Barguest starts narrating about his chains, saying that his previous master described them as having the power to bind unwanted ends to it. He rephrases it in more blunter terms as having the power to call misfortune and unhappiness to it. Barguest is the warning sign for that unhappiness, the canary in the mineshaft.
Barguest says he draws unhappiness to him just by existing. If this draws the unhappiness away from affecting someone else, then he’s okay with that. What he doesn’t want is for someone else to be dragged into his misfortune. It’s not that he wants to be unhappy, but his chains are tied to unhappiness. Someone connecting themselves to him would mean having to be linked to it too. And to him, that would be the worst kind of unhappiness.
Title card pops up, and this chapter is called Tempering My Heart.
Back to the present, the party has returned to base, and Echo’s first course of action is to detach away from everyone, curl up and sit down, and look depressed. You either attempt to talk to her and ask if she’s okay or decide to leave her be.
Going A, Echo insists she’s alright and that the chocolate will turn out right this time. She then starts getting sad as she talks about having to get everyone back home as soon as possible. But in any case, everyone else looks at each other wondering what to say to her. Gyumao decides to speak up and say that the next try will be their chance to break through. You either yell and tell Gyumao to read the room, agree with him, or say he’s reliable and that you love him.
Gyumao laughs and says that the first job of a president is to ignore the atmosphere in the room. Snow says he’ll put on some hot cocoa for everyone since he figures everyone must be tired. Gyumao says that’s a good idea and moves to help him with the chocolate maker.
Some time later, Echo looks up as she asks about the thing she smells. You comment on her finally looking up, say it’s special hot cocoa from the butler, and ask her to come over and talk. Echo joins everyone as prompted and takes the cocoa, and after she has some she says it’s good, and that her sadness is melting away.
Echo apologizes for brooding. Barguest says he understands but tells her not to strain herself too hard. If time keeps rewinding they can use it to redo things. He says Echo should do what she can without worrying about failure, and she doesn’t need to obsess over making the chocolate. She seems surprised by this, and Gyumao speaks up to agree with Barguest. Gyumao also says that the chocolate itself isn’t the only thing of value here. There’s the experience of opening up the package too, though this concept seems to overwhelm Echo.
Barguest says Echo could also give something besides chocolate since there are other ways of giving your feelings. Gyumao encourages Echo to keep at it, saying her earlier idea for the chocolate was good. It was where she tried out a charm to bring out hot feelings in Narcissus after all. Echo agrees though she seems unsure. You either are glad she’s got her confidence back, note that she’s perked up again, or suggest getting an answer this time.
Heracles thinks to himself for a moment before he talks about how picking up one of Echo’s chocolates might be like a trial for him. This of course depresses Echo, so you note that her confidence went right out the window, call out to Heracles, and tell him to not bring the problems back up. Heracles apologizes and says he was trying to compliment Echo, which baffles Barguest.
Heracles explains that pretty much no one he’s met in Olympus would be someone he’d have to call a trial. People don’t even get as far as trying to provoke him, as by the time he notices he’s already kicked their asses. You’re either shocked at how casually Heracles says this, say the way he feels like a born winner is amazing, or say that sounds like it’s maybe something to be unhappy about.
In C, Heracles seems surprised as he thinks over your perspective on that. He seems happy about it. But anyways, Heracles talks to Echo and says that he watched her try and fail to make chocolate, try to think of something else, and try again when it didn’t work. To him, he finds that comforting. It’s a better trial than the ones he fought through between Olympus’s blood and madness, passion and strategy. Heracles then apologizes for sounding cruel, saying he thought that he might have wanted to live like this like she is. He offers to help her with thing, and not just because he wants to escape.
You say that sounds good but ask if it’s fine since he hasn’t gotten permission. Heracles says no and that he wants you to set him an unfitting trial, so you ask him to help you guys. He happily agrees, and that one flash happens again with apparently no one noticing.
Snow brings up that changing the immediate future is also a method of doing things and asks if Echo has anything else she might want to give. Echo only has a vague idea of something that won’t be a bother, but Snow says it’s a good idea since it’s standard to pick something beneficial to the recipient. You either suggest thinking of Narcissus’s feelings, say it might be nice to be given something that you like, or ask what sort of presents Echo likes.
Going C, Echo has to think on it since she says it never occurred to her what she’d want. She eventually sighs as she says she now feels like she understands how Narcissus feels. She tells you about how Narcissus once said to her that he thought she’d entrance him more. Snow finds that fascinating.
Echo says she always wanted something from Narcissus, then thinks about what she could do for him. Barguest comments on how much she thinks of Narcissus already and says that he feels it’s pretty sad if she can’t get him to understand. When Echo looks over at him, Barguest shrugs about her being worried and suggests going on a walk to clear her head. He also says he brings bad luck, so if she gets away from him she might come up with something.
You wonder if that’s really the issue but agree that clearing up her head can help Echo. Echo says she believes it’s not Barguest bringing bad luck, but herself. He’s shocked by this, and Echo goes on to say it was bad luck through getting involved with her that got everyone else stuck in the world.
Barguest quickly tries to deny that and says it’s an accident stemming from his bad luck. Echo tries to argue back saying she tends to trip on nothing and mixes up hot with cold a lot. Barguest counters by saying flowerpots fall on him almost every day, dogs bite him, and he tends to fall into drains and manholes. You either try to stop the game of misery poker, suggest Echo is just kinda clumsy, or ask if Barguest lives like that every day.
Snow cuts in to stop the argument as he calls it counterproductive. Echo apologizes, followed by Barguest who says he was trying to cheer her up before sighing about how bad he is at it. Snow tells Barguest that there are times when self-deprecating more than needed can make other people upset. Gyumao says he feels Barguest does have a point, in that it’s important to clear your head when you’re feeling stressed. Switching on and off on things can refresh you and help come up with new ideas.
Echo is quiet at first, but then agrees to go relax as she walks off. Gyumao says being obedient is a virtue and that it makes him want to support her more. He talks about how Echo has the will to change her failures, though it doesn’t seem directed at herself. You either ask him to explain and bring up that she’s trying to change anyways.
Gyumao rephrases things and suggests that Echo’s desire to not bother people is winning out over her desire to improve herself. He notes that it looks like Echo prioritizes other people because of her memories of failing. Barguest says he sorta picked up on it from listening to her talk. He also says she could easily have held a grudge against Hera for taking away her ability to speak. Gyumao says she’s the sort of person to choose the short stick and deal with what comes of that, maybe carry too much.
Heracles questions that, so you ask what’s on his mind. He apologizes and says he just felt like supporting Echo. Echo suddenly pops back in at that, and Snow notices as he asks her what’s going on. She apologizes for interrupting, saying she was thinking of taking a walk like she was suggested to and asking if that’s alright. Snow says it’s fine and asks Heracles to go as her bodyguard. He agrees.
Gyumao says he’ll go for a walk himself then and maybe see if he can find some other kind of present. Snow says he’ll go plant the cacao and make some marble molds just in case. He then asks what Barguest will do. He doesn’t get very far in answering before the scenes transition cuts him off.
Some time later, everyone has split up to look around for other possible presents. It’s noted that this was originally an excuse to go clear Echo’s head, but Barguest is exasperated since he specifically did what he was doing to get away from everyone. It turns out you, Echo, and Heracles are following after him, and Barguest loudly asks why you guys are doing so.
Echo hides behind Heracles out of fright, then says she wanted to talk to Barguest. You either relay that to Barguest, say you thought he might be lonely, or say it’s just a coincidence. Going A, Echo says that she went with you because of that. Heracles says he’s there with you guys for his own interest, so Barguest can just do his own thing and not mind you all. Barguest sighs that that’s hard to do with three people staring at him.
Barguest is still a ways away, so he yells over to you guys about how he draws misfortune and warns you guys to leave if you think you’re in danger. That’s his official warning so anything that happens will be your responsibility and not something he has to care about. On cue, a giant piece of fruit immediately falls out of a tree and lands on his head.
Echo is concerned for Barguest while Heracles comments on how perfectly that flowed together with some surprise. Barguest is about to point to that fruit as an example before giving up on it. He asks if you guys are hurt and nods when he sees no one is. He then says it’s okay whether you guys follow him or not and says nothing interesting will happen anyways as he walks off. You either say you’ll follow along, say you’ll be careful, or point out that fruit is still on his head. The episode section ends with you guys walking after him.
Poor Barguest
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