Toggle Background Color
Part X: The Paths We Traveled
The far side
Ugh... Just...let me sleep a little more, Celica.
You rascal. Don't you remember the task I entrusted you with?
The task...?
Yes. I asked you to take care of him.
Well...this is new.
*wakes up* Where...am I? Did they...kill me? *looks at hands* My wounds are gone!
*clears particles away, picks him up* Bad fever.
*groans* Please... Don't die... Velvet.
You saved my life. Now it's my turn to save you.
Yep, carrying Laphicet like a sack of potatoes for this section. There's no treasures, no battles, not even any white spots to gather random junk from.
Sole task is just following these portals around...wherever we are.
We're not in Port Zekson anymore. When you come to multiple potential exits, if you take the wrong one, Velvet will comment on it, but luckily, not a portal maze or anything like that. Never been fond of those. Once you get to a star symbol on the mini-map, you're done. Back to the world
Where's the exit? What the hell is this place?!
It's an earthpulse.
So you survived.
Let's not count our blessings just yet. It looks like we've been sealed inside. But at least we're still alive. Can't say the same would be true if we'd stayed in that place.
*places Laphicet on the ground* An earthpulse...so that's what this is.
Yeah. It's like a river flowing with nature's life energy. Earthpulses can be found all over the world, but normally you can't see or interact with them.
The how'd we wind up inside one?
When Innominat's and Laphicet's powers collided, the shock must have torn it open. If that's the case, it's possible that Laphicet possesses the power to return us home, but... He can't do much in this state. He's liable to turn into a daemon any moment now.
Don't talk like that! *gasp*
...Is this because he overused his powers?
It's not too late to stop it. If a malak occupies a pure vessel, he can be prevented from transforming into a daemon.
Even you?
There's a catch to this one, though. It can only serve as a vessel for someone with the reaper's powers.
Then that's no help at all!
An exorcist would work.
We offer our own bodies as vessels for malakhim so that we can use them for the Abbey's purposes. I volunteer to serve as your malak's vessel.
I see. *draws blade* So we just need your body with us... Not your legs.
I'll kill myself before you lay a hand on me. The malak will become a daemon and you'll be stuck here forever!
You don't mince words, do you?
"Know your foes, and strike when they're weak." The basis of all combat.
As cowardly as I'd expect from a disciple of Artorius.
No, this is personal! Once I regain my exorcist powers... *points spear at Velvet* I vow to challenge you, daemon Velvet! If I lose, I'll do whatever you wish. If you want me to die or to become a vessel, so be it!
Oho...
Velvet... Don't die...
*puts sword away* Fine.
*nods, approaches Laphicet*
Normally it is decided by their masters, but since I do not own him yet, I need to know.
He's not a thing to be owned. He's Laphicet.
Laphicet... I see. *grabs his hand* O child of the fountain of creation, these vows we exchange. May our purpose, resplendent, help to purify this cursed world. Remember this true name I bestow unto you.
Such... Such power!
That little brat... He actually unsealed the earthpulse?
What was that?
Heh. Guess this is the end of the Velvet World Tour Revengeathon. What an anticlimax. Not that I really care either way.
We don't know that she's dead.
Dead or alive, she's done. No way she'd keep going after seeing how outmatched she is. *grin* ...Betcha 10 gald that I'm right.
10 gald? You're on.
What in the--?!
Laphicet?! What did that exorcist do?
*jumps off*
*gets up* What happened to you?
*explains*
...I see. So that exorcist woman pledged herself as Laphicet's vessel? Where did she head off to, then?
If you two wound up here, then odds are that exorcist disappeared somewhere nearby.
*nods* Then we'll find her.
Sheesh, are you never not worked up about something?
I said I would save him, so I will. Besides...
...Don't you forget our little wager now, all right?
My darling Ten-Gald, murdered in his crib by a thug...
Cheer up. We're here in scenic Yvolg Ruins. Don't know if that's an Arthurian reference or anything. Problem with a lot of Arthurian references is even famous figures have a lot of different spellings so it can often be hard to look them up even if you're pretty sure who they are. Also an issue is that there's no, like, definitive source for the mythology, so different writers will conflate certain figures or omit them. Like, are Morgause and Morgana (alternatively, Morgan le Fae / le Fay) the same person, or are they sisters? Just depends who you ask. How many Knights of the Round were there? Could be 12-13 to over a hundred, again, depending on who you ask.
Anyway. Be sure to grab this weapon for Magilou, since she's a relative new party member and she doesn't have many weapons at this point, and she also hasn't mastered anything, so even for accessories long mastered by other party members do not carry over to her. Make her useful as soon as possible. The opposite room with a chest in it contains a Panacea Bottle, for the record.
There are lots of ghosts wandering around these ruins, and, even if you can't see them, their hitbox remains active, so it's very possible you run right into one without knowing it until you bump into it. Always fun.
Yeah. Real shame. What can you do?
Kick it open, like Velvet always does. That's the main gimmick with this dungeon, these breakable walls. Thankfully, breakable walls are very obvious, not only by the geography but also the color of the walls you can smash.
We have a couple curiosities on this upper floor, including a skit examining the role of exorcists in relation to their malakhim, particularly the mystery surrounding Laphicet's power, a skit afterwards about what this place is (Eizen is always so informative), and greeting an old friend who we haven't seen in some time.
Still needs a little persuasion, though. Just a little. The Turtlez are very reasonable.
From this room with the Turtlez in it, go to the stairs leading down, follow a passage, come up the stairs, and you'll end up in this room. The chest has a Thorny Waistcoat for any of the guys in it, and a very very obvious breakable wall. It both expands the map and...
Reveals a whole mess of Katz Spirits. Neat. There are quite a few ghost skeleton enemies lurking around here, though, so keep your wits about you.
Down these stairs is...
Another passageway-to-treasure room. This one contains a pair of Tarnished Earrings for Magilou. Well, this place has been abandoned for god knows how long. She'll take what she can get.
See what I mean? Those skeletons can pop up from anywhere.
*
On the right path, we have this room. That Katz Box in the corner needs 80 Spirits to open and gives us a Drop Earring (Left). Fascinating. More fascinating is that incredibly obvious wall to smash. Behind that is another wall to smash, but I wouldn't go that way. Not personally. In the other direction is...
Our next Code Red Friend up some stairs. This one I remember as being tough... Spider Queen
So the Spider Queen is basically a much tougher Echidna.
One of her nastier tricks is a unique arte, Spider Net, that can inflict Slow on targets who get caught in the blast radius. This status effect substantially slows down anyone who gets hit by it and prevents sidestepping, which make getting away from dangerous AOE spells impossible. If a melee fighter gets hit with is, throw a Panacea Bottle on them, pronto. You cannot afford to be unable to run away from Spider Queen's deadlier stuff.
She also has an arte named Slow Break, which is basically a larger area of effect Spider Net that can also inflict Slow. Nasty business.
Like Gravity Well, a very powerful AOE spell that inflicts Wind and Earth damage. Of particular danger is the fact Queen has, I think, 5 Iron Stances when she casts. In this game, and in most Tales games, if a spellcaster gets hit while they're casting a spell, they get knocked out of the casting animation and forced to start over. Here, you can prevent that from happening if the caster has Iron Stances, which is the number of hits it takes to cancel the casting process. So in this fight, you have to hit Queen five times to stop her casting, which can be easier said than done when the AI has a tendency to randomly run away and attack basically whenever it feels like it.
I know you'll just be amazed Rokurou ended this fight. She was very annoying with that very last bit of HP, but hey, it's over, right?
Fascinating reward, too. I do like how hunting the Code Red Daemons actually serves a gameplay purpose beyond making some money. Well, that's the last bit of important business around here.
This area is the last major part of Yvolg Ruins, though we'll be here a while longer. You'll see. The large room in the southeast of this area has a Calcite Fragment in a chest. The obvious breakable wall indicated by an indent in the northern wall leads to a Thorny Waistcoat for the guy you didn't the previous one to. How nice. Once you're finished breaking things around here, head up those stairs to finish the dungeon. Final duel
I thought you'd be long gone.
I apologize for disappearing on you. I was there, and then in the next moment, I was gone.
And Laphicet?
He's resting inside me. As far as I can tell, he seems healthy again.
The name's...Eleanor, right? If I defeat you, you'll be his vessel and follow my orders until the day you die.
I accept. But conversely, should you lose... I will take your life!
Do you plan on fighting alone?
I can handle myself.
Our final battle against Eleanor. Without malakhim around, it's fairly easy to sidestep her attacks. Going for her, however, is the fact that Velvet can't heal herself without items (sort of) and Eleanor's combos are decently powerful enough that, if you whiff a sidestep, she can lay on the damage pretty fast.
However, Velvet does have one crucial advantage: her Break Soul. Use it against Eleanor, and she'll recover about 250 HP, which adds up quickly. Also important is that Discord, that awesome-looking rending slash attack she gets against Human enemies, hits Eleanor's weak point, which opens her up for a power combo that can easily include a Mystic Arte, which'll do tons of damage. Overall, the strategy for this fight is pretty simple: use Discord to get a decent-damage combo against her, get more soul cubes by dodging her attacks (always throw in a couple more to make sure you get out of range of her spear), use Break Soul again, repeat.
Just wanted to throw in this pretty sweet exchange that I eventually got the better of. When she gets very low on health, she'll start throwing in spells, but they're short range and you really have no business getting killed by them. After you bring her to heel...
*points weapon at Eleanor* We're done here.
"Never let your guard down, even when victorious!"
...Why did you stop?
I know you can't kill me as long as I'm his vessel. I'm just abiding by the same terms.
Had you won, you'd have killed me.
True. But a duel is a duel.
The Abbey's shaped you well... However!
"Once your sword is drawn, never waver. Control your feelings to control the tide of battle!" Right?
Lord Artorius' teachings?! *turns away* What a failure I have been... I'll... I'll keep my word. I will follow your orders... *grabs spear by hand* To the day I die!
Don't!
My body... I can't move! How...?! Since when can a malak overpower his own vessel? *collapses*
*pops out*
Laphicet! Are you feeling better now?
Y-Yeah.
Looks like her body is reacting to the bond.
Yeah. I know the drill. She'll get a high fever and stay zonked out for a bit. No biggie.
Carrying her will slow us down. We can't afford that risk when we're venturing into parts unknown.
Let's rest here until she's recovered, then. She's one of us now, isn't she? As long as she's Laphicet's vessel.
That's true.
So while Eleanor gets back into the game, we can touch base with our "buddies" for a bit. All you really need to do is go upstairs, back into the night, and talk to Laphicet, but hey, while we're here, might as well find out what's going on. Rokurou couldn't be happier about this development. You'd think as much.
Well... We definitely can't win with the strength we have now. Hopefully we don't run into the Abbey's leadership all at once again. Anytime soon, at least.
Don't think we've got that kind of time, buddy, but Eleanor seems to be made of some pretty stern stuff. I'm sure she'll be fine. Anyway, like I said, and like what Eizen said, Magilou and Laphicet went outside for some fresh air, so that's where we're going next. New resolve
...I'm sorry.
Why are you apologizing?
Isn't it obvious? I... I disobeyed you, Velvet.
Don't sweat it. I'm still alive thanks to you.
I just... I didn't want to see you die. That's why I...why I did that. To save you.
I'm sorry, too. Acting the way I did. Treating you like an object.
*shakes head* When I came with you, that was my own choice. You gave me the freedom to choose.
And what would you choose now? We only have more troubles ahead.
...You're still going to fight, aren't you?
Yeah. I can't stop now.
Even so... I've made my choice. I'm coming with you.
...I see.
Anyway, it's not like I have any idea where we are now.
That's a good point.
What's your point?
What's YOUR point, is what I wanna know. Not only did you blow the whole revenge thing, you didn't even leave a scratch. Do you have any plan on where to go from here?
I'll admit it. Innominat's power is far beyond what I could have imagined. But I'll never give up. No matter how many times I have to try, I'll devour them all.
*grins* Bet you 100 gald you break first.
A Magilou and her money are soon parted. At least if recent history is anything to go by.
Huh?
You heard me. 100 gald says that you give up. I lost a bet with Rokurou when you had to go and survive. Cost me 10 gald! I'm just looking to come out on top.
Whatever. Fine.
Oho, then it looks like we have a bet! There might be some fun in me sticking around after all. Not that I much care how it all turns out. I'm just looking to kill time.
I bet... Afterwards, we get another one of those weird "Skit triggering immediately after a cutscene" ones, where Laphicet brings up an important point...
Remember this book? We stole it from the villa, but Laphicet and Velvet both realize there may be some connection between the ancient tongue contained in this book and Innominat. It's a little bit of a stretch, if you really think about it, but it's definitely better than nothing and it's not like we have any better leads at this point in the plot now that we realize how hopelessly outmatched we are as things stand.
But, at this impasse, where nobody in the party can actually read it, Magilou points out she has a friend named Grimoirh, who may live in Southgand, and who may be able to help us translate it. Emphasis on "may". Both of them. I'll just say it now, although we don't have access to the world map right now to determine exactly where we are, we're not in Southgand. Which means we need to get to the nearest port to get back onboard the Van Eltia.
This area, Brigid Ravine, is our next dungeon, but since the party is exhausted and, more to the point, Eleanor's still out cold, you're not going past the bridge until the sun rises. So, a much needed sleep is first on the agenda. Although you can see the next Code Red Daemon on the mini-map. So that's something, at least. This chest has Flouric Boots in it, but aside from that, nothing of interest around here.
And yep, normally I'd be able to hit triangle from this screen to access the world map, but not tonight. Once you're done with your business as you see fit, go back to where Eleanor is resting and choose to rest. The night awaits. The Mole
(Of all the things... A damned daemon watching over me?! How could I have let this happen! I'm such a disgrace!) *stands up* (To atone for this grave sin...) *walks over to Velvet*
(Forgive me, Lord Artorius!)
*runs after the orb*
*wakes up*
This light... It's Melchior's communication arte!
I send Melchior to check out the earthpulse, and what a strange sight does he find.
*kneels* My Lord! I have failed you...
Lift your head, Eleanor. The Shepherd has a special mission for you.
A special mission?!
You are to protect the malak Laphicet and bring him to the Loegres Abbey headquarters. This mission is highly classified and not to be shared with even the legates.
Protect the malak and bring him to the capital, then?
With the utmost secrecy. Your becoming his vessel is in fact quite fortunate.
Maybe so, but with me as his vessel, the malak may interfere.
This malak may have his own will, but he can be manipulated. Do whatever it takes to get the job done, Eleanor. You act under my full authorization.
*gasps* Even were it to mean obeying the orders of a daemon?! But, my lord, what malak could possibly be that valuable?
Are you saying you cannot?
*steels self* "Shame is only a fleeting emotion. It is will and reason that ultimately prevail in the face of calamity." My lord, I live to serve the principles of your teachings.
The earthpulse will soon close. From here on, you must use your own discretion to execute your mission.
The next morning... We have a skit to see us off. Eizen and Velvet don't feel the need to confront Eleanor about what they saw, but they definitely seem to have seen pretty much everything. Awkward... In other news, although Eleanor can't speak to the specifics of the Abbey's planned genocide of daemons, she does say it involves Melchior in some capacity. Not too helpful, but he is one of the legates. Eleanor may be trusted but she's not *that* trusted.
But a more light-hearted skit to end today on. Incidentally, both of these guys are still single.
She does raise a good point. She seems like a person of fine moral character. So far, at least.