FINALLY, I'm back. Let's head for the next Eidolon. Next stop is Troia. First thing, we buy an Elfin Bow, for Rydia. In addition to the attack boost, we get free usage of Shell. Not much else special here aside from a Small Tail behind the armour shop.
We head into the castle next. It looks very... blue.
Edge: It's been completely frozen over.
Rydia: Oh, no...
Luca: What is it?
Rydia: ... We have to hurry!
We head inside. The Earth Crystal is still gone.
Rydia: Troia's Crystal is gone, too...
Edge: It must have been her.
Luca looks around.
Rydia: What is it?
Luca: Where could he be at a time like this...!?
Edge: You mean Palom?
Rydia: Well, remember when the Red Wings were attacking us?
Luca: He was on a black chocobo... headed due north.
Edge: The area north of Troia is covered in mountains and forests.
Luca: Wait! This reminds me of something Master Cid mentioned. He spoke of a cave northeast of Troia filled with fearsome monsters.
Edge: Care to give it a look?
Rydia: Absolutely!
Well, let's go. We can park our airship just southwest of the cave.
The magnetic effect of the Lodestone Cavern is thankfully gone. It's just us and the monsters here. The first treasure we find is the Recovery Rod. It's pretty weak, but Golbez or Rydia can quickly swap it in and use it to heal when needed.
We head through B2 and reach the Save Point on B3. Black Magic's now more powerful due to the moon phase. We may want to change that before the boss. In the treasure room on this floor we find a Diamond Helm. Luca gets that.
We proceed down to B4. The secret passage from Palom's Tale is still here, so we head down to B5, where we find very little of importance. Edge learns Frost and Rydia learns Break as we head back up to the B4 Save Point room. We rest and save.
Near the Crystal Chamber there is a Small Tail and some Diamond Gloves. We then head in, finding Palom and Leonora.
Rydia: !
Luca: Palom! This can't be happening! Not to you!
Edge: Would Fire or Flame do anything to help him?
Rydia: This is no ordinary ice covering their bodies...
Edge: Oh?
Rydia: It is Diamond Dust. Shiva!
She shows up and attacks us.
Rydia: Shiva! It's me, Rydia!
Edge: You're wasting your time, Rydia!
Luca: Give me back my Palom!
The attack plan here is pretty simple; beat the crap outta her. After a while...
Rydia: She's stopped!
Edge: Now's our chance!
Rydia: Hold it! Shiva just wants to get back to normal! I'm sure of it!
Once this happens, we stop. Completely. You don't want to cast at all this fight, really, aside from maybe one Firaga. It just does too much damage to her.
Maybe I'm a little overlevelled. Maybe. Not that I care. I hate this game and would rather snap the difficulty curve over me knee than play fair with it.
Shiva: You... It is you... Rydia?
Rydia: Shiva!
Shiva: I... What was I doing?
Battle ends and Rydia learns Shiva. Palom and Leonora return to normal.
Luca: Palom!
Palom: Hah! Who said anything about giving up? Give me back the Crystal!
Luca: Palom!
Palom: ...Huh? What're you doing here, Luca? Am I dead, or what?
Luca: Don't be ridiculous! You're alive... and so am I for your information!
Palom: Leonora!
Leonor: Pa... lom...
Palom: Don't worry about me like that, Leonora...
Palom faints.
Luca: Palom!
Rydia: Let's get them back to Troia!
Back in the castle, which is now not blue...
Luca: Who's that woman with you, anyway?
Palom: Her? She's my partner.
Leonora: M-my name is Leonora. It's an honor to meet all of you!
Palom: Where's Porom? She's not with you?
Rydia: No. We were planning to visit Mysidia afterwards and...
Palom: Then I'm coming with you.
Luca: You can't leave! Not yet!
Palom: I could hear her shouting to me, guys. She needs me...
Edge: All right, but no fighting for you. You'll stay back inside the Falcon.
And now for the really crap part of this tale; the party is completely static. For the entirety of The Gathering, we can't fill that fifth party slot, despite the fact we really need a White Mage. We will get to change party later, but this is just Fake Difficulty.
Palom: ...Hmph! Who died and made you my master?
Edge: If you don't like it, then rest up until you can fight on your own.
Palom: No problem! That's exactly what I'm going to do, thank you very much!
Edge: (Oh, brother. He's exactly as I was, once upon a time.)
Palom: ...
Leonora: I-I want to come with you!
Something of note is that if you skip importing a tale, new characters from that tale will not join your party (aside from Ceodore and Luca), so if you skipped Palom's Tale, Leonora will stay behind.
Epopt: Leonora!
Palom: Now, look...
Leonora: W-we're not done yet, are we? You haven't finished teaching me all the magic you know.
Palom: Hah! Good point!
Back in Baron...
Kain: Ngh!
Rosa: Cecil, stop this!
Ceodore steps between Cecil and the others.
Ceodore: Stop! Now!
Cecil: Ceodore...
Ceodore: L-lower your sword, Father!
Cecil: Ceodore! You dare point your sword at your own father!?
Rosa: Ceodore!
Ceodore: ...
Kain gets back up.
Kain: Ceodore...
Cecil: Answer me, my son!!!
We return to the main party. Before we finish up here, we search the moat of Troia Castle for a Small Tail.
Okay, we're done. Next time, we should head for Mysidia.
Stats:
Luca: Lv 45 HP:2642 MP:117 Strength:64 Speed:24 Stamina:59 Intellect:6 Spirit:6 Attack:107 (10x80% Accuracy) Defence:71 (5x32% Evasion) Magic Defence:8 (0x8% Evasion)
Rydia: Lv 45 HP:1830 MP:473 Strength:22 Speed:22 Stamina:21 Intellect:56 Spirit:43 Attack:65 (4x86% Accuracy) Defence:38 (2x34% Evasion) Magic Defence:11 (3x25% Evasion)
Edge: Lv 45 HP:2682 MP:199 Strength:63 Speed:42 Stamina:50 Intellect:29 Spirit:23 Attack:141 (10x99% Accuracy) Defence:50 (5x44% Evasion) Magic Defence:4 (2x9% Evasion)
Golbez: Lv 48 HP:2971 MP:381 Strength:48 Speed:29 Stamina:68 Intellect:47 Spirit:36 Attack:129 (8x99% Accuracy) Defence:73 (6x34% Evasion) Magic Defence:14 (2x21% Evasion)
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