Part 47: Meggiora Sephiroth
Last time, we managed to stop the core's vibration, but Lorelei showed up suddenly to contact us via Tear. Since the party doesn't have much experience with being possessed by gods, we're going to get her a check-up.Doctor's Visit
: “The mission was a success. Only because Sheridan's residents and Belkend's researchers gave their lives...”
: “...I see. I've been informed of Iemon, Hencken, and the others. His Majesty and the Duke have also issued formal complaints against Daath. But Grand Maestro Mohs insists that Van separated from Daath and carried it out on his own.”
: “The crimes of my subordinates are my own. You have my deepest apologies.”
: “...Are Duke Fabre and Van still connected?”: “No. With the attack on Sheridan, Daath's influence was lifted from this city.”Even Duke Fabre has standards! Like genocide! Er... well, genocide he's not personally commiting, that is.
: “Then we have a favor to ask.”
: “Tear isn't well. We'd like to get her a full exam.”: “Understood. Please speak with Shu in the lab.”
: “Thanks.”
The game teleports us here, by the way. At any rate, after a fade to black Shu invites the rest of the party to join him in his office.
: “We don't have all the results back yet, but... Tear's blood fonons are showing extremely unstable values.”: “Blood fonons?”: “People who use fonic artes absorb fonons into their bodies. In her case, the fonons are contaminated and aren't properly exiting her body.”
: “What do you mean, contaminated?”: “That poison... the miasma, I believe they call it? That's fused with the fonons. It's primarily Seventh Fonons that have accumulated.”: “She's absorbed Seventh Fonons that are contaminated with the miasma, then?”: “Quite a lot. They are weakening her internal organs. She said that the fon machines called passage rings responded to her. Dawn Age machinery generally contains large amounts of Seventh Fonons.”
: “So when we lower the land, the miasma flows into Tear from the passage ring?”
: “No...!”: “We can give her medicine to suppress the effects.”
: “Can't you cure it? I use the Seventh Fonon too, but I'm fine!”: “She's absorbed over 100 times what a Seventh Fonist would normally consume in a lifetime.”
: “Could you give us a little more detail?”
: “I have something I'd like to ask as well. Let's split up here.”The game does indeed split us up. Let's see what everybody has to say.
: “If the rings were working normally, then Tear wouldn't need to perform any more lowering operations... there's no point in talking about that now, though. Go to her side, Luke.”
: “You're surprisingly dense.”: “Please, go be with Tear. I... no, never mind.”
: “Belkend boasts the most advanced medical technology in the world. Is there really nothing they can do...?”
: “Is Tear going to die?”
: “Don't look at me!”
: “...Go on, Luke!”Good idea. Let's talk to Tear.
Tear's Resolve
: “...Yeah.”
: “If the Seventh Fonons in me are contaminated, maybe Lorelei's contaminated, too...”
: “D-don't talk to me like everything's normal!”
: “Are you worried about me?”
: “Of course! The core's stopped and the Sephiroth are under control, right? We don't have to lower the Outer Lands!”
: “It's too late. The passage rings are at their limit.”: “...So we have to keep going.”
: “Why?”: “I really want to tell you to stop lowering the Outer Lands...”
: “Luke...”
: “I thought about it as hard as I could, but... if the Outer Lands fall,then lots of people will die... so I can't just tell you to stop.”
: …!: “My uncle and Emperor Peony have both agreed to help... I can't tell everyone to stop now after all this...”
: “You idiot. What's with that face? What you're saying is right. If you really had told me to stop, I'd have lost all respect for you.”
: “You're crazy!”: “What?”: “You can't possibly be okay with this! You always try to act tough! Say you were at least a little scared or sad or something! If you'd just tell me how you really feel...”
: “It's not an act.”
: “No. I'm staying right here.”: “Luke! Please! I don't want anyone to see me like this...”: “Then I'll turn around.”
: “Please take care. Don't push yourself.”: “So now we get back to lowering the land.”
: “But where do we go next? The regions with Sephiroth to which we haven't yet gone are Padamiya, Radessia, and Sylvana, right?”That would be the island Daath is on (Padamiya), Sheridan (Radessia), and Keterburg (Sylvana). Can you spot the hidden references?
: “Minus the Absorption Gate and Radiation Gate.”: “Where are the Absorption Gate and the Radiation Gate?”: “The Absorption Gate is northeast of Keterburg. I've heard the Radiation Gate is on an island far south of Baticul.”: “Those are the largest Sephiroth, so we'll save them for later. They say the monsters there are stronger as well. Right now, we need to locate the passage rings for the remaining Sephiroth.”Hey, no medium awareness, Jade.
: “There are researchers from Yulia City here. Let's ask them about the locations of the passage rings.”
: “Yes. The medicine's working. I don't feel any pain. I'm fine.”Well... if you say so. Let's go see these researchers then.
Locating the Sephiroth
: “It's all right.”: “Um, do you know where the passage rings are?”
: “You're going to perform the lowering procedure, right? The only ones we've pinpointed are inside the Meggiora Highlands and Mt. Roneal.”
: “Mt. Roneal? I've heard the Six God-Generals were gravely injured by monsters when they were there on duty. It's a dangerous place. I think we should save it for last.”: “I agree. Even people living nearby rarely approach that mountain.”: “Okay, then let's head for the Meggiora Highlands, first.”: “We'll track down the location of the remaining Sephiroth in Padamiya. Take care.”Well, at least we have our objective now.
Skit: What is Van Planning?
: “Van's been quiet ever since we entered the planet's core.”: “I wonder what he's doing, and where...”: “Well, he needs fomicry for his plan, that's for sure. He's probably looking for a new base now that he can't use Belkend.”
: “Actually, I suspect he's already found one... or rather, he's returned to an old one. He's not one to waste things.”: “Right now, we need to lower the Outer Lands safely, so humanity isn't destroyed in the collapse. We can worry about Van after that.”: “I know that worrying about him won't accomplish anything, but...”
: “Well, he's your brother. It's only natural to worry about him.”: “...Thank you Luke.”Okay, so next up is the Meggiora Highlands. There's a special way to enter it this time, though for the life of me I don't remember how you're supposed to figure this out. I just remember.
You fly to Raddesia, to this river on the eastern side.
Then you sail towards the river...
And suddenly the view goes top down and you're in the river.
Why? How? Fuck it. But this is the way in.
Eventually, we find a place to dock.
...Wait. This angle. These graphics. That terrible lag...
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-
….Sigh. SO YEAH, another map dungeon. Because I SO love those.
: “I hope we don't run into it again.”I killed it.
: “I wonder where the passage ring is.”Three feet in front of you, actually.
: “It should be sealed with a Daathic seal, just like the others. Let's look for it.”
Well... found it.
No, really. It's right there. You see it just as you walk in. You can just go in and ignore this terrible, terrible dungeon.
…But I hate myself, so we won't be doing that. There's extra to do here.
A bit of exploring unearths my first cave entrance.
...And inside is a block puzzle.
Okay, so explanation time. This dungeon's gimmick is that you can either storm right through it and fight a rather difficult boss, or you can hunt down three caves and complete a block puzzle to reduce said boss's power. There are four caves in total, but you're only allowed to complete three of them.
The first block puzzle is insultingly easy. You need to push two blocks onto the two glowing spaces, but the blocks move three spaces each time you push them. It's a simple job of blocking them off, or just proper counting.
The second puzzle is maybe even easier. The blocks only move a space, and you just have to push them on to the tiles again. The room is ringed with fans that blow you all about, but not the blocks, so this puzzle is merely annoying but not at all hard.
...Then there's this puzzle.
The gimmick seems simple at first. When you move one block, all the other blocks also move (if they are not blocked). Moving blocks on fire will move other blocks on fire in the same direction, but blocks not on fire will move in the opposite direction. Seems simple, right?
Fuck you. I spent ages on this puzzle. I'll upload a video showing you the solution, but damn. Still, it is nice to see the creators put some thought into their puzzles for a change. Most of Abyss is insultingly easy.
Block Puzzle
This would be where the last puzzle would have been, but like I said you can only do three out of four. So this one is disabled.
Okay then, let's hit the passage ring.
Legretta's Invitation
Fair warning: this scene looks like trash because of the map dungeon layout.
: “Too slow!”
What? Why the 'ugh'? She missed you by a mile.
: “Tear, stop this foolishness. Commandant Grants is worried about you.”
: “You are the fools!”: “We know about your health.”
: “I'm sure you've heard the truth about Hod.”: “Politicians controlled by the Score, using it for their own ends... just as Van said.”: “Then join us. The Commandant will spare you and the other survivor of Hod.”: “Thanks, but I'll pass on a world replaced entirely with replicas. What's wrong with the land and peopl we have now?”: “They will never escape the curse of Yulia's Score.”
Ugh, why would you choreograph action when your map engine can't even handle it? Render this as a proper fucking scene, you lazy sacks of shit!”
: “I'm time, you'll come to understand just how accurate Yulia's Score is. The Score is stronger than a few disturbances. History will proceed as the Seventh Fonstone shows.”
: “No, Tear! That was it! That thing was the Seventh Fonstone!”
Legretta runs off, though if you look carefully you can see she dropped something.
: “Apparently she didn't come here to fight. Guy, where did you see the Seventh Fonstone?”
: “In Hod. When I was a kid, Van took me to see it once.”: “In Hod? That's the first I've heard of that.”: “Van told me it was in a secret place, its location passed down within the Fende family. Fende was one of the seven sages who served Yulia...”: “Yulia's children carried on her fonic hymns and abilities from one generation to the next.”
: “You're one of Yulia's descendents yourself, are you not?”: “That's what Van told me. I don't have any proof, though...”
: “But you can sing those fonic hymns.”: “And only a descendent of Yulia would be guarding the Seventh Fonstone.”
: “That light we saw when going into the core. That was the Seventh Fonstone. I'm sure of it.”: “If the Seventh Fonstone was in Hod, then when Hod was destroyed, it could have sunk into the liquefied land, but...”: “Then Master Van knows the future written on the Seventh Fonstone? Could we actually be doing something bad?”: “The Outer Lands will fall regardless. It's better to lower them slowly so people don't get hurt.”: “Yeah, you're right. I'm just worried about everything we don't know.”
Looks like Tear noticed whatever it was that Legretta dropped.
Auuuuuuuuugh that looks terrible!
: “There's no sign of Master Van being here. Go ahead, Ion.”
No fancy shattering animation this time, it just vanishes.
: “Thank you, I'm sorry. This always happens. I have the original's abilities, but not his strength.”: “You weren't just sick after all.”: “Right...”
: “I think Asch is angry about it, but I'm seriously grateful. If you hadn't thought up fomicry, I'd never have been born... though I probably wasn't meant to be.”: “Luke! You said you weren't going to talk like that anymore.”
: “Yeah. Stop putting yourself down.”
: “Yeah! Stop, Master!”
Now let's get the hell inside and away from this terrible laggy exterior.
Guy and the Fon Machines
: “Wow! I didn't expect to see fon machines like these in a place like this!”
: “Why the hell do you sound so happy...?”: “Living in Kimlasca opened my eyes to the wonders of fonic technology.”
: “Dawn Age fon machines were built so well!”
: “Men really like this sort of thing, don't they?”
: “My papa likes building models, too. He's like a little kid.”: “Whatever, women just don't get it. Come on! Let's go! Let's go!”Because women could never be into technology!
These doors have a unique, pretty nifty opening animation.
Huh? Oh boy I know where this is going, boss battle ti-!
: “Wait! If it attacks you...”: “This isn't a combat machine, Tear. It's probably here to maintain the fon machinery.”: “You mean he's the one who maintains the passage ring?”: “Well the passage rings throughout the world are all connected. Maybe when there's a serious problem, this guy heads out to fix it.”Something tells me the thousands of years old robot would have a lot of stories to share in the IT Professional megathread.
: “But the passage rings ended up breaking anyway.”: “...Well, yeah.”: “If the Sephiroth going out of control had been written in the Score, then perhaps this mechanical doll was programmed with how to deal with it.”
Well it doesn't seem interested in talking, so whatever.
: “Are you serious? Are there any stairs or anything?”
: “I don't see any.”: “Then I guess Guy or Jade will have to work their magic.”: “I'm sorry, I'm afraid my specialty is fonic artes. I'll pass.”: “But you made fomicry.”: “I just developed the theory. It was Dist who built the fon machinery.”
: “We need to replace the broken power supply with a new one, but...”: “There's no replacement.”: “...Except for him.”
: “If we take his power supply and attach it here, it'll probably work.”: “Whaaat?! If you take his power supply, he'll stop working!”: “Yeah. But that's the only way.”
: “But he's working so hard. I feel sorry for him.”: “We don't have a choice. There's no other way.”Our party is feeling lots of sympathy for a random robot we just found.
Boss Battle: Fonic Repairbot
So, the Repair Fonbot. Despite 'not being a combat model', he packs quite the punch. In addition to having frickin' lasers, he also has high physical defense and is hard to stagger.
He also has earth fonic artes. If you're watching the video, you'll notice that's all he's using, in fact.
This is the trick with those extra block puzzles. Starting off, this guy can cast earth, water, wind, and fire artes at you. However for each block puzzle you solve, he loses one element. You can only do three out of the four, so he'll always have one to sling at you. I didn't do the earth-themed block puzzle, so he still gets earth artes.
Also while he's not big on melee, the repairbot does have a pretty nasty spinning attack that hits everything near him. Watch that.
His final trick is to get low to the ground and zoom across the screen, knocking everybody he hits into the air. It looks dumb as hell but it's fairly nasty.
He's harder than any of the robots Dist has thrown at us, but at the end of the day he's still a big slow target and goes down like any other.
Repairing the Elevator
: “Your turn, Guy.”: “...Right.”
: “...I know. I'm coming.”...It's a robot. I mean, I know it wasn't hostile, but come on guys. You were less concerned over Sync jumping into the planet's core.
Oh well, at least we got the elevator working.
Another Passage Ring Down
: “What is it?”: “A blood fonon meter. I want to confirm whether the passage rings really are the cause.”: “I see.”: “Now, please activate it.”No faffing about with Yulian seals this time, we can start operating the thing right away.
: “The measurement will occur automatically. Luke, please operate it as you did in Tataroo Valley.”: “Okay.”
: “Looks like the measurement is complete as well. May I have that back?”: “How's the miasma reading, Colonel?”: “...An abnormal level of miasma is flowing into Tear from the passage ring. It's probably responding to Tear's genetic data. I don't think there's any doubt that she's a descendent of Yulia. Yulia must have entered her own data into this device.”: …: “Why are the Seventh Fonons contaminated with the miasma?”: “The miasma seems to come from inside the planet. Perhaps the core is contaminated.”: “So the center of the entire planet is contaminated... can we really neutralize all that?”
: “Wait, what? We can do something about the miasma?”: “Yes, if we use the planet's gravity. I'm not an expert, so I can't promise anything...”: “But at least there's a chance.”: “Yes, and Belkend has done a lot of research on gravity. They should prove more useful than I am.”I just imagine a bunch of researchers standing in a circle, dropping random objects on the ground. Every time it falls, they nod and go “fonons.”
: “Then let's get back to Belkend.”
: “Tear, what is it? Feeling sick again?”: “...What? Oh, no. It's nothing. Let's go.”Let's.
Skit: Absent Minded
: “So you really think we can do something about the miasma, Jade?”: “It's only conjecture for now, but I think we can work it out.”
: “So if that's taken care of, all we have left to do is stop Van!”: “You're getting ahead of yourself, Anise.”
: “Heh heh... sorry.”: “Looks like Tear's fine too, thanks to that medicine.”: …
: “Tear?”: “Huh? Oh, sorry. Yes. I'm doing fine.”: “You've been acting a little strange ever since we came in here.”: “N-no, I haven't. Let's get going to the next Sephiroth.”: “Um... weren't we going to Belkend?”: “Oh... right... Belkend. Let's go.”Hmm...
At any rate, we'll hold off here for now.
Next Time: Physics experts and lava.
Synopsis:
Governor Viridian of Belkend suggested that we see a doctor named Shu in
the laboratory. Now that Master Van's not involved here anymore, we can have
Tear examined without worry.
The results of the examination were startling--Dr. Shu said that Tear was
contaminated with miasma. That's just like what the uniceros said.
Apparently, every time Tear activates a passage ring, a large volume of
Seventh Fonons enter her body, bringing miasma with them. He said her
condition is already dangerous.
But without Tear, a descendant of Yulia, we can't activate the passage
rings. Tear and I are both necessary in order to lower the Outer Lands. But
the longer we continue with the plan, the more Tear will suffer... I wish we
could just stop with it. But...
I wonder how Tear feels about it. Let's go ask her.
Tear said right away that she's fine with continuing the plan.
...I doubt she really wants to keep on doing something that may kill her.
But she said she'd continue it. And I...I couldn't tell her to stop.
Many people have helped us make this plan work. Many people died so that
we could continue it. We certainly can't ignore that fact. But...it's still
painful. Why does it have to be this way...?
If we're going to continue with the plan, we'll have to find out where the
next passage ring is. We left Dr. Shu's office to look for the researchers
from Yulia City.
There are three passage rings left. The two whose locations are known are
in the Meggiora Highlands and Mt. Roneal. But Mt. Roneal is a dangerous
place, so we decided to head for the Meggiora Highlands first.
The passage ring in Meggiora Highlands is apparently up the Nirni River.
Let's go.
We made it to the Meggiora Highlands. Let's go find the Daathic seal door.
As we were making our way through the Meggiora Highlands, Legretta
appeared. From what she said, it looks like she's trying to convince Tear to
join her. She knew Tear was contaminated by miasma, as well.
She must have realized that her attempts were futile, and left, warning us
that the world would proceed as the Seventh Fonstone showed, regardless of
any minor disturbances.
It was then that Guy realized what he had seen in the core. He had seen
the Seventh Fonstone, holding the future of the world inside it. No wonder
nobody had been able to find it.
Apparently the Seventh Fonstone used to be in Hod, and Master Van's family
had been protecting it for generations. I guess that explains why he knows
about the Seventh Fonstone's Score.
...Then isn't it possible that we are in fact doing what the Seventh
Fonstone's Score says, and Master Van's got the right idea after all?
Whether that's true or not, right now we have to worry about the Outer
Lands falling. If we don't do anything, they'll certainly collapse, killing
everyone--which is what Master Van probably wants, too.
I guess we'll just have to go ahead with lowering the lands.
We did the same thing as usual at the passage ring, but it looks like that
really is what's causing Tear's body to absorb miasma. And Jade said it looks
like the core of the planet itself is contaminated with miasma. If there's
that much miasma, I couldn't think of any way we could possibly get rid of
it, but Jade said that might actually make it easier to do something about.
How does his head work, anyway?
In any case, he said we'll need help from Belkend with gravity research,
so we started back to ask for their assistance.