Part 48: Toxa Episode 21 Chapter 11 - Knight's choice, her choice pt.3

Toxa Episode 21 Chapter 11 pt.3


8 people died for you Mona! Hooray! Well they were enemies so it's Ok.

"Oh, but everyone looks so exhausted... You all look terrible..."
Just because you're tired, doesn't mean you have an excuse to not look your best
"This is nothing! I've been through worse..."
"Yeah! Those guys were easy!"
They really were, I'm not even kidding.
"Don't worry Mona, we will continue to protect you!"
"Don't you mean "I"?"



"What's wrong, Mona?"
"This is very important. Will you listen to me?"

[Yes] -> [No]
But thou must!


MUSIC: The Grounds of a Different World



So Druids aren't 100% Elf it would seem. But that would imply that there are pure elves somewhere, or have been.
But from what we've seen, there aren't any Elves living in human society. In fact, the closest we been to any Elf culture has been through
Druidic legends.


Only half the party is shocked. Duran saw the ears and knows how nature works. Posha haven't had the birds and the bee's talk yet and Misty simply doesn't give a damn.

"Ha, ha, ha! You must be joking!"
"You're joking, right?"


Has Mona even joked about anything? In all the time you've known her?


This certainly puts things in a twist. I don't know how I'd feel if I was branded a heathen just for existing, regardless of actions or intentions.
Mona is basically a living contradiction to the Rebus's religion. Look at history and see how any religion deals with things they don't agree with.


Remember that the Shrines need the World Trees as part of managing and maintaining power.
They trade out permission to raise World Tree's to nobles in exchange for wealth and power.
In order to do that, they need Druids to actually raise the World Trees.

But all Druids are heathens. That means they either have to admit they were wrong about Druids,
and thus all they represent or give up on World Tree's and thus power and wealth.
It's safe to assume that if this got out, people would die to suppress the truth.





"The Elves are a race who live in a different dimension..."
Oh man, shit is gonna get crazy now, strap in.
"They were believed to exist only in legend..."
"How different is a dimension to a foreign country?"
"That's what I want to know. What's the difference?"
I'm surprised they use the term "Dimension" and not an alternate world. Considering the setting and all.
It think it's great that the characters doesn't readily know the terminology.
"According to my mother's memories, it is a world where various forms of beings live.
It is impossible to get there from here. It's too far away."
I'm getting a foreboding sense here. Elves live in a different dimension, but how can a cross breed between Humans and Elves exist then?
"Your mother's memories? Mona, your mother is an..."
"She's an Elf. She was brought here by the power of Kartia over twenty years ago. My mother then conceived twins with a human."
Oh shit. Things got dark real fast. Someone was SO lonely they had to summon elves from another dimension to get laid
But really, this has huge implications on what's been going on so far. And it's not particularly pretty.


That's the first damn thing she said Alana. Get on with the program.


Things just keep going wrong for Toxa, don't they?

His girlfriend is only half human.
Said girlfriend has a homicidal magical brother with a screw loose.
That brother is also the commander of the Rebels who is trying to kidnap Mona.

What else could go wrong?




Wait a minute. Couldn't Mona just have protected herself then?


Nah, they already have San Saradiart, so why would they need Mona in particular?





"But Mona, you are in danger!"
"It is not my brother who is after me. It's the Rebels."
"San was a very kind brother! I believe he is doing this against his own will! Toxa, please persuade my brother to leave them!"


You just know he is thinking "Mona, I have two skills I'm good at, swords and Kartia, what do you expect me to do?"



"Toxa, Alana, Posha... I want to talk to you about Mona."
"Do you have any good ideas?"
"Great! Are you finally going to tell me everything?"
"Yes. Let's get back to the estate."


You should have gotten used to secrets by now. Honestly.


Alana couldn't handle the truth




Pfft, hahaha yeah. That's going to happen.


It's funny how the opposition is always crazy or deranged or some such thing. How convenient

"There is precedent..."
Of course there is.
"Precedent? Eden was created in the past?"
"About 20 years ago, the creation of Eden was attempted..."
It's not even remote history! It's 20 years!
"That was in 1023..."
I'm not actually a history buff, but I think it would be cool of this was a reference to something.
"The experiment was carried out by a group of Encrypters."
"Did they create Eden?"
"The Eden appeared in the sky above Illuria, but..."
"But what?"
"The Eden that was created could not be suspended in the sky and fell on Illuria... The island was destroyed along with Eden..."
Sounds awkwardly familiar with how I've played the game so far.


Obviously that's what happened! They dropped an island destroying rock on a bunch of people, imagine how high their Earth resistance have had to be to survive that!
My question is, how did they even cover this shit up? They blew an island up! Someone is bound to notice that.


This is why Kartia is licensed, and why Kartia crimes are so harsh. Because if you let this shit go on uncontrolled, islands gets blown the fuck up.

"Then what was the real cause of the Eastern Heathen War?"
I don't think it was name dropped, but I believe it was the war between the Shrines and the Encrypters. It's what led to the formation of Pentagram.
"It was really a war over the tragedy of Illuria and Eden."



"Furthermore, the failure of creating Eden did not stop the research of the Akueldo. They soon discovered that they needed the Original elements."
"The Kartia made from the World Tree was not sufficient?"
"What were the Originals made of?"
"The elements needed to create an Original Kartia are... The blood and bones of a Druid..."
Unholy fucking shit. Suuuuper dark.
"The Original elements are a Druids blood and bones..."
"This is scary..."
"They are looking for a Druid whose power is strong."
"So, that's why they're after Mona..."




For some reason, not everyone is as enthusiastic as Toxa.

MUSIC:Unknown Track I


"We can't keep Mona at the estate..."
"I agree. It's too dangerous..."
"What are you two talking about? Who else is going to protect Mona?"
"Pentagram is remote enough to avoid a Rebel attack. The Shrine Warriors there will protect Mona..."
Look, I see why they can't keep Mona at the estate seeing as Akueldo knows she is there. But Vigilance exists for a reason. Just take her there.
At this point I wouldn't trust anyone let alone Pentagram.
"Even if they obtain the elements, there is no guarantee that they can create Eden... Eden can fall again."
And thus kill a lot of people again.
"To avoid that, we have to keep Mona in a secure place."


So we just kill everyone until there are no more to send. Seems simple to me.

"Then I will keep on protecting her!"
"There is no guarantee that we will keep winning."
There haven't been any guarantee's so far, but that didn't stop anyone. So I'm with Toxa here, what the heck?
"I can't believe you're saying this!"
"Having courage and being reckless are different, Toxa."







"There may be a representative coming to take Mona, by tomorrow."
"No!"







"Why wasn't I involved in this decision!"
"Don't you understand what he's trying to do?"
"This is between Mona and I!"
"No! Our goal is to stop the creation of Eden! The fate of the world hangs in the balance!"
Eh, that might be overstating it a little. I mean a failed Eden might take out and island or a couple of villages, but the fate of the world? That's stretching it.
"That has nothing to do with me! I intend to keep the promise I made to Mona!"
"Don't be so selfish!"



"Stand up, Duran! I'll straighten your twisted mind!"
Count Shinon "Stop it, Toxa!"



Count Shinon "It was hard to part with Mona. It felt like I was losing my own daughter."
"Then why!?"
Count Shinon "Duran has a responsibility as a Shrine Warrior and I have a responsibility to my people. I can't involve my people. I do not regret my decision."





"She agreed to this!? No..."
Count Shinon "Do you want to talk to her? It was her decision."
"I guess she can't bear to put our lives in danger because of her..."
"I understand how she feels..."
If you didn't want to be in danger, then what are you even doing in Vigilance?
Count Shinon "I know it's tough, but until the war is over, you should forget about her..."
"Toxa, you'll see her again..."




So Toxa got a shit sundae supreme. I can't help but feel that the hopelessness falls flat due to how we've stomped everything in the game, so there is a certain disconnect between game play and story.
So let's talk about all the horrible implications of what we've learned so far:

Elves:
The Elves are a different race than humans that lives in an entirely different dimension. But through the use of Kartia, humans summoned Elves to their world.
The key word here is summoned. They were not created. But what does that mean? Well think about our Phantoms? Did we really create them? Or were they merely summoned
to Rebus just to die or be used as slaves? When we mix our Phantom creation spells, is that merely some sort of cosmic google search for a Phantom with those attributes?
What about our spells and and items? Were those summoned as well? But that would mean they were created in some other dimension to get summoned.
In fact it could be that Rebus just steals from other dimensions. That's why you lose your keys and pocket change and other minor shit all the time.
It's the people of Rebus summoning your shit.
Also. Elves and humans can apparently cross breed, but I suspect Kartia shenanigans again.

Originals:
So apparently Originals are made of grinded up Druid. That's fucked up man. But what about the Originals that already exist? Wouldn't that imply that there were a former civilization that also used Druids to create Originals?
Well that civilization is gone. And probably for a reason too. I'm starting to think that copying that civilization is a really bad idea.
Alternatively God grinded up some Druids and made the Originals. That's worse actually. Because that would mean that God is a malignant.
Either way, it could also explain why it takes the life of the user if an Original is used. A life was taken to create the Original, an equal price must be paid to use the Original.
Karma, bitch!

Next time, let's go check out what Lacryma is up to.

Toxa Episode 21 Chapter 11 pt.3