Draco: I know Airy is a scum sucking, blasphemous, merciless, arrogant pig with wings, but I still hate part of Egil for being every babysitter's worst nightmare. In hindsight, maybe it's a good thing I can't do a proper literation. Egil's disobedient deceptions plus Agnès' insistence that she 'doesn't have time' for basic human emotion plus that Alpha-damned E in Agnès' name would all equal a very frustrating work to write.
Bravely Default and all related properties © Square Enix.
Eisen Region: Fatemark
The mythril mine still had plenty of Black Blades guarding it when Olivia and Til arrived. Fortunately, they managed to knock them out effectively, leaving them stunned at their stations, as they made their way to the deepest tunnel.
"It was somewhere around here?" Olivia asked when the mine seemed to be evening out.
Til nodded. "Yeah. There was this big stone door. It didn't look like anything, much, but if there's a passage to the Fire Temple, it'll be through-Agh!"
Olivia turned when the Norende boy cried out, worried - only to see that he had tripped on something. Something loose, at that. He had dashed the knuckles of one hand against the floor pretty badly in the process, though, and whatever he had tripped on had cut into his ankle.
"Ow..."
The vestal sighed, tapping her staff against the ground - having switched back to her White Mage robes, it was a simple matter to wrap his wounds. "Watch where you step," she insisted.
"What was that?" Til murmured, glancing back at what he had tripped on. It seemed to just be a piece of stone, but when he picked it up, he was surprised to find it glimmering in the mine's faint torchlight. "It's like... some kind of jewel, I think."
"Most likely ore," Olivia insisted. "This is a mine. It most likely fell out of a worker's load on the way out. Just leave it."
Til hummed curiously; then he stuck it into his pocket. "I think I'll keep it," he mused. "Might come in handy."
Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "How would unrefined ore come in handy?" she demanded.
"Hey," Til protested, "worst case we can sell it for something." Stepping ahead; "Here, where was that..."
They found it before too long; a great stone door, smack-dab in the middle of the mine's wall. "There doesn't seem to be any way to open it," Olivia observed, looking over it.
"I was kind of worried about that, too," Til agreed. "I'm thinking maybe there's a hidden- Ah!"
His gaze fell upon a small hole in the wall next to the door - such to the point that it could easily be mistaken for just the shape of the wall. Curious, he stepped towards it, kneeling down - it was just barely large enough for him. "I think there might be something through here," he mused.
"Be careful," Olivia insisted. "Don't go too far through it."
"I won't," Til assured her, dropping to his stomach to crawl through.
The hole opened up into a small room in the rock, with just enough room for Til to be able to get out of the hole and stand up - and thus, be able to crawl back out afterwards. There was also a rather large stone protrusion that looked like a lever of some sort, pointed up; by putting his hands around it and lifting his feet off the ground, he managed to drag it back down.
A loud shifting sound emerged from nearby, causing him to panic; were the walls closing on him?
Then Olivia called to him; "That's it! It's open!"
With a sigh, Til made his way back through the cavern, arriving at the now-open door - and finding the cave much hotter than it was before. "What the...?"
"It got quite heated when the door opened," Olivia admitted. "I think... this leads through the volcano."
"Mount Karka," Til remembered. "The fire vestal said it would pass under Mount Karka. And... in the cave she was talking to me in, in my dream, there was lava flowing."
Olivia turned to him. "I don't know that this is such a good idea," she muttered. "If there's magma there, visible, just being close to it is going to burn us."
"Don't worry..."
Til glanced around. "Who...?"
Olivia turned to him. "What is it?"
"Didn't you..." Til fell quiet when he realized he recognized the voice. "I heard... I can hear the fire vestal..."
"Don't worry... Though I have passed to the otherworld... allow me to protect you... I can hold back the pain... until the mountain is calmed... and the flames subside for themselves..."
Til lowered his gaze. "She said... she'll protect us," he muttered. "She said she'll stop the heat from hurting us until we're done."
Olivia looked concerned. "Are you sure...?"
"You don't trust her?" Til asked.
"That's not what I..." Olivia sighed. "Very well. Let's hope she's right."
+x+x+x+
The fire vestal was true to her word. Though the cavern was heated beyond belief, never did the air above the lava bring Olivia and Til pain, in and of itself. The monsters that infested the caves, however, were plenty blazing themselves, and their battles were never perfect; Olivia had her work cut out for her, healing their wounds.
They were halfway through the cavern when they ran into trouble.
Til was on point as they made their way through the cavern, with Olivia keeping her eye out for anything that looked remotely Crystalist - writings on the wall, a decoration of sorts. That meant she realized too late that the surface Til was walking on was unstable - the Norende boy was already stepping across it when she cried out; "No, don't!"
A shaking wracked Til's surface, causing him to tumble forward. He was standing on a surface of loose stones, and his footsteps had caused it to shift. Knowing it was better to maintain his forward momentum, Olivia screamed; "Go! Keep moving!"
With what foothold he had, Til managed to stumble across the surface, the stones falling apart behind him. They closed up to him as he was almost across, but a Monk-legged leap stopped him from falling into the lava; Olivia released a breath she had been holding as he rolled to a stop, standing on the other side of a river of lava.
"What do I do?" Til called.
Olivia shook her head, trying to avert her panic. "Stay there," she insisted. "Stay away from the lava. I'll find a way around to you."
Til glanced around. "Can you make it?" he insisted. "I'm sure if I start walking-"
"NO!" Olivia demanded. "We'll just lose each other. Wait. Right. There. I'll make my way around to you."
Her breath heavy, she started on an alternate path through the cave. Her mind was focused on the cavern, making sure she didn't lose track of which way she had to go to get to Til's location and being careful that she didn't meet a similar fate. A suspicious heat began to gather on the back of her leg, but she paid it no mind, dismissing it at her desperate attempts to avoid panic causing the fire vestal's protection to falter just slightly.
Then the heat became a static charge.
One that stopped her body's movements, just briefly.
She spun towards it, keeping her staff pointed in the direction she had to go to find Til - and she was surprised to see someone standing there. It was female, that much was painfully obvious; the figure was wrapped in belts, and nothing else. They seemed tight to the flesh, but they still bared a great deal of skin, leaving only sparse fragments to the imagination. Its hair was long, blonde, and in one hand was a menacing knife that could pass for a short sword, held backhand - but that was given only a passing notice as Olivia tried to avert her gaze.
"Oh, mizu," she muttered, shocked at the lack of garb - it left plenty of ventilation, to be sure, but it was still hardly decent.
"You are a vestal of the crystals?" The voice that addressed her was female, as though to prove its appearance was not an illusion meant to make her uncomfortable.
Olivia had heard those words twice before, both in response to the same trigger - the Crystalist fashion in which she cursed. She turned back to the figure, who had its gaze turned to her over the shoulder, and forced herself not to turn away. With a heavy sigh, she replied, "Yes."
The figure turned back forward, angling its head from side to side as though thinking; then she spoke without turning, a smile on her voice.
"Tell me. Would you defy the crystals, if it meant protecting your home?"
Olivia was almost offended by the question - it was as though she spoke of the crystals without knowing what they did. "My home depends on the crystals for its well-being," she insisted. "I am incapable of protecting one without protecting the other."
"There is no town, no land, no way of thinking that would rather see the crystals alight than the world intact."
Now Olivia was thoroughly confused. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "The crystals are the four pillars that protect the world. You're not making any sense."
The girl in belts glanced over her opposite shoulder, the smile visibly fading as she gazed towards the vestal.
"You believe your teachings, without question."
"Of course I do," Olivia insisted.
At her answer, the girl turned away, and her voice was saddened as she spoke.
"Then you have my sympathies."
Olivia was thoroughly confused at that statement; her gaze fell earthward, trying to understand what it meant.
When she raised her gaze again, the girl was gone.
+x+x+x+
The vestal met up with Til shortly after, and decided that she would take the lead - to avoid any similar incidents. Til had no objections. A good way further into the cavern, the entire place got caught in a quake, raining stone on them - and proving Til's decision to buy a turtle shell a wise one. It took instants to switch to the Knight's armour, and he quickly curled over so the shield would cover him - Olivia, not so lucky, had to drop low, raise her shield above her, and hope nothing decided to bounce at her.
"That reminds me," Olivia mused, once the shaking had stopped. "I got you a more practical shield for fighting with, from a merchant at Starkfort."
"Oh?" Til got to his feet, opting not to switch out of his asterisk yet.
Olivia dug through the stones she still had on her - she had given Til back the Knight's asterisk, but the heat had quickly proven that a bad idea for the most part. "Spell Fencer, Time Mage, Red Mage, Valkyrie - here's the Thief." She set her hand over it, switching briefly into the Thief's vest - and revealing a very spiky shield on her arm. "A shield that suits you, for the Knight," she mused, "and a better dagger for the Thief."
Til nodded, pulling the turtle-shell off so he could hook the shield over his Defender sword. Olivia saw the weapon and found herself caught by a fit of giggles, prompting Til to angle his head. "What?"
"I just realized what you have for equipment," Olivia admitted. "A weapon that works to protect, and a shield that works to attack."
Her observation caused Til to laugh for himself. They re-divided their asterisks, and started onward once more.
Not long after that exchange, they found themselves in a great, expansive cavern. Directly ahead of the short tunnel that led to it was a massive pit, leading to a deep section of lava - and a series of what might have been stone pillars, collapsed into it. To either side was a pile of rock shards that might have once been boulders.
The sight of it all caused Til to chuckle nervously. "Looks like it's a good thing we were kinda slow," he admitted. "That shaking must have knocked down the pillars and busted the boulders."
"Indeed," Olivia admitted.
One route led back to the entrance of the cave - a path which had once been blocked by a boulder, and was now littered with similar rock shards. The other led to an ornate archway - through which was the familiar layout of a Crystal temple.
"This is it," Til mused. "The Temple of Fire."
Olivia glanced about. "It doesn't look like it's been damaged, much," she murmured. "The Temple of Wind was torn apart by the darkness, and the Temple of Water was covered in dust from lack of use, but... this place looks almost unharmed."
Til lowered his gaze. "But, that doesn't make sense," he protested. "Zatz said the Black Blades attacked this place. Why would they leave it all be?"
A moment's pause.
"They couldn't have done much to the structure," Olivia murmured, "but..."
She didn't finish; rather, she took off towards the library, leaving Til to chase after her. It was a horrifying sight - the floor was covered in shredded scriptures.
"Sacrilege," Olivia murmured.
Til knelt down, picking up a fragment - the library in the Wind Temple had some damaged scriptures, but these were torn apart. "This wasn't an accident," he insisted. "Someone did this. On purpose."
The dining hall was still worse; the tables were covered in sword marks, one of the benches was split in half, and the plates were shattered across the floor. Olivia looked like she was fighting back tears as she knelt down, setting one hand upon a blood of streak on the floor.
"Weapons," Til snapped. "Weapons, and people, wrecked this place."
Olivia shook her head. "I might have been able to let it pass," she forced out. "If they had killed the vestal, without understanding its effect on the flames of Eisenberg, I might have been able to accept it as the duchy not knowing what they were doing. But this..." She shook her head. "This was a massacre. This is unacceptable."
They left the place alone, and made their way to the reliquary. There they found Crystalist relics strewn across the floor, garments torn by weapons in the closets - and a single item, left untouched, in the middle of the floor.
Airy popped out of the air beside them. "Wait a second," she murmured. "Isn't that..."
"Vestal garb," Til mused out. "This... the fire vestal was wearing this, in my dream."
"Was she?" Olivia murmured. "But that doesn't make sense. Why would all of this be ruined, and yet her ceremonial garments be left untouched?"
Til shook his head. "This whole place just feels horrible. Let's get the crystal shining and get out of here."
+x+x+x+
The Crystal of Fire was dark, as was to be expected. No sooner had they stepped onto the altar before Olivia came to a stop, reaching for her pocket where the asterisks sat. "This ominous presence," she murmured. "The crystal isn't just dark - there's something on it!"
As though on cue, a cloud of dark mist appeared on the surface of the crystal. Til reached for his asterisks, drawing out the Knight stone and changing preemptively. The flash of light seemed to get the cloud's attention - the air seemed to solidify before it, then lash out with a burst of wind.
Airy looked nervous. "Energy to guard, energy to burst - that's Chaugmar!"
"The Cloud of Blades, Mark of Doom," Olivia murmured. "Another monster from the teachings of Crystalism!"
"Another creature we need to deal with before we can awaken the crystal, right?" Til demanded, drawing his Spiked Shield and Defender sword and leaving the oversized Hartschild shield on his back. "Forget what it is, we can deal with it!"
The monster seemed to take that as a taunt; from the cloud of darkness emerged a creature that should not have possibly fit inside. It looked like a giant cloud, but it was a sickly greenish-yellow, and a thousand blades emerged from the top half of it. There was a single eye upon its surface, but the moment it was out, it closed it, and a blue energy emerged around it.
"Don't rush it," Olivia warned, switching into her Black Mage robes. "It won't feel a thing as long as that barrier is around it."
"Then what do we do?" Til demanded.
Chaugmar's eye opened briefly, and a menacing energy gathered around Til. A huge gash opened up on his leg, and he gave a shout as the energy flew towards the beast. Olivia held her staff towards him, Cure magic wrapping the wound.
"We wait it out," she murmured. "It can't attack until the shield is down - not properly. The second you see an opening, go for it. Until then, keep your guard up!"
Til clenched his teeth angrily. When Chaugmar's eye opened again, he and Olivia both Defaulted - it reached for Olivia this time, and she felt the slowness in her body that told her it had drawn on her courage this time. One more bout, this time drawing stamina that Olivia could have used for casting, but was little more than a minor hindrance for Til; then the barrier began to dissipate, and Olivia shouted, "Now!"
The Norende boy shot forward, Braving once for a boost in speed as he rushed Chaugmar, and its eye was hardly open before he slammed his Defender into its eye. The monster gave a sound that might have been a cry of pain, and Olivia raised her casting rod, lashing bolts of Thundara across the weapons protruding from its body. Til managed to pry his sword out of its face - and was horrified to see its eyes turning red.
"I don't think that was a good idea!" he cried.
The beast's eye began roll in its socket, in a way eyes most definitely should not move, and energy began to gather around it; Til was halfway across the gap between it and Olivia before the burst hit him, and he promptly dropped his hand gear, fell to the ground, and cried, "Default!"
The blast hit his guard and still sent him skidding across the ground, causing him to cry out as he tumbled. Olivia promptly switched to her White Mage robes, casting Cura over him; yet Til was already on his feet, rushing the beast again. He ended up in the Red Mage's jacket, and he Braved for more Bravery than he had, throwing Thundara at the beast even as he grabbed his shield and sword, hurled the spiked plate into Chaugmar's eye, and went to slash across it before it closed its eyelid and the barrier reappeared, causing him to bounce off of it.
His body was going slowly now as he crawled back towards Olivia, throwing his turtle shield over his back again. "It's not enough," he insisted. "We need to hit harder!"
"What's the hardest hit we have?" Olivia murmured.
"A Monk," Til groaned, shifting through his asterisks. He found the right stone before too long, switching to the fistfighter garb and getting to his feet. "I don't think rushing it as soon as the barrier down was smart," he groaned.
Olivia bit her lip, changing back to her Black Mage robes. "If we try and endure its attack," she insisted, "it'll close the barrier before we can attack it! It's a matter of getting into defensive position before it can hit us!"
Til chuckled resignedly. "That's not gonna work with this one," he muttered. "Here's hoping one more hit will finish it off!"
The beast seemed to have been recovering, for it hadn't moved to attack them; now, however, it opened its eye, and the barrier lifted again.
"Rain it!"
Brave, Brave, Brave, and Olivia rained as much lightning as she could muster, hoping only that this would be enough; the beast was writhing as the blasts struck it, yet its eye began to roll as Til rushed the beast. Panicking, Olivia cried out; "It's not enough! Get back!"
Til ignored her; energy was gathering on one hand as he leapt towards the beast, and no sooner had the energy threatened to burst out than he slammed his fist into its eye. The beast cried out again, and the energy receded into it; Til stumbled back, worried that he was at point-blank range, before realizing he had just widened his window of opportunity. This wasn't enough - he needed a way to hit harder.
Energy began to gather over his torso this time, and when Chaugmar tried to move he leapt at it.
His whole body was wrapped in flames as he shoulder-tackled the beast's visual. That monstrous sound again; the eye was set alight as Til was thrown back, his garments singed and his body smoking, and he tumbled across the stone walkway as Chaugmar fell to the ground. Its whole body was shifted to a cloud of red mist that dissipated; the moment Olivia was sure it was gone, she rushed towards Til, in White Mage robes again as she knelt at his side.
"Til!" she cried. "Are you alright?" Cura magic wrapped his body, and the smoke ceased.
The Norende boy panted heavily, turning onto his back and looking up at Olivia. "I have no idea what that was," he admitted, "but never let me do that again."
Olivia chuckled in relief. "Done," she agreed.
Draco: Assuming the AI Friends are the 'recommended' level, I always end up at least ten or so levels higher than I should be. The boss fights always feel a little anticlimactic after I get my levels sorted out. Chaugmar went down before he could even use Energy Burst. Things only get dangerous when the fairy's wings read 1, and I personally prefer the fights with the individual divisions. Not because they're easy, mind, but because it's fun seeing the game's idea of a strategy for that team matchup.