The Story of Ash, Chapter 3 - Let's Play Final Fantasy III

[Domochevsky]

So... would you say that it was a miniature giant rat? Possibly from space? >_>

[The Dark Fiddler]

So... would you say that it was a miniature giant rat? Possibly from space? >_>

I'd say it's more of a giant miniature rat from the EARTHQUAKE.
i c wat u did thar
Although a rat... sent from space to slumber under the surface of some planet awakened by the earthquake...

This rat needs a spin-off!

[Starbuck_II]

Hmm, the entries feel longer than Monster Rancher, but they seem fine.

Interesting with Holly following Ash to this world. Reading the game brings back memories.

[Penguinator]

With our next mission ready, we set off for the mountains just south of town. As we approached, a dragon flew overhead, heading up to the peak.
"T-that dragon was pretty big..."
"Yeah, but we can't back down now... right guys?" I think we were all feeling a bit apprehensive after seeing that dragon, but we moved on anyway.
As we approached, a dragon flew overhead, heading up to the peak.
"T-that dragon was pretty big..."
"Yeah, but we can't back down now... right guys?" I think we were all feeling a bit apprehensive after seeing that dragon, but we moved on anyway.

You might want to fix that. I'm glad Holly came, too.

[The Dark Fiddler]

"Right... where are we going guys?" We'd been out at sea for a few hours, and it just occurred to me that I had no clue where we were headed. I looked at Chris and he just shrugged.
"To be honest, I'm just trying to find some place to land that isn't wilderness." I looked up to the wheel, where Holly was. I had to admit that even if we were lost, she was pretty good at captaining the ship.
"Well... Chris, you live in this world. Do you have any idea of where we are or where we should be going?"
"Nope. But keep north." I sighed. That was the same advice he gave us when we took off, to keep heading north. At the time I thought he knew we were going, though.
"Why? Why head north?" Chris shrugged again.
"North is good luck." A few hours stuck on a ship was pretty boring. Too much time on a ship... I suppose I could see why people went crazy on these things. It was another hour before anybody spoke.
"Hey guys, I see land up ahead... and it looks like there's a castle by the shore!" We all got up and rushed to the bow of the ship to see, and sure enough there was a castle just barely visible on the horizon. It was quite the relief when we approached.

We docked at a small port and went onwards to the castle.
"Didn't Cid mention seeing a king to get a new airship?"
"I think he did, think this is the king?"
"It's possible. Who's Cid?"
We traveled up to the castle, through the front gate, and up the main stairs.

But when we got to what seemed like it would be the main room, it was completely empty.
"Maybe they're just elsewhere in the castle. We should keep looking."

No such luck for us. The entire castle was completely deserted. The only place they might have been was behind two locked doors. And they were locked, so we could get in.
"There's nothing here. We should go somewhere more fun."

So we took off and headed south this time. After only a few more hours (a few more hours of boring... I don't know how the rest of them could stand it), we came up by a small city.

When we landed, we found ourselves inside the city of Tokkle.

As we headed into the city itself, we saw two older men talking. As we approached, they stopped talking and turned to stare at us. A bit weird, but we kept walking. After a few more seconds we were close enough to see the looks of horror on their face before they both ran in different direction into the city, as fast as they could.
"Wonder what's up with them."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure somebody else can explain." We continued heading into the city. Most people seemed downright afraid of us when we passed by them. We managed to find the town hall, where the elder was.

"...kidnapping our townspeople. They must be afraid of you because they think you're here to kidnap them again."
"Don't worry, we'll do everything we can to get back the people that have been kidnapped." Ever busy being the Warriors of Light, we took off almost as quick as we had arrived. We headed out to the desert to try and find where the townspeople were being taken.

And we found a giant tree (I think...) floating around in the desert.
"...You don't see this every day."
"I'd be willing to bet money on the fact that this has something to do with the kidnapped people."
"It probably does, but... with it that high up, I don't think there's anywhere we can reach up there."
"Great, what do we do now?"
"...I have a suggestion. You guys remember the castle?"
"Of course we do, we were just there."
"Well, something about that tower all the way behind kinda... sparked my memory."
"Tower?"
"Yeah! Didn't you guys see that huge tower on the horizon when we were up on the roof? Well, anyway... yeah, when I saw it, I totally had a spark of recollection in my memory! I think that place is related to my quest!"
"So you're suggesting...?"
"I'm suggesting we head there. it's possible something there will help the 'finding the kidnapped people' thing. Or if not, at least it'll let me finish whatever my important job is, right?"
"I don't know, Desh... we promised we'd h-"
"Yeah, but we're at a dead end right now! We can't go anywhere anyway, so we've got nothing to lose!"
"Desh, it's not like we've checked out the entire desert already. There's plenty of other pla-"
"Pleeeeeeeeeease?"
"Desh, we still h-"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"
"Desh-"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ee-"
"Alright!"
"Fine."
"Jeez."
And so, just to shut up Desh, we took the long ship ride back to the abandoned castle. (Actually, now that I think about it... the ship was pretty fast. It must've been going hundreds of miles an hour! I suppose that's just magic or something).

We landed and when we were back at the castle, Desh started chattering on about the tower.
"See that tower over there? That one, right there!"
I don't think any of us looked. We just moved onward while he kept on about it.

Until we got there.
"Alright... yes... I can feel my memory returning... let's go in."

"Wow... there's a lot of frogs here."
"Yeah, there are... there was a reason for it but... I'm not sure I can remember... c'mon, let's keep looking around for our way up the tower." We poked around the ground floor of the tower, sloshing through the waist-deep water as we went. We looked over the entire floor and found no way up.
"Desh, I think this is as far as we can go."
"No, it isn't! I know there was some way up! I know it! If only I could REMEMBER!" Desh, in his aggravation, couldn't see where he was going. He was pacing pack and forth when, next thing we knew, he tripped and fell face first into the water.
"Desh, are you okay?" He stood back up right away.
"I'm better than okay, I remembered how we're supposed to advance! There's a hole in the floor here... just the right size for a frog to fit through!"
"Desh, what are you saying? Holly could shrink us, but I don't think that she could shrink us that much."
"Actually, Ash..."
"Really, Holly? A spell to turn people into Toads?" Holly just nodded. "That's... I suppose it'd be a nice way to shut down enemies but... whatever, just cast it." And again, Holly's magic came to the rescue. She cast her spell and... actually, I can't remember anything I did while I was toad. All I know is we woke up on the other side of the hole.

Holly de-toaded us and we moved on.

"Who's there?" Desh's question was met merely with a laugh.
"I'm guessing it isn't just some friend of yours then?" Desh shook his head.
"Probably nothing. Let's keep moving." And we did. It was a horribly exhausting climb, up dozens of floors, but eventually we got to the top.

"Oh my god..."
"I warned you this would be your grave. Now you die!"

Boss Battle - Medusa

After that anticlimactic battle, we looked around the room we were in. It was almost bare aside from the pipe in the center that was spewing fire.Suddenly, Desh ran up to it.
"I remember now! I remember! I am the guardian of this tower, and was supposed to wake up if anything ever threatened it! The earthquake must've woken me up, but I was asleep for so long I forgot! And this tower... it powers the continent we're on now, keeping it aloft."
"Keep it aloft?"
"Ash, Holly... this is the Floating Continent."
"Right... and this place is about to go critical. Without it, the continent will crash into the ground below. I know how to fix it, but..." Desh turned away from us. "Hey, I didn't annoy you guys too much, did I? Will you remember me favorably?" I was about to comment on how much of a pain he'd been, but I thought... had he really been that bad?
"No Desh, you weren't that bad."
"But what do you mean, will we 'remember you favorably'?" Desh shook his head.
"Gotta fix this place. Not gonna be easy... but hey, as long as I know that you guys don't hate me, it's okay." As he said this, Desh was starting to undress. When he saw the odd stare I was giving him, he laughed to himself. but it didn't sound like his normal laugh. "I'm not gonna need clothes where I'm going. Oh, and now that I have my memory back, I know that I'm not exactly bad at magic. When I get a chance I'll warp you guys outside, alright?"
"Desh, what are you talking about? You sound like you're about to-" I stopped myself as suddenly it occurred to me what he was doing.
"Like I said, it won't be easy. Once you guys are outside, I want you to go through the strait to the east. If this goes as it should, the whirlpool that was blocking it should be gone. I want you to go visit the dwarves... the fire crystal should be somewhere around there." Without another word, Desh ran towards the pipe and jumped down. We all stood there, awestruck. True, we hadn't known him for that long... but that didn't seem like something he'd do. I actually had to wipe tears from my eyes.
"No, Desh... you weren't that bad..." A white light filled the room, and when it faded, we were standing outside the tower again.

We looked to the east, and the waters in the strait looked calm. I hadn't noticed the strait before, so I couldn't compare, but it looked like there wasn't a whirlpool.
"C'mon guys... let's honor Desh's last request."

[Domochevsky]

Desh... Desh who? >_>

Did the Medusa even manage to land a single hit on you? She seemed rather... pathetic.
But then again, so did Ash. A group of four blackmages would be screwed. :D

[The Dark Fiddler]

Desh... Desh who? >_>

<.< He's been traveling with us since chapter 4.

Did the Medusa even manage to land a single hit on you? She seemed rather... pathetic.

No it didn't. I went in absolutely petrified (arharhar) and came out and... well, read their reactions to the fight, then multiply it by twenty.

[Toric]

Just wait till the next boss. If it's anything like the DS incarnation, you'll be begging for the fail that was Medusa.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Just wait till the next boss. If it's anything like the DS incarnation, you'll be begging for the fail that was Medusa.

anything like the DS incarnation

The NES version is harder

I'll admit, I'm kinda worried now.

[Draconi Redfir]

h'uh. dont remember that part. though the worst boss battle i can remember is one were preity much your entire party needs to be the Dragoon class (and GOOD as the dragoon class meaning level grinding) just to land a few hits on it XD

[Allan Surgite]

Actually, the DS version is harder than the NES, especially towards the end.

Primarily because in the DS version, bosses were given two attacks per turn, and the player classes were weakened. This is especially true of Garuda, the boss Gicko mentioned.

[Deme]

Totally off-topic here, but Allan, I must say I love your avatar. Kuja is awesome.

Like this LP, so I can manage to pull this back on-topic.

[Allan Surgite]

Totally off-topic here, but Allan, I must say I love your avatar. Kuja is awesome.

Damn straight. The Dissidia art is a bit silly (look at those shoes), but some bits of it are good

[The Dark Fiddler]

Still mourning the loss of our short-time friend, we sailed up through the strait and explored to sea on the other side. To the west of the strait was an island, likely the one Desh spoke of. We landed.

On the island, the only places to go seemed to be a pair of caves. We entered the southernmost cave and were greeted by two short but stout humanoids. "Lali-ho!" As we passed by the greeters, I noticed a hint of distress in their stance.
"Is everything okay?" The two simply stood there.
"Go inside, please. I'm sure people inside can explain better than I can," one of them said. I nodded and went further into the cave, the rest of the group following me. We came to a large room with plenty more people standing around and talking, but there was an air of sorrow around. In the center of the room, surrounded by water, was a large pedestal with an ornamental horn on it. It was off-center and appeared as though it was supposed to be that way, but its compliment was nowhere to be seen.
"I can see you're admiring the dwarven horn. It's a shame the other isn't here." I turned around and just behind us, also looking at the horns, was another dwarf.
"What happened to the other one?" Suddenly, the dwarf began shouting in a horrible rage.

"That damnable traitor, taking our greatest treasure! Why if I had him here I'd smash his skull in with my hammer! I don't even know how he got away, cause the only path through the pond is so small that you'd have to be about the size of a frog to get though!" I turned to Holly, and she nodded.
"Don't worry, we'll get back the horn this 'Guzco' stole." The dwarf shook his head.
"We couldn't ask you to do that! Guzco is dangerous, and the way through the pond..."
"Don't worry about us, we're the Warriors of Light. If we can't take on a simple thief, then we have bigger problems."
"And I can cast a spell that'll let us get through the path."
"But if you're the Warriors... don't you have more important things to do?"
"...I'm not so sure. Our friends... he told us to come here, that we'd find the Crystal of Fire here. We need to find the crystal to obtain its power... and since we're here, why not help? Stuff like this always seems to point us in the right direction anyway."
"Well then, let me thank you on the behalf of everyone! The pond is in the west of this room, I'm sure you'll be able to find it with not problems. If there's anything we can do to help, just ask!" I nodded, and we were off again.

We found the pond with no problems, and Holly's spell got us through quickly enough. This toad-ify spell was turning out to be a lot handier than I thought it would be. She dismissed the spell and we continued on through the cave.

Out from the shadows jumped three balls of fire, somehow with faces. Their faces will vicious and their teeth intimidating. Chris charged quickly at one of them, and hacked it in half with his two swords (he had a while ago lost his shield for a second longsword). I gathered up a blast of icy magic and threw it at a second, which fizzled out of existence. The only thing making this fight notable was that the third, when Doughnut moved to attack it (don't ask me how punching a ball of fire would work, though), exploded in a horrible blast. When the fire cleared, Doughnut was standing there, but just barely. He had somehow dodged the worst of it, and avoided any serious burns, but his clothes were still scorched and the very force of the explosion had nearly knocked him out. It reminded me of Voltorbs.
"Doughnut, are you okay?!" We all rushed up to him, but Holly was the first to reach him. He was dazed, simply staring forward, but he still managed to reply, "Do..." Holly worked her healing magic, and thought Doughnut was still a bit dazed, he was perfectly fine by the time Chris and I got to him.
"Close call... the monsters are getting more dangerous...." We continued into the cave in search of the thief Guzco, Doughnut regaining his senses as we went. I had to agree with Chris; that was a close call, and I was glad Doughnut was alright.

Eventually, we reached the end of the cave, and standing there was... a rather tall dwarf with grey skin and a snake wrapped around him as the thing covering his body. Not just the skin, an actual whole skin. "...are you guys seeing this?" Apparently, I wasn't quiet enough when I asked because he turned to stare right at us.
"NOBODY CHALLENGES GUZCO THE THIEF I WILL KEEP THIS HORN AND YOU SHALL NOT TAKE IT FROM ME FOR I SHALL DEFEAT YOU HAHA" Without another word, he ran towards us. We drew our weapons and stood against him.

You'd think with how strangely he was dressed he'd be a good fighter... actually, you wouldn't. Because he wasn't. Chris hit him once with the flat of one of his swords and he fell to the ground and... faded away.
"..." I could feel Chris's confusion radiating off of him.
"I guess... we won?" I looked up to where he was standing before, and noticed the missing horn was there.

I walked up and grabbed it before turning around. "I think we're done here."

"Let's hurry up, it still feels like that weirdo is here." We hurried ourselves our of the cave and back up to the main hall of the dwarven cave.

"Oh, you brought back the horn? You actually did it!" The dwarf's look of joy as the rest of the cave turned to see what was going on was downright inspiring. "I knew you'd be able to! Here, let me bring down the barrier around the other horn and you can put it back!" With a few faint words, an invisible barrier around the pedestal glimmered and fell apart. I looked to the rest of the party and they nodded. I stepped up the the pedestal, with everybody's eyes on me. Slowly and carefully, I put the recovered horn back in its spot. A thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd, everyone was jubilant. I couldn't help but feel proud, having recovered the horn... but it didn't last...

"YOU FOOLISH FOOLS THOUGHT YOU COULD BEAT GUZCO THE THIEF BUT I FOLLOWED YOU BACK INSIDE YOUR SHADOW AND NOW I SHALL TAKE BOTH OF THE HORNS AWAY FOR MY OWN USE AND YOU SHALL NOT BE ABLE TO FOIL ME HAHA" Quick as a viper strikes, Guzco had somehow crawled out of my shadow, and grabbed both of the horns. He bolted for the exit, plowing through the dwarfs who stood in his way. When he was gone, nobody was anything near happy. I noticed that Doughnut was already running after him and followed behind as quickly as I could. I looked back and saw Holly following right behind me, and Chris, with a new set of armor in his arms, a bit further back.

We lost him after we tracked him all the way to the other cave on the island. It was abnormally warm, and the smells of every kind of fire filled the cave; wood fires, gunpowder fires, grease fires... even fires I couldn't recognize. "Come on guys, he can't have gone far."
"Let me put on this armor first... the dwarf said I'd need it in here." I looked closer at the armor he had brought with him, and found it was blue and cold, despite the warm weather outside and the warmth that filled this cave. Chris shivered as he put it on, and left his old armor behind as we moved further into the cave. The heat only grew as we got closer to the center until suddenly, through one ordinary staircase...

It stopped. The walls were the same crystal we had seen when we were with the Crystal of Air. "This must be where the fire crystal is!"
"INDEED IT BUT TOO LATE ARE YOU HAHA"

"FOR YOU SEE I HAVE ALREADY TAKEN THE CRYSTAL'S POWER BUT IT REFUSES TO GIVE ME IT ALL OBVIOUSLY I MUST DESTROY YOU WARRIORS OF LIGHT SO IT WILL GIVE ME THE REST PREPARE FOR YOUR DESTRUCTION NOW HAHA Guzco stepped forward, the snake he carried with him fusing to his body as we drew our weapons again, readying to defeat him once more.

Boss Battle - Salamander


"Very good. Warriors of Light... I think that you are worthy for my power, the power of fire... use it well, you are the last hopes of this world... As the crystal spoke, four bright red tendrils reached out from it, slowly snaking through the air towards us. With a simple touch near our hearts, we all began to glow as the power of the crystal flooded into us. It faded slowly, and when it had faded enough...

Chris's armor and helmet were styled slightly differently. "Yours powers will be undergoing changes as you find the other two crystals... the Crystal of Air was able to give you only the start of your true abilities, and as you visit more of the crystals, your powers will refine until you unlock your true potential. Now step on the magic circle behind me and I shall warp you back to the dwarves." I scooped up the horns Guzco had stolen and we stepped onto the magic circle. We spun around just like back with the air crystal, and when it stopped...

We were back in the dwarven home, looking at a dying man lying on the floor.

[ThePhantom]

Well, that was fast. I can't remember, will you visit the dwarves again?

[Domochevsky]

What was that thiefs name... Brian Blessed? >_>

[Draconi Redfir]

so other then the knight, what new jobs didja unlock?

[The Dark Fiddler]

so other then the knight, what new jobs didja unlock?

Rangers (Ranged things... pretty useless for our purposes), Scholar (can check weaknesses and HP of enemies... and that seems to be it), and Thief (...thieves. Pretty self-explanatory).

Things will change up a bit next crystal when we get Black Belt, Dragoon, and Evoker.

[Toric]

If I remember correctly, scholars also are super-effective at using items. 2X damage from SouthWind, 2X healing from potions. If this is like the DS version, they can use their books as items to cast spells. Add in the Pokedex feature and it becomes a very promising job for Ash.

Also... Only five tries.

[Draconi Redfir]

blackbelt for dohnut, totally :P

scholer devenetly dose sound like it would fity ash, but sticking with black mage is kind of like prepairing him for his summoner job in the future.


also: cant remember how far i got (never finished) but with the exeption of the boss were you need dragoons, i beleive i beat most of the game with just a warrior, white mage, black mage, and... not sure what the fourth was, either a knight, another warrior, or a theif. IDK might have been two knights.. .*shrugs*

[The Dark Fiddler]

If I remember correctly, scholars also are super-effective at using items. 2X damage from SouthWind, 2X healing from potions. If this is like the DS version, they can use their books as items to cast spells. Add in the Pokedex feature and it becomes a very promising job for Ash.

Also... Only five tries.

The double-effective items is only in the DS version, far as I can tell.

Not that it matters because I'm not using the scholar. I did a quick test run, and putting Ash as a scholar would lose him all of his magic. It doesn't seem like a very strong class at all, and from what I've read, the only use is the fight against the boss coming up in the very next update.

And as for updates... they'll be a bit sporadic(er than the were before) for a while. My mom's laptop came back from the shop, and now my brother's online all the time. 3 people sharing the same bandwidth, with the connection not really the best in the first place (we have the cheapest plan our provider offers, because that's all they had when we signed up) make even surfing go a lot slower. Not to mention that this boss battle is the longest yet, and uploading anything would eat up way too much bandwidth... yeah. But, my mom's looking into getting us a better plan, and my brother's going to start going to school soon for 3 days a week, so when he's gone updating'll be easier. Starts this week, so I'll try to update tomorrow.

[Toric]

Well yeah... Without the double-effective items Scholar's worthless except in that one specific instance.

And don't worry about the slower updates. We viewers are nothing if not, tame, patient, ravenous, bloodthirsty, rage-prone ANIMALS! We can wait.

[The Dark Fiddler]

The man had, with his dying breath, warned us of trouble occurring at Tokkle. I returned the horns to the dwarves and, despite their practically begging us to stay for a celebration, we boarded our ship right away and headed back to the town where we first heard of the problems in the desert.

But when we got there, we were ambushed almost immediately. They used some sort of poison, I think.

When we were weakened, four soldiers charged at us to prevent us from reaching for our antidotes. We tried to fight them off but they managed to knock us all out.

We woke up in a jail cell. The cell itself was strange... the walls were made of... vine, living vines. The floor was tree bark. Not wood, actual tree bark. I wasn't sure, but I think that was alive too. We looked around and in the corner of our cell was a man dressed in robes. His clothes were torn and dirtied, but it was obvious that he was royal. Was this the king of the castle we had found before?

"Greetings, warriors... I am the king of Argass castle. I see you have been captured by my nefarious ex-adviser Hyne and brought to this abomination of a castle as well..." Chris bowed before the king, followed quickly by Holly. I'd never been before royalty before but I figured it would be the right thing to do if Holly and Chris were, so I bowed as well, pulling Doughnut down as well. "Please, there is no need for that... if anything, I should be bowing to you, Warriors of Light! Please, you have to hurry. Hyne has horrible things planned for the world, and you must stop him. There's a hole in the ivy walls over there. It's a bit small, but I'm sure you have some sort of magic to get through, no?" We stood up and Holly nodded to the king.
"We'll be sure to take him down, sir." We walked up to hole the king told us about and, for what seemed like the hundredth time, Holly worked her magic to get us through.

"Holly, those spells of you have to be the most useful things ever. I can only imagine how much more difficult our life would have been if you hadn't gotten them!" Holly smiled shyly.
"Thanks Ash, but your magic is really useful too. I can only imagine how much worse things would have been if you hadn't had the spells to take out all the monsters you have."
"Thanks Holly." I looked over at Doughnut and Chris. "But you know, you two are even better at keeping away the monsters. You help protect Holly and me... I'm sure we owe our lives to you several times over."
"Hyne?"
"...I guess you're right, Chris. We should get going."

As we moved through the castle that seemed to be made out of living plants, we kept coming across these strange green things... inside the vines that wrapped around them the things were beating... was it the heart of the castle?

"Oh dear, the puny little warriors of light are here. I suppose it's time you to try and defeat me, probably with some cliched 'Your time is come!' or something like that. But I'm going to warn you now, swords and bows and fists? They'll be useless against me. And I'll be able to absorb your magic. It'd be better if you just left and let me do what I'm going to."
"In your dreams!"
"So be it. I'll be happy to kill you."

Boss Battle - Hyne

"Warriors of Light, you've done it! I can't thank you enough for defeating Hyne!" As the king spoke, a voice boomed out from all around us.
"Nor can I... the spirit of the... tree. The Elder Tree... that Hyne made his castle from... I owe my life to you... but now I must return to the living woods... to rest..." There was a great shaking and we were all teleported out of the cast- err.... the tree.

"Thank you Warriors of Light for returning out Elder Tree!"
"I must rest now... to regain my power... for a thousand years, this forest will be off limits..." Almost as soon as we had arrived we were pushed out of the forest. Another job done, all part of saving the world.

[Toric]

First, mad props on beating Hyne through trial and error with limited resources.

Second, Chris ain't got no time for character development.

[Domochevsky]

He's too cool for developing a character.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Spoiler

Show

Because he knows that if character development happens he'll be revealed as the girl she is.

Nah, not really. Although I was thinking of doing that before realizing just how stupid it would be. I tried picking a unisex name for that reason, or at least one that could have been misheard. Cause Chris > Kris > Kristen or whatever.

[Penguinator]

I just now noticed your chapter titles. Please tell me I'm not the only unobservant one.

[Domochevsky]

...there are chapter titles? >_>

[Toric]

Oh. Yes. Of course I knew about the chapter titles. I'm just going to... um.... experience their glory for the fi-SECOND time.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Guys, I've only been doing them since the Yellow Let's Play.