The Obsidian Tale
~ Village of Saradeli – southeast district ~
Hazel stood onto the wooden plank.
“We should all thank Gunther for completing the new edition of these airships.”
“It was nothing. However, once we go
there and help you, I must go back to my post as King Redlin of the Winstel
government. Right now, they all need me.”
Hazel opened her hand out for a new
walkie-talkie. “That is fine. You can at least give us another one of those
machine talking copies.”
Professor Talbot was toying with his
machine again. “I believe that is not possible. The forbidden land of Zozna has
a strong exterior that can break the signals of any electricity.”
“What?” Rina began to complain. “How
ironic is it that the land dedicated to lightning magic, cannot emit energy for
the signals to work?”
“That is the problem. The island absorbs electricity, not emits it.”
Leo stood next to Hazel. “I’m going
to the core with you. I need to have a word with this ‘uncle’ of mine.”
Hazel nodded. “You have my support.”
She turned to the rest of the group. “Who is joining us to the core?”
Lady Pria shrugged. “You need one
magic user to suppress the barrier throughout the entire duration. That would
be either me or Rina.”
“Nuh uh, I’m going for all the
action. You’re staying out there to keep the barrier going!” Rina commanded.
Lady Pria giggled. “Alright. Less
work for me,” she said calmly.
Hazel rolled her eyes as if she
remembered Pria was always the lazy type of woman from her previous journeys
twenty years ago.
Lydia took a step forward. “If Rina
is going, then I’m going. Someone needs to protect her.”
“Lydia! I don’t need help. You
should stay out of the core or else the excess energy is going to get to you
like what happened with the bear.”
Lydia disagreed. “No, I can fight
it. I feel that I am responsible for all of this mess now that I am the last
Obsidian alive. Please, give me this last chance to go with you!”
Felix headed for the docks as well.
“I’m going because I want to avenge my father. Magnus even toyed with my mind.
I’m not going to let this pass!”
“Are you sure about that? You
shouldn’t let your rage get to you,” Hazel claimed.
“I’m not afraid anymore. I’ve met so
many people outside the village – Celestians, Avians, you name it. Sure, I was
scared a bunch of times, but it took a lot of experience to understand that
everyone has feelings too. They’re only doing what’s right to them.” He was
looking at Floir, Lionel, and Talbot. “Maybe I can try and talk to Magnus and
nobody would get hurt.”
Floir chuckled. “Well-said, coming
from a basic villager. I suggest he go along with you, as he earns my trust as
a potential, elite lieutenant.”
Hazel clenched her teeth. “Ugh. I
suppose it wouldn’t be fair to push you away after giving me several good
reasons to come along.”
Forrest grabbed onto his legs.
“Don’t forget about me!”
Viola bent down. “Oh? And what would
your reason be?”
“Jess! He killed Jess!”
Bailey gasped. “But I…”
“It’s okay, Bailey. You didn’t do
anything,” he said. “It’s all Magnus’ fault.”
Sydney jumped. “Can we come along?!
Please, please, pretty please??”
Spencer yelped. “That sounds
dangerous!”
Forrest pointed at his three
friends. “No! This is really dangerous, like Spencer said. You two should stay
back.”
Bailey raised her hand. “I would
like to stay, as I have lost my ability and will to fight. I admit I am not
ready to face Magnus and I am still frightened by his appearance. I apologize
for being a coward.”
Warren had his arms crossed. He felt
proud for her. “Honest cowardice is the first step to being a strong
individual. Admitting your fears will bring you much fortune for your future.
Thank you for volunteering to keep your dangers away. As for I, I will go with
the group to steer the ship.”
Floir patted him on the shoulder.
“You may have been exiled as an ex-lieutenant of the Gammel army, but you have
earned your place in the Gammel military if you would like.”
“I will have to think about it,
lieutenant.”
Hazel said to Viola, “You are coming
with us, as I feel you are the strongest and fastest person in terms of
wielding a spear.”
Viola yawned. “I guess I’ll go since
I got nothing to lose.”
Lydia said with a nervous laughter,
“Eheh… don’t say such things.” [End music]
Lydia noticed that Talbot was
whispering into Garnett’s ear, and then he decided to ask if she could come
along as well.
Lionel took a step forward. “If
Garnett is going, then I will go.”
“What is this? Why?” Floir
questioned him. “I ask that the two of us, along with Felisse, need to stay
behind and fend off enemies emitting from the forbidden land of Zozna.”
Felisse was frightened after
realizing she had to separate from Warren. [Music 38.1]
“Will this be the last time we get
to see each other?”
“No, we will try out best to make it
out safe, my lady.”
“Please, promise me you will be back
safely.” The two of them began to hug.
Ekaja held onto Lydia’s hands. “Are
you really leaving again?”
“I’m sorry, mother. This is really
important to me. It is my responsibility and duty to return the world to its
normal state, as the last Obsidian alive. I hope you understand. I will try my
very best to come home to you. In fact, I promise – this will be the last time
I will leave you.”
“You’ll have another serving of my
cooking, right?”
“Yes! When I come back, we can have
a great feast. Heehee.”
“Oh, Lydia. Some things just never
change with you,” she began to cry as they were hugging each other.
Mrs. Wolfram handed Felix the
wedding ring. “You know, I’ve been thinking…”
“Huh? What’s this for?”
“I have two reasons to give this
back to you,” Mrs. Wolfram gave him a smile. “I want you to show me this ring
again once you come back safely.”
“Wait, you’re really letting me go?”
“I may have lost my husband, but I
thought about your freedom ever since he left this world. Just because he’s
gone, doesn’t mean I should limit your
freedom. If you feel that this is important and you must go and stop Magnus
himself, then I will support you. After all, you have come back every single time you left. I trust you
this time.”
Felix laughed. “Thanks, mom! I
promise to come back to you once all of this is over.”
“And for that second reason… It
would be nice to see that wedding be put to good use.”
“What do you mean??”
“Well,” she winked at him while
pointing to Lydia.
“Mom! MOM! What are you talking
about?!” His face became bright red.
Mrs. Wolfram began to laugh. “Oho! I
haven’t given this much laughter in such a long time. I love you, my little
devil.” The ‘little devil’ was her favorite nickname for Felix when he was a
trickster in the village long before.
The D’Alonzo parents stood behind
the rest of the crowd. Felix became serious.
“Hey,” Felix said to them, “I’ll
bring back Clyde in one piece. You better believe it.”
Mrs. D’Alonzo cried. “Are you sure
you don’t want us to come along? He is our child, and our responsibility.”
Felix nodded. “The more people, the
less scary it would be to enter Zozna, but I think it’s safer that you two stay
and protect the village. You have been doing a great job so far!”
Mr. D’Alonzo turned to his wife. “Did
you hear that? We have a duty to partake!”
“I guess…” Mrs. D’Alonzo said
slowly. “I just want to see my son again. He’s been gone for the longest time.”
Felix started heading towards the
plank. “I didn’t come all this way just to fail bringing Clyde back. I’m going
to keep trying until he comes back to us!”
The group of eight, along with
Lionel and Garnett were heading for the Crescent airship. Gunther and Lady Pria
went into a separate airship while Floir and Felisse entered separate vehicles
to guard the outer walls of Zozna.
As all of the airships were steering
upward, the parents stayed behind to watch as their loved ones left.
Mrs. Wolfram fell to the ground,
covering her mouth in disbelief that her son was going to leave, with a little
doubt that he may not return again. She had to keep hoping, however. [End music]
~ Zozna – outer aura ~
About two hundred ships were
stationed by the waters, but only about seven other airships had missiles
installed into them, including the Crescent airship.
The main group had traveled all over
the world in almost every existing habitat possible, and this was the last
place left for them to scout. Even Hazel and Warren’s past journey did not
surpass this area. [Music 62.2]
Crying Those Manly Tears
The Worst Pilot Ever
Warren turned on the microphone by
the cockpit. “Gunther, do you read me?”
“I hear you loud and clear, sire!”
“So the plan is to have the four
airships create missiles on all four corners of the orb, as we tackle the
center?”
“Yes, but we’ll only be creating a
square-shaped launch on a small portion of Zozna. If we extend the field, our
missiles won’t be effective enough, so you’ll have to aim your airship properly
at the core of our missiles!”
“Roger that!” Warren replied.
Professor Talbot circled the island,
throwing several knives around that emitted different kinds of elements. Lady
Pria began focusing her wind aura around the entire orb of Magnus’ keep.
“On five…” He began the countdown.
Floir and Felisse were along the midst of war with the mutants on the bottom
while floating wyverns were trying to aim for the airships. Floir and Felisse’s
ships were able to launch missiles, but they were asked only to focus on any
flying enemies so that the other five airships were not distracted. “Four…” he
continued.
Felix and Lydia looked at each other
with slight concern.
“Three…”
Forrest clenched onto Leo’s pants,
shaking.
“Two…”
Hazel and Rina were still standing
strong while Viola looked as if she could care less. Garnett and Lionel tightly
held onto their respective seats.
“FIRE!” All four airships began
shooting their missiles towards the orb in a square shape. Warren did the same
with the central portion as he, at the same time, rushed inward. “Warren, I
pray for your safety along with everybody else in your airship! The rest of us
must stay out here and stop the beasts from multiplying out here.”
“I got it covered!” Warren was about
halfway to the orb now.
“I hope… this is not the last time
we’ll see each other. You made an awesome team member back in our days.”
Warren had tears in his eyes. “This
is not… this is not goodbye!” One more mile and they began feeling a slight
static shock. Lydia knelt down, almost screaming.
Rina and Felix tried to help her up
while Forrest tipped over to the other side of the room. The Crescent airship
was shaking way too much, but Warren continued to push forward by Hazel’s
orders.
Being too close to the orb now,
Warren could see electricity aiming straight towards his face. Garnett kicked
herself off the chair as she pushed Warren aside. [End music]
“What are you doing?!” Warren
shouted.
“Move it!” Garnett called as a
thundershock broke through the window and it struck her. The airship continued
to move forward, but the rest of the group couldn’t see anything. They could
only hear Garnett’s shriek. [Music 23.1]
“Garnett!!!” Lionel yelled. He
pushed himself forward as the airship crashed into one portion within the orb
at last.
The airship landed by the edge of a
cliff and Lionel was holding onto Garnett’s hand. She was on the brink of
falling off, but her entire body blacked and her face had a long scar across
her cheek. Her body was still electrocuting, but Lionel continued to hold on.
Garnett gasped. “Why are you still
holding on? I was recreated as a vessel, to take any blow for the airship. That
was Talbot’s new plan!”
Lydia quickly jumped out of the
airship. “Garnett, Garnett!!”
“Oh, it’s you again. I’ve always
hated you.”
Lydia began to cry as she wrapped
her arms around Lionel’s stomach. “We’ll pull together!”
Garnett opened her eyes as widely as
possible. She was never this surprised before. “What? Why are you doing this? I
despise you!”
“Deep down, there is a heart within
you. You have feelings, just like the rest of us. You are human, no matter what
you think!”
Garnett froze, remembering what
Felix had said previously. Lionel clenched his teeth, unable to hold on
anymore.
Felix also grabbed onto Garnett’s
arm and Lionel gave him a thankful expression. As the three teenagers began
pulling her up, Garnett was successfully able to crawl back onto the cliff.
Lionel grinned. “Damn it…” He
watched as Garnett was still electrocuting.
“I… will be fine…”
Lionel said to the rest of the
group. “I knew what I came here for. Talbot gave me the signal, hoping that I
played along with it. You all must go on ahead and stop Magnus. I will find a
way to calm Garnett down and take the airship to safety. I’ll try finding you
all at the core!”
“Is that okay with you?” Hazel asked
him.
“Yeah. I guess I deserve it for
being an asshole. But hey, I can’t help it. It’s fun.” He tried to laugh.
Felix nodded. “Alright. Thanks a
lot, Lionel. You’re a great friend!” As the group left, Lydia awkwardly patted
Garnett’s head as she ran off.
“We’ll come back for you. We really
need to go before Magnus spots us.”
Garnett blushed at how kind Lydia
was even after how many times Garnett pushed her away or tried to kill her.
Lionel watched as Felix left. “Bah…
he really isn’t the same idiot I’ve known in the beginning. He really has
changed.”
Garnett was touching her heart.
“That girl… If she is me, and I am her… and if she has a big heart, then…” [End music]
~ Zozna – inner mantle ~
They had to sneak their way in from
boulder to boulder instead of just rushing through. In front of them was an
endless highroad of dry sand, hills, and cliffs. It looked a lot bigger on the
inside for some reason, but it made sense that Magnus would warp the tower’s
appearance to his will.
“How come this place is the center
of the world??” Forrest asked, clutching onto the world map. “It’s in the
bottom right corner.”
Rina shrugged. “Eh, who knows? Some
idiot from a very long time ago must have thought of his own version of the
map, so he began drawing it and showed it to everyone.”
Lydia had her eyes half-closed.
“Something about this place makes my heart feel so heavy. It’s like my body
knows that this entire place is filled with chemical energy.”
Hazel took a moment to stop and
think about it. “Is it not strange that this tower is not emitting chemical
energy like the one in the Mago’Ria Fey?”
Leo began sniffing the air. “Now
that you mention it, even the Soma Springs was as clear as the sky. What was so
different about them?”
Lydia snapped her fingers. “I think
I get it now. The Mago’Ria Fey was a poisoned ground filled with failed test
subjects on chemical energy. The reason why the tower was so dangerous was
because it was right above the burial ground of a cavern that nobody should
ever step foot in.”
“Wait a minute, when did we go to
this Soma Springs place??” Forrest wondered.
Felix covered his mouth as he said
to the group, “UH, uhm, so anyways…”
Rina and Lydia raised their
eyebrows, and Viola giggled.
As the eight of them reappeared in a
facility room, the lights were already on. Hazel made everyone stand back as
she was the first to walk around. There was a large screen and a machine that
filled up one of the four sides of the room. Even the ceiling was broken off,
but there was no explanation as to why it happened. There was one door up
ahead, and he ordered Leo to try opening it with his brass knuckles.
A Noble Artist
“Over there,” Warren interrupted
them. “I see two types of portals.”
Forrest gasped as he saw words
floating above them. “How is it poss-i-ble that words can float?!” He tried to
sound out whatever big words he said.
“Trial of Isolation and Knowledge of
Truth,” Hazel said them out loud.
In the portal for ‘Trial of Isolation’,
there led several roads with different colors. The end was pitch-black. The
‘Knowledge of Truth’ showed a large facility room with a screen and a giant
machine in front of it.
Forrest pointed at the roads on the
left. “That one looks less weird!”
Leo grabbed onto his collar. “Hold
on there. Read the disclaimer on the bottom.”
“Pass
each trial and you shall face the shadows.” Viola read.
“Should we split up?” Leo suggested.
Hazel disagreed. “The more we have,
the stronger our team will be. Even if one of them is a trap, we either succeed
altogether, or lose altogether.”
“Are you saying we’re going to
recklessly risk our lives even if we’re unsure if one of these portals leads to
a death trap?!” Rina complained.
“Are you willing to die in order to save
the entire world?” Hazel asked her.
“Well… yeah, but we should think
about this a bit more.”
Hazel took out her bow. “If I were
Magnus, I would have created two portals so that we would each split into two
groups to finish this ‘faster’.”
Rina nodded. “Yeah, and what’s your
point? Shouldn’t we do that and risk only half the lives?”
“I think I get what Hazel means,”
Felix said. “Each portal can be very tough, so we have to watch out. In order
to make these trials easier, we should all defy his expectations of splitting
up by keeping our group together as one.”
Viola had her spear ready. “Ah, I
see. So you insist to be one step ahead of Master Magnus?”
“Persistency will break his
expectations. Nobody outsmarts me,” Hazel said in anger.
“So… which portal should we take??” Forrest
wanted to run but Leo continued to stop him.
Hazel disagreed. “The Trial of
Isolation might involve us splitting up in the end anyway, but let’s think
about it. If we start with that and have some members become slower than others
in the process, we will be wasting a lot of time. I suggest we do that trial
last.”
Leo headed for the ‘Knowledge of
Truth’ portal. “We can test out how tricky Magnus is by going into the only one
that’s left.”
Hazel smiled. “Now you’re talking. The
first trial we shall take will be the eastern portal, and then the isolation
caverns.”
Felix began walking with Hazel.
“Alright, everybody ready?”
Forrest was shaking, but he was
excited at the same time. “R-Ready to kick some butt, that’s for sure!”
The eight of them bravely entered
the first trial, the Knowledge of Truth. [End music]
~ Zozna – eastern trial – Knowledge of Truth ~
Leo was slightly nervous, but he had
to do it anyway, or else coming to Zozna would be a waste of time.
“Hm, the door’s locked.”
Hazel grinned. “Looks like we cannot
skip ahead on the trial. We have to check the device first.”
Viola pulled out her spear. “Allow
me. We have to be extra careful not to get near the machine in case something
happens.” She used her spear to point at the green switch on the machine.
More lights appeared around the rest
of the room and the screen went from back to blue. Lydia and Forrest took a
step back from surprise.
Even Rina was amazed. “Whoa, what
kind of technology is this?”
The screen had screeching noises and
the screen turned gray. Kssssh!! they
heard.
Suddenly, the gray screen dispersed
and what was now shown… were two people in a room, a room that looked exactly
like the one that the main group was standing in.
There was a scientist who was facing
away from the camera, and a little boy sat down on the floor.
“Mister,
where is my family?”
“Don’t
you worry. We will bring you back to them.”
“Really?
Cool!”
“This
is the year of R-657. It has been six hundred fifty seven years since the
establishment of the name ‘Rhadessia’. I have now completed a replica for my
vessels. I want to know if humans can live as spirits in other bodies so as
long as they are donated. We will try it on this boy here – his name is Magnus.”
The teenagers along
with Forrest and Leo gave a surprised, yet disgusted look on their face.
Viola tilted her head in confusion.
“R-657 is about a millennium years ago.”
The scientist turned around and
Hazel and Warren became shocked.
Hazel took a step back. “No way…
that scientist… is Waltzer, the evil spirit vessel that tried to destroy
Rhadessia twenty years ago from our previous journey!”
[Ending 5 music]
~~~
Now within the Trials of Zozna, the group decides to tackle on the Knowledge of Truth trial. So far, it looks like this vision is of the true history that Magnus had to deal with 1,000 years ago, much to do with Waltzer that Hazel talked about before. Maybe this will give us some insight on Magnus' reason for doing what he did to Rhadessia, and what he plans to do with the energy he stole.
~~~
<- Go to Episode 61 - Exodus Finale!
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