Medi Forest

*Department H*

"Everything is just like the first time you went nuke, no changes, no damages," Ishary said while staring into her computer. She sat on a chair next to the bed Storm 01 was lying on with some tubes connected to the Storm agent's head, chest, and arm.

"But I don't feel alright," he mumbled gently. "The more I nuke out, the more the visions get frequent."

"What did you see after the one on Clave-Ar?" The arctic blue-haired lady queried. She turned her chair to now face the former Rain agent.

"Clave-Ar," he said with a firm certainty. "Completely destroyed Clave-Ar. The planet had been completely turned out, it was a horrible sight that no one should witness."

Ishary pushed back a stray hair. "They must have gotten into a war with…"

"No…" he chipped. "The damage was nothing like any normal weapon could do, it… it…"

Ishary's computer beeped, drawing her attention. She turned to it to read the content before looking back at Storm 01 with a worried expression. "You need to stop thinking about it or you'll nuke this place," she revealed.

The dark-haired man sat up straight and draw a long breath while rubbing his face with his hands. "I need some air." The dark-haired man got off the bed and started towards the exit of the sick bay.

He stopped once he got to the door and turned back to face Ishary, a small smile forming on his lips. "Hey, wanna go out with me?" He probed.

Ishary looked at him with her brows up. "I---I don't follow."

"I have a ticket for a three days vacation at the Medi forest. I could bring someone with me so I'm asking you to go with me."

"The Medi forest? Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if Miss Havishma would have a lot of positive emotions and feelings if she realizes we are gone from D.H."

"Miss Havishma is still on Clave-Ar at the moment and plans on heading to Moonfour later on, we'll be back before she realizes we are gone," Storm 01 stated.

Ishary bites her lower lips and smiled sheepishly. "So you want to take me out?"

"C'mon Ishary, don't act like it is one-sided. Unless you want me to blow up this place out of frustration."

Ishary laughed softly and gently tapped her middle finger on the table in front of her. "How can I say no."

"Great. I'll meet you at the hangar in fifteen." The dark-haired man shoots her a smile before walking out of the sick bay.

He headed to his room and changed out of the Storm uniform he had on. He couldn't hold back the smile on his face as he threw a few things into a backpack. He pulled a drawer in the nightstand and take out the ticket for the vacation. Below the ticket, the dark-haired man noticed a pen-like device. He takes the device and sat on the bed before clicking a button and the device turned into a camera.

Storm 01's lips slightly parted as he caressed the camera with his thumb. He looked up quickly as a soft knock on the door dragged his attention back. The camera turned back into its pen-like form and the storm agent slipped it into his back pocket.

"I said we should meet at the hangar but…" his words trailed off as he realized it wasn't the person he thought it to be. "Hey, Jesselyn."

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"Not really, no. I'm just about to head out now, I'm going down to Winter Weir."

"Cool, I was just about to ask if you wanna…"

"Actually, I'm already going with Ishary. I'm inviting her to spend the three days vacation with me at the Medi forest."

Jesselyn's eyes slightly widened. "Ishary?" She smiled weirdly. "I didn't realize that it was a couples ticket I got you."

"I only just saw it this morning too. Anyhoo, want me to get you anything from the Medi?"

"Oh, sure, that'll be nice. See you when you get back," Jesselyn stated before walking away. The dark-haired man smiled ignorantly before shutting the door behind him. He finished packing his things before making his way out of his room to the hangar.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," Ishary said, walking up to the dark-haired man. For the first time since he met the blue agent, he was seeing her in an outfit that wasn't the Blue uniform.

The agent still had her hair tied up in a bun. She wore black sweatpants and a grey hoodless cardigan with black framed glasses over her almond-shaped black eyes.

"Wow. I don't think I've seen you in any outfit that wasn't the uniform of the Blue agents," the dark-haired man uttered.

Ishary smiled and fixed the bag that was hung behind her back. "Yeah well, I'm always working and have no time to change clothes unless at night times, and I pick my night wares carefully," the arctic blue-haired lady grinned.

"I-- we… we should go now."

.

.

.

The Department H agents stopped their car in front of a large wooden gate that had diagrams of trees drawn on it. A man wearing black shorts and a white loose shirt with palm slippers walked up to the car, smiling widely.

He held the door open for Ishary to exit the car. "Welcome to the Medi," the man said. Storm 01 stepped out of the car looking at the wall with awe all over his face. "Wow," he muttered.

"Right this way," the man said leading them through the gate.

As they stepped in through the gate, they were welcomed by the warm air and the smell of wet grass, it was as if they had left Winter Weir entirely. The sky was clear with not a single cloud in the sky. Just like its name, the place had long and huge trees all around. A few buildings were scattered around the place, and only a handful of people were walking around the place.

"This is beautiful," the arctic blue-haired girl said, still taking in her surrounding.

A lady in a golden-colored gown and low-shaved grey hair walked up to Ishary and wrapped her hands around the blue agents. "Come, let's get you into a more comfortable dress," she said, pulling Ishary away with her.

Storm 01 furrowed as he watched the lady pull Ishary away. The man that brought them through the gate stood in front of the agent. "Worry not, she'll be fine. Come with me yourself." He placed his hands around Storm 01's shoulder and began to walk in the opposite direction the lady had taken Ishary.

The lady led Ishary through a curtain and into a wooden-made building. The inside was designed like a normal saloon; mirrors, tables with makeup, boxes, and clothes scattered around, and a few racks of clothes around. A lady sat on a stool while another tended to her. "Come on, sit." she ushered the Blue agent to sit on a stool in front of a table and mirror. "Was that your other half?"

"No that's…"

"You two certainly give off the couple's aura."

"Was he mad when you took her away?" The other lady queried.

The grey-haired lady nodded with a smile. "You should have seen his face: like he was going to lunge at me." She loosed Ishary's hair, letting it fall over her shoulder, and used a comb to brush the hair down. "I've tended to a lot of couples but these two, uh, they are just different."

Ishary just smile and nodded. She suddenly doesn't want to tell them she wasn't partner with the Storm agent. "You know, couples that step into this forest never leave the same."

"Ayy ayy, Marika, you better stop talking and make her look good."

The grey-haired lady smiled and looked at Ishary through the mirror. "Don't worry, when I'm done with you, your good lad won't be able to take his eyes off of you." She stated with a mischievous grin. "And the best way to do that…" She stopped and walked over to one of the racks nearby. "Is with your outfit."

Meanwhile, Storm 01 also sat on a chair in front of a table and mirror. "Now, I can't let you go out like that into the forest, so, just let me do my thing," the man that brought him along said.

A few minutes later, Storm 01 walked out of the changing room and looked at himself in a mirror. He had a light blue loose short-sleeved shirt and ash shorts. "Not bad."

"Not bad? Tsk, you have zero sense of fashion." The man shook his head disappointedly. "Come on, let's get you to your other half."

The dark-haired man stepped out of the saloon and looked straight at the building Ishary was in. "Looks like Marika's not done yet…"

As if on cue, the curtains opened and the arctic blue-haired girl strolled out. Storm 01's brows twitched up and his jaw dropped as he watched her.

The blue agent was looking utterly different from how he usually sees her. Her long artic blue hair poured over her shoulder with a few streaks of green. The region around her eyes was painted with green eyeliner and the edges of her full lips were also painted with green lipstick.

Storm 01 catch the ray of the sun glitter in her eyes and couldn't help but let a small smile slip off his lips.

She wore a short black sleeveless crop top which revealed much of her ochre color skin that was like the mellow-brown light that bathed the forest they were in. Around her waist was a green chiffon skirt that had gaps on both sides. Her beautiful eyes averted to where the Storm agent was and she shoots him a bright smile.

"Hey you," she said softly as she approached him.

Storm 01 take out the pen-like device which turned into a camera in one click from his pocket and faced it on Ishary. She tilted her head to the side and smiled.

"I didn't know you were a photographer."

"I am a lot of things." He raised the camera again. "Now pose for me." After taking a few more pictures of the arctic blue-haired girl, he extended his hands to her. "Grant me the opportunity to hold your hand, Lady Summary." She stared at his hand for a moment before taking it.

"Well then. Follow me, we have a lot to uncover in the bark of the forest," said Marika.

The duo walked hand in hand through another gate and into a roofed compartment that looked like an art gallery. It had frames of different people and mostly the forest even before it got gated.

"History has it that the Medi forest was the first place the Weirs settled in before moving to other parts of the planet," Marika explained. "While other places in Winter Weir have succumbed to high techs, we choose to keep this place the way it is, to preserve its history and culture."

The Department H agents groaned in awe as they looked at the large framed photos. "Who's this?" The dark-haired man pointed at a man in one of the pictures dressed in a white tunic and black trousers with a sword in his belt.

"Mahran Iličić. He was a warrior of the forest hundreds of years ago, a great man according to history. Now enough with history, let's taste some of the food."

Marika led the two into a marketplace. The duo received much of glances and smiles as they walked through the marketplace. They stopped in front of one of the shops that sell clothes and different accessories. Storm 01 picked up a pair of sunglasses and put them on, he turned to Ishary and queried. "How'd I look?"

The arctic blue-haired girl chuckled as she saw the sunglass he had on. She takes a long ash scarf from a nearby rack and wrapped it around his neck. "Now your look is complete."

They walked further and stopped in front of a food stall. Ishary picked up a stick that had pieces of meat impaled on five different layers of the stick. "What is that?" She asked Marika.

"In here, we call it 'Tsire'. Each of the layers is a different type of meat prepared differently."

Ishary took a bite of the first layer. Her eyes widened as the meat easily melted on her tongue. "Mmm," she exclaimed.

"The first layer is deeply fried with spice sprinkled all over it."

A light flashed on Ishary's face as she leaned in to take another bite. She furrowed and turned to Storm 01 facing the camera at her. "Hey---- not while I'm eating," she said with her mouth full. The Storm agent laughed before joining her for the Tsire.

After almost finishing the entire stall, Ishary placed her hand on her stomach and groaned. "Ahh, I'm full. I need to sit or I'll pass out."

"There's one more place to see before retiring for the day. I'm sure you'll like it the most," Marika revealed with sure certainty. She takes the two past the market and through a large area that was bordered with planks.

As they entered the place, they were greeted by the gentle sound of pouring water from the top of a mountain and into the wide stream below the mountains. Around the water place were a lot of trees, each tree was seeded with many fruits. The Department H agents were charmed by the sight before them.

"Well then, I'll go get your room ready for the night. Enjoy." Marika quietly slipped out of the place.

"How lucky we are to get this place to ourselves," Ishary said with a little hesitation in her voice.

"I'm not a good swimmer, but I have a little bit of knowledge of how it's done." The dark-haired man unbuttoned his shirt and strolled into the warm water.

Ishary also dropped her chiffon skirt before walking up to the water. She stopped at the mouth of the stream, letting the water wash up her leg. "Are you waiting for an invitation?"

The Department H agents swam to the other side of the stream and back before resting on one corner. Storm 01 raised his head to the sky and took a deep breath.

"This is nice. Ishary I---" He turned his head to look at Ishary but suddenly felt her soft lips on his. He was in warm water but a cold chill went up his spine as she placed her hands on his face. Ishary pulled back and looked into the eyes of the dark-haired man. "I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore, I really I'm sorry."

"Ishary?"

...