Part 44: Momentous Occasion

It also multiplies each peck's effectiveness by something like 1.25x. But this is all for later.


There are some new items here but shop screens are sooooooo boring




Somebody really had to make an effort to render this background. I mean everything about FF9 just cries and sweats and bleeds effort.


Aside: until seeing the Black Mage event in Conde Petie, Holly and Makakao won't do victory poses.


That weird lump over there is where we are headed. A designer would kind of hope players aren't green-brown colorblind.




Well Stop did hit, but in retrospect the effect isn't nearly as spectacular when everything is in freeze-frame.






So this is a simple split-path maze. The idea is to read the sign and go Where there are no owls.


An owl will fly away when you do, so you have to repeat this process three more times.


fuck no wonder they want to live where there are no owls




On the fourth "screen" (there are no transitions, you simply pop out of one of the two far paths), the Black Mage peeks out and runs back to the right.












whooooooaaaaaaaa


I like how every area has its own font. This is Courier I think, I always write my to-print manuscripts in it. It is because I think it's more professional than, say, Comic Sans. Though I might submit a manuscript in Comic Sans or Sand or their related fonts someday just to be a pain.

But that's neither here nor there.


man i dunno what humans you know are totally black with glowing eyes, or have tails






"i dunno because the gated communities didn't want them i guess"
"Where's Makakao?"






YOU PEOPLE? i didn't think you were that insensitive










"He's alright. Look into his eyes. He's aware, just like us."


"We escaped together from Alexandria and the cargo ships."
"This far!?"
"That's right. We wanted to live in a world where there were no humans. To find that, we had to cross the ocean."


"It's a scarecrow for our ganja farm!"
"Righteous"


"Scaaaaaare. Croooooow. Dogg you been blazing behind everyone's backs again, haven't you."


"I... I came here with Mr. 36. We escaped together.
We had so many things to learn. It was really scary at first, but we helped each other.
Then one day, Mr. 36 stopped moving. He just stopped... Wouldn't move or say anything.
My friend who knows lots of things told me that this was what 'death' was, and we had to bury him."


"He's going to come out again one day, right? When he does, I'm going to wash him off in the pond."

This whole part here is very much a meshing between and . Maybe, like, with an upside-down mouth




"you're going to make a statement about economic disparity right now aren't you"

•••

[Visitor, Not Invader]




"That's not true! It's just that I was surprised to see black mages other than Makakao who could talk, so..."






"Oh yes you are"


"Damn right you aren't ready to check me in yet, you still gotta make chocobo balut for dinner"

so like for those of you who don't know what balut is, it's conceptually quite gross.  it is a fetal avian still in the egg.  i myself have never eaten it, but this song is a good summary.






"A Trip to Wal-Mart"
by Black Mage No. 420


We also find another Stellazio here.




"Why are we here?"


"It's just a joke! Geez, don't get mad."


"It's something funny! Right, Holly?"




"Not again..."


"Oh, Kilika... It's... It's nothing..."
"Did something bad happen? All the black mages seem pretty nice."
"I... I found out what happens to us when we get old"
"... I dunno, you die?"
"No, it's much worse than that!"
"Well, they do say that there are some fates worse than death."
"I don't wanna end up driving a Fatmobile!"
















"I just woke up one day...
... and there was a human body lying next to me.
His body was covered in blood.
It scared me... I didn't know what it meant.
I ran as fast as I could. When I looked around, I was far away from the front line.
There were many others like me, and we decided to escape together.
We heard about this village after roaming around for a while. That's how I ended up here."

I guess they thought it would be way too dark to make random battle encounters with Black Mage Soldiers who only used Escape. Though it certainly would've been interesting and chilling once you got here.

Now, we can go back to the inn.

I dunno. Maybe we'll find out on the fourth disc.








"I'm serious!"
"... I wouldn't worry too much.
He's trying to figure something out for himself."


"Makakao's never met black mages like himself before."
"But what if they're being mean to him, or saying nasty things?"
"What are they gonna call him, short? It's not like they can call him--"
"--Yes, we know"
"Do you really think the people of this village gathered to do something like that?"
"......"
"Maybe... Just maybe, he'll find what he's looking for."
"... Find what?"
"A place to call home."
"Home?"




"What's the matter? Can't fall asleep?"


"… There was this dragon. And his favorite food was pakalolo."
"A dragon that eats marijuana."
"Yeah. Well, it wasn't just him. It was, like, ALL dragons. They love that shit. But one day, the local consul decided that having it just grow all over the place was making his subjects lazy, so he ordered it all destroyed. Obviously, this made the dragon really mad, because it was his favorite food! Can you believe the nerve of"
"Does this story have a point?"




"There was a man who didn't know where he came from..."


"This man had longed to find his birthplace ever since he was a small child.
His birthplace. A place he only remembered in his dreams..."
"... Why?"


"One day, the man left the home of his adoptive father and went on a quest to find the answer.
His only clue was the blue light he saw in his dreams..."
"A blue light?"
"Yeah. He thought it might be a memory of his birthplace. An ocean, maybe...?"
"Did he find it?"
"Hey, you're jumping ahead. A lot of things happened along the way.
Alright, we can skip ahead... No, he never found it."


"So he went back to the home of his adoptive father...
What do you think his father did when he came home?"


"No way!
The father raised his fist and beat the son he had worked so hard to raise..."


"Why?"
"I don't know."


"The father smiled, after beating up his son!
Can you believe that? He just gave his son a beating.
But this is what the man thought when he saw his father smile..."


"The man is still looking for his birthplace. But he already has a home. Maybe...
... it's the same for Makakao. He's looking for a place to call home."
"I wonder if Makakao will stay in this village?

I SURE AS HELL HOPE SO






"What is it?"
"I was wondering how many people have... stopped... moving."


"But you already know what it means to live... and to die.
You're asking about our friends who have 'died,' not 'stopped.'
Seven of our friends stopped functioning recently...
I think our life span is limited...
I've suspected this ever since the first one came to a stop.
It varies a little, but most of us stop moving one year after production."


"I haven't told anyone else about this. If I did, they'd feel the same way I do."
"What do you feel?"
"I don't know... Fear? I don't want to stop. And maybe I want to run away from it all.
But living in this village with everyone fills me with joy.
The joy of living with them far outweighs the fear of death.
Isn't it the same for you? Traveling with your friends gives your life meaning."



•••

NEXT TIME



oh as for what was momentous it was

uhh

... uh