[Toal's Guilty Fire involves a lack of saving white mages, so nothing changes until he meets Feena.]
Toal walked into what he thought was an empty room. But a woman he knew well saw him first and called out to him. The Goddess Feena was thrilled to see him still alive. She was more focused on that than her friend's change of appearance. Feena didn't even seem to care that Toal joined the Darklings. She had total trust and faith in him. It confused him, even after he tried to break her heart. Despite her kind words, he told her he's here to kidnap the goddesses and the Black Pearl. Before Feena can say anything, Zava teleported in. She was hoping to get Feena first but was late getting in, much to her chagrin. Regardless, she told Toal to take the girl, but he was stopped.
Making his first appearance off the first floor, Father Shion came to help out Feena. The words of the sorcerers from the Prison spurred him to action. Sadly, his pathetic shield and magic Missile spam were ineffective.
Zava reminded Toal that he's supposed to kill all interlopers. Toal brought his Wolverine claws to the priest's throat to slay him, but several orbs of magic came flying through. The knights and mages came to save Shion. Rather than fight all of them, Zava decided that taking the goddess was good enough for now and teleported the three of them out.
They brought her to Rado's Annex, and the entire Darklings were three. Dalles led the interrogation and wanted the location of Reah and the Black Pearl. Feena told them the twins split up when they entered the tower and planned to cut contact with each other in case this happened. Dalles didn't believe her, but Toal vouched for her. Reah was always willing to take on the burdens of others. Rather than dispose of her, Zava trapped her in an anti magic bubble. Toal was shocked they knew such a spell, seeing as that's a Ysian spell. But Dalles told them they found their codex...
The group left Feena alone, but Toal hesitated to exit at first. Feena took the time to give some insight into her past. She let on that the trouble with the Darklings happened a long time ago. It dated back to when the twins were young, "even by human standards." She also made a request for him. He wanted Toal to return Reah's harmonica to her. Kishgal was waiting outside and asked Toal how he felt about stealing his god? Toal's response made Kishgal excited to fight him.
Toal returned to the room he fought Shion in and continued down the path. At the end of that road was another alter that was sapping a Ys artifact. This one was a sword Toal knew well. It was the Crimson Lotusblade that belonged to his commander, Saul Tovah. He felt a tinge of guilt and weakness in him, knowing he's unworthy of holding such a weapon. But then the spirit of Commander Saul appeared. Toal instantly reverted to a lowly knight again and knelt before his CO. Saul was confused as to why Toal would do a thing, but then Toal told him what he'd done. Toal recognizes that his actions are wrong, but they're still his actions, and he has no regrets about making them. Similar to Feena, Saul didn't care about Toal's change. He was sure he had his reasons and only saw who Toal was. In fact, Tovah wanted Toal to take the sword. He reluctantly did before Saul faded away.
...
Toal entered the Devil's Corridor. Despite being part demon, he was still greatly affected by the music. But there was someone else in here. Dying near the entrance was Yunica Tovah. Toal instinctively ran up to her and dragged her out of the room. Continuing his guilt trip, he left the Lotusblade with the unconscious Yunica. To advance through the room, Toal unleashed his demon form because he knew he lacked the skill to play Reah's harmonica.
...
Celady was more a distraction than a threat, but he let Yunica catch up to Toal. Ever the courteous girl, she thanked Toal for the rescue and the return of her father's sword. He tried to blow it off, but he soon realized that Yunica shouldn't be here. He asked how she got through the Devil's Corridor? Another mage joined the room, and Cadena told them Hugo figured out how to break a pipe that carried the sound. She then noticed Toal's face light up, as it always did when his brother was praised. As before, Toal tried to play it off. Fortunately for him, Yunica and Cadena decided now was a good time to leave.
Toal climbed up to the Silent Sands, but he recalled more of his humanity. He had a long conversation with Commander Saul. Both men were prepared to die to buy time for Ys to ascend. But they made jokes about the emotions of their friends if they survived.
He also remembered the last time he saw Reah. He stumbled onto her playing her harmonica. They two would end up discussing the imperfections of the supposed goddesses.
---
A scene last night made me feel like the Ysians revere the goddesses, but they also treat them like children. It's an interesting dichotomy. Stuff tonight, though, made me wish they kept Toal more mysterious in Hugo's plot. Kinda spoils some things. Or maybe I'm wrong, and it'll be a red herring?!
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