Part 34: These long-distance relationships never work out

Chapter 34: These long-distance relationships never work out



In Maranda, the largest topic of conversation is some mysterious knight who came through the area recently. You could probably guess who that is.



This is very odd. Recall that when we came to Mobliz, one of the kids mentioned that the injured soldier had died. So who could be sending Lola these letters? Guess we better ask the lady herself.



While we're at it, we can talk to this person to get a brief flyover over spots of interest. We'd be able to discover those places on our own, but it's a nice detail, I guess.



Lola: They're all hand-made of silk. And these are letters he has written to me...

"But wasn't Mobliz demolished by Kefka? Somebody else must have written these..."



"'If all goes well I'll be able to come home to you soon...' This handwriting...It looks a lot like Cyan's...But where is he mailing them from?"
Lola: Could you please attach this reply to a carrier pigeon? Thank you!



Might as well, seeing as we're in the neighborhood.



Using our ridiculously amazing eyesight, we can see that the pigeon flew all the way to Zozo. Seems like the right kind of place for a guy pretending to be a dead man.



Uh...but before we fly off in pursuit of that pigeon, perhaps we should adjust our levels a little.



That's better. Not to say that the extra level really ups our damage output a lot, but there's a very good reason to not be at level 30.



Namely this creature here that starts every battle with L.5 Doom. This is known as either Doom Gaze or Deathgaze, and he'll make flying a bit of a bother. When he's not casting L.5 Doom, he's using regular Doom and high-end elemental spells, but being an Undead creature makes him susceptible to Fire and Holy damage.



Doom Gaze has 55,555 health and always flees after three turns, so how do you beat him? Well, unlike most bosses, he's actually got his own special gimmick: he doesn't replenish HP between fights. If you keep doing damage and surviving encounters with him, he will eventually die just from being worn down.

Doom Gaze will be at a random spot in the sky every time you face him, so you'll probably encounter him the first time when you're not ready to fight him.



Unsurprisingly, the end of the world hasn't affected the people of Zozo in the slightest. Heck, the monster encounters are even exactly the same.

Music: Slam Shuffle



Checking that pigeon will cause it to fly to the mountains behind the first building that we see. But when we try to go up there...



We discover that a group of folks with magical powers and a power drill can't work their way through a rusted door. Vicks and Wedge would have never let such a simple thing stop them.



Fortunately, there's a merchant in town who'll sell a rust busting solution for only 1,000 GP. He also warns about monsters up on Mt. Zozo that have high Evasion, and suggests that we should use Sniper Sights to alleviate the problem, to which we just laugh sardonically in his face.



What is there to say about Mt. Zozo? It uses the same palette as Mt. Koltz and the Esper Caves.

Music: Mt. Koltz

Same music too.



All the monsters in this dungeon are physical in nature, so using Phantom turns the whole thing into a bit of a joke. There's even a bear that's supposed to steal money and escape, but since it can't steal our money, it's worthless too.



The treasures in this place are just amazing though. In addition to an Ice and Thunder Shield, you can also find the Aegis Shield, which gives a great bonus to magic and physical defense and 40% Magic Evasion! But we're not done yet with ridiculous defense bonuses. No sir.

Oh, and you should know that the Thunder Shield nullifies wind and protects against Ice and Fire, while the Ice Shield makes you weak to wind and nullifies Fire, and the two shields teach Bolt 2 and Ice 2 respectively at a rate of x5. They also give 10% Magic Evasion, which is always nice.



Speaking of nice things, there's also a hat in this dungeon that raises your HP by 25%. You can never go wrong with having more health.



Ah, a button! Perhaps I'll give it a press!



Hitting the button releases the first of the 8 Dragons, the Storm Dragon, who begins flying around the place at fast speeds. If we want to get in a fight with it (and given our current level, that's debatable), we simply need to stand in its way.



The Storm Dragon is one of the nastiest dragons we'll encounter, having a wide array of wind-based spells that hit everyone in the team. He's got a weakness to lightning, so a fairly reliable strategy is to have two folks hitting him with Bolt 2 while the two ones remaining do Cure 2 to the entire group.



Hope you had the great idea of giving the Thunder Shield to somebody though, because after he loses a certain amount of health, he'll start incorporating Cyclonic into his repertoire, which knocks everyone down into critical health just at the perfect moment for him to follow up with a shot of Wind Slash or Aero.

Lore-Aero: Heavy wind-elemental damage to all enemies. Once we get Strago back, we'll want to learn this one, because wind techniques are always handy.



As a reward for defeating the Storm Dragon, we get the Force Armor. Instead of describing it, let me just show you something.



Yeah. With the combination of the Enhancer, the Aegis Shield and the Force Armor, Edgar's almost invincible. Not only that, but the Force Armor also resists Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, and Earth-based attacks.



Aha! The soldier impersonator is near at hand! We'd best examine that letter as well.



"I have only now realized the error of my ways. I hope I can correct a great wrong. Your boyfriend, who you thought was in Mobliz, passed away some time ago. I have been writing in his stead...

We humans tend to allow the past to destroy our lives. I implore you not to let this happen. It is time to look forward, to rediscover love, and embrace the beauty of life."



Huh.



And there's the man himself, releasing yet another bird.

Music: Cyan's Theme



How poetic. Of course, our group has to show up and ruin the mood.



"Cyan!"
: Hey!! You're alive?!
"Cyan..."
: I shall go with you! I shan't leave the world as it is! But how did you find me?

: W... Wait! Tell me you didn't read my letters...!!



Given that we had to walk through that room to reach the area where Cyan was, trying to cover up the flowers seems like a waste of time.

: These... They're... um... Merely a diversion of mine...
"Cyan, these flowers are gorgeous!"
: Mm...m...!? This is an outrage...! Seriously?

: I learned of that poor girl when I passed through Maranda. When I heard that she sent a letter each day, but never received any replies... Something inside me snapped...



: I was looking behind... full of despair. My eyes were closed... And then something changed...



: He probably returned to the Veldt.

Man, Cyan sure can change topics on a dime. Anyway, after that navel-gazing, Cyan heads off to the airship, and I subsequently forget that there's another part to his little tale.



You see, on that ledge where Cyan was standing, there's a tiny sparkly thing that turns out to be a key.





In the Japanese, the "Book of Secrets" was, as you would expect, a porn magazine.



Which is why Cyan gets so defensive when you pick it up.

(note, pretend that the ninja isn't there. I only remembered about the scene WAY later in the game)

Also, if we go back to Maranda...



Lola: I was lying to myself, but I'm all right now...As I read those letters, the pain in my heart became bearable. I'm sure whoever wrote them has suffered greatly. I wish I could meet him...



The odd thing is, I can actually imagine Shadow being enough of a jerk to rat out Cyan to Lola.



But Cyan isn't having any of it.

: Look to the future! We have a lot of life left to live...
Lola: I feel like I have a future now! I'll take your words to heart...I'll be okay...

Aww, that's sweet. Anyway, since Cyan recommended that we go to the Veldt...

Next Time: There's always got to be an arena in these RPG's...