The Obsidian Tale
~ Village of Saradeli – overview ~
Leo took the children around the
marketplace to see what was new, and they spotted the merchant girl with Zedd
and Tedd. It seems they finally agreed to pay a visit to the village even
though they never considered coming after claiming the village was dangerous
and poor for profit. They handed out low-priced tickets for a special
‘television’ viewing hosted in the village’s auditorium nearby the marketplace
to the east. Most of the abandoned houses there were replaced, but Felix
requested that his stayed.
Felix, Lydia, and Rina stood by the
abandoned house.
Typical Sassy Lydia
“Well, this is where it all began,”
Felix said.
“Yeah…” Lydia giggled. “It seems
like just yesterday, you two were constantly yelling at each other. I may have
lost the shards back then, but I still remember that.”
Rina pouted. “I’m still yelling at
Suspenders today, and I’m damn proud.”
“Great…” Felix chuckled. He suddenly
remembered something. “Hey, I’ll be back. Stay out here?”
“Whatever to keep you away,” Rina
joked.
As Felix entered the building, the
rotten apples were still on the ground from before his journey. It was
nostalgic, remembering Rina force-feeding Lydia a few apples while Clyde
continued to pass around the fruits. He remembered himself – fully innocent and
afraid of people from outside the village, even those like Rina. He felt like a
trickster in the village, but as soon as he left, he was being pushed around
instead. Now, it seemed much different for him. He was able to meet all sorts
of people.
He checked the walls on the corner
near the storage room. Felix, Clyde, and Rina’s names were written on the wall
with black marker. He remembered when Rina joked about being their friends, so
she playfully ruined their friendship wall by adding her name. In the end, it
made sense. She is a great friend, he considered.
Felix decided to grab a marker on
the table as he looked at the wall. “Now that I got to know you more…” He said,
“you deserved to be on this wall since the beginning.” He was about to put the
name below everyone else, but he decided to put it closest to his own name.
He stood up and smiled at the new
wall. “Much better. And Clyde, I promise you’ll come back with us and we all
get to see this wall together!” Walking away, the fourth name was plastered
right next to Felix on the left side.
“Lydia”.
Felix exited through the front door
and Rina had her hands on her hips. “Idiot, what took you so long?!”
“I was just looking around before we
make our way to the final tower.”
“Reminiscing as if this is the last
time you’re going to live? What kind of thought process is that?” Rina
complained.
Lydia laughed. “Rina, be nice.”
“So, should we go to the inn and see
if Hazel figured anything out?”
“That would be best. We need to
hurry and find that last tower before more monsters start appearing. I bet
Magnus is just waiting for us now, and at the same time, producing more mutants
at his disposal.”
“And the longer we wait, the worse
it will be. Let’s go!” Rina suggested. [End music]
~ Village of Saradeli – western district – inn lobby ~
Hazel threw the world map onto the
table. “Damn it!” she said angrily.
Warren, Viola, Gunther, Felisse,
Floir, and Lionel were standing around as a group with Hazel at the lobby.
Talbot was still in Garnett’s bedroom, fixing her up. Pria was in another
little bedroom for the three cubs. It seems the purification process of
chemical energy is a success. [Music 14.2]
“Where the hell is this ‘center of
the world’?” Hazel asked. “Felix said it was also surrounded by water.”
“I do not understand.” Felisse held
a copy of the world map, and so did the rest of them. “It would make sense that
it would fall perfectly around Lament.”
Felix’s group entered and asked
about the process so far, but none of them had any ideas yet.
Hazel nodded. “We do not have any
leads at the moment.” With this being said, a few of the members threw their
maps onto the table.
Lydia felt her chest. “My body is
slightly giving this rumbling feeling as if the monsters are finally going out
of hand. Any longer and I won’t be able to make it out alive.”
Rina clenched her teeth. “If we
don’t find where this tower is anytime soon, then Lydia’s going to die.”
“But we do not have any ideas yet.
Give us some more time.”
Forrest barged into the lobby with
over a dozen tickets in his hand. “If you want it, you gotta catch me! HEEHEE!”
He accidentally pushed Warren against the wall as he ran in circles around
table.
Leo tried to chase after him. “Why
are you playing around with those tickets?! I bought those using any pocket
money I had left!”
Viola said to Hazel, “He’s trying
his best to be cheerful after what happened with Jess. It’s best to leave
things be.”
Hazel sighed. “Ugh, what a mess.”
Somebody Just Kill Him!
Forrest jumped onto the table.
“Muaha! I am your ruler!” He joked.
Spencer and Sydney tried to catch
him from each end but they caught each other after Forrest jumped upwards. The
children fell off the table and the copies of the world map were scattered
across the table.
Hazel watched as one map fell off
the table, and the rest were either bent or turned upside-down. Suddenly, her
eyes widened.
She quickly grabbed four copies of
the Rhadessian map and then flipped them all into quadrants. She placed it so
that the Winstel continent was on the southeast end, the Shiu Jo continent was
on the northeast end, and the mainland that originally was from the east – was
flipped to the west. [End music]
Hazel turned to Gunther as she
pointed at the corners of the map. “Gunther, have any of our soldiers checked
the waters at the ends of these continents?!”
“No… why would they?” [Music 37.2]
“That should be where the ‘center of
the world’ is! If you flip the map, the center is actually in between every
continent under a different circumstance. As you can see, there is not a single
island close to the center. It’s completely surrounded by water.”
Talbot and Garnett appeared out of the
bedroom. Lydia took a step back, ready to fight her.
Garnett looked at Lydia but she only
gave a dirty look. “Hmph. I don’t like her.”
Lydia had her flail ready. “What, do
you want to fight?”
“Nah. What’s the point of killing
someone I hate so much? There won’t be anybody to hate if you die.”
Lydia became confused. “Huh? That’s
weird… usually she would try to kill me no matter who’s around.”
Talbot headed to the other side of
the room to whisper in her ear. “I tweaked her mind so that she would not go on
a killing spree. However, I cannot change her feelings instead of her actions.”
Lydia gave a sigh of relief. “I see…
That’s good to hear.”
Talbot turned to Hazel, “On a more
important notice, I’ve examined the coordinates on my tracker. This place was
once known as ‘Zozna’, a place used as a burial ground a millennium years ago.
It’s probably haunted since it was a deathzone and nobody entered for a
thousand years.”
“A-A thousand years?!” Sydney
yelped.
“Maybe people have gone in before,”
Viola claimed. She suddenly gave a fake, grim look just for Forrest. “but they
probably never made it out alive, so we never get any recent records of people
entering.”
Forrest shivered. “N-Nooo!”
“Anyway,” Talbot continued, “it is
blocked by some strong force. I suggest we need a bunch of ammunition to take
the barrier down all at once.”
Gunther raised his hand. “Let me
help install it! Give me about one whole night and you got yourself a bunch of
airships with gunpowder!”
Hazel clapped her hands. “That’s
amazing! Can you really do that?”
“Of course. I was your past
shipwright twenty years ago anyway.”
Lydia frowned. “One whole night of
waiting…”
“It’ll be okay, Lydia. We’ll protect
you if things go wrong,” Felix suggested.
Lydia gave him a smile. “Alright, I
trust you. Hehe.”
“Then what the hell do we do for the
time being?” Rina complained. [End music]
Forrest raised his hand. “There’s a
screening thingymajiggy at the auditorium tonight. Let’s go watch it while we
wait!!!
Leo handed everyone a ticket. “That
would be a good idea. It’s to celebrate our successes so far, but I don’t know
the contents. Let’s make it a surprise.”
“I… I dunno about this…” Spencer
said in fear.
“Oh whatever,” Forrest ignored him.
“What can go wrong?”
~ Village of Saradeli – east district - auditorium ~
“The hell is this?!” Rina shouted. [Music 61.1]
The
screening showed Rina in a buttoned-up white collared shirt with a black skirt
and red tie. She had long black socks with bucked shoes. The title appeared
‘Obsidian High School’.
Rina
said to Lydia, “What’s the hold up?!”
Lydia
was huffing as she complained, “I’m so sorry. I fell off my bike and I grazed
my leg. I had my mom Ekaja patch it up.” The injury was on the same spot where
she was shot by a soldier in the very beginning.
Lydia pointed at the
school version of herself. “Oh wow, is this like some kind of alternate
universe where things are paralleled?”
Felix became interested. “I wonder
where the rest of us are!”
Both
Rina and Lydia headed for their science class while hearing the announcements
from activities manager Gunther. While in class, the both of them overheard
Felix and Lionel talking about their last soccer game of the season.
Lionel scoffed. “Peh!
School and sports? What the hell am I even watching?”
“Hm,” Leo spoke, “the merchant girl
and her crew probably followed us throughout our journey to figure this out.”
Forrest frowned. “That means I’m not
in this if it’s about high school…”
Science
teacher Talbot yawned. “Okay class, I hope you studied for your chemistry exam
today because it will be the last one to bump up your grade.”
All
the students began to groan and Rina shrugged. “People are so dumb. Chemistry
is probably the easiest subject in school.”
Felix
began crying. “I got a C- on my last exam!!”
Lydia
paused. “Rina, aren’t you getting a F in Art-…”
Rina
interrupted her, “Let’s not talk about that. It doesn’t count.”
Clyde
appeared behind Rina. “F or not, I still love you.” Rina proceeded to punch him
several times.
Following
that scene, a school bus appeared at the front gates. Hazel, the bus driver,
opened the door and all the kids came running out.
“Damn
it, kids! I told you to stay still! Forrest, get your ass back here!”
Forrest
said to her, “Bleeeeeh!” He stuck his tongue out. Jess, Spencer, and Sydney followed
him. Bailey stood by Hazel, wondering if she could leave.
“Bailey,”
Hazel said to her, “you’re the easiest student to control.”
Bailey
giggled. [End music]
Forrest, who was
watching the screening, frowned after he saw Jess in full motion. Hazel, Viola,
Warren, Floir, Talbot, Garnett, and Felisse were off to the side of the crowd.
They didn’t want to be seen watching in the front row unlike the children and
teenagers. [Music 4.1]
During
lunch hour, Magnus appeared out of the principal’s office. “How wondrous! The
middle school students are here to learn all about the life of high school
students.” He spoke to P.E. teacher: Floir, science teacher: Talbot, English
teacher: Felisse, security guard: Warren, and a student who volunteered to tour
the children: Lionel. Well, he only volunteered because he robbed a liquor
store and needed to do 98 hours of community service.
As
Felix was having lunch with his group of friends, Forrest jumped onto the seat
next to him. “Hey you, hey! Tell me what high school is like!”
“Boring,
I guess.”
Lionel
punched Felix by the arm. “Hey man, I’m supposed to give them a tour of high
school. Don’t give them that false hope.”
Lydia
interrupted them, “Hope is all we need to survive in the future!”
Lydia gasped at her
school version. “Do I act like that??”
Rina
rolled her eyes. “Lionel, you idiot. That’s how high school is like. They
glorify it for children just so the school can get excited students to come and
do well. That’s all the principal’s plans to make this school a wealthier
place. He’s manipulative. Instead of lying, he should hire better teachers but
doesn’t want to spend higher wage.”
Clyde
scratched his head. “Well, I agree with him. Saves money, right?”
Lydia
grinned. “But you’re lying to these children!”
Forrest
tilted his head. “Umm, I’m still here??”
Hazel
appeared with Bailey. “Forrest, get your ass over here!! Ugh, you should have
stayed home like Remy. I’m glad he didn’t go since he got sick.”
Hazel rolled her eyes.
“I am sick of this screening. They gave me a crappy role.” She stood up and
left the building to get some fresh air.
Rina followed along. “I’m with you
there! It’s nothing I’ve seen before. They’re making me talk to people like
Clyde and Lionel.”
Floir went with them. “I am not too
keen on screenings either. Should we go get some dinner together?”
Rina raised an eyebrow. “Never
thought you’d be the kind of lady to call truce and eat with her former
enemies.”
“I know my limits,” Floir said.
Hazel elbowed her. “Or is it because
you’d prefer girl best friends because you’re terrible with the men.”
Floir gasped. “Who told you about
that?!” [End music]
Rina Versus Floir
As the three bantering women left,
the rest of the group continued to watch. It was after school now and Rina’s
family, including Faris, appeared to watch the soccer match. Hazel was also
asked to work with Gunther to announce the start of the sports game.
Lydia turned to Leo, “Shouldn’t we
tell Rina and Hazel about this? They just got scenes that would interest them.”
Leo and Forrest only shrugged as they continued watching.
Lionel began picking his nose with
his pinky finger. “I don’t like school.” He then wiped his fingers on the chair
beside Felix.
“Can I not be here?” Garnett
complained. “That Lydia character is there and I’m not.”
Talbot stood up. “It is better for you
not to see this. Want to take a step outside?”
“Hell yeah I do. See ya.” Garnett
quickly left the building. [Music 5.1]
Professor
Talbot was in his classroom with Rina and Lady Pria. He complained to them,
“Shouldn’t you two be at home or at the soccer game rather than being here and
finishing up your chemistry report? It’s not even due until next month. Pria,
you’re not even supposed to be here. You graduated years ago with me.”
Lady
Pria teased him. “I just want to know whether or not you’re teaching your
students properly.”
Rina
laughed. “Hah! He doesn’t teach at all. I self-taught myself.”
Meanwhile,
the children were watching the game as well. Forrest, Spencer, and Sydney were
cheering on for Felix. Jess was off to the side, frowning and Bailey was in the
back by herself.
Forrest
turned to Jess, “Why aren’t you watching the game?”
Jess
said to her friends, “I have to tell you all something.”
The
children paused.
“I’m
moving away in about a week to Arizona, so I can’t go with you to high school.”
The
children began to cry.
Forrest watched
silently. While Sydney questioned this ‘Arizona’ place, Spencer and Bailey knew
the parallel with Jess’ situation.
Forrest suddenly smiled. “W-What
difference does it make? We have to keep looking forward or whatever, right?
Hehe. I can’t just be sad forever.” He then saw Rina talking to Faris in the
chemistry lab. Forrest used this opportunity to change the subject. “Hey, let’s
call Rina back in here to see her sister!”
Sydney jumped. “I agree, I agree!”
Spencer followed her.
Leo held on tightly to Sydney and
Spencer who were about to call Rina in. “We shouldn’t do that!”
The children were persistent as they
ran out of the room. Leo’s grip was stuck on their mouths as they continued to
run out. Bailey watched as they left, and then she decided to switch seats by
sitting closer to Forrest. “I wonder how this story will end?”
Forrest agreed. “Yeah… let’s keep
watching.”
Felisse began yawning. “Ah, it is
getting quite late. Should we end it here?”
Warren shook his head. “I believe I
am the remaining adult here to take care of the children. I think I should
stay.”
Felisse watched as Lydia, Felix,
Lionel, Forrest, and Bailey were the only people remaining in the audience
along with Viola. Well, there were about another fifty villagers in the front
seats as well.
“You are such a caring person. I
remember you were much different back then.”
“How so?”
“You would battle your enemies
without thinking about their feelings. You were one of the strongest, and…”
Warren blushed. “It was because of
you that I gained a heart.”
Felisse placed her arm over his
neck. “You are such a sweetie. I am getting sleepy, so I’ll go to bed first.”
“Alright. I will be back once the
play is over.”
Viola decided to move in closer with
the rest of the group as they continued to watch the play. Warren did the same
to supervise them. [Music 1.4]
Rina
yelped. “Oh crap! This isn’t the right mix!”
Lady
Pria snapped at her. “What did you do?!”
The
large room exploded and the soccer game was interrupted. Smoke poured out of
the building and Talbot coughed.
“You
were supposed to turn the Obsidian rocks into red, not blow them up!”
“I
didn’t do that!!” Rina ran out.
Lady
Pria shook her head. “I saw Magnus sneaking in here earlier. He mixed it up on
purpose so he could have an excuse to renovate the entire school and rebuild a
better place.”
Rina
clenched her fists. “But he didn’t even want to pay for better teachers?
Rebuilding a school costs a lot more!”
Lydia
stood up from the bleachers after the little explosion. “What’s going on?!”
Forrest was getting
jittery. “We might be getting close to the end. I’m excited!”
Bailey was also jittery. “Me too!”
After about five minutes, Lionel and
Warren were already sleeping on their chairs. Lionel was snoring.
Unfortunately, the story ended
there. The screen shifted to the credits.
Bailey became disappointed. “Is that
a cliffhanger?”
“Aw man…” Forrest pouted, slouching
onto his chair. With nothing else to do, Forrest became bored as he was talking
to Bailey about random things like their favorite color and foods that they
might want to eat later in the night. Felix noticed nightfall was coming.
The rest of the audience clapped
their hands and Lionel jumped from his seat.
“Whoa! What, what’s happening?!”
Viola yawned. “The screening just
ended.”
“It did?! Damn, I missed the
ending.”
“Everyone dies,” Viola joked. [End music]
Lydia gave a hideous expression that
showed her discomfort. “Uh, heh…” She turned to Felix. “Um, I’m going to go
outside and get some fresh air. Wanna come along?”
“Oh, sure thing,” he said awkwardly.
As the two of them left the
auditorium, Felix stopped her. [Music 61.2]
“Hey Lydia? I was wondering…” He
stuttered. “Uh, well…”
“What’s wrong? Did I do something
wrong?”
“No! It’s not that. I was just
thinking about the screening.”
Lydia remembered the entire story.
“We didn’t really talk to each other much in the plot. Most of the things shown
in there were parallel.”
“Yeah, uh… Do you think our lack of
connection was true?”
“One thing’s for sure, I’m not that
Lydia.”
“What do you mean?”
“I won’t say the same things like
the Lydia you saw in the screening. This show was made from that merchant girl.”
Felix sighed. “That means you’ll
still say no, but nicely unlike her.”
“No.”
“No…”
“Not ‘no’. I mean yes.”
“So yes, you’ll say no, but nicely?”
“No! Wait, I mean, well… don’t
confuse me!” Lydia said in frustration.
Felix began to chuckle. He scratched
the back of his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“Let me bring the question back to
you.”
“Huh?”
Lydia elbowed him. “How do you feel about Lydia?”
Felix looked away. “The one on the
screening, or you? Because speaking in third person doesn’t really help the
situation here.”
“You silly, I’m talking about me!”
Felix took a step back. “O-Oh! Well
uh…” He closed his eyes, exhaled a large breath, and then he spoke. “When I
first saw you, I didn’t think of anything. You were just a mindless girl that
Rina wanted to help, and I didn’t understand why you were that important to
her. The more shards you got back, the more I could see the real you.”
Lydia listened carefully as he went
on.
“Seeing how nice you are, how you
like to laugh as much as you can, and how we both try our best to save people
even if it doesn’t seem possible… I feel like we have the same ideas and
stuff.”
Lydia frowned. “I know. And I think…
I’m starting to realize how I really feel.”
“And what’s that?”
“You sacrificed yourself to save me
back in Celestia. It made me see what kind of guy you were. You weren’t like
any other, and that’s what I like about you. I thought about every way to find
out how to bring you back to life. I just kept lingering on to that hope…”
“And you did it.”
“Yeah… I guess what I’m trying to
say is, I do like you, Felix.”
Felix took another step back in
surprise but he tripped over a rock. Lydia tried to grab his hand to help him
balance his way back up, but she accidentally fell on top of him.
The two of them blushed as their
faces were only a foot apart. Lydia quickly jumped off.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!”
Felix began to laugh at her mistake,
and Lydia laughed along. It was as if the two of them were having a great time
together, they forgot about the real problem (with Magnus and all).
Forrest, Warren, Bailey, Viola, and
Lionel finally exited the auditorium.
“That was a good show but I hated
the ending!” Forrest yelled.
“Really?” Viola asked. “I thought it
would have been interesting to see everyone die. Maybe that would make up a
good plot for their shows next time.”
Lionel coughed. “Is this lady always
so grim? I like it.”
Bailey tilted her head. “Lydia?
Felix? Can I ask why you two are on the floor?”
The two teenagers quickly stood up.
“Nothing happened, I swear!” Felix
said immediately.
“Nothing?!” Lydia complained. “Oh
wait, I mean, yes, nothing happened. Riiiight, Felix?”
“What a terrible liar,” Viola
claimed. “But, I’d rather not stick my nose into other people’s business.”
Lydia remembered when Viola watched
Lydia overhearing Felix’s conversation on the Crescent airship.
Lydia looked away with a hysterical
face. “Eheheh… She’s a liar too.”
Forrest grabbed Bailey’s hand. “You
said you like spaghetti because of the tomatoes, right?! Let’s go get dinner.
Spaghetti for everyone!”
The group agreed, and Lionel was off
to the side asking if it was gluten free. Lydia and Felix were the last to walk
with them.
“So…” Lydia said to Felix. “I guess
we should have a big feast with the rest of the group before the big day
tomorrow, huh?”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
Lydia held out her arm for him.
“What’s that for?” Felix asked.
“Let’s act like kids again before we
lose that childhood soon someday!”
Felix gasped. “W-Wait a minute, you
want us to skip our way to the group?!”
“That was always fun for me! Come
on!”
“I can’t skip!”
Lydia demonstrated while still
locking her elbows with him. In doing so, Felix fell and Lydia panicked.
“Oh crap! I’m sorry! Here let me
help you up.” She tried to help him, but he tripped on another rock on his way
back up. It was like a never ending cycle of failure.
It’s alright though. They were
enjoying themselves before the next day, before the moment when they finally
have to face Magnus at the final showdown. The last tower – the center of the
world. [End music]
[Ending 5 music]
~~~
With the location of Zozna finally being located, the group is now ready to depart to the final battle. Zozna is deemed as a burial ground, but it had so much life before - perhaps life stronger than the biggest cities in the world. Will it be easy to enter this city? There will indeed be a barrier, but it's nothing to the rest of the group now that they all joined forces! Stay tuned for next week on The Obsidian Tale!
~~~
<- Go to Episode 60 - How to Save Faith
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