Part 96: Ruining the Good Times

Entry 88: Ruining the Good Times

The final crystal.



Seven times now Agnès has undergone the ceremony. The eighth shouldn't be any different.



What will happen after this? Will the Holy Pillar appear again?



And after the Holy Pillar... What then? If only we knew what went wrong last time...

I told you, this is dangerous! Hello!? Can you even hear me?



This will work, right? I mean, it has to work. I've been doing this LP for a year and a half now...

......!!

Stop...please. You have to stop, Agnès. Why are you doing this!?

......!!

What's the matter, Agnès?

Should we...do something? Do we stop her?

Agnès...

Stop, stop, stop! Before the whole world is destroyed!



...Just a little longer, right? Then it'll be done...

Don't you care about your friends? Aren't I your friend, too? So, please, listen to me! Listen to me!



...No. Can't give up yet.

Agnès, stop praying.



... ...Nngh... ...

... ... ... ...Wha-what's gotten into you, Agnès? Why... Why did you...?

... ... I...I do not know. My mind drifted... I was in a haze. Everything beyond that...

Well, the crystal was this close to being destroyed!

...Was it? I needed only pray a little longer, and...

And it would have shattered! The people would have lost its blessing forever!

The whole world would be thrown into chaos. Who knows what terrible calamities could occur!?



...Yeah. Yeah, we know...

...Enough about that. The crystal wasn't destroyed, so--

Agnès!



No, it's alright.

You did your best. You need to get some rest now.

......



When would we have the opportunity?

......

The room suddenly fills with a pure white light.



The same place as last time?

It must be! Let us head there again, Agnès.

This time, we must ensure we seal the Great Chasm and cleanse evil from the world!

Yes, I know. We cannot fail again!



Nothing big, but there's a separate cutscene here if you didn't mess around waking the last crystal:

You did it! You awakened the crystal! That's all four of them now!

What is this light? The Holy Pillar?

It must be! Let us head there again, Agnès.

This time, we must ensure we seal the Great Chasm and cleanse evil from the world!

Yes, I know. We cannot fail again!

Either way, we've got our goal.



But before then, we've got a war to win.



There are new enemies around the fire temple which the party skipped on their rush inside.



You'd think the monster population would calm down with all four crystals awakened, but I guess the fix isn't thorough until the Holy Pillar step is complete.



In the meantime, these monsters are at least tough enough to keep soldiers away from the temple itself, even though the secret pathway is open.



At least, that's the assumption... We'll have to ask Commander Goodman what's going on with the mines. Come to think, we should also ask where the canary boys are, or whether they were ever here.



This'll be a confusing discussion. To the bridge!



I must apologize on behalf of my soldiers. They did not know who you were when they stopped you.

No need to apologize. After all, you were kind enough to grant us the audience we sought.

I am happy to accommodate you. Now, what is it I can help you with?

We have come to these lands to journey to the Temple of Fire and awaken the crystal there.

The Temple of Fire... I am afraid that--



Imagine the looks on the faces of the Black Blades/Swordbearers once they find out.

What!? But the way there was blocked by lava...

That is right. We entered the temple through a passage deep within the mythril mine.

You should dispatch soldiers to the mythril mine swiftly to ensure it is not taken by the Swordbearers.

Understood... You have outdone yourself, Wind Vestal. I am impressed.

Oh, would you be able to grant us permission to stay in Hartschild?

Of course. The Shieldbearers welcome the vestal and her companions. Feel free to rest your travel-weary bones in town.

Someone show the vestal and her companions the way.

The party assures Goodman they can find the town themselves and stick around.



Let's rewind:

If the party visits Goodman before going to the fire crystal, the scene is changed, resulting in something less satisfying but more informative:

We have come to these lands to journey to the Temple of Fire and awaken the crystal there.

The Temple of Fire... I am afraid that--

Yes, we are aware the way there has been buried in lava. What is the current status of the mythril mine?



Currently it is not held by either side.

I see. Thank you very much.

What happened to the canary boys? Hard to say. Maybe without the mines the canary boys were never kidnapped by the Swordbearers in the first place. That's the optimistic thought, at least.

Now back to our main party:



We've got one more thing to take care of before we leave the bridge.



The party confronts Praline with Shieldbearers prepped and baton at the ready.



This scene has a few minute dialogue differences from the Chapter 1-4 version.



For the most part, though, everything goes down the same.

The battle once again ends with Praline running away in tears, leaving her fanbase behind.



Such a carefree voice and super cute moves. And her songs made you want to get up and dance.

Perhaps it is because of my long years at the temple, but I do not particularly fancy such noisy music...

Oh, you thought it was noisy, Agnès?

Y-yes... It makes my head go all fuzzy...

Agnès, you simply must loosen up a bit! You're far too serious!

But is it not strange to surrender your body to a beat and...prance about like everybody else?

Strange? ...Ha ha ha, no! It's fun to dance around without a care in the world.

Besides, didn't someone once say, "The most important thing is to have fun"? You'll miss out on what's important if you're always so serious.

Ah! I forgot something important! I was so into her music, I forgot to go over and talk to her!

...Of course, in his case, it's a matter of having too much fun.

Luckily for Ringabel, this is the one Eternian we can in fact go see afterwards...



Performing nightly at the Sea Slug. The reception from patrons is mixed.

Seems the tavernkeep's picked up some strange girl. I prefer it quiet, myself.



But I'll follow her to the end of the world, if that's what it comes to!

Was this a fate worse than death? That's for Praline to decide.



Next, we're going after Barbarossa. Back on shore, the party stops at the House by the Sea.



This scene is an alternative to the one from Chapter 3 where Datz and Zatz tell you about the ghost ship. After Datz and Zatz join you on Grandship, this scene replaces it.

Oh, pardon me!

Did you see something?

Yes, a strange ship has been appearing in this harbor ever since the start of the war...

It's a decrepit old sailing ship, and it always shows up on foggy nights!

Has it tried to harm you?

No, it's just an eerie sight, though you can hear screams coming from it.

This version of the scene is shorter than normal since the party's already heard about the ghost ship.



There's one prerequisite for triggering the ghost ship scene: the Water Crystal. Not surprisingly, no one's out here spying on ghost ships while the ocean's rotted.



Three guys are in the House by the Sea, none of them Datz or Zatz.



After triggering the House by the Sea scene, the ghost ship appears out in the central ocean.



The scenes boarding the ghost ship are shortened but otherwise the same.



Still gets me that the only time the game ever registers who's party leader is in single, completely inconsequential pieces of dialogue like this.



Barbarossa always seems so delighted to have guests, so Agnès starts off with polite small talk.

Hmm? What do you know of this? So you can read the hearts of men, Wind Vestal? Amazing! You have a second sight!

Welcome to our pirate ship, the SS Funky Francisca!



This version of the conversation is kind of a mess.

You must be the wind vestal and her companions. A pleasure to meet you! I am a ranking member of the Black Blades! Of course I am kept abreast of your comings and goings, vestal.

The dialogue's pieced together from the previous version of the conversation, but without the party's responses and questions since they've already done this before.



The end result makes Barbarossa seem even more eager to talk than before and very, very lonely.

But who can blame him? His post involves being stuck out here alone, and his entire crew, his friends, are now nothing more than ghosts.

I have looked forward to meeting you in battle one day! Heh heh hah!

I leave the helm to you, me matey! We'll make this a fair fight! Yar!!

Barbarossa leaps forward, crunching his leg through the floor. From here the conversation's unchanged from last time.



I sail this ship in search of a certain something, prized by the commander and myself! You might call it "adventure." Surely you don't have to be a man of the sea to know that!?

I know what you speak of! A man's soul craves nothing more than the romance of adventure!

Well aren't you two getting on famously, Ringabel!?

Perhaps it is something women and children can never understand! If you think about it rationally, it does seem absurd...

But absurd or not, it is adventure I seek. And the years I have spent wandering the seas in folly have shown me many truths!

That's it! The truth!

As friendly as Barbarossa is, he's still duty-bound.



With his mind warped by loneliness and the death of his best friend, he now has little else to live for.



For all his bravado, the pursuit of adventure has become more to him than romantic fun.



It's become an all-consuming obsession, one that when complete would justify all the sacrifices made so far.

Forgive me... I was not able to find the Susano-o...



If it was the Susano-o you sought, we found it. It exists... Your quest was not in vain.

On Barbarossa's body, the party once again finds the Captain's Log. This time, it contains a page that had been missing last time:


So all this was to gain Einheria's favor so Mephilia and Suleiman could marry.

Thing is, even if Suleiman had found Susano-o's servant, demonic bird-friend would've never let him get hold of the summon. This was a mission only Mephilia could accomplish.



Is that so?

But Tiz, weren't you raised in the mountains?

That explains it right there. You know, the grass is always greener?

...In any case, I gave it up.

How come?

It's hard to be a sailor if you can't swim, and I can't.

Well, that is to be expected, considering you lived so far from the sea.

Tsk, abandoning your dream for such a trivial matter! What a shame!

I don't think swimming is so trivial if you're at sea all the time...

Listen, Tiz, and listen good.

Ringabel over there and all the duchy's officers pilot airships!

But not one of them is able to fly on his own!

......

Not sure that's a perfect analogy, but it's good Tiz is getting a pep talk. Sounds like it was long overdue.



Stealing from Barbarossa netted a fine new axe, perfect for any seafaring marauder.



Gah hah hah hah hah!

Barbarossa, meanwhile, is in a better place.



He's back with his crew now, chasing adventure for all eternity.



Still no Datz or Zatz. Considering the rough lives the two have had, they may not have made it this time around...



Anyway, the party heads inland for a well deserved rest in Hartschild, battling legions of the undead along the way.



What raised up these armies after all these years? Was it the crystals being taken by darkness, or the raging of the Shieldbearer/Swordbearer war?



Whichever, their origin has been lost to history, and so shall they be once again within a few seconds of meeting the party.



The party is greeted by the Shieldbearer at Hartschild's gates.

Mrs. Goodman has been informed of your arrival, vestal.



The residents here are about the same as before. Unlike other locations which are static, a couple lines of dialogue here change depending on how much the party has done. I'm not 100% certain, but the variable may be whether you've defeated Praline or not.



For example, earlier, this mother would've worried about her son being kidnapped by the Swordbearers. It's always a nice touch to have the player's progress be acknowledged, even in small ways.



The local armory has a new weapon for us. Interestingly, it is not newly smithed, but a refurbished older weapon. With the mythril mines being so hotly contested, the Shieldbearers must have been desperate enough to turn to scavenging weaponry.


Next: Finishing off the Black Blades and wrapping up loose ends.

--

Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
Airy's Simmering Anger
The Holy Pillar Appears
All Crystals Awakened

Sub-Scenario:
An Audience with the Commander - B
An Audience with the Commander - A
The Prowling Vessel
Truth in Folly
Pirate Skirmish - B
The Same Old Hartschild

Party Chat:
Straight-Laced Agnès
Tiz's Dream