Okay, Yang is going to come along with our four required members, who are Rosa, Ceodore, Golbez and... Cecil. As we head north, we see several darkened Crystals, and then... a Dark Knight.
Cecil: Ngh...! Ah...aaahhh!!!
Ceodore: Who... who are you?
Rosa: !!!
Golbez: You!
Yang: You... I know who you are!
The Dark Knight turns to face us.
Cecil: Ngh... gaaahhh!!!
Ceodore: Huh!?
Rosa: Cecil!?
Golbez: I knew it!
Yang: ...!!!
It's... Cecil? O...kay...
Dark Knight: ...
He attacks us. He's not threatening at the moment.
Dark Knight: This is my true self...
He pulls out Darkness and knocks us all down to 1 HP.
Dark Knight: I have no use for these bodies... these shells. I... I am the true Cecil!
Cecil: Grh... waaagh!!!
Cecil blocks every attack that the Dark Knight throws out.
Dark Knight: The final flame? Enough, you shell!
He readies his sword.
Golbez: Ce...cil!
Golbez takes the hit and collapses.
Cecil: !!!
Dark Knight: You dare to believe this atones for anything? For terrorizing the entire world!?
Golbez: I... I am sorry... Forgive me... Cecil...
Dark Knight: You dare to believe this atones for throwing me aside!?
The Dark Knight attacks Golbez, and Golbez alone.
Dark Knight: Isn't this what you wanted? To die at the hands of the brother you abandoned!?
Now, there are three ways this fight can play out. If you didn't bring Cecil and Golbez, the Dark Knight would wipe out the party. Game over. If you did bring Cecil and Golbez, the Dark Knight would kill Golbez, and the shock would return Cecil to normal. However, we also brought Rosa and Ceodore with us, so...
Golbez gets healed and has Protect cast on him.
Golbez: !?
Rosa joins the battle.
Dark Knight: Why... why do you choose him, Rosa!? This man threw me away like trash! He steered the world to its own destruction!
Rosa: You are not my Cecil!
So back into the battle. The Dark Knight will focus on Golbez, but with Protect up, he's not doing much damage.
After a while, we leave the battle, to focus on Ceodore.
Ceodore: Mother...
???: You fool!!!
Biggs appears in front of him. Uh, writers? Is this really the best time to resolve this character arc? I mean really, this is Golbez's time to shine.
Ceodore: Biggs...
Wedge also appears.
Wedge: You must believe in your parents' blood... You must believe in yourself!
Ceodore: Wedge!
Biggs: What's your problem, Ceodore!?
Wedge: Don't you remember what Kain taught you?
Ceodore: !!!
He gets up.
Ceodore: I...!
Wedge: Yes! That's it!
Biggs: Now that's the Red Wings soldier I know!
The two disappear.
Ceodore: Cecil is my father... Rosa is my mother! And I am their one and only son!
He rushes into battle. Yang's also OK now, looks like Cecil's still unconscious, though.
Rosa: Ceodore!
Dark Knight: Ceodore...
Ceodore: You... you aren't my father! My father is right here!
Dark Knight: Ceodore... you, too?
Back to the battle. The Dark Knight's no longer picky in who he attacks.
Dark Knight: All right, Ceodore... So be it... You, too, shall obtain eternity... In exchange for your life!
He uses his "drop to 1 HP" move on Ceodore. Um... Dark Knight? You probably shouldn't have done that.
Rosa: Ceodore!?
Cecil gets up.
Cecil: Ceo... dore!
Cecil blocks the killing blow.
Dark Knight: !!!
Ceodore: Father!
Rosa: Cecil!
Cecil: Let's go, Ceodore!
Cecil has returned to the light!
Dark Knight: I... I am Cecil! The true Cecil!
The Dark Knight is actually pretty easy. The only thing you have to watch out for is Doom, really, as the battle will go on just long enough that someone doomed on the Dark Knight's first move will probably go down just before the end of the fight.
Dark Knight: Ridiculous... How could you be Cecil!? What... what does that make me, then!?
Cecil: You are myself. That is true... The me that shut himself away from the world, once upon a time...
Dark Knight: I...I...!
Cecil: But those days are over. You are no longer alone!
The Dark Knight collapses and vanishes.
Ceodore: Father!
Rosa: Cecil!
Cecil: You've become a strong man, Ceodore!
Ceodore: I owe it all to the people who helped me. Biggs... Wedge... Kain... and, of course...
Rosa: Of course...?
Ceodore: You, of course! Without my mother and father, I am nothing.
Rosa: Ceodore!
Cecil: Thank you, my son!
Golbez: ...
Cecil: I could hear your voice... It echoed across my mind throughout the entire ordeal. That was what kept me from withering into an empty shell.
Golbez: Cecil...
Yang: It is an honor to see you back, Cecil!
Cecil: I couldn't have done it without you, Yang! My friends, I don't know how to thank all of you enough! Now let us make haste. We must stop this moon and ensure the future of our homeland!
A sword appears before us. It is the Excalibur. This high power, Holy elemental sword is just plain awesome. Taking the sword also opens a path onward.
???: You've made it this far, then?
A Mysterious Girl appears.
Cecil: !
Mysterious Girl: Cecil has returned to you, I see. But it means nothing. You planet has completed its role. Its fate has not changed one bit... nor has yours.
Cecil: Fate is not something set in stone. If you want to change it, all you have to do is believe!
Ceodore: There was a time when I hated my role in life. That all ended once I embarked on this journey! That role I hated... It was all just in my own head!
Rosa: What do you mean, our role!?
Yang: We are all still alive! And so are the people of the Blue Planet!
Golbez: Let me ask you this, then. What role do you play in all this!?
Mysterious Girl: I suppose it is all too incomprehensible for such earthbound maggots as you to understand. Fair enough. You are free to choose how your deaths play out. This is your final decision. I leave it up to you to make.
She disappears, summoning a portal.
Well, that's the end of Final Tale, Part One. Starting next update is Final Tale, Part Two. But before we actually progress in this dungeon, we'll be learning more bands. See you then.
Stats:
Ceodore: Lv 55 HP:3380 MP:320 Strength:63 Speed:40 Stamina:66 Intellect:23 Spirit:42 Attack:133 (10x99% Accuracy) Defence:79 (8x36% Evasion) Magic Defence:16 (3x19% Evasion)
Rosa: Lv 54 HP:2691 MP:460 Strength:49 Speed:29 Stamina:33 Intellect:20 Spirit:72 Attack:92 (8x99% Accuracy) Defence:50 (3x34% Evasion) Magic Defence:12 (2x19% Evasion)
Yang: Lv 41 HP:2954 MP:91 Strength:81 Speed:39 Stamina:80 Intellect:9 Spirit:15 Attack:104 (13x99% Accuracy) Defence:70 (4x42% Evasion) Magic Defence:15 (1x17% Evasion)
Cecil: Lv 40 HP:2400 MP:170 Strength:55 Speed:26 Stamina:54 Intellect:22 Spirit:26 Attack:143 (8x99% Accuracy) Defence:77 (5x53% Evasion) Magic Defence:30 (1x30% Evasion)
Golbez: Lv 55 HP:2971 MP:438 Strength:65 Speed:42 Stamina:80 Intellect:65 Spirit:38 Attack:128 (11x93% Accuracy) Defence:82 (8x49% Evasion) Magic Defence:22 (4x36% Evasion)
