Quesada's Swan

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Next morning, a foggy morning...

Eleanor comes over, and confesses her mission by the Shepherd. So she almost betrayed everyone! Usually in Tales games, there's a spy or a traitor in the party, lucky this game finally subverts that trope!

She bows in apology.

Eleanor: "However, I no longer intend on following the Abbey's orders." Oh my god!

But she still thinks the Shepherd means well about the world he's bringing up, one of "peace." But she doesn't agree with his means to get there.

She smiles at Kamoana.

Eleanor: "I will help you protect the therions."

Eleanor: "Until I discover the answer I seek. I want to live a life that I don't have to be ashamed of, and to do that, I have to learn the truth for myself."

Rokurou laughs warmly.

Rokurou: "So you live by your emotions after all."
Eizen: "Maybe you've found your own creed."
Magilou: "Welcome to our wonderful world of wickedness!" Better than Disney's Wonderful World!

Eleanor: "To act in opposition of one's feelings is to act opposed to reason!" She blushes as she says this.

Velvet: "You're really not making things simple, aren't you?"
Laphicet: "After all, she's my vessel."

Oh Rokurou, your dang smile...

---

Our next move: to find another therion. Magilou suggests having Eleanor to "swipe" Abbey knowledge.

Velvet thinks Eleanor's not spy material.

Laphicet wants to check Velvet's old cell.

More skits...

First skit: Eleanor apologizes again for deceving Laphicet, but he somehow knew she was leading him there. She's a very bad spy...when he knows she's doing something funny, she sweats. Velvet knew it from the very beginning.

Laphicet calls her guilt a good quality, since it shows her honesty.

A wild Bienfu appears! And gets rejected.

Bienfu: "Madam Eleanor is a meaniehead!"

Second: Laphicet's amazed at our exploration efforts thus far!

Eizen points out an uncharted island: Terror Island.

Third skit: Rokurou asks Bienfu who or what Magilou actually is. Eleanor guesses she's an exorcist, but she "[never] saw her name in the roster." Probably Magilou or her long name, is an alias.

Bienfu confirms she's a witch. Now Bienfu tells about her cauldron.

The twist: She made "strawberry jam" in her cauldron!

But she used wine, soy sauce, and liquor instead of pectin and sugar!

Eleanor calls it strawberry soup. Then Velvet steps in and mentions "strawberry soup" as not having strawberries. Just urchins and abalone.

So Magilou's a bit of the "lethal chef" in this Tales game.

---

Fourth: The History of Fragrant Wood.

Eleanor and Laphicet mention Prince Percival's trademark fragrant wood perfume.

And Eleanor throws in another Tales reference with "phandaria trees."

Laphicet asks if the three women share the same perfume because they smell the same. It's the soap.

Laphicet then asks if only the royal family can use fragrant wood. Only a few scents are for royal family only. The regulations on that are a bit lax...

Laphicet asks why not many people use perfume. Eleanor asks Eizen why they don't. Then Eizen explains about Midgand's hygiene history. Magilou's smiling. She knows it.

Eizen's a real history buff, with Rokurou pitching in some.

Eizen continues about the history of perfume, where now only the rich have it as a sign of their wealth. For a time...then daemonblight or malevolence broke out. And again perfumes were for rich people only.

Eleanor points out the connections between fragrant woods and plagues in history.

Magilou: "To cover up about the truth of malevolence, the powers that be spread rumors of [daemonblight]...Continuing their [...] tradition of covering up one stink with another."

Laphicet prefers soap better after hearing the troubled history of fragrant woods.

Fifth skit: Bienfu's amazed about the hideout! Laphicet's sad, knowing of the history behind the hideout.

Rokurou's happy about being in Titania now that it's their "secret fort [he] always dreamed of."

Magilou mentions a guard eating her marrons glaces, or candied chestnuts.

Eizen gets serious and thinks of improving the hideout "to suit the crew's needs." I love that idea!

Rokurou suggets smoke screen generators. Laphicet suggests something like a fire extinguisher. But water artes are best, and he has those...

Eizen: "What we really need are some secret underground tunnels."

Velvet thinks two docks is enough.

Eizen: "No enemy is going to attack without taking both docks into consideration. That's why we need underground tunnels before anything else."

Velvet asks where those tunnels would go.

Eizen thinks of digging under the sea. Lol, oh Eizen.

Eizen: "If it means getting my tunnels, I'll build an island too."

Two of the three women really don't get Eizen's tunnel idea. Lol...Rokurou's with him when it comes to impossible dreams. All the boys sigh...