The Magic Emperor Revealed!
Once you leave Vane, make sure you stop at the Althena's Shrine and talk with Phacia's brown-nosing assistant. She will give you Phacia's Bromide. Once you have this, head to Meribia and take the time to check in on Ramus. He isn't in his shop, but it seems to be doing quite well. You should buy Alex some new equipment here since you will need it soon. Don't worry, you won't find Ramus in here for quite a while, but you'll be back. Head on over to talk with Master Mel and Ghaleon in Mel's Mansion.
When you get to Mel's Office, you find not only is Ghaleon here, but Jessica is as well. After the storyline plays out and the auto-dialog ends, keep talking with them until Jessica invites you upstairs (get those sick thoughts out of your mind, hehe ^^). Watch the scene, and then talk with Jessica until she leaves you to go to sleep. When you awaken, you find that Luna had a freaky dream. Shake it off and go talk with Mel and Jessica, and then head for the docks to find Ghaleon. ONLY tell him you are ready to leave if you have bought new stuff for Alex at Ramus' Shop. When you are ready, accept his offer.
The boat ride to Saith is fairly amusing, but only because Alex can't answer any of Ghaleon's questions. Watch that, and then you will find yourself in Saith.
Having Ghaleon is your party is a nice luxury at this point since he is Level 99 with 440 HP and 500 MP with insanely omnipotent spells so you aren't in danger of dying (I do concede you could die with him in your party, but if you do, then you suck and shouldn't be allowed touch your controller. lol :P) Once you arrive in Saith (note Ghaleon's little remark about hicksville), go into the harbor guild building and talk with the old man strolling around to earn 1000 S for helping him. Talk to the citizens of Saith to see some funny reactions from them. Also, don't forget to visit the Old Hag in the woods northwest of Saith. If you talked with her sister on Black Rose Street, she'll give you an Ice Mace (which will definitely help you later). Head back to Burg at this point.
Once in Burg, make sure to talk with everyone, including Alex's parents, to wow them about who you know. Then, head up to Dyne's Memorial. You'll notice Ghaleon's overly pessimistic opinion on the memorial to his best friend. Anyway, walk to Burg Springs and enjoy the little scene with Luna and Alex, where to much surprise, Ghaleon says nothing as he watches the two love birds. After this little scene, head to see Quark in his lair.
Once you arrive and talk to Quark, Ghaleon's entire attitude changes as the conversation continues (...meep!). Once he finds out the Luna was the one born 15 years ago on that "dark day", he starts laughing manically and transforms himself into the Magic Emperor!!! He then proceeds to enslave Quark in a magical sphere that fits into the palm of his hand and then kidnaps Luna as he leaves you and Nall to die from a heavy blast of magic...
After Ghaleon's little stunt, Alex and Nall wake up some time later in thier house, and slowly remember what happened as they come back into reality. Alex's parents are happy to see thier son alive, and after a short speech from good old dad, he tells you Laike is at Dyne's Monument. Before heading up there though, head to the basement and search the shelves to get Luna's Bromide 2. Now head up to the Monument and chat with Laike.
When you find Laike, he starts to give you a pep-talk. When he asks you what you plan to do, either answer is correct, but choose "I'm going to save Luna!" just to be a romantic fop (^^) and then Laike goes and tells you a story about what killed Dyne (for a bumbling old man, he sure knows alot...). After this, he gives you the White Dragon Wings, which can instantly warp you to any city you have ever been to and also give you the Dragon Protect Spell, but I am betting you don't have enough MP to use it yet. Use the wings to go to any city except Meribia and Nall nearly has a heart attack and rants about their power. Make sure you are healed up and saved, and then warp to Merbia. As you arrive in Meribia, you find that Jessica is fighting a couple of very ugly monsters and you immediately join her in disposing of them.
Once you pound them into oblivion, Jessica explains what is going and then realizes that the troops couldn't care less about Meribia, and are after her father, Master Mel! You now have to fight through the streets of Meribia, which are now somewhat maze-like due to the crates blacking the streets. The Devil Hammers (which charge at you when you get close) can break the crates just like the Albino Baboons in the White Dragon's Cave. But first and foremost, stop in at Ramus' shop, Royce's Shop on Black Rose Street and the Seagull Tavern after you give Jessica that Ice Mace you received from the Old Hag. The reactions from the townsfolk are priceless. Just remember though, that when you enter a building and leave again, the enemies you killed come back to life. So make sure to save often and use the Althena's Statue when needed.
Once you make your way into the mansion, the guards will tell you that Mel is fighting Xenobia and her goons all alone in the gym!!! Rush your little butts up there and watch as Mel heroically sacrifices himself to save your party and gets turned into a stone statue. Xenobia squeels with glee as she taunts you over the demise of the last of the remaining 4 Heroes and then see runs like the cowardly bitch she is. The scene fades out and then back into a touching scene with Jessica and her father. She desperately tries in vain to unlock the spell on her dad, but she finally realizes that the only way to do that is to kill Xenobia. She takes a moment of silence and then she decides to come with you and she suggests going to see Lemia for advice on what to do next. I suggest walking back over to Black Rose Street first and speak to the blond-haired guy who stalks Royce to Royce's Bromide. Get it before going to Vane, or you never will.
After you get the Bromide, buy some Star Lights and Healing Nuts, heal up at Althena's Statue and SAVE YOUR GAME. Once you do this, then warp to Vane. As you land in the holy city, you immediately find all is not well. Mia, Nash and some Magic Army soldiers are fighting a huge ugly crab type thingy. As you rush to help, the Magic Army soldiers run away and you are left to fight the Vile Crustean, possibly one of the hardest, if not the hardest boss battle in the game...hopefully, you are around Level 19, if not 20...
-------------------------------BOSS FIGHT: VILE CRUSTACEAN-------------------------------
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Vile
Crustacean
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Hit Points
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120 x AL
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Attack
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2 x AL
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Defense
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2 x AL
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Agility
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1 x AL
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Wisdom
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3 x AL
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Mag End
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2 x AL
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# of Attacks
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2
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Range
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40
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Exp Points
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1200
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The Vile Crustacean
has 3 attacks. The 1st attack,
is basically 2 medium level horn thrusts
against one or two characters, and can be expected when the "lights"
on its body flash blue. The 2nd attack, can
be identified when the lights are yellow. He spits Mini
Doom at one character causing overly serious damage, and usually
death. The 3rd attack, called Crimson
Ray , really sucks. When the lights glow red, watch out. This
attack causes serious damage to everyone caught in its path.
The Vile Crustacean
is quite possibly the hardest fight of the game since he is so strong
and your levels aren't (theoretically) "high end". Here is the
Strategy to use: Alex should use Vigor
and Sword Dance every round after.
Jessica should attack
on the first round (to disrupt the Crimson
Ray spell). After that, keep everyone healthy. Mia
should cast Ice Lance since that is
the only spell that she has that does any worthwhile damage. Nash,
should just continually cast Thunder Bomb
over and over again or use the Fire Cane
(both attacks do very little damage, but more than one of his normal attacks)
and use items as needed to assist Jessica in the healing department.
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After the Vile Crustacean meets his doom, everyone discusses this dramatic change in events. Nash voices his concerns about how insane it is to fight Ghaleon, but Mia disagrees and she takes you to see her recovering mother. After the automatic conversation, talk to Lemia quite a few times for more information and then talk to Mia until she joins you. Now talk to Nash until he joins your cause. Then, speak to Lemia again for more info about the Red Dragon and where to start looking. You'll find that the mysterious Dragon of Red lives in a volcano to south in the Marius Zone, but to get there, you need to pass through Nanza. So heal up and save your game first.