Part 19: Mireno Cemetery, Part 1

Alright, everyone. This is it. Our final journey. Once we seal this last Accursed away, our quest is complete, and Riviera is saved.



I'm not gonna lie; this will probably be our toughest mission yet. I cannot imagine the strife that awaits us beneath the surface of this unholy place, nor the power that our adversary may wield.



But we will not fail! Should you feel yourself falter, remember what is at stake, and remember that your companions are behind you! As long as we are together, we-
Ein? This is shaping up to be a decent speech, and I'm sure we all appreciate the effort, but do you think maybe it could wait?
Until when?



Until LATER.



Ein and company set out for the fallen city of Mireno, seeking the final Accursed.

It is rumoured that there is a secret entrance leading deep underground, where ghouls supposedly lurk.

With apprehension, Ein's party prepares to search the subterranean cemetery and seal the Accursed...







Well, here we are in lovely Mireno. Let's take a look around, shall we?



Look how happy she is about that sign. You can't see it, but she even does a little jump for joy while she's standing next to it. What could cause a simple signpost to elicit such glee?

Theory time!






I love this sign. By which I mean I am in love with it. As in, romantically.
(When your only alternative is Ein, I guess you can't really be blamed.)
Fia. I want you to marry us right now. I'm serious.
lina you can't marry a sign
Why not?
because
because you can't
it's an inanimate object











...I guess I was expecting a joke or something.
no there is no joke i am genuinely opposed to this



Ow!



Watch where you're going, mister!
There are people here? Who would want to live in a place like this?
Um, Lina? What happened to your backpack?
What backpack?
The backpack that you had and now no longer have?
Oh, you mean the hitherto unmentioned backpack that isn't visible in any of my art-
Yes, that backpack.
Oh, OK.














OH NO!



Although it seems entirely fair to accuse Serene, given her well-established propensity for tormenting Lina, you'll still lose affection if you do it. Option 2 is neutral, option 1 drops Lina's affection.

Did you lose it?
How dare you even suggest that?! My backpack is where I keep all my loot! I'd sooner lose my own liver!
This might sound far-fetched, but perhaps it was stolen? You know, by the person who just bumped into her?
He looked like a nice young man to me.
Yeah, Fia. Why do you always have to assume the worst of people?


There's nothing of any interest in the building...YET.

Moving east.



It isn't crucial to get Lina's backpack back, but if you want to do it, you're going to have to start looking for that pesky thief. On this screen, you need to examine the well.



Did you hear that splash?
I bet it's that thief.
I hope not. We won't be able to follow him if he's down there.
Why not?
Because I got all the way through Tetyth without getting wet, and I'll be damned if I'm going to undermine that accomplishment by jumping into a well for the sake of some stupid backpack.
...
Er...no offence meant, of course.


Searching the building here will get you a random elemental crest.



Going east again.



Demons! Let's go, everyone!
Wait a minute. "Soul Returner"?
...what about it?
Well...what does that mean?
Presumably he returns souls to people. If they've been lost or stolen, for example?
But that's a noble and selfless act! Why do we need to kill him?
Because he's an enemy.
Yes, but why is he an enemy? What reason do we have to fight him? Why would he want to fight us?
...
...
...
...
...because he's an enemy.
This is ridiculous. Fighting for a cause is all well and good, but I won't engage in violence if you can't even come up with a half-decent excuse, let alone a real justification.
Look, why do you have to overcomplicate this? It says "Enemy Encounter" right there. That means he is a dude that we are meant to fight, i.e. an enemy.
So what, he's an enemy just because it says he is? That's not reasoning! I refuse to have anything to do with this battle!
Fine, then! I wasn't gonna choose you anyway!
Fine!
Fine! Come on, everyone. You guys can be straightforward about this, can't you?
Loot!
Blood!
Fire!
Damn right.



You have to start working a bit harder to earn your S-ranks from here on out. This battle is particularly troublesome, because the mage loves to freeze your party and the skeleton loves to block.

Holy water comes in handy here, but the problem is that it targets a random enemy. What with its feeble base power, it's completely wasted on non-undead enemies.



Fortunately, Serene just happens to have an Over Skill with it that targets everyone!





Oh look, a new rapier. I wonder whom I should give it to?
...
Serene? Cierra? No, you're both OK with your scythe and your staff, aren't you? Oh well. Too bad there isn't anyone here who favours rapiers, huh guys?
Even if there was, she wouldn't want it. Not from YOU.
Well that's fine, then! Or rather, the hypothetical situation in question would be fine if it were the case! Which it isn't!
Fine!
(This is gonna be a long chapter.)



Here, we have the option of jumping down the well. If we do that, however, we have to play a minigame to avoid getting hurt. We did have a rope, but unfortunately it was in Lina's backpack. Better get it back, then!

Thief catching, step 2: Examine the tree.



I feel like we're being watched...



...


















(Look, I hate to interrupt your sulking, but we won't be able to move unless you say something.)
Fine. It's just you, LINA.
Huh? What's just me?
Oh, sorry. I thought you said we were being watched. Obviously I'm just hearing things.
I wasn't even speaking to you anyway. I was just pointing it out for everyone else's benefit.
leave me alone strange voice in my head


Finally, we backtrack to the first screen and examine the building.



I hear noises from inside. Could it be the thief?



He's got my backpack!
Relinquish the loot vessel, thou execrable bandit!
Oh crap. Busted.
oh well five against one I LIKE THOSE ODDS



haha this is the best tactical advice ever

"dude it's only one guy

just hit him until he's dead

what the hell is even wrong with you i mean jeez"



Even a level 0 Disaresta is enough to kill him, so we did just that and ended the battle in one turn.



Wait! I'm sorry! I'll give it back! Just let me go!



If you accept the backpack and spare him, you receive the Thief Manual item, which allegedly explains how to disarm traps. Sounds pretty nifty, right? But what in-game effect does it have, exactly? Maybe it makes the trap minigames easier? Good guess, but no. Maybe it helps you find some super-rare item that you'd otherwise have to go to a lot of hassle to obtain? Again, a reasonable assumption, but again, completely wrong.

Or maybe it just allows you to open one single chest in the entire dungeon. A chest that happens to contain the Tarot item, which wasn't useful the last two times we found it and isn't useful now.

Yeah, that sounds about right. REJECTED.



Hey Serene.
Yeah?
I think this guy has too many limbs.
I think you're absolutely right. Shall we rectify that?
Do let's.



See, this is a much better approach than terrible chat-up lines.


Now that we've got our rope back, we'll head back to the well and climb down.



Man.

I'm not actually going to do this because I don't want to raise Lina's affection, but...just the idea of playing jump-rope in a graveyard.

You can get more disrespectful than that, but not by much.





Come on, slowpoke! Let's go!
Don't rush your elders, young man.



Aaah!



Are you alright, Cierra?
I'm fine, but it looks like we're stuck down here now.



The rope was too old to support your w-
...
...uh...your wonderful. Ness.
"Wonderfulness"?
Look, it's gonna take a while to break this habit, OK? The important thing is that I'm trying.



A better one would have been "Hungry Hungry Horrors", but I'll let it slide.

(That would be awesome, by the way. Like, it's Hungry Hungry Hippos, but instead of hippos you've got Lovecraftian abominations and shit. I would play the hell out of that game.)



Neither of these dudes drop anything worthwhile, so I'm not going to make a big issue out of S-ranking them.



...he said, before proceeding to S-rank them anyway because he is so damn cool.







Well this is obviously some kind of mistake. Clearly Serene's line should have been Lina's and vice versa.

Geez, Sting. I'd have thought you'd be a little better at writing your own characters.

Moving east.



Raiders have known about this place for a long, long time. What do you expect?
That ticks me off! Serene needs loot!
Hey! You get your hands off my schtick!



...yeah, that could have been phrased a little better.
In much the same way that the ocean could be a little drier, yes.
IN LIEU OF SOFT TARGETS TO VENT MY ANGER UPON I INSTEAD CHOOSE TO EXPRESS MY RAGE BY THROWING THIS CHEST





What happened?
Some kind of trap, perhaps?
I can't see anything! What if we get attacked?
I'm a little more concerned that Serene apparently doesn't think of us as viable targets anymore. Are you feeling alright today?
...oh. Um. I did kind of imply that, didn't I?
Don't worry. We all say things we don't mean when we're angry. Right, Serene?
We do?
I mean, we do! Yes. Absolutely. So don't read too much into it.



I shouldn't even need to tell you, but if you choose option 1, Ein uses the sudden darkness as an excuse to cop a few feels. He behaves like it's all an accident, of course, and I might be willing to believe that if it weren't for his already extensive dick record.

It also ends up lowering Serene's affection, so option 2 it is.

Now, we could just throw the chest again to switch the lights back on, but now that it's dark, if we head back to the first screen...



A secret is revealed!



Mmm. Glowing rocks.
(OK, I know I've condoned your whole rock fascination in the past, but this is taking it a little too far.)
BUT ROSE ME LIKE ROCKS DUR HUR
(*sigh*)
EIN EAT THE ROCK
(Alright, you've made your point.)
I assume you're being facetious, but just to be on the safe side, it's bioluminescent moss and you shouldn't eat it unless you have some pressing need to vomit profusely.
Let's take it with us!
...alright, but if I find any in my stew tonight, there are going to be words. And then flames.



There's nothing else of interest here, and it isn't really necessary to switch the lights back on, so we'll just keep moving to the next area.





As soon as we enter this screen, we are accosted by an impetuous stalactite.





Yeah, now what?

See, that's the problem with you stalactites. You don't think things through. Sure, it all seems like good fun to try and fall on people's heads, but it's all over in a matter of seconds, and then you have to spend the rest of your life knowing that you'll never be a stalactite again. You're just a pointy lump of rock, lying forlornly on the cave floor. Was it worth it? WAS IT?



Oh look. Now there's a rock on the ground.



Laugh it up, you bastard.



It looks like we've reached the catacombs proper.
Supposedly, the Six Priests set traps here to deal with intruders. They might still be working even though they're old, so we should be careful.
The Six Priests?
Yes.
...who are the Six Priests?
You know. The Six Priests?
No, I don't.
...well, there you are. That's who I'm talking about. The Six Priests.
Yes, but that doesn't help me out much, does it? I mean, who are they? They haven't ever been mentioned before. Are they like the Seven Magi? Are they historical figures? You can't just reference something like that out of the blue and expect everyone to know what you're talking about. I need details here.
...they're the Six Priests. They're priests and there are six of them. I don't know what else to tell you.
Cierra, please inform Ein that it would be much wiser to keep moving rather than stand here and chat about things that aren't important.
Cierra, please inform FIA that her face is STUPID and I don't LIKE it.
...
(Looooong chapter.)




---NEW ITEMS---
Fire Crest: Support item. Raises Fire resistance.
Holy Sabre: Rapier-type weapon. Holy damage.





---LEVEL 1---
Katon-no-Jutsu
Item: Fire Crest
Effect: 20% HP damage.
Target: Front row.
Additional: May inflict Heat status.


---LEVEL 2---
Ascend
Item: Holy Sabre
Effect: Five-hit Attack combo, power of 111.
Target: Nearest enemy.
Additional: Piercing.



---LEVEL 3---
Vivace
Item: Holy Sabre
Effect: Six-hit Attack combo, power of 82.
Target: Nearest enemy.
Additional: Not-Vit.




---LEVEL 1---
Evil Break
Item: Holy Sabre
Effect: Single attack, power of 275.
Target: Nearest enemy.
Additional: Piercing. Low accuracy.



---LEVEL 1---
Fatality
Item: Holy Sabre
Effect: Three-hit Magic combo, power of 108.
Target: Nearest enemy.
Additional: Unavoidable. Unblockable. Extra damage against undead enemies.

Fire Resist
Item: Fire Crest
Effect: Raises Fire resistance.
Target: All allies.




















<sub>why do we always hurt the ones we love







that's not to imply that ein loves fia or anything

i'm just asking</sub>