Part 32: The Score Revisited
Last time, Jade was concerned about something and wanted to do a flyby of the Qliphoth.
So let's.
Flickering Lights
: “It's shining one moment and fading the next. It's like a fonon lantern that's about to go out.”
: “So the Sephiroth have gone out of control... just like the warning on the passage ring said.”
: “Out of control?”
: “Yes, it's likely that something caused the Sephiroth to go out of control and the Trees to stop working properly. The frequent earthquakes recently weren't only the fault of the land collapsing.”
: “Wait! If the Trees stop working, that would mean the Outer Lands will...!”
: “There's not much time before the rings break, the Trees vanish, and the Outer Lands fall.”
: “Are you serious?! Do the guys in Yulia City know about this?”
: “Grandfather said no more of the Outer Lands would collapse... he doesn't know.”
: “Hey, the Sephiroth is what's keeping Chesedonia floating on the liquefied surface, right? So if the passage rings break...”: “It would be swallowed by the sea of mud. Unless the liquid surface were to solidify.”
: “The whole reason people made the Outer Lands was to escape the miasma and the liquefaction, right? Even they couldn't do anything about the liquid surface...”
And it all comes back to the Score.
: “There must be a reason. Doesn't the Score say anything about dealing with it?”
: “Even if it does, it may be privileged information that even Grandfather can't view...”
: “I think Ion can access the highest-level secrets in Yulia City.”
: “Really?!”: “Yeah. I mean, he's the Fon Master...”
: “Then let's go to Daath! There may be a way to fix things!”: “But what about going to Baticul to stop the war?”: “The battlefield fell into the Qliphoth. I doubt they will be thinking about war.”
: “Yes... let's hope you're right.”Okay then, Daath it is.
Skit: Sweaty
: “This is like heaven after that desert.”: “It actually gets pretty humid here fro the volcano, but right now it's just perfect!”
: “...Is it just me, or do we smell really rank?”
: “...Everyone's so sweaty, I can't smell anything.”: “A sweaty princess? Oh my!”: “But then again, I may not actually be a princess...”
: “N-Natalia? Don't worry about it. I don't think we're really that sweaty.”
: “Tear, if you're trying to comfort her, use the princess angle!”: “Oh! I-I'm sorry...”
: “Hmm... I guess we don't really smell that bad, but it does bother- wait, Jade smells... nice. What is that, cologne?”
: “Scent is the essence of the gentleman, after all.”
: “...Even the soldiers are taking care of their appearance, and look at me... I'm a failure at high society.”
: “Natalia... you're stating to worry about the wrong things...”: “Natalia can be surprisingly out of it sometimes...”...Right.
Anyway, world collapsing, brink of destruction, whatever! Let's get some shuteye!
Hyperresonance Training Part III
: “But only basic control. I'll keep working on it.”: “All right. Let's go.”
: ”Watch out!”
: ”Don't show any weakness! Weakness does nothing but lure in the enemy.”
: ”Major! You're injured!”: ...”It's nothing. Are you hurt?”: ”N-no. But why would an Oracle Knight try to...”: ”He's probably from the reformist faction opposing Van. Fool... he couldn't have changed a thing.”: ”Major... but you didn't have to kill him.”: ”...You're too soft, Tear. Once you become a proper member of the Oracle Knights, you may be sent to the battlefield. If you let an enemy survive, you'll pay the price with your own life.”: ”I guess that's the job of a soldier...”: ”Just as Van cautioned, if you can't accept that, then you shouldn't think of becoming a soldier. You can help him in other ways than fighting.”: ”...Yes, Major.
: ”Major? Did you say something?”: ”No, don't worry about it.”
: “So they were nesting here...”: “She's still alive, isn't she?”
: “Yes, just unconscious.”
: “Well can you heal her? We'll get out of their way after that.”
: “Luke...”: “Yes, let's do that.”Looks like Legretta's lesson never fully managed to sink in. At any rate that's part 3 of hyperresonance training. Almost done!
Looks like there's some commotion.
: “When we went to the port, they chased us off and told us to come ask here!”
: “Stop lying! Who'd believe a story like that?!”
“It's not a lie! The destruction of Rugnica has even put a halt to the war between Malkuth and Kimlasca. We can't sent out any ships until we know more.”
: “Rugnica's the largest continent in the world. How can it possible be gone..? I can't believe it!”: “What's happening to the world...?”
: “Yes, thank goodness for that, at least.”: “There'll be a huge panic when more people find out, though.”: “We might avoid that if we can clearly convey to them how we will deal with the situation.”: “Yes, let's meet with Ion about that.”Skit: A Ruler's Duty
: “So must of the Rugnica Plains have fallen into the Qliphoth.”Er.. you already knew this? We just did a huge sidequest chain there!
: “But at least the fighting has stopped.”: “How ironic that the only way to stop the war was with an even greater disaster.”: “Yes... both threatened the lives of people. If only those in power would realize that truth, the war could have been easily averted.”
: “But they're all just thinking about themselves, those idiots.”: “In any case, both countries will need to take care of the refugees from both the war and the collapse of the Outer Lands. It will be a true test of the leaders' ability to govern.”So in other words: Kimlasca is fucked, and Malkuth will be fine.
: “I...I suppose I should consider what I can do as well, as one who has been involved in public affairs...”: “Natalia...”Dist and Mohs
: “Perhaps in his own room.”: “But only executives of the Order can enter the Fon Master's room. In place of a lock, there's a fonic glyph that blocks intruders.”
: “Sounds like a job for Fon Master Guardian Anise Tatlin!”: “You mean 'Former' Fon Master Guardian.”: “Booo. Fine, 'former', but I still know the incantation to activate the fonic glyph!”
What a complex and incredibly hard to guess password.
Anyway...
: “Quiet! Someone's coming!”: “This is bad! Only authorized personnel are allowed here!”
: “We'd better hide!”
: “Grand Maestro Mohs, allow me to confirm your promise. If I help you restart the war, you'll give me Professor Nebilim's replica data...”
: “Leave it to me. I'll take it from Van.”: “Then allow Dist the Rose to offer you a plan for resuming the war. First, I believe we should have Fon Master Ion issue an official proclamation ending the truce.”: “Hmm. I'll make the arrangements as soon as the Fon Master returns from the libaray.”
: “Yeah, it feels like Dist is playing them both for his own ends.”: “Mohs just wants to cause the war as written in the Score. What's Van's object?”
: “He's trying to drop the Outer Lands, and exterminate humanity...”: “He doesn't strike me as someone interested in pointless slaughter. Mohs feels like less of a threat, since his objective is at least clear.”: “Then let's take care of the enemy we know first. Let's talk to King Ingobert and get him to stop listening to Mohs...”: “...But... I wonder if father will believe me...”: “Natalia! Of course he will!”: “I may not be his real daughter.”
: “Gaah, we'll deal with that when we find out! Right now, let's go to the library!”Thankfully the game has some mercy and doesn't make you navigate all of the Cathedral again. You just warp straight there.
The Closed Score
: “Ion, the Outer Lands are in danger! Please tell us whether the Sephiroth going out of control is written in the score!”
: “...That's the first I've heard of it. I have never actually confirmed the existence of the Closed Score myself.”
: “What?! Really?”
: “If I'd known the Closed Score, I believe I would have recognized who Luke was the first time we met... I might even have been able to prevent what happened to Akzeriuth.”
: “...I returned to Daath to come to a full understanding of the Closed Score.”: “But does the Closed Score mention the Sephiroth going out of control?”: “Not that I'm aware of. Let's go to the back of the chapel and make sure.”: “The back of the chapel? Why?”: “There's a Fon Stone enshrined there. We can check the Score.”: “Ion! You know that's not good for your health!”: “Please, don't stop me Anise. It must be done.”
: “Fon Masters can then read the entire Score from the Fonstone fragments. But the volume is immense. I'll just go over the Score regarding the collapses these past few years.”Music: Guidepost
: “He shall be called 'the light of the sacred flame', and he shall lead Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to new prosperity.”: “ND2002. The one who would seize glory shall destroy the island of his birth, a land named Hod. War shall persist between Kimlasca and Malkuth for a full cycle of the seasons.”: “ND2018. The young scion of Lorelei's power shall bring his people to the miner's city. There, the youth will turn power to calamity and be as a weapon of Kimlasca, destroying himself and the city.”: “Thereafter, the land of Rugnica will be enveloped by war, and Malkuth shall lose territory.”
: “That's all the Sixth Fonstone says about the collapse.”Most of that was information we already knew, but now we know why Mohs and Kimlasca want that war so bad.
: “So, all it talks about is Akzeriuth and the war...”: “The Sephiroth going out of control might be written on the Seventh Fonstone.”: “...Who's the 'scion of Lorelei's power'?”: “Luke of course, who else?”: “But Luke was born only seven years ago.”: “This is ND2018. It said 2000, so that has to be Asch.”: “Asch was supposed to perish along with Akzeriuth, but he' still alive.”: “But Luke went to Akzeriuth before that could happen. This Score is all messed up.”: “Asch did show up later, but he was no longer called Luke – the 'light of the sacred flame.'”
That's actually a much bigger deal than you might think. The Score is wrong?
: “Are you saying that me being born threw the Score off track?”: “Luke...?”
: “This is bad!”
It doesn't translate well, but the moment these guys storm in Tear leaps over the alter and cuts this guys throat.
: “Let's get back to the Albiore.”Skit: Who's the Bad Guy?
: “I don't know who's the bad guy anymore...”: “Yeah... we can't tell what Asch is up to, or whether the Six God-Generals are really taking orders from Master Van or not.”
: “Or what Dist's true intentions are.”
: “I have no idea...”: “About the only thing that IS clear is Mohs' plan... but we can't let them go and start a war just because the Score says so. We'd better do something before Mohs starts feeding lies to Uncle.”: “I suppose we have no choice but to meet with him...”: “Yeah... that's probably the only way.”: “I'm afraid... afraid of Father rejecting me... I'm sorry, excuse me.”: “Natalia...”
Captured
Welp.
: “Grand Maestro Mohs. Auldrant has already gone down a different path from Yulia's Score!”
Meanwhile, Jade immediately starts casting.
: “Silence! You've forgotten your mission for the Seventh Fonstone and thrown yourself in with this rabble! As long as Luke dies and war begins as written in the Score, prosperity will follow!”: “Don't resist, Jade, or this woman dies.”
: “I'm honored by your compliment.”: “No one's complimenting you!”: “What are you going to do with us?!”: “We're taking you to Baticul. There, we're going to have you help us restart the war.”: “Take them away!”
Next Time: The absolute stupidest section of the game, followed by one of my favorite sections of the game. Huh.
Synopsis:
Once we were airborne, we saw right away what Jade was worried about.
The Sephiroth Trees supporting the outer lands were flickering, bright one
moment, dim the next as if they were going to disappear... That can't be
normal. Jade said it was because the Sephiroth were out of control. That was
also part of the reason for all the earthquakes on the Outer Lands--they
weren't just because of the land falling.
Jade said that there was a warning on the passage ring control panel about
the passage rings reaching their endurance limit. He said some sort of
influence on the Sephiroth probably made them go out of control, and the
passage rings hadn't been able to deal with it. At this rate the passage
rings will stop functioning soon, and the Sephiroth Trees will all disappear.
If that happens, all of the Outer Lands will fall into the Qliphoth, killing
everyone in the collapse. That can't be... What can we do...?
It seems even the people of Yulia City didn't expect that to happen. I
guess that's not surprising, since the fall of St. Binah wasn't foretold by
the Score either. Could this be the first time that Yulia's Score has been
wrong...?
Tear says that there are some things even Teodoro, the mayor of Yulia
City, isn't allowed to know, and that they may say something about what's
happening. The only one who is permitted access to those materials is the Fon
Master--so Ion might be able to tell us something. Natalia was worried about
the war, but after the descent into the Qliphoth, I doubt either side is
thinking about that. We decided to see Ion before heading to Baticul. He
should be in Daath--I hope he can help us...
Travelers in Daath were up in arms about being trapped with no ships
running. But with eighty percent of Rugnica as well as the Zao Desert gone,
it's certainly no time to be traveling on the sea. Apparently the war's come
to a halt too, so we'd better go see if Ion can help us.
Apparently Ion's room is protected against intruders by a fonic glyph that
only executives of the Order can use. But Anise knows how to use it, so let's
go find that fonic glyph.
Ion wasn't in his room. And talk about bad timing--just as we entered, we
heard Mohs and Dist approaching, so we hid in the shadows. Fortunately, they
didn't notice us, and we were able to overhear them talking about using Ion
to restart the war. How can they still be thinking about that at a time like
this? I can't believe it...
It looks like Mohs is trying to get the war restarted to fulfill the
Score, while Dist is bouncing back and forth between Mohs and Master Van for
his own ends. So what's Master Van trying to do? Is he really trying to
exterminate humanity? Since it's pretty clear what Mohs is up to, it might be
better to take care of him first.
In any case, we still have to talk to Ion. Mohs said he's in the library--
let's go see him.
Ion was surprised at us turning up. We explained to him what was going on,
and asked him if there was anything in Yulia's Score about the Sephiroth
going out of control.
But Ion said he didn't know about the Closed Score, even though he should
be able to access all the Order's information. Apparently he'd never bothered
to check it. Why not? Even if Mohs had kept him from doing it, isn't that odd?
Putting that aside, Ion said that the fall of Akzeriuth and everything
else that's happened motivated him to return to Daath in order to investigate
the Closed Score. If he'd known it earlier, he probably would have realized
when we met that I would destroy Akzeriuth.
But Ion couldn't recall anything about the Sephiroth going out of control,
even in the Closed Score. In order to confirm what Yulia's Score actually
says, we went to the chapel, where Ion says he can read the Score, including
the Closed Score.
Yulia's Score is extremely long, and would take a great deal of time to
read in its entirety, so Ion only read the parts that dealt with the collapse
of land in recent years--though the Seventh Fonstone is missing, so it's only
up to what the Sixth Fonstone has.
But we didn't learn anything new from the Score Ion read to us. We were
talking about whether the Seventh Fonstone might have any information of use
when Tear said something strange. She pointed out that Yulia's Score doesn't
say anything about replicas--about me. Does that mean that we've already
diverged from the Score? And if so...is it because I was born?
As we were thinking about that, we were suddenly attacked by Oracle
Knights. If they're coming after us, they must be the Grand Maestro faction!
We can't afford to be captured here--we'd better flee to the Albiore,
outside Daath.
Mohs was a step ahead of us--by the time we got to the edge of Daath, he
had already blocked the exit. Tear tried to tell him that the Score wasn't
functioning anymore, but he insisted on holding to it, and went on to say
that if I die and the war starts, the world will enter an age of great
prosperity. We tried to escape from him, but Dist had taken Noelle hostage as
well. In the end, he captured us, and seems to intend to use us at Baticul to
restart the war. Isn't there anything we can do?