Dragon Quest VIII has a special place in my heart, I was twelve and one day at lunch time the trailer of the game passed on the TV, my fork literally drop from my right hand when I saw the trailer, this was the moment I knew I needed that game in my life, I am a non-practicing Catholic so I received the game and the console at my second communion and it was the two gifts my father buy for me, then I read the back of the game and found out that all the characters and all the monsters was made by the creator of Dragon Ball, I wasn't really watching anime but even I knew Dragon Ball Z so I was exited to play it and to this day it is still my favorite game.
Chapter 13-3: Motive
It was the night in the Great Valley, today the group of seven, their parents, their friends, their boyfriends and girlfriends, Light, Saphir, Sky and Aqua have made a trip on the Night Circle with the help of Chrono & Stella, when they see the Night Circle slowly raising in the sky they couldn't believe they were up there on it but it was true, now all of them were slowly beginning to sleep, then in front of them the Silver Orb begins to shine brighter to show them the last vision.
They see a big castle at night that was named Trodain, suddenly multiple green things with spike on the surface which the humans said it was thorns destroyed some part of the castle and transform every living person inside except three people, the first one was the leader of the place a middle aged adult male named Trode and he was much shorter than a average male human of his age, the second was his daughter a seventeen female human named Medea, her father has been transformed into a green monster while she transformed into a horse, the third was an eighteen male human named Eight and somehow he was not transformed into a plant, in his pocket was a creature which the human called a mouse named Munchie, Eight, Trode and Medea then leaves the big castle to find the person responsible of this, it was a male human named Dhoulmagus! Along with the damage done to the castle he also steal a staff which was the most precious treasure of the castle.
On a wooden bridge Eight, Trode and Medea encounter a burly adult male human named Yangus, he tried to attack Eight but he easily dodge it, unfortunately for Yangus the part of the bridge that he hit with his weapon breaks which now let him grab the rest of th wooden bridge with his hands, Eight, Trode and Medea uses this opportunity to cross the bridge, however just after they crossed it the bridge collapse, fortunately for Yangus he manage to grab a thing that the humans called a rope but wasn't able to climb up on his own, Trode said that he ask for this and was slowly heading away but Eight because of his kindness toward the others help him, to thank him Yangus decide to joined them on their quest.
Inside the small town of Farebury Trode asks them to find an old male human named Rylus, he was the teacher of Dhoulmagus, Eight & Yangus search the town and sadly found out that Rylus died in a fire a couple of days ago, with this information in hand they return to Trode and told him the news, with no lead to Dhoulmagus they were about to leave when a female human teen named Valentina asks them their help, Eight & Yangus made their way toward her house and inside it she told that her father that was named Kalderasha was a medium which the humans said to them it was a person capable of having visions, she asks them to bring back an object inside a cave behind a waterfall that the humans said to the others that it was the same thing as Thundering Falls which they accepts.
They sleep inside the town and the next day they leaves and made their way towards the cave, at the end of the cave they beat a swimming monster that was guarding the object which was named Geyser, they made their way back toward Farebury, to thank them Kalderasha shows to Eight & Yangus that Dhoulmagus was heading toward the next small town named Alexandria, with that information in hand they leave the town and made their way toward Alexandria.
In Alexandria Eight and Yangus find out that this small town was grieving over the loss of one of their citizens, it was a young adult human named Alistair and his younger sister a young adult human named Jessica have made her way toward the place where her brother died, fearing for her life a young male kid named Bangers asks Eight and Yangus to go retrieve her from the place which was named the Tower of Alexandria, at the top they find Jessica at the top however she thinks that they are the murderers of her brother so she attacks them, after this encounter and a vision brought by the statue which was able to contain a fraction of her brother's soul Jessica returns home to tell her mother that she will leave the house and not return until her brother death has been avenged.
At the port town named Port Prospect, Eight and Yangus find Jessica at the docks, she asks them to fight a squid monster that's blocking the path to the southern continent and Eight accepts, after they won the fight she asks them to join them on their quest since they have the same goal, they reach Pereguin Quay in the southern continent and begins exploring it, inside the small town of Simpleton they meet a young adult male named Angelo in a fight they brought out on themselves, to thank them for helping him escape Angelo offers his ring to Jessica and asks them to meet him back at Maella Abbey.
Inside after exploring the place they found Angelo again, he asks to check on Abbot Francisco an old male human because he feels a evil presence in the abbey but the only way to get without the guard noticing was a way inside the ruins of the old abbey, Eight, Yangus and Jessica gladly accept to help Angelo and made their way towards the ruins of the old abbey, at the end of the ruins just before they find the way to Abbot Francisco they fight and beat an undead monster which was the previous and last Abbot of the ruins of the old abbey, him along with many other men's died here because of a grave disease known as the black plague, with that done they continue exploring the ruins until they find the way out.
Inside Abbot Francisco's room they found out Dhoulmagus floating above Franscisco which was asleep in his bed, upon seeing them Dhoulmagus disappear in front of them without a trace, after a brief interrogation and the help of Angelo to let them out of jail since they were wrongly accused to be the threat to the abbot's life, however when they return above the ground by a passage inside the abbey Eight, Yangus, Jessica and Angelo sees from far away that the wooden bridge leading to the abbot's room was on fire, fearing for his life again Angelo and the rest of the group runs toward Maella Abbey.
In the room again they find Marcelo who was Angelo's elder brother defending the abbot from Dhoulmagus assault however Dhoulmagus was too strong for him but then suddenly Trode appears in front of Dhoulmagus and confront him for his actions, Dhoulmagus sick of hearing Trode complains launch the staff he stole to kill Trode, Eight tried to rush in front of him to save Trode's life however for unknown logic and reason it was actually Francisco that at made his way in front of him which killed him, with that done Dhoulmagus left from the window and disappear into the night.
The next day at Francisco funeral it actually rain all day and everyone inside the abbey was sad from Francisco's departure even Jessica despite not knowing him the next day after Marcello asks the group to continue their search for Dhoulmagus for revenge with the help of Angelo at their side, with Angelo on their side they continue on their way, in the castle town of Ascantha a young adult female human that was working for the leader of the place asks them to meet her grandmother because the leader was sad other the loss his mate two Cold Times ago and she remembers a story her grandmother said to her when she was a child, in this story that she can't remember all the details but she remembers that the story in the end was able to grant one wish so she basically ask them to find her to tell them the details to see if this is true because that will allow the leader of the castle to see his mate one last time.
At the home of the grandmother she tells them to climb the big mountain near her home by a passage behind her house which leads to the mountain and wait for a full moon up there and lucky enough for them this night was going to be one so they thank her and leaves her house and made their way toward the mountain, when they reach the top the Night Circle has only be up in the sky for two hours so they wait the minutes passed as if they were hours but eventually the shadow of the remnant of a window near the ruins at the top of the mountain cast on the remnant of a wall, intrigued Eight and the others touch it which open a portal to a new world.
Inside they meet a strange creature named Ishmari, he asks them what wish open his world on this night by listening to the memories of Eight's boots and gladly accept to grant him, they returns to their world and made their back to Ascantha, in the audience room the leader sees memories of his mate by the power of Ishmari which left when the Bright Circle appears in the sky and pass the rest of the night with the memory of his mate until the Bright Circle rise, to thank the group the leader tells them that he we gladly offers his help if that came in the future.
To find more information about Dhoulmagus whereabouts Yangus tells them he knows a middle aged male human named Brains in his home town named Pickham because this person knows a lot about the world so with an new destination in hand they made their way towards Pickham, in the town they find however that Brains is not currently at home so they made their way back to tell Trode, the group was about to tell him the news when they heard Medea that was madding horse noises outside, all of them are shocked to find that Medea is not where was so Yangus suspect someone steal her and sell her but fortunately Yangus knows the guy that was working the black market inside Pickham, it was a middle aged male named Dave so the group made their way to meet him.
They found and speaks to Dave however he tells them that he already have sold the horse to a thief that Yangus knows better than anyone else because it was none other than his childhood friend an adult female named Red so with this information in hand they made their to Red's house, inside the house Yangus asks her what they need to do to get Medea back, she tells him that if he bring back an object know as the Venus' tear inside an underground labyrinth known as the Swordsman's Labyrinth she will think about it, so the group made their way toward the underground dungeon, inside after a difficult exploring of the place and beat a monster disguising himself as a chest they acquired the Venus' tear.
When the group returns and offers the object to Red she still refuse to let the horse back but after Yangus begged more than he ever beg in his life she decide to accept the object and let the horse back, now that Medea is reunited with them Yangus tells them to try one last time to see if Brains is back home and fortunately for them it was, he tells them that Dhoulmagus as headed towards the western continent so to get there the group will need a ship to be able to pursue him and tells them that a big ship has been found inside a desert west of Port Prospect but doesn't know why the ship is so far of the Big Water, the group made their way back toward Port Prospect and made their way toward the desert.
Just before however Eight and the other find a weird place were humans use monsters in teams of three they recruit themselves or ask someone to do it for them, inside they meet an after middle aged male human named Morrie and help him by sending three monsters to him, to thanks them he offers the three monsters to Eight which make him the owner of a monster team.
In the desert the group finds the ship however just like Brains said the ship was big but then Trode told the group that they are in the south of Trodain and that maybe they will found information about the ship in the library of the castle so they made their back to Trodain, after opening the gates of the castle that was blocked by thorns the group explore the castle until they find a way to the library which was found by the end of the day, in the library they found a book about the ship that told them that way back then the desert was a part of the Big Water but since the level of the water drop significantly since it was actually a ship that sink here so the situation seems hopeless.
But then suddenly the shadow of the remnant of a window inside the library until it is cast on a wall thus opening the way to Ishmari's world again, inside Ishmari tells them that it is rare for a human to came here twice in their life but asks them again what wish open his realm this night, after the wish was said he tried to use his powers but unfortunately for them Ishmari's power is not strong enough but he told to the group that they have been in a castle where an object from his world which was named the Moonshadow harp will be able to help him grant that wish, when the group returns they informed Trode he told them that he doesn't have this object here so it must be another castle and the only castle the group explore beside this one is Ascantha so they made their back towards Ascantha.
Inside the castle they have a meeting with the leader of the place, the group asks him if he have this object and fortunately for them the leader told them that the Moonshadow harp in the treasure room of the castle, so the leader of the place and our group made their way toward the treasure room, however they found that all the treasures in the room has been stolen by thieves that have made their way here by digging the ground, the leader tells them that he will send a group of guard to bring back the treasures however after the leader left the room our group decide to pursue the thieves because every minutes counts so they made their way inside the digging way.
The group explore every nook and cranny and at the end the find a big digging monster known as Don Mole with a group of digging monsters, Don Mole and the digging monsters was the responsible of the theft so our group fight and beat him which upon his defeat they acquire the Moonshadow harp, with that done they made their way back toward the leader's meeting room, when they returns the leader was about to send his guard but when he sees the Moonshadow harp in the hands of the group he thanks them for their help and let them keep the harp, with the harp in their possession the group made their back toward Trodain.
They returns inside the library at night so they enter Ishmari's world and offers him the harp, Ishmari thanks them and all of them made their way to the ship with Ishmari's magic, in front of the ship Ishmari begins to play a music with the harp, a couple of minutes after however he tells them that even with the harp he still doesn't have enough power to bring back the memory of the old Big Water but then Medea made horse noises which Ishmari is able to understand, he asks Medea to sing along with him because he believes that the voice of a princess is exactly what is missing, it works and the ship made his way back in the Big Water and was new as day one, with a ship at their disposal they made their way toward the western continent.
The group then sailed with the ship to a church located on top of a cliff named Seaview Church, inside the group learned that Dhoulmagus has made his way toward an island to the north so with a new destination in mind they made their way toward the north island, in the center of the island they see Dhoulmagus made his way toward some ruins enshrouded with darkness, they tried to follow him but for unknown reason they just return to the entrance, in the center of the ruins they found out a stone with a message written on it so they read it to find if it tells them information about the place, the message said to them that this place sealed by darkness can only be open with light just them Trode remembers that in the castle town of Argonia which was the place where Medea was going to marry the prince because of the promise made by her descendants toward his or her love for their descendants to marry each over when the relations between the two kingdom will be better because at the time their family refuses their love because of war or a conflict( the game doesn't explain much in this sense) their was a mirror in the treasure chamber capable of breaking the darkness so with this new information in hands the group made their way toward Argonia.
In the castle the group meets the leader of the place it was a middle aged male human named Clavius, when Clavius saw Eight however he is shocked because he resembles someone he knows dearly but he didn't say it to anyone, the group asks them for the mirror which Clavius accept to offer if they help his son named Charmles to pass the rite of passage for the place of the leader which was to defeat an dragon/lizard monster and obtains an object from him named the Argon heart, which they accepts and now the group along with Charmles to the dragon/lizard monster living place which was east from the castle.
They however spent the day in there because Charmles wanted a big Argon heart, the next day Eight woke up to Medea horse noise and found out in shock that Charmles was on her back trying to get her to obey him however Medea would not let him and manage to get him on the ground, he gets back on his feets and teach the horse some punishment but Trode insist to get the punishment for her but just as he was about to do it they the roar of a big Argon lizard, after they defeated him and got an Argon heart big enough to satisfy Charmles they came back to Argonia.
Inside Argonia they found out the town was having one of the festivities and found out that after they found out Charmles again, he has bought an Argon heart which is bigger that the one they acquire but Clavius have seen this, after the ceremony Clavius asks the group about the rite and Eight tells him what happened, after he was finished Clavius said to them that they earned the mirror and the matter between him and his son will be resolved later, they acquired the magic mirror but when asks to see it a minute he tells them that he didn't feel any magic coming from it, they asked if he knows anyone capable of helping restore the powers which he tells them the location of an old male human named the Seer.
The group made their way toward the home of the Seer which was located far from any town inside a forest, after the reason they came here as been said he tells them that a sea monster was known to launch a spell that blind people for a fair amount of time, so with this new information in hand they travel the Big Water and manage to restore the powers of the magic mirror and became the Sun mirror.
(I know it never has been a confirmation about this from the creator of the game but I believe that the Sun mirror is actually the Mirror of Ra from Dragon Quest II and onward because this mirror has the same power than the Mirror of Ra and look alike, in case you don't know the Mirror of Ra has the power to reveal/return the true form of the person who look inside the reflection although the power to break the darkness has only been seen in Dragon Quest VIII but if my belief is true then this mirror is only one of the four references to the older Dragon Quests in the game and it's actually the first one) ( six if you count the 3ds version were you can get a sword named Ye Old Sword of Erdrick that is basically a rusty version of the Sword of Erdrick which is also the last game where you see the sword and yes the fans of the series would say that it's also in Dragon Quest 9 and named the rusty sword but when you see the image it's cleary a reference because in Dragon Quest 8 you have rusty swords and they don't look like that and Estark which is a post game boss from Dragon Quest V and the evil threat Solo need to defeat in Dragon Quest IV)
(The second one is you fight the monster team of Ragnar and Torneko which are former party members from Dragon Quest IV in Morrie's place although nobody knows if this is just a cameo, showing that Dragon Quest VIII is connected to Dragon Quest IV even though there are not in the same trilogy or a manipulation by Ramia/Empyrea herself because she has the ability to cross worlds which could have brought them here although Torneko travels a lot so that kind of debunked it but if you think that's it Yangus when he was a kid has been sucked of inside a urn/pot/vase and was brought to where he meet Red in his spin off mystery dungeon of the series like Torneko before him although Torneko is not sucked into a urn/pot/vase in his so technically Yangus came from another unknown Dragon Quest world and was brought to the world of Dragon Quest VIII at a young age and was the reason he became a thief although he doesn't say that specifically but the proof are there)
(The third one is a bird toward the end of the game named Empyrea which reveals at the end of the game that this name was chosen for her here and her real is Ramia which is the name of the bird that Arusu help to hatch in and become the flying method across the world of Dragon Quest III towards the end of the game, I know I didn't mention her in the vision of Dragon Quest III which was earlier in the story but it will be mentioned here later)
(And the fourth one is the post game true final boss that in his final form which is a dragon that looks exactly like Dragon Lord true form in Dragon Quest I he is just not in the same posture than him)
Now the group returns to the island where they saw Dhoulmagus last time and place the Sun mirror in his rightful place which in a couple of seconds break the Darkness from the ruins, with the path clear now they made your way inside and explore the place, at the end of the ruins they found Dhoulmagus again which tells them that the magic of the staff from Trodain is so powerful that he came her to heal himself and acquire a new body which would be able to contain this magic and also tells them that they will not be able to make their wishes come true and challenge them to a fight.
They were able to defeat him since his body was weak but despite that Dhoulmagus launch the spell he used to transform the castle and the citizens in thorns however for an unknown reason the spell didn't affect them so with no other choice Dhoulmagus transform his body and a new fight begins for a group of heroes, they manage to defeat him and Dhoulmagus new body turned to stone before it crumbles itself leaving only dust and the staff of Trodain, Trode came to them to learn the news and he his shocked to find out that despite the fact that Dhoulmagus was dead he still hasn't return to normal.(This is where my first copy of the game decide to die on my hand but I still have it)
Jessica grabs the staff and Trode tells them that they will rest at Argonia before returning the staff in Trodain, the next day however Yangus woke up Eight and tells him that Jessica left this night for unknown reason, after learning that she went to a town named Arcadia they made your way out there.
(I know this moment his for the plot to continue for those who know the game but it wouldn't have killed the Hero to used Evac and Zoom to Trodain but I'm not being reasonable here in fact I suggest an idea to improve the game: it would have been better in my opinion if it was Eight who grabbed the staff but I know it couldn't happened since you are supposed to treat him as if you were him just like Link. What would have happened? Maybe he would have become like Jessica or he will be able to resist it like Marcello later in the story?)
The next day however they found out that has left over the night and made her way to a town named Arcadia so with this new information in hand the rest of the group made their way toward the same location, after exploring the town they heard a scream coming from the inside of a mansion, willing to help them they made their way inside the mansion and are shocked to find out Jessica with the staff but it wasn't the same Jessica that they know and with their arrival she fled the scene despise showing to everyone and especially from the owner of this place a male middle aged man named Dominico which was a known magician that his spell weren't able to stop her, after she left Dominico asks them to bring him a pair a gems from a family inside the town, they made their way towards the house and were given a sword which will open the door of a nearby tower in construction near the town because only the person that was working to made this town know the location of the gems.
They made their way towards it and explore it until they reach the top which the person tells them the location of the pair of gems: they have been used to decorate the statue at the top of the tower of Alexandria which Eight and Yangus know very well so with this new information in their hands they made they way toward the tower to climb it again, at the top just before they acquire the gems a spirit known as Alexandra tells them the story of the seven sages which sealed the soul of Rhapthorne with their blood and that already four of the heirs have been killed, she asks them to stop this before it was too late, so far Dhoulmagus have killed Master Rylus, the brother of Jessica Alistair, Abbot Francisco and the owner of the known casino of Baccarat named Mr Golding, with the gems in their possession they made their way back to Dominico, he need them to create a magical barrier but suddenly someone who was working for scream from outside the mansion that Jessica return so to buy time for him the group will fight her, at the end of the fight Jessica after she have revealed that one the person working named David was a heir of the heir of the seven sage she was about to launch a powerful spell that will have destroy the town and everyone with it but Dominico has finally finish the preparations for the barrier launch it and knock the staff from her hands which fell just in front of the dog named Leopold owned by Dominico.
After Eight explains the situation to Dominico he accepts to let Jessica's life in their hands, Trode came to see the situation and asks where the staff was but it have disappeared after the fight but with Jessica unconscious after this ordeal they decide to stay at the inn of Arcadia, when she regain consciousness after having a dream from her past she tells everyone new information: it turns out that the staff of Trodain has the soul of Rhapthorne sealed inside and he was ordering to kill the remaining heir of the seven sages, now they knew! In his search of power Dhoulmagus has accidentally free an evil from a long time ago and he has been possessed just like her, all the deaths so far have an answer but just after mentioning the staff she asks them where is it right now because whoever finds it will be controlled but Trode tells her that they lost his whereabouts after Dominico help, now they have a new mission in hand: protect David's life.
They returns to tell the situation to Dominico but sadly for them he doesn't believe them, suddenly another scream was heard again from outside the mansion, the group runs to see what is going and found out to their horror when seeing Leopold with his left front paw on David's head that he has impaled the staff of Trodain on his chest, just after it was done Leopold flees from the scene and leaves the town from the north, upon seeing David's body Dominico finally realize his mistake because he was supposed to protect him, with a heavy heart he asks the group to get rid of Leopold which they accepts and now with no new destination except from going north to find Leopold again.
After entering a cave leading to a snowy region despite the cold they start to explore it until a small dispute between Yangus and Trode brought the results of Trode leading further ahead of the group because of anger but suddenly an avalanche buried Eight, Yangus, Angelo and Jessica which makes all of them loses consciousness, when Eight regains consciousness he sees that he is inside a house with a big dog at his side, this type of dog was known for saving people from avalanche so he conclude that the person living in this house was the one who saved him, upon entering the living room which was mixed with a kitchen area he found out all his friends and Trode, Angelo tells Eight the name of the dog which was Boris and he confirmed that he was thanks to him that they are safe, Trode tells him it was thanks to him that he found this place and thanks the owner of the house, she was an old female named Martha, Angelo asks her if she have seen a black dog coming this way but sadly she hasn't but tells them that they might found information in the snowy town of Orkutsk, the group thanks her for the help but just before they left she grabbed a small bag which she gives it to Eight and asks him to give to a male human named Marek which was his son.
Inside the town after exploring it they found out that Marek as headed to a cave north west of the town to gather herbs, with this new information in hand they made their way to the cave, once inside they explore it until they found Marek which trapped and unable to move because of the cold, with the help of Munchie they made a path and gives him the small bag which contains a special leaf known in this part from giving warm, after swallowing it only takes a couple of seconds to make Marek able to move, now all they need to do is leave the cave which they did but when they leave the cave the group are ambush by furry monsters, after they defeated them they heard the voice from Rhapthorne tells the furry monsters that he smells that Marek as the blood of the sages but he is not the heir which makes the furry monsters leaves and Marek didn't understand but now they can safely return to Orkutsk.(Ok real talk for those who know the game, up until this point Rhapthorne has been perfect to find the heirs and just before he has said to David that despite everything the sages did to hide it was for nothing but now he made this mistake, that to me was the first blow made toward his character)
After returning to town and explaining the situation to Marek he now fear for his mother but he has one person to help so he asks the group to made their way back to Martha's home to make sure she's safe which they gladly accepts, the group then made their way but when they open the door to Martha's home they found out to their horror that the house has been invaded by the same furry monsters which they defeat and found that Martha and Boris wasn't home, they leave the house, the group explore the surroundings of the house and found out a small cave behind the house so they decide to search inside to see if Martha was hidden in there, inside the cave the group is ambushed by a group of furry monsters which slowly make them back away until they heard the voice of Martha coming further inside the cave which tells to come where she was, following her advice the group made their way and found Martha inside a circle with ruins that Eight recognize as it was the same from Trodain except this one was engraved on the stone floor while the other was magically engraved on the floor, Martha tells them that they are safe here because evil contain enter this barrier but a couple of minutes after that was said the group and Martha heard a loud sound coming from outside, with courage the group leaves the safety of the barrier and made their way toward the exit of the cave.
When they reach the exit they found out with horror that Martha's home was on fire and they were surrounded by furry monsters again but the worst part was that in front Leopold was here with his front left paw on Marek's head, he threaten Marek's life which forced Martha out of the barrier, after knocking Marek to a state of unconsciousness and a bargain which failed from both side Martha manage to hurt Leopold's eyes by throwing a powder version of the special which buy enough time for Martha to ask Boris to grab Marek out of Leopold reach but unfortunately for her despite the fact that Leopold was partially blind because of the powder he still manage to impaled Martha with the staff which killed her instantly, with that done Leopold changed form which was the same Dhoulmagus used in the second battle the group tried to stop him from leaving but the furry monsters manage to buy him enough time to fly away from the group toward the east.
After the group defeat the furry monsters and assist the ceremony of Martha being buried, Marek tells them that if Leopold was heading to the east then that means that Leopold was heading to an island named Savella which host Savella Cathedral and one of the most important person in the world an old male human which was known as the Lord High Priest but the group still has a problem: now the enemy fly, they slowly start to lose hope until Marek tells them that if the enemy fly now they need to fly too and to do just that they will need the help of Empyrea which was known in the past as the Godbird and she was the one who help the seven sages sealed Rhapthorne's soul and the location of Empyrea was written on one of the couple of stones where the barrier was, after reading each one they found out that Empyrea was on a island in the south, this island was known to have nowhere to dock with a boat and unless you can fly there was no way they could access but fortunately for them one of the messages tell them that to be able to reach they will need a sea chart and Yangus has an idea where it was since he was a former thief, so with new information in hand they take their boat and made their to where Yangus believe it was.
They travel until they found a cave just bellow the bridge connecting Farebury and Alexandria, upon opening the door to the place knows as Pirate Cove another boat dock inside the cave and to their surprise Red was on board, she tells them she came to find the treasures inside the place so now it's a race between her and the group(at this point of the game Yangus tells her that there's monsters in this place but Red tells him they wont see her unlike Yangus but true fans of the game knows that if you put a number of points in the fisticuffs skills Yangus can learn Padfoot which is a spell that lowers enemy encounter rate or show less monsters outside and inside dungeon in the 3ds version so joke's on her that Yangus can be stealthy too like her but the best part is in the 3ds when Red joined you at the end of this dungeon she also have Padfoot in her spell list to show proof for what she said to us), so the group explore the place until they reach a room where they meet Red again, it seems there is nothing but by searching a little Eight found in one of the book that the solution was a system place in the back of the wall, they found it and activate it which make a new path for them and Red to explore.
The rest of the exploring unfortunately make Red able to get ahead of them again every time they found the solution to continue further inside, when they reach the last room they found Red waiting for them in the right side of the most treasured possession of the former owner of the cove which was a middle aged male human named Crow, she was about to open the chest when a spirit came out of the chest, when he present himself to Red he reveals to them that this spirit is actually Crow, nobody know how he was able to make this possible but no one will know the answer because as a final test he tells to Red that she needs to beat him in battle which is not Red's cup of tea but still accept the challenge however it only take a couple of swings of Crow's sword to defeat Red and knock her unconscious on the stone floor, now however it's the turn of Eight and his friends which after a long fight manage to defeat him, with his soul now at peace since finally someone will accomplish his last wish Crow now leaves this world for good.
The group opens the chest and found inside the sea chart, Red regains consciousness and found out that she did all that for a worn piece of paper and leave the room before them, the group then made their way back towards the dock however just as they were about to leave Red came to talk to them and asks them to joined them on their quest despite what Yangus said about the danger(this is the only thing I will add to the story along with Morrie from the 3ds version and I will not add the two new boss of this new version of the game), however just before making there way toward the location on the sea chart Eight manage to beat Rank S inside Morrie's place which reward him by joining them on their quest.
After Eight did that the group made their to the location marked on the sea chart, when they reach it a path of light was drawn on the water surface, they followed it until suddenly they see that the path lead to a part of the island which makes them all closed their eyes fearing the impact of the boat on the island wall but fortunately for them it revealed a path and where able to dock at the shore, now that they are here they need to explore this island to find where Empyrea is and fortunately for them they found a small town on this island named Empycchu, inside the town they meet the chief of the town which tells them that Empyrea was trapped in the World of Darkness and that only her shadow was left and was flying a lot around a stone arch on this island at but legends said that if you follow it can open a portal to it, so with the location of the stone arch in hand the group made their way toward the stone location.
When they arrived at the location they a loud bird cry and saw the shadow of a huge bird circling around the stone formation, when it leave the group follow it a long time until it open a portal to the World of Darkness and with no fear in their hearts the group enters it, on the other side they found that the World of Darkness look exactly like their world except it doesn't have any color at all except grey or black, with no clue where to find Empyrea here they made their way to the version of Empycchu here, inside they find out the citizens are afraid of them because they come from the same world as Empyrea which was known as the World of Light and to a unknown reason Empyrea had attacked them recently, the chief asks them to find out the reason why she did that and tells them her location which was the same place from the World of Light, so this information in hand the group made their way toward the stone formation.
Upon arriving at the location they heard the same loud bird sound they heard in their world, raising their eyes in the sky the group saw Empyrea coming towards them which our group recognize at the same bird that help Arusu at the end of his adventure landing in front of them and a battle soon arrived, after she is defeated she tells them it was a test to see how strong they were because she need help, she explains to them that one of Rhapthorne's minions has taking hostage her egg and he forced her to attack the small town or he will hurt the egg, with this reveal she asks to save her egg, the group gladly accept and with her help they reach the mountain where the egg was, the group then begin to explore the place and at the top of the mountain they found out Rhapthorne minion which was a bird monster named Gemon, upon seeing them Gemon doesn't know how they made it here but still fight them for the glory of his master, after the group defeat him he realize it was Empyrea's doing and sacrifice itself by exploding his body in front of the egg which explode to pieces.
Empyrea came to see what this explosion was only to find out to her horror the state of her egg, Jessica tells her that they are sorry for not be able to do anything to prevent that but Empyrea reassures them by telling them it was not their fault but suddenly the soul of her son talk to them and tells to his mother that he can help them on their quest, upon hearing that Empyrea said that he can't because he is dead but her son tells her that he still able to change to a form which will make the group able to fly which he does just after finishing to speak, Eight take the form of Empyrea's son which was an object name the Godbird's soulstone, with this object in hand the group climb down the mountain and made their way back to the portal.
Now the group needs to find where Leopold is in the sky and fortunately the found a small town where elves, humans and good monsters lived which was only accessible by flying, inside the town they meet an elf which gives them a black leaf that was from the World of Darkness and has the power to show the location of the greatest evil if you place it on a map, so with this new object an the new information in hand the group leaves the town and use the Godbird's soulstone to fly, in the sky the manage to find Leopold again and follows him until it is night time and he landed inside of the Lord High Priest house, our group landed just in front of the house and upon entering a male human that was slightly older than a middle aged male named Rolo asks them to help to help his Holiness and tells them to tell the Lord High Priest he was the one who send help first, the group made their way toward the sound of a battle nearby and fight Leopold.
The group manages to beat Leopold which makes the body explode and free Leopold from the staff unharmed and falls unconscious on the floor (not for long mind you for those who know the game because there is no way he is alive after what happened next) but unfortunately the stress was too much for the Lord High Priest and he felled unconscious on the floor, ("cough cough Bullshit cough cough") Rolo came to the room with Marcello and more guards and tells to Marcello to help the Lord High Priest but instead of doing what he was told Marcello use this opportunity to blame the responsibility on Rolo for the dog and our group, he asks the guard to bring them to an underground prison located on a tiny island named Purgatory Island and he also grabbed the staff of Trodain and the first sign towards possession begins to show.
Our group and Rolo are placed in the jail and for three days Rolo tried to get them free, meanwhile Marcello brew a plan to killed the Lord High Priest with the staff of Trodain despite not being controlled by Rhapthorne but after that has been said Rhapthorne tried to control Marcello however to Rhapthorne's surprise Marcello manage to resist by stabbing himself on the right arm, a month and three days passed before Rolo and the group manage to found a plan to escape the island because of the news that Lord High Priest was dead which work but was forced to stay behind, he asks them before they can't hear him anymore to find the true about the Lord High Priest death, after reuniting with Trode and Medea and learning that the next Lord High Priest was going to be revealed in the holy island in the center of the world named Neos they made their way towards Neos.
Inside Neos they found Marcello giving a speech to his belief, when he notices the group of heroes he orders his man to capture them but the soul of the son of Empyrea help them escape and place them where Marcello gave his speech which now with no option left Marcello challenge them to a fight, they defeat him but unfortunately doing so made Marcello weaker which Rhapthorne uses this opportunity to finally control his body, now in control he tells them that it was Marcello who killed the Lord High Priest and now that the seal is broken he can finally return to his body, Marcello begins to fly and launch the staff of Trodain on the Goddess statue of Neos which was the place where his body have been placed(kind of ironic that a lot of people came here to make prayers to the place where an evil threat has been placed long ago) along with his base which killed almost everybody inside Neos this day.
Our group of heroes regains consciousness and saw Marcello hanging of what was left of the place where the speech has been said, he tried to lift himself up but he made a wrong maneuver but unfortunately for him Angelo save him from falling to his death however Marcello didn't want to be saved by him and manage to make Angelo's hold on his left arm loose but somehow (despite physics) Angelo was able to grab Marcello's left hand again and manage to pull him back to safety, Marcello tells to them that if they haven't come and ruin his plans he would have the power of Rhapthorne at his disposal(in case you haven't figure it by now Marcello is basically Vegeta in the Buu saga when he acquired the staff and yeah as if the Lord of Darkness would have authorized you to do that to him, it's not like he is the evil threat that have tried to conquer this world long ago… oh wait) , despite his wounds Marcello left the place without anyone interfering although Jessica tried to get good reasons to Angelo never to been seen again.(unless you play the 3ds version)
Now our Eight and his friends decide to rest in the inn of Argonia for the day because it's the place that is the closest to Rhapthorne's base (every Dragon Quest VIII fans knows why I placed them here), in the night however Eight and his friends have a dream about a platform on top of a mountain in the west of Argonia, curious about this they fly towards it( the world can wait for a post game side quest that I decide to get earlier in the story of Dragon Quest VIII, it's not like Rhapthorne is going to do something while we do that), on the platform they found the mysterious symbol they saw in their dreams and when Eight touch it they are transported to an unknown location which look like a cave system, the group explore the cave system and at the end of it they found out a big pair of doors but no matter what Eight did the door doesn't seem to open, that is until Munchie left Eight's pocket and when his nose touch the gates a reaction occurred and the doors open in front of them which Munchie make a run when it did, Eight and his friends tried to follow him but loose him from their sight but then a mysterious person who looked like a human but have red pointy ears on the high part greets them and said to them his name which was Chen Mui and tells them he will be their guide here.
Upon entering the village Chen Mui tells them the name of the village which was the Dragovian Sanctuary and the citizens that lived here where Dragovians which was a species capable to transform themselves to dragons but he soon see that the village is too quiet so him and the others made their to a place named the Council of Elders by Chen Mui, inside he learn by the other Dragovians that the Lord of the Dragovians which was the name of the leader here as used a ritual on himself to be able to remain in dragon form, however unknown to him and the others at the time to maintain it the Lord of the Dragovians was slowly absorbing the life force of the other Dragovians here, they tried to stop it but the Lord of the Dragovians his now unable to reason with because he also became violent, the Elders are now hopeless but Chen Mui asks Eight and the others to help them before it's too late, they accept and Chen Mui opens a gate for them to a path named the Heavenly Dais however he tells them he can't come with them but tells them that this path will lead them to where the Lord of the Dragovians is right now.
The group finds Munchie again here, they explore the place and at the end of the Heavenly Dais they found a huge gate which Eight and inside the y can now see the Lord of the Dragovians, no conversation was possible in this current state so with no option left a battle was engaged, after a long fight they manage to beat him which make the Lord of the Dragovians return to his normal form, the Lord of the Dragovians thanks them and upon seeing Eight he can't believe his eyes but he fells that Eight has still not regains his memory and also feel that Chen Mui was near so he asks him to reveal himself to him, just after that is said Munchie left Eight's pocket again and transform to none other than Chen Mui himself, Chen Mui look at the group and tells to Eight that he is actually his Grandfather and that his mother named Xia have fallen in love with a human from their world and tells him that he will say the rest to him later at his house and with that said the Lord of the Dragovians uses his powers to warp them back to Chen Mui house.
Inside the house Chen Mui tells to Eight and the group the story of Eight via an object that Light said it was a book which revealed to him that his father that died after he tried to make his way here who was named Eltrio was a prince of Argonia and the older brother of Clavius which mean Eight was a prince of Argonia and will have been the one to marry Medea if his father as ruled other instead, Chen Mui gave the proof of his love which was a ring with Argon heart on it, soon after the news of Eltrio's death Xia begins to died of sorrow and learn that she was pregnant, the other Dragovians tried to reason with her but she was determined to keep him, months later she gave birth to Eight but she wasn't able to recover from child birth and died soon after, for eight Cold Times Eight lived with them until they found a solution, the Lord of the Dragovians used his power to cast a spell sealed Eight's memory from here before he left and this spell was like a curse so now all of them know why Eight was the only one that survived the spell of thorns in Trodain and Dhoulmagus use it again directly on them before their second battle with him, but because Chen Mui feared for the safety of his son he asks the Lord of the Dragovians to follow him in this unknown world, the Lord of the Dragovians accept but he tells him that he will need to hide his true identity to the boy which Chen Mui gladly accept thus Munchie was born.
With all this new information about Eight's past, the group leaves the Dragovian Sanctuary and return where they left Trode and Medea. (yes I know for that normally they both come with the rest of the group but a change like that make the story better in my opinion)
Now there is only one thing to do so with the help of Empyrea's son they land inside Rhapthorne's base which they explore every path and slowly but surely made their way down until they found a huge pair of doors, they feel the evil in the air from the other side which confirms that they are close to Rhapthorne, Eight opens the door and runs forward until they see Rhapthorne for the first time (ok second real talk but when I finally saw him for the first time in my second copy I couldn't stop laughing for two minutes… huh? Did I hear every person that doesn't what he looks like? Well he is a demon with a baby face and his lower body glow like a firefly, up until this point you were scared of what he has done and then you see this), after he explains his plan to reign over the World of Light and the World of Darkness in happiness and challenge Eight and his friends to a fight, the fight is the toughest the group did so far but eventually they manage to defeat him and make him explode leaving only a puddle of yellow made from his yellow part.
But just after they have defeated him Rhapthorne's base begins to crumble itself so with our group of heroes made their way outside with battle two monsters and a statue that looks like them, when they are outside the big part ruins of Rhapthorne's base comes to life by itself and challenge them to a fight, after defeating it they used the Godbird's soulstone to fly away from the danger, but to their horror they saw that they didn't have killed Rhapthorne and the results of his base crumble was because he has transform to its true form( which now look threatening), he then opens two portals to the World of Darkness where his flying monsters and the rest of monsters from his world, the portals closed after everyone passed but unfortunately for Rhapthorne Empyrea use the second one to get back in the World of Light and save the group from falling to their death because they have been attacked by Rhapthorne's minions in their bird form, when the group of heroes are far enough Rhapthorne creates a barrier around him to protect him from any harm.
With Empyrea's help the group of heroes land near the stone arch, she gives them an object named the Echo Flute to be able to detect the souls of the seven sages which was changed into a orb of different color each because to break Rhapthorne's barrier they need their help, so while she search for another object that our group of heroes will need for the battle, our group has new mission before the final battle: find the place where every heir died( you know it's an rpg when you got to a go on a fetch quest and since it's the work of Akira Toriyama you got to have seven of them like the Dragon Balls and it's this reason that made me create the golden orb from my story in addition of the others from Dragon Quest XI because like in it they are the same color), so our group of heroes made their way back to Farebury and found the Violet orb in the remains of Rylus's home, the Blue orb was found in front of the statue at the Tower of Alexandria, the Golden orb was found in Abbot Francisco's room at Maella Abbey, the Yellow orb was found in the room of Mr Golding's house in Baccarat, the Green orb was found outside of Dominico's mansion in Arcadia, the Red orb was found behind the remains of Martha's house and the Silver orb was found in the place where they save the Lord High Priest from Leopold in the island of Savella.
Our group returns to the stone arch to tell Empyrea that they found all the orbs, she thanks them for their help and presents them the object they need and found out to their horror that it was the staff of Trodain, Trode tried to warn her about it but Empyrea that it was because of her help that the seven sages create this staff with her instruction which was named the Godbird Scepter and since the soul of Rhapthorne is free from it now it only hold the souls of the seven sages thanks to their help with the form, she then uses her magic to gave a fragment to each of the group, now with every they need they fly toward Rhapthorne with the help of Empyrea until they summon the seven souls while resisting Rhapthorne's assault which they manage to did and now the final battle can begin.
This battle is the hardest that the group of heroes fought, each blow they take could have been the end of their life but with their power combine Eight, Yangus, Morrie, Angelo, Red and Jessica manage to kill Rhapthorne for good, when that is done Empyrea make her way with them on her back toward Trodain where Trode and Medea wait for them, upon their arrival Trode thanks them all for what they did Empyrea having done what she destined to do here on this world begins to prepare to fly where she will be needed next, Trode thanks her and tells her to take but realizing that he is still in the form of the monster asks her why he was still like that to which Empyrea respond that it will only take before everything will be back to normal and said to them that she isn't a god nor that her name is Empyrea and tells them that her real name was Ramia before leaving them with the soul of her son following her.
Several Bright Circle cycle later Eight has been promoted the head of the guards for his actions (really? A measly promotion like that this dude has literally saves your kingdom and its citizens, your daughter and you and you give him only that Trode? Shame on you!) on the journey Medea has reached her eighteen birthday and today was the day where she was going to Savella Cathedral to get married with Charmles the next day and Eight has been assigned to make her travel safe but Medea has seen how he was really and despite that she was sad about it she will do it to complete the wish from her ancestor, the travel has been safe on the ferry and when they all arrived they have a conversation with Charmles which only made Medea remembers what she was going to live with for the rest of her life but the worst part was that Eight and all the friends they meet on the journey wasn't allow to see the marriage.
At night in one of the of the inn located near Savella Cathedral, Angelo tells to Eight that despite everything that have happened since they saw Charmles the last time he still doesn't have change, Angelo cannot believe that Medea was going to marry someone but then he remembers the ring that Eight got as a memento to his father and asks him to show it to Clavius because everyone on the team except Trode has seen the relation between Eight and Medea, Eight had feelings toward Medea before this journey and everyone else except Eight and Trode has seen that Medea has the same feelings toward him, so with Angelo's advice he made his way toward Clavius and have a meeting with him, after he explains to him the situation Clavius tells him that it's too late to do anything about the situation so with a heavy heart Eight made his way back toward the inn to sleep.
The next he woke up thanks to the help of Yangus and together with his friends they decide to stop this marriage, after Yangus knocks the guard to unconsciousness in front of the door of Savella Cathedral he opens the door and jog slightly with determination in his eyes only to find that Medea has not arrived yet, Charmles upon seeing him asks the guards to get rid of him but Clavius made a change in his mind tells them to stop and explain the situation to his son however his son tells him that despite what he said he was the one who should marry Medea but his father counters him by showing him the Argon heart he was supposed to give him and asks two guard to make Charmles unable to move, the doors of the cathedral to show Trode and his daughter Medea which has her eyes closed but she fells the surprise of her father upon seeing Eight and it only take her a second to see what her father saw, she cannot believe it that in front of her was the man of her dreams, the vows are exchange between them in front of the new Lord High Priest which was Rolo (yeah he survived the guards from Purgatory Island) and they live happily ever after which bring the vision to an end.
Our group of dinosaurs upon their eyes and saw that the Night Circle was still in the sky, Sky decide to be the first to talk and said to the others.
Sky: "This was the story of the Hero number nine!"
Light: "This story shows family in the sense about th motive of a father and the problematic of their child and their plight!"
Ducky: "That was a great love story! I'm glad she was able to marry the one she love and still able to do the promise of her ancestor!"
Each family made their toward their respective nest to sleep the rest of the night, Light was sleeping with Littlefoot's family in their nest, Saphir was sleeping with Ruby's families not far since it was too late to go back to the Secret Caverns with Chomper and Tyra sleeping with them, Strike was sleeping with Cera at her parent's nest, Sky was sleeping with Petrie's family at their nest which Guido was already sleeping in since he lived with them ever since the day they found him and Aqua was sleeping with Ducky's family at their pond, with that done it bring an end to this day.
If you are willing to share your experience of Dragon Quest to me in a private message or a review please do not be afraid to do it because it will be my pleasure to read them.
What was the first time you heard or saw this series? What was the first game you played (main series)? And which one is your favorite? This is the questions I will be glad to read.
Next Time on The Land Before Time : Journey to save The Great Valley Light informed them that to get to Yggdrasil the group of seven, their parents, their boyfriends or girlfriends and their friends minus Hyp, Nod, Mutt, Guido, Chrono & Stella need to get two other items which the group of seven and their parents known from the Red Orb's vision because it was changed to make it more difficult : now the seven legendary orbs only unlock the access to it and to make the path they will need to go to Light's world for a month which equal two months here to find the legendary bird that they saw in the Yellow Orb's vision and in the Silver Orb's vision which was know with two names : Ramia and Empyrea.
This legendary bird has the power to cross dimensions and travel through time itself so Light need to ask her to bring them back to just before Alef's adventure to find and duplicate the two items from the two wise old men's which the first one was a shiny stone like the dinosaurs would called it named the Sunstone which was a stone that shines bright like the Bright Circle and the second one was a staff with a shiny blue stone at the tip named the Staff of Rain that has the power to summon skywater and them made their way to the place where Alef and Arusu brought them for Light to be able to transform them into a third object which was again the same thing Alef and Arusu uses to get to the island of Dragon Lord and Zoma which was named the Rainbow Drop and return to their world.
The next day with the seven legendary orbs and the Rainbow Drop in their hands after returning to their world they will made their way to Yggdrasil but it will not be this easy, at the platform the group of seven along with their parents, their boyfriends or girlfriends and their friends along with Chrono, Stella, Light, Saphir, Sky and Aqua will meet two old enemies without their leader blocking the path and more old enemies at the heart of Yggdrasil itself.
Will changes happen to their bodies like how the humans did when they enter their world? Will they adapt to our way of living back in medieval time like it is portrayed in the games and do the impossible for them: eat meat (also there will be a funny scene with the Leaf Eaters eating chicken eggs the next day after their first day in Light's and his friends world with an explanation behind) How Him and his men's were able to get here before the seven courageous ones? Nobody knows for now but the name of Him will be revealed, until next time folks!