Chapter 4: Evil Forest: Arrival
"Michael…", "Michael" A voice called to me.
I looked around and saw that I was in a bedroom. 'I know this place' I Thought. I then looked at the bed and noticed a figure lying in the bed. The person was a man and he was speaking with a child. I moved closer and froze 'I remember this. This was when I was fifteen and my father was…' I trailed off not finishing the thought. I listened in on the conversation.
"Michael…don't be sad."
My past self was visibly crying "Father…Please, don't leave me…I-I don't want to be alone."
My father placed a hand on my past selves cheek. "Farewell my son…" before he said anything else, his hand fell from the boys face and he breathed his last breath.
"Father..." the boy shook the still body "Father." He continued to shake the body "FATHEEEEEEEEER!" My past self began to cry harder.
I reached out and placed my hand on my past selves shoulder, trying to comfort him. He didn't even notice me. The vision faded and I was left alone. I could feel a tear running down my face at what I had just witnessed "father, why did you have to leave me? I'm all alone now…why?"
"…hey wake up!"
I could feel myself being shaken from my dreams as someone was physically shaking me. I could feel pain course up through my body as the shaking was aggravating my wounds. I woke up with a start and pushed the person away from me. I was fully awake now and was trying to get a bearing on were I was.
"Hey…you alright?"
I turned to the voice and noticed Zidane sitting on the ground looking concerned.
"You looked like you were having a rough sleep."
The dream came back to me, "I'm okay; it's nothing to worry about." Then I added as an after thought "sorry about pushing you." He looked at me with a smile on his face
"No problem, no harm done."
I looked at my surroundings, which was a very dark and spooky forest, before asking. "Where are we?"
Zidane gave me a troubled look "we're in Evil Forest" he said with slight worry.
"Evil Forest…" I echoed 'so we're finally here' I thought.
Zidane spoke up "what's that in your hand?"
I looked down and noticed I was clutching a brown, leather glove in my right hand. The events of what happened on the theater ship came flooding back to me. "Vivi! oh my gosh, Zidane we got to find him!"
Zidane gave me a weird look "how did you know my name?"
I thought about what I had just said. 'Crap, I gotta come up with something and fast' I thought. I thought of the only possible excuse "I heard that big guy say your name before we started fighting that rusty knight" I was careful not to mention Steiner's name.
This, fortunately, seemed to satisfy Zidane as he just nodded his head and smiled "okay, works for me."
I was relieved at this 'I can't afford to make another mistake like that again, ever.'
Zidane got up and looked at me "so, who are you, anyway?"
That's when I realized I hadn't even given him my name
"My name is Michael."
He shook my extended hand "okay, Michael we'll look for Vivi, but we gotta find Princess Garnet, too."
I looked confused at this, but then suddenly remembered, 'the Princess, I almost forgot about her' I thought.
I nodded to Zidane, "Alright, Zidane. Let's get moving." I turned to leave but Zidane stopped me.
"Wait Michael, we better head to the ship first and stock up on supplies or we won't last two minutes in this forest."
I wanted to argue, but I knew he was right. My body still ached all over and I could go for a potion right about now, as well as catalog all my injuries I received in the fall. 'At least my legs aren't broken' I thought. "Okay, Zidane. We'll go to the ship first."
We set off to find the ship, which wasn't to hard as we just needed to head for the plume of smoke in the distance. We reached a crest on a ridge and looked down at the ship. It was totaled, the entire structure was broken beyond repair and there were a few fires starting in certain areas of the ship, but for the most part it seemed intact, at least.
I didn't look too surprised. "Man, that ship has seen better days." I said.
Zidane nodded in agreement. "Yeah, come on let's see if we can help."
I turned to look at him "then we look for Vivi and Garnet?"
He looked at me with a smile and put his left hand on my right shoulder. "Then we look for Garnet and Vivi."
He rephrased my question into an answer, but it was enough to bring a smile back to my face. "Alright, let's go." We jumped off the ridge and proceeded to the wrecked ship.
As we approached the ship I could hear someone yelling. 'That must be Cinna shouting at Zenero' I thought, as Zidane and I jumped down into the clearing.
Cinna spotted us immediately "Zidane, I'm surprised you made it!" Cinna exclaimed walking over to his friend. "I can't believe you jumped off!" he said in an astonished tone. "You're crazy, you know that?"
Zidane looked at him innocently, scratching his head "I didn't jump off. I got thrown off from the impact."
Cinna looked at me "who's this?" he asked, indicating me.
Zidane looked where Cinna was pointing and smiled. "He's Michael, my new friend. He fell off from the crash, too." Zidane turned to me "Michael, this is Cinna, he's also a friend of mine."
I shook Cinna's hand and, for the first time, noticed that his face was a bit odd. Zidane, noticing my expression, started to laugh.
"Ahahaha. Yeah with a face like his I'd have the same reaction, too."
Cinna turned to Zidane, his face red with anger and embarrassment. "Shut up! For your information I wash my face every day and night" He said with as much dignity as he could muster.
Zidane didn't look like he was going to calm down soon so I spoke "do you know where Vivi and Garnet are?"
At these words, Zidane lost all stopped laughing and looked a little more seriously at Cinna. Cinna sighed, "I don't know, but if we don't find the Princess soon, we'll all be dead." He said.
I turned to Zidane. "Zidane, we have to find them, and now. I don't think they'll last long in that forest."
Zidane tried to reassure me. "Don't worry Michael, we'll find them, but first we better heal up and gather supplies." He turned back to Cinna. "Cinna what supplies do we have."
Cinna frowned at this. "Well we don't have much, but I'll give you guys what I have." Cinna handed us four potions and two eye drops.
I took the potion and immediately drank it. It tasted a little like lemonade only slightly more sour, but still refreshing. I could feel most of my wounds closing and healing as the potion worked its magic. I had checked my injuries on the way down and fortunately found no severe injuries; just a lot of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. It was strange, I thought I would at least of had a few broken ribs from the fall, but it didn't hurt when I breathed 'oh well, if it's not broken, don't fix it' I thought. Zidane had taken a potion as well, and was ready to leave. We set out into the depths of Evil Forest.
Zidane and I trudged through a murky swamp area in the forest. We'd been searching for five minutes, and we still hadn't found any trace of Vivi or Garnet. I was starting to get worried, and, from the look I saw on Zidane's face, he was a little worried as well.
'We'll find them. We have to find them. If anything happens to them I'll…' my thought trailed off after this, because I had just heard a scream in the distance, a boy, 'Vivi' I thought, my eyes widening. Zidane had heard the scream too, and we both took off in the direction of the scream.
I was the first to arrive in the clearing and saw Vivi backing away from something, shaking in fear. "Vivi!" I ran up to him to see if he was okay, Zidane was right behind me.
Vivi looked up, relief in his eyes at seeing me. "M-Michael" he pointed at the center of the clearing. "S-she's in trouble." I looked to where he was pointing and noticed Garnet was trapped within a Prison Cage: a bulbous plant with two tentacles, two small feet, a big mouth, and tentacles at the top of its head used to ensnare unwary prey.
"What the hell is that thing?" Zidane said as he rushed over to get Garnet out of that thing.
I heard rustling in the trees beside me and I looked up, drawing one of my swords in case it was a wild animal. Thankfully, it was only Steiner, and as soon as he saw the Princess imprisoned inside the Prison Cage he immediately unsheathed his sword and joined Zidane at his side.
I looked down at Vivi, he was still shaking; he was in no condition to fight. I put my hand on his shoulder "Vivi, I have to help Zidane and the knight fight that thing. I want you to stay here…got that?"
Vivi looked frightened, but nodded. "O-okay…be careful, Michael."
I smiled at him "don't worry, I will be."
I ran over to Zidane and Steiner, sword drawn and ready, and immediately took up my position. Steiner bellowed. "Release the Princess at once!"
Zidane just rolled his eyes at this. "Yeah, like it's really going to listen to you" he said, drawing his daggers. "Come on, guys!" the battle began.
Before anyone moved I noticed a light coming from Zidane. Steiner and I both looked at Zidane. When the light faded Zidane wasn't wearing his clothes anymore, and had pink fur on most of his body, and his body was glowing.
Before Steiner could respond I spoke "is that Trance?"
Steiner looked at me and responded. "Yes, I believe so. Trance is caused by a surge of emotions."
Before he could say anything more Zidane interrupted "alright people, let's take him." It was obvious that he didn't care what it was called. The battle began for real.
The Prison Cage placed booth its tentacles above its head and started to drain Garnet of her energy. Knowing we had to act fast I made the first move. I jumped into the air and prepared to execute one of my techniques "Ryu Tsui Sen." I started to fall back down to the ground and brought my sword down on the Prison Cage's right tentacle, completely severing it. Green liquid and sap started pouring out from the right tentacles stump. The plant was enraged by this and moved to strike me. I dodged its left tentacle, but was instead hit by something coming from the right.
I was knocked to the ground and got up only to see that the plant had regenerated its lost limb. 'Okay…didn't know it could do that' I quickly got back up and prepared to strike again. Steiner, though, was able to get in a strike before I could. He targeted the plants body and managed to create a large gash in the plant. Liquid started pouring out of the cut, but the sap from the plant quickly closed the wound.
While all this was going on, I noticed Zidane had been gathering energy for an attack, and he seemed ready to release it. Zidane then shouted "Free Energy!" and there was a big explosion that came from within the plant, doing heavy damage to the plant. The Prison Cage decided to cut its losses, and used its tentacles to retreat into the tree tops where we couldn't follow. The battle was over, for now.
Steiner immediately rushed over to the where the Prison Cage once stood and looked up into the trees where it had retreated. "Princess? Princess!" Steiner was yelling.
Zidane, no longer Tranced, was stunned by the creature's sudden departure. "What the heck? Where did they go?"
I looked up into the trees and simply said "she's gone…"
Vivi had walked over to where the Prison Cage once stood; he was still shaking with fright. "I-I was to a-afraid to cast any spells…that monster is probably going to eat her…" he said with a frightened voice.
Steiner looked distraught at this news. "How could I let this happen?" he said, in anguish.
Aside from me, Zidane was the only other one who seemed calm about this. "Don't worry. She's not dead."
Steiner looked at him in disbelief. "What was that!"
I walked over to Vivi and placed my hand on his shoulder to calm his fears. "I agree with Zidane. That monster was just a minion it's probably going to take her back to its Master."
Steiner began to ponder this. "That means the princess might still be-come on! We must go find her at once!" he yelled.
Something didn't feel right I remembered that something bad was supposed to happen now. That's when I heard rustling above my head.
My memory came back to me as I looked up and saw a second Prison Cage descending from the trees to ensnare Vivi and myself. My eyes widened at the sight. I quickly pushed Vivi out of the way just as I felt something grab me from above. I was flipped upside down on my head as the Prison Cage righted itself upright. I looked out to the others; Zidane, Steiner and Vivi were all staring in shock. "Well, what are you waiting for! Get me out of here!" I yelled, spurring each of them into action. It was time to fight again.
Zidane struck first with his daggers and attacked the plants body, causing two small cuts that quickly healed. Steiner struck next and attacked the plants body causing a large gash to form, but it quickly healed. The plant brought up its tentacles and drained me of my energy. It was not a pleasant feeling. I felt myself grow weaker. I looked to Vivi and saw that he was still afraid and shocked at what happened. "Vivi…help me." I barely managed to gasp that out.
My words spurred Vivi into action. His eyes gained a look of determination as he held up his 'Mages Staff' and cast a fire spell on the plant. The spell was very effective against the plant as it screamed out in agony. "Alright, Vivi" I said, congratulating his attack. He seemed more confident now, and that's when I noticed that the place where Vivi's spell had burned the plant didn't heal quickly. Realizing this new advantage I announced, "Guys, attack the burned spot on the plant! That's its weak point!" Steiner and Zidane complied and attacked the burned area.
The creature screamed out in pain as Zidane's daggers and Steiner's sword pierced through its burnt flesh. The plant then struck out at Zidane and Steiner with its tentacles and succeeded in knocking them both down and away from it. The plant raised its tentacles and drained more of my energy, healing its wounds. I was getting weaker 'I can't take much more of this' I thought, desperately trying to find a way out.
A thought occurred to me; I unsheathed one of my swords and thrust it through a space between the tentacles of the plant "Vivi, enchant my sword with your magic."
Vivi looked uncertain but nodded. "o-okay, I'll try."
He cast a fire spell on my sword and flames erupted from the blade. I pulled my sword back in, spun it around a few times, and plunged my sword deep into the plants head. 'Die, you energy sucking freak' I thought, angrily.
It let out an inhumane shriek of pain and agony as it began to wither from my attack. Liquid and sap started to ooze out and fizzle as I kept my sword in place. I slowly started to twist my sword to aggravate the wound even further. The creature continued to scream in pain as Zidane and Steiner got back to their feet. Then Zidane, Steiner, and Vivi struck the plant all at once; Zidane with his daggers, Steiner with his sword, and Vivi with a fire spell. When all the attacks made contact the plant couldn't take it anymore. Its cries became silent as it died.
The vines above me fell away, freeing me from my living prison. I leapt down from the head of the plant as Vivi ran up to me. He had a worried look in his eyes.
"A-are you all right, Michael?"
I smiled at him and sheathed my sword "don't worry Vivi, I'm fine." Then, I suddenly remembered what was going to happen next. I quickly pushed Vivi out of the way and right on time too. The Prison Cage had unleashed a foul smelling green gas that induced sleep. My vision began to swim as I breathed in the gas. I started to lose consciousness again. The last thing I remembered was Vivi and Zidane running up to me with concerned looks on their faces. Then…I saw no more.
Ryu Tsui Sen
The user jumps up into the air and comes down hard, slamming his sword upon a body part of his opponent.
