Eat the Chocobo Eater

We left off last night just outside of Luca. We've come to the Mi'hen Highroad.

Wakka says this place was named after Lord Mi'hen, the first Crusader. The group was first named the Crimson Blades and was a group of mercenaries fighting against Sin. Because of their popularity, members of the group were excommunicated, and Mi'hen was called to trial in Bevelle. He went willingly and swayed the Maesters' opinion of him. They made his group an official part of Yevon and renamed them The Crusaders, which they've been for 800 years. So, Yeven Vult?

This path was where he walked all those centuries ago, and now we get to do so. Along the way, we learn what Auron excels at: killing armored targets. He's a bit slow, but all his weapons have an innate piercing effect on them to get through heavily fortified mobs. He can also do some stat debuffs like Power Break.
 
As for the layout of this place, it's a straight shot forward. Along the way, we can talk to people. Most give us items, but others are voiced. The first voiced NPC we see is Lucile, commander of the Chocobo Knights, along with her second, Emma, and some random dude who doesn't get the chance to talk to us. They're on patrol while waiting for the upcoming mission. She tells us that something has been killing chocobos in the area, so we should watch out. Tidus says we should hunt down the culprit, and Auron asks why. "Because it's the good thing to do," replied Tidus. Auron responds by saying Jecht said that a lot, and it always got the three of them in trouble.

The next NPC is Maechen, an old, wandering historian. He tells us that there once was a large city in this area, but Sin destroyed it. He's the one who gave us the history of this location.

The third person is a summoner named Belgemine. She'll challenge Yuna to a friendly duel of summoners, where her Ifrit kicks out Valefor's butt. Yuna thinks she'll be the one to bring about the next calm, but Belgemine reveals that she tried once but failed. She'll walk away, so we can't ask further questions. Did she abandon the pilgrimage?

A young girl named Calli is next. I don't remember if we see her again in X, but she's back in X-2, which is why I remember her. Here, though, she's just a child looking forward to a new calm. At some point in the conversation, Tidus realizes that Sin's come back and keeps being revived. Seeing as Braska beating Sin ten years ago is a major plot point, I'm surprised it took this long. Yuna doesn't let him say that fighting Sin isn't worth it. Letting people sleep peacefully in their beds, no matter for how long, is always worth it.

The last new NPC we met is Shelinda, a nun of Yevon. She's trying to get a few Crusaders to quit this upcoming mission since it's gotten many members of the ranks excommunicated. The Crusaders are teaming up with the Al Bead and using machina. Shelinda is a very religious person and views this as a terrible sin even if it might lead to a better tomorrow. Auron sees it as fruitless but for other reasons. Her inability to sway anyone is making her depressed, but Yuna manages to cheer her up.

Toward the end of the first half of the trip, we meet up with Lusso and Gotta again. They're hauling something in a wagon for the upcoming mission. They're the first to mention they've been kicked out of Yevon, but as long as this upcoming fight works, they don't care.

After this, we come to Rin's Travel Agency. Wakka doesn't think we should go there because Rin is an Al Bead, but Auron says he's tired, so we take a nap. That evening, Tidus and Yuna talk about the sunset. Yuna says she'd like to live in a place like this someday, and Tidus suggests doing so after we kill Sin. And if Sin comes back, we'll just do it again. Yuna seems distant. When Tidus asks why Sin comes back, she says the Yevon stuff about machina and atonement. Tidus doesn't think all of that deserves this, which triggers Yuna to question things for the first time in her life. Tidus does an impression of Mika, which Yuna laughs at but finds mildly offensive. Tidus then says that we should focus on Sin first before thinking of the future, as one does in Blitzball. He then asks how we beat Sin. The answer is the Final Aeon waiting for us in Zanarkand. Auron shows up and says, "the ruins of a city destroyed 1000 years ago." We'll see it soon enough.

In the morning, we're woken up by warks of chocobos! Their assailant is on the agency: The Chocobo Eater. In a fight that's part puzzle, we have to defeat the monster while not getting pushed off a cliff. Have Tidus cast haste on your main party, which should include Lulu. CE is weak to fire. It will try to push us, but we can push back by doing enough damage. Haste and speed helps for this, and I don't know if magic works. We don't seem to be able to push it off its cliff, though. Ifrit's Hellfire Overdrive does 2000 damage, so use it as a finisher. For our reward, Rin lets us rent a chocobo for free...but only the first time.
 
Take one and head north. You can find three treasures on the paths if you find the feathers on the ground. Don't forget about the low road, either. The destination is the north gate, though. Here, we'll find Dona and Barthello being blocked from their pilgrimage. Operation Mi'hen takes priority. When we try to go through, we suffer the same fate. From behind us, however, comes Maeser Seymour. He pulls some strings, and we can pass. On the other side is Mushroom Rock. The party will talk to Seymour, and he'll say some things unbecoming of a man of his status. Wakka gets upset that a Maester is at an event filled with machina, so Seymour says pretend we didn't see him. Since that's a strange thing to say, he responds with, "pretend I didn't say it." I kinda like this guy; he's practical. If Sin dies, everyone wins! Tidus, though, seems uncertain. We'll travel further north towards Djose until the third Chocobo Knight who didn't talk to us stops us. Clasko says our presence is requested in the HQ to the left. We take the fork in the road, save...

...and call it a night.

I wanted a short write-up tonight for once. Plus, I wanted a day when no one died, and I didn't have to switch disks. Things are about to get serious again...