Alexandria
-Steiner, Dagger, and Marcus in a prison. Not the royal suite either – they’re in a dangling cage.
STEINER: “I know the queen – she would never betray me!” Even now you say that.
See, the thing is, I don’t know. Is this the actual queen, the queen stricken by grief, or the queen possessed/hypnotized by an outside force (*cough Kuja cough*)? My guess is that this is the actual queen pursuing some kind of rash or malicious action.
-Oh, nm. Dagger wasn’t in the cage. She actually is in some kind of royal quarters.
-Preparing herself for the conversation with Brahne. Who has been acting strangely since her last birthday apparently. “The same day that tall man visited us…” Is Kuja tall, or someone else?
-The jesters bust into the room and quite rudely summon Dagger to meet with Brahne.
-Into Brahne’s room. “Darling, where were you? I’ve been worried sick. Come closer…”
Fdhajlsfhadlsfads gah this is so tense.
-Dagger – sorry, Garnet – asks if Brahne was behind the destruction of Burmecia. Brahne denies it.
-Sort of denies it. She says that the Burmecians were planning to attack Alexandria, so she got them first. That sounds… unlikely.
-Now we get a choice. Believe her or don’t believe her. I mean, I don’t believe her for a second, but Garnet? She’s been so intent on being able to reason with her mother, convince her mother. Maybe she accepts it.
I’ll say she believes it. Tentatively. For now.
-And in comes Kuja.
He treats this all like a play, where the princess was whisked away, slept for a hundred years, and awaits her white knight to come for her or something. Kuja then rapidly walks towards her, saying “Come to me, my angel!” and it scares the crap out of Garnet.
KUJA: “I will take you to a world of dreams.” And magics her into sleep.
BRAHNE: “Zorn! Thorn! Prepare to extract the eidolons from Garnet.”
FHDJKLSFHHDSLKFHDSFDLS
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Extraction
-NO THANK YOU
NOPE NOPE NOPE
-She’s on a table and Zorn and Thorn are over her and this is a literal nightmare.
-Now that she’s sixteen years old, they can extract the eidolons. The whole waiting until she’s 16 feels fairy tale-ish somehow.
-The prance around her, calling forth eidolons: “Odin, warrior of the dark!” is the first and only one we hear before we fade out.
-I knew it was too convenient that she got all those summonable eidolons to start with.
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Cleyra
-Freya is really upset by the sandstorm’s disappearance. Quite understandably. It’s gone strong for a thousand years, and now it stops. I hope she doesn’t blame herself.
-She thinks it’s Brahne’s doing. I have Zidane agree.
-Their next step is to all go down together to see what stopped the sandstorm. (…and perhaps I can now get that treasure treasure TREASURE.)
-Zidane heads out to gather Quina and Vivi. Freya is left behind to wrap up in town.
-The inn moogle, Mopli, has a letter from Monev. I’d be lying if I said I remembered which moogle is where, but context makes me think Monev is the moogle halfway up the Cleyra tree, since the letter warns of people climbing up the tree. Monev is fearful that Cleyra will become like Burmecia: destroyed.
-My main question is: who is Monev referring to? Us, or the armies climbing after us?
-Mopli is afraid. He’s gonna pack up and leave…
-…with Stiltzkin! Stiltzkin made it here. I buy another combo pack of items from Stiltzkin to help him keep moving.
-The music has become mournful.
-Playing a bit more Tetra Master. Some guesses at the symbols: X is times, P is plus, M is minus. I don’t know what that means in the game’s context, but it’s a reasonable starting point.
-It also seems like X is the most powerful, then M, then P.
-This may be a coincidence, but X seems more powerful on offense than defense.
-Everyone around town is fearful of the coming attack.
-The Cleyran High Priest gives us an Emerald that has protected the town. I thought it’d be a key item, but nope – it’s an equippable accessory that teaches Haste, MP +10%, and “White Draw.” White Draw is a new type of spell in the FF series. It costs a large amount of mana, 36, and restores mana to other party members. A power transfer of sorts. Interesting.
-Ready to go. Vivi wasn’t able to find Puck, but maybe we’ll see him on our way down the tree.
-Freya feels that she failed Burmecia and is determined to redeem herself by protecting Cleyra.
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Down the Tree
-It’s eerie without the sandstorm.
-Alexandrian soldiers. Really high up already.
-We stop on a bridge. Freya worries that there have actually been too few soldiers so far. Scouts perhaps?
-PUCK! He charges from behind us, saying that the town’s in trouble and asking us to come back and help. Did they sneak around us?
-We head back to town and Beatrix appears on the bridge. “They fell for it!” For what? Is Puck working for Beatrix to distract us?
---
Cleyra Settlement
-CRAP. Black mages appear to be teleporting in and blowing up the guards. Orbs of light keep falling from above and morphing into black mages when they land.
-Who’s casting them towards us? Are they using some of the eidolon power extracted from Dagger maybe?
-These mages are “Type B.” Upgraded.
-The moogles Mopli and Stiltzkin are near the Antlion Pit. Mopli gives us a letter for Serino.
-The music is hyper intense. Town-under-attack music. Has been since Puck showed up.
-In terms of raw intensity and feel, this section feels like the Fabul attack in FFIV.
-This is the main Alexandrian attack force. Mages warping in all over and Beatrix’s guards charging from the bottom.
-We get the option to head up or head right. I dunno. Let’s head right.
-Found some Burmecian refugees outside the inn. Again, option to go vertically or laterally. I choose laterally again, moving left.
-More options – down the stairs to the left, across the bridge to the right, or up? I choose across to the right. There’s probably a “better” or “worse” path, but I’m choosing the lateral option because it feels like it’ll extend the section more and give me more options.
-I keep winning a new type of card: “Mythril Sword.” Most cards have a monster face on them. This cards has a sword logo on it, as a card type.
-Dang. I have to be careful about clicking through text too quickly. Some kids asked me if the monsters are gone, and I accidentally said “Yes, you’re safe” when I meant to say no.
-Zidane takes a moment to appreciate the beauty of this town and how wonderful its people are.
-Up now to the cathedral. Not many survivors left. We’re surrounded outside the cathedral.
-Someone is atop the cathedral: “Minions of evil, you have gone too far! My spear will purge this land of you!” SIR FRATLEY??
-HELL YES – he goes around one-shotting them with what looks like a bardiche and tells us to get inside the cathedral. We move.
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Cathedral
-This wonderful music is playing again. Freya’s theme?
-Her reunion with Fratley. She’s stunned.
She’s searched for him for so long.
-OK WHAT KIND OF AMNESIA BULLSHIT IS THIS – first Kain gets mind-wiped in FFIV and now Fratley in FFIX. Dragon knights and their memories.
-He doesn’t remember her.
-lol Zidane is me right now: “What? You can’t be serious! This is Freya, your lost love! How could you forget her?... You [Freya] have been searching for this guy for years, and now he’s right here!”
-Fratley doesn’t even remember the Burmecian King.
-But Puck charges in. He seems to know what’s up. And Fratley knows him, as Lord Puck.
-While traveling, Puck found him without his memories. When Fratley heard about the attack on Cleyra and Burmecia, some deep dragon knight instinct kicked in for Fratley and brought him back here.
-Fratley leaves. Freya doesn’t choose to go after him. She’s just happy knowing he’s alive. ;_;
-Puck pursues him. Vivi didn’t even get to talk to him, nor did the king.
FREYA: “Ahahaha… what irony. To find the man about whom I have dreamt about endlessly only to discover that he cannot remember who I am.”
ARHJKHFDJKLSFHDJKLSFHLHDSKLF
-But no time for tears. Because Beatrix is here.
-She takes the jewel that was embedded in the harp and flees the cathedral. That was her goal all along. What will she use it for?
-We pursue. The cathedral foyer is filled with survivors, Burmecian and Cleyran, who all give us items and cards to help along the way or as tokens of thanks.
-We catch up with her outside the cathedral. She laughs at us as pathetic, but Quina brings the sass.
-Boss time. Beatrix part 2.
-Pretty simple fight until she goes into auto-win mode with “Stock Break.”
-Beatrix tells a nearby black mage that they’re done and they open up a portal out of here.
-Zidane hops into a portal that a departing black mage opens.
-One by one, each hops onto an opening portal. Except for Quina, who “doesn’t like heights.”
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Next time: aboard the Alexandrian airship.
