Objective I, Phase V: Regain Bearings

"Thank you for the information. I think enough time has passed. Let's take care of your foot. Remember how I told you I would have to restrain you? Well, please forgive me in advance.", Agent Eleven says, assuring the woman.

He gently grabbed her hands, placed her slender wrists within one of his hands, "(This might go smoother than I thought.)"

He pinned both of her wrists above her head against the burrow wall which took her by surprise and made her heart skip a beat.

One set of instincts filled her with fear while the other set of instincts filled her with anticipation.

The agent pulls a small stick from his tool belt and tells the woman, "Say ahh one more time please."

The woman complies, "Ahhhhh!"

The agent lays the stick across the elf woman's teeth. She looked at him with her jaw agape, both eagerly and anxiously.

He used his free hand to raise her jaw, closing it. And, with his hand still on her chin, he brought her face a little closer and said, "Look at me."

The elf woman could feel her heart rate increasing as the man drew closer. 

"It'll hurt. But I'll and do it quickly… Bite down when you feel any pain." The agent said resting his free hand on her thigh to reassure her.

She felt her body getting hotter, unsure if it was the medicine or the hand on her thigh. Her eyes wandered from his eyes to his lips and she began to bare down with her teeth in anticipation, unsure what he was insinuating.

The agent drew closer, enough for his subtle, controlled breaths to be felt on her lips bathed in the unnatural blue light.

SNAP!

Her vision suddenly went black.

Her sight returned and she was in extraordinary pain. She squeezed the gemstone in her hand with all her might and snapped the stick in her mouth into pieces, "OOOUUUU!!!!"

The woman began rolling on the ground holding her leg, unsure how to comfort the affected appendage and refusing to touch it.

"And that's why we have a backup stick." The agent says as he pulls another from his toolbelt with a flourish. 

He grabs a roll of gauze as well and quickly wraps the woman's foot with it against her ankle before she can pull away.

He grabs her hand, placing it quickly and gently on her own foot to hold the stick and gauze in place and says, "You've been through a lot and handled it well. You're a real fighter... And if it makes you feel any better, that bear monster got much worse treatment than you."

The woman with tears streaming down her face, unsure whether to hate the man or admire him, only gives a slight nod, "Thank you for your help… even though it feels like torture."

"No need for thanks. More importantly, how do I get you all some help? Where is your home from here? How can I contact the authorities?" The agent inquires.

The woman sighs while wrapping her foot, "No one will come."

"What? Why?" The agent demands.

"We are in the Forbidden Forest." She replies.

The agent looks at her in disbelief, "Uh huh. The Forbidden Forest… Sure. What's so forbidden about it? I mean, I can understand if all the bears are like that one."

The woman replies, "I'm not sure. The council and the elders refuse to speak on it. So I decided to explore for myself."

Agent Eleven looks to the injured men, "(Did the other elves refuse to come? Is that why she came with humans?)"

"So did you find anything of interest on your journey?" The agent inquires.

The elf woman, leaned against the burrow wall, finally feeling relief from her foot responds, "Carnivorous and poisonous plants as far as the eye can see and savage magical beasts like the one you saw before. We were able to avoid the others using scent camouflage, but one of the other men alerted the Mokshanath. We three were lucky to get away with our lives. Even more so that you arrived." The woman says clutching the gemstone to her chest. 

"How many were in your group?" The agent inquires. 

"I had 8 men in my security detail and 2 men carrying supplies. We were supposed to return after a two week expedition… We travelled three days deep into this forest and almost died." the woman replies, almost choking on her words.

The agent sighs, "Well, I can't leave you all here for days on end. I can't carry three people back either. Too much of a liability. We'll have to get back to an acceptable condition to ma-."

The agent hears a grumbling noise nearby and looks to the elf woman, "Was that you- uh, what should I call you anyways?"

"You may call me Miri… and I haven't eaten since yesterday. I apologize. Please, continue with your plan, I was listening to what you were saying." The woman responded earnestly.

"That can wait." The man replied as he went into his briefcase once more and retrieved an orpple, "You should try one of these, Miri. They're filing for their size."

Miri, looking at the ceiling of the burrow, picked her head up off the wall exhausted, but suddenly filled with energetic surprise once she saw the appange.

"Where did you get that? That's the Mahkaloyé! A sacred mana fruit!" Miri exclaimed.

"The maka- what now?" the agent replied, confused. 

"It's a rare fruit and a great source of magical power! It's not to be used as a mere food item!" the woman responded excitedly irritated.

"The taste could be described as magical, I'll give it that. But they're not rare and I don't feel anything special after eating them." The agent replied nonchalantly while slicing the fruit into segments.

"NOT RARE?!" Miri yelled at him indignantly, "The Sacred fruit is something very powerful and shouldn't be -"

"Are you hungry or not?" The agent interjected, extending his knife with a naked piece of fruit attached. 

The woman stopped her rant and hesitantly took the piece of fruit. She closed her eyes and muttered a phrase under her breath as she took a bite. 

She hummed in satisfaction as the fruit touched her tongue. 

Agent Eleven raised a piece of fruit to his own mouth but stopped.

The strange elf woman began to glow as a blanket of prismatic light covered her body for a swift moment.

The agent looked down at his piece of fruit hesitantly, "(Why didn't I glow before? Does it affect elves differently?)"

The agent took a bite of his fruit. He felt and saw nothing extraordinary. 

Miri looked at him confused, "You weren't given the Mahkaloyé's blessing. That is unheard of."

The agent replied, eating more of the fruit, "Sorry, But humans aren't magical like elves. This magic stuff is merely make-believe where I'm from."

The elfavi woman retorted, "Sorry, But I must disagree. Everyone can use mana. Even peasants untalented with magic can still cast basic magic. I can't imagine being from a land untouched by mana."

The agent pondered, "(Elves… Mana… Maka-what-a fruit… A map of the world that looks nothing like my own… I think I - No… It's just not possible.)"