The next mission is in the Eluut Sands, where monsters are driven berserk due to some magical influence, which Montblanc thinks is related to the crystals. If you know Final Fantasy, you know that the crystals will be a major plot device.
There's not much to say about the monsters. They're a step up from the Giza Plains foes, but they're nothing you haven't prepared for if you've been doing sidequests.
And in the next mission, when Mache gets into the Ulei River to investigate a strange phenomenon that alters the course of the river, he's suddenly warped to the inside of a temple. He notices a crystal and approaches it, but is stopped by a large, golem-like creature called Famfrit. Famfrit says he was created to protect the crystal and destroy any intruders, in spite of Marche pleading ignorance and saying that he's not from there.
Famfrit then summons four enemies, and a judge arrives on scene, with gold armor rather than steel gray armor. Marche is still terrified at first, but realizes that it's like an engagement and he'll go about it as such, the first indication that he Took a Level in Badass since he came to Ivalice.
This mission is significantly more difficult than those that came before it. One of the Ahrimans tends to use Roulette, which kills a random target instantly and more often strikes one of your group than the enemy. Famfrit also hits somewhat hard for his level, and has a fair amount of HP.
However, you also only need to defeat Famfrit in order to advance. Naturally, there are two approaches.
- Ignore the enemies and kill the boss. This is, at least in theory, the shortest possible way to win. However, you'll have to deal with enemies attacking your troops unmolested, while whittling down the boss's HP.
- Kill the enemies, then the boss. The advantage is that the enemies fall easily, and that once only the boss is around, you can typically take him down while only having to deal with one enemy attack per turn, which can be healed through. The disadvantage is that it takes longer.
The soundtrack is quite nice for a boss battle, with "The Road We Both Aim For," offering a nicely ominous and chilling theme that indicates the desperate nature of a fight against a Totema.
Famfrit, once defeated, says he was created around the same time as the moogles were, referring to them somewhat cryptically, as might be expected of ancient beings, prophecies and so forth. He then says that any moogle units Marche has can summon him, before he and the crystal vanish. Marche teleports out after seeing a brief vision of Mewt in princely armor.
Meanwhile, in the royal palace, Cid arrives to see Mewt's room as a mess, and Mewt begins talking about remembering the time he was bullied at school, much to Cid's confusion (It's apparently the first time Mewt himself remembered that, since coming to Ivalice).
Soon Babus, a nu mou court mage, arrives, along with Remedi, queen of Ivalice and Mewt's dead mother, which should tell you that something's odd about Ivalice. Remedi says that she and Mewt's father, who's the judgemaster (one has to wonder why he didn't end up as king), are here to protect him, and he need not fear anything. Mewt, somewhat calmer, tells his mother that he wants to make the laws stronger. Cid politely cautions Remedi, saying it might not be prudent, but Remedi tells him that a crystal has been destroyed. After a brief moment of shock, Cid complies, saying that people won't complain too much about stricter laws if it's in response to something like that.
Meanwhile, Marche returns to the Ulei River, and concludes that by destroying the rest of the crystals, he will be able to go home. He realizes that finding them will be a difficult task, since he only found that one by chance, but he'll do what he can.
Evidently, Marche forgot about why he went to the Ulei River in the first place, but still gets paid for the mission. Maybe by destroying the crystal, the problems stopped, and that satisfied the people who gave him the mission. But this isn't the first mission in which the job Marche accepts is largely irrelevant to the plot, and this continues with Marche's search for the crystals..
Next Installment: Marche goes in search of the second crystal, but realizes the problem is more complicated than he thought...
