Part 98: Go Into the Light
Entry 90: Go Into the LightOnce again, the party has undergone a world-spanning journey, destroying a villainous duchy and awakening the sacred crystals.

At the end, they've made their way to the Pillar of Light, the promise of their journey's end right around the corner.

But this time, relief is mixed with a hefty dose of skepticism. We never found out what went wrong the first time. All we've gotten is increasingly blatant warnings that maybe, just maybe, things aren't as black and white as the party originally thought. Not just in regard to the Duchy and Orthodoxy, but the crystals themselves.

...Which leads to now.
Will this work?






Strange. Before, the light felt cozy, like home...

Ringabel guides Grandship to the center of the pillar as the party tries to ignore their rising discomfort.

In the center, Airy begins her ritual to save the world. But this time...


This time something feels off. The game's begun playing the same quietly tense music here as during the mansion murder mystery segment.

Meanwhile, the party prepares for the worst.



Previously, the party blanked out in the Holy Pillar and woke up in Caldisla, half a world away.

Whatever occurred in the interim was forgotten, but if (god forbid) it happens again, they'll be ready.


Tiz starts to question Ringabel--
*CRASH*
But is interrupted by what sounds like a ship crashing nearby.





Alternis ignores Edea for a moment, searching around distractedly.



This is new. The previous version of Alternis paid no attention to Airy.









There are many games -- stories in general -- where characters sharing information could've prevented great tragedy.

By now it's obvious Bravely Default goes all in on this. They construct the entire plot around this fundamentally frustrating plot device.

And in this case, the writers know it. Edea's meant to be speaking for the player. We're tired of it. We've gotten 99% of the way to saving the world twice now. How do we still know so little about what we're doing?
Adding onto that, so much of what happened was a repeat of the first run through, or gave even less information than before. DeRosso was probably the nadir, offering nothing but vaguely snarky comments despite the party's curiosity.
Alternis here is our last chance for information. He knows something important the party doesn't. If he has any brains at all, now is when he should make his intentions clear. Tell us what's going on, why he wants to kill Airy, why the party should stop what they're doing.
C'mon, Alternis. Buddy. Pal. Consider your priorities. You can do it.





Alternis shakes his head wildly.

Ah, the Alternis we know and love. Distracted by his crush.

The ship sways, nearly throwing everyone off their feet.




It's too late now. Alternis's been infected by the same anti-clarification virus as the other Eternians.

Unfortunately, the outcome to this virus almost always involves flinging yourself into unwinnable battles.
Fortunately, Alternis is different from other Eternians in one particular way: Once he's gotten an adrenaline rush from combat he just loves talking about all the things he know.




That explains why the Sky Knights were ordered to protect Agnès. But who told Braev this? We spoke to Braev, Yulyana, DeRosso -- did one of them hold back information from us? Why?
After fending off more attacks, Agnès responds:



We've already reached an impasse. Either the Orthodoxy lied and Airy's plan is bad, or Eternia's working with misconstrued information from a vague prophecy.

Regardless of the player's opinion, neither Alternis nor the party are going to give up their side at this point. There's nothing left to do but finish the battle.

Same as before...

Alternis has an impeccable pompadour.

The ship shakes and he's thrown overboard before Edea and Ringabel can react.

But this time, watching his doppelgänger die makes something in Ringabel snap.

He collapses.

As he goes unconscious, his vision fades to white...









What was all that? Some of those events might've been from the party's journey, but others...were distinctly not.

Tiz's voice breaks through, dragging Ringabel back to this reality.





Before Ringabel can respond, the ship starts violently shaking again.



Explanations will have to wait until the party's not about to crash into the middle of the ocean.

The others rush off, leaving Ringabel behind.



He returns to the others.



If Ringabel's memories are to be trusted, he knew the party before the game started.

But if so, when and how? Had the party done all this before we joined them?
If Ringabel really was a version of Alternis, how did he survive? And what happened to the version of the party in his memories?

What happened before the game started?

Is this the right thing to do?
















You've got to be kidding.

--
Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
The Holy Pillar Revisited
The First Light Anew
The Dark Knight Returns
Memory Restored
This Has to Work