The loss of memory becomes unavoidable. The man becomes uncontrolled by the powers of time and gains the truth for the future. A few people appear as a mystery and it is unknown whether their goal is between each other, or towards those who hold special powers. With the events of many house parties, the group becomes endangered by those who had not known before. With the important memory loss, it is unsure for a young girl to gain her memory back. Focusing on the return of the Forest of Emille, all power users are stronger since the last time they had escaped from eternal danger. Will all of the power users be able to conquer the forest this time around…?
Episode 91 - The Forest of Emille, Blaze before the Sun
In El Monte, Alex was sitting down nearby the women’s lockers. Almost everyday, he would wait for Mariel as that was their meet-up spot. Lately, she hasn’t been showing up. Alex waited for long minutes compared to before when she would say ‘I’ll be right there’. Now, she does not even reply to Alex’s phone calls. Jaime was also nearby but he was standing there, thinking about where to go next because he always had after school plans. Peter arrived minutes after, watching Alex sitting and frowning.
“We don’t talk much, but I just had to wonder… you don’t look so happy.” Peter said to Alex.
Jaime was listening to them but he pretended to sit down, doing his own thing. Alex replied, “I’m sorta not. It doesn’t seem like Mariel wants to talk to me anymore and I don’t know why. Sometimes I wonder if she hates me or something. The last time she talked to me was when she hated how I act like I care too much about her.”
“You do, don’t you?”
“I guess, but I didn’t mean to bother her like that. I wanted to tell her I’m sorry.”
“Maybe it’s not you who she’s bothered by. Maybe it’s something else that nobody expects.”
“Like what?”
“Mariel could be in some imaginative world. Who knows?”
Jaime interrupted them. “You guys’re crazy to be thinking that. There’s no such thing as an ‘imaginative world’. She’s just going through her period or something.”
“I know how she acts when she’s on her period.” Alex said. “She’s nothing as harsh as how she is now.”
“Too much information.” Peter took a step back. “But Jaime, if you don’t believe me, I have some interesting story to tell.” The group of three was bonding a little. Peter decided to talk about what he oversaw with Mariel, Matt, and Shirley talking about Danny being in danger in an abyss within the Forest of Emille.
~~~
“Stop it!” Mariel yelped. “This isn’t going to solve anything, you two!”
“Calm down, Matt. Keep your temper calm and don’t fight back.” Danny was worried that one of them would get severely hurt.
Matt threw a fireball but Stan summoned a shield. Matt got angry. “Why are you blocking everything and not taking it like a man? At this rate, I will never be able to reach your weak spots.”
“That’s a stupid thing to say, Matt. Even with disadvantages, you should be able to fight back fairly. After all, you’re gifted with fire powers!” Stan threw his sword like a boomerang and Matt had to dodge it.
~~~
Rena knelt down again. “This feeling is getting stronger…! I am trying so hard not to collapse.”
“Hang in there, Rena. We will stop Matt as soon as possible.” said Yessenia.
“He is towards the entrance to Edmund! I can feel his power growing.” She followed her own path and the group decided to join along.
~~~
Stan threw another boomerang-like sword and Matt dodged it again. “And aren’t you just as bad for repeating the same moves over and over?” Matt began to glide with flames under his legs, “I’m not even done yet!” Matt threw a fireball and Stan avoided it. The fireball inflicted some trees that were not cut.
Mariel ducked under some trees, “Ahhh!”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this but why didn’t Stan cut all of the trees earlier? Now Matt’s fire powers is burning them down!” Danny was panicking.
Matt was too angry to notice any of the flaming trees. Mariel used her water powers to calm down the flames but the flames were much stronger and faster. It spread exponentially from one tree to another. Mariel screamed, “Eek! Danny, help! Do something useful.”
“Like what? I’ve tried my best just trying to find that abyss myself and now you want me to stop forest fires with ground powers?!”
Matt threw another fireball and Stan laughed, “Nyahaha! Are you stupid? Take a look around you.”
Matt finally focused on his surroundings. “Wh-What’s going on?” The forest was catching on fire. “D-Did I do this?”
“Yes you have. What kind of fighter are you, attacking everything else but me? You are a true demon.” Stan taunted Matt.
Matt remembered what Jaime said about how Matt’s fire powers are only used for evil. “This can’t be happening!” Matt said in surprise. “I can’t believe it!!” While Matt was caught off-guard, Stan threw another sword and it cut the side of Matt’s stomach. Matt was in pain as his gliding fire dispersed. He fell to the ground, coughing. “Ergh! No!”
Stan stood in front of Matt with the sword flying back into Stan’s right hand, “Hmph. You’ve failed to beat me and you’ve burned this forest at the same time. How bad is that?” Mariel was too busy watering down the flames and Danny was panicking in a circle. “Your whole group is a fail. Just me alone, I can do everything.” Stan turned around and he was walking closer to the door of Edmund.
Matt tried to use his hands to reach out to Stan, “Wait… stop…” Matt was becoming unconscious. “Am I… dying? This can’t be…” He said calmly. “I’ve felt worse in Echoville…” His vision was worsening and his eyes eventually closed.
~~~
“Hey…” a quiet voice was heard. “Can you hear me?”
“What?”
“Hm, normal as always. Stop running around on your own.”
“So.”
“’So’? Is that all you have got to say, kid?”
“Yes.”
“You are not feeling well, no?”
“I guess.” Matt’s eyes were open but not completely. He was lying down on a bed, facing the opposite side from where Santi was sitting. They were in Matt’s house of Arkon’s Magic.
Santi gave Matt a cup of water, “Why don’t you rest up a little bit?” Santi suggested. “Hey, I’ve been softening up my English a little just so you can feel more comfortable talking to me.”
“That doesn’t solve anything.” Matt said in shame.
“I know you are not feeling that well but I’m just trying my best to cheer you up.”
“I just don’t get it…” Matt still had the whole scene memorized from what just happened. “Why aren’t you mad at me?”
Santi laughed, “You were just angry and you couldn’t control your temper, I assume. Mariel and Danny told me everything. They were worried so much about you. Yessenia, Winny, Rena and I arrived soon after we saw the fire start. You were fainted and Mariel was crying. Danny was running in circles. Mariel kept telling me that she is ashamed that she was yet again useless. I took you here in your house.”
“So, what happened to the forest?” Matt wondered.
“The flames exponentially grew. None of us could have done anything to stop it, not even Rena. If only I could still take advantage of my time powers, I would seriously have used it.”
“If it grew, then that means…”
“Yes, the whole forest is all burned down. Look on the bright side though; maybe we can fix it somehow. Plant life can still grow. Also, Edmund is now open and ready for us to enter.”
Matt looked away again, “The whole Forest of Emille is burned down… by my fire powers.”
“Come on, don’t think of it that way. Once you feel like moving again, we can go to Edmund. I know you’re excited!”
Matt chuckled a little. “I am, a bit.”
Santi stood up, “Well, whenever you’re ready, just tell me. I will be outside checking up on everybody else.”
Matt faced upward and then he thought to himself, “Santi is not mad because I ruined the whole forest. I was mad when he made Jen lose her memory. Both are almost the same importance to me yet he could keep his temper and I couldn’t. I am a loser…”
~~~
Santi opened the door from Matt’s house and he took a step outside. Mariel, Danny, Yessenia, Winny and Rena all faced Santi at almost the same time. Mariel and Danny ran towards Santi as quickly as possible. Yessenia only walked while Winny and Rena stayed at their positions. Mariel was curious about Matt, “It’s been hours since he hasn’t awakened yet. Is it okay?”
Santi nodded with a smile, “He doesn’t look too bad. I think he’s fine but he needs to rest a little longer.” The group gave themselves a sigh.
Danny wiped his forehead, “Phew. I was starting to think we needed a doctor. Imagine if Matt was brought to one, the doctor would be wondering why Matt was involved with a sword stabbed onto the side of his stomach.”
“Don’t give us the idea.” Mariel rolled her eyes. “Still, I can’t believe Matt ruined the whole damn forest!”
“Let’s not get mad at anybody right now. In this situation, we need to stop Stan and we cannot afford to lose any friendships. Back when Matt scolded Danny, our whole group temporarily separated for a few days but now we’re back together. Well, almost all of us. We should keep our troubles to ourselves when dealing with Edmund, just the seven of us.”
Winny turned to Rena, “So uh, Rena, can you tell us more about Edmund?”
Rena nodded. “Okay. First, please take a look at your cellphones. I assume that the option ‘Edmund’ is now open.” The group checked their cellphones to verify that she is correct. “I took a look at the list from Danny’s cellphone and it shows El Monte, Arkon’s Magic, Olympia, Echoville, Forest of Emille, and Edmund. However, only El Monte, Arkon’s Magic, and Emund are currently open. The Forest of Emille has just been closed due to the flames.”
Danny interrupted her, “But I remember talking about how these worlds close when the ending was meant to happen. In Olympia, every person turned into stone while in Echoville, we defeated the Halflings.”
“Don’t interrupt her!” Mariel yelled.
Rena shook her head, “Yes. It appears to be true that the Forest of Emille’s fate was to be ruined into a crisp. We can thank Matt, but I feel that the forest’s result could have been handled better. About Edmund though, it is not what you hope it would be. The future of El Monte does not look so bright and that is due to all of your powers.”
“What are you trying to say?” Yessenia was curious. “That our actions reflect the way Edmund is portrayed?”
“Exactly. Edmund is your future. Although you will not survive for the next 600 years, keep in mind that Edmund is El Monte, only in the future.”
“Why don’t we check it out now?” Mariel suggested.
“I think we should wait for Matt.” Winny added.
“Why did you become so concerned about Matt all the sudden?” Danny said.
“None of your business.” Winny glared at him and Danny became afraid. Winny became giddy, “Oh just kidding.~ Don’t take it up the butt.”
Mariel said quietly, “I can’t believe you just said that.”
Rena continued, “My connections to Edmund are one of the most important. I was born in Edmund as a Survor.”
“Survor?” Yessenia repeated.
“Yes. It is what we call ourselves. The demon and I are the only ones who possess powers passed down by you guys. We were not really born with it, just like you guys. The demon, whom I call the Diablo, and I were injected with it right when we were born. Days later, the creator passed away and day by day, more Survors had died, leading to only me and the Diablo. As we grew up distantly, he became more selfish so he wanted to calcify me to claim that he is the only Survor left.”
“Calcifying a woman just to claim the title as the last Survor, how shallow.” Santi was disappointed.
“No, there is a lot more to it than that.” Rena added. “He never really wanted such powers anyway. He is just like Matt. He wanted to get rid of his powers. The only difference between them two is that the Diablo decided to give in and accept his powers by abusing them. Because we grew up distant, he didn’t want to believe that I was born in the same hospital almost at the same time with him. He took me as a stranger and calcified me deep in the forest where nobody would find me. Both our powers can sense danger and anything else in the world of Edmund while nobody else can. I’m afraid that this is not even half the story yet.”
“That gives me the shivers.” Mariel said.
“This is too much to tell at the moment. I apologize.” Rena said.
Winny headed for Matt’s room, “It is alright. You can continue at anytime. I want to check if Matt is okay.” Yessenia followed her.
In Matt’s room, Matt could see Winny and Yessenia entering. “Oh, it’s you two.”
“Are you alright?” Yessenia asked.
“Yeah, a little.” Matt answered. “I’ve been wondering why Santi appears a lot more often by my side now. Why is he so nice?”
“Oh, about that…” Yessenia said slowly. “Should we tell him?”
Winny shrugged, “Santi… has a limited time left.”
Yessenia jumped, “You just said it like that?”
Matt opened his eyes wide, “What?”
“His time powers had already weakened him and there’s no way to fix it.” Winny said bluntly.
Matt’s eyes were still wide, “Is this all just a joke?”
Winny frowned, “I’m afraid not. Soon, Santi will be gone. This is why he wanted to show you who he really is before it is too late. The real Santi is much more sensitive and kind than you think.”
“No… no, this can’t be. He’s not dying.” Matt said. “YOU’RE LYING!”
~~~
---- Next chapter preview:Matt: Next week on episode 92, volume 8, we're going to start out with a play!
Mariel: Oh geez. What's the purpose of it all anyway?
Matt: D-Death of Romeo... And Santi is playing as Romeo.
Yessenia: It is just a coincidence. He is not going to actually die.
Rena: The fate for Edmund is now starting.
Matt: Stan...
Santi: Do not be moping around now, hey!
Matt: The Diablo is the real problem, it seems! What are we going to do to stop him? Next time on episode 92, In before the Gray, Silent Thoughts!
Santi: O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick!
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