The Obsidian Tale
~ Zweiland Mountains – western exit ~
Lydia poked one of the soldiers from
behind. “Excuse me, sir? What is happening here?”
There was a large group of people
watching the volcano that even civilians stood this far to watch.
“Oh! You don’t know? They’re
sacrificing someone into the volcano because of a peace offering and thanks to
the new emitting fire energy! Boy, look at all that smoke!”
Lydia watched the smoke blacken the
closer she got to the volcano. “Who is up there?!”
“Our righteous ruler, King Redlin,
was on his way to visiting the docks for the weekly checkups on our
shipwrights. While there, he found a suspicious man washed ashore and threw him
into prison, putting him in custody for weeks. When we heard news about the volcano,
King Redlin had thoughts about a traditional sacrifice known so well in
Wiserheim whenever a volcano acts up.”
Leo was surprised. “They do this to
humans all the time?!”
“No. That’s why everyone is watching
this time. We would always offer a special animal or plant found in the Winstel
continent, but this man… wanted to prove his loyalty and trustworthiness to the
Winstel government and King Redlin himself. He volunteered.”
“Volunteered?!” Everyone screeched
together. Viola’s voice was less pitched.
Lydia said to the group, “We have to
stop this offering or else!”
“Right!” They all chimed in
together.
~ Frolix Volcano – volcanic road ~
“Never seen the newest carriage
model before? We call it a truck,” a middle-aged man said to her with the most
judgmental face he could make.
“Um… okay,” she ignored him. She
grabbed the nearest microphone as she stood on top of one of these machines they
call ‘trucks’. “Everyone!” All of the trucks in front of her stopped. The
civilians from down below became quiet, mostly because they were confused at
what was happening.
“Young lady, identify yourself!”
Another voice was heard from an even louder microphone.
“My name is Lydia Yager from the
City of Celestia! I am here to request that you stop this peace offering at
once!”
“Why would you stop a ‘peace’
offering?” A civilian said.
“Yeah, get off the truck!” Another
man shouted. The rest of the crowd began following along.
Hazel tried to call out for her,
“Lydia! Do not make a scene in front of Gunther!”
Meanwhile, Forrest was off to the
side, trying to extract a bit of fire essence into his cubed bazooka from the
molten rocks. “Hehe, this will come in handy if we have to take another trip
back to the mountains.”
“Would Gunther be this ‘King Redlin’
that the soldier was talking about?” Leo asked.
“Yes, now settle down!”
Lydia clenched onto the microphone.
“No. I’m not stopping here. I have to get the word out-“
“Lydia Yager? You say you’re from
the City of Celestia?” King Redlin said through the microphone. As Lydia
nodded, the man went on, “Nonsense! The people of Celestia have all been wiped
out!”
Lydia argued with him. “Have you
heard recent news at all? In the
eastern continent, the Gammel army had been chasing after the last remaining
Obsidian even after seven years. I am here and I have survived. Can you not
see? I’m standing right below the volcano and it’s being tethered with an
immense amount of Obsidian energy!”
There was a moment of silence at
first.
“If you are ‘King Redlin’, then
please, you have to listen to me! What I am saying is the truth! There’s no
point in a sacrifice.”
Viola casually said to her friends,
“It’s like no one knows what the Gammel army was up to. The Winstel army truly
bubbled themselves into their own continent.”
“Miss Yager,” The voice finally
spoke. “You may be living proof of the final Obsidian as the volcano has been
activated - after seven long years. However, you should not forget about the
traditional peace offering.” [Music 22.1]
“Why do you have peace offerings? We
don’t need that if the volcano is going to activate anyway,” Lydia responded.
Another awkward silence. The
civilians began to laugh at her this time. She wondered what she had said
wrong.
“What is she, stupid?!”
“I know right?” a middle-aged woman
began to question Lydia.
“Not understanding such common
traditions is a disgraceful mock to the Winstel continent,” King Redlin said.
“For centuries, we have followed a practice and belief that as long as we feed
the volcano with a loyal animal, the people from above will send us constant
fortune.”
“The
people from above…” Hazel repeated. “A particular religion that Gunther had
always followed to the end.”
Lydia became angry. “A loyal animal?
First of all, animals cannot give consent to anything. And second, you consider
this man an animal?!”
Warren recognized Lydia’s voice, but
he was forced not to say anything. He watched from the midpoint of the volcano.
“This man claims that he was a part
of the Gammel military,” Redlin added, “We are proud that he can be loyal and
honest enough to explain his title to us without second thoughts. However, we
could not trust him enough for standing here in the Winstel continent as a
Gammel soldier! Furthermore, he requested to prove his loyalty through being
his own sacrifice!”
Forrest began to cry again. “Why?”
Hazel turned to him. “What is it,
Forrest?”
“Why would he volunteer? I thought
he was happy to live onward! I…” He remembered when he and Warren were at the
children’s playground back in the City of Celestia. “I thought he enjoyed his
time back then!!”
Forrest pushed the crowd away,
running south towards Wiserheim.
Leo tried to follow him. “F-Forrest,
wait a minute!”
Hazel was slightly bothered by the
fact that the two of them ran off while Lydia was still standing tall on the
truck. “Lydia, get down here this instant! We need to stop Forrest and Leo!”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “How many of
you are this nosy to watch a grown
man die in a volcano?!” She pointed at the entire crowd which was much larger
than it usually was in comparison to the past decades.
Most of the people in the crowd
began to feel guilty.
“If you put it that way…” one man
said.
“Is there any other option besides
this?!” Lydia asked.
After a moment of silence, King
Redlin agreed with her. “Yes, there is. However, I need to have a personal
one-on-one talk with you. Are you with anybody?”
She turned to Hazel who nodded ‘no’.
She gave Hazel the eye, indicating that she and Viola should go and find
Forrest and Leo.
Lydia finally responded, “Sir, I
cannot lie to a King. I had four others with me on the way to the volcano, but
I cannot locate them any longer within the crowd. But don’t worry, they mean no
harm and will assist me on whatever I follow!”
“Is that so?” He asked. “Guards,
take her to the Kingdom of Wiserheim! Reserve a special room so I can speak to
her. I will need two of my best guards to stand outside our doorway.
Lydia smiled. “Really?! You’ll
postpone the peace offering?!”
“Yes, but on certain conditions that
we will be discussing later.”
“Alright.” She turned to Warren as
she said to herself, “Warren, we’re going to save you, I promise!” [End music]
Lydia impatiently agreed and headed
towards Wiserheim by foot instead of by the truck. She totally had no idea how
convenient these trucks would have been.
~ Wiserheim – Redlin’s kingdom – custody room ~
“Is all of this really necessary?”
She asked in her own head.
“Sit.”
“O-Okay,” She murmured. “It is a
pleasure to meet you, sir.”
Gunther Redlin was an average slim
man. His hair was slick down and well-cared for, especially because he had a
large band to wrap it together. His military outfit was gray with the Wiserheim
flame insignia. He shook Lydia’s hand and then rushed to his seat with his
flamboyancy.
Lydia suddenly stopped the moment
she saw an old painting on the wall of a blue
teddy bear. “Um…”
Gunther followed her eyesight
towards the painting. “Oh- UH, UM, ignore that. It is from a child who donated
his drawing to me.”
“Is that from the most awesome play
ever? The one with the friendly blue horned monster from the swamps! I used to
watch all types of plays in Celestia.”
Gunther suddenly slammed his hands
onto the table as he stood up. “DUDE, ME TOO! BAHAH!” Lydia leaned back a
little with discomfort. “Oh- I’m sorry, I got a little carried away there.
Okay, that painting was mine when I was younger. It’s one of my favorites.”
“(Even mean-looking kings have their
quirks…) Aw, when did you draw it?”
“Long time ago, like… three years
ago?”
“…How old are you?” There was an
awkward silence. “Never mind. Sir, I would like to speak about more important
matters first, and then we can get to that later.”
“Why certainly.”
“What was the other option that you
were offering to me?”
“Ah, yes, about that! Wiserheim is
also known for their elite soldiers and battles. One way for identifying our
strongest men is to have them participate in a coliseum.”
“A coliseum?” Lydia repeated.
“Yes, a coliseum! It’s a place where
different kinds of people fight and determine who is the strongest.”
Lydia shook her head. “I-I know what
a coliseum is, but what about it?”
“The maximum participants is four,
however. The minimum is one of course, but I doubt you would want to
participate alone. We already started our annual battle and sixteen teams have
been narrowed down to eight left. One of the four victories in our tournament
will have you participate in it last-minute, specially made for the last
remaining Obsidian. You see, if you make it to the top, you can prove yourself
as the strongest who is capable of ruling an entire country. That means your
opinions will be taken into huge consideration as you know what’s best for the
civilians.”
Lydia gave a sigh of relief. “Oh
thank goodness! You mean, you will take opinions even if it means to end the
peace offering as a whole? I mean, taking humans and animals as a sacrifice is a bit… out there.”
“It is part of our practice.”
“I know… but right now, we do not
have time for such offerings. I must tell you about a man named Master Magnus.” [End music]
Gunther agreed. “That would be a
good idea. There is a battle going on at the moment, so we have some time to spare.
I would like you to speak more about this Gammel army and what has been
happening outside of the Winstel continent.”
Knowing Gunther was Hazel’s old
friend and traveling companion, she could trust him and tell him all she knew
about her journey.
~ Wiserheim – marketing district ~
“Aye, aye, ma’am!” They both saluted
at the same time.
From further down the road, Forrest
was running with tears in his eyes. He had no idea where he was running, but it
was furthest away from Warren as possible.
“Meanie! He didn’t care about me at
all, didn’t he?!” He asked himself.
Hazel aimed her arrow at Forrest’s
loose shoe lace. She somehow was able to strike through the lace and the arrow
struck in between the dividing cement. Forrest fell to the ground with his face
flat. [Music 30.2]
“Where do you think you’re going
to?!” She asked angrily. “We are supposed to keep still in one group. You know
that, do you?! After how much we’ve been putting an effort to find each other,
you decide to leave! I’ve never been so frustrated!”
Forrest frowned. “It’s just, it’s
just, it’s-“ He had trouble speaking.
Hazel realized yelling wouldn’t make
things any better. She suddenly knelt down and hugged him. “I’m sorry.”
Forrest blushed. He suddenly had a
reminiscent memory from more than seven years ago. “Mommy…”
“Huh?”
“I remember… Mommy used to give me
the warmest hugs when I was little.”
“Is that so…” She turned away. A
sudden sharp memory deep within her had sparked, but not the good kind. “(I was
about to have a…)” She shook her head from the memory as she turned back to
Forrest.
“I guess I was just mad because
Warren didn’t like having fun with me at the playground.”
Hazel patted him on the head with a
concerned look on her face. “Now what makes you think he didn’t enjoy his time
with you?”
“Because! He wants to kill himself,
doesn’t he? I’m just so mad because… he’s like a dad to me. I have trouble
remembering what it’s like to have parents. I just wanted to know what it would
be like to have parents who are there for you until you become an adult. He
looked very happy. Him having to throw away his life like this… It makes me
feel like I wasn’t being a good child enough.”
Hazel grabbed his hands. “Forrest,
I’m sure Warren enjoyed his time with you. I know Warren. I’ve known him for
twenty years. One thing he cannot let go is his own regret for his actions. In
order to fulfill his duties, his biggest concern is loyalty.”
“But even if I was loyal or
whatever, I wouldn’t choose to kill myself. Life lasts for a long time, doesn’t
it?!”
Hazel chuckled. “Yes, it does – for
a pretty long time too. Maybe Warren thought he lost all of his friends, the
ones he cared about most. Maybe he thought he lost you forever after we
separated, and maybe he thought you passed away. Because of this, he probably felt
that there was nothing else to live for.”
“You mean, because he thinks I’m dead,
he feels there’s nothing important in his life??”
“That is exactly what I’m saying. I
don’t think he saw you in the crowd earlier. If you show him you are alive today,
he will surely change his mind!”
Forrest gave a huge smile.
“Really?!?!” [End music]
“Of course! Now come on, we need to
go back to Warren.” She began overhearing from civilians about how Lydia and
Gunther were having a private conversation about the matter. Warren’s sacrifice
has been postponed but that’s all the information they received. Hazel grinned.
“You know what, let’s backtrack to find Leo. Viola is right behind us. Damn
lady keeps taking her time with everything. Then, we should head to the
castle.” [Music 5.1]
“Okay. You got it, leader!”
~ Wiserheim – Redlin’s kingdom – custody room ~
“I see what you are saying,” Gunther
said to Lydia, “It seems I had no idea that Master Magnus was up to no good.
Ever since I became the King of Wiserheim, I have been shelling the entire
continent away from anybody outside of the nation. It seems this will bite me
later if I do nothing about it.”
Lydia shook her head. “Thank you
very much for understanding.”
“I should cancel the entire coliseum
and start focusing on our defensive systems.”
Lydia thought about it for a while.
“Wait a minute. How well-known do the participants get in the coliseum?”
“Even those from Phardia and Amitt
are aware of who participates.”
“Hm…” She checked the world map.
“Those two places are quite far, sir. I believe that if I participate in the
coliseum, word will break out and let Master Magnus know that I am still alive
and aware. This can lure him to me because
right now, I have absolutely no leads
as to where he is.”
Gunther gasped. “Master Magnus
sounded like a dangerous man from what you explained. You dare have him come to
our kingdom?”
“I know, it seems kind of rude of me
to request… but think about it. He will be much stronger if we don’t lure him
now, and we will regret it later. I will try my best to keep him away from any
harm of this city!”
“This is a difficult decision.
However, this will be the plan: we will put the peace offering on hold. Knowing
that Master Magnus could be anywhere, especially in the Winstel continent, it
would be best to lure him closer. While the coliseum battles are going, I will
command my officers to take a stance. Do you think we can work alongside for a
short while until this ends?”
Lydia shook his hand. “Of course!! I
really hoped you decided to join me. I will find my friends right now and tell
them the situation.”
“King Redlin, we have a few guests
at the entrance of the kingdom!” One of the soldiers yelled from outside the
room.
Lydia had a feeling it would be her
friends. “Or they can come find me first. That’s cool too.” [End music]
~ Wiserheim – Redlin’s kingdom – throne room ~
In the throne room, Lydia rejoiced
with the rest of her group of four friends. Forrest gave her a hug, ensuring
that he was fine and he was hoping Lydia was safe too. [Music 11.1]
“This place is quite exquisite,”
Hazel said. “I am anticipating the King, however. Where is he?”
“Hazel!” Gunther said angrily. “Why
are you here in this kingdom? You are not welcomed here.”
“Hola,” She responded jokingly.
Leo said to her, “Is his unwelcoming
demeanor towards you… some kind of sarcasm for old pals?”
“Nope, he really doesn’t like me,”
Hazel said bluntly. “We have been traveling in the same group twenty years ago,
but we were always like rivals. It made little ol’ Warren cry.”
“Do not take me so lightly,” He
clenched his fists. “Soldiers! Take this woman and exile her!”
“S-Sir! For what reason?” One
soldier said nervously.
“Because I don’t like her! She’s so…
yuck!”
Lydia and Leo sighed in confusion.
“I like his way of reasoning,” Viola
said.
Television Sets
Lydia stood in front of Gunther.
“King Redlin, I assure you that these friends of mine will join me in the
coliseum.”
“Hey, you can at least have a chance
to see me in a pool of blood while in the coliseum,” Hazel offered to Gunther.
Gunther became excited. “That is a
magnificent idea! You will die here under the kingdom of Wiserheim through the
battles of the coliseum!”
Leo whispered to Hazel, “Are you
serious about this?”
“Yeah. It’s a way of entrance. I’m
sure you understood this by now, tactician.”
Leo chuckled with guilt.
Forrest looked around impatiently.
“Where’s Warren, by the way?! Is he still at the volcano??”
“No. I accept the idea that if
dearest Lydia wins the coliseum tournament, then he will be set free and we,
the people of Wiserheim, will have to discuss the peace offering in further
detail with alternatives. Warren has been kept in a safe place here in the
castle until further details. Aaaaand, Lydia and I get to talk about the
awesome play of the friendly blue monster!” He squealed, and the rest of the
group felt disturbed.
“Someone is optimistic about winning
this tournament,” Viola glared at Lydia.
“Lydia, do you not know that
Wiserheim brings in the strongest men from the entire Winstel continent?!” Leo
panicked.
Lydia shrugged. “I-It’s okay! It’s
not like they came from all over the world, right? Hehe…”
“Incorrect,” Gunther said. “Most of
the strongest warriors are from all
over the world. You may think people from the Winstel continent do not accept
outsiders, but such outsiders are largely accepted if they are proven to be the
strongest. That is exactly how the recruitment of a tough Winstel army works.” [End music]
“…How tough can they be?” Lydia
questioned him. [Music 13.1]
“Some sail here by boat. You know
how cold it gets. Heck, I’ve seen a few come here via swimming while barely wearing anything at all.”
Lydia took a step back with concern.
Forrest became hasty. “Hurry up and
tell us the rules so we can get Warren back!”
“Silence, child! I will not tell you
the details since you’re so hasty!” He said with a threatening voice. The group
became quiet as he went on, “The number one rule states that only four members
can participate.”
Lydia turned away, whispering to Leo
and Viola, “He’s telling us even when he said he won’t!”
“Furthermore, you can start the
match with any number of members. For example, the battle can begin with only
Lydia versus the other four members. The strategy of these battles rely on the
members who can surprise the enemy on when
the rest of the group can chime in on the battle.”
Leo reiterated him, “Ah, so
basically we have to plan beforehand on when it is best for the other three
members to come in.”
“Exactly. Let me say this: you can
have more than four people in a team, but only four people can participate in
the battle and the rest of the team has to bench it.”
Hazel snapped her fingers. “So let’s
say for the five of us, I bench the battle and Lydia starts alone. At some
point in the battle, only Forrest, Leo, and Viola are allowed to support her.”
“I will not take repeated
descriptions from people like you!” Gunther shouted. “But yes, you are
correct.” Forrest, Leo, and Lydia chuckled. “Sixteen teams have been entered
into the coliseum but I can add a special entry for your group. I want to see
how strong Hazel really is by now.”
As he checked the telescreen by the
wall, the entire first round was over and only eight teams remained. On the
second round, the last battle has been completed and now Lydia’s group was up
to challenge them in order to enter the third round. Forrest was off to the
side, admiring the strange ‘telescreen’ that he had never seen before.
“There are a total of four rounds
but your team will skip the first one which already passed. According to the
layout of the tournament, you are challenging the winners whom they claim as
‘The Mighty Heightys’!”
Lydia scratched her head. “Why do
they call themselves that?”
“Everyone has a team name. Their
name just happens to correspond to their height,” Gunther explained.
Hazel counted the four group members
in The Mighty Heightys. “All of them
appear to be as short as Forrest.”
Forrest cried. “H-Hey!”
“Your match is starting really soon,
so you have to run over there. Oh yeah, the receptionist requires a team name.”
Lydia gasped. “We have to think of
one?!” [End music]
Fordiazelolaleo
~ Wiserheim – Coliseum – reception desk ~
An unenthusiastic lady heavily
stamped a document in front of the group. “Last thing left is a group name.
Think fast because you only have a few seconds left before the match starts…”
She began to yawn.
Lydia said to the group, “Okay, we
have to think of a good name because it will be broadcasted onto those screen
things all over Wiserheim!”
“Unicorn Party!!” Forrest quickly
suggested.
“Unicorn
Party it is.” The woman stamped the paper again.
“What the heck a unicorn party?!?!”
Leo yelped.
[Ending 4 music]
~~~
Coming on the next episode of The Obsidian Tale, the main group of five will enter the coliseum where three battles will commence! The first one already seems challenging to them, but there will be a chance to pull through. Even if they do, how can they survive the next two - considering these are the best warriors in the world? Let's see what happens on the next episode!
~~~
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