Part 57: The Road to Ruins

The Road to Ruins

Music: Home Sweet Home


It's the morning of Link's wedding day(which is less than 24 hours after he proposed, because wedding planning totally works that way), and Wells is here for a nice friendly chat.

Stay calm.
Stay calm? Why?
I hope it's nothing...But I can't find Pia anywhere!
Are you sure she didn't just go off on her own? She can't just have gone and vanished!

Music: Sadness



That's not like her! Something must be going on...We're supposed to get married today! She would never run away from that!
I fear the worst...
Well, I don't care what happened. But I AM going to find her! By any means necessary!


So as I not-so-subtly hinted, the plot ain't over yet. It's time for Link to run out there and


take care of his crops before investigating.


"I've looked EVERYWHERE I could think of! She's not in my house, my fields, or my monster barn! I'm out of options!"

She's not at the settlement, so maybe she hasn't left town?
That's true. I'll try looking harder.
I'll be sure to let you know if I find anything out.

So there's actually a specific chain of people you need to talk to in order to progress, but Link might as well talk to everyone for authenticity's sake.


The dialogue also involves amusing amounts of dancing around naming your bride. Which is silly because your bride has their own variable in the textdump.

Well, let me know when you find her. Let us all know.


But in a cute touch, people close to your missing bride will have special commentary.

Yeah, something's not right here...



But I do think that everything happens for a reason. There must be some explanation!
Just keep looking!

Thanks, Shara. Very helpful.

Incidentally, after talking to people for their "your bride is missing and " text, they still have their normal daily text. I say that because...



I've got big news! One of the flowers I'm growing is REALLY big!

Now is really not the time, Shara.

About this big?
No, no!


Shara. Seriously. Not now.

That's amazing! I'd like to see it!
Oh, well, it flew away as soon as it bloomed.
What kind of flower were you growing...?


An actual lead?

Ruins?
Yeah. They're on the small island in the middle of the lake in front of our shop. No one ever goes there, so I thought it was a little weird.
I don't know where she went after that, but she couldn't have gone far!

Dang, nice, ni-


Carmen. Please.

My fishing meister blood starts to stir sometimes. I can't help it...
Meister...?
*gasp*! Bad Carmen! *shake shake*.
You better not tell Pia about this! Seriously! I'm not kidding!
D-Don't worry, if it comes down to it, I'll be sure to stop you!

It's okay, I'm pretty sure Pia's too busy being missing to care.






Link. Try proposing to me.

I know I give Link a lot of shit, but Evelyn is quickly gunning for the gold medal in Most Tone Deaf Character.



No, thank you.
What?!

>I can't

Oh, do you have someone you care about?
No, well...

"See, she's kind of missing and I'm trying to find her, since we're supposed to get married today, and..."



Monsters and humans can't coexist.




You know, I've realized what my problem is with Blaise. He's a standard Harvest Moon character trapped in a game where most characters have actual personalities and dialogue variety.



Really? You actually think that has anything to do with this?
I guess I shouldn't comment, then. Sorry.


It's funny that everyone's worried this much about this specific point, when:
1)Nobody in town cared that we were half-monster except Wells, and he got over it pretty quickly.
2)Any of the girls you can marry will definitely not care in the slightest. (Except Kuruna, but she gets over it during the main plot)



...Not really what I need to hear right now.


Karina can't even pretend she cares about this, can she?


So the first part of this investigation chain is getting Carmen to tell us about the ruins, then heading to the lake.

But what about those ruins? Well, let's talk to some more people.


...let's go talk to some people who aren't Zaid.



I'm sorry. I just can't think straight right now...

Those two were hanging out at the lake, so now...


To the ruins!


Away from the ruins!



Those doors have been closed as long as I can remember. I've never once seen them open.
Well, that's not much help...
Do you think Pia is inside the ruins?
Some people think they saw here there.
But...the doors are shut tight!
I know. But it's weird. Somehow, I...know she's in there.
Hmm...Now that I think about it, there might be a way. Marjorie might know something. You should go talk to her.
I will. Thanks.



Magical doors?
That's right. No matter how hard you pull, they'll never open!
Then how the heck am I supposed to get in?!
Calm down, boy!
Sorry about that...
We don't have anything in town powerful enough.to open the doors. The magic is far too potent!
Well, guess there's nothing I can do, then.
Don't look so defeated, boy! Do you know the young man with the horn? Ondorus, I think? I think he might be able to help.
He can?!
Well, I don't know if he can. But he might. No one else has the magic abilities he does. He's our only hope, to be honest.
Well, he's also our best hope! Thanks, Marjorie! That was a big help!



Ah, sorry about that.
What do you need?
Well, it's complicated. I think Pia went to the ruins, but the door's sealed shut with some magic spell.
And let me guess. You need me to open those doors.
Yeah. Can you do it?
I think I can. But...how do you know she's inside the ruins if the doors won't open?
Folks in town say they saw her by the ruins. And, I can't explain it, but...I just know she's in there. I can feel it.
I understand. I'll do what I can to help, then.
All right! Let's get going then!
Not so fast.
What's wrong?
I must retrieve a tome before we head to the ruins. I need to look up some information.
About what?
Details on the ruins. That will help me open the doors.
Sounds like a good idea!
Go to the ruins without me. I'll come when I'm ready.
Thanks, Ondorus! You're always such a big help!

And by "when he's ready" he means "literally the instant we walk onto the lake screen".



That was fast.
I'm a quick reader. Time to go.
Huh?



Ah, sorry about that. I'll try not to let.it happen again. Hmmm...These doors are quite intricate. It's strange. Who built them, and for what?


Man, we can only use our own Teleport to go back home or to the start of a dungeon. Link's been ripped off.

What's your take on these doors, Ondorus?
The magic spell is even more potent than I anticipated.
That was my fear, too. Can you open them?
Yes. But I can't do it alone.
I thought you said you could open it!
Calm down. I did some research on the ruins before I came here. We don't know who built them, but I did find some clues regarding the doors.
What did you find?
A poem. Here's what it said...



What could it mean?
I can only think of one answer: The humans and univir must join hands.
Makes as much sense as anything! Let's open those doors, Ondorus!



...
... ...
...
...
Nothing happened.
No, nothing.
Hey, you! Move it.
Uh, yes, ma'am!



As you wish.
...
...




The doors! They've opened!
Owwwww...
Are you okay, Marjorie?
I'm okay. Just a little worn out. But I did the job, right? It's open!
Yeah. But why couldn't I open it?!
You're a foreigner.
What's that supposed to mean?!
"People of the land," remember? The locals and the univir were the keys to opening the doors.
Wait a minute...Did you know I wouldn't be able to open them?
Well, you were just so gung-ho about the whole thing! We didn't want to deny you!
That, and because it was just funny!
Hey, that's mean!
Mean...but a real knee-slapper! Heh heh! Anyway, you can head on in now!
Indeed. Our work here.is done.
Thanks, guys! I couldn't have done it without you!
Hey, save the thanks for after you find Pia! Now get in there!
Yes, ma'am!


There's nowhere to go but in, so let's do this!



Music: Dragon Cave



...Well, can't waste any time worrying about that! I gotta find her!


Welcome to the Dragon Cave. It's surprisingly compact for a Definitely For Real Final Dungeon, but I'm sure as hell not complaining. Those motion lines are gusts of wind preventing me from going left, so I have to go right out of this room for now.


The enemies here are definitely a step up, but you're fine as long as you bum rush everything.


And that's what I do. The only reason to fight things in here at all is to make sure you're strong enough to handle the final boss, honestly.

Incidentally, how do you paralyze a lilypad?


The Fausts pretty much exist to get you to bring Para-Gone here. And trust me, you will need it later.


This statue in the next room looks vaguely familiar...


Incidentally, this dungeon has crop fields of all four seasons. You can tell which is which by the room title.


...and by the fact that the crop field rooms each have a statue of the boss from the corresponding seasonal dungeon.

And there's something carved on its stomach! "I'm hungry! I want to eat 4 Pink Turnips."
Uh, how can a statue be hungry?
Well, no time to worry about that! Time to find me some Pink Turnips!


So, remember when I bought oddly specific amounts of off-season crop seeds way back? That was for this dungeon. To get to the end, you'll need:

4 Pink Turnips
4 Cucumbers
6 Spinach
4 Turnips

Fortunately they're all things that grow quickly(or in the case of the cucumbers, have been growing in the summer dungeon for so long that getting 4 is trivial). I'm planting everything now - the Pink Turnips won't be ready until the 5th, but at this point I'm going to cut out 90% of the downtime. This close to the final boss, that time is better spent on making potions and equipment than on quests and dialogue.

So for now...