1 The Remaining Obelisk

-Lennon, you guys gotta come to the ends of Valrin Forest. A major technological breakthrough is upon us, and I cannot wait to show you guys how far Nya's research has gone. The secrets of the Damacian Tribe will finally be revealed-

"Man, I wonder what crazy stuff Khulix has for us this time."

Lennon moved his eyes through the text, his mind dancing between exciting thoughts.

"Whatever it is, I bet him and Nya are incredibly happy to share it. They've devoted most of their time trying to understand the history and technology of the Damacian Tribe." His older brother, Tysashi, chimed in.

He brought in some positive thoughts though Lennon only cared about satisfying his curiosity.

"So what do you think he wants to show? An awesome weapon, cool armor, or even some valuable treasure?" The boy with golden locks turned to his brother for a response. Just this once would he keep his eyes off his phone.

"I don't know, it could be anything, so I'm going to just wait and see. I say we just enjoy this time together walking through the forest."

"You're right. If I start thinking about it too much, I'll be disappointed if it's something lame."

"That's not what I meant, but glad you're on board. Once Kustina and Ryona get back, we can share whatever Khulix found with them."

At the mention of their names, Lennon stopped abruptly and turned towards Tysashi.

"Wait, what do you mean get back?"

Oh- I wasn't supposed to tell you before, but Nya sent them on a vacation so they can relax after everything that's happened."

"What?! They get a vacation while we were the ones busting our backs to protect them and the village?"

From the way Lennon threw his arms around, Tysashi could tell he wasn't very happy to hear it.

"H-hey, they worked just as much as we did. Kustina was a primary target and Ryona was hunted down just for associating with us. Not to mention they did their fair share of protecting us as well."

The younger brother sighed in defeat. He reminded himself of the hardships everyone faced during that time. Tears were shed, blood was spilled, and homes were vandalized. Yet, he still felt he and Tysashi should've gotten special treatment in the aftermath.

"Alright, fair enough. But why did Nya want you to keep that from me?"

"Because she knew how you'd react."

"Again, fair enough. I hope they they're enjoying themselves, but it feels like we're never rewarded properly. We always go to the extremes for people, putting our life on the line and stuff like that, but sometimes I think we get taken for granted. Back at the academy, we were treated like kings for our efforts, especially by the girls."

"I understand what you mean, but I think the best reward is knowing that people are safe and alive thanks to us. Remember what we learned there, "A hero's true reward is the smiles they set on people's faces."

"Aw man, you're bringing up that line again? I thought I'd never have to hear it for the rest of my life. But still, you're right. Maybe whatever Khulix has will make up for it."

"Yeah, maybe."

⊱⋅ ────── ⋆★⋆────── ⋅⊰

They continued their walk through the colorful and lush forest in silence. Lennon scrolled through his phone while the charm of nature held Tysashi's attention for an eternity. The radiant sunlight beaming down on the trees made him wish Lennon would focus on the beauty of nature rather than his phone. Time passed like the animals flying by the two. As they approached Khulix, Lennon promptly brought his eyes back to the real world.

"Guys! Glad you arrived safely. You both remember the Talus Tablet Nya found?" The fairly young scientist asked.

"Yeah, but she couldn't do anything with it because it had a passcode."

"And it was written in the tribe's language." Tysashi added.

"Well, you know how persistent Nya is. She spent her spare time writing down every possible combination and tried each one."

"Whoa whoa, seriously?! Did she crack the code?!" The expansion of Lennon's eyes told Khulix he was dying for an answer.

"With enough patience, she did. I almost didn't believe her when she told me. But once as she had access, the tablet was drained of its power. She...passed out afterwards, but remembered the passcode."

"T- that's amazing! Though I hope Nya takes a break before she stresses herself out again."

"Oh she's ok, Tysashi. In fact, that's exactly what she did. She passed the tablet to me in the hopes I could find a powerful source of energy to recharge it. If I did, I would be free to experiment with it. As soon as my hands touched it, I just knew I could revisit my studies on these obelisks."

He shot his finger at a large obelisk with cyan inscriptions glowing softly. Nature had made its mark on it, but the structure was still functional. In the center laid the Damacian Tribe's symbol, the outline of a gear split into three sections with text.

"To make it short, these obelisks ran off light energy and the Damacian Tribe used them as a method of teleportation across the land. A number of them are spread throughout the world, but this is the only one that's functional. Mother Nature sure did a number on it though."

Khulix reached into the pocket of his white coat and handed the tablet to Tysashi. The palm-sized object felt smooth and slick in his hands. Nothing existed on the black screen except their reflections.

"There's still some power in this one, it just needs to be activated. That's where the tablet comes into play." Khulix mentioned.

"If you needed a power source, why not just have me do it? My body is buzzing with electricity."

"I asked Nya about that, but she was afraid your reckless behavior would destroy it. And we need a more controlled energy source so we don't overload the tablet. That's why I brought a little buddy to help with that conundrum. Come on out, Omi!"

An awkward silence surrounded the three as his voiced. Khulix cracked a nervous smile as he reached into his pocket.

"Umm, Omi? You there?"

Just as he asked, he felt two sets of stubby feet run up his back. A small, round creature as blue as the sky plopped on his head. Its green eyes sparkled with joy playing with his strands of bolt-shaped black hair.

"Alright Omi, that's enough. It's work time."

He let out an open palm for Omi to land on. Once he leaped, he was safely caught in his light-brown hand.

"Meet Omi, this playful guy is a rare creature I was fortunate enough to find on a mountain trail. It has the power to alter its elemental property from fire, electricity, light, and much more."

He waved at the brothers and gave a positive reaction when they waved back.

"You know, I think I've seen these things before. Weren't there some reports about these guys roaming around the place?"

"Yes, Lennon, there were. They're timid and are frightened by organisms larger than them. There's a lack of information about them, but that's not the main topic. You see the little orb floating above its head? It changes color depending on the power he'll receive. Right now, we need you to access your electric form, Omi. Think you can do it?"

He jumped up excitedly, followed by a nod.

Tysashi placed the tablet down, and Omi stood on top. Blue electricity crawled around the orb and was driven into the tablet. The three watched in awe as Omi worked his magic. Shortly after, he jumped off the tablet and laid beside a tree to regain his energy.

Khulix picked up the tablet and turned it on. He was immediately greeted with a four digit passcode. Thanks to Nya's efforts, he was rewarded with a cyan text.

-ፕልረሁነ ፕልጌረቿፕ ልርፕጎሀልፕቿዕ-

A sense of accomplishment washed over him, though his hopes were too high as only a single rune was present. The symbol of a blue sonar encased in a square boarder.

"That's it? Just a simple icon? Come on, I thought it'd be something cool."

Though was glad he didn't set himself up for disappointment, he was still dissatisfied as shown by his limp arms.

"I- I was so sure there was more. This can't be all the device has to offer."

His accomplishment drowned in the endless sea of embarrassment. As much as his hands wanted to loosen, he still held on strong. Noticing Khulix's mopeyness, Tysashi felt urged to comfort him.

"Khulix, maybe the data was wiped out? It has been undiscovered for centuries, after all. I bet we can restore some runes, and even functions if we keep at it."

He took a moment to think about it, and regained a part of himself again. After all, the destination was just over the peak. All Khulix needed to do is look over it.

"Yeah...you're right. Your encouraging words always send me down the right path. Let's see what we can do with the rune we have available to us."

He turned towards the obelisk and tapped on the rune. A blue light scanned the structure from bottom to top. As the light hit the inscriptions, a brighter glow was emitted.

A notification appeared on the tablet, stating the tower was activated. A subscreen displaying the location open for teleportation appeared.

-ጎክነሁቻቻጎርጎቿክፕ ቿክቿዪኗሃ-

"Alright, let's do this. Omi, if you would."

He gave a confident nod, walking up to the obelisk and awaiting further direction.

"We don't have too much time before the device powers off again, but we should have enough to test this out. Omi, could you please charge that structure with light energy?" Though his tone was commanding, he presented it in a polite manner.

His orb turned yellow and produced impressive amounts of light. The light sank into the obelisk; the tablet measured the progression.

"We need more power, Omi! Put everything you got into it!"

Omi squeezed his eyes shut as more light emerged from the orb. The audible groans echoed in Tysashi's ear. He could somewhat feel how much power Omi was exerting.

Khulix placed his eyes back on the tablet and saw their goal had been reached.

"Great job, Omi, you can stop now!"

Despite his proud shouts, Omi didn't stop. The light shot from his orb alone beat out any noise the boys could produce. A dangerous red glow covered the inscriptions as the tablet flashed with a warning.

-!ዐሀቿዪረዐልዕ ጎጠጠጎክቿክፕ!-

Khulix desperately tried to cancel the procedure while Omi remained oblivious to the situation.

Tysashi dashed towards Omi with a rapid heartbeat. As the soft creature was grabbed, a red light began to scan his body. Only wanting the best for Omi, he released him and the light finished scanning him. He was lifted a few inches off the ground, completely suspended from moving.

"Tysashi!" Lennon called out.

He rushed to his aid, but was far too late to rescue him. His body was swallowed by the light, and eventually, vanished from his sight. Due to the unhealthy surge of energy, the obelisk collapsed, leaving a sizable pile of rock.

He called out for him once more, but his shouts were lost in the forest. Omi looked around for Tysashi and tilted his head at his sudden absence.

"What the heck, Omi?! Couldn't you hear us?!"

Omi shook his head, sharing his side of the story. While it seemed he was giving a very detailed explanation, all Lennon heard was gibberish. While Omi continued on, his body was squished between Lennon's hands.

"What did you do to my brother, you little blob?!" He screamed with the fury of a moody teenager, shaking him violently.

"Lennon, stop! It's not his fault!"

He took heavy breaths reflecting on his actions and took a long stare at Omi's terrified face. He gently placed him on the ground and apologized. After some more breaths, he found his center of calm.

"Ok, ok. Let me just call him, maybe he's still in Lenovo."

He contacted him, praying to the goddess he would answer. Unfortunately, his prayers were not found appealing enough to grant his wish.

"Damn it. I think his phone is busted."

"Maybe there's a feature that allows us to view the last place Tysashi was teleported to, just give me a-"

Before his plan could go any further, the tablet returned to its dormant state.

"Just my luck." He groaned, swinging his head to the side.

"Come on, Khulix, there's gotta be something we can do."

"Well, we can power the tablet again and see if it'll rebuild the obelisk. Or we report this to Nya and see how she wants to handle this."

"What, no way! She's gonna be on our asses all day about it!"

"Yes, but she deserves to know. I'm pretty sure she'd be furious if we hid this from her."

"Look, let's go with your first suggestion and if it fails, we'll tell her."

Khulix gave him a questionable glance. By his expression, Lennon could tell their ideas didn't meet in the middle.

"Okay, how bout this? We'll spend the rest of the day with...whatever you call those things and if we can't figure some out, then we'll talk to Nya."

"First off, they're called obelisks. And secondly, I suppose we can go with that. Since I pushed Omi too hard, I'll break the news to her."

"Phew, thanks goodness! I'm already going through enough as it is, but knowing she'll mostly yell at you makes me feel a bit better."

Khulix put his index finger and thumb on his forehead and moved them simultaneously.

"Whatever makes you happier, let's get to work."