LogFAQs > #962199862

Good to know! Thanks for not ruining it for me. I'm eager to find out what the Hades is really going on here. I presume this is the "tipping point" where everything from here on is gonna be fun, and I'll start getting to kill some bad guys.

I've pretty much decided on Velvet/Eleanor/Eizen/Magilou as my "main" party, with Phi subbing in occasionally. My playtesting last night determined that Rokurou is detrimental to the party. The AI also tries to kill things in front of me when I have but two souls, so I get angry for them not being team players.

Okay, showtime. I hear a shriek in the woods, and Velvet thinks it's Niko. It is, and she's been set upon by a gigantic insect-like daemon. Well, that's certainly out of the ordinary, but I'm surprised she's not fighting for herself given all the monsters around here - she's just unconscious. We take the thing out and Niko wakes up on cue. Velvet and Niko are both in pure shock - Velvet that Niko's alive, and Niko that Velvet's finally back... and waving a sword in her face. Apparently Niko was the only one saying that there's no way Velvet was dead because she wouldn't let a daemon take her down. Niko and Velvet finally hug - and Velvet seems... placated by this at the same time she's flabbergasted. Too flabbergasted to stop Niko from running back to town to triumphantly announce Velvet's return. Mr. Reaper here smells something fishy, but I don't quite know what's really going on yet. What if Laphi is still alive? This is... so bizarre.

Entering Aball, everyone's happy to see Velvet, and are surprised that she never wrote. And, uh, apparently her brother is indeed alive, and I get that whammy like a half-hour after it had first occurred to me (this being because I took out a Behemoth Code Red but that wasn't too notable a fight). This is gonna be even more awkward. It's already weird, but Artorius is herding his sheeple, so faking an entire incident to save them would get them forever in his debt. If this isn't a Melchior illusion, of course, which Eizen seems to think it is (why punch Rokurou? You know he's not an illusion!). I don't know... Niko has been seen in Taliesin many a time. Are you telling me that's all an illusion, too? Or just Niko? And how can Melchior keep this thing going for so long... and why? Eizen and Rokurou head off to therion hunt but Velvet is too hysterical and just has to see her little brother. Imagine how much he's grown in three years!

Velvet refuses to believe this is an illusion, but Phi insists she be careful... she does the opposite and slices herself. Why, exactly, I do not know. The illusion is not on your arm. Velvet goes inside and sees that Laphi has, in fact, not grown at all in three years. Niko comes in to inform Velvet that her brother has been in a coma, yet he's still alive. Interesting. Perhaps Velvet actually did save his life by mitigating some of the sacrifice to Innominat. Velvet... is actually smiling. Eleanor is shocked. Phi says he has bad feelings in his stomach and spine, and I don't blame him. If there's illusion magic here, it's bound to have an effect. Velvet goes into the village to gather foodstuffs to make her quiche - Phi will be the taste tester (does Niko know Velvet has no sense of taste anymore? and does Velvet trust her not to tell anybody since she seems to be the town gossip?).

In town, lots of... homely things. A rappig roast (yummy!). An apology for apparently driving Velvet away (they didn't trust Artorius back then, but Velvet did... and now things have reversed!). Velvet being more reliable than any man in the village at beating up monsters (how will these people react finding out she's a therion?). Niko asking around in Taliesin when she's there if anyone's seen her. The villagers learning to fend off daemons from outside. A guy with a thing for Velvet saying she hasn't changed a "whit" (isn't it bit? And, uh, she's changed a hell of a lot). I don't find it odd that the village hasn't really changed, since little hamlets like this tend not to, but I DO find it odd that it seems like nobody's aged. The elder seems to think Velvet is still 16 y/o, which is a red flag. Something's up. It's almost TOO nice.

I spent an obscene amount of time managing my equipment, and expend all but 5 of my Odorless Fluids. Yeah, might have to do another run with those later, le ugh. I didn't pay enough attention to it and then they were gone. My fault, whatever. When talking to the shopkeeper, Velvet's voice is... perky again, like it was before. Is this part of the illusion, or is she... actually happy? This does NOT go unnoticed, as Eleanor and Phi comment on it... and wish Velvet could've lived the ordinary life before her brother-in-law decided to be a piece-of-shit-in-law. Oh, and Eleanor hates spinach. Remind me to never introduce her to Popeye. But we're off to hunt prickleboars - the Morgana Woods seems to be better for that now. If this was an illusion... would he know that? Can Melchior really conjure that many people at once and control them? Or is that where the trap is?

In one chain battle, I somehow get Annihilating Crash off three times - that's how proficient I've become at beating things up with Velvet and clawing them to death. The prickleboars are the same things from the start of the game so I win all three fights in three seconds. Weaksauce. Eleanor reminds me of the prickleboar family assault at the start of the game (indirectly, of course) and then there's talk about how Velvet's life used to be... and who her first love was. Thanks, Bienfu. And so ya know: 150 y/o is longer than any human has lived, so you ARE an old man.

I get home to find Rokurou and Eizen waiting. They snooped around and found out that the shrine is off limits per the Abbey... which means they're hiding MANY things there. Rokurou and Eizen extort her, saying that they're going to lure the therion into the village. Inexplicably, instead of talking it out, Velvet extends her arm and scares poor Niko behind her. Uhh... whoops. Got some explainin' to do. Niko has a very unusual reaction to i:. "So you're scary... I'll get used to it!" She says she'll tell nobody and goes to touch it like it's cool. What an unbelievably amazing friend. I wish I had people like that in my life! Sadly, very few people are that awesome... and I think Velvet knows it, because she's speechless. Phi strangely finds the Book of Innominat - the original copy - here. What on EARTH is it doing here? Wouldn't Artorius think to take something so important with him? Velvet doesn't care about that part. She just wants to wake her brother up, and she knows that Phi has just the thing: The compass. But then she recognizes that she may have made the pudding too sweet... she can taste like in her dream on the ship. Velvet asks Magilou about dream manipulation, and she knows of one that causes a happy dream based on your regrets..... and it fits what's going on here to a T. My, this is a long dream. And the moment she realizes what's happening, Laphi so magically and impossibly wakes up and starts begging her.

This is off the fucking chain.

Absolute insanity. I can't say I ever expected this. And it's pretty blatant. The question is... has everything since Taliesin been a dream? Or... what?

So crazy it's gonna need a second post because I kept going!