A chocobo stable in the forest not far south of Mobliz optionaly allows for less trouble on the journey. The tower built by the Cefca Fanatics is visible along the way, but it's surrounded by mountains and unreachable for the time being.

Check out those Enhance Swords in the weapon shop. +7 magic and +20 magic evade? Yes, please.

"Under Martial Law" plays here now, but despite the changes to the coastline, Nikaea still has its port. It's too bad that the ship isn't accepting passengers.

Other bad news:

And remember this for later:

Anyway, the thieves escaped from Figaro Castle, and are talking about sneaking back in to steal some treasure.

The group of thieves leave after being spoken with.

Look around town after this to find their boss, a womanizing young man who... wait a minute... he looks a bit different, but don't we know him?

He ignores her and walks off to haggle with a merchant.

He walks off again.

The following line seems to go unused, though surely Mash ought to react to this.

He gives a startled reaction, but quickly recovers, waggling a finger at her.

His use of the English word "lady" is, as noted before, uncommon in Japanese.

Anyway, this is too suspicious to ignore, so Celes (with Mash, if present) listens in as the thieves assemble on the ship...

...then stows away as it leaves.

If you've been putting off collecting outdoor treasures, the contents are done changing, so wait no longer.

South Figaro is in good shape, too. For a change, "Kids Run Through the City" still plays here. Some of the locals have interesting things to say.

Now who could that be? There's also a small bit of adult humor in the form of a couple near the edge of town.

The thieves are in town too, of course, with the most interesting line being this one.

Speaking of which, he's in the common room by the inn.

He turns away, and a thief enters just then.

Still suspicious. Better follow them.

There's no longer a mountain range between South Figaro and the Figaro Desert, but the eastern cave entrance is still here, right near the town. The western entrance seems to have vanished, though, and there's no sign of the castle, just like hearsay says. Naturally, both the overworld and the cave have new monsters. Many in the cave can inflict 'confusion', so equip protection. An armed man stands just inside the entrance.

Remember the guy back on the Grim Train who stole a treasure and talked big but was pathetically weak? This guy uses the same name, but with an extremely subtle difference in the name that may just be an oversight. The final ド is halfwidth here, like the rest of the name, but was fullwidth back then.

Anyway, don't trust him. He doesn't clear out the monsters and never comes back.

If you've been putting off collecting these chests, the contents are done changing. Get them now for an X-Potion, Ether Turbo, and Brave Ring.

Celes finds the thieves by the pond near the blocked-off dead end that used to be the western entrance.

A large turtle in the pond moves toward the middle, forming a stepping stone of sorts.

Note the mark indicating dialog by an unnamed character. It's the mook who used to have a pet turtle, not Jeff/GERAD.

None of the chests beyond contain anything, and exploring the nooks and crannies reveals the reason. Siegfried has been taking them. Though surprised to be caught, he runs away before anything can happen.

What's this guy even doing here in the first place? Regardless, the tunnel goes into the Figaro Castle prison as promised.

"Edgar & Sabin" plays as usual. The thief boss stops to check on a fallen guard before moving on.

Like every other NPC in the area, the guard says only one thing.

I got the impression playing the NA version that the thieves had attacked everyone who dared get in their way. They're actually just barely conscious due to a shortage of fresh air from being stuck underground for the past year. Fortunately, the castle isn't airtight, especially with that cave connection, but the locals aren't exactly in top condition. It's anyone's guess how they handled food and water.

The outside doors won't open (no surprise there), leaving only one place to go.

Naturally, monsters have overrun the engine room area. "Returners" plays down here for mood. Look around for some treasure (Crystal Helm, Royal Crown, Ether Turbo, Gravity Rod, X-Potion), then find the thieves and the engine itself, which tentacles infest.

They head inside.

Tina already had her obligatory close encounter with tentacles back in the first Orthros fight, so now it's Celes's turn, apparently. The four tentacles (bottom right, bottom left, top right, top left) each have different strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. The party automatically surrounds them, so the characters will appear on both sides with the tentacles in the middle (though skipping Mash could leave Edgar and Celes on the right with the left empty). Edgar joins the battle in the first empty slot, using the strongest equipment available, chosen as when using the Equip Strongest option in the menu.

While they otherwise vary, all four tentacles use the same attack pattern. Aside from normal attacks and the occasional Bio or Poison, they favor skills that inflict 'slow', and tend to grab characters that have 'slow' status. Captured characters cannot act, while the capturing tentacles gradually drain health from them. Equip Hermes's Shoes to avoid 'slow' status and prevent this from happening (except to Edgar, who has no accessories for the battle), and this becomes much less tedious. Summoning Golem or Fenrir may help Edgar avoid slowing as well, but only some causes.

As far as vulnerabilities go, Death works on the bottom-left one for a quick kill, 'stop' works on the top-left one, 'slow' works on all four, and you can use Edgar's Bio Blast to 'poison' all but the top-left one. The two on the right are also vulnerable to 'silence' and less dangerous when afflicted.

For attack traits, all four have normal vulnerability to Wind, Poison, and Holy, so Mash's Shinkuu Ha (Air Blade) is a viable option if learned. Edgar's Drill is always a solid choice after that one shot with the Bio Blast. Each of the three prime traits are absorbed by a single different tentacle, but Celes will do well to spam Blizzara after the bottom-left one is dead, since none of the others have any special protection against Ice, and the bottom-right one (which also has the most health) is even weak against it. Three out of the four also absorb Water attacks, but considering how rare those are, who cares?

Edgar goes to check the door, and evidently hears something he doesn't like.

The thieves return.

The thieves leave.

"Edgar & Sabin" plays after Edgar joins, though the monsters still appear. Check the armor in the looted treasure room for a Soul Saber the thieves overlooked.

Incidentally, the room with the engine is the only place in the game where the Drop enemies appear. Try to find a group to fight before leaving.

The operator returns the castle to the surface when you head back upstairs.

Having Edgar as your lead character halves the prices not only here (as it always has), but now also in South Figaro (though they won't say anything special). Take advantage of it if you need anything, and note that the castle merchant now sells even the Weakmaker, making every machine except the Chainsaw (which you should have picked up in Zozo) and Air Anchor. Also, Mash doesn't get a discount and never did, even though the castle merchants react to him, too.

Head back to the operator when done to ride the castle to Kohlongen, just like old times.