Part 92: Chapter LXXXIII - Tell her... I died.

Tell her…I died.

Stabbey has learned Vivification Herb!
Stabbey uses Vivification Herb on thread!


Previously:




Chapter XXI: Mister… Conquerer, is it?



I’m trash, alright? A bad guy. Get seen talking to be and your precious reputation’ll be ruined. Get it? Stay the hell away from me.
Alright, geez…


Chapter XXV: You owe me a corpse, asshole!



Everyone in town said I was cursed...said all I could do was bring bad luck. Only a baby and they completely loathed me.
Geez, that’s really rough…
So I grew up, and I hated them right back, every last damned person in that village.
I beat 'em up, cursed 'em out... By the end, even my own ma couldn't stand me...
I’m sorry. I don’t really know what to say to that.
So don’t say anything. Now beat it, I wanna be alone.


Chapter XXXIV-A: This must be some kind of mistake!



Hey.
…Hey, kid.
A while ago, you were telling me about your village?
So I left the village, and started making a name for myself as the fierce bandit Loki. Killing people, hunting 'em down, hating them... Every day, that's all I did. And that was all I wanted to do. But one day I met this kid... Frackin' changed everything.
How so?
I'm finishing up a job - casing this house - when I realize there's a little girl there. I don't screw around, I go on and pull my knife.
That’s really messed up!
But right at the part where they usually start screaming and wailing, she pops out and says hi, all cheery-like. Says she just wants to talk...says she wants to be friends. Turns out the girl's blind. 'Course, I didn't believe it at first. I figured she was like the rest, tryin' to pull one over on my. But turned out she just wanted a friend. It was the first time that'd ever happened...the first time I'd come across someone who was actually happy I was there. The first and only... I mean, hell, my own parents don't want shit to do with me, and this random little girl - Reya's her name - wants to be pals. Ain't that a trip...
And that made you decide to change?
...Seriously, she saved me. Who knows what I would become... That's why I been searching for something to fix her eyesight all this time. She's done so much for me... I wanna at least try to pay her back.
If you ever need any help, just ask.










As hinted at a couple times, Loki’s sidequest has now unlocked. But you don’t go to the pub, or even to Loki, but to Athlum’s town square.




Errr… he’s not here.
How annoying! He disappeared while I was still talking and I hadn’t finished my story! … Uh… Um… Oops, sorry! Did you want something?




I’m Rush.
Rush, huh? Got it. What a cool name!
Do you know Loki?
What? You're asking if I know Loki? I sure do! He's my friend. Are you his friend, too? Be nice to him, okay? He's really, really shy.




Loki has moved into the bar, because now he has a quest to give us.




What’s up?
I might've told you already, but I'm lookin' for an elixir to fix Reya's eyesight. I haven't gotten lucky yet, but I managed to get hold of some information from some merchants passin' through. In a place not too far away grows a flower called "Visuminsumo." Apparently, it's got the power to give people their sight back.
Woah, really?
You can find the flowers at the top of Mt. Vackel. At least, that's what I heard. I woulda gone once I heard the stuff existed, but I gotta be careful... if somethin' were to happen to me, Reya'd be devastated. Plus, travelin' with you, I can't just go off on my own. So, wouldja come to Mt. Vackel with me to get Reya some visuminsumos?




She’s a cutie. I’ll go.
Knew I could count on ya. I have a vague idea of what the flowers look like, so once we get there, leave it to me.

Accepted quest: The Villain and the Sightless Girl

The other option is just being a dick.




Music: Rolling Hills, Sprawling Plains





Loki wants me to go with him to Mt. Vackel. We need to get some visuminsumos so a girl he likes can get her sight back.

This quest starts you out on the Undelwalt side of Mt. Vackel, which is strange since you’re coming from Athlum.






Let’s fight a random encounter or two. Loki is leading the mystics union because it’s his quest, and Khrynia has taken over leading Irina’s union.








learned Blackout!
learned Confuse!
learned Poison Gas III!
learned Refresh!

And Loki learns Blackout. Good, done.


- Boss Video: The Welkin Dragon




Rush, thanks for lending a hand. Let’s get outta here before…
ROOAAARRRR!
Damn… I was afraid of this. The merchants mentioned this monster... Mainly that it almost killed 'em. It'll go away if we leave the flowers, but I can't do that. Come on, Rush!
Nevermind the merchants, YOU could have mentioned this to ME!

Mission: Defeat the Welkin Dragon

Music: Beat the Odds





We’re fighting a boss dragon and his friend. This is going to be a bit of a tough fight since Dragons like to use their AoE breath weapon, and when there are two of them, that’s going to be a problem. Piling onto one encourages use of the breath weapon, but they can use it anyway even if you don’t.






Uh-oh.




He barely survived that, but that should be a one-shot kill for pretty much any of my unions under any circumstances.




And Paris gets petrified, which is a KO if taking any more damage. That appears to be a property of the normal attack of this second dragon, too. Lovely






No way!

Moonshadow is the top-tier Power Grip – Katana art.




Hopefully this gets the morale moving in a better direction.




I-I know size isn’t everything, but…
Today fortune smiles on us soldiers!

I really wanted Loki to use Blackout, but he isn’t casting any Invocations at all, never mind Spark V.






Are you still with us?

Another lucky survival break for Ghor. Not much else happened this turn.






I meant to do that!




I’ve… been negligent…

Actually, that’s me for failing to heal him.




Khrynia is the main Shards-user, so now that she’s in the party I should go to Nagapur so she can actually use more than just the base art.




This ain’t no time to be sleepin’ on the job!
Thank you!

Music: Struggle Eternal













You okay?

There’s the one-two punch I was talking about. Luckily we’re still fairly okay.




Rush will keep his HP up. Ghor will attack the Welkin Dragon. Loki will try to heal a wounded union, and Khrynia’s union will have Irina use Second Chance to revive Jager.







Close, but not enough, so Rush’s Revitalize will fully heal his union.




The Welkin Dragon has Instakill on its attacks, so Emmy gets KO’ed.




Irina restores Jager, and Caedmon and Blocter team-up to heal their union back to full.




You won’t have to do that again!

Showing up late to the party, Loki’s union heals Ghor’s union to full, and David brings Emmy back, so we’re back to perfect health all around.






I hope that putting this up will end up helping me. I’m not sure if it will, I suspect the breath attacks are all Mystic arts, but I’m not completely sure.




Cheeky little -




This should hopefully prevent the end-of-turn breath attack.




Luckily Ghor was the only union deadlocked with the Welkin dragon, and there is indeed no breath attack from the second dragon.








Violet is putting all those ranks in Remedies to good use.




Like no way! I missed?!




Blocter is really getting into his work.




I’m gonna destroy you!




*crazy laughter*


Music: Turn the Tide





It took long enough, but the second dragon is finally going down.






Fool!

That takes care of that.




That’s a strong one, huh?




As always, Glenys, your ability to state the obvious is masterful.




Ugh… Fail…
We shan’t lose to the likes of you!




Sure, I’ll bring in a summon, that’s almost always helpful. Jager should also use Beowulf, because Dragons are annoying as hell. Ghor will heal himself and Loki will bring back Khrynia.










Oh, come on. Since it’s not a leader, whether or not I’ll get the chance to revive Gaou is a coin flip.


Music: Struggle Eternal








I’m glad he never used that on any of my normal unions.




I guess the dragon was more hurt than I thought, it’s now in critical.






Not bad.




I could do a full attack, but I’m going to waste a turn doing as little as possible in the hopes of getting a resurrection command for Gaou on the next turn.






Don’t let a punk like that take you out!

Interesting, I thought Grenade Impact V would do a hell of a lot more damage, given that next chapter’s boss uses it to great effect at squashing me.




No resurrection commands for Gaou this time either.




Not that it mattered. Oh well, Gaou misses out on the XP this time. It happens.

learned Revitalize IV!
class changed to Lordly Ataraxian!




Rush, I need another favor. I don't want Reya to know what I look like. I'm hideous. Can you take these to her instead? And give her this message. Tell her...I died.
What?! Are you sure?
…Yeah.




Loki asked me to give you these flowers.
Huh? You have flowers for me? From Loki? I don't know why he's being so shy, since we're such good friends! These flowers smell wonderful! Do you know what they're called?...
I think they’re called Visiums or something. They’re supposed to um, cure blindness.
What? Really!? These flowers can make me see again?
I think so.
... Alright. I don't care how it happens, I just want to be able to see!




I can see! I can really see! So this is what the world looks like... It's amazing! Do you know where Loki is? I have to thank him right away!
Err… umm…






Uh…
Say something! Please?... Fine! I'll go look for him myself!




…
Loki!




No, not at all! You're exactly like I'd imagined you'd be! Better, even... I never told you this, but I know all about you, Loki. I've known all along. Even what you did to Father.
*gasp*
To be honest, I despised you at first. But now, all I want is you beside me. I know now. I know that you're the only one for me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you this fine example of Stockholm Syndrome.




Thank you, Reya... Thank you. I'll go help out Rush a bit more. Back in a flash.
I'll be here!

Unlocked Hurricane! You’ve unlocked a more powerful version of an existing formation!
Completed quest: The Villain and the Sightless Girl

Reya can see now, thanks to the visuminsumos! Loki thought his ugliness would scare her away, but it looks like they're closer than ever.




Okay…
Wow. You’re so attentive to my needs. Do you like me or something?

All this sitting around is making me nervous… What say we pick up some battles, hmm?
Sounds like a plan.
Good. Let’s go.

I’m pretty sure that she’s the one who sold it to us in the first place. And Loki isn’t going to battle, since he’s now going to be warming the bench now that his sidequest is done. Kate will take his place since her arts are better.




My eyes work fine, but my heart wasn't letting 'em see worth a damn. All I'd ever see was darkness and pain. It's only thanks to Reya that I been able to clear some o' that darkness away...her an'... Huh. It's funny how easy it is to find friends. You just gotta open up a little.

Parameter Bonus! You have become chummy with Loki, thus awakening his true powers!

Loki gets a 5 percent bonus to Speed. It’s okay I guess. Sorry for the long delay. Next time, we’ll be taking on one of the special bonus bosses. It’s in service of a very good cause, trust me.





New Arts Summary
learned Blackout!
learned Confuse!
learned Poison Gas III!
learned Refresh!
learned Revitalize IV!
class changed to Lordly Ataraxian!



Boss Video: The Welkin Dragon


Alternate Dialogue:

You can find the flowers at the top of Mt. Vackel. At least, that's what I heard. I woulda gone once I heard the stuff existed, but I gotta be careful... if somethin' were to happen to me, Reya'd be devastated. Plus, travelin' with you, I can't just go off on my own. So, wouldja come to Mt. Vackel with me to get Reya some visuminsumos?




You really want her to see you?
I want her to see, period. If you can find the time to help me out, lemme know.

***



He's...dead.
No... That can't be... I mean, Loki can't be... He just...can't...... Rush, you're lying, right? I don't believe you. I can't. Loki would never leave me. Never!

And then it continues as before with Reya walking to her left and spotting Loki.


Next Time: Hello? Why are you like, dead?