Part 48: Meow

Today, we're going to check out some sidequests that have opened up with us getting a boat.



Our first stop is Zaphias, where we start with a PS3 exclusive set of scenes.





This old lady here looks rather stressed, I wonder what her issue might be?




What's the matter?
Old Lady: Our dear Nora is stuck up there, and she won't come down!



Meow!
...?
Meow!
Rita...?



...Hey, why were you meowing like that, Rita?



Oh, I'll go too...!
What's gotten into those two...?
You don't think Rita was actually talking to that cat, do you?
No way...

After them!



No, no, you've got it all wrong... Meow!
Meow!
Meow! Meow!



Some sort of ritual, maybe?



Ah, she's getting away!



Got it...
Hey, wait up!
...Those girls are crazy.
Hey, do you think... ...Rita might like cats, maybe?
Looks like she's crazy about 'em ta me.


...






And the other little lady...?
Let's go have a look!



Meow!
Nope, at this rate, that cat's gonna get away.



Where'd she come from?



I guess Estelle scaring the cat causes her to jump down into Karol's arms?




Meow!
Make sure you don't let her run away again!
Meow!
What's all this meowing mean, anyway?! I don't get it...

Rita hits Karol for that.



You did well, Estelle.
Hey, it was a team effort!
Where'd you come from back there, Estelle?
Where'd I come from? I just went around the back, then I got in through the second-story window.
...The second-story window? You climbed up to there?
Hey, that's not half bad, Estelle!
Well, it was your idea to use a pincer technique, Rita.
But it was your idea to come in from a back exit, Estelle.
Well, that was only because I was so moved by your selfless desire to help that nice lady get her cat back.
...Who, me? Nah, I was just doing it for fun.



No, you've got me all wrong... Well... I guess it's not worth arguing about...
If Rita's a good person, what does that make Estelle...?
People can be good in their own ways, I think...
...Couldn't've said it better myself.
You guys are so full of it...

Fun fact: The dialogue for this set of scenes is actually on the 360 game disc, translated as well. It's just inaccessible during normal gameplay.



While we're here, we can also check out a sidequest that actually gives a pretty good reward. If we enter the Royal Quarter...



Is this a friend of yours?
I don't exactly have very many nobles for friends...present company excepted, of course.
???: You've got a bounty on you, right?
Looks like you got another fan, Yuri.
Let's get outta here!
???: No, please wait! I'm not going to turn you in! Please, listen to what I have to say.
The Imperial Knights will show up if he keeps yelling like that!
I know. Look, I'll hear you out. Just keep your voice down.



In the flesh.
Shel: Actually I've come to you precisely because of your bounty. Please. Could you find my brother?
What does Yuri's bounty have to do with your brother?
Shel: Well, my brother just can't let criminals go. So I thought that with a bounty on your head...
So to get this straight...you want to use Yuri as bait to lure your brother out into the open?
Shel: That's a bit of a harsh way of saying it, but essentially...yes.
Sorry, find yourself another sucker.
Yuri, wait! ...You haven't been able to find your brother?
Shel: No, I haven't heard from him ever since he left the capital three years ago. He left on a journey to do great deeds and become famous. He used to be in the Knights, but he couldn't get famous, even after many brave deeds.



Why was your brother so concerned about making a name for himself?
Shel: His girlfriend's father said that he wouldn't allow their marriage unless he became famous. He told him, "The man who marries my daughter must be known throughout the world for his righteous deeds!"
So then, what is your brother's girlfriend doing now...?
Shel: She's still waiting for him to return. Her father has since passed away, so there's no one left to oppose their marriage.
So if your brother comes back, they can get married!
Yuri...
*Sigh* Here we go again... There's no guarantee that he won't try to kill me.
Shel: I would even be happy with just some information about my brother's whereabouts. His name is Clay.
Clay. Got it. We'll look for him.

Just the name and "he was in the knights" isn't really a lot to go on, so let's see if we can't get some more information out of Shel.





No, nothing yet.
Shel: I see...
It's pretty hard to look for him when all we have is the name, "Clay", to go by.
Shel: Well then, please go and meet Lune. She's my brother's girlfriend. You should be able to find her with the children in the citizens' quarter.
Okay, let's go and have a look.






I could say the same for you. I wouldn't have ever expected to see you together with a noblewoman.
This is Miss Lune! She comes and reads books to the kids every now and then.
Ah, so you're Lune.
Lune: How did you know my name?
Shel told me about you.



Looks like you're the talk of the capital!
Lune: What can I do for you?
I was wondering if you could tell me how I might be able to find your boyfriend, Clay.
Lune: You're looking for Clay? Shel asked you to do this, didn't he?
Yes. We'll find him for you, I promise! Just be patient!
Lune: ...Thank you. But you needn't try too hard. I'd be glad if Clay came back, but I'm happy enough as it is.
Are you sure?
Lune: Yes. Now that I know how nice it feels to have someone who's always there for me...
...I see.
Lune: But I'm very thankful for your kindness! Ah yes, Yuri, you're a swordsman, correct? Perhaps you could use this.



Lune: He had many disciples, but none of them were able to master the technique...what do you think?
Can ya do it?








That's our Yuri!
Wow, got it on your first try!
Lune: That's amazing. You truly have a rare gift with the sword, Yuri.
Nah, it's nothing.
Lune: No, it's very impressive for you to have succeeded where all of his disciples failed. As a show of my gratitude for your kindness, you may have this book. I hope that it'll be useful to you.
You really think it's okay if we don't look for Clay?
I don't know...Shel seemed pretty worried about him. Let's search for him a little more.


Nice! Tiger Blade is a pretty cool Base Arte.





Knock the enemy into the air, slash at him, then punch him back down onto the ground.

Fighting enemies around Zaphias triggers a skit:

Skit: The Tougher, the Better
That last battle was sure fast! I wish all battles were that easy.
Easy? I dunno, I didn't feel much of anything. I wanted a little more action, you know?
Oh, yer a fan of getting beaten to a pulp while strugglin' ta beat some crazed, giant monster?
Aw, don't put it like that, old man. It's not struggling.
It's fun. Sooo much fun. The best part about a battle is its raw challenge!
Its raw challenge, huh...
I kinda like the way that sounds! ♪
Ehh, sorry, but I'd prefer to avoid the hard-fought battles. They're rough on these old bones.
But that makes it even more fun!
How's that?
That's for you to find out, old man!


We're done in Zaphias for now. Since there's things to check out in Deidon Hold, Halure, Capua Nor, and Capua Torim, we'll just go with a similar route as what we originally did when leaving Zaphias for the first time, so next stop: Deidon Hold!



We talk to this guy next to the town's warehouse.






Man: Hey, time's a wastin'. Come on, hurry along now!
Huh? Who? Me?
Man: Who else does it look like I'm talking to? Youngsters these days... Showing up late the first day on the job...
Ah, um, I think you got the wrong person...
Man: Let me tell ya something, cleaning warehouses is a wonderful job. Don't you think any less of it.
Um...ah...
Man: All right, let's get going now!
W..wait!
Um...ah...Karol went off with someone...
Shouldn't we stop him?
Ah, just let him be.



Block puzzle time! Those who played Tales of the Abyss might recognize this. The basic idea is that you have a maze with lots of small pathways, boxes, and pits, and you have to push the boxes into the pits to reach all treasure chests. There's more pits than there are boxes, so you need to be careful which pits you fill up.



You can restart or leave at any time, but if you leave without getting all chests in a single run the chests you didn't get can't be acquired anymore. It's really annoying, to be honest.



The treasures in here are:

x2

x3

Especially the two Miracle Gels are very nice at this point in the game, and Limit Bottles are always welcome.



I told you so! That's what I've been saying this whole time!
Man: Terribly sorry. I heard from your friends. Please accept my apologies in the form of payment for your hard work.
Be more careful next time...
What do you think? That was great for Brave Vesperia, wasn't it?
? Yuri? What are you saying...?
Just think of it as being a part of a guild's work. It's good exposure for the guild, right? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Well, if you put it that way... You were worried we didn't have enough to do, right?
Well, there's your solution. Let us know if there's anything else we can do!
Man: Gotcha! I'll let the boss know. We're countin' on ya.

We get an additional 2000 Gald for clearing the warehouse puzzle.


Skit: Unlucky Star
So, this Lord of the Plains isn't always prowling around?
Someone in the Hold said that he only appears just before the rainy season.
Huh. So he changes habitats depending on the season.
I guess we must've come to the Hold at a bad time before.
It looks that way. Normally, the Hold leaves their gates open.
But not now, of course. Man, I must've been born under a really unlucky star...


Since the Lord of the Plains isn't around this time, we can use the normal exit to get to Halure instead of taking the long route via the Quoi Woods.



Remember the story about the "curse of the caged emperor's bride" the mayor told us the last time we were here?





Boy B: Y-yeah, I hear that she was the wife of some emperor a long time ago...
Girl: Nuh-uh! I heard that she died before the wedding! So she wasn't his wife.
Boy A: Whatever! It's s-scary, but... I think it's true!
Boy B: Yeah, Halure's flowers are so cool...it's hard to believe something weird like that happened...
Girl: Th-this explains what's been making us feel so funny about this tree...
Excuse me... You know, that story's not actually true.
Boy A: Nuh-uh... The Mayor told it to us!
What the heck was that old man thinking, anyway...



Oh, what a lovely veil.
Where did you get that?
Girl: A white shadow, like a ghost, dropped it!
You're not saying that the white shadow was the ghost of the dead bride...?
N-no way...! There's no such thing as ghosts and curses!
Boy B: It's true!
No it's not! It's not, it's not! I'm sure that veil was just dropped by someone in your village!
Girl: The Mayor went around and asked everybody, but it didn't belong to anybody...
There's no way... It's just not true, OKAY?!
Boy A: This girl is really scary...
Boy B: Let's get out of here...



Rita...
I'm sorry...
What should I do with this...?
Throw it away. The kids don't want something as ominous as that, I'm sure.
But I don't think it seems all that ominous. I actually think it seems more...holy... ...I think I've taken a liking to it. Do you mind we take it with us?
Argh... If you get cursed it's your own fault!
I thought you said there's no such thing as curses?
Sh-shut up, Yuri!



It seems like there's something more beautiful to all this...


The veil is an Attachment for Estelle.




Another thing we can do in Halure is talking to this guy:






???: No, it is too difficile to do by myself! What to do, what to do...
Wh-what's that...?
...That guy's the definition of creepy.
Yeah, maybe we oughta just keep on movin'...



Wh-what's with this guy...?
???: My name's Sicily! Piacere!
Ah, pleased to meet you too.
Estelle, you're only encouraging him...
Sicily: I have to say, I'm having a piccolo problema... Do you think you could help me?
Eh? Ya want us ta help ya?
What is it that you want help with?
Sicily: Well, signorina, I've been counting the petals that fall from this tree! But it's a bit difficile to do alone...



Well, about time we hit the ole dusty trail...
Good idea...
Sicily: Aspetta! Please, wait! Why won't you help me?
This guy's pretty annoying...
Sicily: All I need is someone to help! Even that signore would suffice! Per favore?
Huh?! Me? And whaddaya mean "even that signore"... What're ya tryin' ta insinuate...
All right, Raven. We're counting on you.



I still don't really know what's going on, but, uh...good luck?
Ummm... I guess it's okay?
The old man'll get things done. He's a real go-getter!



H-hold on just a second! I still haven't said I'd help at all--
(offscreen) It'll be easier if you just give in and accept your fate, old man.
(offscreen) Yeah, and make it snappy, would you?
Urgh... ...How do I get talked inta these things...



Sicily: ...Si! I thought it'd be something like that. Grazie!
...W-what the hell's all this for, anyway?
Sicily: Ohh, signore, I cannot tell you that! It's a secret!
A secret, huh...? Wh-whatever... I'm goin' ta go now.
Sicily: Aspetta, signore! Your name, what is it?
Raven.
Sicily: Raven...You did a good job today. I'm sure good luck will come your way!



Good luck comin' my way? That'd be a nice change...
Hey! I just... I just realized somethin'...! ...I'm a pretty complex guy...

This gets us a spell for Raven!





Arrivederchi, a flower petal tornado!


While testing this out, Rita gets a new physical Arte:



During ∠＝∞ "Wallis", Rita throws some pages from her book at the enemy. It may not look like it, but it's actually a pretty good physical arte for two reasons: One, it hits several times in fairly quick succession, the amount of hits increasing the more you use it. Two:



Thanks to that, green Fatal Strikes appear fairly quickly.


Done with Halure, the next stop is slightly off the path: The Wandering Traveler inn.









...Hmpf...
The blade's gotten really dull, too...



Is that sword important to you?
...It belonged to someone I respect. I can't just get rid of it...



...Hmpf...
...You shouldn't be so nosy, Karol.
It's all right... ...I'm... I'm a warrior, not an innkeeper... ...I left my village with Karen to slay Giganto Monsters... I was 15 at the time...
When you were 15? How old are you now?
...I'm 28...
Thirteen years, huh... That's pretty long...
The Giganto Monster... That's the name of a giant type of monster living all over the world. I heard that an extermination force sent by the empire to kill them was entirely wiped out.
Until every single one of those monsters has fallen, I cannot go back to my hometown...
Why's that...?
...
Sounds like there's something you're not telling us.
...Maybe we can help? It seems like you're having a tough time of it.
...But you see...
I don't know the details, but you committed to doing this yourself, didn't you?
...Y-yeah...
Then it sounds like this it up to him, Karol.
Y-yeah...
...



No problem...
Come again!



We can't solve all of the world's problems by ourselves. Though if we ever happen to run into those monsters that he was talking about...we might as well take them out for him. I don't see any problem with doing that much.
Yeah. All right.

Getting this scene is required before killing any Giganto monsters. If you kill any Giganto before seeing this scene, it'll become unavailable and the entire sidequest can't be done anymore, which locks you out of one costume title and several (unimportant) key items for the Collector's Book. This scene is available much earlier in the PS3 version, as soon as Karol joins for the first time.

And that's it for today.



Next time we'll go to Capua Nor via Ehmead Hill for more sidequesting.