Part 13: Dalian, part 1

Dalian, part 1


Next stop, the quaint little sea-side town of Dalian!


...right after this flash-back sequence.


Aw, little Yuri is adorable!

He's been working so hard, he must be hungry!





Heh heh...Mom says supper's ready!

Oh. Well, I could use a break.

There's still so many left! Can you really seed it all by summer?

Sure. Winter's much harsher here on the continent than in Katsuragi, where you were born. First we work to plant lots of seeds. Then, in fall we split the harvest with everyone from town. If we all work hard and help each other out, we can make it through even the toughest of winters. Understand?

Yep!

No, he doesn't.





Say, Dad...

Will you have to go away again in the fall? To work?



Will you be back soon?

It's okay, Dad. I can wait for you! 'Cause I'm a man! But, Mom's different. She's a girl, so she misses you. She tries to hide it, but...

I can tell how sad she is...

Aw, Yuri was so sweet and thoughtful when he was a kid. What happened?

...I know. I feel terrible about doing this to you and your mother.

Yuri. You look after Mom when I'm away, all right? I'll try to come back before winter.

Okay... I promise. Come back soon, okay...?

Of course. I promise, too. C'mon. Mom's waiting.







Yuri. Wake up! Please wake up.

You're drooling on my back!

...Mnnh...huh?

...What? Somethin' happen?

Did something HAPPEN? I'll say it did! How can you possibly sleep at a time like this, sonny boy?!

Time like what?



Huh?! The engine's busted!!

Yuri, I heard what you said... In your sleep.

It's good to see that Alice has her priorities straight.

You were saying, "Dad, Dad, They're coming to kill Mom. Help"...

You seemed to be in so much pain...

...

Look here, Missy! This is no time for casual discourse on somniloquy! We're going to crash! CRASH, I tell you!! Aiiieeeee!!

Drama whore.


...Or not.









Me, too... I can't believe we made it in one piece...



What a...what a GUTLESS plane that was!! I thought we'd at least get past Dalian. Oh, ho ho ho!!

Only a poor pilot blames the plane.





...

Don't glare at me, you two! That's not very nice! C'mon, look on the bright side...we're all still here!

...Right?


Well, never mind whose fault it is.  Margarete's  We've got a new area to explore.


There's a chest on the end of the dock. You have to get it now - I don't think you get a chance again after the events in the village start happening.


This guy has a mini-game of sorts.



Man with Turtle: Really?! Please, look for it!! I'll definitely get something for you!!


All you have to do is keep clicking around the field until you find the turtle. The prize you get depends on how long you take.



Yuri hands over the turtle.

Man with Turtle: Thank you so much! As thanks, please take this!

You've received Talisman of Luck.


Continuing down the lower-left corner of the screen, we get into the town proper.

Worried Mother: But since this ghost trouble, it's come to a standstill. Of course, that's made a lot of people happy.

What was that? A ghost?

Worried Mother: They don't want to see their precious port turned into some steel monstrosity...

Wait! What about the ghost!?



Old Man with Bad Back: She comes with the mist, and brings monsters... So many have died by her curse...

Old Man with Bad Back: Who's it going to be tonight? Lord, have mercy...


There's another treasure chest hidden in this corner.



Right. What's a 'Sea Mother'?





Unemployed Man: Take my advice. You get yourselves to an inn before the sun goes down, then stay in your rooms.

Unemployed Man: ...Why, you say? 'Cause the port of Dalian's under a curse!! An evil spirit's been preying on us!!

Hm. An inn sounds like a good idea...



Fish-drying Woman: Are you going to the inn?



Fish-drying Woman: Fine, but don't bother Sea Mother. She's the only person we can depend on now...



Wierdo.





Yeah, looks like it...



Yen Yen: Aaah...ugggh... I-it hurts... Brother, ask...Sea Mother to...

Yen Yen's Older Brother: Hang in there, Yen Yen! Don't give up! You're gonna be all right! Please, Sea Mother! You've got to do something! He's the only family I have!!



Yen Yen... I can't help you.



...You fought very hard. You're a brave, brave boy...

Yen Yen's Older Brother: You can't say that, Sea Mother!! Oh, God, Yen Yen!!

I'm sure it was very difficult, but it'll soon be over. I do not possess the power to eliminate Li Li's curse... Forgive me, Yen Yen.

Yen Yen: Ugh, ughk... Gurgle, gurgle...


I'll say. I've seen some pretty bad performance art before, but yeesh...

Cursed and killed by someone's hate...!

Oh.



Yen Yen's Older Brother: Yen Yen!? Yen Yen!! NO-O-O-O!!







Our proud fisherman will be coming under your care. Please be good to him.

Yen Yen's Older Brother: Thank you, Sea Mother... At least I won't have to worry about Yen Yen losing his way...

Yen Yen's Older Brother: Damn you, Li Li...!! How can you be so unthinkably cruel to our village...


Yeah, let's not clean up the body or anything. Just walk out broodingly.




Creepy.





Old Innkeeper: Hmm? Are you guests? I'm sorry, but please, leave me be...

Hmm... No.


He won't let us into the room where Yen Yen died at the moment, so checking out downstairs is a good idea.


Oh, boy! A treasure chest!


Damn brat.


He only sells weapons and armor, and we already have everything he's selling, except...


Hmm...


Back upstairs, this room is empty, so we can grab the tent hidden in the corner.


There's absolutely nothing else to do here, except rest to recover health and magic, so let's see what all the fuss with the ghost is about. What's the worst that could happen?


We don't have to go far.







Th-that voice! You...you must be Li Li!

...That's right. Tee-hee-hee, what a pretty voice! My voice used to be like that, too. Even prettier, maybe...



It's you, isn't it?! The evil spirit that comes out when the sun goes down!

Hmph. I thought I smelled a monster!



Does punching even work on ghosts?

Only one way to find out!

Tee-hee, What's the point? I only have business with her. So, the sacrifice for tonight...




I had to go and open my big mouth, didn't I?





At sunset tomorrow, the girl will die. All you can do is sit by and watch. How glorious... She'll be in agony until the very moment of her death. The same agony I tasted... Tee-hee-hee...


We still don't know if punching is effective on ghosts, but it doesn't seem to hurt the fence-post.

Alice!

God damn it all to HELL!! Alice, wake up! Alice!!




But she wasn't able to help the guy before...

I-it can't be! But...it is! That sound...you saw Li Li, didn't you!? The girl is in grave danger! Bring her inside!! Hurry!!



But what can we do, Sea Mama?! There's gotta be something!! Please!!

'Sea Mama'?

Calm yourself!! I've called upon a warlock more powerful than I. He should arrive soon...


Alice is going to turn into a ghost?

You lost your beloved father, did you? In a foreign land, far, far away. Poor girl...

Did Li Li lose her father, too?

Yes, but under different circumstances. Fate has dealt them both a terrible hand indeed...

So, who is this Li Li? Why did she turn into a ghost, and why is she menacing this town?

Curious are you? About her tragic tale? Yes, I suppose you should hear this...

Indeed, it seems to me that Li Li may have drawn you here. Hee hee hee.

No, the rusty bucket of bolts that Margarete picked out crashed us here.

...It will be a long story, though.

I like stories.

Fine, go on.



15 years ago, there was a sudden tornado that sank many ships. Li Li's father was on one of them. He was her only blood relative. She stood on the docks, praying fervently for his homecoming...

She waited and waited, but still her father would not return. So she called out to the stormy sea, "Blue Dragon! God of Fishermen! Anyone! Please save my father's life. I will do anything!" At that moment, a massive bolt of lightning struck the water, and the ocean suddenly became calm.

Her father's ship returned safely, but the gods were cruel... They had taken away her voice. But that was not all. Her voice became switched with her father's. His rough, fisherman's voice. The father now spoke in Li Li's sweet, dulcet tones; from that day on, he refused to ever speak again.

Sigh... That year, a traveling theatrical troupe visited the village. Such bad timing, it was...

Li Li fell in love with one of the actors... I tried everything to get her voice back, to no avail. The only way was to kill her father.

I...don't like this story anymore.

One fateful night, Li Li came to me, speaking in her father's voice, "Sea Mother, give me that dagger. The blade you use in your rituals. I've made a decision..."

It was shameful, but...one look into her eyes, and I froze completely.


This is one of the rare voice-acted sections of the game. Watch the video at the end to bask in the full glory of the experience.

By the mercy of the Blue Dragon-- no, no, it may have been a curse--

Li Li's pretty voice was switched with her father's gruff voice.

And the only way to get her own beautiful voice back was for her to kill her father.

Having fallen in love with an actor in a traveling troupe,

Li Li took my ceremonial dagger to kill her father.

That's where we left off, correct?





Horrible, isn't it...?



I still remember the horror...

Are you sure this is the short version?

Li Li's pretty lips spoke those horrible words in the gruff voice of an old fisherman...

'Cause you seem to keep repeating yourself.

She didn't kill her father right away, though. She couldn't.





She would lay the dagger on her father's bearded throat.



She would just stand there in silence for a while,



Every night, the same routine...



He was ready to die,

if it meant that his daughter would have her beautiful voice back...



The father, pretending to be asleep while his daughter places a dagger to his throat.

My heart aches every time I picture the scene.

You're pretty old; I think those are heart attacks.



The troupe was ready to move out of the fishing village the next day.

Li Li made up her mind, and entered her father's bedroom again.

But the bedroom was empty.

Her father knew she'd leave the village with the theater troupe.



"I'll send her off with a little something."

And he had gone out to sea in search of some fish you could catch only on the night of the new moon.

But irony of ironies, that very night...

a storm rolled in and the seas raged wildly.



the sun reappeared and rose high overhead,

but there was still no sign of Li Li's father.

It was just like that night some while ago...



the debris of a fishing boat washed ashore from the crimson red ocean...



Li Li cried and cried in despair...

Now neither her voice nor her father would ever return.



Cries like a wounded beast...

Ohh ohh ohh ohhh ohh ohh.

The young man from the theater troupe went to Li Li's house to console her,

but she would not let him in.

Of course,

he never knew that the hideous cries coming from the other side of the wall

were Li Li's own.



the cries came again...

Ohhh ohhh ohhhh

Li Li's voice had grown hoarse from her endless wailing,

making it sound even more fearsome.

But then another very strange sound joined in.









and it was getting closer and closer.

Shlooop, shlooop, shlooop, splat,

...Shloo-oop.

And then the gulls started to screech, too--

perhaps because they wanted that meat.

Shloo-oop, skree skree, shlooop, shlooop, splat.

Shloo-oop, skree skree,

splat, shlooop, shlooop.

The sound stopped right in front of Li Li's house.

Soon the door began to open...

Crea-a-a-crea-a-ak.

??: Sea Mother! Sea Mother!!


Well, shlooop.


Next time on Shadow Hearts: Old friends and new enemies.


Dalian, part 1 on Viddler

NPC Scorecard