Waterways

The Waterways is a dungeon in Tales of Legendia. It is located southeast of the Oresoren Village and also on the way to the Ruins of Frozen Light.

Geography


The outside is a long corridor, but the interior houses a complex maze which also houses secret rooms and mechanisms which release streams of water through the canals, hence the name "Waterways".

Main Quest


When the party arrives at the Waterways, Jay, Poppo, and Quppo meet up with Senel Coolidge, Chloe Valens, Will Raynard, and Norma Beatty at the top of the entrance. With the Crusand escort approaching, Jay goes over the plan: Will and Norma will launch Crystal Eres at the front of the unit, slowing them down. Quppo will then shout loudly with the other Oresoren hiding on the other side. Next, Senel and Chloe will hide near the entrance and wait for Jay to throw a smoke bomb, then run and rescue Shirley. After that, they must make their escape through the Waterways and use the emergency passage. Though Jay is a bit nervous when seeing Chloe and Senel, he orders everyone to get into positions.

While in hiding, Jay notices only two of the Terrors are present, which makes him a bit worried. Just as he is about to start the operation, a scream is called out. It wasn't the Oresoren though; it was actually Moses Sandor and his bandits who launch a sneak attack of their own. Jay then alters his plan a bit; he'll send out the signal to Senel and Chloe while Will and Norma provide support with their Eres. As Jay released the bomb, Senel and Chloe find themselves fighting against Stingle while Moses goes for a rematch against Melanie.

Shirley managed to get herself free, but was spotted by some of the guards. Thanks to Will's Lightning, she managed to get away. Jay orders Norma to back up Senel and Chloe. Shirley manages to get Fenimore Xelhes freed and makes a run for it. Senel gets distracted for a moment, but got saved thanks to a Grave Eres from Norma and both he and Chloe make a break for the entrance. Everyone then rushes into the ruins, with Melanie, Stingle, and Moses not far behind. Jay is glad that they got inside as planned, though he's not too thrilled about the bandits' attack.

Will and Norma regrouped with Senel and Chloe and begin to chase after Shirley who went on ahead. They find the two girls cornered by guards, but Chloe knocks them out with a single Demon Fang. They ask them to jump, but Fenimore was hesitant to go because of them being Orerines. Melanie catches up to them and opens a floodgate, letting in water and washing the group away. Shirley tries to catch up, but the gate closes in front of her. In a corner of the rushing current, Senel hangs on until he sees Chloe struggling. He then starts swimming after her and tries to keep her head up.

Meanwhile, Shirley and Fenimore were cornered again but was saved yet again, this time by Walter DelQues. Elsewhere, Senel manages to wake up Chloe and explains that they are at the bottom of the Waterways. He couldn't abandon someone who couldn't swim since the sinking gave it away. Chloe was a bit upset since she was trying to keep it a secret, but now that she's fine they head back up to try and regroup with Will and Norma.



As the Ferines keeps running, Walter tells them of a secret room nearby and tells Shirley and Fenimore to hide there while he keeps Melanie and Stingle occupied. Elsewhere, Senel and Chloe meets up with Will and Norma and start the search for Shirley once again.



It was then that the foursome run into Moses and Giet. He got caught up in the flood as well, and was about to get into a tussle with Senel before getting conked by Will. Since they had bigger enemies to worry about right now, Will orders the fight to be postponed for now. Inside the secret room, Fenimore notices that Shirley had gotten a fever. Somehow some seawater got mixed into the flood...



Walter arrived, but he was badly wounded from the fighting. He warns them that they have to leave. When Fenimore asked why he keeps pushing himself, he explains that it is his mission. It was also then that he reveals that Shirley is in fact the Merines. Fenimore explains that when she was captured, she hoped and prayed that the Merines would come to save her people. But she was mad that it was Shirley all along, and reprimanded her for being around Senel while her friends being killed off. Walter stops the argument says that he had faith in her before finally fainting. Fenimore also somehow sustained injuries as Melanie was getting closer. It was then that the Gemini Shell she got from Pippo was glowing. Meanwhile, Moses and Norma were getting argumentative when Senel's shell starts glowing. He then rushes forward to Shirley's location.

They manage to find the secret room and find Fenimore and Walter...but no Shirley. Fenimore explained that Shirley acted as the decoy to lure the others away in order to protect them. Since it was only moments ago, they might be able to catch up to them. Senel then asks Moses for a favor to let Giet carry Walter for a while. Though he was reluctant at first, he changed his mind when he learned that Shirley was Senel's sister.

They managed to catch up to them, but Melanie leaves a present: a giant Citadel Turtle. Thanks to Moses' encouragement, they fight against the iron-hided menace and make it outside but Shirley and her captors were long gone. While Will and Norma heal Walter's wounds, Fenimore explained what happened before they got there. Shirley gave the shell to her and tells her to think "help!" while squeezing the shell hard and Senel will come while she distracts them. When Fenimore asked why she was so sure it would work, she simply replied "he's my brother".

Fenimore expresses her gratitude when Walter finally awakes and carries Fenimore with him. Quppo arrives later to tell them that Shirley's escort is headed for the Ruins of Frozen Light, where Vaclav Bolud's main force is stationed. Moses comes along as well and tries to declare a truce for the time being, but ends up getting pummeled by Senel for kidnapping Shirley in the first place. But he was coming with them, like it or not, and everyone heads for the Ruins of Frozen Light.

Character Quest
During Will's Quest, the group comes to the Waterways at Will's request to investigate the local water and soil there. Once there, Will charges gung-ho into the ruins with the others trying to catch up. Along the way, they pass a rare monster but Will paid no attention to it and kept going. Senel thinks it's because he is worried about Harriet and decides to keep going. They also notice a disturbing smell coming from the back of the ruins, and they eventually reach the source at the bottom of the Waterways.



There is black mist everywhere and the soil and water are giving off a bad stench. The mist then suddenly comes together and forms into a dark version of Will. Even after defeating it, the mist keeps spreading. Should this mist get above ground, all plant life will wither away. It seems to affect the party as well, and they retreat...except for Will. After asking Senel what it means to keep a promise, he uses his Sacred Eres to try and dissolve the mist. In the darkness, the mysterious woman reappears before Will, offering to end his suffering through nothingness. But Senel's voice broke through to him, saying that Harriet is still waiting for him. It was then that he remembers his promise to Amelia Campbell, and remembers that promises are meant to be kept by those he trusts. Using the light of his Sacred Eres, the dark mist finally vanishes.

It seems that the black mist is connected to the monsters after all, but they still need more information. Grune suddenly gets a headache, but still remained the same. It was then that Efreet appeared, and yet again only Grune can see him. He decides to rest until her memory fully recovers. After returning to seed form, Grune plants it near the water's edge before everyone heads back to Werites Beacon.

Trivia
The background music is "Chasing Shirley" composed by Go Shiina, which is Track 4 (Disc 2) on the original soundtrack.