The Obsidian Tale
~ Village of Saradeli – western district – inn ~
“It’s
all over, little child. Your friend is dead.”
And
into another moment, “Looking for your parents? No? That’s right, you forgot
about them while you were too focused trying to save some demented girl whom
you barely even know.”
“You
may be destroying this tower, but you cannot destroy me! Plenty of monsters
have been dispatched throughout the entire world, so you are far too late. I
will keep making towers and buildings so as long as I live, and that is
forever!” [Music 14.1]
Forrest clenched his
fists, thinking through all of the insults that Magnus threw at him.
“Your
heart is weak. If it was strong enough, it could have at least saved the girl.
And now, the other one is raged with hatred and regret. Just look at her.”
“You
know who else are dead? YOUR PARENTS. They’ve been used as an experiment
several years ago, and the rest of the old folks have been trashed and unused.
But don’t worry, I got them to fight back within the tower as the undead.”
“The
giant beasts with a bunch of heads you’ve fought along the way? They’re mutated
figures of your own parents.”
Forrest grabbed both of
his BB gun and cubed bazooka as he stomped onto them with rage. “ARGH! RAGHH!!”
He then threw it against a plant vase, shattering it to pieces.
Sydney was by the doorway, scared of
what he was seeing. “F-Forrest??!”
Spencer was shaking behind the door.
“I-It’s a nice weather outside, y-you know??”
Forrest turned around. “Get away
from me! All the things I’ve done was for nothing. Jess died, and the slight
hope of finding my parents… GONE. I probably… killed them at the tower without
knowing which head was theirs! There is no such thing as a hero. It only leads
to failure.”
Sydney frowned. “But… there’s also
Bailey.”
“Who cares! She kil-“
“Forrest,
please take care of her. Promise me you will not hate her for what she was
forced to do.” Forrest remembered from before.
“Whatever, just go away.” He
childishly grabbed his BB gun from the floor, and then he proceeded to throw it
towards the door. Sydney screamed, running away with Spencer.
“Jess is dead and there’s no way I
can bring her back, not even the same way as Felix. She died differently than
he did.” He looked out the window. “I never want to leave this room again.” [End music]
~ Village of Saradeli – central district ~
Lydia had just finished bandaging Felix’s
arm. [Music 18.1]
“It was nice that the airship saved
us all,” she remembered.
Felix agreed. “We were fighting really
strong monsters back there. Man… as the rooms were crashing down, I thought it
was all over until the airship made its way to us.”
Warren was off to the side,
complaining about the airship. “Lady Pria could not steer at all!”
Pria pointed at him. “Excuse me? I
only had a few hours to learn how to steer that thing.”
Rina was busy braiding Lydia’s hair
which looked kind of odd since Rina would never do such a thing for other
people, except for Lydia.
Rina explained to them, “As we all
barely jumped on, the speedy monsters fell with the tower. Currently, Garnett
is resting at the inn. We found the two of you back in the 27th
floor before it came crashing down, but a large boulder fell onto her. Her body
might be shut off for some time, but we don’t know when we should spark her
back up. As for Hazel, she developed a little search team with a few civilians
at the remaining tower. I gave her an aura knife to make sure they were safe
from the chemicals.”
“Who are they searching for?” Lydia
asked.
“The three lieutenants. Apparently,
they have either disappeared, or… passed away under the rubble…”
“Oh… and… how’s Forrest and Bailey
doing?”
“Er… well, my mom and Ekaja are at
the inn right now, so they should be safe. At least the D’Alonzo parents are
still in a good mood, right?” Felix said with a nervous laughter.
“Well duh,” Rina said. “They are the
only ones who can easily light up the mood at a time like this. It seems every
time we get close to Magnus, he worsens the situation for Rhadessia.”
Felix agreed with her. “That’s true.
I mean, I don’t think Clyde was at the tower at all. While fighting those
monsters at the pods, I only saw Forrest, Jess, Bailey, and Magnus himself but
as a hologram.”
Lydia followed him. “I know, right?
It was strange that we didn’t even see Professor Igor there, yet we knew all
along that he has been creating the.” She began coughing a little, and Warren
excused her for a moment.
With the group shrugging it off as a
measly injury, Rina sat against one of the logs. “What I don’t get is that the
tower should have been Magnus’ greatest invention. Why were only Bailey and
Magnus there instead of everyone? Where did the others go and why?”
Warren grinned. “You do not think
there are more towers and monsters elsewhere, do you?”
Felix watched as Lydia was coughing
still, but she felt a little better. He headed closer to her. “Lydia, are you
alright? You seem to be getting sick.”
“I’ll be fine,” she sniffed. “The
weather has been a little bi-polar, don’t you think?”
“Overtime…” Rina said slowly,
thinking about Lydia. “Wait, you don’t think…?”
Warren snapped his fingers. “Lydia’s
body is neglecting the natural essence of Rhadessia as a whole.”
“No, no, h-how can that be?” Rina
denied. “We should be feeling sick too, right?”
Lady Pria floated towards Lydia to
examine her carefully. “It seems that because she is an Obsidian, in other
words, a Celestian, her body can detect how much mutated energy is being
released around the world. Although lucky for us, the process is slow. It takes
a large amount of monsters before Lydia starts to wear down.”
Lydia smiled. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.
It’s minor right now.”
Warren whispered to Rina, “The group
is falling apart.”
“Huh?”
“Forrest is probably very miserable
after finding out what happened, Lydia is slowly weakening, and we do not know
whether Felix will turn on us at any moment.”
Rina remembered what Magnus told her
back at the Lumious. Felix, Lydia, and Forrest all have the weakest hearts
within the group and at the same time, are experiencing the most heartfelt
situations. [End music]
“I get what you mean… What would be
the best situation for right now?”
Warren began to speak out loud for
the rest of the group. “I suggest we travel around the world via the airship
and look for any other suspicious buildings, such as towers.”
Lady Pria yawned. “You mean we have
to go all the way up the tower
again?”
“What do you mean ‘we’?!” Rina had
her hands against her hips.
Warren laughed. “Ah, that’s the
interesting part. With the ship up and running thanks to you, we can fly
directly to the top of the tower if there are any more.”
Pria beamed her eyes at Rina. “Did
you hear that? He thanked me.”
“Ugh,” Rina said before they
departed.
~ Village of Saradeli – western district – inn ~
Forrest continued to step onto his
BB gun with his rage slightly depleting in time. With one last force, he picked
up the BB gun and threw it across the room. The gun bounced back and flew onto
the walls above Bailey’s bed. It sank and when Forrest was about to reach over
for it, Bailey’s hand grabbed it first. [Music 2.2]
She sat up slowly. Her eyes were
still closed. “H-Hi…”
Forrest jumped back. “Huh? You’re
finally awake,” he didn’t say with joy.
“Yeah.” As she rubbed her eyes, she
finally opened them. They were not as demented anymore, and they shined bright
red. Her teal-ish hair curled downward and she had the most innocent
expression.
Forrest blushed. “Y-You look
different. It’s probably because you don’t have a hat on.”
Bailey grabbed onto the hat from the
desk beside her. “Oh, I forgot. Um, about what happened…” she reminded him.
“It’s fine. Jess is right. You
didn’t kill her; Magnus did. We had a funeral for her a few hours ago. I might
want to visit her spot again later today.”
“Is it okay if I go with you?”
Forrest noticed that Bailey was
wearing Jess’ red cape, with the red fortune finally unraveled. “Of course you
can.”
Forrest helped her up and the two of
them were leaving the inn. Mrs. Wolfram and Ekaja were concerned about where
they were going, but knowing them, they wouldn’t have the energy to do
something childish.
Upon reaching the grave, they found Sydney
and Spencer sitting in front of it. Bailey knelt down to read the sign. “My
condolences…” As she caressed the grave, she spoke again, “What exactly
happened after she…?”
“You got really mad and your energy
became uncontrollable or something. He looked kind of amazed at how you could
crackle the whole tower!” Sydney responded.
“Really? My head feels a lot lighter
than it has ever been.”
“Do you feel that he lost contact
with your mind?”
“Maybe so. I don’t really sense his
presence within my head any longer. I feel that as long as you have enough
willpower, you could be able to escape his clutches.”
Forrest was awestruck by her words.
“The willpower to be set free…” He noticed that Sydney and Spencer were slowly
standing closer, but still keeping their distance. “Sorry about earlier,”
Forrest said to Sydney. “I’ve realized… that the last part of the fortune told
me that I have to learn to control myself and live on. I will try my best!” He
saluted in his heroic pose. Suddenly, he began bawling like a water sprinkler.
“WAAAH! Jess is gone! It hurts so much!!!”
The group of four hugged each other.
“It will be okay, Forrest!” Sydney
giggled.
“Jess is in a better place,” Bailey
said.
“H-Hey!” Spencer shouted. “You’re
getting snot all over my shirt- GAH! Now I can’t see! Your tears fell on my
lenses!”
Sydney laughed first, and slowly,
the rest of the group began to laugh together. This is exactly how Jess wanted
the group to be. Although still hurt inside, the group must push forward, she
believed. [End music]
~ Mago’Ria Fey – south side ~
Sadistic Aftermath
Hazel turned around with a
disappointed look. “The lieutenants could not be found anywhere.” [Music 26.2]
Viola jumped across the airship
which was above the river like a bridge between the two islands. “What do you
mean?” she asked hastily. “They have to be here!”
“Hold it,” Hazel commanded. “It is
dangerous to roam freely here still. I suggest we need to find more of these
kind of buildings around the world, so it’s best to keep this place forbidden.
I understand that the village, unlike any other town or city in the world,
lacks strengths.”
Lady Pria raised her hand. “Oh
Hazel, you always seem to know what I want. Of course I’ll help around the
village.”
Hazel raised her eyebrows. “Oh? I
didn’t even ask you.”
“Yes. After traveling around with
you twenty years ago, I realized adventures like what we had was not my kind of
thing. Besides, I’d be dying if I was forced to adventure with you again.”
“Heh, Warren doesn’t seem to
complain.”
“Warren is just Warren. Who cares
about him.”
“Eh?!” Warren shouted.
“Anyway,” Pria ignored him. “I’ll
protect the village and see if I could neglect some of the chemicals.”
“Excellent,” Hazel said proudly.
“The only other person who could do that would be the innkeeper at the Grandine
Hillage. We will contact her after we finish off Magnus.”
“You’re gonna depend on your mom?” Pria teased.
“MOM?!” everyone besides Warren and
Viola screamed together. Leo didn’t chime in either as he was… still vomiting.
“What, I didn’t tell you all?” Hazel
became confused. “My bad, I guess.”
Bailey held out her hand for
Forrest. “It’s farewell for now.”
“Huh? You’re not going to come with
us?”
“My body still needs a little
healing, and I would serve no use without my energy.”
“Are you saying you lost all that
strength you gained from Magnus?!”
“It appears so, but I will be right
by your side in your heart.” She tried to giggle but it looked a bit awkward
especially for someone who rarely smiled in the past.
Sydney coughed. “Eh… she’s trying,
at least.”
Hazel patted Forrest on the head.
“Since Bailey is saved, why don’t you stay?”
Forrest jumped. “Are you kidding
me?! Magnus said so many mean things. I’m not going to sit around and take it
all!”
“I was only kidding,” Hazel
chuckled. “You proved to be responsible to join us. If something happens,
however…”
“Don’t worry. You can count on me!”
He had his BB gun and cubed bazooka in his pockets.
Felix entered the airship first. “We
still need to find Clyde!”
Lydia tapped his shoulder. “Don’t
forget to mention that we need to put an end to Igor’s control!”
“That too,” Felix laughed. “I
promised the D’Alonzo parents that I would bring back Clyde safe and sound. If
Bailey could be free, then so can Clyde. I believe in him!”
As the group of eight were floating
above the river, they waved goodbye from the window while those from the
village waved back. The leaves from the trees were breaking loose as the
airship caused a large gust of wind to pass through the village. And just like
that, the group was gone again – out to find the towers, destroy them, and
checkmate Magnus in their own chess match. [End music]
~ Sheywood – central portion ~
The group made their way closer to
the Sheywood, the place where they met a bunch of mutated beasts, an area known
for failed experiments.
Too Cold Loud for Comfort
Viola headed for the doorway. “I see
a small tower the size of a lighthouse just sticking out from the center. We
must check it.”
Leo tried to stop her, “Whoa, whoa,
what’s the hurry?”
“You were too drunk to even
comprehend. I mentioned at the bar that the lieutenants could be doing the same
thing we are and they could be here first.”
“Oh- I don’t remember that part,
heh…” Leo scratched his head.
Before the airship was close to
landing, Viola already jumped out. Lydia and Felix followed afterwards, hoping
they wouldn’t lose sight of her. As expected, there were monsters here in the
Sheywood that were previously tamer before.
Forrest and Rina ran towards the
lighthouse with their respective weapons. Rina casted a wind aura for the both
of them. Meanwhile, Forrest reached for his cubed bazooka.
“It’s time to blow stuff up! This is
my favorite part.”
“You said it, kid!” Rina readied for
a bunch of fireballs and fire missiles.
With Viola, Felix, Lydia, and Leo
being on the ground level, fighting with close-ranged parasitical spiders,
Hazel took the long-range area above the deck of the airship. Warren stuck with
her in case any monsters came too close.
As the lighthouse exploded, a large
monster still stood from the center of the room. Well, it was no longer a room
considering the fact that Forrest and Rina just blew it up.
This time, there was a snake monster
with two heads – male and female, resembling a lot like Sydney. We can only
guess who they were.
“I’m sorry, Sydney, but…” Forrest
readied his bazooka.
“You okay?” Rina asked him.
“Yeah. Let’s get this over with
before I change my mind.” The two of them began to blast the snake. It was
still alive, but with Hazel’s help, she could pin the monster down without any
problem.
The snake fell to the ground, slowly
losing its life until it stopped moving.
Forrest sneakily headed towards the
snake’s heads and he noticed a locket wrapped around the woman’s head. He
grabbed the locket and it popped open, showing both the parents of Sydney, and
herself seven years ago. There was also an infant being held in the mother’s
hands.
“I didn’t know Sydney had a little
sister…” Forrest frowned. “She must have not made it because I met Sydney, and
she didn’t travel with anybody else.”
Rina felt guilty, knowing that she
lost her own sister in a battle.
“I’m going to give it back to
Sydney. I don’t know if she even realizes she had a sister, but she needs to
refresh her memory of what her family looked like.”
With the last spider being stabbed
in the head by Viola’s lance, she gave a disappointed look. “It seems the
lieutenants are not here. Where could they be?!”
“They couldn’t have gone far from
the Fey, right?” Lydia asked her.
Viola agreed with her. “Yeah.” She
nonchalantly stabbed a mutated cheetah which attempted to pounce on her. “The
last time we saw, the lieutenants could barely move on their own.”
Felix waved at her. “Then let’s get
back on the airship. We’re done here. Viola, we need to find those
lieutenants!” Viola gasped, wondering why he was so ecstatic to help her, a
former Gammel unit, but she realized that he was always sincere and charismatic
to help others, no matter where they came from. Besides Lydia, he was one of
the few who was able to trust Viola when she barely joined the group. [End music]
“Thank you, Felix. I will remember
your sincerity.”
As the group returned to the
piloting room, Warren began to steer the ship upward.
A Necklace for Sydney
“So, where next?” Warren asked them.
Hazel tried to think carefully. “I
do not recall that many places that contained a graveyard of failed projects
besides the Sheywood and the Mago’Ria Fey. The only places we have not checked
is the entire southwestern continent. Unlike the three armies existing today,
that continent is not occupied by any of them.”
Lydia checked the map with her. “Why
is that?”
“Nobody really cared for them due to
trading inconveniences. They were too far. And, well…”
The group became quiet.
“That’s where I was born. My mother
and I escaped about twenty one years ago.” [Music 17.2]
The other six companions, besides
Viola, gasped together. “Where you were born?!” They all yelled together.
“What, did I not tell you that
either?”
“I’m starting to wonder how much you have told us,” Leo joked.
Hazel shrugged. “You people never
asked.”
“Okay then, how about… ‘how come you
moved away’?” Rina questioned her.
“We just wanted to know what it was
like in the bigger world.”
“Oh.” Forrest said bluntly.
“Underwhelmed? Not everything needs
to be surprising,” Hazel smiled. “At any rate, I doubt there is much to do
there in relevancy to what we are doing right now. Since we cannot easily find the
rest of the towers, we will need to fly even higher than we usually do in the
airship.”
Warren cackled. “Ahem, that would be
a little difficult.”
“How come?” Felix wondered.
“Based on the manual, this airship
can only go so high before the clouds. There is no way to go any further
because of turbulence and weather conditions.”
Lydia sat on a chair nearest the
window. “What should we do then? Is there any other way to view the entire
world all at once?”
Hazel pointed at one portion of the
map. “There is one place that can help us. How about we reach the top of the
floating city of Lament? Perhaps above the castle, maybe?”
Rina squinted her eyes. “Wait, huh?
Oh no. Ohhhhh no. Are you saying we should go… BACK?!”
“Maybe as the royal daughter of the Avians,
you can request this in order to save the world.”
Rina grinned. “I promised to come
back after defeating Magnus. You know
how much my father would dislike me if I broke that promise.”
Felix shook his head. “But we really
need to go! If we don’t, the world would be destroyed either way. Your parents
should understand. They would feel responsible for the losses if they said
‘no’, right?”
“Ugh. I hate it when you’re right,
Suspenders,” she complained. “Fine, fine! We’ll go there. Sheesh!”
Forrest began pressing a bunch of
buttons beside the steering wheel. “Back to the weird city we go!! Ahoy!!!”
Warren gasped. “Hey, calm down
there!” A bunch of random devices started appearing around the ship and Warren
had to disarm them.
Warren did not get mad, however. He
was actually glad that Forrest was able to be himself again even through all
the troubles in the Tower of Magnus. The seven of them even enjoyed Forrest’s
company. They were like one big supportive family, much like how it was before
they separated back in the City of Celestia. With a well-formed team as theirs,
they now press onward to the floating city of Lament! [End music]
[Ending 5 music]
~~~
The group now has a narrower mission to handle in order to get closer to Magnus. As their plans come together, they start to realize this is the final straw. It also looks like there is an alliance formed with the main protagonists and the Gammel government. From here on, it looks like they will be working together. With the aftermath of Magnus' tower being taken care of, the group sets out to the city of Lament.
~~~
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