Update 6 - All this for a fucking crystal
Last time we chased after Ovelia, found her, and fought Gafgarion in order to rescue her. Apparently the Hokuten want Ovelia dead. Seeking shelter, we're now headed to Lionel Castle.
This is a feature that I forgot to mention or use in the last update. There's a new feature available at the bar. We can use the proposition feature to send party members off on side-quests while we work on the main quest.
We'll check back with the group in a few weeks.
Meanwhile...
I wonder if Cardinal Draclau will really help us?
I hear the Cardinal is very loyal to the royal family. And right now, he's neutral in the dispute between Prince Larg and Prince Goltana. I'm sure he wouldn't defeat justice by turning you over to either one of them.
I hope so.......
I'm sure you'll be perfectly safe with Draclau, Ovelia. What could possibly go wrong?
Besides, he is a man of popularity at Glabados Church. They'll accept you if the Cardinal asks them.
I wish I weren't a princess.
But then you wouldn't have the awesome Princess job.
Princess Ovelia......
I was always surrounded by the convent walls...and have only seen the sky through them.
Prosper sneaks up on the two.
Even after hearing about the adoption by the deceased king, I stayed there for a long time. No, I'm not complaining about that. Just........People are dying becayse I'm the princess. It's so painful......
Please don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. Those who are trying to take advantage of you are the ones to blame.
I met a girl at Orbonne. She said she had also been living in the monestary since birth. We used to laugh at how similar our lives have been. Isn't it funny?
She was the daughter of the Beoulves, Miss Alma, wasn't she?
Oh hey, small world.
She is my only friend.....I wonder if Cardinal Draclau would use me?
OK, Ovelia. Did you read the script or something? Stop knowing things that haven't come up yet.
............
God dammit Mustadio, things were just getting interesting.
How was it?
Fine. It doesn't seem like Hokuten has been here yet.
This goes back to that reed-playing not-gay scene from late in chapter 1.
This is how you do it.
Like this?
Maybe I just have a dirty mind, but this could easily be the dialog to a porn.
There! I did it.
I mean, look at the gestures they're making FFS.
Battle 18
Oh, not these clowns again.
Knight: We don't want to fight! Hand Mustadio over and there won't be any trouble. OK?
Why don't you leave quietly! Tell Rudvich we'll fight anyone who tries to use war to sway the people!
Knight: Then I guess we must take him by force! Here goes!!
This is another fight where Steal Heart is good.
OK, what the fuck is this?
Spamming Steal Heart made this fight pretty easy.
Sorry...But I can't tell you now.
Elsewhere...
The same goes for Agrias and the others. Kill them!
What about Prosper?
We've already been given clues that Dycedarg is evil, but this conversation makes it obvious.
I left him along because I thought he'd learn how harsh the real world is. I never thought he was that dense.
Did his strong sense of justice come from his father?
My father spoiled him. If he obeys orders, fine. If he resists, we have no choice...
It's hard to believe his own brother said that. Sickening. But what if the Cardinal gets in our way? With the church supporting him, even the Prince couldn't do anything easily.
I've already prepared for that. There's no need to worry.
Uh oh. Looks like Lionel Castle might not be so safe after all.
So that's that? The more I know, the worse you appear.
If that's how you feel, then you'd best watch your tongue. Don't forget your head can be easily cut off.
Hey, stop that. I'm your loyal servant. Remember I'm not stubborn like your little brother.
Instead he's greedy.
Then, don't make any more mistakes.
Speaking of that, who did you order to kidnap Ovelia? When I was chasing her in Dorter, someone attacked me. What was that about?
Looks like Dycedarg wasn't responsible for the ambush in Dorter, or at least it wasn't part of the plan.
Someone learned of our plan and is trying to stop us...Anyhow, as long as Ovelia is with Agrias, there'll be many chances to get her...
I hope so.
Let's check back with Prosper and co.
I'm Agrias Oaks of the Lesalia St. Konoe Knights. I came from Orbonne to save the sone of God, St. Ajora. Open the gate!
Uh. I'm not sure what Agrias has been smoking, but we came here to seek asylum from the political machinations of Golgana and Larg.
Knight: Saving St. Ajora is the will of the high priest. The gate will open for he who would save the high priest. Open the gate!
I'm sure the gate and that lever will never be referenced again.
Moreover, I'll send a man to the High Priest in Murond.
I assume the high priest is like the pope of this religion.
We'll do something to expose Larg's scheme, and keep the Princess from danger.
Will High Priest Funeral help us?
Oh, shit, the high priest's name is Funeral? If that isn't foreshadowing I don't know what is.
Don't worry, Agrias. I'm with you. You must be strong to make the Princess feel at ease. Make yourselves comfortable in this old castle until word comes from the holy land.
Thank you for your kindness.
St. Ajora is with us. There's no need to worry. Young mechanic. I heard your wish too. I'll send troops to Goug, to destroy Bart Company.
Isn't it a bit much to send troops to a foreign city to wipe out a corporation based solely on the word of a single man?
I...can't...
Especially before he explains why they're trying to kill him.
That's all right...Is this it?
Have you ever heard of the 'Zodiac Brave Story'?
Sure, it's the subtitle of this game. Maybe Draclau read the script?
You mean that fairy tale, we used to hear in church?
Here now! Are you saying the church lied?
N-no, I didn't mean that...
A religious institution? Lie?
Long ago, when the land was much different, 12 brave warriors fought against the Evil Lucavi who ruled the land. After a desperate battle, they sent Lucavi to Hades, and the land was peaceful. They each had crystals with zodiac signs on them, they were called "Zodiac Braves". Ever since then, whenever humans are attacked, the Braves come to save us.
You're quite learned, Princess. Just as I expected.
Mr. Simon taught me at the Orbonne monastery. He also said St. Ajora and the Braves saved Ivalice from chaos.
We call the crystals, 'Holy Stones'.
Ah, that makes sense. The dudes chasing Mustadio when we found him asked him to hand over a 'holy stone'.
This very stone, is the legendary secret stone, the "Zodiac Stone".
I didn't think it really existed.
They say its 'Divine Power' surpasses Lucavi's. I feel a strange power, but it looks just like an ordinary crystal to me.
What's wrong, Mustadio? You look pale.
Many broken machine parts are buried there. But if the stone gets near the machines, they start to howl.
Bart Company's after the stone, right?
I don't know what power the stone has...But Rudvich wants to use its power to make weapons. My father told me never to give the stones to him. So they abducted him.
Don't worry, Mustadio. The church will see to his safety. While our men fight, we'll get the stone back.
Y, yes, sir.
We made it this far thanks to you, Prosper.
I wish I could've been more help. Please be careful.
That's very thoughtful. Don't worry. We'll be fine.
It'll be great! We'll go off to Goug and leave you here alone and defenseless. But we'll be fine.
Well, looks like we're headed for Goug.
Before that, though, let's check on the people we sent on a proposition earlier.
I worked on the recovery of the trade vessel, Hindenburg.
This job's a gift from God.
The region is prone to high winds. But we tried our best...As a result, we were able to recover it! Various cargo was found in the recovered vessel, but...There was one big treasure chest that stood out. Ripley opened it with courage, inside was...
Uh...
There were big bags of gil in there! This job was a big success!!
Or that.
This is the way!
Looks like things went well. Time to send the crew out on another mission.
That was a lot of dialog. Let's get back to the combat.
Battle 19
This is the first storyline battle in a while where we can use 5 party members. A positive side effect of Agrias leaving, I guess.
Lousy footing. On top of that it's raining. Be careful!
Mustadio mentions that the footing on this terrain is lousy, and he's mostly right - if a unit ends their turn in a swamp water square, that unit is poisoned. All our enemies in this fight are immune to that, though.
Like in other Final Fantasy games, cure and raise spells have the opposite effect on undead. And lucky for us, 5 out of the 8 opponents in this fight are undead.
I love it when the enemies bunch up and make things easier for me.
This may look easy, but so far this battle has been pretty difficult. The skeletons can cast demi, and that heals undead. Plus the marlboros have shitloads of health.
Uh...
Well, I didn't think that would work.
This fight was fucking annoying. Ghosts and skeletons have a chance to come back to life after they die, meaning we basically had to fight them multiple times. Charming the marlboros helped out quite a bit, though.
Yeah, I'm OK.
For the record, Mustadio went down near the beginning of combat and never got back up.
Past this swamp's the ocean. We're almost to Goug.
It doesn't even look like there was a fight...Something's strange...I'll check it out. See you later.
Where?
The slums over there...they shouldn't attract attention.
The next fight doesn't trigger until you try to leave Goug. So we might as well do that.
Battle 20
Think Mustadio was caught?
Who are you asking, Prosper?
Who are you!?
Bring him.
That's far enough. Don't move any closer!
So, you're Rudvich!! Let Mustadio go!!
Give me the "Holy Stone". Then you can have him back.
Fuck Mustadio. Let's just leave him and go back to Lionel.
C'mon! Where'd you hide it? Talk!
...
Won't talk, huh? Even after seeing this?
Ready to confess now?
Inside the chimney...at Prosper's feet...
Well this was a huge goddamn waste of time. I mean, Mustadio knew Rudvich had his father, so what was his plan? Go to Goug just to fold and give Rudvich the stone?
Well then, you pick it up! If you want to save his life!
Let them go!!
First give me the stone!
Let them go, first!!
Throw the stone! Then, we'll let them go!
Give me the whip.
Throw me the idol. No time to argue! Throw me idol, I'll throw you the whip!
Oh god dammit Prosper, you deserve this.
Finally we've got it! The Cardinal'll be very pleased! Good job. I'm done now. You take care of the rest. Get rid of them!
The guy who Prosper decided to trust turned out to be untrustworthy? What a shocking turn of events.
This is actually a stupidly easy fight, probably the easiest of chapter 2. There are only 6 opponents and we get 5 allies.
The only annoying part is Fairy, which is basically a summon that revives multiple allies.
Still, we mop up without too much difficulty.
Rudvich'll try to revive the machines beneath Goug with its power. He may even try to use the divine power in the stones. Besides, the Cardinal is working with Bard Company. Not much we can do now...
Heh, heh...Good for them.
What do you mean?
Oh great, Mustadio isn't a complete moron after all.
You mean, they got a fake?
That's right. They must be going crazy now.
Princess Ovelia and Agrias are in danger....!
Reality just caught up with Prosper.
What do you mean?
The Cardinal joined Bart to get the stone. He may take the Princess hostage.
Ridiculous! Making an enemy of the royal family!
It's not that ridiculous. Everyone else seems to want Ovelia dead.
Why do you think the Cardinal wanted the stone? People are sick of long wars and political infighting. Draclau wants to use the 'Zodiac Brave Story'. Creating 'Zodiac Braves' by collecting holy stones, he can control the world.
You're close, Prosper. But that's not quite accurate...
He is right. We can't give the stone to the Cardinal.
Let's save the Princess and Agrias!
Right. But the way to Lionel is probably sealed. We'll use a ship to sneak in the back of the castle.
Mustadio is no longer considered a guest character, he's how a permanent member.
I know this wasn't technically a kidnapping but I'm still counting it.
Kidnapping count: 4
Let's head back to Lionel.
Delita! Why are you here!?
Don't take our information network too lightly.
'Our'?
Go back to Igros, for your own sake. It's healtheir to keep your nose out of certain things. Like Princesses and stones.
It's obvious Delita has some powerful friends, but he certainly isn't telling us who.
Delita, what do you mean?
Rescuing the Princess only solves one problem. But I can save her from all of them.
What do you mean? I don't understand.
The best ways don't always lead to the best results. You can't save her no matter what. Remember that.
What are you trying to do?
Larg, Goltanan, your brothers, everyone...Haven't noticed they're all swept up in the same flow. I'm just going against it. That's all.......
I'll see you again, if we live that long.
That's all for now. Next time we'll go rescue Agrias and the Princess, and I'll fight the hardest battles in the game so far.