As the lift travels downward, Cid continues talking.

The lift reaches the bottom and stops. Lock and the others get off, facing a save point. Consider using it become continuing.

Interrupted by insane laughter.

He shoves Lock and the others into a nearby minecart-like vehicle.

The cart takes off on its own, and "Save Them!" plays. A series of five normal battles and a boss follow.

Oddly, the content of those five battles depends entirely on factors you can control. This is highly useful if you want to make sure to encounter both types of monsters that can appear, or to minimize or maximize experience. See GameFAQs for Novalia_Spirit's Mag Roader Guide, which details how to manipulate the encounters and seems to work just as well on the JP version as the NA one. In short, the easiest way to ensure you see at least one of each type is to have Celes as the lead character for the last battle before this, then keep the first slot empty when she leaves.

The boss, Number 128, has a main body and a Right Blade and Left Blade. The blades are weaker and act independently, but will periodically revive as long as the main body survives, whereas killing the main body ends the battle immediately. Number 128 is more aggressive without the blades, and will also cast Haste when both are dead, but only once per battle. For best results, kill the more dangerous Left Blade, then focus attacks on the main body, and try to steal a rare Kazekiri Blade while you're at it. Note that all three parts absorb Ice and that the main body may counter with Bloodsuck when damaged. Slow works on Number 128, particularly useful since Slow removes 'haste' status in addition to setting 'slow', but note that Haste similarly removes 'slow', so you may have to recast.

Number 128 is also susceptible to 'berserk' status, but since only Phantom teaches the Berserk spell so far, and these few battles are the only ones since getting it, you won't have been able to learn it yet. And in any case, it would make his attacks stronger, though disabling his other abilities might be worth it.

Alacrán (Areneid) and Acrophies (Primordite) remain useful for Gau even though Number 128 is immune to 'stop', because the blades aren't. With luck, he can keep them inactive without upsetting the main body by killing them.

The ride ends shortly after the boss when the cart crashes into a mech-riding soldier, knocking him off the path. Feel free to save before fighting through more enemies back toward town. Setzer runs up as the party nears the end of the track.

Lock hangs his head and makes no other reply.

Unused line:

The others nod and rush out of town after him. Meanwhile, Cefca rushes up a tall building, apparently watching them leave.

He runs inside, looking annoyed.

He activates something, and two large machines rise outside. The music stops. Meanwhile, the party is now on the deck of Setzer's airship.

He looks to the side as he speaks.

The screen darkens, and we have yet another boss battle. Cranes loom to the left and right of the airship.

The Crane on the left absorbs Thunder and tends to use Thunder-based attacks, while the one on the right absorbs Flame (but is weak against Thunder) and tends to use Flame-based attacks. Both are also weak against Water. Setzer joins the battle, and his special Slots ability may make a big difference. Or it may be nearly useless, since it's rather random, but at least some of the uncommon effects are impressive.

Every three times one of the Cranes is attacked, it will hit the other Crane with a spell that Crane absorbs. In addition to healing that Crane a bit, this will also trigger a reaction. Any time either Crane is attacked with the element it absorbs, it increments an internal counter and displays an appropriate message:

Once this hits level 3, the Crane displays another message and uses Figa or 1000 Kilovolts (depending on the Crane) against the whole party.

Try not to let that happen, since both hurt quite a bit. Finally, if the battle drags on long enough, a Crane will use Magnitude 8 with the message:

Certain summon magic may come in handy here. Try Qilin's Holy Brighten to give the party 'regenerate' status, or Carbuncle's Ruby Light for 'reflect' to counter their magic now that Celes is unavailable, though be warned that this risks filling their energy more quickly. Bismarck's Bubble Blow will cause substantial damage, since both Cranes are weak against Water. Setzer's Slots will also damage both quite a bit if your results are good. Edgar, Mash, or Cayenne should use your choice of single-target attacks. Gau can use any Rage with a decent attack that isn't Flame or Thunder damage, with Stray Cat (strong single-target physical) and Guard Leader (good Wind damage to all enemies) being probably the best of what's available now. However, if you've been back to the Beast Plain since first getting him, Di Olveda (Anguiform) is the best offense thanks to Aqua Breath, but it's risky on defense since it's weak against Thunder. Lock's best bet is to switch between the Thunder Blade and any other elemental sword depending on which Crane he's attacking. Oh, and don't forget to heal.

Both Cranes are susceptible to Slow, so feel free to cast it. You can also 'levitate' to avoid Magnitude 8 if you think it necessary. Finally, Lock can steal a Weakmaker (not available in stores until much later) from the Crane on the right if you're lucky, but you'll usually just get a High Potion.

After the battle, 2-15 "Blackjack" plays, and the airship flies off triumphantly.

The airship returns to Zozo, where the party finds all the others upstairs with Tina.

The music fades.

Lock pulls out a piece of magicite as Setzer looks amazed, and the stone starts glowing.

With a strange noise vaguely like whalesong, Tina glows in response.

Fade out. "Another World of Beasts" plays with a fade in to the village shown in Ramuh's eariler talk.

The camera rests on a single Genjuu in one of the caves, which looks quite livable. He has what seem to be horns and pointy ears, but otherwise appears nearly human. His long gray hair is in a high ponytail. During this interactive flashback, the player controls his actions. Heading outside, he finds another Genjuu rushing up to his home.

Wandering around and talking to other Genjuu yields some background information and the character's name.

The gate is to the north, and Madin finds someone collapsed along the way.

I'm still not sure what "listen well, and think clearly" is supposed to mean here.

Anyway, Madin takes her to shelter. Indoors, a faery-like Genjuu looks over her as she lies in a bed, then goes to report to Madin.

Madin talks to the odd-looking bird-winged Genjuu nearby...

...and the wolf-like one at the table.

There's that line again!

Ignoring the disdain for humans that most of the others seem to have, Madin checks on the woman. She stirs.

She stands up, and the faerie leaves the area.

No, the pendant isn't something that "helps protect the Esper World." It's more along the lines of a lucky charm, likely placed on her to help with her recovery. I always thought it was odd, given how important the NA version makes it sound, that he gives it up so easily and that it never factors into the story again.

She walks up to him.

Ow, ow, ow, ow... Do I even *need* to comment on this? Anyway, it's obvious she doesn't have a very pleasant past.

There's that line again!

The elder watches as they speak... fade out. Fade in to Madin in his bed. He gets up to find the elder outside.

The elder's not shocked or amazed. He knows the human's gone, and is prodding Madin to take action if he wants to.

And take action Madin does. He heads for the gate, pushing aside the guard...

...and finding Madaline near the exit to the cave outside.

There's that line yet again. But this time, Madin gives it a more appropriate response.

The background fades. Madin floats around and sparkles.

More floating around.

He floats over to Madaline, and they float around and sparkle together.

They float off the screen, shedding sparkles. Two come together, and turn into a baby. The music fades.

Fade out. Fade in to the village. It's dark, the screen shudders, and "The Empire "Gestahl"" plays.

A Genjuu near the gate is flung back and collapses.

結界 (kekkai) is one of those tricky terms, as I explained in more detail previously. Here, it seems to refer more to what's keeping this realm distinct from the outside world than to the realm itself, and so "barrier", which is often used in fantasy contexts with this sort of meaning, is as good a translation as any.

An Imperial soldier enters and stoops over the fallen Genjuu.

The soldier drags off the fallen Genjuu. Another soldier enters and attacks another Genjuu.

No, no, they're nowhere *near* the elder's house. That's why everyone's falling back to hole up there.

Gastra enters.

More soldiers pour in at this news. Fade out. Fade in to the elder's home, where Madin and Madaline watch over a sleeping Tina.

More literally a magical sealing wall.

Madaline rushes into the room.

The music fades out.

"Troops March On" plays. The elder heads outside, but when Madin moves to follow, the wolf-like Genjuu approaches him.

Madin confronts him.

Madaline hears this and doesn't respond well. She rushes outside.

This seems like an overreaction to me, but consider that she's probably been faced with this sort of attitude from at least some of the Genjuu for the past two years, and that what little we know of her past suggests that she's been mistreated before and doesn't trust easily.

Madin runs outside to find the elder near the gate. The soldiers are mysteriously gone, or maybe they've been driven out already.

That weird noise the elder makes is likely a grunt of pain or something similar from the strain of the spell he's casting.

Madin rushes past him and finds Gastra and several soldiers in the cave to the gate. The music fades to be replaced with strong wind noises.

The soldiers are blown away.

Gastra struggles, but is also blown away. Madin finds Madaline collapsed just inside the gate.

Madin starts to drag Madaline away from the gate, but then Tina blows away.

Whether Madin was startled and released her, or she let go deliberately to follow Tina, Madaline blows away too.

Madin flies out after her just as the gate begins to close. Scene change to just outside the gate, with the viewpoint from just inside. Gastra, Madaline, and Madin are all on the ground. Gastra gets up first.

Gastra seizes Tina.

No, she's not stupid enough to ask Gastra to take care of Tina. She wants him to leave the poor girl alone.

Gastra starts to walk away, but Madaline manages to stand up.

She struggles toward Gastra, but he just hits her back to the ground.

The gate closes and we see no more. Fade out. "Awakening" plays, and the scene fades in to the tower room in Zozo. Tina is back to her human form. Lock pulls out the Madin magicite, and it and Tina glow in resonance.

Tina gets out of bed.

Setzer makes a showy pose.

The airship lifts off, and "Blackjack" plays as usual.