Final Fantasy IX, Part 9.A: Summit Station & Dark City Treno
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[Lights on; MARCUS is facing the audience.]
MARCUS
There's nothing rich folks love more
Than going downtown and slummin' it with the poor
They pull up in their carriages and gawk
At the students in the common
Just to watch them talk…
[Enter DAGGER behind him]
Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!
History is happening in Alexandria and we just happen to be
In the greatest city in the world!
[Lights out.]
Last time, we got our asses kicked by Beatrix and met Kuja.
Today, we're taking a détour.
I. Unexpected Reunion(s)
It's time to check in on Dagger again.
First, though, we backtrack to grab the Lightning Staff from this room in the chest I didn't initially notice and trigger an encounter with Stiltzkin, who sells us stuff.
The Tall Guard and the Short Guard at South Gate have an exchange that shows us that some time has passed since the end of Disc One, because they've heard about the attack on Burmecia:
Tall Guard: "There's been a lot of trouble lately."
Short Guard: "Oh, you mean about Burmecia? I heard they were attacked by an army of soldiers wearing pointy hats. I wanna go on the frontline. Instead, I'm rotting away in this stinkin' place."
Tall Guard: "Really? I don't like wars. Why would someone start a war…? That guy who passed through here with the huge bag… Did he look suspicious to you?"
Short Guard: "No… I don't think so."
Tall Guard: "But weren't you the one who thought he was suspicious?"
Short Guard: "You know me! I'm always like that. I'm telling you, people who eat pickles are nice people. I envy him. Gysahl pickles are the only pickles I can't eat."
Tall Guard: "...You're really confusing, you know that?"
Short Guard: "I know… Why do you think I ended up here?"
Once again, the black mages are referred to as "soldiers wearing pointy hats" and not identified as black mages, despite the fact that we know people know about black magic existing in the setting. It's very odd, I wonder what's up with that.
Meanwhile in the cable car, Dagger is sleeping.
He finally gets it right!
Steiner thinks to himself about what he's heard, that Dagger believes "what she heard about Queen Brahne," but Steiner absolutely refuses to believe that his beloved queen would ever start a war. It must all be a misunderstanding. This man has truly drunk the kool-aid, huh. I wonder how Queen Brahne used to be before the "changes" that she apparently underwent; so far she's only appeared as a merciless and gleefully evil tyrant, it's hard to imagine her as, like… A good person. Were Dagger and Steiner always deluding themselves, or has she changed so much as to become unrecognizable, and Steiner is simply refusing to believe his own lying eyes?
Soon, the cable car arrives at Summit Station, where it stops and we must transfer to a different carriage; we're invited to visit the resting area while we wait.
There's a funny exchange where Dagger is confused because Steiner tells her they are now in Alexandria (meaning the kingdom) and she's confused because she thinks he means the city but she can't see the castle, and then she scolds him for thinking she's naive.
By talking to a "Cable Car Enthusiast," we can learn that the Berkmea cable cars were built 8 years ago as a symbol of the friendship between Lindblum and Alexandria, and are powered by Mist engines built in Lindblum. They work by pulling one another, so they're always doing a balancing motion where one car is going down while the other is going up, kinda like an elevator with a counterweight?
It's striking that Lindblum and Alexandria aren't just at peace, they've been actively building works commemorating and enshrining that peace, they've been conjoining their infrastructure, Alexandria is flying ships built with Lindblum technology, and now Queen Brahne is throwing all away for… Nothing? The hope of being Empress Brahne of the Mist Continent?
We'll see the rest area in a short while, but first, as we enter it, the cable car leaves and we hear a voice that Dagger recognizes saying they missed their ride, so we quickly leave to check it out, and…
It's Cinna and Marcus!
Cinna: "I missed my ride! What am I going to do now!?"
Marcus: "How the hell should I know…? You were the one who wanted to watch the scenery while eating South Gate Bundt Cake."
Cinna: "I'm gonna be late returning to Lindblum…"
Marcus: "There's nothing we can do. I won't tell the boss."
Cinna: "Thanks, buddy! Let's eat another bundt cake!" [He leaves.]
Marcus: "Geez…"
Interesting that we meet Zidane's old group again while Zidane isn't in the party. Of course, as soon as we follow the two thieves into the rest area, we find that they're in an altercation with Steiner, who recognized them and is now angrily confronting them.
Steiner: "Are you here to kidnap the princess again!?"
Cinna: "Who's the big tin man?"
Steiner: "WHAT!? How dare you!"
Marcus: "He's the captain of the Knights of Pluto."
Cinna: "Oh yeah! You're one bad actor."
Steiner: "Grrr…! Have you no respect?"
Losing it as Cinna's primary memory of Steiner, a man who chased after them across the entire castle and the Tantalus ship trying to get Dagger back and nearly got everyone killed by fighting them while the Bomb was growing, being "bad actor." These thieves are genuinely actual actors and they will let you know if they think your performance is shit, beautiful.
Marcus and Cinna are warmer towards the Princess, who remembers them by name, but discussion is impossible; every time we try to talk to them, they start explaining how they escaped from Evil Forest only to be interrupted by Steiner yelling "Princess! You shouldn't waste your breath on criminals!" which is obviously aggravating, and importantly, Dagger thinks so too. This is the point where she finally commands Steiner to get in line with full, scolding royal authority.
Dagger: "Steiner! That's enough!"
Steiner: "Wh-Wha…!?"
Dagger: "Can't I even talk to my friends?"
Steiner: "Friends!? But they're…"
Dagger: "Adelbert Steiner!"
Steiner: "Yes, Prin-ma'am!"
Cinna: "He's bein' scolded."
Marcus: "How embarrassing."
She gave him the old 'mom calls you by your full name' treatment, top tier stuff.
With Steiner temporarily cowed into submission, the car arrives; Marcus and Cinna talk about how they're headed in different directions - Cinna to Lindblum, Marcus to Treno. Dagger hears this and is immediately curious and follows after them. Steiner is so distraught that he actually doesn't hear her at first, so she turns around to ask him if he's mad at her, and he immediately responds "No, ma'am!" He actually is remembering to not call her princess now! This man works entirely off negative reinforcement and people telling him to fall in line, incredible.
We say goodbye to Cinna and board the cable car - we're headed for Alexandria, of course, but the path takes us through Treno anyway so we might as well ask him what he's up to.
Turns out, it's to save his "Bro" - the only person in the world he calls "Bro," Blank. Tantalus has learned about an item called Supersoft (Soft being the item that cures normal petrification in gameplay), which can cure all petrification. Cinna is headed to Lindblum to tell the rest of Tantalus about it, while Marcus joins up with Baku in Treno to acquire the Supersoft. That's good! It's an actionable plan that interacts neatly with the gameplay-story layer.
However, Marcus has questions of his own.
Marcus: "Where's Zidane?"
Dagger: [She turns her back to him.] "We separated in Lindblum."
Marcus: "Got rid of him as soon as he got you to Lindblum, huh?"
Dagger: [She turns back around.] "How could you say that!? It's only because Zidane kept treating me like a child! …I don't care about him."
Marcus: [He turns his back to her.] "Fine. Then I don't know anything."
Stellar work here, Dagger. It's kind of funny how she has a very teenage "He's not my boyfriend, mom!!!" reaction to being asked about Zidane, except because of the context in which this happens, it immediately turns Marcus against her because he thinks she just used Zidane to get to Lindblum and then abandoned him. It's a good demonstration that Zidane isn't the only one who can fail a speech check.
Steiner is notably silent here, and if talked to, simply says he will not meddle in Dagger's affair. He must be using all his willpower to restrain himself, and I'm worried if this goes on too long, he might explode.
Dagger, of course, does actually care about the Tantalus troupe, seeing as they helped her get out of Alexandria and then they all nearly died in the forest rescuing her. Not just Zidane, but Blank as well - even if she didn't know him well, he sacrificed himself for her, and Zidane did care about him. So when we approach Marcus again, she tries to ask how she can help with rescuing Blank, but is really awkward about it because, from Marcus's perspective, she just made it clear she didn't care about them and so he has no idea what she wants. She starts to explain she feels responsible, when all of a sudden the cable car shakes.
The conductor tells everyone to stay calm and it's probably a problem with the engine, heads out to investigate… And immediately comes back aboard shouting that a "Demon with a pointy hat!" has stopped the car.
Dagger and Steiner hear this description, and immediately figure out what's going on. They rush outside, Marcus following after them.
Long time no see, Black Waltz.
Yeah, turns out he did survive. But, well.
He's not in a much better shape than he was last time we saw him. Still strong enough to force a cable car to a halt, but… Well, listen to him:
Black Waltz N°3: "Mission… retrieve… princess… alive…"
Dagger: "Isn't that the one we saw on the cargo ship?"
Steiner: "Monster! I'll finish you off this time!"
Dagger: [She steps forward.] "Wait, Steiner!" [To the Black Waltz] "Tell me something! Why do you want to capture me?"
Steiner: "Princess, it's too dangerous! Please stand back!"
Black Waltz N°3: "Mission… retrieve… princess… alive…"
Marcus: [Drawing his sword] "It's not use! It doesn't understand!"
Dagger: "But-"
[The Black Waltz limps forward.]
Black Waltz N°3: "Eliminate… all!"
His wings are broken.
This isn't much of a fight. It's really more of an execution. Or, depending on your perspective, a mercy killing. Black Waltz is still operating with his disc 1 loadout, firing Tier 1 spells with the addition of Freeze, which probably does something but it whiffed when he tried it so it didn't do anything. Furthermore, he is still bound by the directives telling him to bring the princess back alive, and so he will not attack Dagger, who is our White Mage and can keep the entire party in the battle as long as she's active. Marcus is a poor replacement for Zidane, since he lacks Skills, but we can still use him to steal a Steepled Hat and a Lightning Staff off the Black Waltz.
So we basically weather his low-damage spells with simple heals and layer damage onto him until he finally dies.
It's anticlimactic, but, well, like I said. This isn't really a fight. We're just putting down a mad dog. Or, perhaps more to the point, a sad, broken robot who, even at death's door, still can't even rebel against the programming that tells him not to harm our healer. I have little pity for Black Waltz N°3, but, well. To what extent can he be blamed?
They built him wrong.
Once the fight is over, Dagger is left to just wonder - why? Why this violence? Why pursue her? What did he want with her?
The answer is obvious, but it's difficult for her to face it.
Marcus: "Burmecia was attacked by an army of black mage soldiers…"
Dagger: "...I know."
Marcus: "Those mages wiped out the people of Burmecia…"
Dagger: "....."
Steiner: "Who would do such a thing?"
Marcus: "Are you serious!? How ignorant can you be!?"
Steiner: "What do you mean!?"
Dagger: "Stop it, Steiner… I know who did it."
Steiner: "Princess?"
Dagger: [She takes a few steps forward, relieving a little more of the distance.] "We're almost in Alexandria… I must go to the castle and see my mother… She'll listen to me."
It's interesting how the game plays with the fake mystery of who did the attack on Burmecia. It was obvious long before we actually saw Queen Brahne in Burmecia, and at this point we, the players, have known for hours what Steiner can't accept. So it's not a mystery; it's entirely a character beat, one that's focused on how difficult it is for Dagger, and outright impossible for Steiner, to accept that Queen Brahne just… Committed a genocide.
It's an act of such staggering evil that Dagger can't even talk about it outright, but still, she knows. But she can't reconcile it with the mother she knew, so she is desperately, hopelessly banking on the idea that if she can get in a room with her mother, she can get an explanation, she can change her mind, she can get her to stand down.
But that idea is feeling increasingly desperate. The people of Burmecia are already dead. Changing Queen Brahne's heart won't bring them back. Her crime will remain. But it's all Dagger has to hang onto.
And that's affecting the way she acts and talks. Which gets us this fascinating interaction when they're back in the cable car:
Marcus: "So, you already heard about the attack on Burmecia."
Dagger: "Of course. I'm not like Steiner."
Marcus: "You've changed."
Dagger: "Me? You mean the way I talk?"
Marcus: "Not just that."
Dagger: "Well… A lot has happened."
This scene was bugging me and I wasn't sure I could figure out why at first. On the surface, I definitely like the vibe of it - Dagger has changed. Her attitude, her confidence, the way she talks, the way she carries herself. She's able to be much more casually confident in conversation - that "Of course. I'm not like Steiner." has incredible poise to it.
I thought, "I'm not sure I buy this much change in so little time," because the game has been fairly short up to this point. But really, between waking up outside Evil Forest, traversing the Ice Cavern, fighting the Black Waltzes, landing in Lindblum, then ditching Zidane and walking through the Mists all the way to South Gate, time has passed for Dagger, and she's been through more adventures than we've actually seen.
But then I realized: That's because Marcus and Dagger have only interacted once, when Dagger appeared on stage and they had to improvise the play and then fight Steiner. They have never actually had an opportunity to talk! They got thrown into two fights and then the Bomb exploded and the ship crashed, Dagger getting knocked off-board!
It's ultimately not a big deal but at least I was able to work out why it felt off.
Dagger announces that she has been through a lot of battles and is a "seasoned pro," and Marcus senses danger and quickly realizes that she intends to latch onto him in the search for the Supersoft.
Marcus: "You're gonna come along, even if I refuse, right?"
Dagger: "Of course I am! This is so exciting! I've always wanted to see the marvelous architecture of Treno. I can hardly wait!"
Marcus: "(On second thought, she hasn't changed that much.)"
Absolutely bullied. You know, I don't actually know how old Marcus is; I'd assumed he is an adult because he is burlier and more mature-looking than Zidane or Blank, but given his friendly peer relationship with Zidane and Blank, the latter of whom he calls "Bro," it's entirely possible he's also a teenager and just looks Like That because he's an orc.
And with that, the cable car reaches our destination, and Marcus… Joins our party.
I wasn't sure if the game was going to keep it up after the boss battle against Black Waltz, but yeah, it looks like the devs might have thought the path ahead would be tricky to handle with just Steiner and Dagger, so Marcus joins us as a playable character for the whole bit ahead.
Part-Time Worker Mary got back to her item shop.
When we leave, we reach a fork in the road. One leads back to the Village of Dali, the other to our next destination, Treno. Set at the fork is a sign, which is honestly… Kinda sad to read now.
"No amount of hardship can tear our two countries apart." I had the time frame off, I'd thought the war between the three kingdoms had ended within the last decade, but no. The peace was already 20 years old back during the reign of Cid VIII, the previous Cid before our oglopified friend.
It's thirty years of peace, first fragile, then so strong as to be thought unbreakable, strong enough to start weaving the two countries' very infrastructure together to facilitate travel and cooperation, that one short-sighted ruler is setting fire to in a fit of stupid ambition-
…
Let's just not think about this for now.
I don't know how it took me this long to notice that the gate has a sign above reading "Dali."
We're back at Dali Gate, on the other side this time - according to readers this is where we could have seen Part-time Worker Mary for the first time if I'd waited a little longer. This time, however, we do have a Gate Pass, so we can just go on through.
From there, we can head back to Dali with Dagger as the party lead. There's not much to do there, aside from buying a bunch of Wrists for synthesis (except that's a trap because the Steepled Hat needed for the Cotton Robes were last available at Summit Station but will not be available in Treno so we missed our chance, this is really annoying), but it's a neat spot of characterization because we're getting Dagger's internal monologue and dialogue, not Zidane's.
Dagger, it's been like two weeks tops. Even in game time it hasn't been that long.
Highlights:
We can also visit the old man who likes coffee; if we examine the ship model, Dagger wonders whether Tantalus are always stealing wherever they perform as a theatre troupe. We sadly can't enter the Ice Cavern, so now we head back and finally go into the direction of Treno.
II. Aux Champs-Elysées, Au Soleil, Sous La Pluie, A Midi Ou A Minuit
Behold, gorgeous view.
There's another gate on the other side, we show our Gate Pass again, and then we're out on the Treno plateau, where we cross from day into sunset into night.
And there we are - Dark City Treno, the City of Nobles.
The name is a little bit of a misnomer, though. As with Lindblum, I'm going to try to keep to a broad overview of the city, but our intro dialogue sets the tone.
Steiner: "Princess, this is Treno, the City of Nobles."
Dagger: "We need to find out which noble has the Supersoft."
Marcus: "There aren't many nobles living here. The nights are long. It's a great place for thieves."
Steiner: "People like you turned this city into a slum!"
Marcus: "...Let's steal the Supersoft and get this over with."
Steiner: "Steal!? How dare you! Do you think I'd let you commit a crime before my very eyes!?"
Marcus: "How else would we get the Supersoft?"
Steiner: "Quiet! I will not allow such disgraceful behavior!"
Marcus: "I never asked you to come along. Quit complaining."
Why would a place known as the City of Nobles also be described as a "slum" that is "great for thieves?" That's because the main theme of Treno isn't nobility:
It's class divide.
When people say Treno is the "City of Nobles," what they really mean is that it's the city that has the highest concentration of high-status wealthy people, which means the gap between them and the lower classes is higher than anywhere else and pulling apart all the time. This means, in turn, that while Treno is an extremely rich city, it's also the poorest city we've visited so far.
Treno is pretty. But it's not pleasant.
While Steiner and Marcus are fighting, Dagger just… Slips away. She straight up leaves the screen while they're arguing. Marcus tells Steiner to look behind him, and Steiner realizes that she's left… But this also doubles as the good old "look behind you" distraction, so when Steiner turns back around, Marcus is gone too!
And now Steiner is alone in a city he doesn't know.
And with this, we regain control, not of Dagger, but of Steiner. So we get some more CLANK-CLANK-CLANK sound effects every time we move, delightful.
Immediately, the game offers us a choice of ATEs: "Treno Tradition" and "Ambition." I pick the first one, and…
Dagger is walking around town when she sees a thief running away, pursued by a guard. As she tells herself that she should be careful about pickpockets, a four-armed, green-skinned, red-haired man whom I'm pretty sure is Alleyway Jack from the prologue bumps into her… And steals 1000 gil from her.
Well, we're not having that. I reload and pick a different ATE.
Natalie: "Listen carefully, Mario. This city used to be called 'the City of Nobles.' It's a lie!"
Mario: "The nobles pushed us around, right, Sis!?"
Natalie: "That's right. They hogged all the waterfront property and forced us up into the hills."
Mario: "They exploited us to make their money, right, Sis!?"
Natalie: "Right. But we can't just sit here and complain, or we'll end up spending the rest of our lives in this miserable place."
Mario: "Power to the people! Right, sis!?"
Natalie: "That's right! Power to the people! We'll never go hungry once we become nobles! Follow me, Mario!"
[While they were talking, Marcus appeared and paused, listening to their conversation."
Marcus: "...."
Marcus: "What's this world coming to…?"
On the other hand watching these two children revolutionaries shouting "power to the people" is adorable. On the other hand Natalie seems to have absorbed completely the wrong lesson from her conditions - her idea of "power to the people" seems to be "we'll get to be nobles," like that guy from Tactics who just wanted to reverse the social order and put himself on top as the exploiter instead of the exploitee.
I wonder if that's what bothers Marcus, or if it's just the fact that Treno has such strong class divides with even children feeling the reality of their oppression. Tantalus are thieves, implicitly lower-class… But Baku is friends with Cid IX of Lindblum, they perform in front of kings; they're not revolutionaries. If anything, they're deeply embedded with their traditional structures of power in a way that accommodates them. Thieves with the ears of the mighty. Would they want to enact radical social change, or are they happy with society the way it is? After all, Lindblum seems fairly socially harmonious, even though the very existence of a ruling dynasty speaks to inequality.
More ATEs trigger as we advance, depending on the order in which we visit various places, I think. We can more or less divide Reno between "fancy" areas and "downtrodden" areas. The ATE where Marcus eavesdrops on the kids is followed by another in which he enters a bar that's a secret Tantalus hideout, where he meets with Baku.
Baku: "Yer late."
Marcus: "A lot happened. I'm kinda tired."
Baku: "No excuses. You're ready to go."
Marcus: "You found it? You found the Supersoft?"
Baku: "Yeah, in a noble's mansion. You'll go by boat and break in tonight."
Marcus: "Leave it to me! I'm the one who'll save our bro!"
Baku: "Yeah, it's just that you've got two liabilities coming along."
Kinda funny but also telling that Baku is so well-informed that he was able to pick out Marcus's tagalongs the moment they enter the city and before they split up, and immediately get that Dagger wasn't going to let go. The man must have eyes everywhere.
In another ATE, Dagger runs into a common drunk sprawled in the street and slowly backs away, then tries to approach a noble who turns out to be completely deaf and mishears everything she asks.
Also there is a place we're never ever going to enter:
This is the card game stadium. People here can take part in a card game tournament. We are not going to do that.
While we're looking for her, Dagger makes her way to Treno's auction house… Where she encounters a surprising visitor.
Kuja is attending the auction.
You know, I wonder if Kuja has like… A social life. Does he have a home? Does he attend galas or have servants? Or is he the kind of spooky bastard like Sephiroth who just manifests out of the aether when it's time to do ominous shit? There's nothing of particular note on sale at the auction today, so it would seem to indicate the former: he's just doing this for entertainment.
Eventually, Steiner runs into the four-armed man from the pickpocketing ATE, asking him if he saw "a beautiful young princess… I mean, a girl around here?" The man hasn't, but the ATE is actually our hint; Dagger is going to stay at the auction house hoping the Supersoft appears on auction until we get there.
Steiner: "Princess! Thank goodness I found you. I was worried."
Dagger: "How can I find the Supersoft when I keep having to listen to your complaints?"
Steiner: "Such harsh words…"
Dagger: "I don't think it's here, anyway. Where's Marcus?"
Steiner: "I do not know…"
Dagger: "Maybe Marcus found it already. Are you coming? I'm going, with or without you."
Steiner: "I- I shall follow you, princess."
God, Steiner is getting demolished today. Dagger is really fed up with his antics. I get the impression that it's the first time in her life that our girl has been rude to someone, and it's a way she's manifesting her newfound independence and her feeling of being a 'pro.'
Honestly I think it's good for Steiner to be getting some pushback.
And now we've rejoined with Dagger, so we can visit the rest of the city, and then join with Marcus. Right?
WRONG! You fools. You rubes. You absolute buffoons.
You see, by picking the "Ambition" ATE instead of the "Treno Tradition" ATE at the start, Dagger never got pickpocketed. Which you would think would be a good thing, if you were an imbecile.
Of course we are meant to allow the pickpocket ATE to happen so that we can then proceed in a precise order of events that follow in order to get a missable item. How could you not anticipate this!?
You see, by having Dagger get pickpocketed (which we can reduce the amount of with a timed button press), we can then open the "Pursuit" ATE, in which the four-armed man gloats about his successful theft and Dagger chases after him. Amazingly, the thief has this totally hypocritical comment:
Four-armed Man: "Wow, I couldn't see her well in the dark before. She's a real cutie. Good girls shouldn't be walking around alone at night. It's time for me to get ready and move on to a new city…"
Anyway, Dagger goes the wrong way, and this loops back us into the normal ATE flow. But now, when we run into the four-armed man again in that building, and ask him if he saw a girl… He says "Nah, I didn't see any cute girl with long hair…" Seeing as Steiner didn't mention the hair, he immediately catches on to the man.
Steiner: "What!? What did you say!?"
Four-armed Man: "Nothing! I didn't say anything! I never said I stole any money from her…"
Steiner: "!"
Four-armed Man: "!"
Four-armed Man: "I-I bought a Power Belt with her money. I'll give it to you!"
The man runs away, and we get the Power Belt as a reward for letting Dagger get pickpocketed. You know. An entirely reasonable sequence of events.
The Power Belt increases Steiner's Defense and Strength, and also teaches him MP Attack (which lets him spend MP to boost his normal attacks) and Counter, and it can also teach Vivi Fira, so that's neat.
We're now back to where we started, and… God, there's a bunch of other stuff to do in Treno. Look at this place:
This is Queen Stella. Given that Alexandria already has a Queen, her title is probably informal. Queen Stella is looking for "Stellazio"; a set of star-shaped coins of which we already have one, Aries. When we give it to Stella, it appears in one of these suspended cages, and she rewards us with 1,000 Gil.
But there are actually more Stella…zios? …zias? That can be found. At the entrance of Treno is a fountain: We can throw a 10 Gil coin in the water, receiving the message "you feel happier…" If we do this thirteen times, the Gemini coin appears. But there are more to find in a moment! First though, we'll check out the Treno weapon store…
…hm. Why is there a grate floor with a monster underneath?
Turns out, the owners of the store, the Knight family, keep a monster as a pet, and they like to have it fight people. Does this mean we can ask to fight it? Of course! And you know me, there is nothing I like more than colosseum battles. Let's go.
…ah.
Right. We're still lv 7.
The griffin casts Aero, dealing nearly 600 damage, far in excess of Steiner's max HP and instantly killing him. There's not much we can do about that, so we'll just… Leave.
No, I mean literally. We're leaving the city.
We can actually leave Treno at any time, at which point Marcus immediately runs back to the party and we can explore the plateau as a three-man party. In the process, we run into another friendly monster asking for Ore; we give it to them, and they tell us to give their regards to Ladybug before vanishing, leaving behind a very welcome payout of 10 AP.
Cut for image count.
MARCUS
There's nothing rich folks love more
Than going downtown and slummin' it with the poor
They pull up in their carriages and gawk
At the students in the common
Just to watch them talk…
[Enter DAGGER behind him]
Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!
History is happening in Alexandria and we just happen to be
In the greatest city in the world!
[Lights out.]
Last time, we got our asses kicked by Beatrix and met Kuja.
Today, we're taking a détour.
I. Unexpected Reunion(s)
It's time to check in on Dagger again.
First, though, we backtrack to grab the Lightning Staff from this room in the chest I didn't initially notice and trigger an encounter with Stiltzkin, who sells us stuff.
The Tall Guard and the Short Guard at South Gate have an exchange that shows us that some time has passed since the end of Disc One, because they've heard about the attack on Burmecia:
Tall Guard: "There's been a lot of trouble lately."
Short Guard: "Oh, you mean about Burmecia? I heard they were attacked by an army of soldiers wearing pointy hats. I wanna go on the frontline. Instead, I'm rotting away in this stinkin' place."
Tall Guard: "Really? I don't like wars. Why would someone start a war…? That guy who passed through here with the huge bag… Did he look suspicious to you?"
Short Guard: "No… I don't think so."
Tall Guard: "But weren't you the one who thought he was suspicious?"
Short Guard: "You know me! I'm always like that. I'm telling you, people who eat pickles are nice people. I envy him. Gysahl pickles are the only pickles I can't eat."
Tall Guard: "...You're really confusing, you know that?"
Short Guard: "I know… Why do you think I ended up here?"
Once again, the black mages are referred to as "soldiers wearing pointy hats" and not identified as black mages, despite the fact that we know people know about black magic existing in the setting. It's very odd, I wonder what's up with that.
Meanwhile in the cable car, Dagger is sleeping.
He finally gets it right!
Steiner thinks to himself about what he's heard, that Dagger believes "what she heard about Queen Brahne," but Steiner absolutely refuses to believe that his beloved queen would ever start a war. It must all be a misunderstanding. This man has truly drunk the kool-aid, huh. I wonder how Queen Brahne used to be before the "changes" that she apparently underwent; so far she's only appeared as a merciless and gleefully evil tyrant, it's hard to imagine her as, like… A good person. Were Dagger and Steiner always deluding themselves, or has she changed so much as to become unrecognizable, and Steiner is simply refusing to believe his own lying eyes?
Soon, the cable car arrives at Summit Station, where it stops and we must transfer to a different carriage; we're invited to visit the resting area while we wait.
There's a funny exchange where Dagger is confused because Steiner tells her they are now in Alexandria (meaning the kingdom) and she's confused because she thinks he means the city but she can't see the castle, and then she scolds him for thinking she's naive.
By talking to a "Cable Car Enthusiast," we can learn that the Berkmea cable cars were built 8 years ago as a symbol of the friendship between Lindblum and Alexandria, and are powered by Mist engines built in Lindblum. They work by pulling one another, so they're always doing a balancing motion where one car is going down while the other is going up, kinda like an elevator with a counterweight?
It's striking that Lindblum and Alexandria aren't just at peace, they've been actively building works commemorating and enshrining that peace, they've been conjoining their infrastructure, Alexandria is flying ships built with Lindblum technology, and now Queen Brahne is throwing all away for… Nothing? The hope of being Empress Brahne of the Mist Continent?
We'll see the rest area in a short while, but first, as we enter it, the cable car leaves and we hear a voice that Dagger recognizes saying they missed their ride, so we quickly leave to check it out, and…
It's Cinna and Marcus!
Cinna: "I missed my ride! What am I going to do now!?"
Marcus: "How the hell should I know…? You were the one who wanted to watch the scenery while eating South Gate Bundt Cake."
Cinna: "I'm gonna be late returning to Lindblum…"
Marcus: "There's nothing we can do. I won't tell the boss."
Cinna: "Thanks, buddy! Let's eat another bundt cake!" [He leaves.]
Marcus: "Geez…"
Interesting that we meet Zidane's old group again while Zidane isn't in the party. Of course, as soon as we follow the two thieves into the rest area, we find that they're in an altercation with Steiner, who recognized them and is now angrily confronting them.
Steiner: "Are you here to kidnap the princess again!?"
Cinna: "Who's the big tin man?"
Steiner: "WHAT!? How dare you!"
Marcus: "He's the captain of the Knights of Pluto."
Cinna: "Oh yeah! You're one bad actor."
Steiner: "Grrr…! Have you no respect?"
Losing it as Cinna's primary memory of Steiner, a man who chased after them across the entire castle and the Tantalus ship trying to get Dagger back and nearly got everyone killed by fighting them while the Bomb was growing, being "bad actor." These thieves are genuinely actual actors and they will let you know if they think your performance is shit, beautiful.
Marcus and Cinna are warmer towards the Princess, who remembers them by name, but discussion is impossible; every time we try to talk to them, they start explaining how they escaped from Evil Forest only to be interrupted by Steiner yelling "Princess! You shouldn't waste your breath on criminals!" which is obviously aggravating, and importantly, Dagger thinks so too. This is the point where she finally commands Steiner to get in line with full, scolding royal authority.
Dagger: "Steiner! That's enough!"
Steiner: "Wh-Wha…!?"
Dagger: "Can't I even talk to my friends?"
Steiner: "Friends!? But they're…"
Dagger: "Adelbert Steiner!"
Steiner: "Yes, Prin-ma'am!"
Cinna: "He's bein' scolded."
Marcus: "How embarrassing."
She gave him the old 'mom calls you by your full name' treatment, top tier stuff.
With Steiner temporarily cowed into submission, the car arrives; Marcus and Cinna talk about how they're headed in different directions - Cinna to Lindblum, Marcus to Treno. Dagger hears this and is immediately curious and follows after them. Steiner is so distraught that he actually doesn't hear her at first, so she turns around to ask him if he's mad at her, and he immediately responds "No, ma'am!" He actually is remembering to not call her princess now! This man works entirely off negative reinforcement and people telling him to fall in line, incredible.
We say goodbye to Cinna and board the cable car - we're headed for Alexandria, of course, but the path takes us through Treno anyway so we might as well ask him what he's up to.
Turns out, it's to save his "Bro" - the only person in the world he calls "Bro," Blank. Tantalus has learned about an item called Supersoft (Soft being the item that cures normal petrification in gameplay), which can cure all petrification. Cinna is headed to Lindblum to tell the rest of Tantalus about it, while Marcus joins up with Baku in Treno to acquire the Supersoft. That's good! It's an actionable plan that interacts neatly with the gameplay-story layer.
However, Marcus has questions of his own.
Marcus: "Where's Zidane?"
Dagger: [She turns her back to him.] "We separated in Lindblum."
Marcus: "Got rid of him as soon as he got you to Lindblum, huh?"
Dagger: [She turns back around.] "How could you say that!? It's only because Zidane kept treating me like a child! …I don't care about him."
Marcus: [He turns his back to her.] "Fine. Then I don't know anything."
Stellar work here, Dagger. It's kind of funny how she has a very teenage "He's not my boyfriend, mom!!!" reaction to being asked about Zidane, except because of the context in which this happens, it immediately turns Marcus against her because he thinks she just used Zidane to get to Lindblum and then abandoned him. It's a good demonstration that Zidane isn't the only one who can fail a speech check.
Steiner is notably silent here, and if talked to, simply says he will not meddle in Dagger's affair. He must be using all his willpower to restrain himself, and I'm worried if this goes on too long, he might explode.
Dagger, of course, does actually care about the Tantalus troupe, seeing as they helped her get out of Alexandria and then they all nearly died in the forest rescuing her. Not just Zidane, but Blank as well - even if she didn't know him well, he sacrificed himself for her, and Zidane did care about him. So when we approach Marcus again, she tries to ask how she can help with rescuing Blank, but is really awkward about it because, from Marcus's perspective, she just made it clear she didn't care about them and so he has no idea what she wants. She starts to explain she feels responsible, when all of a sudden the cable car shakes.
The conductor tells everyone to stay calm and it's probably a problem with the engine, heads out to investigate… And immediately comes back aboard shouting that a "Demon with a pointy hat!" has stopped the car.
Dagger and Steiner hear this description, and immediately figure out what's going on. They rush outside, Marcus following after them.
Long time no see, Black Waltz.
Yeah, turns out he did survive. But, well.
He's not in a much better shape than he was last time we saw him. Still strong enough to force a cable car to a halt, but… Well, listen to him:
Black Waltz N°3: "Mission… retrieve… princess… alive…"
Dagger: "Isn't that the one we saw on the cargo ship?"
Steiner: "Monster! I'll finish you off this time!"
Dagger: [She steps forward.] "Wait, Steiner!" [To the Black Waltz] "Tell me something! Why do you want to capture me?"
Steiner: "Princess, it's too dangerous! Please stand back!"
Black Waltz N°3: "Mission… retrieve… princess… alive…"
Marcus: [Drawing his sword] "It's not use! It doesn't understand!"
Dagger: "But-"
[The Black Waltz limps forward.]
Black Waltz N°3: "Eliminate… all!"
His wings are broken.
This isn't much of a fight. It's really more of an execution. Or, depending on your perspective, a mercy killing. Black Waltz is still operating with his disc 1 loadout, firing Tier 1 spells with the addition of Freeze, which probably does something but it whiffed when he tried it so it didn't do anything. Furthermore, he is still bound by the directives telling him to bring the princess back alive, and so he will not attack Dagger, who is our White Mage and can keep the entire party in the battle as long as she's active. Marcus is a poor replacement for Zidane, since he lacks Skills, but we can still use him to steal a Steepled Hat and a Lightning Staff off the Black Waltz.
So we basically weather his low-damage spells with simple heals and layer damage onto him until he finally dies.
It's anticlimactic, but, well, like I said. This isn't really a fight. We're just putting down a mad dog. Or, perhaps more to the point, a sad, broken robot who, even at death's door, still can't even rebel against the programming that tells him not to harm our healer. I have little pity for Black Waltz N°3, but, well. To what extent can he be blamed?
They built him wrong.
Once the fight is over, Dagger is left to just wonder - why? Why this violence? Why pursue her? What did he want with her?
The answer is obvious, but it's difficult for her to face it.
Marcus: "Burmecia was attacked by an army of black mage soldiers…"
Dagger: "...I know."
Marcus: "Those mages wiped out the people of Burmecia…"
Dagger: "....."
Steiner: "Who would do such a thing?"
Marcus: "Are you serious!? How ignorant can you be!?"
Steiner: "What do you mean!?"
Dagger: "Stop it, Steiner… I know who did it."
Steiner: "Princess?"
Dagger: [She takes a few steps forward, relieving a little more of the distance.] "We're almost in Alexandria… I must go to the castle and see my mother… She'll listen to me."
It's interesting how the game plays with the fake mystery of who did the attack on Burmecia. It was obvious long before we actually saw Queen Brahne in Burmecia, and at this point we, the players, have known for hours what Steiner can't accept. So it's not a mystery; it's entirely a character beat, one that's focused on how difficult it is for Dagger, and outright impossible for Steiner, to accept that Queen Brahne just… Committed a genocide.
It's an act of such staggering evil that Dagger can't even talk about it outright, but still, she knows. But she can't reconcile it with the mother she knew, so she is desperately, hopelessly banking on the idea that if she can get in a room with her mother, she can get an explanation, she can change her mind, she can get her to stand down.
But that idea is feeling increasingly desperate. The people of Burmecia are already dead. Changing Queen Brahne's heart won't bring them back. Her crime will remain. But it's all Dagger has to hang onto.
And that's affecting the way she acts and talks. Which gets us this fascinating interaction when they're back in the cable car:
Marcus: "So, you already heard about the attack on Burmecia."
Dagger: "Of course. I'm not like Steiner."
Marcus: "You've changed."
Dagger: "Me? You mean the way I talk?"
Marcus: "Not just that."
Dagger: "Well… A lot has happened."
This scene was bugging me and I wasn't sure I could figure out why at first. On the surface, I definitely like the vibe of it - Dagger has changed. Her attitude, her confidence, the way she talks, the way she carries herself. She's able to be much more casually confident in conversation - that "Of course. I'm not like Steiner." has incredible poise to it.
I thought, "I'm not sure I buy this much change in so little time," because the game has been fairly short up to this point. But really, between waking up outside Evil Forest, traversing the Ice Cavern, fighting the Black Waltzes, landing in Lindblum, then ditching Zidane and walking through the Mists all the way to South Gate, time has passed for Dagger, and she's been through more adventures than we've actually seen.
But then I realized: That's because Marcus and Dagger have only interacted once, when Dagger appeared on stage and they had to improvise the play and then fight Steiner. They have never actually had an opportunity to talk! They got thrown into two fights and then the Bomb exploded and the ship crashed, Dagger getting knocked off-board!
It's ultimately not a big deal but at least I was able to work out why it felt off.
Dagger announces that she has been through a lot of battles and is a "seasoned pro," and Marcus senses danger and quickly realizes that she intends to latch onto him in the search for the Supersoft.
Marcus: "You're gonna come along, even if I refuse, right?"
Dagger: "Of course I am! This is so exciting! I've always wanted to see the marvelous architecture of Treno. I can hardly wait!"
Marcus: "(On second thought, she hasn't changed that much.)"
Absolutely bullied. You know, I don't actually know how old Marcus is; I'd assumed he is an adult because he is burlier and more mature-looking than Zidane or Blank, but given his friendly peer relationship with Zidane and Blank, the latter of whom he calls "Bro," it's entirely possible he's also a teenager and just looks Like That because he's an orc.
And with that, the cable car reaches our destination, and Marcus… Joins our party.
I wasn't sure if the game was going to keep it up after the boss battle against Black Waltz, but yeah, it looks like the devs might have thought the path ahead would be tricky to handle with just Steiner and Dagger, so Marcus joins us as a playable character for the whole bit ahead.
Part-Time Worker Mary got back to her item shop.
When we leave, we reach a fork in the road. One leads back to the Village of Dali, the other to our next destination, Treno. Set at the fork is a sign, which is honestly… Kinda sad to read now.
"No amount of hardship can tear our two countries apart." I had the time frame off, I'd thought the war between the three kingdoms had ended within the last decade, but no. The peace was already 20 years old back during the reign of Cid VIII, the previous Cid before our oglopified friend.
It's thirty years of peace, first fragile, then so strong as to be thought unbreakable, strong enough to start weaving the two countries' very infrastructure together to facilitate travel and cooperation, that one short-sighted ruler is setting fire to in a fit of stupid ambition-
…
Let's just not think about this for now.
I don't know how it took me this long to notice that the gate has a sign above reading "Dali."
We're back at Dali Gate, on the other side this time - according to readers this is where we could have seen Part-time Worker Mary for the first time if I'd waited a little longer. This time, however, we do have a Gate Pass, so we can just go on through.
From there, we can head back to Dali with Dagger as the party lead. There's not much to do there, aside from buying a bunch of Wrists for synthesis (except that's a trap because the Steepled Hat needed for the Cotton Robes were last available at Summit Station but will not be available in Treno so we missed our chance, this is really annoying), but it's a neat spot of characterization because we're getting Dagger's internal monologue and dialogue, not Zidane's.
Dagger, it's been like two weeks tops. Even in game time it hasn't been that long.
Highlights:
- When we examine the "get rich quick" books on the inn shelf, which Zidane mockingly dismissed, Dagger is confused and wonders what "crazy money" even is. Our girl isn't as sheltered as she once was, but she still doesn't have much of a grasp on money, poverty, and the fact that people aspire to the sheer wealth she once had.
- The kid watching the entrance to the underground tries to hit on Dagger; Dagger is unfazed, and reflects that such comments would once have made her embarrassed, but no longer; given that she's been deflecting or ignoring most of Zidane's flirtatious comments from the start, the fact that she was flustered by them tells us her poker face was pretty good to begin with.
- The Old Lady only half-remembers Dagger, and laments that her farm has been destroyed as all the work moved underground, and asks Dagger what she thinks of Queen Brahne's policy changes. If we agree with her, Dagger says she'll "do her best get you back your farm," letting the mask slip that she's no ordinary traveler.
We can also visit the old man who likes coffee; if we examine the ship model, Dagger wonders whether Tantalus are always stealing wherever they perform as a theatre troupe. We sadly can't enter the Ice Cavern, so now we head back and finally go into the direction of Treno.
II. Aux Champs-Elysées, Au Soleil, Sous La Pluie, A Midi Ou A Minuit
Behold, gorgeous view.
There's another gate on the other side, we show our Gate Pass again, and then we're out on the Treno plateau, where we cross from day into sunset into night.
And there we are - Dark City Treno, the City of Nobles.
The name is a little bit of a misnomer, though. As with Lindblum, I'm going to try to keep to a broad overview of the city, but our intro dialogue sets the tone.
Steiner: "Princess, this is Treno, the City of Nobles."
Dagger: "We need to find out which noble has the Supersoft."
Marcus: "There aren't many nobles living here. The nights are long. It's a great place for thieves."
Steiner: "People like you turned this city into a slum!"
Marcus: "...Let's steal the Supersoft and get this over with."
Steiner: "Steal!? How dare you! Do you think I'd let you commit a crime before my very eyes!?"
Marcus: "How else would we get the Supersoft?"
Steiner: "Quiet! I will not allow such disgraceful behavior!"
Marcus: "I never asked you to come along. Quit complaining."
Why would a place known as the City of Nobles also be described as a "slum" that is "great for thieves?" That's because the main theme of Treno isn't nobility:
It's class divide.
When people say Treno is the "City of Nobles," what they really mean is that it's the city that has the highest concentration of high-status wealthy people, which means the gap between them and the lower classes is higher than anywhere else and pulling apart all the time. This means, in turn, that while Treno is an extremely rich city, it's also the poorest city we've visited so far.
Treno is pretty. But it's not pleasant.
While Steiner and Marcus are fighting, Dagger just… Slips away. She straight up leaves the screen while they're arguing. Marcus tells Steiner to look behind him, and Steiner realizes that she's left… But this also doubles as the good old "look behind you" distraction, so when Steiner turns back around, Marcus is gone too!
And now Steiner is alone in a city he doesn't know.
And with this, we regain control, not of Dagger, but of Steiner. So we get some more CLANK-CLANK-CLANK sound effects every time we move, delightful.
Immediately, the game offers us a choice of ATEs: "Treno Tradition" and "Ambition." I pick the first one, and…
Dagger is walking around town when she sees a thief running away, pursued by a guard. As she tells herself that she should be careful about pickpockets, a four-armed, green-skinned, red-haired man whom I'm pretty sure is Alleyway Jack from the prologue bumps into her… And steals 1000 gil from her.
Well, we're not having that. I reload and pick a different ATE.
Natalie: "Listen carefully, Mario. This city used to be called 'the City of Nobles.' It's a lie!"
Mario: "The nobles pushed us around, right, Sis!?"
Natalie: "That's right. They hogged all the waterfront property and forced us up into the hills."
Mario: "They exploited us to make their money, right, Sis!?"
Natalie: "Right. But we can't just sit here and complain, or we'll end up spending the rest of our lives in this miserable place."
Mario: "Power to the people! Right, sis!?"
Natalie: "That's right! Power to the people! We'll never go hungry once we become nobles! Follow me, Mario!"
[While they were talking, Marcus appeared and paused, listening to their conversation."
Marcus: "...."
Marcus: "What's this world coming to…?"
On the other hand watching these two children revolutionaries shouting "power to the people" is adorable. On the other hand Natalie seems to have absorbed completely the wrong lesson from her conditions - her idea of "power to the people" seems to be "we'll get to be nobles," like that guy from Tactics who just wanted to reverse the social order and put himself on top as the exploiter instead of the exploitee.
I wonder if that's what bothers Marcus, or if it's just the fact that Treno has such strong class divides with even children feeling the reality of their oppression. Tantalus are thieves, implicitly lower-class… But Baku is friends with Cid IX of Lindblum, they perform in front of kings; they're not revolutionaries. If anything, they're deeply embedded with their traditional structures of power in a way that accommodates them. Thieves with the ears of the mighty. Would they want to enact radical social change, or are they happy with society the way it is? After all, Lindblum seems fairly socially harmonious, even though the very existence of a ruling dynasty speaks to inequality.
More ATEs trigger as we advance, depending on the order in which we visit various places, I think. We can more or less divide Reno between "fancy" areas and "downtrodden" areas. The ATE where Marcus eavesdrops on the kids is followed by another in which he enters a bar that's a secret Tantalus hideout, where he meets with Baku.
Baku: "Yer late."
Marcus: "A lot happened. I'm kinda tired."
Baku: "No excuses. You're ready to go."
Marcus: "You found it? You found the Supersoft?"
Baku: "Yeah, in a noble's mansion. You'll go by boat and break in tonight."
Marcus: "Leave it to me! I'm the one who'll save our bro!"
Baku: "Yeah, it's just that you've got two liabilities coming along."
Kinda funny but also telling that Baku is so well-informed that he was able to pick out Marcus's tagalongs the moment they enter the city and before they split up, and immediately get that Dagger wasn't going to let go. The man must have eyes everywhere.
In another ATE, Dagger runs into a common drunk sprawled in the street and slowly backs away, then tries to approach a noble who turns out to be completely deaf and mishears everything she asks.
Also there is a place we're never ever going to enter:
This is the card game stadium. People here can take part in a card game tournament. We are not going to do that.
While we're looking for her, Dagger makes her way to Treno's auction house… Where she encounters a surprising visitor.
Kuja is attending the auction.
You know, I wonder if Kuja has like… A social life. Does he have a home? Does he attend galas or have servants? Or is he the kind of spooky bastard like Sephiroth who just manifests out of the aether when it's time to do ominous shit? There's nothing of particular note on sale at the auction today, so it would seem to indicate the former: he's just doing this for entertainment.
Eventually, Steiner runs into the four-armed man from the pickpocketing ATE, asking him if he saw "a beautiful young princess… I mean, a girl around here?" The man hasn't, but the ATE is actually our hint; Dagger is going to stay at the auction house hoping the Supersoft appears on auction until we get there.
Steiner: "Princess! Thank goodness I found you. I was worried."
Dagger: "How can I find the Supersoft when I keep having to listen to your complaints?"
Steiner: "Such harsh words…"
Dagger: "I don't think it's here, anyway. Where's Marcus?"
Steiner: "I do not know…"
Dagger: "Maybe Marcus found it already. Are you coming? I'm going, with or without you."
Steiner: "I- I shall follow you, princess."
God, Steiner is getting demolished today. Dagger is really fed up with his antics. I get the impression that it's the first time in her life that our girl has been rude to someone, and it's a way she's manifesting her newfound independence and her feeling of being a 'pro.'
Honestly I think it's good for Steiner to be getting some pushback.
And now we've rejoined with Dagger, so we can visit the rest of the city, and then join with Marcus. Right?
WRONG! You fools. You rubes. You absolute buffoons.
You see, by picking the "Ambition" ATE instead of the "Treno Tradition" ATE at the start, Dagger never got pickpocketed. Which you would think would be a good thing, if you were an imbecile.
Of course we are meant to allow the pickpocket ATE to happen so that we can then proceed in a precise order of events that follow in order to get a missable item. How could you not anticipate this!?
You see, by having Dagger get pickpocketed (which we can reduce the amount of with a timed button press), we can then open the "Pursuit" ATE, in which the four-armed man gloats about his successful theft and Dagger chases after him. Amazingly, the thief has this totally hypocritical comment:
Four-armed Man: "Wow, I couldn't see her well in the dark before. She's a real cutie. Good girls shouldn't be walking around alone at night. It's time for me to get ready and move on to a new city…"
Anyway, Dagger goes the wrong way, and this loops back us into the normal ATE flow. But now, when we run into the four-armed man again in that building, and ask him if he saw a girl… He says "Nah, I didn't see any cute girl with long hair…" Seeing as Steiner didn't mention the hair, he immediately catches on to the man.
Steiner: "What!? What did you say!?"
Four-armed Man: "Nothing! I didn't say anything! I never said I stole any money from her…"
Steiner: "!"
Four-armed Man: "!"
Four-armed Man: "I-I bought a Power Belt with her money. I'll give it to you!"
The man runs away, and we get the Power Belt as a reward for letting Dagger get pickpocketed. You know. An entirely reasonable sequence of events.
The Power Belt increases Steiner's Defense and Strength, and also teaches him MP Attack (which lets him spend MP to boost his normal attacks) and Counter, and it can also teach Vivi Fira, so that's neat.
We're now back to where we started, and… God, there's a bunch of other stuff to do in Treno. Look at this place:
This is Queen Stella. Given that Alexandria already has a Queen, her title is probably informal. Queen Stella is looking for "Stellazio"; a set of star-shaped coins of which we already have one, Aries. When we give it to Stella, it appears in one of these suspended cages, and she rewards us with 1,000 Gil.
But there are actually more Stella…zios? …zias? That can be found. At the entrance of Treno is a fountain: We can throw a 10 Gil coin in the water, receiving the message "you feel happier…" If we do this thirteen times, the Gemini coin appears. But there are more to find in a moment! First though, we'll check out the Treno weapon store…
…hm. Why is there a grate floor with a monster underneath?
Turns out, the owners of the store, the Knight family, keep a monster as a pet, and they like to have it fight people. Does this mean we can ask to fight it? Of course! And you know me, there is nothing I like more than colosseum battles. Let's go.
…ah.
Right. We're still lv 7.
The griffin casts Aero, dealing nearly 600 damage, far in excess of Steiner's max HP and instantly killing him. There's not much we can do about that, so we'll just… Leave.
No, I mean literally. We're leaving the city.
We can actually leave Treno at any time, at which point Marcus immediately runs back to the party and we can explore the plateau as a three-man party. In the process, we run into another friendly monster asking for Ore; we give it to them, and they tell us to give their regards to Ladybug before vanishing, leaving behind a very welcome payout of 10 AP.
Cut for image count.
