Part 127: The Doll House

Yes, it's time for that beloved tradition in the Shadow Hearts franchise where we stumble out of the game and into a Silent Hill mission.


To start things off, we need to find this guy in Yokohama, near the inn where we met Naniwa.

What? You mean Cornelia?

Mizuta: Cornelia, huh...? Oh, sorry. It's just that she looks just like a doll I saw a long time ago...

A doll that looks like Cornelia? Why don't you tell me more about it?

Mizuta: All right. It was nearly thirty years ago... A French doll maker moved into that mansion up ahead. The dolls he made were exquisite! I remember thinking as a child that they looked alive.

Thirty years ago? French? Could it be...? ...And does he still live there?

Mizuta: No, nobody's seen him for a long time, now. I hear he lost his only daughter to an accident just before he disappeared. I don't know if he went off somewhere with his broken heart, or whether he just died alone in his mansion.

His daughter, huh...? I see...

Mizuta: The mansion's been left just as it was. If you're interested, you could go and check it out.


This conversation opens up a new dungeon. Road trip!


Charming place...


There's a Thera Extract hidden by the fence.


Being here at night instead of during the day probably doesn't help in that department.

Gepetto, you really seem interested in that doll maker. Do you think you know him or something?
Well... Look, sorry, but could you leave this one to me? It won't take long, I promise.
Oh, yeah. Sure.




We now control Gepetto. At the moment, there's nothing to do downstairs, so we head up to the second floor.


There is only one random encounter in the Doll House, Bailey. They always show up in groups of six, and they have an SP lowering attack and an Instant Death attack, so you'll want to make sure you equip Crucifix/Leonardo's Bear on everyone. You'll also want Anastasia to get a Snapshot of it to add Nightmare to her Album.


Nightmare is...


...special.


It also reduces the HP of anyone it hits to 1. (Bosses are immune.) There's one more monster in the mansion, but...I'll get to it in a little bit.


Anyway, there's a small landing and a door at the top of the stairs and nothing else.


The door opens up into an L-shaped hallway, and Gepetto busts out the lantern we picked up way back at the beginning of this game.


There's a chest in the corner with a Ring item, Petrify 4.


EyE sEe YoU!


There are two rooms here; the first one is on the right.


We can't do anything here at the moment except grab a Crucifix from this chest in the corner. Then we go back out.


The other room is at the end of the hall.


There's a Silver Angel hidden behind the couch. That makes four, I think.


The only other thing of note in here is a book on the desk.

Hmm... Looks like his diary.


Do you want to advance the plot? Y/N










So you know him? This doll maker?
If it is who I think it is.
But it said something about a code...?



Huh? Did somebody say something?

???: I know the code, I can tell you if you want...

That doll is talking! Just like it said in the diary!
Yes, please, Miss. Could you tell us the code?

???: I'll tell you the code if you say my name.

Your name?

???: Ever since Papa's been gone, nobody ever says my name. It's such a pretty name too...


So, now we get a puzzle where we have to assign names to the seven dolls from the diary. This is where the second monster in the Doll House comes in. If you guess the wrong name, you get thrown into a fight. You ONLY encounter this monster during this puzzle, as far as I know. It's entirely possible to miss this monster completely.

This doll's name is...


So, in other words, you have to INTENTIONALLY FAIL if you want to complete the monster library.


Like so.


The monster is called Torso, by the way, and it mostly attacks with high-level magic. It can also cause Fickle Ring (Ring randomly speeds up and slows down).


Anyway, once the fight is over, you can go back and guess again until you get it right. This doll is Rebecca.

Rebecca: ...I'm sorry. I don't know the whole code. The first letter is "B." That's all I know. But the other girls know the rest. They all want you to say their names too. If you do, I think they'll tell you.

All right. Thank you, Rebecca.

Rebecca: Say, Mister. Your marionette has the smell of blood... She must've taken many lives... ...I see. If you have your marionette do the killing, you don't have to get your own hands dirty...


There are three dolls in the other upstairs room.

This doll's name is...

Gina.



Gina: Guess I have to tell you. The seventh and final letter is "T." Say, Mister. Do you know why I pretend to be the other girls? Because a doll is nothing but a substitute for somebody else, anyway. Even your own marionette is a substitute for somebody you love, isn't she?



This doll's name is...

Barbara.



Barbara: So to thank you, let me tell you. The third letter is "I." ...To tell the truth, I'm jealous of Emma. At least she can cry. I can't even shed tears. Papa said he was going to use them on a new girl, and so he took out my eyes. Now I can't see, and I can't cry.



This doll's name is...

Emma.


I think there was an NPC named this, and the coders got mixed up and attached it to Emma, too. None of the other dolls have descriptors, just their names.

Emma: *sniffle* Papa is dead. He made us, then he went away and left us all alone! But I have to go on living and crying like this for hundreds of years...


We've got all the dolls upstairs, so now we need to go downstairs and through this door at the back.


While we're here, we grab a Lottery Ticket from the fireplace.



???: Diane over there never talks to me. It's so boring!

This doll's name is...

Tina.



Tina: Now I'll tell you the code. The sixth letter is "E." Don't forget, now! ...Phew. I'm tired. Dolls have to be so nice and friendly to humans all the time, or they just get rid of us...



This doll's name is...

Diane.



Diane: Talking dolls are spooky, aren't they? People know dolls can't talk. That's why they like having them around.



???: Then you should watch out. See those two there? One of them tells nothing but lies.

This doll's name is...

Illeana.



Illeana: The fourth letter of the cellar code is "D." That isn't a lie, so relax. Fooled by a mere doll. Hmph! You must be pretty mad at yourself! But we dolls aren't the human's servants, you know. We get sad. We get mad sometimes too. And we might even curse and kill our owners too if we feel like it!


We have all the letters now. The door we need is at the end of a short hallway on the left side of this room.

There's a control panel here.




We have the letters A through J to pick from, and R and T.


There we go.


The door slowly creaks open.

Hey, it opened!
.........
What are you all gloomy about? You're not taking what those dolls said to heart, are you?
Huh? ...No. No, of course not...


We go down the stairs, and a scene automatically starts.



Hmm. She's every bit as good as Cornelia. A. T. certainly improved after he left me...



He was my student, back when I was young. It's such a shame he's dead, with talent like this.


Just then, the doll starts rocking and talking.


And he's surprised...why, exactly?

Do you think "Father" means your student, Gepetto?
Oh, my... That voice...! I-it can't be...!

???: That's right. It's Cornelia. You haven't forgotten me, Father!

Cornelia...?
How could I possibly forget you?! You're my...daughter... The one that died all those long years ago... My god! I never thought I'd hear your voice again...!

Cornelia: That marionette's name is Cornelia too? Is she my replacement?



Cornelia: You don't have to get flustered! ...But, you know, she really does look just like me, when I was little.



Cornelia: I was so sick, I couldn't go outside and play, so they were my only friends.

Yes, I remember. I made them for you so you wouldn't get lonely when I was away traveling for work.

Cornelia: And one day, when you were out traveling, I died...

.........

Cornelia: I was never lonely while I was alive. But Mother didn't put any of the puppets in my coffin. So now I'm all alone here. I've been all alone all this time, for decades now...

My poor Cornelia...

Cornelia: Aren't you coming here yet, Father? I want us to live together again. I want to make friends with the new puppets you'll make me...! I bet I could make friends with your new Cornelia too.

...Maybe you're right. I've lived a long life already. Maybe it is about time I went and joined you there. I'm sorry, everybody, but I'm going. I'm going to go be with Cornelia now...





???: Don't go, Father! I need you here with me...! You can't go! Don't leave me...!





What's the matter with you?! Are you losing it or something?!
There's no need to get so rude! ...He he. Guess I had you worried there for a minute. But I'm all right now. Hmph! And I call myself a puppeteer! I was being controlled myself, just like one of my own puppets!

Doll: ...Aw, you came to your senses. That's no fun! Just when I thought I had a new puppet to play with...

You've been very, very naughty. I guess we'll just have to teach you a little lesson!

Doll: A lesson? What interesting things this human says. Fine. I was bored anyway. If I can't have you for my puppet, at least I can have fun destroying you!




So, now we have to beat down the demon that A. T. released from the Crest, Baal.


He's not really any different from the other big demons, like Gaap. He has Gale Crest, which causes Speed Down and Delay, as well as Meteor Storm. He can also cause Mental Break (reduces MP every turn) with his physical attacks.


The fight is over pretty quickly.


We get the second Flare Brooch for winning. Now Yuri and Kurando don't have to fight over who gets it anymore.



Baal: Oh, well, I suppose it's fun being the one that's controlled every once in a while. I guess I'll come with you.

You got the Baal Crest.

Baal Crest gives us Air Resist and Gale Crest.

Jeez, when you froze like that, I didn't know what was going on!
Ha ha ha! I guess I was just about to go join my wife in heaven! Thank goodness Cornelia saved me... Thank you, Cornelia.



Eek! What's that?!
What in the...? There's a string tying our fingers together!
...Oh, yeah! My father told me about a saying in Japan once... He said when a man and woman are bound together by fate, that there's a crimson thread that connects them from birth.
So Gepetto and Cornelia are bound together by fate?
...Looks like it.
It must be true. Cornelia and I will be together until the very end!

But...but she's a puppet...

You got Crimson Thread




Oh, well. We've got Gepetto's Ultimate weapon!