The Obsidian Tale
~ Village of Saradeli – western district – inn lobby ~
Ekaja placed a finger on her lips to
indicate that he should be a little quieter. [Music 30.2]
Lydia gave a sigh. “She’s doing just
fine. With the help of our healing abilities learned from Taujiko, we were able
to suppress any critical wounds in her body. It’s amazing that she was smart
enough to shift her pain with the help of magic elements.” Lydia looked into
his eyes. “By the way, how is the um…”
“My dad’s grave? The guys and I finished
building most of the memorial. Clyde’s parents said they would need a few days
to finish patching the entire place up, especially by making a statue for him. And,
Leo should be around town to pass out flyers to welcome them to the memorial
several days from now.”
“I see. It’s important that they
make the statue dedicated to your father. People should be aware of the person
who donated a lot of funds for the village.” She turned back to Rina, “I should
stay and look after her though. It’s a miracle that she survived such an attack.”
Hazel was sitting on a couch within
the lobby. She never looked as calm before.
“She survived because of your vow,
Felix.”
“Huh?”
“Back then…”
“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.”
Felix faced the ground, almost
forgetting what he tried to promise. “No more people will die…”
“You’re not going to give that vow
up already, are you?”
Felix took out the box with the
wedding ring. “I won’t give it up.” Staring at the box, he then said, “Mom is
outside with the D’Alonzo’s, right?”
“Last time I checked, she went to
the marketplace where the D’Alonzo’s are. They’re almost done renovating the
place.”
“Alright.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
Lydia kindly asked.
“That would be nice, but I have to
tell her something really important alone.”
“I see. I understand,” she said with
a smile. She knew what he meant.
Meanwhile in the nearby rooms,
Viola, Warren, and Forrest were chitter chattering with Professor Talbot. He
had a toolbox in his hands, looking at Garnett who lied on the bed, perfectly
still.
Forrest sat on a wooden chair to get
the clearest view. “So she’s a robot, and she’s de-act-i-vat…ed?”
“That’s the word,” Viola said. “I’m
amazed that you had to stab her in the back while she was stuck in the rubble
in order to shut her off.”
“It was only for the better. She was
getting out of control due to the existence of Lydia,” the professor claimed.
“She no longer serves any purpose in this battle against Magnus.”
“Why do you say that?” Warren asked
him.
“Several years ago while working
under Magnus, I tried to create clones but several of them died before long,
except for Garnett. She escaped, and I had assumed she died with the rest of
them. But… here she is.”
Forrest slowly poked her cheeks.
“How is she a clone and a robot at the same time?”
“I created a machinery that is only this small,” he put his hands nearly
together of about one foot. “Then, I created a tank much larger than a bath
tub, and estimated the fabricated Obsidian energy within Lydia and reallocated
the antecedent sources into Garnett’s machinery.”
“Oh, I get it,” Forrest lied.
“It’s amazing how much Obsidian
essence can be recalled from the original body,” Viola stated. “Her skin, her
hair…”
“All it takes is a manipulative
DNA.”
“What’s D-N-A??”
“Deoxyribonucleic acid. It is an
important source from within the body that tells each person apart from one
another.”
“Does that mean I am a
deoxyribo-whatever?”
“N-No, I mean yes. Well, not
exactly,” Talbot became confused at the idea. “The point is, I’m going to need
some time to reinstall a different format from within the vital heart of the
machinery.”
“Alright, doc,” Viola joked. “We
shall leave you at that.” [End music]
The central district, mostly known
for the marketplace, had been about 95% renovated. The D’Alonzo parents were
just about finished with the last few buildings. Instead of wooden stands,
there were banners and storefronts everywhere. A bunch of tenants from all over
the world joined together to form a multi-cultural place of harmony. There were
sales coming from those who were loving Taujikans and a rare amount of Avians
who were temporary merchants that were allowed to sell their special goods only
found in Lament. There were some people from the Winstel continent as well. [Music 20.3]
When Cloning Does Wonders
Knock
knock! the group heard from nearby.
“You have a visitor,” Hazel said.
“It is Felisse.”
“Felisse?!” Warren gasped. [Music 14.2]
“Who’s that????” Forrest became even
more confused.
“I am utterly surprised that you let
her in.”
Hazel looked away. “I… was surprised
too?”
Hazel
opened the door as she said, “How may I help y- Oh. It’s you.”
“May
I speak to Warren Oxner?”
“I
dislike you.”
“And
what reason may that be?”
“You
tried to kill us at the Checkpoint.”
“I
did not try to ‘kill’ you. I simply tried to stop you because you were breaking
the law.”
“And
you failed at doing your job. You had one job, Felisse! How dare you! This
makes me want to fall into despair and shed several tears at your fai-“
“Hazel,
come on,” Felix said with concern. “I think you’re scaring her.”
“Even
the young man there is saner than you are,” Felisse said angrily.
Hazel
scoffed at her, but she moved out of the way.
Back at the present
time, Hazel shrugged. “Well, you don’t need to know how it went. She’s in the
lobby.”
Warren scratched his head. “Uh,
right. Thank you.”
As the two of them were left at the
lobby to talk, Hazel and Felix exited the inn for some fresh air. Forrest did
the same, mostly because his three friends were waiting for him so that they
could play a few childish tricks on the villagers.
“Stay within the village,” Hazel
said with a threatening tone. The children were frightened, but they ran off.
Only Bailey gave a bow before leaving.
“Now,” Hazel turned to Felix,
“before you pay a visit to your mother, I want to talk to you about something
important.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Since you are no longer in
possession of Magnus, I want to know what you know about this ‘center of the
world’ thing that you muttered near Lament.”
“Oh yeah, about that! The thing is,
Magnus never said where it is exactly. He never showed me on a map, but he did
mention that it was surrounded by lots of water, and a few rocks…”
Hazel placed her hand on her chin.
“That is peculiar… The description sounds a lot like the Mirror Lands, but Rina
said on the way to this village that she couldn’t find anything underwater.
Even Lydia didn’t notice anything.”
“I thought that was strange too. I
assumed it would be there, but…”
“Could it be that Magnus gave you
false information, knowing that you would turn against him?”
“I don’t know. He would have killed
me sooner if he knew that, right?”
“That is true. No matter. You should
go to your mother. I’ll figure this out.”
Felix smiled. “Alright.”
“And Felix,”
“Huh?”
“Thank you for being a great role
model towards those important to you.”
Felix blushed. “What’s this all of
the sudden?!”
“Since you saved me from falling
into a whirlpool, and then you cut the rope with Magnus, it made me think of
how much passion you have for other people besides yourself. You clearly put
others in front of you. I don’t think I’ve met someone that caring before.”
“Eheh, I would have never expected
this coming from you.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m still
keeping my eye on you and everybody else.”
“I gotcha,” Felix played along.
“Now go!” [End music]
~ Village of Saradeli – central district ~
“Ah, Felix! There you are!” Mrs.
D’Alonzo yelled from across the central pathway. She ran up to him with butch
arms, ready to hug him as tightly as she could.
In doing so, Mr. D’Alonzo gasped.
“Whoa! You’ve never hugged me that hard before!”
“That’s because he is my little
son’s best friend.” She gave a quick frown. “I see Clyde isn’t back yet.”
“I’m sorry… He just never shows up
around me.”
Mrs. D’Alonzo turned to her husband,
“I say we should start looking for
him. I’m feeling a little irresponsible as a parent at this point.”
Felix shook his head. “No, no!
You’re not. You two fixed the entire village.” He didn’t want the same thing to
happen like with Mr. Wolfram. Felix then turned to the large wall that covered
the cavern towards Kyrie. “But wait, was that wall there before?”
“Kind of,” Mr. D’Alonzo said. “The
giant bear is still ravaging. The walls are a bit cracked, but don’t worry.
Some of our tenants used to work with the Gammel army, so they know how to
defend themselves.”
Mrs. D’Alonzo clapped her hands.
“Speaking of which, did you know that a few days after you left to Vector, we
were given a large donation from the Gammel government? It seems your dad
finally succeeded in his referendum!”
Felix became silent.
Mr. D’Alonzo froze. “Don’t tell me
he…”
Felix looked away in shame.
Mrs. D’Alonzo gave him a softer hug.
“Oh dear, I am very sorry…”
“It’s okay,” Felix tried to give a
smile. “At least he did what he always wanted to do. Besides, the Gammel
government isn’t really bad. I think Magnus was the only one who agreed to keep
their conspiracies. Now that he has his own army, the Gammel government itself
put my dad as one of their top leaders.”
“Siding with the Gammel government,”
Mr. D’Alonzo said, “Who would have thought?”
“So, does your mother know?” Mrs.
D’Alonzo asked Felix.
“Not yet. I’m still looking for
her-“
“Felix, honey!!” Mrs. Wolfram called
from afar. She was waving at him while giving the hugest smile. Of course, it’s
because he survived throughout his journey even after the mutated beasts began
appearing from all over the world.
The D’Alonzo parents patted him on
the shoulders.
“You’ll do alright, kid,” Mr.
D’Alonzo said.
Mrs. D’Alonzo turned to him, “As for
us, let’s find Lady Pria. I think she took the only walkie-talkie thing that
the village has.”
Her husband sighed. “She’s always
gossiping with Gunther, the leader of the Winstel government. We should talk to
him about finding Clyde.”
Mrs. D’Alonzo watched Felix talking
to his mom. His mother began breaking down after she saw Felix holding onto the
box with the wedding ring. She collapsed onto her knees, covering her mouth,
and then her entire face.
“Man… It looks like Mr. Wolfram was
going to propose to her when he was coming back,” Mrs. D’Alonzo said quietly. [End music]
~ Village of Saradeli – western district – inn lobby ~
“What did you say?!” Hazel punched
the wall beside her nearby Warren and Felisse. “The vicinity of Shiu Jo
contains one of the seven towers?!” [Music 34.5]
“I apologize, but this is none of
your concern. I must only speak to Warren about this issue.”
“This is my concern. That’s where I was born, you wretched woman!”
“Can you three keep it down?”
Professor Talbot appeared from Garnett’s bedroom. “I am trying to focus on my
machine.”
Hazel turned to him. “This woman here speaks about the tower
located near Shiu Jo.”
“Hey, why did you put emphasis on
‘woman’?”
Ignoring her, Talbot said to Hazel,
“That must explain why nobody can locate it. Shiu Jo is a far-off continent
from any other.”
Hazel grinned. “That’s true… Pria
was born there as well, so it’s no surprise that this seventh magic that Rina
learned is originally located there.”
Felisse shrugged. “What the hell are
you blabbering about?”
Hazel explained the situation. “Each
of the seven towers correspond to Rina’s elemental magic: fire, earth, wind,
water, lightning, ice, and Pria’s special magic enhancer. The only towers we
have not cleared are lightning and the special magic. Knowing Pria was born
from Shiu Jo, of course her special magic matches with the tower of her
birthplace. As for the lightning tower… it’s in the ‘center of the world’.”
A transmission occurred with Hazel’s
walkie-talkie. “Bzzt! General Gunther Redlin here. We have completed over 90%
of the eradication process for almost every tower besides two of them.
Lieutenants Floir and Lionel are on their way to search for the rest.”
Talbot checked the meter for the
tower process on his machine that he used above Lament’s castle.
“We suspect that the two of them
will be looking for the last two towers.”
“Unacceptable,” Hazel said. “It is
far too dangerous because not a single person has helped deplete the numbers
since the beginning of the towers’ creations, therefore they will need
world-wide support.”
“This is strange,” Talbot said. “It
appears that one of the silhouettes that we’ve seen previously is now going up
the hierarchy by a landslide.”
Hazel gasped. She checked the screen
and noticed that there was still Magnus, who was clearly at the top, and the
next two silhouettes of Clyde and Professor Igor remained. The octopus monster
was gone, but in that same location of the hierarchy, there was a shadowy
silhouette that had short hair.
Gunther spoke again, “I have not heard
word from either of them lately.”
Hazel squinted her eyes. “That is
quite the suspicious lot.”
Warren jumped. “You do not suppose
of the lieutenants?!”
“I’m sorry, Warren, but…”
Talbot interrupted her.
“Preposterous! I have known both the lieutenants for quite some time. They
cannot be the ones.”
Felisse shook her head. “I agree.
They were not the kind to fool others. Also, I must add that Shiu Jo is far too
dangerous. Warren, I advise you to stay away from there. The lieutenants can
handle the rest.”
Warren clenched his fists. “I cannot
allow that! The world is at stake here. If we do not do something, Rhadessia’s
energy will wither.”
Hazel agreed with him. “Right. We
must head there at once. You may have a lot of trust in the lieutenants, but
with Magnus being able to control others, they can surprisingly be betraying us
at the moment even if they do not wish to.” She checked the silhouette again.
“It is somebody who is currently located at Shiu Jo, correct?”
Talbot shrugged. “I have not updated
the location for a few hours because I needed to replace the circuits into
Garnett. The location of this silhouette is said to be in Shiu Jo, but that was
hours ago.”
Gunther gave another call. “We have
just been given news of Floir’s location. She mentioned that she is in Shiu Jo
with Lionel, and that they will handle the rest of the tower there.”
Felisse became worried. “What?!
That’s a clear suspicion!”
Hazel suddenly turned around. “I
know you are there, Viola.”
Viola appeared by the doorway. “Oh…
you got me. That’s no fun at all.”
Talbot raised an eyebrow. “Have you
been eavesdropping?”
“Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t.”
Hazel said quietly, “Being
controlled by Magnus involves having a weak heart… Hm…” She then said to the
Gammel group, “The four of you must know each other well. Tell me, what’s Floir
and Lionel like?”
Viola had her hands on her elbows,
smiling calmly. “Why is it that you ask?”
“I just need to know.”
Gunther suddenly interrupted them
with another message. “Hazel, would it be fine if I request that you and your
group drop by Shiu Jo to vis-“
Hazel pressed the ‘on’ button to
reply. “I know that already, so be quiet, Gunther! We are having an important
conversation here.” The group could hear a bunch of civilians gasping in
Gunther’s background for speaking that way to the Winstel king. She turned to
Viola, “Go on.”
Viola giggled. “Well, I don’t know
much about Lionel, but here is what I know about Floir. Listen very closely,
because this is important. Floir was always so stern about herself and others
around her.”
She looked so serious, and the group
began turning their focus to her. They finally got to know the true Floir, the
personality that hides behind being a strong lieutenant of an army.
“She just…” Viola said slowly, and
then she went on, “She just abused her potential boyfriends all the time in the
past.” [Music 4.2]
“What…?” Warren and Hazel said at
the same time.
“It is true. Floir used to force me
to go into the same restaurant. She wanted me to sneak somewhere and give her
pointers while they were on their dates.”
“Ouch!”
A man said, sitting on the other end of the table from Floir at a local
restaurant in Lake City Prima. “I accidentally cut my finger. Excuse me for a
moment, I must wash this off in the restroom.”
“Sit
down!” Floir ordered. “A mere blood should not wither a man’s heart from rest!
Just wipe it on this napkin,” she handed it to him.
“B-But
leaving a cut wiped against a napkin would be more bacterial than washing the
cut.”
“A
man must withstand such ‘bacteria’! Sit the hell down!” She stood up. “You know
what? Why don’t I just wash it off for you?” She grabbed the napkin.
“N-No!
Stay away! I’m good!”
Viola sighed. “It is
horrible, indeed.” She frowned while talking to the group.
Hazel grinned. “Erm, let’s go back
to the first step. How does she talk to people in general? Maybe that can give us a better idea of her personality.”
“Hm… Oh! Floir didn’t excel much in
comforting people. It was as if that was her… weak point.”
“A weak point! This is the kind of
thing we need to hear,” Hazel snapped her fingers.
“Yeah, and let me tell you, it’s not
pretty.”
“As
a guard,” a certain man said to Floir, “it really is frightening having to
fight people who cross the borders. Sometimes they bleed, and it just scares
me. I don’t intend to kill, you know?”
“Pish
posh! I have slain many of my foes and it does not strike me one bit!”
“Y-You
did what?!”
“You
heard me. You should get used to killing people!”
“In
what way?!” He took several steps back.
Hazel gritted her
teeth. “Viola, that’s enough. I think we should figure this out on our own.” [End music]
Felisse stood next to Warren.
“Sadly, the only lieutenant that I took shifts with was Warren. I do not know
much about Lieutenant Floir nor Lionel.”
Warren took a step out of the inn.
“Shall we head on over to Shiu Jo and check the small town?”
Hazel agreed. “Yes, but we need to
alert the rest of the group.”
Lydia stood by Rina’s room. “I
should stay here and look after Rina. I’ll have a talk with Mrs. Wolfram and my
mother if they can find Forrest and his friends. I feel that this next mission
might be dangerous, just as much as the one below Lament…”
“Okay, then the five of us shall
head on to Shiu Jo. Felix and Leo might be around the center of the village,”
Hazel claimed. “I would consider only Leo to come along, but Felix has shown us
that he is dependable.”
“No need,” Mrs. Wolfram appeared
behind Warren with Felix.
Hazel did not say a word, knowing
that Mrs. Wolfram already received the news from Felix.
“I’m coming with you,” Felix
suggested. [Music 1.4]
Mrs. Wolfram was astonished. “Hold
on a minute. Felix, may I ask you to stay?”
“What? But mom, this is important!”
“Let the adults handle this one,”
Mrs. Wolfram shook her head in disagreement.
“You always let me go before, and
all the sudden you won’t let me?”
“Please, understand…” She was facing
the ground in disappointment.
Felix watched as Mrs. Wolfram was
clenching onto the wedding ring. “Mother… I really need to go and stop this
mess that Magnus is making. I’ve made it out alive every time before, and I
promise that I will make it through this one.”
Hazel chuckled. “If you’re really
worried about Felix, then allow me to protect him in need. He’s going to need
it.” She patted him on the shoulder.
“Hey!”
The group began to giggle, even Mrs.
Wolfram.
“If Hazel is with you, then you must
be safe,” Mrs. Wolfram concluded. “Listen, honey, I do not want to lose another
family member, you hear?”
Felix placed his head onto his
mother’s forehead. “I promise.” He turned to Lydia, and she only nodded, giving
him the ‘OK’ to leave for Shiu Jo.
Silent Tenacity
~ Village of Saradeli – southeast district – docks ~
Remember the docks from very early
on the journey before Felix left the village? It is now their official docking
spot for the Crescent airship. Felix, Hazel, Warren, and Viola made their way
to the airship with Talbot and Felisse. As they headed to the airship, they
spotted both Leo and Lady Pria.
“I have warned you all already: it
is quite dangerous at Shiu Jo. The townspeople have locked themselves up in
hopes that the monsters don’t start ravaging,” Felisse said to them.
Leo waved to them. “Hey! What are
you all doing here?”
Hazel ignored Felisse as she went
over to Leo and Pria, “We are heading to Shiu Jo. After our business is done,
we should find the very last tower and rid of Magnus once and for all.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Lady Pria
said.
“And what were you two doing here?”
Viola asked.
Leo blushed. “Nothing at all! Pria
was just telling me all about her past journey.” He suddenly made a hiccup.
“And you’ve been drinking again,”
Warren sighed.
Felisse became furious. “Are we
really going with this kind of group? I do not believe it will work out.”
Talbot was holding onto a
half-finished device. “We should be going immediately. While you make your way
to Shiu Jo, I will continue to fix this radar with a new machine. Garnett will
have to wait.”
“Alright then,” Felix said. “Now we
head to Shiu Jo!” [End music]
As the group walked into the
airship, Hazel glanced over at Viola. “Do you feel that the culprit is one of
us?”
Viola raised an eyebrow. “Are you
accusing that I may be the one?~” She said bluntly.
Hazel continued to walk. “I trusted
you… But, on matters like these, I have to recall that trust.”
Viola walked past her. “Then you
better watch out,” she giggled.
Hazel gave a shocking expression.
“Hum, that cannot be the case. Viola has been with us for far too long.”
[Ending 5 music]
~~~
Professor Talbot has discovered that the final tower, which is far from the rest of them, resides in Shiu Jo. This small town is located on the bottom left corner of the original world map, seen as the final unexplored land and Hazel's hometown. The bigger question is, who is this silhouetted figure that the group is after? Looks like we might know the answer on the next episode. Stay tuned to find out!
~~~
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