The Obsidian Tale
~ Lament – southernmost port – rocky roads ~
“I couldn’t get a hold of Warren.
He’s ravaging against the giant octopus monster,” Gunther claimed. “I tried to
call out for him to return, but he would not listen!”
Hazel ran next to him to check
outside. “We need to bring him back this instant! Fighting that monster alone
is quite too dangerous.”
Before they could fly towards
Warren, the last moving tentacle slapped him onto the land like a fly.
“Tch! Open the emergency hatch!”
Hazel commanded.
“I’ll go too,” Felix said, standing
up. Hazel was surprised that he managed to stand tall and opportunistic despite
his loss. “No more people will die.”
The group was silent.
“I’m tired of seeing close friends
and family die one by one… There’s no time for mourning until later. Right now…
what dad wants – is to end this.”
Leo thought about his parents, and
Forrest - the same with Jess.
“We can’t let another special friend
of ours go to waste like this,” Felix said. Hazel was about to speak, but Felix
interrupted her, “And I don’t care if it’s too dangerous out there! I have been
scared all throughout this adventure, and it brought me nowhere. When I finally
had the chance to become stronger and brave, Magnus had me under control. Let
me fight with you, Hazel!”
“I can see in your eyes that Magnus
has lost full contact with you. His control is no longer in place.” She
chuckled. “Please do join me, Felix Wolfram. Show me the true Felix!”
Reminiscent of the Past
~ Mirror Lands – underwater submarine ~
Lydia appeared into the hatch from
below. She quickly closed it before a whole bunch of water came pouring in. She
breathed heavily after having to hold her lungs for a while. After Lydia was
thrown off the battleship, she was sent underwater, sighting the only nonmoving
submarine nearest her. At the same time, she saw Clyde escaping moments before.
“Why isn’t this submarine moving?”
She asked herself.
After several minutes of attempting
to find the pilots, she caught sight of a trail of blood. Lydia hurriedly
reached the kitchen, and then into a dining room where a lot more blood
appeared. [Music 8.3]
“Rina!!” Lydia gave the worst
possible shriek before helping her sit up.
Rina was motionless. Her hand was
still clenching on a pen and the bloody letter. Only two lines were written.
“…Ly…”
Lydia moved Rina’s other hand from
her stomach, revealing the wound. She opened her hands and tried to heal her,
but the bloody pain lasted too far long for Lydia’s healing magic to catch up.
“Clyde, wasn’t it?” Lydia stood up
and headed for the closest first aid kit hanging against a wall. “You need
help, fast!”
“You have… to leave… The ship will…
sink…”
Lydia grabbed the kit and opened it.
As she ran back towards Rina, Lydia tripped a little, and then she gave a
whooping cough. The open kit sprouted open and a roll of elastic wrap sprung
past Rina and back into the kitchen.
“Ergh…” she groaned.
“Please, don’t,” Rina kindly
commanded her. “You are weakening… from the excess number of mutants in the
world.”
Lydia clenched her fists. “I don’t
care. It doesn’t matter if a bunch of chemical energy is taking over
Rhadessia’s atmosphere. It won’t stop a Celestian like me to help save those
that saved me several times in the past!”
Lydia recklessly pulled back the
wrap as much as she could and then she crawled towards Rina.
“Why try? We are both… barely able
to move. This ship will sink… and eventually… be drowned in water.”
Lydia began wrapping Rina’s stomach
with the elastic wrap. “If we both die here, then let us at least live longer
to appreciate each other’s existence.”
As Lydia was helping her, Rina began
crying. “I’m sorry, Lydia. I became reckless again… You keep telling me to
stop… stop doing these kind of things alone and-“
“It’s okay. You weren’t being
reckless this time.”
Rina gasped.
“You were just trying to restore
order as soon as possible.”
Rina barely made a chuckle as the
two of them became silent, appreciating their existence before they were to be
sunken down to the bottom portion underwater.
After about five seconds, Lydia
shook her head. “No.” She stood up and Rina watched her. “This isn’t over. I’m
going to find the pilots and see why they haven’t been steering this ship.
Rina, will you stay put a little while longer?”
Rina gave a promising smile.
“And you won’t move, right?”
“This time, I promise – I won’t move.”
Lydia giggled. “Alright. I will come
back for you!” [End music]
~ Lament – southernmost port – rocky roads ~
With one tentacle and one giant head
remaining from the large octopus, the rest of the main group made their way to
fight back. [Music 32.1] In the Crescent airship, Gunther was busy with the pilot’s shipment
while Forrest focused on the head of the octopus. Viola finally opened her
eyes, but she was barely able to move – the same went for Leo. Well, Leo was
more paranoid that Mr. Wolfram’s body could just come back to life and eat his
brains out, but that’s not important.
Felix and Hazel were standing on the
Mirror Lands, at least what’s left of it. Warren sat up, coughing from the
debris that he just took in.
Felix said to Hazel, “Save the last
tentacle for me. I have an idea!”
“But that’s exactly where I need to
shoot!”
“Aim for the octopus’ face,” Felix
said. He began running towards the tentacle which was trying to whip them
apart.
Hazel trusted Felix, so she stayed
behind, standing in front of Warren to aim for the head.
The tentacle gave a large swoosh! and Felix swiftly grabbed onto
the tentacle. It began flopping around and Felix used the tentacle as a sled to
reach the body. Upon reaching the body, Felix stabbed it. The octopus tilted
over, making a screech. Felix made the opportunity to run upwards and
eventually reach the mouth.
Felix called to both Hazel and
Forrest from different directions, “Hazel, now shoot the tentacles! Forrest,
aim at the head in three, two…!”
“Aye aye, mister Felix!”
“Gotcha, Wolfram!” Hazel followed
along.
Felix grabbed onto one of the sharp
canine tooth which was the size of his body. He jumped into the mouth and the
octopus felt clever by closing its mouth on him. Upon doing so, his mouth was
splattered in blood and the octopus shrieked. At the same time, Forrest shot
the octopus on the eye and Hazel constantly struck the eyes of the tentacles
with her volley skill.
Felix was in the octopus’ mouth, but
his crescent blade was placed vertically from the tongue to the gums. The
octopus was finally fainting with several parts being severed, its giant body
collapsing onto the remains of the Mirror Lands. Yet again, debris flew all
over, the shape of a mushroom you would see after an explosion. The nearest
homes of the Taujiko tribes were destroyed as a result, but the rest of the
village was protected by soldiers from the three armies along with the support
of the Avians.
There was silence all throughout the
field and the battleships. Forrest laughed with joy and Hazel gave a sigh of
relief.
What's Worse than the Worst?
“Amazing!!!” Gunther accidentally
shouted in the microphone. Everyone nearby covered their ears. “Woops, hehe.”
More monsters began to appear from
underwater this time.
“The heroes have struck the biggest
monster in this war. We shall return the favor and take care of the rest! I
suggest that you look for the source of these monsters.”
Felix jumped out of the octopus’
mouth, realizing it resembled a lot of Igor. “I’m sorry…”
Hazel patted his back. “Do not
worry. You did not kill the professor. This is simply a clone.”
“Then… where is the professor?”
“He’s still out there somewhere.
He’s possibly at the source of monsters if they keep spawning the fastest out
of every other tower.” [End music]
“Hazel!” Gunther said from the
microphone. “I got a message from the other towers. Lieutenant Floir is
currently finishing up with the tower in the Aria River. Lieutenant Lionel is
just about concluding his cleanup at the Hollow Cavern.” [Music 38.1]
He began steering the ship down
towards the Mirror Lands to report to her about the rest of the mission quietly
so that Magnus would not be able to hear.
“They will be moving on to the
Vaticul Canyon, the Frolix Volcano, and the Zweiland Mountains to help speed up
the process.”
Hazel nodded. “That is good to hear.
We still have yet to find the last two towers.”
Felix held tightly onto his necklace
which no longer emitted Chemical energy. His control was completely dispelled
from Professor Igor in case Magnus wanted to try something sneaky again. In his
other hand was the box, the wedding ring that Mr. Wolfram wanted to give to
Felix’s mother.
“Dad… I have to figure this out on
my own…” In shock, Felix turned around. “Wait a minute, that’s right! The
Center of the World!”
“What is it, Felix? Is there
something new you would like to tell us?” Hazel turned to him.
“I know that one of the two missing
towers is coming from ‘the center of the world’. If it’s not here, then it’s
somewhere else. First, we need to find Lydia and Rina!”
Hazel sighed. “Lydia… I’m afraid
she…”
Felix shivered in dismay. “No… no,
she can’t be dead!” He recklessly ran towards the edge of the Mirror Lands.
“LYDIA!!!”
In doing so, a large submarine came
flying out of the waters and it crashed into Felix, causing him to fall onto
the floor.
Lydia opened the windows from the
pilot room. The two pilots were tied in ropes. It’s surprising that Clyde
decided to spare these people’s lives, but maybe he wanted them to suffer in
hunger or drown to death rather than having a quick, painless death.
“I drove pretty awesome, didn’t I?”
Lydia giggled.
The two pilots stared angrily at
her, disagreeing.
She suddenly became serious. “OH!
Rina!”
Felix followed her into the ship.
“Rina is in there?!”
As Gunther was about to carry
Warren, he heard in his walkie talkie, “Your majesty, a mysterious figure just
escaped past Taujiko! He had blondish hair and it was tied into a ponytail, but
we could not figure out who he was!”
Hazel grinned. “That sounds a lot
like Clyde D’Alonzo.”
“You know of this man?”
“He must have escaped this war and
decided to go back to the source.”
Gunther placed Warren behind his
back. “What a mess. Then I guess the tower should be in the direction past
Taujiko?”
“No. He is smarter than that.” Hazel
headed for the Crescent ship where Forrest was running out to hug her. “He is
running the opposite direction of the source. We will figure this out once
Felix returns. The Center of the World…”
“Hazel!! We did it! Hehe!”
Hazel tried to put a smile up for
Forrest. “That’s right!” They both hugged. “When this is all over, I’m treating
you out to ice cream.”
“Is that all I get for killing a
giant fish monster?!”
“Do you want zero rewards instead?”
“N-No… I like ice cream.”
“Good.” [End music]
~ Mirror Lands – submarine ~
Both Lydia and Felix rushed into the
dining room where Rina was. She was on the floor, motionless. [Music 51.2]
Lydia’s eyes widened. “Rina…?!
RINA!!!”
Felix fell to the ground,
heartbroken once more. “Not another…”
“Rina, please wake up!” She grabbed
onto Rina’s shoulders.
…
“Rrrrrr…”
“What…?”
“Rrrrr…! I’m a zombieeeeee!” Rina
sat up, toyishly moving her arms forward.
Lydia began pulling her own hair in
frustration. “Oh my gosh, RINA! Don’t play around like that!”
Felix rolled his eyes. “You were
better off dead,” he joked.
“Anyway, how are you feeling?” Lydia
felt Rina’s bandage.
“If you poke it like that, I won’t
feel any better.” She struggled. “To be honest, I’ve been feeling fine. Just
take me to some hospital already so I can sit back up and kick Clyde’s ass for
what he did to me.”
Felix’s stomach churned. “Clyde… did
this to you?”
“To be fair, he was being controlled
by chemical energy,” Rina reminded him. “Still, every time I see that bastard’s
face, it disgusts me.”
Felix chuckled. “Same Rina as ever…”
He became serious. “I agree with you. We need to stop Clyde, but we need to
take you to a hospital!”
Lydia turned to him, “In order to do
that, you might want to come over here and help me get her up.”
“O-Oh right! Sorry.”
The two of them began carrying Rina
behind them. Rina watched the two of them from behind as she placed her head in
between their shoulders. She closed her eyes and smiled, resting and thinking
about the irony. In the beginning, it was Rina who constantly protected Lydia
from others, and it was Rina who yelled at Felix for being pathetic and
annoying. Now, Rina was here, being saved by the two most important friends
whom she patronized all this time. [End music]
Always the Jealous Type
~ Lament – southernmost port – rocky roads ~
Hazel tried to push Warren into the
main lobby of the Crescent airship. Leo and Viola were both resting peacefully
on a nearby couch, both being awake and aware that the war has calmed down a
little. The rest of the monsters were being taken care of by the soldiers and
Avians. Gunther continued to read the manual in the piloting room while Forrest
sat on the floor in front of him, asking several childish questions about his
life. [Music 5.1]
Hazel wiped her forehead. “It would
have been nice of you to help me carry this man, Leo.”
“Hey! I barely have enough energy to
lift myself up.”
“All that’s left is to head for the
submarine and find the other three rotten teenagers,” she jokefully insulted
them. “Can anybody stand?” She turned to Leo and Viola.
Leo gasped at the sight of Lydia
running towards the Crescent airship while she left Felix with the heavy job. He
fell, causing Rina to roll over.
“Damn it, Suspenders!” Rina shouted.
Lydia turned around to shriek at
first, but she giggled due to their minor mishap.
“Oops! I’m sorry. I must have gotten
carried away,” she said happily. “Come on Rina, one… two… three!” Lydia fell
instead of picking her best friend up. “You’re heavier than I thought…”
“Well thanks for leaving me with the
full weight,” Felix complained.
As the three teenagers arrived at
the front hatch of the airship, Lydia helped Rina sit by the opening.
“Are your wounds bad?” Hazel asked
kindly.
“If you consider literally getting
stabbed in the back, I guess so.”
Hazel suddenly felt much more
concerned than she had expected. “Let me see them!”
“I-It’s fine. When Clyde pulled the
sword out and ran off, I used the little bit of magic I had in me in order to
preserve the pain and restore very slowly, but like I said to Lydia and
Suspenders here, I might need to go to the hospital still. None of your basic
healing magic can help this woman.” She pointed at herself.
Forrest was on the floor, playing
with his cubed bazooka. “If only Jess had magic…” he said out loud.
The group became quiet.
Rina limped towards him. “If Jess
had magic, it’d be the end of the world!” She joked. “Not just anyone can use
magic.”
Forrest began to smile. “Hehe, maybe
you’re right. Not everyone is good with magic like you, Rina.”
“Ew, don’t you dare compliment me
again.” She pouted while looking away.
Leo yawned. “Ah, no matter how many
times you tell that girl not to rush off and make herself vulnerable, she does
it anyway.”
Lydia nodded. “Yep! I gave up trying
to stop her, but at this point, I have learned to trust her. She made it this
far and she was smart enough to save herself from a stab wound.”
“That’s great and all, but is this
ship working? I need to find a place to rest! Something comfy!”
Viola sat upward. “I suggest the
Village of Saradeli. Their infirmary is quite nice and cozy. Lady Pria may be
good at replenishment.”
“You finally suggested something useful,”
Warren joked with her.
“That’s because I’m also in need of
a hospital.”
“It’s like her to suggest something
when it has to do with her,” Lydia sighed, scratching her head in second-hand
embarrassment.
Felix began entering the pilot room
where Gunther and Warren were. [End music]
“Not so fast,” a voice said from
outside.
“This war never ends!” Forrest
cried.
Professor Talbot appeared, fixing
his glasses. The lens were hard to see from their point of view. He awkwardly
cued music in some device in his pocket as if he were some villain ready to
make a surprise attack. It kind of sounded like a terrible mix of a vampire and
horror story put together.
A large, mutated mountain lion
jumped above him but he stabbed it with the least possible amount of effort.
“I have a request,” he said. “I
remember pulling a switch from Garnett’s body. I would like to go back with you
all to see what kind of upgrades I can do for her.”
“And what were you doing throughout
the entire war of monsters?!”
“Very important business, thank
you!”
“Professor,
would you like some tea?” Mrs. Nora offered.
“Gladly!”
Rina stared at him with
a disbelief look on her face. “Riiiight…”
Lydia took a step forward.
“Professor, what would you want with Garnett?”
“In a sense,” he responded, “her
name is also Lydia. But that would make you Garnett, wouldn’t it? My head seems
to be hurting.”
Lydia frowned. “But I’m Lydia!”
Rina slapped her forehead. “Why does
she always have to kindly reveal her name to this loser?”
While their conversation continued,
Felix knelt down in front of his father in the piloting room.
“Sir Wolfram,” Warren said to Felix,
“Would you like some alone time with your beloved father?”
“No need. I’m good, thanks for
asking though.” [Music 8.2]
“He was a fine young man when he worked
with us in the Gammel government.”
Felix said nothing.
Gunther listened to them carefully.
Warren continued, “He was quite intimidating indeed. I used to believe he was
the lieutenant of the lieutenants!”
“I would hope so. He was strict but
very loving, at least from what I remember,” Felix chuckled. “He only trusted
the D’Alonzo family when it came to me making new friends around the village.
He was overly protective, but he did it out of love. I was surprised how much
nicer he was when I finally saw him back in Bafuul. It blew my mind when he was
the one who wanted me to explore the world and save Lydia from imprisonment.”
He held on tightly to the wedding ring.
“Sir Wolfram…”
“It just sucks that all these years,
I thought he left to be a selfish, rich man. When I found out about his plans
back in Bafuul, all I could ever think about was for him to come home so we
could have a normal family. I could have a mother and a father at the same
time. They could have a son grow up before their eyes, but it wasn’t like that
at all. When I finally got the hope of being a normal family after all this is
over, it suddenly… It can’t happen anymore. I always think back to how I was
and regret that I was some whiny kid who hated his father. How typical, don’t
you think?”
“It is common, but as a matter of
growing into a man,” Warren said to him.
Felix placed the box with the
wedding ring into his pocket. “Warren, you’re a grown man, right?”
Gunther raised his hand. “I am too.”
Warren gave him a very frightful glare.
Felix turned to Warren, “Do you
think it’s okay that I don’t give this wedding ring to my mom? My dad was going
to propose to her after this feud with Magnus, but…”
“Sir Wolfram! Is that really a good
idea?”
“I don’t know… It’s really going to
break her heart if she knew about this wedding ring.”
“I understand how you feel. However,
I believe it would be a better idea to show her the truth. Your dad would want
the same.”
Felix shrugged. “How do you know he
would want to give her the ring even after what happened to him?”
“Why else did he entrust the ring to
you?”
Felix gasped. “Oh…”
From across the door, Lydia was
listening to the entire conversation. She had a frown on her face, unknown to
the fact that Felix’s father passed away during this war while she was thrown
out of the battleship.
“Snooping again?” Viola said out of
nowhere.
Lydia was astonished. Her head
banged against the wall beside her. “V-Viola! Don’t scare me like that!”
“You know, Felix needs his privacy
sometimes too. He doesn’t need a girlfriend to be sneaking around his life all
the time,” she winked.
Lydia blushed. “G-G-G-Girlfriend?!
Where are you getting at?! Viola, I can’t believe you!”
“I never said you were going to be his
girlfriend.”
“What? That’s so mean to say too!”
“Wait, so you want to be his
girlfriend?”
“No! I mean, well… Viola, you should
be resting until we get to the village. Aren’t your legs still injured?”
Viola looked at her legs. “Oh right,
I almost forgot. It does hurt now that you mention it. Very well then. I will
return to my room and let everyone know that you’re the reason why the pain has
returned.”
As she walked away, Lydia sighed.
“Eheh…” She turned to the doorway. “Girlfriend... I-Impossible, hehe.” [End music]
[Ending 5 music]
~~~
The Battle of Lament has finally ended! However, one last issue has risen to the protagonists' attention. Magnus has created a barrier with seven towers across the world in order to absorb energy, but for what reason? The group takes on this challenge to first discover the towers and stop the monsters from reproducing. We'll see what happens next time on The Obsidian Tale!
~~~
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