Celes, alone in a new and ruined world, enters the familiar town of Albrook. It was the town from which the crew set off to Thamasa when the world still made sense. There’s something poetic in this...
While there’s not much here to help us now, we can get a lay of the new landscape. The citizens of the town lament the loss of their innocence. The innkeeper who hated the imperial invasion now yearns for the busy days it brought. Some people comment about the rule of Kefka, who now reigns from his mighty tower where Vector once stood. Everyone fears his Light of Judgement he uses to devastate towns where people don’t worship him properly. Moblitz was one such place. What’s interesting is several people say there’s a look in our eye that a man who recently came through also possesses. The man when to Tzen, in the north. With that in mind, Celes walks, still alone, to what was once the northern portion of the southern continent.
As she walks into Tzen, an explosion rocks the town. Everyone hurries over to the largest house nearby, where it came from, and we see Sabin holding the place up. The inhabitant's child is still inside, and Sabin’s strength is giving out. While he acts as a retaining wall, Celes enters.
Inside are enemies that can turn you to stone. The relic shop sells an item that nullifies the effect, so equip that, and there’s nothing to worry about. We only have four minutes, but I left with over a minute on the timer alongside the kid, all the treasures, and a second party member. Sabin joins Celes’ fight, and the two continue on. There are two places to go, north to Nikeah and east to Moblitz. The Serpent’s Trench has risen from the ocean and now connects the three locations. There are also several new Chocobo farms near the cities, so we don’t need to worry about the long and tedious trek. The inhabitants of both towns talked about Moblitz, the city on the Veldt, so we go there first. We’re met with destroyed buildings and two guard dogs. A kid comes out of a house but quickly retreats back. Following him in, we see a room filled with children and the lovestruck couple we met before. They’re the only survivors of Kefka’s Light of Judgement. The kids mention "mama", and we quickly learn the mother figure is Terra. She landed here and has managed to keep everyone alive with her hope and love. This is what she’s wanted to do, and it has completely removed her fighting spirit. She's a caregiver, not a warrior, and I regret making her my black mage for a while. When asked to join against Kefka, she stays in town, and everyone gets mad at us for thinking she'd leave. A ferocious beast, Phunbaba, attacks, and she goes out to scare it off. Instead, it easily defeats her. Sabin and Celes show up to chase it away and bring the wounded Terra to bed. She’s fine but not fit for combat. Celes and Sabin leave and heads to Nikeah.
There’s some new equipment in the shops, but the essential thing is in the pub. We find a group of thieves planning a heist on Figaro Castle. Their leader is outside and looks a lot like Edgar. Celes calls out to him, but he says his name is Gerad. He and his band board their boat to South Figaro, we stowaway, and sail to Figaro.
The castle has been stuck underground since the day the world ended. The only way to reach it now is via the Figaro Cave. Enter the inn to trigger the plot advancement (ask me why I mention this...) and follow everyone in. We can now loot the treasures I’ve been saving. The only thing of note is the Heros Ring relic that increases Fight and Magic damage. The thieves jump on a turtle’s head and enter the sunken Figaro Castle. Inside are various mobs that aren’t a threat. One can cause confusion but is too fragile for it to mean anything. We’re still following Gerad around, and he helps a few of the Figaroian soldiers attacked by the bandits, presumably. We can only explore the under reaches now, but we keep following him to the engine room. The engine is ruined by four worms that try to attack. Gerad tells his men he’ll hold off the worms while he buys time, giving the thieves time to loot the place. With the thieves away, Gerad drops the charade and reveals himself to be Edgar. The three then attack the worms.
Each worm has an elemental weakness and absorbs another. They’re all weak to Drill and Sabin punches, through. Things can get rough when they steal a member. At one point, I had all three members out of my control, with Sabin dying to poison. In time, and with enough Cures, we prevail. It might be beset to defeat the lower right one first.
The party hides while the bandits leave and assume their boss is dead. They looted the place, but there is one weapon they didn’t pick up. The Soul Saber drains MP when attacks but is actually worse than the Enhancer Celes is currently using. The missing treasures mean nothing to Edgar, so he lets them go. After a year of being stuck underground, Figaro can raise to the desert once more! All the inhabitants return, and the castle functions as it did before. We take it to Kohlingen
In the inn is a rapist. He’s given up on living because the new world is too chaotic. Celes, for whatever reason, talks him up, and he joins us. He tells us there’s another airship in Daryl's Tomb, the resting place of his dead girlfriend.
The dungeon is chock full of mobs that can, and will, make our characters zombies. This causes them to act a through they were confused, but the game ends if everyone is affected. Mobs drop a lot of revivifies, so we won’t run out. The goal is to activate several levers to raise the water level and ride on turtles. The boss here is a Dullahan, who is weak to getting punched with 400 Attack Power Sabin and can't do anything when Celes uses Runic. At the bottom, we learn Setzer’s backstory. He was the second best pilot, behind Daryl, and the two would often race around the world. One day, Daryl went for a ride to “break new records”, and the two promised to meet up on their hill. She never showed. A year later, the wreckage of her airship, The Falcon, was found. Setzer repaired it and placed it here as a memorial. He takes up his wings once more, and we now have an airship again. After following a bird to Jidoor, we hear the overworld music has changed to be more upbeat, compared to the drone that it was, and...
... I called it a night.
Tomorrow we set out to find our friends with renewed hope. I can see how an airship would do that to people. Setzer’s backstory isn’t good enough to make me care about him. I don’t have him equipped with an Esper, and I won’t use him once I get an actual fourth. Right now, though, I can go beat the game. I’m probably too weak to have an honest go, but it’s something FFVI handles interestingly. Most post-game RPGs have you getting OP gear. But here, we’re getting friends. Sabin, for example, is totally optional. I wonder how the dialogue changes if you’d brought a full parry to Tzen? This game has so many good questions I want to ask!
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