Temple of the Ancients

Items:

    Trident, Mind Source, Silber Rifle, Turbo Ether, Rocket Punch, "Luck Plus" Materia, "Morph" Materia, Nail Bat, Work Glove, Ribbon, Princess Guard, "Bahamut" Materia, Trumpet Shell, Megalixir

Item Shop:

    You can see the Temple of the Ancients from quite a distance.  It looks like a huge ziggurat set in the middle of a jungle.

    When you arrive, go to the top of the temple and search the man in black.  He'll mantion Black Materia and then vanish.  Inside the temple, you'll find Tzeng lying on the ground severely wounded.   He turns over the Keystone and tells you to place it on the altar, which opens up the temple's inner sanctum.

    The next maze may look like an Escher painting, but it's really not that diffcult to maneuver around it.

Note:  

        You cannot walk on most of the area that you can see.  Try to open the different doors and check the map's callouts to see where it will talk you.  Note that you can use vines as if they were ladders.

    When you first enter the area, follow the purple guys.  He'll let you rest in his chamber, which makes it easy to wander around until you've picked up everything.

    There's a second Ancient in the sounthern part of the maze.  When you get near him, he'll run into a nearby door, so follow him inside.   There are huge "U"-shaped boulders rolling down the path between you and the Ancient.  To get to the end of the path, stand so that the cut out part of the boulder lands where you're standing.  This will make the boulder pass harmlessly over you.  Quickly get under the next boulder or run off the one of the sides to wait for a better opportunity.  When you reach the end of the path, the trap will shut itself off and you'll return to the pool in the middle.  In this area, you'll see a flashback of the Turks and Sephiroth from what must mave been only a little while ago.

    The next area is a large clock.  There are twelve rooms surrounding this pit, each one marked with an hour number.  Spin the hands of the clock so that the hour and minute hands form a bridge between your ledge and where you want to go.

    Press the O button makes the hands go very fast.   Pressing the O button again causes the hands to slowly come to rest three spaces later.  You can use this technique to quickly move time, or you can press the A (triangle) button to slowly move the clock backward or forward one space at a time.

Tip:

        While moving on the hands, beware of the second hand.  If it hits you while you're moving, you'll get knocked off the clock and forced into a battle.  However, you'll also get the Nail Bat.

    As you enter this room, the guard runs away with the key to the next area.  To catch him, you'll need to figure out his pattern.   Each of the doors is somehow connected with another door on the map.  Each time you enter a door, the guard comes out of a door and then enters a different one.   You must figure out which door he will come out of next and enter the specific door to catch him.  (I will try to scan the map for you...)

Tip:

       You can jump down a level by pressing the O button on the left side of the map; however, to get back up you must enter a door.

    Find the door the guard went into on hte map and check the number in red.  Now locate that same number in blue elsewhere on the map.   This is where the guard will come out.

    After capturing the guard, he unlocks the door and gives you a chance to rest and save.

    Just past the door you'll see the room from the earlier flashback.  This is where you meet Sephiroth, who's buy absorbing the knowledge of the Ancients.  He tells you about his mater plan to become one with the planet.  Sephiroth leaves and Cloud freaks out, but becomes fully aware of Sephiroth's evil plan in the process.  As the team discusses the planet's fate, a Red Dragon attacks them.

Boss Fight:    Red Dragon

    As the name sort of implies, the Red Dragon is a fire-based creature.  Therefore, fire-based attacks will only heal it, plus it's immune to Gravity spells.

    Start the battle by using Bio 2 to poison it while casting Barrier and Haste on the entire team.  This will cut down the dragon's bite from 700-800 points of damage to about 400.

    Use Regen if you can and keep a close eye on your health.  The "Deathblow" Materia is also a great way to deliver a punishing blow to the enemy.  With this setup, it shouldn't be a long fight.  You receive a Dragon Armlet for winning the battle.

    After collecting and equipping the "Bahamut" Materia, left heind by the Red Dragon, run to the right to find the Black Materia on an altar.  There is a problem though:  You can't take it out of the temple without killing one of your team members.  Cait Sith happily colunteers to relinquish his stuffed body.  Race back to the exit (12 in the clock room) to let Cait Sith inside.  Is there something wrong with the exit room?  It almost seems...alive!

Boss Fight:    Demon's Gate

    Quickly cast Slow on Demon's Gate.  This creature can attack quickly even when slowed, but at least its attacks will be more manageable.  Also, cast Barrier and Haste on the entire party to help protect against the Gate's Demon Rush and avalanche attacks.   This also enables the team to respond quickly to the Gate's actions.  Having the "Heal" Materia will help counter the Petrif Eye attack; otherwise, you'll need a few Softs.

    Try to keep your HP around 1,000 and you'll be fine.  The gate is immune to both Poison and Gravity spells and is resistant to Earth.  You receive the Gigas Armlet after defeating the Demon's Gate.

    Cait Sith sacrifices his artificial body and the temple becomes the Black Materia.  Cloud and Aeris go to claim the Materia, but Sephiroth shows up and homehow bends Cloud's will.  As much as he tries to stop himself, Cloud hands the Materia over and then turns on his own team.  This is quickly stopped, but want does it all mean?  Why would Cloud do such a thing?

    Cloud has a surreal dream of Aeris in the Sleeping Forest, which protects the City of ANcients.  In the dream, she's going to try to stop Sephiroth on her own, but Sephiroth is on to her.

    When Cloud awakens, Aeris has left the group and you're inside the Inn at Gongaga.  Cloud quickly pulls himself together and the team leaves for the northern continent.

Note:

        The Tiny Bronco is parked right outside of Gongaga.  Follow the coastline up to hte large continent in the north.

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