A/N: Well, another chapter for you all, the update you've all been waiting for! Read theabout the sheer terror of a tree whose bark is worse than his bite! (drum beat) Hyuk, hyuk, get it? (nobody laughs) Ok, ok, I'll just get straight to replying to your reviews, okay? But first…
Disclaimer: Look, I don't own, okay? Stop asking! It isn't me, I swear!
Sorceress Sakura: Hello! Thank you! Wow, someone else has the same review problem as I do? I'm not alone! (feels happy).
SpasticDjinn: Heh, maybe it's just my imagination, but your not slightly insane by any chance, are you? Well, that's just the sort of review I should expect from a man whose so insane, even the insane asylum won't take him in, lol. (You can use that one in your list of titles if you want!) Oh well, glad you like it, hope you like this.
zero degreez: Thank you! Glad you like it! Yeah, I like throwing in little extras that weren't in the game, just to make it more interesting, y'know? Yeah, I know Jenna's been a little hard to get on with for everyone (to put it mildly) but yes, that is something that'll change as the story goes on. I mean, at the start of the next game, she and Felix were getting one good, so we gotta get there eventually. And she's still yet to find out that her parents are still alive, and can be brought back by helping out Felix… and when that little bombshell drops… hehe, that'll change things a little.
Kd7sov: Thank you! Arborification? Hang on… (checks dictionary) (doesn't find it) stupid old edition… oh well, thank you… I think, lol. No, I don't think Weyard did have Rome, but Tolbi seems to be pretty close. Yes, I do like to throw in parts you don't normally see in the game, it's fun! Heh heh, have Mia kick Dodonpa? Okay, then, I will! For you, man, for you!
Spirit Seer: Thanx! Yeah, them little typos… I think I did a good job on them this time, though… (though that probably just jinxed it, now they'll be everywhere, lol!) Cool, glad you like my switching PoV's around. I didn't fit any in this chapter, but we'll see how I can do later on, eh? Thanx for reviewing!
Animeniac: Try it out now, should work.
Corycian Muse: Thank you! I do try to make it as realistic as possible, I like to go for realism. Hey, I did reach 100,000 words, didn't I? Cool! Thank you for the quality comment, makes me feel good. I know I've achieved what I want, then! 'tis also good that you like the 'travelling chapter' thing, seeing as they'll be a few in here simply because of how the game works. I mean, I've got Mogall Forest travelling, Altin mines travelling, Lamakan desert travelling… wow, I'm getting ahead of myself here! But yeah… epic? Never thought of it like that, but thanks!
GoldenSunGeek: Yeah, I didn't expect it to be that long, but at least you liked it. Ah, 'tis okay if you take a break from fanfiction. I've already finished ToS (took me 52 hours! Not bad when the box says it takes 70! Wow, 52 hours of my life gone…) So yeah, take your time!
Okay, then, so that's everyone! I'm glad you all like long chapters (see, feedback helps!) and I'll try to keep them decent sizes, but I don't think I can match that last lengthy post… and I very much doubt I'll go over, but we'll see. Anyhow, hope you like this one!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE CURSE OF TRET
The walk from Bilibin over the next few hours proved to be very uneventful. Indeed for the past few days, monster activity had been rather quiet. There had hardly been any incidents at all since Mercury Lighthouse. Maybe it was the fact that there were four of the now, and of those four were even stronger in Psynergy now than they were before the battle with Saturos.
Monsters seemed to stay well away from towns, or any other crowds of people, but would attack lone travellers or any other seemingly easy targets. But as they trekked closer to Bilibin Barricade, and Kolima Forest, they did start to see more creatures around, though fortunately none came close. But Isaac remained wary. They were all a good deal more powerful than when they started their journey, all of them equal in strength, but they still might run into some nasty monsters.
"I'm hungry. I think its lunchtime now." Garet moaned at about noon. He was always good at knowing when it was time to eat, whether it was breakfast, lunch or tea. He was the human clock that let Isaac and his friends know the time, as well as the human eating machine.
"Alright, let's stop here and have a quick rest." Isaac stated, opening his pack to get lunch out. The others did the same, sitting on some large rock jutting out of the ground. All around the landscape was deceptively peaceful, open grassy plains with occasional trees dotting the scene. No human or monster could sneak up on them unseen.
"How long until we reach Bilibin Barricade, do you think?" Ivan asked over his sandwich.
"We should reach it by the days end." Isaac replied. "We'll know we're getting close when the road starts running alongside a river."
"What about the curse?" Mia asked. "When do you think that will be a problem?"
"I guess we shouldn't have to worry about that until we pass the barricade." Isaac figured. "But still, we should be careful anyway. The Curse's power may have spread."
They both nodded silently and said nothing, looking warily around. Garet was too busy gorging himself with food to say or notice anything.
After finishing, they continued following the path that led to the town of Kolima. Sometime after noon they did indeed find the river that indicated their approach to the Barricade. They quickly stopped only to take a drink and refill their water canteens before continuing on.
It was late afternoon and the sun was low in the sky behind them when they reached the Barricade. The road followed a narrow strip of land between the river to the north-west and the mountains to the south-east. There was no other way to reach Kolima save by crossing the wide river, which ran all the way from the northern mountains to this point, or over the mountain range here, which was a steep obstacle in itself. The Barricade itself was rather unimpressive to say the least.
It covered only the tiny space between the river and the cliffs of the mountain, and was only barely twice Isaac's height. It wasn't very thick at all, a wooden structure seemingly made of wooden crates and logs nailed together. In the centre was a wooden door with a key lock, the way through. Nearby was posted a wooden sign, reading-
"No trespassing without a permit." –Lord McCoy.
"That's the barricade!" Mia asked in disbelief.
"No wonder the guard said we might get past." Ivan said. "There isn't even anyone guarding it!" Indeed the whole place was devoid of any other human life save for them. But then, Isaac could understand why no-one would want to hang around.
"Hey, I can just burn this think down!" Garet exclaimed. He raised his hand to put his words into practice, but Isaac stopped him.
"No, Garet. We're not going to just burn this thing down." Isaac told him. "Let's see if we can try and find a proper way past, first."
Isaac walked right up to take a look at it, the others followed behind him. He could probably just break the door down, or even the entire barricade if he tried, with his powers, but he didn't want to cause any damage to McCoy's property, even if he was responsible for this mess in the first place.
He ran his hand along the walls, pushing to search for any weak spots.
"Come on, Isaac." Garet pleaded behind him. "It'll be easier!"
"No."
"Well, what about you, Mia?" Gare said to the Water Adept. "Can't you just freeze a pathway over the river with your Psynergy?"
"No, I can't, Garet." she replied. "The water is flowing, which makes it more difficult to freeze than still water. Besides, the force of the flow would drag away any platform I make. Even if it didn't, it would still sink under our own weight unless I made it reach the bottom which would take too much power."
"Oh, great." Garet then groaned. "Let's hope Isaac does find a way through then."
Isaac reached a large crate at the end that gave way when he pushed it. He pushed it again. Definitely not nailed to the others. Focusing his Psynergy, Isaac dragged the crate out of its section with invisible forces, leaving a large gap open that was large enough for them all to fit through.
"Hey, Isaac did it!" Ivan crowed.
"Good work!" Mia congratulated.
"All right, sorry I doubted you then." Garet muttered, swallowing his pride.
They crossed through to the other side, and Isaac shut the gap behind them, hiding their passing. This side was hardly much more different than the other side, except for one noticeable difference.
Two human sized trees stood by the edge of the river. Human-trees. One was lying on its side, its roots not even digging into the ground, as though it weren't on the ground when it was "tree-ified" and had since fallen over. And there was a third floating in the river, stuck against two rocks jutting out over the surface.
"Isaac, I think those trees are really people!" Mia gasped.
Ivan quickly ran over to the tree-people and used his mind read ability.
"Yes, these two are both really people." he reported. "And that third one in the river is their friend who fell in!"
"Let's find a way to save it, then!" Isaac suggested.
He rushed to the edge of the river, and started pulling it towards him with his Psynergy. As it was dislodged from the rocks, Isaac grabbed it to prevent the thing from being washed downstream and was prevented from falling in only by Garet joining in and grabbing Isaac's collar, pulling him from behind. As they got it closer to shore, Ivan and Mia came in to join them and they quickly got it safely to solid ground and upright again. As they sat down to rest, Ivan cast a Psynergy spell on it.
"Her name is Jill." Ivan told him after mind reading the tree. "And she says thank you for saving her."
"No problem!" Isaac grinned. "Always willing to help those in need!" It felt kind of strange talking to a tree though, he had to admit.
"So the curse has spread this far, then." Mia stated.
"Looks like we got a dangerous trek ahead of us, then." Isaac noted.
"Hey, what was the tree doing in the water anyway?" Gare asked aloud. "Were they trying to swim across when the Curse got them?" Ivan mind read one of the two original trees.
"The three of them were climbing up on one another's shoulder when the Curse hit them." Ivan replied. "They were trying to get some persimmons from atop that cliff." Ivan pointed to the top of the small cliff, where, indeed, some persimmons were growing. "But after being turned into trees, the two at the top lost balance and fell off. One landed on the ground, while the other, Jill, fell in the river."
"Do you think we'll find others like this?" Garet asked.
"Let's hope not." Isaac answered. "I don't want to waste anymore of our time. Let's hurry; there are still a couple of hours of daylight left."
So they shouldered their packs and continued on their way down the dirt path. Isaac warily kept his eyes on their surrounding the whole way. Everything seemed normal. Every tree they passed Isaac carefully looked at. But they were all normal. And they hadn't started turning into trees yet, that was good. Nothing about them suggested that the Curse of Tret was going to get them. But they trudged on silently anyway, wary for any unexpected change.
When they stopped to camp for the night, by the side of the road, they sat by the camp fire uncomfortably, eyes watching their surroundings.
"Where do you think Saturos will be heading now?" Ivan asked abruptly, shattering the silence.
"There's only one way to go." Isaac replied. "South, over the Mogall Prairie, near the Fuchin Temple. But anyway, they'll have to pass through the town of Kolima, and likely the people who have been "tree-ified" there will see them, so we can find out how far behind we are."
"Sounds like a plan." Mia said. "But what do you think we should do for supplies? There won't be anyone selling in Kolima." Isaac shrugged.
"We'll just have to see what we can find in the shops there." he replied, then grinned. "We won't steal anything. I'll leave some gold coins behind." He didn't exactly want to steal, no matter what the circumstances.
"Let's hope the curse doesn't get to us first though." Garet muttered, with a frown.
"Nothing's happened so far." Ivan shrugged.
"We'll make it." Isaac muttered. "I hope."
That night they all decided it was best if one person stayed up to watch over them, while the others slept, taking it in turns and agreeing to wake the others is something did occur.
x
The next day, they continued their trek to Kolima. Nothing had happened to them last night, and nothing happened now. Maybe the Curse just didn't affect Adepts? As they were walking, Isaac came to realise something. All the animals around, birds, foxes; they were all normal. They went about their daily routine unchanged. The curse didn't affect them. Only humans. Well, it had been humans who cut down trees from Kolima Forest, so it made sense that it only targeted tem.
To the north, Kolima Forest was only just visible on the horizon. Isaac kept his eyes away from it. Those trees must have been tall to be visible from so far. He didn't want to be cursed by their power.
The town of Kolima was soon within sight and they rushed to investigate. Kolima was a town carved out of giant trees; houses, Inns and other buildings carved into gigantic trunks. The town was as big as Bilibin, but many times taller as the trees reached up into the sky. They must have been some 30 foot high!
As they entered, Isaac became aware of the lack of people. Nowhere in the dirt streets or in the buildings when they looked through windows, were there any people. But small, human sized trees were everywhere. All of which were covered in a variety of regular looking clothing. Isaac could guess what they were.
All along the ground lay a fine layer of sparkly, glowing powder, thicker in some places than others, as though someone had just randomly scattered fairy dust everywhere.
Some of the trees looked as though they were just in the middle of something. One looked almost to be in the middle of walking. Another had a door half open in a hand-like branch. Through a window, he saw a tree hold some coins over a counter in one branch while another tree's branch reached for it.
All around, the silence was… haunting. In the middle of a forest town and nothing to be heard except some distant birds chirping, and their own breathing.
"I can't hear anything…" Isaac murmured.
"It's quiet…" Garet noted. "Too quiet."
"This is kind of disturbing." Mia said.
"What's wrong, Ivan?" Garet asked. Isaac turned to see the Jupiter Adept standing by one of the trees, focusing his mind read power.
"This tree… was a person." He confirmed their fears. So they were right. No surprise there.
"Everyone in Kolima has been turned into a tree." Isaac noted, thinking aloud.
"Why?" Mia asked. "Why would Tret do something so cruel?"
"Because maybe he's an angry, wrathful tree." Isaac guessed. "But who could have imagined that this…" He trailed off. Kolima was worse than he thought.
"I see…" Mia started. "Who could have known?"
"What is it now, Ivan?" Garet asked the Wind Adept, who was now kicking a pile of the fine sparkly powder.
"This sparkly stuff on the ground…" Ivan murmured. "I wonder what it is…" Isaac shrugged in reply.
Suddenly, something seemed to attack Isaac's mind, pain exploding everywhere in his brain, and he felt his body crumble to the floor, unable to move.
"What's happening!" Garet screamed. They were all lying on the ground, unable to move. Isaac felt fine physically, but whenever he tried to move… nothing happened.
"My mind!" Ivan squealed. "Something's attacking my-" he cut off, unable to continue. Isaac could still breath normal, his heart was beating, he could shift his eyes and even speak evidently, but not move a muscle. And his mind screamed in pain.
"What's that?" Garet asked loudly, sounding shocked. "Something's falling from the sky!"
Isaac flicked his eyes over and saw that hundreds of sparkling drops of powder were slowly floating from the sky, landing lightly on whatever they hit. They were falling some distance from where they were now, but they were slowly coming towards them.
"It's sparkling!" Ivan exclaimed. "Could this be what turned those people into…?" But he didn't say it.
"I think so!" Isaac replied. The sparkly things were now falling only metres from them now.
"We have to get out of here!" Ivan called out
"I can't! I can't move!" Garet growled between clenched teeth. They were floating within arms reach now. Soon.
As the first flakes of sparkling power floated down above his head, Isaac closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. But nothing happened.
Opening his eyes, he saw that he and the others were suddenly surrounded by partly transparent blue domes that deflected the things. As soon as they came into contact with the surface of the domes, they just dissipated with the sound of raindrops landing in water. Dozens of the things hit their domes and vanished before the shower of sparkly drops passed by. As soon as they were gone, the transparent blue domes shrunk into their bodies and vanished. Isaac couldn't believe it. They'd been saved!
"Isaac…" Garet called from his place on the ground. They still couldn't move. "What just happened to us? That barrier… what was it?"
"I have absolutely no idea." Isaac replied from where he lay.
Ivan spoke up, "I think I know what those domes were…" Then he went silent.
"What do you think they were, Ivan?" Mia prompted, laying on her back, unable to move.
"It was our Psynergy." the Wind Adept stated simply.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Garet exclaimed. "I didn't use any Psynergy!"
Isaac didn't think they could have done anything. The pain in his mind subsided. Suddenly, Garet stood up, shocking the others.
"Hey… I can stand… I can move again!" he called out excitedly. Isaac moved to get back on his feet and found much to his surprise that he could.
"Ivan, Mia, its okay!" he called to the other two. "Go ahead! Stand up!"
They stood up, relief clear upon their faces. He still felt exactly the same as before, just now his muscles responded when he tried to move.
"I was worried I'd never move again for a while there!" Mia exclaimed. "I don't know of any cure for permanent paralysis."
"Those barriers…" Ivan mused. "I thought that Psynergy was only used when we concentrated, right?"
"That's right." Isaac nodded. "That's how I've always summoned my power."
"The powers of the Mercury Clan were always taught that way." Mia stated. "Through meditation and concentration."
"Sometimes,
when I was training," Garet began, "I'd focus so hard, I
thought my head would burst."
"Well, maybe it's just easier
for you." Ivan shrugged in response, "but when I use Psynergy...
Anyway, I'm certain that was Psynergy we were projecting. I think
that must mean that some Psynergy only acts when it's needed."
"You mean, like when we're in danger?" Garet asked.
"I think it's like when we suddenly learn new abilities in battle." Isaac guessed. "Or when we're saved by summoning some Psynergy we didn't realise we knew. We can't control it, but it's there when we need it."
"I agree with what Isaac is saying." Ivan said. "It is definitely possible…"
"I know what you mean." Mia added. "When I was a little girl, I was once so desperate to heal a sick relative; I summoned some power without even knowing what I did."
Isaac could remember when he was in the cave with the bats, and formed a shield about himself without even realising it. Or when Garet had deflected a fiery blast from Saturos atop Mercury even though he couldn't possibly have had time to do it... Likely the others had had similar experiences.
"Wouldn't it be something if we could use that power at any time, Isaac?" Garet asked.
"Yes, that would come in handy." Isaac replied, nodding.
"Yeah! Let's start trying to master this power!" Garet suggested, with an enthusiastic smile.
"Watch out!" Ivan suddenly warned. "It's happening again!"
Again, a shower of sparkling particles floating slowly down from the sky some way off, slowly approaching them. As it approached, Isaac focused himself. No paralysis afflicted them this time, but he was still prepared. Just as the particles began to fall nearby, the familiar transparent blue domes appeared around them like before. The particles again vanished with the sound of light, small splashes, as their power contacted that of the domes. The particle shower ceased and their protective domes faded.
Isaac couldn't quite put his finger on that involuntary Psynergy. It came from within him somehow, yet how or why eluded him. Trying to control it, its power just seemingly slipped through his fingers.
"Hroom! Why?" A loud angry, wrathful male voice suddenly boomed in Isaac's head. "Why don't they turn into trees…?"
"Who are they?" A female voice, this one tinged with sorrow and sadness, then asked, from somewhere around them. "What people are these, who are immune to Tret's glamour? Have they come to save the village with their strange powers? It will not be enough to save the people of Kolima."
"Can you hear that?" Isaac asked the others. They looked at him quizzically, and Garet asked him what he was talking about.
"They have earned their fate…" the deep, angry male voice then said in response to the female voice that Isaac had heard. "Kolima took their axes to me, and now I shall take mine to them!"
That voice… could it be?
"That voice, did you hear it?" They shook their heads.
"You know, hearing voices in your isn't usually considered a good sign, Isaac…" Garet said slowly.
"You
children may not know this…" the female voice then said to
Isaac sympathetically, "but we are dying. And Kolima Forest will
wither and die when we are gone."
"We are not the only ones
who will die, Laurel." The deep male voice then reminded her
aggressively. "Once we are gone, they too, will go!"
Laurel was her name. Could that mean the male was…
"Who are they?" Ivan asked. "Are the voices of the trees talking to you?"
"Yes, and I think I know who they are…" Isaac replied slowly.
"Tret was once a kindly forest king." Laurel then informed them as though reading Isaac's mind. "But he is dying, and his heart has been torn in two… His wrathful side turned the people of Kolima into trees. The kind Tret speaks no more."
"Hroom! The kindly heart invites destruction…" Tret growled. "I need no kindness!"
"If you wish to save those whom Tret turned into trees, you must reawaken his gentle side. Laurel said, But… if you cannot stop Tret from withering, we all will… Look for Tret deep within the forest."
"It's no use, Laurel." Tret told her. "Humans cannot be trusted! I shall die… and the rest of the forest shall die with me!"
Then they were gone, their presence no longer felt in Isaac's heart.
"I could hear the voice of Tret and Laurel." Isaac said now that the conversation was over. He explained everything. "I guess I could hear them because I'm an Earth Adept."
They sat their silently for a moment. Tret and Laurel… how had they spoken to him like that if they were deep in the forest? And they needed to be helped or… could they just abandon the people of Kolima to their fate?
"Isaac…" Ivan began slowly. "Don't you think we should do something? I feel so sorry for these people…"
"Yes, I think there is." Isaac replied, looking around sadly at the "tree-ified" people of Kolima.
"What can we do?" Garet asked. "Do you have any idea?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." he responded, turning to face the direction of Kolima Forest.
"It looks like Isaac has something in mind." Mia observed of the Earth Adept.
"We'll leave it up to you, Isaac." Ivan told the party leader. "Let's go save everyone."
So the four of them, under Isaac's lead, left Kolima and its residents behind them to head north to the deep, dark demesne of Kolima Forest.
x
By the end of the day, they were only a short distance from Kolima Forest. It was a long walk, and the tall trees were visible in the fading daylight. But the four Adepts made camp rather than face Kolima Forest at night. Nothing had happened to them, except an increasing sense of foreboding.
Again, they chose to take it in turns on sentry duty, just in case. Nothing had happened, and their powers had proven effective at defending them against Tret's powers, but better to be safe.
Early the next day, they entered the forest of Kolima. It had the appearance of age old trees, stretching far above, going deep into the heart of the forest. But there was an air of darkness and deceptive danger about them. They continued deep into the forest until trees surrounded them on all sides and they had no idea where they were going. Along the way, they seen many tree stumps and chopped down trunks. The work of Kolima lumberjacks. Apart from the huge trees surrounding them, they also encountered smaller, human-trees.
Many were simply woodcutters caught in the forest when the curse struck. But others still were warriors. Ivan always told them who they were by mind reading the victims. A few were soldiers from Bilibin who had been sent in to find and slay Tret. A couple were mercenaries from Lunpa, keen to find a reward and ignoring the dangers of the curse. There was a warrior who had come from Xian and another who had come from Tolbi and wanted to be a 'Colosso Warrior', whatever that was. And there were others, warriors, fighters and mercenaries all sent in to defeat Tret.
And all failures. Isaac had no really idea where he was leading the others, just deeper into the forest, but he had a feeling. He was surrounded by his element. He could only hope his gut feeling would guide him and the others to the right place.
If that had been all to the forest, including the ever-present fear of the Curse, the journey would have been easy, excusing the fact that they were lost. But it wasn't. Trees weren't the only things to populate Kolima Forest. Monsters crept around behind trees, hunting them, keeping them all on edge. They all had their weapons drawn and eyes intensely focused on their surroundings. Isaac's mind was intensely focused; he was ready to unleash a number of Psynergy spells at anything that attacked. At first, no creatures came near them; perhaps the sight of humans not turned into trees confused them. Their numbers may have scared off the individual ones, as had done so previously in their quest. At any rate, it wasn't long before they were assaulted.
A swarm of larges wasps, the size of Isaac's chest appeared from ahead of them, buzzing towards them with large pointed stingers aimed for attack.
Ivan immediately raised his Shaman's Rod and called down bolts of lighting blasting many of the creatures down to the ground, where they failed to move again.
Garet raised his hand and formed dozens of small fireballs which flew through the air and incinerated every wasp that they camp into contact with. Mia unleashed shards of jagged, razor sharp icicles from the orb of her Angelic Ankh, which sliced through the bodies of several monsters, leaving bloodied messes. Isaac managed to crush a couple with a stone spire attack before they descended upon them.
He fought hard with his blade, slicing every one of the insects that came near him. He even launched a few more stone spires at some others. Ivan was using his short sword to defend himself against any that came too close, while blasting others with bolts of lightning until he decided to summons a whirlwind about himself, preventing any from coming near him. Garet started hacking as many as he could with his large axe, while burning away others with his Fire Psynergy. Mia was also heavily involved in defending herself, unleashing torrents of frost, water and sharp icicles at her assailants. Any that came to close were hit her Ankh, falling to the ground in a thick, heavy coating of ice. They were able to defend themselves without major injury and killed most of their attackers.
Soon, the swarm suddenly decided to stop attacking and withdrew, having suffered heavy losses and clearly defeated. Wasting no time, Isaac led them away through the forest. Although they were all somewhat injured, the assault had left them with minor cuts and bruises, they continued on for fear of a renewed assault. As soon as they found a small clearing, they immediately halted for a rest.
Isaac focused his Psynergy and uprooted all the nearby bushes and plants, creating small tremors in the earth to fell several small trees so that nothing could possibly sneak up on them unseen. Plus it would scare of anything that was nearby. Then, he sat down to rest, with the others.
Mia insisted on healing them all instead of Isaac. She argued that Water Psynergy was better at healing then Earth Psynergy, and besides, she was a trained Psynergetic healer who had been healing since she first began training, while he wasn't.
They didn't rest easy, keeping a wary eye out for any potential attackers, but fortunately none came. They would have seen any well before they reached them, thanks to Isaac's work at clearing the area.
After Mia had healed everyone's wounds- they had all received minor scratches or bruises but no one had actually been stung- they sat down to a quick lunch. According to the sun above them, it was about noon.
"How much longer 'til we get to this Tret tree?" Garet asked while they were resting.
"I'm not sure; I don't know exactly where it is." Isaac answered.
"You mean we're lost?" he asked.
"No, I can… feel the power of the forest in the trees here." Isaac explained. "I can sense that the focus of that power, Tret and Laurel, are up ahead that way." He pointed in a northward direction. "So I have an idea of where we're headed."
"And what about on the way back?" Ivan asked. Isaac cast his eyes downward.
"We'll just have to find a way." he sighed.
"Great, so even if we succeed, we're trapped in here." Garet groaned.
"Let's hope not." Isaac stated, getting up to leave. Having finished their rest, they left the relative safety of the clearing to continue deeper into the old forest at Isaac's lead.
They encountered a troll while they were trying to drive off a few fat, green worms with razor sharp claws protruding form their back. While they were finishing off the last of them, there had only been a few, Ivan had stepped back and bumped into the large brown-furred creature which had been sleeping inconspicuously against a large tree trunk. Awaking with a start, the creature stood up to it's full height of ten feet, grabbing the stolen wood-axe and trying to blink half asleep eyes awake. Before it had a chance to do anything, Ivan stretched out his open hand and focused some form of Psynergy at it, white glowing particles dancing about its head. The Troll yawned, dropped its axe, and fell asleep once more, crashing to the ground.
"How did you do that?" Mia asked him as Isaac and Garet returned. "I've never seen any ability like that, which can put creatures to sleep."
"It's just something I learned myself while I grew up with Hammet." Ivan shrugged modestly. "It's nothing special."
"Hey, that's great!" Garet exclaimed. "We shouldn't have to fight monsters if you can just put them to sleep!"
"No, it doesn't work like that." Ivan stated, shaking his head. "That troll thing was already half-asleep, and not trying to resist. If it had been awake, it would have been very difficult, and more so if it tried to resist."
"So, basically, it only works if they're already tired?" Isaac asked.
"That's right." Ivan answered. "In the middle of a battle, it would have been nearly impossible to make it work. I was just hoping to avoid having to fight it."
"Well, it should come in handy anyway." Isaac said.
They continued making their way through the forest. Isaac could sense that they were getting very close to the heart of Kolima Forest's power. The source of all the life of the trees about them was looming up ahead. As he focused on the well being of the trees, he slowly became aware that they were, indeed, suffering, dying. The life force was slipping and it was only held onto because Tret still lived.
They passed a large pond, severed tree trunks floating in its water. Kolima woodchoppers had been here too. But up ahead… they were so close. They passed through the last of the large trees, and suddenly found themselves in a wide meadow, overshadowed by two large trees. Isaac stared straight at them. They were massive! They stood under the eaves of the nearest one, the branches reached over a hundred feet in the air! The trunk was thicker than a house! And there carved upon the trunk before them, was a beautiful, young wizened female face, with her eyes closed and a look of perpetual sorrow upon her face. As they stood in front of her, Laurel opened her eyes, and looked at them sympathetically.
"Who are you?" she asked slowly, voice tinged with sorrow. "Oh! You are the ones who resisted Tret's glamour?" Isaac nodded. "I sense great warmth within you…" she mused closing her eyes. She opened them again, and looked at them with pity. "If you came to rescue Tret, you are already too late. Soon, Tret will die, and we will wither away without him. Leave now, before this forest is destroyed…"
"No! You can't die yet!" Isaac declared. "We're going to heal Tret and reawaken his gentle side!" But all Laurel could do was tell them to leave, the forest was dying.
"Come on, Isaac. Let's go see Tret." Garet suggested.
They left the silent Laurel tree to investigate the other monolithic tree, Tret. The face upon the trunk seemed strong and masculine, old and wise. Now his eyes were closed in silent sleep, unaware of anything around him.
"Tret, are you there?" Isaac asked. "Talk to us!" Only silence answered him. Then, Tret's voice boomed around them from elsewhere, not from the face.
"Hroom! He will not speak to you, child!" the other Tret, his wrathful side, spat. "I control all in Tret's realm!" The face of Tret's other half made no flicker of movement. Laurel had said they must reawaken his gentle side.
"Tret, you must suppress the evil in you!" Isaac told the tree. "Wake up!"
The face of the kind Tret gave no response. And the evil Tret said nothing.
"Isaac, he won't reply, I don't think." Garet said.
Ivan focused his Mind Read Psynergy upon the tree briefly, and then gave up.
"I can't reach him." he sighed.
"Somehow we have to heal his good half, reawaken him." Mia suggested.
"How would we do that?" Garet asked.
"I have an idea." Isaac said. Then he closed his eyes, and focused on the power within him, the warm healing Venus Psynergy filling his body. Placing an open hand upon the tree, he channelled the power out of his body and directed it into the tree. But his healing power achieved nothing, failed to reach Tret.
"It won't work." he sighed. "I can't reach him."
"What, so it's hopeless." Garet asked.
"There has to be something we can do!" Ivan exclaimed.
"There must be a way to heal him!" Mia pleaded. Isaac thought for a moment. They could try reaching into the core of Tret's power.
"The tree is hollow." Isaac informed them. "I can sense it. I think if we try and enter… we can find the heart of Tret, and reawaken him from there."
"It's worth a shot." Ivan shrugged.
"Let's go, then!" Garet grinned.
The four of them climbed up one of the thick vines that hung down Tret's trunk from his lower branches, they were well capable of supporting their weight, and they began climbing along the huge branches that were wide enough for them to walk along. Always, they were guided by Isaac's earth sense.
There were many of these thick branches, and they climbed steadily up, sometimes with the aid of thick vines to make their way to higher branches. Up and up slowly, to dizzying heights, until eventually, the ground was an indistinct blur a long way below them.
Finally, they found a crack in the trunk somewhere near the top that allowed them access into the hollow trunk. From there, Isaac had to lead them down, down, into the heart of Tret.
There were some thick spider webs that they were miraculously able to walk across, woven by overly large monster spiders. The inside of the tree was like a large, hollow wooden cylinder, with several sections of wooden, uneven "floors" dotted unevenly at random heights, although these floors had some large holes inside of them that the spider webs covered.
It was while trying to walk across the first of these webs that they came across the giant spiders that made them.
Looking like normal spiders, except for being big enough to reach Garet's waist, four of them crept slowly towards them quietly, though not unnoticed. Ivan whipped one away with a small whirlwind, drawing his sword. Garet was about to incinerate another, with a very well placed fireball, but Isaac stopped him. If he did that, the web would catch fire, and they would fall.
Mia froze one to the web in its tracks as it approached them, allowing Garet to cleave it with his axe. Isaac beat another off with his sword, severing off two of its legs, before managing to slice through its head.
He turned to see that Ivan had already killed the first one, while Garet and Mia were finishing off the last. Those things had been easy; they hadn't put up much of a fight. It was clear they were growing more powerful, they were defeating monsters they encountered with more and more ease.
They continued making their way steadily down. If there were any other giant spiders, along the way, they didn't see them. Perhaps their earlier demonstration had scared them off. At any rate, they reached the very bottom of the tree without further incident, into the heart of Tret.
In a large, hollow, circular cylinder, with a flat wooden floor and no way out save by climbing a thick, leafy vine, they found Tret himself.
Carved into the far wall was a face, just like the one on the outside of the trunk. Wise, old and sleeping. As the four of them approached, Tret opened his oaken eyes, and looked at them for the first time.
"Hm, Hrrooomm! You! You hoped to find my kindly self?" Tret sneered in a maddened voice. "Fools! You should never have come here, and now, you shall never leave! You powers protected you before in the forest, but now you are in the heart of my power. Here, you will all become trees, and you'll wither with the rest of us!"
Then the evil Tret attacked. Vines whipped down at them from the ceiling and walls, attempting to lash them. Isaac was only barely able to whip out his sword and sever the vines before they struck. Luckily, for they were covered in thick thorns.
The other struggled to defend themselves. Ivan quickly slashed away a couple of thick brambles, before blasting the others away with thick bolts of lightning plasma, leaving the incinerated vines lying blackened on the ground around him.
Mia pierced several vines with shards of ice blasting from her staff, and froze over any others that came too close to her. Garet, being the slowest of them, didn't react in time, getting tangled in the sharp brambles. But he made up for it by being the most effective Psynergy user against them. Blasts of fire incinerated the thorny plants around him, then he proceeded to burn everything that came near him so thoroughly, that he didn't even need to use the axe that he now held in one hand.
Tret gave a growl of rage, and then focused more Psynergy about the room. Psynergy! So that was where he got his power. Isaac should have known.
Abruptly, the room began to shake fiercely, Tret was creating an earthquake! Isaac looked to the face of Tret in the wall. They had to stop him, and that would have to be his weak point. The earthquake made it difficult to balance, they had difficulty standing, and the vines now found it easier to reach them.
Isaac formed an earthen Psynergy shield about him to protect himself, similar to what he had learned in the town of Kolima. The others were now struggling to defend themselves against Tret's onslaught. Garet had erected a flare wall around him, while he struggled to stay on his feet. At least the fire kept he vines away from him.
Ivan had a powerful whirlwind around himself, making it impossible for the vines to reach him. But he couldn't keep it up forever, his power would drain.
Mia even now had formed a protective barrier of ice around herself, keeping her safe. But Tret's vines were slamming against it trying to make it crack. How much longer before it broke?
Isaac focused his mind on the movements of the earth caused by Tret's power. If he could counter-act it, cast a power of equal and opposite strength…
Focusing Psynergy into the earth of the tree-floor, he generated tremors of equal strength, but of a rhythm that halted its movements. With his protective barrier about him, Tret couldn't stop him, at least not for a short while. But he couldn't keep up the effort of two Psynergy spells for long.
The earth tremors subsided temporarily, enough for the others to stand steadily once again. Tret's face whipped around in its bark base to face Isaac, fury glaring in his eyes. Immediately, the vines ceased their assault on the other Adepts to attack Isaac. At the same time, Tret redoubled his efforts to destroy them with other methods. The ground shook with intensive ferocity, and Isaac had to focus all his power on preventing it to keep Tret from destroying the whole tree. Tret might not have realised, but he was focusing enough Psynergetic might into the floor to destroy himself, if Isaac relented, then they would have failed to save Kolima. He let his barrier dissipate to try and stop Tret from accidentally killing himself. Fortunately, his friends leapt to his defence. Fighting together in one group instead of separately as they had before, they were a much more effective fighting force.
Tret's vines lashed themselves at them and more grew spontaneously out of the walls from Psynergy to attack, but with Fire, Wind and Ice, the attacks were beaten off.
Meanwhile, Tret still tried to summon enough energy to overpower Isaac and unleash a terrible earthquake, just for the simple factor of defeating a human, not caring or realizing he would destroy himself.
But Isaac focused all his energy into the ground, against Tret's own, preventing any such catastrophe. Isaac's friends weren't aware of what he was doing; only that he was focusing all of his Psynergy with immense concentration into the floor, and he must know what he was doing, so they should protect him.
Finally, Tret seemed to give up and ceased what he was trying to do, and Isaac was only barely able to pull his power back in time before he unleashed a devastating blow that would have killed Tret.
Furious, Tret pulled back all his power for a more focused, more ferocious attack to destroy them. Finally allowing a break in his Psynergy channelling intensive concentration, Isaac called out to his friends, "We have to stope him! Attack the head, but don't kill him!"
Immediately, Ivan summoned a huge, powerful liquid blue-purple lightning bolt from his Shaman's Rod that slammed into Tret with great force. Tret was taken by surprise, unable to defend himself and ceasing his attempted assault upon them. Seizing the window of opportunity, Garet hurled an immense, powerful fireball like a heatwave at Tret, which incinerated all the vines that got in it's way, and slammed into Tret exploding in a powerful, fiery onslaught dealing a further heavy blow to Tret. The bark around Tret was now thoroughly blackened, and burning away still.
"Wait! You can't kill him!" Isaac shouted. He would have done something, but he was temporarily too exhausted to summon his power.
Mia heard him, though, and cast a Water Psynergy she had told them was called "Douse", which formed dozens of fat raindrops, all slamming into Tret and putting out the fire the consumed him, leaving the bark black, burnt and damp.
All at once, everything changed. Tret made no attempt to further assault them, and his energy, his aura was, at least to Isaac's sense, different. It was more… unified, less… destructive seemed to be the only way Isaac could describe it. Tret's facial expression no longer seemed the same either.
"Oh… hmm… what has happened to me?" he asked in his old, wizened deep voice. But it no longer sounded the same. It sounded somehow more kind, caring and calm. "Was I… I see… my heart was all but lost in my rage." They had reawakened his gentle side!
"And you defeated the evil within me?" he asked, looking to the four of them. Isaac nodded. "I thank you. I could not leave this world with so much evil in my heart. I am free now to leave the world without regret. Good-bye, great warriors."
Isaac began to feel the last of Tret's life-force drain away.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Garet exclaimed. "We can't let Tret die like this!"
"That's right, Isaac, we still need his help!" Ivan added.
"Wait Tret!" Isaac shouted.
"What? Why have you not left me to my dying?" Tret asked, opening his eyes again. "Do you need something?"
"Yes, the people of Kolima." Isaac reminded him. "They need your help. You turned them into trees."
"I turned the people of Kolima into trees?" Tret exclaimed, surprised. "Hroom! I must release them before they die with the forest!"
Then Tret closed his eyes, and waves of Psynergy emanated from him and out of the tree, Psynergy to change them back. If Tret would die, at least they would have saved the people of Kolima. His power was, however, thin and weak, failing.
Tret stopped his power, and heaved a deep sigh, causing the tree to shudder with him.
"I can't do it…" he admitted with a sigh. "My power no longer reaches Kolima… People of Kolima… forgive me…" Then he faded from them, his face dematerialising into the burnt bark.
"Oh no, Tret's too weak!" Garet moaned. "He doesn't have the power to save Kolima!"
"No! We have to heal him!" Mia insisted.
"Every life in Kolima depends on us!" Isaac said.
"Let's go, Isaac." Mia suggested. "We can't do anything more in here. Let's go outside and see if we can decide on something."
"This tree isn't quite dead, yet." Isaac mused, looking around. "We might be able to save it still."
"What do you mean, Isaac?" Garet inquired. "Didn't you just see Tret die?"
"Not quite, Garet." Isaac replied. "He's dying and very nearly gone, but there is still some life force in him."
"So we can still save him then?" Ivan asked hopefully.
"It's worth a try." Isaac shrugged.
x
Outside of the Tret tree, they asked Laurel what might be done to save Tret.
"Tret is dying, and we shall wither away without him. But we thank you for giving us the chance to pass away in peace." she told them.
"But there must be something that can be done to save him." Ivan pleaded. "While he's still alive, there's a chance!"
"The healing waters of Mercury Lighthouse may have saved him." she replied. "But the fountain has long since dried up." Hermes Water!
"Hermes Water is what we need." Ivan exclaimed.
"I wish we'd brought some with us!" Garet groaned.
Herme's Water; it brings rejuvenation to all that lives. Of course that would have helped!
"I brought a bottle of it with us." Mia told them. "Before we left, I went and filled up an empty bottle with it. I thought we might need some for our journey…" she produced from her blue pack a bottle of the sacred powerful liquid.
Quickly, they poured the water at the foot of the giant tree that was Tret. Sinking into the soil, Tret's powerful roots absorbed its nourishing power, and Isaac felt new life flow through Tret.
"I feel a great power spreading through me…" Tret slowly began, opening his eyes once more. "Hroom…. Life flows through me once again."
"Tret…" Laurel began, looking around, "As you have recovered, so has our forest…"
"I am sorry to have worried you so, Laural." Tret apologized. "And you, young ones… didn't you have a favour to ask me?"
"Yes, the people of Kolima!" Isaac reminded him. "They're still trees!"
"Yes, Tret… you must turn the people of Kolima into humans again." Laurel told him.
"Yes, that's right!" Tret remembered. "I must hurry."
A large, powerful wave of pulsating Psynergy began emitting from Tret as he closed his oaken eyes and concentrated. This was a great many times more effective than his previous attempt, and didn't fail this time.
"That should do it." Tret said as he ceased his efforts. "The people of Kolima are cursed no more."
"Tret did not always possess this horrible power." Laurel informed them.
"It only started when those strange gem stones fell from the sky." Tret explained.
"Gems from the sky…" Garet mused. "Do you think he means Psynergy Stones?" That did make sense, Isaac thought. Psynergy Stones had been blasted all over the place from Aleph.
"Yes, I think they did do this." Isaac replied.
"You really think Psynergy Stones caused all of this trouble?" Mia asked, looking around not quite fully understanding. Isaac could feel the forest slowly returning to life again.
"I was indeed angry that the people had laid waste to my forest…" Tret began. "They had even taken their axes to me!" Isaac could see where the axe strokes had cut Tret in his trunk. "Those gems fell into my branches… Then all of a sudden… my fury overwhelmed me, and I was lost in anger!"
"The gems reached me when I was filled with sorrow…" Laurel added. "Our actions spoke our hearts desires, but we had no idea…"
"Those gems twisted my anger into a force beyond my control." Tret rued.
"Have any of the saplings been transformed by those stones, Tret?" Laurel asked. Tret looked around, and then seemed to close his eyes and concentrate.
"No." he said, opening his eyes again. "Only the elder trees were affected by the falling Psynergy Stones."
"There were others that this happened to?" Garet asked, shocked.
"So the same thing could be happening elsewhere!" Ivan exclaimed.
"You must have fought many monsters on your way here." Laurel assumed.
"Yes, we did." Isaac replied.
"Those monsters…" Garet began. "Maybe they were just animals that were…" he trailed off, understanding fully the horror that Saturos and Menardi had unleashed in their quest for power.
"Once, they were pure of heart…" Tret mused. "Hroom… those gems have brought a great evil to the world…" Saturos and Menardi, and their cohorts Felix and Alex had a lot to answer for. Abruptly, Laurel closed her leafy eyes and focused her power, glowing light blue with Psynergy.
"Oh! Laurel, you were given powers, too?" Ivan asked in a surprised voice.
"Different from my own." Tret explained. "But stemming from the same source."
"Laurel! What are you doing?" Mia asked, interested.
"Wait. You will soon see." Tret assured them. Laurel's energy focus ceased.
"What did you see, Laurel?" Tret asked her when she was finished.
"It's true – even the animals have become monsters." she replied. "And beyond the river…"
"The river that feeds our forest?" Tret inquired.
"Yes…" she replied. "And evil forest had risen up to the south of the river."
"Will you be heading south across the river?" Tret asked the four Adepts.
"Yes, we have to." Isaac replied. "The people who caused this mess, that's the only way they could go. We must hurry after them; it's very important that they're stopped."
"Hroom… you seem very brave and noble, young one." Tret said deeply. "I wonder if you may be another group of heroes for this world…"
"You are the ones that set out to save Weyard from destruction, are you not?" Laurel asked.
"Yes, we all want to stop Saturos and Menardi." Isaac answered.
"Saturos… Menardi… yes, they are the ones that took the four Stars from Sol Sanctum…" Laurel mused. "They wish to release Alchemy. They will release power and destruction upon the world, I fear."
"That's why we have to stop them!" Garet declared. "Everything depends on us!"
"Hroom… you remind me so much… of the noble Adepts of old" Tret mused. "So long ago, in the Lost Age of Man… when Psynergy users were kind and pure of heart… before power corrupted them. I remember during that horrible war, such heroes as yourselves rested in my forest while they attempted to save the world from itself. I wonder if you are they reborn…"
Heroes reborn? Isaac had never thought of it like that.
"No, we're just Adepts caught up in dangerous times." Ivan replied modestly.
"Hmm… but you seem very strong and heroic." Tret replied. "I believe much depends upon you. I remember when the world had Alchemy, and the Elements were full of life… now that time is gone and world does not seem they way it once was… perhaps you may bring about another Golden Age of Weyard."
"Yes, I agree." Laurel said. "The world is not they way it once was, since Alchemy was sealed away, and the last heroes saved Weyard. But an evil force stirs once more, and I suspect that you may save the world… I feel it in the Earth…"
"Thank you." Isaac replied a little sheepishly.
"But now, you must go south." Laurel informed them. "To the dangerous Mogall Forest."
"That area will only grow more dangerous as time passes…" Tret warned gravely. "If you must go, you'd better hurry. I owe you a great debt. You have saved Kolima, the forest and me."
"May your roots dig deep and your branches reach high." Laurel farewelled them. The Adepts said good-bye, and then turned to leave Kolima Forest.
X
A/N That's that! Um… what should I put here? … I dunno, so just review, please?