Rocky Crags
- Head through the Jagd Woods to the far north. The path will veer east, and the grass and trees will give way to rough-hewn rocks. Welcome to Rocky Crags.
- Make your way through here. Your chocobo will be able to flutter from rock to rock if you healed it properly, so getting through is relatively easy.
- Keep an eye open on your left side. When you see a ramp ahead, climb it and look to a rocky platform on the right. You can leap to it and grab a Thorn of Warding from the sphere here.
- Follow the map. Depending on which direction you take, here are a few avenues of approach for the next step in your journey. That said, they all ultimately lead to a northward path in Rocky Crag. Look just southeast of the name 'Rocky Crag' on your map to find the proper direction.
Poltae
- Welcome to the small community of Poltae, home of the local heretics. Lovely. Before heading anywhere else, climb the ladder to your right. It ultimately leads to an Aerora Lv. 2.
- Poltae offers an inn and a General Store, but not much else. Go up the hill on the west side of the town.
- Time for the angel to take flight. Using your mighty steed, you must leap from building to building to eventually reach the temple in the distance. So long as you watch which direction you're going, this should be no trouble. If you fall, climb the hill and try again. Successfully making it to the other side will earn you 100 gil and a White Chocobo Figurine.
- You'll have to part ways with the Angel of Valhalla for a while. Too bad. Climb the ladder and make your way to the entrance of the Temple in the distance.
Temple of the Goddess
- Welcome to the temple of Etro, one of the great goddesses of the world. Ascend the intial staircase to enter the Temple proper. Cut scene! Guess who it is!
- Now for the fun part. While Lightning is in the Temple of the Goddess, her health will drop constantly. Leave and the effect will disappear. If you want to explore, you'll just have to put up with this restriction. I recommend not fighting if you can help it.
- Make your way to the ramp of rubble to your right when you regain contorl of Lightning. Climb it until you see a green-lit hallway to your right. If you go left from here, you'll reach the entry hall and be allowed to leave; barring that, go down the green passageway.
- Hall of Avarice ahead... and a face from the past. Yeul! Once she's said her peace she'll create platforms which you can use to ascend to the right side of the room. If you wait too long, these platforms will vanish. Move it.
- On the right ledge you'll find... another Yeul. Yep, there's more than one. Speak to her to create another path to the other side of the room. Drop down into the pit here first and check the glyph against the northern rubble for Goddess Glyphs, then reasecnd and hop across the platforms.
- Once you're across, head south. You'll find a sphere containing Firaga Lv. 2. Then carry on north.
- From this point on you'll begin encountering creatures called Ectopuddings. These horrifying beasts don't hit that hard normally, but their Fira spells do a lot of damage. The only way to easily beat them is to freeze them with Blizzard, Blizzara or Blizzaga spells, then chip away with physical attacks. Try to get this done before they cast Fira or you're in for some serious hurt.
- War's Cage: Middle Level is up next. Stay away from the left side of this area, as you can drop down to the veeeery beginning if you're not careful. The next Yeul is on the rubble to your right. Let her create a pathway and hop across.
- Keep climbing. There's another Yeul in the next hallway you'll reach; she'll activate more platforms back in the direction you came from. If you hop down while crossing these platforms, you can reach a sphere containing a Blizzaga Lv. 2. Continue past these platforms into the next hallway.
- Partway down the hallway you'll find a copy of the Prophecy of Rebirth in a sphere. In the next room beyond, where you'll likely find a Protoflorian waiting, you'll have to climb the rubble on the opposite side of the room to reach the next large room. A Yeul is waiting. Use her to reach an upper hallway.
- You'll find another hallway on the next floor, crossing over the room where the Protoflorian is patrolling. After the cut scene, cross the bridge created as carefully as you can. Falling is risky. As you reach the other side you have the option of going left and proceeding or going left to grab a Thundaga Lv.2 and having to start over again.
- Proceed through the next few hallways until you come to another open room. Check beneath the large upward path for Chaos Glyphs, then ascend the rubble. There's a Yeul ahead; before speaking to her, leap down to your left and follow a thinner path around to find two spheres. One contains Elementa Lv. 2, the other a Tri Point Coronet.
- Trigger the Yeul's path and head up. Along the way there's an Aeroga Lv. 2 to grab; you have just enough time to snatch it before the final stepping platform vanishes.
- More platforms ahead. Aim for the pole at the end of these jumps to maximize your chances of getting down safely.
- Next up, the Hall of Memory. Down the next few hallways is another open room, and in the bottom of this one a monster. If you don't feel like fighting you can jump down behind it and run through the bars to the other side of the room where it's safe...
- ... though when you loop around and trigger another Yeul, you'll still face the possibility of falling on it. Sigh. Once you get across you'll reach a small split in the path; go right to find an Element Lv.2, then double back and travel west.
- Cut scene ahead. Save and heal before you hit the stairs, then get ready for a fight!
Caius Ballad
As you might have expected, Caius is an absolute fiend in battle. He hits hard with magic and weapons alike, and his moves are so crazy that you'll sometimes completely lose track of what he's up to.
Caius has two forms which he'll switch between during the battle. The first, Command, consists almost solely of melee or ranged physical attacks. They are as follows:
- Basic sword swipes. Typically Caius will hit you two or three times in a single go.
- Eye of Bahamut. Caius will jump back and fire energy balls at you. Wait for the flash on his palm, then put up your guard. Not that bad, and one guard will typically catch them all.
- Blast Wave. Caius slams his sword down and sends a wave of energy at you. Block just as his sword is coming down to negate the damage. He'll also often zip in right after Blast Wave hits and try to hit you with a flurry of strikes, so be ready.
- Giga-Graviton. Caius unleashes a close-range energy beam. Again, wait for the flash. Giga-Graviton often comes on the tail end of other melee attacks, and occasionally Blast Wave or Eye of Bahamut.
- During this time, Caius will also buff himself. Not much you can do about that short of staggering him before he gets the move off.
- At the beginning of the battle, Caius will also use Megaflare, which is capable of killing you right off if you don't block. Otherwise, it inflicts serious amounts of damage. Ow! He'll likely use it again halfway through, as well.
Caius' second form is that of Ravager. He swaps out most of his attacks, save Blast Wave and the occasional Eye of Bahamut, for magic.
- Most of these attacks are, predictably, elemental in some form or another. Your approach is more or less the same for all - guard just before they hit.
- Caius will also begin 'charging'. If he's allowed to finish he'll unleash a string of four elemental attacks that are quite difficult to block because they swing the camera around.
This battle is difficult, but it's not as insane as it seems. The trick here is to pay attention to Caius' current mode. If he's in Commando, use physical attacks. If he's in Ravager, use magic. Sticking with the right attacks will allow you to build Caius' stagger gauge, which will ultimately allow you to chew up his health and deal a great deal more damage. It's easier to get him into stagger if Caius is in Ravager, as you'll typically have more spells and he moves around less, but that depends on your build.
Overall? Tough fight. Very tough. Caius is no wimp, and you may have to return after completing more main mission quests to be strong enough to take him out.
- After the mission's done, you'll emerge from the Temple and have the curse lifted. One cut scene later, you're back in control. Grab the Chaos's Revenge from your feet and set out somewhere else.