Part 31: You Know Nothing Of Leo!

Chapter 27: You Know Nothing Of Leo!








: Nall!

And for some reason the game now gives us control, even though we're clearly meant to talk to Nall. Well, maybe we can talk this over with our teammates-



Nevermind.


: We're wasting too much time, and Zophar's power grows stronger by the minute. You have an obligation to help me, just as you helped Althena, don't you? Nall, I know that your true identity is the White Dragon. You must assist us... for Althena, if no one else.
: ...
: What?!
: How did you learn of my secret? Who told you?
: In times past, Althena has always relied on the power of the Four Dragons for protection. The time has come for the Dragons to help her once again. We must use the power of the Four Dragons to break the barrier at Pentagulia. That should free her from confinement, and give us access to the Goddess Tower. Will you help us Nall?

I love how she doesn't answer Nall's question. Yeah, we all played the first game; it ain't a surprise buddy. (Hell, even if you didn't, probably still not surprising)

: I wish I could, but the power of the Dragons has been sealed and locked away.
: Nall, how could you, as a powerful Dragon, lose all your power? I don't believe even Zophar himself could seal the Four Dragons.
: ...Zophar enlisted the aid of a powerful ally to accomplish that. His name is... Ghaleon!



So, one day, while Nall was just sitting in sepia tone-



Ghaleon just warped right in. Does Ghaleon have no idea how to use a door?


: Hm, hm, hm... it's been a long time hasn't it, Nall? I see you no longer have the boy or the Goddess to protect you. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to meet you again like this. The circumstances of our reunion are so... perfect.
: Ghaleon... how can this be?
: I won't trouble you with the details. Suffice to say I've all the right connections. Now dear boy, to the crux of the matter. You have something I require. Surrender your Dragon Aura to me. Oh, and I sincerely hope you won't entertain any heroic thoughts at this moment. They can be so... messy... hm hm hm hm.... But I killed your father. And I have no qualms about shooting for a matched set... er, so to speak.
: I'll never surrender my power to you, pig!
: Hm... I expected no less of you, foolish boy.



I wonder if every other single SSLPer hates the screen flash effect too. It never screenshots or gifs well.


: Ghaleon's power has grown exponentially!
: Some White Dragon you are! You lost your power to a human. I'd be ashamed.

I dunno, I'm with Ruby on this one. Didn't even try to defend himself.

: Speak for yourself! You hadn't even claimed your power yet!
: What are you talking about? My power?
: Your Dragon Aura, stupid! Ghaleon stole yours before you even claimed it!
: And... if the Dragon power is sealed away, they cannot help us!
: Bingo. I suppose I have to stop underestimating your intelligence. But enough of that. I don't have the power to counter Ghaleon and return the Dragon power. But you do, Lucia. With your help, we might be able to do it.

So, this idea of "Dragon Aura" is new. In the original game, Ghaleon just straight up murdered the Dragons. Of course, this leds to questions of how the other Dragons ended up being replaced, as Nall was last living Dragon. And how do Dragon reproduce, anyway? Because they do, clearly, but it's clearly not a biologic- yeah, the Dragons in these games never made a whole hell of a lot of sense. It definitely requires a handwave and "it's magic" explanation.

: Listen, there is really only one shot at saving the Goddess. First, you must find the four Dragon Auras. They will not be easy to recover, for each is guarded by one of Althena's heroes. Lucia will not be able to accomplish the task by herself. She must have help. What are you going to do, Hiro?

Oh come on we all know the answer to that.




: Buddy, I knew Alex, Alex was a friend of mine, and you sir, are no Alex!

...what he means is...


: That is my responsibility. I will not back away from it, despite the odds!
: Oh thank you, Hiro! Know that I appreciate your actions more than words can express. But this isn't going to be an easy job. It could cost us dearly.
: Hiro is up to it! He's the best there is!

Damn skip-

: ...and he's all mine.



: ...
: Come on Hiro, tell Lucia you're more interested in me than her!

....I swear, guys, this stupid-ass crush Ruby has is running its course soon, I promise.

: Man Ruby, can't you see what's really going on here?

Promise.

Anywho-

: Great! Now listen up! You must first defeat the person who holds my aura... White Knight Leo!
: ...what? Leo? But... I thought he was on our side...
: Don't underestimate the strength of Leo. He is a skilled swordsman. And far too powerful for me to fight in my present condition. Please hurry and finish this task quickly. We don't have much time!

Well, we have our new goal for the next... third or so of the game. Let's go!


: Count me in! I want to even the score for what those creeps did to me.


: I can't let Althena's cult continue to brainwash those poor people! Besides, I just might be able to rescue Mauri. I know a good bet when I see one, and I'm gonna bet we kick their butts.


: I've got a mega-grudge to settle with that fat turd Borgan, and I have a feeling this battle will allow me to do just that! Besides, a good Premier would never pass up an opportunity like this!

Now that's we're all on the same page, let's see if we can-


"Hey, we're the lookout team. Watch your backs. We just heard that the Destiny is coming this way. Be careful!"
: Great work men! Hiro, it's up to you to recover the Dragon Aura from Leo. I'll be waiting for you in the White Dragon Cave.



And then Nall just disappears without any animation. So... only villains get warps?

: He should be willing to give us the White Dragon Aura. He's already our friend. This oughtta be a piece of cake. Let's go, Hiro!

That's what I was thinking, frankly. Not like he'd fight us to throw in a pointless boss fight or anything. That would be silly.


: He doesn't even want to play the games he used to love!

Before we go meet Leo, one last go around in Taben's Peak.

Warning: Probably not the last go around in Taben's Peak.


: You gotta take me with you. Look at these muscles. I could easily crush the cult.

They never let us take this kid, I don't know why. He's got gumption. I like that.





More bizarre non-sequitur? Is there an epidemic of thought disorders in Lunar or something?



No.

: Only in special cases... right, Hiro?

No.


: These crazy kids have built some tree house, huh?

How the hell did you get lost up the mountain? How the hell would you have gotten up the monster infested mountain?


: I like to tease him by calling him an old white fart. Nall may be the great White Dragon, but he's still just Nall to us. We know him too well to be in awe.

That's kind of sweet, actually.

We're done with Taben's Peak for the moment.



Before we go meet with Leo, I decided to use the rest of my MExp and level up Jean's dance to 16. This is last time I'm going to spend MExp on her Dance, unless I've really got a lot of excess later on. Her dance skills are just not very good. Really, the only reason I spent MExp on Dance is for Dopple Dance. And it's pretty much for one, very specific purpose.

Anyway, let's leave Taben's Peak and see if Leo-



...it helps if you exit on the correct side.



Guess what it's time for!



: Hiro! You must fight me!

At least he cuts to the chase. I appreciate that.



: *sigh* The Cult. Their way is not right. I know it in my heart. However! I do not know how to escape the web in which I have become ensnared. And... my options now are severely limited. I know good must prevail. Prove it now with your sword!



And the game wastes no time! And look, he bought back the sword we stole from him! Again. Good for him.



Although maybe he shouldn't have gotten it from a costume shop. That is sad.

Yeah this ends in two rounds.


: Please take this. It holds the power of the White Dragon within it.



Excellent!

: Take my ship. It will get you there swiftly. You've no time to waste!

Double excellent!

: Take to the seas outside Meribia and use the helm of the Destiny to navigate.


: The time has come for me to relinquish command of the Destiny. Take the helm, Hiro. You are now the Destiny's captain. I cannot remain with you to fight, so it is here that we must part ways.
: But... Leo.
: Fight bravely, fight well, and most of all, fight fair.



Goodbye for now, fantasy moon Javert. Try to avoid bridges for the time being.

So the Destiny is ours. We don't get any of the crew, but apparently we don't need 'em. Also, portable Althena's statue. Nice.


: If we leave Meribia's port and head west, we're sure to find it.

There's a bit of goofing off you can do at this point, but not as much as you'd think. For now, let's just go along the plot express.




As they established earlier, the Destiny goes over water and land. However, you need to have a ramp to move from land to sea, and it can't go past small paths. Will this game use that as an excuse to make us exit our land tank and hoof it? Will it ever!



As Ruby mentioned, we need to exit here and go west.



Once we start seeing ice, we know we're in the right place.




And... we're already going to have walk. Yay. At least we have a new world map theme, and it's really nice to boot.

Fun fact: in the original game, the White Dragon Cave was a little ways south of the hero's hometown, Burg. The area was certainly mountainous, but not arctic. But in a mere thousand or so years, the area has turned arctic. And it's no longer an island. Also, Burg and Saith are gone, but that's par for the course at this point.

Yeah, geography has never been this series' strong point.



Fortunately, it's not a long walk, just north and then east. However, we finally get some new world map enemies!



The flies are back! They're hardier in this game, in that it takes more than one hit to kill them, but they're still jokes.



Oh, I finally tried out the Iron Mace's earthquake ability. It shakes the screen and does piss-poor damage against all enemies. Pretty shit.



Hey, Ice Mongrels again! Like in Taben's Peak, these guys have absurd defense, high HP, tons of EXP, and a tendency to run. They have tweaked from their earlier appearance, though. Now they have even more HP and defense!



Poe Sword is the only thing that scratches their defense! Also, they have over 700 HP. Yeah. Hell, in one battle, I managed to roll a fucking snakes eyes, which, if you recall does 333 damage to everything. Still never killed one.

Of course, I don't think you're meant to. When I say it gives an absurd amount of EXP, I mean it gives as much as the final boss of the game. You're actually meant to kill these much later.

EDIT: As Prism mentions, these things drop so much EXP that if you kill anything else in the battle it triggers a rollover glitch! Sheesh!



Did try out Dopple Dance, though. Dopple Dance creates Jean clone that attacks at the end of the round.



It's uh... a thing. It'll do that for two rounds.



Finally, we have Ice Pups, which we can actually kill. They're pretty sturdy, and wicked fast, but they're not too bad.



Ew. That inflicts an ailment; fortunately, though, Jean has the Fresh Ring on. I'm not actually sure what ailment it is, but it's either Sleep, Freeze, or Poison.



But for now, we're signing off.