The Eventide GameSummary
Chelle invites Leif to a game of Alberian Chess. Suspicious of the princess, Leif offers words of warning to the prince, who heads off to a mine at Jupiter's suggestion. There, the group is surprised to find a number of nesting fiends, and quickly readies for battle.
Dialogue
Chelle: I would have you spend the evening with me, my dear Leif. After that splendid party, some quality time together would be just the thing for us—perhaps with a dash of competition?
Leif: Alberian Chess? Interesting. It's been some time since we last matched wits in the capital.
Chelle: You are in for a rude shock indeed if you think the outcome will be the same as it was back then!
Leif: Well then, let's see what you can do.
Chelle: My first move is to upset your line with my woodland archers.
Leif: Then I shall fortify my position with my grassland warriors.
Chelle: Your tactics are as small-minded as ever. I rout your warriors with my sellswords!
Leif: A flashy move is not necessarily an adroit one, Princess—for as you see, I now have you surrounded. Tell me, how will you escape this particular predicament?
Chelle: Hmm... Yes, this is...
Leif: Well? Will you force your way through regardless of the casualties you receive?
Chelle: That is certainly what the OLD me would have done—fight to the very last man, even if it leads to my destruction. But a girl does not remain one forever. First, I flank you with my stone trebuchet. Then, using the cover it provides, I move my sorcerer princess forward.
Leif: Fascinating. These tactics are...
Chelle: Clever? Impressive? All that and more? I have changed, Leif. I am no longer an impetuous young girl, but instead a gorgeous maiden of depth and character. If it were necessary, I would not even hesitate to take a step backward so I might later take two steps forward and obtain an ultimate victory.
Leif: Your development is remarkable; your impulsiveness of old is nowhere to be found.
Chelle: Eee hee hee! Oh, I think you can do better than that on the praise front.
Leif: Ah, but praise must be earned, Princess. Now, how will you respond when I move my sacred dragonlord forward?
Chelle: Ah! I missed that entirely!
Leif: And that is checkmate. It seems you are not the only one who has improved.
Chelle: Ah, but that is utterly vexing; I thought for sure today was the day I would wipe that eternal composure from your face.
Leif: You say as much, and yet you do not LOOK especially vexed.
Chelle: It is disgraceful to betray one's emotions.
Leif: I noticed you stopped doing so. There was once a time when I feared your fiery passions might cause you to rise up and strike me full in the face. Yet now, beneath that mask of pleasure- seeking, you hide a multitude of faces. Where, I wonder, does your true heart lie?
Chelle: Now I AM truly vexed!
Leif: Excuse me?
Chelle: Who was it that wounded my heart with a blade as sharp as the one at your hip? That "true heart" of mine disappeared that day.
Leif: Ah, I...
Chelle: Eee hee! Do not fear, Sparrow— I bear no grudge. I learned well from you. You taught me not to be deceived by my eyes—and to keep what I cherish most tucked safely away.
Leif: Chelle, you...
Chelle: But let us stop speaking of the past and instead engage in another round.
Leif: The hour grows late, Princess.
Chelle: And yet morning has not arrived. A lady does not show her vexation openly just because she lost a game. But a lady also does not end her night cloaked in the stench of defeat! I will not withdraw at this point. Not now.
Leif: Princess... ......
The Prince: Is something wrong, Leif? You look troubled.
Leif: Ah, Your Majesty. I suppose I'm a bit concerned about the princess.
The Prince: What did she do now?
Leif: I find myself unable to determine her motives, and feel it could be a grave error to simply accept her words at face value.
The Prince: An error? How so?
Leif: How do I put this... It is almost as if...
Jupiter: She's hiding something.
The Prince: Jupiter?
Jupiter: She and I are cut from the same cloth. I...understand her. Even when her face is calm, the thoughts in her head race like a whirlwind. I like that about her. I like it very much.
The Prince: So you think she's plotting something? But what? And why?
Jupiter: Perhaps you would understand better if you got a personal look at the source of the power that supports Chanzelia.
Leif: You mean to take him to—
Jupiter: The materium mine? Yes, that is exactly what I intend to do. I feel the presence of a strange mana emanating from the ruins at the outskirts of this fair city.
The Prince: Well, you've got my attention.
Leif: They're excavating relics at the mine, so there ought to be workers there who we can question.
The Prince: Then we'll leave first thing in the morning.
Jupiter: No. We should visit the mine under the cover of night—THIS night. If we are found, things might become...problematic.
Fiend: Graaaaorgh!
Ranzal: The hell's goin' on here, boss?! There ain't no workers here— it's just a crapload'a fiends!
The Prince: I don't know, Ranzal. But if these are no ordinary ruins as Jupiter suspects...
Jupiter: Then perhaps we can learn the princess's motives if we descend into their depths.
Luca: And if she IS plottin' something, we'll find it, beat the crap outta it, and send her smug face packin'!