Nothing? Well, I guess I should have expected that, seeing how I was gone for nearly a month before the last update. Anyway, I think both Palom and Leonora are probably too far behind at this point, so let's stick with Porom.
Beating Atomos opened the path to B15. B15 is, in fact, another boss floor, that starts out with a Save Point. We use it. That night, Cecil, Edge, Rydia and Edward gather around the Whisperweed.
Cecil: Edward! Are you serious?
Edward: Deadly serious. I know I heard it.
Edge: We're a great distance away from our home planet, you know.
King... Edward... Can... you hear... us?
Edward: !
Edge: That voice!
Edward: There's no doubt about it. That's the chancellor of Damcyan!
Your voice! Thank heavens... I finally... can hear your voice...
Edward: How are things going down there?
...Terrible. Simply terrible. We are enshrouded in deep darkness... The wind and waters are raging...
Rydia: Oh, no...
Edge: Have you heard anything from the other nations?
I fear... we are no longer able to so much as set foot outside our own castle.
Edge: What!?
Cecil: We must work faster than ever now!
That voice... Is that King Cecil!?
Edward: Yes. The one and only.
He's regained his senses?
Cecil: I apologize for all I have wrought. I couldn't have made it back without all of your support.
This is fantastic news! If King cecil is with you, the moon is as good as gone...
Edward: I'm sorry, but can you hold out just a little longer? We need you to stay strong.
By all means, my lord! You have nothing to worry about with us. But, my lord... please take care of yourself. Damcyan could hardly exist without your leadership.
Edward: Thank you. Be safe, everyone.
Yes, my lord!
Edward: I hope we can make it in time.
Rydia: We must! No matter what happens!
Edge: That's what you came here to accomplish, after all.
Edward: Certainly, certainly. Think about this, however: why has the whisperweed suddenly began to work again?
Rydia: What!?
Cecil: Is it because the moon...?
Edward: Indeed. It means this moon has come that close to reaching our homeland.
Rydia: No...!
Edge: So we have no time to lose!
Cecil: Let's go!
First things first, a hidden passage to the east gets us the Lunar Gloves. Even with the stat boosts the Giant's Gloves give, at this point, the Lunar Gloves are probably better, even if only because of the good Magic Defence boost.
Following the main path that we are currently on to the south gets us to our first Crystal for today pretty quickly. As should be obvious by now, it shatters.
???: Dare you stand in my way...!?
Alternate Music: The Decisive Battle from Final Fantasy VI
Our first big fight for tonight is against the Ghost Train. Anyway, we start by being back attacked, so the train will act first and our rows are swapped. The Ghost Train can actually be really dangerous, it's attacks are very powerful and really, we're a little underlevelled. It is undead, but with no vulnerability to Phoenix Downs or fire, we may as well just use whatever powerful attacks we've got. Porom could use Curaja on it for 9999 damage, but she's often too busy healing up from the train's most powerful and frequently used attack, Wheel.
I really wish I had Sabin in this game right now.
Rydia learns Meteor after we win.
Cecil: The ghost... of a train?
How do you know it's a train? There are no trains on your world, nor did the train introduce itself.
Porom: It seemed so sad, somehow...
Rydia: I felt as if I could hear the voices of the dead...
Edge: This moon has everything, doesn't it?
Edward: (That train... It reminded me of Anna, somehow.)
For winning we get the Mutsunokami. It's strong. Really strong. And can cast Blink.
Let's try the west path this time. There's another Crystal here. It shatters, of course. And starts us in a battle with Orthos.
Wait... ORTHOS!? No! I was OK with calling the Phantom Train the Ghost Train, considering the SNES version, but no. That is ULTROS.
And apparently, this was correct in the Wii version. Bloody hell.
Ultros: Ho ho ho! You aren't getting past me! No sir! No picking on me, now! Rydia... Porom... All very cute girls. My favorite kind! Eee!
Ultros' opening speech changes based on how many female characters are in your party. It's a nice touch, to the extent to which a purple octopus hitting on women is nice. He also has lines for his counter attacks, depending on who attacks him. For Edge...
Ultros: Whoa... you smell the same as I do!
For Edward...
Ultros: Your muscles... you have none.
And for Cecil...
Ultros: Ugh! I hate muscle men!
And then he'll use Constrict or Bile. Ultros will never counter anything a female character does. His main attacks are Quake (we have Float up) and Tentacle, which will hit two characters. He also has Bad Breath, but if that can hit you at this point of the game, you need to check your equipment set up.
After a while...
Ultros has suddenly changed!
Ultros now absorbs elemental damage. And he's a lot more powerful. Tentacle hits four times, he counters with highest tier spells, and he has Malestrom and Deluge, neither of which are pleasant.
We do, however, have an easy way to take care of him. Cast Reflect on Rydia, then have her cast Flare. Ultros will counter with Flare, it will bounce off Reflect and hit him. Repeat until dead.
Also, Bad Breath can be Reflected. And if a Bad Breath is Reflected onto Ultros, he'll counter. By casting Flare on himself. AI abuse is fun.
Ultros: Gweh gweh... Gaaagh...
And he dies. Damn. First Gilgamesh and now him. We get the Kitchen Knife for winning. It's as good as FFIV fans will remember.
Cecil: ...What?
Couldn't put it better myself.
Porom: I... I really don't like octopuses.
Rydia: He wasn't such a bad guy. A little strange, but...
Edge: I'm not in the mood for games here...
Edward: The... the Crystal's generating monsters like that, too?
Let's try the middle path now. A warp tile awaits us here, followed by a deep red Crystal. It shatters.
Alternate Music: Battle to the Death from Final Fantasy VI
Ultima Weapon: My name is Ultima... The ultimate power, created in ancient times... I am not life, but power in its purest form. All weaker life-forms must perish in my wake!
All right, time for a big fight! The Ultima Weapon is a huge war of attrition; which will run out first: the Ultima Weapon's gigantic HP or our item stocks? To that extent, we pretty much just have to keep heaping on the damage. Nearly all of Ultima Weapon's attacks are lethal, so that's not a big help. Luckily, most of them single target.
We eventually win out, just. We get the Ultima Weapon sword for winning. This is the most powerful weapon in the game, with 180 Attack, and also a boost to Strength, Speed and Stamina.
Cecil: (Weaker life-forms?)
Porom: (Ultima? I've heard that name before somewhere.)
Rydia: That power... it resembled that of the Eidolons in a way.
Edge: An ancient force of some sort?
Edward: So do the Crystals exists outside of our understanding of time?
Now, there is one more boss on this floor; Deathgaze. Deathgaze appears as a random encounter in this room. It starts by group-casting Death, then flinging around powerful attacks and high level elemental spells until it uses Retreat. Thankfully, Deathgaze's HP does not get restored between encounters, so we eventually wear it down. After we kill it, Porom learns Arise, and we hear a Crystal shine.
This Crystal is on a hidden passage in the southeast of the room.
May the young mage... be granted a new power...
Power surges from the Crystal! Who will learn the Dualcast ability?
Either Palom, Porom or Leonora will be given Dualcast. I said whoever we're bringing along will get it, so Porom can now cast two spells a turn. Afterwards, the Crystal shatters.
That's all for now. Thankfully, aside from Shinryu, that was the last boss from an old FF game. We're near the end! This also means that I'm closing suggestions for my party. I have a very good idea of what party I want to bring to the final descents through the dungeon. See you then.
Stats:
Rydia: Lv 65 HP:3090 MP:676 Str:38 Spd:44 Stm:51 Int:87 Spr:55 Atk:125 (7x91%) Def:78 (9x92%) M Def:54 (5x72%)
Cecil: Lv 52 HP:3649 MP:218 Str:82 Spd:47 Stm:71 Int:33 Spr:40 Atk:213 (13x99%) Def:99 (8x45%) M Def:39 (3x37%)
Edward: Lv 52 HP:2356 MP:218 Str:59 Spd:58 Stm:52 Int:46 Spr:50 Atk:125 (11x99%) Def:121 (7x40%) M Def:40 (4x41%)
Edge: Lv 57 HP:3842 MP:265 Str:80 Spd:61 Stm:66 Int:41 Spr:36 Atk:208 (14x99%) Def:75 (7x47%) M Def:20 (3x23%)
Porom: Lv 56 HP:2437 MP:579 Str:28 Spd:27 Stm:53 Int:22 Spr:83 Atk:132 (5x99%) Def:64 (3x42%) M Def:42 (3x50%)
