All of the demons-ium (FFII, Day 22)

So... uh... Read any good books lately?

Want to know what's really annoying? The invisible landing pad at Palamecia Castle. Apparently you're not supposed to land on the castle, but behind it. It's a single square of safe landing zone that is almost impossible to line up correctly. What a pain. The dungeon itself was easy compared to that little trial. My recent strategy of running from absolutely everything served me just fine once more, and I got my party to the throne room with nary a scratch. Kylo Batman was sitting on the throne looking ominous, and so it seemed a fine time to strike up a conversation.
He got all cheesy villain on me and pulled out the classic "I've been expecting you." speech, and then Rey got all "no, stop, be nice"  and he proceeded to spout some garbage about power ruling the world and the strong get to rule the weak, and opposing it only costs lives.

Apparently Wyverns only seat 4

Well he certainly changed his tune when the undead emperor reappeared. The emperor got all highlander in Kylo's grill about how there could be only one. Kylo then signed right up with the resistance because if he didn't get to be emperor, then no one could. Emperor Version 2.0 got ready to murder-kill the party, but then Ricard decided he wasn't having that, and called the wyvern to let us escape while he kept Grumpy McEvilPants busy.

Well that's not good...

As the party booked it out of there on Ricard's wyvern, leaving him to certain doom, Palamecia Castle took a cue from the Decepticons and turned into Pandemonium which is a reference to Milton's Paradise Lost. Pan-Demon-ium. The place with ALL of the Demons. That should be fun...

 

Ded Ded Ded and Ded.

Back at Fynn, there were certainly protests, but it didn't actually take much to convince them to let BatKylo from joining the party even after putting up with his nonsense. Meanwhile, Rey caught the melancholy and decided to guilt trip her brother a little by listing off dead characters.

So that settled, I got everyone all equipped and ready, and flew off to a giant sinkhole that leading to hell. Or at the least, the Jade Passage. One might call it a highway to hell and cue a guitar solo if one were so inclined to such shenanigans. Which I am. So I may have done that. You'll never know.



 Ouch.

And then I was attacked and killed about a dozen times by these stupid purple/pink worms before I decided it might be best to backtrack and spend some time working on my new party member's stats. I also figured I could focus on increasing my magic and magic defense stats for everyone else too. The area around Mysidia would do nicely, because the town has tons of spells for sale, and because the enemies drop a nice amount of gil, but most of all  because it was the first town I came across when I flew away from the sinkhole.

Dogs and Cats living together; Mass Hysteria!

I spent about an hour of grind while trying to eat my dinner and not make a mess. Then I set back out and I finally made it to Pandemonium. I was relieved that I'd made it through the Jade Passage relatively unscathed. It did make a dent in my potions and ethers though, so I was less than pleased about that. Before I'd left the surface, all my items except Elixirs were satisfyingly maxed out at 98  - I've gotten into the habit of leaving room to pick one up if I find an extra of something.



Sleepytime!

Alas, just a few steps after I made it through the portal to the Hell Castle, I was ambushed by a pair of Death Riders. They easily took down my entire party in just a few turns. So much damage, and so little time to heal. It was clearly bed time after that disappointing showing. I mean look at them. They all look so comfy sleeping on that shiny marble floor.

Anyway, cross your fingers that today is the day I finally beat this one. I'd sort of like to start on FFIII during this lifetime. :-P