Lunar: Eternal Blue (SCD) Playthrough

Since I did a playthrough topic for Lunar: The Silver Star, which I finished almost exactly one year ago, I figured I'd do one for Eternal Blue. I don’t think I've played it since I beat it shortly after buying it back in 1996.

After watching the 10+ minute intro cutscene where a girl, who looks a lot like Luna from TSS, is shown waking up; the opening credits; and finally Hiro and Ruby looting a dragon jewel from some ruins, subsequently triggering some traps, and getting chased out by a couple huge sentient balls of fire, while Hiro gives us some backstory; I’m able to take control and start playing properly. As we start heading back to town, we’re introduced to the first of the four Heroes of Althena, Leo, at the helm of a large airship. Leo warns us that there is some confrontation about to begin, and commands us to head back home before flying off toward the Blue Spire. After wandering around for a while, we finally arrive home, only to find the Destiny parked outside. It turns out that Leo is visiting Hiro's grandfather, Gwyn. Taking advantage of the Althena Statue right outside our abode to fully recover, we head inside to find Leo trying to get info about the Blue Spire from Gwyn, who is an archaeologist. Leo says that a “great destroyer” will arrive on this planet at the Spire. It seems Leo was blocked from entering the Spire by some sort of magic. One of the guards mentions that the destroyer is supposed to appear north of the Salyan Desert, which gives us a clue as to where the Spire is, and a book in the basement about the Spire confirms that. The same book states that the Spire connects Lunar to the Blue Star. Other books down here give some backstory. Since we can't open the chest, we head back upstairs and talk to Leo and Gwyn. After simply being warned by Gwyn not to go to the Ruins, Leo then offers Hiro a position in Althena's Guard and then leaves. Heading up to the observation deck above our home, we see a glowing something descend to the Blue Spire in the distance. Gwyn tells us to get what's in the chest in the basement before we all head off to the Spire to investigate. Taking the Ancient Knife from the chest, Gwyn locates the Dragon Eye Jewel needed to enter the Spire, and we're off!

The Ancient Knife is a nice upgrade over the Dagger, even if it does reduce Hiro's number of attacks by one. Ah, so it's 15 Magic Exp Points per Hiro's Level to save. We head back home to heal up at the statue. It's nice that Gwyn reminds us of where the Spire is – across the bridge and to the north. I like how the monsters have different attacks based on how they appear, like the Sand Shark doing a jump attack if its head is below the sand or a sonic attack if its head is above the sand. Finally arriving at the Blue Spire, Gwyn places the jewel in the left eye of the dragon and... nothing happens. Heading over to the other eye, Hiro pops in the one he looted from the Ruins and the dragon's head splits in two, revealing a staircase. Gwyn doesn't seem too upset that we had the jewel and we head in. It's real nice having Ruby finish off enemies with 3 or fewer HP, although I know that will become an extremely rare occurrence relatively quickly. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust eating an herb that's been in a chest inside of a building that hasn't had anyone inside it in generation. After making our way past some menacing guardian statues, which Gwyn suggests will attack us if we post a threat to the Spire, we get a short cutscene panning up the Spire, giving an idea of how impressively tall the building is. Just before we arrive at the Spire's door, there's a Goddess Statue to heal us.

We enter the Spire and, wow, those Crystal Knights do some serious damage if their entire shoulder spikes are flashing. Good thing Hiro's Level 5 Boomerang can one-shot them. Ascending to the seventh floor, we'll now need to figure out how to continue upwards. Gwyn then splits off to thoroughly search the floor by pacing back and forth. Gee, really going over it with a fine-toothed comb there, Gwyn. Heading to the big sphere floating above a five-pointed star, we search it and get teleported into a secret room with the green floating crystal from the intro cutscene. Another cutscene introduces us to Lucia, as she once again emerges from the crystal, this time magically donning some clothes. She then asks us to take her to the goddess Althena. She then teleports us out of the secret room. Gwyn suggests we leave before Leo gets here. While Lucia isn't accessible in the status menu, she does have a whopping 150 HP. Um, yeah, her magic is extremely overpowered here. After healing up at the statue just outside the Spire proper, Lucia hangs back and, after floating into the air, says she can't sense Althena's presence. The Destroyer Zophar then makes a vocal appearance and strips her of her powers. The effects they added to Zophar's voice make it really hard to make out some of the dialog.

With Zophar's appearance, the guardian statues have come to life, and we have to fight them. Hiro's Boomerang does pretty good damage to them and the Guardians' normal attack only does under 10 points of damage, so they're not nearly as tough as they look. And with characters getting back 1 HP if they're knocked out during battle, Lucia gets back to 100% health after the battles since she now only has 1 HP. Even though we were having little trouble with the trio of Guardians near the entrance, Leo arrives and wipes them out with the Destiny's cannon. After Ruby tells Leo that Lucia's condition was caused by a monster in the Spire's depths, Leo and his men leave the ship and rush off to the Spire to apprehend the Destroyer.

Back home, Gwyn looks over his books to see if there is a way to cure Lucia. Speaking to her on the couch, a short cutscene plays where she tells us that she's come to this world to stop Zophar. Gwyn reemerges from the basement and says we'll need to find a specially trained priest to dispel the curse. He then mentions there's a priest named Ronfar in the village of Larpa, which is across the sea. After prepping his boat, Gwyn stays behind and wishes us well. We then automatically board the boat and sail to our destination, which is another section of the Salyan Desert.

After a short walk, we arrive at Larpa, which is apparently crawling with criminals. The person at the entrance mentions the town of Dalton to the west. Talking to the villagefolk, it seems Ronfar has turned to a life of gambling. Inside the sanctuary, where it costs 100S to heal at the statue, we're told that Althena lives in Pentagulia. After talking to everyone in town, and not learning anything else of use, we find obviously not Ronfar in the bar. Talking to him a couple times gets him to challenge us to a game of dice. Of course we lose the game of odd or even. Coming back for more, Lucia collapses and not Ronfar carries her to his place. Heading to Ronfar's house, he's waiting for us at the door. He lets us inside and Lucia's resting in his bed. After talking to Ronfar a couple times, Leo enters and Ronfar goes to talk to him. Leo gives a little backstory of Ronfar and Mauri, which is also in the game's manual, and then leaves in search of Lucia, who he thinks is the Destroyer. Saying he'll join us if we win at a game of dice, of course we accept his offer and win. He then says a Statue of the Goddess is needed to cure Lucia. Ronfar is now in our party and we take the back way through a cave to the sanctuary so we can use the statue there. After the short trip, Ronfar is unable to break the spell and a short flashback to when he couldn't heal Mauri plays. He then resolves for that not to happen again, redoubles his efforts, and is able to break the main part of the curse. Lucia now has 38 HP, but still isn't a selectable character. We then head back to Ronfar's house to let her rest some more.

After spending the night at Ronfar's house, Lucia has disappeared. While asking everyone in the sanctuary if they've seen Lucia, Ronfar replies in one bit of dialog even though he's still asleep in his house. Oops. The mayor tells us that a ship in Dalton goes to Pentagulia and that Lucia wanted to see a sandship. Heading to the harbor, we finally find Lucia. A cutscene plays and Lucia says her farewells and takes off. As we start leaving the harbor to go back home, Ronfar has finally awakened and has tracked us down. We tell him that Lucia headed to Dalton, and Ronfar tells us that that's where the Destiny is anchored. Ronfar joins us again and we're off to Dalton.

Not too far to the west, we find the port town of Dalton. As we enter, we see Lucia on the Destiny trying unsuccessfully to convince Leo that she is not the Destroyer. It looks like we have a rescue mission on our hands, as Lucia is slated to be executed. In town, the Althena Statue has been destroyed, so we can't heal up, but there is another one inside the shrine. We're told of a Dragon Tower to the northeast. In the shrine, we're told that only members of Althena's Guard and the priesthood can enter Pentagulia. Hmm... I guess it costs more than the 85 silver we have left on us after our shopping spree to heal at the statue, as nothing happens when we try. We do find a nice Angel Ring in a chest. Finally heading over to the Destiny, we find an intact Statue on board, so we take advantage of it. It's a good thing it's there, as the Guards in here pack a nice wallop. After fighting though a handful of Guards, we come to Lucia being held in a cell. Leo grills her on her true motives, then activates a force field before letting her know she'll be hanged tomorrow and then leaving. We're unable to enter the captain's quarters where Leo is, so we deactivate the force field. Leo is back on the scene and looks around in the cell where Lucia was held, which give us enough time to trap him inside the cell. After a few brief words with Leo, Ronfar tells us that we'll have to go through the Forest of Illusion to get to Pentagulia. Hmm... All the guards have vacated the ship. Lucia's also up to 51 HP, but still not a selectable character.

Leaving Dalton, Ronfar reminds us that Pentagulia is past the Forest of Illusion to the north. I like that feature. It's a good thing status ailments go away after battle as the Scorpions have a high chance of poisoning us. Heading more east northeast than north, we come to a chasm. Crossing the path, we're in the Forest of Illusion (or Illusion Wood if you save here). Yay! There's an Althena Statue in here. Near the statue is a woodsman, and after trying to win back his money from Ronfar, and failing, obviously, he enchants us so the path through the forest appears. Just after we enter the hidden path, Leo arrives and gives a The Fugitive reference to his guards. Unable to find us, they leave. Finally able to level up Ronfar's Heal Litany to Level 8 gives him Calm Litany. Nice. An all party healing spell is useful. Thanks to how much M Exp we're getting in here, Hiro is able to level Boomerang up to 8 and learn Squall. The individual battles are finally netting us enough M Exp to pay for a save. Unfortunately, we wasted a bit of silver in Dalton, as we found a suit of Scale Armor here. Interesting... Lucia got dazed by a Hummingbyrd and cast Pulse Laser on Alex, which should have knocked him unconscious. But he immediately got back up without taking damage, even though it showed a damage value. After a bit more, Ronfar's Chance levels up and he learns Risk Roulette.

As we finally emerge, we hear some music and see a traveling carnival's fan dancer finishing her routine. A short cutscene introduces the green-haired Jean. It seems they're stuck here as the can't get by some thicket. Miami Vice gets a mention. The bird pulling the wagon train makes a Mr. Ed reference. And the references appear to have started in earnest, as there were only a couple up until this section. One of the troupe mentions a rumor about Jean once being an assassin. Some thorny vines are completely blocking the northwest exit. Talking to the guy next to the enchanted opening in a tree, a monster's wail is heard and a few of the troupe are sucked underground by what I'm guessing is the monster. Speaking to Jean again, she joins us to fight the monster. For only being Level 5, Jean is easily on par with the boys. On our way to the monster, we find a Long Sword and a suit of Iron Armor for Hiro. Hiro hit Level 10 and learned Sybillum Sword, which is rather pricey to cast. When the music restarts, we know we've made it to the monster, and going to save confirms that we're in Plantella's Lair. Dang it! We can't get around Plantella to get to the chest right next to it. Just a steady dose of Hiro's Boomerang and Jean's Needle Step, with Ronfar healing along the way, is enough to take down the foxy plant monster. Lucia getting in some Thunder Blows didn't hurt. And the chest we were blocked from has... an herb. Lucia is gaining experience and leveling up, even though it doesn't tell you.

Back at the caravan, all the members that got sucked underground are back and the thicket is gone. Jean then tells the troupe's leader, Giban, that she's leaving for a bit and he suggests Karate Master Lunn in Meribia might be able to help her fight her past demons. Talking to the bird gets a bit more of a Mr. Ed reference. One of the people in the wagon train makes a parody song of Guns N' Roses' “Welcome to the Jungle”. Leaving and continuing north, we quickly make it to a pair of cities. Ignoring them and continuing north along the short river to the east, we come to what looks like a cave. It turns out to be Secret Room #2 with 5 chests in it, where we get a Dover Nut, a Frost Ring, and some silver. Hmm... I wonder where Secret Room #1 is.

With nothing else over here, we go back and enter the west town, which is Takkar. The person near the entrance tells us that the east town is actually a house -- Ghost Manor to be precise. Aw, I wanna stay at the Bounteous Babe Inn! It seems there's some monster problem, so the gates to beyond the town have been closed. Since Ghost Manor is the only other accessible location, I'm fairly certain that's where the problem is coming from. We're told the Premiere of the Magic Guild was just recently in town. Since Althena's cult has banned singing and dancing, the bartender makes a Footloose reference, wondering where Kevin Bacon is in such dire times. I believe the person who warns us about the hooded figure makes a reference to An American Werewolf in London. Speaking to the hooded figure, she tells us that she's recruiting members for the Magic Guild, which requires taking some test. Declining her offer, she leaves. Talking to the woman who warned us not to talk to the hooded figure cues the figure to reappear. Heading back to the closed gate, we tell the gatekeeper that we'll defeat the monsters, but that doesn't work. We're told that they've sent for Leo's aid. The hooded figure returns and tells us that Ghost Manor has a secret mountain pass that'll get us around the gate and on to Nota and eventually Pentagulia. Leaving town and taking the five or so steps east, we arrive at Ghost Manor, where the hooded figure should be waiting for us.

She is waiting for us, and opens the door with a warning that we'll need to be confident in our magical abilities. After we enter the manor, she reveals a secret entrance on the western part of the building, which might come in handy later. Immediately leaving the Manor to check, it does not reveal itself to us upon a search. Ok, so it appears that this place is going to be a sequence of rooms, each with a specific magic type required to defeat the monsters, with the first being Wind. It seems that the only battles are as soon as you enter each room, which makes the first part pretty easy. Moving to the 2nd floor, we get a hint of “Close the shutters and open the door to opportunity...” I wonder what that means. Immediately exiting and reentering, a new clue is given: “Make dark the window of the soul to create your opportunity...” Hmm... “Window of the soul” usually means your eyes, so... Put them to sleep? Yep, that's it. Heh. I like how the enemies become tucked into their beds after they're defeated. Unfortunately, that means that Ronfar has double duty of making the Suzie Deaths vulnerable to attack while also being our healer. Fortunately, they stay defeated even after you leave the Manor to heal up in Takkar. Moving on to the top floor, Jean gets to be the star. Ok, do NOT attack the Knuckle Busters before Jean makes them vulnerable, as they retaliate and hit hard. But they are worth a nice 150 M Exp each. Making it through the rather easy, but tedious, test, we arrive at the boss, which is a huge portly wind-up drummer toy called the Magic Tester LX 1. After one unsuccessful attempt where its Trouble Bubble put us to sleep and its follow up attack one-shotting us, it turns out that Hiro's Poe Sword is very effective against it. After defeating it, the hooded figure reveals herself to be Lemina Ausa, the Premiere of the Magic Guild of Vane. At least she touts herself as the Premiere, as the manual states she's the Junior Premiere. Declining her offer of becoming charter members of the guild due to more pressing matters, Lemina forces herself into our party so we can finish our quest faster and join her guild.

Exiting the rear of the Manor, there's a handy Althena Statue before entering E. Bandit Butte. We come across a Flared Dress for Jean. After much too long, I decided to see if Lemina's Water Staff could be used as an item, and boy does it do some major damage. On the summit, we run into a gun-toting Phantom Sentry, which reminds Lucia of something. A steady stream of Poe Sword, Needle Step, and Flame, with Ronfar healing, defeats him without much trouble. The Sentry leaps out of the battle and has a short conversation with Lucia. He's the protector of some gateway. The long trek down deposits us on Madoria Plains.

Since heading south just gets us to the other side of Takkar's locked gate, we head north. After a rather lengthy trek, we make it to a the town of Nota, which is straddling a river. Regardless of which side of the river you enter town on, you'll be in East Nota. I'm guessing the large structure that looks like a carved out tree on the side of some cliffs is the ancient ruins we're told about. One of the merchants slams Bill Clinton. After doing some shopping, as we start heading across the bridge to West Nota, Leo arrives on the Destiny. We run from Leo's guards and Jean suggests going to the carnival to the north to use their Magic Arrow and get shot past Leo. Before heading to the carnival, we check out what I'm guessing are the ruins, and as someone in town said, there must be a secret entrance, since we can't get in.

Not too far north of Nota is the carnival. You can gamble on dice here with bets of up to 10k silver. It won't let you bet 10k, though (even though we have more than twice that). So, the most you can actually bet is 50S. I believe there's a Star Trek reference in the Giggle Den, along with an Alice in Wonderland reference. You can find a whopping 1S lying on the ground in here, too. Talking to Giban in the rear part of the carnival cues the arrival of Leo and his men. Giban simply tells Leo that he hasn't seen anyone fitting Lucia's description and Leo leaves. With a few bits of comic relief via short cutscenes, Lucia gets a change of clothes. Just before taking off in the Magic Arrow, Leo returns and somewhat foils our plans, redirecting the Arrow, which ends up taking us to the top of the Ruins near Nota.

Approaching the center of the roof, Lucia breaks the magic seal and we're in. Once inside, Lucia activates a historical record and we get treated to some scenes from Lunar: The Silver Star. Ghaleon then makes a dramatic appearance, and quickly teleports out, saying the time for his and Lucia's confrontation has not yet come. Hiro picks up an Iron Scimitar and Iron Shield. Making our way through the ruins' maze, we make it to Ghaleon's new secret garden with several fairies flying in place. Teleflora and Abba get mentions. Going by what the fairies say, it would seem Ghaleon is a changed man. Lucia again works her magic and opens the garden's exit and we're back outdoors. Since there isn't anywhere else to go, we head back to Nota. Or at least, we start heading back. About halfway there, we're intercepted by Leo on the Destiny. As Leo is crowing, he gets knocked out by a direct hit from... Ghaleon. The Destiny retreats and we're able to make it the rest of the way to Nota.

Since Leo has been chasing us, the bridge to West Nota is now clear. The TV show Cheers gets a reference in the bar. SunKist Tuna also gets a reference in one of the answer options. If you're REALLY hard up for cash, you can repeatedly deliver some wine between the two Notas for 10S each time. Rush Limbaugh gets a mention, as does GI Joe action figures. We're told that Zulan is almost unreachable due to blizzard conditions. As we leave town, Ronfar says we should head north to the port town of Azado, where we should be able to get to Pentagulia.

After a bit, fighting through some rather tough Killer Wasps, we make it to Zulan, which is covered in snow. It doesn't even get any town music, but rather just the sound of wind. Ronfar seems to be known around these parts. I like how the wind gets muted inside the buildings. The mayor's grandchild has fallen ill, and we aren't allowed to continue on to Meribia unless we help them out. We decide to help the mayor and kill the monster that's caused the bad weather, because we really have a choice in the matter. Lucia doesn't have time in her quest to stop Zophar to help out here, and takes off. So, why was Lucia allowed to go to Meribia? I guess we'll catch up to her later. We have a monster to slay!

The monsters in here are pretty tough. Along the way, Ronfar's Health magic gets leveled up to 13 and he learns Light Litany. So, now I know the next level threshold for the next spell being learned. We find a nice Fire Ring and Steel Shield in here. Dislodging a huge snowball looks to have plugged a gap down near the bottom that I wasn't aware needed to be plugged. Taking the nearby ice slide, we're able to head back to Zulan and heal. Ronfar had almost run out of MP and I didn't want to have to use a Star Light. Heading back to the Snow Cave, the snowball did indeed plug a gap and we walk across the packed snow to a new area of the cave system. There's another snowball here that we roll down the mountain to plug a second gap. In a chest above that is a Flame Saber for Hiro, which, as expected, does wonders against the monsters here.

Arriving at a location with no music, we know we're at somewhere important. Moving forward, the whole mountain shakes and we're caught up in an avalanche. As Hiro comes to, Lucia is standing over him. She then heals Hiro and Ruby, saying that she felt some connection with Hiro, which made her come back. She rejoins and we'll need to find the others. She still isn't selectable. Easily finding and reviving the other three (it would have been nice to have gotten all our HP back, instead of what we had when the avalanche hit), continuing up the mountain gets us into a battle with the Missing Link, which is probably responsible for Zulan's predicament. After a couple aborted attempts where it was wiping out Hiro with its double attack, since Hiro was alone in front and therefore the closest to it, I moved everyone to the back row and it attacked multiple party members, allowing Hiro to survive the first attack. Lucia now will cast buffs on someone other than herself and ups Hiro's attack and defense. This makes a world of difference as Hiro's Flame Saber and Lemina's Flame spell do serious damage to it. While a bit expensive and not healing quite as much as Calm Litany, Ronfar's Little Litany also does a lot of damage to it for a nice attack and party heal in one spell. Now with the Link out of the way, we head back to Zulan. Ooh, Lucia has a new spell, the all enemy Lightning Bomb and she isn't shy about using it. Maybe it's set to have her always use it during this stretch, just in case you were just barely hanging on after the boss fight.

Back in Zulan, the standard town music is playing. The path to Meribia is no longer blocked. After that lengthy trip into the Snow Cave, we buy a Dragonfly Wing, just in case we run into a dungeon that we really need to get out of instantly. I'd never heard of the Donner Party (an ill-fated episode from the US's Pioneer days that had members of the party allegedly resorting to cannibalism to survive), but it gets mentioned. I forgot how long Pearl Jam has been around, as Eddie Vedder gets mentioned. The mayor only gives us his thanks for saving his granddaughter. With nothing else to do here, we take the path to Meribia.

After a somewhat short walk, we arrive at the rather large city of Meribia. As soon as we enter, Jean reminds us of Lunn. We're told that there are sewers beneath the city and there's a bandits' hideout on Taben's Peak. The bandits are blocking the route to Vane, so I know what our next objective will be. Lemina makes a Fantasia reference. US bankruptcy law gets a shout out as Ramus thinks he'll have to file Chapter 11 if things don't turn around for his shop. Pay per view TV format gets a mention. Speaking to Blue Karate Master Lunn in his dojo, he gets a short cutscene introduction. Jean tells him of the Blue Dragon Cult that practices the deadly Black Karate, and Lunn tells us that the cult is rumored to be near Taben's Peak. He then tasks us with finding out if there is any connection between the cult and the bandits. After a shopping spree, we leave town and continue our travels east, which should take us to Taben's Peak, since there is only one direction we haven't taken.

Only seeing a large tree, we enter it, with a cutscene pan to show just how tall it is, and find ourselves at the base of Taben's Peak. The path to Vane has been blocked, so we take the other path. A flying white dragon appears and Ruby chases after it into a bush. It appears Nall has obtained the shapeshifting ability in the 1000 years since The Silver Star and gets a short intro scene with him in the shape of a human. He then lets Ruby go and leaves after warning us to stay off his property. Nall mentions Dirty Harry. Ignoring Nall's warning, we follow him and arrive at a tall elevator-like structure. Wow, Tormentors are worth a lot of M Exp. Ah, yes, Ice Mongrels, the Metal Babbles of this world, except that they hit hard. We find a Pink Bow for Lemina. This place is really useful for leveling magic. Finally arriving at the top, we find Nall. Approaching him, he calls out his Dragon Kids to prevent us from leaving, as he thinks we're members of the Blue Dragon Cult. Talking to the kids inside, we find out that the cult has been kidnapping children. We can't let that continue. Speaking to Nall, we try convincing him that we're not part of the clan. He doesn't trust us, so he requests Lucia to be a hostage while we defeat the clan and return the kidnapped children. Somehow he knew Lucia's name, even though no one told him. He thinks the clan's hideout is in the Meribian Sewers. I hope they don't have the monsters that are only vulnerable to magic attacks, like in The Silver Star. Talking to him again, he suggests searching Ramus' store and Lunn's gym for the sewers' entrance. On the reference watch, we get Barbie, Tinker Toys, and maybe Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas (but a straight up quote definitely wouldn't have been able to be included). We're now able to use the gondola to get back to the forest floor and back.

Back in Meribia, the guy at the entrance pretty much tells us that the sewer entrance is in Ramus' store. Lunn has left for Pentagulia. As suspected, the entrance is in Ramus' store. Much like in Taben's Peak, the monsters here give some really good Exp and M Exp. At spell level 14, the tier 1 spells upgrade, which may or may not be a good thing, as Ronfar's single ally heal spell now costs double the MP. Using the trusty follow the right wall method of exploration, we arrive at a boat just as the masked leader of the Blue Dragon Cult arrives with some fresh, um, recruits. We then get to fight his five Assassin guards. Using our newly upgraded magic, we're able to defeat them rather handily. The masked leader then somewhat taunts Jean, to which she responds with a boot to the head, knocking his mask off. He cowardly runs to the boat and disembarks, telling her to go to Horam and enter the Tournament of Death if she wants to confront him. We do get a Mysterious Mask for our troubles, which Jean says we should take to Lunn, assuming he's back in Meribia. Taking the other set of stairs in here, we're immediately in Lunn's dojo. Lunn isn't back, so we'll follow the kidnapped children and head back to Nall in Taben's Peak.

Taking the gondola back up, Nall meets us at the door. He knows that Ruby's a red dragon. As we're searching for Lucia, The Lost Boys gets a reference. Heading to the spring upstairs, we get the near-obligatory bathing scene. With Lucia back, we collect the rest of the party. As we start to leave, Nall gives us the White Dragon Wings. Yay! Now I don't need those Dragonfly Wings to escape a dungeon. The kids have cleared away the barricade, so we can now head to Vane. After a bit of a hike, we make it to Vane. As we enter, Borgan is in town, which apparently is a bad thing. A couple of Borgan's crew prevents us from entering the city, so we head to the transmission spring to the east that Lemina claims will get us in behind them.

At the spring, Lemina reactivates it and we're in the good old Cave of Trial. A bunch of cave-ins have blocked many of the paths. Lemina claims a sort of ownership over the place, so we can't open any of the treasure chests. I guess the Evil Eye was a boss (no, I didn't notice the boss music), as its defeat sequence was rather dramatic. Lemina's Thunder Staff worked wonders. It's a good thing we bought one, just in case. Physical attacks also did some damage, contrary to what the guy at the spring suggested, as well as compared to the trip through it 1000 years ago in The Silver Star. Gotta love when the torches are still lit in a place that no one's supposedly been in for centuries. With no other monsters in here, it's smooth sailing until we reach another boss, the Fleshsucker. This one is actually almost invulnerable to physical attacks, only taking 1 damage per attack, but Hiro's Poe Sword still does significant damage. Pummeling it with spells, we don't have too much trouble with it. Going through one more uneventful floor, we arrive in Vane.

Lemina uses one of The Honeymooner's Ralph Kramden's famous lines. While we were in the cave, Borgan's men left. The library has several references: Rush Limbaugh, Sally Struthers, the Reading is Fundamental campaign, a play on McDonald's, the song “Love Potion Number 9”, the Dewey Decimal system, and Barney the Dinosaur. Other than some bits of backstory, as well as several bits of comic relief, we learn that the Star Tower is rumored to allow travel to the Blue Star. Lemina won't let us loot the treasure chests in here, either. Outside of the library, the references just keep on coming, with Jenny Craig and Bob Vila getting mentions. After upgrading everyone's equipment, we head into the Ausa residence. As we enter the main hall, we find Borgan in a meeting with Miria, Lemina's mother. Apparently, there's a new seat of magic, Neo-Vane, and Borgan wants Miria to leave Vane and go there. Lysol cleaner gets a mention. Speaking to Borgan, he gets the customary brief cutscene introduction. Continuing to talk to Borgan causes him to teleport Miria out, I'm assuming to Neo-Vane. He then says to go to Pentagulia if we want to see him before teleporting him and his men out. Lemina then runs off, cursing herself for her lack of magical skill. This is the perfect opportunity to open those chests! Dang you, Ruby, with your conscience!! Finding her on the roof, Hiro lifts her spirits and we get a short cutscene of Lemina tearing up. Back in the party, we're off to Pentagulia. Before that, she says what's in the treasure chests will be needed to defeat Borgan. The best things we got out of all of them are a Plasma Ring and Silver Light.

Crossing the large bridge to the east and continuing on, we arrive in Azado. As we enter, Ronfar mentions there's supposedly a transport device in Azado that will take us to Pentagulia. It seems this place has a serious problem with monsters that appear out of nowhere and wreak havoc, and some Beads of Althena apparently protect against the monsters. On the reference hunt, we get the John and Lorena Bobbitt incident, I believe there's a reference to Al Frankin's Saturday Night Live character, Stuart Smalley, and the Buns of Steel workout routine. Heading to the sanctuary, there's a line for buying beads. Jack and the Beanstalk is referenced. In the middle of the back hallway, Ronfar unseals the door with an Open Sesame, and we're through to Azado Tower. There's a monster called Nipple Yanker in here. Really? On the 7th floor, there's a statue that'll fully heal the party for 1000S. We find an Angel Ring in here, which will be saved for the end boss for its one-time auto-resurrection ability. Making it to the 12th and final floor, we find a very nice Heal Ring. Ooh. Two rings can be equipped.

Ronfar activates the transmitter and a Corpse Crushr appears on the platform. This is probably the monster that has been attacking Azado. Well, that was easy. Simple physical attacks are good enough to defeat it, although I tried various magic attacks, as par for the course, and its Pulsinator attack is the only thing to worry about, as it does about 100 damage to each character. It seems someone had put some strange runes on the transporter, which foiled Ronfar's spell. Just before heading back to find out if the Althena Cult was responsible, Leo and his men show up and everyone but Hiro and Ruby are escorted to the Destiny, as Leo wants to speak with Hiro. Asking Hiro if he thinks Lucia is the Destroyer, and it seems Leo's starting to doubt his preconception of her. A priest from Althena's Cult arrives and summons the monster that's been attacking the town, which is another Corpse Crushr. Leo gets to fight alongside Hiro, which makes me think this will be one quick battle. Leo's ??? attack (I don't know why it displays it as ??? when the description gives the actual name of Flash Blade) does a massive amount of damage, and it only takes a few rounds to defeat it. I ran into a serious glitch when I tried to level up magic, with it showing Lemina's face and having some major graphical glitches when I scrolled up and down, eventually freezing the game. A reboot fixed the issue. I don't know if I want to level up Leo's Earth magic, since I don't want to just throw away the M Exp. But it does start out at Level 1, so several levels won't cost much. Interesting... Leo has the exact same amount of experience as Hiro does, and takes the exact same amount to level up. In fact, he has the exact same stats as Hiro. Having absolutely no problems with the monsters in here, we find Leo's guards wiped out on the ground floor, and Lucia and the others have been taken captive again. It seems Mauri is somehow responsible. As we start along the path back to Azado, we find Mauri and the rest of our party. Ronfar mentions some ritual that changed her. Mauri gets her intro cutscene. She's stepped on her brother's toes and has come to execute Lucia. Leo demands she leaves Lucia to him, and she grudgingly obeys and teleports out. Leo then graciously takes us all to Pentagulia aboard the Destiny to have Althena determine Lucia's fate.

While on board, only Hiro and Ruby are in the party. Sanka coffee gets a mention -- I don't remember the ad Ruby references, but if it's the one I found online, that was an old reference, even when the game was released, being from 1981. Heh, Rocky Mountain oysters are on the menu. Finding Lucia on the deck, a lengthy cutscene plays and then we finally arrive at Pentagulia, and it gets a short cutscene of the city exterior. As soon as we get off the ship, Ghaleon makes another appearance, complete with a short cutscene and snide remarks. After a few words between Ghaleon and Leo, Ghaleon leaves as quickly as he came, and Leo also takes off. Now, it's just Hiro, Lucia, and Ruby, and we'll have to find Althena ourselves. Speaking to the other three, they each take off on their own business. More references: Lon Cheney, Prozac, American Express, and a play on airlines' frequent flier promotion. In each corner is a tower to the four Heroes of Althena, where the other three can be found talking with one of the Heroes. While we can't enter the chambers they're in, we can overhear some bits of conversation, none of which gives us any important information.

Since there isn't anything else to do here, we enter the sanctuary and have Leo take us to Althena. She gets her cutscene intro, and of course Lucia recognizes that she is not the Goddess and casts a spell at her, which Ghaleon intercepts. He then knocks Lucia out and it's a battle between Ghaleon and Hiro. After a few rounds, where Hiro's attacks do 1 damage and Ghaleon does nothing, he sucks away all Hiro's MP and taunts him. This causes Hiro to find some resolve and actually start doing damage. This in turn makes Ghaleon decide he'll actually need to fight and defeats Hiro in one round. Leo's loyalty is then brought into question by Ghaleon and Althena, being accused of bringing Lucia here as an assassin.

Hiro then wakes up inside a prison cell. Without even trying to look for a way out, talking to Ruby a few times cues an obviously not Leo, going by Mystere, to run in and open the cell. He tells us there are prisons at the top of each tower, which are connected by underground tunnels, and we'll need to free the other three. It's nice that Hiro is fully healed. Unfortunately, Mystere has the same HP & MP as when Leo left. We do find a very useful Heat Ring in here, which grants the wearer the Recovery Litany spell. The Althena Statues on the main floor charge 500S, but it's worth it to get all of Mystere's MP back. The monsters down here give enough from a single battle to pay for the healing. The monsters are also pretty strong in here. Too bad the Heal Ring doesn't recover HP at the beginning of the first round. We find a Tri-Ring in the Red Tower, which says it protects against all ailments. When we rescue Ronfar, we get a flashback to the rest of his conversation with Mauri that we eavesdropped on earlier. On our way up the Black Tower to free Lemina, we conveniently find a Soul Staff for her. As with Ronfar, we get to see the continuation of Lemina's conversation with Borgan. I do get a chuckle out of their use of only one image while a character is talking, as Lemina has the same happy look on her face while she's obviously pretty angry. Using the Soul Staff in the first encounter, since it doesn't say what its effect it, it increases defense. Geez, those Flyboys really hate Ronfar, as I believe he's the only one they've ever attacked. Level 16 unlocks a character's final spell. In Jean's segment, it turns out that Lunn is the leader of the Blue Dragon Cult. With everyone, except Lucia, back in the party, Mystere takes off.

Waiting just outside the stairs from the top floor is Leo. He's now determined to uncover the evil behind Althena's Cult. He then joins again to look for Lucia, who he thinks is being held in a hidden area inside the shrine, which can be accessed from somewhere in the tunnels we're in. Hmm... I didn't notice anything really strange. The logical place would be in the hub. And as soon as we get to that floor, Leo pretty much confirms it. And just to drill it in, after a battle in the hub, Leo repeats his hunch. Searching the wall between the two Althena Statues reveals a hidden staircase. This deposits us in the shrine's Audience Chamber where we met with the fake Althena. The priests that were guarding the stairs to the 2nd floor have vacated their posts, possibly being the ones now guarding the exits. So, it's on to the 2nd floor. After picking up another Angel Ring, the scene pans over to Ghaleon and the fake Althena, with Lucia possibly shackled to the wall. After announcing what her plans for Lucia are, the fake Althena teleports out. Ghaleon then spills the beans that Althena's Cult is being used to revive Zophar. After another short cutscene, Ghaleon, too, teleports out. Leo is finally convinced of his error, and that he's been being used to help in Zophar's revival. He then takes off. Before entering the chamber, we check the other side of this floor and find a Lynx Tail. Getting some aerobics in, since there isn't a door into the chamber on either side, we free Lucia from her constraints. Rushing past us and outside, we catch up to her, and she senses that the true Goddess is in the fifth tower, wherever that is. Thinking a bit, the fountain of transport is her best guess. What fountain? Blasting a hole in the railing in front of us, she jumps. Following her lead, we're at the base of the tower. Ah, the water surrounding the shrine is the fountain.

Of course, there's a magical seal on the entrance. As we step back, the fake Althena appears. She then summons the three Heroes not named Leo to finish us off. The White Dragon Wings activate and we're teleported out. After Ghaleon appears and hints that he's been pulling the strings, Zophar makes another vocal appearance. After a bit of dialog, we're back in Taben's Peak, in front of Nall. Lucia asks Nall, being the White Dragon, to help break the barrier holding Althena in Pentagulia. Nall tells Lucia that he can't, since Zophar, with Ghaleon's aid, sealed the dragons' power. A flashback to when Ghaleon takes Nall's aura is then shown. Now we have some Dragon Auras, which the Four Heroes are in possession of, to find. So, we're off to defeat the Four Heroes! First up, Leo. On cue, Leo and the Destiny have been spotted. Nall says he'll be waiting for us in the White Dragon Cave. Umm... Where's that? Trix breakfast cereal gets a mention.

Exiting Taben's Peak via the path to Vane, the Destiny is parked a couple steps south. Boarding the Destiny and talking to Leo, a short cutscene plays and it's a one-on-one battle between him and Hiro. The heal ring is enough to heal all damage Leo deals. With two Poe Swords, he goes down. Well, that was ridiculously easy. I'm guessing Leo's heart wasn't in it. He then gives us the White Dragon Aura, tells us the white dragon is asleep in an iceberg in the North Sea, and then gives us command of the Destiny before leaving. Ruby is so kind to give directions: Head west from Meribia's port.

There isn't anywhere else we can go, as the sea is completely enclosed by cliffs, except for the landing spots outside Meribia and our destination. Ice Mongrels are found around here, but we still find it almost impossible to hit them, with Lucia's Spark Cannon being the only thing that does real damage, but still not enough to defeat them. I'm really curious as to how much you get if you manage to defeat them. Making our way to the only spot on this icy area, we enter the White Dragon Cave. As soon as we enter, Nall congratulates us on getting his Aura from Leo. He then says we'll need four ice treasures to get to his lair. Oh, boy! A scavenger hunt! Electro Eyes must require a lot of processing power, since if there's more than 2 of them, there's some serious slowdown. Finding the large ice chests in some rather large rooms, we get an Angel Ring, Platinum Helm, Platinum Armor, and a Dragon Angel Crest. With the four items in hand (at least they don't all have to be equipped), the path to Nall is open. There's a white dragon in here and approaching it gets us into a battle with a White Fiend. Wow. We actually got wiped out. Its Coma Blast is the only thing that is dangerous, and now that I know that in addition to doing a lot of damage to everyone and muting everyone (except Ronfar, who has the Tri-Ring equipped), it also reflects magic. So just having Calm Litany at the ready every time it's body is purple, we're able to survive the Coma Blast, and we defeat it on our very next attempt. Hmm... Ronfar's highest level Chance spell is Hades Wager, which “Brings the party to life”. Other than being a play on words, the name of the spell makes me think that he sacrifices himself to accomplish that. Continuing forward, Nall appears and we throw the Aura at the floating crystal, releasing his powers, and he returns to his true dragon form. Nall then tells us to get the Blue Dragon's Aura next, which Lunn is guarding in Horam to the south. He then gives us the White Dragon Crest, which enables the spell White Dragon Protect when equipped.

Nall cleared away some icebergs (which they've misspelled as iceburg multiple times now -- maybe they had Burg on their minds), we're able to continue south and make landfall, parking right next to Horam. Alcoholics Anonymous gets a mention. After making our way around the somewhat confusing town layout, we enter the main dojo, since this is probably where we'll sign up for the tournament. We're told that Lunn is not here. We find a second Heal Ring in here, which Jean gets, since she seems to get targeted a lot. Speaking to the dojo's sensei, Wong-Lee, Jean requests entrance into the tournament to put her past to rest. A cutscene plays where she readies herself. Maybe now she can equip those items in the shops here that no one could before. She also gets a new image icon, and receives an invitation to the tournament. The Cocoa Puffs breakfast cereal tagline gets a mention. The tournament is being held in a secret town to the southeast, which was Jean's hometown. Apparently, she also discarded her weapon and armor when she changed into her new duds, which are the items in the shops no one could equip before. Oh, well, it's not like we're strapped for cash, with 170k silver on hand. She also picked up some new magic.

Hopping in the Destiny, we're only able to travel a little ways to the southeast. Making the rest of the trip on foot, we arrive at a cave, which is called the Zen Zone. We give our invitation to the man at the gate entrance and we're allowed in. A member of the Bunny Karate team uses the same Ralph Kramden line. The leader of the Wolf Karate team references the Duran Duran song “Hungry Like the Wolf”. Lunn is here, as he'll be the final match in the tournament. Starting the tournament, the first round is against Ninjas, which look a lot like Assassins, and it'll be Jean, Hiro, and Ronfar. Ronfar didn't fare well, but no matter, we just heal up at the statue after the fight. We get to witness the evilness of the Blue Dragon Cult before starting the 2nd round. It wasn't as bad as they made it out to be, as you can talk to the Armadillo Karate team between rounds. Our team stays the same for our 2nd round match against the Wolf Karate team. Since we seemingly can use the statue after each round, we bust out all our heavy hitting spells and make quick work of our opponents. Up next, the Blue Dragon Cult and their three Mercenaries. Hiro's Battalion Sword and Poe Sword do huge amounts of damage and the Cult goes down rather easily. Woohoo! We're tourney champs!!! Now, there's just Lunn left. Speaking to him, a short cutscene plays, dramatic music starts playing, and it's one-on-one between Jean and Lunn in a fight to the death. He's definitely tough, but a steady dose of Haduken doing about around 400-500 damage, and one dover nut consumed, and he goes down after about 10 rounds. Having that Heal Ring equipped helped out immensely as well. Of course, Jean spares his life and Lunn hands over the Blue Dragon Aura, telling us the Blue Dragon Cave is to the north via the river by Horam. Lunn's defeat has also convinced him to change his ways. As we leave, the guy at the gate references the geyser Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

With the massive amount of M Exp gained from defeating Lunn, I find out the next threshold for spell upgrades is level 18. Following Lunn's directions, we arrive at the Blue Dragon Cave. Ooooook. If you get two Aqua Elementals that do their all-party attack, they'll pretty much wipe you out. Everything in here hits hard. If Hiro can get just a bit more Agility, we might be able to start wiping out most of the enemy groups before they get to attack. I wonder what you get for defeating a Doom Rigger. That's odd to have a hidden room with nothing in it. We find a Wisdom Cap for Ronfar, a suit of Thunder Armor for Hiro, which gives the desired Agility boost, and a Thunder Helm for Hiro. We also find an Earth Crux in a somewhat secret room. I'm not sure how useful it will be. With Ronfar running low on MP from all the healing he's had to do, we warp out with the White Dragon Wings to heal up in the Destiny before heading back in to hopefully unseal the Blue Dragon's power. We finally make it to the Blue Fiend. It has a ton of HP, but other than a single enemy attack that wiped out Ronfar, it's not too tough, as we defeat it on our first try with a steady diet of Poe Sword, Haduken, and Flame Shot. Not satisfied with Ronfar losing out on that exp, we try again. Testing out White Dragon Protect, for 99 MP, it's not worth it in this battle to fully protect against a single attack. On our third attempt, everyone survives. Freeing the Blue Dragon from its crystal confinement, it hints at something significant happening to the world if Zophar is sealed, then tells us to release the Black Dragon to the south next. We then receive the Blue Dragon Crest, which grants the spell Blue Dragon Vigor. Huh. So those pedestals in the beginning chamber serve no purpose.

Taking the river southeast, when we pass under a natural bridge, the music changes. Further south, Neo-Vane floats by, and it gets a little cutscene of it, along with some crows or ravens or some black birds flying in a holding pattern by it to add to its ominousness. As it passes by, it shoots something at the Destiny, which disables it and kicks us off of it. Dang it! There goes our mobile healing statue, as we can't even board it. Ok, do NOT attack a Wolf Guard that's holding its shield up and behind it, as it counterattacks with a ridiculous amount of damage. I figured that was a misspelling earlier, as we're in the Marius Zone, which has a definite increase in monster strength, as we were warned about. Hoping to make it to a town, it looks like we'll have to go through the Zaback Mine to get to one. With only three varieties of Boomba Kids in here, which do nothing unless they're flashing, indicating they'll explode, it's a breeze compared to the outdoors. It's just too bad they don't give much exp. We find Althena's Letter in here, which grants the “wearer” the spell, Clean Magic. We come across a locked door that Lucia can feel the Black Dragon's power behind. I wonder if Borgan has the key. We eventually make our way to where the miners are. Talking to them, Borgan has them slaving away in here to mine black dragon diamonds, which power Neo-Vane. Continuing through the miners' quarters, we find ourselves in the Zaback Mining Town.

Lemina's grandfather is here, but doesn't impart any useful info. The first stop is the shops, where, while pretty pricey, we're easily able to fully upgrade everyone's equipment, as we still have almost 300k left. We're told the Minea Sea can be reached by way of the lake to the east. A guy in the bar talks of a treasure trove somewhere in the Marius Zone called the Dragon's Nest and one west of the Minea Sea called Lionhead. Ignoring the teleporter to Neo-Vane, we leave town to see what's around here. Wow! Hiro's new spell, Dark Sword, does 999 damage to all enemies. If you want to grind up levels, just stick close to town and wipe everything out with Dark Sword, then head back and heal up at the statue for 100S. At Hiro's current level (37), he has 7 castings of it available. I haven't needed to do any grinding up to this point, so I'm not going to start now. Since we're completely cut off by cliffs and water, we use the teleporter to Neo-Vane.

Upon entering, we need to cross through the magic tester to determine if we're worthy to step foot in Neo-Vane. Ronfar and Jean fail and are cast into the mines. Hmm... Before heading back to retrieve them, we explore the city. The shop here has equipment for Ronfar and Jean, so we buy them and give them to Ruby for safekeeping. Now we're actually starting to get low on funds, as we're under 150k. We can't get in the mansion and there's the Neo-Trial Cave, so we head back to Zaback to find Ronfar and Jean. Aaaaand, they're no where to be found. I'm guessing we'll have to go through the Neo-Trial Cave to find them, as well as get into the mansion, so we head back there.

Dang it! I didn't think to give the Heat Ring to Lemina or Hiro, so now I'm stuck having to go back to Zaback's statue to heal. I guess it'll be a heavy use of Dark Sword. Unfortunately, the White Dragon Wings don't work in here. We find an Ice Robe for Lemina and an Illusion Ring, which enables the spell Magic Swiper. We find Ronfar on the 2nd floor, and he tells us he's heard that there is a secret entrance to the magic guild on the bottom floor. Yay! We have a healer again! No idea where Jean is, huh, Ronfar??? She's in the same area!! Geez. She doesn't give any more info. With our whole team back together, this place should turn into a walk in the park. Nothing stops us from exiting into Neo-Vane with Ronfar and Jean, so we unload our old equipment before continuing. Out of curiosity, the magic tester does nothing, so we make a quick stop at the statue to heal up. Whoa! Ruby actually got in a finishing blow. Nice. Jean's Hell Spike has a chance to instantly kill an enemy. Arriving at the magic barrier, Lemina disables it and we take the teleporter in the chamber beyond it to get into the Neo-Vane magic guild.

After a quick trip through the jail, we run into Borgan. After his little speech, where he's says he's been itching to try out his new spell, Gravity Bomb, we enter battle. Huh. So it's not a one-on-one battle like the prior two. It was going fine until he was able to beat us to the punch and ended up getting in two Gravity Bombs before Ronfar was able to heal everyone. Dang it. You can't save between the cutscene and the battle, and you can't skip the sequence. The second attempt pretty much ended for the exact same reason, except instead of two Gravity Bombs, he got a Gravity Bomb and his lone physical attack, which did basically the same amount of damage, between Ronfar's two Rest Litany castings. The entire battle comes down to whether Ronfar can beat Borgan to an action every round to keep everyone fully healed each round. On the third attempt, Ronfar started out with a Priest Litany so everyone got some HP back every round. Beyond that, Hiro just used Battalion Sword to damage the trio of floating orbs that protect Borgan; Jean used Comet Kick, which doesn't have a large enough area of effect to hit all three, to deal really good damage to two of the orbs; and Lemina continuously buffed Hiro's and Jean's attack. Once the orbs were destroyed, simply having Hiro and Jean physically attack Borgan was the most effective, due to them both getting a high rate of critical hits on him -- sometimes all three of Jean's attacks would get critical hits. If not for him winning the agility battle with Ronfar, the battle would be extremely easy, since Ronfar's Rest Litany heals almost as much as any of Borgan's attacks. Borgan didn't beat him to an action this time, and he goes down, giving up the Black Dragon Aura, as well as losing all of his magical ability. Lemina tries to get Miria's location out of Borgan to no avail, so we'll have to find her ourselves. Borgan wasn't so forthcoming about the Black Dragon's location, but we already came across the door to it. Unless Borgan's defeat is enough to unlock it, we'll have to find the key.

Heading upstairs, we find Miria along with all the gifts Borgan showered her with. Just then, with Borgan no longer in possession of the Aura, the city starts to fall from the sky. Borgan has recovered enough to hop back on his floating platform and enters, trying to bribe us into giving back the Aura with the lives of those living here being in jeopardy. Lucia then calls on the power of Althena to cushion the blow. Lemina then turns all sympathetic toward Borgan, telling him it would be alright for him to join her in Vane, even without any magical ability. Borgan is touched and hands over the key to the Black Dragon's Cave. He then tells us that there's a leap of faith in the Cave. Seeing what the people in Neo-Vane and the trial cave have to say, the Bobbitt incident gets another reference. It seems all the monsters are gone from the cave. In Neo-Vane, the book Paradise Lost gets a mention. Oh, the large statues in the center of the city heal... for 1500S. I never thought to search them earlier. Back in Zaback, we get a little more info on the treasure troves, with the Dragon's Nest being near Raculi. Hmm... The guy near the statue says there's a cave on the eastern end of the lake that leads to the Minea Sea. I don't remember seeing any cave when I went exploring the surrounding area. We get a parody of “Jingle Bells”.

Back in the mine, there also seems to be no monsters in here. Using the key, we enter the Black Dragon Cave where there are monsters. I guess the ones from the Trial Cave migrated here. Trying out the Holy Staff, it casts Pulse Laser. A suit of Onyx Armor is in here, but we already bought one. We also find an Onyx Helm, which was not available for sale. I don't know why I didn't do this earlier, but equipping Ronfar with the Illusion Ring pretty much makes him a never-ending healer. We find a second Dragon Angel Crest. Ronfar picks up a Studly Bandanna. Taking the leap of faith, or probably more accurately, the plunge of faith, we pick up a Plasma Ring and a Fabulous Dagger (after reloading to choose the correct drop-offs to save time). Surprisingly, the dagger is for Lemina. I do like that absorb MP special attribute. Making our way through the maze of floating paths, we finally make it to the Black Fiend, which is so big, it doesn't even all fit on the screen before the battle starts. Simply having Lemina constantly boost Hiro's and Jean's attack power, Hiro and Jean either physically attacking or casting Poe Sword and Haduken is enough to take it down on our first try. It's ability to poison just meant Ronfar had to cast some Clean Magic when he didn't need to cast Rest Litany to keep everyone at near full health. We free the Black Dragon from its crystal confinement, which just leaves Mauri and the Red Dragon. This means Ruby will need to unlock her own power. The Dragon flies off without giving any hint as to what we need to do next. The Black Dragon Crest we receive grants the spell Black Dragon Shield.

Since we have no direction, we leave town and see if we just missed the cave. We didn't, so... Hmm... I wonder if the Destiny has magically become usable again. Yep, it has. On an island east of Zaback, there's a sphinx-like lion against some cliffs on a small island. Time to do some treasure hunting in Lionhead and see how tough these monsters we were warned about are. On the ground floor, the only monsters are weaker versions of a couple bosses. While we don't get much exp, we get a lot of magic exp. In doing so, Level 21 is when the third tier spell upgrades. Gotta love characters being complete morons. I set up the formation with everyone to the top to avoid the Fiendish Eye's attack that hits everyone in a horizontal corridor just below the center of the battlefield, but since I have no control of where they run around to when they defend, they decide to run right into the path of the attack. To counter that, I give everyone staffs to use so they don't move. With that attack effectively nullified, due to the two different monsters always having the same sequence of attacks, this place becomes almost completely harmless. The only thing that prevents it from being completely harmless is that Magic Swiper doesn't work against them. After getting nothing but silver and near-useless items, we finally find our fourth Angel Ring. On the top floor, we find a Wind Pendant, which increases the wearer's number of attacks by 1. Pressing all the buttons leads us to the outside of the lion's head, where we find a very nice Snake Ring, which reduces spell cost by 1/2. Heading back in, we find a Lucky Bandanna for Ronfar, which is slightly worse than the Studly Bandanna for defense, but does boost Luck by quite a bit. With Lionhead completely looted, let's see if we can find the other treasure trove.

Making landfall near where Neo-Vane crashed, we continue through a cave-like feature and arrive in the Minea Sea area. To the east, we enter the village where Ronfar and Mauri grew up, Raculi. We're told the Serak Palace is to the north, which seems to be the source of the people in town going insane and babbling incoherently about Zophar, and Mauri is the one conducting the “cleansing ritual”. Since the cause of the insanity is a cleansing ritual, we get a Logan's Run reference. Cocoa Puffs gets another mention. We're told that Mauri was the only person who survived the last calamity that befell the village. There must have been a waiting list of people wanting to move here for the village to become fully repopulated in such a short period of time. We're given a letter to read from Mauri that was left in case Ronfar ever returned, which explains how she's unable to stop performing the ritual and pleads for Ronfar to free her at any cost. We're told that the Tears of the Goddess can cure any disease. It seems the potion Mauri's using to “cleanse” everyone is the same thing Ronfar gave her to try to cure her. Leo is also in town. Talking to him, he reveals that what Ronfar gave Mauri was the blood of Zophar, and that she has sealed the Red Dragon's power. Leo then leaves. Ronfar then says there is a rumor that the Aura of Althena is in some very powerful stone in Serak Palace. Lucia says that the Aura might be able to save Mauri. After upgrading everyone's equipment, we leave for Serak Palace, with a stop at the other treasure trove if it's along the way.

The Grousers are an interesting monsters, starting out possibly invisible. Taking a path west of the one we're supposed to take, we find the Dragon's Nest. The monsters in here are really strong, especially the Hellgoyles with their Pyro Pillar spell and really high agility. We find a Silver Dagger in here, which increases attacks by 2, but it reduces both Ronfar and Lemina's attack to where they can only scratch the enemies, so it's an extreme downgrade in here. We pick up some Angel Tears, which can resurrect someone, and a Goddess Pin, which grants the spell Cryo Shield. If you get lucky and run into some Doppelgangers of Lemina and Ronfar, you can really replenish your MP with Magic Swiper. Making it to the heap of treasure, we ignore all the sparkly stuff and only grab the Phoenix Ring, which enables Revive Magic, from the treasure chest. Since the monsters don't give much experience in here, we use the White Dragon Wings and warp out.

Winding our way along the mountain path, we arrive at Serak Palace. We're unable to see Mauri at this moment, so we head upstairs where there are actually monsters. After the Dragon's Den, these are powder puffs. We find a nice Tiger Wrap for Jean, and some Justice Clothes and a Justice Rod for Ronfar. Finding Althena's Tears in a treasure chest, Lucia immediately uses them to make Zophar's presence temporarily retreat from the area. Back on the ground floor, Zophar's hold over the people has been broken and the woman blocking the stairs to Mauri has moved aside. We ascend the stairs to find Leo ready to kill Mauri, but Ronfar interrupts. Unfortunately, Mauri's been under Zophar's influence for too long for the Tears to have had a lasting impact. In order to truly free her, Ronfar will have to battle her within her own subconscious. Lucia uses what remains of the Tears, and Ronfar is alone inside of Mauri's mind. Interesting, while he's moving around in there, we, along with Leo, get into battles, seemingly at predetermined locations. Hmm... You'd think the Water Staff would do good damage against a Firebird. Taking the rather linear path, and after a handful of battles, Ronfar arrives at Mauri. She's just about to fully give in to Zophar, thinking Ronfar is a trick. Ronfar reassures her that he's really him, and professing his love for her, breaks her free of Zophar's hold. Back in the real world, Leo leaves and Mauri gives Ronfar the Red Dragon Aura. The Red Dragon's Cave is behind the door in this chamber, but Mauri tells us lava is blocking the path to the dragon's lair.

Having you automatically move along a wall by pressing the direction perpendicular to the wall is really useful in here, as several of the paths are well-hidden by the design. With the high amount of M Exp the monsters in here give, I find out that Level 23 is when the 4th tier spells upgrade. With Magic Swiper only working against one enemy in here, and only swiping 3MP at that, Lemina's Fabulous Dagger really comes in handy as it does absorb MP, and usually a lot. This means that she's become the healer, thanks to the Heat Ring. Battling our way through all the monsters that can be tough if certain things happen, we make it to a chamber, where I was expecting to fight a Red Fiend, with four floating orbs. Examining each one causes a rock to the north to fall through the holes in the floor that they were floating above. The rocks blocked the lava flow in the area with the moving platforms, allowing us to walk along the floor. It's a good thing the floor instantly cooled off enough for us to walk on it. Taking the newly opened path, we run into the Red Fiend. Except for its Gatling Fire, which does about 200 damage to 4 characters and wiped out Jean, which a Revive Magic remedied, just physically attacking was enough to defeat it in about 5 rounds, thanks to the high number of critical hits we got. Continuing forward, we throw the Red Dragon Aura at the floating crystal and nothing happens. With a few words from Lucia, Ruby overcomes her fear of becoming an adult red dragon and having to leave us, and unlocks her power. Since we need Ruby's menu, she transforms back into her flying cat form and rejoins us for the final assault. She then gives us the Red Dragon Crest, which grants the spell Red Dragon Anger. With no direction given, my guess is that we go back to Pentagulia. Rather than using the Dragon Wings to warp out, we hike it back. That turned out to be a good idea, as we find a Flaming Shield, a suit of Phoenix Armor, and a Pyro Helm for Hiro; and a Flame Robe for Lemina on some raised areas that weren't accessible before. The Fabulous Dagger also has a chance to auto-kill enemies. Nice. Oh, the Wings don't work in here, so we would have had to walk out, even if I had wanted to warp out.

Making our way out of the cave, Mauri has left the palace. Back in Raculi, everyone's back to normal and Mauri has returned, but she doesn't tell us anything useful. Other than unloading our old equipment, there's nothing to do here, so we hop back in the Destiny and head back to Pentagulia. Now we just have to find it. Ronfar's grandfather says it's across the sea, but what I would call “across the sea” is Dalton. Hugging the western shore and heading north, we find Pentagulia. As we approach it, Ghaleon teleports onto the Destiny. Since Zophar hasn't completely regained his power, Ghaleon creates a diversion and we get into battle with him. Ghaleon immediately encases Hiro in ice, and uses his life as a bargaining chip to get Lucia to tell him the secret of the Blue Tower. Ghaleon then teleports out. Apparently, something devastating will happen if the Blue Spire's power is used. Ruby talks Lucia out of ignoring Hiro's plight and going to Pentagulia, so we head back to Dalton and then the Blue Spire. Even if we wanted to change our mind and go to Pentagulia instead, Zophar's barrier prevents us. Heading southeast of Dalton, we make it back to the area around Hiro's house and finally to the Spire. After a little monologue from Lucia about the Spire's Power destroying the world, Ruby interrupts and we all leave the Destiny. It's about time I can save again.

It's a straight shot to the tower, with the same monsters as before. Lucia breaks some seal, which opens the path to a secret chamber. Entering the chamber, Lucia says that the contraption in here has been collecting this world's magic power in order to restore the Blue Star. She then uses some of that power to revive Hiro. Once we exit the Spire, Nall teleports in, saying the other two dragons are waiting for us near Pentagulia. We're then automatically taken to Pentagulia, where we get a short cutscene with the stereotypical circular cloud formation with lightning above the city. Another cutscene plays, showing the four dragons destroying the four towers, thus breaking the seal and allowing us to enter. With the city pretty much completely destroyed, we head to the only place we can, which is the fifth tower, and find the fake goddess pleading for Zophar's help. For her loyal service, he grants her some power which transforms her into some ghoulish creature that's an amalgamation of various creatures. Just physically attacking is again enough to take the Fake Althena down. The only thing to worry about is it's tail possibly inflicting the stone condition if anyone is close enough to it. One of her attacks is the same as Magic Swiper, so we head back to the Destiny to restore those lost MP.

We find a Fury Bow, which has an instant kill ability, but I think I'll go with the higher attack rating on Ronfar's Justice Rod and the MP absorption on Lemina's Fabulous Dagger instead. Heading up, we find a Safety Helm for Ronfar and an Immortal Bow for Lemina. I think I will go with the bow this time. We find a Justice Bandanna for Ronfar, but I have no idea what the spell Pressure Cooker does. I tried it once with Lemina, but it didn't seem to do anything, or maybe it failed against the monster. Nothing's been cursed, so I have never had to use Loki Magic, but we pick up a Psycho Bracelet for Lemina that grants that spell. Continuing our treasure hunt, we find an Aura Bracelet for Jean that grants the spell, Black Storm. Sounds powerful. It has the same icon as Hiro's Force Wind. Maybe it was the less powerful spell, but I just never paid attention since I never used it. With another upgrade, but not an upgrade, we find a Kaiser Knuckle for Jean, which has higher attack power, but one less attack. Lastly, we find a Dragon Staff for Lemina. She won't equip it, but I'm curious what spell it casts when used. As soon as we emerge from the stairs on the 6th floor, we get fully healed. Nall is waiting for us. Speaking to him, he activates a holographic message from Luna. In a lengthy cutscene, she tells us that she gave up her immortality to become human. She then says the way to defeat Zophar is by the power of love and friendship. Woohoo!! Lucia then takes the power of Althena, which is apparently a really bad thing, enters battle against us and immediately wipes us out by taking away all our magic. She then teleports out to personally take care of Zophar. So, why don't we get any experience from winning a battle on our way out?

We make it out without any difficulty and as we approach the Destiny, a huge three-headed dragon descends from the clouds. Lemina thinks it's Zophar. With no where else to go, we board the Destiny and hightail it out of here, with Zophar in hot pursuit. In an extremely long cutscene, Zophar reveals that if Lucia was to destroy him with the power of Althena, it would cause this world to be destroyed. Of course, she doesn't follow through. She gets captured by Zophar, which fully restores his power. Her last action at this time teleports the Destiny away.

Three days have passed and we rejoin Hiro and Ruby on the rooftop of the Vane Magic Guild. Speaking to Miria, as Ruby suggested, she merely wants me to find Lemina and tell her that Miria will be alright with Borgan and then return. Oh, my, a reference. Haven't had one of those in a while. The woman next to the Cave of Trials makes a play on Howard Stern's name. Oh, I guess I missed a treasure chest from earlier, picking up another Tri-Ring in the library. I still haven't found Lemina, but Ronfar and Mauri are in the library. Ronfar is all for getting the gang back together and having a go at Zophar. But he doesn't join up yet. In the Cave of Trial, Jean is training with Lunn in the way of Black Karate to prepare for the battle with Zophar. She also doesn't join us. Finding Lemina by the sealed tower, she's trying to regain her magic. Hmm... Is that all I needed to do? I guess I needed to speak to all three, as Miria is satisfied that I've seen that they all haven't lost the will to fight. She then tells us there's someone waiting on the roof. Heading up there, Leo's waiting and offers to join us. He then takes off, leaving Hiro to decide whether to accept. As we start to leave the roof, Ghaleon teleports in. He says he's going to kill everyone in Vane and then teleports out.

Exiting, we find Ghaleon and the others seemingly about to do battle. After some banter, Ghaleon wipes everyone out with a single spell. Using the power of humanity, everyone struggles to their feet and the battle truly begins. Thanks to just about every attack landing a critical hit, the battle comes to an intermission where everyone regains their magic. Back in battle, he's no longer extremely susceptible to physical attacks. A steady diet of Poe Sword, Haduken, and Leo's Flash Blade, along with Ronfar's healing is enough to take him down on our first try. His Schitzo Blade that instantly kills one party member, which happened to be Leo every time, was pretty annoying. After defeating him and sparing his life, which will be lost anyway, since Zophar's power was the only thing keeping him alive, he gives us his sword, which he claims will give us an advantage against Zophar. Before dying, he tells us that Zophar's only weakness is Lucia, since she has the power of Althena. We'll have to remove that before we can damage him, and the only way of doing that is by attacking Lucia. After everyone gets a cutscene giving a short inspirational speech, we automatically leave Vane and travel to Zophar's Domain.

We can board the Destiny, but we can't travel anywhere with it. So, it looks like we're stuck here. Not only that, but the Destiny has blocked the path, which makes the sinister structure right in front of us our only option of where to go. As we enter Zophar's Keep, Lucia appears above the entrance, calls out for Hiro, and says our efforts are futile, unless the power of humanity will truly work. She then gives us the Goddess Crest, which grants the spell Althena's Light, before disappearing. The monsters in here don't give any silver, so I guess we'll end up just shy of becoming millionaires, with 940,490S. Now that Leo's in the party to stay, he can upgrade his magic. Wow! Ghaleon's Sword casts Thunder Bomb when used, plus it has a chance to freeze enemies on an attack, Leo's Blood Saber casts Flame Shot when used, and that Dragon Staff casts the all enemy tornado spell the Blue Fiend had and also has a chance of removing enemies from the battle. We find a Storm Shield that we give to Leo, an Immortal Robe, which enables Recovery Litany, for Lemina, and King's Mail for Leo, which enables the spell Soul Blaster. On the terrace, we examine a face on a wall, which makes something crumble somewhere. There's another area on the opposite side with another face in the wall. This just opens up a trapdoor and drops you back near the beginning. We can now access a door on the west side of the Gallery, which leads to a room with a symbol on the floor, which I believe is the same as the one on top of the ancient ruins where we first ran into Ghaleon. Just beyond here, we find a Magic Rod, which absorbs HP.

We then find ourselves in Zophar's Tower. On its exterior, we get to fight a monster called Velma&Louiez, which turn out to be the only monster we can extract MP from. We activate a couple orbs while out here. Inside the tower, more equipment is found: Angel Mail that protects against Dragon Breath that Leo gets since I don't want Hiro to lose the Revive Magic from his Phoenix Mail, an Immortal Wrap for Jean, a Dragon Helm for Hiro that grants Rest Litany, and a Justice Bracelet for Ronfar that grants Magic Swiper and eliminates the need of him having the Illusion Ring equipped, and a Gamblin' Suit for Ronfar. We eventually come to a teleporter surrounded by four orbs that start flashing when activated. So, we still have two more to find. After getting quite lost and turned around in this place, we finally activate the last two orbs. We take the teleporter and arrive at Zophar's Pinnacle.

In the center of this area is some structure with an electrical beam in front of it. There are also four what look like indentations in the floor in front of the structure. With no indication of what we need to do, we look around and in the northwest corner find a black crystal-like item. Approaching it, we get into another battle with the Black Fiend. Simply physically attacking is enough, as probably 3/4 of our attacks land critical hits, meaning Hiro, Leo, and Jean are doing upwards of 1200 damage on most attacks. Heck, even Lemina was doing almost 150 damage with a critical hit. Defeating the fiend placed a crystal in the left depression. The White Fiend is in the southwest corner. We take care of it in 2 rounds with just physical attacks. The Blue Fiend is in the southeast corner. Criticals aren't as frequent in this one and it's able to take down Jean with its Mutation attack. Not a problem, as Lemina can revive, thanks to the Phoenix Ring. It takes a whole four rounds to defeat. Whoa. Level 27 gets a second upgrade to the tier 1 spell. The Red Fiend in the northeast corner is the only one that put up any kind of a fight. Its Gatling Flame does enough damage to take out a fully healed Lemina, so we finally have a use for those Dragon Angel Crests. Even with getting only a couple critical hits and it blocking physical attacks occasionally, the Crests were enough for us to prevail with only some attack power buffs. With all four fiends defeated, the electrical barrier is gone and the structure turns out to simply be a portal to the Dark Corridor.

Taking the zigzagging path, we arrive at where Lucia is being held inside something that looks like the Roman Colosseum. Zophar is also here, and after a brief cutscene and some posturing from Zophar, we enter battle. He has a few hard hitting all enemy attacks, requiring several revives. Hitting him with the standard Poe Blade, Haduken, and Flash Blade with Lemina buffing along the way is enough to take him down. Of course, he isn't done yet, as he harnessed Althena's power and we get into another battle against him. Well, not much of a battle, as he is protected by 2 spinning shields that endlessly regenerate. Eventually, Lucia breaks free from Zophar, fully heals everyone, and the real battle begins against Omni-Zophar. He's really tough until we're able to take out each of his arms. Then, we just have to worry about trying to get away from the target area of his Hell Wave attack, which will wipe out anyone within that circle. He goes down on our first attempt, thankfully, and Lucia is fully freed. It's still not over, as Hiro and Lucia still have to fight Zophar's head and upper torso floating in some void-like area. Poe Sword does 800+ damage to him, and all he has is a weak boomerang attack that does about 10 points of damage. After a handful of rounds, Hiro and Lucia simultaneously attack and finally defeat him, although he says he can't be completely defeated.

We're then back in Vane. Barney the Dinosaur gets another mention. Speaking to Nall, and allowing Ruby to go with him to Taben's Peak, he gives Hiro a letter from Luna. While reading it, Lucia must have entered the magic guild mansion. Heading to the roof, I find her. Everyone says their goodbyes and Lucia and Hiro board the Destiny and head for Hiro's home. As we arrive back home, Lucia wants to go to the Blue Spire first and convinces Hiro to go there. Once there, she heads to the transport room and with a teary farewell, goes back to the Blue Star in a lengthy cutscene. She drops her pendant in the process, and Hiro retrieves it. Ruby catches up with Hiro, and Hiro vows to find a way to make it to the Blue Star. The credits then roll.

Character levels:
Hiro: 53
Ronfar: 50
Jean: 50
Lemina: 48
Leo: 53

Ah, but that's not the end, as the Epilogue becomes available when you restart and choose to Continue. It opens up at Hiro's house with Gwyn saying that he might know how to get to the Blue Star. There's a crystal in the Star Dragon's Tower and it requires two dragon crystals to enter, just like at the Blue Spire. Conveniently, he had purchased the left jewel long ago, but doesn't remember where he was told the right one was, but Nall may know. Now, where is Taben's Peak located again? Checking back through my record, it's by Meribia. Looking at the map in the manual, that's about as far away as you can get. Passing by something I don't ever remember going into, it turns out to be the Dragon's Ruins from the intro. Heading in, the first monsters I encounter wipe me out. Ok, I have a feeling this will be where the jewel is. I can't reach Meribia by water, so crossing the land, I make it back to Dalton and then Raculi. While we're told Leo is living here, he's nowhere to be found. Ronfar and Mauri are here. I let Ronfar know that Lucia went back to the Blue Star and he joins to help. I guess I'll be getting everyone back together. Next stop is Vane. More references: The book Interview with the Vampire, Depends adult diapers. Finding Lemina in the mansion and filling her in, she rejoins. I got a good laugh out of Lemina's conversation with Borgan after she joins. Now to find the carnival for Jean and wherever Leo went to. Maybe he'll return to Raculi when the rest have joined. The carnival was last north of Nota, so we'll try there first. Since we're passing by, we stop at Taben's Peak. More references: McDonald's again, the TV show Talk Soup, Oil of Olay. Speaking to Nall, he gives us the Legendary Sword of Althena, which belonged to Alex from The Silver Star. Nice. He then tells us that the Star Dragon is guarding the crystal in the Dragon Tower. Speaking to him again, he tells us the jewel is in the Ice Tower near the White Dragon Cave to the west, which he now makes visible.

Back to the hunt for Jean. Stopping by Meribia, with Lemina in our party, we get some banter between her and Ramus, who wants to marry her. The Twilight Zone gets a mention. Lunn isn't here, which I thought might have meant Jean would also be here. She's not, so we keep traveling around and make it to Horam, which is a good candidate for where she is. John Stossel, who I think was still an investigative journalist on the TV news show 20/20 at this time, gets a mention. In Lunn's dojo, we're told that Jean isn't here and might be at a carnival. Shoot, I went the wrong way. Heading back to Vane and continuing east, we finally make it to Nota and then the carnival. Oh, yeah, the Vega mentioned in the Giggle Den is one of the major baddies in Cosmic Fantasy 2, one of Working Designs earlier releases on TurboGrafx CD. They do like making call backs to their earlier releases. I'm pretty sure the bartender here warning about combining two tonics is referring to the convention of mixing tonics in Exile: Wicked Phenomenon, also an earlier game of theirs on TG-CD. We find Jean in the back section and fill her in. All that's left is Leo. He didn't return to Raculi. I don't feel like checking every location in the game, so I consulted a guide and he turns out to be in the ruins just to the east of Nota. In Ghaleon's garden, it seems that the translators weren't too fond of Abba. I was going to say they might have referenced The Matrix, but that movie came out after this game. I think it's a Ghost in the Shell reference. Oh, yeah. I forgot you have to go back through portals you just came out of to progress in here. We finally make it to the top floor, easily brushing aside the same monsters as before, and find Leo. I guess no one could have been bothered with healing up, as everyone has the same HP and MP remaining from the battle with Zophar.

Now with everyone back together, we can find those jewels. I realized that Gwyn was talking about when he bought the jewel from the beginning of the game, so we'll have to find both jewels. Dang it! The Wings don't work, so we have to go back through the ruins again. Stopping back in Raculi to see the conversation you get with with Mauri now that Leo is in our party, she wants him to settle down in Raculi. Unloading all our old equipment makes us millionaires. Since we're close by, we head back to the Dragon Ruins. Decepticons?!? Are we going to run into some Autobots, too? Getting really good M Exp, Level 28 upgrades the tier 2 spell. We find some Dragon Armor for Hiro. I guess I'll keep the Phoenix Mail in his inventory, just in case we run into a battle that does wipe us out and re-equip it on subsequent tries. Completing the set of Dragon equipment, we find a Dragon Shield for Hiro. Level 29 upgrades the tier 3 spell. Making our third character to regenerate HP every turn, we find a Life Bracelet for Ronfar, which means he gets the Illusion Ring back. Finding the entrance to where the very beginning of this adventure began, we repel down and snag the Left Dragon Eye Jewel. We enter a very large open area and fight Doppelgangers of our entire party with probably 3x our HP. It takes a few tries, but using Poe Sword and the hard hitting all enemy magic of Leo and Jean, we take them down. We get well over 40k M Exp from that battle and find out that Level 30 upgrades the tier 4 spell, as well as being the cap on spells. Beyond the Doppelgangers is a chest with a Shaman Staff in it, which is a pretty large upgrade for Lemina and retains the MP absorption ability of the Fabulous Dagger. If you go back to where you got the jewel, Indiana Jones gets referenced. Now to get the other jewel, so we're off to the previously invisible tower on the opposite side of the world.

Making it to the iceberg, we come across something in the ice, which turns out to be the Sunken Tower. Well, that was unexpected. Just like in the Dragon Ruins, the monsters in here give a lot of M Exp. They also seem to ambush us somewhat often. In a room where you can't see the door, we find a Silver Sharion of Leo. Ah, the Surefire Attack ability is an instant kill ability. Lemina picks up a Robe of Eyes, which absorbs MP, but the Immortal Robe's Recovery Litany is the better option, since the Shaman Staff does a great job of recovering MP. We also find a Spiked Jacket and a Goddess Bracelet for Jean. Since the Aura Bracelet gives a +6 to Range, I'll take the slightly lower defense over losing the range. As we approach the dragon head with the jewel, the Phantom Sentry from before is guarding it. He has some hard hitting attacks, but we defeat him on our first try with nothing but physical attacks. He jumps out of the battle, then says we'll meet again. We then take the other eye from the dragon head. In a chest beyond the dragon head, we get what appears to be a glitched out item, a Flame Fist. It says it has an Equip Effect, but has no stats given and no one can equip it. Unless it's just a usable item in combat. Using it in our first encounter, it casts Plasma Shock. Now we just have to find the Star Tower. Is that the tower in Vane that we couldn't enter due to the door being bricked shut?

Thinking Nall might have something to say, we head back to Taben's Peak. He says nothing new, so we head to Vane. That wasn't it. Hmm... Following Vizzini's instructions to Inigo and Fezzik, we head back to the beginning and see if Grandpa Gwyn has any clue. Aha! He congratulates us on finding the jewels and tells us the Star Dragon's Spire is in the Salyan Desert. We finally find the Star Tower to the east of the Forest of Illusion. The TV show Baywatch gets a mention. Popping the jewels into the dragon's eye sockets, it splits open and we can enter. The same monsters populate this place as where the jewels were, so I don't expect to have any issue during our ascent. Ah, so Black Storm is the fully upgraded Enemy Zone spell of Hiro's. After several floors, in order to get to the transporter, Hiro has to fight a Star Sentry by himself. He basically alternates between a really strong attack (or possibly a double really strong attack) and a normal attack that does either 1 damage or about 80 damage. It took me a few tries, equipping him with different really high cost spells, before I realized I was being an idiot and could just almost fully heal with the Althena's Sword (it restores as many as 255HP). After that dawned on me, I just hit him physically and used the sword and defeated him on that attempt. The Star Dragon then grants Hiro permission to use the transporter. Continuing on, we find ourselves in a chamber much like in the Blue Spire with a crystal teleporter. Each character gives their farewells with voice work. Wait a second. Ruby is the same voice as in the warning message you get when you pop some of WD's game CDs in a CD player and try to play track 1. A cutscene with Hiro and Lucia reunited on the Blue Star plays, and then the credits roll again.

File time: 62hrs, 26min.
Final Levels:
Hiro: 55
Ronfar: 52
Jean: 52
Lemina: 51
Leo: 55

This is definitely in my top 5 JRPGs. I'm kinda glad it took so long for me to replay it, since I'd forgotten just about everything about the game, so it was almost like experiencing it for the first time. It's an easy 10/10.