Part 2:
While waiting, young Minnie got bored and wanted to help kill some Sin Eaters to retrieve some necklace these people needed for a funeral. Now actually liking the girl, I was NOT about to let her get her pretty, (wait, pretty and Minnie in the same description? That does NOT feel right!), little head chopped off, so I decided to go help and vent some of my rage on things that deserved it. Of course it was a piece of cake, and sweet Minnie actually killed one herself! Way to go Honey, FAR more useful than old harpy Minnie EVER was!
That done, we later watch the weird funeral, (you know, ALL funerals are weird), and FINALLY Catgirl has an idea on how to go about this. It seems that those Evillll dark worshipers have in their possession ANOTHER old tablet that might provide information on how to appease those overzealous guardians on the other side of the forest. So a plan was devised to go in, disrupt the lovers of all things Black lives, and steal their property.
WOW, we heroes are just REAL jerks sometimes, no WONDER so many want to kill us!
Alea: "Yeah, that's VERY rude! I would HATE it if I was just minding my own business doing evil things and some pompous ass came in and stole my stuff!"
Adora: "Well dear, I am sure it was for a good cause."
Alea: "That's besides the point Adora. What if some goody goody thought YOU were evil and decided to steal your most prized possession?"
Adora: "Dear, if they tried, they would get a most SEVERE tongue lashing from me."
Alea: (looks horrified) "ADORA! No reason to be THAT mean!"
Adora: "....."
So, after dealing with big spiders, dark caves, and people with TERRIBLE fashion sense. (seriously, unless you have blonde hair, VERY few look good in black!), the tablet was finally in our possession. But of course, remember the motto OF this place, 'The First is the WORST!' Yeah, that's RIGHT, it was taking lessons from Eorzea and ready to screw me over!
No sooner that we got back than the stupid Eulmore forces decide to stick their noses where they ain't wanted! The forest dwellers tried to fight them off, but the Evilllll spider loving Dark lovers decided to join forces with the Eulmordians, which were making things a LOT harder with their poisons and all. They fought to a standstill, then the Bad guys broke off to regroup and prepare for a final push. This gave us little time to figure out that stupid tablet, but Kitty ACTUALLY came through and figured out where we needed to go to get what we needed to enter the forest.
But get this, the place we NEEDED to go to was IN the swamp itself or more specifically, UNDERWATER! It seems that the old temples that used to be here got submerged when the whole Light calamity happened and were not accessible. Well not accessible EXCEPT to someone that could breathe underwater, and GUESS who THAT was going to be.
Ok, I REALLY bitched about THIS one! There was NO way I was going into a yucky swamp! Oh, they pleaded with me for hours to do it, but I was firm in NOT going. Finally they resorted to my weakness, sticking me in a room with Catgirl and Uri while they discussed the most BORING stuff they could and read from the most BORING books they could find. It was PURE torture! Finally I could not take it anymore and agreed to search the underwater ruins, those people DON'T play fair!
Alea: "Wow, for Annabel that is cruel and inhuman punishment!"
Adora: "Dear, for Annabel, the most harmless things to others are punishment for her."
Alea: "Well, in her defense, being stuck in a room with BORING people would be awful for ME too!"
Adora: "Are you including me in that group Alea?"
Alea: "Um....Keep reading Adora, I wanna find out what happens!"
We soon came to the swampy lake in question. Sisters, it was AWFUL! Dark, muddy water that smelled of dead yucky things, bugs everywhere, and creatures eyeing me like I was a yummy snack. Catgirl looked expectantly at me to get moving, so sighing, I stripped to my underwear and gingerly went under.
(Ok, I debated in writing a REALLY long bitchy rant of how awful the whole experience was, but seeing that I was low on ink, decided against it. Let's just say it was one of the WORST experiences I have EVER faced doing this crap!)
Alea: "Awwwww, I wanted to hear how Awful it was for her, phooey!"
Adora: "Alea, she would have complained for at least 3 paragraphs."
Alea: "Hmmmm, That IS true Adora, it's probably better this way."
Adora: "Finally she sees reason! There is hope for you yet dear."
Alea: "HEY! Like there wasn't before?"
Adora: "um.....we better continue, dinner is soon."
Alea: "Hmmmph!"
So what did I get for all my troubles besides muddy, slimy, waterlogged, and my beautiful hair style RUINED? A silly seal, NO, NOT the kind that barks and looks cute. A STUPID glorified stamp! Well, Catgirl looks positively thrilled that I had found the thing. Honestly, SHE should have gone down there if she wanted it so badly. According to her, this was going to be what we needed to allow the crazed bloodthristy warriors on the other side to let us pass into the forest. I STILL say a couple good shots with my fire wand would have worked JUST as well, but what do I know? I'm ONLY the MOST powerful one OF this silly group! So I just sat there, smelly swamp water dripping from my hair, and said, "Yeah, good luck with that Honey, I am not going ANYWHERE until I have had a Loooooong bath!"
The others TRIED to convince me that being slightly dirty was fine, but I was having NONE of it! I DON'T call being covered head to toe with smelly slime water and algae SLIGHTLY dirty! Seeing that I was NOT going to relent, the villagers prepared a bath for me to clean up. It took FOREVER to get all that hot water into the tub, but I FINALLY got some pampering, and I made it last HOURS! Sure, the others TRIED to give me looks, but a few bitchy tirades drove them off to sulk.
So here I sit dear sisters, writing this while I lounge around, taking as much time as I can. I hear shouts that the Eulmore army is making trouble again, but I just tune them out. Honestly Sisters, someone ALWAYS causes trouble SOMEWHERE and it's NOT my job to deal with EVERY one of them! TWELVE, people are sooooo lazy anymore!
Your ALWAYS compassionate sister, (except when she is in the middle of being pampered!)
Annabel
Adora: "......."
Alea: "What? Its pretty much quintessential Annabel."
Adora: "I know dear, it does NOT mean that I have to like it."
Alea: "Well honestly I can't really blame her on this one. If I was covered in smelly swamp water, I would ignore all the fighting around me and demand that I get a nice relaxing bath too."
Adora: "I....I...I think I am giving up on this argument. After the muck from THIS letter, I think I am the ONE in need a bath."
It did not seem this way back when I did it, but Annabel's journey through Raktika makes me realize that so much of the quests there feel like filler. While I feel they did a good job spicing things up with puzzles and minigames, it definitely feels longer than the Il Mheg arc! I can feel you did not like this place very much, lol, because even Annabel's saltiness seems a little less spirited in this one.
