Chapter Text
'Only a few more stages. ' Leo thought. 'A few more people to help, and then I can finally leave this place and NEVER come back.' That was the thought that Leo had 6 stages in. After Balan had drilled into his head that he couldn't leave until his heart was fixed (whatever THAT meant...) He figured that if he got these people out, then he could leave. So he and Emma began speedrunning the stages as quickly as possible, well...HE speedran them. Emma however explored the world to the fullest. This was an adventure to her! And adventure that was probably a crazy dream, but that didn't mean she wouldn't enjoy it!
Inside another stage, one coated in wildlife and trees, the two of them were getting deeper and deeper into the plant life. Up ahead, they saw something that didn't look...familiar. It looked like some kind of Ivy. If Ivy was meant to glow and come straight from a child's storybook. "I...guess we go through it?" He said. "I don't know. I haven't seen this stuff on any of the other stages. And it doesn't look like anything we've seen yet." Emma said "Maybe we should just go around it. I mean, there is another bridge that way." She said, pointing to another side of the tree "But the heartree is right there! We could just slide through and get it!" Leo argues, pointing out that their goal was in sight...Just on the other side of that ivy.
Emma however didn't look convinced "Leo. This ivy doesn't even look like it belongs here. I don't think we should get near it." She said. "Let's just go around it. We'll still get to the heartree, and we'll still keep going." She said, already walking ahead to the side. Leo however didn't want to go around and take the long way. He wanted out of Cuckoo-Land as soon as possible. So steeling himself up, he began to carefully slide through the ivy. He must have underestimated just how long the small cut was between there and the heartree, because it was a lot longer than he expected.
He felt the Ivy brush up against him, it felt more like a piece of felt than a actual piece of ivy from the real world "I told her there was nothing to worry about." He muttered. Though the little voice in the back of his head was telling him that something about this ivy was off. Like he shouldn't even be LOOKING at it let alone taking a shortcut filled with it. He ignored that little voice however, as he finally found himself at the Heartree. Just as Emma appeared. "Leo! That was fast..." She said. "Yep! Told you that shortcut was safe." He said with a smile. Emma raised an eyebrow, but she didn't push it.
She turned to the Tims who were following them "OK Little guys! Do your thing!" She said. The Tims bounded to the heartree, but passing Leo, they all began to chirp loudly and hop away from him. "W-Whats wrong?" He asked, as he unconsciously scratched at his arm. There were a lot of rapid-fire "Timmu! Timmu!"s, but neither of them understood what was wrong. The kids looked at each other "Uh..." they both said, as the chirps sounded more frantic.
The Tims immediately unlocked the heartree, but they didn't have time to celebrate their victory, as they were back on the Isle of Tims. And Balan was there waiting for them. This surprised the kids. Balan was rarely on the isle. Only appearing to drop the smallest most cryptic bit of information. For him to appear now was strange. However, the Tims all began chirping frantically again and the yellow Tim that Leo had followed to the theater flapped up, as Balan caught him.
It chirped at him frantically, and the smile on Balan's face slowly began to dissappear "Oh dear...that's not good." He said in a worried voice. "Balan? What's wrong?" Emma asked. "I see, I see." He said to the Tim before he turned to the kids "Did one of you brush up against some brightly colored Ivy?" He asked. Leo looked away. So THAT'S what this was about? It was just ivy...when did it get so hot all of a sudden?
The Tims all chirped at Leo's direction. "Leo? Did you go thought that crack with that weird looking ivy in it?" Emma asked. Leo looked away, he didn't need to answer to her! It was just some ivy! What was the big whoop! "I take that as a yes, because if your silence. As well as you looking like you have complete defiance." Balan deadpanned. "It's not that bad! It's just some ivy! It's not like it was poison!" Leo argued. Unfortunately, that's when a sudden dizzy spell hit him, and he nearly hit the ground, if not for some of the Tims cushioning the fall.
Leo's vision began to go fuzzy as he could hear Emma asking if he was alright, as well as hearing Balan saying something along the lines of "Rest" and "Help".
And then he blacked out...