[b]22.[/b]

Jade Fist simply stood there with the most inquisitive of looks directed towards the elf lodged within the tree. "Zemlja..." He muttered, his arms crossed and head lowered. He definitely fit the archetype of the stereotypical elf. His hair, his frame... natural-looking. Judging from all that'd happened today, he suspected his predecessor was going to... talk to him, he supposed. Through some form of... mental link. Not like he hadn't experienced that before.

"Well then..." Jade Fist said, placing his hand on the bark of the oak tree, "Why did you choose me?"

In an instant, everything... changed. The air became more fragrant. The colors around him became more lush. All the things around him and that tree began to blur and bleed into something different. It... it was a forest. He was in a forest now.

[i]I know what happened at Shatterbrain.[/i]

Jade Fist's head perked up at the mention of that horrible, horrible name. "No..." He muttered, shaking his head, "No, you can't... but... how?"

[i]I felt it happen. All the thoughts. All the screaming. All the atrocities. And I felt your strength push through it. You alone rose from that wretched place. And I knew then... you were the one.[/i]

Jade Fist lowered his head once more. He hadn't remembered Shatterbrain in... decades, at least. He was confident, nay, certain that he was the only one amidst all the continents of Divus who even knew of its existence. And just when he was getting comfortable with his own ignorance... the last Sage of Earth, stuck in a tree, brings it up.

[i]He's not dead, you know.[/i]

"You mean..."

[i]Yes. Him. I don't know how... but there is still evil within that place. And he is the cause of it. During, or perhaps after, your endeavor against Bonketsu... you must go there. Find him. Put him down. Then you... and all the rest, still trapped within their own minds... will know peace.[/i]

Jade Fist simply stood there, silent.

[i]It must be done. Fate demands it. Elves will not know true freedom if he is allowed to live on beneath Shatterbrain, to fester, and rot. When he is gone, you shall become who you are meant to be, and I know... that is who you want to be.[/i]

Jade Fist paused for a moment... but then he nodded. "I... will try. But first, the duty of all the sages. And then the liberation of our people."

[i]It shall be done when the appropriate time arrives. I bid you strength to face your coming trials, new Sapiens Terrae. And please... Summer... tell her I wish the best for her.[/i]

"Summer? Who is she to you?"

[i]My descendant, for whom I care deeply, and regret all villainies that have been done upon her. I wish... I could have been there to prevent them from ever occurring. But my place... is here.[/i]

"So it is." Jade Fist replied, lowering his arms, his shoulders loosening. When his hand left the surface of the tree, the forest vanished.

He... guessed that was all of it. Some one-on-one time. Nothing too bad.

Still... Shatterbrain...

He shuddered at the thought, and turned away from Zemlja.

Ready for whatever was next.