The Obsidian Tale
~ Lament – southernmost port ~
~ Lament – castle’s throne room ~
“NO!” King Nora yelled at the group.
“Who even let you into the castle?!”
Rina shrugged. “Um, I dunno. The
guards recognized that I’m your daughter, what else?”
“Sigh, we really need to hire new
guards,” Mr. Nora said. Mrs. Nora giggled beside him. “And you have come back
while Magnus is still out there, about to eradicate the world of Rhadessia?!”
“Did he just say ‘sigh’ instead of actually
sighing?” Felix whispered to Lydia. [Music 46.2]
Rina rolled her eyes. “Father, I
knew you wouldn’t let that go. This time, we need your help and approval to stop Magnus. If you don’t help us,
you’ll be responsible for the world’s destruction, not Magnus! Well, partially,
but you get my point!”
“I really dislike that I have no
other option than to look like the villain in this situation,” he said in his own
disgrace. The group had hoped he would change his mind, and that he did. “Very
well, you may go up.”
Rina turned to Viola, remembering
the fact that her parents never really looked down on their own daughter, but
were too embarrassed to admit they relied on her more than themselves. They
winked at each other as Rina rushed upstairs, leaving the rest to catch up on
their own.
As Rina was about to leave the
throne room, another soldier barged in with a small piece of technology in his
hand. She made a stop and turned around.
“Y-Your majesty! I have something
mystique to present to you!” The soldier tripped and the machine flew out of
his hand and onto the ground.
“Bzzt… SHRIEK. BZZZZT. Anybody
there?” The machine spoke.
Forrest hid behind Leo. “That thing
just talked to us?!”
Hazel grabbed it carefully. “This is
what you would call a walkie-talkie, as Gunther would say.”
“I’ve channeled this to the whole
world, hoping that we have dispatched as many of these! If you can hear me, do
not be alarmed. Say ‘I’ if you hear this!”
There was no answer.
“Really? No one knows how to use
this thing?” The voice said. “Push the damn red button!”
Hazel turned the phone around.
“OHHHHH, okay,” she said stupidly. As she pressed it, there was a beeping noise
as she spoke into it. “Who is this?” After her were a bunch of other civilians
from different cities, towns, and villages.
“I have sent this device to the
major areas: Amitt, Vector, Prima, Kyrie, North Ouli Brye, and hopefully to
Lament,” Gunther said.
“Preposterous!” King Nora shouted.
“How would such a stranger know of our presence? Who is this Gunther he himself
speaks of?!”
“Himself…?” Forrest answered with
attitude.
“I do not need you to be some sort
of smart aleck, boy!”
Rina came down from the steps again.
“How was he able to give this thing to the city of Lament if we’re so high up?”
The soldier stood up. “I always
guard the entrance to the city. I simply saw some strange man from down below
and he requested that I send you this device.”
Mrs. Nora gasped. “Oh goodness! What
if it was a trap? Would you still take the device?”
Rina rolled her eyes. “Chillax,
mom!” Her mom glared at her. “Uh, ‘relax please’?” She continued, “At a crucial
time like this, we don’t need to question any other dangerous person besides
Magnus and the men he’s controlling! Now come on, everyone. Let’s go up!”
Hazel was ordered to give the device
to King Nora. Without question, she did so, knowing the more important thing at
this point was to check the entire world from the highest point possible.
Rina was the first to enter the
summit. The construction workers must have done a terrible job at fixing this
portion of the castle as she could tell the color differences of newer bricks.
They just looked as if they were slapped on and considered ‘complete’.
The Old Proud Parents
As the group left, King Nora thought
about the situation carefully. He said out loud. “SIGH…” Then, he turned to the
remaining soldiers in the room. “It looks like we’ll have to bend the rules a
bit – just for now.”
“And that would be?” Mrs. Nora asked
him.
King Nora raised his right hand. He
wanted to let everyone in the world know that the Avian race exists, and that
they should be allowed to support Rina and her friends by finding the towers
and destroying them.
When they finished their
conversation, Mrs. Nora patted his shoulders. “Dear, I see you want the Avians
to be a part of this battle.”
“Yes. All this time, we have barred
ourselves away from the humans and the Obsidians. It does not prove me a king,
if I were to sit and watch a terrible battle resume. I must support our
daughter no matter how long it takes her to stop this Magnus fool.”
Mrs. Nora gave a soft smile. “Our
own daughter… It no longer matters if she dislikes being a part of the royal
family. She should be whoever she wants to be, and, as much as I don’t want to
– I have to learn to accept it.”
“As do I,” Mr. Nora stood up. “We
shall celebrate her successes once this all ends. First, let us dispatch our
soldiers and support everyone else in the world!”
~ Lament – castle summit ~
“This is trash!” Rina made fun of
the bricks.
“That’s insulting!” Someone randomly
said off to the side. “I am not trash.” [Music 7.1]
Rina rolled her eyes. “I’m not
talking about you-“ She paused the moment she saw who it was: Professor Talbot.
“On second thought, I might as well be.”
“Still insulting as ever,” he
laughed.
Rina glared at him. “What the hell
are you even doing up here? Did my dad really give you permission to enter the
castle? I thought you died or something.”
“No. I snuck my way up here through
various methods you regular citizens would not understand.”
Felix was insulted as well. “H-Hey!
We saved you back at the tower!”
Lydia had her hands over her chest.
“Are you okay, sir? Since, you’ve consumed some chemical Obsidian energy back
at the tower...”
“Ah, the Obsidian is still as kind
as ever, just like how she was when I first met her,” he said to them. “A
floating woman at the village was able to suppress some of the chemicals so we
should be fine for a lot longer.”
Viola blushed. “Thank goodness. That
means everybody else is fine.”
“The Gammel army will never falter,
not even when we have lost our own leader - Magnus.”
Rina headed closer to the large
machine that he was in front of. “Cut the crap. Tell us what you’re even doing
up here.”
“I wanted to raise signals from the
highest point of Rhadessia. Even now, airships cannot fly this high due to
turbulence. These signals will help detect the location of the towers that are
exploiting chemical energy.”
“That is an amazing strategy!”
Warren shouted. “As expected from the greatest scientist of the Gammel
government.”
“No worries. In fact, if you would
like to help, you can work under the Gammel army and we will let you know the
details,” he joked.
“Disgusting! I’m never working for
the Gammel army!” Rina yelled at him. “So where are these towers?”
“Give me a moment,” he said, pressing
several buttons that nobody would even understand. There were screeching noises
within the machine which indicated that signals were calling and were in the
process of detecting any nearby sources.
Forrest stood by the edge of the
castle top. “Look at all of those flying people fly!!”
Lydia grabbed onto him. “Forrest,
please don’t go too close to the ledge.”
On the black screen in front of him
showed green text of each place with the towers. There is a monster spawning
count that appeared beside each name.
“Frolix Volcano, Hollow Cavern,
Vaticul Canyon, Aria River, the center of Zweiland Mountains, and…” Talbot
noticed the last two listed. “Two names listed as ‘???’. From what this list
shows, each place besides these question marks have monster spawn rates going
down.”
Hazel snapped her fingers. “I
understand now! The Avians are supporting our worldwide war against Magnus and
his spawns.”
Rina watched as a bunch of Avian
soldiers were flying out of the city. “That does make sense…” She gave a chuckle.
“Father…”
Forrest poked at the screen. “You
said those numbers are going down, but there are some going up, liar!”
Talbot turned to the question marks.
“Two areas are going up?!” He then snickered at Forrest. “And don’t touch my
precious invention.” [End music]
Felix felt his head. “Argh…”
“What is it?” Leo asked. “Do you
know something?” [Music 48.1]
“I want to explain it… but…
Something is making me not say it!”
Lydia grabbed his hands. “Felix,
please, focus!”
Felix began to blush. “These names…
magic…!”
Rina gasped. “Wait a minute!” She
rudely pushed Talbot to the side while checking the screen. “These names…
they’re all from where I got my magic! I don’t get it. These places are sacred
towards Lady Pria. She stated that they’re important places mostly known for
natural resources and elements.”
Lydia’s eyes widened. “What…? How
can that be?”
Warren clenched his fists. “That
makes no sense at all. How can there be towers where natural energy is
emitted?”
Hazel reminded the group, “It does
not make sense to me either. From what we’ve learned, Obsidian energy helped
react to these natural places especially the Frolix Volcano, for example. No
chemical energy should have been able to withstand this.”
Felix was still holding onto Lydia’s
hands. “Are you feeling any different?”
“N-Not yet,” she responded.
Hazel glared at both Lydia and
Felix’s hands. Lydia’s hands were slightly pale, but Felix was saying nothing
about the change of color.
“Are you sure you are okay?” Hazel
asked again.
“Of course!” She giggled. “I don’t
feel anything.”
“You don’t feel anything, is that it?” Hazel questioned her even more.
Rina, trusting that Lydia would be
okay, turned back to Talbot, “Now, what else can this black screen thingymajigg
tell us about the other two question marks?”
Talbot was still pushing several
buttons, unsure of how to unravel these places. “According to what Professor
Nell showed me, there are six elements. But there are seven names listed.”
Rina nodded. “Okay. The question
marks must indicate the lightning and holy elements.”
“There is such thing as a holy
element?”
Rina ignored him. “Wait a minute.
The natural area for lightning is missing – Lament is the place where I gained
this magic! There has to be a tower here.”
Everyone began looking around with
discomfort.
Viola felt her chest. “I don’t sense
any immense energy nearby.”
Talbot began playing with the
machine again. “I have also installed an application that deals with the number
of damage the spawns and enemies have done.” The green text turned into lines
that formed together into a three-dimensional pyramid.
The rest of the group crowded
inward. Warren pointed at the top, “The number of enemies are faded, but you
can still see who is at the top.”
“The biggest threat is Magnus,”
Hazel claimed. “Right below him are both Clyde and Professor Igor. And below
that are a bunch of other random monsters such as a cloned chimera and
Cerberus.”
Forrest pointed at the largest beast
on the third tier. “What’s that giant octopus thingy??”
Felix suddenly yelled, “The center!
That’s where it is!” He tried to speak as quickly as possible before he wasn’t
able to talk again.
Rina froze for a second, realizing
that this would mean her own city is under attack. Strangely enough, nothing
much was happening besides the soldiers who were flying out of the city.
Viola shrugged. “Clearly, whatever
happens in this city stays in this city. Perhaps this floating land became
secluded from the rest of the world.”
Rina rushed back into the castle.
“That means the location of the tower is directly below us!!!” [End music]
~ Lament – castle’s throne room ~
In the throne room, Rina ordered the
rest of the group to escape the castle and head for the exit of Lament. She was
the only one left besides her parents. [Music 34.1]
“Rina…” The queen said slowly.
In surprise, Rina hugged her mother
as tightly as possible. “Mother, father! I have to leave again, but we’ve found
our answers.”
“Did you see all the towers from the
top of the castle?” Mr. Nora asked her.
“Not quite, but we’ve gotten better
information – from a professional. I know exactly where these towers are, and
almost all of them are currently being taken care of. It’s just a slow process
but we will be taking down the vilest towers first. There seems to be one
directly below us.”
“I will send more reinforcements!”
Mr. Nora said to her.
“That would be great, thanks!! I
really have to get back to our airship and stop that tower. I still don’t
understand why the number of spawns are increasing if it’s out in the open like
this, but we will find out.”
As Rina was about to leave, Mrs.
Nora called out for her. “Will you come back safely?” She wanted to fall into
tears.
Rina shook her head. “Mother, I
promise that you will not lose another daughter. I won’t stop until Magnus is
defeated!” She raised her fists the same way she did when leaving Lament after
the loss of Faris, but this was more for pride of the Avians.
“Dad, mom… I don’t know if I can
really make it out okay,” she said to herself, “and I don’t know if this would
be the last time we’ll see each other, but I’m going to do whatever it takes to
defeat Magnus, even if it costs my own life. I’ve made this vow ever since the
beginning – even if it was to just save Lydia. It’s not over just yet!” [End music]
~ Lament – southernmost port – rocky roads ~
[Music 54.1] The main group had just entered the
Crescent. Right below them was a stairless bottom that led directly to the
ocean, but they could not see much due to a mass of clouds surrounding them.
Warren steered in a downwards spiral and they could start seeing more of the
Rhadessian land. It was not a pretty sight, however. Over the course of their
entrance in Lament, the ocean made time to gather a bunch of sailing
battleships. Missiles were being shot from one mile to another. The rocky roads
that were nearby the Mirror Lands turned into its own kind of land, added to
the mass of water like giant stalagmites.
Mutated Bunny Madness
Forrest pointed at a bunch of Gammel
and Lennox soldiers fighting alongside against the parasites from the eastern
end while the Winstel army chimed in from the western side. It definitely
looked like one of the biggest wars they have seen yet – even more than the
first visit to Ouli Brye’s castle or even the Yucan Tempa.
“Look over there!” Lydia pointed.
Felix grabbed onto one of the rails
within the piloting room while looking out the window. “Those are airships from
the Winstel army, isn’t it?”
Viola said to Warren, “Roll down the
windows. I could hear mumbling from one of their ships.”
As Warren did as she said, the group
could hear a familiar voice. “It is I, Gunther Redlin from the Winstel army!
All allies must aim for the center!”
Several Avians joined in on the
fight as well. They were easily avoiding as many missiles as possible.
Battleships were closing in to the center of the stalagmite, but there was no
tower to be seen. At least not yet, maybe?
“I don’t understand,” Hazel said,
“there are no towers to be seen anywhere.”
Rina pointed to the nearby Winstel
battleships. “Fly down there! We need to talk to the king.”
“Got it!” Warren said as he steered
the ship straight towards the battleship.
Gunther recognized the Crescent
airship as one of the models that his fellow shipwright was asked to work on.
“Do not shoot that airship! They are our allies. Open the front gates.”
Luckily, his battleship was in the
back as last resorts, so he could spare a debriefing moment with the main
group.
As the two ships connected via the
deck, everybody but Warren jumped across the board to speak with the king.
Warren stayed back in case of an attack.
“We need one of your walkie talkie
things.”
“I call them cellphones,” Gunther
shrugged.
Forrest stole one off of Gunther’s
hands. “How do these things even work all around the world? When you talk, it
sends to the other phones really fast!”
“You see, we’ve had some sort of
electrical connections dealing with utility poles everywhere around the world.
You might ask why they haven’t been around and used in popular places like
Vector and Kyrie. However, keep in mind that these poles have not been active
for a thousand years, so they have been deeply buried. The Merridian Laboratory
was the only easy way to connect with.”
“How could these poles be used if
they weren’t active for a thousand years?” Leo asked.
“They have been left on. This marks
as good news to everyone in the
world. You see, nobody knew about the mystery of high electrical usage. The
source coming from underground was a mystery to us for a thousand years, but we
paid it off anyway as a part of your current electrical bills. Let’s say
everyone had to pay 100 extra gold for their monthly electrical bills, you
would wonder why it costs so much just for a month.”
Rina snapped her fingers. “OH! And
now that we found the source, we are able to turn it off or on as we please,
and everyone would be paying less on their bills.”
“Exactly! It is a good fortune to us
all, except for the billing companies, but who cares? My point is, these poles
are still active and we are able to use it to our advantage to stop Magnus.”
Hazel changed the subject. “And what
is going on here? There is no tower, yet we are fighting against a bunch of
spawns overseas?”
“There are a few battleships that
have driven underwater to search for any source. As of now, there are no
findings, but we are fighting them away at the same time.”
Rina disagreed with him. “N-No, that
can’t be! I got my lightning magic here, and that’s one of the seven elements
that mattered from the other towers listed on Talbot’s machine. It has to be around here!”
Gunther grinned. “Is your airship
programmed to work underwater?”
“The shipwright didn’t tell us
anything about that,” Hazel stated.
Viola yawned. “It’s suggestive that
we do not take that chance with our own airship. It was barely programmed to
even float above water after leaving Lumious.”
“That’s a good point,” Gunther said.
“Alright. After seeing what your group was capable of back at the coliseum, I
can easily say that I can trust your reliability in this battle. Would you like
to be a part of the fight overseas, or join the search team underwater? We have
a few spare ships provided for such things.” He pointed at a few ships from
behind.
Rina became excited. “Sweet! I’m
running straight for that tower!”
From the back of the group, Lydia
turned to Felix, “Hey, Felix? You haven’t said much since… a long time. Is
everything okay?”
“Sorry… It has been hard just trying
to talk lately. It’s like I want to tell you all more, but…”
“It’s Magnus, isn’t it? He’s making
Igor’s necklace link to yours, thus causing the both of you to keep quiet about
whatever he controls you to say, right?”
“Yeah…” [End music]
She held onto his shoulders. “This
battle is important, Felix. You need to talk to us more. You need to help us.
Control your voice and don’t let Magnus take over your mind!” [Music 51.1]
“I-I can’t! It’s just… I’m worried
that whenever I’m around you all, I would strike at any instant.” He began to
rage in frustration. The rest of the group turned to him in silence, feeling
sympathetic of how he became useless even after being revived.
“When I was with Igor during that
white state of death, he taught me how to be brave. I was able to withstand
blood, hate, and anger. I thought if I were to ever be revived again, I could
protect everyone.”
Forrest frowned. “But… I say you’re
a hero!”
“I’m no hero at all! We’ve all come
a long way, but it’s because everyone contributed to something, besides myself.
I only caused trouble especially at Lumious, and I knew I could have done
better to help save Jess.”
Forrest became quiet.
“Now with Magnus controlling my
mind, I can’t even tell you all the useful details that he has against us!” He
suddenly took out his chakrams instead of his crescent blade.
Hazel grabbed onto her arrows from
her back pocket. “Felix, stay calm,” she commanded him.
“Ergh…” Felix began to struggle with
himself. He closed his eyes to focus. “It’s here…”
“What?” Lydia turned her head. “What
is it, Felix? There is something that
you want to say, don’t you? Please, tell us! Control what you have to say!”
“That
battleship is here, and someone close to me is on there!”
“Clyde?” Lydia asked.
“No…” He coughed. “My f…” He
suddenly rushed past Gunther. His chakrams switched back to his crescent blade.
Lydia tried to run after him. “Wait,
Felix! Where are you going?!”
Forrest wanted to cry. “Something is
very wrong with Felix. He is a hero,
but even he doesn’t think so.”
Leo patted his head. “Don’t worry,
little man. When we catch Magnus, Felix will be set free.”
“You really think so?” Forrest asked
with innocence.
Leo nodded, still uncertain about
Felix.
“If there was some way…” Leo
thought.
Felix was running off on his own
towards one of the battleships that was still fighting against a bunch of
parasitical monsters and beasts.
“He’s here. He has to be!” Felix
yelled to himself. [End music]
[Ending 5 music]
~~~
Now that the group has laid out a clear image of which monsters are at the top of the hierarchy, they reach out to defeat them all. However, some reside on the Mirror Lands right below Lament, a large plain field that was made for battle. With so much space, it seems this little quarrel between the main group and Magnus will not be so simple. Stay tuned on the next episode of The Obsidian Tale!
~~~
<- Go to Episode 53 - The Change We Must Seek
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