Since our next goal seemed to be to confront Queen Himiko, we headed to her palace in the Aristocratic Quarter. The two guards at the entrance didn't want to let us past, but a quick application of mist slowed them down enough for us to sneak past. And when we went inside the palace, we met this lady!
Foreseen? That's...ominous.
OKAY, OKAY, WE'RE GOING.
So we hopped on the handy elevator. I wonder what poor sap had to operate the machinery so we could go up? Or maybe it's just magic.
And when we got to the top, we found...this!
Lava?! Weird.
Here's a blurry picture of Issun saying something inane.
Well, duh.
When I first played the game, I hadn't visited Sasa Sanctuary when I got to this point, so it took me a while to realize that swimming around in the lava wasn't going to get me anywhere. Fortunately, we have the Fire Tablet, so this is nothing but a slight setback.
Well, evidently not, or she wouldn't have foreseen our arrival...
Way ahead of you, pal. Here's a picture of us swimming around in the lava just for kicks!
There was actually a surprisingly small amount of lava, considering how long the hallway behind it was. Come to think of it, how was the lava even there without melting the palace? Magic, I guess.
And this is the door we found at the end of the really long hallway. I mean, they could have put a lot more lava in there, and maybe it would do a better job of keeping out evildoers. I mean, I'm just saying.
And in the above picture, we're in the giant room we found ourselves in when we went through the door. That's some kind of screen there on the other end of the room.
And then things started getting creepy. Or maybe the music was just making it seem that way.
And behind the screen...
Some kind of altar, and a person, and a crystal ball?
I guess so. It's hard to tell with that screen in the way...
Could have been tighter. I'm just saying!
Yeah, I guess.
Okay, that is creepy.
She knew both our names. Impressive.
Issun, of course, was slightly perturbed by this, but didn't waste any time getting down to business.
Of course she knew! But it wouldn't have been good for city morale if she'd gone out and let herself be seen crawling around on the ground, would it?
Hey, now. She is the Queen, after all. You might want to be careful how you talk to her...
Interesting...
I, uh...I don't think she's evil...
Yeah, she's not evil. Tone it down, Issun.
Issun, I said tone it down...
NO! I said tone it down!
But the curtain isn't even grimy! Knock it off!
TONE IT DOWN TONE IT DOWN TONE IT DOWN!
Yeah! She's the Queen! She could order us killed at any second!
Yeah, I guess...
So she offered her most sincere apologies...and then the screen went up!
Predictably, she was really hot.
Issun being Issun, he was struck speechless by this incredible reveal.
So you've just been praying nonstop instead?
...I see. Well, Issun and I did show up eventually, I guess.
Here's a hint: speak in complete sentences. Wait, what's Oni Island?
With an intimidating name like Oni Island, who knows?
Well, that generally means she doesn't know where it is...
I think we're still at the part where she doesn't know where it is to start with.
Okay, I'll bite. How is an island elusive?
Oh. That's...interesting. Hah! You can tell it's an evil island because it has horns! Or cat ears; I'm not quite sure.
And you come in...how?
Presumably they'd just end up on the shore staring out to sea, right? Since the Water Dragon would just sink their ship anyway?
The crystal ball? That's it? This is a country where everything has a name, and the crystal ball doesn't?
Forever, eh? That's a pretty long time.
And in all that time, nobody gave it a name? Tsk tsk.
Oh. Well, that explains the part where you foretold our arrival. Come to think of it, that crystal ball looks like the one we saw right after we defeated Orochi. You must have been the person commanding Waka to come back to the city! Sneaky.
So if, say, a friend wanted to know which city bars have the best drink specials on any given night, the crystal ball could tell us?
Okay. So the bar thing is out of the question? Or would it be really easy since it's not an important request? My...friend wants to know.
So she went on to explain that if the monsters knew Himiko was praying nonstop, they'd stop at nothing to...uh, stop her.
I thought the crystal ball was our only hope.
Why? Do they know about the crystal ball? Wait! Maybe they want to know about the best drink specials too!
Shut up, Issun!
Being an idiot, Issun decided it was a good time to bounce over to Himiko and do...something, but before he could get to her, some kind of red electrical barrier zapped him.
Serves you right, you freak! You were probably aiming for her cleavage anyway...
Why didn't you warn us before, then?
She explained that when she touched the crystal ball (or used magic to float it in the air, since she's not actually touching it)...
Right. Well, a warning would have been nice.
WHY ARE YOU WASTING TIME TELLING US THIS NOW? WE FIGURED IT OUT ALREADY!
Right. So just keep it with you at all times, and everything will be peachy!
And then it was time for her to ask something of me.
We noticed that. You know, when he ate us.
But it's up to us to fix the problem, right?
So he's like the Police Dragon of the Sea?
Oh. Well, that complicates things.
That really complicates things.
Yeah. So, uh, what are we supposed to do about this?
Right. So what are we supposed to do, exactly?
...Right. There's no bridge leading to it.
It has a shield? Well, shit!
Ouch. I don't think we want to do that.
How convenient.
So he's both a shield-breaker and bridge-provider. Too bad he's gone into a murderous, insane rage, huh?
And somehow you want us to bring it back under control, right?
How am I supposed to do that? I don't even have an ocarina!
How convenient. Well, stay here and pray then.
Yeah, I don't know how that's going to happen. But I suppose we could give it a shot.
Is she bowing? I think she's bowing. Wow.
Border Key? Hmm...
Ooh! Does that mean we get to go to Northern Ryoshima Coast?
Last I checked, you were the Queen of
Dragonian Domain? Does that mean there's more than one of them? They're not all going to try to eat us, are they?
Well, since you just said they control the Water Dragon somehow, I think it's pretty clear they've got something to do with it.
Yeah, yeah, we'll do our best.
And that brings me to my stopping point for today. I guess this post is relatively short by comparison. That probably means the next one will be ridiculously long, but whatever. Check back next time for our journey to Northern Ryoshima Coast! (Hint: We meet some cats.)
Until next time, heroes!
