Part 48: Zaleho Sephiroth

Last time we found out that Tear was getting sick from the Passage Rings. Despite that however we have to press on to save the world, and successfully set up the Passage Ring in the Meggiora Highlands. Now then...

Elderly Survivors



Hey, look who survived!

: “Luke! How are you doing?!”

: “You're alive!”

: “I'm the only one of our senior brigade who survived... I didn't get to join them...”

: “What are you saying?! Even if it's just you, thank goodness someone lived...”

: “But why are you here, Aston...?”

: “If I don't keep myself busy, I start thinking about Iemon and the others. So, I made the Albiore II – wait, we broke the first one – the Albiore III. Anyway, I made it.”

: “And then it crashed again?”

: “Now listen here, little lady! I was in the middle of a test flight when I saw you people, and-!”





: “Y-you!”

: “S-Spinoza?!”

: “Eavesdropping again?! You're such a creep!”



: “Let's follow him!”

Let's!

Skit: He Won't Get Away!

: “He sure is a strange one, coming all this way just to eavesdrop.”

: “We'll get Spinoza this time!”

: “Indeed... I'm hoping for his assistance in resolving the miasma problem.”

Wait, what?

: “Huh? Aren't you going to punish him?”

: “That won't change what's already happened. Though the work I have for him will suffice for punishment. He won't get away from us.”

: “Right! We better hurry after him!”

: “Yeah.”



: “Look up in the sky!”

It's a bird! It's a plane!



It's... the Albiore as seen through the mind of Vampire the Masquerade?

: “...The Albiore?!”

: “No... it looks similar, but it's not the same.”

: “That's my Albiore III...”

: “We let him get away again!”

: “Grr! Follow him in the Albiore II! He's only got enough fuel for a test flight. He should fall soon!”

Wait, the Albiore runs on fuel? I thought it just 'fonons' again.

: “Spinoza is a top physicist. If he were on our side, he's be useful in dealing with the miasma.”

: “Got it! We'll catch up to him in the Albiore!”

: “I'm coming along too!”



: “We're counting on you Noelle!”







: “What's wrong?”

: “It's smoking and... ah!”

An explosion is heard.

: “I wonder if he's alive...”

: “The Albiore III is a sturdy craft. A mere crash isn't going to hurt it's passengers!”

: “The monsters here would be rough on an elderly man. He'll probably run for the city.”

: “Okay, to Belkend!”



Skit: Spinoza Unforgivable!

: “Spinoza... we've got him now.”

: “Yes. He gave us some trouble, but he can't escape anymore.”

: “Yeah, I'll beat him to a pulp!”

: “I've never seen you this angry, Guy. Though I can't blame you, considering what Spinoza has done.”

: “He damaged the Albiore III! Those hover drives are jewels of fontech!”

: “...That's what your angry about?”

Oh Guy.

Spinoza





: “Y-yes, Master!”









: “Were you going to report to Master Van again?!”

: “N-no...”

: “Please, everyone. We won't learn anything by shouting at him. Why were you in the Meggiora Highlands?”

: “I...I went to Sheridan to pay my respects to everyone's graves. There, I heard Aston was going to the Meggiora Highlands... I thought I'd apologize to him...”

: “Then why the hell did you run away?!”

: “I-I was scared! I didn't know what to say... so...”



: “...It's true that I betrayed Hencken and Cathy not just once, but twice. I ignored them and conducted forbidden research. Then, I sold them up the river to Van... I know I can never undo that. But when they were killed, I realized what I'd done. I asked myself if my research was really worth killing my friends for.”



: “Luke...”

: “It was hard for me to acknowledge destroying Akzeriuth. Once I did, I felt I had to do something... to make up for it... Spinoza is me back then.”

: “If your resolve is true, then there's something we want your help on.”

: “Wh-what is it?”

: “Research. How to neutralize – or rather isolate – the miasma. We need your expertise in physics.”

: “Colonel! You're going to trust him?!”

: “Whatever his character, we need his brain.”

: “Please, let me do it. Research is all I can do.”

: “...You're my brother's– Van's research scientist. If you do that, he may kill you.”



: “How about we try trusting this fool one last time?”

: “But... he's a traitor...”

: “What if we have him join the research under 24-hour surveillance?”



: “Then I'll give the order. Set things up as Jade said.”

: “Yes, Your Highness.”

Seriously? The Governor doesn't have the authority to pull aside 3-4 city guard and tell them to rotate off 6-8 hour shifts supervising this guy?

: “I'll put everything I've got into this research. Thank you so much...”

: “Well, if he betrays us after saying all that, he's quite the actor.”

: “My miasma isolation plan consists of just a few scribbles, but here you are. Please read it over.”

: “We'll take Spinoza to Fon Machine Lab I.”

: “I'll repair the Albiore III and return to Sheridan. Show us what you can do, Spinoza.”





: “The remaining Sephiroth is near Daath's cathedral.”

: “The cathedral?! I had no idea.”

: “That place is pretty big after all. Let's go look for it.”





You know, I remember Anise being bitchy about Guy's loyalties, too. What the hell is up with Anise and trusting people?



At any rate, nothing else to do but head straight to Daath.



: “I don't know, but it's rumored that there's a passage from the cathedral to Mt. Zaleho. If people are saying that much, there may also be a path to the passage ring.”

: “Let's see if we can find it.”

Oh boy, the Cathedral...

Mohs 'Revenge'



: “Mohs...!”

: “We've come looking for the Sephiroth.”

: “...Yes, I've received a report from Yulia City. The passage ring is...”



: “What's Master Van doing?”

: “Humph. He abandoned his duty and ran off somewhere with the God-Generals.”

: “I don't see many Oracle soldiers either. Don't tell me...”

: “More than half of them ran off to join Van. It's infuriating! Now, I've got my hands full rebuilding the Oracle Knights.”

This is another thing I like about Abyss: there are multiple antagonistic factions, but just because they're in our way doesn't mean they're not in each others' ways as well. We're not exactly buddies with Mohs, but now Van's screwed him over too. The enemy of our enemy... well, you know.



: “Good luck finding it.”

...Of course having said that, that doesn't stop Mohs from being so hilariously petty. We've completely dismantled his political clout with not only the two major kingdoms but Chesedonia and Yulia City as well, and now Van has stolen half his army. So all Mohs can really do is just be a dick. So of course, he jumps at the chance.

: “Well! What a loathsome human being!”

: “He's probably grumpy because the peace treaty has made it hard to start his war.”

: “It's a lot better than having him get in our way.”

: “Yes, he just wants to uphold the Score. His aim has nothing to do with Van's causing the land to fall or his vision of a replica world. He shouldn't have any reason to interfere with us.”

: “Master Van... I wonder where he went...”



: “Do you have an idea?”

: “N-no, not really...”

Sure.

Skit: Feeling Weird

: “It sure feels weird for Mohs not to be jumping at us like before.”

: “Yeah, like he's got some hidden plan... I don't like it.”

: “Well, as Ion says, he's only trying to uphold the Score, so he probably doesn't have any reason to antagonize us.”

: “So why couldn't he just tell us where the hidden passage is?”

: “Probably just his little way of getting back at us.”

: “Man... what a pain.”



So after about 4-5 identical hallways of descending stairs...

Secret Passage



: “He said it was a straight path. Let's try looking for it.”











: “To think there was a hidden passage here...”

: “But why did Mohs know about this and not Ion?”

: “I imagine the original probably knew.”

: “Okay. Let's go take a look.”



: “Anise, could I ask you a question?”

: “Wh-what is it, Colonel?”

: “You knew about this place, didn't you?”

: “Really?”

: “No I didn't! I had no idea about it! Now, let's go! Come on! Hurry!”





: “...Don't worry about it.”



So is nobody at all concerned that they've just been teleported into an active volcano? No? Okay, just checking...

: “It probably belongs to Mohs. Just what is he doing?”

: “Let's not worry about that! Where's the passage ring?!”

: “...Anise, if you sound TOO suspicious, I'm going to feel like asking you to explain.”

: “Uh...”



: “Let's take a look.”



Welcome to Mt. Zaleho. This dungeon is rather bland, despite the exotic locale. There's no real tough enemies, the puzzle is fairly straight forward, and there isn't even a boss. It's just a lot of running, since the dungeon is fairly big and non linear, but you're given little if any general direction.



Also, why is nobody concerned about being this close to lava? I'm fairly certain you'd be bursting into flames at this vicinity.

At any rate, the door leading to the actual dungeon proper was just ahead.

Zaleho Seal



: “Right.”





: “I'm sorry.”

: “You don't have to apologize, but I'm worried about you...”

: “I'm sorry, Ion.”

: “No, I'm happy to be of use.”



...So nobody comments on it until we're in the room with far less lava? Sure.

: “Ion, are you okay?”

: “...Yes, thank you.”





: “Wh-what is it, Colonel? Is it my cuteness?”

: *Sigh* “No matter. This isn't a place I'd like to linger around in, either.”

: “Right, let's take care of what we came here to do.”



The first “puzzle” here are these floating torches, which when lit by Mieu form bridges.



The second “puzzle” are these enemies.



When defeated, they turn into blocks in the dungeon.



Some of the torches are too far away to reach with Mieu's fire, so you have to push blocks to form a path to the torch. Very linear.



This is the “big” puzzle of the dungeon, but it's still fairly simple.



First, you create a block on the lower level and push it like so.



Then, you create on on the upper level and push it on top of the first block.



Which forms a bridge, allowing you to pass across.



Also here's an interesting glitch in this dungeon: for some reason, the programmers mixed up a bat enemy and a golem enemy's dungeon sprites, so you have a flying golem and a walking bat.



Up ahead, we find these torches that are moving from side to side. It seems we have to hit all of them at once, but Mieu's fire can't reach right now. Darn.



At any rate, we've found the passage ring.



No matter where they are, I love the designs of these things.

One More to Go





: “Are you feeling all right?”

: “...Yes. The medicine's working. Go ahead and activate the controls.”

: “Right.... done.”

: “Next up, Mt. Roneal?”

: “Yes, but before that, let's return to Belkend and check with Spinoza. We might be able to lean how to deal with the miasma.”



: *Sigh* “You've been extremely suspicious right to the very end.”

Skit: Anise Going Crazy?!

: “Look at all the weird things here!”

: “The only weird thing I see around here is you, Anise.”

: …

: “If you keep acting suspicious, I'm going to ask you what's going on.”

: “S-suspicious? Me!?”

: “...For now, I suppose I can wait until you're ready to tell us about it.”

: “The only thing I'm hiding from you is my weight! Really! I'm pure, open, straightforward, honest, and virtuous (and cute) to the core!”

: “And I'm probably definitely not hiding anything!”

: “Oh dear, oh dear...”

: ...

Hmm...

Oh well, nothing we can do about it now. The road back out of Mt. Roneal is boring as hell, so I'll just pick this back up at the Cathedral. Before we head out however, I'm going to start a sidequest while we're here.

The Catalyst Weapons



: “What is it, Maestro Tritheim?”

: “I feel some unusual fonons...”

: “What are you talking about?”

: “That, I suspect.”



If you don't remember, that's Nebilim, the odd sword we got off the monster we fought in the Meggiora Highlands way back when we went to get the Albiore for the first time. I almost forgot about it, since it's stats are so pathetic Luke's base equipment was superior.

: “I felt the First Fonon in it from the moment we got it, but it's been growing stronger day by day.”

: “Th...this is...! Where did you find that sword?!”

: “The Meggiora Highlands. It was stuck in a monster's back.”

: “Maestro, is there something about this sword...?”

: “Well, I suppose at this point I can talk about it... That sword is said to be one of the catalysts of the planetary fonic arte.”

: “Planetary fonic arte? What's that?”

: “An immense fonic arte that was proposed during the Dawn Age. It was never actually put to use, though. The Fonic War ended before it could be. Or so I've heard...”

: “Yes, records of the arte were found in Yulia City. The previous Fon Master, Evenos, secretly undertook a plan to revive it.”

: “And he needed the sword for that?”

: “Yes. Three weapons with the power of Rem, and three with the power of Shadow... These are required for the planetary fonic arte – in theory, anyway.”

: “That sure is vague.”

: “To be honest, we don't know the details. The Oracle Knight responsible for overseeing the plan destroyed the records and left the Order. And Evenos has passed away as well...”

: “That's too bad, it sounds like a really powerful arte. Battles would be so much easier if the Colonel could use it.”

I like how Anise is thinking exactly what the player is thinking.

: “Hmm... perhaps it would be useful. Go to Keterburg, then. The former Oracle Knight has reportedly passed away, but you may still be able to learn something.”

: “What was that Oracle Knight's name?”







: “Nebilim...? I could swear I've heard that somewhere...”

: “We don't need any planetary fonic arte! Even without it Jade's still ridiculously strong!”

: “Luke? What are you hiding?”

She saw through him instantly.

: “Ugh... Jade...”

: “...Well, if you deem it necessary, I have no objections to visiting Keterburg.”

: “The two of you are certainly acting strangely.”

We'll be passing by Keterberg on our way to Mt. Roneal, so no hurry.

Belkend was next, if I remember correctly.

Skit: Dist's Curse

: “We took care of the passage ring at Daath pretty easily. It's nice to have things go smoothly for once.”

: “But you never know when it might bite back at you.”

: “Like how?”

: “Hmm... like maybe a face appearing on your stomach?”

...What?

: “What are you, stupid?”

: “Well you never know! It's the colonel that created fomicry, after all.”

: “...Th-that's not funny.”

: “What would you do if Dists's face suddenly showed up?”

: “Ugh... that would suck.”



: “If that happened, I don't think I'd ever speak to you again.”


'
: “...What is it between Jade and Dist, anyway? They sure don't act like old friends...”

: “Yeah... he seems on pretty good terms with the Emperor.”

: “Maybe it has something to do with Nebilim...?”

: “Did you say something?”

: “N-no, nothing at all. Hah hah...”

Quit while you're ahead Luke.

Okay, let's see Spinoza.

Isolation



: “Then, you mean we can neutralize the miasma!”

: “No, not neutralize, isolate.”

: “What do you mean?”

: “Between the Outer Lands and the Qliphoth exists a force field called the dividing line. Right, Tear?”

: “Y-yes. It's a region of force created by the Sephiroth Trees. It holds up the Outer Lands.”

: “More accurately, the upward force of the dividing line is in equilibrium with the planet's gravity.”

: “Lowering the Outer Lands means breaking that gravitational equilibrium. When the descent begins, the dividing line creates downward force. That becomes a membrane that will push the miasma back beneath the surface, into the core.”

Technobabble!

: “But that isn't actually getting rid of it. Are you sure it won't come out again?”

: “If the miasma originates in the core, then it flooded the Qliphoth because the Sephiroth are open. Once the Outer Lands are lowered, if we shut down all the passage rings...”



: “With the core's vibration stopped, the liquefied land has begun to solidify quickly. So even if we close the Sephiroth, the land won't be swallowed up.”

: “That's fantastic!”

: “And to think you came up with it before me, the master physicist.”

: “Even so, we couldn't have been sure without having it checked by an expert.”

: “Now all that's left is to do something about the Sephiroth at Mt. Roneal.”

: “We should rest at the inn before heading there.”



: “...R-right, I'll do that. I think it will take some time, so go on. Go to bed.”

: “Okay, then we'll meet up tomorrow in front of the inn!”

Skit: Worried About Tear's Health

: “Well, it looks like everything's taken care of, but I'm still worried about Tear...”

: “Yeah. Knowing her, she's probably still pushing herself.”

: “I'm worried too...”

: “I wish I could tell her to stop wearing herself out...”

: “But if you did...”

: “Yeah... she wouldn't like it at all.”

: “Mieu...”

: “As soon as we're done with the passage rings, let's find a way to cure her once and for all!”

: “Yeah, let's do that.”

Aww.

So, we'll be meeting up tomorrow after getting some rest? Sounds like a good place to stop for the-

Gone in the Night



: “...Hm? What is it...?”

: “Tear's gone!”

: “Huh?!”



: “Asch came here to see Spinoza. Supposedly he went with her.”

: “Asch, too? What's going on...?”

: “And we found this in her room.”

: “What is it?”

: “It's an ore that can be found in Ortion Cavern.”

: “So Tear when to go do something in Ortion Cavern?”

: “Yeah. What do you want to do?”



: “Right, let's go!”



Next Time: After two rather uneventful updates, shit hits the fan again.

Synopsis:

On the way out of the Meggiora Highlands, we ran into Aston. He had
miraculously survived Master Van's attack, and was working on a third
Albiore. Just then, we noticed Spinoza eavesdropping on us again. We chased
after him, but he stole Aston's Albiore III and flew off.
To the Albiore, and after him!

Spinoza ran out of fuel and crashed near Belkend. He's probably fled into
Belkend itself. Let's get him!

When we caught Spinoza, he said he'd followed Aston to the Meggiora
Highlands in order to apologize. If that's the case, he didn't have to run
away! ...But I think I can understand what he's feeling.

He's done something that can't be undone, and now everybody's blaming him
for it... When everybody did that to me, I thought they were telling me to
take responsibility, but I knew even then there was no way I could make up
for it, so I didn't want to admit that it was my fault.

And now, he wants to do anything he possibly can. I'm sure those feelings
are real--I was the same way, too.

Anise didn't seem convinced, but everyone else agreed to at least try
trusting him.

It seems that Spinoza's an expert in the field of physics, so he'll be
looking over Jade's idea for neutralizing the miasma, or isolating it or
whatever it was. I sure hope this will take care of the miasma.

We also learned the location of the last passage ring. Apparently it's
right near Daath. We headed there to look for it while Spinoza did his work.
We reached Daath, but with the size of the church, I hope we can find the
passage ring...

We ran into Mohs inside the church. I was worried that things would come
to blows, but since he's only trying to uphold the Score and bring prosperity
to the world, unlike Master Van who's trying to destroy the Outer Lands, he's
apparently given up on the war now that the peace treaty was signed. He
wasn't exactly nice to us, either, but he did tell us of a secret passage
leading to the passage ring before he left. He also said that more than half
the Oracle soldiers have left to join Master Van, so he's very busy at the
moment. ...Damn, even now I can't help but think "Master Van's great!" What a
loser I am... Anyway, we'd better go find the passage ring.

We reached the room Mohs pointed us to, and while we were looking around,
Anise started acting strangely and found the secret passage. I bet she knew
about it in the first place, but she insists she didn't. Oh well. In any
case, we have to take care of operating the passage ring.

The secret passage was connected to the inside of a volcano. It looks like
Mohs has been doing some sort of research here, too. I hope we can find the
Daathic seal around here somewhere.

We took care of fixing up the passage ring. Now we just have to do the one
on Mt. Roneal, but we decided to go back to Belkend first and see how
Spinoza's coming.
It looks like Jade's plan is going to work.

Let me see if I can remember the details well enough to write them down.

The Outer Lands are held between the dividing line pushing them upwards
and the planet's gravity pulling them downwards. It's just like how if you
pull on something from both sides with equal force, it won't go anywhere.

So when we start lowering the Outer Lands, it'll create a downward force
underneath the dividing line, and that should act as a membrane to push the
miasma back into the core. After that, if we close off the Sephiroth, that
should prevent any more miasma from leaking out. Of course, a little bit will
come out with the Planet Storm, but the miasma probably won't leave that
stream. Jade knows more about that than I do, anyway.

That takes care of the miasma, so that just leaves the passage ring on Mt.
Roneal. We decided to rest at the inn while Tear picked up some more medicine.

When we got up the next morning, Tear still hadn't returned. Apparently
Asch came to Belkend, and the two of them headed off for Ortion Cavern. Did
Asch find something? Let's go after them.