"Tree Trunks, I really don't think you should be lead-scout," I said, shielding my eyes from the sun.
The tiny, yellow elephant didn't even look back. She just waddled along the dirt path with a basket on her trunk. "Oh, pish-posh, Kael! I know these woods like the back of my trunk. Besides, a lady should always lead the way to a nice crisp apple!"
Finn and Jake were right behind her, acting like her personal secret service. Finn had his sword drawn, looking at every bush like it might sprout teeth.
"Kael, leave her be!" Finn said. "She's got the spirit of a warrior! An apple-hunting warrior!"
I sighed, feeling the ground beneath us. My Elemental Attunement was picking up a hum a high-pitched, vibrating frequency that didn't belong to the grass or the trees. It felt like glass rubbing against glass. "Something is off. The air is getting wilder then normal."
As we entered the Evil Forest, the "terrors" started appearing. First, it was the Wall of Flesh. Then, the weird tentacle monsters.
Normally, Finn and Jake would have dived headfirst into the fray, but they were too busy trying to keep Tree Trunks from getting eaten while she picked wildflowers.
"Kael! Help!" Finn yelled as a swarm of brain-beasts descended.
I didn't move with a sword. Instead, I used my Accelerated Learning to analyze the way the monsters moved. They weren't attacking with physical force; they were using a low-level psychic dampening field.
"Finn, don't fight the tentacles! Strike the base of the stalks the nerves are exposed there!" I shouted.
I stepped into the path of a brain-beast's energy beam. It hit my chest and sizzled. Thanks to my Magic Resistance, the psychic attack felt like a dull headache. I reached out, grabbed the creature by its slimy neck, and felt its "element." It was chaotic, fueled by the forest's madness. I squeezed, channeling a bit of my own wildlife energy into it, and the beast popped like a soap bubble.
"You're like a walking cheat code, man," Jake said, stretching his legs to stomp on a stray tentacle.
Finally, we reached the center of the forest. There it was: the Crystal Gem Apple. It sat on a pedestal, glowing with a light that made my teeth ache.
My Attunement went haywire. This wasn't just an apple; it was a concentrated shard of the Crystal Dimension's element.
"Tree Trunks, wait!" I stepped forward, my hand outstretched. "That thing is radiating pure transdimensional energy. It's not a snack, it's a catalyst!"
"Oh, Kael, you're always so dramatic," Tree Trunks giggled. She reached out her trunk.
Finn was cheering. "Do it! Eat the apple and become a hero!"
I tried to reach her, but the air around the apple had become dense a localized elemental field. To Finn and Jake, it was an invisible wall. I pushed through it, my Resistance gritting against the pressure.
My skin began to shimmer with a faint, white light as I fought the magic trying to push me back.
I'm almost there...
But I was too late. Tree Trunks took a bite.
The Explosion of Light
CRACK-BOOM.
A shockwave of pink crystal energy blasted outward. Finn and Jake were sent flying into the bushes. I stood my ground, my feet carving furrows into the earth as the magical wind tried to tear me apart.
I watched in horror as Tree Trunks didn't just eat the apple she became part of it. Her molecules were being rewritten by the crystal element. In an instant, she shattered into a million glowing pieces and vanished.
The forest went silent.
Finn crawled out of a bush, his hat covered in leaves. "Tree Trunks? Did she... did she go to the Crystal Dimension?"
I knelt where she had been standing. The ground was still warm, humming with that sharp, glassy frequency. My Accelerated Learning was already processing the event.
It wasn't a death—it was a teleportation caused by an elemental overload.
"She's gone, Finn," I said softly. "But she's not dead. The apple was a portal."
The walk back to the Tree House was quiet. Finn was slumped, feeling like he'd failed as a hero. Jake was just confused.
"I should have stopped her," Finn muttered.
I put a hand on his shoulder. "Finn, you supported her dream. That's what a hero does. And hey," I looked at my own hands, which were still sparkling slightly from the magical residue, "I'm going to figure out how that crystal energy works.
If she's out there in another dimension, we'll find a way to bring her back."
Finn looked up, a spark of hope returning to his eyes. "You really think so?"
"I'm your big brother," I said with a smirk. "I don't just learn fast; I remember everything. We'll get her back."
As the sun set over Ooo, I felt a new element added to my internal "library." Crystal. It was hard, beautiful, and dangerous. Just like this world. I had a feeling I'd be seeing it again soon.