Part 99: Old, but Wiser

Entry 91: Old, but Wiser






We've followed Tiz, Agnès, and the others for months. We've almost saved the world twice.





But the journey isn't over.

What went wrong? Where did we make our mistake? Well, you know what they say...



Third time's the charm.



One way or another, this time around, this game's going to end. No matter what it takes.

You picked a fine time to visit this land, what with all the trouble about. Terrible luck, that.

Karl turns and starts to walk away. Strange. Isn't he usually a bit...friendlier?



Nothing about how we were feeling, or us volunteering to save the day from Eternians.



Tiz, master of the delayed reaction, bolts awake long after Karl's left the room.

......!?

Agnès, Ringabel, and Edea are waiting nearby and greet him once he gets up.



Yes, it's happened again.

Alright, everyone, what's the last thing you remember?

We were in Grandship when it plunged into the Holy Pillar, and Airy's brooch began absorbing its light.

That's when Alternis attacked, same as the last time. Or was it the time before?

That's what I remember, too. And just as in the world before last, my memory stops there.

Ringabel flinches.



He still hasn't recovered from whatever happened after Alternis's death.

Innkeeper Karl approaches the party briefly, again speaking in an unusually business-like tone.

Beg pardon, but I must ask you to leave, now that you're up. No telling what troubles a stranger brings in his wake.

Alright, we're leaving.

Once the innkeep's out of earshot:



You're right. But how could that...

My mind gets twisted in knots more and more with each go-round.

If Karl's changed this much, what'll be going on in the rest of the world?



Is that what you lot are here about? Well, I'd stay away from there if I were you. They say it swallowed up Norende a week ago. The entire village, mind.

......

So much for that being different. The Great Chasm's been nothing if not consistent in its hellmouth terror existence.



C'mon, Tiz may be young, but he is an adult.

Pitiable child, losing his entire family in a day. Word is, he was saved by his elder brother. That's the only reason he survived.

...Elder brother?

...Wait.



Could it be?

I don't...I don't understand.

Ahoy!

It's Datz!

Karl's distracted by work and has no interest in dealing with more questions, so the party decides to follow Datz back to the nearby parked Grandship.

Soon:



Sorry, everyone. Wish I could say why, but I haven't a clue.

What if something really did happen? And we've simply lost our memories of it?

Ringabel, remember what I asked you? To write down everything that happened in the Holy Pillar?



Hmm... "The Second Holy Pillar. Airy entered a state of trance. The Dark Knight Alternis Dim attacked, as in the previous world. He bore my face. Who or what is he?" That's all I have.

That's how I remember it.



Nah, we evacuated to the hold. Couldn't see much o'anything from down there.

Well, we can't keep charging on blindly. It's happened twice in a row. It can't be an accident.

And I don't think we're simply traveling back in time. There are too many glaring conflicts.

What are your thoughts, Airy? Why have we failed?

I wish I knew...



We shall just have to awaken the crystals again, as we did in the previous world.

I'm starting to wonder. Is what Airy says right?

What?

Are you saying what we've been doing is wrong? I can't blame you for doubting, but...

No one has ever tried to awaken the crystals and evoke the Holy Pillar, have they? That means no one knows whether that will erase the Great Chasm. Not even Airy.

But Airy is the culmination of the wisdom of generations of vestals. She cannot be wrong.

Then how do you explain Alternis Dim's words? What did he mean?

What Alternis said?

Wait, what did he say? Agnès?

What he spoke of was inconceivable.

But Dim isn't the only one. Edea's father believed that awakening the crystals was dangerous.

That's enough, Ringabel.



Is that reason enough to reject them out of hand, though?

Um, excuse me. How about including me in this conversation?

......

Part of my memory came back when I saw Dim's face back in the Holy Pillar.

It did?

Yes, but just a tiny fragment. Barely even a coherent thought.



Hidden right in front of our faces all along, wasn't it?

But the numbers we've seen most often haven't been six. It was five, then four, and now...

And I saw Edea being slain by a creature I'd never seen before. I just looked on while it happened...

Augh, I'll thank you not to go killing me off in your weird fantasies.

I...I don't...

Nngh! I just don't know.

Nnh...argh!



I... Nnh...

The group drops the conversation to let Ringabel recover. The others spend the rest of that day helping fix the damage from the ship's latest Holy Pillar excursion. Grandship is ready to set sail by evening.

After finishing his share of the work, Tiz wanders outside and finds Ringabel alone on the deck.



No... I'm fine now.

Tell me truthfully. Do you really doubt Airy?

No, it's not...

I don't doubt her. It's just...



Even a cryst-fairy can make mistakes.

...Can I ask you something?

Let me guess... dark knight Alternis Dim?

Mm... You said part of your memory came back when you saw his face.



It was past the bounds of brother. You would have to be perfect twins.

What do you make of it all? What do these new memories of yours say?

I deliberately held my silence in front of Airy, but... I believe we're in a parallel world.

A parallel...world?

The fact that Alternis Dim and I both exist at the same time is proof enough of that.

You're not saying...!

Just then, the others clamor outside, interrupting the conversation.



Ringabel wanders off quickly afterwards.



Why won't that Great Chasm close up? I just don't understand.

......

What was it the dark knight said about me?

...I believe he called you a "peculiar fairy." Then he said that he would slay you, and that "this will end" once you're gone.

He...he really said all that?

Well, I don't care if he's an enemy, that's just plain rude. *sniffle*

......

Oh, Datz. Have you seen Ringabel?

Last time I saw him, he said he was going to the hold to rest.

Wonder if he's alright. He looked an awful shade of pale.

I must apologize to you, Datz, and you too, Zatz.

Come again, Lady Vestal?

What could you have possibly done to require an apology to us?

Though we have now twice ventured into the Holy Pillar, the Great Chasm shows no sign of closing.

I have put you two and the proprietress in grave peril--seemingly to no end.

......

Oh, so that's what you're going on about. Well, never you mind, Lady Vestal, because we don't!

Yeah, we're here to protect you, wherever this adventure may take us!

Couldn't have said it better myself! We live by our own creed, and protecting you is part of that!

Besides, those were Commander Goodman's orders! So don't you worry about nothing, Lady Vestal.

Same goes for the proprietress. She's just laugh off your apology and make you some food.

...Thank you...all of you.

Everyone! The proprietress wants us all to meet in the tavern!

"It's times like these that you need some good grub in your belly," she says. "After all, you can't Brave on an empty stomach!"

Ah ha ha! Well, let's go, Agnès!

Yes, let's.

......

The world may be reset, but the party is not. After two failed saves, some members are getting suspicious. Was the party's failure due to an innocent mistake? Or was it not so innocent after all? The doubt might be well-founded by this point, but if misplaced, it could lead to even worse mistakes.



But more immediately: Look! Shiny, sparkly object!



Huh. Did Alternis drop it?



Vague but promising...



Throughout the entire game, we've had to leave behind mysteriously locked treasure chests, such as this one inside Grandship's engine dungeon.



Tiz prepares to try the key on the blue chest...



Okay okay, we'll get there, keep your wings on!

Tiz shoves Airy away and uses the key.



Ah-ha, what do you know!

Best of all, this key is surprisingly sturdy and won't break when used.



The gear from blue chests is good stuff. We'll be hunting down the others as we make our way back across the world.

Because let's be serious here -- we're going back across the world.



I know in my gut you all will figure out a way of making everything all right!

Luckily our crew is chipper as ever.



I don't know if this is a different world or what, but I know wherever you lead, I'm following.

Of course, they're not the ones out there doing the same fights over and over.



Still, good to know the party has these three at their back.



All right, time to see the Eternia situation. Brace yourselves.



Aaaahh. Ha ha. Haaah.

...Hm. Is it just me, or are there not quite as many as last time?



I don't know, I've got a good feeling about this world.



The party's attitude has changed and there are signs the world's more altered than before. Something big's going to happen, I just know it.



Of course, it might be big in a way of 'everybody dies', but we'll just have to go find out!



This version of Karl charges for inn stays. He's been so fatherly towards Tiz in the other worlds we've never gotten a chance to see his business side before. I guess now we know how Alternis felt back when he first tried to stay here undercover.



On our way up to see the King, Tiz requests the party stop by the graveyard. That gravestone there was dedicated to Til in the last world.

Ah!





I'm...dead? Then, why am I still here?

Or maybe...maybe it all makes sense. We haven't gone back in time, rather...



Before the game began, we witnessed Tiz and his younger brother Til at the moment the Great Chasm formed. They were at the very edge of the destruction, and despite Tiz's efforts, Til fell in while Tiz survived.

Combine current world Tiz's grave with the innkeeper's story of the boy who lived but lost his elder brother...

Ha ha... He's alive. This time, he really... Ha ha ha...

Tiz races up to the throne room to hear if they've heard any rumors.



Wait. Til was what, 9? 12? And a huge ditz whose hobby was tripping and falling on his face.



How exactly did he chase them off? Are Eternians like wild predators, and Til just waved his arms around to seem large and yelled until they ran away?

...Knowing Barras the monk and Holly the white mage, that may have actually worked.



Unlike Karl the innkeep, Caldisla's king is always a friend to everybody (who doesn't kidnap him, threaten to bombard the town or set his city on fire).

I thank you. I am Agnès Oblige, Vestal of Wind.

Ho, the wind vestal? I am honored to make your acquaintance. But tell me, what brings a vestal to this land?

We come to learn more of the Great Chasm.

Then you do us a great favor. Can we hope for some cure to this wound upon our land?

Perhaps in time. But tell me, Your Highness, what of the attack by the Eternian Forces?

Ho, so the ill repute of the duchy's host has reached across the sea, has it?



And only days after losing everything when the chasm devoured the lad's village.

This hero, his name wouldn't be Til Arrior, would it?

The very same! You know much of our land and people.

Where is he now!?



Aw, Til has the same inner raging inferno for justice and vengeance as his older brother. Family ties!

I see. Thank you, Your Highness.

But brave as Til might be, Tiz isn't about to risk losing his little brother to the Eternians.



Maybe we can find him before he gets in too much trouble.



He was spotted at the Great Chasm at some point. Could he be...?


Next: Carving a warpath in pursuit of a new future.

--

Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
That Same Morning...
A World of Echoes
Alternis's Words
Worlds in Parallel

Sub-Scenario:
RIP Beloved Brother
The Sole Survivor of Norende

Party Chat:
Nothing Brave About an Empty Stomach