(Also, I decided not to get too much into detail. If you want to know how to get through these dungeons, go to Duelist101.com and check their articles out.)
My professor was astonished as I was when he heard about this world, Azteca. He told me it was one of the most ancient of worlds, and the Aztecosaurs who lived there had been around long before the Spiral had been torn apart by the Titans and were one of the first races of beings! He told me to talk to Ambrose, and I let him keep Sushi the Quetzal(don't ask me how she got THAT name, blame Christina) as I was sure Professor Cy was as happy as a clam to care for an ancient being like this.
Before I talked to Ambrose, I had to gather the team. I sent a message to everyone to meet at Grace's office for a briefing... but got a sad reply from my beloved:
Dear Sierra,
My apologies, but I have decided to go on a pilgrimage to various worlds of the Spiral. I wanted to join you in this new venture, but realized that my healing skills might need training. I promise to come visit you soon. PS: Happy Holidays!
Love, Ethan
(I decided to retire Ethan as a member of the group and just stick with my Trinity. Trying to run four accounts at once on my computer was a bit of a task, and with what I have on my plate, it'll be a pain to try to get through battle inputting commands for four people. Three should be enough. Ethan might team up with the girls sometime but I'll be running the rest of the blog with just Sierra, Grace and Christina.)
With that bad news in my mind, me and Christina entered Grace's "office" and found her staring out of the window, sighing. "Uh, Grace," said Christina. "We're here."
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I am fine, Mma," said Grace, who turned to show a smile on her face. "I was just recovering from a big mission I had... You remember Rra Bones?"
"Yeah," I said. "What is it... no way!"
"Yah," said Grace, giggling. "I just got to help Rra Bones with a mystery!"
"Wow, that's amazing," said Christina. "Give us the dirt on EVERYTHING!"
"This really isn't the time..." I began, but Grace started talking and I gave up. We had some time.
"It started when Rra Kinchley called me to the chapel. He told me that Rra Bones wanted me to meet him in his usual spot in Digmoore Station. Seems that something odd was happening in Barkingham Palace, and he was worried for the Queen."
"Well, that would warrant investigation," said Christina.
"Rra Bones told me to use his brother's credentials to get into the palace, so I told the guard that Mycroft Bones sent me."
"Sherlock has a brother?" I asked.
"Yah," said Grace. "The guard mentioned that the Queen was listening to an opera singer who was visiting, but he complained about the yowling and the fact that the singer had a large troupe."
"I greeted Rra Bones and his assistant, Watson, at the courtyard and told him what the guard told me. Rra Bones told me that opera was born in Valencia... you remember that world I told you about?"
"Yeah, you spent time there investigating this Armada group," I said. "Did you go to any opera while you were there?"
"Well, it was difficult to enjoy myself there, but I did see one opera performance," said Grace. "And Bones was right... an opera is usually done by a small group, something was not right. I agreed to investigate the West Wing, where this singer was supposed to be performing."
"I rallied a couple of fellow students to aid me and it was a good thing as we were attacked by guards. I was confused as to their belligerent nature and hated having to subdue them, but they were odd."
(You are forced to fight two to four Corrupted Watchmen, which are Balance and have 1580 HP.)
"After the battle, I met an interesting fellow called Doctor Jackall, who told me that the opera singer, Catrin Chesire, was not a singer at all but a sneak thief who was going to steal the Crown Jewels!"
Christina gasped. "That's the Royal Treasure of Marleybone! I can see why anyone would try to go for them, they're so valuable!"
(Next fight is with... these guys. I don't remember their stats, but I know they're Myth because the secondary weaknesses don't play in this dungeon.)
"Rra Jackall gave me a key to the inner quarters, but we had to deal with her criminals. I quickly blasted them with Tempest and they ran off but not before pointing me to the thief..."
"But she was prepared, sending in two giant cat thugs, her personal right hand men, to try to deal with us. We had a tough battle - these thugs were highly trained - but we eventually subdued them."
(You'll fight The Woman's Right Hand, which is a Myth Boss with about 5000 HP, and at least one The Woman's Fist, which is a Balance Elite.)
"I confronted Catrin about her ill deeds, and she asked me who told me that she was the culprit and got angry when she mentioned Rra Jackall. 'I admit I helped him get into the palace, but he is the crook!' she stated. She told me that Rra Jackall was the one seeking the Jewels for some alchemic formula."
"Well, the gems are said to have magical properties," said Christina. "I was surprised old Mal didn't take them to help with his little ritual..." I gave her a cold glare.
"I told Rra Bones about what Catrin told me and while at first dubious, I told him that I was observant in Catrin's body language and she had been honest... she did say she wanted mercy in her trial but Bones wasn't having it. 'We will see about that!' he told me. He angrily told me to go to the Main Hall and help the Chief Whip arrest Rra Jackall."
"Wow, I never expected HIM to get rattled!" said Christina.
"We had to deal with more guards though. This was when I was beginning to suspect that something was mind-controlling them."
(The Corrupted Yeomen are Fire and tend to spam Dark Pact a lot, so forget about Hexing, Cursing or Feinting them.)
"I was sure that something was up when the Chief Whip gave his loyalty to Rra Jackall." (I had Ethan help Grace out here. A fellow Sorcerer whose name I forgot joined us too.)
"I do not know what sort of magic he was playing but it was clear he wasn't going to let us take him down that easily."
(The Chief Whip is a gimmick boss - one turn one, he has a Priority Rebirth, and he can spam it every time the mook is defeated, reviving said mook. He also stacks a Priority Spirit Armor, so you'll have to eat through a LOT of Absorbs to get to him...)
(But it didn't matter one bit to Grace, who had been bladed a lot.)
"I calmly buffed myself and tossed him into a powerful Tempest. He crawled off, badly wounded, but his assistant came to his senses and told us that Rra Jackall had unleashed a golem that belches a powerful mind-controlling gas. The Chief Whip got a double dose of the gas so he was still brainwashed. We got the key to the Throne Room and rushed in..."
"It was horrible, the golem was vaporing the place and the guests were enervated. The golem turned to me and started counting down to belch more of this mesmering gas..."
"We were not letting him do that. We quickly piled all our attacks on the Chief Whip and the golem and dismantled the construct before it brainwashed us."
(The Chief Whip still does priority Spirit Armor but seems to abandon the Rebirth cheat. The Golem and two Gas Elementals are Fire, so Tempest can one-shot them with a couple of blades.)
The Chief Whip thanked us and told us that Rra Jackall had kidnapped the Queen, stolen the Jewels and jammed the elevator to the roof. We spoke to Rra Bones and Watson told us that there was a ladder to the roof, and it was safe."
"We confronted the Doctor on the roof, who was waiting for us, as if he knew we would follow. He sent out his trusted minion, a unicorn woman from Valencia, to intercept us while he made his escape. She was a powerful blade-user and skilled in the Valencia 'opera style' of fighting."
"Mma Vizzini was a powerful foe. She managed to bring down one of the group but we eventually defeated her. It was a tough battle, though."
(Margherita is Storm but uses a few cheats which are priority Pierce and Dissipate, so be careful about losing shields and blades. Also, the Sorcerer we were with got defeated by a two-part combo where she plants a Storm Prism on someone and then uses a Priority Triton. There were a few other guys but I don't remember their stats, sorry.)
"After her defeat, Mma Vizzini told us that Rra Jackall was escaping in the blimp above. We quickly boarded before the thing took off."
"I had expected there to be some resistance - Rra Jackall is no fool and would have guards."
(I don't know if this is a reference to anything, but Mister Utterson is Ice and Mister Poole is Fire. They use some gimmicks but I didn't have too much trouble. We took them out well enough.)
"I foiled the switch puzzle that keep the doors locked and we hurried to confront Rra Jackall."
(I think you have to fight a mob battle if you fail this switch puzzle but it's not that hard. Just flip the right levers and you'll be golden.)
"We confronted him and I begged him to stop this madness, but he stated he had found a formula which would allow him to become a creature with no morals called Mister Hound and he needed the Jewels to remain that way..."
"He then downed a potion in his hand and screamed, transforming into a hideous monster which launched a giant of fire to burn us. I flinched but didn't give him the joy of my screams. I had faced far worse than he could concoct..."
"And I was going to arrest him come heck or high water. My Tempest boiled with power and we worked together to bring this demon down."
(Yep, the writers had to include a Jekyll and Hyde reference SOMEWHERE in Marleybone...
Doctor Jackall is an interesting enemy - he starts out as Ice, but when he does his 'polymorph' move, he switches to Mister Hound, who is Fire. Both will throw out a global bubble boosting their element's damage and will replace it so forget about displacing it. Also, both of them have a few gimmicks but you can go to Duelist101.com for that. The mooks are cat thugs who are Storm. BTB, it was Ethan's Forest Lord which finished him off.)
"He reverted to Rra Jackall and told me to let him walk his dark path, but I responded telling him that morals may be a burden but we need them, lest we descend into violence and anarchy."
"We released the Queen, but she wasn't scared at all. She said that Marleybone would fall to pieces if she got freaked out whenever she got into trouble. We manned the controls and directed the blimp back to the Palace. The Chief Whip took Rra Jackall and his minions into custody."
"Rra Bones praised me and made me an honorary member of the guard as thanks for helping him, but I was pleased just to aid him in a case... now I feel like all of my hard work becoming a private detective has born recognition." Grace smiled.
I nodded. "You did pretty good... but we have a new venture to go on..." I told her about what me and Christina had learned in Haley's Observatory.
"Azteca, eh?" she said, getting a glazed look. She snapped out of it. "Rra Ambrose must be told."
"Let's go," I said. We left the office. I was sad Ethan wouldn't be joining us, but I knew us three could handle anything together. I knew we had to prevent my nightmare - which clearly foretold the destruction of Azteca by that comet - from ever happening...
[To be continued...]
Happy 2015, everyone, and have a safe ride home. (Yes, these are the Winterglide skates. Sadly, I couldn't get a permanent set and don't want to spend 4000 Crowns trying. :( )
[To be continued...]
