The Obsidian Tale
~ Wiserheim – coliseum – central battlefield ~
“Team ‘Maglem’?” Rina said with a
smirk on her face. “Is that all you got? A name that just switches the letters
around from ‘Gammel’? Pathetic!” She began to laugh. She threw another fireball
and Lionel ran in front of Floir to protect her.
Leo was on the floor, watching.
“This explains why the clothes were moved to the opposite end of the locker
room. She had been hiding in that room the entire time!”
Professor Talbot threw his knives
towards Rina but she casted an earth magic that sent herself flying up. She
then threw ice knives onto the ground nearby the professor. It shattered into
large icicles and the professor was forced to create an aura of wind
protection, just like Rina had done several times in the past.
“That’s for being a weak rival!” she
scoffed.
While Rina was on the way back to
the ground, she spun herself in wind aura like a twirling torpedo straight towards
Garnett.
“And I’ve never liked you anyway!”
Rina shouted as she was flying towards Garnett. Garnett tried to guard with her
axe, but Rina, being a torpedo, kept pushing forward.
Floir stood up, almost ready to interrupt
the winding girl. Lionel tried to follow along. Unlucky for them, Viola and Leo
distracted them with their own fighting techniques – Viola’s speed, and Leo’s
flexibility. Lydia made her way towards Professor Talbot. She used martial arts
to distract him, causing Talbot to remove his wind aura and strike back. He
threw his knives, catalyzed with wind. Lydia jumped away, remembering to use
the same avoiding techniques she learned through minor martial arts.
Rina made a yell, hoping her brute
strength would push forward. Eventually, Garnett’s axe made a crackling noise.
Garnett gasped. “What?!”
Before she could jump away, the axe
shattered and Rina struck Garnett by the chest. Garnett was sent flying against
a wall, even cracking it a little. The audience made a gasp as well, knowing
that nobody could survive that clash.
However…
“Ergh…” She sat up, electricity
being emitted all over her body. She could barely move, but hey, at least she
didn’t die.
Rina turned around. “Who’s next?” [End music]
~ Wiserheim – coliseum – audience ~
[Music 1.5] “Magical charms, get them here!!”
The same merchant girl from almost every city and town was still behind her
vending stalls with her friends, Zedd and Tedd.
Forrest came running across the
audience in search for Bailey who had last been seen from the large screens.
“Why does it seem like that kid
always appears where we are?” Tedd asked.
Forrest accidentally pushed Zedd
over, causing him to drop some of the charms.
“You twat!” The merchant girl
screamed. “I made those!!”
Within the audience, you could hear
people whispering to each other, confirming that the little boy running around
the audience was the same person who participated in the games.
Bailey rummaged across several stalls in hopes that Forrest would lose sight, but Forrest made sure to keep his eyes on the child. Forrest stopped Bailey by a nearby bridge that split between the audience and the front desk.
Bailey rummaged across several stalls in hopes that Forrest would lose sight, but Forrest made sure to keep his eyes on the child. Forrest stopped Bailey by a nearby bridge that split between the audience and the front desk.
“Bailey, stop!” [End music]
Bailey turned around. “What do you
want from me?” [Music 34.1]
“Why are you still following Magnus’
orders? You know he’s a bad person for sure.”
“No he’s not. He’s in search for a
scientist named Igor who can restore what this world has lost!”
Forrest tilted his head. “Igor??
Who’s that?” He began shaking his head. “Never mind that. You have to come with
me. Magnus is clearly lying to you!”
Bailey began to float. People nearby
thought it was some kind of stunt created by a magician and they began
watching, cheering.
Forrest was shaking this time. He
couldn’t move due to his utter frustration. “Bailey… you have to listen to me
this time. My fortune says you will die. You have to understand that I care
about you a lot! If that wasn’t true, then I wouldn’t have been trying to find
you all this time, right?!” His frustration became too much. He wanted to cry.
Bailey stopped for a moment. The
child blushed, thinking about it quietly. “…What?” Bailey noticed Forrest was
about to cry full throttle. I don’t think this demented child has ever seen
Forrest cry and show his frustration this much before. “What do you know about
Magnus?”
“I don’t know! It’s just… I think he
was trying to use all of the e-le-men-tal magic thingies to make a bigger
enemy! I saw it with my own eyes at the floating city! After that lightning
happened, he started to transform. He’s just going to get stronger the more
magic he gets! We are trying to stop him.”
“You’re misguided by what he seems to be doing. In truth, he really
is only collecting such magic to control the elemental balance within the world.
As you see, the entire fire element has been depleting because of the loss of
Obsidian energy.”
“Oh yeah? If he’s trying to restore
balance, how come he started the problem by killing people with Obsidian
energy?!”
Bailey’s aura was electrifying this
time. “He emerged after the events to reclaim the goodness of the Gammel
government.”
Forrest clenched his fists. “What
are you saying?! How is he going to fix the world without fire ener-“ He
suddenly came to an immediate stop. His eyes opened widely. It barely occurred
to him that the volcano was starting to activate now that Lydia appeared closer
to it. “He’s heading for the volcano, isn’t he??”
Bailey smiled. “Did you notice that
fire energy was emerging from the volcano? That was all because Master Magnus
is successfully saving the world, one step at a time!”
“That’s not it at all!” Forrest
shouted. “Lydia was the one who did that!”
Bailey became angry. The child’s
aura exploded two times larger than it already was before. Right then, Bailey’s
aura suddenly vanished, followed by a scream coming from the child. [End music]
Forrest watched as Bailey fell to
the ground, wailing in pain. Forrest noticed an arrow struck the right leg.
He turned to his left. “Hazel?!”
“I had to do it or else Bailey could
have gone out of control.”
Still, Bailey’s aura blasted again
and this time, the child zoomed past them uncontrollably.
Hazel gasped. “Great! Where did that
kid go to now?!”
~ Wiserheim – coliseum – central battlefield ~
Professor Talbot and Lionel had
already fallen to the ground after being defeated by the teamwork of the Unicorn Party. [Music 3.3]
Rina pointed at Floir, the last
woman standing. “You’re in for it now! This is for all the times you’ve gotten
in our way.” She created a fireball in between her hands while Lydia, Leo, and
Viola were off to the side, ready to pin Floir down if she moved. “Take
this!!!!”
As Rina was about to toss the
fireball, a ray of light flew past her. Everything felt like slow motion to
Rina for some reason. She could see the light pass her, her hair flew back, and
in front of her… was the ground shattering upwards and towards her. The ground
surrounding Rina exploded!
“RIIIIINAAAAA!!!!!” Lydia screamed
from the tip of her lungs.
Floir quickly elbowed Lydia by the
arm and then punched Leo by the chin. She then kicked Viola while the dust was
covering the atmosphere. Floir pointed her lance against Viola’s face.
“Checkmate.”
While on the ground, Lydia tried to
crawl towards the ray of light. Bailey was standing right behind Rina and there
was a dark, immense aura surrounding the child. Rina was on the ground. Her
clothes burnt and her face blackened from all of the debris.
Lydia kneeled down as soon as she
reached Rina. “Rina, are you okay?!” She began crying. “I finally got to see
you, but I didn’t want it to be like this!”
Rina coughed. “I’m… fine,” she said.
Her hands were shaking, but she could still touch Lydia’s cheeks. “We won,
didn’t we?”
Lydia turned to Leo who was almost
ready to strike the ground behind Floir. Lydia knew what he was going to do. He
was about to create a surprise attack against his opponent, Floir. Deep down, he
thought about the times Floir had caused trouble to the group, and he wanted to
go for it.
“We… won?” Lydia said slowly. “But…
Floir is going after the same goal… She’s not evil.”
Leo raised his fist while Floir
wasn’t looking.
“Stop!” Lydia screamed.
Floir took sight of Leo. She managed
to throw her spear at him but it only grazed his shoulder. Leo knelt down,
trying to cover his wound.
“Ergh! Floir…!” Leo said angrily.
Lydia then turned to Bailey. “Rina…
we are in deep trouble. Usually, we would make it out alive,” she said in a
frightened tone, “But this time, in each end, we’re going to die. The
announcers aren’t saying anything either. What should I do, Rina?! I’m not a
leader at all. I’m very confused and I can’t seem to put things together right
now!”
Rina gave her a warm smile. “I’ve
trusted you since the day I met you… At this point, I trust that you know who
our truest enemies are. Trust those who you believe are not enemies.”
Lydia simultaneously looked at both
Floir and Bailey. Floir grabbed her lance and then she raised it against Leo
who was defenseless. With a split second after, Bailey flew towards Leo as
well.
“Master Magnus told me that the guy
in green is one of the biggest threats in the group! I must eradicate him!”
Bailey yelled.
Viola would not be quick enough to
get up and strike back. Nobody else was able to help Leo. If Lydia stopped
Floir, Bailey would kill Leo. However, if Lydia went for Bailey, Floir would
eventually kill Leo as well.
“Trust those who you believe are not
enemies,” Lydia repeated. “Trust those who you believe are not enemies…!” She
stood up.
As Bailey was about to pass her,
Lydia used her flail to strike Bailey by the stomach. The aura vanished again
and Bailey fell on his or her back. Lydia closed her eyes, ashamed that she
physically hurt someone younger than her.
Floir froze. She still had the lance
facing Leo but she couldn’t move.
“I cannot do this.” [End music]
Leo gasped. “What?”
“Even if we are against each other,
killing you would be a violation of lieutenant chivalry.” She held her hand out
for him. “You are not our enemy.”
Bailey stood up once more and then
vanished. Lydia called out to the audience, “Someone, please take Rina to a
hospital! Please, hurry! Somebody!!”
Forrest and Hazel watched from
above. Forrest jumped away from the bars that divided the audience and
the battlefield without further thought and Hazel tried to catch up to him.
~ Wiserheim – Redlin’s kingdom – throne room ~
It has been about two hours since
the disaster in the tournament. Forrest, Leo, Hazel, and Viola were in the
throne room with King Redlin, two guards, and Warren in a cage. Off to the side
was Floir, Lionel, and Talbot. As for Garnett… well, she went out of control
after the battle and the guards had to lock her in the guest bedroom within the
castle.
Are Ponies Real?
“Where’s Lydia??” Forrest examined
the room. [Music 11.1]
King Redlin stood from his throne.
“Lydia and her friend, Rina, are in the hospital nearest the castle. They are
safe with the guards. As for this man,” He pushed Warren forward. “He will be
set free.”
Forrest squealed. “Warren!!!”
“Warren?”
Redlin stared at him. “WARREN OXNER?”
Warren turned around. “I realized it
was you from our past journey as well, but it was already too late by the time
you sent me to the volcano.”
Redlin closed his eyes. “I had no
idea… that you are Warren Oxner. My, how big you’ve gotten.” He then said to
the rest of the group, “You all have taught me something valuable.”
Leo paused. “This whole time, they technically
knew each other without realizing they were old friends?”
“It appears so,” Viola shrugged.
Warren and Forrest ran up to each
other. Forrest was given a big hug, but he was being squished by Warren’s
strength.
“And what is that valuable thing?”
Hazel asked.
Gunther Redlin spoke, “Although I
put my work and duty in front of friendship, Hazel, you and Warren both taught
me that in order to keep my duties at its finest, I must trust and befriend
those who serve dear to me. Although you and Warren were constant nuisances in
our past journey, I hereby thank your group for saving civilians from possible
death.”
As Forrest let go of Warren’s grip,
he made a frown. “It’s all because of Bailey, isn’t it…?” There was a silence
in the room. “Um… remember how that Magnus guy got stronger after lightning was
used? I think he wants to go to the volcano to collect the fire element now
that it started up.”
Leo turned to him. “Is that what
Magnus is really after?”
“Uh-huh! I just know it!”
“That sounds quite absurd. He
already has all the power he wants. All he needs to do is start it up somehow.
This is exactly why he has gone missing.” King Redlin rejected the idea.
“You have to believe me!” Forrest
stomped his foot. He has never looked so angry before. “Why doesn’t anyone
believe me? This is crap!” [End music]
“Forrest, your language!” Hazel said
to him. [Music 8.3]
“I don’t care! Just because I’m the
youngest one here doesn’t mean you should just throw away my pre-dic-tions. You
all saw it didn’t you? That Magnus guy changed forms back in the floating city
or whatever!” There was another silence. “If Felix was here, he would agree
with me! He wouldn’t judge my idea just because I’m young! He treated me like
everyone else, like I was an actual hero. Yet, you’re all just thinking I’m
some kind of… of a…!”
“Burden,” Leo finished his sentence.
Hazel and Leo turned to each other,
both highly concerned about Felix and what happened to him.
Lydia and Rina were by the doorway.
“Felix wouldn’t be the only one to trust Forrest’s intuitions,” Lydia said.
Rina nodded. Well, she tried to with
all the bandages on her body. “That damn Suspenders really kept us safe with
his odd trusting skills. He knew what was best for us, and I’ll have to agree
with this annoying blue-haired kid here.”
“Why does he even have blue hair??”
Lionel gave a smirk while elbowing Professor Talbot who was apathetic to the
question.
Forrest became excited. “Lydia,
Rina!!! You two agree with me?!” [Music 35.1]
Viola shrugged. “We have no other
leads, so we might as well go to the volcano.”
Warren and Gunther started to
reconsider their doubts about Forrest.
Rina pointed at King Redlin, “Yo! I
got something to say!”
“Me? You dare speak to a king that
way?”
“In my defense, you’re just a child
at heart. That’s right, Lydia told me about your blue monster painting in the
custody room,” she said.
“Geh?!”
“Anyway, my point is, screw the
peace offering! We won the tournament fair and square and we order you to end
that piece of crap superstition, at least until all of this Magnus stuff is
over!”
Professor Talbot sighed. “There is
that angry firing spirit within her again, just like the first time I met her.”
Home of Wiserheim and Celestia
Rina continued, “I want to go to the
volcano too. I feel that I can meet someone special once I’m there. As you can
see, I have all six elements, including ice, but I still need to upgrade my
fire magic.”
Forrest gasped. “Ice magic? You
learned it without us!”
Hazel glared at her. “Someone
special, you say?” She then turned to Forrest, “And what else did Bailey tell
you?”
“Um… Magnus wants to go to the
volcano too. We have to get there fast or else!”
Lieutenant Floir chimed in. “Might I
suggest that the three of us take an airship back to Troiya and dispatch all
the soldiers around the eastern continent? This time, we will order them to
search for Master Magnus instead of the Obsidian.”
“What?!” Lionel frowned. “We’re
doing minor work this time?”
“I declare that we have lost the
final match fair and square, at least before the interruption,” Floir replied.
“The best we can do is become the secondary supporters of the winners. By doing
that, we must assist in any useful way possible.”
Professor Talbot shrugged. “I don’t
have any complaints. I may want to take a visit back at the Town of Igor anyway
since I need to speak with Professor Nell about more important matters.” [End music]
“IGOR!” Forrest yelled. Everyone
turned to him. “That’s what Bailey talked about too. I think after going to the
volcano or whatever, Magnus is gonna find Igor.” [Music 34.5]
“Impossible!” King Redlin stabbed
his sword into the ground. “He has been long dead!”
Warren whispered to Hazel, “Has he
always let his valuable castle get turned asunder?”
“Beats me. That man was always the
crazy one in the group,” Hazel answered.
Leo took a step forward. “Let me get
this straight. Hazel told us about the story between Igor, Magnus, and Waltzer
all at once. To repeat, Igor found a small remnant of Waltzer at the Merridian
Laboratory and revived him by accident. How did that happen?”
“Legends say that you need all three
materials: a doppelganger charm, a special orb that has been passed down many
generations from the Avians, and a good amount of Obsidian energy,” Gunther
said. “But this only works for those who have not died naturally – being
vanquished by the speed of light, as if you were in between the worlds of life
and death.”
Hazel added to the story: “The woman
that traveled with us, she vowed not to speak of her name. However, I would
like to mention that she was an Avian as well. She must have gotten hold of the
orb when she met with Igor at one point. At the same time, you could find
Obsidian energy almost anywhere in natural resources. As for the doppelganger
charm… That would sound difficult to find.”
Lydia was shocked. “Wait a minute!
Does this mean we can get Felix back if we get all of these ingredients?”
“We should not toy around with death
again,” Hazel suggested.
“Felix isn’t dead!” Lydia clenched
her teeth. “He’s just… gone. If Waltzer’s physical spirit was somehow still
within the Merridian Laboratory, then something must have happened to him – the
same way with Felix.”
“True,” Warren questioned. “At this
rate, we can assume all three of Waltzer, Igor, and Felix died the same time.
Waltzer had been permanently sealed, but as for the other two…”
“Nobody knows if Waltzer died the
same way. His first death would be millennium years ago,” Redlin reminded her.
“We have not found books that explained it yet. If so, do you have a physical
remnant of this Felix boy?”
Lydia paused. “N-No…”
“Now hold on,” Rina interrupted
them. “We are getting off-topic. The first question was, oh I don’t know, isn’t Igor DEAD?!”
Hazel shook her head. “See, now this
is what confuses me most.”
“The Great Hazel, confused?” Leo
chuckled. Hazel slapped his face abruptly.
“Anyway, the more important detail
is to map out our plan. First, we must hurry to the volcano before thinking
about anything else. At this rate, Magnus could be at the volcano quicker than
we expect.” [End music]
The ground started rummaging through
the castle hall, indicating to everyone that they must make their next move
quickly before the volcano was going to erupt. [Music 35.2]
Rina was in shock. “I have to
hurry!”
Lydia held onto Rina’s arms. “You
are heavily bandaged, Rina! You shouldn’t push yourself. Didn’t I tell you back
at the Hollow Cavern?”
Rina watched everyone’s concerning
expressions, but she only gave a chuckle. “Heh. From what Suspenders taught me, persistence can lead to a greater success.” She turned to Hazel, reminding her
that even though Hazel constantly tried to stop Felix from arguing with others
such as King Nora of Lament, Felix still worked very hard to push forward –
until he couldn’t anymore.
Lydia sighed. “There’s no stopping
you, isn’t there?”
“Nope. This is my life. I choose it however I wish. If any of you are going to
disagree with me having to push myself, then I suggest you stay out. You can’t
choose what I should do.”
Lydia took a step back. “R-Rina, you
promised you wouldn’t sacrifice your safety like this again!”
Rina shrugged. “I didn’t promise
anything besides protecting you.” She quickly rushed out of the throne room.
“R-Rina!” Lydia fell to the ground,
speechless.
Warren was the first to head over to
Lydia. “Miss Yager, there is no stopping her. At this point, we can only
support her. She is right, however. We must choose how we want to live our
lives, and she is going by what Felix has taught us all along. It does not
matter how much you push yourself, but how much your result can succeed.”
Lydia began to cry. “Felix…”
Hazel gave a slight smile. “Felix
may no longer be with us today… but in our hearts, we can at least cherish what
special emotions he gave us – the emotions to trust your friends all the way
until the end.”
Even Viola had a guilty look. She
had her hand over her chest as she spoke slowly, “The emotions to trust your
friends…” To her, she felt she had no true friends up until today.
Lydia nodded. “You know what? Maybe
you’re right. We have to hurry and help Rina or else Magnus will try to stop
her!”
“Yay!!!” Forrest cheered as he ran
past Warren. The rest of the group followed, but Leo still stood at his same
spot. [End music]
“…Something is definitely not right.
Bailey… claimed that Magnus wanted to kill me in particular. …Why?”
~ Wiserheim – Redlin’s kingdom – guest room ~
A large axe was lying on the center
portion of the guest bedroom. Garnett sat by a mirror as she watched herself - electrifying.
“Ergh…! I don’t get it. Why am I not
strong enough?!” She took a large scissor on the table as she stabbed her arm
but a heavy stab only created a small scratch against her skin. “What am I? Why
is everyone else able to bleed but me?”
Garnett constantly stabbed her arm
but nothing came through. “DAMN IT!” With rage, she pulled each handle away
from each other and the scissors broke in half.
“I’m not normal, aren’t I? WHY DOES
THE OBSIDIAN GET EVERYTHING SHE WANTS?!” Without control, she placed one of the
scissor blades behind her hair and then she cut it short to her neck. “HEHE.
HEHAHA! Now I don’t have to look like her anymore! FINALLY! I don’t have to
look like that ugly runt!!!!!!”
She looked at herself one last time
in the mirror. “This isn’t the end, Obsidian!” She threw the other blade at the
mirror and it shattered into several pieces. Her face still reflected against
it, several Garnetts appearing in each shattered piece. She continued to laugh
hysterically.
[Ending 4 music]
~~~
Next time on The Obsidian Tale, things will be all fired up! Literally. The group will head into the volcano, but who will race to the bottom first? Rina senses that Lady Pria is down at the bottom, waiting to train Rina to learn stronger fire magic. Meanwhile, Magnus races his way down to steal the fire energy and the rest of the group are way behind. What are Magnus' plans now?! Find out next time!
~~~
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