage. "We need to rest… we can't go any further…"

"No argument… there…" Kim felt her eyes grow heavy, and just like before she collapsed again.

"Kim…!" Oliver gasped. Thankfully, she was still breathing. He stayed close, wincing while keeping alert for any more signs of danger. He looked at her leg, seeing the bruise was getting bigger. He rubbed his head, feeling nauseas again, imagining the same kind of bruise on top of his head. Tears formed in his eyes.

"Poor little wizard boy…" came a taunting voice, and Oliver looked up to see Persephone sitting on the branch above them. "Having no magic or means to help your friend,"

"You! You're the one who kidnapped Swaine and Fangs! What did you do with them?!"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that? They're probably dead by now. I just left them somewhere, and decided to let the island destroy them. As weak as they are, there's no way they can survive," She veered closer, tapping him on the nose. "Just like how you won't survive."

Oliver grimaced. "We've made it this far-!"

"Oh, wake up, kid! The Gobblers and Toxiquioia forest were just a sliver of the dangers on this island! Keep in mind, it's a prison for my master- no magic can be used here, and everything is out to kill you. The only reason my comrades and I survive is because we were not bound like he was. We were only put into a deep sleep until Serpens returned! …And once we get the wand back, the entire world will be worse than the island you're on."

"Why are you even helping him?! You were a Guardian once-!"

"A Guardian!" Persephone scoffed. "You know what my role as a 'guardian' was? A delivery service! 'Persephone, take this scroll to the nearby village', 'Persephone, go fetch some herbs for my stew', 'Persephone, go here, go there, drop off this, pick up that', day after day after DAY!"

She disappeared, appearing behind Oliver. "I was a mistress of teleportation! It was I who invented the 'Travel' spell you wizards take advantage of! But did I get any appreciation? Were my skills used for a worthy cause? NO!" she disappeared, reappearing at the edge of the cliff. "Once the 'Travel' spell was passed around, I was deemed useless, even though my teleportation did not require magicka! It was Master Tobias who saw my true potential- having me use my stealth to kidnap enemies and gain inside information, disappearing in a blink! He admired my skills, and granted me power!"

Oliver shook his head. "But he's just using you! He just wants the wand! You said wizards use the Travel spell… well, Tobias was a wizard too! If he's released, he won't have a use for you anymore!"

"At least I would have been useful!"

"But you were always useful! Not everyone is a wizard anymore, and a lot of people need help. Before I had the Travel spell, I had to travel all over by foot in order to help people- some of them needed it right away!"

"Pah! At least you got appreciation! I was never admired for what I could do!"

"But… isn't that what being a Guardian is about? Protecting and helping everyone, no matter what? You were the one who gave them the Travel spell- if you wanted to feel so important, why did you do that?"

"Because… I was sick of running errands! I made the spell so that they could do things on their own, and I could do more important things!"

"You call kidnapping people and acting like a spy important? Is that what you really wanted, to betray the ones you were supposed to protect?"

"Oh, shut up already! Your Pure-Hearted speech will not work on me!" She disappeared once, appeared and grabbed him by the collar, before appearing by the cliff. "I'm not going to waste time on you- magic or not, you're too much of a threat!"

"Stop! You don't have to do this!" Oliver cried, thrashing in her grip as she was pushing him towards the edge!

She shoved him over, watching him fall…

Quickly he summoned his Ullaballoon, his familiar catching him and flying him back onto level ground. Persephone snarled, preparing to attack. She teleported here and there, making sure Oliver always had his back to her, but his familiar watched his back, alerting him.

She disappeared once more, appearing beside Kim. "No!" Oliver gasped as Persephone reached for Kim; he dove and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her away, while the monster grabbed her by the leg-

"AGH!" Persephone screamed, gripping her hand as if she burned it. She then swayed, as if dizzy.

Oliver looked. The monster had grabbed Kim's bad leg… and upon a closer look, realized why the bruise was growing. There was a splinter! He went to pull it out, but the poison stung him too. He grabbed an arrow- with no other choice, he used the tip of it to cut into her skin and pry the splinter out!

Upon effect, the arrow turned black and purple, and he quickly dropped it. Kim groaned, coming to. "Oliver…?" she whispered.

"Little brat!" Persephone snarled, shaking off her pain and grabbing the wizard once more. "Perhaps I will teleport you to Tobias himse-"

*Skish!*

She gasped, letting him go. Having acted quick, Kim grabbed the poisoned arrow and shot her in the flank with it! The monster stumbled around a bit, before collapsing on the ground.

"Kim! You're alright!" Oliver exclaimed, relieved.

"Yeah, thanks to you," Kim replied, standing up. She looked at his head, finding pieces of leaf still in it; brushing it out, the young wizard felt his own energy refurbish. "So that's it. As long as you're in contact with the poison, it can make you nauseas and you pass out. Now that we're free from it, we can keep going,"

"What about Persephone?" Oliver asked, looking over at the unconscious she-beast. "We can't leave that arrow in her… she might die!" he looked at Kim. "She said she sided with Tobias because she didn't feel appreciated enough… but I don't think that's the whole story,"

"What makes you say that?" Kim asked.

"When I faced rogue Guardians before, Shadar had changed their behaviors. I think Tobias might have corrupted her somehow… He corrupted them all," He looked at his locket. "If we can find a way to change them back…"

"But how? You can't use magic here,"

"…I know. That's why we have to find the others, and find a way off." He walked over to Persephone, seeing the poison bruise was spreading through her body. He pulled the arrow out and put it back in Kim's quiver. "Here, you can use that arrow if we face any more enemies. Let's go, before she wakes up."

Nodding, Kim followed him into the jungle. "I hope the others are okay… wherever they are,"

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A/N: And there's Kim and Oliver's experience on the island. I was going to write it to where Kim pretty much had to defend Oliver, but decided it would work best if they both helped each other out. Who will we see next, and how will they fare? Stay tuned!

Trivia: The 'Gobblers' are based off the creatures from the film Tremors. I also didn't realize (until I rewatched a Lets Play) that there are similar creatures in Ni no Kuni 2… only larger and lacking the multiple tongues *thank goodness*.