The Obsidian Tale
~ Ouli Brye (top half) – North district – Garnett’s Mansion
~
“You weren’t kidding when you said
this girl was rich, Suspenders.”
“Heh, well when you’re from a village,
what do you expect me to say?” He became serious, “We’re just going to ask
Garnett about Lydia and Forrest, and we’re out of here unless she has them
hostage. She will listen to me because I helped her.”
Clyde was stretching behind them. “I
see Felix has been motivated to protect Lydia more now.”
Felix blushed. “What are you talking
about? I’m just doing it because Rina will keep nagging.”
Rina kicked him on the face and he
accidentally crashed into the front gates. “You better watch it. The Garnett
household will charge you for denting the fence. It’s worth more than you.”
“I-I’m sorry…” He fell, almost
fainting. It looks like he might need a bandage for his face.
Catching Up
How to Speak to a Woman
At the front door, Felix rang the doorbell and Rina hid behind a giant flower pot, giggling at the new large bandage across Felix’s face. [Music 3.2] There was a speaker at the top of the door and Garnett could see his reflection through the ring that displayed the other side.
“You’re the guy who saved me at the
train.”
“It’s Felix. I have a question.”
“No. I have a question,” Her voice echoed through the speakers. “That
little boy that was with you, does he know of a girl with my hair color?”
“Er… Forrest… and Ly-“
Rina snickered from the side. She
didn’t want anyone else knowing about Lydia.
Felix coughed. “Oh uh, did you see
them together?”
“If that Forrest boy knows her and
you know him, then you know her?”
“What?”
Clyde had his fingers on his chin,
thinking. “The Transitive Property, I suppose. When A equals B and B equals C,
then A equals C.”
Rina coughed, whispering quietly,
“Oh my G-… shut the Hell up!”
“We don’t have time for your kind of
education,” Felix said kindly to him. “Anyway, what if I do know her?”
“I don’t like her,” Garnett said
bluntly. Her voice suddenly trailed away with more smack talking.
Felix grinned. “Uh… Garnett? Are you
there?”
The door slammed open and out came
Garnett and her father. Felix and Clyde took a step back.
Garnett’s father looked as if he was
in a hurry. “Hello, hi there. We are quite busy right now, I apologize.”
Felix waved at him. “Hi, Mister um…
I don’t really know Garnett’s last name.”
“You don’t need to know. Just call
me by my first name – Moilin.” He gave a nervous smile.
Garnett sighed.
Felix opened his arms. “Come on, we
need to communicate here. I just want to know if you’ve seen them. If you did,
what happened to them?”
Moilin looked away. “We sent them to
the capital’s back entrance. Garnett told me about the girl’s infiltration to
the train and I believe that’s a violation to Ouli Brye’s safety. She might be
questioned by the royalty, possibly along with that boy as well.”
“What?!” Felix panicked.
Garnett scoffed at him. “And to
think I would have made new friends. But instead, you and your little child
friend are actually my enemies after all.”
“Garnett, it’s not like that. We
don’t want to hurt you-“
“Stay away from my mansion! Or else…
Or else I’ll have King Nader eradicate you himself!” She took out her axe.
Rina jumped away from the pot and
out of the gate while Felix took several steps back. “O-Okay. I’m sorry.”
Clyde followed him. “How is she
allowed to hold an axe around with her father standing just right there?”
“Beats me, but it doesn’t matter. We
got our answer.” [End music]
“And it’s perfect. I have to go back
there anyway. I can see the sun setting. This may be very risky to deal with,
Felix.”
Felix agreed. “I’ll go with you.
I’ll get Lydia and Forrest back, and then we can help you stop King Nader.” [Music 1.6]
Clyde held onto Felix’s right
shoulder. “I don’t know if that’s necessary. You already have a lot on your
plate, don’t you?” Felix became quiet. “I can do it myself. I’m already a
hostage to the Gammel army. There is no reputation to lose, so I might as well
not drag anyone into this.”
“Don’t you want to join us after the
deed is done?”
“I thought about it, but what would
happen after I kill King Nader?”
“You’re going to kill him?!”
“I have to, Felix. You need to
understand that in circumstances like these, who is the real enemy here?”
Felix disagreed with him this time.
“No… Of course he is the enemy, but we can at least imprison him.”
“They always come back for revenge.
This man is known to have a bunch of followers. If he is alive, there will be a
way for his followers to take on his proposal for future problems. We might as
well end him now.”
“The whole Gammel army will be after
you if he’s the primary need for the takeover of Ouli Brye.”
Clyde laughed. “That’s no problem!
I’m good at running away. Look, promise me you’ll do this: find Lydia and your
friend, Forrest, as soon as possible and then make a run for it to the south
end of North Ouli Brye. That way, you can take a small boat to South Ouli Brye
where there is no war at all, and the markets are as real as it can get.”
“South Ouli Brye… you mean this
whole time we’ve been running around North Ouli Brye?”
“Exactly. Ouli Brye is a huge city
that is divided into two. Once you go south there, you’ll be safe in Lennox
territory. Now go. Rina must be waiting for you at the side gates.”
Felix began running towards the
edges of the garden. “Alright…” He then thought to himself, “I’ll save Clyde
after finding Lydia and Forrest. There’s no way he is going to make it out on
his own if I don’t help him!”
On the adjacent side of Garnett’s
mansion, Rina pouted.
“What took you so long?!”
“Sorry. Clyde was just telling me
about his plan. I’ll tell you along the way to the capital. We have to hurry!”
“W-Wha? Hey! Don’t run off without
me. That’s my job!” [End music]
~ Ouli Brye (top half) – Northwestern district – Capital’s
exterior ~
Felix and Rina made their way to the
capital once more, and this time they vowed not to make any other side trips.
This moment had become dire to them, and they must make a move at a quick pace.
The only problem now is: where to begin?
Felix ran towards the water belts to
check the side of the capital. There were no doors. Rina did the same for the
other end, but no doors could be seen.
“What back side was Moilin talking
about?” Felix tapped his foot.
“That piece of crap of a father. Was
he lying to you?” The two of them were thinking of a plan. “You know what?
Let’s do what I always enjoy doing.” She faced the side of the capital and she
readied her hands. Seem familiar?
“W-Wait a minute, Rina! What are you
doing?!”
“Fireball!!”
“Not the capital, not the cap-…!!!” [Music 12.1]
A bunch of screams were heard from
both ends – the outside and the inside of the capital. They could see several
civilians rushing out in a stampede. Felix and Rina made their way into the
only room they could see across the broken wall which was just a bedroom.
Nobody was inside.
~ Ouli Brye (top half) – Northwestern district – Capital’s
interior ~
It was getting dark now, and luckily
nobody was able to see the culprit who blasted the wall with a fireball. Once
Rina and Felix rushed inside, Rina hid behind a drawer and Felix crawled under
the bed frame.
A few soldiers barged in to check
the commotion but to them, there was nobody.
“The wall is broken but I don’t see
anyon- Augh!!” Rina threw a knife against the soldier’s left arm. Felix rolled
out of the bed and then he attacked the soldier with the handle of his crescent
blade. The soldier fainted and Rina rushed into the next room while Felix
followed her without a word.
They reached the hallway with a
bunch of other doors leading to bedrooms. Rina made a sharp turn to the left
into another bedroom. She looked out the window and it seems she was facing the
outside of the capital instead of getting closer to the back side where Lydia
and Forrest were supposedly at.
In an attempt to stay within the
center of the capital, Rina shot another fireball against the walls to the
right of her. Felix still followed, complaining to her if she knew where she
was going. A bunch of soldiers were behind them, but Rina only fended them off
with a bunch of lesser fireballs.
They returned to the hallway after
technically running in half a circle. On the other side of where they entered
the hallway was the meeting room. Luckily for Felix, he wasn’t hesitant on
fighting the soldiers since they were wearing armor. The blade would only knock
them down.
Felix jumped onto the large central table
and he was able to angle his blade against any soldier who came closer to him.
“Stay away!” He called out.
With him as a distraction, Rina went
on and turned right into the kitchen. Once Felix finished knocking everyone
down, he followed Rina into the kitchen. Rina turned around to shoot another
fireball at the doorway so that no soldiers would come in from the previous
meeting room.
Felix coughed from exhaustion. “We
should be safe for a little while longer.”
“Yeah, whatever.” She tried to run
but she suddenly fell onto her knees.
“Rina! Are you okay?!”
“Stay away, Suspenders! I’m fine!”
“You must have used too much of that
magic of yours.”
“You idiot. It doesn’t matter… how
much I use. We’re doing this for Lydia and that damn little boy. I won’t stop
until I save Lydia!!”
She tried to get up once more only
to fall again.
“Rina, don’t push yourself, seriously!”
Rina crawled her way to the next
archway. “I can’t… stop now. No one will stop me. Not you, not the damn army,
not that Pria woman…”
Felix stopped. “Is that what all
this is about?”
Rina was shaking in anger.
“Rina, please. You have to let me know
about these kind of things. I’m traveling with you and I’m your companion. Let
me know when you want to rest.”
“I DON’T WANT TO REST!” She turned
around, grabbing a knife from her sheath pocket. “I don’t have a choice…”
Felix took a step back. “I… I’m
sorry.” [End music]
A laughter appeared in front of the
archway. “Hm, hm, hm. Whether you can move or not, it should end here.” [Music 1.5]
The party of two faced the archway.
In front of them was Ace, the lieutenant of the Lennox army, closest related to
King Nader!
“I don’t really understand your
purpose for barging into the capital, but I assume it is for your friends. You
should have asked us nicely at the main hall like you’ve tried to do before,
no?”
Rina sat upward. “I can’t allow
that. King Nader is a part of the Gammel army and if he gets a hold of Lydia,
it’s game over!”
“The Gammel army?! You bite your
tongue this instant!” Ace took out a long rapier weapon.
Felix gasped. “Wait. You don’t know
that King Nader is a part of the Gammel army?! Aren’t you his lieutenant, the
head of the capital?”
“I’ve been with King Nader since the
beginning. He has made no single move that signified being a part of the Gammel
army. Do NOT say such ridiculous things.”
He ran towards Rina with his rapier
weapon. Felix was not fast enough to unsheathe his own crescent blade either!
Rina only had to close her eyes, but
the rapier didn’t hurt her. The rapier clinked against another sword. [End music]
Rina
looked up and she could see a tall man in a long, green robe. His green hair
was freshly cut and his beard was now in a scruff. [Music 12.2]
“Leo!!” Felix and Rina called out at
the same time.
Leo gave a smirk as he fended off
Ace. “After putting on my green robe again, it reminded me how young I really
am.”
“You look several years younger,”
Felix added.
Ace’s eyes opened wide. He jumped
back after being deflected by Leo’s long sword.
“Leonardo Van Roy. Never expected to
see you come back after a full year.”
“These two teenagers taught me
something important.”
“And what is there to learn after how
many times you’ve lied to the country about King Nader?”
Leo answered him, “I shouldn’t run
away from my own beliefs. I know what
I heard last year, and it is about King Nader’s betrayal. I will stick to my
beliefs and fight back instead of running away from my own exile. I am doing
this not for King Nader, not for you as a childhood best friend, but for the
country of Ouli Brye!”
“Leonardo, we are no longer best
friends. I assure you know that after you tainted the reputation of our
glorifying king.”
The ground started shaking and there
were several “Boom!” noises outside. It was as loud as a vehicle and its bass
on max volume, but echoing all over the country.
The screams of many civilians
overpowered the whole country.
Leo and Ace fought face-to-face
several times. “If King Nader is not a part of the Gammel army, then what is
all that you hear outside?!”
Ace stuttered. “I will not accept
that! King Nader has nothing to do with the Gammel army. For all we know, their
army is separate and they may be taking over on their own!”
“No! King Nader is catering it!!”
“Silence, you fool!” Ace tried to
cut through Leo with his rapier but Leo moved away with his sword.
Instead of fighting back, Leo
dropped his sword.
Felix tried to help Rina up while
watching out for the battle. “Leo, what are you doing?!”
“I’ve fought with swords for too
long now. It’s time I take a real battle with close combat.” He already had
black gloves on, ready to fight against Ace. “I never liked swords anyway.”
Ace laughed. “Heh. A rapier against
mere gloves? Do not be ridiculous.”
“Felix, Rina, try your best to find
the basement. That should be where Forrest and Lydia are! In the book room,
there is a shelf that reaches down into a lower staircase and-“
“That’s enough, Leonardo!!” Ace
tried to attack him but Leo only rolled away to the side.
Rina was able to stand now and she
hurried to the next room. “For a hobo, you’re not so bad.”
Felix waved to him. “Please make it
out safely, Leo! There is still much more that we need to talk about!”
“No problem.” Leo clamped his fists
together. “Now, it’s time to fight for real, Ace!” [End music]
~ Ouli Brye (top half) – Northwestern district – Capital’s
basement ~
The basement was created probably
centuries ago. The bricks were tattered in silver and bronze, a mix depending
on how moldy it got. Instead of modern flashlights of the like, wooden barks
hung out of the bricks and flames would appear in baskets above them. Some of
the bookshelves off to the side were webbed and the tables were dusty. The only
window there was of the view of the ocean. Well, at least the sewage area that
is. [Music 7.2]
The captain of the Gammel army
trapped Forrest and Lydia down below in the basement. Floir was by herself;
there were no other soldiers with her.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
“That’s not fair!” Forrest whined. “Why did you let Garnett and her dad go and not us?!”
“They were only trying to capture
you.”
“What? She tried to kill Lydia!”
Floir whipped her hair to the side
of her cheeks. “Hmph. She is actually a part of the capital royalty.”
Forrest panicked. “She’s helping the
Game army too?!”
“It’s called ‘Gammel’ for Christ’s
sake. I have a feeling you said it properly before, yet you tend to forget real
fast. And yes, she’s indirectly helping us capture Lydia. It’s little does she
know though, because she thinks she’s helping the Lennox army, working under
King Nader. To summarize, King Nader is actually a part of the Gammel army, but
Garnett does not realize this.”
“So you’re using her?!”
“Not quite. She gets the thrill of
doing something important. She hates sitting around, you know.”
Lydia was licking the dirty
textbooks on the bookshelves, but Rina was not there to stop her. Forrest was
about to take his cubed bazooka, but there was no ammunition in it.
“What are you planning to do with
the takeover of the Linux army??”
“Ugh. ‘Lennox’, kid. Lennox. Get it right.” She rolled her
eyes. “We only need one government for this whole continent. As you can see,
there are several abandoned areas in the southern part of this continent occupied
by Lennox. If you have not noticed, Lennox is not taking their government’s
level on par with us. Because of this, their economy has worsened.”
“What about the Village of
Saradeli?! Felix told me lots about how they’re poor!”
“The village is not occupied by us.
It is the only place not being occupied because of the distrust in their poison
twenty years ago. If you want me to prove myself further, even destroyed places
like Loomin is slowly picking itself back up on its feet.”
Forrest disagreed with her. “No! I
don’t think that’s right. What about South Ouli Brye? From what I remember,
that’s where I came from. That’s where my friends came from too! Their markets
are the coolest.”
“Ever since parents have been
disappearing, the marketplace became dry and withered. We will take care of
that once we take over. Now, why don’t you join us in this pact and fix the
southern continent together?”
Forrest was about to cry now. “Our
parents… Do you know where they went?”
“As far as I’m concerned, I do not
know. Maybe you will find out if you join us on this mission. There are lots of
questions that are left unanswered even for us.” [End music]
Lydia turned to Floir. “I don’t buy
this.”
“Lydia! Are you sure?” Forrest
asked. Lydia nodded and Forrest remembered how Rina and Felix talked about
Lydia’s judgments being correct most of the time. There was never really an
explanation as to why Lydia was right, but it seemed right for Forrest to agree
with her.
“So, will you join us?”
“N-No way!” Forrest hesitated.
Floir took out her halberd. “Did you
hesitate to agree?”
“If you really wanted us to join
you, you would put that weapon away!” Forrest’s bravery was bluffing now.
Floir paused for a moment until she
sheathed her weapon. “Heh. A wise child indeed. You do make a point.”
“So you’re serious about saving the
south continent?!” Forrest tried to smile.
“Of course. Let me make a deal with
you. Professor Talbot, our main scientist, currently has two more shards. We
will hand them to you if you say yes.”
“Two shards… For Lydia? I thought
you wanted to kill her?”
“We do not. Some of our members want
to just because they dislike her for avoiding us. If I wanted to kill her, I
would do so right now.”
Forrest turned to Lydia, watching
her almost fall into tears for no reason with the lack of shards that she had.
It only made sense that he should help her now that his main goal was to follow
Felix, who wanted to follow Rina on the search for shards.
“Okay then. I’ll go with you.”
Floir smiled. “Perfect. We will talk
to the professor right now about the shards.” She led them out of the basement
at last.
~ Ouli Brye (top half) – Northwestern district – Capital’s
interior ~
Getting closer to the back end of
the capital, Felix and Rina could see the sea through the window! There were
several ships docked nearby and sewage holes were plastered to the side of the
capital. They felt closer to both Forrest and Lydia.
Felix stood for a second. “Ergh… I
wonder if Clyde already killed King Nader…”
Rina watched through the window. “He
will if he said he will. You have to believe your friend if he tells you all of
these personal things, Suspenders.”
“He’s also right though. I have to
focus on helping you get those shards for Lydia. Ever since I dragged myself
along with you, I learned a lot, you know?”
Rina blushed but she made an angry
face. “What the hell are you talking about, stupid?”
“It’s just… I wanted to help
everyone. I wanted to make a difference. Having to save an Obsidian person that
everyone wants to kidnap just feels like an honor, you know? Not only that, I
want to know Lydia’s true personality. It’s hard to talk to her when she’s just
some emotionless doll.”
Rina sighed. “I know. She doesn’t
even remember who I am, but she travels with me anyway. Well, besides the fact
that I forcefully drag her around, heh…” She examined the ship that docked onto the shore. “Wait a minute, look there.” [Music 7.1]
Felix could see a few soldiers
coming out of the ship. “It’s the Gammel army! They really are here to attack!”
Rina glared at one person in
particular. “No, you idiot! Look closely at one of them!”
Felix could make out a white gown. A
familiar gown at that.
“No. It can’t be.” He took a step
back. “It’s Professor Talbot, isn’t it?”
“Move aside, Suspenders. I’m going
to blast this wall open and get to him as fast as possible.”
“You can’t do that! You still need
to save your magic energy or else you won’t be able to stand like earlier.”
Rina clenched her teeth. “Shut up.
I’m fine!”
From afar, Professor Talbot headed
closer to the capital. “Hehe. I have finally made it. I know you’re in this
city, you daft teenager.” He fixed his aviators. “I have one shard in hand, and
the other in a new laboratory. Will you fight me for it?” The moment he said that,
the capital walls exploded – expecting Rina would be making her way to the
docks. [End music]
[Ending 1 music]
~~~
On the next episode of The Obsidian Tale, we are finally going to conclude 1/5th of the story with the first finale of this volume! Rina and Talbot will be facing each other in a magic battle, but what will Felix do to help? Forrest agreed to train under Lieutenant Floir in return for Lydia's shards. It's a win-win situation, so what could go wrong? Find out how this little war ends next week!
~~~
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