The team finds St. Clarity to the north of Evergreen. As we do, Cristopher (without the h) needs to leave. He has business with his family, so two strangers in a new area are on their own. Crisbell and Wilhelm walk across a bridge and see a kid in an inner tube in a drainage ditch. He's excited, but we know it's dangerous and try to get him to leave. He doesn't, and a wave of rushing water pours into the drains. It quickly fills, and the kid screams in jubilee. This is the only fun thing to do down here, so... We then see him being dragged into the sewers by the rushing waters. He seemed less thrilled about that part. Ever the good girl, Crisbell wants to help him, but she's unsure of how. She lost her powers. Wilhelm tells her it doesn't matter. Anyone can change the future! Cris agrees and rushes ahead, much to Wil's chagrin.
We descend into the sewers, and it's a quick and safe trip. All we see is the kid being harassed by a slime! Crisbell rushes in, and I think she tried to headbutt it. The poison slime wasn't vulnerable to anything I had in my arsenal, and Cris lost her time powers, so I could only use basic attacks. It's immune to poison damage, so time your guards to prevent it from poisoning you. We saved the kid and took him back to his mom. He downed a lot of sewage water, so he'll spend the rest of the night ill.
Cristopher is on the otherside of the Flooded District, a slum that occasionally gets a high tide of water running through it, hence the need for these drainage areas. Topher is having an argument with an older man who turns out to be his dad. They're speaking of family matters, and it seems Cristopher's parents don't get along well. Armando asks who his son's friends are, and we respond with travelers from Narim. Apparently, refugees are fleeing the village now... But we need to find the cathedral. It's in the Walled City sector, which is guarded. Only certain people are allowed in, and, luckily, Topher is one of them. He even has a crest, thanks to his mom, to prove it. The guard lets us pass, and we (slowly) climb the massive stairs up and enter the doorway.
The Walled City is definitely not a slum. There's an ornate walkway to the main road, a beautiful statue in the background, and shops run by robots...or whatever the girl who meows is. A man is trying to busk, but guards have him stopped. But a girl with purple hair calls out to us. Adri is an inventor friend of Topher. She's upset that General Enzo is hoarding all the red crystal, a type of mineral that allows for the construction of robots. Enzo wasn't liked in the Floods either, especially by Armondo. As before, though, we're looking for the cathedral, so any further discussions should come later.
The church is to the west, and it's different than the one in Narim. For starters, some dude runs it. He's not a Mother Superior. What's worse, the stained glass mural is weird. It inspires no new powers nor any religious significance. Father Miguel tells us that Clairty believes the standard stuff about The Lady, but they also consider that anyone who works in her name is worthy of reverence. It's signified by The Lady putting a crown on some random guy. We wonder if the mural changed at some point, and Miguel confirms it. It was thrown into the ocean behind the docks up north like the rest of the trash, but we need permission to get there. He suggests seeing Enzo.
We can find him in the courthouse, but there's a commotion there. Both Armando and Adri are being detained by guards. They're both protesting the monopoly on red crystals and other industrializations that Enzo is plotting. We walk by them and see Cristopher's mom, Sophia. She was how we go in here and is glad her son is alive. They haven't seen each other in a while, it seems. Topher is shocked to find out her mom is in a relationship with Enzo at some point tonight. She tries to stir up a normal conversation, but Topher wants access to the docks. Enzo doesn't let us, but Cristopher worms his way into getting it on the promise we leave. We exit the courthouse, paying no heed to our dad, friend, or upset aristocracy.
The docks are just one long pier. In the middle of the sea is a large statue that Wilhelm tells us is a titan, a reminder that the Lady is always watching. The statue is of a woman holding a sword. As we approach the water, the statue swings the sword up and sinks into the sea. It begins to rise again at the end of the pier, and there's a door in the blade. Inside is a cathedral. A strange voice comes from nowhere and tells us her name is Paulina. I'm pretty sure this is the statue. She knows and sees everything and is aware of who Crisbell is and why she's here. She asks her to approach the shiny dust on the altar. Doing so restores Bell's time magic and grants the whole team something new.
The Volcano Girls teleport it. The Empress is following us. They promise to "revert" Topher a few times to torture him, but we start a fight. They're easier this time. We can do decent damage now, and Wilhelm's poison is pretty good. Keep making them wet. After a few turns, Paulina suggests using Crisbell's new power of Syncro. This allows two of our characters to combine their moves. We only have access to the Crises powerful Watery Brand now, and it makes short work of the Volcano Girls. They retreat home. With Crisbell's power back, we get on to saving the world.
We return to the Walled District, but Sophia is waiting for us at the docks. She's suspicious of something and asks us to investigate the missing miners at Mt. Thysia. We're the only ones she can trust because she saw the fight, and we're not working for Enzo.
There are two new mechanics now. Side quests have begun, and Adri has one for us. I won't get into them unless they're interesting. The other is Matias can hear conversations from the past now. Sophia and Enzo are in town, standing where they once stood years ago. Sophia is giving off hippy vibes, but Enzo, who's clearly into her, is still about the industry. And with our powers restored, we can see how St. Clarity has and will be. We notice the scaffolding and construction being put up on our left and the less than ideal future on the right. And it gets worse in the flooded district. It is entirely underwater. Cris tells the townsfolk this as they plan their communist uprising, but I'm sure we'll deal with that later. We have to go to the mountain.
I looked around Thysia for a bit and got roughed up by some wolves. I started (and finished) a side quest to honor the dead, which Cristopher's brother is among, at Evergreen Forest. We learned that the old timers used to pan for red crystal in the blood red waters or hunt old and sick animals who have absorbed the crystal into their body. But it's all about mining now, which I'll see more of...
...tomorrow!
New gear is expensive, and mobs don't give many marbles. I want to pay the catgirl, but I'm poor! Story of my life...
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