From beyond the rift in space, thick emerald branches surged outward, coiling around the shadowy figure with startling speed. They wound tighter and tighter until he was sealed inside a living cocoon.
"No... what in the hell are you? How can you suppress my very essence?!"
The Will of the Spirit Realm gave a final, desperate cry, but the void answered with silence.
"Wah... Yaya, if you wrap it up like that, I won't get anything tasty out of it!"
Luna drifted back down to the central island just as the towering Tree of Life shimmered and collapsed into the form of a little girl once again. She reached up to ruffle Luna's spiky hair, her tone gentle and chiding.
"It's not good for you to absorb it directly, Luna. Its aura would poison you. And... Brother can't take it in either, or he'll be tainted the same way."
"Then what do we do?"
"What do we do?!"
