The Beginning of the End

Still playing!

If I remember right, we were about to head into Lolithia's Tomb. It's located north of Adlehyde and isn't a big deal. It's still a tutorial level and exists to mandate you learn to use all three characters' tools in a dungeon. Rudy will need to blow down a wall or two, and Cecilia opens locked doors with the Tear. Many of the chests explode when interacted with, so have Jack throw Hanpan. There is a puzzle at the end that involves finding a switch behind a statue and then pushing four build blocks to its corners. Doing so opens the door to our destination.

It's a giant robot!

So Lolithia is an ancient mech from the time of the Demon War. It's a golem used by the Elw and/or humans to even the odds. There was no sign of any workers, but who cares? We return to Emma and get warped back to Lolithia. Emma uses her engine to lift the automaton out of her temple and, somehow, bring it to the fair. We'll need to speak to her there tomorrow. The party heads back to Adlehyde, but Cecilia leaves us. She has other business to attend to and thanks us for the help. Jack and Rudy spend the night at the inn.

They're awoken by the sounds of a fair! There's an eastern exit of the town, which is where the Ruins Festival is located. I walked around the square and played a few of the mini games. One can be used to farm stat boosting apples, but I didn't want to spend that much time here. In the center of it all are three golems. I accidentally skipped ahead in the story, so I didn't get the backstory on them. Emma is hanging out in the back, so make sure to get your $500 from her.

In the back right corner is a woman missing her child. She's beside herself with fear, so we take up the task of finding her son. He'll be spotted with his red balloon. Another NPC near the gate tells us the kid went back to town. Rudy sees him near the stairs to the castle.

The kid is afraid, too, so he lets his balloon slip out of his hand. It rises to the sky, and it takes our eyes with it. And it lets us realize that the gates of hell are open. There's a hole in the sky, and a narration plays over it. This hole represents "The Beginning of the End" for humans. A "sword of light" strikes the ground, creating a "wall of fire" on the ground. The lightning bolt strikes the town, setting the whole place on fire and killing most of the population, including the poor kid we just found. Demons begin to roam now, starting a fight when interacted with.

Go north to the castle. Cecilia is surrounded by the demons, and the boys save her. Rather than flee, she asks us to save as many of the citizens as we can. The castle gates close in five minutes, and there are only ten people who need us. It's pretty easy to get them all. I don't know if we get anything for finding all of them, but I feel like I did the right thing.

Safely in the castle, we have full range of it as Cecilia reveals she's the princess. More importantly, the King was harmed in the attack. We find him in his room at the top, and he's not doing well. A soldier rushes in to inform us of what we (the player) saw a moment ago. The demon leader, Belzelk, wants the Tear Drop. Cecilia agrees to surrender it, but the King is adamantly against it. It's a powerful memento of the lost Queen. Our mage still wants to give it away for the sake of her citizens, so her dad grounds us to her room. And so a stealth mission begins!

Don't speak to any knights. There are a few who are programmed to chase after us, but they can be outmaneuvered and sprinted past. Head for the kitchen the long way and avoid the throne room. One of the chefs will unceremoniously drop us into the secret passages, which probably aren't sewers. There are no bosses down here, and the exit was the blocked house east of the inn. Belzelk is near the castle, and Cecilia gives him the Tear. For some reason, Jack gets aggressive, saying something about revenge, and he drags the two others into a fight. Belzelk doesn't bother too much. He attacked twice in seven rounds, so it was free damage. We'll get 200 exp, but Belzelk isn't dead. In fact, he doesn't care. Humans are too weak to be worth the bother. But he follows through with his word and leaves. We then see several winged demons drag away the three golems even Belzelk was scared of, and Adlehyde returns to safety.

We jump back to the King with the news. He's upset. But Cecilia knows what she needs to do and wants to come with us to get the Tear back. The royals are shocked, but no one more so than the King. With his wounds, this bad news, and uncertainty of his planet and kingdom, he lets out one call to his daughter and dies. Cecilia has dragged Rudy and Jack into this, but Jack, at least, would have gone along with it. But there is one thing that makes him refuse. He's mad Cecilia hid her identity. Out of such a strong desire to right her wrongs and to save the planet, she takes Jack's sword and pulls a Garnet from Final Fantasy IX, cutting her hair. This convinces Jack.

We cut to the King's funeral procession through town as the opening credits roll. Four kids are playing as the corpse of their ruler goes by, and we see the boys hiding under a tree. The funeral leads into the church as the camera pans to the title card.

A week later, Jack and Rudy are ready to head out on this journey. They find Cecilia in her room, donning new clothes. They're less regal, but she is cuter in official artwork. The three say their farewells to the regent, with Cecilia promising to rebuild her town. We open several chests for us, and we'll head out to the rest of the game...

...tomorrow!

I wish I didn't blow this off for a week. That was one hell of a prologue. I'm hooked! The music during these few moments was great!