Part 99: Revelation

The Mutant Apes were there too.



They're tough. They'll be okay. Right?
They'll be fine!

While everyone is trying to convince themselves that there's no need to hurry off after Kato, Kurando enters the room.


How's your mother?
She just came to. She asked to see all of you. It's this way.


We go out the door Kurando came through and end up in a hallway.


There's a Lottery Ticket hidden by the stairs.


Saki's room is on the second floor.


We find Saki sitting up on her bed.

Well, how are you feeling now?
Much better. Thank you. I'm very sorry to have caused all of you so much trouble.



No trouble.



Thank you for saving me.
We should thank you. You told us where Nicolai is.
.........
Huh?
Hahaha.
Is there...something on my face?
Yes. Your nose and your eyes.



That's a pretty silly joke.
Yes, she's always saying stuff like that.

Kurando, like every teenager back to the dawn of time, is profoundly embarrassed by his mother.



Now, don't get so angry. You look so much like your father; that's all I'm saying.
My father?!
Yes.
Did you know him?!
Yes.
You really knew him?!
Yes!
But how?!
I am his sister.


Everyone who didn't see something like this coming, bug your eyes out. Okay, that's creepy. Put your eyes back in your head, Karin.

Sister!?
So you're Yuri's aunt?
His aunt?!
His aunt?



Huh?

Anastasia over-reacting to something Joachim said (again) in 3...2...1...


And you can hear Joachim groaning on the floor for the rest of the scene.

I heard about you from Kurando, but when I first saw you, I thought my brother had come back to life as a street urchin.
Street urchin?



I really want to hear all about you, but I'm afraid we don't have the time.



...Yeah.




The second half of the conversation takes place in the parlor where we started.

For 2000 years, this has been the base of monks and soothsayers, working to protect humans from evil spirits. Each family has its own unique powers. The power of transforming that you share with Kurando is just one of them.



Sort of, although your case is a little unusual. Normally, the number of forms you can embody is limited to one.
Really?
I think your unique experiences have taught you how to transform into various forms. They say dormant powers can be awakened through encounters with death or severe emotional disturbances.
You don't say. So I might have more dormant powers?
No doubt you have. You and Kurando both.

As I recall it, Yuri was able to start taking more Fusion forms once he met Alice because of the way her psychic powers resonated with his soul. The only "disturbance" going on at the time was in Yuri's pants.



Yes.
He he! So the two of us are still just novices, huh?
I guess so!
Sorry to interrupt, but this is no time to be dreaming about all that! We can't let Nicolai get away.
...That's right. Even as we speak, the monster is deep in Mt. Fuji, gathering its strength.
In Mt. Fuji?
Yes. Japan's largest active volcano, said since ages past to harbor the power of immortality.



I would guess that he is. With that monster's power and the energy in Fuji's ley lines, it wouldn't just be a normal eruption either.
I-if that happened...


So, where Asmodeus was a puppet-master, spurring mankind to war until they wipe themselves out, Astaroth just wants to end it all in one big earth-shattering kaboom. He's the Marvin Martian of Shadow Hearts.



Yuri...
You're going?
Thank you, Aunt Saki.
There's lots to talk about when you get back!
Sure.
Karin.
Uh, yes?
We've got a lot to talk about too.
Huh? Sure! I'm really...looking forward to it...!
...You're not good at this whole "lying" thing, are y-OW!! No hitting!


Okay, time to go loot Saki's bedroom!


There's a couple of elderly servants hanging around. Not that we've ever let that stop us from robbing someone blind before.


One of them is the old woman that came to greet Kurando when we first got to the village.




There's a chest hidden by the wall to the left of Nanna. It has Lucia's Sunrise Oil in it.


There's a Seal of Aura hidden over here.


We go back downstairs and head through the hallway to leave the house.


Outside, there's a Tarot Card, The Star, hidden in the flower garden. I feel like the game is telling me to use Lucia more often.


There's some steps leading away from Saki's house.


Following them brings us back to the village, just to the left of the path leading to the fountain.


Speaking of which, there's a wolf here now.


A wolf with magnificent eyebrows.

Awroo, awroo! (Are you the wolf traveling with Kurando these days?)
Awroo? (Yeah. What of it?)
Grrr... Awroo! (Protecting Inugami is the job of the Matsunagas. We don't need your help.)
Awroo, awroo. (What do I care about your family history?)
Awroo! Grrr! (Silence, impudent pup! My claws will teach you a lesson!)





I won't stand for any more of your insults! Now you'll witness the prowess of the House of Matsunaga!




Matsunaga (shown here getting his ass kicked by Blanca's Soul Comet) isn't much of a threat.


By the time you run into him, if you've been using Blanca at all, he should be hitting for less than half the damage that Blanca can do in return. Besides having a Physical Defense Down attack, he can also cast Barrier and Surge.


The Surge makes me think that he must have an elemental attack spell as well, but I kill him before he casts it. Whoops.





That's what you get for bringing personal feelings into the battle.






Looks like there's only one Wolf Bout left. We really are getting near the end of the game.


Aw, I feel kinda sorry for Mr. Eyebrows.


As long as I'm in a fighting mood, I run to the Graveyard to get Yuri's final Max-grade Fusion.


Have I mentioned yet that the Graveyard fights are a joke by the time you get to Japan? I think I have.


This is all the damage Veles did to Yuri in the entire fight.





You got a Somnion Soul!!

I've got Yuri's Darkness Fusion at a high enough level that Somnion unlocks Arc Surge as soon as I get him. I've been leveling up the Fusions behind the scenes; as each one gets to level 10 (the cap), I'll post their full skill list.

Your Power of Darkness has been completely resurrected.




Unlike the others, he's not really much different design-wise from the Max-Dark Fusion from the first game. I guess that makes some sense, considering that Dark is Yuri's element.


I make a quick side-trip to the Yokohama Brick Warehouses to visit the smuggler/shopkeeper there. He has Bune Crest (Resurrection, Heal) in his inventory now.



Not by the time I'm done kicking its ass, it won't.

Kamna: What?! You're going to fight it?!



That's nice, but I don't even know you.
I think she was talking to me.
Oh.
.........

Sayori: Oh, hello little girl, what's your na-AAAAHH! WHY ARE YOU KICKING ME THERE!? NO! LET GO! AAAAAAAHHH!!



Iwase: Your mother will be sad to see you go.


After this, we'll be heading to Mt. Fuji. A few of the people in Inugami Village seem to know that something is up, while the rest keep blathering on about drying vegetables or something, I don't know.