At this point, Zidane is on his own for a while. Lindblum is a big place with lots of areas to explore, people to talk to, and shops to visit, including the synthesis shop, which lets you combine weapons and armor into new weapons and armor, and a church dedicated to the Festival of the Hunt. That's... not really how churches work.
You can also leave the city and wander around outside if you like. There's not much to see outside the city, other than a couple treasure chests and a warning sign about an old ghost man, but you can take this opportunity to do a bit of grinding if you like. It's not a bad idea to do so, since Zidane will be soloing the upcoming combat event on a time limit, but save often and carry lots of potions, because the monsters here can actually be dangerous. They come in two varieties: giant spiders, and bat-winged dinosaur things that kind of look like the creatures from Tremors2. Ironically, the spiders are Goddamned Bats because they like to hit you with the Slow effect, while the bat-winged things are Demonic Spiders due to their spamming of the Sleep effect, and their lightning spells don't wake you up. You'll always fight either two spiders, two bat-dinosaurs, or one of each at a time.
Speaking of monsters, again, why are there any up here if we're above the mist? In fact, it's specifically mentioned by several people in Lindblum that there is another gate below the mist that's kept sealed shut because of the monsters, so what's going on up here?
At any rate, there are three districts to Lindblum, all connected by public airship transit. Lindblum is a hub of trade, industry, and the arts, and each one has its own district dedicated to it, plus the castle and the airship dock. Having finished our shopping in the Business District, we head out to Tantalus HQ, located in the Theater District. The place is empty, and it looks like no one's been there in a long time, but a couple kids who hang around the crew find Zidane there and ask him how the plan went, and, more importantly, if he asked the princess out yet. Surprisingly, Zidane actually expresses doubt about his chances with her.
So far, Zidane has been absolutely unflappable in his optimism about nearly every challenge that's presented itself in the course of the journey from Alexandria to Lindblum. No twist or turn has held him up for more than a few seconds, but being separated from Garnet seems to be getting to him in a way that not even quitting his job, a forest full of hostile rape-plants, a secret monster factory, a succession of malevolent murderous wizards, and being shot down by every other girl he's met haven't been able to. It speaks to his character that the only things that have gotten him the slightest bit down are concern for his friends in Tantalus, Blank's petrification, and not knowing where he stands with Garnet, given everything else that's happened to him over the course of this trip. This really makes Zidane stand out among the PS 1 era Final Fantasy protagonists: brooding Cloud, angsty Squall, and upbeat Zidane.
Speaking of Blank and Tantalus, an ATE upon leaving the HQ reveals that the rest of Tantalus made it out of the forest before it was petrified, and have been making their way back to Lindblum on foot. They're also looking for a way to revive Blank without doing the same to the entire forest in the process, knowing that Blank wouldn't want to be saved if it meant bringing back the Evil Forest with him. These guys are a surprisingly civic-minded gang of thugs.
Heading to the castle to check in with Garnet, we eventually find her on the roof by following the sound of her singing, which Zidane heard briefly back when he was sleeping at the Dali inn. And by eventually, I mean after mugging a guard for his uniform so we can sneak onto the elevator. On that note, why aren't there any guards protecting the princess's bedroom? Also, the voice singing this song is way too mature for a 16 year old girl, just saying.
The two check out a telescope mounted on the guardrails, and look around the countryside. They also look at South Gate, which is still being repaired from out little stunt of a border crossing. Several people in town remarked on the gate's closing, and how it's affected commerce, and I'm really not sure why. South Gate is built into the top of the mountain; another hundred feet of altitude, and airships would just be going over the entire range. I know there's all kinds of science to do with air pressure, temperature, etc. at different altitudes, but I think I'd have a much easier time accepting that if the gate wasn't already barely below the top of the mountain. If it were just lower on the mountain, I don't think I'd have a problem with it.
Sorry for the tangent, but it's been bugging me since the last play session.
Garnet's been feeling useless since arriving in Lindblum. Cid already knew what was going on, so all her escape attempt managed to do was to cause havoc for both Alexandria and Lindblum. She asks Zidane if he only helped her because he was ordered to, but he reassures her that h was acting on his own, actually going against his orders in the process. ...then he confuses a proposal he had to the waitress at the pub with one he made to Garnet. Smooooth. To get back in her good graces, he makes a bet with her that he'll win the Great Hunt contest, and she reluctantly agrees to go on a date with him if he does.
Half the city has been talking about the Great Hunt this whole time, and now it's finally here. The Hunt is an annual festival celebrating Lindblum's roots as a hunter culture, and is kind of a cross between the Running of the Bulls and genocide. A bunch of wild monsters are released into the city streets, and competitors hunt them for points with a time limit. Besides Zidane, Freya and Vivi are competing, Zidane having signed the latter up without his knowledge. Depending on who wins, you'll get a prize of gil (Zidane), a piece of armor (Freya), or a playing card (Vivi). Gil's rarely a real concern in PS 1 era Final Fantasies, but screw it, Zidane's got true love on the line and I'm a romantic (also I don't care about collecting rare cards, and I'm sure I'll be able to buy whatever Freya's item was going to be sooner or later). So, making sure Zidane has all his best gear and abilities equipped, we save at Garnet's bedroom moogle and head out.
We start out in the Theater District. As I recall, the best plan is to clear out the Theater District first, then go to the Business District to take down the jackpot, a giant boar, with the rest of the remaining time. Fortunately, Freya joins you for the fight with the boar. Freya is a dragoon, meaning she fights with a spear, wears heavy armor, and likes to jump a lot. It also means she's a literal Lancer to Zidane. Killing the boar nets a beefy 55 points, enough to put Zidane easily in the lead, and leaving me with just enough time to run over to the Industrial district and pick one more fight. Having won the contest, we're award the title of Master Hunter, 5000 gil, and a dying rat-man.
A wounded soldier from Burmecia, the rat-people's kingdom, interrupts the award ceremony to bring the dire news that Alexandria has invaded them. Cid immediately agrees to send reinforcements to Burmecia, and the soldier expresses his gratitude before dying. Unfortunately, due to current troop deployments and the chaos created by the festival, the only reinforcements Cid can mobilize right away are the airships patrolling the Alexandrian border, but Freya can't wait even that long. She intends to head directly to Burmecia's aid, and Zidane immediately announces he's going with her. Vivi wants to go too, since the soldier' report suggests the attack is being carried out by black mages. Garnet wants in on this action too, but Zidane actually sides with Steiner, and tries to talk her out of it. Cid calls for an end to the argument, and says they should eat before they leave, since it will take time to open the gate beneath the mists anyway. Uh, why not just give them an airship? Lindblum doesn't have any shortage of them, and it would certainly be faster than walking.
The celebratory feast for the festival winners was already set out at a table with no chairs, but suddenly everyone starts falling asleep. It turns out Garnet drugged the others' food with a sleep aid she got from Zidane earlier, but I'll be damned if I know when she managed to do that, or how she knew several hours before the soldier arrived that she was going to need to pull a stunt like this. She manages to convince Steiner to let her go to Burmecia to try and stop the queen from igniting a war between the three great kingdoms of the continent, and they head out. Once the others wake up, it's off to Burmecia hot on their heels.
Well, after a couple stops, anyway.
