Don't worry, we will have a poll to decide which route we will choose in Phase 2... Remember to come back to this topic and vote when the time is right!
And now for the third episode:
Episode 3 - Airport City Nemo
Having finally solved the problems connected to his crash, Lyner heads to the biggest city of the floating continent, Nemo, hoping to find a clue there. As the journey is rather long, he and Jack decide to set a camp for the night, which leads to the suspicious monologue we saw o close the previous episode: but while Jack is busy foreshadowing events to come, Lyner is deep asleep... And by having a look at his dreams, we get some more exposition on his past.
No dad, I am NOT going to be a politician
Apparently Lyner's dad, Leard, is the commander of the Apostoles of Elemia, the faction that rules Platina. As Lyner is his only son, he wants him to become his successor, so he has been interfering with Lyner's life throughout the years, trying to make him follow the path he had prepared for him. Lyner however always refused to go into politics, and instead decided to become a knight: in a last-ditch attempt at forcing Lyner's hand, Leard rigged the final exam of the military academy, but Lyner found out and confronted him about it.
My life is for Shurelia-sama
In that occasion, Shurelia stood up for him, defending his ideals and persuading Leard to accept Lyner's decision. This is the reason why Lyner has sworn to protect her with his life and is fiercely loyal to her. It is also the reason why, unlike many other humans of his period, he has a deep and sincere respect for Reyvateils, and he hates with a passion those who abuse them.
Good morning Crono Lyner!
Unfortunately, the dream is interrupted by Jack, who wakes Lyner up, so we cannot get any more insight on the young knight's past. As they resume their walk to reach Nemo, Jack gives Lyner a valuable piece of advice: we can only hope he will be smart enough to follow the advice...
100.000 souls, and then times as many people!
And here we are at last, the airport city, Nemo! Jack offers to give Lyner a tour, so we get to see some famous spots like the Songstone Park, of which I am not posting a screen because we will return there soon enough...
I smell a boss battle...
... But as soon as we get to the main square, we find that trouble is waiting for us. Apparently, the big guy is a robot created by the Apostoles of Elemia, whose job is to defend the tower from intruders. Judging from the fact that it is now attacking civilians, it would seem that the Viruses have managed to hack into it and rewrite its programming! And this is not all: Aurica shows up right when the robot is beginning to charge an attack, and carelessly walks into the line of fire. To protect her, Lyner jumps in front of the attack, and a boss battle is initiated.
... Or not?
Well nevermind, it is actually a tutorial on the new commands unlocked by having a Reyvateil in the party. But really, it was clever on the dev team's part to disguise a tutorial as a boss battle, complete with boss battle theme... Also, the way Lyner has to explain the commands to Aurica is fitting of their respective characterizations: I never thought I'd enjoy a tutorial this much!
So much for being careful
So anyway, Lyner shows off a bit too much (possibly in an attempt to impress cute little Aurica?), and people start figuring out who he is.
And now for a commercial
Fortunately, before people start asking dangerous questions, Radolf shows up and asks us to follow him to the church, as he wants not only to properly thank us for saving Aurica, but also to introduce us to the leader of the Church, one Bishop Falls. Before following him however, let's stop at what is probably the first SERIOUS shop of the game: useful items aside (the Replica Horn is this game's Revive) there are two Grathmeld recipes. However, we are not going to make the items for the time being, because Aurica leaves the party as soon as the battle with A.B.R. ends, and Grathmelding is more fun with a Reyvateil in the party.
MOAR SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE
NOW we are ready to follow Radolf. But as we do, we get to see a mysterious guy, who apparently is keeping an eye on Lyner... Because of course, that is what this game needs: more suspicious people.
Your bishop is in another church
So anyway, it seems Bishop Falls is not in the building at the moment. He will return in the night, so Radolf arrange for us to stay at a nearby inn, so that we can meet him tomorrow.
Did you really expect some competence from Lyner?
The inn is a rather big one, complete with weapon shop and bar: for now, we focus on the weapon shop, where a rather silly cutscene gives the guys an opportunity to bicker some more, and us to learn about a new feature called "Enhancing".
You can put offensive crystals on armor and defensive ones on weapons, too
Remember that Grathnode Crystal we received as a reward for the wolves sidequest? Well, we can now use it to improve our equipment! For now we of course have a very limited choice of crystals, but by proceeding with the plot we will unlock some brutal combinations, to really gain an edge in battle...
"Eyes", he says
For now, we move to the bar, where Jack doesn't miss one split second to start hitting on the (admittedly quite gorgeous) bartender. By the way, her name is Claire, and she will be more important in the plot than her role might suggest right now. Heck she has a unique dialogue portrait, that alone should be an obvious clue.
He says "you two", but then he singles Lyner out
And that is exactly when the suspicious guy from before decides to show up. Apparently, he has an offer for Lyner, and needs to discuss it in private. Clueless as ever, Our hero follows him outside...
You are such a great friend, Jack
... And THEN we find out that Jack knows full well who the guy is, and he also suspects that this is a trap. Wait a minute, you KNEW I was walking right into a trap, and you did nothing about it because you were too busy hitting on a lady? Seriously, screw you Jack!
Is that any way to ask a guy to work for you?
Outside, Bourd introduces himself to Lyner, and explains to him how things work in the lower world: the CHurch and Tenba are constantly competing over resources, and Lyner, as a skilled fighter, is a valuable resource. Therefore, Lyner will join Tenba and lend his power to their cause: if he refuses, Bourd will kill him.
Wait, you are not planning to take them on by yourself, are you?
However, Tenba has a reputation for abusing Reyvateils, and we saw before what Lyner's opinion on the matter is. He therefore refuses steadfastly to join Tenba, and gives an admittedly awesome speech on why Reyvateils should be respected and cared for. He then decides to take on not just Bourd, but the entire elite guard of Tenba, just to prove a point...
Great...
... And it goes about as well as you'd imagine.
Yay, I survived the beating. That's something right?
As Lyner collapses on the ground, Bourd is impressed to see that he has managed to survive what was supposed to be a fatal blow. He therefore decides to once again try and persuade him to join Tenba. Which means, he is going to imprison Lyner in Tenba's main facility, and keep him locked up untill he agrees to join.
Well, what was supposed to be a peaceful trip soon escalated in ways we could have never seen coming, our hero is down and out, and still noclues on the Hymn Crystal Purger have been obtained... With the Viruses rampaging to the point of turning the guardians of the tower against humans, Lyner needs to hurry: will he manage to escape Tenba's clutches? Find out in the next episode, which will feature a childhood friend, a glimpse of things to come, and a serious boss battle!