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PSO2 Story Guide
The story of PSO2 has many chapters & is very long.
This isn't meant to be a substitute for the game, or as a transcript of the entire script/plot, but rather a way to understand, read-up-on, speculate, analyze & get a really good idea of what's going on in the game.
Character Guide
Planets/Areas Guide
Special Quest Mission Write Ups
Color key
Green Text: Speculation
What You Do/The official "Party Line" appears in RED TEXT
Bold Text: Important information
Choice Options: Blue Text
Dates & Times (Story is time travel related) Purple Text
Story Guide Page 1 * Story Guide Page 2 * 3A * Story Guide Page 4 * Story Guide Page 5 * Story Guide Page 6
Story Guide Page 7 * Story Guide Page 8 * Story Guide Page 9 * Story Guide Page 10 * Story Guide 11 *
Story Guide Page 12 * Story Guide Page 13 * Story Guide Page 14 * Story Guide Page 15 * Story Guide HUB

Many darkers spawn, but there are also exploding barrels and turrets a-plenty to use on them. It also makes it more fun if you can set fire to a krahda, and lure it & the rest of the lot near an exploding barrel…After battling past all of them, Hilda cuts in, though there’s static on the communication line, that mini dropships are helping with the mop up. No sooner does she mention it, but one malfunctions so there’s a “defend the ship while it repairs” code. And who comes to crash the code but a…Gawanahda, to make things really difficult. If you can lure it in sight of the gun turret (without him eating it) it will make the battle better.

If you can pass that code and reach the next area, a white cast appears. He has a single long fin on the front of his head. Melphonsia is shocked, as it is a member of the Council of Six! It is Regius, and he explains that while a council member, he's still an Arks and must respond. For some reason, she thought he was supposed to be on Naberius. (Why? Why would she pay attention to a celebrity stranger's location? Because Gettemhart is VERY interested in that planet.) He says there's an order out to help civilians get out of the way of danger, and that's what he's doing. She volenteers right away to help him with that, and urges speed. He says "women are very capable these days" and she leaves your party to go join his. It's obvious Regius is old, it says so a couple times. When was the time when women were not capable? Why were they not? Did something happen to "all women" long ago? It's a wierd statement that draws attention.

After they go off to save the people, you have to move on alone toward the end of the area, defeating darkers as you go. Piles of debris abound, as do still more turrets and circle lasers. At the end of the street, another Gawanahda pops up from the pavement. Hilda & Melitta try to warn you that something big is up, but there's static on the comm-line. (And it's not translated either)
Beating it, however, only brings out the real big gun: a Dark Ragne. However, the wall that popped up to trap the Gawanahda (and traps you too) receeds, allowing you to lure it among the rubble piles to trip it up, and to shoot it with the turrets & have it step in the circle lasers to damage its feet.

Beating this story mode boss ends the quest.

CONCLUSION: # Outcomes
1. You team up with Melphonsia before meeting Regius & defeating boss darkers to help the city
2. ???

BET:
None.

3/30 Is Huey Crazy?
Huey is quite upset, and you can tell because he’s rather quiet, for once. This interaction makes little sense on any level. Huey claims to be a member of the Council of 6 (and he is) however, they don’t just let any raving lunatic or incompetent onto it. So why does he say “Someone is always coming onto the battle field yelling, and then runs away”. Obviously this is him. He then gets really angry and says next time, he’ll blame it on you. (Really? That’s utter nonsense no-matter what your character is with the level of diversity he’s literally saying he expects people to think a tiny female hovering hot pink android is the booming voiced man in bright orange and have them in all seriousness believe it. Its stupid/nonsense) He doesn’t like following Regius’ orders (the senior member of the Council) but doesn’t say why, then, he ponders fighting Regius (but knows he can’t win) but it would put his name in the history books if he could. It feels like he's just upset and babbling.

3/31
Zeig has had the weapon stolen
As a surprise to absolutely no one, the weapon was stolen during the darker attack on Themis. *The whole thing was probably orchestrated purely to steal 1 item out of 1 guy’s house. Zeig feels terrible about it, and can’t figure why someone would take it. He wasn’t done, it won’t work, and no other workshop item was missing. He also felt someone could have been lurking all the while he worked on it. He tells you all about it as soon as you complete the previous "Darker Storm Themis" story quest.

Beginning of the End Story Quest Chapter 8

There are actually FOUR paths & times you will need to take when doing this quest. It’s actually the mostcomplicated out of all of them. Critically once already IN the Telepool, you’ll be presented with 2 options, which are never translated. (And you can’t copy the text out of them so…)
TWO of the times (at least) you will need to do much later, only after finding the character “XIAO” who can alter events enough to change how this quest will go. The best action is to proceed through it once, forget about completing its crown, and go ahead with the story. Once the chapter & episode end, you will find XIAO & he will allow you to complete the crown.

4/1 at 1000
Starting this quest, you arrive to investigate at the ruins, but run into Zeno & Echo right away. Zeno invites you to come along so the choice Go With Zeno or Investigate Alone appears. If you Go With Zeno, he’ll say he feels more at ease with you there. Echo, of course protests this, as she’s there too. Zeno is rather rotten to her, saying he ignores her because she won’t stand up for herself (really? How is that supposed to cure her of anything behavior-wise?) and that her ‘constant clinging is getting old’ with him. She tries to explain that she’s trying to protect/help him but trails off. He challenges her to say it again, but she storms off instead, telling you to leave Zeno there. Zeno says he thought Echo was feeling down, but if she’s this mad, she must be fine. (Zeno is dumb about feelings. He constantly harasses her or antagonizes her instead of just listening to make her bicker. She’s a bit the same way though.)

4/1 at 1030
The ground begins to shake, scaring Echo. Zeno says it’s like something stirring in the ground. But, before he can explain, Casra sneaks up on the party and says it’s dangerous. He introduces himself as a “regular Arks member”, but Zeno recognizes him. Casra is a FOnewm, member of the Three Heroes out of the Council of Six. *This is NOT the Casra that fought Dark Falz here, remember, they take eachothers names in the council. He recommends you turn back, but relents, saying he’s here investigating too. Do you want to join his investigation? Yes No If you say Yes, he’s glad, and volunteers to explain things along the way, however an earthquake stops him, and gets you to move on.

4/1 at 1100
After fighting your way past many darkers and fenced off Grim Monolith that you can’t remove the infection from, Casra will explain more. Echo asks why so many darkers right now? He says that they were always around in this area, and that the Arks lied about the safety of Naberius. He asks if you know what happened here 40 years ago. Dark Falz Defeat or Large Scale Climate Change. If you choose Dark Falz Defeat, he says you’ve done your homework. If you choose Climate Change, he says that’s a side effect of what happened. However, there’s “The lie at the foundation of the Arks” which he says is “That Dark Falz can be defeated is a myth”. This implies that the Arks is FOUNDED upon the principal that this particular “Dark Falz” character is ABLE to be defeated. This also implies that it is somehow undefeatable altogether, and that the Arks are trying to cover that up. However, shutting it up (or whatever they did) is nearly as good. Zeno says why lie about the darkers and say the planet was safe for beginners/common Arks? It’s all to cover up that the Three Heroes didn’t really kill Dark Falz permanently and the organization doesn’t want to admit it. Yes but then why keep sending all your goofy rookies to the super secret area 51 danger zone? Pick another planet/don't be dumb.

4/1 at 1120
You can find Gettemhart at an obelisk
Gettemhart says you decided to show up, and brought some losers with you, and laughs at them. Behind him is an obelisk like (stone?) monument with geometric patterns glowing on its front face and a blunt tip. In front of it is Melphonsia and what is presumably the weapon Zeig was putting together. (Remember, he never showed it to you when it was whole, but it was similar looking based on the pieces) Melphonsia has it levitating before her, and is concentrating on something. Casra exclaims that it’s the “Clarissa”, thought to be lost. He says it’s important to get Melphonsia away from that weapon. Notice how no one recognizes this as the thing Zeig was likely trying to put together. Also notice how its pretty similar to Claris Claes weapon she always has on her back.

Gettemhart says he’d like to see you try to get it away, and puts on his knuckle weapons while provoking Zeno by asking you if the “malevolent air” excites you too. They clash, Zeno’s sword vs. Gettemhart’s Knuckle. If you can hold him off, Casra figures out what he’s doing, and asks if he’s insane…to which he (Truthfully) replies that he was never particularly sane anyway.

4/1 at 1140
Gettemhart’s ignominious defeat
Gettemhart, ever impatient asks Melphonsia if she’s done whatever it is she’s doing. She says ‘almost’, so he wanders up from his place where he was fighting everyone off previously, asks her if “she’d do anything for him?” to which she (naturally) replies of course. So he apologizes (insincerely) and asks her to die for him, then punches her in the gut with his knuckle weapon.
(Really? Super trained ‘killer’ Gettemhart needs someone to die right away and he GUT hits them? Unless his knuckle was bladed and cuts her in half it’ll take minutes or more for her to actually die since he picked something only fairly vital. Knocking her head clean off, or throat-punching are so obvious one must wonder how much he meant to kill her)
She collapses, Zeno rages and Casra says “oh no, he’d use THAT method?” (This means Casra knows of method-S(plural!) to bring back a Dark Falz Elder. But how? Supposedly the Arks only put him away 40 years ago, nobody’s ever mentioned summoning it) Melphonsia (still alive…of course) asks if she was able to be of use to him finally, to which he says yes, so she collapses. Casra commands you to help her, but a torrent of evil red photons pour forth from the obelisk. Zeno goes to do something about it, but Casra holds him back lest he get pulled in.

Gettemhart yells at this torrent as it swirls around him, asking Dark Falz the strongest of all, to come forth and destroy everything. Then, he tells it he’ll crush it & fight it. No sooner is he done shouting a challenge at an immaterial manifestation of general evil, than it all starts flooding onto him, much to his protest of “don’t enter me”.  Of course it does possess him and Gettemhart loses his last battle in under 5 seconds because he is dumb*.

Casra explains that 40 years ago Dark Falz was sealed upon this spot (somehow) but not defeated, thus spawning the ‘it is defeat able’ myth amongst the Arks.  He explains that Falz is like the darkers, infecting & consuming before destroying. Gettemhart knows he’s in serious trouble, starts yelling for “Sheena”, then loses and begins referring to himself as “we”.

This infection changes his appearance. It turns his gray hair to hot pink, makes his skin darker, but leaves his eyes red, and changes his clothes to something similar to the Mask Man. Remember, the Mask Man also has hot pink hair, but his fades to black. The other change is that his sleeves are bellbottoms and his hands are now super huge. Speaking in a new voice Dark Falz Elder introduces itself, says you’ll be its first victims, and likes the idea of having a body again on a planet under a blue sky. (To destroy, of course) It then rises up and transforms into…Falz Hunar.

4/1 at 1200
If you can defeat Falz Hunar
It turns out that it’s sort of a shell, and breaking it and the sword makes Elder/Gettemhart’s body come out again. He’s fine, of course, and has liked the battle as a warm up because he is still awakening. The fight has allowed Casra & Echo to get Melphonsia out of his way though, and onto ‘your side’ of the battlefield. Zeno commands you & Echo to take Melphonsia away and retreat with her, whiles he ‘buys time’ because Elder isn’t even fazed by this fight. Echo protests, of course, so he tells her she’s useless and to shut up and leave.

Casra says he’ll stay too, to help fend off Elder, and that they actually do have a chance because he’s a Council 6 member. Zeno readies his sword & says as your mentor he has to set an example in situations like this (in situations like the end of the world?) Echo won’t forgive him if he doesn’t come back alive. You can now drag Melphonsia off with Echo’s help to get to the camp ship.
Zeno realizes it’s really odd that Elder has basically stood there this whole time letting your gang talk and argue about things without attacking. Elder says he waited because he doesn’t care for cowards who won’t fight. Casra & Zeno rush him.

*Dumb or actually insane in that he never considered the consequence of his actions nor looked up what Falz Elder actually was before summoning it. You're not going to knuckle punch evil gas or immaterial ghost beings, no matter how good a fighter you are or think you are.

Dark Falz Elder emerges
The true form of Elder emerges from the planet as a several-hundred-mile wide pointy mountain of rock. It demolishes half the continent it was under as it leaves the planet. It further pounds another continent with a giant hand. (At this point, Naberius is doomed. An event of this level would put so much debris in the atmosphere & trigger so much volcanic & seismic activity that the entire planet would inevitably go extinct in a matter of weeks and the sun would not shine for years--This is a FACT however it generates a huge inconsistency in about 1 day.)

4/1 at 1300
Back on the camp ship, Melphonsia is still alive (of course) and Echo frets, seeing Falz out the window coming out of the planet. She yells for Zeno over her com unit, but nothing comes back. Notice that if Gettemhart was trying to make a blood death sacrifice to awaken Falz Elder that he failed because she lived. Different kinds of sacrifices do different things, a blood death requires DEATH while a blood is just either blood or a part of someone. Doing it wrong produces wrong results or nothing. It doesn't seem to matter to the plot here.

Discrepency Zone!
What is going on with the planet? It SHOWS in a cinematic a giant continent sized mountain rock monster exiting Naberius' atmosphere/claw its way up out of the land mass YOU were just standing upon. In upcoming story plot everyone just is shown waltzing around on the planet which is apparently somehow...NOT AFFECTED by this at ALL? No debris cloud, no missing ruins, no wobbling orbit, no volcanic activity/continental shelf disturbance, no tidal shift in the sea due to a missing entire land mass - the disaster list realisticially just goes on and on. However, it seems like Naberius is exactly the same...minus the giant mountain monster.
1. Something to do with the plot saves Naberius upheaval from this
2. The cinematic is overly-disaster-ambitious and extremely unrealistic
3. No one considered realistically (at all. ever.) the consequence of something like this happening
4. The plot confirms that the "Elder Mountain" DOES have to come out of the planet/fly off into space/it's the real plot & of course no one ever excuses how the planet is magically fine after an entire continent takes off from its surface.

(This zone is here to prevent future ranting as the story progresses & to clear up how everyone is magically able to act all normal on Naberius when it's super obvious that couldn't be true)

4/2 Xion appears
Xion appears in the lobby again, saying the timeline has had a significant change, though it wasn’t what you had hoped for. (Clearly, Falz Elder wrecking the planet) She says ‘I and we’ must apologize because she knew it would happen that way, and couldn’t alter it. However, she confirms that “everything that COULD be done, was done” and that it may not be for nothing because you saw everything and may hold the key. It is your experiences that shape the world, allies and enemies. She says you have to keep seeing it through as you desire and that ‘I and we’ are here to assist as much as they can.

Once you finish all of this episode & encounter XIAO, he will give you different instructions once you accept the quest at the counter. He will tell you to “Decline a certain invitation” because it is “time for him to make a change”. While he speaks, you’ll encounter ‘static’ which is the cue that he is messing around with his time powers to alter something.

The following events happen "later" in the actual story as you play it, but they take place "Now" because you're put back in time to do each thing as follows. The above was "Pass 1", there ar 3 more passes you have to do to complete it.

OPTIONS AGAIN
Alternate Route Part 1
When you go into the telepool, an option that’s untranslated will appear. If you select  option 2…you’ll encounter Zeno & Echo right away waiting down on Naberius in the ruins, just like you did the first time.

Decline Zeno’s Invitation to Investigate
As Xiao instructed, you can Decline. He understands and says contact him if anything comes up. There’s a gray static after Echo says bye, letting you know that something has now changed. This lets you off alone in the ruins where you have to fight only natives. The pillars here are fenced off with sharp sticks/spikes so you can’t knock the infection off of them. The area is roughly Y shaped with two exits. In the center of the Y is a teleporter that takes you to a small ‘island’ type space (broken off from the rest of the map) with a few more enemies in it. Beating them all will open a teleporter on that area, that resets you to where you started.

Taking the LEFT side path exit:

Maria’s Confession: Chapter 8 the Beginning of the End

The only instruction here is ‘seek the ruins secret’, so you’re just doing some basic island hopping after defeating every enemy, turret & infect circle laser on each little chunk of land.

3/31 at 1030
Sara asks what you’re doing here. A request from the research student? After all he’s been through he doesn’t know when to quit. (She likely means Rogio) She tells you you’re pretty trusting to take his request…but it’s none of her business. (Remember: Sara is a bit of a gossip who is always proclaiming how she is not a gossip) She’ll ask if you’ve noticed how weird the place is, but doesn’t know the reason but ‘the stupid old hag’ said the photons were weird here. Sara insists she really doesn’t know about it, if you want to know that badly you have to ask the ‘self-proclaimed protector’, and as to where they are ‘hell if I know’. She goes to stalk off but…where was it again? As she looks around she tells herself that someone like her could never get lost.

After Sara leaves you move on into the next area which is basically square. Fighting a Baize will remove a barrier & you can get to some crates. The sharp sticks around the Grim Monolith can also sometimes spontaneously all break off at once, disinfecting the monolith.  Fighting past a variety of darkers here and doing more short hop teleports leads you to another exit.  This sets you behind an orange fence with an orange button. This area has 3 ways in and one way out. (An aqua button, and a yellow button) So, it would depend on what you were doing previously how you got here but the result is the same.

An infected Fang Banshee & Banther will turn up if you move forward on the only path. Beating them leads to the big obelisk, which, if you approach at

238 3/31 at 1100
Maria turns up there saying she’s glad you made it all the way back here. But, she’s a higher rank Arks than you so she asks why did you come here?

To Investigate This Place
I Don’t Have To Tell You

If you choose (to start a dialogue instead of a fight) To Investigate This Place, she’ll tell you its an outstanding answer and so are you & ‘that research student’. But listen, in this world there are nice lies, lies that are for the benefit of others. The truth isn’t always the right answer because in real life there are things better left unknown. That you’ve noticed something amiss here is noteworthy but the truth is only the half of it….so she’ll let you in on one thing…This monument is all that remains of a battle here 40 years ago. These aren’t ruins, they’re battle remnants. In this landmark battle and now, why the ARKS are hiding something is for you to discover. It’s not a lie without a purpose, and Maria isn’t required to stay quiet about it, but there is still a good reason for it.

Sara comes dashing up & yells ‘there you are’. She yells at ‘stupid Maria’ too for leaving her behind. Maria gives back saying a stupid greeting from a stupid girl its her own fault for being slow. Sara questions this a bit (seemingly in earnest) which prompts Maria to give her a new name Stupid Slowpoke Girl. Sara jabs back with Stupid-Maria again, but Maria says now that Sara’s here, the conversation must end because there’s things to do but nothing more to investigate here and now so we’re leaving. The ARKS are lying to you but I am not, think about that.

Maria’s Confession: The End

So what is Maria helping the ARKS to hide?
The big obolisk is obviously what the dead Claris used to seal away Elder on Naberius. But what are the rest of the ruins? All those giant rings, stone towers, huge 'tree' & more? Was THAT stuff all what...a city? 40 years ago? Doubtful. This actually never gets explained either. The big "ARKS LIE" is that they defeated the Falz Elder: no they didn't they just sealed him away. They lie to comfort the people ("Nice Lies") but she's too obtuse and Sara interrupts her too early for this to do a lot for the plot.

After running this quest BOTH ways, it STILL won’t clear the entire crown.

OPTIONS AGAIN
Alternate Route Part 2
When you go into the telepool, an option that’s untranslated will appear. If you select  option 1…

You won’t encounter anyone down in the ruins right away, and the usual “Y” shaped area will have its right fork blocked by rocks.

In the next area 4/1 at 1210
You come upon Maria & Sara already talking. Sara will exclaim it’s just like Xiao said and you did come. Maria recognizes you’re Xiao’s choice and wonders if it’s a coincidence. Sara doesn’t want to talk, to avoid saying something her future self knows. Plus, if we don’t hurry we won’t make it in time. You clearly ask her what she’s going to do, which she says ‘is silly’. You came here to change history right, we’ll kick logic out and do the impossible!

Chapter 8 A Step Towards The Future: The Beginning of the End

This leads to more darker defeating and island hopping with Maria & Sara in your party.
238 4/1 at 1220
Battling into the next area, Maria will tell you you’ve got a lot of nerve to pull around the 2nd of the council of 6 like this. It’s about time you explained what we’re doing here. Sara says she was just ordered by Xiao to come here, and that if you go ‘there will be reinforcements’. She thinks it’s that way for you too—he didn’t get into specifics, right? You nod at this.
Maria is doubtful, but asks if there’s something we need to do, but aren’t we already too late? She thinks that due to darker reaction, Falz seal is already broken. Sara says it’s something that needs to be broken because unless it happens, Luther can’t be lured out into the open. (Luther is un-defeat-able if he is not lured out first. He can manipulate time to a degree as well as self-teleport--if he's focused only upon hiding, he literally cannot be found by anyone ever) She then goes to yell at the air, saying he should have said something like that sooner, is he even serious? He then begins to argue with her, which makes Maria wiggly and impatient.

She takes the opportunity to ask you what you think of all this? If our objective isn’t to stop a DF revival, then what’s the real purpose here?

To Defeat Falz
To Rescue ARKS

If you choose To Rescue ARKS she’ll say it’s to save the ARKS then DF will fight against. Something like that seems manageable, but we don’t have a lot of time. This causes you to nod, and her to prod Sara to quit fighting and hurry along. She then blames Xiao for the yelling, and both rush off after Maria. This area has just darkers, and some boxes with items so you can feed your mag. There are Kuklonada and some wondas.
If you say To Defeat Falz, Maria will say it’s quite a feat even now while he’s weak…we could stand a chance, but either way if we’re going to save ARKS or defeat Falz we don’t have a lot of time. This causes you to nod, and her to prod Sara to quit fighting and hurry along. She then blames Xiao for the yelling, and both rush off after Maria. This area has just darkers, and some boxes with items so you can feed your mag. There are Kuklonada and some wondas.

238 4/1 at 1230
Zeno is tired from the fight with Gettemelder. Who says he’s frail. And not entertaining, the body has told him it’d be more amusing. Zeno says it’s an overestimation of his abilities and he can’t live up to the expectation. Elder then confesses he doesn’t understand, why would he put himself into this situation? Even though if the 2 of you had kept fighting or if all had attacked at once, they may have had a chance. Zeno says he’s got to be kidding, why drag other people into his own problems?
Elder takes that as content with sacrificing himself for others and rushes in to punch him to death, which Maria blocks in spectacular fashion.
This confuses Elder, who says ‘what’, and Zeno thinks he’s dreaming. Sara wishes it was a dream. Maria confirms it’s Elder, the same one who caused the collapse of ARKS 40 years ago. She yells at him that 40 years is a long time to face him down again. This jogs his memory. She says he’s become more human, in the time he’s been stuck on Naberius. Has his defeat caused him to rethink? He says she was indeed trouble 40 years ago, and since he just reawakened, it was like yesterday. It was an amazing battle, both fighting to the last breath it was the ultimate feeling. (This is the real Gettemhart talking, the 'falz' essence only has 1 goal which is to revive PD, it doesn't have a battle-thirst like he does, so this is exposing that it really is a blended character)

Sadly, Maria disrupts him, saying she’s cutting him off ‘when it got interesting’, but that’s not his full potential…is it? Is it the body or the seal, but that’s not close to full strength. So, if she kills him here, it’d wrap it all up nicely. At this he just ‘hmpf’s. She’ll crush him here with all the resentment he caused in the blade. She’ll finish Alma, Casra and Regius's job from 40 years ago. To get rid of the need for the Council 6. That’ll make things better, right?

Zeno says wait, he can fight too, but he falls to his knees and Maria says he should keep back. She asks if you & Sara can’t handle it at fresh/full power, how can Zeno think he can with his injury? Sara gets ready, saying don’t count her out, and he does his Hunar transformation.

He’ll summon 2 kuklonadas and you have to fight him.
Pick the kuklonadas off first, and let him chase Maria around. Don't draw his attention until he's alone.

At 1250
If you can beat him…he’ll change back into gettemelder and stagger. Saying it’s not enough, his power is being drained! How & why, red electricity crackles over him and he frowns profusely staring at you. He then blames it on you that his power is fading. He roars and rages, damn you his power isn’t enough. He keeps trying to power up again, saying where is his body? Where has his power gone? He looks around as if to see it in the ground or up a tree. He looks up the big ‘tree’ saying its up there. Maria tells him he’s no time to be looking around as she summons Crush Reaper Labrys the Axe (Its weilded as a partizan) and runs at him, chopping him mightily. He blocks with his arm, Maria says last time he could have stood such pain, so now die with regret and hang your head.

Persona appears though, and knocks Maria away as she is bombarding him with energy from the Labrys. Maria recognizes him as a Falz, and Gettemelder jumps up into the big ‘tree’ finding his power at last. This turns the sky red, and Xiao forces everyone to retreat, pulling them away in white swirls as Persona looks on, as the tree dissolves. A huge jet of dark energy pierces the clouds as a Falz Arm shoots up out of the ground. Now, the continent size mountain form will come out of Naberius, and be Dark Falz Elder. It takes off into space.

At 1310
You help staggering Zeno onto the camp ship where he sits on the floor. Sara asks did everyone make it out ok? Maria says Sara shouldn’t be out of breath over something as little as that, she is pathetic and lacks training. Sara tells ‘stupid Maria’ to shut up as she’s not something to be compared with. But more than that, was it really ok to use the Labrys? (Remember, it's a one use then it breaks weapon) Maria asks if that means she was worried about her? To which Sara denys, saying it was the Genesis wep she was thinking of. (She probably means Maria too but they are always smarting off at one another so she'd never out-right say it) She looks at it, and instead of glowing, it’s red with gray, and doesn’t work. She is disappointed she’ll have to bow her head to Zeig once more, the first time in 10 years.

Zeno says sorry, but thanks for coming to get him. After acting cool, and telling you to go back first, he feels lame now. Maria tells him that fighting Elder by himself and coming out alive is a miracle anyway…and he really does have resistance to bad luck. He asks her to not use that nickname, (Zenoboy) but reveals that Casra was with him at first, got split up, but he’s sure he’s all right.
Maria realizes that the news will be passed to Luther…which is actually really good because if they think Zeno’s dead, then it’s a good chance for us. She feels they scooped something good…but it’s likely not a scoop at all but the actual real objective.
Zeno thinks about this, saying the fact that you’re here means Echo and that girl (it’s Melphonsia) made it out ok, so he’s relieved. Elder wasn’t ordinary and he was only at a fraction of his power. And if that’s the case he’s worthless and can’t protect anyone. Maria tells him it’s natural for a HU that treats his class as a hobby. But…she likes naïve people who are able to see things thru till the end…and that’s why she’ll retrain him so he can protect those he cares for.  Plus…she wasn’t able to finish off Elder so she feels it’s her duty.
Maria asks Sara if it’s ok with Xiao, so she calls him on her ear phone, to which he says that was his plan from the beginning anyway so thanks for saving him the trouble…unlike Sara who is always trouble…so she interrupts him yelling that he always goes out of the way to bust her balls. Zeno then rises from the floor, asking you to NOT tell Echo he’s ok. It will be the wakeup call she needs. He tells Maria he’ll get stronger and come back, and so please keep an eye out for Echo till then.

You clearly say ‘words’, which he asks ‘is she really doing ok’? You act like you know what’ll happen. He won’t forget it, he’ll come back and repay it one day, so take care of yourself till then.  In a burst of static they all disappear from the camp ship, leaving you confused.

A moment later Sara calls, saying you can hear her, so welcome back…ish, but what happened just then was a long time ago. The message from Xiao is you did well, thanks. She wants to thank you too, for believing in us/her. But if we’re worthy of the trust she doesn’t know, but since she’s biased…see you soon.

This ends the quest Version: A Step Toward The Future.

So, Persona is only NOW countering Xiaos’ time-tinkering. He didn’t have to do his Maria-thwarting originally, but, because he’s a time creeper, when Gettemelder was going to fail here due to Xiao tampering, he shows up to ensure it doesn’t work, and we still get ‘elder mountain’ out of it.

Right Path Exit: The Annihilation Commences
238 3/31 at 1030
You run into Regius who says its rare to see anyone here. Are you the ARKS he saw the other day? It’s good that you have enthusiasm. But, this place is different so if you’ve no reason to be here you better head back. And if you do have a reason, finish fast. He considered it earlier…but where has he seen you before? After considering for a bit, he guesses its his imagination. Because you seem calm here, you must be pretty capable. But don’t get too far ahead of yourself because losing sight of the big picture, you could make a grave mistake. He then apologizies for ‘lecturing’ because he’s old, and doesn’t want people to make his same mistakes. He goes to leave, but turns to face you with a bit of advice: if you see a little girl here just run. He then leaves.
This whole interaction is pretty useless at this point. You're always familiar to him because of your time shenannigans putting you back with younger Zeno when Regius was in charge of him. Regius is never able to put it together that you're being dumped around in time.

You can fight your way past more circle lasers, infect cannons & a rockbear attack in the large room ahead. In the next area, 3/31 at 1100
Darkers are fighting natives. However, you soon run into Claris Claes who says ‘hey peon’, as is her habit. She commands your name or she’ll set an explosion on you. She doesn’t wait for an answer, as is also typical, and looks you up on her screen. You (clearly) ask who she is, and she says you lack common sense. She has a grandiose introduction for herself, Claris Claes member of the council of 6, which you should worship her because she’s the highest rank among ARKS. But, because you don’t do this, she assumes it’s because she’s too high above your lowly rank to understand so she’ll let it slide this time.
But, what are you doing here?
It’s not somewhere you should be. You make up that it’s a quest. After being somewhat incredulous, she says her power is for blowing up all darkers, she wouldn’t use it on you so forget about this place. She then goes to leave, but pauses wondering ‘where did that person go’ (as she doesn’t turn fully around and forgets instantly that you were behind her) looks ahead again, thinking she already went that way, and because you are still and quiet, she wanders off.

She is, of course, who Regius was warning you against, simply because she’s so annoying. Proceeding onward in the opposite direction, there’s a De Malmoth to fight, to open a button to unlock the path ahead. In the next area, you can observe the other button-gates (from this quest’s other path that of course can’t ever be opened because of the path you are currently on) and go forward until an infect Snow Banther & Banshee appear. If you can beat them, you get to the obelisk at the back of the area again.

238 3/31 at 1130
Approaching it you find Gettemhart, who is alone this time. He’s just kind of standing there. When he sees you, he says your name. He cackles, saying its so good you were led here too. You ‘ask’ what he means (It's another one of those where you do a gesture & he interperates it as an ask because there's no dialogue) so he says don’t be dumb, it’s the darkness vibe here & you feel it too right? But you’re oddly quiet, so he asks if Zeno told you to not talk to him. He says it’s a good idea (without waiting for an answer) because a respectable ARKS like you would have no reason to talk to someone like him.

You then ask “Where’s Shina” (you don’t see this, it’s just kind of a gesture but it has to be the question because he spits it back at you as a plot-way to illustrate what you said without having an actual dialog box) He asks if you want her? Too bad! He won’t hand her over, as someone so useful is too hard to come by. He then turns to the stone pillar, saying to look at it as there’s nothing more beautiful than it, it sends chills down his spine to see it. Do you know how long he’s been waiting? But, what you’re looking for isn’t here, it’s already gone, most likely. Now, get lost! Go home and cry like the pantywaist that you are, it suits you more than being here.

And…..you do! The chapter ends.

This section feels really pointless.
You CANT just stab him in the face because he has to squash Melphonsia to undo the seal, or Luther won’t “come out of the shadows” so that he can be thwarted. It’s a case of things have to get worse before they get better. But, demonstrating that Claris Claes is obnoxious isn’t needed, and then running into Gettemhart and asking him nothing just to let him haha and insult you feels like it has no means to whatever this end is. Running into him here is likely 'him waiting on Melphonsia to arrive' with the Clarissa wand which is the scene you come upon in the first iteration/run through where you DO go with Zeno/Echo. Either that or....this DIDNT HAPPEN.
BET: This one didn't happen/ended up not happening. Because 'the pantywaist' going home to cry then showing up with Echo Zeno literally like 10 minutes later? Nope.

4/2 Idol Quna sings
3/31 at 1030
Sara asks what you’re doing here. A request from the research student? After all he’s been through he doesn’t know when to quit. (She likely means Rogio) She tells you you’re pretty trusting to take his request…but it’s none of her business. She’ll ask if you’ve noticed how weird the place is, but doesn’t know the reason but ‘the stupid old hag’ said the photons were weird here. Sara insists she really After talking to Xion, if you climb to the upper ring in the lobby you can find Idol Quna. She’s singing her signature song, quietly to herself because she thinks no one is around. She hears you approach though, and is startled. She looks down at her clothing, and says if you found her there’s not much she can do so…what do you want her to sign?
Since you have no autograph pad, she wants to know what you want to talk about, introducing herself as Quna the most amazing idol who makes even the biggest cry-babies happy, haven’t you heard of her? Since she’s so busy talking she says quit pretending like you know her, then don’t know her so that’s annoying. She goes on to mention that there’s a lot of things she wants to enjoy without fame/recognition so please keep it a secret. In exchange, she’ll sign something…one time only, though!
(She is famous, but was trying to be covert. However, she should have thought of that before strapping giant plastic wings to the sides of her head and singing on a balcony. She has forgotten she was in her idol gear/costume, and hopes you keep her secret so she can go places without (presumably) the paparazzi or fans or whatever)

4/2 Idol Quna wants to hide
If you find her in the lobby again, she’ll ask if you thought of what you need signed/autographed. If not, she says don’t come talk to her, she doesn’t hate you but doesn’t want you to ‘blow her cover’ she’s trying not to be noticed so she won’t be bum-rushed by fans. She says try to be less obvious.

4/3 Idol Quna’s Client Orders
She says she sees you here in the city a lot, but how much do you actually work? Even if you’re not completely free, would you accept some client orders? She says she won’t ask anything too difficult (though one order is named “Idols Impossible Challenge”) because she wants to measure your strength as an Arks member. Of course: progressing means completing each order & turning it in

4/3 Casra & Echo
You can find Casra talking to Echo. He says its good timing you showed up because he wants to know what happened to Zeno. After you retreated with Echo (saving Melphonsia) Casra & Zeno kept fighting Falz Elder but got overwhelmed. Zeno made the gamble to split up, drawing Falz further away & since then Casra can’t find him and has no leads. (This is apparently news to Echo, as she glooms sadly) He says Elder was specifically going after Zeno more and doesn’t know why.
Echo has to explain it to him that because the host body was Gettemhart, who especially hates Zeno that his decoying would work well. She bets Zeno knew it too, and did it on purpose. Casra apologizes he couldn’t do anything to save the situation. Echo says Zeno’s always been like that, the body hasn’t been found, and he could still…maybe…return. Casra goes to investigate more leads, Echo says why are you looking at her like that? She’s used to waiting on Zeno, will use his absence to do her best & hopes you 2 can work together. She’s putting on a brave face, then leaves. (Well, a giant half-continent leaving the planet and flying off into space would sure put the damper on ever finding a human body, it isn’t like a new ocean wouldn’t form where it used to be…plus, how did Zeno outrun something literally larger than the largest mountain ever to ‘lure it away as a decoy’? Elder Falz is miles across and at least a mile high. None of this makes sense!)