History Repeats

We last left off in Granvania Castle, the potential site of Abel's birth. Many of the citizens echo what Isis said last night. Since King Papas left all those years ago, his younger brother, Ojiron, has been ruling in his stead. People have mixed emotions about him but also say something about the Chancellor. It's a JRPG, so always be suspect of a chancellor.

Investigating the castle doesn't lead to much, so find the smaller house on the right. Inside, we see a sister talking to a man who has a familiar name. It's Sancho! He says we look familiar and is ecstatic after we've introduced ourselves. He's even happier to see Bianca, and we have gotten married. Sancho takes the couple to see Ojiron, who's overjoyed himself. He knows his role and gladly cedes the throne to the rightful ruler. And then Bianca passes out again.

Once more, she's fine, but the nurse tending to her reveals that Bianca is expecting! Despite only getting married, what feels like, just a few days ago, Bianca is pregnant. Somehow, she managed to hide this from Abel. What's even crazier is she's about to pop! Plans are made to crown Abel, but the Chancellor has his qualms. He brings up an old tradition of heirs venturing into the Cave of Trials to the northeast. After convincing Ojiron that it's the right thing to do, Abel ventures into the cave.

The monsters inside are your standard affair, but the puzzles had me reeling. The first room had me confused to all hell. The answer, however, is simply to follow the square the skeleton is on. Choose the rightmost door, then the one to its left. The third from the right is the last. Go to "leave" the dungeon, and a new stairwell down will be there. To solve the dam puzzle, move the rock near the entrance to the lock. Place the rock behind you, open the door, and wait. The final puzzle has you finding the broken pillar. Beyond the bridge is the Symbol of Royalty. I try to Outside out, but magical energy prevents it from happening, so I guess we have to hoof it. As we cross the bridge, we're attacked by three men who said some people don't want us to be King. It's interesting because there are only five people who know who Abel is.

This fight is easy. Jewels didn't want to play, but its tankyness was welcome regardless. Note to self: Bring its intelligence up a few points. And NPC told me dumb monsters won't listen to you. I think it's four? The sword I got from the Medal King absorbs HP when it hits, so Abel is nearly immortal. Even after they've died, we still can't Outside out. Walk back to the first puzzle and try again. This time, it will work, and I think it's the only way to leave.

Return to the castle and speak to Ojiron. The Chancellor accepts you as King but seems to leave the town. Not only that, but Bianca is in labor. In a scene reminiscent of the game's start, Abel hangs out in the throne room until someone tells him his children are born. Yes, plural. Bianca has twins: one boy and one girl. She asks us to name them. I name our son, Alus, as that's his name in the movie. Abel's daughter gets the name of Tabitha, as that's my favorite option in the wiki. The next day, Abel's coronation ceremony happens, and he officially becomes the King of Granvania. And then another scene reminiscent of the start takes place...

A large celebration spanned the whole night, and all the inhabitants of the castle are out cold. Some are out due to drink and others due to sleep. Abel wakes up in the church, where even the holy men are out, and stumbles around the bodies laying about. He makes his way to his, or at least Bianca's, bed. Where is she? The balcony is empty, so I search the bed. Suddenly, the midwife, with our children, appears and says Bianca was kidnapped. The whole place sobers up, and an emergency meeting takes place. Everyone is off to search for the missing Queen, and the Chancellor is nowhere to be found. Venture over to his chambers and search through his dressers. In one, you find a Flying Shoes. Use them as an item, and you'll be teleported across the sea in front of a church. People inside will give us clues that Bianca's been taken to the North Tower.

The Demon's Tower is a pure maze of traps and pitfalls but weak enemies. It's an attrition dungeon, and you only need to worry about the traps. The left door takes you some random dude waiting for his brother, the middle takes you to a few treasures, and the left takes us upwards. There are a few triggered battles along the route, but they're no big deal. There's a spikey wall puzzle, but the walls won't hurt you, so just run into them until you don't trigger one to spawn. That'll be the way through. The next puzzle has you avoiding fire traps by placating a rock between you and the source. The first one is manageable, but the second one was less so. I ended up just powering my way through. Getting hit twice wipes your party, so heal between blasts. Don't bother with ice floors. Turn both levers and proceed to the three thrones.
The first boss is an Ogre Level 20. He's easy.
The next is a Wyvern Level 35. Another cinch.
The third guy, Jahml, starts off being INVINCIBLE until Bianca steps in. In round one, Abel does 1 damage. Bianca tries to protect her husband, and a light emanates from her, fully healing Abel's party (unless someone is dead) and removing the barrier of Jahml. It becomes another long, albeit easy fight.

When the dust settles, Jahml prophesies that Bianca has the blood of the legendary hero and thinks her kids will be the ones to ruin whatever is he has planned. To stop this from happening, he bursts into smoke, turning Abel and Bianca into stone statues. The man in the basement earlier enters with his brother and says how lifelike these statues are. They then make sexual comments about Bianca. They drag us out of there, and a scene is shown where they sell the royal couple. Only Abel is auctioned because they have other plans with Bianca. I don't know what those plans are, but I kinda already can't wait to kill them.

A man buys Abel for 2000 gold and uses him as a birthday present/good luck statue for his newborn son, Gigo. We then see a rather touching, though forlorn for Abel, scene where Gigo grows up. We see him take his first steps and run around the yard. But all this happiness ends when demons from the sky swoop down and kidnap him, saying something about "the right one" and slavery. A month passes, and the man who bought Abel is inconsolable that his son is gone and takes his anger out on Abel, knocking him to the ground. Years pass as he lies there until a group of people show up one day and ask to borrow the statue. The man readily gives it away, and the young girl swings her staff. When she does, Abel becomes himself again.

The man with the kids is Sancho! And he's brought Alus and Tabitha with him! It has been eight long years since that dark day has happened. They all return to the Granvania, fill Abel in on the evil surrounding the world, and prepare to find Abel's mom and his wife! Which shall be done...

...tomorrow!

Our son can equip the Zenithenan equipment! Has there ever been a game where we're not the chosen one but the father thereof? I can dig this twist. It seems odd, so I hope Alus is good! I will say, though, the whole pregnancy thing is a bit rushed. I know it's the SNES, and there's limited time, but the game has a day/night cycle. Nine months didn't pass in the time we climbed the mountain. And there's no way she's not showing after nine months with twins. Lufia II did something like this, and it ruined the whole game for me. Or maybe it was the making of a badass woman into a housewife, I forget. So what's the deal with SNES and childbirth being...oddly done? Why not do another time skip and let Abel rule for a while?