Nibelheim
-What could be behind the mystery of the painting of the girl who apparently moves sometimes? Two guesses: 1) someone is replacing the painting with an empty one to spook people; 2) Relm is hiding in Nibelheim and things are about to get super awesome. My bet is on #1.
-AAAARGH
-Ok. Chill. I went back to the inn, and the woman is gone from the painting. Again, I know it’s a hoax, but my arms swarmed with goosebumps on seeing this. Beyond creepy.
-Cloud’s wearing the infantry mask when he usually doesn’t. He’s embarrassed to show his face not having made SOLDIER.
-And now the girl’s back in the painting. Fdklahfdljksafhadsklfhadlk
-Zack asks, “What’s making the girl so sad?” That’s an interesting line of thought. Maybe it’s really something unnatural going on. I’ll check around town to see if anyone knows about the subject of the painting.
-Noticed that Zack’s response to the painting changed each time, so I went in and out of the inn a few times to see what changed. JACKPOT! The third time or so, I caught the clerk walking upstairs.
…Nothing. Just says I startled him. I talked to him before he entered the room. I’ll try to catch him inside the room next time.
Come on, dude! I keep walking in and out and can’t get him to go up the stairs again.
DAMMIT. COME ON. I am certain that I have to catch the clerk in the act of swapping paintings but don’t know how to trigger him going upstairs again.
YES!!!!
CAUGHT YOU.
The clerk comes clean that he hides a nest egg for gambling behind the painting. It’s a two-sided painting, and when he uses the sides to remember whether he has money at a given time or not.
The painting now comes across in a slightly less sinister light.
-Onto the Third Wonder! There are lots of bomb monsters on Mt. Nibel but one apparently has a different face. (King Bomb? Mom Bomb?)
-Oh wow, get some Solarcaine for the BURN this photographer just laid on Zack who asked for his picture to be taken instead of Sephiroth.
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Mt. Nibel
-Not sure if the bomb I have to find is one that’s on the mountain proper or just in the outskirts. Also not sure if it’s one I’ll just have to grind my way towards with enough random encounters or one where I’ll have to go to a specific spot. Time to explore.
-Ran into a few kids here hanging out who are about to leave.
I vaguely remember them from FFVII, but I don’t remember this specific section well enough to pinpoint what their role will be. A girl tells me about a rumor of “Wonder Bomb,” that if I stop them all from exploding I’ll get something nice. At least I’m on the right path.
Boy #1 in the trio tells me to hit only the ones that are about to explode.
Boy #2 says that if I hit the Wonder Bomb, it’ll shrink a bit.
Hm. This is gonna be tricky.
-SUCCESS YES!!! Found them at the end of a path. Three different-looking bombs.
Wonder Bomb! What is the secret of your power?
I didn’t get all their names, but I think they were “Touchy Bomb,” “Feely Bomb,” and “Remedy Bomb.” lol wtf. Followed the kids’ advice and prioritized the ones that grew and looked about to pop. Got a Gold Shard for my troubles.
-Encountered them again. One was “Grey Bomb,” not “Feely Bomb.” Wtf was I thinking
-Wonderful music up here.
-I could explore the rest of the mountain, but kind of want to stick to the Wonders for now. Back to town.
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Nibelheim
-The kid’s so happy that this Wonder was real. I’m glad too! I don’t just want to keep coming back to him to tell him his parents are Santa in seven different ways.
-Next up: the Fourth Wonder.
-OH FUCK THAT.
I think I have the mansion in my near future…
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Next time: Heading to the mansion to check out rumors of a “laughing safe.”
