The scene opens on a group of churchgoers, Prier and Colette included, practicing for some religious thing. They're La Pucelle, but they're still members of their church, so they need to fulfill those duties when called upon. Colette, as he often does, soliloquies his way through he and his sister's history. Seven years ago, their parents died in a carriage accident returning home from work. The two of them lived at the orphanage for three years before joining the church, which explains their close connection with the people there. A scene of their parents' funeral is shown where Colette, being five at the time, doesn't fully understand what happened. All he wants is his mommy and daddy. Prier tries to console him and assures him that they'll be fine, even if they'll be on their own for a while., but you can tell she's fighting back her tears. She promises to protect her brother and does the same with her parents to always be strong. Before we return to the present, she asks them, "let me be weak today." It's heartwrenching, man. Colette ends by saying that Prier never talks about their parents, and he wants to meet them one day. He asks the Goddess, Poitreene, for assistance in that.
Back in the chapel, Prier rejoices that she gets to sing. Colette tells her that he had a dream about their parents, but Prier gets annoyed, as she always does, and he remarks that she always treats him like a child.
Prier, Colette, and Alouette are in their boss, Father Salade's, office. Well, Alouette is, but Prier barges in and gets yelled at for not knocking. Prier is open with her rudeness when, suddenly, a giant bear enters the room. It sneaks up behind our heroine to attack her, but just as he goes in, Prier gives it her full frontal assault kick! It does nothing! The bear takes off its head to reveal the face (with a secondary hat) of Father Salade! Padre is a world renowned demon slayer, and all the years of hard work have built up a defense that not even Prier's kick can get passed. Saladman reveals he has to entertain the orphanage later. Some things are said that make me think Salade is married to the orphanage matron.
Father Salade sits down and informs the group of their next task. There has been a rash of grizzly murders, which is a terrible pun. The police have investigated, and it seems the culprit maybe something more than human. The clues that connect this to demons are:
1.) Every victim has had their heart ripped out.
2.) A family member has gone missing around the time of the attack.
3.) Each room was locked from the inside.
4.) The missing family member ranges from young boys to old women.
5.) There has been the exact same message written in blood at every scene. Fingerprint analysis indicates it's from the missing family, but handwriting experts say it's from the same person.
Alouette immediately thinks it's a shame shifting demon, and the bowl of leafy greens concurs. He also thinks the real missing people are dead. He then tells us to start our investigation alongside Sister Olive.
After we finish with the stuff in town, we head to the scene of the latest murder. We read the letter in blood, and it details how upset someone is that their love died. But he's not sad because she'll come back. We're stumped, so it's off to Mt. Tarte. Yes, more food puns. As we get there, Colette stops walking. He tells Alouette that this is where he and Prier grew up. Prier gets mad because Colette brought up the past and scolds him. She yells at him to grow up and get back to carrying the luggage, the only thing he's good at. This infuriates our young mage, and he storms off. Colette is a demon hunter, too, and not a servant. Alouette tells her young apprentice that she was too hard on him. It then hits Prier that her younger brother has gotten himself lost in the woods with a killer about. There are now two mysteries.
Stage one is Mt. Tarte (foot). It contains two new units we can recruit. The mushrooms are...whatever, but the bear in the middle is amazing. They have high HP, Attack, and Defense. If I remember right, the bear I got was probably my best unit twenty years ago. Take time out of your schedule to purify one for your team. After the fight, head to the Spring of Mercy on the left side of the map.
Stage two should be the Spring. Before the fight, we see a wounded Sister Olive. Alouette calls Father Salade on her medieval phone. She then gives Olive a blessing, but we need to move on. Olive knew the risks she took coming here, so we shouldn't feel sympathy and need to focus on the killer. It feels gross, but I get where she's coming from. The battle has us against more shrooms and bears, but there's a blue flame standing on a treasure chest. I got it because I think I'm going for a giant party I can ignore later on. I also learned that eight is the limit on the characters per map in La Pucelle.
Stage three is the Mysterious Path. When we get there, we see Father Salade waiting for us. But Alouette is suspicious. She tells Prier that the bossman said he'd send someone else to help Olive. Prier knows what to do and feigns trust until she can close enough to kick him. The kick turns Salade into a regular dude, giving merit to the shape shifting demon idea. He hops away, holding his junk, somehow, and we have to fight the usual monsters. I didn't get the chest in the far corner, though, because the last shroom died to my bear.
Stage four is Mt. Tarte (side). We see Colette doing well, scaring off a few monsters. He has the feeling he's in over his head, though, but he recognizes this as the place his parents are buried. A woman walks on screen and talks to him, seemingly knowing who he is. She shares a warm memory of the two of them before telling him that he's his mother. Colette is thrilled, but we hear the voice of Prier from off screen. She and Alouette join and yell at him to get away from the woman. Colette doesn't get it and just wants to spend time with his mom. When the boy turns his back, the woman raises a grotesque hand and is prepared to kill him. Prier tries to warn him, but we hear the sound of a gunshot as a bullet hits the demon's hand. She turns back into the guy Prier kicked, and a man in a blue coat and sunglasses joins everyone.
The man is annoyed at such tactics, shapeshifting, and is super edgy. He talks in a low whisper and likes to show off his gun. This is Croix. Croix Roual. He's a freelance demon hunter working for the Church of the Divine Mother. The demon says he too is working the Divine Mother, but Croix doesn't care. The demon's body blinks, but nothing happens. Croix deduces that he tried to read his mind, but, like Alouette, he has no memories of his youth. He goes to shoot the demon again, but the killer takes Collete hostage and runs off. Our Vash wannabe asks what's going on before he starts talking business. Prier doesn't care, and we all give chase.
The battle is a battle, alright. Croix's gun range, which he can use to bring in more allies from his position for the team attack. He also has access to Purify, but his is pretty weak.
The fifth and final stage is at the Peak. It takes place at the graveyard where "our" parents lay. But dad is here. Not being stupid, Prier gives him a massive uppercut, and he reveals himself to the demon. I'm glad she didn't fall for the obvious trap. She screams, "The Dead don't come back to life," and she reminds herself of the promise to be strong. The quote enrages Alan, the demon, and he transforms into the next boss.
Gargoyle has two skeletons with him behind six mushrooms. The victory condition is to kill the boss, though, so do what you will. I cleared the map. Gargoyle is no slouch since he has 300 HP, high defense, and enough attack to kill Alouette. Colette got the cool one-on-one speech, and it was about how playing with one's emotions like that are terrible. With his entourage gone, though, he can't survive a seven-on-one surround attack. Colette is back on the team for his, but he has no items. Make sure to bring some spares.
Alan is sitting against the gravestone and tells us about his wife. Palmier. She's mentioned in the blood message. She was a wonderful person but always sickly. Shortly after the two of them got married, she fell ill and never recovered. Three days later, a man from the Church of the Divine Mother appeared and said that they can bring her back. All Alan had to do was bring a heart just as pure as Palmier's. But the quote Prier said before the fight got him thinking that no two hearts can be the same. All his actions were for naught and only served to sully his soul. Now he'll never see his love in heaven. Prier isn't without sympathy for him and remarks on how sad it all is. Alouette asks her to say a prayer from him, and Prier asks the Goddess to cleanse the man's sin with her judgement, "Or at least allow him to rest in peace." A halo of flame erupts from Alan, turning the screen white. When we come back, he's gone.
Prier turns around the hugs her brother, choking him in the process. She asks why he ran off, and Colette apologizes. Alouette puts his emotions into words and says that Colette is growing up. He wants to be independent and his own man. Prier says that he shouldn't want that, so Croix steps in. He says that men need to be men. Colette is able to say that he wants to protect his sister and Alouette. Prier does some soul searching and realizes that she's doesn't know her brother as much as she thought. Or, maybe, she just didn't want to be alone without him? She apologizes and says he'll get some time to be himself, but, for now, she's still gonna boss him around. Colette is mildly annoyed, but Croix talks to Alouette and says how nice they are as a family. Alouette agrees but tells herself that she's kinda jealous. She wishes she had a family like that.
The chapter ends with the sun setting. Colette, who gets all the soliloquies, says he saw Prier crying alone, probably thinking of their parents. It hits him that Prier always tries to be tough. She doesn't like talking about her past because it'll stir up emotions that will ruin that facade. He doesn't know what to do, so he keeps starring at the sky. A shooting star goes by, and the chapter ends. I got the good ending, 3000 gold, and a power jacket.
I'm not fond of slightly abusive brother/sister relationships. It was a point of contention for me in Tales of Symphonia with Raine and Genos, so I'm hoping it's over here. I'm all for picking on your younger sibling, but there's no reason to get physical. I used to be close to my sister but going to college made us drift apart. When I came back, she grew up, and I got boring, so we just kinda lost it. And I don't have a good relationship with anyone now, so I don't like seeing "family" hurt. I'm an emotional/snugly type of guy, so stuff like that in situations like this is a big deal breaker.
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