Jac and Aiden thought that they would never return to this horrid place again. The haunted house loomed over the landscape like an imposing entity that would cast a shadow far greater than the forest itself. And there stood the darkest part of the shade: a single pitiful tree, its baneful branches appearing to beckon the two as they made their way ever closer.

This time Jillian accompanied the duo as they entered this plot of land, and while he remained unseen, Richard was also on standby. Jac was not given much detail as to what went on during Aiden and Jill's meeting with the head of the scavenger hunt, but one thing was certain. The two had barely spoken to each other since then, and they tried their best to not address one another.

Sensing the underlying tension in the air, Jac tried to lighten up the mood. "All I got to do is place the jewelry under the tree, say the magic words and be done with it. Simple as that!"

"I... don't think it's going to be that easy Jac." Said Jillian. The elf woman's confidence was absent, and her voice was almost as small as if she were at her normal borrower-sized height.

"You.. look like you've seen things..." Jac then placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, what happened?"

Jillian slowly looked at Aiden before quickly ducking her eyes back to the human. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"You can stay here and wait for us, you know."

"I can't! Just, stand back and watch my best friend walk into a frying pan! Ghosts aren't my level of expertise, but if I can use my magic to provide some form of protection then, I'll go wherever you need to be."

Meanwhile, Aiden was largely silent throughout, as once again the alarm bells inside his head had begun to ring all at once. His nerves were fighting to control his natural flight or fight instincts, which was starting to flare up immensely as the surrounding fog thickened.

As the three were on the move, a strange unexplained pressure was beginning to weigh down on them. The more it seemed like they were advancing, no matter how long they took, they barely made any progress as the tree stayed firmly rooted in the same distance from their starting point.

"This can't be real! It's like a mirage!" Jac complained.

"The miasma is terrible here." Jillian uttered as she covered her nose and mouth with a sleeve.

"What's that?"

"It's like an extreme imbalance of negative energy. It can cause all kinds of problems if we stand in it for too long..."

"You mean...you can see it too?" Aiden gulped.

"Wha? No..? You can?" Jillian wariness peaked at that point.

"Yeah.. It looks like a purplish smog that's covering the entire yard..."

"Y-you're kidding!" Jac exclaimed.

"No?" Said Aiden. "You mean you guys, can't...?" His voice grew to almost a whimper as he sensed the growing fear in Jillian's expression.

"I'm not surprised anymore..." Jillian said flatly.

"There are gaps in the smoke...maybe... I can direct you guys through the least concentrated areas of the stuff." Aiden was hesitating a bit, but his confidence grew with each word. "I don't know if it'll make a difference, but perhaps we can actually reach the tree that way."

"So it's like a haunted maze?" Jac asked.

"I guess..."

"Then it's worth a shot..."

Aiden led the way through the narrow gaps between the heavy plumes, the two women careful to retrace his every step. The path was winding and full of twists, yet sure enough, they were finally starting to make progress as they were closing in towards the hallowed bark. Little did they know, there were invisible eyes on all sides taking note of their every move, in particular those of the shrunken Wile.

'The Phoebe is becoming a nuisance' A female voice whispered.

'We warned him not to interfere,' uttered a male's, ‘now he must pay the price.'

Just then, something within Aiden snapped and he began to let out a low, guttural sound. Which in turn caused Jillian to slink behind Jac.

“Are you ok?!” Jac exclaimed.

"They're already here." The Wile snarled. "Don't worry about me! Let's MOVE!! GO GO GO!!"

Without further questioning, Jac and Jillian tried their best to keep up with Aiden as he raced the rest of the way through the maze. The closer they had gotten to the barren tree, the thicker the miasma became, and with it the apparitions that were chasing them had become more apparent.

"Are those wisps?!" Jac yelled.

"No! These must be the..." Jillian started as she fought back a strange burning sensation that had started to overwhelm her.

Suddenly, the elf woman grew sickeningly faint and before long she withered back to her regular size of four inches. Jac caught Jill just before the latter was about to plummet to the ground. The human drew her closer, eyes widened from the outcome.

"Oh my god, what happened? Say something!"

"I... don't know." Jill replied weakly. "I'm sorry Jac..."

It was during this exact moment when Jac realized that Jillian had been setting up a magical barrier around the group this entire time, which had now shattered due to this event. Without its protection the miasma was beginning to seep into their lungs, which increasingly made it that much more difficult for them to breathe.

"We're almost there! Hang on!" Jac exclaimed as she covered her respiratory canal with as much clothing as she could. She gently placed the drained elf in her pocket as she continued to run after Aiden, with the restless wisp-like beings still in hot pursuit.

The setback of inhaling corrupted smog had slowed down their advancement significantly however, which gave the foul spirits the chance to surround them in every direction. The apparitions dived and swarmed strategically around the three friends- a frenzied attempt to outmaneuver them that lasted more than several minutes, with each second exposed to the invisible poisonous fumes being enough to put a dent in their lifespans.

Aiden fell over and was dogpiled relentlessly by more than a dozen of these fiends. At the same time Jac could feel the pressure intensifying… but in spite of everything that was trying it's damndest to hinder her, she remained mostly unfazed and was determined to push through it.

"I'm not giving up! No matter what you try to do, you can't stop me!" Jac exclaimed as more of a means to psych herself up as she was being bombarded by the cold fireballs throughout her body.

She then pulled out her knapsack and threw as much of the magic dust within as she could in the air, which in a flash ignited with an intense bluish-white blast. The sparks were enough to send the evil spirits aback momentarily, and while they were largely unaffected by its burn, they seemed to be blinded by the glow that was emitted. This was enough for Aiden to snap out of his cowering state as he quickly regained control with a swift fiery assault from his nails. The apparitions feared his onslaught, and immediately took off from him, but not before a couple of the wisps had become singed in the process.

At the same time both he and Jac felt a sudden earth shake, which would then rumble profusely as the quakes drew nearer. Within minutes the silhouette of a giant cut through the thick smog, which brought everything to a stand still.

"JAC!!" Richard bellowed.

"Took you long enough! Where have you been!" Jac hollered.

"You're here but... I can't see you!" The Wile giant tried desperately to peer his fingers through, but to no avail. "I recognized your magic and came as soon as I could..."

"I don't understand Rich..." Jac replied with the first hint of concern in her voice that she had all day.

"We must have gotten trapped in between worlds somehow..." Aiden said.

“You're kidding…”

The shrunken Wile took careful note of the fact that about thirty or so spirits had all gathered to face the new threat that was the other Wile giant, though they were unable to go past the point where the miasma cloud ends. He held his hands to his forehead, his eyes pinching intensely.

"C'mon think! There's got to be a--"

Suddenly, his panic settled when he saw the knapsack in Jac's hand. His focus then shifted back onto the miasma, and then to Richard.

"You two are Linked, right?" Aiden spoke with purpose. "Can you combine your magic powers?"

Jac grew hesitant. "We're still practicing that, but..."

"Richard! You know a bit of wind magic right?"

"Yeah, why?" Richard understandably had hesitation in his voice.

"Use the spell to transfer your wind to Jac! And Jac, toss that powder of yours straight at the tree. If you can pull it off, you may be able to blow this miasma away!"

"Will that work?!" Jac exclaimed.

"I don't know! But it's better than nothing!!"

With that declaration the two reluctantly complied. Jac took a deep breath and swiftly got in position for what would have been a few feet away from the Wile giant if they had been in the normal world. She then pulled out a good helping of the pixie dust and held it in her right hand. Concurrently Richard was swirling the air around him, as his magic was concentrated in the tips of his fingers. As soon as the unclean spirits realized what was transpiring, they charged wildly at Jac, but were cut off at every turn by an unusually focused Aiden who took full advantage of his ghost burning ability at maximum adrenaline.

Richard chanted the spell, and within seconds a gust of wind blew from his outstretched arms. The miraculous power of the Link caused it to flow in front of Jac's hand, which in turn- despite being much weaker in comparison to her giant- began to stir the smog around her. Their breathing synchronized as did their heartbeat, and with that solid momentum Jac's timing was perfect as she aimed the magic powder directly at the tree, just as she called upon the ignition spell.

A burst of hot wind carried the pixie dust into the hollowed bark, and upon impact the tree exploded in a sea of piping cinders that shined a brilliant blue. In an instant, the spirits fell, caught in the tempest that would also cause the smog to gradually dissipate.

Jac was experiencing a tremendous amount of pressure to keep her arms upright so that the heavy breeze would keep going, but Aiden helped to lift one arm, and Jillian pitched in with a renewed commitment to regain her human height so she can hold the other. Within moments the miasma had blown to the far side of the empty field, and while the blaze had been blown out, the tree was starting to crumple under its own weight.

And as the smoke cleared, the three friends had found themselves back in reality where night had since fallen, with Richard standing clearly right behind them. With warm hugs and a cheerful celebration, the worst of their troubles were seemingly behind them, and there was only one more task left to do.