Part 59: Arsia's Manor

Let's go finish this mini-saga of Mary Sue Arsia. This one comes under the same post-game usual nonsense as a fair bit of the other stuff we've seen following kicking Dhaos' teeth in for reals. About 7 months ago.

...Um, oops?



: I'm sorry. Please leave me alone for a while...
: What the hell happened?
: You are on the crucial mission of defeating Dhaos. I won't entangle you anymore in the problems of the elves.
: Lord Brambert...



Young Elf: Do you have an answer for us today!?
: I have guests at the moment. Can you wait a moment?
Young Elf: But, my lord!
: I said wait! ...Sorry... I'm sorry you had to see that.
: What the hell was that?
: ...
: Won't you talk?
: Maybe I should tell you, but this is the wrong place for it. Come upstairs to talk?

I want to say you have to manually go upstairs to continue but it's been over a month since I actually played the game last so I might be misremembering at this point.



: I'm sorry for always dragging you into our problems.
: So tell us already. What was that all about?
: While you were chasing Dhaos through time to this age... I've lived in this place for many long years. With her.

I had to actually check if I was missing something there, and surprisingly I wasn't. It can be read to make some sense but it doesn't really on a first reading.

: I swore to myself I would live together with her. I thought of it as my way of paying for all the crimes I've committed.
: Crimes?
: I don't think that's what she wanted. But that's what I thought... No, that's what I still think. When I think of her, I feel the weight of my responsibility as Lord. Elves and half-elves...



: So, who were those guys? They looked like young elves to me. Right?
: That is correct. I left my people for one hundred and fifty years; my selfish actions have left my people with no direction.
: So they came to bring you back?
: That's right.

Maybe I'm just being silly here, or forgetting why the obvious solution wouldn't work, but wouldn't it be easier to leave this guy here to mope and, oh I don't know, get a new leader? Perhaps someone less likely to abandon their role of leader for a century and a half over someone who wasn't even his friend at that point, never mind a girlfriend or anything more important?

Oh, wait, I forgot. This entire subplot clearly amounts to glorified fanfiction. Carry on.

: We elves stand before a major crossroad. Humans are now allowed to freely come and go in our village. Our attitudes have changed. Some humans understand elves now, too. The King of Alvanista is one of them. The King has been aggressively absorbing our culture. This has contributed to improving the position of elves. Still...



: That's right. When it comes to half-elves, some people are afraid of repeating the mistakes of the past. Half-elves enjoy capabilities that we full elves lack.



It's worth noting that not a single one of these "benefits" that half-elves have are unique to them in the slightest. Powerful magic is the result of their elven blood because magic is a thing that elves do and are known for, to the extent that this was a plot point a long, long while back. Being smarter than humans is, again, something that is shown repeatedly to not just be a half-elf thing; regular elves are, or at least were before becoming racist dickholes, due to being half of the creators of the pact rings which are kind of a big deal. They haven't done much on camera to demonstrate great intelligence, sure, but y'know whatever. And that last one is whining for the sake of whining; magitech was proven to be a bad thing almost immediately after we learned about it and saw it used. Not only was it the major source of the crisis that was essentially killing Aselia, but it also had the bonus effect of pissing off a magic alien king to the extent that he went on a murderous rampage of anyone and everyone involved (albeit because he was a selfish prick but, y'know, details). The kicker is he immediately goes on to contradict himself on that one too; he knows magitech is kinda-sorta awful and starts saying as such, in a way... immediately after he called it a benefit.

Trying to rationalise anything we see here is a futile endeavour, so I'm just going to stop. Probably.

: Most of the excellent scientists of Midgard were half-elves.
: But Midgard strictly prohibited the entry of elves into the country...
: That was nothing more than a façade, and no pure elf would contibute to something like magitech. They wouldn't help humans fool around with magic that way. But the half-elves assisted in the development of magitech.



: For me, the Lord of the Elves, to live with a half-elf... You understand now the deep meaning behind this act. But, even so I swore to dedicate my life to her just the same. Until the day I die.
: Um, you know...



: It may not be my place to say this, but how do you feel?
: !
: You realize I'm one of your "sworn enemies," don't you? I'm a half-elf!
: They won't even let me see my own mother...
: I think how a person feels is more important.
: More important than whether they're an elf or a half-elf! Staying with her a punishment for crime will just hurt more!
: Well, she did turn me to stone, but even so... Honestly, that kinda did make me mad, but what are you going to do?
: Your indecisive attitude makes me madder than anything!
: You're right. As Lord of the Elves, I've been repressing my own feelings.



: That's more important than anything.

...I hope you're prepared for the most blatantly obvious and yet maddeningly stupid resolution to this that is possible. Huey Lewis would not approve.



: Arsia, are you alright!?
: B-Bram... I...turned back... to normal didn't I... You brought me back, didn't you. Thank you...



: She cursed herself, and waited for Brambert to cure her...

A plan that was going perfectly well what with him moping around doing bugger all to fix things, until he got yelled at by a little girl which triggered the super convenient "planned" deus ex machina!

: She had more faith in Brambert than anyone...
: Although their people still have problems, these two'll pull through.
: Alright, the elves must have finished talking by now. Let's go down ourselves.



: She's a half-elf, and I'm going to live with her from now on. Go back home and pick a new leader.
Young Elf: Lord Brambert...
: Are you having trouble understanding my answer!? I can't lie to myself anymore.



: Especially you.
: Huh?
: I'm very sorry for what I did?
: It's okay. I'm completely back to normal, and I don't hold grudges.
: You're a half-elf too, aren't you? Please use your powerful half-elf magic for the benefit of the world.
: I will.
: Please don't hesitate to ask me if you need anything at all. I wouldn't even be here if not for you. I don't know if this makes up for all I did to you, but if it does help you out, even if it's just a little bit... Here's the bow I fixed for you.



: Wow... My bow is giving off incredible waves of power.
: We've done as much as we can for the two of you. You'll have to do the rest yourselves.
: Thank you.
: Alright, Cless we've got something to take care of ourselves.



Okay, we're finally done with this ridiculous nonsense. We get Chester his best bow, again, and I think I'd prefer the gimmick dungeon nonsense of the Depths of Treant Forest to forcing this on anyone else ever again.

Next time: The last arbitrary cutscene title. And kicking Dhaos' teeth in one last time. Just to make sure. And because there's apparently an extra scene that I don't recall in the slightest. Might as well make sure, right?