Part 50

WATER SOUNDS





She won't be a princess for much longer, Doctor Tot.
Ha ha ha... Indeed. I shall have to call you 'Queen Garnet' after the coronation.



General Beatrix, Master Steiner, will you help her?







Doctor Tot...
Princess... I know how hard this must be. But I will be by your side. Please take the throne with full confidence.





Alexandria's seen better days. The queen has died after essentially being brainwashed into attacking and conquering the neighboring nations, and the princess is having to take the throne after watching the traumatic death of her mother.



But it's also about to enter a new era with a wise and kind-hearted ruler. Queen Garnet will surely make amends for the war that ravaged Lindblum and Burmecia and elevate Alexandria into a greater and more prosperous nation. Between this and the Mist being gone, things are finally looking up for everyone.

-----





...everyone except Zidane, that is. This music's gonna play for the rest of the update, as a head's up.



What happened?
Maybe that Dagger chick dumped him.



Bingo...
This ain't like you at all, Zidane!

So it seems Zidane's fallen harder for Dagger than he let on. Of course, she's soon to be a Queen and thus can't be with someone like him, at least from Zidane's point of view. He's in quite a funk.



I heard you started a mini-theater.
That's right, darlin'! My plays are a hit!
Cool! Let's go watch!
Yeah!
Awright, cowboys!



That's awright, darlin'. Come on over whenever you want.







Huh!?



Hello...
I haven't seen you since you left Alexandria Castle! How are ya?
Well, a lot of things happened, but I'm doing fine. How about you? What have you been doing since we left the castle?
Me? Let's see... Oh yeah, it's been crazy since you guys escaped!



...what's her face, that girl general of Alexandria...





Marcus and I had to carry 'em out on our backs!



We gotta get goin' before Ruby gets mad at us again.
Oh yeah, she hates it when we're late...



Anyway, once again we're in control of Vivi alone in the streets of Alexandria.



Zidane's still not much for talking right now.



I tihnk his friends went to the mini-theater. The mini-theater was started by the last owner of this bar and a girl named Ruby.





I've forgotten what a pain it is finding artwork for everyone.



Please tell me if someone is hiring. I play a mean trumpet!





I wanna join them. I'm gonna work hard and gain the respect of the people.



So there's a lot of talking. Like, uh, it's probably gonna be three or four updates until we actually get back to gameplay. The start of Disc 3 is pretty much one big breather after the climax of Disc 2 and is pretty much the game's last chance to get really goofy, so it runs with it like no tomorrow. That said, there's a lot of great stuff to look forward to in these dialogue-heavy updates.

Anyway, there's quite a few ATE's available now. Let's check out the first one.





What a gigantic house! I gotta see the inside!

First is Eiko exploring Alexandria Castle. Having come from Madain Sari her whole life, she's certainly got a lot to take in.



Hey!





You hungry?



You VERY hungry?



You UNBEARABLY hungry?





WELP!



Personally, I think General Beatrix would make a better queen.







Hey, what does 'absolute' mean?

So, we've got another new minigame to play.







We can race Hippaul.



It's simple. Do what the screenshot says.



At first, Hippaul's easy to beat as long as you're even half-way into a rhythm.



But as you race Hippaul, he gains levels because of course he does. If you beat him, he goes up by one level, but if you beat him by a large margin, he'll jump up to the nearest multiple of 5.





For every multiple of ten Hippaul levels to, you get a card. Once he hits L80, you get the Athlete Queen key item.



I get him to L18 because screw wasting time on this game. Let's bother more NPCs.







Maybe?







Yeah, this relationship's gonna work out well.



No leaving town as Vivi, not that we really need to.

Time for another ATE!







Imagine them talking like this the entire time. Anyway, this is Benero and Zenero meeting with their brother, Genero.

Where have you been!?
We were worried!
Sorry, I've been training!



Yeah, training!
Training for what?
Tell us!



And sadly we don't watch the rest of this conversation pan out.



Yeah good luck with that.



The item shop is open, but nothing new.





Yeah...
But think about it... He's never been in a serious relationship before. He probably doesn't even know what to do with himself right now...



I'm sure he thought about that a lot. That's why he's in turmoil.
He looked so depressed...
Yeah... But this is something he needs to deal with head-on.





Last ATE for the update.







This is Artemicion, the moogle responsible for delivering Mognet letters. Basically, the guy whose job we've had to end up doing.

Hey, Stiltzkin! Long time no see!
Hey, Artemicion. Why does your coat look so shiny?



O-Of course I have!
Are you sure that you delivered all my mail to my friends?
Of course I did! You sent out 4.



Yeah, it's not really surprising now why we have to pick up the slack for this joker.





Sure why not.

I'm sure Princess Garnet will do a fine job!





That's why I put together a wreath made of roses for her gravestone.

So when Doctor Tot said the townspeople made a wreath for her, it was actually just one person. Alright, then.







The weapon and synthesis shops are open with new stuff, but we'll get to that later.



Can't get to the castle for now.



Though there's some stuff available to loot.





But I chose this inn because I heard it was 100 Gil for 3 nights.
Dear, let's just pay 300 Gil and stay at this inn.
Well, um, it's coronation week, so the rate is 120 Gil per night...
Wh-Wh-What!? What kind of a business are you running here!?





Yeah I'd be embarrassed too.

You think so, too?







If you remember, this guy is the Mayor of Dali. Apparently he's rich enough from making weaponized soldiers to afford a trip to Alexandria but arrogant enough to get into a fight with an admittedly-terrible innkeeper over 200 Gil. I found almost 4000 like a second ago, it's really not a big deal you twit.



Yeah good luck with that.





Regent Cid of Lindblum invented an airship that can fly without the Mist! Can you believe that? I wonder if they'll let me on that airship when I go to Lindblum...



Oh, I wish the chef that cooked for Princess Garnet's birthday party would come back!

Oh, right, we forgot Quina back at the Outer Continent!

Whatever.



No.



I see. Thank you.



We've got a brief opportunity to buy from Stiltzkin. An Elixir and a Pinion for 777 gil is pretty damn great.

I've been thinking about how the Mist disappeared, but I gotta do more traveling to find the answer.

Or Vivi could just tell you.



You're asking me why I don't deliver mail properly? I-I can't tell you...

We have a letter for Kupo but it can wait until we turn in our current Kupo Nut.



There's a Ramuh and Shiva card hidden in the bell. Seriously, Hippaul, find a better hiding place.



Anyway, to progress we need to go to this mini-theater and watch a play.



Can you do me a favor?
What is it?
I want you to see Ruby's play with us.



Well, it'll be nice to watch a play without inadvertently getting roped up into a massive adventure where you have to confront your own mortality amid constant dangers, so sure.

Cool! Go down the staircase behind us. That's where Ruby's theater is.
Bro...



At any rate, we're a distraction to prevent Ruby from noticing Blank being late. But who cares, free play.



Don't ya know I HATE it when yer late!?



Huh?



Strange, kinda...



Is he a friend of yers, Cinna?



I'm not old enough to be your uncle!



Hahaha... Yer a funny one. I like you! Wanna see my play, little fella?
U-Um, yeah.
Oh, what a sweetie! I like you even more! We'll get rollin' in a minute. Sit wherever you want.









Sounds like a good place to end things.

Next time, we'll catch up with the rest of the party and see how they're fitting into things. Things may get goofy.