Note: I'll be on vacation until Sunday, May 7th, so the next post will likely be up on Monday, May 8th. Have a great week y'all! :)
Mission: One to Be Feared (Chains of Promathia, ch.6)
-The mission name makes me think we’re gonna fight Bahamut.
-I return to Cid in Bastok. He’s overwhelmed with these revelations (Esha’ntarl is Cardinal Mildaurion, Prishe is the Keeper of the Apocalypse).
-Full meeting. Everyone’s here except Ulmia and Prishe, who are in Jeuno.
-So. Mildaurion tried to revive Promathia to fulfill the pact between Selh’teus and Bahamut. And the magicite embedded in Prishe “was only a sealed, crystallized form of her inner Emptiness.” Not Promathia.
Three options:
1)Let Bahamut and his wyrms destroy us.
2)Use Cid’s airship to join Jeuno’s armada and fight Bahamut.
3)Recite the fifth verse of Memoria de la Stona and call Promathia down onto Prishe.
-No easy answer. We’ll head to Tavnazia and wait for Prishe. Gilgamesh (yay!) will reinforce us.
-I head to the Tavnazian Safehold’s port. Cid arrives with Ulmia and Sir Louverance. No Prishe though.
-She’s in hiding. She can read hearts and minds, and knew that Ulmia would try to stop Prishe from any sort of danger.
Prishe is so great. She’s kind, and noble, and tough, and wants to change the world for the better. Break the chains of this evil deity, Promathia.
-Cid’s ship is ready. Time to fly on Cid’s ship, the “C.I.D.” (Really, Cid? That’s the ship’s name?)
-The Jeuno armada is split into two groups. One to draw the wyrms, and one to go after Bahamut directly.
-omg the Tarutaru trio stowed away on our ship. They claim to be our “secret weapon.” Good lord. [Later edit: in hindsight, I think they warped us from ship to ship. Thanks, friends!]
-We find the Jeuno armada. They fire a warning shot at us? Why? Do they think we’re against them? We pull up alongside to board a Jeuno ship.
-We try telling the Jeunoans on the ship that we’re here to help, we’re just looking for Prishe, but they don’t respond.
-Apparently, the Jeunoan crew here are automatons, puppets called “Mammet-22 Zetas.”
We take them out and move to the next warship.
-IS THAT OMEGA???
-Yup. Omega. What the hell is Omega doing here?
-After taking Omega out, we see a light flash on a ship up ahead. It’s Prishe, fighting a giant monster.
-Nag’molada is the one delaying Prishe with monsters. He must be behind Omega too.
Time to what?
“My pet is still far from completion. However, when she is finished, she will be the most powerful creation Vana’diel has ever seen!”
-Ultima Weapon. Nag’molada created Ultima Weapon.
-It knocks out Prishe, so we swoop in and take out Ultima. Apparently, this was just a prototype.
-Esha’ntarl warps onto this ship, disgusted by Nag’molada’s actions. She banishes him from Jeuno and the Armathrwn Society.
-And yet, she shows empathy. Nag’molada’s true plan is to ask Bahamut how to reach Al’Taieu. He feels lonely, trapped without the whisper of the soul he used to have. Like a Borg separated from the collective. He thinks the answer to getting it back lies in Al’Taieu.
-Nag’molada is resentful. Esha’ntarl entered Al’Taieu’s Chamber of Eventide Chamber and removed the Emptiness from her soul. Nag’molada wants the same. “So I can be free!”
-Prishe overhears this and interjects. “If you want to go to Al’Taieu so bad, why not just go to Movalpolos?” Selh’teus already asked the Moblins to open the gate to Al’Taieu, and they’re complying.
-Prishe told Nag’molada this to get him to leave the ship. He doesn’t.
Instead, Nag’molada opens his mouth, and begins to sing. His song summons Bahamut.
Shit.
NAG’MOLADA: “I am Kuluu! My strength comes from the protection of the terrestrial avatars. Without you, I am powerless! The Zilart – those who have sworn revenge against Vana’diel – to you I offer these traitors as a sacrifice.”
HOW ABOUT YOU FUCK OFF, NAG’MOLADA?
-Having summoned Bahamut to the Jeuno armada, now Nag’molada warps away to find Al’Taieu.
-Everyone starts panicking.
Well. Almost everyone. Three guesses who doesn’t panic, and the first two don’t count.
“Over? This is when it gets interesting.”
FHJKLSFHDSFJKLDHSF PRISHEEEE
TRIUMPHANT MUSIC STARTS PLAYING. SHE RUNS UP, ARMS OUTSTRETCHED, AND ADDRESSES BAHAMUT.
PRISHE: “Bahamut! Wyrmking, Conqueror of the Skies! I am Prishe! I am the Keeper of the Apocalypse!”
She pulls out the magicite shard she collected.
“Your pact with Selh’teus left me trapped for thousands of years. This magicite… it is nothing but another form of Emptiness. It was born from the same place I was. We are one and the same. My friends and I have come to call forth and destroy the Emptiness and its maker, Promathia.
“And we will do it right here, right now! We will fulfill the pact!”
FHDJKSFHDJKLSFHDKLSFDS
“Watch as we show you the children of the dawn’s true power!”
GO PRISHJLEEEEE HAHAHA HOLY SHIT – TIME TO SUMMON PROMATHIA AND TAKE HIM OUT, BEFORE BAHAMUT’S VERY EYES
-Bahamut’s reply: “There is no need for you to prove anything, young Elvaan, for you are not the Keeper.”
………………..
ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS? ANOTHER MISDIRECT?
-Bahamut is impressed by us nonetheless, by our efforts to save Vana’diel. He wants to help us.
“The true Keeper of the Apocalypse lies in the celestial capital of Al’Taieu.”
We get a glimpse of Al’taieu, that beautiful green and purple ruined city that we saw before briefly.
“Within that soul lies an immeasurable amount of darkness…”
Is it Nag’molada? Is he the true Keeper of the Apocalypse?
“For ten thousand years it has slept… But now it has awoken.”
So probably not Nag’molada. Or maybe? I don’t know if he slept for ten thousand years, but I think he did.
[Later edit: if it turns out that Nag’molada was driven to become the Keeper, I’ll be happy. However, if after all of this Keeper hot potato it turns out to be like “Oh it’s Jim, some random Al’Taieu dude who is the real Keeper of the Apocalypse,” I’ll be irked.]
“Who was it that restarted the Crystal Line? Remnants fo the Zilart? The children of Altana? It does not matter, for now the power within the final crystal – the crystal that holds Al’Taieu in balance – has begun to fade.”
“It will not be long before the celestial capital has fallen to Vana’diel. When this occurs, the Keeper of the Apocalypse will arise and envelop all life.”
-We see the giant statue of Promathia as Bahamut’s monologue continues.
“And finally the Twilight God, Promathia, will use his almighty power to begin his eternal reign.”
-That’s Bahamut’s purpose. Bahmut wants to stop the seeds of the Vana’diel races from being wiped out.
“If there is nothing for the keeper to envelop, then Promathia will not have the strength to enter our realm.”
The whole “Keeper of the Apocalypse” thing is starting to make sense. The Keeper’s role is to envelop Vana’diel as a way of charging up Promathia’s resurrection.
PRISHE IS THE LITERAL BESEEST
“Damn! And you call yourself a guardian of Vana’diel? Why didn’t you tell us what you were going to do a long time ago? If you would’ve been honest with us, we could have been in Al’Taieu whipping that keeper’s butt last week!”
YEESSSSSSS!!! Prishe laying the SMACKDOWN on unnecessarily vague and cryptic video game plots.
-Bahamut simply doesn’t think we have the power to defeat the Twilight God or the Keeper. Didn’t think it was worth it to tell us.
“Selh’teus proved that to us ten thousand years ago. Destruction is your destiny. You cannot escape what has already been decided.”
I still don’t understand what Selh’teus did 10,000 years ago, why his actions destroyed Bahamut’s faith in us so totally.
-So Al’Taieu isn’t just beneath the ground. It’s in another dimension, and must stay there, away from Vana’diel. Esha’ntarl says that Selh’teus’s goal this whole time has been to stop the Keeper, to keep Al’Taieu in its dimension.
-Prishe persists, saying that we can do it. I agree.
BAHAMUT: “Damn you, Selh’teus…! I will not let you harm Vana’diel and her children like you did once before!”
-Crap crap crap Bahamut is preparing to blast us. He lets loose a megaflare.
BUT TENZEN IS READY, AND THE PHOENIX BLADE FLARES TO LIFE
THE TWO BOLTS OF ENERGY – MEGAFLARE AND PHOENIX FIRE – MEET IN THE MIDDLE
-A blinding flash. Scene change. Selh’teus, at the fifth mothercrystal.
-Orange feathers flit around Selh’teus. He communicates with Phoenix. He thanks her.
SELH’TEUS: “(I understand. Your sacrifice has bought us a sliver of time.)”
Phoenix <3 . She seems to trust Selh’teus, so I do too.
-Selh’teus summons his Emptiness powers, but he says this is to help Phoenix enter the mothercrystal.
-A blast of orange light soars into the clouds. Phoenix. <span class="idc-smiley"><span style="background-position: -12px -36px;"><span>:(</span></span></span>
-New chapter title screen.
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Next time: The next chapter, “In the Light of the Crystal.”
