My Green Heaven is the sixteenth episode of Fantasy High: Sophomore Year.
Recap[]
"Guys, last we left off, oh boy, did a bunch of fun stuff happen. So, these are our intrepid heroes, the Bad Kids, teen adventurers from the Aguefort Adventuring Academy, the world of Spyre’s premiere high school, heroes who are on their spring break trying to retrieve the Crown of the Nightmare King. Their adventures have brought them all the way to the second level of Hell! The Iron City of Dis, where they’ve gone to rescue Riz Gukgak's father, Pok Gukgak as part of… was there a joke I missed? I gotta do this spiel, I never catch the jokes."
"So, our intrepid heroes flew on a pirate fleet through the skies of hell to rescue Pok Gukgak. Riz discovered that maybe his father was not a good father after all, but, at the last possible moment, he discovered his dad was actually not who he appeared to be double again, and was in fact an undercover agent, who had a tractor beam shoot down from Heaven, grabbed his son and shot out of the plane of hell, leaving our rest of our intrepid heroes now in a sky fight, a dogfight, in the middle of the sky on a pirate ship made of the slain carcass of their former vice principal. Guys, you can't make this stuff up-- you can, we did."
"And so we come back now to our intrepid heroes or at least five of the six of them in the skies over the Iron City of Dis. Guys, the Goldenrod, the flagship of the rebel armada under Captain Bill Seacaster twists around, fiery rockets shoot up from the Iron City of Dis. We are in the skies of hell, grey sickening rain clouds thud down on you with a cold, soul-despairing rain as you see hordes of devils fly in the Iron City to all of Bill's many ships. You guys have just survived a huge lair action where everyone was almost flung off the ship. Arriving back on the deck, Fig and Bill Seacaster arrive. You are holding a scroll that you Sleight of Hand-ed from Vraz the Mean’s-- Baby stole some scraps and things that were not as good as what Fig stole."
Synopsis[]
The ship Goldenrod is en route to rescue Riz. As a favor for saving Bill, Fig requests that he not kill Gilear again. Bill states that he had to kill him but he loves him and they are now even as they have each been killed one. Adaine points out that Fabian killed Bill. He responds that Fabian killed him, he killed Gilear, and Gilear will kill Fabian and then they're even. Still trapped in the sarcophagus, Gilear insists that under no circumstances will he try to kill Fabian. Ayda lands and states that Riz is no longer in their plane and he is either dead or no longer there, the other members of the party head to recover his body. Kalvaxux asks if any of his former minions are still on his back or if they were all killed. Fig pretends to be one called Francois and Kalvaxux attempts to receive his aid. She asks him about the Nightmare King but Kalvaxus is then gagged by the crew of The Goldenrod. Since they cannot dock the ship, Fabian rams it directly into the building Riz was last in as Bill calls him mad, causing severe injury to many and instantly killing Gilear again. Bill declares that they are now even. As the trailing devil armies close in, Kristen brings Gilear back to life, they enter the building. They make their way down to the interrogation room where they find Riz's partially opened Briefcase of Holding on the floor and blood smeared on the floor. Tracker detects that a Celestial spell was used and the group remarks that while Riz is a little angel they thought it was only metaphorical. Ayda thinks he was either extracted or banished due to the residual magic in the room. Kristen finds a CCTV room and after killing the imp reviewing footage sees a recording of Riz being extracted with Pok. As the sound of the pirate/devil fight gets louder, they rush back to the ship with the briefcase.
A badly injured Bill Seacaster says he can't get them to the celestial sphere, but could get them to the astral plane. Fig notices that the scroll she stole from Vraz is the spell to return to the shrine at the edge of the briar wall. They decide to return to Arborly to rest and recover the Hangvan. Fig impulsively rips the scroll in half and all the magic dissipates, Adaine immediately mends it. Under a zone of truth, the group asks Kalvaxus about freshman year and his crush on Fig. He yells he doesn't have a crush on anything, he just wants to be rich. Gorgug also asks if anyone put him up to what he was doing. Kalvaxus insists that he was in charge the entire time and not The Nightmare King, Arianwen was not working for him only Aelwyn was. He had no idea what Arianwen was doing. He brought back the Nightmare King some centuries ago to be his lieutenant and accepted a cursed coin from him so he could conquer the world. Accepting it meant he had to spread his wealth around, which he didn't like, but it did mean that he got back five times the amount he gave away and he got very good at investments. This also enabled The Nightmare King to assert his power over the area where the money was distributed. They ask why he would align himself with someone who would likely eventually betray him and call him dumb for thinking "some magical forest guy" giving him a coin would be good for him. Kristen shows Kalvaxus the photo of Pok and Kalina. He says he doesn't see anything but asks if this is about The Shadow Cat. He says he never messed around with that "thing" and The Nightmare King is a total creep who never talked and you'd just see him as a skeleton in a crown in visions but you could just understand what he wanted. The Shadow Cat sent Aelwyn to him and she wasn't the Nightmare King's only follower in Elmville and the only way he could have met others would have been to be infected by Kalina. But he declined the deal. He says that having part of his hoard makes people susceptible to the Nightmare King, but he wasn't being manipulated by him. They make the connection that spending his money makes the group susceptible to The Nightmare King to which he laughs. Gorgug tells him he'll never be half the boat his van is and kicks him in the head.
Riz finds himself flying in endless vastness with distant light shooting around. He is being held tightly in his arms. As they continue to travel to their destination, Pok asks him how he found him and Riz asks him why he was in hell. Riz responds that it's a spring break thing and that Kalina told him. In a flash they walk out of the light and are standing on a grassy hill, there's a babbling stream and a lone gravestone. There's a chair next to it, an old mug of coffee, and an old newspaper. On the opposite side it reads "Pok Gugak." He explains whenever Riz or Sklonda come to his grave to talk, he can hear them from here. He takes him to his agency nearby, which looks like someone put a dozen desks and office equipment in a beautiful meadow. The weather is that of the most perfect day bright, warm, and breezy. There are different agents working and walking around, chatting. Pok introduces them to Riz and they are shocked and relieved to learn that though he is there, he isn't dead. On Pok's desk there is a photo of Sklonda and Riz, a #1 Dad pen holder, and a polished plaque that reads "On behalf of the Association for Divine Wrath, please accept this memorial that your death at the hands of emperor of the Red Waste was avenged by your son, Riz Gukgak."
Pok asks about Kalina, Riz tells him that she said she was his partner and has been following him with a weird plague disease and she has infected others. He doesn't know why Kalina appeared to be tempting him into rescuing Pok. In the "interrogation room" (a pair of chairs in the nearby field) Riz explains further about her ability to infect people and how she is a disease. Riz asks Pok if Kalina was ever corporeal. Pok first started seeing her 22-years ago as a young agent. Riz asks how he thinks Pok could have contracted it nervously alluding to how it can be passed sexually. He tells him that this was prior to when he met Sklonda but that he was a young spy and was running around. Pok was under the impression that she was corporeal but it's possible she created the illusion of tactile sensation via infection of the spine. They worked together for 10 years having been introduced by a trusted acquaintance. Pok thought she worked for The Third Ring, Fallinel's spy agency, which worked on joint missions for Fallinel and Solace. He recalls Kalina couldn't be scried on and had ways of getting near impossible to get information and was sometimes unable to pick stuff up. He just thought she was a good spy. Pok relates that it seems like Riz has found out more than he ever knew. He remarks Kalina doesn't have a god-like intelligence but let slip that she remembered something from far before she could ever have been able to know. Once Pok grew suspicious of her, he thinks Kalina managed to manipulate someone in the government to revoke his citizenship so that Goldenhoard could kill him. Sklonda was given a promotion to detective in Elmville put both of them near Arthur Aguefort who had the Crown of the Nightmare King in his office. Riz asks about Sandra Lynn but Pok says he never met her. Pok thinks some of Kalina's illusory magic got weakened when that photo was taken because she later seemed to be able to do less impressive magic. Riz relays all of the information they learned about the God With No Name and how if they make Kalina more real it might make her less powerful. Riz, very awkwardly, asks Pok if he had sex with Kalina. Pok responds that he was always faithful to Sklonda but that he could have been infected at a lot of different times prior but recalls when doing a job with the Third Ring at a fortress in Fallinel he was injured in a firefight and found some old healing potions and saw Kalina shortly after that. He proposes that there might be a lot of ways to contract this disease. Riz and Pok have a heart-to-heart about being a teenager and wanting to have sex. Riz shares that while his friends are very horny, it hasn't happened yet for him. Pok reassures him that whether it does or doesn't happen it's okay and there's a lot in life to enjoy and he is loved by his family and friends. Riz tells Pok that he is everything he ever wanted him to be because even though he's in heaven he chooses to leave and do his job. Pok tells Riz that work is an act of love because that's how they share how they care about the people they love most.
After Pok's death he learned a little more about Kalina and he went undercover because even though the demons are overrun with the the ability to see Kalina, the devils were very good at keeping her out and the heavens wanted to know how. He initially landed in The Bottomless Pit but things were running very badly until Gorthalax was finally freed and sent Pok where he might be useful to the devils. Gorthalax was probably infected with the ability to see her through his previous relationship with Sklonda which is news to Pok. This is how Kalina learned where Pok was. Kalina showing Riz where Pok was was likely a ploy to get Pok extracted and his investigation ended. Riz asks if he can see his dad again after he goes back though Pok relays this is unlikely without powerful magic. Pok decided to hire Riz as a part-time consultant for heaven.
On the Goldenrod the group look through the things stolen by the pirates from The Bottomless Pit and find a pre-wrapped birthday present for Fig from Gorthalax: a demonic electric bass guitar. Bill decides to give Gilear a heart-to-heart about what make his widow happy.. Bill and Fabian embrace painfully and he tellsFig he'll cut her in on the sales of the stuff he stole from the Bottomless Pit 50/50. They pass back through a doorway from hell to the outside of the briar wall. Gorgug takes the group to the side to talk about Gilear constantly dying and how they can't take him into the forest even if he is the Chosen One. Ayda flatters Fig by complementing her prowess in the fight. Ayda says she completed Plane Shift and that the devils were foolish for messing with a wizard's paramour. Sndra Lynn and Gilear come over and invite Ayda to come over for dinner one night. Gilear adds what an improvement she is to Fig's previous partners. Fig grabs Ayda and skateboards away. Ayada says she going to go back to Compass Points to shrink the library but stays when Fig asks her to. Ayda gives Adaine the project she was secretly working on: a spell called Adaine's Furious Fists. Noting that while it is gauche for a wizard to name a spell after themselves, it's very cool to have one named after you. Adaine tries it out on a wall and an entire section is blasted off and she is excited to create a spell for Ayda in the future.
Fig talks to Gilear about how he's died a lot and asks if he wants to continue on the quest. He reflects that while several party members have dead parents, that he is unique in having died the most times. They agree that it would be safer if he stayed to look after the Hangvan and Hangman while they set into the incredibly dangerous forest. Kristen then comes over and gives a gift card for audiobooks to Gilear for his rockstar intern work but Fig reminds her that he is an assistant. Fig is very upset that they have to leave Gilear behind. Adaine takes a scrap of his bloody shirt so that she can scry on him while they are away. Gilear says he wants to be helpful and he will think on how to do that while he is at Holly Hill and he goes inside. The group discuss how they will all miss Gilear but, if Riz was there, he would miss him most of all because he loved that Gilear was adventuring with them.
In heaven, Pok takes Riz to meet Commander Fitz, he says they'd like to hire him to help with The Nightmare King as that the rules about using Celestials on the mortal plane make things very complicated. Fitz tells him that his paycheck can either go to charities or creating pure faith and good wishes. Fitz sends them to Isosceles a whirring fractal entity that outfits him with spy gear. They give him an Arcadian watch that can pick physical and magical locks and shoot a small laser, a Seraphim vest which lets him descend gradually rather than fall, and a Gregori Necktie that can secretly record audio and video for 20 minutes and be also set to either detect good and evil or detect magic. They open a portal to the Prime Material plane set to the exact current time, but before he goes through, Pok asks Riz to tell him all the trivial things that he doesn't mention at the gravestone, with the time on the other side of the portal fixed to the moment it was open, they are able to take a walk and catch up on the last six years of Riz's life that Pok has missed. Pok tells Riz to give Sklonda his love and that one day a long time from now they will all be back together cracking cases as a badass goblin family. They hug and Riz walks through the waiting portal.
Riz emerges from the portal in front of his friends back in Arborly. He messages his friends to share all that he learned in heaven with his dad in case Kalina is listening. The group shared that they killed Gilear a couple of times and have his briefcase. They remark it's weird to have to work after you die. The group exchanges all the information they received while they were apart. In a discussion on the curses cast by the Witch Goddess, they believe that they are reinforcing each other. They plan to attempt to capture Kalina's image to see if it can affect her power. They livestream a viral shrimp party to try to get enough followers and coverage so that they can later post a video of Kalina to as many people as possible, which they hope will be taxing to her as she would have to visually appear to all infected people who viewed it. The post of their party gains news coverage as Gorgug and Fig are very well known through their band. Gorgug brings up Goldenhoard's treasure and how their money is cursed. He gives away his share of the hoard to the Tinkerer's Hall as a way of dispersing the funds without spreading the curse by not telling them it's from a dragon's hoard. Fig also gives hers away to charity. Adaine brings her familiar, Boggy, back as Bogowlrial Frogowlrial, an owl who will hopefully be harder to kill in a forest. They rest for the night and the next morning prepare to go through to The Nightmare Forest. They leave The Hangman behind as they don't think the motorcycle will be able to move in the thick forest. The Hangman says he will protect Gilear while they are away. At the briar wall, Fig opens a path for them with her archdevil power. They enter the dark forest and the door closes behind them. They decide to split up to gather the remaining components for Kristen's banishment tincture: star moth chrysalis, harrow gray nectar, and lungreed pollen.
Fabian, Gorgug, and Ragh go looking for the star moth chrysalis up high in the tree canopy. Sandra Lynn flies up on Baxter to get a better vantage point. The gem housing Zaphriel flickers, shows an image of a cobweb-filled cottage, and then it goes dark. When they look around they can no longer see Ragh or hear Baxter or Sandra Lynn. When Ayda offers to go after her she suddenly sees herself standing in a house that no one else can see, then she vanishes. Fig attempts to summon Ayda, but her feather has lost its shine.
Riz, Kristen, and Tracker are looking for the lungreed pollen. Riz, Kristen, and Tracker all see Kalina reflected in a puddle at the same time. Kristen takes out her crystal and starts recording her. Kalina asks how it feels to be in a forest where dreams are real and Tracker starts turning into a wolf due to a full moon that only she can see. Riz attempts to shoot Tracker with his grappling gun but she vanishes from sight. Kalina mockingly tells them that Ragh, Sandra Lynn, and Baxter are gone. Kristen and Riz start getting scratched from the inside by Kalina. Riz discretely starts recording with his celestial necktie. Kristen, using bravado, accuses Kalina of flirting with her.
Fabian and Gorgug exchange "spring break - I believe in you"s, find the star moth chrysalis and try to rejoin their party. Adaine finds the harrow gray nectar. Kristen casts greater restoration on Riz, completely curing him of his ability to see Kalina while Kristen continues to be attacked by her. From deep from the forest, the entire party hears disembodied laughter and have a vision of a skeleton wearing a crown.