Part 75: Chapter Fifty Five: Zero Escape

Music: 02 – My Home Sweet Home



: Excuse me. Is the Cathedral open right now?



: We don’t have time for this. C’mon, let’s just go in.



:…Sorry Rand, but the doors are locked and bolted. It looks pretty damn tough – I don’t think we’ll be getting in today.

: Argh, dammit! We’re so close, and yet so far…

: Do not lose hope, my friend! Perhaps if we ask around some more, we will find someone who knows some other way into this building.

:…I guess we’ve nothing to lose by it…



: Uh…are you alright?



: What’s wrong? You look terrible!







:…Something is very, very wrong here. We should leave. Immediately.

: What about my mother? We can’t just leave her here!

: We’ll come back once we’ve figured something out. This place is giving me the creeps…





:…What? What the hell? We just passed through those gates, but suddenly we’re going the other way?

: Oh non…non non non! This is terrible! We cannot get out!

: A powerful magic is preventing us from leaving. This is most definitely not good…

: Damn! Let’s get inside and think of something, quickly!



So yeah, a strange force stops you from leaving. Not only that, it stops the music and plays a scare chord every time you try to walk out. It’s actually pretty creepy the first time it happens.



: Okay, we’re inside. What now?

: We have to find a way out of here. One that doesn’t involve climbing the walls or walking out the front gate.

: That will be a big problem.

: Hey! You, over there!



: Huh? Damn, they’re onto us! Quickly, take her down before she tells the others!

: Don’t panic! The name’s Claris! I’m not one of those brainwashed drones either!

: Why should we believe you?

: Simple.





: The Cathedral of Eva…every worshipper of the church dreams of praying there.



: No kidding. There’s something seriously wrong with this place.

: I – that is, we – suspect the Cathedral is nothing more than a front.

: A front? A front for what, precisely?



:…Damn. So that’s their game, huh?

: What is it, Ryu?

: Rand. Remember back when we fought Argus?

: I don’t think I’m ever gonna forget it, but go on…

: Remember how he went on and on about how he was wringing the people’s souls of all the power he could via his incredibly twisted Battle Shows? Isn’t this the same kind of thing?

:...I get it. Argus was small time compared to this, though.



Suddenly someone knocks on the door!



: Okay, what’s the plan? I assume you have one.

: This toilet will take you outside.

:…*Sigh*



: Good luck! I hope we will fight alongside one another in the future!



:…Oh well. Here goes!

Music: 04 – Dungeon



The party finds themselves in a series of caverns running beneath the city. Most of the enemies here are ones we’ve seen before, but there are two new enemies to take stock of. Note that the encounter rate here is very high and there is a genuine chance of getting destroyed by the enemies here if you get lost.



First we have the Titans. These guys are tough, with a high critical hit rate and the ability to cast Protect on themselves to raise their own defence.



Dynabehemoths are very bad news. They can cast Lightning and their physical attacks can deal around 50 damage. They love to spam the former, just to be extra annoying.



This cave has a number of long and winding paths and none of them really go anywhere. It’s like someone forgot to code the treasure chests or something. Anyway, the first step is to enter the cave at the top and ignore everything else.



Now we have to drop down the pit. Don’t have Nina in front or she’ll just fly the party back up.



The party falls through another hole…



And wind up here. Ignoring the door at the bottom, the party heads northwards.



Here. The brown staircase is the one you want.



The party emerges in some kind of storage area.



Exiting it leads to the Inn outside Evrai. Freedom!



Freedom with free healing is the best kind of freedom.

Music: 19 – Our Journey



I switch out Tapeta for Lin for reasons that will be revealed shortly.



: Claris said to go south of Farma, didn’t she?

: Yeah, to Kotto. Dreary place. Not many people go there. Guess that makes it good to base a resistance out of, though.





The entrance to Kotto is blocked by three boulders, and Lin is the only one who can break them.



: Uh…excuse us. Claris sent us here.





: Will do.

You can talk to the resistance members here before going to speak with the leader. Some have a personal beef with the church, like one guy whose girlfriend converted and left him without warning. Others approve of the church’s teachings but believe its followers do not practice what they preach. Some blame the entire organization and label them as religious zealots, whilst a few think High Priest Habalk is solely to blame. It’s obvious that their reasons are rather disparate.

The headquarters is the building with the red flag flying over it.

Music: Find the Truth



: You see, we-



: Ahem…excuse me. I’m Tiga, the leader of the resistance. So, what are you guys here for?

: Claris sent us your way! So, are you guys for real? You’re really gonna take on the Church?



Tiga says nothing for a moment.



: Uh…hello?





: Yeah, we’re gonna beat the crap outta that phony Church! Make the bastards pay for what they’ve done to everybody!





:…So I take it you guys aren’t on friendly terms with the Church, huh.

: Damn straight!

: On a side note…ever hear of a little something called ‘personal space’?



: Er…sorry. Ahem.



: Ya got that right! C’mon! We’ll do some redecoratin’ on that fancy Cathedral of theirs!

: It’d be good to have strong allies like you fighting by our side.



: What’s the problem?

: The ugly truth is, we need money to fight a war, and that’s in short supply. The person who’s funding our efforts went to the Thieves Tomb and hasn’t returned yet.



: Hey, how about this? We’ll go to the Thieves Tomb ourselves and bring your source of money back, kicking and screaming if we have to!



: Okie dokie! We’re all over it! Let’s get movin’! We’re off to the Thieves Tomb to find the sponsor!

The other party members file out.



: Of course! By the way, I didn’t catch your name…



So, now we’re off to find the mysterious sponsor who is backing the rebels against the Church of St. Eva. Who could it be? We’ll soon be finding out.