Toggle Background Color
Chapter 20: Ecks-deff Versus Grandpa
Time for the emotional rollercoster that is the Forest of Moore.
”Whaaats he goin’ to?”
“We’re going into the woods.” I buy an elf bow for Bartz.
”Go in the woods.”
”We can see things!”
The canopy effect seems to amuse him.
”We gonna get the tree all gone?”
“The branch is letting us into the forest.
”Badguy trees? What they?” He points to the mini-mages there.
“They’re tiny wizards! They’re trying to get us. This team is pretty good. Lenna softens them up with Titan, then we clean up with Gaia, Aimed shots at gala jellies, the odd wind slash katana attack. Pretty smooth.
”What that song?”
”The forest song. Do you like that song?”
“No. …Do you?”
“I do.”
He asks after the song a few times throughout.
”Why they little?”
“They small?”
“They me?”
He saw the big image for the thread with all the sprites in it once. It took awhile before he was done looking at it. I pointed out who he ‘was’ on it too.
I didn’t get the blue mage mini spell because I couldn’t care less.
I clear them all out.
”No badguys!”
”Go in that tree.”
What they in now? What they fighting in?
“They’re under a tree!” I one-shot them with Titan.
”Go in there.” I begin to go in another another random encounter hits.
they’re in the way. Should we get them out of the way?”
”Yes!”
”They looking wrong way?”
He dubs them the looking-wrong-way-badguy. Confusion is pretty annoying.
”Baby dragon? Hit him all gone.” Dang, kid.
I suggest that it is a small dragon, not a baby one.
The music starts.
”ECKS-DEFF!”
”ECKS-DEFF COMING!”
”Fire? Magicians gonna fight a fire? I Want them to fight fire!”
”Ecks-deff trying to get the fire on us?”
”It’s bad fire?”
“He’s trying to burn the forest down on us!”
”But it’s hard.”
~Score~
Our rescue posse shows up. He wonders if the moogle is going to get got:
”Cho-co-bo going to be all gone?”
“He’s going to open up a hole for us to escape to! Should we go too?”
”Yeah!”
”Two ones? Two co-co-bos?”
”They’re called moogles.”
”Co co bos.”
”Bows on them?”
“Those are wings.”
”There on their backs?”
We get out into the burned out forest.
”What happening here?”
“The fire burned away the leaves.”
”I want to fight in the new brown.” He is somewhat annoyed all random encounters have the old forest background.
”What is? what that?”
“Thats the guardian tree.”
”The garden tree? That was burned? That burned too?
“It looks okay its big tough tree”
”Theres another path going. I want to go in that. That okay?”
”I like that big thing.” He likes the Guardian Tree. We go inside.
”See those are bad guys what these are? What these big things are?”
“Crystals!”
“They are bad guy crystals?”
So THE CRYSTALS. It is a long, nasty fight. I pop golem, use drain swords, aim and never land a Death Claw. I wipe the first time because I got double-turned with aqua rake. ”A hard fight!.”
He observes that they are crystals, that they aren’t big, and that they don’t have shadows. Our second run goes smoother.
Ish. The Firaga crystal hits REALLY hard. I rush it down with a 1000 needles and get everyone back up for the last crystal.
I don’t even waste time with the last one. Dang look at those gil toss numbers. I wonder if it would have been cheaper to just have two people use zeninage off the bat than what I used in ethers and phoenix downs.
He spends the last of the fight asking about Lenna, what’s her name, what’s she like (“She’s nice”) and what is that on her head. (“Some kind of crown or circlet or diadem?” ”She’s a queen?” “A princess.” I correct.)
”We got ‘em! we won’d?
”Who said that? Who said that word?”
Who do you think said that word?”
”Ecks-deff? Ecks-deff say that word?”
”ECKS DEFF” 
”He was hidin?” He notices Ex-death just strolled on in from offscreen.
”Power is his? What he gonna do?”
”A BIG HIT!”
”What happenin to Grandpa!?
“He’s getting attacked by Ex-death!”
”“Why?”
“He’s trying to stop us!”
”Eck-deff is down? I want him back up and tall!”
”He say fool?”
”He attacking’ her?”” He seems concerned as she gets tossed around.
”Attackin’ kid?”
When Exdeath warns that Galuf might break the crystal, my son asks if that is a bad thing to do.
Galuf doesn’t care. 
“Her grandpa is going to save her!”
“The fire’s on him! But now he’s gonna fight Exdeath!”
”Ecks-deff gonna win?”
“HES SO BIG”
There is basically a never ending stream of observations and commentary regarding Exdeath.
I cast Protection and Critical-Shell triggers almost immediately as you could imagine.
”What that on him?”
“Protections.”
I used Drain spell blades to keep my hp up because MAYBE THIS TIME OKAY.
Exdeath eventually stops messing around. The kid is riveted. When Galuf starts talking back I clarify who is talking. Galuf, of course, dunks Exdeath, who I explain is fighting because everyone else is down.
“Ex-Death ran away! Grandpa drove him away!”
”They all down.”
“Yeah.”
I explain that he is hurt pretty badly and won’t be able to fight with us, but will be back later.
”He broke all gone? He disappeared?”
“He’ll be back to help us later.”
”“Later?”
He seems uncertain, but I try to assure him of it. The language of sprites blinking away seems to be a clear one.
“She heard him outside?”
”Where it come from?”
“It’s grandpa!”
See? He is back already.
“He’s giving her his power! She’ll be able to do all his costumes.”
”It was burning there? Fire was doing that?”
”WE GOT KITTY CAT NOW”
”I WANT LOOK AT HIM ” 
“Her.”
Doesn’t matter. He loves this costume SO MUCH guys. Exdeath you gonna eat a holy.
Next time: ECKS-DEFF’S CASTLE!