Around this time, you may get a mission that involves you helping Ritz, Shara and two of their clan against a rockbeast, a bomb and an antlion. Since Clan Ritz has relatively little in the way of magical attack (only Ritz and a summoner can help) against the turtle, which has heavy resistance to physical attacks, they need the help.
You can also, in the pre-battle negotiations(when you encounter a roaming person for a mission you're asked a yes/no question, which typically is either demanding your surrender or trying to pay their way out of trouble, but sometimes you can trade items), trade a blue flower to Ritz for an Almighty anti-law, which is able to eliminate any and all laws. Naturally, you may be hesitant to use that given its rarity and power.
After winning, Ritz thanks Marche. Marche is about to ask Ritz about going home, but backs out and wonders if he'll have to fight his friends before this is over. The fact that nothing happened is to be expected, considering that this is a side mission with no bearing on the main plot.
Back to the main story, Marche returns to the pub, and overhears conversation between the Hunter, Sage and Blue Mage about how "Audience Day" is coming up. Anyone with the right connections, or failing that, a valuable gift can request an audience with the prince (who apparently doesn't ask who is looking for an audience with him), and the latter is why it's nicknamed "Gift Day" in universe.
Marche and Montblanc then set about the task of making something good enough to get Mewt's attention, and call upon Nono for the job. They need some materials first, and they take on a job to go into the Materiwood to harvest Materite.
Marche gets to the Materiwood, and, true to form, some enemies show up, having been tipped off by Doned. Apparently, they aren't interested in Marche's bounty, but want to steal his Materite.
After Marche defeats the would-be thieves, who largely consist of viera and aren't too hard (apart from the White Mage reviving people with Full-Life), Doned arrives and snatches the Materite, noting that Marche must be planning on using it to make 'a magic salad shooter' or 'a Murasumthin''. Unfortunately, Doned also realizes what Marche is trying to accomplish by getting in to see Mewt, and so destroys the Materite to stymie his efforts. Doned says he'll lose everything he has if the world goes back to the way he was, and runs off before Marche can give a rebuttal. This seems to be going similarly to Marche's other encounters, with his opponents making their arguments and him initially being unable to counter them.
Bervenia Palace then appears, but unlike the others, it appears on the island in the middle of the river, at the west end of the map, just north of the middle of the map, and you don't get to choose where to place it.
Once you head there, the mission begins automatically. Marche is worried about essentially going up to the palace as a fugitive, and wonders if he should go in disguise. Montblanc reassures him that hardly anyone knows his face, and Marche's mood improves, as he notes that Nono was able to make an excellent "Lugaborg" in spite of Doned wrecking most of his Materite. There are quite a few subtle shout outs to other Final Fantasy games; for example, the Red Wings missions involve you fighting fiends based on the Four Elemental Fiends of the original game (even if Kraken is a flan, of all things).
Marche and Montblanc sit in a waiting room, and wonder why Mewt hasn't seen them yet. Montblanc suspects that something went wrong during an audience, or Marche's cover has been blown, just as guards arrive.
The guards mention that they "received a tip from a concerned citizen," and Marche immediately realizes that it's Doned again. I've noticed that whenever a supposedly "anonymous" individual gives a hint to the authorities in works of fiction, it's relatively easy for a viewer, if not the one being tattled on, to tell who did it. Of course, Doned's typical modus operandi for interfering with Marche does make him somewhat predictable, as you will see in the next installment.
Marche fights off the guards, but then another wave comes, one that he can't defeat himself. But then, help arrives from an unexpected source, Babus, who freezes time and stops all the guards, which is something he could never do in combat. Babus, while reluctant to work with Marche, has started to consider that what he's saying is true, and that he wants to understand more about the other world Marche is talking about.
Babus takes Marche to the throne room. Mewt is angry that Babus decided to bring Marche there, and accuses him of betraying him. He's naturally unwilling to hear anything Babus says about the world, saying he doesn't understand. As stuck-up as Babus can be sometimes, I honestly feel bad for him at times like this; Mewt is not an easy employer.
Babus concedes he doesn't understand, and says that Marche does, which is why he brought him. Mewt says that Marche should go back by himself, but Marche says that's not possible, and concedes a part of him wanted to stay here. Mewt, however, reminds Marche of how bad his life will be if he goes back, especially without his mother.
As if on cue, Remedi appears, embracing Mewt and shooting down Marche's attempts to convince him that she's not his real mother. She then disappears with Mewt, and Llednar arrives. Babus orders Llednar to stand aside, since he should be a retainer for the prince, but Llednar refuses. Marche says that he'll handle things here, and tells Babus to go after Mewt. Babus agrees, saying that he's sent for Cid.
The next battle is, similar to the one against Exodus and Babus, not like any other that you've seen. An entirely new objective, "Survive!" appears, and you must hold out for about five turns against Llednar. It was somewhat tricky when I was first doing this, especially since if Llednar catches up with you, he can easily kill you with Omega, which he now can use without Cid's interference.
Before long, Cid arrives and Llednar faced with the one person who can interfere with him, beats a retreat.
Marche explains the situation to Cid, and asks about who Llednar is, saying that he seems to be another of Mewt's servants, but his role is different from Babus'. Cid simply says "He's Mewt", then clarifies that he's Mewt's the darkest parts of Mewt, and, not unlike the Totemas, protects the Crystals and Mewt. Cid feels responsible for essentially creating Llednar, since he became Mewt's protector after he left the palace.
While Cid goes off in search of Mewt, Marche says he'll have to find Doned and Ritz. He remarks that he'll have to convince them to go along with returning the world to normal, but he'll also have to convince himself as well.
Next Installment: Marche searches for Mewt while tying up loose ends with Ritz and Doned.
