This was supposed to be a continuation post but stuff happened (Elazul thoughts, The Sword of Fate, and poor guy wanting friends)
Getting right back to where I cut off the previous post, this post will be devoted Elazul and Rubens's conversation in its entirety -
orrr I meant to but a lot of thoughts popped up and this becomes a tangent instead, so if you want to just read about this quests's happenings in particular please go to post I'll make after this! I'm sorry, yapathon deluxe again.
Basically, after the Sproutling runs away again, you have the chance to talk to Rubens:
And Elazul uses it it finally talk properly to the guy, where Rubens finally acknowledges he is speaking to another of his kind. it doesn't end well...
For a complete first-time player to the Jumi Arc, if they somehow got Elazul along while doing Flame of Hope, this is the earliest opportunity to learn that Elazul is not just looking for Pearl, but for other Jumi as well.
...long tangent incoming because a lot of thoughts popped up, so I will not be able to discuss the full conversation actually oops
This also involves happenings from the anime, so just skip all this if you're not interested:
Don't quote me on this as it's been a while since I watched the anime and I cannot double check now that it's taken off Muse Asia's available shows...
But from what I remember in the Teardrop Crystal anime,this quest is adapted as Episode 3: Ruby. Shiloh goes alone in the anime as most players probably do, but I vaguely remember that when Shiloh talks to Rubens and finds he is in fact a Jumi, Shiloh refers to Elazul and says he knows of someone who's looking for more of his tribe.
And I remember the subs for the episode phrases it as "he was looking for more of his tribe" but I could swear I caught Shiloh using the word "tomodachi" somewhere in that dialogue. I'm not sure if the if the full sentence was Shiloh saying "I have a friend who was looking for more of his tribe" or...if the dialogue was written to say "he [Elazul] was looking for friends."
Idk, it just gives a whole other dimension to what Elazul says when you find him ready for a quest. He isn't just looking for Pearl, but for other Jumi, which, if one didn't bring him in Flame of Hope, is only fully revealed at the end of The Looking Glass Tower.
Which in itself is already a heartbreaking fact for me, but then I remembered while typing this in Episode 11 of the anime (Teardrop Crystal Part 1) there IS a flashback of Blackpearl handing the Sword of Fate to Elazul when they had a chance meeting in the desert.
The setup of this scene is Blackpearl saves Elazul, and she asks him something like, if there was anything else she could give him at that moment.
His answer to her is, he wants a friend. To which Blackpearl sadly replied she couldn't give him that, but she does hand over the Sword of Fate to him as another gift.
guuuhhhh my heart holding head in hands etc etc
Also the coincidence of Blackpearl eventually being able to fulfill Elazul's wish when she became Pearl - my heart -
And while this scene is explicitly shown in the anime, I think it's canon to the game too since Blackpearl mentions she DID in fact give the Sword of Fate to Elazul, which she found when she was on her quest to find the Sword of Mana.
This does bonk up the timeline in my head a little because I could have sworn the implication is Elazul is born AFTER the fall of the Bejeweled City and I think I referred to him as such, buuuuuut...
That doesn't completely work out when Blackpearl gave Elazul the Sword of Fate as herself, so I'm really sorry if I ever said that Elazul was born after everyone already left the City, I let my mouth run on me without considering the timeline,,,,
Now that I'm considering this fact:
Based off what was shown in the anime that is also shared in the game, there came a time when Blackpearl left the Bejeweled City to find the Sword of Mana, leaving Florina in Alexandra's care, and she briefly met Elazul during this time. If the anime is canon, Elazul was already wandering alone at that point in time and is actively looking for other Jumi.
Working off that, I think it's safe to assume that whatever befell Elazul's family isn't pretty and he is the only survivor. I think I kinda remember the manga did show Jumi families being massacred for their cores, which is really dark when the overall tone of the manga is a lot of gag comedy courtesy of Shiro Amano.
Legend of Mana's supplementary media is really something...
But back to Elazul, he seems to know enough to be aware of the Bejeweled City existing, but I don't think he ever got the chance to go (but I will play through the Jumi quest on my 2nd file entirely before saying this for certain, sorry if Elazul mentions otherwise if he was brought along on the Teardrop Crystal quest!!!)
In any case, presumably a little time after Blackpearl meets Elazul, Alexandra kidnaps Florina while Blackpearl is away, causing mass panic and distrust in the Bejeweled City. When Blackpearl arranges a meeting with Alexandra, she is wounded and turned into Pearl, where Elazul finds her and from then on is no longer alone -
A crazy thing to consider is...Sandra must have moved incredibly quick to kill off the Jumi who fled the Bejeweled City if Elazul never met a single refugee before Rubens. And it would line up with how she had already collected 990+ cores if the last ones she had to gather were Rubens's, Sappho's (from Drowned Dreams), the Lucky Clover sisters, Diana, either Pearl or Elazul, and then herself...
Granted, it could be that Sandra didn't kill off that many Jumi and collected some as dormant cores, but sheesh, talk about a body count still.
But I just find it heartwarming that Elazul has all the reasons to be a bitter, hostile misanthrope with having no one for him -
The older generation of Jumi all definitely got shades of this. Rubens took that route somewhat, Diana too, definitely Sandra did and even Blackpearl scoffed at needing others...
And yes, Elazul is snappy and rude when we first meet him, even occasionally demeaning to Pearl, but...he never gave up hope of finding other Jumi, to find friends. And he does in fact get a happiest ending where he is home with other Jumi, and besides that he's made a friend in the playable character, one whom he even shed tears for.
Blackpearl used to be my favorite in the Jumi arc, but after a lot of consideration, Elazul's innate kindness and hope has endeared me greatly to him, and I can confidently say he is my actual favorite now! Though, really, all the Jumi Arc characters are wonderfully written so it's tough competition.
I heavily debated even posting this mess of a ramble, I hope it makes some sense at least lol.