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Part XV: The Parting of a Friend
We begin today on an unassuming note. This skit is for Rose making a Butter Cookie, and the reason I'm back down from the top of Guinevere and in this particular area, where we fought Zaveid, is because this is a nice open area that enemies will never roam around in, so it's perfect for using something to position my two control sticks in such a way that Sorey will constantly run around in a circle until she made it. Took so long, I actually fell asleep while it was happening, and kept the game running while I was napping, hoping I would awake to this skit. It's important we get this now for...reasons that will soon become apparent. Apparently the influence of neither her fellow Sparrowfeathers / Scattered Bones or Dezel has been much help to Rose's culinary abilities.
But our business proper begins in Lastonbell, which is also just one dungeon away from the Glaivend Basin.
I honestly don't know if this skit is kind of an Easter egg or something, because its official name in-game is ???, and I'm not entirely sure why, since you can sum up what this skit is about. Could be it just has a very short activation window...I do not know the exact reason. Regardless, it's here now. Anyway, after watching it, time to return to Glaivend Basin. Although you could come back here at any point after finishing Tintagel, as I mentioned, you couldn't go any further than the Rolance Army's camp on their side of the battlefield, or the Hyland camp if you're coming from the Falkewin Hillside. Glaivend Basin is a large location, but it's still going to be some time until we can properly explore it.
Looks like...someone had the same idea? Imperial intrigue
Sorry, but something else has come up, actually. We hope to do business with you again, though.
Felice, Talfryn.
Boss! What perfect timing!
Work?
Yeah. We got--
Hey!
We got something we should discuss elsewhere!
C'mon, over here.
All right.
By "over here", she means "Back in Volgran Forest". But considering what she's about to say...yeah, it would be a good idea not to discuss this within anyone from Rolance's earshot.
What?!
Is this secretary the steward to the emperor?
That's right. Plus, we got some juicy info, too. It seems that the queen of Rolance is making moves to adopt the child of her late brother.
Interesting. The current emperor is the son of the previous one... But the queen wasn't the mother.
Right. And she once conspired with her own son in an attempt to shift the line of succession to him. You remember how that all worked out. You can bet the secretary hasn't forgotten, either.
Sounds fine. I'll handle it.
You're taking the job? You realize this client is our sworn enemy!
Remember the creed of the Scattered Bones. If the job itself is a necessary one, it doesn't matter who the client is. That's what we stand for, isn't it?
I suppose it is. Gosh, Boss, I don't know what we'd do without you.
And that's why I'm the boss!
Ahaha! Anyway, how should we approach the client?
We'll sneak into Pendrago castle.
Seriously?!
The client's probably too skittish to come meet with us personally, and a proxy won't do at all. I need to judge the client for myself.
Got it. If we're headed for the castle, I better call up everyone.
Don't worry. I'm going with her. There are some things the Shepherd can't ignore.
Huh?
You sure? Is this okay, Boss?
Rose, it's looking like the imperial family has somehow gotten mixed up with hellions.
We should go by ourselves.
Talfryn, Felice. We'll go by ourselves. It'll be easier to get around that way.
All right. Take care out there, Boss.
Sorey! You watch over our boss now, ya hear?
Will do.
*the two take off*
I feel kinda guilty, getting you all wrapped up in the affairs of the Scattered Bones.
It's really okay. I should be there for you. All the more so if hellions might be involved.
Finally, it's time! Let's get going to Pendrago!
Dezel... You're really going through with this?
Better late than never.
What's this about?
You don't need to know.
Hey, cut it out! Get the hell off me!
What an adorable couple.
*shakes Rose off* Hey, can it, pixie. Let's get moving!
Dezel. Are there really hellions in the Rolance imperial family?
You're slow to catch on. Go see for yourself. *disappears into Sorey*
*turns to Lailah* Hey...
Yes, Sorey. I know.
It's cool, guys. I love being kept in the dark.
Sorry.
I promise, just a little bit longer, and we'll be able to explain.
All right, if you say so.
Uh, thanks, that makes me feel not nervous at all.
Uh, yeah... Dezel getting all antsy to get out and do something...it's probably connected to his vengeance and all. Remember, when we were leaving Pendrago, he was kinda muttering to himself that he still has business there, but the business of gaining the spiritual powers came first. Something tells me...there's more to this than we appreciate right now. Regardless, Pendrago is indeed our next stop. Consequently, every save point warp within Pendrago itself has been disabled, so we'll need to go on-foot.
If you're wanting to get the Bad Ending, you need to do it now. Soon as set foot in Pendrago, you'll be locked into a long story sequence and it'll be permanently off-limits to you on this playthrough.
Back in Lastonbell, since we might as well save money by not warping to Pearlots Pasture, there's a skit about drama within the Rolance imperial family that has, apparently, led to this current job. Mikleo's quick charting of the issue is thus: the previous emperor was Dorann, who had three sons: Leon, Konan, and Lyte. The former two were the children of the Queen of Rolance (I guess it's kind of like the Queen Mother status in real life, since Rolance is an empire. She is apparently the mother of Lyte). Mikleo kind of makes this point confusing, since he refers to this woman as the "late empress", but he could just confusingly mean that she is no longer the empress and has a more ceremonial role now with her husband dead. The former two are deceased, and after Lyte took the throne, the Queen Mother (let's just call her that, though they continue to refer to her as the "empress". Might be force of habit) adopted a nephew to involve someone else in a succession issue, and now this "secretary" on the emperor's side wants to do something about that, apparently.
Helps to know what we're up against, but sounds like things are gonna get complicated soon.
I have Edna in her Yayoi Takatsuki outfit right now. Her in-battle song is Kiramekirari, and I'm...not sure if this is her Yayoi win quote? All of the girls, the camera is very focused on them as they deliver their idol win quote, but not here. It also sounds way too enthusiastic for Edna, which makes it sound like this one is special...I'm not sure. Might need to go back to some early locations and bully early enemies as Edna and this costume just to be sure, at some point.
Before actually going into Pendrago, though, we're instead gonna make a short detour to Aifread's Hunting Ground for some...outstanding business. I don't think there's...anything...wrong with that?
And there's certainly nothing wholesome going on here, that's for sure.
Bad memories from an...alternate timeline? I think?
Really, the reason we're here is...
To challenge the Spider Queen, with the novelty of doing it while an overwhelming malevolent domain is present. Aside from worse scenery, now that we've finished all four trials, there's no change in standard gameplay.
One of its unique abilities is jumping high up in the air and, I assume, crashing down at some point, but despite how high it goes up, you can shoot it down to make it harmless. I think its hitbox while doing this is larger than its actual model, since I couldn't even see it when one of Dezel's spells returned it to earth.
It also has this move, appropriately, as a spider. I'm glad Dezel dodged this one, too, because this is unblockable and it does a lot of damage, as well as potentially inflicting Slow.
This is what I mean by a large hitbox when it's up in the air.
Armatized Mystic Artes when an enemy is Stunned are just savage. That's another one of these hellions in the bag. But now, we're outta here. Nothing good's gonna happen if we stick around. I can just tell.
Well, the road to Pendrago is clear, at least. But, look behind that one tree. Can you see something? The Whirlwind
Somehow I'm guessing this ain't a coincidence.
Just a word of friendly advice. Leave your opponent this time to me.
Don't mess with me, Zaveid!
I'm not messing with you. Especially not now. You can listen to me or not, your choice. But I'm handling this either way.
Fair enough, Dezel. But just so you know, there's two people left that I've still got a score to settle with. And I didn't save these last two shots of mine just to throw them away!
Mickey-boy. When a man says he means business, he means business! Don't ever forget that! *shoots self in the head*
It's on!
This is ridiculous!
Too late now! Here goes!
Yep. As you might expect, Zaveid here is virtually identical to the fight we had like, yesterday, at the base of Guinevere. He seems to have higher stats and is more difficult as a result, but all the same weaknesses / strengths applies. The way this particular take on the fight turned out, this is more like one of my poorer performances against him, but it wasn't like, absolutely terrible. Definitely not bad enough to throw the fight and just want to try again.
*pants* Damn... You're a lot better at this than you used to be. *takes Siegfried out, approaches Sorey*
Its power can stop stop malevolence from binding with people.
Got it.
I'll give you my very last shot. You can pay me back later.
Why do this?
Heh. Hell if I know. *scoffs* Go on ahead. Zaveid needs a nap.
Wow. Getting Aifread's favorite little far continent treasure thing at last, huh? Siegfried isn't a spiffy new power-up or anything and is only to be used at plot-critical moments. You can count on that, but after 1000 years of holding onto this thing, Zaveid has finally passed it down.
Nearby save point has our next skit. Quite a potent tool, indeed... Despite referring to this thing's ammunition as "bullets", and it obviously being in the shape of one, nobody actually calls this a gun. There is some technology that the setting is familiar with but just never comes up "naturally" in the plot, like those NPCs in Berseria who were talking about film technology, so it's likely just one of those "Huh, we never actually called it that" localization / script things. The word "Gun" has been in use for many many centuries in English, so it would line up with the general atmosphere Zestiria / Berseria's setting lives in, so probably doesn't mean much, either way.
And yep, he's still napping here. Let a man rest, eh?
This place doesn't seem to have changed a bit since we dealt with Forton, but you can feel a sort of tension in the air. Still, doesn't seem to want to come out right now, so you can take in the sights at your pleasure, but otherwise, yes, first order of business is waiting until the pall of night.
Seems like a reasonable request. There's nothing much to see around town, but for some reason, plot-related stuff begins to happen at the entrance to the city. Or at least, the entrance to the city we can actually get to in this game. An old friend
Well! If it ain't the boss! Welcome, welcome!
Lunarre! But you look like...a hellion.
*cackles* Oh dear, look at that face! You're scarin' me, boss!
*teleports out* We don't have time to toy with the likes of you! C'mon! I'll settle this right here and now!
Man, Dezel is really getting riled up lately.
Ha ha ha! What exquisite anger. It makes me so...HUNGRY!
Here he comes!
So although he's an early-game boss that has reappeared again (guess he broke out from wherever the Scattered Bones dragged him off to), he hasn't learned that much since he threw down with Sorey and Mikleo a couple times. No elemental vulnerabilities and no resistances, and you can't open up Power Combos because he doesn't have a "type", but he's really very simple. Some seraphic artes and a decent amount of Hidden Artes, but aside from that, he's really quite harmless.
He apparently doesn't even count as a boss fight, given that Grade payout. Hint, that payout wasn't because I fought that battle incredibly poorly.
It's the end of the line, Lunarre.
Now!
Got it!
What is this feeling?
??? Might you refrain from acting out of turn?
That voice!
Shut up! Don't interefere with me!
??? Foolish, reckless fox. Your role was to lead them on, if you recall. If you act recklessly and provoke his anger, what will we do then?
Haaaa...*runs off*
Wait!
Whoa! What the--?!
This can be a difficult fight if they don't all bunch up, but hey, they did for me. I don't see why not.
They had it coming. Don't got time to play here.
In the conversation after the fight, it's revealed that this alleged job for the emperor's secretary was, in fact, a means to lure us to Pendrago, where this new girl seems to have made her home. I sense the courtyard of the shrinechurch as a fitting place for any dramatic confrontations.
I should think few things would wound Dezel so much as this individual this voice belongs to. Sounds like it's time. The winds of change
Lunarre!
What is going on?
Rather productive... For an opening act. What splendid anger you've shown me, girl. If it should blossom into hatred... Oh, but how happy he will be.
Who...is she?
I've waited so long.
Indeed, the time is ripe. For both of us.
Wait, Dezel! She's not a hellion!
What are you talking about, Dezel?
*giggles* Do you mean to say that the girl still doesn't know?
...
Splendid! Oh, how splendid! The perfect scene has been set!
*begins to act*
*grabs his arm* Dezel! No!
Let me go! This moment is what I've been living for!
Everyone, stop! This whole thing is wrong! Sorey! Dezel! What's going on?!
Dear, dear girl... Let me fill you in. In a desperate effort to preserve and continue the Windriders, who were his last concrete connection to his dead comrade... This seraph abused your remarkable resonance to periodically commandeer your body, steering you all into the darkness, recreating the Windriders as an assassins' guild.
*angry grunt*
Then, in his quest to kill a hellion, he set his sights on the power of the armatus, using you over and over as a vessel to enact his vengeance. It was all right, he thought. It was all to avenge his friend. I do wonder if you agree.
...
That's right... And to take my revenge against you, I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
That's enough creepy little girl for now.
Yeah. There's something wrong about all of this.
Let's get out of here!
I think not.
Ew. Not one of the more pleasant foes we've faced so far.
She became a hellion?! Why?!
If words alone won't make you remember... Well, like I said, I'm flexible.
So you show your true colors at last!
Dang it!
So interesting thing about this boss, Fuseface. What an odd name... Anyway, here's how you beat this guy without the slightest bit of difficulty. Just stand anywhere not in front of its eye. That's it. Everything it does fires in that direction, and it can't move even a bit. Just stand off to the side and do whatever to it.
Dezel and this new girl will have a number of shouting matches (well, it's Dezel who's the one who's shouting) as Fuseface gets lower on HP, but that shouldn't concern what you need to do. After the fight...
Lailah! Get ready to purify her!
*nods*
Not this time! I'm gonna kill her!
Dezel?!
What?!
You mustn't!
There's no other way. *takes out one of her papers* No! He's broken the pact?!
Dezel! *takes out Siegfried*
Tsk tsk. I can't let you do that.
What? But why?
Sorey, this isn't the time!
All right!
So this girl is indeed responsible for Lunarre's clones. This is one of the very few enemies in the game who, even once you encounter it, isn't registered in the bestiary. At least, the clones won't. This girl is apparently quite the card, since no matter how many of them you defeat, they'll just keep coming. Technically speaking, therefore, it would be better just to armatize with Mikleo and just run around, but that's boring .The clones don't have a lot of health, anyway. After a few rounds of dialogue, the event continues.
Finally! Finally I can kill you! Die!
*gasp*
We're so lucky.
Yeah. I'm truly grateful.
But...engagement to you, Prince Konan?! It's like a dream!
I'm sorry to see our journey end... But all's well that ends well.
(to himself) No. I don't want this to end.
Don't let up out there. Go!
Prince Konan! The captain is missing!
Get away from her right now!
Hmph. Who are you to order me around?
He's... He's already a hellion.
Huh? Who are you talking to?
*jumps off the wall*
Guards! The traitor scum are here!
*gets grabbed* A trap, huh... You sick lunatic!
How can this be?!
It appears that Brad, the leader of the Windriders, has murdered the prince. He is already in custody of the Pendrago city guard. All other Windriders are likewise under arrest.
Understand? It's all because Prince Konan became a hellion, and at the urging of his hellion greed, he sought to eliminate all hindrances. And by now... I imagine that you've already guessed what him a hellion, have you not? *looks toward Dezel* Him.
*collapses*
I might be willing to pardon you, at least... If you'll agree to be mine.
What?!
*laughs* Oh, come now. You'd be the kept woman of the heir to the throne! A greater honor does not exist!
*begins running*
Why you!
C'mon...
Behold... This is the fruit of your blessing! Do you have any idea what people call those with this kind of power?
It was...all my fault?
*cackles*
All...my...fault?
Rose! Dezel!
Heh-heh-heh. And now the real fun starts, Shepherd. Pay close attention.
*charges forward*
Rose...
Dezel! Don't move. Got it?
*armatizes with Lailah, begins to attack* Why you!
*stops him* You mustn't! Rose is horribly wounded! Even if you purify the malevolence, she doesn't have the strength to handle the burden!
Despite being in battle, this is the one time in the entire game you cannot attack. Pressing any attack button will just result in nothing happening. You can either try to have fun, dodging Fuseface's attacks while standing in front of it, or just stand off to the side and pass this part with 0 effort. After a few moments...
Hold it, Sorey! Get back for a moment
What?!
*gets back*
Sorey... Listen.
Dezel, don't push yourself.
Just listen to me... We have to...sever the bond between Rose and the hellion.
Even for the Shepherd, that woud nothing short of a miracle.
It's impossible.
Sorey... Hand me that thing you got from Zaveid... It can fire strength itself, right? *gets up* Then I shall be that strength. I shall be your attack.
What do you mean?
Even as he is absorbed into the hellion, he'll become an attack with a will of its own. He'll find the bond between Rose and the hellion, and sever it without hurting her body.
But that's just suicide!
If I can summon up the last reserves of my strength and merge with the power stored in this one remaining bullet... I can stay myself long enough to break the bond, while leaving Rose untouched.
Sorey... Neither Rose nor I can afford to waste any more time. You understand, don't you?
Dezel?
Rose... I'm so sorry... It was me... I caused you, the Windriders, everyone to suffer... It's all my fault.
That's what was bugging you? I suppose, from the outside, it looked like we were suffering. But as far as I'm concerned, these have been the happiest years of my life. Five years ago, when everything went pear-shaped, we could've been tossed to the winds. But instead, we got to travel again together as the Scattered Bones and the Sparrowfeathers.
Hey, c'mon, there's gotta be more you wanna say!
I'm useless. In the end, I wasn't good for a damn thing... But I can say I did one thing right. Just one. And...that one right thing made everything else worthwhile.
*begins ascending* Tell Sorey and the others that it wasn't all bad. Romping around those ruins with all those nutballs.
I will! And if they get bummed out about this...
Rose!
Oh, thank goodness...
So, how does it feel? What do you think, Shepherd? To be as infatuated with someone as he once was... Is it not right that seraphim whose blessings only cause misfortune should not be allowed to exist? Was not his very existence evil to the core, and deserving of extermination?
Lies!
You've got quite a bark, girl. Those are some plucky words from one who once sought to kill the Shepherd for the same reasons.
...
Who are you, anyway?!
I am Symonne. Like him, a wretched, pitiable seraph, burdened with countless sins.
*runs up*
... And now... Exeunt.
Wait!
I suggest you make time to grieve. *exeunts*
A night in Pendrago
I told everyone to meet here tomorrow night. Sometimes it's best to be alone for a while.
Thanks, Mikleo.
Sorey, don't worry about it too much.
...
I need a bit of a walk myself.
A long night awaits... Although you can go straight to the inn to rest, or get the same prompt if you attempt to leave via the entrance of the city itself, we'll of course not do either of those things until everyone has a chance to be heard. Mikleo's over in the distance there, Edna's off an an annex of this entrance area, Lailah is up on the battlements on the same branch Edna is, Zaveid is near the stairs leading up to the shrinechurch, and Rose in the courtyard of the shrinechurch itself. We'll be handling all those in order, in the aforelinked video.
Oh yeah, and that guy Dezel was with. His name was Lafarga, and we have heard that name before. Remember in that skit batch after we met with Mayvin here in Pendrago, there was a skit between Rose and Dezel where she asked him if he had any actual friends? He named Lafarga as a "wind spirit" he knew in his younger days. My original thought was that Dezel was lying there, not like it would be the first time, but Rose's "Who are you talking to?" is actually in refrence to what Konan had just said, not what Lafarga said, which the actual order of dialogue doesn't exactly make clear. As for the human guards who were pointing spears at Dezel / Lafarga, you can see a malevolent aura around them, so it stands to reason they had become hellions as well by that point and knew the duo were there. Rose seems to react for a split second to the malevolence that came pouring out of Konan, but I dunno, maybe a lesser degree of resonance is needed to sense malevolence but not the seraphim.
Seriously, it's pretty wild how plausibly you can theorycraft about Lafarga actually being human and still have everything line up. All you need is to accept that premises that 1) Dezel is not a 100% reliable source of information, which is simple enough, and 2) that Lafarga wasn't, either, with that troubled look he gave Dezel after Symonne revealed what kind of seraph Dezel was, implying that he kind of knew already.
Dezel's death, his shameful acts, and the things Symonne said... Perhaps they're all things the Shepherd has to accept in order to quell the Lord of Calamity.
I'm just not sure how to feel about it all.
I was thinking you should quit.
What?!
Just hear me out. I used to think that, when the Shepherd was getting crushed and overwhelmed by his duty or by his destiny...that it was something that you could just up and quit. Until yesterday, that is. Things are different now
For Dezel's sake, if nothing else, I want to find the answers.
That's right. It isn't even some feeling of obligation, so much as... I just want to know. In the hope that we won't make the same mistakes again. So that's why I no longer think you should quit.
We definitely have to find some answers.
Right. And it isn't just the Shepherd's duty either. This journey is something we...all of us...need to own!
That's true. Thank y--
There's no need for thanks. I just said how I truly feel. (unvoiced) Let's keep going. Our journey to find our answers is not over yet.
Right. And she also said that the Shepherd must know the truth of the seraphim who carry such sorrowful burdens.
Of those whose mere existence means human suffering. Sometimes death can be a release. If, just by living, one causes terrible things to happen, then death would be--
Edna! Stop right there!
I'm not talking about Dezel, you idiot.
You shouldn't be saying that about your brother, either!
So what if I did? They're just words. It's probably you haven't heard before, anyway.
I still don't like it. I don't want to hear it right now.
Oh. Then there's nothing to discuss.
*grunts, begins walking away*
Sorey! All I was really trying to say is that I think Dezel was saved, in a way. I chose my words poorly, and it was wrong of me. I apologize.
Thank you, Edna.
(unvoiced) A single night is far too short to sort out all that I feel.
Next...
Oh, this?
Making paper crafts like this really takes the edge off for me. I forget about all my cares, and it's like I just enter my own little world.
I see...
Sorey, you've got to stop carrying the burden all by yourself.
I think this one's gonna be tough even if I share the burden. I find myself wondering. Was there anything else I could've done? Should we have talked it over first? I just start thinking about things.
*hands the paper crane to Sorey* Moments of reflection are good for the spirit, Sorey. But regrets solve nothing.
What's this?
Humans have a custom. Sometimes they send a paper boat down a river, imbued with a remembrance of their lost one so that it may reach them. Since Dezel was a wind seraph, I thought maybe a bird that soars through the air would be more fitting. Now, Sorey, let's send it off.
I'm sure it reached him. Lailah.
Yes?
Thank you. But you mustn't try to carry the burden all by yourself either.
I'll be quite fine! There's no need to worry. I'm going to stay up here for a while. The wind feels comforting.
All right, then. I'll leave you to it.
Okay. (to herself) I too have a ways to go. (unvoiced) Please, let me stay here for just a little while longer.
Before we go onto Zaveid, the festival Lailah is referring to is the Japanese custom of the Tōrō nagashi, where small paper lanterns are lit and put into a river, with the belief that they will travel the river to the spirit world and reach the deceased.
He was smiling.
So he was, was he... I guess he got his wish after all.
Zaveid, you knew Dezel, didn't you?
Sort of. There was a time my comrades and I saved him, when he was just a little rascal.
Oh... Is that why your fighting styles are so similar?
*stops twirling the hat* Yep. He learned by copying me. And yet, I don't think he even remembered who I was. That fellow tossed everything away. Even his memories.
Hey...are you trying to comfort me, Zaveid?
You bet I am! You're gonna be my all-important vessel pretty soon. Can't have you getting all malevolent on me.
Huh?
And on that note, I think I'll go talk to Lailah about that Sub Lord pact!
You gotta be kidding me!
Well, I can't exterminate the hellions all by myself anymore, can I? And besides, if I tag along with you, I can collect your debt to me whenever I like!
You can't just decide something like that!
Oops, I did. Anyway, see ya tomorrow, Sheps! *walks off*
That lousy...
I don't know if he actually goes over to where Lailah is (I doubt it, though), but yep, the decision has already been made, and Zaveid will be finishing this journey with us as a wind seraph. Despite Sorey's protests, something tells me we will need all four if we have any hope of a successful termination of this quest. Now time for the one more affected by this than anyone else...
Huh?
Back there... I spoke with Dezel during his last moments. And when I saw him then, I remembered something that I'd forgotten long ago. I had met him before, when I was really little. I realized he'd probably been protecting me ever since, my whole life.
Rose... Dezel didn't want you to know that. He said he wanted you to live believing you'd come this far by your strength alone.
Yeah, I'm sure that's what he wanted. But I actually wish he'd just straight-p told me. Without knowing, I was a jerk. Self-absorbed and totally ungrateful to him.
Sorry...
From now on you gotta tell me these things, all right?
Right. This is actually a load off my mind. I was worried you'd be, y'know, devastated.
I dunno, Sorey. He did tell you all that in confidence, so I'm not as sure it would have been proper to reveal it.
Yeah, I dunno, a whole lot of things happened all at once. And somehow it doesn't feel like I'll never see him again. And the garbage that crazy Symonne chick was spouting... I think it says more about her problems than anything else.
Rose... You're my hero.
Oh, I just don't like to think too much. *giggles* Anyway, Sorey. You should get some good rest.
*nods* I will.
... (unvoiced) Sorey. I think it's time you got some sleep.
Yes...good idea.
The continuing road
Morning, Sorey. Did you sleep well?
Yeah.
You don't look like it.
Yo, Sorey.
Oh... Zaveid. You're still here.
Ouch! Lailah, is he always this cold?
Well, it looks like everyone's here. Care to explain why you wish to enter the Sub Lord pact?
No problemo. My goal is directly connected to the Shepherd's journey.
Your goal? Oh yeah, you said there were people you had to settle the score with.
...
Right. One of them being little miss Edna's older brother. And the other?
Maotelus of the Five Lords?
The entire Glenwood continent is supposed to be under his protection, right? Except our baby boy toddled off somewhere... And right at that exact time, the Lord of Calamity shows up. Isn't that funny?
*looks at Sorey*
It can't be...
I didn't think it could be, either. At first.
But if Maotelus really did become a hellion and bind with Heldalf...
We'll need to confirm that's what happened.
And the only way to do that is to approach him directly.
Maybe, but we need to be able to stand against Heldalf's domain, or we're sunk.
And that's where I come in. If you'll let me fill the Dezel-shaped hole in your group, together we should be strong enough. How about it? It's in all our best interests, right?
What do you believe we should do?
...
Sorey?
Oh. Uh, what were we talking about again?
Hey... Can I have the floor?
Huh?
That's what he said. Oh, and he asked me to kick your ass a little too while I was at it. And then I... I told him I'd do my best out there... And so that's why... That's why I'm damn well gonna do my best out there...
Why... Why am I crying like this?
Rose...
*turns around* He was really, really glad he got to travel with all of you...
*puts hand on her shoulder*
And I... I didn't even notice... But in the end...he was smiling. If only I'd talked with him more... Oh, forget it! I'm done!
Thank you for delivering his message to us. He was a kind watchdog up until the very end.
I'll say.
Guess you'll be okay from now on, huh, Rose? *she turns around*
I'm okay! Are YOU okay?
Hold your horses! Don't I get a pact thingie?!
Oh...
Good move killing the mood there, Sorey. We almost had a great note to end on.
And the journey goes on.