Part 43: Day 172: Sound of the Surf

Music: Sacred Moon


Hello, Luxord. You know, sometimes I forgot you even exist
Other times the only reason I remember you is because you gave shitty rewards

Uhh...fine, I guess.
Saix shuffled us together for today's mission. I wager we'll make a good enough team.
I don't see why not.
Oh, by the way, did you hear about what happened to Xion?
No, what!?
She bungled her last mission and has been in a deep sleep ever since. Can't win them all, I suppose.

What mission? The one with Riku was 3 weeks ago!

Xion! *starts to run*



To see Xion.
But you have a mission.
Which I'll do!
You cannot help your comrade. Xion will not wake up.
That's not the point! I should still be with her. *runs again*



Don't call her that!

Roxas is pissed. I don't think that will affect Mr. Oxlashes here. If you don't get it, try removing the "x" and rearranging the letters.

I'll call that thing whatever I want. How we deal with Xion is no concern of yours.
I didn't ask you if it was!
Look at you, Roxas. Up in arms over a nobody.

Saix: A nobody, not a Nobody. Did I make that clear? Should I give even more foreshadowing for your idiotic brain?

We're all Nobodies!
Settle down. Xion's failings won't affect your standing with us. You've nothing to worry about.

Saix: Your insistence to seeing that nobody, however, will greatly affect your standing with us.

Won't affect my- What is WRONG with you? Look, I'll do my mission-later. *finally runs off*

Luxord: Seems like I have disappeared from this scene. Oh well. I will just wait for my turn.

Music: Missing You


Oh, Xion... *places someting before leaving*



Xion after waking up: Roxas, you didn't appreciate my seashells?

Music: Sacred Moon
And now we're finally at our gameplay of the day. Let's talk to people before preparing for the misison.







Ugh, the thought of bumping in to a guy like that... See why recon's important? Not that you'll catch me enjoying it. Hey, how about you show me how it's done? Go scout out Mission 45 and find all the hidden Heartless. Examine any spot that looks fishy. Track them all down-I'll make it up to you! (And get to kick back in the meantime.)

Apparently Demyx isn't very good at recon, since otherwise he would've noticed that we can just get Zero to find all the Heartless for us. Yeah, it's that mission with Zero being cute

Ooh! You found them all! Investigating suspicious spots is the first lesson in Recon 101! (Getting someone else to do it for you is lesson number two.) (Obtained: Frost Gem)
I just hope I don't bump into any nasties out there...

Unfortunately, there's no more proper recon missions, so we can't follow Demyx's advice



This increases our rank from Rookie to Agent. This also unlocks Riku in Mission Mode



This is nice and all, but I'm disappointed they didn't call him Mooglex or Xmog or Gelomox or something.



We can now by Hi-Potion and Hi-Ether directly. We don't need it since synthesizing them is better, but at least we have the option.



We can buy two of each magic shown here. I buy them all. Thundara and Aerora aren't available yet since we haven't gotten them. You can synthesize Aerora at this point, but I don't bother yet.



Magic LV tripler does exactly what it says. We also have a Dodge Roll LV+ when our current one can't be linked and a Aerial Recovery (3) when we doesn't have any LV+ for that. I buy them anyway because why not

Auto Life LV+ increases the HP restored by Auto-Life and Limit Boost increases the yellow HP gauge, which means we can use limit earlier and more often :frogin:



I might've gone overboard with over 10 Cure magics I never used Fira before this mission, so I tried it out. Blizzard is great. As a refresher for what each magic does (taken from the game):

• Fire: Shoots a homing ball of flame
  
• Fira: Shoots a ball of flame straight ahead
  
• Blizzard: Shoots an ice crystal which pursues foes
  
• Blizzara: Shoots an ice crystal which stays in places
  
• Thunder: Rains down a row of lightning bolts
  
• Aero: Shoots a swift gust of wind at a foes
  
• Cure: Restores some of your HP
  
• Cura: Restores your HP over time

As you can see (and as I probably have mentioned), Fira isn't a direct upgrade of Fire, Blizzara isn't a direct upgrade, etc. It's pretty nice and adds variety to the gameplay. There are several moves combination that can be made, like Blizzard with Attack or Cura with Limit.



As for the mission, it's our first "Hunt all of this kind of Heartless" in quite a while. The final line tells us what the Blizzard Plants are weak to, but I'll let you figure it out yourself.

Music: Welcome to Wonderland
Music: To Our Surprise




What? Oh, right.
What's wrong? First time here?
No, I was here on a mission a little while ago. And I ran into this white rabbit in a huge hurry to get somewhere.
A rabbit? Really?
I lost sight of him before I had a chance to see what the deal was, though.
Luck's like that. A window of opportunity can open and close in the blink of an eye. It's whether or not you can jump on the chance when it arises that determines a man's fate. Let's hope we stand up to the odds this time around.
Er, right.
Let's get started.





Like before, a chest is right behind the starting spot. It isn't actually a bad thing since we can't miss it when we RTC. This one contains a Shining Gem.





Remember what Fira did? Well, apparently this one somehow ignites the plant but didn't harm it at all. Okay then.



There's plenty of Heartless here, with Sergeant migrated from Beast's Castle. Probably they're out of work since Infernal Engine's gone?



Shining Gem and Aero Recipe. Notice how the Hearts already increased to over 300 when we haven't advanced in the mission at all.



Outside the Bizarre Room, there's a new area. We can't go past the cards yet, so we can't explore.

This garden belongs to the Queen. And it's private. No trespassing. Thank you.

This area's name is Hedge Maze Entrance, so you can guess what this world's gimmick is



Hi-Potion and Ether. The second one is actually in the next area, which is called the Queen's Castle*. We'll get a better look at it later.
_{*Not actually a castle}



Huh? Who's there!?



Uhh...a cat?
A cheshire cat, if you please. Or if you don't.



Yes, of course. But then, I also had none at all. Which would you prefer?
I...I'll be asking the questions here!
Well then, ask away... Of course, the answers may be a bit difficult to find... *disappears*
What was that all about?

Notice how Luxord doesn't speak at all in this scene.



Anyway, we can examine the flowers in this area. There's 4 of them, all containing a Pink Concerto. Like always, you can't examine when there's enemies nearby.



It has loads of health. Blizzara is good for dealing with them. Blizzara is strong, but we have to get near it since it's a very short range magic.



It goes down very quickly it doesn't even get to attack. So we continue searching for the others.



This is its only attack: A poison cloud that blinds. Otherwise, it's just a big sack of HP.

It has been pointed out by berryjon that this attacks hits 19 times and will kill if all of them connects. I can say that it's true, but it's pretty unlikely. Just hope that you weren't frozen during that.



We kill the next 2 Pink Concertos in this area



Of course, there's still one more to find. Hmm... I wonder if you wonder where it could be...
We'd find it easy enough if you told us where to look, but I'm not holding my breath.
Oh, but you must! That would be loads of fun! But then, you'd have to be mad... Mad enough to hide within a birdcage, perhaps? Or mad...like me...
That was helpful...

Note how Luxord doesn't talk. Again.



Cura Recipe and Dark Ingot (another synthesis material). There's many exits here. One of them leads back to Queen's Castle*, two of them leads to the next area (same area), and the rest goes back to the Bizarre Room. Unlike KH1, there's no gravity mechanic here, so it's just a one-way shortcut.



This is the aforementioned "next area." There's a chest out of reach. Also, there's no chair-sitting mechanic here. Nor can we go back to the Bizarre Room through here.



The last Pink Concerto appear after we attack this birdcage back in Queen's Castle* into the ground. This area was called Queen's Court in KH1. No idea why they changed it.



Luxord limit is some kind of minigame. You can't really see it when not playing as him. It's a shame that limits don't make you invincible.

I think we've seen all limits in the main story. You probably can see the CO group's limits during their missions (except Lexaeus), but it's very unlikely. Saix and Xemnas will never join us on a mission. No, there's still 1 limit I haven't shown.



I didn't show it, but Limit really helps, especially combined with Limit Boost and Cura.



Luxord finally spoke again, at least.

Another mission down.





Yes, am I? Or aren't I? You'll have to decide. *disappears*

Why is Luxord giving Cheshire Cat a silent treatment? Does he has a personal grudge against him? If so, that would make him a much more interesting character.

That cat is a walking question mark.
Nobody's going to reveal his hand from the get-go. You have to outwit your opponent in the give and take to figure them out. And frankly, I don't see you outwitting that cat anytime soon.



Well, excuse me.
Heh. Let's head back, Roxas.

So we did exactly that.

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



Twilight Station Tower: 36
Sea-Salt Ice Cream: 66

Now BOTH of them has no ice cream? What is going on?

Saix told me what happened this morning.
Why does he hate her so much?
Listen to you.
How come you do that? Talk like you're a real person.

I probably should've made a count for this kind of thing.

Why? What did I say?
I don't know how real people talk.
I mean, sometimes you sound like you really are heartsick or something.
When I saw her lying there... I couldn't stop thinking that she'll never wake up.
She will.
Saix called her "broken"
Hmph.
Well, if it cheers you up, I'm probably a lot more broken than her.

Axel, I don't know how that is supposed to cheer anyone up. Except people that hate you, I guess.

Saix knows something about her. Why me and her are special Nobodies.
Well...



*stands up in surprise* Really!?
Yes, really! Sheesh, sit down. I'll ask, but don't get your hopes up.
Straight answers aren't exactly his specialty.

We know. His specialty is being Oxlashes.

He's more likely to tell you than he is me.
True.
I just hope she wakes up soon.

Music: Sacred Moon


I warned you to keep out of this.
And I told you I can't. I have to know what Xion's deal is.
Why can't you be straight with me for once?
Just like you're always honest with me?

Spoiler: Axel won't be straight with Roxas or Xion. Saix got a point here.

Okay, you've got me there.
Xion has no right to be among our number.
Why not?
What is it you two see in that thing? Just look at it.

Music: Musique pour la tristesse de Xion


You know, we haven't heard Xion's theme in a long while. And we haven't heard Roxas' theme since the beginning of this game.



We actually got a linkable Dodge Roll this time. I'm pretty sure higher level Dodge Roll lets you roll farther. No idea about the invincibility, though. According to berryjon, higher level Dodge Roll reduces the cooldown, letting us spam it. It's not necessary though, since this isn't BBS.

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