When Soral found Howler, he was disposing of the very last of the alcohol in The Oasis. With the terrible experience being so recent, the stench turned Soral’s stomach. He had never really hated any food or drink before, but he was confident in his newfound disgust for this.

“Soral?” Howler asked, stepping forward, “Are you alright?”

“Yep,” Soral said, using magic to dispel the strong scent of alcohol in the area, on from Howler as well. It felt a little like cheating, just being able to use magic with the simple thought of its purpose.

Howler blinked a bit at the sudden change, but he didn’t seem to mind. “What happened to you?”

“The Black… That old man told me I lost control of my magic,” Soral answered. He didn’t want to give Densooth the honor of using his title.

“I’m glad you made it back okay,” he said, “I had to take care of a bit of the aftermath here.”

“About that, why did you say you did it?” Soral asked, “You aren’t the one who gave me the drink.”

“But I also didn’t stop you.”

“I didn’t hesitate to try it either,” Soral pointed out, “Anyway, I made a deal with that old man. He said he will release you from your punishment if you work for me instead.”

Howler frowned. “Work for you how?”

Soral explained about the faerutil and how it quenched his hunger and stabilized his magic. How the kitica said he could only grow one tree but he wished he could grow an orchard. He even showed Howler the seed. Luckily, Howler had a talent with rare magical plants just as he suspected.

“I have an idea, but it is a bit dangerous to try if you only have the one tree. Why don’t we grow this one first so we can harvest more seeds?” Howler suggested.

“Is your idea risky?” Soral asked.

“It is,” Howler admitted, “but the way your magic works reminded me of a rare tree called trystalis. Most people avoid them because they only grow in places with poison. Trystalis also creates a lot of magic.”

“So the risk is the poisonous location,” Soral surmised, “But I don’t know how long it will take the first one to grow.”

“Maybe it will grow faster if you feed it more magic,” Howler suggested.

Soral thought over the new information. “Alright. Then I know what I need. I’ll be back.”

Howler could only watch as Soral raced right back to where Densooth was waiting, full of determination. This was just like the situation with Oasis. If he couldn’t get rid of him, he would take full advantage of him instead.

“That was quick,” Densooth commented as Soral returned.

“Howler told me everything I need,” Soral told him, “I need a poisonous land to grow an orchard of faerutil and trystalis.”

“Do you know what trystalis is?” Densooth questioned.

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“Nope. Just that it converts poison to magic like me.”

Densooth frowned at Soral’s description that was more correct than it probably should be. “Trystalis is difficult to find even if it grows easily in poisonous areas. Many people collect them because the trees look like living jewels.”

Living jewels? That sounded really cool. “But you can get some, right?” Soral asked with a confident smirk.

“I can,” Densooth confirmed.

‘Don’t forget the precious land,’ Insanity reminded, ‘This man has more than enough power to grant you that as well.’

“And the land?” Soral asked, trusting Insanity’s words.

“I have a good idea of what land to grant you,” Densooth replied, “It is so thick with poison, entrance is forbidden, and has been for more than a decade. A powerful barrier surrounds it as well, so no one should interfere with your work.”

That was way better than Soral had expected, and he couldn’t hide his surprise. Instead, he pressed on with what he needed. “I need a safe place to grow the first faerutil tree.”

“You can grow it in my castle,” Densooth told him.

“That crumbling mess?”

“It may look worn down, but strong ancient magic protects it and everything inside,” Densooth told him, “If you don’t like how it looks, you can fix it yourself.”

While Densooth had likely said that to dissuade Soral, Soral took it as permission.

“I will. Howler needs a place to stay too, and Ruena’s place still only has that one room.”

Even though he had been sold to Oasis, Soral had learned it was nice to have his own indoor personal space. All he had to do to get it now was renovate a castle. It could be practice for when he built their new base in the future.

“Do what you will, but the tower is off limits,” Densooth warned.

“I have no interest in that creepy tower,” Soral assured him.

“Good,” Densooth replied, “Now, if that is all, I suggest we head back.”

“You can go back,” Soral told him, “I want to say goodbye to everyone here, and I can make it back on my own.”

“Very well,” Densooth agreed, not doubting him despite the lack of explanation.

Soral vanished on the spot, appearing in his room. Now that things had calmed down he really needed to contact Ruena. He hadn’t even been able to tell her about the successful raid on Doc. It was incredible how quickly portals became inconvenient with the ability to just teleport anywhere he imagined.

‘You did well,’ Insanity complimented.

“Thanks,” Soral told her. He still wasn’t quite sure how to react to the motherly new voice in his head.

He pulled out the reddish brown wolf charm again and clicked it to the right. Not even a second passed before Ruena’s voice came threw.

“Soral?! Are you alright? What happened? Jazz suddenly started freaking out last night and I have been on edge since.”

“I’m fine. We took out Doc super easy, but then…” Soral explained to her everything that had happened with a few interjectory questions from her side.

“You traveled to the past and met a kitica?”

“Yeah. It was really cool. Now I know what Jazz really is he feels a lot more special.”

And later, when he mentioned meeting Densooth.

“You met him in the past? How far in the past?”

“I don’t know,” Soral admitted.

“I had heard he was immortal, but it’s weird to think about him being there.”

She was also shocked to hear he had dealt with Densooth in the present after returning. Especially when he explained everything he had won from his troubles. For some reason, he couldn’t make himself tell Ruena that her benefactor had done all of this so he could die, so he kept quiet on that detail.

“So I will be coming back real soon,” Soral finished up, “I just want to say goodbye to everyone real quick. Oh, and Howler probably needs to pack.” He had the nagging feeling he was forgetting something important, though.

‘Are you not taking the nightmare with you?’ Insanity asked.

“Rosalie!” Soral suddenly exclaimed, “I forgot because I haven’t seen her!”

“Rosalie?” Ruena asked, “What does she have to do with anything?”

“She knows a lot of stuff, and I am sure she can help us out,” Soral said, “You wanted to revive the Alodan Warriors, right?”

“I will meet her and see what I think,” Ruena conceded.

Once they ended their conversation, Soral quickly went looking for her, but he couldn’t find her anywhere. He spotted Scythe after a little bit and decided to ask him.

“Hey, do you know where Rosalie went?”

Scythe stiffened at the question. “Lala didn’t tell you? She collapsed as soon as you vanished and hasn’t woken up.”

She collapsed? Soral suddenly realized what had happened. Chaos had even warned him but he forgot. His dream powers were what was keeping her in reality. He needed to hurry before she was reclaimed by the nightmare realm! Running through the halls would be a waste of time so, Soral pulled his new vanishing trick.

In an instant, he was by Rosalie’s side in some kind of medical area. At first glance she appeared to be sleeping, but her skin had grown paler and there was no sign of breathing. It was as if an empty doll lay there. What should he do? How could he bring her back to reality?

‘Calm down,’ Insanity’s voice told him, her tone as soothing as ever, ‘She is linked to you now. If you call, she will come.’

Call? Soral grabbed her hand and tried his best to send a message to her through his own thoughts. It wasn’t really one of words, more like a tug or a pull. Whatever it was, it worked. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, looking around wildly, before relaxing.

“I’m back. Thank goodness.”