The Obsidian Tale
~ Soma Springs – tower’s core ~
Hazel scoffed at her. “I knew it was
strange for you to randomly appear at the Village of Saradeli.”
“I wanted to take Warren away from
you all, because I knew you would all suffer in this tower. I wanted to protect
Warren, but everybody became persistent!”
Talbot slapped the machine that he
had in his pocket. “So the silhouette… was Felisse all along.”
“But where’s the long hair?” Leo
questioned.
Felisse removed a pin from her
‘short’ hair and it relaxed behind her back, all the way to her elbows.
“We’ve been fooled?!” Lionel
shouted. “She should have been fired a long time ago!”
Talbot clenched his teeth. “Oh I’ll
show her ‘fire’ alright.” He wanted to use his fire magic knives but Felisse
had the gun pointing at them.
Felisse’s left hand was shaking with
the pistol. “Magnus promised a promotion. I no longer had to serve at the
Checkpoint if I was able to stop you all.”
Hazel disagreed. “Such a leader
makes no promises like that. He is only using you.”
“Why do you think that?!” Felisse
hysterically asked.
“He wants to use those who have the
weakest hearts. They are the easiest to manipulate.”
Felisse lashed out as she pulled the
trigger. Hazel quickly jumped away and the gunshot struck the steel bars right
in front of Felix. Felix made a yelp as he fell backwards onto Lionel.
“Hey, get the hell off of me you
dirty apple tosser!”
“Bzzt. Hazel, do you hear me? Hazel!”
Gunther spoke from the walkie-talkie.
Felisse paused for a moment. “Oh?”
“Something dangerous is happening at
the vill-“
Felisse shot the walkie-talkie and
it splattered all over the ground. Hazel then turned to Warren, “Ergh… Warren,
come on.”
“He’s with me now!” Felisse smiled.
“Magnus promised that if I fulfilled my duty, I can finally fall in love
again.” Her shortsword emitted poison, just like when they first saw her
catalyzed weapon back at the Checkpoint before Vector. “Ever since this poison
showed up, all the men avoided me except for Warren.”
Felix began shaking the bars. “Let
us out! Something is going on in the village! We need to get back there as soon
as possible.”
“Why did you submit yourself,
Warren? Why?!” Hazel asked him.
Warren closed his eyes. “Sometimes,
you just figure that… things have become impossible. Monsters are emitting out
of this ‘central’ tower that no one knows the place of which we speak. This
world is already doomed.”
Felix interrupted him, “Remember the
things Forrest told you? Doesn’t he give you hope?”
Warren gasped. [Music 14.1]
“Forrest knows that he shouldn’t
give up until he is forced to die. No one should choose their deaths like this,
Warren. There is still a chance to stop Magnus as long as we are alive.”
“Do you not see the big picture?!”
Warren stood up with the ropes still tied around his hands. “Look around us,
young sire. We are trapped in a tower filled with enemies, and now… the village
is in danger. We have been in different situations that were just as bad, and
we already lost lives trying to fix it!”
Felix thought about Faris, Jess, and
his own father altogether. He did not speak back.
Lady Pria pushed everyone aside.
“Step away. Nobody messes with my shrine!!!!” She exploded the steel bars with
raging flames. It only takes sheer anger and stress to destroy an impossible
set of bars.
“We may have lost lives,” Felix
said, “but they lost their lives fighting. If we give up now, then their deaths
will go to waste! Jess’ death will go to waste, and that would make Forrest
really angry! Do you want all of us to die this easily? Do you want Forrest to
die an angry man?! Is that how you feel?!”
Warren’s eyes opened widely. He
turned to Hazel who didn’t say another word as she agreed with Felix.
Warren then looked at Felisse’s
face. “Felisse…”
Felisse was facing him with a smile.
“Warren, honey…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
Warren elbowed the soldier to his
left and then he kicked the other soldier to the right. Felisse pointed the
pistol at him.
“Do not move!”
Warren stopped as the soldiers were
struggling to get back up. “You would not dare, young miss,” he said to her.
“We both worked together for several years, and I have felt a bond with you. I
know you feel the same way.”
“Just kill the dang woman already,” Lionel
suggested.
Felix covered Lionel’s mouth. “No.”
“Y-You’re not going to try and
persuade me, are you?” Felisse asked.
“Please, Felisse. You have to listen
to me. Magnus is a terrible man. He may have his reasons, but there is no
reason to strike pain on those who are innocent all around the world.”
“If you think I’m with the wrong
side, then just kill me! Just do it!”
Warren looked into her eyes, and
deep down, he could see her frowning and begging to him, “Kill me before I kill others. End my control now or else it will be too
late!”
She slowly pointed her pistol at
him.
“The Felisse that I know… would
never go against the man that she loves, and vice versa.”
With distraction, Hazel managed to
shoot a few arrows into the water stream to distract Felisse. Felisse turned
around and Warren grabbed her, hugging her tightly. In doing so, her hands lost
grip as she dropped both her weapons. Felisse began to cry.
“Save me…” She said slowly. “I don’t
want to do this anymore.”
“You shall not kill nor die,
Felisse! I still want to tell you that I… I
love you, the you who is not in
control by Magnus. The you who would
give a smile but pretend to hate it when I make jokes with you. The you who would never point a gun to my
face. Felisse… Nobody else dies, from
here on out.”
Viola softly elbowed Felix,
indicating that Warren took Felix’s promise that nobody else should fall victim
under Magnus’ little game.
Tears ran down Felisse’s eyes, and
she softly gripped onto Warren’s shoulders which were way up above her.
“Warren…!”
The two of them began to cry
together in grief. Felisse’s heart counteracted against Magnus’ control and
Warren was strong enough to persuade such a vile change of heart.
The soldiers were about to stand up,
but Hazel shot them down with a single strike to their legs. [End music]
Talbot tried poking at his machine
again. “Hey, the silhouette’s gone! All that’s left in the top hierarchy is
Magnus, Clyde, and I think Professor Igor who is slowly looking less human.”
Felix examined the machine. “And
Clyde… Something is off about his silhouette.”
“Dude,” Leo stopped him, “It is time
for Clyde to slowly start changing forms due to the chemical energy. We have to
find him pronto, or else he will never be the same.”
“It’s too late,” Hazel claimed. “If
he is forming, then-“
Felix disagreed. “Clyde has a heavy
heart! It will take a while for him to completely change. He will revert back
with my help, even if his form is already starting. I just know it. I know
Clyde more than anybody else! Please, we have to look for him!”
Hazel gave a sigh. “Fine. We shall
head to the village to see what is going on. Perhaps the people we are looking
for could be at the village. On the way back to the ship, we should be able to
reunite with Floir.”
“Right!” Felix agreed. “Everyone,
back to the Crescent ship!”
Forrest was trying to shoot at the
large bear from above a hilltop where Rina and Lydia first rested from the very
beginning of their journey. Bailey was completely powerless after she was set
free from her demonic trance. Spencer and Sydney tried to throw rocks at the
bear. This large bear had been ravaging within the cave ever since Rina set the
nearby trees on fire in Kyrie early on, but this time it was going too far.
Why? [Music 25.2]
Mrs. Wolfram and Ekaja were watching
the scene of the bear from their window. They could see the D’Alonzo parents
telling everybody to evacuate to the northern portion of the village.
A Broken Heart is Never Completely Shattered
~ Village of Saradeli – south district – path to Kyrie ~
The bear howled, but Forrest
continued to shoot with his bazooka. “I-I’m not scared this time! It’s not
going to stop me! Take this!” The bear took a step back in retaliation.
Bailey tugged onto his shoulder. “Forrest,
you must stop this at once. It will kill you!” she begged.
“No! As a hero, I have to protect
this village, just like how I’ve tried so hard to protect Kyrie!”
Spencer began to cry. “It’s useless!
The rocks aren’t working!”
Sydney purposely rolled off the
hill. “It’s time to run away, everyone!”
Spencer tried to grab onto Sydney to
stop her, but he fell along in the process. Bailey continued to tug onto
Forrest.
“You need to retreat with them!”
“Never! I’m not scared- WAH!” He ran
behind a tree as the bear ripped it to shreds.
Both Bailey and Forrest appeared
from the tree trunk and noticed that the claws were several inches deep into
the poor wood.
“Yeah, I think it’s time to run.”
Forrest grabbed Bailey’s wrist as they jumped down the hill together.
As they were rolling down, they
noticed that the bear was tilting, almost falling down the hill at the same
direction. Before it could, a large shadow began to cover the bear.
As soon as Forrest reached the
bottom, he took sight of a large, familiar airship passing over the bear.
“It’s the Crescent airship! What’s
it doing up there?!”
A second airship appeared. It had an
insignia similar to the Winstel model.
“Put your hands behind your back!”
Gunther said through a large microphone.
From the Crescent airship, Hazel
tapped her head in frustration. “That idiot! This is no time for games.” Hazel
peered out of the hatch as Warren continued to steer by the cockpit.
Surprisingly enough, Felisse picked up the controls real quickly after having to
read the manual on the way to the village.
Hazel jumped out with her bow as she
began shooting. Felix, Leo, and Viola came after her with their designated
weapons. Lady Pria was focusing her wind aura towards the main group to
suppress their damage in case they were struck by the bear. Lieutenants Floir
and Lionel were dropped off at Kyrie in order to trap the beast from the other
end in case it tried to run away. Meanwhile, Talbot continued to toy with his
radar.
“It seems this bear’s power is going
up rapidly.” The silhouette of the bear skyrocketed up the hierarchy and a
percentage appeared in front of it. “16%... 22%... 35%... The percentage
indicates how much the Obsidian chemical energy is consuming his control!”
Felisse gasped. “That bear was one of
the test subjects of Obsidian energy when it was just a little baby!”
Warren flew the ship around, hoping
that he could shoot lasers at it. “Now it’s getting out of control.”
Talbot was utterly disappointed. “I
am sorry, young beast…” He said to the bear. “I had no idea it would affect you
rapidly in this era.”
The ship was slightly clawed and
Felisse almost fell over. “Ergh! What is making the bear turn into a mutant
with quick speed?!”
“Wait a minute!” Talbot jumped.
“That must mean Kyrie’s…”
~ Village of Saradeli – western district – inn lobby ~
“Oh, this is terrible!” Mrs. Wolfram
said in fear.
Ekaja rushed out of the lobby. “I
must heal the wounded!” [Music 17.2]
“Wait, it is dangerous out there.
Ekaja!!” She was interrupted by a crashing noise from within Rina’s room. It
sounded as if a glass vase fell.
Mrs. Wolfram sped to the bedroom and
she saw Lydia crawling on the floor and Rina was slowly sitting upward on her
bed.
Rina coughed. “Lydia! Are you okay?”
she said really slowly and quietly.
Lydia was shaking, but she was still
able to crawl and speak. “Argh! AGH!! I’m fine. I’m fine…!”
Mrs. Wolfram knelt down to check if
she had any wounds. “What happened?!”
Rina tried to get out of her bed.
“It looks like Lydia is losing her energy real fast.”
“How is that so?!”
Rina turned to the giant bear seen
through the window. “That giant bear from before… it contains chemical energy
and it’s spreading in its body really fast. The more it appears near Lydia, the
more exhaustion she will have. I have to stop that bear.” She knelt down onto
floor, holding onto her stomach.
Mrs. Wolfram could see red colors
pouring across the white bandages. “Rina, you must rest as well. Lydia, your
friends will take care of this.” She turned to the doorway, looking at a rake
from the lobby room. “I should fight too, but I cannot leave you two out of my
sight.”
Rina shook her head. “I will watch
after her.”
“But-“
“It’s okay! I have enough energy to
help her if she needs it.”
Mrs. Wolfram sighed. “I will be really quick. I trust you, Rina.” She
left the bedroom to grab onto the rake.
Lydia was breathing heavily. She
tried to speak. “Why… why did you let her go and… fight a dangerous monster?”
Rina shrugged. “I’m not. Heh, ‘I
trust you’ she says. You should never trust someone like me.” She headed for
the doorway as well.
Lydia sat up against the drawers
nearby the bed. “Where… are you going?”
Sisterly Banter
“I know it looks like I’m ditching
you too, but I will take care of this faster than Mrs. Wolfram before she could
even get to that monster. Just you watch me, and count on me, Lydia. I
promise!” She was limping, but she could slightly run.
Lydia frowned. “Everyone is fighting
for me, and all I can do… is depend on them. I am useless, again,” she said
with stress. “I… I want to fight too!” She grabbed onto the top of the shelf.
“I need to fight back. I have to!” [End music]
~ Village of Saradeli – central district ~
Felix was knocked over by one of the
claws as it slashed against his crescent blade. [Music 15.2] Leo was backhanded by the
bear’s other hand. He could have easily died right then and there, but thanks
to Pria’s wind aura, his pain was slightly suppressed. Viola was still
standing. Hazel spoke to both Felix and Leo, “Do not be afraid to strike it! Our
relentless assault never failed before.”
Felix recovered from his fall.
“Alright. I’m not afraid this time!”
“That’s the spirit,” Leo said as he had
one fist within his other’s grip. “I’m going to beat up this mutant whether it
likes it or not!”
Hazel shot another arrow at its
legs. “Weaken it. Do not kill! We will have to somehow try and revert its
mutation.”
Viola yawned. “That may be difficult
if it is an animal. This mere bear would not understand our plea.”
The group of four began their
attacks again, but the bear stomped this time. All four of them fell over.
“Damn it!” Hazel said. “The wind
aura may have increased our defenses, but we can still lose our balance.” She
tried to aim for the other leg.
“There’s no need for that!” Rina was
slightly flying. Her wings were bigger this time, but not too much. She was
only about four feet above the ground as she began casting more wind aura on
the main group. The bear had no trouble walking down the hill due to its large
mass.
It reached the same ground level as
Rina, but that didn’t scare her. Rina used her ground magic to raise the floor
in front of the bear so it would trip. Then, she casted a fireball at it. “Did
you miss this?!” The fireball was followed by rocks and ice plastered together.
The bear growled as loud as
possible, and everyone had to cover their ears along with Rina. She lost her
grip as the pain in her stomach became sharp. Rina’s wings could not hold her
up as she fell to the ground.
“Rina!!” Felix shouted.
The bear gave another growl, but it
was shrieking.
Forrest was with his three friends
as they watched the beast yelling in a different tone. Forrest gasped. “Wait…”
The bear raised its claws into the
air. Rina was on her knees, watching as her life was about to end at that
moment.
“NO!!!” Felix called out.
Bailey was in front of both Sydney
and Spencer. She covered their eyes by holding tightly onto them.
“I can’t see!!” Sydney complained.
The bear suddenly dropped its claws
and moved them towards its own chest. [End music]
Hazel’s eyes widened. “I cannot
believe what I am seeing.” The two airships stopped and everybody else stood
still, watching in silence.
The bear had a moment of pause until
it stabbed itself in the heart with its long, sharp claws. [Music 23.1]
“What…” Rina said slowly. “Why…?”
The bear fell on its knees, then it
fell to the floor. Each of its eyes were as big as Rina’s head. They watched
her, and there were tears rolling down from each eye. The bear slowly began
moving its hands closer to Rina. Instead of trying to kill her, it hugged her,
and then it stopped moving.
Rina was shaking, confused and
frightened at what just happened. “Hey… Are you… still moving?”
There bear gave no answer.
“Come on, move! Do something!” Rina
was almost crying. “You were being controlled all these years, weren’t you? You
didn’t mean any harm right from the start! You need to move. You need to live on.”
She began bawling, being reminded of
Faris who sacrificed herself so that others would not be hurt. “Move, move.
MOVE! Damn it!” She had her fists against the bear’s head. “Why would you do
this to yourself…?”
Hazel said to the group, “That bear
knew. It knew not to hurt humans, but it was being controlled by Magnus.”
“Ah,” Leo said in a mellow tone this
time. “That explains why its chemical energy was rapidly increasing. Magnus
finally found use of this bear, and took advantage of it.”
They heard small crying noises after
the bear’s silence. Since the village was quiet again, they were able to hear
little yelps from far away, a sound from baby animals?
Gunther flew his ship down to the
top of the hill as he said to the group, “The lieutenants have notified us. They
said they found three baby cubs crawling outside the cavern south of here.”
Felix was shocked. “That bear was a
mother?!”
“And it was carrying young,” Viola
added.
Hazel said in a panic, “Wait a
minute! The bear must have had chemical energy in its body when she was little.
Those bears might be defected.”
Lady Pria floated out of the
Crescent airship like it was no big deal. The civilians would have found it
creepy, but anyway…
“I will see what I can do,” Pria
said. “If I cannot handle this type of healing, then you must bring your mother
from the Grandine Hillage.”
Hazel nodded. “Fine. Take the three
cubs to the inn!”
The D’Alonzo parents managed to
reach the central area where the entire scene was happening.
Mrs. D’Alonzo frowned. “We evacuated
everyone, but only a few houses were taken down. What a waste of time.” [End music]
Her husband began crying. “B-But, I
made that entire blockade of a wall!! The whole thing broke!”
“That’s your problem,” Mrs. D’Alonzo giggled.
Ekaja was nearby, healing small
elbow injuries for Spencer and Sydney who rolled off the hill. At the same
time, Mrs. Wolfram came with a rake but the battle was already over.
From nearby, Rina was still sitting
within the bear’s grip. She was looking at it with a grim expression. Felix and
Forrest’s groups stood by her. [Music 2.2]
“Hey…” Felix said as kindly as
possible. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she said bluntly. “It’s
clearly not your fault.”
“How are we going to bury this
thing?” Leo questioned.
Forrest said to them, “We’ll find a
way! We can bury it near the same place with Jess. She needs a warm cuddling
buddy anyway.”
“You are so cute,” Viola said. “Two
little dead beings, cuddling together.”
Bailey gasped. “Ma’am! Jess is a
wonderful friend. You should not speak to her that way.”
“My apologies,” Viola said
nonchalantly.
“How is Lydia doing?” Hazel asked
her.
Rina tried to joke. “Funny coming
from you. I’d expect it to come from Suspenders here.”
Everyone took this as a sign of her
trying to stay strong. To help her, they began to chuckle.
Felix blushed. “H-Hey! What’s that
supposed to mean?!”
“She was losing lots of energy as a
result of the bear, but by now, she should be feeling better.”
Lydia
really was feeling better. She made her way to the bed, sitting by the window
and watching the sky. The sounds quieted and were calm again, and she knew, she
was safe.
“You don’t have to
worry. We can go back to see her right now,” Rina said.
As the group began to move on, Mrs.
D’Alonzo pointed at her husband, “You. Clean this mess.”
“Why me?!” Mr. D’Alonzo complained.
Rina stopped this time. She turned
around, looking at the bear one more time. “I swear to you, I will avenge your
death, along with Faris’. I’ll make sure Magnus gets a good beating! I promise
you that!!” [End music]
Everyone became determined to
finally put an end to Magnus. They only needed one more tower, and that was to
be located at ‘the center of the world’. Just one last trial left…
[Ending 5 music]
~~~
With all the towers being taken care of, Magnus' last defenses are gone. All he is left is his final hiding spot, which the main group has yet to discover. In the meantime while Hazel and the other adults figure the location, the group decides to relax before the final battle. Oddly, their 'relaxation' turned out to be an evil con artist who created an alternate universe of their adventure. What is this about? Let's wait 'til next week!
~~~
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