Part 126: Gauche & Droite, Hope of the Town, Into the Sky

Welcome back!

Remember when we met Gauche and Droite at the orphanage in Capua Torim, back in Update 110? After seeing that scene, we can find them again where we fought Yeager, in Zaude.




Watch the cutscene! / Baldurdash







What are you doing here?
Hey, hold on. It's not worth it. Revenge is really overrated, ya know.



But we're sick of being so depressed. We gotta do something.
If you're gonna hold grudges, you'd better not forget Alexei.



...Fine, you want a fight, you got one.
Yuri, wait!
...Why didn't you two fight alongside Yeager? You just stood there and watched.
...



Yeah, that's right.
So why're you still on this revenge kick? That doesn't make any sense.
Shut up! How could you ever understand?!
Yeager had no choice but to do that for us.
What do you mean?
...Alexei found out about everything Yeager had done behind the scenes.



That's enough, Droite.
...My bad.



Sorry, but we're gonna have to fight you now.
It looks like they won't take no for an answer.
B-but...
Here they come!

Skip to battle!







This battle is incredibly fun, certainly one of the best in the game. There isn't a real gimmick or anything, it's just a nice, solid battle.



They mostly have the same attacks, but some, like this Charm Thrust here, are exclusive to one or the other.













Both of them can go into Over Limit, but not at the same time.



Sleepy Thrust is Gauche's equivalent to Droite's Charm Thrust.







Honestly, there isn't much to say here.











Concentrating on beating one before the other is a good idea here, since they can cast First Aid on each other.









Two more things:

One, they have a Mystic Arte that they can trigger if any one of them is in Over Limit. This just simply didn't happen in the battle in the video, so here's a clip of it:

Impact Cross / Baldurdash









And yes, the voice clip always cuts off. Here's the full line if want it for some reason.

And two, you can steal weapons from them. Sadly, this is very annoying, as Repede's Thievery arte is the only way to steal, it's kinda hard to hit them with it, and it has a like five second cooldown every time it doesn't steal anything.





Normally, I'd recommend not to bother, but this is the only way to get those two weapons. They are the only two items in the game that have to be stolen from one-off enemies.



Look how long it took me to steal those weapons and then finish the battle. To be fair, this was Hard mode so they wouldn't die too early, but god damn.


Charming Thrust: Occasionally inflicts Charm on an enemy upon a successful hit.
Rebirth: Gradually recover HP equal to half the amount of the last damage received.


Sleepy Thrust: Occasionally inflicts Sleep on an enemy upon a successful hit.
Rebirth 2: Gradually recover HP equal to 1/4 of the amount of the last combo damage received.

Technically, you only have to steal one of them, as they can be synthesized into the other, but if you're already going for one might as well grab both.

Skip to post-battle!



Are you okay, Gauche? Oh man, we totally lost!
...We will challenge them until we win. That's the pledge we made.
How can you guys still be so loyal to him? He's gone!
We owe him our lives.









What are you doing with that...? N-no, that doesn't matter. Please. Give it to us!
Hey, it doesn't even belong to you!!
Please. That belonged to Casey, someone very dear to Yeager. We've looked everywhere for it.
Casey...
Raven...
Someone very dear to Yeager, huh...





Thanks a lot.






OVL Bonus 2: Occasionally fully restores TP during Over Limit.
Lucky Magic: Occasionally decreases the amount of TP consumption when casting a spell.
Power Shot: Increases enemy staggering time.

Now we owe you nothing. But we still have a score to settle.
We'll see you again after we train some more, 'kay?





...What the...?
They took off. You okay with that, Raven? Wasn't that important to you?
Huh?
Oh, well, yeah. Got somethin' pretty nice in return, though. I'll let this slide.



Hey, Judith darlin', it's not nice to tease your elders.
I just don't know what to make of it. Those two adoring Yeager knowing how bad he was. And Yeager himself donating to an orphanage...
And all the children saved by a criminal's generosity! I can't tell what's right or wrong.
Guess Yeager was even more complicated than we thought.
Yup, there's always more goin' on with people than ya first think.



Yeah, I feel like a big weight's been lifted off my shoulders.
Aw, but who cares an old man's sorry past. Come on, let's go!
Hey, come back here!


I like this scene, it gives some interesting backstory.

This should be our third Letter of Challenge. With this we can actually do interesting stuff in the Coliseum, so we'll check that out at some point.


Anyway, with that done, let's go to something completely different: Back to Zaphias' Lower Quarter!



Here we can find Ted standing around and talk to him to trigger a scene.



Ted runs off and comes back with Hanks.



You were waiting for me and...Flynn?
Yep. I wanted to give this to you.
Hmmm...that's quite the item. You can't find anythin' like that in a store. How'd somethin' like that end up in the lower quarter?
This sword belonged to a famous mercenary who visited us in the lower quarter a long time ago. He only came through here by chance, but he ended up liking it so much that he stayed for a long time. Actually, it would be better to say he lived here. We came to think of him as one of us.
That's the first time I've heard anything about someone like that.
It makes sense that you wouldn't know about him. He left the capital and went on his way a long time before you were even born.
Where did the mercenary go after he left?
I don't know...a bunch of knights and guild members came to ask if he'd left his sword behind, but we were never able to find it.
What do you mean? How could a mercenary go off without his sword?



...How could that be?
Maybe it was a gift to the people in the lower quarter in return for your hospitality.
Then why didn't he just give it to them himself?
He probably planned on comin' back an' getting' it someday.
Then if that's the case, we shouldn't be taking it with us, right?



I don't think he'd mind if I left the sword with our lower quarter boys, who are working to protect the world.
A weapon chooses its owner, not the other way around... It might not just be random chance that the sword turned up now, after all those years.
Use the sword, Yuri. You'd be doing all of us a favor.
All right. I'll hold onto it for you.


Hyper Ability Plus: Follow an arcane arte with a second arcane arte once per combo.



That sword holds everyone's hopes and dreams, doesn't it?
Yeah. It's heavier than it looks.



The PS3 version of this is slightly different: Because Flynn is with you, instead of Yuri getting Hope of the Town, both Yuri and Flynn get Half Hope of the Town. Strangely, despite Flynn suggesting them to take turns using the sword, the Claíomh Solais is actually a Yuri-only weapon.

Doing this sidequest unlocks a Mystic Arte in the PS3 version, too:

Celestial Torrent / Baldurdash





























It's pretty sweet, although the requirements are a bit annoying to pull off: Both Yuri and Flynn have to be in Over Limit 4, and you have to have used a couple artes a certain number of times.

This Mystic Arte is, I assume, based off the US Vesperia cover art, or maybe the other way around?



Who knows, but it is kind of strange that the version featuring that art doesn't actually have the Arte.




Skit: Home, Sweet Home / Baldurdash
Everyone in the lower quarter is so kind. It makes me miss my hometown a little.
Judy, isn't your hometown...
Yes, it's gone.
Hometowns, hmm...
I lived in Aspio, so I can't say I feel too nostalgic about this place.
Yeah, same with me and Dahngrest...
I...I miss the castle every now and then.
Yeah, you spent a long time there.
I'm the same with the lower quarter.
Where's your hometown, Raven?
Me? Hmmm... Dahngrest, I guess.
Huh? But you weren't born in Dahngrest, were you?
Well, if our journey ended now, I'd head back to Dahngrest... So I guess it's my hometown.
Maybe our hometown is just the place we'd most like to go back to if we had the choice...


Next, we can get a costume for Judith once we've done a total of 1000 blue Fatal Strikes, by going to the kid in Myorzo where we can play the Ba'ul ring minigame.



How've you been doing?
Good! I've been watching all of the great things you've been doing from up here in the sky!
Can you really see all that from up here?
Krityans do have better sight than humans, but... I still think that'd be impossible.



Does that magnify the image of whatever it's pointed at? Blastia? No... I get the feeling it's somehow different.
They say that someone named Hermes made it, a long, long time ago. But I don't know how it works.
That's pretty cool, bein' able ta see things so far away.
Yeah! I love watching Ball fly all over the world.
It's Ba'ul.



Wow, you could even see that?
Yeah! It was so cool! I even counted how many there were!
You counted?
Yeah, you know... Those monsters that you hit up into the air and then they disappear! Poof!
Sounds like he's talkin' 'bout fatal strikes.
I counted more than 1000 of them! You guys are awesome!
You're pretty awesome, yourself, for counting all of those.
It was so fun watching! I want to give you something to show you how much I liked it.
That's very thoughtful of you.



Thank you.
C-can you try it on?
All right. Just a minute.



*Whistles*
It looks great on you, Judith!



Heh, I thought you'd like it! I actually wanted to give it to you after I counted 300 monsters, but it wasn't ready yet...
I'll take good care of it. Thank you.



It's a cool costume. Judith generally seems to have good costumes.


One last thing for today: Remember the Shaikos Ruins, a very early dungeon? There was a locked door there.







I'm not entirely sure when it unlocks, but I think it's when Aspio collapses and Tarqaron rises.



Up here is a small outside area.



This chest is why we're here:





It's the Rita attachment for Repede!



You can also find five of these stupid things, I guess that's another (one-time) source of them.





To get back out, we can open up a shortcut back to the entrance by shooting this with the Sorcerer's Ring.


I think that'll do it for now. Next time: More sidequesting, what else?