After thwarting Kefka, I pick my foursome (Celes, Locke, the Figabros) to search for SSJ3 Terra. According to witnesses, she was cited in Kohlingen, a town to the north. We head to Figaro Castle (where I see the awesome and enriching Figabros cutscene) and use its amazing mobility to burrow under mountains and appear by Kohlingen. It's a small town. I'm too late to catch Terra, as she has already left, passing the town of Jidoor to the south. The only other thing of interest here is the kick-off to what appears to be Locke's main side quest, The Rachel Situation (do you see a sign out there that says Dead Rachel Storage?!). They were in love. He failed her. She died. He used a crazy shaman to put her in a state of suspended animation. That's where she is now, in an infinite and loveless sleep, with no means for an awakening. Oh, I bet I find one! Gimme 10-20 gameplay hours. We follow Terra's tracks south to Jidoor.
I use Jidoor to beef up my gear, but I'm once again too late for Terra. Witnesses tell me she was last in Zozo, a seedy town full of thieves, grifters, and other unscrupulous types. We buckle down and head there. Zozo's reputation is well earned. It's dark, rainy, dilapidated, and is the first FF town I've seen that actually has random encounters. Not even a veneer of safety here, so I have to watch it. The town is punctuated by some large central towers. I figure ascending them will give me answers. Up I go, fighting some unique and trickier enemies. Before the top, there's a boss fight against a big karate dude, but he falls without much trouble. For the fourth time in four Square RPGs, I may be overleveled again (Sabin's at 18 if that means anything to you guys).
Having conquered the town, I enter the last tower room and discover... SSJ3 Terra! She's recovering on a bed, being guarded by an old man named Ramuh (right away, I knew this guy was gonna end up as some lightning elemental, and people say I don't know mah Final Fanasy!). Not long into the conversation, Ramuh drops one bombshell after another:
- He is an Esper.
- Espers can use magic and have incredible and mysterious magical powers.
- The Empire is abducting Espers for Magic experimentation, torturing and even killing many.
- An Esper's magic can only be totally harnessed when the Esper dies.*
- *When he goes to King Kai's house**
- ** THE OTHER DIMENSION
- Upon death, an Esper's essence becomes Magicite
- Magicites are this game's summons***
- ***After 12 hours of buildup, I will never use them unless for an impossible bonus boss
- Terra is unique, not really a normal Esper, not even Ramuh can put his finger on it
- The Empire's sick experiments are being conducted in Doan (just kidding, in Vector), the capital
- If we go there and help the Esper's, we may be able to help Terra
After progressing the story, Ramuh gives up his life and turns into a useless Lightning Elemental that apparently costs like 25 ****ing MP to summon. Yeah, right. He would have been much more useful just following me around saying funny stuff, Deckard Cain style. The team is now determined to launch an assault on Vector and help the Espers, thereby helping Terra. We journey back to Jidoor in search of leads.
There, we make for Owzer's House, the largest building in town. We find the Impresario (best title ever), the dude who runs the Opera House. He marvels at our beautiful Celes, claiming that she is the spitting image of Maria, the opera star. He informs us that Mario has captured the heart of Setzer, a famous (or infamous) gambler, rich dude, adventurer, rapscallion, and owner of the world's only functional airship. He plans to steal Maria at tonight's show and wed her.
For our party, this is interesting news indeed, as we need an airship to reach Vector. We devise a sneaky plan and make our way toward the Opera House.
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Yoblazer: http://i33.tinypic.com/ml36gl_th.gif
Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world!