The Obsidian Tale
Episode 17
[Opening 2 music]
[Opening 2 music]
~ Lake City Prima – Northeastern Plaza – Auction House ~
“I’ll try my best. I hope several
thousands of gold should do it.”
“You still have that much?”
Lydia began sniffing. Tears came out
of her eyes. “I’m sorry… because of me, you have to spend even more money.”
“Don’t cry. I want to do this, for
you,” Leo said. “And for Felix and Rina who tried so hard to find them for
you.”
“Felix too?” Lydia asked, but she
didn’t blush.
“You didn’t know?” Forrest
questioned her. “He’s trying just as hard as Rina, but Rina doesn’t let him
help. He still keeps trying even knowing how scary she is.”
“Oh,” Lydia tried to smile but she
couldn’t. “Haha.” She let out an emotionless laughter.
The members in the auction house
began clapping and Leo needed to hurry in and register his number before it was
too late!
As they entered, there were two
people on stage: a man in a suit and a woman in a dress. They were the host and
hostess of the auction for the night.
With the main group entering from
the back door, they could see a large array of people from outside the city.
They wore different outfits, but bear the same fanciness in their own kind. The
audience sat around the contestants like a half-circle choir performance. The
group of three sat on seats that were second-to-last from the back row. A few
people stared over at Forrest and Lydia in particular, at least at their
outfits – or well, mostly Forrest. [Music 17.1]
“First off, we have the Brass Knuckles! These were made by the best blacksmith in the city! But, that is not the only thing that is special about the knuckles. It was created and used during the War of Vector twenty years ago. Can I start the bidding at a hundred gold?”
The Lifestyle of the Nobles
“First off, we have the Brass Knuckles! These were made by the best blacksmith in the city! But, that is not the only thing that is special about the knuckles. It was created and used during the War of Vector twenty years ago. Can I start the bidding at a hundred gold?”
A man with a feathered hat and an
adventurer’s outfit stood up. “That sounds marvelous! I’ll add two hundred!”
“Four hundred!” A woman called out.
“Er, er…! Seven hundred!” The
adventurer retaliated.
Leo whispered to them, “Do you mind
if I chime in?”
“How much money do you have left?”
Leo checked his pockets. “My
currency says about 1,200,000 gold. We only spent about 2,000 gold during our
trip tonight.”
“How hard is it to get 1,200,000
gold?” Lydia asked him.
“Well, that’s almost a life time’s
supply of money,” He said.
You could safely say that 1,200,000
gold would be well over ten million dollars in US Earth currency but let’s
pretend Earth currencies have nothing to do with Rhadessia.
Forrest raised his fists. “Alright!
We can do this for sure!”
By the time they finished their
conversation, a woman yelled, “3,000 gold!”
The two drunk girls began to play
along.
“Girl, I’m going to get this one and
give it to my boyfriend. 6,000 gold!”
“All you ever think about is that
damn trashy boyfriend of yours. I’m going to get those brass knuckles and cut
him in the FACE! 12,000 gold!”
Forrest slowly turned his head to
Leo, “Um… It’s going up really fast…”
“20,000 gold!”
“Nuh uh! 30,000 gold!”
“You don’t even have that much!”
“You don’t either!”
The host said to them, “The rules
state that if you already called out the number, you must keep to it even if
you are in debt.” The two girls suddenly hugged each other in fear.
All of the other contestants were
surprised at how much they would spend on brass knuckles even during the
previous war.
“40,000 gold,” Leo said.
Forrest giggled. “I knew you’d do
it! Hehe!”
Everyone turned to him but they said
nothing. Even the hostess gasped, followed by a collapse.
“So… rich. So… hot,” She fainted.
Other workers had to come on stage and drag her out.
“G-Going once?” The host said
slowly, “Going twice??” No answer. “Sold, to contestant Number 188!”
Forrest jumped. “That’s you, Leo!
Yay!!!”
“Phew. 40,000 gold isn’t too bad.
Next two, here we go.”
Lydia could hear whispers from the
other contestants, calling him crazy. Another worker had to carry the box with
the brass knuckles inside towards Leo.
Why Use Brass Knuckles to Fight?
“The next item is an extension for a
toy BB gun! It is the latest gadget for your children’s enjoyment!”
Leo patted Forrest on the head.
“Don’t worry, kid. I’ll get this one for you. It’s not likely anyone will pay a
lot for a toy.”
“Starting at 150 gold!”
“See? Not so bad,” Leo said.
“Mommy, mommy, I want that!!” A
little boy whined. He continued nudging her on the shoulder.
“Okay, honey. I didn’t like brass
knuckles anyway. At least this fake gun is more delicate for our household. I
will throw in 50,000 gold!”
Everyone already gave up. Leo’s
heart skipped a beat.
“Wh-What?” He said quietly. “Er…
55,000 gold.”
“Hmph. Silly mistake, young man.
70,000 gold!”
Forrest shook his head. “That’s too
much… Leo, let’s save money for the shard. You also need to save up for the
rest of your life too.”
“No, it’s not over. 75,000 gold!”
“100,000 gold!”
“Leo, seriously, I think I’m okay.”
Leo stood up, “200,000 gold!”
“400,000 gold!” The woman yelled
out. “I will not be defeated on such matters, and that’s final!”
Leo quickly responded with
“500,000!”
“Tch!” She finally stopped.
The whole contestants and even the
audiences were in shock. They were speechless with a few coughs here and there
from their surprise.
Lydia burped and it echoed
throughout the whole room.
“Going once?! Going twice?!” The
host said in a panic as the opponent pouted on her seat. “Sold to the man who
asked for 500,000 gold!”
“Yes! Take that, woman!! Yoohoo! I
did it!” He began prancing around his chair. “Weehee! Did you see that?!” [End music]
Forrest watched as the boxed prize
was on its way down the aisle. “Leo, I hope you realize that we only have…” He
began counting his fingers, “A gajillion times less amount of money for the
shard and for the rest of your life savings!”
Leo stopped. “Ah? Uh oh… What has
gotten into me?”
Lydia tried to do the math. “660,000
gold remaining for you, Leo. What shall you do next?”
Leo became serious. “If the last
prize is even more worthy than the last, then we will hope that it stops a
little over 500,000. I feel that it is likely we will get it anyway because not
that many people would spend this much in an auction. However, we are also at
the Lake City Prima, so who knows what will happen?”
“N-N-Next up, uh… We have the Violet
Prism! It was found clashing down into the city’s lake not too long ago and we
have done quite some research on it. It stores magnificent wishes any fairy
tale can accomplish!”
Women were excited to play in this
round. Men did the same, hoping for more money and fame.
“Some research,” Lydia repeated,
“Not as good as the research in Town of Igor. I don’t think they know it
contains Obsidian energy.”
“Well whatever it takes, we’re
getting that shard for you, Lydia.”
“Yeah! Felix and Rina already tried
so hard to help you, so it’s our turn!”
Lydia’s face turned red but she
could not express what she was feeling.
Leo noticed that her face changed
colors but it was strange at this point, because without any emotions, her face
was not supposed to turn red. Why did it happen?
“Lydia, by any chance, when did you
lose the shards?”
“More than a week ago, perhaps
several weeks. It is hard to tell throughout our constant traveling.”
“Do you ever wonder if you regained
and reproduced newer memories in your mind on your own?”
“What do you mean?”
“Er… Never mind.” He was interrupted
by the host’s first bidding call at 500 gold. [Music 12.2]
Several times, many of the
contestants fought each other until they reached 80,000 gold. Many people
stopped joining in and only about three people remained.
Leo continued to wait. “Three people
are adding the bid which might be a bit troublesome.”
By 300,000 gold, only one person
remain. “Yes, I did it! I’m gonna get it. No one else is pitching in!”
“Going once?” The host asked.
Leo waited to see if there were
other people. “The trick is to stay quiet until the last minute, assuming that
the last man standing does not have much more than he already bid for.”
“Going twice?”
Leo immediately stood up, “500,000
gold!”
All of the contestants were angry
this time. Some whispered to each other, asking how much this man had exactly.
The last man clenched his fists.
“I’m not losing this time! 600,000 gold! There is no way you have that much!”
Leo clenched his teeth. “Ergh…”
“Leo… This is it…”
“660,000 gold!”
“NOO!” The man screamed. “You
bastard!” [End music]
“Anyone have an offer higher than
that?!” The host became excited. “Alright, the winner goes to-“
“One. Million. Gold,” A strong and
stern female voice was heard from behind the group in the last row.
Leo felt like a rock. He froze, not
expecting anyone to surpass him. But who was it? Lydia turned around and she
made a little gasp, a very light one that even her lack of emotions could not
control.
The woman had her legs crossed,
waiting for the prize to reach her. Forrest was utterly angry this time. He
already disliked the Gammel army, but for them to steal the shard this easily
was not doing any justice to his dislike. He tried to stand up but Leo had to
hold onto his shoulders to wait.
“Floir,” Forrest whispered.
As Floir stood up, she grabbed the
prized box and then she walked away, waving at everyone without looking at
them. “Thank you for the enjoyment, everyone. I left my money at the counter
for the workers to accept. Sorry, kiddoes. Looks like I won this round. I will
be taking my leave now, hmhm. Oh, and on the way out of the city, don’t be
surprised that we have you surrounded, Obsidian. We want no harm done to this
city.”
Forrest’s fists were shaking
uncontrollably. He has never been this angry before. He kicked his metal chair
at the doorway right after Floir exited.
“Hey! Do not taint our property!”
The host yelled at him.
“Psst!” One man whispered to his
friend. “That’s what they get for hogging all the prizes. What losers, heheh!” [Music 17.2]
“I know! Such a sad thing, they
are.”
The two drunken girls began laughing
as well. This ricochet throughout the whole room and laughter passed on like a
wave of comedic effects.
Leo was not angry, but more
disappointed. “Lydia… I’m sorry.”
Lydia headed for the doorway. “Let’s
go.”
“But the shard! We have to get it
back!” Forrest said with anger.
“Calm down! It’s just a stupid
little shard,” One man tried to stop him.
Forrest grabbed his cube and then he
turned it into a toy bazooka. “Shut up! It’s more than that. You know
nothing!!”
The man began to laugh even more.
“What are you going to do? Shoot me with some toy bullet? HAHAHA!!!”
Forrest’s fingers edged closer to
the trigger but Leo grabbed him by the collar.
“You shouldn’t let your anger get to
you, boy.”
Forrest suddenly frowned. “But, but,
but…!”
“Lydia is right: we have to go.
We’ll find another way to get that shard back.”
“Okay…” Forrest dragged himself to
the doorway. As he and Leo exited first, Lydia turned around to watch the
audience.
She saw crowds and crowds of people
watching her, still laughing in their obnoxious tone of voice. Her heart beat
faster which has never happened since she lost all seven of her shards a while
back. Leo turned around to call out to her, but she didn't listen. He began to
notice something strange was happening to her.
“EVERYONE!!!!!!!” Lydia shouted. Her shout was at the loudest possible tune, ringing across glass windows. Some of the
women had to cover their ears.
Forrest fell to the ground,
frightened at what just happened.
As the crowd became quiet, Lydia
continued, “The Gammel army is a conspiracy.” Leo tried to grab onto her to
close her mouth, but she kicked him onto the floor. “You can laugh at me all you want. But what you just experienced,
was the future of all your deaths. When it happens, even I could be the one laughing at you, but I won't because I know that I have a heart unlike the rest of the nobles standing here today. That woman who took the 'Violet Prism' is the leader of the Gammel army, and she wants the shards so that
they can do research on it. What they’re planning to do is mix the energy of
the shard into human beings to turn them completely crazy!”
“What? That’s a load of bull-“
“I am telling you the truth!
Because… I am the girl they are
after! I am the last Obsidian existing in this world today, and they want to
preserve the energy that I emit. With that uncontrollable mass, everyone will
be eventually used with that catalyzed energy!”
“I still don’t buy it,” A woman
said, “What do they gain out of this?”
“That…” Lydia was stumped. “I… I
don’t know yet, but we need to prevent it from happening in the first place!”
“What a liar! Did you hear her
stutter?!”
“You are all unaware of what is
happening outside past the Lake City Prima. I’m sure none of you have figured
that the Gammel army themselves were responsible of the genocide in Celestia.
You were all caved into this privileged city and everywhere else on the eastern
continent. It was the Gammel army. They’re the ones who killed all of my
relatives just so they can use our energy for their own selfish needs instead
of sharing it to preserve the world. I don’t know exactly what they’re doing,
but it is a selfish act overall to annihilate all of the Obsidians!”
Everyone paused. The crowd became a lot quieter this time.
“The Gammel army?!”
“They
did that?” [End music]
A man barged in past Forrest and
Leo, “Sir,” He said to the host, “A small army has entered! They overheard the
girl on the telescreen!”
“A tele-screen? What’s that??”
Forrest asked.
Leo stood up as soon as possible.
“It’s somewhat new technology that Lake City Prima can afford. We don’t have
time to question it. Lydia, we have to leave immediately!”
Lydia agreed. She said to the rest
of the crowd, “Please, please think about the situation at hand! Don’t let it
stray off before it’s too late!” She then decided to run on her own. She didn’t
need Leo nor Forrest to hold her hand while running away this time around. [Music 17.3]
~ Lake City Prima – Crossing between plazas ~
Leo equipped his new brass knuckles
as he was running with both Forrest and Lydia. They went through several shops
down an alley way and only about three soldiers were following them.
Forrest took out his BB gun and he
added the extension. Two BB pellets came out of the front and attacked the
soldiers. Compared to before, it actually hurt the soldiers. They crouched down
in pain.
“Can’t I just use my bazooka to
blast them away?!”
“No! We can’t destroy this city just
like in Ouli Brye.”
“But I’ll try to control it. Please,
just trust me!”
“We cannot, Forrest!” He sounded
frustrated and angry towards him for the first time. Forrest decided to listen
to him this time around.
A soldier appeared in the front of
the alleyway. He aimed for Lydia’s other leg but she ran off to the side.
Forrest simply tripped in surprise while Leo jumped upward with perfect timing
to avoid the gunshot. Lydia kicked the soldier on the face and then she stepped
on his face to jump over him.
Forrest began running again,
catching up to his two friends. In the central plaza, soldiers appeared from
each corner except from the alley that they came from. The soldiers walked in
with weapons. Some had swords and some had guns!
Leo pushed both Lydia and Forrest to
the ground right behind a large fountain of water. The soldiers began firing,
exploding the fountain and water came splashing out in several directions.
“You idiot! You’re not supposed to
attack the city!” The soldier’s partner yelled. A few civilians began running
all over the place.
Leo was on his knees. “Alright, this
is a good time to take advantage of the people around here. Let’s run!”
The three of them headed into the
next area where there were market booths instead of shops from inside the
buildings. They were able to buy time and join the mob of runners.
“Come buy some talismans! They’re
much better than the charms I was selling in Ouli Brye! This time, it can give
you good luck!” It was the same merchant girl with her two friends from Ouli
Brye.
A soldier tried to shoot Lydia’s
legs again, but instead, they shot the girl’s marketing booth.
“EEK! UGH! Why do bad things always
happen to me?! It’s not even safe in the best place in the world! Come on Zedd,
Tedd, we’re finding another place to shop!”
Zedd gave a hysterical frown. “Looks
like we didn’t have luck on our side
though. How ironic.”
Tedd slapped him even if Zedd was
much taller. “Sh!! Don’t tell people that!”
“Aw…” Forrest turned to them while
running. “I really wanted a talisman. We could use the luck, huh Leo?”
“No time to stop and buy stuff!
Hurry!”
Forrest turned around, watching the
merchant girl try to pick up her talismans. As he turned forward again, he
crashed into a child the same height as him. They both fell to the ground.
Forrest felt his forehead. “Augh,
ow… Watch where you’re going!”
“Y-You started it…” The child said.
It was the same person from the beginning of Forrest’s visit in Prima.
“Whoa, hey. It’s you.”
“What?”
“You’re the boy from earlier! What’s
your name?”
“B-Bailey…”
“Why do you look so scared??”
“You, you kept staring at me.” He
blushed. “That made me uncomfortable.” He had his left hand holding onto his
right arm, and his right arm was hiding behind his back.
“What?! But you weren’t happy
earlier, and I thought everyone here would feel happy. What were you doing with
that cloaked person?”
“Huh???” His eyes were still
demented throughout their conversation. You couldn’t even tell if his voice was
of a boy or a girl. “I… The Gammel army kind of…”
“Listen, you have to stay away from
that suspicious person. The Gammel army is bad news!”
“But they said-“
“Actually, come with us!”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?!
They’re dangerous people!”
“I just can’t.”
Leo called out for him from afar,
“Forrest, we have to hurry up! Come on!!”
The boy stared at Forrest who was
leaving. He had a long sword in his hand but he didn’t use it.
~ Lake City Prima – Western Plaza - Platform ~
The western plaza had another
platform that led down to the exiting docks. Leo suggested that they jump off
from there, but they were also blocked by a large army of fifty soldiers along
with Floir who stood in the front.
Many people were already running out
of the docks in fear. [End music]
“Good to see you came,” Floir
chuckled in her deep voice. “However, there is no escape this time.” [Music 9.1]
Forrest took out his bazooka cube.
“Give us that shard back or else!”
“What are you going to do? Blast us
again? That shard will shatter into several pieces, you know. Now, turn
yourselves in and no one will get hurt.”
“Except us!” His fingers were near
the trigger.
Floir chuckled. “I wouldn’t do that
if I were you. After all, I am in
charge of the three captivated children that you call friends. They must be
crying extensively in Bafuul right now.”
Forrest gasped. “Jess, Spencer, and
Sydney?! Why you…!” His hands began shaking uncontrollably from anger.
“Forrest, what are you doing?” Leo
asked.
“We need to do this. We will only be
destroying one little part of the city. It’s okay!”
“Our goal is to not destroy the city
at all.”
“Then what else should we do?!”
Forrest panicked, but even Leo had nothing to say this time.
“Fine,” Leo said. He began
whispering to Forrest.
Floir clenched her teeth. “Hey, stop
whispering and get over here! You will pay for betraying us, little boy!”
Forrest shook his head. “That was
just a fake out. Take this, old lady!!”
“O-Old lady?!”
Forrest quickly shot the sides of
the docks. Several of the men didn’t make it in time to shoot. One of them had
time, however.
As he pulled the trigger, Leo pushed
Forrest down, grazing his own arm a little. The buildings to the side began
collapsing. Forrest sat upward, and then he pressed the trigger lightly this
time. A small fireball blasted towards Floir, but she successfully jumped away.
“I did it!” Forrest smiled. “I can
control the bazooka!”
As Lydia recklessly ran towards
Floir without a weapon, Floir took out a thick blade from her sheath.
“Lydia!!” Leo exclaimed. He grabbed
Forrest and they both started entering the docks, following Lydia.
Lydia jumped and she was about to
give Floir a somersault. Floir deflected with the flat part of her blade and
Lydia had to flip backwards away from her.
“When did you learn those moves,
Obsidian?” Floir was impressed with her.
“I learned from my second father,”
She answered.
“(Damn this Obsidian! She must have
forgotten how to fight until she regained the Knowledge shard back in Ouli
Brye.)” Floir tried to think quickly this time.
Floir began to retaliate, but Lydia
was quick enough to dodge every move. She then elbowed Floir on the stomach and
then gave her an uppercut to the chin. Floir released the violet shard from her
hand and Lydia caught it.
The ground below them began to
crackle. Floir was tripping towards the edge this time.
Lydia’s eyes widened. “Huh?!”
“Augh!” Floir screamed in a panic.
She had to close her eyes.
A hand reached out for her. [End music]
“Hold on a little longer!” The
platform that even Lydia was lying on was about to break apart. [Music 8.3]
“Lydia, get back here!” Leo
suggested. He tried to find a way to grab her but the two platforms between him
and Lydia were swaying further apart.
All of the soldiers fell into the
water by now.
“Why are you helping me? Did you not
realize what I have done to your adoptive father?!?!” Floir asked. She watched
the violet shard color Lydia in a purplish aura. It was too bright to even look
at her.
“I... I don’t know!” Lydia answered.
The shard took seconds, and the light was even brighter than ever before.
Floir chuckled after finally seeing
Lydia’s frowning expression. “Rookie mistake, Obsidian. Don’t you ever try to help your enemies.” She
shuffled within Lydia’s hands which caused a forceful release between the two
of them.
“No!!” Lydia screamed. Her tears
this time were real. She made the biggest frown that even Leo and Forrest had
never seen before.
The ground below all three of them
began to crackle as well.
“We’re going to fall into the
ocean!” Forrest cried. “I don’t want to die!”
Leo grabbed onto Forrest. “Hold on
tightly. If we’re lucky, we won’t crash into the rocks!”
The three of them fell off the
platform and Leo tried to grab Lydia’s hand. Successfully, he was able to and
Lydia had to close her eyes.
“It’s… my fault this time. I really
am causing problems to everyone,” Lydia cried.
Both Leo and Forrest could see her
crying in true emotion before they made their way to the ocean. The violet
shard… was actually the sympathy shard, the shard that unlocked her real
emotions.
[Ending 2 music]
~~~
Next time on The Obsidian Tale, we will be shifting back to Felix and Rina again. From where we left off, Felix, Rina, and Hazel ventured through the Terrain Valley, but Hazel sacrificed herself to distract the Terraineous beast. As a consequence, both of them fell into the abyss that was previously created by the small war between Gammel and Lennox in North Ouli Brye. How will the two teenagers handle this trauma? Find out on the next episode!
~~~
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