Between Scylla and Charybdis

 ... is a surprise!

Since the boat still hasn't returned to Raphalia, we might as well use the Fairy Tiara. There's a flower field just outside of town, but it doesn't seem to matter where you start. I've seen five of these fields already, but they all take you to the same place: a cliff edge. Climb said cliff, and you'll come to a small house. As we enter, we'll see, and hear, two faeries arguing. They are upset that the lighthouse is working again, which means the monster will show up soon to eat them. The lead fairy, who we met at the lighthouse, will continue to demand that we fix the problem we started and defeat the sea monster. She'll instruct us to go to the beach and wait for night.

We follow orders and head straight there. That night, Ryu, Nina, and a forced Momo see a shark fin come out of the water. It approaches the beach for some reason, and we all get the jump on it.
...it's just a dolphin...
Sure, it can talk, but it looks like a dolphin. All four (three) of us have a nice conversation. We apologize for our actions, and our new dolphin friend, Dolphin, understands that mistakes happen and forgives us. Nina and Momo return to the house to get more clues about what the monster looks like, leaving Ryu and Dolphin alone. And then things get strange. Dolphin's accent suddenly turns abrasively Australian. The game even offers to redo the scene with a proper English translation, which I skipped. The accent idea is fine, but why break the fourth wall? I hated it... Anyway, the girls and faeries come down, and the Fae creatures yell at Dolphin. They each get a dig in at him, and then he transforms.
...that's not a dolphin...
It's a mutated narwhal that can walk on land. As you'd guess, a fight breaks out.

It's not that hard, but it takes a while. Dolphin is weak to lightning, so spam the appropriate spells. Its physical attacks aren't too damaging, but they can set up Tsunami, a move that hits everyone for big damage. Momo seemed largely immune to it, but that might have just been a quirk on my part. Momo can also learn Intimidate here, which is a move that causes an opponent to miss their turn. I doubt I'll use it, but ya never know. We return to the house in the morning, and all three faeries thank us. Dolphin was the reason they kept the lighthouse broken because he threatened to eat them otherwise. The light kept him up, you see, so I'm wondering where we are. Are we in another world or just in a strange place near the Raphelia region? A fourth fairy is born as we're there, teaching us that they spawn from cocoons and grow from bugs. Strange... But there's nothing else here, so return to our world.

Sadly, speaking to Beyd or Shadis only results in them telling us the ship still isn't here. Beyd, though, will ask us to talk to Sinkar. Sinkar can grant us access to the secret Porter Guild path through the volcano. I guess the insides of a recently erupted volcano are safer than the outsides?

There's a wall of script that no one can read in the volcano, but we need to take the left path. Inside Mt. Subio are monsters who don't like ice. My new favorite mob is in here, Vulcan. It's a tiny volcano that lets you beat up on it for fifty exp. Use a fire spell on it, though, and it starts to attack. You'll get 300 a character for a still easy win. Peco can also learn the move it uses if you have him watch it. Apparently, the Lava Men in here are great for grinding as well... The rest of the area has us walking across magma, which hurts, but we can get new items. At the very least, get the new dragon perk in the final room. There's also a Ring of Fire early on, which allows the user to absorb fire spells. The asbestos armor, which only increases resistance, can also be found here. All of these will aid us in the upcoming boss battle...

As we're about to exit, an old man will step forward. He'll ramble about protecting the souls of the dead at Angel Tower or something. He'll then summon forth Scylla and Charybdis, who appear from the lava around us. This starts the boss battle where it's three-on-three, but I feel outnumbered.

Both Greek myths can be put to sleep, but it only lasts one round. Peco just learned Dream Breath, so I had him doing that for a while. Those two can team up to wipe out Nina, who'll be our main damage dealer here. You need to take out the old man before doing anything. He usually defends, but he likes to cast sleep on us. If you're caught off guard and the entire team passes out, you're likely to never wake up. More annoying, he can also heal his whole team, so make sure he dies! From there, the battle does get more manageable. The enemy AI seems to change, and they become more passive. Keep spamming Iceblast, Duel Attack, and basic attacks. In hindsight, Momo would have been a good third with her ice ammo equipped. Once one dies, the other becomes even more passive, which is good because I was out of MP. I turned on the auto battle for this fight and just let it run for five minutes once Chardy B was left. Thanks to the Ring of Fire, I got healthier against him. Afterwards, just walk out.

We're on the otherside of the region, and there are three places before us. Far away is Junk Town. There's no story here yet, but we can learn that the ship's engine broke, and that's the reason it hasn't returned to Raphalia. If you have the money, pick up the new gear. It looks strong. The other city we can get to is a town I can't pronounce. It's filled with religious people who have a statue of Garr in the back of it. It's a terrible layout, and I hate it. But bring Garr in here to move a bolder and to speak to the guy in charge. The head pope will ask Garr if he's ready for bed because there's no evil in the world. Garr is silent, but we get the idea he is. Despite there being plenty of evil in the world? Were Balio and Sundar the greatest evil on this planet? Good job, I guess. Leave the town, and we'll cut to the camp. Garr and Ryu are around the campfire until Nina tells them to come to bed. Ryu heads inside, but Garr stops him until he thinks it's best to show him what his future holds rather than tell. Will Ryu die? We'll find out...

...tomorrow!