Ephemeral Fantasia Part #13 - Days 21-28

Part 13: Days 21-28 - Same Business

Days 21-28 – Same Business

Where we last left off, we recruited Ano and met Gallhint for the first time (outside of the context of him getting killed).

Recruiting Gallhint is our goal now. We have to start a new loop to do this, and when we start a new loop, our last recruit Ano is waiting for us at the dock…

Now Playing – Meet Again

“I have insights into the days past, both memories and experiences. I don’t understand it logically, but…I guess it’s a result of your odd powers!”

In a Japanese title this is likely far from intentional, but all this makes me think of is the Nazis.

“I’m Pattimo. I’m Mouse’s partner and sidekick. Be sure you guys look after him from now on, as a new member of the party, OK? Professor Ano!”

“Hey, quit with the “Professor”, OK? Just Ano is fine.”

“Well then, for equality, let’s get rid of all titles.”

“No need to buy this now. I’ll never break it again, Mouse! So, let’s get going! Off in search of the truth!”

We get a yes/no prompt on whether to include him. Naturally, he’s getting dumped in favour of better party members.

Now we shall actually attempt to recruit Gallhint.

Recruiting Gallhint can be very obnoxious. Not so much because the process itself is difficult, but because there is a series of arbitrary barriers before the game will let you proceed. If you don’t satisfy all the requirements, Gallhint will simply not respond at the time he’s supposed to, and you will never be allowed to proceed with the game.

The requirements are as follows:
-Recruit Rummy.
-Recruit Claire.
-See the mirror cutscene (and by virtue of this, recruit…yeech, Plosi)
-Acquire Loreille’s watch from the inn and give it to Claire.

As you can tell, it’s a series of things that seemingly have no relation to Gallhint. I’m not entirely sure if it’s also necessary to grab characters like Bagoth and Ano, but it wouldn’t surprise me. The only people you definitely don't need are Kyte and Rinna.

But, once all that is satisfied, you can go see Gallhint after 12PM on the 3rd day of the loop. If you visit him in the morning, you can talk to him, but no scene will occur.

Every time you start a new loop, you’ll have to fight Zenne and the gang again. If you repeatedly fail to figure out how to get Gallhint, this will get real tedious real fast.

Anyway, without further ado…

“Hey, chill out, Zenne.”

”Yeah, you sure look it. Look, I need to talk to you, right now.”

“Hm. You insist on interfering, eh? Well, all right.”

We cut to outside, where Zenne can be seen, having come to listen in.

Now Playing – Cute Recorder Sound

“Keep it brief, will ya?!”

“…! That’s a rare instrument. You’ve got good taste.”

“I’m Pattimo. We’ve been partners for a long while now. Could you take this seriously?”

”…and that’s why Xelpherpolis is a bigger dick than us thieves and he’s gonna kill you today.”

“So you’re telling me not to go?”

“That’s right.”

“This is not a laughing matter.”

“Heh heh. I guess that’s how you’d see it. Of course that’s what you’d think!”

“I knew about it from the start, knew that time was looping round and round. I live the same days fully aware of this. I wasn’t laughing because it was such an absurd idea. I was laughing at how reckless you two were being!”

“So you’re saying you’ve repeatedly played the role of the murder victim knowingly? That’s crazy! Didn’t you ever think to rebel against Xelpherpolis?!”

“…..I’ve been on this island much longer than you. Why don’t I teach you a few things about the island instead.”

Gallhint walks away.

The game reminds us that Zenne overheard everything, and the cutscene ends.

Now that we’ve gone and done this, there’s probably some change in this loop, right?

Nope. Absolutely nothing changes. No new lines from anyone, Gallhint dies, everyone’s captured. That’s it.

What can we do now? How could we possibly move events forward?

If you answered “Sleep until the next loop and then sleep some more”, you’d be right! All we have to do is pot around and something will arbitrarily happen. Specifically, on the 2nd day of the next loop after finding out Gallhint knows everything…

“There’s a visitor down in our lobby. She wants to see you, Mouse! She was incredibly beautiful!....Is something funny going on?”

We cut to the inn.

Zenne: “Hey, don’t stare! It’s not like I wanted to come see you, you know.”

”You can tell yourself that if it makes you feel better.”

We cut to just outside the inn.

Now Playing – Bagoth’s Unease

Zenne: “I don’t know why, but I have this feeling that you’re the only one who can save Gallhint. That’s why I tracked down your whereabouts and came here. I think something really horrible might happen to Gallhint. No, it’s definitely going to happen! He’s suffering through this all alone. You’re the only one who can save him! Because…because you’re just like him. You should be able to know what he’s going through!”

(She just had a memory “recoil”. It’s probably a result of her having overheard a conversation we had with Gallhint during a previous loop. She’s experiencing only a partial awakening. Regardless, why don’t we try to convince Gallhint once again, eh partner?)

And so we jump over to Gallhint’s forest fortress.

Now Playing – Tension

“What are you gonna do about it, huh?! Zenne has…she’s started to figure out the island’s secret! If she figures this out, she won’t understand why I’ve been playing out the death scene again and again!!”

“Mind telling us how that first happened to you?”

“The origin is…It was probably the same for you guys too. I received an invitation to come to Pandule Island. We were stealing all over the place and thought the island would be a new place to strike it rich. But we were wrong. This island is a time prison…no, it’s a living hell! Xelpherpolis sets his eye on people from all over and then invites them here. Then he has them act out the part of fools in the dramas of his choosing.”

“But weren’t you aware of the loop right from the start? Why didn’t you rebel against Xelpherpolis?”

“I watched my fellow partners and Zenne get killed right before my eyes…., over and over and over again. Even though I know we’ll be reborn again, I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

“It’s a more peaceful turn of events. This way only I die.”

“Come on. Say something.”

“Gallhint. We came here to convince you. We wanted you to join us. But we miscalculated. You don’t have the qualifications necessary.”

“You don’t have the will or the courage. To do battle, these are the necessary ingredients. On the surface, it sounds like you’re concerned for your friends and lover, but in reality, you just didn’t want to witness the horrific scene.”

“…!”

“If you really wanted to save them, you would have endured anything, tried everything. We’re looking for people who can withstand things like that, a hundred times, maybe even a thousand times.”

”Wait why did we recruit Plosi and Rinna then?”

”Because of reasons.”

“The Princess told me the same thing again and again.”

”She was talking to me, Pattimo.”

”Quiet, you.”

And then Mouse and Pattimo exit stage left.

“It’s all right.”

Zenne: “We’re going to be OK, right?! If we all work together, we’ll be OK, right?”

“Quiet!”

Zenne: “What an idiot! There’s no way anyone can predict the future. Ahahahaha! I’ve never been very smart.”

Domestic abuse is how you know there’s truly love in a relationship, so tell the Japanese.

And the scene ends. If we try to go back to Gallhint’s room now, the door will be locked. We have somewhere more important to be, anyway. There’s finally a change to Gallhint’s attack…

Click here to see how things change.

This change has actually been here since we recruited Bagoth: a generic soldier has taken his place.

The real changes start here…

Now Playing – Rebellion

Note that the soldiers are taking Loreille into the palace. Thinking back, that’s far smarter than Bagoth, who took her towards the melee between the bandits and guards.

Xel knocks Gallhint back.

”You bet I do!’

(Now he’s really gone and done it!)

“Let’s go, Mouse!”

The flunkies teleport in at Xel’s request.

Jawarro is the one to the left of Grantus (who is the bull guy, if you don’t recall).

And Twinboom (perhaps the dumbest name yet) is the bird mask guy.

Twinboom: “After all the work I went through to make “The World of the Time Loop” and not to wait until the last day.”

“You…! Today’s the day I’m finally going to destroy you, you insolent…!!”

“It’s all right, Grantus. A little bit of exercise is healthy. I’ll take you on and we’ll settle this, Mouse. This time I am going to destroy your very essence and turn you into a piece of this island.”

And so we fight Xelpherpolis alone. Makes you wonder why he bothered calling his flunkies. As you can see, we have Rummy and Gallhint with us. This is part of why it’s a good idea to make Rummy a mainstay of your parties.

While the Party Level mechanic means Gallhint’s HP is on part with the rest, he has no weapon upgrades and is thus worthless as an attacker. All we can really use him as here is a meatshield and an item tosser.

Xelpherpolis hits hard, but not so hard we’re ever in any actual danger. After a few Ray Slashes and some Hi Kicks, he goes down.

”WE won.”

”Whatever.”

Now Playing – Evil

“Watch this.”

“Like this!”

Venaterwa: “AHHH!!!”

Gallhint rushes to Zenne’s side.

Now Playing – Sadness

Zenne: “Gallhint’s eyes look alike once again!”

“Don’t speak! Don’t say a word!”

Zenne: “No matter how much time passes, no matter how many seasons pass, don’t ever forget me….And don’t ever let the life go out of your eyes again.”

Gallhint sprints at Xel.

“Stop it! Stop! Gallhint!”

Gallhint vanishes in blue fire.

“I’m not that nice. You will vanish into another dimension quite different from here. You can never die there. Instead, you shall suffer in agony for eternity, forever regretting that you ever acted against me.”

“You’re no God! You’re the Devil!!”

“I don’t care either way. It’s essentially the same thing. Whatever you call me, I rule all humans.”

“That’s inexcusable! How dare you play with our souls like that! I won’t tolerate being a pawn in your game!”

“Wha…what’s so funny?”

“Rummy, you’re gravely mistaken. Yes, I’m manipulating the time on the island. But when the new time loop starts, other than giving your hearts a slight nudge, I don’t do anything. You determine your own fate. That’s where humanity is most petty and most interesting. No matter how many chances they get, they repeat the same mistakes over and over again. And everyone does it.”

“That’s…that’s a lie! You have manipulated my heart and…!”

“Yes, I sowed a small seed for you to fall in love with someone and for you to feel jealous over someone, but I did not force you to do anything. So, how do you feel now that you have awakened from the spell?”

Mouse is the only one surprised at this revelation.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! So, it’s still the same, isn’t it? Your role is to be jealous of Loreille forever.”

“Condemning me no longer seems appropriate does it?”

“No matter how many chances you’re given, you always take the same route. Thus, I give each of you a fitting role to play. And by doing this, I can reshape the world into anything I want. If you wish, I could bestow eternal peace on you. For example…”