Not as planned...

Welp.

I did some minor exploring before going to the castle. I got Meryleep to be Rei's master, and then I had him unlock a door at the north checkpoint. Oh, boy, a fishing rod!

As we enter Wyndia, Nina stops us. She suspects her dad will arrest Ryu, again, so she asks everyone to stay back. Rei, though, being an unknown entity, can get all the glory. The two of them head to the castle, and Nina says that Sir Rei aided her at the Plant. The King says how great both of them are and promises to give Rei the passport we need. In the meantime, Nina gives Rei a tour of the castle. I think there are only two places we need to go, and one is towards the dungeons. Nina regals Rei of the time she met Ryu there, and then Honey will randomly show up. This inspires her to tell our tiger why the King blames Ryu for kidnapping Nina. You can see what's happening to McNeil if you go down to the cells and pick open a lock. It's a new hat for our mage.

Next, talk to the Queen in her room. Shiela will say how proud she is of her daughter but reminds her she needs to act like royalty. Nina isn't thrilled, but she understands. Return downstairs, and the feast will be ready. Sadly, Nina convinces everyone, including Rei, that we're too busy to eat. The King hands over the pass, and Rei reluctantly leaves hungry, and Nina guides him to the gate. She says she can't continue the journey, harkening to her mother's words. As they head out, we hear a scream behind us. A soldier entered and informed the royals that Rei was seen walking with Ryu.

This causes the King to order his arrest. Nina tries in vain to change her parents' minds, and Rei tells her that she's more than just a Princess. "Nina is also Nina." Suddenly, Honey pops out of Nina's dress and seems to guide the team. They follow her to a locked room in the deep recesses of the castle. Honey climbs onto a machine and speaks! It's something in binary, but it causes the strange red floor to shine. Honey walks into the beam and disappears. After evading the royal guards, Rei and Nina follow. They wind up in Durandal's house behind the castle and meet back with the team.

The next morning, we set out to Angel Tower. The passport works, so we're back in the Raphalia. The boat's gone missing again, and we can learn that Beyd and Shadis got married and had a kid. But they're not important... The path around the volcano is fixed, so use it. Head to Garr's hometown, and he'll inform the pope he's ready to sleep. Garr says the same thing to the guards at the tower, and we climb to the top of the pyramid.

En route, we learn that Guardians get to talk to God once in their life, but doing so turns them to stone. Garr intends to speak to God to know the truth, but it doesn't work. When he calls out to God, the naked lady beneath the pyramid astral projects herself before us and says, "God won't show up." I think there's something about doubts... Either way, we'll need to free the naked woman, which means we need to find Geist, a fellow Guardian.

The pope says we shouldn't turn into Geist because he's fallen away. But he does tell us he's in Cliff, a small village down the coast.

We need to get through another annoying dungeon that deals with tides. It's a cool concept, but it involves too much walking around waiting for the tide to change. So dumb...

Cliff is a village of outcasts, and Geist is alone in a small hut. He and Garr speak of The Dragon War and inform us that the dragons didn't fight back. But Geist has the know-how we need, but only if we fight him.

Equip yourself with the Ring of Fire. Ryu fights alone, so Nina won't need it. That ring will absorb Geist's strongest attack, Corona. He can negate all buffs and debuffs, so don't bother with them. Take out the torches since they'll spam heals on him. It's more daunting looking stuff but is easy if you equip yourself. Or, at least, think. Geist killed me, so I'll figure it all out...

...tomorrow!