"Jodie!" Joe cried out.
Fred knocked away one of the Tenebrosi's men and ran towards Jodie.
The Yacumama cocked its head back and fired. Jodie's eyes widened in horror, but she couldn't even scream.
Fred ran with all his might and pushed Jodie away at the last minute.
The water blasted him directly in the chest and slammed him into a tree. Hard. He slid down limply and laid there crumpled like a broken doll.
Jodie ran over to him, crying out his name with tears streaming down her face.
Joe felt hot and cold and dizzy all at once.
Something hot burst from within him and the snakes holding him vanished in a flash of blinding green light. He spun around and grabbed Antonia by the throat, hot tears streaming down his face. The conch dropped from her hands and she stared at him wide eyed in terror.
"I should kill you." Joe growled. "I should make you wish you were never born!"
He slammed her into the ground, hard enough that the earth dented under her. He towered over her and she stared back at him with a mixture of fear and black hatred. Joe raised both fists, ready to disintegrate her into dust.
"YACUMAMA!" A voice thundered.
Joe was momentarily distracted as Chief Manahai leapt from the tree tops and landed on Yacumama's head. With one powerful blow, he punched the face mask and it shattered, completely freeing it from the Tenebrosi's hold.
Antonia took advantage of Joe's momentary lack of focus and blasted him away, but he kept his footing. She stood up slowly, hunched over and clearly in pain.
"Y-you'll regret not killing me when you had the chance." She grunted spitting out blood.
She then disappeared in a swirl of dark purple smoke and the shadow monsters surrounded Fina vanished as well. The waters of the river turned back to normal and the Yacumama gave one final hiss before sinking back into the river.
Joe felt all of his energy quickly fade and he staggered over to Fred and Jodie.
Jodie was kneeling over Fred's unmoving body trying to given him CPR. Joe looked closely, hoping to see any sign of life but saw none. Fred's skin was pale and almost blue and there was no rise and fall of his chest. Dark blood leaked out of his mouth and nose.
A sob broke through Joe's throat as he knelt down next to Jodie and put his hand on her shoulder. She instantly broke down and began weeping into her hands.
"Fred?" Fina walked up slowly, wide eyed with tears streaming down her face as well. Her voice rose in pitch. "Fred?"
Joe looked up at her and shook his head. "He's...gone."
Fina dropped to her knees and reached out to touch his face. She gave a heart broken wail and collapsed onto his chest.
"You can't leave me." She sobbed brokenly. "Please don't leave me!"
She cupped his face in her hands and leaned her forehead against his. She whispered something softly and a soft white light began to glow from within her. She brushed his damp curls from his face and slowly leaned down to press her lips against his. The glow spread through Fina's lips and over Fred. Fina broke the kiss slowly and leaned back. The soft white light faded, but Fred remained completely still. Fina gave another heartbroken wail and buried her face in his chest.
But then Fred's lips twitched. Joe's eyes widened as he watched Fred's mouth move ever so slightly. Jodie also noticed and gasped. Fina looked up and gently touched Fred's cheek.
"F-Fred?" She whispered.
Fred gasped and his eyes shot open. He shot straight up and began gasping and choking. "W-what happened? Is Jodie okay?"
"Fred!" They all cried out happily.
Fina threw her arms around his neck, almost knocking him over. She starting sobbing in relief and Fred gently caressed her back as he held her. He turned to Joe with a look of mild confusion.
"What happened?" He asked hoarsely. "Did I get knocked out or something?"
"Fred," Joe shook his head in disbelief. "You just d-"
Please don't tell him! Fina pleaded in his head. Please...I don't want him to know that I brought him back to life.
But why? Joe asked. You literally brought him back from the dead.
Just...please don't tell him. Fina stressed. I... don't want him to think he owes me anything.
"Well?" Fred repeated. "What the heck happened? Why are all of you so teary-eyed?"
Joe took a deep breath and wiped his face on his sleeve. "You almost drowned. Jodie did CPR and saved your life."
Jodie gave him a sharp look like she was going to say something, but Joe quickly shook his head. Fred also looked a little doubtful, but he turned his attention to Fina instead.
"Hey," he said softly caressing her hair. "Are you okay?"
Fina nodded and drew back to smile at him. "I'm just so happy that you're okay."
She then caught him off guard by throwing her arms around his neck and kissed him fully on the lips. He made a noise of surprise, but quickly returned the embrace and kissed her back. They broke the kiss slowly and touched their forehead together.
Manahai and Natai came towards them and Joe walked up to face them. Fina put a hand on the ground to brace herself to stand up and her hand slipped on a sharp rock. She hissed softly in pain and quickly moved her hand out of site, but not before Jodie noticed a small cut on her wrist.
Manahai shrunk back down to his normal size and he and Natai gave them a low bow.
"My people and the world thanks you, future Warp Wizard Joe." Manahai said. "You have saved us all."
Joe and Manahai began talking and Jodie drew Fina to the side with a small gesture.
"We both know that I wasn't the one who saved Fred." Jodie said looking at her quizzically. "And I'm pretty sure you told Joe not to say something using your weird mind link thing."
Fina shrugged and looked away. "I don't know what you mean."
Jodie looked at her for a long time until Fina began to feel uncomfortable. She reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears and Jodie's eyes went to the cut on her wrist. It was still bleeding slightly and hadn't healed.
"I'm not stupid you know." Jodie said after a while. "I've read my fair share of books on magic and I've read a few things about healers and their type of magic. And what happens when they bring someone back to life."
"Please don't tell Fred." Fina gave Jodie a small sad smile. "He'd never forgive me if he knew what I did for him."
"He deserves to know, Fina."
"But..."
"It's only right. Fred deserves to know just how much you love him."
Jodie glanced up and saw Fred staring at Fina with a look of complete and utter adoration. Fina seemed to sense that he was looking at her and gave him a small smile in return.
"You're lucky, you know that? He's never looked at me the way he looks at you." Jodie chuckled and gave a small shrug. "Or you're incredibly unlucky. The guy's got some major hygiene problems."
Fina giggled and shook her head. "I don't care. I think he's amazing."
"He's alright." Jodie smiled.
Joe finished his talk with Manahai and came back carrying The Book. He threw his arms around Jodie and hugged her tightly.
"Thanks Jodie." He said, his voice thick with emotion. "If you hadn't warned us in time we'd all be underwater by now."
"No problem great grand dad." Jodie hugged him back. "You did awesome by the way. Just like the true Warp Wizard."
Manahai handed Joe The Book and he warped them home.