Part 48: Day 194 - 197: Like It Should Be

Music: Sacred Moon


I actually managed to fit in all the Level Up panels this time! I just bring 3 Cures, but there's still plenty of Curas.



Hey. You want this? (Obtained: Bronze)
I'm fine...really.

This is the first free item in a while. The quests for the previous items are mostly easy, but still.



Go finish off 30 plus enemies with a Limit Break, then drop by. I'll give you something fun. Think you're up to it, kiddo?

No. The counter for those 30 enemies started after talking to Xigbar, and we have to complete this quest before finishing all the available missions. We can do previous missions for this, but I won't bother.

For comparison, by the time I finished the available missions, I defeated like 7 enemies with Limit Breaks. Needless to say, I won't bother with this.







You might notice that we're missing Mission 59. I think you guys can guess how to get it.



It's time for us to fully experience Wonderland's gimmick. No, it's not examining flowers or hitting cages.

Music: Welcome to Wonderland
Music: To Our Surprise




Even if she's curious, she's sure to be most furious! For I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! *runs off*

The rabbit still runs like a drunk, if you're wondering.

It's that rabbit.
The one you mentioned the last time we were here?
Yeah... What's got him so tense? I'm a little curious.
Well, curiosity is essential to carving your own path through life. Get too curious, though, and it'll be a short walk. No one can say whether following that rabbit's footsteps will be your lucky charm...or get you killed.
Isn't that a little dramatic? Following him won't change anything. We're still here to hunt Heartless.
Heh heh. Well, if you're that certain... Let's go after our harried little hare, see where he takes us.
You're okay with it, then?
Following him won't change anything. You said so yourself.



To my surprise, there's nothing here.



And then there's a shot of the Rabbit running into the hole. You know, the only other exit?



All of these are weak to Fire. The Grey Caprices are also weak to Aero, which is why I brought those two magics.



Dark Ingot. You can see that we have over 200 Hearts already. The Blizzard Plants give around 30 Hearts, the Grey Caprices give around 45 Hearts, and the Pink Concertos just give around 15 Hearts. Wonderland is great for collecting Hearts.

I would say that it's better than Phil's training, but the end-of-mission Hearts multipler exists, so Wonderland's later missions is better. Especially when there's no Sapphire Elegies.



The only place left to look is in the royal Rose Garden.



Then go! I want those suspicious scoundrels brought here to me. Sentences must be served!





...How aren't you two caught already? You're pretty much right in the cards' path!

Yeah, bad time to drop in... Who's this suspicious trio they're after? Are we not the only outsiders here?
Ahh... Perhaps we were right to chase your busy bunny friend.
Why's that?
Time to get to work, Roxas. Let's uncover this tricky tierce. The Heartless we're after must be in the one place they haven't looked yet.

tierce (noun):
1. another term for terce (a service forming part of the Divine Office of the Western Christian Church)
2. an organ stop sounding two octaves and a major third above the pitch of the diapason (typically eight-foot pitch)
3. (in piquet/a card game) a sequence of three cards of the same suit
4. the third of eight parrying positions (in fencing)
5. a former measure of wine equal to 1/3 of a pipe, usually equivalent to 35 gallons

Yeah, I have no idea what Luxord is referring to. The closest one is the third definition, but even that doesn't really work.



Shining Gem and Dark Ingot.



Back in the Hedge Maze Entrance, one of the entrance is finally open. It's time for the gimmick. The chest has a Hi-Potion, by the way.



This area is called White Rose Hedge Maze.

Our marks are in here somewhere.
A suspicious trio... You really think she meant our Heartless?
I'm betting on it. Now, let's get looking.

A few steps later...





Can't we?
But there's a guard.
There are odds for everything... The trick is in the timing. Hit the window just right, and a long shot will pay off big.
Ohhh! So you mean if we wait till he's not looking, we can probably sneak by.



Now we can see what Wonderland's gimmick is: A stealth maze



The card won't move, but it will sometimes yawn, thus having their field of vision reduced.



Thankfully, we have the minimap and the maze is very linear, so it's easy to not get lost. I'll post the map everytime we go to the mazes (yes, there's another one). Green means badges/treasures, purple means targets, and oranges means cards.



Commanders are basically just like Sergeants, but tougher. You can really feel the here.



Aero Recipe. The Unity Badge is right in front of a card. Apparently they don't care about the badge mysteriously disappearing. Or maybe the badges are visible to just the Organization members?



These two cards just move in a circle.



We need to wait until both cards are yawning at the same time. So of course, that's cue for one of the card to finish yawning just when I tried to run past them.



If we get caught, we're brought to the spot of the last Commander. At least this game doesn't force us to do it from the beginning.



This chest has a third Dark Ingot. This mission is just throwing this on us.



I didn't bother showing the rest of the Commanders because they're really not that interesting. I just mostly try to get hit and use limit to at least try to fulfill Xigbar's quest.



Yeah... But wait. If we just took out the trio those card soldiers are searching for, what will they-



All the searching in the world won't help them now.

Luxord gave no fucks about the cards' heads.

So it was the Heartless, then.
I think our luck beat theirs today. In the end, your curiosity saved us a shortcut.
The key to carving a path through life, huh?
And all the way to the grave.
Cheery thought...





At least the game didn't make us go all the way back to the start.

Music: Sacred Moon




Naturally, we won't actually see the content of the report right now.

Music: At Dusk, I Will Think of You...




*Roxas sits down and takes out his ice cream from wherever he was keeping it*


Twilight Station Tower: 40
Sea-Salt Ice Cream: 73

So, how ya feeling?
I think I'll be okay now.
That's good.
Hey, where's Axel?
I haven't seen him.



There's actually bell sounds here. I think this is one of the few times the bells actually ring.

It's getting late... I don't think he's coming.
You wanna wait a little longer?
Okay.
You and him are always there for me.
Aw, I don't do anything special. Axel's the one who sticks up for us.
Well, I'm just glad the two of you are in the Organization with me.

Music: Crossing the Finish Line


Another Dark Ingot? Okay then.