Part 39

Chapter 33



We've got another flashback incoming. Prepare for another wall of text.





Where did Palom run off to this time?






Hey, it's the Falcon again.





And Cid's controlling it. I don't know why the bastard gets to have both airships, that jerk.



Sorry to keep you waiting! Didn't mean to!
Oh, not at all. I should be the one thanking you, preparing an airship for us and everything.



I just upgraded the Falcon, y'see. It needed a test flight or two anyway.



Mmm?
No, it's nothing. Thanks again.



That's right.
Oooh, wait'll you see Rydia! She's more beautiful than ever now, y'know!

And more scantily clad, too. Granted, once you see Porom's character art you'll realize that the two are in a fierce race to out-cocktease each other.

I'm sure she is. It's been quite a few years since we last met.
Hah hah! You'd certainly give her pretty good competition, Porom.
Oh, Cid! Don't flatter me like that!

Your outfit is transparent. You can see almost everything. Don't tell me you're not trying to fish out compliments with that get-up.



In that case, thank you very much.

I can't tell whether Cid's a skeeve or a gentleman. After all, he's old enough to be her grandfather.



The Falcon's a dream to ride on now! The upgrade's really done the trick this time!





Whoop.



Oh, there's Palom.

Wait, what?



What, am I supposed to report every little detail of my life to you?
...



So yeah, Palom's just acting like a huge dick, as usual.

Now, now, Palom. You really oughta treat the women in your life better, y'know. Like I do.
Happily, if the woman in question doesn't spend all day giving me lip.

You know how different them womenfolks are, am I right? Skeeve them off once, and them bitches be smacking your head with a frying pan!

Ugh, this game was made in 2008. I know Palom's an immature little twit, but still. Cid's not really that much better.



He paid me a visit over in Baron, actually...
What? Palom, you crossed the Devil's Road into Baron?
Is there something wrong with that?

Well, yeah. The Devil's Road is really annoying.



What if something happens to you in there? Then what?
Yeah, yeah. What, are you my mother now?



It has nothing to do with that!
Hah hah hah! Guess you two really are growing up, aren't you?



So we finally reach Mist.



Here's a quickie scene if you try to go to the Mist Cave.



...I know.
Testing yourself against the monsters again, aren't you?
Oh, get off my back already.

Porom's not above taking a few jabs herself. It's only when she's alone that she has the personality of a dishrag. Even in this part, she's pretty assertive.





Time for the usual exploration.



Hahaha, Edge is still obsessed with Rydia.



Fuck that. I already had enough fun grinding for one rare item.



This is Rydia's mother, for those who remember from the orphan chat earlier.






There's Rydia, tending to her fireplace. Not that it matters, as we'll be looting her place soon anyway.



Palom! Porom!
Hey! Don't forget about me, girl!
You come here all the time, Cid.



I'm glad to see you in good health, Rydia.
How are you doing, Palom?



So, what brings you here today?
We just thought we'd pay you a visit since it's been so long.
Well, thank you very much! TaKe your time here. It'll be lovely to have you.



Palom's an asshole to everyone else, but he's not a dick to Rydia. I don't know whether it's respect or puberty or whatever else, but hey.

Huh?
What's that?
I wanna go to the Feymarch.
What!?
I didn't realize you were interested in the Eidolons.
It's for my training.
You're trying to become a sage, aren't you?
N-no... It's not that, exactly.



Rydia!
Are...are you sure?
I haven't been back either lately, so why don't you come join me and take a look around?
This is a job for the Falcon, then.



'Bout time you figured it out.
Let's get ready to leave, then. You'll be joining us, right, Porom?
I...
I'm sure she'd rather stay here and hold down the fort.



This relates to yet another theme in this Tale about Porom's own desire to go out on her own. Again, it's an interesting concept that goes nowhere.

Ready to go, Cid?
You got it! It'll be a snap with my new Falcon!
All right, then.




So now we have Rydia in our party. Despite Cid tagging along, he won't actually be in our party. Rydia still has all of her summons at this point, which will come in handy.






So now we're underground.



No problem, my dear! I was just thinking about that myself.




Oh? Really now?

Hah. I find the Palom/Luca thing delightfully awkward, especially this part. It's the only time you get to see Palom be really uncomfortable.





So our next stop is the Dwarven Castle.



The Big Chocobo has disappeared. I did mention this game follows FF5 and on rules of inventory, where you have enough room for one of everything, right?



The dwarves love Cid. Probably because he blew himself up and proceeded to attack a giant drill to an airship like a day later.



They were carrying luggage and complaining about a lack of sleep!





It's for the best. I'm pretty sure the only thing those guys did all day was look at porn, drink, and beat each other up.



I haven't seen you in a dog's age, King Giott.

There's dogs in this game? Closest I've seen are those Flamehounds.



I'm fit as a fiddle, Rydia! And who would this pair be?
It's good to see you again, Your Highness. I am Porom of Mysidia...
And I'm Palom.





Palom and Porom! Cid, too!
It's great to see you, Luca!



I don't even think it's been that long, but you've managed to become such a stylish little lady since!

Oh Cid, always the flatterer.

Do you like it? I was never a fan of dwarven fashion, really.
So, what brings all of you here?



It's part of my sage training.
Is it, now? Well, I appreciate you paying us a visit, then. Feel free to stop by anytime you please. You are all family, as much as any dwarf in the world.



What? You're leaving already?
How rude of you, Palom!
We just came to say hello, Porom.
We'll come back soon, Luca.



Hey now, let's not get carried away.

Hahaha

Seriously, I can't think of anything to say to all this text. Porom's Tale really loves giving us text. There's really no use to this entire scene other than, "Hey, let's develop Luca a little bit! It's not like we're going to bother developing Porom!"



Luca! I don't want you getting in their way!
Ah! Interested in my airship, are you? I'd expect nothing less from the dwarven princess!
So it's okay?
Sure. But only as far as the Passage of the Eidolons, okay?
Yaaay!
Well, that's wonderful, Luca. I tell you, all this child talks about is you guys. And you wouldn't believe how she goes on about Pal--



Hey! Settle down! I told you, I don't want you causing any trouble!

Oh, is it over?



Good, it's finally over.





Now we can finally get to that damn Eidolon Cave.



AFTER EVEN MORE EXPOSITION WHY DO YOU GUYS TALK SO MUCH



What're you being so shy for?
Don't be ridiculous!

It's either puberty or he just plain doesn't like her. Take your pick.




Okay!





We're finally here! Now we just need to leave and



Aww, how come? Don't you want me to come along, Porom? Palom?
We've come here strictly for training. Sorry.
That's not all.
Oh...?
Right-o. We'll just run some maintenance on the Falcon while we're waiting. There's a few issues with the engine I gotta do something about.
Okay.
We'll be back soon.
See you later!
Sure thing! Good luck!







blah blah blah blah Wait, are we finally playing?

At this point, my recording messed up and dumped a bunch of frames. Honestly, you didn't miss much, as this dungeon's the same, the enemies are ones you've seen a hundred times, and you've got two attack mages blowing stuff up.





Rydia's summons are pretty nice. That said, the area's only three screens long, there's a save point in the middle, and there's no boss, so feel free to burn through your MP.




This part gives Porom her special ability, Pray. It has a random chance of curing a decent amount of damage. I'd like to say a bit over Cura. It's nice if Porom has nothing else to do, but she has the MP to burn on Cure spells anyway, so it's not that useful an ability, considering it has a good chance of failing when you need it to work.

Meanwhile, Palom and Rydia are charging up their band, Thunderstorm.





It will hit several random targets for some good damage. You will have to relearn this one for the end game, though. It'd be nicer if it weren't so expensive at 30MP a shot.



The Eidolons...I can feel them!
...
What's wrong?



Whaaat!? But we've come all the way down here and everything!
Is there a problem, Rydia?
The Eidolons are not fond of humans going into the Feymarch.



You mean...
If you spend too long in the Feymarch, you'll wind up out of sync with the time flow of the human world. Are you willing to risk that?
I am! If we go in for just a little bit, that won't put us too out of synch with human time, will it?
I can't say...



Lemme go with you!



I'll be right back.



And then you have a choice on whether you promise or not. I have no clue what happens if you don't. It would probably convince them to talk some more, so I'd rather avoid it.

I also find it interesting how strongly Rydia feels about the twins not following her. Then again, she has her own baggage with this place.



Okay. I'll be back shortly.



Palom... Why do you think Rydia brought us here in the first place?
Why? Well, because... Hmm. Good question, actually.
Maybe she wanted to test our hearts.
Maybe...

Or maybe she knew she couldn't solo this dungeon and decided to bring some backup. I don't really know why she brought them, to be honest.



Rydia!



Keep us? It was just a few seconds.



Rydia...?
It's all right... Everything's fine.
But...



Touchy subject.



We'd better get back to the Falcon. Cid and Luca are waiting for us.

So yeah, we came all this way for Asura to pretty much kick Rydia out of the Feymarch again, as alluded to at the beginning of Rydia's Tale. So yeah, nobody's really in good spirits today.



So nothing left to do but use Warp.





Great... Everyone's doing well.
Get a lot of training done?
Um...yes. Definitely.
You bet we did!

This is probably the most eager Palom's been this entire segment. He can be an ass, but he's also a surprisingly good cheerleader when necessary.



Huh?
Luca is one talented girl, she is! She diagnosed an engine problem that not even I could figure out! I gotta hand it to the dwarves. The way they approach technology is like nothing I've seen before!



Really!?
That's great, Luca!
Will King Giott let you?



Smooth, Palom.





So yeah, basically this part was all about how Rydia's dealing with being banished out of the place she grew up in, away from some of her friends, as well as Luca becoming Cid's apprentice and macking a bit on Palom.

Remember, this is Porom's Tale. She didn't really do anything. Pretty much none of those themes developed in the least other than her desire to explore the world, and even then only briefly.

So yeah, there really was no point to all of this other than to pad this thing out because the people writing this scenario really have no idea what to do with Porom. I mean, in the first part it seems like they're on to something, but Porom's pretty much on the sidelines this time doing nothing.

Next time, we get on to the present day, which consists of one dungeon, a lot of words, and still bare-bones character development for Porom.