Mage's Voyage

It's Palom. I've never been more indifferent to a character than I have to Palom.

The story begins on a ship. The captain and a crewman are trying to fish, but nothing is biting. And they're worried "the brat" will yell. A voice asks who said "brat," and Palom, with his highlighted tips, shows up. The captain apologizes for the lack of food, but Palom is kinda indifferent. He's more annoyed the old captain keeps calling him "Lord." Palom doesn't like being called such a title by a man several decades older than him. So Palom goes to take a nap at the front of the ship, and we see the start of this journey.

Troia has requested a mage to train an upcoming epopt. Porom volunteers, but the Elder tells Palom to go. Everyone is confused. Why would the hippy women of Troia need a black mage? But they respect Minwu, so he goes. That was a month ago. Palom asks what happened to the "week voyage," but the ship broke its compass, so they've been drifting for a while. Palom returns to his room on the boat, and then it's the next day. After some walking around, land is seen. We've reached our destination!

We're far to the south of Troia, and there's no bridge to the castle. We'll need to get a chocobo and cross the river. It seems dumb to build a port and large tower in South Troia without connecting it to the north. But Troia is much as it was two decades ago. Head to the castle, and we'll learn why there are only seven epopts now. One has fallen sick, and there are no backups. So now we need to do a crash course for an upcoming girl. Leonora enters, and the epopts call her a prodigy (at the age of 24), but she has no black magic. Palom again questions why the epopts need a black mage, and the women say they trust Minwu. Reluctantly, Palom agrees, and it's back south to the Tower of Trials.

Leonora opens the seal, and her training begins. As They climb, Palom teaches the girl the fundamentals of black magic, having her learn the basic elemental spells in the process. It's actually kinda interesting. We can also kill Palom, but I never tried to finish him off. Palom constantly wonders why he's here and has to scold Leonora. It's more of a warning not to get ahead of yourself, but Leonora does grow from a timid girl (aged 24) into someone more secure in herself. He does ask if Leonora's goal is to be a sage, though. He reminds her that sages have to learn both schools of magic to become a sage, which is interesting. Palom's goal is to be a sage, but he doesn't know white magic. At the top is a simple inscription to reiterate the words to the current leaders. This really was about the journey and not the destination. Palom gets angry, as does Leonora, but at two different things. He's mad at the stupid trial, and she doesn't like her idols being insulted. She can get heated when need be. But the situation settles down, and the group walks back to Terra Firma. We can't teleport out...

Back at the castle, Palom grills them one more time. The epopts give in and say they're worried about Baron. Palom has been on the sea for a month and doesn't know what happened to Cecil. So he gets mad until he recalls there are two moons again. Everyone starts to wonder if they want the crystals, and they assume that's the case. Palom comes up with a plan to pretend that he stole the crystal. That's the plan if anyone sketchy shows up. And wouldn't you know it... Not-Rydia shows up! Palom and Leonora take the crystal, and the epopts play along. We find out the girl thinks humans are inferior, so the girl isn't one of them.

In the meantime, Palom and Leonora take a secret exit from the crystal room. It brings them in front of the castle. Leonore suggests taking the crystal to the Lodestone Cavern, so we're off to find a black chocobo. One's where you think it is.

Lodestone is just as it always has been, so don't equip any silver armlets. Carry on until you reach the crystal chamber. There is a hidden path we'll need to take that helps prevent intruders, but the group also sees that Baron zombies are still giving chase. Palom will place the crystal in the dais for some reason, and the two plot their next move. They don't have the time to find a conclusion, as the Dark Elf is revived. His soul never died, and the return of crystal gave him form!

Just as seventeen years ago, he has two forms. Form one is inconsequential, but form two is a doozy. He's completely immune to all magic, and our group consists of two mid mages. Fortunately, we're saved by Shiva!

Uh...

The Mysterious Girl summoned the ice queen to stop our enemy, but that doesn't make her a friend. She demands the Earth Crystal, but Palom won't hand it over. Leonora removed it from the dais. Palom asks for it and teleports Leonora out of the room. He used Warp, so she didn't go far. But with her gone, he pulls a Palom and casts Break on himself, turning him and the Earth Crystal to stone. The girl thinks she'll just shatter him, but Leonora rushes back in and casts Esuna on Palom. He gets mad, but she didn't think MG would have called his bluff. She then goes on to reveal that she knows a lot about him. It turns out that the little girl Palom was hitting on at the end of IV was Leonora. She's known him for a long time.

Anyway, MG Diamond Dusts us and steals the crystal. Palom tried to hype up his new protege, and they learned a new Band tech, but it was horribly ineffective. Palom cries out, and his sister, who's descending Mt. Ordeals with Dark Kain, hears it. His tale comes to an end. I have no clue who I'll play as...

...tomorrow!

The game says Yang, and I like Yang, so probably Yang.