Anya POV:

After we stocked up on supplies in the Sheep Tribe Camp, our group proceeded to the Forest of the Dead and, let's just say, the place was very accurately named. The ground was barren with few patches of grass. The trees were lifeless with rotted fruits in their branches. And I could feel the ominous magics of poison and spiritual enemies all around us. "Be wary, guys. I sense danger in these woods. Let's try to find the Gabo Plant," I said as we ventured forward.

After traveling for a bit, we soon encountered some ghastly enemies in the form of Skeletons, Scavenger Wolf Ghosts, and the occasional Grinning Ghost, which had powerful physical attacks. I then gasped when we came to an area that was an island surrounded by a lake of poison. And in the center of the island was a tree that had magic! I rushed forward across the bridge and took care of the enemies before speaking to the tree, everyone joining up as well.

"Excuse me, can you assist us?" I asked, the others looking at me in confusion that I was talking to a tree. But then it spoke to us.

"Please... find my stolen soul... to the southeast... past the poison mist... I will repay your... kindness..." the tree said, his voice very raspy in my head and in the others' heads as well.

"Spooky... so we need to find a soul of a tree beyond some poison mist? How do we deal with that?" Marumaro asked.

"I'll go. But even then, it'll be tough. Poison through skin is one thing. But if it's a mist, and it happens to go in my body through my face, it's a direct feed to my brain. Poisoned brain equals dead Anya... I'll just have to rely on my echolocation features while closing all orifices while I travel through that mist. You should stay here. I'll be back soon," I said as everyone stayed in that place and I proceeded to close all of my different holes on my head. I shrunk my ears, my nose holes clogged themselves with perfect plugs, I closed my eyes tight and made sure my mouth was shut as I then activated my heat sensors in my mind to see where I was going.

I went across a bridge into the mist and used my heightened senses until I saw that there was no more red light around my vicinity. I then opened my eyes and saw that I was on the other side of the mist. I then looked nearby and saw a treasure chest that I sensed had magic within it. I opened it up quickly and smiled when I saw a light sphere similar to that of Nene's soul.

"Please... return me to my earthly form..." the soul spoke to me, which I smiled at as I then closed all orifices once again and proceeded back through the mist before emerging on the other side, seeing that Shu and the others were still by the tree with heat sensors. I then opened my orifices after I got out of the mist and proceeded towards the group with the soul in hand.

"Is that it?" Jiro asked.

"Yes, it is... here is your soul back, mister tree," I said as I placed the soul inside of the tree's body with magical powers, the tree then gasping to life, though it still didn't move.

"Oh! My soul has been returned to me! Thank you, intrepid travelers! What can I do to repay you?" the tree asked as I saw that the poisonous river then receded enough so that we could be allowed access to the previously-submerged drawbridges and the other parts of the area.

"Could you try to help us find a Gabo plant?" Kluke asked.

"I would love to, but I'm afraid I must tell you that the path is filled with that poisonous mist. The only way to defeat this mist is to eliminate the machine creating it due north of here. It was placed there nearly a month ago. If you can turn it off, then I shall reveal the location of the Gabo plant," the tree spirit said.

"But of course. Let's go find this machine," I smiled as we then proceeded to find this machine. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was made by none other than Nene himself.

Shu POV:

Once we found the machine and saw Nene's symbol on it, Anya went up to it and began to open up a part of it and cut a select duo of wires. Once they were gone, the machine sputtered to a stop and I suddenly felt the air around us get much cleaner.

"This machine is permanently out of commission. Now let's go back to the tree and find out where to find that flower," Jiro said.

'Yeah! Maro's village counting on that flower!" Marumaro exclaimed. We then arrived back at the tree and he again thanked us before explaining where to find the Gabo plant.

"Near the area where you found my stolen soul, there should be a second drawbridge that travels northward. Across that bridge will take you to the deepest part of this forest. That is where the Gabo plants thrive. But beware of the King," the tree said, us looking confused at that last bit, even Anya.

"Beware of the King... never knew that there even was a king that resided here... it must be a ghost or a monster of sorts. We must exercise caution and try to avoid pissing him off," Anya said.

"Agreed," I smiled, especially since I caught her saying a bad word. She very rarely swore, which made me smirk when she did.

"Maybe I don't swear as often as others because I am formal and polite. If you were raised to be more prim and proper and how to behave with curtsy, then you may understand," Anya smiled as she then led the way there and I could barely comprehend some of the words she used, even though they were smaller words.

"Point Anya," Jiro snickered. We continued through the area the tree told us to go to before we ended up in a large open grove with a lightshow of red emanating from the back-most part. It was the Gabo plant supply for sure. But when we went to go collect the leaves, we all gasped as we heard a voice in our heads that sounded old and rather angry.

"You dare to take the last Gabo plants? How uncouth that you would steal from me!" the voice said in our heads. It was Anya who was brave enough to speak.

"Apologies sir, we didn't mean to intrude. Besides, we weren't hoping to take the plants themselves. Just at most 5 leaves from them. Is that too much to ask?" Anya asked politely and formally. I didn't expect the ghost to respond kindly, but to my pleasant surprise.

"You... you are a woman of nobility, that much I can tell of your voice. Tell me, where hast thou come from?" the ghost asked.

"I am a noble of Noluta Village. Daughter of the village mayor and the guardian defender for Noluta Village. May I ask what nobility you may be from? The tree said that you were a King," Anya asked.

"I used to be a ruler of a far away land, but I chose to reside in this forest until the end of my days. These Gabo plants are all I have left to my name," the spiritual voice said.

"We promise you, your majesty, that we do not intend to harm or steal your Gabo flowers. We only require 5 leaves of them. We need them to save an entire village from death by Miasma Bloom poison," Anya explained. When she said that last part, the ghost gasped audibly, which I felt a slight rustle in the wind when it did that.

"Miasma Bloom? In that case, you may have 5 leaves. But if you take any more than that or you damage any of the Gabo plants, I will destroy you," the ghost said.

"We promise not to hurt your flowers, sire," Anya bowed politely as she then slowly approached the flowers and, one by one, she picked off a leaf of each flower that had more than one leaf on it. Once all five of the leaves were picked, she placed them in a small bag and then placed that in her satchel. "We shall be taking our leave now, your highness. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Anya smiled politely.

"It was a pleasure meeting you as well, young noblewoman. You are free to visit here anytime you wish," the ghost said as I suddenly felt the air lose its tension around us.

"Okay, now we need to go back to Lago Village. Everyone, grab hold of my body and I shall warp us to the Warp station in the Drill Machine. I neglected to use one of these keys on the Warp device in Lago Village before we left," Anya frowned.

"That's quite alright," Maro smiled as we all grabbed onto her body in different areas. I grabbed her hand while Kluke grabbed the other, Maro grabbed her leg and Jiro placed his hand on her shoulder. We then gasped as we were blinded by a bright light and the area around us suddenly changed from the darkness of the forest to the dimly lit interior of the Drill Machine. "Oogh... Maro dizzy..." Marumaro said as he tried to walk forward, but fell on his butt afterwards.

"First time warping is a doozie for sure. Now let's quickly get these leaves prepared to give to the citizens. We'll need to give them a cup at dusk and, after a good night's rest, they will need one more cup in the morning. Once they have that final cup and it all reaches their stomachs, they will instantly be cured," Anya explained.