The Obsidian Tale
Episode 14
[Opening 2 music]
[Opening 2 music]
~ ??? ~
“Stupid sailboat control stopped
working after that abyss almost crushed us.” Felix kicked the steering wheel
and it broke apart. “Ugh…”
Rina was sitting next to him without
saying a word. She was looking at the wooden patterns below her without showing
any emotion at all.
“At least it’s the next morning and
it’s bright outside, right Rina?”
There was still no answer.
“Did you get enough sleep by the
way?” Felix waited for an answer, but Rina was still emotionless. “Hey…”
“Leave me alone.” Rina looked away.
Felix sat down with her. “I’ll give
you some more time if you need it. With the direction of the wind, I think
we’re slowly making our way to South Ouli Brye. I heard it’s a lot better
there, hehe.” He gave a nervous laughter.
Rina closed her eyes to avoid seeing
anything of the like. “I couldn’t save Lydia.” [Music 14.1]
“What are you talking about? She got
the yellow shard. From what I remember, it was considered the ‘knowledge’ shard
from the book you read at the Igor laboratory, right?”
“If it weren’t for Talbot being so
lenient on me, I would have totally failed. What’s even worse is that she’s not
here with us right now. She’s probably at some far off land for all we know.”
“Stop,” Felix interrupted her.
“She’s still alive and that’s all that matters. You’ve tried your best and I
think you succeeded.”
“Succeeded? And what about you? You
kept a vow to help Lydia, didn’t you? Where was your part in all this? Hah,
throwing the yellow shard. Yeah, that was because it was handed to us. We
didn’t earn it. I didn’t help. You
didn’t help either.”
Felix gasped. “W-Wait a minute,
Rina.”
“It’s your fault that we couldn’t do
anything! You were just so busy fighting that damn guy that you couldn’t focus
on what was more important!”
“You mean Lionel? He distracted me!”
“That’s because you weren’t strong
enough!!!” She shouted. Felix felt insulted, and he stayed quiet.
After the awkward silence, Felix
stood up. “I’m still going to help Lydia. I’m going to look for those shards
and find her.”
“Why do you care? It’s all over. If
we barely made it out of that abyss alive, who knows what could have
happened to them? What if they’re not
alive? There’s no point in searching.”
“But weren’t you happy that she
finally remembered you? Why did you suddenly change moods the next morning like
that?”
Rina began shaking. “Because moments
after that, didn’t you see the abyss crack open even more?!”
Felix stayed silent. He knew she had
a good point. “So then… what are you planning to do now?”
“Lydia and I already lost our home
and the only thing I had left going for me was Lydia. If she’s gone, what now?”
The two of them were almost at the
docks for South Ouli Brye.
“I don’t know,” Felix said, “Maybe
start something new or continue hanging on even if you don’t know what’s next
in store for your life? That’s exactly what I’m doing now.”
Rina made her way to wooden edge of
the docks. “That’s such a stupid thing to consider. Stay away from me,
Suspenders. I’m not in the mood.”
“R-Rina!” Felix was about to stop
her, but he wanted to respect her decisions at the same time. “Damn it… This is
all going wrong for us.” He kicked a nearby empty water bottle. “Clyde, what
the hell was that anyway?!” [End music]
A little girl whined. “You’re
supposed to recycle that!”
Felix ignored her and went onward
down the docks.
~ Ouli Brye (bottom half) – Central district – Market ~
Felix had a feeling that Rina was
heading for the inn to rest for the day, so he decided to take it slow and ask
around for any shards. It was strange to call this whole city ‘Ouli Brye’
without thinking about the wars that went on up north. He heard people
whispering about the destruction of North Ouli Brye, but most did not really
fear of it because they separated themselves like a steel wall. One part of
Ouli Brye could not affect the other. Besides, they heard news that Ace, the
true honorable member of the royalty, is now a part of the reconstruction plan. [Music 14.2]
After an hour of asking around,
Felix still didn’t have a single clue as to where the shards could be. He sat down
by a dusty yet populated park nearby. Many of the children here looked like
orphans, perhaps.
“Hm? Where are all their parents?”
He asked himself. “They all look like Forrest’s age…”
He noticed one woman in particular.
She had a bandana over her hair and curly bangs that rang down the side of her
cheeks. Her build was quite thick and she wore a darkish green attire that
looked tight on her. The woman stared back and then she smiled, welcoming him
to join the playground.
Felix walked on over as he asked
her, “What’s happening here?”
“What do you mean ‘what’s happening
here’, silly?” She chuckled and answered his question, “This is an orphanage
play day. Every once in a while, I take a bunch of children out to play and
exercise. If no one else will take care of them, I will. We have a maid who
also supports me whenever I am busy and out taking care of errands.”
“Oh I see. So you work for an
orphanage, huh…”
“You seem a little too old to be a
part of this, now that I think about it.”
Felix jumped. “Whoa, wait no! I was
just curious about what this was. I have a friend who said he might be from
Southern Ouli Brye but his memory fogged up. It has been a while, I guess.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Almost around seven years, more or
less.”
The woman frowned. “I see… So this
friend of yours was one of the very few who could escape.”
Felix became interested in the
conversation. “What do you mean by that?”
“Sit, I will explain. My name is
Hazel by the way, Hazel Hayashi.”
“And mine’s Felix Wolfram. It’s nice
to meet you, kind lady.”
She laughed. “Oh, you and your
flattery!” She kindly punched him but it felt like a boulder just hit him. “Anyway,
around seven years ago, the Gammel army had been secretly abducting parents to
use them for an experiment. They have not returned ever since, so something bad
could have happened to all of those parents by now. Unless, they were sent to
some unheard camp far away in the enemy territory. I assume you are not a part
of the Gammel army, yes?”
“How did you know?”
“You seem very confused about the
situation here. Plus, you’re young. So it is not likely that you are involved
in the military.”
Felix was amazed. He complimented
her again. “Wow, nice deduction!”
“Thank you. I get that quite a lot
actually. Now, about that research experiment… They have a high-classed member
named Talbot. He wanted to test Obsidian energy combined with humanoid
functions. So far, it has created negative impulses on their decisions and they
are working to improve and fix this matter. Rumors state that it can grow worse
within humans, but it’s not exactly known yet.”
Felix slowly slid away from the
bench beside her. “Er… You seem to know a lot behind the Gammel government…”
“Ahaha!” She gave another kind
laughter. “You assume I am from the Gammel military?” Felix looked away. “You
believe what you want to believe. I will tell you that I am not, and that I
simply know too much about how their military works. If you’re wondering how I
know, well… I once went into enemy territory but I found that the Lennox
government here is more genuine and peaceful. Sure, we may be economically
impaired, but at least we can live off of it.”
“Ah, so you’re once from the lands
that Gammel occupied up north.”
“You could say that."
The Manipulator
“Anyway, I need to take these children back to the orphanage for a quick lunch. You can stop by for lunch too if you want. I’d be glad to have you around since you bothered to listen. Teenagers who listen to elders are most important for the future’s sake.”
“Elder? You don’t look that old.”
“Oh, more flattery! I like you
already, kid.” She punched him again, and this time, he fell off the bench. “Please
do visit! Ohoho.”
Felix watched as she was taking
about twenty children to the orphanage not too far from here. He gave a soft
smile of relaxation.
“Finally… I meet someone who is very
nice and not… strange I guess.” His stomach began to growl. “And I think I know
where I’m going next.” [End music]
~ Ouli Brye (bottom half) – Western district – Orphanage ~
There were the same twenty children
running around the living room floor, playing tag together. It was not
barbaric, but more of a childish act since the living room was twice as large
as any other household’s living room. There were a few who opted out and sat on
the couch to talk.
Felix entered from the living room
door and some of the children looked at him, already treating him like a new
friend.
“Come play with us! You can be
Godzilla!”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh goodness, Felix! You really did
come.” Hazel called for him from the kitchen. “I didn’t think you would
actually be here.”
Felix chuckled. “Eheh, sorry. When
free food is offered, it would be hard for me to hesitate.”
“Ohoho, with you being in that
village, I’ll bet. But anyway, that will be a hundred gold.”
Felix gasped. “What?! Really? I’m
sorry, I didn’t know.”
“I’m kidding. Eat up and help
yourself for some seconds. I told the maid beforehand to make extras, and look
where it’s going! Wonderful timing.”
Felix took a step back. “Whoa, hold
on. Is this fresh potato soup?!”
“You bet it is! Just because we are
economically unstable doesn’t mean we can’t make a farmland work around here in
the near deserts.”
“Oh, awesome!! I used to love them
the most whenever my mom-…” He made a sudden stop. “Mom…”
“Oh
I don’t know. Maybe I killed her?” The exact words from Lionel rang in
Felix’s head. [Music 8.2]
“Is everything all right, Felix?”
Felix shook his head. “Yeah.” He
turned away. “She can’t be dead… Gammel can’t be that evil, can they?”
The Potato Soup Recipe
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to take a portion to one of the children in the bedroom.”
Felix grabbed his bowl. “Which
child?”
“One of our orphans got extremely
ill the other day, no biggie on your part.”
“Oh… Does he need the extra soup
that I have?”
“Sit your butt down and eat your
own. You must be exhausted as well.”
Felix felt threatened for some
reason. “O-Okay.”
After a short while, Hazel came back
from helping the sickened child. Hazel frowned.
“How is he?”
Hazel felt embarrassed. “I don’t
understand. Even growing up, I could never work my healing techniques.”
“You’re a healer?”
“I’m supposed to know the finest
medicines. I’ve been trying to study it ever since… well, ever since my travels
have ended.”
Felix became interested. “You used
to travel? To where?”
“Almost everywhere, I guess. There
are places that I haven’t seen though. Or, maybe that’s just my modesty,
ohoho.”
As Felix finished his bowl of soup,
he stood up. “I forgot. It has been a while.”
“Hm?”
“I need to find my friend. Her name
is Rina, so if you see anyone dressed differently than what you people normally
wear in Ouli Brye, it must be her.”
Hazel crossed her arms. “Leaving so
soon?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I really have to
find her because her best friend is in danger.”
“What kind of danger?”
“The Gammel soldiers are after her
and-“
“You can stop right there, kid.”
Felix became confused. “Er, huh?”
Hazel walked away from the kitchen
into another room. While doing so, she said to her maid, “Hey, take care of the
children around here.”
“What? Where are you going? You’re
going to leave all the sudden?”
“Don’t complain or else you’re not
getting dinner tonight.”
“B-But ma’am, I’m the cook here.”
Ignoring the maid, Hazel reappeared
with a bow and a few arrows to her side-pocket. “Yes. I will accompany this
teenager until he finds his friend, Rina.”
Felix took a step back. “Whoa, whoa,
wait a minute. What do you mean you’ll accompany me? I can look for her
myself.”
“Don’t be daft, child. You’re in a
hurry to retrieve your friend from the Gammel army, yes?”
“Yeah but… it doesn’t really concern
y-“
Hazel placed her hands on her hips.
“Oh, don’t you talk to me that way. I know exactly what the Gammel army is up
to. Heh! And to think I ran into the boy himself who got into the quarrel with
the army and the Obsidian.”
“HUH?! I didn’t even mention that
Lydia is an Obsidian!”
“And now I know her name. Face it
kid, you cannot underestimate my knowledge. I know what the Gammel government
is trying to do.”
“H-How? Who are you exactly?”
The maid raised her hand. “She’s
just a mother of twenty-one! Tehe.”
“How barbaric,” Hazel glared at her
maid which scared her completely. “Anyway, I will be back soon.”
Felix sighed. “Aw man. I’m bringing
more people into my problem…” [End music]
~ Ouli Brye (bottom half) – Northwestern district – Riverbed
~
It took both Felix and Hazel about
an hour to find Rina, but they could see her sitting at the shoreline up
northwest of Ouli Brye. She only sat beside a tree, watching the sea breeze
slightly different due to the abyss. Rina was slightly awkward slanting against
the tree with her backpack still on. It’s as if she never wanted to take it off
in the first place.
“Rina! I finally found you!” Felix
ran up to her. He waited for her to turn around.
Rina was holding onto the flail that
she was supposed to give to Lydia when she became sane. She had a frown on her
face.
“Have you been eating?”
There was no answer.
Hazel said to them, “You can stay
over at my place for the night if that is fine with the girl.”
“See? I met this nice young woman,”
Felix said as Hazel began chuckling at the flattery in the background, “and she
is offering some hospitality.”
Still, there was no answer.
“You have to eat and sleep sometime,
Rina. Please, come on. I’ll put that flail back into your bag for you-“
As soon as Felix tried to grab the
flail, Rina slapped his hand away.
“Stay away from the flail. I’ll put
it in the bag myself.”
“Are you still mad at me?”
“Of course I am. I’m even madder
that you’d even think about touching my backpack.”
“I wasn’t intending to touch it. I
just wanted to put the flail back.”
“Fine, whatever. I will eat and I
will try to sleep. But just-“ She suddenly felt dizzy, making her way to the
ground and fainting.
Felix saved her fall. “What the?!”
Hazel felt Rina’s forehead. “She
must be extremely exhausted. We must take her back to the infirmary quickly!”
“Damn it…! Rina, please be okay!”
~ Ouli Brye (bottom half) – Western district – Orphanage ~
Felix barged into the orphanage
living room while holding onto Rina. He accidentally banged her head against
the doorway which caused him to screech especially if she found out.
Hazel helped him to the room with
the sickened child. In the bedroom, there were two large beds on each end, one
already occupied by the boy who didn’t want to get up.
The maid clapped her hands. “That
was rather quick! I thought you were going out on a long quest again.”
“Long quest?” Felix repeated. [Music 2.2]
Hazel felt Rina’s forehead again and
then she grabbed a towel from the drawer nearby. “It was a pretty nice ‘quest’,
you could say. I’d rather not talk much about it. It left a dent in my life for
years after…”
“Sorry. I won’t ask.”
The maid put her face in between
Hazel and Rina in order to grab her attention, “Can I tell him?!”
Hazel pushed her face away. “No. I
will eventually if Felix decides to stay a little longer.”
“I probably will for the night if
that’s okay with you.”
“Wait a minute.” Hazel yelled at the
maid, “Why aren’t you watching the children?!”
“Eheh, woopsies!! I forgot!” The
maid ran off.
“Excuse me for that. She is a
helpful maid, but she sometimes trails off her duties with her klutziness. I
know this may not be fair, but how about you tell me about yourself instead? I
want to know more about this girl that the Gammel army is chasing after.”
Felix took a deep breath. “Alright,
well…”
Several minutes have passed and
Felix told Hazel all about his journey with Rina, Lydia, Felix, Leo, and even
Clyde.
“How’s the village doing?”
“Really? After I explained
everything, you go back to talking about the village?”
“Yes.”
“Um, well it’s fine. Actually, I
don’t know its condition right now because I was forced to escape while it was
being taken over. Like I said, the Gammel army came by not to take over, but to
find Lydia. In order to do that, they had to destroy a few places and I don’t
know what happened to my mom. I’m also searching for Clyde and my father
still.”
Hazel pulled a blanket over Rina’s
chest. “It’s good to hear you are still optimistic in finding them.”
“Yeah… Can I ask you something?”
Hazel turned around. “Hm?”
“Well, it seems kind of quick that
you caught on to my story that fast. The moment I talked about Lydia without
mentioning her name or the fact that she’s an Obsidian, why did you respond
with support so quickly?”
Hazel blushed. “Well… I have a
personal grudge against the Gammel army. I never trusted them really. Honestly
though, that was just an impulse. I’d do anything to go against them, and if it
meant helping even a teenager, then of course I would follow along!”
Felix placed his hand on his
forehead. “You got the brains and charisma to do things, but you do it for
terrible reasons,” Felix said which made Hazel blush and laugh even more.
Rina slowly opened her eyes while
the maid rushed in with hot potato soup.
“Food is ready for the infirmary-
WOW!” She tripped and the bowl flew towards Felix. The soup scathed onto
Felix’s face, causing him to panic.
The sickened child from across the
room watched him in surprise, and then he laughed. [End music]
Hazel was shocked. “Remy!”
Remy suddenly stopped laughing.
“No, no, keep laughing.”
“Th-Thanks a lot?!” Felix wiped his
face with another towel.
Remy coughed again without saying
anything.
After a while, Felix could finally
speak without having to deal with the hot potato soup.
“Why did you tell him to keep
laughing?”
“Remy is feeling very sick. He has
been having trouble smiling lately, so it was a surprise when I got to see him
laughing again.” She then whispered to him, “He just started going through
puberty, and now his curiosity is going up the wall. He’s been wondering where
his parents are ever since he saw a few mothers and fathers strolling around
the park the other day. When he asked about his own, I couldn’t say anything.
He then assumed they were dead, so he moped and stopped eating and sleeping
properly…”
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
Hazel patted Felix’s shoulders.
“Hey, you made the boy laugh. You’re like a miracle worker.”
Rina sat up as well. “I thought it
was pretty funny too.”
Felix shrugged. “There she goes with
her insults- Wait what?! Rina, you’re awake!” [Music 5.1]
“Of course I am. I’m not letting
some stupid exhaustion stop me.”
Hazel smiled. “My work here is done.
You’re a bit healed now, are you not?”
“Just a bit. Thanks, I guess.” She
turned away, pretending not to care.
Felix ran in between them. “Oh hey,
I forgot to introduce you both! Rina, this is Hazel. Hazel, this is Rina!”
Hazel lent out her hand and Rina did
the same but without looking. The maid giggled.
“Awww! Bonding moments are always so
nice!” She clapped her hands.
“Clean the soup off the floor!”
Hazel suddenly scowled at her.
“Oh, oh right! Right! I’m sorry.
I’ll get to that immediately!”
Rina said angrily, “Wait, you didn’t
take my backpack off, right?”
“No, we didn’t. I know how special
it is to you, so I tried my best not to move it.”
“Good. I’m surprised you gave that
into consideration, Suspenders.”
She stood up from her bed. Felix
tried to hold her but Rina only gave him an evil glare.
“What are you doing? I think you
should rest more.”
“No. I think I should be going.”
“Going where?”
Rina threw the towel onto the bed.
“I don’t know. Somewhere is better than nowhere.” She tried to walk out but she
fell onto her knees.
Felix tried to help her up. Hazel
did the same but Rina only pushed Felix away.
“Why do you keep rejecting my
help?!” He became frustrated.
“Because I’m done having you around
with me. Dragging you along only made things worse!”
“Worse?! All you can think about is
me being a burden to you?! Is that it?”
Rina turned around. “NO! Shut up,
okay?! It’s because every time I drag people into my problem along with
Lydia’s, they end up getting hurt!”
Felix gasped. “W-What?”
“That’s why you’re such an idiot,
thinking you’ll make it out alive and fine just because you’re around me but in
the end, you’re the one who’s going to get hurt if you keep following along.
Now stop. I’m out of here!”
“That’s enough, you two,” Hazel
interrupted them. “I suggest resting at a table with food should solve the
exhaustion between the both of you.”
Rina said nothing, so she decided to
continue walking, or well, limping after she stood up. Felix was worried, but
he felt something warm tingle in his heart – was it happiness? Was it the
realization that Rina was actually concerned for his safety?
Rina's History?
The moment the three of them entered the doorway to the kitchen, the boy began to speak.
“The girl’s name is Lydia, isn’t
it?” [End music]
Rina stopped without turning around.
Felix shook his head. “Were you listening to my conversation?”
Remy shook his head. “No. I heard
you talking about the Obsidian before you said her name back in the kitchen a
few hours ago. I’ll let you know something: she’s still alive out there for
sure.”
Hazel and Felix looked at each other
in confusion as they said together, “Uhhhhh………………”
[Ending 2 music]
~~~
On the next episode of The Obsidian Tale, we might find out how Remy heard about Lydia! Where did her name come from? Where will Felix and Rina look for her? There is also something mysterious about the middle-aged woman, Hazel. Why does she know so much about the Gammel government? Find out on the next episode!
~~~
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