Saturday, November 1, 2014

Episode 05 - Kyrie Escapees

The Obsidian Tale

Episode 5
[Opening 1 music]



~ Kyrie – central district ~


            “WHAAAAAAAAT?!” Felix howled so loud that his voice echoed throughout the whole city. Birds even flew out of the trees on the outer district.
            It was like a reunion already. Rina and Lydia appeared before Felix’s eyes, and Felix conveniently found Jess stuck in a tree. At the same time, the mad scientist made his reappearance. He looked slightly disturbed that Lydia now has one of the seven shards.
            Lydia’s voice was still without emotion. She said to both Rina and Felix, “We must hurry. Standing around is dangerous.”
            “What the heck kind of shard is this?” Rina questioned Lydia’s new personality.
            Felix grabbed Forrest’s arm. “Let’s go. We have to get out of here.”
            Forrest pushed him away. “No! Get away from me!”
            “Forrest…”
            Jess jumped and crashed on top of Felix. As he fell, Jess commanded Forrest to follow her. With their small bodies, they were able to run off. Besides, at least Forrest was not an initial target as compared to Jess.
            Rina tossed a fireball straight into the air to cause a distraction. The civilians screamed after the fireball vibrated within the atmosphere. Their eardrums tinkered and the soldiers were unable to fight back from the flames. Rina abruptly held onto Lydia’s wrist as they ran together. Felix, having no other way out, followed along.
            “I wouldn’t run if I were you.” The scientist said calmly, taking out an indigo-colored shard. “I have already found another shard from the Town of Igor. Now you come back to us, or we will never hand it ov-“
            Rina continued running away.
            “Hey, I’m talking to you!”
            Still, Rina knew it was best to see the scientist again if it meant getting the next shard back. For sure, now was not the time.

~ Kyrie – western uplands ~


            Kyrie was not just a full-on city. There are basically “two floors” landscaped on the whole lot. The bottom of the city consisted between north to south, and there was an opening to the west side of the city leading into more of a hill-like road. This was still a part of Kyrie, but it was less populated and more peaceful compared to the central portion of the city. Those who preferred a village atmosphere like Saradeli would more likely be in the western uplands as compared to the lower city districts. [Music 5.1]
            Lydia slowly turned to her left, and then to her right. “This place is beautiful,” she said, still without emotion.
            Rina squinted her eyebrows in discomfort. “Lydia, you used to love talking about beautiful landscapes with passion. Why are you talking like that? Where is your enthusiasm?”
            “Hey, at least now she’s talking,” Felix said, realizing that Lydia barely talked at all while having zero shards.
            “Oh shut it, Suspenders!” Rina grabbed onto Lydia as she shook her, “Come on, you can’t tell me a big chunk of your mind is still missing?!”
            “Maybe she has the ‘talking’ shard? Each shard could relate to the five senses and-“
            “Then what are the remaining two?!”
            “I don’t know! This doesn’t even matter to me. All I wanted was to find a safe haven for the future, at least in this city. I couldn’t even get that because of you two.”
            Rina held Lydia against a pile of old wooden wheels that were used for carriages. Lydia began talking about the comfortability of sitting on wooden parts compared to cement.
            Ignoring her rambling, Rina pointed a finger at Felix, “Listen here, Suspenders. You decided to help little children and the only thing you got out of it was more trouble. You don’t even know how to live in the outside world.”
            “What about you? You just barge in, shooting a giant flame at a young girl who is totally defenseless.”
            “She had what I needed and that was all there was to it. If you have any more complaints about the things I treasure most, then you should drop them off in a toilet – the only place where your opinions actually matter.”
            “What did you say?!”
            “Don’t argue,” Lydia said bluntly.
            The two teenagers stopped complaining, and Felix spoke again, “I… wonder what shard she has?”
            Rina turned around, “Lydia… this must be some kind of shard of feelings that you can’t express physically,” She grabbed Lydia’s arm, “We have no time to rest. We are finding that scientist and I’ll cure you right away!”
            “Are you crazy? That scientist looked like he was a part of the Gammel military if he could casually walk around a bunch of soldiers like that!”
            “I don’t care where he’s from. I need those shards. Sitting on these hills isn’t going to do anything. Now, stop following me. I don’t even know why you keep coming out of nowhere.”
            As Rina began dragging Lydia along, Lydia said to them, “My feet burns. You drag me too harshly.”
            “Yeah, yeah, you’ll get over it.”
            Felix followed along. “Where are you even going to go? They all know what you look like.”
            “The Town of Igor, stupid! That’s how the scientist found one of the shards. He might be heading back there. I heard there is a waterfall and forest down south so I doubt he’s going through it by foot. Anyway, leave me alone. I can do this myself.”
            Felix sighed. “As much as I hate being around you, I need to make a new life somewhere. Why don’t I just help you until we get to the town?”
            “I already said I don’t need your help,” Rina hesitated as Lydia began sliding off Rina’s fingers. She fell flat like paper. “If you can carry her, you have yourself a deal.” [End music]

~ Kyrie – entrance to central district ~


            “My stomach feels weird,” Lydia commented as an aggressive growl appeared from her stomach.
            “It’s called hunger. We can deal with that later,” Rina hid behind one of the furthest walls from the city.
            Lydia then said without emotion, “I feel like something is going to burst out from my frontal-“
            “Damn it, Lydia! Stop talking!”
            Felix whispered to her, “I think she needs to go to the restroom?”
            “Ugh! Okay, you better think of a plan by the time I finish helping her. Come on, Lydia, it’s time to play nature.” They both went into the bushes.
            After a good minute, Rina returned and then she examined the walls with Felix.
            Immediately after, Lydia spoke again, “Now I feel like something is going to burst out from behin-“
            “LYDIA, WHAT THE F-“
            “Who’s there?!” A soldier stuttered from the loud cry.
            Lydia suddenly punched Felix in the face, revealing him in cold sight. Rina shrugged without a care at all.
            “Well, looks like she hasn’t gotten any moral shard or whatever,” she joked.
            Felix panicked. “Uh, we have worse matters here!”
            “You! You’re the fugitive!”
            Felix then pointed at the sky, “Who’s that?”
            Rina slapped her own forehead. “Who would fall for that?!”
            The soldier looked up at the sky behind him and Felix ran back behind the walls. Lydia began walking out on her own. [Music 4.2]
            “L-Lydia, what are you doing?!”
            Felix had a plan. “Hi-Hi!~” He made a high-pitched voice to mock Lydia.    
            Lydia only stood with a blank smile. The soldier began blushing at Lydia’s ‘voice’.
            “Come over here behind this building where no one can see us. We can have a lot of fun!~”
            Rina slapped Felix on the face. “Ow!~ Don’t hurt me,~” Felix added.
            The soldier became confused. “Huh? I-I won’t hurt you. I promise to be gentle.”
            Rina began shaking Felix’s shoulders to make him be quiet.
            “Stop it!~ It hurts…~”
            The soldier yelped. “O-Oh my!!! I didn’t know you wanted to play that way!”
            “Okay, that’s it,” Rina said in frustration. She appeared beside the wall with a large rock as she threw it at the soldier’s face. “Problem solved. Let’s go!”
            Felix said with his usual voice. “I can’t believe it worked!” Even leaving the village as a trickster, he still had the ability within him. At least with soldiers like this man. [End music]

~ Kyrie – central district ~


            Getting closer to the center, the three teenagers made way to the eastern portion of the city which is on the way to the Town of Igor.
            “Where are all of these damn soldiers coming from?”
            “They’ve probably been following since the village.” Felix made a gasp. “Wait a minute! Jess told me that there is a giant bear or something in the cave. Where is it?”
            “Who is Jess? Your new girlfriend?”
            “No!”
            “I know, I’m just teasing. Of course you can never get a girlfriend,” Rina said.
Honesty at its Finest

 
            Through Felix’s eyes, there were three-story buildings that would be high enough for the city view. Another way was to locate the cavern that connected the village of Saradeli to the city of Kyrie.
            “Up there! If we can get to the top, you can use that weird fire thing and blast the cavern. That will hopefully disrupt the bear and the soldiers won’t be so focused on us.”
            “Oh yeah, sure. Let’s go to the top of the building when we might as well barge through the central area. Getting to the third floor is even riskier.”
            Felix pointed at a bunch of apartments with fire escapes. “Let’s go inside that door under those ladder step things.”
            “They’re called fire escapes, idiot.”
            “I don’t know what stuff they have outside the village! Let’s just go. Maybe there are steps leading up.”

~ Kyrie – central district - apartments ~


            It was daylight in the city, and the alleyways leading to the staircases were visible to anybody outside the narrow halls. At this point, Felix sure hoped the children did not spot him while rummaging through dumpsters. He used his crescent blade to break the locks and the door barged open.
            Rina turned to Lydia. “I can’t believe we’re following this loser.”
            Lydia walked in after Felix. “Pretty sword.”
            “Who cares?” She shrugged as she followed.
            Easily going up the three staircases, they were able to reach the rooftop. While up there, they could awkwardly see a couple French-kissing each other, but they stopped and stared back once they saw the teenagers rise from the bottom floor. [Music 4.1]
            “Dude,” the man said.
            Rina blasted a fireball at them, “We don’t have time for this.”
            The couple avoided the fireball, but they accidentally jumped off the building and fell down into the dumpster. Felix sighed. With barely any time to waste, Felix didn’t bother to complain to Rina at the moment. He only ordered her to aim for the cavern in the distance.
            “Who do you think I am? I can’t shoot a fireball that far, stupid!”
            “Just try it!”
            Rina purposely blasted a fireball towards a tree furthest away from her, but closest to the cavern.
“Let’s burn up this domino joint and hope it reaches the cave!”
            “What?! But the city!”
            “Oh well. If they really care about the village, they’ll send immediate help to take out the flames,” she said casually. “Look down there. People are already panicking. This is our moment!”
            The couple appeared from the bottom floor.
            “Oh no you don’t!” The woman yelled. “We’re getting you this time!”
            Rina blasted another fireball at them but the couple tried to duck this time. The woman’s hair was burnt off by the edges of the flame.
            The man stared at her. “What is this?!”
            “I’m almost bald!” She cried.
            “Gross. We are so through.” The man abruptly ran back down to the previous floor.
            “B-Babe, no!”
            After that dramatic scene, Rina went onward. “Anyways… Let’s go, Lydia.”
            Felix still followed along. [End music]

~ Kyrie – eastern district ~


            Compared to the northern, central, and southern districts, the eastern district is rather short and to-the-point. There is no area for the eastern side besides a large gate. One man from each side of the gate was inside a tiny building with buttons, kind of like what you would see in a cockpit.
            The group of three barely hid behind a boulder, with Lydia tripping and commenting on the pain without any expression. It was rather difficult for them to pass through the central district, and now they had to face a gate.
            Well, the men in the cockpit were panicking. The gates had to open up for the carriages to pass through with buckets of water for the flames.
            “Perfect timing!” Rina clenched her fists in pride. “I’m out of here! Stupid scientist, I’m coming after you!”
            She waited for the most opportune time to rush in. In other words, once the carriages came in, Rina ran the opposite direction where dust clouds formed from the ground. Felix was behind the two girls until they left the city completely, now onto the plains towards the Town of Igor…

~ Road to Town of Igor - Bridge ~


            It has been almost two hours after the escape of Kyrie. This must be the first time the group travelled on an insightful field filled with grass, dandelions, and plains of wind and breeze. We can almost hear the joy in Lydia’s words – just the words. Both Rina and Felix had trouble understanding how Lydia felt as she still lacked the expression to… express.
            Their travel was somewhat quiet throughout. Rina and Felix said nothing, but ever since Lydia gained her first shard, she could not stop talking about how soothing the walk must have been.
Just Like Rina's Hair

 
            Once Lydia ran out of things to say, Felix said to Rina, “Say, you didn’t tell me how Jess got onto that tree and how you knew she had it.”
            Rina didn’t bother to look at his face. She continued walking, but she decided to explain to him, “After I left you at that alleyway, I continued down the pavement and I eventually saw that scientist guy talking to some city people. I snuck behind a wall and overheard some of them saying they saw some shiny thing fall into the city. Nobody knew where it fell. Then I thought, hey – if it’s a shiny object, I could find it easily during the first nightfall after the orb shattered. This was last night when it was JUST about sunset.”
            “You’ve been searching all night, then?”
            “Well duh. Why would I rest when I know Lydia’s shards are on the line? Someone could be snatching the rest up by now or using it for something stupid. Anyway, that stupid little girl was out looking for food apparently. She was already holding the shard by the time I saw her. She told me she found it lying behind a dumpster as she was looking for food.”
            Felix chuckled. He now knew that Jess only disappeared last night in order to find more food while the other children were asleep. Instead, she found a shiny, blue shard behind a sack of garbage.
            “What’s so funny?! I chased after her but she wanted to sell it for some big money or something. I tried to tell her how important that shard was, but that little demon child ran off and disappeared. The next morning, apparently people barely started seeing her sleep in the tree near the central area of the city. And, that’s when the commotion started.”
            “Oh, I see! Well, she didn’t know how special it was to you. I’m sure she would understand.”
            “Whatever.”
            “I’m surprised you actually explained that much to me.”
            “I figured it was better to educate your stupid little mind before you keep asking me in the future. Now, stop talking to me. We’re only traveling together in case of soldiers finding us along the way. Once I get to the town, you better stay out of my sight for good.”
            “I will, I will,” Felix said, rolling his eyes.

~ Town of Igor – Western waterway ~


            The Town of Igor is seen as a peaceful yet underdeveloped land where new tenants would appear from time to time. This town was created only several years prior in order to gain new prosperity, and most of all, to have a nice view of Lake City Prima, the most beautiful watering city in the world. The lake branched all the way to several waterways around the town in the most convenient matter for said townspeople.
            “So,” Rina first examined the town from the outside while Felix took a punch in the face from Lydia. “the scientist guy must be around here. That idiot must be sneaking in some battleship in the town’s port, so we should head there.”
            Felix caressed his bruised forehead. “Er, are you just going to barge in?”
            “I probably am. You can either go or leave. I’ll give you that option, but don’t get in my way if you do follow along.”
            “I thought about it for a while since we’ve been walking, and I figured the people here will eventually find out I’m some kind of fugitive.”
            “Suspenders, you’re a mess now. You have no choice but to keep running.”
            “Isn’t that what you’re doing too?”
            “Leave us out of this. I have another mission of my own to carry – and that is to return all the shards back for Lydia.”
            Felix stood in front of her, blocking the way to the town entrance.
            “You still haven’t told me the reason why you two have been running from the Gammel army,” Felix could see Rina squint her eyes in discomfort. “What does the whole army want with two teenage girls?”
            Rina tried to walk around him. “What do you care? Let’s go Lyd-“
            Felix took a step to the side. “You have to tell me.”
            “Why should I? I’m in a hurry here, idiot!”
            As Rina pushed him aside, Felix only stood at the same spot, not following her this time. He knew there was no point in following her if she only wanted him to stay away from them for good.
            Felix was alone now, and this time compared to Kyrie, he had even less hope of finding a place to live in peace. He wanted to be near lively neighborhoods without having to be judged as the boy who infiltrated the battleship. He wanted to be known as the boy who braved his way through soldiers in order to speak to his father about important matters such as Saradeli’s economic condition. No one will spend their time, sitting around listening to Felix tell them the truth.
            So far, there were no signs of soldiers. It was a typical, peaceful town with not that many bargainers on the roadway like Saradeli. The only life Felix could see were a bunch of children in the front yards of every house, playing together while parents were either working at the mills or hanging clothes on the clotheslines. There were pets and farm animals here and there as well.

~ Town of Igor – Southern park ~


            Upon heading southeast after the western waterways, Felix came to an extremely clean field named ‘Igor Park’. Who would have figured anyway? He headed for the only statue in the center that was named after Igor, the creator of the town and also known as one of the best geologic professors in the world. [Music 5.2]
            Felix finished reading the stone plaque down below. “Hm, this Igor guy must have been really successful.”
            He started thinking about Igor’s successes as compared to Felix’s own successes so far – nothing much.
            “Ah,” An old woman said from behind.
            Felix turned around immediately by surprise. The old woman had a brown cane on her right hand. There was a scarf lamented over her neck and shoulder. This is a typical garment for townspeople in Igor, supposedly. Her gray hair was strapped in one large pony tail and she was shivering from elderly age.
            “You seem to be a bit lost, no?” she asked kindly.
            “Oh, um, a little. I was just reading about Igor’s history on this statue.”
            “What a gentleman. Usually, children don’t like studying the history of mankind,” she said slowly. “Even when I was a child, I utterly disliked learning. I praise you, young child.”
            Felix blushed. “Th-Thanks! What happened to Igor anyway?”
            “Igor? Oh, that sweet gentleman! Yes, yes. He passed away several years ago from old age. Wait, was that the tale? Lots of people in my life died, so I can’t tell the difference.” This frightened Felix even if it didn’t seem to phase the woman at all. “He was mostly known as a famous geologic professor. Because of this, every other professor striving to learn about Rhadessia’s geology came here to study with him. As he passed away, he left the lower professors to take his glory. What a kind soul, he was.”
            “Rhadessia’s geology…” Felix repeated. “Rhadessia is what everyone calls our world.”
            “That is quite correct. Right now, another professor is in the lead of being the most known geologic hero. All the children look up to him as Professor Talbot!”
            Felix had an idea. If he could talk to Professor Talbot, maybe that man could tell Felix about the safest places in the world.
            “Thank you so much!” He tried to give a bow similar to Clyde. “I shall talk to the professor.”
            “Sure thing, sonny. However, I will have to warn you that the laboratory to the east is highly gated and protected. We do not want any suspicious intruders going in now.”
            Felix sighed. “More trouble, I guess… How do commoners get in?”
            “Through citizenship! You just have to pass an exam at the local central passport building which is north from here. All travelers must go through this normal procedure.”
            Felix became frightened. “How do you pass?”
            “It is a traumatic exam if I do say so myself! They…” She shivered even faster.
            “M-Miss, are you okay?!”
            “Yes, yes I am fine. Just thinking about the exam has gotten me over the top. They…” She made the same frightening shiver. “pat you down and touch you everywhere.”
            Felix’s quick heartbeats sank and loosened back to normal. “…That’s it?”
            “Yes, yes! They touch you – everywhere. Quite frightening, I tell you!”
            “I-I’ll go take this examination then. Thank you so much for telling me about this.”
            “It is no problem, young man. Good luck on your examination!”
            “Thank you!”
            As Felix was heading out of the park, he knew what his next destination was going to be. As long as he gets to speak to Professor Talbot, maybe then he will find a way to reach the safest land where he can finally live in peace. He would go through examinations and securities in order to seek the answer. He is now ready to take on his own mission instead of following Rina around… [End music]
[Ending 1 music]
~~~
Next on The Obsidian Tale, Felix is going to try and get a passport! Well, he has to take an exam. How can he take an exam about a town that he barely visited?! Meanwhile, what are Rina and Lydia doing in order to take the shards back? Are they simply going to barge into the laboratory and retrieve the shards? Find out on the next episode!
~~~
Posted by OmigawdMatt at 12:00 PM 0 comments

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Episode 04 - Hungry Bread Loafers

The Obsidian Tale

Episode 4
[Opening 1 music]



~ Village of Saradeli – south district – path to Kyrie ~


            South of the Village of Saradeli is an opening that leads to a small city named Kyrie. As far as its history goes, there were not that many problems. As a peaceful city, they don’t strive to be the strongest and oddly enough, they don’t even need armed forces to defend for themselves. Ultimately, Kyrie is surrounded and blocked off by Saradeli which only grows crops on their own, so there is no need to fight. Kyrie is also grounded off by a forest further south. The west and east portions are mountains difficult to pass even for explorers. The only downside to Kyrie is the small sector slums and hallways in between buildings. Occasionally, sketchy people may appear.
            Going back to the main group, Rina had Lydia powerwalk with her through the small tunnel in between Saradeli and Kyrie. Good thing too – it was about a two-mile walk! [Music 4.1]
            Without looking behind herself, Rina said aggravatingly, “Are you seriously still following me?”
            Felix was behind her. “I’m coincidentally going the same way. Once I get to the city, we can finally separate.”
            “Ugh, why can’t you just stand over there and wait until I’m out of your eyesight. I’d prefer that than some loser Suspenders kid following me all the time.”
            “What did you say?!”
            “You heard me.”
            “And why did you come to my house?”
            “Because I was going to ask your mom if she was ready to leave. I guess it was a waste of time too because she chose not to leave!”
            “Ergh, you’re a jerk, using people like that!” Felix said.
            Rina suddenly stopped as she let go of Lydia’s arm. “What did you say?” Now she was into the argument. “You have no idea how much we’ve been through. We were being chased by soldiers, and it’s still happening. I don’t have time to play nice.”       
            “Can’t you see? I’m in the same situation now!”
            “Well too bad for you. Deal with it your own way,” Rina said while Lydia was trying to lick the walls. “L-Lydia! That’s not food!”
            Felix began walking past the two girls, “Well I want to see the city life and I don’t have time to wait behind you either. I’m walking my own pace.”
            Rina grabbed Lydia again as she headed off. “Well then we’re going too!”
            Lydia’s hand slipped away from the walls, leaving rocks fall in trails behind her. The two teenagers were racing each other, and Lydia was being dragged along with them without any emotions, just like a doll.

~ Kyrie – north district ~


            Entering the city, both Rina and Felix were still quarreling with each other. Their voices rose along the streets and the city folk watched them.
            “Well maybe if you weren’t so ugly, I wouldn’t have felt as sorry for you.”
            “What?! You’re being crazy! I wouldn’t have let my best friend lose his memory on account of my responsibilities!”
            “Oh don’t you pull Lydia into this!”
            “Give us food,” a higher-pitched voice appeared in the dark alleyway beside the three teenagers.
            Rina, still not having to turn her back to Felix, asked, “Why did you change the damn subject?”
            “I didn’t!” Felix yelled in frustration.
            “Then why did you just ask for food?!”
            “Give us food…” The voice repeated.
            Rina finally turned around to speak directly to Felix. “Shut the heck up already, you annoying piece of-…” [End music]
            A little boy with light blue hair frowned in front of them. He had goggles hung along his neck and his yellowish cape was tattered in dust, turning it slightly orange. His gray shorts were also shredded as if he had them for several years. For some reason, he looked as if he was capable of pulling a cynical smile, but he looked extremely disappointed. Rina and Felix tilted their heads slowly, finding it strange that some random child appeared out of the… blue.
            “Uhhhhh…” They both said speechlessly.
            Rina gave an evil grin. “You have to say the magic word if you want some food.”
            Felix noticed the boy’s face which was filled with dust. The boy frowned and then he slowly turned around in disappointment. He suddenly made a mean expression behind their backs as if he had a change of personality.
            “Excuse me? I was talking to you!” She shouted at him.
            Felix stood in between them. “Wait… This is serious,” Felix said, knowing how difficult it is to barely survive on his family’s own crops.
            “What’s this gotta do with me? I need to find those shards!”
            “Then go already! I’ll help him on my own.”
            Rina made a slight gasp. He shooed her away for once, so she pouted in anger.
            “Fine, but you’re not going to be able to help without any money. Remember: you left the village without any money and food. Where will you start off?” She asked rhetorically as she began leaving. “Come on, Lydia. We don’t have time for this idiot.”

~ Kyrie – north district – alleyway ~


            Felix could barely see the alleyway but he was still able to follow the boy to the middle of the alley, noticing two other children with him. Felix watched as a younger boy cried while a darker-skinned girl tried to comfort him. The blue-haired boy looked at Felix without saying anything.
            Felix knelt down in front of them. “Hey… What’s going on here?”
            “We live here,” the boy said with his high-pitched voice.
            “Really? What about your parents?”
            The dark-skinned girl said immediately, “We don’t know. That’s why we’re here!”
            “Please don’t take us away!! We’re scared of soldiers!” The younger boy shivered. One of his lenses was broken but he still wore them. It was as if he could only see with one eye. The little girl had bushy pigtails. Both of these children had beige overalls. They looked like sacks of potatoes! The only other difference between the two was that the young boy had a blue cape while the girl with the pigtails had a green cape.
            The older boy with his yellow cape pointed at the door next to a dumpster. “The bakery usually throws out their leftover food every night. It’s really good stuff!” He gave a crooked smile.
            “But last night, the bakery didn’t throw it out. The workers must have kept them all for themselves,” the younger boy said with a whiny shriek.
            Knowing that it has been night time for a while since the Saradeli incidents, these children must have not eaten for almost a whole day. An older girl appeared with only three apples wrapped in paper towels.
            “Hey! Get away from them!!” she commanded, looking at the large crescent blade attached behind Felix’s back.
            She seemed to be about only a year older than the blue-haired boy. This time, this girl had two brown ponytails on each end of her head that hung down past her shoulders. Being the oldest-looking and also the strongest, she had a twig on her hands, ready to fight back. Her stern armor was just plastic put together to make her look fearless. Aside from the other three children, this young girl had a red cape behind her back.
            “W-Wait, I’m not here to hurt you!” Felix almost tripped on his back.
He stuttered several times, even scared by the girl who was many years younger than him. Felix stood by a distance to make sure he was not going to get attacked. The oldest girl ignored him and gave each of her friends an apple, but she had nothing for herself. The boy with glasses ate immediately while the girl with pigtails gave her friend a hug. [Music 2.2]
            “Gee thanks, Jess!” The blue-haired boy said happily.
            “Oh Forrest, just eat before you die of starvation,” she patted him on the head.
            It was strange, really. Felix could see her angelic smile when she talked to her friends – a smile that revealed sweet kindness, but she was very aggressive towards strangers like Felix. This almost reminded him of Rina – how she’s very protective of her best friend while insulting him and Clyde.
            From a distance, Felix said to the girl, “Your name is Jess?”
            Jess looked at him with hawk-like eyes. “Yeah, so what? Are you going to turn me in now?”
            “N-No! I don’t want to. I just wanted to know what’s going on because I only came here city not too long ago.”
            “Hm, weird. Not many new people come around here,” she said.
            Felix shuffled into his pockets. This time, he remembered to bring some coins unlike back in the village. He took the only two coins out.
            “I know this isn’t much, but you guys can have it.”
            Jess glared at it. “This much won’t get us anything.”
            The younger girl said to her, “Any cent counts though.”
            Jess sighed. “Sydney… I guess you’re right. Maybe we can save it to buy a new pair of glasses for little Spencer here, heh.”
            “Yay!” Spencer said feeling exhilarated.
            “Do you have food too?” Forrest begged, looking up to Felix, literally.
            Felix, being about over a foot taller than Forrest, became guilty.
            “I-I’m sorry, I don’t have anything. Even I’ll get hungry if I don’t do anything for a few more hours.” He sat down against the wall opposite to them.
            Jess sat closest to Felix in order to protect her three friends. She watched him to make sure he does nothing to them.
            “We don’t have any more apples for you. I only found three by a tree.”
            Felix chuckled. “It’s okay. I don’t need it.”
            Forrest bravely sat next to him. Jess seemed quite uncomfortable about that.
            “Mister, what will you do now?” Forrest asked innocently.
            “Me? I planned to move here, find a job, and then just start from there. Sounds simpler than it actually is…” He looked up at the only light left: the moon in between the alley balconies. “I want to visit my mom when things calm down.”
            “Did you get into a fight with her??”
            “Haha, maybe.” He looked away in shame. “I don’t know whose fault it was, to be honest. I just wanted the best for us and so did she, but we had different views. It’s okay though. I promised to come back and protect her if things go wrong.”
            Jess had a twig in her hands. She spoke to him, “You said you wanted to get a job?” Once Felix nodded, Jess continued, “Well, have fun with that. Nobody ever wants to hire children like us so we have to wait for years.”
            Sydney got up as well. She raised her hands towards the sky as she started talking in a melodic voice, “One day~ I’m going to get a job at the bakery! Then, we get to eat all the bread we want!~”
            “Mmmm!” Spencer chimed along.
            “Wait a minute,” Felix had an idea. “Why don’t I go apply now? I look old enough for them to consider hiring me.”
            “And take my dream away?!” Sydney panicked.
            “No, no! Just for now, I’ll try to get the job. Once I do, I can take all the leftover bread and give it to you guys. That way, you can have food every day!” [End music]
            Jess’s eyes widened. “What? Why do you care so much?”
            Felix explained to them about how difficult it is to live in the Village of Saradeli. It was tough having to live off of your own harvest with no outer support besides trading with other villagers. As soon as Felix finished, Jess started to understand without trouble. The other three children were already distracted in their own conversations.
            “I see. You know, mister-…”
            “Oh, I’m Felix by the way!” [Music 1.1]
            “Okay, Felix. Sorry about jumping into conclusions with you earlier. It’s just that a bunch of soldiers lured us into some kind of gold mine, but not an actual gold mine. They offered free money, and our parents went with them. The next day, both the soldiers and all our parents disappeared at the same time. We’re not the only kids. This happened down at the very sunny trading city called South Ouli Brye.”
            “How did you end up here?”
            “We barely made it. The forest in between is kind of dangerous, and it took wonders and effort to climb up a steep cliff beside the waterfall. We also tried passing even further to the village that you live in, but we heard stories that it was protected by some creepy bear monster.”
            Felix remembered his walk with Lydia and Rina. Besides their feud, it was a safe walk.
            “Er… That’s disturbing,” Felix commented. [End music]
            The bakery’s back door opened and one crate was thrown into the dumpster. The three children stood up and rummaged into it without hesitation. Jess, on the other hand, watched them.
            “You don’t want any bread?” Felix questioned her.
            “I do, but I want them to eat before I do. I don’t need to eat.”
            Felix noticed that she was quite skinny despite her independency.
            “You need to eat to,” Felix suggested, but Jess only ignored him.
            Spencer began crying. “Aww… There’s only two pieces!”
            “We’re unlucky again,” Sydney said.
            Felix shook his head. “Just two? Shouldn’t there be more?” The children were silent, not being sure of what he was claiming. “I’m going to check something out really quick.”

~ Kyrie – north district – Bread Loaf Sandwiches ~


            Entering from the bakery’s front door, Felix could see the sign "Bread Loaf Sandwiches”. He began to question why the bakery's name involved three different ways to define bread, but that's not important.
            “Umm, excuse me?” Felix kindly asked.
            A worker took alert especially now that it is closing time. It’s also not often people come this last minute.
            “Do you have extra bread that you guys are throwing out?”
            “Only customers are allowed as long as the pay.”
            “I just saw you throw the leftovers out.” Felix took sight of a bag of colorful, tastier bread as compared to the two plain breads at the dumpster. “That’s a lot of leftover bread. Why don’t you sneak some out for me?” He gave a wink, trying to use the same sneak methods from Saradeli’s marketplace.
            “That’s… a little weird.”
            “It was going to be trash anyway, right? You might as well give it to people who really need it.”
            “Look, mister. You’re old enough to get a job. If you want food, you better deserve it by earning money yourself.”
            Felix clenched his teeth in frustration. “They’re not for-…” He paused.
            Of course, maybe the people in the bakery resented the children because they were such hassles and freeloaders over time. Eventually, they would not want any affiliation and liability with them.
            “Do you have some kind of application then?”
            “Uh…” The worker stuttered. “We’re not accepting applications at the moment.”
            “Can you ask your boss at least?”
            “What I say is the truth. Either you leave now or we will have to call against you.”
            Felix turned away. “Geez… Cranky butt.”

~ Kyrie – north district – alleyway ~


            As the night continued, Felix could only return with the news of failure. The children were disappointed. Even Jess showed her disappointment, but at least she understood Felix’s struggle.
            “So what now?” Forrest sat, eating a half-loaf of bread while the other two younger orphans ate the rest.
            Felix yawned. “I could still look for a way to help you guys. I’ll be right b-“
            “No, you’re tired. You should stay,” Jess said.
            “Are you sure?”
            “Yeah. We prioritize sleep over hunger.”
            Forrest said to him, “Besides, when we’re sleeping, we forget that we’re hungry.”
            Felix gave a sigh. “Oh… I guess you’re right. I’ve been through a long day, so I’ll sleep for the night here too, if that’s okay?”
            “Where else can you go?” Jess asked, suggesting that he was allowed to stay with them. [Music 4.2]
            Sydney ran to Felix first in an airplane motion, “Woohoo! I get to sleep next to him first!”
            “W-What??” Felix became shocked at the sudden trample of children.
            “No fair!” Spencer wanted to cry again.
            Forrest sat on the opposite end, alone. Jess sat next to Sydney, giving Felix a welcoming smile to let him know that this is a normal procedure to the children especially when sleeping out at night in the cold.
            Felix shrugged. “I guess it’s not so bad living out here like this,” he thought to himself. [End music]

~ Kyrie – north district – alleyway – the next morning ~


            Starting from nine in the evening, the children along with Felix slept all the way until eight the next morning. It has been a while since he had slept this long. Usually it was the ‘boring wake up, work in the fields, help his mother cook, eat, and then sleep’ routine.
            Felix raised his arms as he yawned. Spencer fell over and hit his head on the floor while Sydney was trying to continue sleeping on his lap. Forrest was still resting alone on the opposite side.
            “Man… that was a good sleep!” Felix said out loud.
            Spencer fixed his glasses, well… half of it at least. “I need more sleep…”
            “More?” Felix repeated. “Hey, where is your friend, Jess?”
            “She doesn’t usually disappear without telling us. Maybe she just took a walk,” Forrest said.
            Sydney puffed out her bushy pigtails. “I bet she didn’t expect us to wake up this early! Hehe!”
            From a faint distance, Felix could recognize a few soldiers running back and forth. It was hard to see since it was a narrow alleyway. You could barely see them running from the left end to the right end in only a split second. There were, however, a tremendous amount of footsteps brewing on the outskirts.
            “This doesn’t look good.” Felix grabbed onto his crescent blade. “I have to find her!”
            As he pulled out his blade, Forrest was struck in awe as compared to his two other friends who were frightened.
            “Coooool…” Forrest stared blankly, almost drooling.
            “Okay, you three: stay right here. I’m going to find Jess.”
            “Wait, let me go with you!” Forrest began jumping in happiness.
            “Why? It could be dangerous.”
            “My heroic ten-den-cies are finally coming to life!” Forrest had trouble pronouncing some of the bigger words in our known vocabulary.
            “Uh… what?”
            “He keeps thinking everything is a heroic game.” Sydney had her hands beside her hips. “So lame.”
            Forrest grabbed onto Felix’s shorts. “It’s not lame! Mr. Felix, tell her it’s not lame!”
            “Well, it could be fun depending how you work with it,” Felix said, hoping they would buy his half-assed answer.
            Forrest pointed to his two friends, “You two promise that you’ll stay here. We’ll be back!”
            Spencer hugged Sydney in fear. “O-Of course we’ll stay. I’d rather not leave anyway.”
            “Aw man…” Sydney frowned. “Everyone’s leaving…”
            “Don’t worry, we’ll be back, and with Jess!” Forrest encouraged them.
            Felix agreed with him. “He’s right.  But Forrest, remember that it is also dangerous out there, especially at this time. There are soldiers.”
            Forrest took out a BB gun. “I’m ready!”
            “For real?”
            “I found it in the dumpster. It’s useful for catching birds.”
            “W-Why do you need to shoot birds?!”
            “Oh it doesn’t matter. Let’s go, Mr. Felix!”

~ Kyrie – north district – outskirts ~


            The outskirts seemed noisy. Felix noticed Forrest’s amazed expression which indicated that these types of commotions don’t normally happen in Kyrie. This city acts just like the Village of Saradeli in terms of peace, but economically, they are different. Knowing not every soldier has seen Felix, it was partially safe for him to barge out and walk casually as if he was a regular civilian.


Chocolate Bundt Cake

 
What is Marriage Like?


            “You know, Mr. Felix, we don’t blend in very well.”
            “Why’s that?”
            “Because, you have that giant weapon in your hand. That’s not suspicious at all.”
            “Oh crap, I forgot!”
            A Gammel soldier from behind made a loud ruckus about Felix using Gammel weaponry. Some of his army of men were following along.
            Felix slapped his own forehead. “Damn it… I forgot. Ugh, it’s time to run and find a hiding spot!”
            Forrest aimed his BB gun at the soldiers. “We don’t have time for that. We have to fight back, and then find Jess!”
            Felix grabbed Forrest’s right arm. “What are you, crazy? We have to run!” Felix pushed Forrest to the front so that the crescent blade can do all the ammunition guarding.

            ~ Kyrie – central district ~


            The biggest commotion at the moment would be in the central district. Here, the famous statue of a man named Kyrie had been place beside two water fountains, also surrounded by several healthy trees and large fields. The city folk were circling the area, distracting some of the soldiers who were ordered to stand as close as possible to the center.
            Felix and Forrest rummaged into the group of civilians in order to hide from the soldiers. Felix had his weapon behind his back, wondering if he should invest in a weapon sheath in case of hiding his identity.
            Reaching the center, Felix saw Jess on a top tree branch. Some soldiers were shooting and aiming for the branches below her.
            “S-Stop it right now!” Jess ordered.
            “No, youuu stop it!” A soldier yelled childishly.
            A generic civilian nearby agreed, “Like, totally, this is getting soooo annoying. Can you just like, shoot her in the face or something?”
            Felix stood in front of the civilian, “What is wrong with you? She’s just a little girl!”
            Standing out in the open, everyone could see him, even the soldiers who recognized him back at the battleships. After a few whispers, Felix was going to become their next target.
            Forrest watched them and then he asked Felix, “What’s going on?”
            “There’s the fugitive!” one soldier whispered. [Music 4.3]
            Some civilians began screaming while Jess could see Felix and Forrest from above.
            “Fugitive…? Isn’t that a bad person?” Forrest took a step away from Felix. “You?”
            Felix became guilty. “Um, well, I just…”
            Forrest shook his head. “No... You’re not a hero at all, are you?”
            “Forrest, listen, it’s just a misunderstanding. It’s not my fault.”
            “The soldiers have this thing called ‘operative power’. They choose who’s right and wrong!”
            Felix scratched his head. “Don’t you mean ‘authorative power’?”
            “Whatever! Either way, you’re a bad guy! I can’t believe we let you sleep with us!”
            An old woman from the front of the crowd shrieked, “You slept with an under-aged boy?!” She said to Felix, comparing their heights and guessing their age differences.
            Felix jumped. “WHAT?! It’s not what it sounds like! I’m innocent!”
            “Wow. A criminal and a creep. What a guy,” a soldier commented.
            “Hmhm, this is interesting.” A familiar mad scientist appeared from the crowd, but Felix didn’t recognize him. After all, the strange man only confronted Rina and Lydia. He went on, “It is thanks to those trail of rocks you left us back at the little cavern.”
            A large fireball flew from above one of the buildings nearby. It was Rina who stood proudly with Lydia.
            “You have something that I really need, give it to me!” She jumped down while grabbing Lydia in the empty, surrounded lot nearby Felix.
            The fireball struck the central tree which made Jess drop whatever shiny blue object that she had. After Rina and Lydia purposely fell on top of Felix, Rina ran as quickly as possible to collect the shard. The soldiers were more in awe than they could shoot.
            “What do you think you’re doing? That shard belongs to me!” The scientist yelled.
The Shard Possessors

 
            As Rina and the scientist were running towards the falling shard from opposite ends, loud banjo music was playing in the background by a band who wanted to dramatize the scene. Everything went slow motion now and as a result… Rina barely grabbed the shiny blue shard!
            She was about to run back to Lydia but the scientist grabbed her leg as she tripped.
            Rina gasped. “Oh no you didn’t! Nobody trips me!” She kicked the scientist on the face as she stood up and headed for Lydia.
            Once she opened her palms, the shard shined even brighter. It floated into the atmosphere with a loud yet pleasant screeching noise.
            Rina began smiling like a maniac, “It’s one of the shards! I finally got one. Finally! I wonder what it is?!” [End music]
            The shard seeped blue light into Lydia from above and it took about a good ten seconds. No one interrupted. They wanted to see what was happening as well.
            As the light stopped, the shard had disappeared and Lydia’s eyes were less blank, but the majority still existed.
            Rina jumped, shaking her fists in anxiety. “So? So?? Which shard did you get, Lydia?!”
            Lydia pointed at Felix, “Apparently, that boy is a creep.”
            There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, until…
            “WHAAAAAAAAT?!” Felix howled so loud that his voice echoed throughout the whole city. Birds even flew out of the trees on the outer districts…
[Ending 1 music]
 ~~~
Next time on The Obsidian Tale, will we find out what the shard is?! Felix and his friends will somehow escape this mess but how long can they keep this up? Where will they go to next? Now that the new children are in the story, how will their roles be played throughout the entire series? Let's find out on the next episode of the Kyrie Escapees!
~~~
Posted by OmigawdMatt at 12:00 PM 0 comments
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