Let’s Blog: Ar Tonelico III – #19: Diving with Finnel, L2

Classes were painful today, so this is going to be a little short. On a more relaxing day I’d have done L3 too.

This entry covers level 2 of Finnel’s cosmosphere, obviously. Of course, you might ask “which one?”, but that’s a bit of a spoiler. I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with it in blog entry titles, though, so might as hint that to you right now. >_>

Spoilers, as usual.

Finnel’s cosmophere looks different. Aoto remarks it feels like the walls are closing in on him, with all those chesspieces around.

Momoko appears, greeting Aoto, and he asks if she’s shown up to abuse Finnel again. She complains that he shouldn’t assume the worst of her just because she abused Finnel once, and points out that he’s the one that’s ‘shown up’; she lives here. Aoto mutters that he really pities Finnel for having someone like Momoko following her around all the time, but Momoko says it’s merely what Finnel herself wishes for.

The event location this time is the prison. Aoto heads there, and spots Finnel straight away. “So you’re locked up inside a cell this time, huh…” he says, but Finnel corrects him that she escaped into the prison. She says she’s being hunted, but thought that inside the prison cell she couldn’t be attacked. Aoto wonders if Momoko’s playing some kind of trick on her, but Finnel insists that Momoko is her friend.

When Aoto expresses skepticism, Finnel suddenly bursts out. “Haven’t you noticed, Aoto? The walls are closing in. Someone… I don’t know who… but someone is destroying my mind!” She continues that the walls aren’t part of her world, so she can’t cross over them, and she’s come close to death so many times. Aoto asks what kind of people are after her, and promises that he’ll deal with them.

Finnel replies, “Um, a person who looks like a clown, and a lady who looks like a scientist…” Aoto replies, “So not just one person, huh…” apparently not connecting the dots just yet. Finnel’s resolve suddenly strengthens, and she declares she won’t yield to the threats of any outsiders. Aoto remarks that’s not very persuasive coming from a person who’s locked themselves in a cell.

Aoto looks outside, remarking “So on the other side of the wall it isn’t Finnel’s world any longer… That means Finnel’s world is this place, that floor with the fetters, and Stonehenge… I’d better try investigating them…” Before he can do that, Momoko appears, humming “F-ri-en-ds~” Aoto has no words, while she remarks “Isn’t that great?! I’m Finnel’s friend after all!” He replies, “That may be cause for celebration for you, but it just makes you look like an idiot to me.”

Aoto heads to the floor with the fetters, wondering if any Hymma are there this time. He encounters Yunitta and her stylish Funbun hair ornament, as well as vocal tic of saying ‘nya’. Though he thinks she looks pretty dense, he decides to ask her if she can go to those places that look like chess pieces. Yunitta replies that he can’t, but she can, and Aoto asks why. The Hymma says Finnel hasn’t accepted him into that part of herself, but as a resident of this world she can go anywhere.

Aoto asks her if would can look and see if there is anyone there, to which Yunitta acquiesces. She returns shortly, bringing someone with her…

Aoto, shocked, demands to know why Soma is here. She replies the same to him, saying this is a place he should not be. Aoto retorts that Finnel asked him to come and Soma has no right to tell him he can’t be here. He demands to know if she’s after Finnel’s life. Soma says that talking with him is tedious. He has nothing to do with this world, so he should just leave. Aoto refuses, and Soma says she’ll have to force him out, attacking him repeatedly. He manages to block a few of her attacks, but then thinks he’s left an opening, when…

Finnel says that Aoto has nothing to do with this and tells Soma to kill her instead. Aoto shouts at her not to sacrifice herself, but she says if it ensures his safety, she doesn’t mind. Aoto says he’ll definitely protect her, and won’t let her die. At that moment, Soma disappears. Finnel, her voice becoming weak, says that she’s glad she was at least able to be of use to Aoto in her last moments.

Aoto demands to know what this business is about her last moments. Instead of explaining, she merely asks Aoto to stay with her. Aoto promises that he will, but this definitely isn’t the end and he’ll find some way to help her. His burning spirit manages to unlock a Paradigm Shift. Aoto demands that Momoko help him carry Finnel to Stonehenge, but she points out rightly that she’s too small to do anything like that, and he has to do it himself.

At Stonehenge, Finnel seems to have recovered. Aoto asks if she’s scared, and Finnel replies she’s not, but has sort of a shivery feeling… (Judging from the amount of Nico comments around here giggling at Finnel being a masochist, I think the language is deliberately ambiguous.) She says that when she thinks about how Aoto might hate her if he sees more of her mind, it makes her shiver…

And that’s it for today’s exploration into Finnel’s tormented psyche. I guess it wasn’t that short even if it was only ten minutes of gametime.

Tags: ar tonelico, ar tonelico 3, gust, jrpg