End Game
What kind of place was this… This Necrohol? Were we even still in that dead city? The battlefields here were all so hazy and confusing… Like we were in a different realm altogether.
With Balthier still frantically looking for that cache of Glabados of his, helped in no small part by Luso and his grimoire, we pressed on. We still had Alma to find, and knowing we had nowhere else to go than forward, all we could do is find this realm’s terminus.
And quickly we found it, too. Barich tried to stop us in what looked like a ruined clockwork city of Goug, but failed, only after Rapha gave us her approval after looking for the last bottle of Elixir. Not like we needed those Elixirs at this point, even in my inability to do anything else than slice and dice enemies into onion rings, one hit was all it took. At this rate, saving Alma would be a breeze.
Even after encountering Folmarv, who gave the reins to his Lucavi possessor Hashmal without even realizing his own daughter had joined the fray in battle against him, Rapha was still collecting Elixirs.
Airship Graveyard
We were in the Airship Graveyard. I remember Mustadio mentioning once that there were airships deep below the city of Goug, where he and his father had found a zodiac stone so long ago. Were we below Goug then? No, we were in the Necrohol of Mullonde before, and we had entered through the Orbonne Monastery. We could have somehow been transported into a side of Mullonde that was unknown, but… But then again, the isle of Mullonde was rather close to Goug – we had secured a direct route between the two, even if it was across a body of…
No, we couldn’t be under water. No way. And even so, this place didn’t feel like it was in Ivalice anymore. Yet here we were. And so was Alma. And Hashmal, at least until he sacrificed himself to turn Alma into a vessel for the Lucavi leader Ultima, who, after an internal struggle with its vessle, separated.
At least Alma was safe, much to Ramza’s relief. But the foe we faced now, in her tight wetsuit and wings everywhere and her deadly shinobi moves, thought different. As she chased Alma across the airship’s deck, Rapha was still looking for Elixirs. For the love of… Rapha, we were in the final battle! Surely one Elixir more or less would not matter now!
Second form
After Rapha had finally given up on finding any more Elixirs, we struck down this deadly seraph so we could be on our way. But of course, no final antagonist would be complete without a second form to give us a false sense of success before reminding us we’re mere mortals, and Ultima was no different. It would not give up without a fight, so after commenting about Ramza’s lineage (surely, they must have noticed something was up when they decided to use Alma for a vessel, no? They’re brother and sister, they share the same lineage…), it revealed to us its second form…
It was the form of a crowned skeleton just floating apathically as we sliced and diced into it without remorse. Maybe we weren’t mere mortals after all, maybe we were just that little bit overpowered. Ultima was no more, and with Ultima, whatever realm we had been in, imploded. We were stuck. Gone. Fated to vanish, even though we did all we could to become the victors.
The images of all the others faded before my very eyes, and as I resigned myself to my fate, wondering what had become of Orlandeau, Luso, Balthier and Mustadio – those who hadn’t joined us in the fray, I felt a hand grab my wrist tightly.
I am Bathsua, the squire, and these are my memoirs.
Memoirs of a squire 