The Last Story/Lazulis Castle: Ballroom

The ball
For now, there's nothing to do but stand around and watch the nobles dancing, and listen to the conversation between Zael and Dagran. When Dagran tells you to look at Count Arganan, hold and look to your right, where Count Arganan is sitting on the middle throne. After a while, a guard will announce the arrival of Lady Calista. Enter Seek Mode, and look at the doorway to the left, at the top of the stairs. It turns out that Calista is actually the girl who introduced herself to you earlier as "Lisa". She isn't in the best of spirits, though. When Dagran points this out, look at her in Seek Mode. She stands up and walks out of the ballroom. Ignore Dagran, and follow her outside. Look at her in Seek Mode, and watch the cutscene.

Attack of the Gurak
After Calista opens her heart to you, Jirall enters. Look at him to progress the cutscene. Just as he draws his sword to you, Lazulis Castle is attacked by the Gurak army. Since you're on guard duty, it's time to get to work. Fight them off as quickly as possible (one of the quicker methods is to simply knock them off the balcony). After dealing with the first three, Calista will decide to fight with you. Enter the ballroom, where Asther and Therius are trying to fight off a group of Gurak soldiers. Help them to victory. Asthar and Therius are probably at a far higher level than you and Calista, so it should be a relatively quick skirmish. Following your win, Asthar will entrust Calista to your protection. Leave through the door at the top of the stairs.

Time to take down another unit of Gurak soldiers. The archers will quickly become a problem for Calista, so try to keep them focused on you until you can defeat them. After the battle, attempt to leave through the lone double-door to the right. Calista will call you back, and ask you to wait for her to change out of her ballgown (if you want, you can have her change back to her ballgown, which provides better magic defence, but lowers physical defence). Now you can leave. Cross the bridge, and when you enter Seek Mode, look at the giant Gurak beast in the sky. After the tower collapses, enter the door in front of you.

Back in the Great Hall, head to the stairs. Before you can reach them, however, you'll need to take down more Gurak. Keep them away from Calista and the Lazulis Mage, who both have low physical defences and HP. Head downstairs, and into the main area of the Great Hall, where you're given a welcome from Zangurak, king of the Gurak. Zangurak kidnaps Calista, and leaves you unconscious on the Great Hall's floor.

Finding Calista
When you come to, look up to find Dagran, who hasn't seen Calista anywhere. Pick yourself up, and head outside to the Courtyard (take the left side of the staircase). At the door is an injured mage who can upgrade your weapons and armour. Out in the courtyard, a small group of Lazulis knights are fighting off another party of Gurak. They haven't noticed you yet, so sneak around to the back and take out the healer, before turning your attention to the others. If you want more Gurak to battle, speak to the Lazulis Knight; otherwise, follow Dagran down the stairs to the east. Outside the east gate is a large unit of Gurak, fighting Lowell and Syrenne. Get one of the two Gurak Fighters out of your way, then run down and deal with the healers before they become a nuisance. Then you can take care of the other Gurak soldiers. At the door is another injured mage who can upgrade your equipment - this is going to be the last chance you'll get for a while, so it's a good idea to upgrade at least Zael and Dagran's equipment before continuing through the gate (a useful sword for this part of the game is the Gurak Edge - if you upgrade it to +3, it deals increased damage to Gurak).