Part 117: Pirate Island 1

I'm going to claim that this update is late because it's a twofer. Not because I've been sick or anything silly like that.

----

Welcome back!





: Aaa....

: Wow. ♥

: Please help me, my Hero! The pirates... the pirates!



: Yeow!

: Hey! Justin!

: Wait a minute! You have to tell us what's going on. I don't understand!

: That's right. That's right.



: Back away from Justin!

Ahh, this is the part where Feena stops being in Clingy Jealous Mode and instead is just reasonably jealous.

: I escaped from a nearby island. The pirates came and attacked us....

: What? There are pirates?

: Uh-oh. Did Sue send Mom after me?

: Yes, there are. We were all captured by them. Only I escaped.

: Please, please, my Hero. Help us all!

: This is terrible, Feena! We have to go help!

: Wait a minute. What island is this?



: Everyone is being help captive on the island by wicked pirates.

: Please, my Hero! Help us all!

: We'll beat them! I, brave Justin, will defeat those wicked pirates.

: Hold it a moment. Justin...!

: Oh Hero, thank you so much!



: Your tongue's hanging out, Justin! What is this? You were just with ME talking....



There's a lot of dramatic posing in this conversation.

: Forget it! That's the last time...! Justin, you're all gaga over her!





: Please help save everyone!

: Don't worry, we'll defeat them!

: Just a minute, Justin! Come here!

: What's wrong, Feena?

: I think that there's something suspicious about that girl.

: What do you mean, Feena? She just appeared out of the blue in the middle of the Sea of Mermaids during Mermaid Season, the time of year when it's most dangerous to the specifically male fishermen who come out this way and is luring us out of our boat to where all of her friends are by claiming that there's other people stupid enough to be sailing this sea right now. Makes perfect sense to me.

: Besides, this island, it wasn't here before!

: What are you saying, Feena! This girl's friends were carried away by pirates! I'm not an adventurer if I ignore that girl's pleas.

: Still, Justin....

: Well, let's check it out, Feena.

: Seriously, this is, like, the Island of No Pants. I just found out about it right now and already I've wanted to live here my whole life.

Well, here we are, the final dungeon of Disc 1. Compared to the likes of the City of the Ancients, or...

... well, okay, it's a bit better about its role than the Deling City Sewers. Then again, "at least it's better than Final Fantasy 8" isn't exactly a compliment.

Anyway, we can chat with Totally-not-a-Mermaid chick for a few extra words.

: By now, my sister must be attacked by the pirates, so she must be trembling just like a sparrow.

: Oh, and then the pirates must be telling her to do this and do that. Oh my Hero, rescue my sister!

: How awful! They're forcing her to wear pants! We must stop this tragedy immediately!

But first, we have some preparations to do.



Such as... stashing all of my healing items. For... some reason.

Also distributing the weapons and stat booster.



Anyway, Pirate Island here is pretty much a straight-up maze. A lot of twisty, branching paths, a lot of dead-ends, and one particular exit. Also, monsters.

... Dammit, I could've called the thread "Mazes and Monsters".



Speaking of, there are two types. The Toad Kings here can hit everyone with their spin-jump attack, or they can lick a single person to cause Plague. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that they drop Vaccines, the Plague-curing item.

They're weak to fire, though, so Burnflame is probably your best bet for dealing with them.



The other enemy is this fish-type we haven't seen before.

Unlike the toads, they resist water, making Feena's Azure knife kinda useless here.



Runaround, their special, hits an AoE around them for moderate damage. Nothing too annoying.



Well, depending on how much armor you're wearing, anyway.



Speaking of water, Justin hit water 8 patching up his wounds after battle, and learned this. Cold is, put bluntly, the craziest debuff in the game. The ability to make speedy bosses get fewer turns can never be understated.

Unfortunately for me, Justin is 1 level 2 MP shy of being able to cast it and I left all my MP restoratives back on the boat.



Fuck it, I'll hold off on using this until Disc 2 properly begins.



"Shhh!" causes Magic Block. According to the spell description, it does so by encasing enemies in a vacuum.



Seriously, those frogs drop Vaccines like there's no tomorrow.

They can also drop Panaceas, which cure all ailments. Unlike the last time we found ourselves with just Justin and Feena, though, we're not being inundated with healing items.



In case you're not suspicious enough of this place yet, a large portion of it seems to be made up of wrecked ships.



I'd imagine that a fruit that increases your ability to get hit by sharp things without dying would taste pretty darn good, yeah.



Oh hey, there's our healing item. I was starting to get worried.



Rain Weed? I guess it makes sense, with all the ocean spray ar-











Anyway, the exit to this maze is through this elaborate archway here, made from the moss-covered hull of a ship.



And from the frogs there, Feena learns "Refresh", which cures Move Block in one ally.



The path leads along a raised structure with a ramp at the back.



Oh, and, uh, four of the girls we need to rescue.

: Is everyone all right? The brave adventurer Justin has come to rescue you!

: Oh, my Hero! ♥

: You came to rescue us. ♥

: Thank you very much, my Hero. ♥



: What are you saying, you fool! Seriously, phrasing!

: There is still one more sister captive in back.

: Please rescue my sister.



: Very well! Just leave it to me!

: Wait a minute, Justin! There's something very fishy here!

: What are you saying, Feena!? They all have human legs! There's someone being held captive. We must hurry and save her!

: But...!

Welp. Better talk to them all again to make sure there's nothing sneaky about these pirates that are clearly here on the island and not at all a trick.

: Oh my Hero. What kind of woman is your type? Perhaps one like me?

: How can I answer that? Ah ha ha. I give up. What should we do, Feena?

: Don't ask me.

: That burning gaze. That gallant face. I'll be your fan, my Hero. ♥

: Isn't that just great, Justin? You'll have your very own fan club in this place.

I dunno, Feena, I seem to recall having to rescue you from the president of your own fan club. Next!

: I am so glad that you will rescue my sister from the pirates, my Hero!

: Heh heh. Of course! Rescue people in trouble - that's what adventurers do. Right, Feena?

: Well, yes, but... in your case....

: Oh, oh, you are a Hero after all. And so handsome, too. Oh, my Hero! You're so cute, so handsome. I'm just drooling.

: What? Drooling?

: Oh, oh, it's nothing (slurp). Pay no attention (slurp).

I... uh... I have nothing to add to this one.

: Oh, my. ♥ Oh, my. ♥ I am so happy such a handsome Hero has come to us! You're, you're... you're just my type, My Hero. ♥



: YEOW! YIKES! What is THIS!?

: Wait a minute! Get away from Justin!

: Oh help me, my Hero. This woman is SO scary.

And finally....

: Well, we're SOOO hungry. Please hurry up and save my sister, my Hero.

: Oh, is that it? You haven't eaten anything since the pirates attacked? Later we'll share our food.

: I think my sister is very hungry too. So, hurry up and help her. ♥

Welp, no time like the present.

... to go back and see if I've missed anything.



Such as this thing off in the middle of nowhere.



That sure was worth it.

Despite the icon, it's not equippable. It works like the Magic Lamp, where it has a chance of breaking each time you use it.

In this case, it broke the first time I used it, so, uh, good job, there.

All right, let's go get those pir- I can't even keep pretending that this is supposed to be a surprise. Let's go spring the Mermaids' trap and fight the obligatory boss so we can wrap this up.

Next time, since this is the halfway point of the update.