The walk from Dourbridghe to Bloomingdale is surprisingly long and riddled with misfortune if you weren't thinking this is gonna take a while.
But we'll get to the city of flowers eventually! Word around town is the richest person in the village is overly generous. People think her near death experience changed her. Ever since she ate a shiny fruit and overcame her constant sickness, she's been giving stuff away to people who call themselves her friend. She's also weirdly naive... Ignore the "shiny fruit" part and head to the docks in the west. An old man will be in front of a boarding plank, and he's willing to let us have the boat. It's not his to give, though, but Miss Marion's, the rich woman we learned about earlier. Marion lives on the hill, so let's head there!
We walk in on her accepting gifts from friends. A man gives her a cake, and Marion puts it in a vase. Go figure... Another woman offers her a new ribbon, but Marion hates it because the one she has now is the same as her best friend's. She then notices us and asks if we're a new friend? Suddenly, something happens, and her disposition changes. She asks if we've come for Marion, and I say, "no." We're here for the boat, not her. But she doesn't believe us, so she kicks everyone out of the mansion and locks herself in her room. If we're gonna talk to Marion about her boat, we're gonna need to find someone who can cheer her up. This takes us on another hide-n-seek puzzle, where we have to find people who know her. Marion's old nanny lives to the west of the mansion, and she suggests the toymaker. The toymaker made Marion's favorite doll, and they've been inseparable ever since. Rudolph is in the boots shop, so ask him if he'll talk to Marion.
He will, and we'll all head back to the mansion. When Rudy calls out to Marion, there is no answer. The door to Marion's room will be unlocked, but it'll also be empty. Rudy finds a note saying that Marion was kidnapped, and he runs out to inform the town. As he does, we'll see a ghost that looks like Marion appear before us. The ghost will open the locked backdoor and go through it. On the otherside of the door is a small graveyard. We can read the headstones of Marion's parents, but there's a third nearby. "To my one true friend." The ghost appears again and introduces herself as the real Marion. Marion was always a sickly child and had to spend her whole life in the house, never making a single friend. The closest she ever had was the toy maker's doll, Marionette. A villager gave Marion the shining fruit in an attempt to cure her, but Marion assumed it was too late for her. She made a wish on the fygg that her doll would come to life and replace the real Marion to make lots of friends. The human died shortly after, and the doll took over. It explains why Marion doesn't seem to know much.
The note the kidnappers left says they took Marion to the cave up north. Heading to the B.A.D Cave has us reading a lot of signs about a group of professional kidnappers. It's oddly humorous for what's going on. Take the main entrance until you can sit on a chair. One of the kidnappers will come out, fall in love with Lucillia, and call for his friend to bring Marion. The friend shows up with bad news, though. Marin escaped into the cave. Along the route, we'll read that deadly monsters inhabit the place. These signs are correct. The random mobs aren't too terrible, and there's even a new metal slime variation down here. It gives 3000 EXP! There are no gimmicks or puzzles, but there are a few dead ends with loot. In the back are several puddles of poison water and Marionette. She'll tell us her new friends were mean to her, so she took a walk. She had no idea what was going on... Suddenly, a massive spider will drop from the ceiling. Marionette won't run away, thinking it's another new friend, and the Tyrantula will throw her into the air. If you inspect Marionette, the text will say she's not moving.
Tyrantula gave me my first team wipe. Ty attacks twice per round, both of which can hit everyone on the team. Those AoE moves can lower our status resistance, Eerie Light, making us more likely to be afflicted with debuffs. Ty can also use Wind Sickles. Their worst move might be Venomissile, though, as it hits everyone for over 20 damage and has a chance to poison. It's a low percentage, but it's something to prepare for. She (Fandom says "she") can also stop a character. And if that's not enough, her physical attacks are deadly. I Sapper her, but that eventually wore off. Buffing with Accelerate might have been wise, too, since she's got high agility. From there, attack. Magic isn't effective, but Crackle seemed to do enough damage for my standards. But I've read she's weak to the Bang line of spells. Healing will be a priority for this fight. I brought two sup herbs and three medical herbs for each character. I also used all of them and still lost Tryton, my tank. Had I waited one more level, Lucy would have learned Midheal, so maybe think about getting a minstrel to level 21...
The kidnappers will run into the room and rush towards Marion's body. They'll seem genuinely remorseful that she died, and they'll be shocked when she gets up. I guess being a doll has its advantages... Marion, still not recognizing the danger, will remark that that wasn't nice. This causes her kidnappers to run away in terror. As they do, the ghost of the real Marion enters the cave. Marionette will be thrilled her best friend is here and ask what they're going to play now. But Marion says they can't play and never will be able to again, which causes the doll to be upset. It also causes me to be upset... Marion tells Marionette that she regrets her wish and frees her best friend from her burden. She now wants Marionette to be Marionette and not Marion. They say goodbye, and Marion is "taken by the Celestrians." Marionette will explore the world, but she wants to inform the town of what's going on first.
Back in Bloomingdale, the town will tell us what's going on. "Marion" has come through, said her goodbyes (and some other strange things), but she's already left. She paid her dues to her parents, and that's the last thing she did. If we head to the graveyard, we'll see Marionette lying against the gravestone of Marion. She's not moving. The nanny will enter and wonder how Marionette got out here and, without getting any help, drag the doll back into bed. The nanny wants Marionette to be right where she should be if Marion ever returns home. The nanny also tells us that Marion informed the boatsmen that we're to have the boat now. I don't remember if it was now or back in the cave, but we'll get our third fygg. Head down to the docks, and we'll get a ship of our own! We can now explore around the world, so I'm going to look for new things...
...tomorrow!.
I love you, Lucy.
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