The other man down here asks if we're feeling all right, says it was a surprise when they found us, and tells us we'd have been in trouble if we'd drifted out toward the ocean still clinging to that wood. Also that after dark, it gets colder and there are more beasts, so it's a good thing they came by when they did.
I climb the stairs.
Baroque Ship
On the deck, I talk to a man who tells me the deck is off-limits to unauthorized personnel. Another man is being allowed to conduct business aboard the ship. I buy Jonas's Parasol (ATK +41) for Polka, the Hoolurge Gun (ATK +45) for Beat, a fine Leather Jacket (DEF +30, Guard against enemy's critical hits) for Frederic (technically, any of the four could wear it, but the next item has more DEF, and he's the only one who can't wear it) and three sets of Sparkling Clothes (DEF +37) which are described as "very gaudy" and "hard to look at". I equip stuff.
I go through the upper left door into the Drawing Room, where I look at a barrel full of liquor. Polka says she feels dizzy just smelling it. We get a Hell Mustard from it, however.
Downstairs from the Deck, I find a barrel of "Samba", which Polka thinks sounds like a fun drink. We get a Bubble Straw from it. Also in this hallway is a man who tells us that the slightest mistake can lead to an accident, and they can't afford any carelessness on this ship.
The room to the right is a bedroom. The man inside is glad that none of us have any major injuries, especially as they don't have extensive medical supplies. There's a miniature fountain in back, and a bookcase with a Score Piece between the books.
At the other end of the hallway is a guest room where Beat is watching a large snow... um... not globe, but the same idea. There's a castle inside that Polka doesn't recognize. Beat doesn't know where the ship is from, and the room is like a hotel room. The Ritardando fishing boats are nothing like this.
I go back to the deck and enter the other drawing room, where something in back is making bubbles of different colors. Opposite the door is a model of a ship; Polka wonders if it's of the one they're on. I climb the stairs up to the stern. A man tells us that gazing into the river at night makes him feel like he's sinking into its depths. He wonders who awaits in that deep darkness, and what is drawing him to it. Another man asks if we're getting hungry, and offers to make his famous hungry-sailor rice. Now I head fore to the bow.
Frederic is there. Polka repeats Frederic's belief that it's all his dream. She tells him good evening, and asks if he hasn't awakened from his dream yet. She then giggles. He greets her and asks if she's having trouble sleeping. She says she's still worried about the others. Frederic tells her there was something he said to her before, about everything in the world slowly fading away and gradually losing its color. However, he's finding the reverse happening here. She asks what he means. He compares how he saw things when he first came here to now, and finds things more vivid, more clear. He wonders if that's the proof he sought, and if it means that the world he believes to be a dream is slowly becoming a reality, or if it proves that he's slipping away, and fading at a greater rate than the world. Polka doesn't know what to say at this. Frederic finds himself wondering whether the others are all right. By contrast, he wouldn't have cared not long ago, as it was just a dream, but now he's genuinely concerned. He feels a sense of solidarity, a connection with the people of this world. Polka thinks that's probably normal, given that they've spent time together. Frederic relates that before he got ill, everything around seemed meaningless, but since then, even little things have begun to shine: the sound of crackling wood in a fireplace; the smell of a campfire; leaves floating down a stream; the sound of falling snow. He thinks it might have been because he was fading rapidly, approaching death, just as Emilia did. Polka questioningly repeats the name. Frederic explains that she was his sister, who was fourteen, the same age as Polka, when she passed away from tuberculosis. Polka repeats a bit of this information, and sees. He wonders how disheartening it was for Emilia to accept this. She must have had hopes and dreams. He asks why God allows things like that to happen to good people, taking away her chance to live. Polka does find it sad, but points out that everyone dies eventually, but for some people, like Emilia and her, it happens a bit earlier. She also points out that Emilia lives on, in a way: inside Frederic's heart, in the music his heart creates, and inside all the people whose hearts are moved by his music. In this way, she will never really die, touching the hearts of every generation to come, through her brother's melodies. Polka thinks that's wonderful, and asks him if he needs more proof that she's alive than that thought. Rather than answer that, he says that what he's with her, he feels like he's talking to Emilia, and feels like Emilia is telling him the same things. He passes Polka, heading aft, but turns and thanks her for teaching him something very important.
She quietly says of Frederic as he leaves, but as though to Frederic, that there's a mysterious appeal about him. (You mean, the fact that he's a reasonably nice guy?) And her way of thinking has changed quite a bit since she met him. She had been dwelling on the past and ignoring the future, because thinking about the future is too painful when you know you're going to die soon. She recalls him telling her that this whole world was his dream; she thought he was teasing her, but now, she thinks it's a beautiful idea, and realizes that by believing in him, it's the same as believing in the future. It's especially true for someone like her, who can use magic. knowing him helps her be more positive about the future, and what she needs to do. She feels she should be thanking him for teaching her something very important.
Suddenly, the ship shakes, knocking Polka to her knees! She wonders what it was.
(Field NO. 23: The Ultimate Treasure)
I have her investigate a box, which contains a Piercing Shell (ATK +5, an accessory for Beat), and a barrel, which contains another Score Piece. I then talk to people and check everywhere I can before heading aft up the stairs.
Polka finds Frederic, Beat, and Crescendo looking over the railing. Crescendo lets out a "damn it, of all times for this to happen!" For next to his own ship is a pirate vessel. Beat asks what it is, noting that it's big. Crescendo says it's a pirate ship. They appear out of nowhere sometimes, and attack vessels that travel up the river. They sneak up and ram their target. Frederic says it's terrible. Polka thinks there might be something they can do, as repayment for helping them. Frederic agrees, but figures they'd better move quickly or they'll be boarded. Crescendo says it's far too dangerous, as even the pirate underlings are very strong. Beat cheerily says that's no way for a captain to talk, and tells him not to worry, but to leave it to them. Just then, Salsa sleepily arrives, asking what the fuss is, if something is happening, and says she's still really sleepy. Spying the jolly roger, she gets really excited, knowing they have a captain with an eye patch and a hook... and a lot of treasure. Salsa rushes over to it, and Beat follows. Polka says to wait, but it's too late, and has to follow, as well. Frederic tells Crescendo that they'll keep the pirates occupied, and that he should try to pull away to keep them from boarding. (Yes, try, Crescendo.) Crescendo says he'll do everything he can. Frederic excuses himself to board the ship as well.
Now we're on the deck of the Pirate Ship Dolce. Sweet name.
Dolce: sweet, gentle.
Totally like a pirate. Anyway, there's a man here that I can speak to should I wish to go back to the Baroque ship. I, however, save and go downstairs.
Pirate Ship Dolce
The first enemy is a couple of Raider Pirates. They have Sea Knuckle and Cruel Cutlass as special moves. I enter the room to the left and fight another pair of them.
Salsa
- Lv. 20
- 6032 HP
- ATK: 95
- DEF: 104
- MAG: 49
- SPD: 86
Polka
- Lv. 22
- 6102 HP
- ATK: 118
- DEF: 107
- MAG: 120
- SPD: 73
I jump down a hole at the other end of the room and open a chest with Wormwood in it. Wormwood is a single-target item that poisons its target. I drop down, exit the room, fight another three Raiding Pirates, then swap Polka for Beat. I then enter the room across from the one we were in. There's a bookcase with such books as "Training for First-time Pirates", "This Year's 100 Best Eye Patches", and "We are Pirates - Volume 153". "That one sounds fun," muses Polka.
Upstairs from that room is another cabin. No interactive objects or enemies here, so I just leave. I proceed down the hall.
Polka trips, and a curious snail-shaped seashell falls out. Frederic asks if she's all right, and extends a hand. Salsa picks up the shell and asks what it is, thinking it looks like a weird rock. Beat asks why she's carrying it around. Polka gets up, brushes herself off, and explains that she doesn't remember how long she's had it. Her mother told her she was carrying it around at four. She told her to throw it away, and but she wouldn't listen. But she said it was a gift from someone she loved, and would never throw it away. Salsa asks if she had a boyfriend when she was four, and says she was really precocious. Polka thinks the stone feels very important to her, and has never been able to throw it away. Salsa exudes hearts, talking about the distant memories of a fleeting love, calling it incredibly romantic. Beat just wants to get going.
I enter the door to the left at the end, and fight the pirates there.
Beat
- Lv. 22
- 6453 HP
- ATK: 135
- DEF: 107
- MAG: 53
- SPD: 74
The chest in this room has a Very Odd Chocolate. This is a single-target item that decreases the target's attack power by 10%. I leave and cross the hall — fighting more pirates on the way — and enter another room.
This room has Warrior Pirates within, which are harder, so I make sure to do a Back Attack. They can attack with Splintering Soul ("And the devil be dunned for the rest!"), and I don't get to see anything else here, as I defeat them before they decide to do anything. Crates and barrels block off the right side of this room, which is too bad, because I see a chest over there. I leave through the other door. I then head down this hall, fighting more pirates...
Frederic
- Lv. 22
- 6366 HP
- ATK: 119
- DEF: 104
- MAG: 106
- SPD: 74
...to find a chest with Floral Powder in it. (Hey, pirates know how good this stuff is!) I enter the room across from the room I was in, fight a Warrior and Raiding Pirate together, and proceed to the back, where there's a chest with a Glowing Tail inside. I take a slight detour to fight pirates down the hall, and then go back up the hall to fight more and also enter the first door on the right, where there are more Warrior Pirates and stairs down.
In this room is a skull mark which Polka thinks looks cute. More importantly, there's a Save Point, which I save at.
In the hall, I fight more pirates. It's here that I find out that both kinds of pirates also have Rising Power, which I guess is a buff of some sort. I go to the room across from the one I was in and head to the back to find a chest with a Goddess Bouquet in it. This is an all-party recovery from KO item.
Back in the hall, I fight more pirates...
Salsa
- Lv. 21
- 6349 HP
- ATK: 99
- DEF: 107
- MAG: 51
- SPD: 90
...and enter a door on the left to find Captive Conga. He's been captured, and wants out of there. We apparently agree to help him out if he'll play a session. We seem to not have the right score piece to get A Rank, but we can S-Rank it for a Dark Brooch, which causes the wearer to stand in darkness and cast it around, with all that entails. I cross the hall and go up the stairs in the room there. After fighting more pirates, I find a chest with Mercy Breath (ATK +56) inside, a chakram for Salsa. It's an improvement over Laricus, as the Laricus isn't even that powerful when used against Dark enemies. I drop down the hole in this room.
I enter the hallway from this room, fight more pirates...
Beat
- Lv. 23
- 6774 HP
- ATK: 139
- DEF: 110
- MAG: 55
- SPD: 77
...swap Beat for Polka, and head into another room where more pirates await.
Frederic
- Lv. 23
- 6688 HP
- ATK: 123
- DEF: 107
- MAG: 111
- SPD: 77
I spend some time looking for a room on the right with a hole to jump down...
Polka
- Lv. 23
- 6411 HP
- ATK: 122
- DEF: 110
- MAG: 125
- SPD: 76
Salsa
- Lv. 22
- 6673 HP
- ATK: 144
- DEF: 110
- MAG: 53
- SPD: 94
Okay! I drop down the hole, open a chest with Harmonic Wand (ATK +47) inside, for Frederic, then drop down and fight more pirates. In the room across the hall from the one I was in, there's a chest between two bunk beds. I open it for a Sailor Uniform, and equip it to Polka.
She is the one who should be laughing in the end, because she has the sailor suit. ← This is her conclusion.
I leave, head... mrf... north and enter the first door on the right. After a fight, I open a chest for a Score Piece. Across the hall is a room containing Fish Incense.
I leave and head farther "north"...
Frederic
- Lv. 24
- 7018 HP
- ATK: 139
- DEF: 110
- MAG: 116
- SPD: 80
...and gain Spirits Pathway from that fight. Spirits Pathway is like Sacred Signature, but presumably restores more HP. I go to the room to the "north" of the previous room, collect another Goddess Bouquet, leave, and head back south...
Salsa
- Lv. 23
- 7006 HP
- ATK: 148
- DEF: 113
- MAG: 55
- SPD: 98
...go back to the previous room, and climb the stairs. I go to the other end of the room...
Polka
- Lv. 24
- 6726 HP
- ATK: 126
- DEF: 127
- MAG: 130
- SPD: 79
...climb those stairs, jump down a hole that's over another hole (passing through the room Captive Conga is still in), and land near a chest with a Pirate Key in it. I save, exit, cross the hallway, and enter a room across from that one. The chest between the bunks here contains Floral Powder. I leave, and go back to the back to unlock a locked door.
The hallway back here has a Save Point, so I stock the Goddess Bouquets and some of my Angel Trumpets in my Item Set, then Save and Quit.
Next time: La Dolce beat-a!
