The Obsidian Tale
Episode 27
[Opening 3 music]
~ Opel Plains – southwestern plateau ~
Children played tag together, and
they slowly stopped when a large shadow was coming closer from the sky at a
45-degree angle.
“Mommy, mommy, look!” The child said
with laughter.
The boy’s mother quickly grabbed his
arm and they ran into the house. “No, boy! It looks like it could be headin’ this
way!”
Many of their parents took cover
after taking their children into their wooden homes. The main group that we
have been dying to see- er, well, let’s use another word… The main group that
we have been waiting to see since their almost-crash landing has come closer to
the village. Luckily, Warren barely made it in time to steer away from the
village and into the plains by a mere second. [Music 27.1]
The entrance to the airship broke
apart and the group was left with a large hole in the room that they were
sitting in. Felix and Leo were the first to peer out of the airship and what
they saw was the most beautiful landscape ever. Wild animals such as bison,
deer, pronghorns, rabbits, and even land turtles strived together. Forrest and
Sydney raced their way to the broken exit.
“Look at all those deer running
together!!” Sydney said in her squeaky voice. “Hehehe!”
“Whoa… Where are we?” Forrest said
with awe.
Rina felt her forehead. She was one
of the few members who did not turn out well from the crash landing. Her body
seemed find, but her mind felt a little weary.
“Ergh…” Rina said. “I feel a
headache coming.”
Lydia grabbed onto Rina’s other
hand. “Do you need to rest?”
Spencer was still breathing heavily
and Jess was holding onto him as tightly as she could.
“Take deep breaths, Spencer. Hold
in, and then push out.”
Forrest turned around. “Is Spencer
okay?!”
Sydney felt guilty. “Sometimes he
gets these problems but Jess is the only one who is smart enough to calm him
down.”
“How come I never seen this happen
to him?”
“It started happening when you left
Kyrie. I think he grew into it because you were gone. He was very worried and
these weird breathing things keep happening to him.”
Leo whispered to them, “It must be a
developed asthma attack. “
“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Forrest
said slowly.
Spencer slowed down and his
breathing was almost back to normal.
Jess smiled. “This one must have
been one of the toughest ones you’ve faced, Spencer. I want you to continue thinking
happy thoughts.”
Spencer sighed. “Okay… but I feel
like I let you down. We survived the landing, but I still got these problems.”
Jess shook her head. “No, no. Don’t
think like that, Spencer. I would say that your fortune came true.”
“Huh??”
“The fortune that your blue scarf
gave you. Remember: Blue marks the
sailing sea. Deep down inside you, you know that fighting crime can be found
through smooth, calm conversations, and that in order to win, you must call for
a proper and mature treaty or something.”
Spencer felt confused. “But how did
that work here?”
“It is figuratively speaking,” Jess
responded. Spencer was still quiet. “It means that your body fended off evil
and in order to calm itself down, your body spoke to that evil, and you finally
relaxed. I would say this was a very mature turnout for you, Spencer.”
Spencer giggled. “R-Really?! Cool,
I’m mature! I’m mature, everyone!!”
The group began to laugh together
for a good ten seconds.
“Ah,” Felix said. “It’s good to see
that we can all keep our high spirits together!”
“I agree,” A deep, womanly voice
appeared from behind the drapes nearby the window.
“Me too,” Forrest said with them.
“Wait, what??”
The entire group turned their heads
to the drapes.
“The fabric is talking,” Warren joked.
Felix grabbed onto his sheathed
crescent blade. “Who’s there?!”
The blinds were pushed to the side
and what the group saw was a very familiar face. Well, half of the group at
least.
“Hola! It’s me, Hazel.” She said as
she snapped her fingers.
“Goodness, what language is that?”
Leo questioned.
Warren’s eyes were wide open. Rina
made a huge gasp and Felix was stunned for a second.
“H-Hazel?! You’re alive!” Felix
shouted.
“Of course I am! You’d think a crazy
beast like the Terraineous would stop me?”
Warren took a step forward. “It
really is you, Hazel! I recognize that sass anywhere.”
“Who said I got sass? I’m a kind and
loving potential-mother with several orphaned children who don’t need any man
to take care of me. Anyway, it’s nice to see you again, Warren Oxner.”
Lydia noticed that Hazel had a set
of arrows in her side-pocket.
Felix turned to both Warren and
Hazel simultaneously. “Hold on, you two know each other?”
“Oh boy, there is lots to tell. Why
don’t we find a proper place to rest and talk about all of this later?”
Forrest’s stomach growled. “That
sounds good to me. Is there a place nearby so we can eat??”
Without needing a map, Hazel
answered him right away. “Why yes! There is a place nearby called the Grandine
Hillage. I wanted to check stuff out there anyway.”
Warren began heading for the exit.
“I remember as well. Let us head to the inn as soon as possible, and we can
take that young woman to the beds.” Warren pointed to Rina.
As Warren took a step out of the
airship, he made the loudest, manliest yell ever. “GRAAAAH!!!!”
“What is it?!” Felix panicked.
“Warren, what’s wrong?!” He watched Warren shake furiously.
“Uh oh,” Lydia added. “Something
horrible must have happened outside!”
Forrest ran past Warren to check
what he saw. “Er…”
Warren began to whimper. “I can’t
believe such things are here! Not again!”
Forrest walked closer to a rabbit
that was in front of Warren. “I don’t get it. It’s just a little rabbit.”
Sydney pushed him away as she carried the rabbit away from Forrest.
“It’s a friendly rabbit! It likes
being touched!” She turned around and pushed the rabbit closer to Warren’s
face.
Warren fell backwards, screaming
again. “ARGH!!!”
Hazel began laughing. “I see you still
have a phobia against little bunnies… Nothing ever changes with you.”
Warren clenched his fists. “This is
no time for laughter!”
“I… won’t ask,” Felix chuckled. [End music - after optional scenes]
Hazel the Ghost
Warren's Inner Child
~ Grandine Hillage – outside the inn ~
“Why are they looking at us??”
Forrest asked.
“I think they’re judging us for
being outsiders,” Felix answered.
Hazel was in front of the group. She
guided them to the inn. “To answer your question, no: they are not judging you.
Most of these families must have recognized both Warren and I from our travels
together several years ago. There is a hill further into the village where our
two closest friends passed away. I’ll show you around once we take a rest.”
Warren waved at some of the familiar
parents and some of the children copied their parents’ hand motions as they
waved back with a smile.
At the inn, a five-foot old woman
stood by the entrance. “Why, if it isn’t Hazel.” She said in a raspy voice, “It
is good to see you back. If I knew you were coming sooner, I would have
prepared a full course meal.”
Hazel chuckled. “Ohoho, there is no
need for that. Anything to give this group a meal would be fine.”
“Who is this old lady?” Sydney
rudely asked.
“Sydney! Be respectful,” Jess said
immediately.
The old woman laughed. “Ooh, how
very cunning and cute.” She gave a smile. “I am the elder chief of this
village. I will ask the maids and butlers to help create a large meal for you
all.”
As she went into the inn, Hazel
turned around to face the whole group. “I used to live here after our journey
with Warren and the others came to an end. I left because I heard there was something
going on in Ouli Brye with King Nader and I went undercover as some ‘mother of
an orphanage’.”
Leo gasped. “So you were a spy?”
“You could say that. While there, I
learned all about you, Leonardo. Don’t worry though, I am on your side. I felt
I would return to this village once all of that Gammel and Lennox rivalry was
over, but it looks like things are barely heating up. Come, we should talk more
in the lobby of the inn. I think the young woman, Rina, needs a bed.”
Lydia had Rina resting against her
shoulder. “You’re going to be okay, Rina.” Rina only replied with a few coughs
as the group began heading into the inn.
~ Grandine Hillage – inn - bedroom ~
Lydia had already placed Rina onto
the bed closest to the window. The cream-colored blinds were slid to each end
and the wind burst into the bedroom like a fan set on ‘low’. Lydia stretched
her arms and then she sat down next to Rina.
“How are you feeling?”
“A little better. Thank you for
being there for me.”
“Of course I will be there for you,
Rina. You’re my best friend and nothing is going to change that.” [End music]
Rina took a look outside – the inn
was sitting right beside the plains and the edge of the village. [Music 18.1]
“Heh. Sometimes I wonder though, how
do you deal with someone like me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m always yelling at people and
they’re all afraid of me, especially that little runt of a child.”
Lydia giggled. “You mean Forrest?
Well, I know that deep down, there is a good side to everyone. Everyone.”
“Even the Gammel army?”
“That might be pushing it, but even
I feel as if some of their members are good-hearted people. Take Warren for
example.”
“But he is already siding with us.
At first, I thought he was untrustable, but it seems he proved good when he
helped us out at Bafuul. Even the Gammel lieutenants were against him. For me,
I don’t think I have a good side.”
Lydia stood up. “Stop right there.
You do. You did so much to save me and take those shards back. You’ve traveled
through half of this entire continent just to find me.”
“That’s because… I felt like it was
a duty of mine to partake. I did it because I owed you.”
“You didn’t do it as a friend?”
“Well yeah, of course I did! It’s
just… I feel like that’s not the only reason.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There is something else. Another
reason, and you might know it by now.”
Lydia patted Rina’s head. “I have a
good feeling. There is something about you that you told no one but me, right?”
“That’s still true up to today.”
“You can talk about it when you are
ready. Right now, it’s important that you get some rest.”
Rina examined her palms. “These
hands seem fine. I’ve learned earth and water magic since we split up. I’m
looking for the last element, wind. I just don’t know where it would be.”
“That woman we met at Silver Forest,
did you meet up with her again?”
“Yes. She was the one who taught me.
I need to find her.”
“Why are you so eager to learn
them?”
Rina sighed. “Two reasons – one, I
need to get stronger to protect you. And two, I feel like it’s a part of that
duty that I need to complete.”
“I see… Well, I can protect myself
as well, so you don’t have to put so much on your plate. Just take your time,
okay?”
“I will, thanks Lydia.”
Lydia headed for the door. “I’m
going to head for the lobby right outside this room so that we can discuss our
next situation together. I’ll fill you in on the details later.” Rina shook her
head and Lydia headed for the main group. [End music]
~ Grandine Hillage – inn - lobby~
On the couch, Warren, Leo, and Felix
sat together. The four children sat on a couch from the other side of the table,
eating as much bread as they could, especially now that they were able to eat
at least a little fancier than in Kyrie. Lydia stood next to Felix while Hazel
was standing, isolated from everybody else. [Music 16.2]
Hazel had her arms crossed. “Good,
you’re here, Lydia.”
Felix and Lydia gave each other a
smile of grief before the discussion began.
The Petting Zoo
“Now, I would like to summarize our
situation from the very beginning based on what you all have told me throughout
our walk from the plains. Let’s begin with Warren and I.”
Warren raised his hand. “May I chime
in if necessary?”
“That is fine with me.” She had a
crumbled paper in front of her as she set it onto the table. “Twenty years
ago,” She began writing words and then she bubbled them in like a brainstormed
rough draft, “I ventured with five other friends, one of them being Warren. Two
of them rest at this very grave in the Grandine Hillage – Luna and Orlando. A
fifth man, one whom I was closest to, happens to live in the snow continent in
which we claim as a part of the Winstel army – a third-party army incomparable
to Gammel and Lennox. Like the Grandine Hillage, the Winstel army vowed to keep
its distance from any outsides. The sixth and last member is a woman whom I
promised not to reveal. We went on a year-long journey to stop an ancient soul
named Waltzer.”
Forrest took a large piece of bread
out of his mouth. “Was Warren still scared of bunnies back then?”
Warren blushed. “Why must you pester
with my past?” He frowned.
“No, but he was afraid of other
things such as spiders and blood and all sorts of the kind. He just had an
irrelevant issue with bunnies, but we can let that slide for now.”
Sydney and Spencer began giggling to
each other. Hazel went on, “Back to Waltzer. There was only one single army at
the time and we had no name for them as we were all unified together in peace.
Upon doing more research in the millennium-year old Merridian Laboratory just
east of Ouli Brye, a man named Igor discovered an old ruins. Within these ruins
were the last remnants of Waltzer, a man who was sealed away almost 980 years
before the discovery. Without knowing the dangers of Waltzer, Igor had
unknowingly revived Waltzer through research.”
Most of the group gasped. Sydney and
Spencer repeatedly whispered, “Revived?!” to each other. [End music]
“Where is he now?” Felix asked. [Music 11.2]
“I am getting to that. To summarize
our journey, we took a long while to come together and stop Waltzer. In his
process of trying to reclaim the world as his, he had Master Magnus as his
predecessor. Upon Waltzer’s failure which led to a split between three armies,
Master Magnus became the leader of the Gammel army, vowing to go the opposite
direction of Waltzer.”
“Master Magnus today is seen as a
heroic figure who is trying to bring peace to the world by using Obsidian
energy. However, it is rather strange to hear conspiracies of the Gammel army,
but I am well aware that now it is true.”
Hazel shook her head in agreement.
“That is quite true. Master Magnus claimed that he was going the opposite
direction. However, he is no different from Waltzer.”
Leo snapped his fingers. “Ah, so he
is the leader of all leaders in the Gammel army and its government. All we have
to do is play a game of chess and capture the king. Only a few moves and it’s
checkmate.”
Hazel grinned. “If only it were that
easy. Chess usually involves quite a bunch of sacrifices in order to win, and I
do not want to go through that route.”
Lydia became worried. “So what does
Waltzer and Master Magnus have to do with the Obsidian energy that the Gammel
government wants today?”
“Good question,” Hazel said. “After
thirteen years, or seven years ago from today, the Gammel army started to make
its move.” She began writing more onto the piece of paper in front of her.
Warren added to her story, “While I
was in Gammel’s services, I spoke to Master Magnus about the eradication of
Obsidians in order to keep control of their energy. They claimed that it was
better to have control of the energy
and reallocate such energy to places that lacked nature and life instead of
letting such energy flow freely. With this claim, the Gammel army did not
bother to tell the Winstel and Lennox armies. In order to keep this all a
secret, they had to eradicate all of
the Obsidians.”
Lydia placed her hand by her chest.
“Mmph…” She said with discomfort.
“Lydia, are you alright?” Felix
asked with concern.
Lydia looked away. “Y-Yeah…”
“At that moment of eradication,”
Hazel continued, “Professor Talbot had a tracking device placed on the Frolix
Volcano. This tracker indicated that only one young girl existed but it did not
track where she was running off to. This gave the Gammel army the suspicion
that the little girl could not have gone far, so she must have ran southeast
towards a village nearby the jungle. Lieutenant Floir was asked to find the
last person still alive – Lydia Yager.”
Forrest stood up. “Whoa! That’s
where the story last started when Lydia’s mom talked to us!”
“Forrest,” Leo tried to stop him. He
knew that Lydia was becoming uncomfortable. He was afraid Forrest would trigger
her even more.
Lydia said to them, “It’s okay. My
adoptive mother, Ekaja, was from the village of Taujiko. I ran there and met
Rina seven years ago. We both escaped to the Meadow for the next seven years in
peace until Lieutenant Floir finally found us again.”
“It took them a good seven years,”
Warren said slowly. “How cunning.”
Felix tilted his head. “Wait, where
did Rina come from?”
“She never told us.” Lydia said
abruptly. [End music]
Leo yawned. “So, what’s our next
plan now that we’re stuck here in this village?”
Hazel took out a world map. “I’ve
had this when I was only fourteen years old. Look here.” She pointed north of
Loomin, “Remember when we saw an airship come from that direction?”
Warren gasped. “That’s it! That
airship was Master Magnus’s favorite.”
Felix was shaking. “Hold on a
minute. How many airships are there? My father told me Clyde left on an airship
with the last shard.”
Leo placed his fingers through the
distance between north of Loomin, and Bafuul. “This would give Clyde enough
time to fly towards Vector, Gammel’s home territory, and then Master Magnus
must have used the same ship to head back into Bafuul as we left.”
“If we were a little slower,” Warren
said, “Master Magnus would have damaged our escape and the Obsidian would be no
more.”
Lydia took a step back. “How could
they all just…” She turned away as she ran outside of the inn.
“Lydia!” Felix called out to her.
“Ergh, this is not fair,” He punched the side of the couch. “The government is
lying to the world that they can easily reallocate energy, yet they’re only
gaining the source from one person in this world – Lydia?!”
“Relax, Felix!” Hazel yelled. “This
is no time to get out of control. We know how terrible it seems for the Gammel
government to act this way, but we must keep calm and collected.”
Spencer was sitting next to Jess,
still eating his sweetened bread. “Wow, she’s so cool!” He said in awe. “She’s
just like you, Jess!”
Jess gave a warming smile. “Oh, but
she has had much more experience with adventure.”
Hazel chuckled while eavesdropping
on them. She then concluded their discussion, “This should be enough for now.”
Leo said with a snarky remark,
“Hazel, might I ask how you got into the airship that we escaped with?”
Hazel blushed. “Uh- um, about that…
Eheh…” She sighed, knowing that she could not lie. “Fine. I wanted to
infiltrate Bafuul because I needed to know more information about their
tactics. I’ve heard lots from the Yucan Tempa.”
“You were there?!”
“Why yes, I was. Egel could not stop
talking nonsense about me but I had hoped he kept it subtle. The point is, I
was at Bafuul for a moment and I was already in the airship before you all
entered. I just kept quiet because you didn’t need any more surprises than you
already had while being at Bafuul.”
Felix rolled his eyes. “Great, how
nice of you to still scare us after we crashed into the plains.”
“You’re welcome. By the way, I think
you should go outside and check if Lydia is okay.”
“M-Me?!”
“You and Rina were dying to find her
back at South Ouli Brye, no?”
Felix blushed. “Um, uh, I guess.
Fine. I will talk to her.” [End music]
Hazel stretched her arms. “Good! As
for everyone else, I might give you all a tour around the village! After that,
I can take you all to the windy cave north of here. Don’t worry, the cave is
very small and it would take only a minute to cross it. On the other side is a
small hill with a bunch of flowers that would keep you all calm in an instant.
You might even consider it as a sea’s cape.”
Rina overheard them from afar, but
she did nothing.
Forrest and Sydney jumped together
while Spencer decided to copy their excitement.
“Yay! We get to wander around!!”
Sydney said happily.
[Ending 3 music]
~~~
Next time on The Obsidian Tale, someone goes missing?! And where does she or he plan on going to? We will continue our adventures around the Opel Plains including the Grandine Hillage, so keep still. The next episode will have character bonding and very sentimental feelings. Stay tuned for next week!
~~~
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