We got out from the underground, and upgraded our ship with a lifting arm. With it, we transported our hovercraft to the south, which enabled us to enter a cave. In there, we’ve found the fugitives from Eblan castle, including Edge, the prince of Eblan. He joined our party and we continued to the overworld part of the tower of Babil. In there, we fought and defeated the Archfiend of Fire, Rubicante. Afterwards, we escaped in to the underground again by stealing an airship.

After telling everything to the Dwarf king, he said we should take the crystal nr. 8 before Golbez does the same. The problem is, the crystal is in a sealed cave across the lava field, and our new ship can’t cross lava. After exploring the castle, I’ve found none other than Cid in the infirmary. Is seems he isn’t quite as dead as I thought. He upgraded our ship so we can fly over lava.

Before going to the cave, we explored the other locations in the underworld. One of them is the Sylph cave where, besides a bunch of nice items, I’ve found none other than Yang. He is alive, but unconscious. Next up I will try to explore some other caves and then finally enter the sealed cave.

We’ve found a way underground trough a mountain in the south. Down there, we ran in to a fight between the Baron Red Wings and some dwarven tanks. My ship got damaged in the crossfire, so we had to force land near the dwarven castle. The dwarves said they still have their crystal, but Golbez already has a total of six. As we entered their crystal room, first some dolls and then Golbez himself attacked us. Just as he was about to kill as, we got saved by none other than Rydia. With her help, we managed to kill him.

Rydia said Leviathan took her to the land of Eidolons where time runs faster, so that’s why she is older now. As we were leaving the room, it turned out Golbez wasn’t as dead as we thought. He snatched the crystal and disappeared.

The dwarves suggested that, while Golbez is going for the last crystal, we should steal the other seven from his tower. They would attack the tower with tanks and create a diversion to allow us to enter unnoticed.

In the tower, we fought some weird doctor guy and his creation, but failed to get the crystals. Yang sacrificed himself to save the dwarves, and latter one, Cid sacrificed himself to save us. Two more are lost to the cause.

When I got to the top floor, I encountered Sandy, Mindy and Cindy. These were some tough enemies. At the start of the battle, the tall one casts reflect on the fat one, and then the little one bounces spells of her at my party. After taking some damage, I cast silence on the tall one, and then dispelled reflect from the fat one. That way, I could kill the fat one and the little one was actually helping me do it. After killing the fat one, I continued with the little one, and in the end disposed of the tall one.

In the next room Kain and Golbez were waiting. Golbez didn’t want to release Rosa, so Tellah lost his temper and decided to cast Meteor. It didn’t kill Golbez, but he did take his own life by casting the spell. Another friend lost!

The good news is that the damage Golbez took released Kain from his mind control. Golbez tried to kill me next, but after looking at me he realized something and left (I don’t know exactly what happened). Kain joined my party again and, in the next room, Rosa did the same. Then Barbariccia, the Archfiend of Wind attacked us. It wasn’t a really hard battle after I realized that a fully charged Yang was the only one who should attack, and that Jump could knock her back to her default form.

After the battle, Kain said that besides the four crystals of light, Golbez also needs four crystals of darkness and we need to get them first. I’m off to find the crystals.

Before I got to explore, my ship got boarded by Kain. Golbez offered a trade – Rosa for the Earth Crystal of Troia. .So, after exploring the entire map and getting some nice items, I’ve reached the city of Troia. I’ve found Edward in an infirmary there, but he was too weak to join my party. He mentioned that the Earth Crystal was stolen by a Dark Elf and taken to a cave to the north east. To reach the cave, I needed a black Chocobo, as the cave is surrounded with a forest. I got a black Chocobo to the north of Troia.

There was a magnetic field in the cave, so I had to use non-metallic equipment. It was tough at first, but it got easier after gaining a few experience levels. After some fighting, I got to the crystal room where the elf was waiting for me. Off course, he kicked my ass. Just as I thought it was all over, at the castle Edward realized what was happening and started playing a song. This broke the elf’s concentration and got rid of the magnetic field. After that, the elf was a cakewalk.

When I got back to the castle, I got a bunch of nice items from their treasury. After getting back to the airship, Kain got there with his ship, and took me to the Tower of Zot where Rosa was waiting for me at the top floor. Now I gave to fight a bunch of enemies to get there.

We cleared the mountain, and met a monk named Yang on the way. He was from the city that Baron plans to attack next, so we told him all about it and promised his king to help out in the defense. The defense failed, off course, and Baron took the crystal, but not before I found out that Kain betrayed me. It turns out the king of Baron is actually controlled by a man in dark armor named Golbez. He somehow brainwashed Kain in to following him. Needless to say, I got my ass kicked, and they took Rosa.

After the battle, my party decided that the best move would be to surprise attack Baron by sea. The king gave as a boat, and we were on our way. At sea, Leviathan attacked our ship, Rydia fell overboard and Yang jumped after her. Edward got knocked out, and then there was a blackout. I woke up on the beaches near Mysidia, the town I attacked at the beginning of the game (in the flashback). Although angry at me, their leader said I can’t defeat Golbez as a Dark Knight, so he sent me to a mountain nearby to become a Paladin. He’s also sent Palom and Porom, the twin mages, to accompany me. On the way to the mountain top, I encountered Tellah the Sage again, who wants to learn Meteor on the same mountain. Off course, he joined me. At the top, we defeated the Archfiend of earth, Scarmiglione, in his both forms. Cecil became a Paladin, and now he rocks even harder.

After returning to Mysidia, the way to Baron was open. There, I’ve found Yang was brainwashed by Golbez to, so I kicked his ass and brought him to his senses. We entered the castle trough a tunnel from the town of Baron. There, I trashed a guard who was mean to me at the beginning of the game, and then got my ass handed to me (there’s allot of ass in this post) by the king, who was actually Cagnazzo, the Archfiend of water. Right now, I’m trying to figure out how to survive his Tsunami attack.

EDIT: Cagnazzo is no more. It turns out, in order to stop Tsunami, I had to Attack him with lightning attacks. Even so, I just barely killed him. All of my characters except for Cecil and Yang who was paralyzed were dead. Cecil was just about to die to, but his attack killed Cagnazzo. I love it when it’s that close. Sadly, while escaping, Palom and Porom had to turn to stone in order to save the rest of us. We saved Cid, and escaped in his airship, the Enterprise. So now I have my own airship. It’s time to explore the world.

After completing the last DS game, I decided to start this one. I’ve played for 3 hours and 15 minutes and got to a mountain I need to pass trough now. Since I started the game, two towns got destroyed (three if you count the one in the flashback). The main character is a Dark Knight named Cecil, and his companion is a Dragoon named Kain. Right now, my party consists of Cecil, a girl Summoner named Rydia, a White Mage named Rosa, and a Bard named Edward. Rydia is a girl from a village of summoners called Mist that I unintentionally destroyed, Rosa is Cecil’s friend, and Edward is the prince of an empire that got destroyed. I also encountered a Sage whose name I can’t remember right now. I really like the game, and I think I will finish it quite soon.