Saying Goodbye

We left off with Slash and them making their way to the control room to stop the second Aquadome from destroying the city of Heyama. Will they do it?

Yes, yes, they will. After a short walk through several hallways, fighting Judgement Faction members and robots the whole way, they make it to the powder room. Go all the way south first, though, in the room before this. North is the proper way. After disposing of four more Faction members, we see we're in the powder room. This is where all the flash powder is stored and loaded for the shots. Eidol gets the idea to overload the cannon, which could cause the whole dome to go up. While they shovel in more, we cut to Xero and Enda.
 
Last night, they were met by General Barclyss, who wanted to kill Enda. During a quick duel between him and Xero, a part of the walkway we were standing on was damaged. Below us lies a floor of gears and mechanical manglers, which no one should fall into. Alas, Enda took the worst of the blast and is barely holding on to Xero. He's trying to keep his grip up, but Enda's arm is injured, and she can't aid him in pulling her up. Barclyss shoots a fireball at them, which isn't helping. After a few volleys, Enda asks Xero to let her go. She feels as though this is correct, but he refuses. In time, though, he has no choice. We see her silhouette disconnect from Xero as the screen starts the snow again. We cut to visions of their past: Xero first giving Enda her pendent, being at the Spot, and learning from Garin. And then we're on a hill somewhere...

The Guide is here, and the game gets confusing. I got lost in the particulars, but the gist is Enda has a connection to the Life Crystal or something. She's the exact opposite of Barclyss' Abyss Crystal. If Enda dies, all of the Judgement Faction will return to dust since she's a version of Charon, the ferryman. She and Barclyss are linked, but he doesn't even know it. After that, it gets weirder. The Guide tells us that this always happens. "She's meant to die." No matter how many times they try, nothing ever changes. Xero asks the Guide to take off his robe, which he does. He sees an older version of Xero, like the one from the space scene, standing before us. We learn that he has a Guide as well, who had a Guide, who had a Guide, and so on. The screen is mostly Guide's at the end. I'm lost now, so I've forgotten why, but we then walk a small dungeon reliving more of our memories. Along the way, we fight other Xeros. At the end, we fight our Guide as a boss. He's kinda hard, but that's only because he uses all of our moves. He starts with delay, so get rid of that, use an orange or a grape if need be, and just attack. Just wither the early storm, and you should be fine.

We're back at The Spot with Enda, and it's for Xero to say goodbye to his sister/lover. They're both crying, and it's a pretty heavy scene that gets to me a bit. Even the bewilderment can't gate the emotion. We then cut back to the falling Enda, but the clock from the Glarefrost Dome appears on our screen again. Xero is holding Enda by the arm still, so not much has changed. But they both know that it's about to. Enda has a feeling that she'll be fine. "I'll wait for the rest of Eternity." A light erupts from the two of them, which knocks Barclyss back. When it dies down, only Xero is there...

Everyone else comes back and asks where Enda is. Xero, emotionlessly, says that Enda is fine. Has he accepted her death? We cut to Kail, in the control room, who has called for another attack on Heyama. His soldiers load a round, which causes damage to the dome because of the excess flash powder. As it starts to shake, our party wonders about Enda. Xero says she'll be fine and that we should leave, which shocks the party. How could he leave his sister/lover unaccounted for? Regardless, we all make our escape. There's a new open door in Slash's route that takes us to the docks. We'll be met by giant robots who won't let us escape.

The blue one can shield itself or move the shield onto the red one. I don't know how much that shield does after the first move, though. Blue is weak to fire, and red is vulnerable to ice. Both absorb lightning. When one dies, the other gets a massive stat boost and 9999 HP back. The stat boost can be nullified. I had Sandra on the team at this point because her single target healing spell is quite good. Dr. Scruffs can pick up the whole party in a pickle, too. The dome will explode, but we'll be on a nearby beach, still wondering about Enda. Before we begin our search, however, Slash demands we meet with the Heyama King.

The city is mostly fine, but there's rubble everywhere, and the people talk of their missing loved ones. The King regrets what he told us and is willing to join in the fight against Barclyss and gives us the airship. We then discuss the peace treaty between Tren and Aruia that will take place on the Tren side of the Front Lines, but Xero wants to look for Enda first. Fortunately, he knows just where she is. Take the Airship to The Spot, which is sparkling on the world map. Climb up, and we'll see more memories of Xero and Enda. When we return from them, Xero is holding his sister/lover. Later on, she asks what she is and where she came from. Xero says it doesn't matter, which really annoyed me. We're running out of dungeons to learn about her backstory, Pixel Blade! When they rejoin the party, Enda wants to make another pitstop. Ellea can revisited at this point, and we can see some early rebuilding going on. We're not the only survivors, either!

But I flew around the world for a bit. I stopped by the South Lighthouse to get the Denizen Pass 2 and opened all the quick time event treasure chests. I got a few other misc things I missed from other places in the world, too. After that, we went to Baila's House. She's gotten a little better but is still barely alive. Enda steps up to her and starts to do some stuff. The lights flicker, and her father tells us that Baila's stopped breathing!

We cut to Xero and Enda walking a desolate road, where Xero asks if that was a waste of time. Enda says some stuff about always being cheerful, especially if you're trying to make someone happy. Doubly so if that person is a friend or family member. Even one life is important in this world. We cut again to Baila getting out of bed and joining Nickolas and Cynthia. She runs after them as they head to a giant flower field. They keep running as they come to a cliff. They run off and turn into birds that soar through the air. We cut back to Baila getting out of bed. If we return after this scene, we learn that that was a dream meant to give us the impression Baila died. I can get behind it.

But now we head to the Front Line and enter the Tren side. We're told where the meeting house is and proceed in. Inside, Enda sees Garin, who we've been chasing the whole game. He's quite chipper, which annoys Xero, so he leaves. Garin goes after him, and Xero asks him how he can be so excited with his wife dead. Garin says that he's been looking for a way to undo everything and tells us how he survived at Fort Shaul when he failed to stop the third volley of cannons way back when. It turns out that he didn't survive. He's dead. But, while his body perished, his soul is linked to another Crystal that keeps his spirit alive. He then phases in and out of existence to prove it. But he can fix it all if he gets the three stones. He has two, but his son has the third. Xero throws it on the ground, and Garin picks it up. He frantically tries to activate it, but it fails. Again and again, it doesn't work. Garin wonders why until Xero tells him to stop running. After a heated debate, Xero convinces his dad that he should own up to his errors. He should respect what's happened and fight for those who've died. Gain agrees and hands of all three stones.

The Guide appears again and tells us that this is all new. He believes that Xero can save the world and says farewell, never to be seen again. Xero then throws one of the stones into the air and destroys it.

The peace treaty happens, and the Tren leader agrees to let Auria be free. Garin plots the downfall of Barclyss, and we plan to head to a place that Enda heard about when she was ...dead..., which I'll do...

...tomorrow!

I think the game's jumped the shark at this point. A lot of Deus ex stuff is going on, and I can't get over the slight incestuous romance going on. I know they're not blood related, but they grew up together, so it's still weird.