Death Shadow flew high above the forest below, and Zu Mari stood firmly in midair as his familiar searched out Alahira Inferna, the Demonic Prune Tree that had caused him so much trouble.

Xashu Cougar was around somewhere, chucking spears every now and then, but Zu was easily able to detect their approach and slap them away without coming to any harm.

“You do not want to make a deal with a Demonic Prune Tree,” warned Heart of Fire and Spirit of Twilight Death. “Demonic trees are notoriously good at twisting your agreements around until you are their slaves forever.”

“If that happens, you have my permission to kill me.” Zu shuddered, remembering the helplessness of being trapped in Alahira Inferna’s vine-like branches. “I would rather you slay me than remain in her grasp.”

“I am a sword. I can’t kill anyone without a wielder.”

“Use your bond to my soul to destroy me, if that’s what it takes.”

“I cannot destroy my wielder.”

“Then have Death Shadow do it!” Zu was losing patience with the topic. “Or incite my phoenix to incinerate me, I don’t care! That’s all beside the point, anyway. I’m not going to be captured. I’m going to be the captivating one this time.”

With a dashing smile, full of absolute self-confidence, Zu dove toward the distant figure of a tree moving steadily along the ground.

“Alahira Inferna, there you are!” Zu landed well away from the tree and walked forward with his most adoring smile. “I have been searching far and long for you.”

The Demonic Prune Tree turned around, its branches twisting this way and that in uncertainty. “Who are you? Come closer, let me see you.”

Zu advanced, radiating strength and desire. “Long have I quested to find you, my lady,” he said, and bowed humbly like a suitor before a queen. "Would you grant this paltry knight the grace of your companionship?"

The tree seemed unsure how to handle this approach, and slowly advanced. A branch extended, ran itself across Zu's face and strong chest and arms. "Yesss," the tree breathed. "You have my permission to pursue me." With an un-demonic giggle the tree playfully danced away, branches dangling tantalizingly just out of Zu's reach.

He steeled his will, knowing he didn't dare let this ploy go too far, then buried his doubts and immersed himself in the game. For several minutes he and Alahira Inferna chased each other about the forest, hiding and finding one another moving closer to direct contact each time. When Xashu Cougar appeared to tell Alahira off, Zu sent him away with an explanation that he had come here specifically to seek out Alahira, and Xashu shouldn't interfere.

Zu stood valiantly between his lady and the intruder. "I am here to court the great Alahira Inferna, and you need not fear for me."

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"You know she's a demon tree that eats people, right?"

"Alahira would never eat me!" Zu exclaimed, looking back at her adoringly. "We are meant to be together forever, fight side by side to conquer our lands, and live our twilight years in each others' company as we ascend to the heavens."

Alahira's branches twisted in a shrug of assent. "I have accepted his suit, I would not consume one such as he."

Xashu gave them a decidedly creeped out look. "Alright, as long as you're sure what you're getting into."

He left, and Zu and Alahira continued their game.

"ZU MARI! I am done underestimating you!" Ozyri Tori's voice bellowed from above.

The world around them flickered, then contracted. The amber-painting walls of reality slammed in closer, leaving them in a much more constricted arena. Instead of stretching as far to the north and south as possible, it contained only this patch of forest. Far enough across that Zu felt sure it had also caught Xashu, Ozyri's initial target, but not so wide that they would have any chance of hiding from Ozyri successfully.

"Flee, my love!" Zu shouted to Alahira. "This battle is too much for you, he would kill us both! At least if you escape, I shall die knowing my life was not in vain!"

"No, I will not run from your side, dearest Zu!" Alahira wrapped one branch around his waist comfortingly, then the rest of her branches blurred as they flung demonic prunes at the unprepared Ozyri.

Ozyri exploded in a shower of gore, caught completely unprepared by Alahira's attack.

The world flickered, then contracted. The amber-painting walls of reality enclosed the forest.

The change was so sudden, so abrupt, Zu lost track of what he was doing for a moment. Ozyri put up a shield immediately, and Zu understood. When the world contracted, the loop start point had changed. No longer would he have minutes to plan before each iteration of reality.

Ozyri wasn't just a looper, he was the one in control of the looping.

"We have to capture him without killing him," Zu told Alahira. "He is a dark soul sorcerer who cannot be defeated by ordinary means."

The Demonic Prune Tree fired off a brief barrage of explosive prunes, but Ozyri's shield held. Next, she tried her branch attacks, to wrap Ozyri up and drag him in, but Ozyri had a dagger with him that sliced through the branches with ease.

While Alahira kept Ozyri's attention, Zu faded into the trees and called Death Shadow to him. "We must find a way to stop him from killing himself to reset the loop," Zu said quietly. "If he can do it with a word, we must silence him. And probably cut off his arms too."

"That's easier said than done. I cannot even get close to him without being smote from the air by the force of his presence."

"Is there any way to weaken his presence?" Zu asked Heart of Fire and Spirit of Twilight Death.

"Suppressing the will of another is usually done by those of an equal or higher strength, but there are techniques to allow you to do it regardless of the relative strength. It requires more time to build up the greater the power disparity, but theoretically anyone can do it."

"How long?"

"For you and Ozyri? Perhaps half an hour."

"My love, where are you?" Alahira called, clearly in pain. Ozyri had moved from slicing off the very tips of branches and now carved away at the thicker core branches, making his way steadily toward her core trunk.

"I don't have that kind of time," Zu said. "I need to save Alahira. Neither of us can do this alone."

Though he'd killed Ozyri, and Alahira had killed Ozyri, neither of them alone was capable of subduing him so thoroughly that he wouldn't be able to reset time and do it all over again.

Zu activated technique after technique, empowering Heart of Fire and Spirit of Twilight Death with everything he could think of, then lent Death Shadow the full measure of his Phoenix spirit. "I will take his arms, you must silence him before he can cast his death spell," Zu told the owl. "We go, now!"

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