Part 10: Temple of Rejection

When we last saw our heroes, they found themselves trapped in a temple with no food or water! How will they ever get out of this mess?

This update's a little long, so brace yourself.

Music: The Place Once Called a Temple



I guess we'll have to wait for someone to come get us out...
You think they will?
Who knows? I guess at worst, someone'll be here next year to bring wine again. Though we'll probably all be skeletons by then...
Then let's head inside. Maybe there's another exit somewhere.
Yeah, that's way better than just sitting here starving to death.
I'd rather not. I sense even stronger negative feelings from inside this structure. It feels like they're rejecting me completely.
Hmm... But there's no guarantee we'll be able to get out from here, either... I know! I'll just go take a look by myself! Avril, Rebecca, you can wait here. I'll be right back!
Dean, it's too dangerous to go in there by yourself!
Don't worry, I'll be fine! You protect Avril while I'm gone.
Protect Avril...? Why don't you ever offer to protect me?!
Wh-what?! What are you talking about?!
What do you mean, what am I talking about?! Can't you even take a hint?! You numbskull! I hate you!
Um, I... I'm sorry, you two. I didn't mean to cause trouble for you...
It's not you, Avril. It's all that idiot's fault!
How can it be my fault?! You're not making any sense!
Um... I...I'll go inside with you... So please, stop fighting. I don't want to see you angry with each other...



I guess I really wasn't making any sense. Sorry, Dean.
That...that's okay. If I did something that bothered you, I apologize... Avril, you can wait here if you want. You don't have to force yourself to come along.
No, I'll be fine. Besides, maybe we'll find what I'm looking for in there. Yes, I must go. Even if I am rejected...
All right, let's get going, then!



Now that we're able to explore this room, we can check out these crystals. These are actually a hint for a puzzle, but I'll explain how later.



*It will undoubtedly take thousands of years for the biosphere to return to its former state. But we nonetheless leave this facility to our descendants, so that they may one day enjoy a lush Filgaia once more...

There's nothing else of interest in this room, aside from the two exits. There's a door by the entrance and one by the wine, we go through the door by the entrance first.



Duplicators are magic keys that open blue treasure chests. We don't have any, so we can't open this.



Luckily, they give us three right here. When we get these Duplicators, the exit to this room is sealed.


Obtained the Freeze Ray cartridge!

Alright, our first ARM Cartridge! These pretty much serve the purpose of the tools from the previous games. The Freeze Ray shoots a beam of ice, as the name implies.



The only way to proceed in this room is past these blocks, but they fall when we stand on them.



The trick is to freeze them in place first.



At the end is a torch. The Freeze Ray can put out torches, and when we do so the door back to the main room opens up. Our only option now is to return to the main room and take the other exit.



There was another set of falling blocks in this room, ensuring you get the Freeze Ray before proceeding through the dungeon.



In the next room is a crank which spins the room around, opening different doors. Moving the room three places opens a new door.

Cutscene: Carol Anderson
Music: Even a Dog Wouldn't Eat This



Girl with a Ribbon: Where am I? Seems like I got lost again... What do I do now? I can't find anyone if all I'm doing is running around in circles...



Rebecca waves to the girl, which terrifies her and sends her running in the opposite direction.




Welp.

The screen fades out, to show the passing of time.



Rebecca notices the girl is awake, and starts to wave, before deciding a friendly smile might be a better idea.



The girl scoots across the ground and hides behind a nearby object.



Dean: We...well, we sort of got stuck in here. Probably the same as you, huh?
Rebecca: So, uh, what are you doing in here?
Girl with a Ribbon: I...I'm looking for somebody...
Rebecca: Down here?
Girl with a Ribbon: Yes...he likes musty, old places like this... Please don't look at me like that... It's nothing suspicious. I mean, it... It's the truth, really...
Rebecca: Okay, okay, don't be scared! Just calm down, all right? Come on over here with us. All alone like that, you might get attacked by monsters.
Girl with a Ribbon: These monsters don't scare me! You know, I'm pretty strong for my size! Somebody really tough taught me how to fight! I'm kind of in a hurry, though, so I should be going now. It was nice meeting you.
Dean: If you're headed out the front door, it's gone.



Dean: The door closed behind us. It looks like we can't get out of here.
Girl with a Ribbon: Wha-? Do...do you mean... Do you mean we're trapped in here?
Avril: Yes, that is correct.
Girl with a Ribbon: Oh, no... Are you trying to tell me that there's no other way out?
Rebecca: We were working on that one ourselves. Hey, I know! Why don't you follow along with us?
Girl with a Ribbon: Um...well, I-I appreciate your offer...but...
Rebecca: Yeah, but...what?
Girl with a Ribbon: You...you're not going to be mean to me, are you?



Rebecca: What are you talking about? No, of course not! Why would we be like that to you?
Rebecca: Oh, by the way, I didn't catch your name.
Girl with a Ribbon: Carol, I'm Carol Anderson.
Dean: I'm Dean, Stark.
Rebecca: And my name is Rebecca Streisand.
Avril: My name is Avril, I am afraid that I cannot remember much else.
Dean: Avril's forgotten most of what she used to know. The only thing she remebers is "Johnny Appleseed". That's what we came here looking for.
Carol: Do you mean she has amnesia? That's a pretty serious condition. Johnny Appleseed, though... Hmm, I think I've heard that somewhere before...
Rebecca: Wow, really? We just keep on finding clues everywhere these days! But too bad these clues just don't seem to lead us anywhere...
Dean: So tell us- What have you head about this Johnny Appleseed?
Carol: Hmm... *Sigh* ...It's no good, I'm sorry, I can't remember.
Dean: That's too bad. Oh well!



Avril: No, it is not your fault. And besides, maybe it will come to you sometime later. If you are able to tell us then, that will be just fine.
Carol: Oh, thank you very much! Okay, I'll keep on trying to remember!
Dean: Anyway, we've still gotta find a way out of this place. So Carol, you wanna come along with us?
Carol: Oh, yes! Oh, thank you! I'll do my very best to help!
Rebecca: Well, shall we? Let's get going!
Dean: All right!
Avril: It will be very nice to have another companion.
Carol: O-okay! Oh, thank you so much!

Carol starts running over to the party, but she trips.




The area round where she's sitting starts to glow, then it rises out of the floor.

Music: rebel assault

Dean: Hey, what the-
Carol: Aaah! Wh-what did I do?!




Avril: Watch yourself, Dean! I sense something up there!
Rebecca: -?! We're right behind you, Dean!




Carol: Th-this is all my fault! I-I'm so sorry!
Dean: Don't worry, this always happens. Carol, can you handle yourself in a fight? You okay?
Carol: Y-yes! I'll do my best!



Music: Terrible-Monster Attacking Crew!



Twilight Venom is a very easy boss, despite only having a party of two for it. Its name is a reference to the Wild Arms anime of the same name. Unfortunately, I haven't actually watched Twilight Venom, so I won't be able to point out any references beyond the name.



Carol's innate PS is Shoot Anywhere. As the name implies, it allows her basic Shoot command to target any HEX.

Carol is sort of a blank slate for combat. Although any character can use any medium, certain mediums compliment the stats of certain characters more than others. Carol's stats are all middle of the road, so any medium works well on her.

Of course, this means that whichever medium you put on her will probably work better on a different character, so she's not particularly useful.



Twilight Venom's main gimmick is to use Harmful Wave, which poisons every HEX in a straight line in front of him. He has other attacks, such as Blast, but he mostly uses Harmful Wave.



Yes...so use Antidotes to cure the infected HEXes. We can probably steal some from the bad guys if we're low on reserves.



When a combatant begins their turn on a poisoned HEX, they take damage equal to 10% of their max HP. Poison cannot reduce a character's HP past 1.



Carol is equipped with the Luck Medium, which gives her Item Steal, a very useful original command. Item Steal will attempt to steal an item from an adjacent HEX.

The Luck Medium also has the force ability Mystic, which extends an item's effect to all HEXes.



You can steal Antidotes and Cordyceps from Twilight Venom. Antidotes cure poison, and Cordyceps cure all status conditions.



The trick to winning this battle is to put Dean on the fire ley point and spam Crush. The boss will go down in two Crushes and an attack or two.

Music: The Place Once Called a Temple



Whew... Thank goodness! All I could think about was how I was going to apologize if I let you die during the battle...
Hey, don't worry about it - we're both safe, after all! Besides, you fought really well!
Th-thank you! But I don't think I would have been able to defeat it without your help.
Well then, I guess we won thanks to both of us, huh?
Y-yes, thanks to both of us!



Yeah! Thanks to Carol!
Hey - you just said it was thanks to both of us!
Oh, right. We're both fine...thanks to both of us!
Okay, then... In any case, you two certainly seem to be getting along.



GETTING ALONG WITH A CHILD AUTOMATICALLY MAKES YOU A PEDOPHILE.

(Ack! What am I thinking?!)
Well then, shall we proceed?
Yeah! Let's go, Carol!
O-okay!
Oh, Carol... Do you have a medium?
Yes, I recieved it from the person I'm searching for. Is there a problem?
It's an original medium, is it not?
Is it? I'm afraid I don't know...
I can feel it. It's difficult to explain, but I'm certain it's an original medium.
Maybe those mediums have something to do with your memory, huh?



Luck Medium

RFX/HIT Bonus: Increases RFX and HIT.

PS FP Advantage: Adds FP at the start of a battle.
PS Gella Up: Increases the amount of gella obtained from battle.
PS Ley RFX Up: Adds a +25 bonus to RFX when the character is on a ley point.
PS Experience Up: Increases the amount of experience gained from battle.
PS Ley HIT Up: Adds a +25 bonus to HIT when the character is on a ley point.

Item Steal Arcana: Steals an item from an adjacent enemy.
Fragile Arcana: Adds DEF/RES Down status to a HEX.
Slow Down Arcana: Adds RFX/EVA Down status to a HEX.
Life Drain Arcana: Absorbs HP from the target.
Rare Steal Arcana: Stals a rare item from an adjacent enemy.

Mystic (25 FP): Extends an item's effect to all HEXes.
Sonic Vision (50 FP): The user attacks with a critical hit.
MP Charge (75 FP): Restores MP.
Chapapanga (100 FP): Powerful physical attack on all enemies. Defeated enemies are turned into items.

I normally prefer to put the Luck Medium on a back row character, then switch them in when necessary, but for now I'll leave it on Carol and put her in the party. A nice thing you can do with the Luck Medium is to put one on every character while grinding so everyone gets the bonus from Experience Up.



The camera points us right at the exit, but there's a Dragon Fossil in this room if you turn around. The door puts us in an outdoor hallway.



Along the way, we pass by this weird floating thing. We can target it with our ARMs, but neither of our current cartridges affect it.

Before long, we find another door that takes us back inside.



*We cannot afford to fail. And we must work quickly-before she learns of us...



These dark boxes explode when shot, destroying all adjacent boxes. If you freeze them, you can shoot them as many times as you want without any explosion. You can also freeze adjacent boxes, in which case the explosion will only melt the ice.



By making a staircase out of the boxes, we get a Lucky Card. If you use one of these in a battle, everyone gets double experience.



To leave this room, we just have to put out these torches. Then the door opens to another outdoor hallway.



Not at all! Ask anything you want!
O-okay! Um...how did Avril lose her memory?
*Sigh* Here we go again...
I-I'm sorry! If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay!
No, no, it's not that. It's just, we tried telling the story once already, but the person listening didn't believe us. Dean, if you would?
Sure! Believe it or not, Avril came from a golem's arm!
...?
Dean, you're just confusing her. You need to start from the golem arm falling out of the sky.
A golem's arm...fell out of the sky...?
Yeah! It was huge!

Dean then runs off.



And then Dean runs back.



I...I see...
And Avril was curled up inside the hand, like it was protecting her. When she woke up, she'd already lost her memory, though...right?
Yes. I could only remember my name, and the words "Johnny Appleseed".
And then the golem arm fell into the depths and disappeared in a blinding flash of light. There, can you believe it?



You don't have to force yourself...

Proceeding down the hall, we find ourselves back inside again.



*We can only pray the the children of future generations do not repeat our mistakes...



You may notice the gella floating over the fountain's stream. With the Freeze Ray, we can create a platform out of that water.



To exit this room, we have to repeat the puzzle from the last one, using boxes to make stairs. The next room is another spinning one with a crank, like the room before we met Carol.



This chest is accessed by freezing a fountain's stream. For some reason you can't open this chest with your ARMs, I guess to ensure you solve the puzzle properly.

To proceed past this room, we have to put out a few more torches. (The puzzles get more interesting later on, I swear.)



Yeah, that room with the altar.
It would seem so. The rejection from this room is very strong... Why do you reject me so...? Why must you exclude me...?
Avril?



Don't leave me alone!



"Why doesn't he ever violently shake ME like that?"

Watch out! Monsters!
Monster: Target located. Now entering elimination mode. Target will be eliminated.
So you're the ones hurting Avril! Eliminate THIS!

Boss: Fire Scutum, Water Scutum.
Music: Defense Action Squad Heroes!



It looks like the enemies have opposite elements-one fire, and one water. Opposite elements do extra damage to each other, so-
Fight fire with water and water with fire! Okay, let's give it a shot!




They don't really have anything worth stealing, since we can make gemstones by killing monsters with Blast, so I switch in Rebecca so I can use Blast.

In hindsight, I should have put the Sky Medium on Carol so you guys could see her in action, but I made the mistake of saving over my pre-Temple of Rejection save, so I can't go back and do that. Her voice is really terrible anyway, so just think of it as a favor.



The big problem with this fight is finding a safe place to stand. By standing on the water ley point you're resistant to the Water Scutum's attacks, but weak to the Fire Scutum's. The reverse is also true, of course. It's probably safest to at the very least keep your healer on a neutral HEX.



The Fire Scutum is on a fire ley point, and both Rebecca and Avril are on the water ley point. He could have killed both of them right here, but he chose to do about 200 damage to Dean instead.



Sometimes I can't help but feel like Crush makes things too easy.



By hammering on them with Crush and Blast, they go down pretty quickly.

Music: The Place Once Called a Temple



Are you okay, Avril? You still have that bad feeling?
N-no... I'm fine. The feeling of rejection has disappeared. I could tell that I was panicking, but I couldn't stop myself... I'm sorry for causing you trouble...
I don't remember being caused any trouble. Must be your imagination!
Hehe... My imagination? Perhaps, but I do not think the warmth I felt from you was my imagination.
... All right, then! Now that the path is clear, let's get going! We've got to be close to the exit by now, I really want to get out of here!
Yeah, let's get out before any more weird monsters get in our way!



These are so much worse when you have to listen to Rebecca slowly read them aloud.

What's wrong, Rebecca? C'mon!
...Ah, yeah, sorry.



In the next room, we hit a fork in the road. First I go to the left.



Finding 3000 gella and the Sol Niger!



Now we've gotta deal with two enemies when we purify these things. They're still not dangerous at all, though. They both have Dual Shooter, and ARM Part for Dean, so I made sure to steal one.

There's nothing else of interest over here, so let's go back to the fork and take the other path.

Music: The Path I Must Follow



Whew. We finally made it... I was worried we'd all starve to death in here.
Yes... I much prefer the outside, too.
Agreed. Thank goodness we finally found a way out... ...But the person I'm looking for wasn't here, after all. I'll have to keep looking. And I wasn't able to remember anything about Johnny Appleseed either... I'm really sorry.
That's all right, Carol. Please don't worry about it. And Dean... It seems the Johnny Appleseed here is not what I'm searching for, after all.
Oh, well. We'll just have to keep trying. Right, Rebecca?
Y...yeah.
What's wrong, Rebecca? Not feeling well?
Nothing. I'm just fine! (Why is he so blind?!)

I think the word you're looking for is "stupid" not "blind", Rebecca.

So Carol, what are you gonna do now?
I still need to find my companion.
Oh yeah? So I guess this is where we part ways, huh.
Yes, I guess so. Take care! I'll try to remember about Johnny Appleseed for the next time we meet! Goodbye everyone!
Carol left the party!
She sure was cute, wasn't she? She packs quite a bunch for her size. I'd better not let her get ahead of me! Come on, let's get our search for Johnny Appleseed back on track!
Yeah! Just you wait, Appleseed! We'll find you!



Hah hah hah! Not bad! Count me in, too-




We totally stole that little girl's medium, by the way.



The path we were on drops us off here, at a side door right next to the temple entrance. There's another one on the opposite side.



Now that we have the Freeze Ray, we can turn those white crystals to blue by shooting them. If we turn them both blue, stairs raise to the door we just came from.

Do you recall the large crystals in the first room of this dungeon? There was a red one on the left, a white one in the middle, and a blue one on the right. When the small crystals outside were white, we went though the middle door, and after turning them blue we were able to go through the door on the right. By that logic, we should be able to get through the door on the left by turning them red.

Unfortunately, we can't do that right now, so let's just leave.

Falling Into the Shadow of Locus Solus




My sincere aplogies. We are currently conducting a full-scale search. However, one troubling piece of information has come to light. As you are aware, both we and the moderates are currently searching for Johnny Appleseed. It seems, though, that there is yet another group with the same objective. According to a report received from Mirapulse, the group is composed of humans.
...Is that so? And what might their intentions be? Even were humans to locate Johnny Appleseed, doing so would only hasten their own demise. I trust the humans are still unaware of the TF System?
I would consider that highly unlikely. Nonetheless, it is still a matter for concern, and I will investigate immediately.
Yes, please do. And use any means you find necessary. Just be certain you do not allow the moderates to find Johnny Appleseed before we do. Appleseed likely wouldn't survive one moment in the moderates' hands. We must protect the life of Johnny Appleseed at all costs!
Understood, my liege. Now, if you will excuse me, I shall return to my duties.
Wait, Fereydoon. As the most loyal and faithful of my subjects, I wish to ask your honest opinion. Do you believe that my actions amount to nothing more than demonic, senseless slaughter?
...No. I believe that I understand your intentions well. Your actions in taking control of this facility were solely for the purpose of preserving what scant life remains to us. If, at times, we must employ somewhat...radical methods to achieve our ends, that simply cannot be helped. Is that not our common belief?
Yes. Your words have done much to lighten my unease. All is for the preservation of our people. If the moderates will not act to ensure our continued existence, then we must!
With your leave, my liege...

Fereydoon leaves the room.



The Art of Wild Arms



I have a bit of trivia to go with Carol's profile today. Carol's voice always struck me as an old woman trying to sound like a child, and I recently learned that I was completely correct! Her voice actress, Mona Marshall, was 60 years old when this game was released. Of course, I'm not trying to imply that 60 year olds can't make convincing children, I just don't think Mona Marshall can.