Part 12: Catching up with Ellie

~Chapter 2 Bonding (Catching up with Ellie)~

There's gonna be some anime blood in this update. I don't want to spoil things, but I feel like I owe people a warning nonetheless. I also apologize for the more subdued commentary from Wake. It's hard for me to write anything into Ellie's current events, because it would completely ruin the tone.


Now that we've caught up on Chloe and Narika's "A Tale of Two Jackasses", starring some no-name co-worker of Chloe's and some gigantic smug asshole classmate of Narika's, it's time to get to Ellie.

Buckle in, because Ellie's route hits hard and early. As I mentioned in the Vote Results at the start of Chloe's update, Ellie's route seems tailor-made to be as intriguing as possible right out of the gate.

It's a tad unbalanced as far as I'm concerned. The other girls get more of a gradual build up, but Ellie's route is going to just club us right over the head. It is a little short though. Let's take a look.


-Shooting Range-

Hey! Ellie! It's lunchtime. What are you still doing here?

Oh, hello. What are you doing here? You're gonna miss lunch if you don't hurry.

That's what I just said to you. What are you doing here, anyway?



Fair point. Probably should have guessed as much.

I keep coming to class late, so I haven't gotten much gun training.

That's why I begged the rangemaster to let me practice during lunch. I'm hoping this will make me more useful to you, even if only a little.

As admirable as that is, you can still afford to stop and have lunch.

It's okay! I know I've said it before, but I'm pretty tough. I'm confident about my body.

Well, you're built for it I guess.

Huh? I thought I was shorter than most girls. I mean, I'm not particularly shapely, either, so I don't know why you'd say that...

It was just a--

*gasp* No... wait a moment...

Please do not go where I think you're going...

A-Are you talking about... m-my chest? That's... That's an awful thing to say...

We're not doing this. Listen, just don't push yourself too hard, okay? You're attending the Academy and also working for the church, you're gonna burn yourself out.

Please, don't worry about that. I've been taking days off from the Academy to make up for it.

I think it's much easier compared to what the other Disciples have to put up with. Even my classmates think that I'm always cutting class. Aheh...

Well, you're dealing with a lot of church stuff after all, that you can't tell them about. Makes sense they would start assuming stuff like that.

You're right. Still, everyone's so nice to me... My school life has been much better than I had imagined it would be.

I got to see you again, after all...

Why do you keep saying stuff like that? I met you when you ran up and stared at me on the way to the Academy.



I'm such a doof... I say weird things every now and again. Don't pay much attention to it.

Riiight...

Well, if it makes you happy then I'm fine with chatting whenever you want.

Aheheh... Thank you. I'm usually here during lunch, so please come talk to me whenever you like.

Good luck with your shooting practice.

Thank you! Good luck with your classes.

That sure was a thing. For those of you who are wondering why Ellie is out doing marksmanship practice despite using a staff, it's because her staff is still part gun. All of the Dusk Breakers are guns of some kind. The top part of Ellie's staff transforms into some kind of little laser thing when she attacks in battle.


-Ritual Hall-

Alright Ellie, time for some more Classmating practice.



Um... It's okay if you hold my hand this time.

You sure? You don't have to force yourself.

I've convinced myself that my cold hands are part of what makes me who I am.

Hey, that's the spirit. Let's give it a try then.

Mmhmm! I'm sure we'll create a much stronger Star Child than before. I'm already looking forward to what kind of Star Child it'll be.



New class time again! Hunters are an upgrade over the Archer class, which we just unlocked earlier in this chapter. The new classes might be flying at us a little too fast. I've got a feeling we might be coming up on a dry spell soon.

Hunters are useful if you want to try and get Chains. They have attacks and skills that can cripple enemy speed, and they can also use attacks that hit from multiple angles at once.



We also have the Minstrel. Leveling Ellie a little bit got this one to open since she has a similar stat spread.

Minstrels are largely support focused, although they do have some decent magic attack if you wanted to put a bit more oomph in the Star Child team's spells.

That's it for classes for now. I'll show more off if they open up during the story dungeon, but I don't see that happening until next chapter.

Haa...



Oh, I'm sorry! How I feel isn't important. What's important is whether or not we manage to create a Star Child! Yup.

Both of those things are important Ellie, not just Star Children. Besides, the Star Children are looking stronger and stronger as you get better, so how you feel is definitely a big factor.

Really? Will my Star Child be useful to you?

Of course. Don't worry, they'll be fine. I'll look out for them.

Aheh... It'd make me happy if you did that. It's a promise, okay? Please treat all our Star Children with affection.

There isn't much to these Classmating scenes. I add in what I can, but some of these just don't have a lot of potential for color commentary.


-Shooting Range-

Ellie? You're training during lunch again?

Whoa... It's you. You surprised me.



Considering that I didn't notice you from this distance, I still have a lot to learn.

Uhhh, do you want to run that by me again? You know what I smell like?

Oh, uh. For some reason, you smell really good. Maybe that's what Ether smells like? It's a very calming scent.

Does Ether even have a scent? I don't notice anything.

I have a strong sense of smell.

I don't think most normal people would be able to tell. You're the only person I know who smells like that...

....

Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get lost in thought. Um, did you need something from me?

Okay, well putting that on the back burner for a second, I was wondering if you were going to go to lunch this time? Aren't you hungry?



Excuse me?

I mean, I don't eat that much.

That's why I'm okay with skipping lunch... I'm very happy that you came to invite me, but...

You on a diet? You're going to waste away, you know. It's not a good idea to go skipping meals.

That's true, but... But I'm not dieting or anything. I just... don't eat much.

Oh... But it's no fun eating alone, is it?

Hmmm... Very well.



I want you to enjoy your lunch, after all.

Whatever works, as long as we get you out of here. Come on.

Of course.


-School Store-

Whoa... It's busy in here. This is the first time I've been in the cafeteria. Everyone looks like they're having fun while they're eating.

Yeah, it's kind of a madhouse in here sometimes. Especially when Serina bursts in here looking to milk a cow dry. I'll go get us something. You'll eat at least a little bit, right?

Me...? Uh... I really don't need anything more than water...



Oh, no. I just... don't have much of an appetite.


[Store Lady]: That won't do. From your uniform, I can tell that you're an Elite Disciple. You have to eat well!


Um, I do, really...

She's right, Ellie. You've got to have something. Come on.


[Store Lady]: I know! Someone gave me these nuts just now, but I'll give some to you, too. Eating two or three of these will fill you right up, and they're nutritious. Here. Eat these and keep up the good work fighting those monsters.


Thank you... Aheh... She gave me these.

Ah... These are Num-Num Nuts! Wow, that brings back memories...

You know about these?



What? Those things only grew in the area where I used to live. I remember them from my hometown, they had a really sweet smell.

Did you grow up in the same area?

Huh? Oh, yes... Before I moved to Shelgard, I was in the orphanage in Gazel Village...

I remember that place! That was really close by to my hometown. I ran errands to that place a lot.

Mom always did have kind of a lackadaisical approach to parenting.

I-I see...

Maybe we ran into each other sometime in the past.

Um... I guess? Perhaps it's possible that we've had some close encounters... Well, if you can't remember, then I bet that's all that happened. I don't think it's anything to worry about.

What is that supposed to mean?

Enough about that. If you don't hurry and get your lunch, you'll run out of time.

Damn, you're right. It's been longer than I thought.

Are you sure you only want water?



Please, don't worry about me. Eat whatever you like.

Fair enough. Grab some seats, I'll pick everything up.

Got it. You can count on me.

*One face-stuffing later*

Ugh, that was good. Glad there was still some of the good stuff left.

Aheheh... You sure eat a lot. But your face says you haven't had enough yet.

Yeah, I could probably go for some dessert.



They're candied, so you could have them for dessert. It's both sweet and nutritious!

The nutritious part is a little debatable, but sure, I'll give them a try. *crunch*

How does it taste?

Like salt. This isn't sugar, Ellie.

What!? Really? I-I'm sorry.

You had one, didn't you? How did you not notice?

I-I... um... I have no sense of taste. But I remembered how they tasted back in the day, and it tasted sweet to me. I'm really sorry!

Hey, don't apologize. I'm sorry for kind of being an insensitive jerk. Didn't know you couldn't taste stuff. Besides, it's not like these tasted bad. I just didn't expect it.

Whew... I'm glad to hear that.



...Well, I'll try making the candied ones some time. Um... I can't guarantee they'll be any good, since I can't taste them... I remembered it being really sweet and delicious, so I want you to try it...

Don't worry about it. I'm sure you can still do a good job on them. Just take it easy on the sugar if you decide to give it a shot.

O-Okay! Oh... That's the warning bell already. Thank you for inviting me to lunch today.

I hope you'll like the Num-Num Nuts that I'll make for you. Please excuse me.

*Ellie leaves*

(What is her deal? I don't remember her, but she apparently lived near my hometown? I guess I didn't necessarily know everyone, but...)



(What the hell was that...? I feel like something's there... way in the back...)

Okay, so there is clearly a story here. Let's not beat around the bush about it. It's time we start getting answers from Ellie.


-Shooting Range-

Training hard again today, huh?

Oh, yes. It's like a daily routine by now. We only have a half-day today. Are you about to head home?

I actually have some free time, surprisingly. I was wondering what to do with it. Feel like hanging out?

Huh? Are you sure? A half-day is valuable for you, though.

Don't worry about it. I'm sure. So? You in or out?



Okay. I gladly accept your invitation. Where should we go?

Is there anywhere you have a preference for?

Hm... Not really. I'll leave it to your good judgement, aheheh.

"Good judgement"? There's something I never thought I'd hear from someone. Alright, well, let's go for a walk then. We'll decide on the way.

Sure! My heart's filled with anticipation right now!


-Beach-

Ah... I can smell the ocean.

I like the ocean. ...It smells a little like you.

Okay, there's that 'scent' thing again. Do I have some special smell about me?



Are you sure you're not just smelling my deodorant?

It's also the scent of high, blue skies... Crackling fire... The earth after it rains... and the scent of warm sunlight. Elements of aqua, wind, fire, earth, and Ether...

You're filled with all the wonderful scents of this world.

All? What about Dusk?



It doesn't suit you.

I have a major issue with this part right here. I don't want to break up this event though, so I'll save the rant for the end of the update.

I want you to have the same scent you've always had...

Okay, stop. This has to stop. I've had enough of this. Ellie, have we met somewhere before? I want a solid answer.

Oh... Um... Ooh, look at that pretty seashell!

*Ellie fucking books it... like 3 feet*

I think I'll take it home with me as a keepsake of today.

Eek!

Stop trying to dodge me, Ellie.

I-I cut my finger on the edge of the shell... Oww... I think it's cut pretty deep.

*sighs* Yeah, it looks like it got you good. You're bleeding on the sand.

Huh?

*Wake blacks out momentarily, or something to that effect*

Ngh... Dammit... the hell was that? I feel like I've seen this before...



When I was out, I ran into a girl in the park and tried to talk to her. She was really pale and didn't look like she was doing so hot.

She was bleeding like crazy, and it got all over the sand in the sandbox. I did what I could, but that pretty much just amounted to holding her and telling her not to die while I tried to draw attention.

They didn't make it. She stopped breathing before anyone showed up.

That was you, wasn't it? How the hell did you survive that?

Wake... You... remembered. That makes me so happy... I was just a girl you met once, ten years ago... I was certain that you would've forgotten about me. That's why it makes me happy.

You're not answering the question. How did you survive?

It's because you held me then... Normally, I would've died from such wounds.

What are you getting at?

It seems... I've hard strong Star Energy ever since I was young. My power had the danger of going berserk because I couldn't control it at my age. Children like that usually undergo medical exams and the Church casts a spell on them. But because I was an orphan, I'd never been given any tests like that...

Okay, so the Church can't help every orphan. Someone had to have been taking care of Ellie though, she didn't exactly look like a street urchin in that picture. So why exactly did nobody alert the Church to this? You'd think they'd be all about keeping an eye on orphans if uncontrolled Star Energy has the potential to explode or some shit.

That's why... you saw what happened at the park.

So your power going nuts is what gave you those wounds?

Yes... Normally, I would've died. But a mysterious Ether power suppressed my wild power and put me into a fake death.

I think you've had your potential to be a God's Gift since you were young. I was taken to the Gracia Church... There, they cast a spell on me and I was able to recover... You can see that now. So it's all thanks to you that I'm alive right now. Thank you so much.

So that's how you got involved with the Church. I guess you kind of owe them big time. Sorry I couldn't remember you until now.

Oh, it's all right. People wouldn't expect to see someone they think is dead a decade afterwards.

Aheh... Still, you've always been so softhearted, ever since you were young. Normal people wouldn't embrace a bloody girl they didn't know. And they wouldn't hang on to them, and shout that they don't want you to die.

Not sure if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly a normal guy.

But your voice, and your scent... I've never forgotten them... I've always admired you, deep in my heart.

Then why didn't you say something? You've been hanging around me for weeks.



You'd think it was strange that I would remember someone's scent from a decade ago. And if you'd forgotten about me... That would have been a shock for me as well... That's why I was too frightened to say anything...



There is clearly a 'correct' answer here, but I won't be selecting it. Sorry to any of you that love Ellie, but I can't let this slide. For what it's worth, choices like these only have a slight impact on mood and BP, both of which can be easily improved.

Sorry Ellie, but that excuse only goes so far.

Y-You're brushing it off like that...?

Ever since I met you at this Academy... All this time, I was thinking about what I should do, you know? You could at least try to understand how a girl feels...

Uh-uh, that's not going to fly. You've spent plenty of time with me so far, you could have talked to me openly about it rather than dance around it for weeks at a time while poking me to try and make me remember.

Sorry Ellie lovers, but I don't side with her on this one. If the roles were reversed, we'd be treating Wake like a goddamn creeper and he would have been flat out arrested, or at least expelled, ages ago. She has spent at minimum a few days, more likely a few weeks, doing the following:

1. Hovering around Wake and tracking him across campus (It's slightly implied that that is why she was out in the forest during the 'Schoolhouse' meeting).
2. Implying that she knows who he is only to nervously back away from the comment a second later (multiple times).
3. Talking about 'memorizing his scent' and training to pick it up from a distance.

I don't buy it that she was too afraid to say literally anything about already knowing him, especially when he starts questioning her if the two have met somewhere before.

Ellie doesn't get to hide behind 'Oh, that's how girl's feelings are, you should be more understanding'. The two of them weren't childhood friends. Wake spent all of about 1 minute with her, ten years ago, before she seemingly died. He didn't even get her name. He was 6 or 7 years old at the time and his family either had been, or was just about to be, completely ripped apart in front of his eyes.

*sighs* ...Wait a second.

Your hand. We haven't treated your finger yet.

Huh?

It's not bleeding now? It looked deep though.

Ah... Oh, it wasn't that bad. It was just a nick.



I'm tough, after all. My Star Energy will never go berserk like it did when we met. That's why small injuries like this are no big deal for me.

Well, if you insist.

Yep. I'm totally okay! Whew... It was refreshing to get that off my chest. I was finally able to thank you, after ten years of holding it in...

That alone makes coming to this Academy all worthwhile. I... I truly admire you. Would it be okay if I continued liking you just like before?

What?

Oh... It's not like I want you to like me or anything... And I'm not saying that I want to date you, either. I just want to keep holding onto my feelings for you forever... That's all I meant.

Would that... be a bother to you?

No, that wouldn't bother me. I kind of feel like we've been on the wrong foot this entire time. Now that the air is clear, I think we should be trying this whole thing again.

Really?

It's more than enough for me to that you feel that way! Thank you! Aheh... Today's been a very good day.

I feel like I can keep on living just on this feeling. So, please, let me say it one more time: Thank you so much for everything!

So that's what we missed with Ellie. Turns out Wake really did meet her before, for a few seconds when he was 7. She almost died, but Wake's God's Gift Ether managed to put her in suspended animation or something long enough for the Church to rush over and get her healed up. So she works for the Church because they sort of helped save her life, and it's not as though she had anywhere else to go.

That's it, we're all caught up with the three focus heroines now. We can finally return to full updates that move the story forward. Next time, we take Ellie into the Gluttony Labyrinth and get that shit sealed up good so we can set sail for Chapter 3.







You're free to ignore this part if you want. I'm just ranting.

Now, let's go back to that comment she made about how Wake 'smells'.

---------------------
You're filled with all the wonderful scents of this world.

All? What about Dusk?

There's no need for that. Dusk smells like... blood. It's the smell of desires that flow within people. It doesn't suit you.
---------------------

Nothing about this makes the slightest bit of sense. I can understand what the writing team was trying to go for with this. It's the usual "Darkness is evil, Hero is pure, so the Hero has no Darkness within him." She's trying to say that Wake doesn't have the scent of Dusk because Dusk is the scent of blood and desires and blah blah.

But we've established that Dusk is not necessasrily evil in the world of Conception 2. There has been some discussion in the thread about the intended meaning behind the Dusk energy possibly being an allusion to the concept of 'impurity' that needs to be cleansed. The issue is that the game itself clearly states (in the database anyway) that Dusk is a major piece of the world and humans in general. The will to live comes from Dusk. Desires are not necessarily bad things, and the game doesn't make a clear distinction between 'good and bad' desires. The reason everything is going to shit currently is because there is an imbalance. There's more Dusk Energy than Ether. The Dusk energy needs to be reduced, but it needs to be brought back down to balance with the other elements. It is not something to be eliminated, because the world kind of needs it.

This could be the writers saying that Wake is the 'counter-weight'. He has way more Ether energy than Dusk because he is meant to balance out the imbalance. That doesn't mean he would have no Dusk at all.

So it ends up sounding like Ellie is saying that Wake has no desires, not even the desire to keep living, which is completely false. Wake has already demonstrated a bunch of desires, the biggest of which being his intense desire to kill all monsters. Official Wake may be a bit slow on the romance uptake, but he does clearly have a labido. He gets shy and he does end up developing feelings for the various heroines. So he has the desire to love and be loved.

It could be an incredibly subtle fourth wall jab at his nature as an Avatar for the player. You know, 'he has no desires because they are determined by the player controlling him'. I somehow doubt that the writing team was going for that though.

As for Dusk being the scent of blood and not suiting Wake, that's also really iffy as well. I didn't make up Wake's obsession with monster killing. That's part of his character. There is also a tiny plot hole later on which might imply that he isn't above killing people either.

Then there is the other interpretation of this scene. Ellie smells all the elements of the world from him because he is surrounded by and has connections with the heroines, who all represent those elements (Narika/Serina: Earth, Fuuko: Water, Chloe: Wind, Ellie: Fire). The problem with this is that one of our final party members is Dusk element. I won't spoil anything about her character, but I think it should be clear that she isn't a bloodthirsty evil (or even morally questionable) killing machine, considering that she is one of the main heroines.

It's a strange line. I can see what they wanted this scene to imply (the hero is 'pure'), but the game's own world contradicts it.