Crash landing in Tethe'alla to Mizuho.





So after crash landing in the Fooji Mountains because fuel (i.e. mana) is waning in Tethe'alla, they talk a bit. Both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla have a Church of Martel and a Holy Ground of Kharlan, where a peace treaty was signed between two warring countries long long ago (supposedly stopped by the legendary hero Mithos, I think. I'm foggy on the details.). So they set off to Meltokio, the capital (?) of Tethe'alla or whatever. Along the way there's a skit in which Lloyd asks Sheena what the Chosen of Tethe'alla is like. "An idiot". Yey.

Yey! New world! Exploring! I always like to explore all over first. And end up getting lost some. ...Hmm. I'm beginning to see why it takes me so long to play through these games.

Upon arriving in Meltokio, Sheena leaves to say that she's off to report to her chief that she failed in assassinating the other Chosen. She lives in some secret ninja hamlet called Mizuho. She hands Lloyd a letter to give to the Meltokio king explaining things first. Entering the city, a dog comes up to angel!Colette and she kicks it. I ROFLed. Then some creepy troll like man that we've seen earlier in a projector in a Human Ranch passes by us. Apparently she amuses him too. Higher up in the city we come across Zelos, the Chosen of Tethe'alla, surrounded by his groupies.

Uh-yuh. Way before I played the game, I couldn't tell if Zelos was a guy or girl =D;; I mean, sure he never seemed to have a chest, but that's not a good indicator in telling if a character is male or female. I mean, he wears pink. And he has long curly hair. And he really reminded me of that one boyish chick from Sakura Wars voiced by Tanaka Mayumi (maybe because Fujishima Kousuke is the character designer for both several of the Tales games and the Sakura Taisen games).

Anyway, yeah, Zelos immediately begins hitting on Raine and Colette. His groupies are bitchy. He goes to take Colette's hand and she hurls him off into some bushes (omg SO seme XD). He regards Lloyd and Genis with contempt, because he has no interest in guys (*immediately slashes him with every other male in the game*), and off he goes with his hunnies.



hay Genis ur kuul. No, really. His snark amuses me.

Onto the castle. The king is ill so they won't allow an audience. But I have a letter and everything! So they check out the church next door. There, we meet a little girl named Presea. She needs to take a piece of sacred wood to be burned during the prayers to heal the king, but it's not needed in the church; it's needed in the castle. Lloyd sees it as a chance to get inside, so they stop Presea to ask if they can 'help' her with it so that they can sneak in side. She doesn't say much, but appears to relent and let them 'help' her. Although both Lloyd and Genis put together are still weaker than she is.

They manage to convince the guards to let them in. They leave the wood in the entrance hallway and go off to search the castle, looking for the king. At the entrance to the king's room, Lloyd karate chops the guard and they barge in. Such tact.



Zelos is there (coulda sworn he was headed off in the opposite direction when we came across him earlier.) They find out he's the Chosen. The king knows about Sylvarant. He takes Sheena's letter and makes Lloyd and co. wait in another room. While waiting, Raine reasons that it's very possible they might just killl off Colette anyway, since letter or not, she's a threat to Tethe'alla. The Pope enters and pretty much confirms Raine's worries, but Colette bitchsmacks the guards away. Zelos manages to work out a compromise; they'll be left alive, but Zelos will go with them to keep tabs on them, so that they don't go back to Sylvarant and try to continue regenerating their own world.

Anyway, Zelos makes arrangements for them to go to the Imperial Research Academy to see into Colette's condition. They'll drop off Presea along the way, since she lives on the same continent. Then they set off for Sybak, where the Research Academy is.

So now I have Zelos in my party. I've noticed that Zelos was a pretty popular character, and I could see why, as he's pretty funny. But I didn't like him at first anyway. Why? Well, he's basically Kratos's clone. He uses all the same equipment and learns all the same moves as Kratos. Everyone else has their own special set, but Zelos and Kratos are the same. It's as if the game is saying, "hay, Kratos was a bastard who turned traitor, so we'll give you someone who can do everything that he could, except we'll make him cool and funny and basically the personality opposite of him." It was too much of a replacement, especially for people who were using Kratos in their party a lot. ...so naturally the first thing I did when Zelos joined us was put him in my party and make him my lead character (because when he is all the chicks give you money and items when you talk to them). I uh, felt kind of bad for replacing Kratos like that, but I really like having two healers in my fighting party, and Kratos/Zelos usually always heals Lloyd quicker than Raine does, so I don't have to mess with items as much.

Tethe'alla Bridge. Zelos tells them that the bridge works on 3000 Exspheres, and everyone else is sort of "Uh, you do know that Exspheres are people, right?" Zelos keeps up a positive opinion somehow. The exspheres that they have in Tethe'alla came from the Renegades, it seems. There was one of those Cat people on the bridge along the way. Kind of like with the mini game in Izoold, this mini game just sort of pissed me off too, so I quit after the initial try 8D;;

The bridge is long. And annoying. And boring. There could have at least been some people along the way to talk to, but it's pretty much just straight running along the bridge.

Presea seems to hate Sybak, but Zelos reassures her that it'll be done quickly and they wander onto the Imperial Research Academy. There, they've been researching the Cruxis Crystals, which are an evolved form of Exsphere. They're like parasites; they latch on to their host (the human body) and feed off of them (or something) and without a key crest, the host becomes ill (although I guess they don't turn into monsters like Marble and Clara because those were regular Exspheres....?) Anyway, if they get a key crest, they may be able to get Colette to return to normal. So they check out the bazaar outside the building and find one among the junk. Lloyd says he'll try to work on the Key Crest for Colette, but it doesn't end up doing anything for the Vacant Colette. They ask Zelos to let them return to Sylvarant so that they can get Dirk to help, as the Key Crest likely needs a dwarf to do professional work, and although Zelos protests at first, since he's supposed to be keeping tabs on them so that they don't return to Sylvarant (and possibly resume their own world regeneration quest, thus causing trouble for Tethe'alla) he relents.

However, the conversation is overheard by some Papal Knights who accuse Zelos of treason and arrest the group. No 'innocent until proven guilty' here I see. They also perform some sort of test to check for some sort of biological processes or...something, (really it looks like the Knights just grabbed them), and it's discovered that Raine and Genis are half-elves. Lloyd is...surprised by this, as he seems to have missed all the earlier hints that they weren't full elves. But anyway, in Tethe'alla half-elves are at the very bottom of the caste system, and half-elves are executed without trial if they're involved in a crime. Wow, these people are anal. They take Raine and Genis off to be executed while Lloyd and the others are thrown in the basement of the Research Academy.

They're held in the basement with a researcher named Kate. Turns out that Presea and Kate know each other, as Presea is Kate's test subject. They're creating Cruxis Crystals within human bodies (in this case, Presea's), much like with the normal Exspheres in the human ranches. Kate's also a half-elf. Lloyd asks how they can treat people like that, and she throws the question back at him; how can people treat half-elves like they do? Sheena does her ninja-smoke thing and pops in out of nowhere, telling Kate that Lloyd isn't fron Tethe'alla, so he doesn't have the same prejudices as the people here do. She tells them that Raine and Genis are being taken to Meltokio, so Lloyd is ready to be off to save them. Kate doesn't trust Lloyd, since she doesn't believe a human would rescue half-elves, but he promises to come back. If he comes back, Kate promises to let Presea go, and so Kate shows them a secret passage out of the Academy.

Before they go, Zelos asks Kate who ordered her to create the Cruxis Crystal. She hesitates in answering, but Zelos figures out that it's the pope. Religious leaders are always corrupt, aren't they? So off they go to the Tethe'alla Bridge to catch up.

The Papal Knights and the Sage siblings are far ahead of them by the time they get there, and they force the draw bridge to go up so that Lloyd and crew can't reach the other side. Lloyd jumps anyway, and the rest follow...and almost kill themselves 8D but Sheena summons Undine to help them out. Once they're on the other side, they kick the guards' asses and free Raine and Genis. Genis asks the rest of the group how they feel about traveling with half-elves. Most don't care. Sheena is from the non-mainstream Mizuho anyway, so she's sort of an outcast in her own way. Zelos admits that it doesn't settle well with him, since that's the way he was raised, but since he's the Chosen, he's always been treated differently himself.

They figure they ought to get the Rheairds back at the Fooji mountains, since it's not like they can cross the bridge now anyway (can't they just lower it back down again? Or did it need to be repaired after rising just once?) so it's back off to the mountains.

They wonder how they're supposed to carry the Rheairds back down with them as they walk back to where they'd left them and find themselves trapped in a force field. It's Yuan! Doesn't he have anything better to do?



He's soon interrupted by the arrival of Pronyma, who's one of the 5 Cardinals and has been mentioned a lot.



This part actually confused me a bit at the time, but then I figured out later that the other Desians/Cruxis don't know that Yuan is with the Renegades here. Anyway, Pronyma says she was ordered by Yggy to fetch Colette. Yuan says meh, whatever, but I get Lloyd. Pronyma notices the Key Crest Lloyd made for her on her Cruxis Crystal and attempts to take it off but...



Colette bitchsmacks her away. Colette can talk again! The Key Crest was actually working. She then falls over backwards and turns off the force field surrounding the party. Then we get to fight Pronyma. She loses. Haha. Lloyd takes the opportunity to smack Yuan around, but before he gets the chance, Kratos shows up.



omg hay Kratos I missed you! You even changed your clothes and everything XDDDD Kratos tells Yuan than Yggy's called for him, so Yuan flies off.



Apparently so.

Kratos demands to know why Lloyd and co. have come to Tethe'alla.



So Lloyd replies. Kratos asks what the point is. Saving the Chosen won't change the process of the worlds and how they steal mana from each other.



Lloyd protests. Kratos leaves. Raine figures that, at any rate, this means that Yuan is with both Cruxis and the Renegades. Yes, I took lots of pics of this section.



Lloyd puts it in layman's terms. But in any case, they're glad to have Colette back. She can speak and think and has regained her sense of feeling/hunger etc, but she still has her wings, so she's still an angel. She did however, actually remember most of what happened when she was in her zombie like state.

They figure out what they're supposed to do next. Since Colette is back, they don't need to return to Sylvarant for the time being. Lloyd says that he intends to save both worlds and prevent more people being "Chosen" and turning out like Colette. Easier said than done. But first things first; Presea needs to return to her own village after they take her back to Sybak. Except Sybak was on the other side of the bridge, and they can't cross it now. Sheena says to go check out Meltokio, as she has contacts there. They wonder if they can get back in the city, as they're currently wanted, but Zelos says no sweat; he's got some tricks up his sleeve. So it's back to Meltokio.

Turns out the Renegades took the Rheairds. Never did find out what Zelos's method for carrying the Rheairds was, as he ensured everyone that he had a plan figured out on how to carry the machines with them (since they can't run as they have no fuel).

Meltokio; the group is wanted so they can't just go waltzing in through the front gates. Zelos shows them a secret way to get inside the town through the sewers.

The sewers SUCKED. The most annoying dungeon so far. Especially the pushing the blocks and the spider webs part. But eh, at the end of the sewers the party gets attacked by some convicts. They tell them the Pope promised to lighten their sentences if they got rid of them. We kick their asses easily.

After that, though, another convict shows up, knocks Zelos down, and steps on him.



Presea tries to axe the convict (geez she's vicious), but he dodges and Zelos flees to safety behind Lloyd.



*weeps* The camera took a really blurry picture. And I really liked that scene too T_T Convict Blue Hair seems to recognize Presea but runs off for the time being when the others try attacking him too.

Once out of the sewers, the group heads of to the Elemental Research Laboratory to meet up with Sheena's contacts. Despite being wanted criminals, the group can pretty much wander Meltokio freely as long as they don't enter the church or castle. *shrug* Sheena meets up with a ninja buddy of hers, Kuchinawa, and tells him that they need to get across the water to the other side. They'll be able to cross on this thing called Elemental Cargo. Kuchinawa'll get it ready for you, so Zelos says to everyone to hang in his mansion while they wait. Sebastian, Zelos's butler greets them with the news that the Pope instructed him to report if Zelos were to return home. Zelos says he can ignore that order. You'd think the Pope would know to put up guards around the Wilder household or something.

Next day, turns out Kuchinawa has taken the craft to the beach, so you're supposed to meet him there. There seems to be something hokey about him. You also get this nifty thing that shrinks the craft down to fit into your pocket when you're not using it. But anyway, new transportation mode! Must explore! ....they don't really let you explore a lot in the area you're at though. ...I wish you could navigate the ship in Suikoden IV like you can the Elemental Cargo >_>

Entering Sybak to check in with Kate, the crew comes across Kratos.



Kratos is entering stalker mode. He tells Colette to remove the Key Crest if she wants to live. She says no way, and Kratos merely walks on. Zelos calls him an SOB 8D Then they go back and meet with Kate.

Kate explains some about the Cruxis Crystal. It's called the Angelus Project, which was what Kvar was doing too. The creation uses a regular Exsphere that has a special Key Crest. I don't really get it all, but in any case, the parasitic process continues until the host dies. It drains the host of life, which is why Presea is emotionless, much like how Colette was. Kate agrees that since they kept their end of the bargain, she'll let Presea go. If they want to save her, they should take her to see Altessa, a dwarf that lives beyond the Gaoracchia Forest. The dwarf was also ordered to take part in the Angelus Project by the Pope. So it's off through the Forest.

Argh. I hate deep forest dungeons. They're usually the most confusing to wander through, as it all looks the same to me. When they get there, there are some Papal Knights there in an attempt to stop them. They get beaten easily (the badguys never learn), and we wander on. As we get near the exit, Colette hears many footsteps approaching them from one direction. Seems like more guards are on their way. But before they decide what they should do, Convict Blue Hair shows up again. He wants to speak with Presea, although his orders were to capture Colette. However, the group is a jumpy one, and even letting him speak with Presea isn't permitted. So we get into a battle with him. He gets knocked out, and Raine says maybe they should take him captive with them. It seems like he has his reasons, and the footsteps are coming nearer. They agree and Sheena says she'll bring them to her ninja village Mizuho, which is near where they are.



Sheena then tells Zelos to carry Convict Blue Hair as they make their way there.



Zelos weeps but tries it anyway. Colette offers help.



And picks him up with one arm. The chicks in this game really like to emasculate the guys. Hee. (Colette is so seme.)

And so they head off to Mizuho.


Ah, it's off to work for me now.