Dear, Diary,
"We walk up to the immaculate Tower, climbed those ironically shining staircases, and passed through the mirrored doors of the Crystal Tower. We did battle with creatures who resembled enemas from the past: from Djinn to Medusa and even Unei and Doga. They all fell before us on our path up these seven long flights. Up we went until we reached a room with five dragon statues and a mirror...
As we approached the mirror, we became paralyzed. The voice of Xande spoke to us. He said that whoever looks into the mirror would be afflicted with the Curse of the Five Wyverns. Not even dragons, but lesser drakes...how embarrassing? Fortunately for us, we're reciprocals of random voices! The voice of Doga spoke to us from the afterlife and assured us that he could save us. He and Unei did say that their spirits would live on. A pure heart can break the curse and free us, so Doga went to find five such people. I don't know how, but he did it. In no time at all, five of our friends came to save us. Princess Sara, Cid, King Alus, one of the Old Men, and even Desch teleported in front of the statues. With them by our side, we could move again. But this was no time for a reunion! We could celebrate later, but we need to stop Xande.
Beyond the mirror is a dimly lit room, similar to the rest of the Tower. But it's clearly been warped by the power of darkness. And there stood the enemy in question. Xande informed us that we were too late, and his immortality was at hand! Nothing we could do would stop that. But he wanted to leave nothing to chance, and we did battle.
Xande was tricky but nothing to worry about. Climbing the Tower taught me that sage me had no business being on the front line. I took a step back and let my allies take the hits. And good thing, too. Xande hits fast but for manageable damage to anyone who could, theoretically, take it. All I had to do was sit back and keep my friends alive, which I did wonderfully. The twins went all out, and Triton did too, only stopping to guard when need be. Xande can unleash some devastating magic attacks, but he usually targeted all of us, which greatly diminished the damage. Like most of his underlings, I feel we fought him a few times, but I don't recall ever being overwhelmed. How sad, this great evil could up being so forgettable...
But peace wasn't fully restored. Xande stood before a warp in space time, which something far, far darker came through. The Cloud of Darkness appeared and attempted to return the world back to the void. We refused to let it, but we stood no chance. She used one move and wiped us all out. For reasons unknown, she retreated back into the whirlwind. Was she returning to gain more power for the coming Armageddon? Our friends watched on in horror until the spirits of Doga and Unei appeared. Before they went to the Great Spirit in the Sky, they granted us their remaining life force. With them and our friends' encouragement, we went into the same warp the CoD came through.
The World of Darkness, which I'll refer to as the void, is a dark and eerie place. It's a series of straight paths over nothingness. Some are even shrouded in a black cloud. The first room we come to leads to five rooms, and we'll need to go into all of them. We took the four paths on the outside and wound up before a Dark Crystal. Before each one was a monster of cataclysmic power. They each guarded a Dark World Warrior from 1000 years ago. The Warriors informs us that the Cloud of Darkness had been controlling Xande, using him as a way to create an imbalance and return the worlds to the void. Light, our world, and Dark, their world, are in a constant struggle. They made it seems as though they wanted to form into one world, but their differing powers made them unable to. A similar event happened 1000 years ago, and it wasn't the first time. Sadly, nor will it be the last. Both worlds came from the void, and both worlds shall return to the void.
The monsters were:
Echidna, another naked lady who clung to the ceiling. Her physical attacks weren't very strong, and we had ribbons or Aegis Shields, so death never struck us.
Cerberus, a three headed dog. Each head attacked as its own separate entity, meaning the bad boy could get three turns in a row. It was usually a physical attack, but his magic shouldn't be ignored. Drew didn't like the black belt job and returned to being a basic monk. He got the opportunity to counter a lot here. Xander was unable to survive.
Two headed Dragon was a sinch. All they did was physical attacks if I recall.
Lastly, there was Ahriman. The flying eyeball held no quarter for us. He unleashed devastating magic at every opportunity, and I could barely keep up healing. By now, that's all I could ever do, sadly. Spamming Cureaga is great and all, but I want to dish out some pain, ya know? But even when it came down to just Triton and myself, we still barely won.
With all four Crystals open and the way towards the Cloud of Darkness before us, we went in for a rematch. She laughed and paid us no mind. She knew we couldn't harm her. But then the Warriors of Darkness appeared! They had a plan of their own and threw themselves at our shared enemy. They had to have done something? They upset her, at the very least. Maybe we could use that blinding rage against her?
The Cloud of Darkness is flanked by two tentacles. One spams Lightning, which I'm immune to, but Xander and Drew are not. Her right arm needed to be destroyed first. Triton used a Bacchus Wine on Drew, and he went to town. Xander was just so weak here that we couldn't afford to do anything with him. All I did was heal. Always thank your healers, by the way! Through trial and tribulation, though, it fell, and I felt comfortable buffing Xander. And with that, the worst was over...
For a while, we had the upper hand. The left tentacle is immune to physical blows, but I didn't dare stop healing. The best I could muster was removing the buffs it applied to CoD. It went well until she stopping toying with us. Particle Beam nearly wiped up out! Drew had just enough strength to withstand it, and his twin fell to a knee. I healed him, but it might have been too much as a wayward slap took him out next turn. But, again, I didn't dare change strategy. Triton and Drew continued their assault, and I keep making sure all was well. Cloud of Darkness kept up the Particle Beam, but we were able to withstand it. Triton saw an opening and revived our ninja. On the next turn, with one glorious crit, Drew finished the job! I think I went into a trance at one point because another voice spoke to me.
It told me of the creation of the universe, the role of the Light and Dark worlds, the Cloud of Darkness, and the Crystals. The Crystals keep the world in balance while everything else tries to change that. But what gives the Crystals their power? Hope. Our hope. When CoD, using Xande, stopped the light of two of our Crystals from shining, it started the path to destruction. All the hope on the planet froze. But we saved it... Us and our friends who saved us. There is peace at last...
We appeared in the room where we felled Xande and rejoiced with our friends! We caught up but quickly decided it was time to go home. Who wants to hang out here, anyway? We took Gramps home to be with the rest of the Old Guys, but we'll always know that they really did help to save the world, just as they wanted.
Alus returned to Saronia, and he vowed to never forget us. He and Xander are going to be good friends, I feel.
We then returned to the Floating Continent. First up was Canaan to drop of Cid. Desch also took this time to leave us. Cid and the missus got a little too PDA'y for us, and her, but then Salina showed up. I'm glad to see her up and well. She and Desh seemed pretty happy and almost tried to out gross the old couple. Speaking of romance, we planned to drop Sara off, but she wanted to be with Triton some more. I wasn't quite ready to settle down and learn the blacksmithing craft, so we headed to Ur first.
There, Drew and Xander hung out with their mom and the Elder. The whole town congratulated us and even thanked Xander. I think he was bullied before I joined, but I see a bright future for him. That's not the only bright thing I saw, as the Crystal in Alter Cave began to shine as brightly as ever! It lit up the sky, signifying peace and a new dawn. All is well in the world, and I'm looking forward to some R&R.
Doga, Unei, I'm sorry we couldn't save Xande like you asked us to, but I hope protecting the rest of the world is good enough."
-Cidolfus
The credits roll as we see our characters in various other jobs, as well as a trip down memory lane with all the NPCs we met and bosses we killed. The words "The End" appear, and we're asked to save and set our useless clear data. The is no NG+, but we can keep playing with all the levels we got in the Tower. So this really is...
The End.
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