Part 16: Chapter Sixteen: Ghost Trick

: Okay, let’s assess. Mr. Ross plans to give the LtKey to Zog. Naturally, we can’t let that happen.

: Right.

: Is there any way to convince him to change his mind?

: I doubt it. Zog probably threatened him in some fashion.

:…Guys.

: Yes Karn?

:…I have an idea. It’s a long shot – a LONG long shot – but it just might work. Follow me.





: The L & D Tower…? What are we going here for…?

: You’ll see. I know it’s a great joke for me of all people to say it, but – just trust me for a minute, okay? I have a plan.

This is the L & D Tower. There aren’t any new enemies here, so I don’t need to pad this update out with monster info.





: Oh, hey old dude, what’s up? I’m here for that thing, you know. Be a pal and let us by, okay?





: Sure, sure, we’ll get right on that. C’mon guys, let’s get going.







: Ryu…isn’t that…?

: I believe it is.

: Yeah. It’s just like at Agua.

: What’re you guys whispering about? Eh, whatever. It’s gotta be around here somewhere…



: Uh…hi?





:…What? Hey, let’s not be hast-

: Look out!



This is Wisp’s reddish coloured cousin, Cloud. Cloud isn’t as hard as his predecessor, but his magic still packs a punch. He can cast T.Bolt on a single target, as well as Burnout, a fire spell. When around half his HP is gone he’ll start using Devistate, hitting the entire party for medium damage. It may take a few turns but he bites the bullet once his visible HP reaches zero.

(Video – Cloud)
(Apologies for the visual glitch where Cloud vanishes occasionally. VBA really doesn’t seem to like how his sprite flickers.)







: Huh. Well, now we have the DkKey, just like I probably intended.

: You “probably” intended?

: Hey, I had no idea this would happen! I didn’t know the big bad scary monster up here was also the DkKey’s guardian!

: Maybe you better explain what it is you were trying to do before we do anything else.



: Huh, now it’s light in here. Must be to do with taking the DkKey. Anyway, remember how that girl in the safe said her dead mum would have set her old man straight?

: Yes…

: Well there’ve been rumors in Bleak for some time about a dude in the L & D Tower who had a mirror that lets the user talk to dead people. That conversation back in Auria made me remember it.

This is true - there is one out-of-the-way NPC in Bleak who gives a vague clue about the mirror. This is one of the early RPGs where you really do have to talk to everyone in order to proceed.

: Well, we did defeat the monster at the top of the tower. We should probably see if that old man has anything else to say to us now.



: Hey old geezer, we beat the big monster at the top. Fork over the Mirror.





: Pshh, guy didn’t even look at me.



: Well it certainly is a mirror.



: It looks like the rumor was correct.

: It seems Karn is not entirely useless after all.

: Not entirely?! Lady, you really know how to cut a guy down.

: We had better take this mirror back to Auria.



: Wait, what? It’s light outside?

: I suspect it has to do with how a certain someone removed the DkKey from its resting place.

: Oh, so now it’s my fault, huh?

: Yes.

: That’s right.

: Exactly.

: You didn’t have to say it all at once…







: Hello, Mr. Ross.

: Oh, thank you so much for rescuing my daughter. I apologize for my prior brusqueness. You wanted to use my boat to cross the sea, you said?

: Before that, we would like to discuss your intention of giving the LtKey to the Dark Dragons.



: I don’t want to give them the key…but…

: I see. Perhaps this might change your mind.

Music: 06 – Sara



: Alena…What am I going to do?





: If Zog succeeds in releasing Tyr, then more than just our daughter will suffer. I have been a fool.



: I’m sorry, Alena. I won’t make such mistakes again, I promise.





: Tell my daughter I was wrong!

: Of course.



: My father changed his mind?

: That’s right. He no longer plans on giving the LtKey to the Dark Dragons.

: That’s wonderful news, but…



: Makes sense. When the scam fails, sometimes you just have to straight-up rob a dude.



: Of course. We oppose the Dark Dragons wherever we find them.

: Thank you.



: The key is yours.

And with that, Ross’s daughter moves out of the way and allows the party to pass into the vault.



Most of the chests in here contain Herbs. The others contain gear that's useless compared to what we found in Agua.



Climbing the stairs brings the party into a hidden area of Ross’s mansion. Continuing to climb after that brings us to…



Auria Tower, which we’ll be exploring next update.