Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun.

We backtracked to Kolima Forest. I shivered on entering the forest. This place was creepier than Kolima the town.

I idly pushed a few fallen trees out of my way, still preoccupied about Saturos and Menardi. Were they, even now, lighting an Elemental Lighthouse? How were you supposed to light one, anyway?

I came to another fallen log.

"Wait," warned Ivan. He stared at the log. "Don't push it."
"Why not?" Garet protested.

Ivan sighed and led the way down below the log. Moving another log, he pointed. Pushing that log we'd passed wouldn't have done us any good.

We passed a nut hanging on a tree.

"Mmm," hummed Garet. "I'm hungry, and that nut looks like a nice snack. Use Catch, Isaac!"

I grasped the beads in my hand and used the recommended Psynergy.

"Well?" demanded Garet. "Aren't you going to give it to me?"

I stared at the nut. "This is no ordinary nut." I realized. "This is a Druminat nut."

"What's that?" asked Garet.

"It's a healing nut, isn't it?" Ivan answered. "It's supposed to have strong healing properties, I think."

I nodded. "Yeah, Jenna's mother taught us about these before-" I cut off. I couldn't bear to think about the accident, especially now that Father-Isaac, don't get your hopes up. Just stop thinking about it. I pocketed the nut.

Entering the next large clearing, Ivan stopped us with his hand. "Don't do anything." he instucted. "I'll tell you which ones to move."

Logs were placed strategically all around the clearing. Ivan stared at them for a few minutes, then smiled.

"I've got it," he said joyfully. "Push that log to the left," he ordered, gesturing at a fallen tree.

Garet loped over to the log and heaved against it, effectively moving it.

"Push that one down."

I raced to the next and moved it.

"Now push the first back to the right." Ivan said, a faraway look in his eyes. "And then push this one down. Now, move this one up."

After following his instructions, he smiled. "Now, go around and push this log."

The final log made it possible for us to cross the deep water. We ascended the short steps and walked on the ledge above.

"Monster alert!" Garet warned.

Flint! I called mentally.

Yes, sir! he exclaimed joyfully.

Gust flew out of nowhere, causing a small whirlwind to rip through the enemy. "Yay!" she called out happily. "I am repaying my debt to you noble Adepts!"

Gust and Flint finished the monsters off, clearing the path.

The next clearing had a lake filled with water, floating logs, and a floodgate. I flipped the floodgate switch, seeing one that needed replacing. The water seeped out, and I walked down the stairs and adjusted the log.

I hit the switch again and led the way on the floating logs, trying to be careful not to fall off. Garet was grinning and pretending to knock us off the logs. Then he stopped, and started sinking into the water.

"Help! Help!" he cried. Ivan rushed to the side of the log.

Garet laughed and hopped back on the log, perfectly safe. Ivan was surprised, and almost did fall off the log.

A great tree shaded the next area. When I approached it, I gasped. It was not a tree; or, at any rate, not merely a tree. A woody face rested in the center of the trunk. I guessed this must be Laurel.

She finally noticed me. "Who are you?" she asked in that woody voice. "Oh! You are the ones who resisted Tret's Glamour?"

"Yes..." I trailed off. I wasn't sure whether to actually call her "ma'am", since I wasn't sure she was a she. Maybe she liked to be known as an "it".

"I sense a great warmth within you." she breathed. "If you came to rescue Tret, you are already too late. Soon, Tret will die, and we shhhall withhher withhhout hhhim. Leave nowww, before thhhhis ffforrresstt isss dessstroyed." She was sounding more and more like a tree; I guessed it was an effect of Tret's dying. She closed her eyes and would speak no more.

We left her and walked over to Tret.

"Hello," I said cautiously. Tret did not answer. A voice, deep inside Tret but not Tret-or at least, not the Tret who stood rooted in front of me, intoned, "He will not speak to you, child! I control all in Tret's realm!"

There was a vine ladder weaving up Tret. I climbed it and entered the hollow inside Tret.

Inside, there was a maze of sorts and another vine ladder in the northwest corner.

Up on the next floor, we saw a huge spider web. I didn't want to see the spider that made that web.

Garet turned pale. "Be-be-behind you!"

I turned. Two huge spiders and two large bees were grouped behind me. Ivan acted first, summoning Jupiter. A ghostly shadow of a Jupiter Djinni caused winds to torment the enemies. Garet used his axe to hack up a spider, and I summoned Flint back as Venus.

They were still alive after this (except for the spider), and the bees attacked, stinging us horribly. The lone spider attempted to weave a web around Garet, but I sliced it off with my blade.

Ivan struck a blow to the spider, but it hardly seemed to notice it. I used my sword to slice up one of the bees while Garet did the same. But Garet's bee still had time to sting him fiercely, and the spider bit Ivan. I could only hope it wasn't poisonous.

The spider resisted Ivan's attempt to hurt him with Gust, and Ivan staggered weakly as the spider attacked him. He still had enough strength to attack the spider with Jupiter, finally defeating it.

I rushed over to Ivan and mixed my herbs with some water from the leather canteen and made it into a paste by punching it with my hands. I applied the mixture on Ivan's wounds. It deadened the pain instantly, I could tell.

I used another identical paste on Garet's bites. My wounds weren't deep enough to waste the herbs and water on.

Hopping on the first fallen and huge leaf, I noted that it crumbled slightly. It would hold the three of us, but not much more.

We exited Tret and walked along his branches. I found another ladder to climb, and we reentered him by way of another doorway.

There were more spiderwebs, and I spied a chest in about the middle of the room. We hopped onto a leaf, and I opened the chest, which contained a ring.

"I wonder what it does," wondered Ivan.

"What do you mean?" Garet asked.

"It's obviously a magic ring. I mean..." But then he cut off. I'd been absentmindedly twisting the ring around my finger.

"I-isaac...Your bites..." Ivan pointed. I glanced down, confused. My stings had been somehow healed.

"That ring!" gasped Garet.

I slipped it off my finger and handed it to Ivan. "Here, you can have it. You get hurt more easily."
Ivan nodded.

"Well, come on," I said, gesturing to the ladder. I hopped off the small platform and over onto the leaf...

"Aah!" I shouted. I could see Ivan and Garet staring down at me.

I realized I had fallen to the previous floor. "I'm going around!" I yelled up at them.

"Okay!" replied Garet. "We'll try to get this leaf fixed."

By the time I'd returned, the leaf was in place and Ivan and Garet were waiting for me. We hopped back over the leaf and to the vine ladder.

We left Tret again for the branches, and at the highest limb we could reach we found...a Jupiter Djinni!

Flint popped out on standby. "Hi..."
"Flint!" exclaimed the Djinni. Then he fired himself from the branch and into my face.

"Flint," I muttered, "what does he have against you?"
"Well...nothing, unless he's Breeze."

Gust flew out, scolding, "These are brave and noble Adepts and I will not allow you to hurt them!" She flung herself, whirlwinds following, at the Djinni.

The Djinni used some sort of Psynergy, electrocuting Garet and me.

"Flint."

"You gotcha! WAHOOOOO!" he yelled insanely. Venus was summoned immediately.

"Flare Wall," Garet closed his eyes. A huge fire spread across the Djinni's body.

Granite, we need you. I called silently.

Yay!

He appeared and floated over us. "There!" he cried happily, landing beside me. "You're protected!"

Ivan summoned Jupiter, and the Djinni attacked him back. Garet hit him with his axe.

I'm set! Flint exclaimed.

Ivan attacked the Djinni, but it didn't appear to feel any pain. It used a powerful Psynergy that devastated us. Garet was barely able to stand.

Flint and Garet hurt the Djinni considerably with their attacks.

Gust attacked the Djinni again, squealing, "You make me feel ashamed that you're a Jupiter Djinni!"

When I summoned Ramses for the first time, I was amazed. It transported us to some sandy land, and some sort of statue attacked the Djinni and finished him off.

"I'll join you," Breeze agreed. "As long as I don't have to share an Adept with him." He shot an evil glare at me, apparently directed at Flint.

"Don't worry," Ivan assured him. "You'll be staying with me."

"I Boost party Resistance," Breeze informed him. "I suppose I'll go on set, since he's on standby now."

I jumped in surprise, and, sure enough, Flint was standing right next to my boot. "Hmph!" commented Flint.

On the next floor, we discovered more spiderwebs-and-leaves, plus a treasure chest containing another Druminat.

Ivan stared at the leaves. "There is no possible way to pass these leaves," he decided. "We must retreat down to the previous floor."

I led the way by dropping down the web. We left the room by the west exit this time. Traveling along the limbs again, we reached the other side of the same room.

There was no ladder.

"Where are we supposed to go?" wondered Garet.

I smiled. "I think it has something to do with those holes on each floor."
"I agree," agreed Ivan. "It should be just about...here." He pointed to a leaf. "We must break that leaf."

Ivan's idea worked. We stepped carefully, breaking only the correct leaf.

I felt very queasy, falling at least six floors. Venus Adepts are meant for land, not...air...

Finally, we landed. I could see what I guessed was Tret's other self, but it didn't seem to notice us.

"Garet, Ivan." I instructed. "I need to heal you."
I used my healing Psynergy on them. They smiled at the relief at their wounds.

"Why...oh." said Ivan quietly. "I see. We may have to fight him."

"Yes," I was hoping it wouldn't be so.

"Hm HROOM!" grunted Tret.

He opened his eyes, glaring at us. "You hoped to find my kindly self?" he demanded.

"Uh...yeah." I said, scared.

"Fools! You should never have come here, and now you shall never leave! Your powers protected you in the forest, but now you are in the heart of my power!" he sneered. "Here, you will all become trees, and you'll wither with the rest of us!"

"Jupiter!" cried Ivan fiercely. Tret looked taken aback.

Flint! I mentally summoned.

"TAKE THAT, you mean tree!" yelled Flint, launching himself at Tret.

The ground beneath Garet erupted with thorns. "Ouch!" he cried.

"Flare Wall!" he growled.

Granite! I ordered.

"Protected!" he declared happily.

"Ray!" called Ivan.

The ground erupted again, this time beneath both Garet and Ivan.

Garet rushed forward and attacked Tret.

"You will not hurt these noble Adepts!" shouted Gust, flinging herself at him.

I summoned Ramses again.

"Sleep..." commanded Tret. "Sleep..."
I couldn't resist his demands. I blacked out.

When I awoke, Garet was asleep beside me and Ivan was breathing hard. I discovered Flint was set now.

Ivan summoned Jupiter, screwing his face up in concentration.

Flint... I called.

Flint attacked Tret again.

"Sleep..." Tret soothed. "Sleep..."

I couldn't resist his calls. Yawning, I closed my eyes.

When I awoke fot the second time, Garet was just waking up, but he was scarred.

"I'm glad you woke up..." panted Ivan. "I've been sweating blood..." He concentrated, and Tret was electrocuted.

Tret collapsed, dropping a large bag of coins and a jar.

"Oh...mmmm." Tret grunted. "What has happened to me? Was I...I see...my heart was all but lost in my rage. And you defeated the evil within me?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"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. Goodbye, great warriors."

"Tret," I said worriedly, "what about the people of Kolima? They are still trees, aren't they?"

"What?" Tret sounded confused. "I turned the people of Kolima into trees? I must release them!"

He concentrated, and I could see the Psynergy flowing from his mind.

"I can't do it..." he said weakly. "My powwwer no longer reaches Koleeema. People of Koleeema...Foorgivve mee..."

He faded away.

"Tret's too weak! He doesn't have the power to save Kolima!" Garet said in despair.

"No! We have to heal him!" Ivan said. "We can't let the people of Kolima die with the forest! We have to restore Tret!"

"You're right, Ivan." I agreed. "We'll have to find some way to save him."

I ascended the ladder leading to the second floor, and then I climbed back down outside Tret.

"Maybe Laurel will know something about healing Tret." Garet suggested.

But she had nothing to say, except to warn us to leave.

"Let me use my Mind Read." Ivan requested.

The healing waters of Mercury Lighthouse near Imil in the northwest from Bilibin might save Tret...But the fountain's water has long since dried up... thought Laurel.

"That's no help!" I cried in exasperation. "I guess we better go back to pursuing Saturos and Menardi. Now we at least know how to get to where they are. I think we better go to this 'Imil'..."

A/N: Remember to review! Yes, I do have anonymous reviews turned ON, so you other people have no reason not to review.