Case of Tifa pt. 2

 
This last half is kinda jumpy with the narrative going from event to event. Sorry if it seems a little...eh, but I wasn't sure where to go with this.

As Barrett plans to leave and, "settle his past", he leaves Marlene with Tifa. Everyone sees him off, and Tifa wondered what type of life he’d find. As Barrett said goodbye, even his voice was shaky. He told everyone to learn how to give, not just take.

Tifa was grateful for her friends that she could rely on to not be suppressed by her sins. She thought that this was a family.

Several months later, Cloud comes back with an old motorbike. Before, they’d have to rent a transport when he went out to look for supplies for the bar. He’d have to repair it, though, which he did whenever he had the free time. This somewhat saddened Tifa as she was unsure about Cloud finding a world outside of her own. She compared it to how a mother feels when their children grow up and expand their horizons. So, while she was sad, she was still excited. She even encouraged Cloud to start his own delivery service. She or Marlene would take the calls and then carry them to Cloud. They called it the Strife Delivery Service. Unfortunately, with Cloud being away from home so often, their weird family life suffered. Not only did they spend less time together, but he also ended up being more distant to Marlene. While he never avoided her, he never outright ignored her. He just wasn't a kid type of guy.

One day, while cleaning, the girls went through some files for Cloud. One was a request to bring flowers to the Forgotten Capital by Elmyra, Aerith’s mom. Tifa feared Cloud facing his past would lead him to returning to the recluse he once was and, “tear his heart apart again.”

One day Cloud got home and drank some wine. He normally doesn’t drink, but tonight he went all in. Tifa tried to talk to him but was shooed away, causing her to snap. This resulted in a story of when Barrett called and spoke to Marlene. She told her father that the two aren’t getting along. Tifa didn’t want to get the girl involved. When she tried to talk to Cloud, she'd keep the serious stuff in private, but bring up happy stuff when Marlene was around. This resulted in some seemingly random topic shifts.

One night, when she was sure Cloud was asleep, she wondered if they were really a family. She asked Cloud if they’d be fine. There was no response. Then she asked if Cloud loved her. Cloud wakes up, so she quickly asked if he loved Marlene. He said yes, but has no idea how to approach her.

Not long after that, Cloud brought Denzel home. He thought it was Aerith guiding him to them, as they met in her church. Tifa also thought they were meant to be since he’s a victim of the Plate Bombing, which she’s partially responsible for. With Denzel around, Marlene had a friend to spend time with. Not only that, but the two grew close to Cloud. They’d ask him questions, and he’d respond in his way. Tifa would often answer in a more rewarding fashion. She got a little jealous when Denzel became infatuated with Cloud, and not her, but chalked it up to how that’s how families work. This entire section is wonderful. It shows that, despite how hectic and mishmash they are, they really are a nice family. Cloud starts to open back-up emotionally and takes fewer jobs to spend time with the kids. And it shows why Denzel wants to be like Cloud and the backstory of why he wants to join the WRO.

The story ends as she looks at the family picture and wonders if the last time she saw Cloud's smile was real. She tried to call him, but the call went to voicemail...

Does Tifa have survivors guilt? I’m no psychologist, but she’s got something wrong with her. She blames herself for so, so much. She believes that all the AVALANCHE stuff with the bombs, the plate, and Aerith’s death, are all her fault. She even wishes that all of Midgar was destroyed. As she grows accustomed to her new life, she’s unsure of everything. From her past, what a family means, even how to live, or even if she should live. My write-ups have done a terrible job of explaining this story, and the story as a whole being a random chain of events doesn’t help. A lot of things just don't get the time to settle or a proper explanation. I have a lot of questions that I don’t think were answered in the movie. Regardless, I think the story shows that there’s not always a happily-ever-after. When one struggle ends, another struggle begins.

Case of Tifa pt, 1

Tifa escorts the last customer of the day outside as she closes the bar. She’s slightly worried about the lack of adequate electricity and water and asks if anyone else is around. Marlene shows up and asks her to be quiet as Denzel is sleeping. Evidently, this takes place JUST before the movie. Marlene senses somethings wrong with Tifa and asks if she feels lonely. Marlene reminds her that she's not going anywhere. Marlene is a very mature child, but I guess being a barmaid at six will do that to a girl. Tifa thinks to herself that she considers Marlene to be her daughter. Eventually, the topic of Cloud is brought up, and Tifa starts to feel guilty.

We go into a quick detail about the day Meteor fell. Tifa states that she wished everything could be washed away. Her old life, in particular. She joined an eco-terrorist group that accidentally killed so many people with a bomb they never expected to have much power. It was only supposed to blow up the reactor, not the surrounding area, and the ramifications of that were tremendous. To counter Avalanche, Shinra dropped an entire town just to get rid of them. From that event, Tifa’s experience after the Nibelheim Incident, to losing Aerith, and gaining friends, she always thought she was in the right. Because it all started a personal revenge quest, though, it makes her uneasy continuing to live. All these people died for her to get vengeance. Cloud, however, has no such issues as he smiled while looking up at the sky that night on the Highwind. Cloud smiled because he knew he could live again. Everyone could start a new life, and he promises to always be with Tifa.

Before returning to Midgar, the group retreaded some of the places they’ve been. The first stop was to see Aerith. She notes that even though Aerith died, she couldn’t grieve. That sadness was turned into anger and hate. I’m taking a terrible shot-in-the-dark here, but I wonder if there was some rivals-in-love thing here? Where, maybe, Tifa was slightly relieved that she had no one to fight over Cloud with? Probably in a, “not like this” type of scenario, but leave a pin in this, and I’ll finish it later. Regardless of how she felt at the time, Tifa begins to cry now. “The tears wouldn’t stop.”

The story then talks about how the party split up after Meteor. Vincent left as though it were no big deal. Yuffie protested, but who cares about Yuffie? The original Avalanche then separated from everyone else and went to Coral, Barrett's hometown. They then went to Nibelheim where Cloud got uneasy. They finally went to Kalm to meet up with Marlene, who was being cared for by Aerith’s mom, Elmyra. Cloud and Barrett apologized to her for being unable to save her daughter, but she said there was no need, as they did all they could. Tifa wondered if that was true. Put another pin here.

After staying in Kalm for a while, Cloud decides it's time to end their, "suspended reality", and start their lives again. To do so, they all went to the ruined Midgar. Tifa once more felt guilty about wanting everything to be washed away. She shared these feelings with the group, all of whom understood her. Barrett responded, "Since that's the case, we'll live on. We'll live on until we pay back our sins. It's the only way.” Cloud said that this isn’t the Tifa he knows but promises to stay around until he reminds her of the real Tifa. It’s a good callback to when Tifa did the same for Cloud.

The three started working around Midgar, gathering information, scraping parts, etc., until one day, Barrett came back with wine, fruit, and a heater. They got drunk and decided to reopen the bar. Tifa was unsure of this since it would just be going back to their old lives, the one she wanted to wash away. All the people they helped, helped back in kind until they started thinking of a name. Marlene suggested Seventh Heaven, which, once again, made Tifa uneasy. It was another reminder of her past, however, it held no such weight for the child. Marlene suggested it because she wanted to have fun again. It was a place where she had fun and where she, Barrett, Tifa, Cloud, and her friends were. It was a happy memory. Tifa acquiesced and named it Seventh Heaven.

Opening day was a massive success. So, it turns out alcohol is a high demand recourse. Shocking! They also sold juice for the kids because they wanted to create a place where everyone felt like they belonged. At the end of the first week, though, Barrett decided to go on a journey...

Case of Denzel pt 2

As Ruvi lies dead on the floor, Denzel runs outside looking for help. He is met by an unknown voice. The man asks him why he’s not in the slums, where the news ordered everyone to take shelter in. Denzel says he doesn’t have a TV. The man then asks where his family is...

He, along with everyone else in a truck behind him, bury Miss Ruvi. His name is Gaskin, and Denzel joins the group as they go down into the slums. They get there by traveling down a now abandoned rail line. On the way down, the group has to stop. There was a lone child ‘blocking’ the way. He wasn’t blocking anything; rather, there were black marks on his back. No one wanted to get near the infected child except for Denzel. He did everything he could to ease the pain, from carrying him to rubbing the child’s back like Denzel’s mother used to do for him. His back was sticky, but Denzel carried on. At some point, though, a woman informs Denzel that the child has died. We don’t know what became of the kid's body. We continue on with a conversation between Denzel, the woman, and her daughter.

The girl thought Denzel was wearing a girls shirt, seeing that it was a pink floral thing, and tried to give him a blue jacket. The jacket used to belong to the girl's big sister, but she’s gone now: dead. The jacket ending up going to the dead boy. Denzel notices the Chocobo insignia on her backpack.

We return to the modern day, where Denzel and Reeve discuss the early outbreak of Geostigma. No one knew anything about it, obviously, but people somehow knew it had something to do with the Lifestream. We’d come to understand it was Jenova’s doing in time.

A hungry Denzel is watching people come and go near a makeshift, and rancid smelling, gravesite. Gaskin tells the boy to eat something and sends him off to find food amongst the discarded baggage. He ends up finding the Chocobo backpack filled with cookies. Gaskin eats a few and says their still good to eat, so Denzel eats a few, as well. Before this dialogue, the writer makes note that one of the bodies being placed in the grave was a small child, so I think we know what happened to the backpack's owner. He says to himself that Gaskin seems like a good man, similar, but still different from his father.

We then learn of how Denzel spent his time down here. He and several other kids started a business finding salvage in the wreckage of Midgar. Much of this wreckage went to a new city named Edge, but some went to other private parties. They'd find specific parts and would get paid with food. Edge is a city people seemed to look forward too, but most of the kids had a worthwhile life here. They could contribute to something and be free, whereas, if they went to Edge, they’d likely be just orphans. Eventually, though, either through emigration of death, the remaining people of Midgar left. Gaskin was one who died of Geostigma.

One day, while looking for rats to eat, Denzel came upon a church in the sector five slums. It’s the same sector under which Ruvi is buried. There he saw a motorcycle with a phone hanging from it. He called the first number on it, and a woman picked up. She sounded excited at first as she uttered, “Cloud, it’s so rare for you to call me.” For some reason, perhaps because he was a child, Denzel began to cry. He went to wipe away his tears, and, upon doing so, felt an immense pain through his head. He looked at his hand and saw the black substance he’d seen many times before. He doesn’t remember what happened next, but alludes to the plot of Advent Children, and, one last time, we return to the present.

He says he’s alive thanks to all the people he’s met: Ruvi, Gaskin, Arkham, and the scavenger team. He also thanks Cloud, Tifa, and Marlene. All he wants in life is to be strong like them, and that’s why he wants to join the WRO. Reeve then responds that the WRO, as of right now, doesn’t accept children. He then asks Denzel to “draw out the power of adults”. Denzel (and myself) has no idea what that means. As Reeve leaves, he turns to the boy and thanks him for “taking care of my mom”, indicating Ruvi is Reeve’s mother.

Johnny and Denzel then have a quick talk about the WRO, Cloud, and how Denzel wants to be like Cloud. Cloud was a military man, so Denzel thinks he should follow in his footsteps. Johnny says times have changed and, "Well, those who can soothe someone's pain are popular these days. Maybe even more so than those who wield weapons.” Denzel, sadly, doesn’t seem to like this and remains dejected as the story ends.

This gives everything I want in a story such as this: backstory on several characters, a reintroduction of a seemingly insignificant character, and really tugs at the heartstrings. As a slight negative, and I know this sounds dumb to say, but am I the only one who felt that too many people died? It gets across the point that Geostigma is a deadly disease, so it’s probably just me being overly nitpicky. There's something that sticks out to me with the story I want to take notice of. Despite Shinra being an inhumane organization, and Midgar being a sketchy place to live, we can see just how many amazing and selfless people there are in the world. You see this a little bit of it in the game. Sure, Wal Market is flooded with creeps and freaks, but the red armored infantrymen all seemed like kind people. The homeless man on the train, the dressmaker, even a few hard-nosed, but caring, men like both weapon shopkeepers are good, honest people. It really shows through here when Denzel lists all the people he looks up to. Life isn’t as bad it could be, and it’s up to all of mankind to make the planet great. I have no idea if that’s what the moral of this story is, but that's what I’m taking from it.
#RuviForPresident

Case of Denzel pt. 1

Denzel is one of the children Tifa and Cloud, but mostly just Tifa, take care of in Advent Children. He's the Geostigma infected friend of Marlene, who ends up joining up with the wannabes for a bit. He's the one who hits Bahamut, so we know he’s a real BA. This is his story to becomes the BA.

It starts with a framing device telling us about Midgar after Meteor. We’re in a city named Edge, which was built on the outskirts of the great Metropolis. Johnny has returned from wherever he was and started a bar called Johnny’s Heaven, as a tribute to Tifa’s Seventh Heaven from the slums. Little does he know, Tifa has already rebuilt her new bar across town, but what can ya do? Johnny has taken it upon himself to protect the children who live around the city. As Denzel enters his establishment, he tries to offer him some dating advice thinking the kid is here on a date. Even though he’s shocked that Denzel is already dating, it's what Johnny knows. Denzel turns it down just as a man named Reeve enters. Reeve is an ominous man we met in the game. He's a, mostly, benevolent person and the man behind the controls of Cait Sith. He sits down next to Denzel, which upsets Johnny, but nothing comes from it.

The two then discuss the WRO, which is an army, apparently. We don’t know much about it yet other than it used to take all comers but has become more selective of late. Denzel offers to join the WRO, but Reeve asks for his backstory first. Denzel, being ten, doesn’t think he has a backstory, but gives what he can, regardless.

Denzel was born to Eber, a man who worked in Shinra’s Third Business Department, and Chloe, a “social person and who was good at tending to the house." The family currently lives on the Sector Seven Plate. There’s a lot of backstory about Eber’s early life and work life, which points to the family being happy and kind. “There was no meaning to life without smiles.”

Until one day...

While Denzel was home alone, the phone rang. It was Eber asking for Chloe. She’s not home, so he says he’ll call her. I think there's a translation issue there. Denzel goes to the TV, which is replaying the attack on the Mako Reactor from a few days ago. I imagine it's the first one. Eber returns home, alone, and then leaves to go look for his wife. Denzel follows. They find Chloe in the shopping district, and the conversation quickly goes awry. Eber says that the Sector Seven Plate is about to be attacked by AVALANCHE. There is a new house for them in Sector Five, and Denzel tries to get his family there. Chloe, however, is far too kind. She wants to save as many friends and neighbors as she can, but Eber is adamant that there’s no time. This is also classified information from Shinra that he probably be saying in public. She rushes off anyway, as Denzel and his dad go to their new home.

On the way there, they meet a colleague named Mr. Arkham, who lets out that the Turks have planted the bombs. Denzel is confused, as that’s not AVALANCHE. Eventually, Mr. Arkham is told to take Denzel home, as Eber goes to find his wife, and does. He sets up the new TV and goes to get food.

...and then the plate falls.

Denzel rushes home, or as close as he's able to before he’s stopped by a soldier who blames AVALANCHE. Denzel begins to mourn and promises vengeance on the eco-terrorists.

We quickly return to the present where he asks Reeve if Shinra was responsible. Reeve confirms and takes the blame.

We return to the past, where Denzel is now pretty much alone. Arkham stole a mattress from next door for Denzel’s use, but he’s gone. Denzel still hopes against hope that his parents are alive and working, but deep down, he knows. As he eats his creme filled bread, he gets mad and rushes outside. He explores some of the nearby houses, but everything is empty. He ends up finding a model Airship and throws it against a window. A woman begins to yell. She asks a few questions to judge the scene and, during the boy's fit of tears, invites Denzel in. They end up living together for some time.

We learn that Ruvi, the old woman, has a son somewhere. He used to have a Monster Encyclopedia for children that always said to run for an adult if you encounter anything. Ruvi, meanwhile, would read a large book about the stuff her son was into. They read these books every night. While living together, she easily tears down Denzel's new emotional walls. He happily holds her hand, cleans the house, and accepts her pink floral print shirts. Ruvi seems like a wonderful person, and I feel like I’m about to have another broken heart. They lived a peaceful life together until the day a large, black spot appeared in the sky.

Meteor.

We then connect to a few of the game’s plot points. The Sister Ray is moved to Midgar, and the Shinra building is destroyed. Despite these events, Denzel and Ruvi’s peaceful live remains largely unchanged. They don’t clean the outside of the house, but ultimately, life as usual.

But if you know Final Fantasy VII, you also know this won’t last. As the two go to bed one night, the wind begins to blow, the earth shakes, the sound of a train replaces all possible senses, and everything goes white. This was the night Meteor and Holy collided.

In the morning, Ruvi lies motionless outside Denzel’s room. She tried to keep the window that Denzel broke shut. She was pleased that the boy is unharmed. The two held hands until the strength in Ruvi drained away, and Denzel went outside to observe the damage. Every window in the neighborhood was blown out, which makes me wish Miss Ruvi had just stayed under the blanket with Denzel. Denzel returns to his ruined home and tries to awaken his caretaker. The only that happens is a thick, black liquid falls from her mouth. Unsure of what it is, Denzel screams for his parents and runs outside where...

I’ll finish this tomorrow.

This is great so far. It’s absolutely heartbreaking, and I really like all of these characters. I’m only ending here because it’s getting dark, and the cicadas are loud. Plus, I've already got enough to type up as is.

6/fin The Maiden Who Travels The Planet

A laugh is heard; a laugh that sent chills down Aerith’s spine. While the others searched for a way to take down Sephiroth’s barrier over the Northern Crater, Aerith tried in tow as the sickening laugh echoed through the Lifestream. Hojo, the mad scientist who’s at the epicenter of everything, had recently fallen into the stream. The father of Sephiroth, the caretaker of the Jenova Cells, and the man who experimented on countless people has died. This brings both good and bad news.

He was another who didn’t bother to learn Aerith’s name, calling her only The Last of the Ancients. He reveals his new body, filled with Jenova Cells, proving he only cared about his science and not ethics, humanity, or the soul. All this creature wanted to do was surpass Professor Gast. He believes he has done so, but at what cost? We then get some ominous teachings from Hojo, who says that everything is apart of the planet due to the Lifestream, both good and evil. Jenova will always be here. He then goes off to give his energy to his son, Sephiroth, and we never hear from him again. If President Shinra was sin, Hojo is the embodiment of pure madness and evil. As a side, we learned that Aerith learned of her birth and early childhood from the memories left behind by Tifa and Cloud from the videos from Icicle Inn. It was mildly upsetting she never knew in-game, despite being so close to home, so I'm glad there's some closure here.

The final chapter starts with the fall of Sephiroth. The writer then goes into more detail about the one-on-one fight with Sephiroth. It’s confirmed that the fight took place in the Lifestream via the two men’s subconsciouses. After the battle, Cloud was “absentminded” as he was nearly pulled back into the Lifestream...until a hand appeared to bring him back. This hand is seen in the game’s ending, but never fully played explained until now. It is Aerith bringing him back to reality. As Cloud came through the veil, Aerith’s hand is replaced by Tifa’s. 

Sadly, the fight meant nothing as Meteor was already about to crash into Midgar. Sephiroth may not get his energy, but the planet and its inhabitants will suffer, nonetheless. Undaunted and ever the true hero, Aerith called out. She called out to the whole planet, and the Lifestream rumbled back.

All the kind people she saved down here came to her aid. In humorous fashion, AVALANCHE, or at least the Lifestream Division. showed up and had a discussion over who the new leader was until they united to fight for Marlene. This is when the sprouts from the game's ending showed up and began to slow down Meteor's decent. 

Zack then showed up and celebrated that Cloud used Zack's own finisher on Sephiroth. That was the push needed to completely dissolve Meteor, making it a non-threat. 

We return to the others onboard the Highwind, where Aerith’s smile appeared in their memories one more time. At last, the planet was saved. 

Fin

The Maiden who travels the Planet was short and sweet. This was, I believe, a prologue type thing to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania. Wither or not it is canon remains up for debate as it always seems to be an afterthought. It’s never been officially translated or rereleased anywhere except via fan stuff. I didn’t find anything wrong or out of place, at least anything that couldn't be easily brushed off. I wish it were longer and went into more detail with some of the characters, though. I’d love to get to know AVALANCHE and Dyne more. Maybe even meet other characters like Seto or Red’s mom. What about Ifalna or Gast? That’s a reunion Aerith deserves. Alternatively, Bugenhagen wasn't down here...

I’m also probably thinking too much about this, and it was only supposed to be a simple preamble and not really mean much. One that I’ve gotten to into. Regardless, I felt things, enjoyed the HEFL out of it, and that’s the best compliment I can give. I will say, though, I’ve been looking to write a song for Aerith, and I wonder if this can be my inspiration to writing poems/songs again? I've written (but not finished) a few in the past, so maybe I'll finish this one. I also, kinda, want to play Crisis Core again...

4/5 The Maiden Who Travels the Planet

In a sea of Mako, how do senses work? Hearing and seeing are, clearly, in play, and touch seems to be an “extension of sight.” There’s no need to eat, so taste is irrelevant. But what of scent? The blood on Dyne had no smell and was simply metaphorical.

While Aerith is unsure, she suddenly smells something rotten. Not only was is rotting, but from where the smell came from was an area where the Mako was weak. A weak spot in a river? An old man begins to appear and recognizes Aerith’s face, but doesn’t know her name.

Aerith sees the phantom of President Shinra. Not Rufus, but his father, who is, oddly, never named. He’s dressed in the pomp and circumstance of a man of the status ensured during his life. He also has the same personality as he doesn’t even think Aerith’s name matters. She gets upset at this as Shinra only judges her based on her race, which isn’t very high. He spends this entire conversation insulting Aerith. Shinra believes the only thing that matters in life, and seemingly death, is luxury and position. It’s all about power. He tells Aerith that she could have lived a better life if she joined Shinra. She could have moved out of the slums on onto the plate where she’d mingle with the high class of society. He thinks himself the greatest man to ever live as he opened the way not just for Mako Power, but to space, weaponry, and a great metropolis. All by giving people an easier life. “...it became something like an addictive drug to the ignorant people and took over their minds.”

To make this short, Aerith disagreed on every point, and the two left on negative terms. Shinra remained unrepentant and cares not about returning the planet he helped destroy.

Chapter five gives us a reference point for the story. Aerith senses Cloud fall into the Lifestream. It tells us that Sephiroth has summoned Meteor. However, Aerith's current interest in on Cloud. The Cloud who had been discarded by everyone at this point. From unknown birth, to traitor, to tossed away by the planet. Aerith had tried to speak to Cloud while he was down here, but to avail. In her grief, she hears a new voice. Her memories of Cloud end up summoning the only person who both Aerith and Cloud know well: Zack Fair. The man who was Aerith’s first love and Cloud’s best friend. The two are shocked to find each other dead. Just a note, this portion is why the canonicity of this story is questionable. Aerith should, is later confirmed, to know that Zack is dead. I’m not gonna let get one bad paragraph ruin this, though. Zack fills Aerith in on the truth if the Nibelheim Incident while Aerith fills him in on the last few months.

Zack has maintained his chipper and irreverent personality and brings hope back to the true hero when he promises to help Cloud as beat he can to stop Meteor. The story continues adjacent to the game until Cloud and Tifa fall into the Lifestream. When they fall, Aerith helps the two of them stay together and brings Tifa into Cloud’s heart. Aerith is upset she can’t save Cloud herself but remains an example of selflessness. Tifa fixes Cloud, and we return to Zack praising his ... ex(?)girlfriend. She plays hard to get in a short, but adorable game of playful teasing. Eventually, Zack is unable to remain in the Lifestream and says he needs to take a nap but will return. The two say their goodnights as Aerith, not just for Cloud, because she saw Zack, or because there is hope in the fight against Sephiroth is happy.

"Aerith is happy."

2/3 The Maiden Who Travels The Planet

Chapter two starts with Aerith remembering that this is the place Shinra wanted: The Promised Land. They could never have it, of course, as no living being can be here. The reactors have impacted the world but probably couldn’t destroy it outright...at least not quickly. She then thinks about Cloud, Tifa, and Barrett. Upon thinking of Barrett, a silhouette appears before Aerith. Vague and indiscernible at first, but it soon emerges to be a young woman. Aerith asks if the woman knows them. Unable to respond at first, Aerith introduces herself as a member of AVALANCHE. When the phantom hears the name, the silhouette’s memories conjure her up in full, and she can introduce herself as Jessie, one of the members who died in the Sector Seven plate crash. Aerith mentions that she’s only met Wedge, which ticks Jessie’s memories, causing the rotund Wedge, as well as Biggs, to appear from their memories.

Wedge is happy he gets to see his friends again before asking about Barrett. Aerith tells the now Senior Members of AVALANCHE about what’s been happening with the group, Shinra, and Sephiroth. Aerith then senses a deep sadness in the phantoms and asks what’s wrong.

The three members wanted to redeem themselves. The Mako Reactor explosion killed so many people, which has caused a significant amount of regret. At the time, they thought sacrifices were needed to save the planet, but are unsure now. We then gain backstory on AVALANCHE. The plan to blow up the reactor was concocted by a former iteration of the group, and no one knew how big the explosion would be. Because of that, when the three ended up here, they just wanted to disappear and merge with the stream, but their guilt and sadness wouldn’t allow them. Jessie even asked Aerith to leave them alone so that they wouldn’t affect her.

Aerith reminds them of how hard they fought before the plate crashed, and how their sacrifice allowed so many to get to safety. Not only that, but it allowed Aerith to save Marlene. Although lives aren’t something you can add or subtract, that sacrifice must be equal to lives lost. “It’s not only sins you carry.”

Upon this, the three thanked Aerith and faded back into the Lifestream. The book says back to the prisons they made for themselves, but I like to think there’s more ambiguity.

Chapter three begins with Aerith unsure of how time works down here. Has it been days, years, or minutes? She hoped that the AVALANCHE members would find their way until she sensed another phantom. An artificial hand rose before her, and the first thought that crossed her mind was Barrett. Her next was of Marlene. At this thought, the phantom responded as though he knew who Marlene was.

A man appeared and recognized Aerith from somewhere. Aerith recognized the man with a gun on his arm and shrouded in red as Dyne from Corel Prison. Dyne is unsure how an innocent girl could end up in the same place as a man who wanted the world to end. Aerith doesn’t believe that that’s what Dyne truly wanted. “Even though you really care about Marlene?”

The two debate for a moment before Aerith becomes the pinnacle of resolute. When the man with the machine arm thinks he scared the white mage, he suddenly realizer he has no power. She compared Dyne to Barrett, who even after had his life ruined, took care of Dyne’s daughter and is still fighting to save the planet. Dyne says that nothing matters as he mentions all the people he’s killed who now cling to him as the red, sticky mist around him.

Aerith approached the phantom and said that the red is of his own creation. It isn’t real, and only of his mind. He is holding himself back. Dyne asks if he’ll be able to meet Marlene when she reaches the end of her lifespan? Something odd is mentioned about starting over, which I think is a reverence to how the Lifestream returns life to the planet from all the dead souls in some reincarnation like cycle. Dyne then smiles, and Aerith can see the face, not of a killer, but of a man who loves his hometown and family. As the tip of his gun arm disappears, he says that this is what he has to do. He’ll think about all the people he’s killed for a bit longer as the Mako particles surround him. As Dyne returns, his last word is “Elenor”...

”And so, Aerith went back to her journey.”

Let’s make a temporary change./The Maiden Who Travels The Planet p/1

First of all, I am feeling better, however, because I’m an anxious and worrisome fellow, I expect I'll return to the abyss any day now. Due to that possibility, I’m not gonna start any new games. I don’t like putting games down. When I start something, I want to finish it. Or worse, if I need to put it down for an extended period of time, I may not want to go back, or I’ve forgotten the plot and no longer care for the game. Unless the game is bad, expect me to finish it.

I don’t, however, have the same feelings towards books. I should, but I don’t. I’ve put aside several books over the last years that I’ve been enjoying. Sometimes, I even start multiple at the same time only to give up on all but one. For example, what I did today. I’ve been reading The Canterbury Tales on and off all summer with my stuffed animal waifu. I got to the Second Nun’s Tale. Instead of continuing on, I picked up something else. What that something else is On the Way to a Smile, the FFVII after stories. I think I’ll be reading that when I go outside after dinner, weather permitting.

I want to get back into games, and I’m hoping to next week, but for the reasons mentioned above, I won’t be. I’ll keep listening to various Youtube playlists in the meantime to get me excited about new games. I heard a song from Etrain Odyssey V recently, so I want to look into that.

For now, though, let’s read about Final Fantasy VII.
I don’t think I’ve started out in OTWTAS. My pirate translated copy seems to start with The Maiden Who Travels The Planet, a story about Aerith shortly after her demise. The prologue takes place as she’s sinking to the bottom of the lake.

Aerith was coming to understand how she is no longer living and will never have emotions, as a call back to Cloud’s anger from the game. Despite that, she could still exist. She could sense and see and even hear. Our hero has not yet returned to the planet, as she was want to say. As the prologue ends, she tries to tell her comrades not to worry or blame themselves for her death. She tries to reassure them that everything will be alright. But, as she lay on the lake bed, is was unable to.

Chapter one has her coming to realize her predicament. She was surrounded by the Lifestream, but not yet absorbed into it. She could see it ebb and flow, and how it affects everything on the planet. Aerith then suggests that the Lifestream is the collective memories of every once living thing. The all-powerful force that seems to have a mind of its own to control the planet as it needs be. Was Aerith able to maintain consciousness because of her lineage as the last Cetra? Aerith continues by reminding us of the plot of the game: about Sephiroth and his plan to use Meteor and suck up the Lifestream, thus becoming a god. We're reminded/learn about her feelings toward Cloud, who had his heart broken before his eyes, and the guilt she feels about leaving him in that state. She always liked him because he reminded her of Zack, Aerith’s first love. Even though they’re so different, they share similar qualities.

Taking a break.

I’m in the middle of a sudden onset episode of depression, so I’ll be taking a few days off. I’ll probably be fine, but the family wants to kill me as they plan to take a trip to another state this weekend. Keeping in mind, we’re in a global pandemic, and the family up there are a bunch of hillbillies. I’m dreading the next two weeks. Threads of Fate in I don’t know when. 

Stay safe, relax, and love what you do. Everything sucks for everyone; let’s not argue. 

For all the Dreamers - Our planet's dream is not over yet...

Where to begin with the Chrono Cross memorandum? I enjoyed the game, but it’s a mess. From gameplay to story, there are a lot of holes to talk about. Because I’m a negative person, let’s start with the bad things.

There’s nothing game breakingly terrible about CC, but the thing I hated the most was the plot. It’s a neat idea: exploring two separate timelines, seeing the differences, learning how they’re different, and finding items across both realms to compliment each other. It’s an idea that I don’t think has been done much in video game history. Even in Chrono Trigger, the changes always seemed minimal. With the exception of Fiona’s Forest, and the Ozzie Saga, I never felt like any actions in the past changed the future. Now, there’s a huge stretch of time between most eras, so I guess it makes sense. Here, though, it’s just two independent universes, neither interacting with the other. The smaller scale would seem to lead to a more focused game with fewer issues, but that would be wrong. I’ve asked several questions throughout these writings, and, while some were answered shortly thereafter, many are still unanswered. The goal of FATE, for example, was solved two minutes after I asked it. Some questions are just simple plot holes that don’t ruin the game. The existence of Dinopolis, Dario’s survival, and the whereabouts of several minor characters like Skelly in the other world don’t need an answer. But there’s still one I’m curious about: where’s Home World Kid?

If you read online, you learn Kid went back in time to save Serge from drowning, which is how he’s still alive 14 years after Another Serge died. Is this mentioned in game? Even if it is, where is she now? There’s one theory that says Kid went back AFTER Lavos’ defeat, but there’s a paradox there on level with FFVIII SeeD’s creation. I know plotholes and paradoxes are rampant in the Chrono-verse, or anything time travel related, but this a massive one for me. We know where every significant character is across both worlds, except for her. Not only that, but it could have been a fun side plot that solved several issues.

We also have issues with how the story was told. So much of it is massive plot dumps that come just before they’re relevant. Everything about Chronopolis is said while in Chronopolis. There’s no foreshadowing, and it’s a borderline afterthought when we’re done. The effects of the Record of Fate is never brought up when we know it’s truth. Balthazar never says anything about it when we learn who he is. Some notes Marge had from Wazuki might be interesting if we see his descent into madness. A farewell from Bal' just before we finish the game could solve a few things.

I question how much of this is actually a sequel to Trigger. Well, that’s a terrible way to say it, so let me restate it. I feel like the link to Chrono Trigger was a late minute add. There’s a lot of things that don’t make sense. Where are Crono and Marle? We know Lucca was killed by Lynx, but where’s the King and Queen? The PS version of CT ads an ending where Giardia fell. But how? Who stole the Masamune to make it evil, and why is it a swallow? Why is Frog not referenced at all? Except for nouns, there’s no connection. Rename those nouns and see how much the game changes. Honestly, it might be for the better.

There are too many characters. If they felt important and meaningful, maybe it would be fine, but ao many don’t. Pip, Neofio, Skelly; what’s the point? Some are kinda interesting, like Greco and Guile, but they’re tertiary to other characters. Serge and Kid are the only real party members. Leena and those related to Viper are the only characters who feel like they should be playable characters. Razzly and Fargo & Associates probably fit in that category, as well. This is only half of the 44 characters, though. This bloat led to many characters not being important, either for lack of plot or just because they’re not. Did you know there’s a sentient turnip you can recruit? There seems to be bits and pieces here and there, but you really have to work to find them. Bring a character along during a certain event, or that connection is lost forever. But even if you do get it, it doesn't feel like a great reward for your exploration. But how are you to know to bring said character along in the first place? I've read that Sneff has close relations to a few other characters. I tried to find them while playing, but I think missed them and just stopped caring about everyone involved.

Even without missed connections, I have questions and things I want to know more. This can go either way, so I’ll put it in the middle of my cons and pros. The world feels huge and filled with things that fill my (nonwritten) fanfiction. Tell me more about the Einlanzer. The Masamune got more backstory and growth across both games than most characters combined. Why not do the same with the Einlanzer? Explain why it's a holy sword. Who made it? Who is it’s Cyrus? Another question: when were Elements discovered? Those don’t affect my feelings towards the game, and this is only a personal thing, but I love knowledge and lore. Tell me everything! Expansive Worlds are low-key, one of my favorite things. El Nido is a small world filled with giant lore, and I dig it.

Now, those seem like massive reasons to not like Chrono Cross, but I still enjoyed the game and wish there was more too it. The good things Chrono Cross does are absolutely top-notch.

Let's start with the plot. I know, I just ripped it apart, but I still find it great. I’ve always been interested in alternate realities. What would the world be like if Harald Hardrada became king of England or if Constantinople never fell? While not some grandiose and worldwide location, we see this on the small, local scale here. We don’t know anything about Guardia of Medina, but we see differences across both El Nidos. From what could have happened if Serge survived in Arni, to the islands as a whole, despite him having no say in the matter. Every location feels distinctly different. Each Dragon Isle is changed across both worlds. We see how Termina can be changed by the actions of one man. Seeing Norris be a terrible dishwasher in Another World, and the Black Wind Leader back in Home is an excellent example. I'd suggest making it more obvious, though. Even locations with minimal shifts like the Isle of the Damned and Goldove have different inhabitants feel unique when compared to their twin.

Another surprise, the characters are great. The ones we get to know show everything I want in character growth and personality. Viper is set to be some villainous old guy when he’s actually a kind and just leader who’s been led astray by the real evil. Karsh is a hardnose soldier hellbent to kill us but is just like his leader. Sadly, ZOAH and Marcy don’t get the same treatment, but what can ya do (other than remove half the characters). Wanting to know more about certain characters (Steena, Riddle, Draggy, Luccia) isn't a bad thing if there's enough there to grab onto at the start. The accent system is a small but great idea. Just by adding a few eccentric letters between words, we can tell a lot about a character: their origin, personality, mannerisms. I wish there was some consistency or expansion to it through. Why does Zappa have a Scottish accent? Demi-humans should also have their own unique remarks. Actually, Poore should too.

While I think the battle system is flawed, the basics are all there for greatness. It adds an interesting level of strategy and customization. If you’re against a certain type of monster, equip elements to target its weaknesses. I never brought this up, but you can escape from ANY fight and re-do your grid before trying again. It allows you to explore and doesn't punish you for trying things. I also like the idea of attack strengths for accuracy. Do you want to low damage, but near guaranteed hits while building up your grid? Use only half of your stamina for a quick recovery? It makes me wonder if there’s a proper bell curve strategy for min-maxing or if brute force is the way to go? The character innates are a double bladed sword. You rarely want to bring a team of multiple innates to a fight since it’s too limiting for general use. But that also means some characters will never be used. Steena and Riddle seem like fun characters, but I’m not gonna run two whites. Particularly ones with low defensive stats who can get one-shotted. The tech skills also give personality and characterization, especially since many of them are received via an event. I laughed when Kid started using one of Lucca’s inventions. I wish there were some ATE systems like Trigger had, though. Wither that system was tried to stamina or a separate speed stat is something I'll leave to the dev team. It might have alleviated my frustration with getting interrupted during my attacks. It might even lead to more exciting bosses. As is, most bosses are the same and require pretty much the same strategy. With an ATB, throw in more tactics like counters, more strengths, weaknesses, attack type pros, or something. I think that's why Dario felt so challenging. He's the only one with a unique move set. Many bosses have well programmed operations which they don't deviate from. So throw in someone who shifts the curve, and it's gonna take a moment to figure out.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: Chrono Cross has the best OST in the history of video games. Yes, better than Trigger. Dreams from Another Shore is one of the best tunes ever written, and I could say that about half the songs in the game; Star Stealing Girl, Radical Dreamers, Life, Garden of Gods. I’ve listened to CC more than any other soundtrack, and I haven’t played the game in over ten years. I've got several Remix albums on my computer or saved on Youtube. I’ve always preferred Yasunori Mitsuda to Uematsu, and his work here is largely why.

The music leads into my last point: El Nido is a top tier location. I think that's mostly due to the music fitting the locale so well. If I'm in a tropical paradise, which El Nido seems to be, I want to feel like it. If I frequented a beach, I'd have half of the sounds on a beach playlist, and I don't think anyone could argue they don't belong. I don't feel like I'm suddenly in a western locale or in any snowy places at any point. The archipelago is a bright and colorful group of islands that hide a lot dark and depressing moments. There's a lot of death and suffering down here. The duality of the place makes it stick out to me from other game locations. More often than not, depressing plots have dreary locations. FFVII is gritty, as is Midgar as a whole. El Nido lacks fluff. Because of the small geographic location, every place you can go to is important, and there are no wasted interiors. On the contrary, I feel like there should be more places. I think the Hydra Marshes were too important than they needed to be.  They're involved in curing Kid, the dwarves attack on Water Dragon Isle, the gateway to Gaea's Navel, and the wormhole back to where Sprigg is from. The devs really wanted to make sure you set foot here, and I'm not sure why.

Chrono Cross is a flawed but thoroughly enjoyable play. There are many questions to be answered, and I’ll assume some can be found with better exploration. I’ve forgotten most of the game since my last playthrough, during my dark ages, so I felt this was as close to a fresh game as one can get. It’s kind of a terrible sequel, but it’s great on its own. If you tell me that doesn’t make sense, I’d believe it, but it's still 100 percent accurate. At the end of the day, I had fun, cried a little, and want to keep playing. Any game that makes me want to keep playing is always a good game. I absolutely recommend at least one go-around of El Nido with our dead boy, Serge.

Chrono Cross - The point where destinies meet...

We start our trek of Terra Tower, the final dungeon, out on the deck. This is my last chance to turn back, but I am as prepared as I can be, so I go inside.

The first thing the party sees is a Yellow Orb. As we approach, it yells at us for destroying the world and sucks us in. Here we find boss number one. And then we immediately kill boss number one. A yellow innate has no chance against Einlanzer Glenn.

In actuality, nothing in this dungeon can be seen as a threat. Every trash mob is a white innate, but Serge can still one round kill everything, or at least leave them open for Kid and Glenn to finish them off. All the bosses, except the final, fall in a few rounds, as well. The only thing to note about their battles is they only have one large, single target attack. It hits hard, but not enough to kill.

The hardest thing about this place is how boring it is. There’s no music, jaunty or otherwise. The bosses have a rather ominous tune behind them, but they’re finished off too fast to really enjoy it. And it’s a maze. Bleh. I was struggling a few nights ago, but now I am a god! What happened? On a side note, I failed to find out to open most of the chests. I’m a terrible gamer.

We make our way through the dungeon until we come to the Viper Manor skybridge and library. It's the area we first met Marcy, the first speed bump of the game. Inside, we see the ghost kids from the Tower of Geddon and the Prophet from the manor. The prophet reveals himself to be Balthazar. The same Balthazar who founded Chronopolis, created the Epoch, and is the Guru of Time. Bal' tells us the story of Terra Tower. This was once the home of the Repitites until the Time Crash bought about by Chronopolis. A war ensued where mankind triumphed and brought the fortress into the sea. The Dragon God was separated into six beings, the ones we’ve seen, and subjugated by FATE. At some point, the dragons concocted a plan to free themselves. They created a seventh god who we've met before. Balthazar says her name is Harle. This explains why Harle wanted the Frozen Flame; to weaken FATE. Why she worked with Lynx; to lead the Arbiter, Serge, to FATE. And where she’s at now; in the Dragon God. The ghost children proceed to tells us about the Chrono Cross element. It activates a song that can bring peace to all living beings and is the key to saving the Timelines. Everyone disappears, and we carry on. The room was just an astral plane made by Bal' somehow.

We reach the top, which is the top of Sky Dragon Isle, and fight The Dragon Go, itself. It chastises us for being humans who always destroy things. The battle is long, but another easy one. DG doesn’t have a permanent innate rather, it changes based on what level we’re at. They randomly shift battlefields, isle to isle, and where we’re at will change it’s innate. For example, if we’re in the same room we fought the Blue Dragon, then the innate will he blue. It doesn’t do much damage to us, so, in time, we fell the last of the Repitite Timeline. I then wonder, how did it exist in the first place? Lavos would always land on the planet, which should always lead to a reptile extinction. How is there a timeline where they win?

Anyway, after we win, we take the Frozen Flame, and Terra Tower falls back into the sea and becomes a permanent statue to our victory. You can’t interact with it, but it’s just there. It didn’t break apart, but it actually evolved more. Go figure. The camera cuts to the party on the boat. We set the goal to finish this and defeat the Time Devourer, who is Lavos fused with Schala. He is the cause of everything and on the verge of eating time and space. I don't remember when we first heard of him, but I think Balthazar talked about him the astral plane. Kid reminds us that it’s not IF we defeat it, but HOW. We have to win in a way that can bring peace to all creatures across all timelines. She’s alluding to using the Chrono Cross.

Before returning to Opassa Beach, where everything began, I make a pit stop at the manor one more time. Balthazar is gone, and the door to his workshop is closed. He’s one of the most important characters in the franchise, so I wonder what’s up? We also get Draggy his best tech by having him meet his long dead, fossilized mother in Fossil Valley. I don’t know why I did it. I just dug the little guy, I guess.

I say goodbye to my mom and go to Opassa Beach. There I see a new wormhole and the ghost kids.
We first talk to Ghost Lucca, who tells Kid that she’s the daughter-clone of Schala. Project Kid was created by Balthazar to make sure Kid met Serge. Balthazar knows a lot more than we're led to believe...
Chrono informs Serge of his reality. Serge should be dead and would be if it weren't for Schala. When he was attacked by the Panther Demon ten years ago, Schala heard his cries. Hearing his cries caused her to appeal to her caring, human side, which hadn’t been corrupted by Lavos. Those cries sent everything into motion by causing the storm that sent Wazuki and Miguel off course. Not only that, but we also learn of Lynx. In short, Lynx is Serge’s dad, Wazuki. When he came near the Frozen Flame, it messed with him and began to brainwash and twist him into what Serge feared most, a panther. In time, FATE took total control and became what we defeated. So, I'll ask again, why did FATE resemble a human female in our fight?
Marle reminds us to use the Chrono Cross for full effect.

Why was there such a massive, noncontextual lore dump right here? Regardless and lastly, Lucca talks to Kid as though Lucca were real and pretty much tells Kid she loves her. We walk over to the new, purple wormhole, activate the Time Egg Balthazar gave us in Terra Tower, and we go to the Darkness Beyond Time. We see a being that looks like Lavos and another who resembles Kid fused ontop of him. If that's Schaa, why is she blonde? This boss, and game, can end in two different ways. You get the bad ending if you treat the boss like a conventional fight. The good ending is, rather than brute force this fight, do what Queen Nadia says and use the Chrono Cross. To use it properly, you have to use a code of elements. The code is revealed in Terra and isn’t too hard to trigger. Yellow-Red-Green-Blue-Black-White-Cross. Upon activation, Schala breaks free, and Lavos turns to dust.

The ending scenes begin as Schala waxes philosophically about Life and Death. We all live to be a universe unto ourselves. To make our lives as expansive, relevant, and prestigious as we can, or want. At least, that's how I interpreted it.

She then informs everyone about the future of our lives. I think she implies the timelines will merge, and we’ll all forget about the whole journey. But, even so, everyone promises to reunite. Schala promises to find Serge, “Somewhere, sometime”. If she weren’t a kind and just princess, and one of my favorite secondary characters ever, I’d consider this a threat. Serge wakes up on Opassa Beach next to Leena before he crossed dimensions. He tries to tell her what happened, but she says he just passed out and should rest.

The credits roll, and we see scenes from the game interloped with a woman who resembles Kid walking through modern day. In the end, Kid signs the journal from the opening menu cutscene, Kid "Schala" Zeal. We then cut back to what appears to be Opassa where Kid,  in a white dress, stands. She’s smiling. I’m smiling.

.fin

Terra Tower - Caught in the echo of time...

I was busy tonight, so I didn’t get much playtime. I did set-up a lot, though, so tomorrow might be the end. I’m a bit sad but prepared.

Rather than get down to business, I started side questing. The first thing I did was make Sir Glenn glorious. After the Mastermune quest, if you return to Another Termina and walk to the graveyard where we first met Glenn, both Einlanzers will begin to resonate. The sword lying in the ground will rise and settle in Glenn’s free hand. Our boy now has two Holy Sword, Einlanzers. This is, probably, his best sword, as it comes with all the perks the Mastermune does. It also doubles his damage with his second Tech Skill. This is why I consider Glenn pivotal to the plot and the third most important character. He gets a unique weapon, value to the plot, and a great arc. Glenn officially becoming the 15th Grandmaster of the Acacia Dragoons, a title held by his father and brother, is a monumental moment. His aid in For Dragonnia, Dario, Chronopolis, and what's about to come all make him suitable for the title. It's character growth that no other character comes close to having, and you can’t do any of this if you let Kid die...

Realizing I don’t care about other characters, I get on with the plot. I decide to go see Kid at Hermit’s Hideaway. We see she’s unconscious, Radius says coma, as she lies alone in a room. As we walk up to her, Masa and Muse recognize her as “The Princess “. They take note of a time egg and decide to leave her be. At least until Doreen chastises the brothers. They then ask for their master, Serge. Serge is confused, as he should be as swords don’t tend to speak. They inform him that they will send him back in time to help Kid from the nightmare that is keeping her from waking up. We’re then teleported back in time to a familiar place.

We’re in Lucca’s house from Chrono Trigger. However, it’s on fire. The goal here is to find Kid and save her from whatever's happening. Along the way, we find other children and save them from the Lava Boys who are besieging the house. This changes nothing in the story, but they give us stuff like Rainbow Shells and Nostrums. As we search the house, Masa and Mine lose their powers, which returns our other characters to the present early. In the back of the house, we see a child Kid, as well as Lynx and Harle. They say nothing and teleport out. We cut to a hillside overlooking the burning house while Kid has a breakdown. This scene is heartbreaking. This small child, already an orphan, just lost her entire life. Her friends burned, Sister murdered, and home gone. She’s all alone. Apparently, the kids I saved didn't mean anything as they're not here or even mentioned. Kid then turns to us and asks us if we’ll leave her too. I respond by saying, “I’ll always be here”. We then hug, and Serge returns to the present, leaving Kid all alone. We lied to a child in her darkest moment, and she begins to weep. And I follow suit. This was the heaviest scene in the game, but did it mean anything? What’s the outcome of the other option, “I’m sorry”? I presume we'll return to the present regardless of the answer, so what's it all mean? It’s true we’ll meet again in ten years, but this re-orphaned child doesn’t care about ten years from now. She needs us right now. Regardless, I cried, so I’ll give this a plus. I will, though, add it to the pile of things the game needs to work on.

The scene returns to the present, and Kid wakes up. She talks about her pendent and how she’s always been fine. She may blackout from time to time and wake up in strange places, but she’s always okay in the end. Radius then tells us to go see Luccia in the manor. While there, she hands Kid a note from Lucca. The letter reads that Lucca has been thinking about the time she saved the world. She’s wondered about all the worlds she didn’t save when the team beat Lavos. What happened to those people in the no-longer-existing 300+ years. Lucca expects that someone from the future may come back and stop her. She then references Janus, Magus, which reminds us that Masa and Mune called Kid  "The Princess". Is Kid Schala? Is Magus the reason Kid wakes up in strange places? More importantly, where is he now?

After this, I do a few more side quests, almost accidentally. I find Norris, who gives Home Norris his best tech. I also stumble upon a certain ...thing underneath the library where the Prophet hangs out. Hmm... I also looked into getting that hammer I need for ultimate weapons, and, yeah, I can’t get it. Nikki’s concert went off, and Home World Fargo is a terrible person. Everything is ruined. I also find the legendary Chrono Cross element at the Dragon Falls, so I’m prepared to get the best ending.

Lastly, I notice there’s a light shining in both El Nido Triangles on the world map. I go down to the one I haven’t been to and beat up a jellyfish. Despite it being immune to everything but red spells, it poses no threat. I used the red summon Salamander just for fun, and I did 1400 damage. Glenn now has his best tech, so everyone wins! The jellyfish was guarding a spaceship, so I bring Starky down here, and he gives us an antigravity machine. We cut back to Chronopolis, where our alien friend installs it, and we go off to Terra Tower in the middle of the night.

And that’s where I called it; at the gate of the final dungeon. Am I gonna finish the game tomorrow? Maybe. I’m planning on it, so I wonder where I’ll go from there? I’ve only ever seen one ending, and I do want to see more, but don't expect my writing about all of them.

The Arbiter of Time - On whom the three fates smile...

Full disclosure: this was the second title tonight since I started under the same chapter as last night. Anyway, a lot of exposition, so let's get to it.

Before I did anything meaningful, I just kinda bummed around looking for side quests. Most of them don’t activate until AFTER tonight, so I wasted a lot of time. To make myself forget I wasted more of my life, I entered the once Dead Sea and sailed over to one of the shining lights. I activated the Astral Amulet, and, after all the blessings were sucked in, was urged to Insert Disk 2. This is the least glorious disk switch ever, and it disappoints me.

In the Sea of Eden, we see three isles named Present, Future, and Past. They also reference actions you can make to a thread, but I didn’t get the metaphor. There is also a large triangular sea suspended in the air between the islands. On each island is an altar with a red save point on it. After you activated the three points, a boss appears. I find it alarming that it resembles the Queen Zeal battle at the end of the Black Omen, but that might just be my head cannon.

I didn’t find this fella too hard. Maybe it’s because I did 1000 damage to it with the Serge/Glenn duel tech, X-Slash. I didn’t even know you could so over 1000 damage in Chrono Cross. I always thought the damage cap was 999. You learn something new every day.

After the boss is defeated, the sky sea fades and reveals a building in the middle.

The building is named Chronopolis. Shortly after I walk in, I’m attacked by a new boss named PolisPolice. It’s a great pun for a boring fight. He’s a robot with a white innate, and I don’t have many black elements equipped...still. Despite this, I have a million heals, and the PP doesn’t have heavy teamwide attacks. He’s utterly forgettable.

Throughout the dungeon are black ghostlike entities. They talk to the aether about whatever it is they were/are working on. I have no idea what timeline this building is doing. That sentence doesn’t make sense until you realize it makes all the sense. What’s most interesting about Chronopolis is the dungeon has clues as to what happened between Trigger and Cross. There’s a lot of exposition, so I’ll sum it all up floor by floor.

First Floor:
Two shadow ghosts talk about Time Experiments in the year 2400, 100 years after the furthest date in Trigger. The Frozen Flame is mentioned.

Second Floor:
A map of El Nido is on the floor and another figure telling us it’s history. FATE created these islands 10000 years ago. Workers from this facility then moved into the islands to keep track of time. But, I thought Dragonians inhabited the archipelago?

Third Floor:
There is more Chrono Trigger history about Lavos and the Reptites. In the middle room, we learn about the save point. The Records of Fate can change people's emotions. It’s made to guide and track mankind but can also change their personality somehow. Head cannon here: is this to keep people from finding this building? Or discover time travel? Or just for control? There’s also a reference to Radical Dreamers, a SatelliteView game that functions as a kinda intermediary between the games.

 Fourth Floor:
The top floor has ghosts talking about Lucca discovering a Time Egg for time travel. She also helped to invent the Prometheus Circuit as part of FATE. We also learn her last name is Ashtear. That's a fun ret-con. Interestingly, they doubt Zeal’s existence. We also learn more about the Record of Fate, thus answering all those questions I just asked. It’s been monitoring El Nido, both of them, to avoid any large scale changes. A big difference in one world may expose Chronopolis. If anything massive happens, it may lead to a paradox and destroy everything. FATE specifically monitors the inhabitants and wants them to avoid the main continent. It then lists a few examples of the people from Arni I mentioned in older blogs. However, since the Dead Sea was formed ten years ago, FATE has been unable to do anything in Home World.

Docks:
This facility appeared out of nowhere in 2300. It was headed by the genius Balthazar, who suddenly disappeared one day. Some may remember Balthazar as the creator of Epoch, The Wings of Time and the Guru of Time in Zeal.

In the basement is a locked door underneath a sign called Project Kid. Serge scans his hand for entrance, and he’s allowed in. Only the Arbiter is allowed in, and Serge is a 96% match. It then says, “Welcome back, Chrono Trigger.”, which is what Lynx called us the night we raided Viper Manor. Speaking of whom, what happened to Lynx?

Speak of the devil, Lynx is standing here waiting for us as an unconscious Kid lies next to him. Lynx needed Serge’s body to reach this room, which is the most important room in Chrono Cross. Not only does it house FATE itself, but the Frozen Flame lies in the middle of it all. And only Serge can operate it. As for Lynx, he is the physical manifestation of FATE. Created so that FATE may manually adjust what goes on the world.

He also informs us that a traitor circuit is installed in FATE that has been causing problems called the Prometheus Circut. Prometheus is the formal name of Robo in Chrono Trigger. Lynx then orders FATE to remove ROBO, who, in his dying act, wishes us well and tells us to stop FATE. Ready to finish us off himself, Lynx tries to do the same to us.

Today I learned that summons do a lot of damage. I’ve had so many problems with FATE in the past. This time, though, no one died. I used a few healing spells, which is unavoidable, but no one came close to dying. At some point, ai opted to use the Saints summon with did nearly 1000 damage. I then had Glenn cast Genie doing 600. I couldn’t get Leena to use FrogPrince as all the damage I did leading up to the summons was enough to slay my arch-nemesis. FATE only got one of her countdown move out. I have to wonder, though, why is FATE, in this battle, depicted in a clearly feminine form?

The battle over and Lynx killed, Kid wakes up. After quickly not caring about her predicament, she notices the Frozen Flame above her. Before she is able to grasp it, Harle appears to stop her. Kid, suddenly woke, informs us of the history of Chronopolis. This building, and maybe all of El Nido, is a strange merger of the Lavos timeline, Chrono Timeline, and Reptite timeline. Harle then regrets needing to fight us and rushes towards the Flame, takes it, and knocks Kid out along the way. The camera suddenly shifts to all of the Dragons rejoicing in the loss of FATE. They then plan to eradicate all humans.

That can’t be good! The Six Dragons are seen over Chronopolis. The Green Dragon then bites the White Dragon, and they all being to meld together into one super Dragon. Sky Dragon Isle turns into a floating fortress, and the party returns to the Invincible, unable to get in. Our next task is to find a way to fly.

But before that, let’s do some side quests. Firat was getting Leena her third tech attack. Just talk to her grandma in Home World.
The second quest involved most of the Viper Clan. On a small island northeast of Termina in Home World lies a Forbidden Island. On it is a man who Glenn and Riddle know as Dario. We finally meet the legend! Alas, he has no memory. Glenn and Riddle tell us there’s an item in the manor that can jog Dario’s memory. Transferring dimensions, we go to where we’re told and find the item missing. In its place is a note. "Come to the Isle of the Damned and bring Karsh signed Peppor and Solt." Glad to see they’re still active! We go to the isle, with Karsh, and end up where we fought Garai in the other world. The Shaker brothers accuse Karsh of murdering Dario. Instead, we shake them up, and they give up their chase. Karsh says he didn’t kill him, but we do see a flashback of Karsh, Glenn, Riddle, and Dario training together. Karah and Dario both love Riddle, but Dario wins out in the end, while Karsh gets upset and heartbroken. A final scene where Dario is thrown back is shown.

We return to the Forbidden isle and show Dario the item. He tells us to run. Suddenly, the Masamune appears as Karsh and Radius enter the hut. Radius assumes the sword didn’t disappear, but rather, returned to its owner. Karsh then fills us all in. While He, Dario, and the Shakers explored the Isle of the Damned, they found the Masamune. Dario picked it up and, possessed by his dead dad, tried to kill Karah. Dario was able to hold back just enough until Karsh, with much reluctance, was able to put his friend down in self-defense and at the behest of his friend.

And then Dario attacks the party. He’s a black innate, so I assume we should spam white attacks. This is wrong! Dario counters every spell with his own. He rarely interrupts our attacks but will mess us up with his counters. I didn’t realize this until battle two after getting swept in battle one. Glenn almost soloed him by not having white spells, and, therefore, receiving the worst counters. What you should do is cast TurnBlue on Dario. He’ll counter this with weaken, so maybe have Riddle cast it. After this, spam red spells. He’ll counter with Numble to lower our evasion. This doesn’t matter if we only use red elements, though. Cast as much Inferno as you can, and the great hero will fall. If we use white elements, he'll attack with a devastating tech that one-shots us.

In the scene after, Radius tells us we’ve cleansed the sword. Masa and Mune wake up and are joined by Doreen. It can now be equipped by Serge as his best weapon. The party goes to the ruined Viper Manor where Dario promises to turn his life around. Despite being from separate dimensions, he and Riddle rekindle their love.

Finally, I look into how to use the Rainbow Shells and get everyone else’s best weapons. I then learn I can’t because I skipped the scene needed. By wanting to return to my body, I rushed passed the scene where Nikki plays his concert in Marbule. God god damn it damn it!!

Upset and mildly furious, I called it a night. I’m really annoyed that I'm locked out of the best gear in the game. What an absolutely terrible game mechanic. I don’t even know what to say, so I’m going to bed. Gonna do some research when I wake up.

To The Sea of Eden - Through the hidden holes in time...

A lot happened, but I don’t know how much of it is worth writing home (or to a blog) about. I suck at making things short, so let’s see how correct I am!

The six dragons are spread across both dimensions. Why they are thus, and how they know what’s happening across dimensions is beyond me. While I’m in Another World, I’ll start with the dragons here.

The first location is The Earth Dragon Isle. It’s an area of badlands with quicksand in the middle. There is an explorer team around, and they’re not sure how to continue on. Ignoring their pleas, we let the quicksand envelop us and are sucked into the ground. We wind up beneath the surface. The short story is, the explorers give us explosives, which we use to bomb the rockroaches who block our way. We use their bodies to block three holes to create one giant super sandblast. We ride it up and discover The Earth Dragon. We inform her we look to break the chains of fate, and, to test our strength, she attacks.

Despite being an almighty dragon god, she poses little threat to us. Karsh wreaks her face. The dragon is slow and lacks any real teamwide attacks. After we defeat her, she gives us her blessing, and we continue on.

Our next destination is The Water Dragon Isle. You may remember this as where the dwarves attacked the faeries. The unfortunate girls continue to lament and remark that outsiders are still unwelcome. We, unfortunately, need to ignore her and continue down the cave. There’s no puzzle here, and we beat her up. She's another easy god, beaten for her Relic.

While this was my penultimate dungeon, I’ll just add it here now. The Green Dragon has the only real dungeon during this sequence. I’d also like to ask, how do they expect us to get here without a guide? I’m not sure anyone hints at going to the Hydra Marsh for this. Fortunately, I remember how to do it. Using the Bebba Flute and the Ancient Fruit, which you get in the marshes now, the party can summon the Pokémon Yarna. It then farries us to the southeastern most landmass in El Nido, Gaea’s Navel. It's an island surrounded by sheer cliffs, so the only way to reach here is by air. When we land, a small child named Leah, who’s a Flintstones cosplayer, makes our acquaintance. We fell from the sky, which is where Leah’s dad went, so she thought we’d know him. I’m suddenly sad. Leah knows this area and is having issues with, what we presume, is The Green Dragon. As good as Karsh is, I swamp him out for the yellow innate prehistoric girl. Another questionable sequence; we run around the small island killing things and collecting treasure to summon Leah’s enemy. Nothing tells us to do this. The main path to the dragon is blocked off, and the only way through is to do this. I’m just confused. Anyway, a Tyrannosaurus Rex attacks us. It’s slightly hard, but enough healing and Leah’s giant axe work well enough to mitigate his single target attacks. Sadly, we’re not done here. That isn’t The Green Dragon.

The Green Dragon sucks. He’s evasive, attacks all the time, and can spam the teamwide attack, Carnivore. It’s around this time where I’m getting frustrated every fight. I’m told my attacks have an 85% chance to hit, but it feels more like 50/50. And that’s before the dragon blinds us. I hated this fight. I didn’t die, and the whole party was alive at the end, but I hated it. As I look over what I typed, I wonder if that means the boss was well balanced? It is a dragon god/boss. Leah joins permanently, as she has no family or village, it seems. I don't want her in my active party, so she hangs out with Draggy. I smell a sitcom.

Confused at where I am, I find a glowing light in the south triangle and sink to the bottom of the sea. There’s air here, but fish can also breathe, so go figure. I think it’s also the title screen, so we’ve come full circle! The great treasure down here is a Star Fragment. I then go to the Sky Dragon Isle and get ambushed by a giant space alien. He doesn’t hit hard, but black innate Serge does, so we defeat him. Before joining the party, he tells us his name is Sparky, and his spaceship crashed landed here. Apparently, he can talk to Harle when she leaves the party, but I, obviously, got him too late.

Out of Dragons in this world, I travel Home. I talk to the sleeping Black Dragon on Marbule, who just hands us the Relic without a fight. Or even waking up. He’s a dragon after my own heart.

The Red Dragon is still hanging out where we first fought him. He’s just as tough as he was, but this time, he grows into a Gundam and looks the part of Dragon God.
 
Finally, we head to see our savior, The White Dragon, on his eponymous Isle. Turns out a White Dragon is innate white and hits hard. Serge was dead for most of this battle. Despite this handicap, Karsh and Zappa managed to defeat the god. Why does Karsh have the second most HP, defense, attack, and magic on my team?

With all the Relics in hand, I return to Home World Goldove and talk to Steena. She hands us the Dragon’s Tear and joins the party for the return to Fort Drgonnia. I knew doing this dungeon a few nights ago would save time!

I kinda wish I had called it here because Dark Serge sucks. In my defense, I didn’t allocate elements correctly. I expected him to be a white innate, so I kept my black spells equipped. But, nooooo, he’s black. I brought Steena along for the fight, I thought, as defense, but she ended up being the nuker. At least until she died. No character could withstand that 420 ForeverZero. I’ll be honest, I cheated here. I save state scummed. I know I’m terrible, but I wanted to finish this tonight, so I used my technologically advanced advancement.

After the fight, we climb to the top of the fort and enter the room where everything changed. Serge goes in alone. He places the Dragon’s Tear in its pedestal, and a white light appears. It illuminates the wall and shows us the evolution of man, from fish to lizard. And then it mentions Lavos. His arrival brought the end of the Reptite Kingdom. The weak and timid man rose in their absence, with the help of The Frozen Flame. The light calls man "The Children of Lavos", and compares the two. Lavos is a parasite to the planet, eating its nutrients and destroying other animals. Just like mankind.

The light returns to the center pedestal. In a CG cutscene, the body of Lynx is absorbed into a ball of water. We then cut to baby Serge, who has no neck, but a huge head. Serge then hyper grows up before our eyes and emerges from the water in his own naked teenage boy body.

He walks out of the room, fully clothed, and rejoins the team proper. All the characters we recruited, as him, rejoin the battle party, and we continue on our way to The Sea of Eden. Where’s Kid?

We’ll find out tomorrow! I thought this was the change disk moment, but I guess not. I also see I was wrong about the time it would take to write this.

Now that Serge is back in his real body, I’m looking forward to playing again. The flaws of Chrono Cross are starting to show, so I’m getting flustered. CC isn’t as good as I remember it being, but there’s still the grand finale! I’m still looking forward to that.

The Dead Sea - A place forsaken by the gods...

A lot happened, and I have no time to explain! Get in the time machine!!!

Serge, Radius, and Zappa walk into a giant, melted together shopping mall named The Tower of Geddon. The center of the mall leads to two ways. Right goes to a railway that mentions Arris Dome, a location in Trigger, and left takes us to a garden where Serge sees a ghost child in a white dress, who looks familiar. We carry on to another area I can’t describe and see another child run away. We climb a ladder to reach a room where we see the bodies of Viper, Riddle, and the Devas of this world. They’re translucent and have no collision. Radius and Zappa mourn their friends and family. I feel a little bad about bringing Zappa to see his dead son, Karsh, but it’s closure everybody needs. There was also a third ghost child hiding amongst the bodies.

The next area, located through a wormhole, takes us to a scenic overlook and bell. This is one of my favorite locations in any video game. The background is a mountain range that pierces through the beautiful orange sunset. It’s the exact opposite of The Dead Sea, so far, and I feel like I'm in another dimension. Considering the amount of dimension hopping in this game, and the fact we just came through a wormhole, we probably are. It’s also a significant location for another reason, but I’ll get to that in a moment. To our right is an Energizer, which alleviates us of our tiredness, but we’re still hungry. We walk up the bell and see the three ghost kids we’ve seen throughout the tower. From this point of view, we can see that they look like child versions of the Trigger cast from 1000 AD, Chrono, Marle, and Lucca.

We take a look at the plaque on the bell stand that tells us this in Leene’s Square and Nadia’s Bell. This is where Chrono Trigger starts and ends. The ghost kids then start to yell at Serge and blame him for the state of this world. This is the ruined future that Chrono fought to prevent. But why is it here, and why is it’s current destruction Serge’s fault? Suddenly, we hear a normal human voice from behind one of the pillars. A man steps out of the shadows and tells us not to take heed of the kids. He then introduces himself as Miguel, Leena’s father. He fills us in on FATE, and it's role in the world. It protects the Frozen Flame and decides everyone’s, well, fate. FATE’s been using Miguel as a defender of the Frozen Flame ever since he and Wazuki, Serge’s father, stumbled upon this location fourteen years ago during that storm Marge talked about. Serge was also critically injured, for some reason. That was when The Dead Sea was still the Sea of Eden, complete with otherworldly buildings that weren’t in a state of ill repair. To begin to defeat FATE, we must first defeat Miguel.

And this guy makes Highwayman look easy! He likes to buff himself, while debuffing us, and then blast the whole party with white elements. He also tends to make it hard to cast black elements, which he’s weak against. He wiped my party once, nearly twice. Poor Zappa died again, but just as we cast our last healing spell, Serge was able to fell his future father-in-law. The Sea begins to shake, and Miguel bids us farewell. FATE would rather destroy this dimension than let us have the Frozen Flame. His last thoughts are of his daughter as he and the ghost kids disappear.

Safety is too far away for us to reach before this dimension is destroyed. Fortunately, the White Dragon is nearby to pick us up and drop us off in a safe location near Marbule. Zappa says the dimension door should be active, for some reason, so we go to Oppasa Beach and return to Another World.

As we get there, a kid is beset by Lynx shadows, which we scare off. The kid then tells us that Serge, Lynx in our body, has started a civil war in El Nido. Traveling to Termina, we learn that Poore has raided the islands, just like they did in Home World. The Poore army reveres Lynx, who we’re body swamped with, so they let us do what we will. We met up with Karsh and Noah, who inform us that Viper is alive. The Devas entered the Fort after us. They saw not-Serge acting in ways only Lynx could and deduced that we swamped bodies. The logic isn't really there, and I feel like this might be a questionable plot device. Regardless, we team up with them to free Riddel from the Poore Army in Viper Manor.

This world’s Norris lacks the power that ours does and gets bossed around by an unnamed sergeant. One of his subordinates tries to torture information out of Riddel using a brainwashed cook named Orcha, or Hell Orcha. We go through the sewers, free Fargo, who then frees everyone else. In another room is the cook in question. We stop him before he does something terrible. Hell Orcha is strangely easy. I switched out Radius with Karsh but didn’t bother to equip him. Despite that, I still won. After the string of game overs, I'll take an easy win wherever I can. Norris escorts Riddel out, while we distract the troops. Here we fight a boss rush mode where we meet Gorbyc, who-talks-like-this-because-his-name-is-cyborg-backwards. He’s not too hard, but it carries into another fight with a guard robot. Even after we defeat it, it continues after us. We then run away, get an assist by Gorbyc, break out a window, fall into the dragon's pen, chase off the Porre soldiers with the dragons, and Gorbyc joins the party. Gorbyc only obeys people stronger than me and, since we beat him up, submits to our demands. Orcha joined the team, as well.

Viper has been healing on Hwrmit’s Hideaway, so we return there. Marcy is seen tending to the general's wounds and, suddenly, Lynx attacks. Well, Kid attacks, actually. She’s brainwashed by the other me. Before we get into a fight, Fargo saves us with Polly, and the entire group reconvenes on the Invincible. Viper, Noah, Marcy, and Fargo re/join the team. They give us what remains of the Dragon’s Tear, now called the Tear of Hate. We go to this world's Sea of Eden, which lacks a way in, and see Harle. She asks Lynx if we’d rather have Harle or the World. I respond with  "I don’t know," and she remarks that it’s what she thought Lynx would say. We then return to the Invincible to begin our search for a way into the Sea. We then cut to a scene where Harle laments something, says Au Revoir to us (to herself), and disappears from our party. She is no longer able to be played.

When getting Orcha, Poore said they used him to steal the Dragon’s Tear from Goldove. That was my clue to head there. I head to Another Goldove, fight a random woman named Orlha, who’s having trouble with Porre, and talk to the Priestess, Direa. She gives us a Dragon’s Amulet, which I used to speak to Home Goldove’s Priestess, Steena, the assistant in Another World. She's willing to give us this world Dragon's Tear if we gain the blessing of the Six Dragon Gods. Which where I called it a night.

This was a lot to type using a phone, and I hate it. Sorry, I truncated so much, but there was a lot to say, and phones suck.

I don’t like playing as Lynx. I don’t know why. I was hoping I could return to my real body tonight, but nope. I knew this sequence was coming up but thought I could do it after the swamp. Sadly, I can’t get the Dragon’s Tear until after I see the dragons. I’m bummed, but soon!

Marbule - The villiage of the demi-humans...

Wanting to get out of time wasted Hell, I walk out of Fort Dragonia, quick travel through Mt. Pyre, and get on with the show!

Off the northwest coast of mainland El Nido, sails a ship. I...park my boat alongside the larger vessel and head to the deck. It’s familiar, in a way, but also a lot more colorful. Topside, I find various vacationers enjoying their cruise. There’s nothing up here for us, so we make our down. Eventually, we find the captain. It’s Fargo! In this timeline, he’s not a pirate, but an entertainment provider.

We walk in on him having a conversation with a mermaid named Irenes, a woman with a German accent, complete with excessive umlauts. It’s all backstory about Fargo loving the demi-human sister of Irenes, Zelbess, who this Fargo would name his ship after. Fargo and Zelbess have two children, Nikki and Marcy. Familiar names, ya? Zellbess died somehow, and Fargo changed. He could have been the man who united man and demi-human, but instead, enslaved them for his entertainment cruise. The mermaid takes her leave, just before Home World, Nikki shows up and asks to access The Grand Slam, where The Marbule Sage is working at. So Nikki and I are kinda working together here. Nikki wants to learn a song because, regardless of world, Nikki is a rockstar. Nikki discoverers that his dad is Fargo because he recognizes a dresser. He then gets nostalgic about how his dad used to be cool and then leaves because he’s no longer cool.

We ask for our own access to The Grand Slam, but we’re denied. However, since Fargo is a man of entertainment, he offers us a chance. All we have to do it beat him a game of roulette, regular roulette, not Russian. Below the Captain's Quarters is a casino. There we meet a few regulars, including a man named Sneff, before they're kicked out, and we let the spinner go. As long as we don’t land on South, we win. But, if we do, Fargo gets our crummy little boat. Is it okay for us to gamble military equipment with a conman? Anyway, we lose.

We then wander, aimlessly, until we find Sneff in the middle of a magic show. He’s a magician who can make people float, be stiff as a chair, and turn people into cats. We wander around some more and see, below the casino, a man descend from stairs to the ceiling. Our Scottish lad, Zappa, thinks something is fishy. We return to Sneff, get turned into cats, and climb those secret stairs.

It’s all rigged! The table is tied to a man twisting a handle who can stop the roulette wherever he wants. We manage to steal the handle while the user sleeps and try our luck in a fair game. I got lucky and won on the first game, but I was stuck here for an hour once back in the day. Farge then grants us access to The Gand Slam, as well as our military property back. With access to the Sage, we go down to the Slam and talk to the disgraced leader.

This part is strange. The Sage rebukes us for our human greed with wanting to go into the Dead Sea, despite Lynx being a demi-human. If we say we don’t want to use force, he doesn’t help us, but if we beat him up, he’ll give us the key. The key is a fiddler crab. Nikki then enters, gives his plea about trying to change his father, and, through a whistle, learns the song of Marbule.

As we leave, we return to the casino and see Sneff on a hot streak. He won enough money at the table that he can pay off his debt to Fargo. He tries to say farewell to his co-workers, which include Peppor and Solt, but is unable to as he’s grown too attached. Instead, he joins the party.

Back on the world map, we use the Fiddler Crab and watch as the mountain range to the Dead Sea parts, revealing an entrance. We step inside, and Radius gets shocked to see the Evil Sword Masamune! Trying to venture past will drive us insane, so we must turn back. Radius gives us the history of the sword, or at least what little he knows of.

He and Garai, Glenn and Dario’s father, have been training together for decades. Dario is also ten feet tall for some reason, but that's never brought up. One day, they discover the Masamune in the Dragon Falls. Radius removes it and, because of his jealousy towards Garai, Radius kills the giant. The Masamune has become a sword that feeds on the negative emotions of its wielder and, in this case, caused the old man to fatally strike his long time friend. Garai is buried, along with his Holy Sword Enlanzer, at the Isle of the Damned. The Enlanzer is also the only way to cross into the Dead Sea.

The Isle of the Damned is to the northeast and looks like it’s made entirely of bones. Fire Lanterns and flying skeletal birds are the enemies that inhabit the place. On a small cape at the end of the dungeon lies a grave marker to Garai. As Radius mourns, the giant body of Garai attacks!

We have the new hardest boss in the game! Take note that, despite being dead, Garai is a white innate character. It means he hits Lynx harder and eventually kills him. He also hits hard in general and ends up taking some revenge when he kills Radius, as well. The only character still standing at the end is Zappa, barely alive himself. Serge has now missed on two boss stat ups. Auto-allocate isn’t wise anymore, and I should probably start manually setting my elements. Auto Allocate barely gave me any black elements. When Garai falls, Radius takes the Enlanzer, and we return to the Dead Sea Gate. Radius uses the sword to nullify the Masamune, and we can now pass.

The Dead Sea is a place frozen in time. Waves have stopped moving, mid crash, and desolate ruins are scattered across the landscape. There’s a shadowy building in the middle, so we make our way there. To reach the building, we must first pass through two sub areas. The first one is a ruined modern day highway. It’s inhabited by ghosts and a boss named Highwayman. He makes Garai look easy. I didn’t even get him weak enough to adjust his battle stance before we wiped me.

Lost and terrified, I travel around to think about my strategy. I return to Viper Manor, and discover a new dungeon beneath it. I explore the sewers and gain nothing to help me. I did get some CurePlus elements as a battle spoil, so I equip them and relish in my new ability to heal.

I adjust my element grid and put as much white as I can, and, through struggle and death, manage to defeat him. I should have looked into how to cure blindness, which was the real problem here. He has a skill he spams that blinds the entire team. Somehow, Radius was immune, so he did the most damage. Zappa was the only guy to die, so I guess it evens out from the Garai fight.

We continue through the second ruin, where Norris finds an old terminal that tells us about Lavos, the final boss of Chrono Trigger. We also infer that these ruins are from 2300 AD. We exit the second stage, walk up to the center building on the Dead Sea map, save...

And call it a day. We’ll tackle this tower tomorrow. I don’t remember what’s in it, but it’s late, and I’m betting it a lengthy climb.

I wonder how the Masamune became evil? It is Frog’s Ultimate Weapon in Trigger and is meant to slay Magus. We know the spirits that inhabit the blade, Masa, Mude, and Doreen are cool dudes, so what happened? In the special scene at the end of the PS1 version of the game, we learn Guardia falls, and the sword is stolen. Who stole it, and what did they do to Masa and Mune? I shudder to think...

Temporal Vortex - Where lost souls wander...

I’m glad a realm outside of space and time has such relaxing and soothing music.

As we go to find our way in this Van Gogh-esq world, Sprigg has a few words for us. They're kind words, and she joins the party. She sees it as a way to escape this dimension, plus she has the key to the temple at the top of this mountain. So, win-win for everyone. As we enter this temple room, Harle is there waiting. I'm not sure how she got in, but she’s here. She also has some Cheshire Cat abilities, teleportation, and wall climbing. Despite knowing Serge and Lynx have switched bodies, she’s only interested in Lynx’s body. She refutes Serge’s claim that he still Serge and not Lynx, as Harle, in her simple mind, says he looks like Lynx, so he must be Lynx. I then do a puzzle, I think, but I didn’t get it. I entered two rooms that Harle, disguised as Serge, went into and, the second door, come to an MC Esher painting. Harle officially joins the party here. We now have two black innates and Sprigg, who can only equip two spells. My parry is ready for anything!

We make our way out and wind up in the Hydra Marsh, Home World. Sprigg is overjoyed to be a real dimension again. Harle insults Sprigg's pep and then suggests going to Angelis Errera. There was also a dimension gate that appeared for a moment but quickly disappeared.

We go to Opassa Beach and activate the Astral Amulet. Nothing happens. There are no longer any missing pieces of this, or the other timeline, so the gate no longer needs to be active. Sprigg says we should talk to Serge’s “movver” and the team goes to Arni. The gatekeeper is shocked, terrified, and upset that a demi-human would venture this far from their home. Marge, Serge’s mom, is equally confused and denies who we are. Suddenly, Radius, who is the village elder in this timeline, walks into the house. He knows who Lynx is and, as he has the honor of an Acacia Dragoons, tries to kill us. Being outnumbered and old, he poses no real challenge. I heal, just in case, though. In the end, he says that he sensed no malice in our attacks. He then listens to the story, and, despite not making any sense, understands our plight and joins the team. He guides us to Termina to start looking for information there. Sorry Sprigg, but it’s back to your non-dimension again. Marge also tells us a story about The Sea of Eden/Dead Sea.

Fourteen years ago, Serge’s dad, Wazuki, and Leena’s dad, Miguel, got lost at sea one stormy night. They wound up in the Sea of Eden, now known as the Dead Sea, which is the same place Lynx said we should go. Miguel never returned, and Wazuki was changed forever.

The Poore army has ended their investigation of Fossil Valley, and we can now pass. I find a chest containing a Mythril, so I know what the next upgrades are. I also see the Dodo is back, so I kill it. It comes back to mock me, but I’ll be the bigger man and move on.

In Termina, we’re yelled at because Lynx isn’t well-liked in El Nido. He is, however, revered by Porre. A man guarding the docks tells us to talk to Norris at the Viper Manor, so there we go. The manor is ruined, and Radius tells us the story. Three years ago, all of the Dragoons disappeared, and no one knows why. Norris is in the basement, the only part of the manor still standing. He fills us in on more details that Viper and the group went into the Sea of Eden and never returned. I wonder if that’s where we’re headed soon?

The answer is yes, but how do we enter? There's no known way in from El Nido. Before we begin our search, I head to the blacksmith and see Zappa retiring from the craft. With Radius, Zappa is invited into the team, and I replace Norris because I’m a liberal cuck who hates guns or something.

We then board Norris’ boat and sail to Marbule, the closest landmass to Eden. No one is there. We find the great explorer, Toma, a reference to Chrono Trigger, who says the inhabitants are now borderline enslaved on the cruise ship S.S. Zelbess. On that shi[ is the man who we should take to, Marbule Sage.

And we’ll head there tomorrow! I spent the rest of the night going back through Fort Dragonia. There was nothing there, but some of the spells I missed in the other fort. There were also some of the hardest fights in the game. Who knew going to a late game dungeon so early could be a bad idea? The new and improved Cybots are rough, man. At the top of the fort, I found nothing. There’s a whole lot of nothing tonight, and I deeply apologize but know that I’ve, at least, saved some time later on.