Eidolons Shackeled

I was wrong.

We begin in Mist. There are a series of flashbacks that, along with a few lines through other stories, remind us that Baron, Damcyan, Eblan, and even Fabul have helped to rebuild the village. Since its reconstruction, Rydia has become an idol for the children. They're sad when she's not here, but she occasionally visits Leviathan and Ashura. But those family reunions have become few and far between. She visits this time and is yelled at. The eidolons want Rydia to spend time with her own people. This feels tense, and it's about to get worse.

Rydia's opening scene plays again. Leviathan warps Rydia out of the "throne room" as the Mysterious Girl turns them to stone. Rydia was placed at the entrance of the Feymarch and wanted answers. All she sees now, though, are petrified eidolons. We can sense their dying thoughts, but it's unclear if Rydia can get them. Some are scared of dying, and others want Rydia to run away. She gets to the royal chamber and recalls when Baron destroyed her first home. Rydia vows to prevent more of her friends from dying.

We have to walk through the Feymarch Cave alone. The hurt floors are still gone, fortunately. We'll eventually get into a battle, and Rydia tries to summon. But no one shows up. Her friends really are gone. She's now realizing she's alone and defenseless, even though she still has -a level black magic.

When she leaves the cave, she's promptly attacked. After taking care of it, Luca and the Falcon arrive to pick her up. Both women have the heeby-jeebys that something's about to happen. As if on command, the Red Wings attack Castle Giott. The girls go to investors the damage, and the dwarfs are still nonchalant. Giott tells us the Mysterious Girl stole the crystal, so Rydia and Luca want to protect the remaining crystal. Giott protests his daughter going, but the valley girl wants to actually use her mother's necklace, which is the key to the Sealed Cavern. Luca also brings her upgraded Calca and Brian dolls along to provide terrible, awful, pathetically painful support. Human shields, I guess.

I visited the Sylph Cave for gil and treasure and saw even they have been turned to stone. But the Sealed Cavern is just as it always has been. Carnivorous doors and sentient walls. Because time is a circle, MG steals the crystal in the same spot Kain did. Luca remarks that MG really didn't think highly of them as she didn't bother to kill them, nor did she even attack the Falcon. She did destroy Calca and Brian, though, so they were successful human shields!

But they head to the surface with the intention of learning what happened to Cecil. They end up spotting Palom and Leonora heading to the Loadstone Cavern. This causes them to be sitting ducks, and they are attacked by Baron. They flee but crash land outside Agart. Luca says she can repair the ship, and maybe even her dolls, but she needs materials. Seven years ago, a mine was opened east of Agart, so that's where they head.

There's a rock at the bottom that Luca can use. It's not enough, but she can scrap Calca and Beina to compensate. She does, and the Falcon can take to the skies again.

Randomly, Titan attacks.

Rydia tries to speak to her eidolon, but he's unresponsive. All he does is try to cause an earthquake. He wasn't even focusing the girls at first. Eventually, Titan goes after Rydia and Luca and brings them to 1 HP. Before they die, some random dude not wearing shoes uses Jump to defeat the eidolon. It's the Man in Black. They all see the Tower of Babil shine, and the chapter ends. The Lunarian's Tale...

...tomorrow!

We couldn't get twenty more minutes of something here? I still think Rydia being the penultimate story is wise, but I'm disappointed. One more story before the beginning of the end!