Head to Home World and travel to the Sea of Eden. It's in the same spot the Dead Sea was in in Another World. You could sail here at any time, though without Serge you wouldn't be able to do anything. Now that he's back you can use this place to access the game's penultimate dungeon.
Approach any of the three Fate Distortions. This will trigger a cut scene, and once it's done you'll be sent... somewhere. A huge, watery triangle will dominate the middle of the Sea of Eden, and three small islands sit at its tips. You need to visit each of the islands to access the conspicuous lump sitting atop the triangle. Each one has a pyramidal symbol that looks like a save point at it...
... and once you've visited all three, a boss will appear at the final island.
Vita Unus, Vita Dos, Vita Tres
Despite all looking a little different from one another, Vita Unus, Dos, and Tres all fight more or less the same, and differ only in their Innate Color, what you can steal from them, and what they'll drop when defeated.
- If you visit the Present island last you'll face Vita Unus, a Red Innate. It always drops the Vigora Element when defeated.
- If you visit the Future island last you'll face Vita Dos, a Green Innate. It drops either the Earring of Light (common) or Diva Dress (rare) when defeated.
- If you visit the Past island last you'll face Vita Tres, a Blue Innate. It drops either the Diva Dress (common) or Holy Light Element (rare) when defeated.
Regardless of name the Vita will buff itself, heal periodically, and otherwise use physical attacks or Red Elements to damage your party. Inferno and Volcano will do the most damage, and can kill Blue Innates pretty easily if you don't keep your party healed. Assume that being under 300 HP is unsafe, and use healing Elements that target your whole party.
On the whole, it's not a difficult fight. All you need to do is bring in plenty of the opposite Element. Use Blue Elements for Unus, Yellow Elements for Dos, and Red Elements for Tres. Red Innate characters in general work well in this fight, as will throwing a Red Plate on vulnerable Blue Innate characters. Physical attacks seem to work better than most Elements (unless you're using powerful Techs or Summons, anyway), so this battle is a good candidate for Diminish.
You'll receive a Star Level and 1,180 g, along with any items noted above, for beating the boss of your choice. Once the boss is gone the ground will rumble. Return to your boat and the giant triangle will be gone from the Sea of Eden, opening the path to the Future Ruins - otherwise known as the Time Fortress, Chronopolis.
Chronopolis
Does this place look familiar? It should. A technological marvel ripped from another age, Chronopolis is almost your penultimate stop in Chrono Cross. This place is haunted by spirits of the past and machines running automatically, though only the machines seem concerned with attacking you. You'll run into the following enemies in Chronopolis:
- Gizmotoid - Red Innate. Has a preference for normal attacks, and isn't very dangerous.
- Aero-Guard - Blue Innate. Will use the occasional Element, but not a big problem overall.
- Gyroblade - White Innate. A floating blade that occasionally uses Photo Ray and otherwise just slashes your characters. Black Innate Elements and normal attacks will bring one down fast.
Check on your right from the entrance to see two spirits who will chatter back and forth for a bit if you let them. They name drop quite a bit of material from Chrono Trigger. Head north from the entrance and a mech straight out of Gundam will descend from the ceiling and attack you.
Polis Police
Yikes. Chronopolis doesn't mess around. A hard-hitting White Innate robot, Polis Police has three attacks:
- Its normal attack, which will do around 100 points of damage and isn't a big deal
- Megaton Fist, which hits one character for anywhere from 260 HP to 450ish HP
- Bazooka, which hits even harder than Megaton Fist - you'll only see this move once you cut Polis Police's health in half and its chest is damaged
The regularity with which Polis Police uses its two Techs makes it a formidable enemy. If you bring in some especially burly characters to help Serge you can potentially tank the damage, but it's better to cut down on Polis Police's output altogether. Diminish will do that. Granted, you'll need to rely more on your own physical attacks rather than Elements, but Polis Police is just too dangerous to leave at full power. Be ready to heal at all times, whether you use Diminish or not. It can still do 300 points of damage with a single Bazooka after Diminish is factored in.
You'll earn a Star Level, 1,000 g, and the Negate Physical Element for defeating Polis Police. Phew.
Beating Polis Police will open up the hallway. Ignore the northern door for the moment and go down to the lower level, where the two Gizmotoids are patrolling. Cross under the central bridge to find a Yellow Brooch in a chest on the other side. Backtrack and go through the northern door.
You'll wind up in a narrow hallway with a security door barring your path. Enter the office on your right, take out the Gizmotoid wandering around, and check the northern wall for a chest containing a Nostrum Element. Use the latch at the bottom of the office to descend one level.
You're now in a watery area with several manmade islands. In the bottom-left corner is a computer terminal that controls something called 'Robo-Sewer-Wash'. Activate it and a little robot will pop out of a hatch and fall under your control. You can use it to navigate through this area and trigger switches the team cannot. Do the following with the robot:
- Activate the bridge near the ladder in the southeast corner of the room - this gets you halfway across to the other side
- Go east from the latch the robot popped out of and into the water - so long as you keep to the lighter path it will remain afloat
- Navigate out to the central island to get out of the current
- Go down and left to reach a chest containing a White Brooch
- Go up and left to reach a chest containing a Cure All
- Return to the central island and go right, then up to the north side of the room
- Activate the other side of the bridge
- Deactivate robot
Your team can now cross the extended bridge near the ladder and reach the northeast corner of the room, where there's another ladder. This will bring you into another little office. Toggle the glowing switch on the desk to open the security door leading back to the entrance.
The next room has a central elevator - locked, of course - and a lot of stairs, patrolled by robots. There are two pathways you can take, to the east and to the west. The stairs to the west lead to a dock with a save point. Speak to the spirit near the dock for more information on Chronopolis, and file its location away for later, as you'll need to speak to it again. The door to the east leads to stairs, and stairs are made to be climbed.
Look under the stairs for a Forget-me-not Pot - a must-have accessory if you want to build up Sprigg's Doppelgang list with other characters - then head up. The third floor is blocked, so you'll need to leave the stairwell at the second floor. In the next corridor you'll find a laser grid ahead that will bring an enemy out of the floor to fight you. Next to it is a security-locked door, leaving you with only south as a route forward.
You'll come out near the elevator you saw earlier. Run past it and head west. Through the next door you'll find a holographic map of the El Nido Peninsula. The spirit near the map will reveal some crucial details about the Peninsula's history. Next to the spirit in the top-left corner of the room is a computer console; check it to release the level two security lock. This will unlock the elevator.
Before you use the elevator, backtrack to the laser grid. The door beside it is now open. On the right side of this small room is a chest containing Grobyc's Level Seven Tech, Strong-Arm. Grobyc himself needs to be in the party to claim the Tech. Also here is a puzzle involving five safes and a passcode, entered on the far-left door. Close the open safe and enter '00' as the code to receive a Recharge Element.
Head to the elevator. You have a few options, though floor B1 is currently locked away. Head to the third floor. There are two doors up here, to the left and to the right. Take a right. You'll find a laboratory with several spirits who will expound upon humankind's unnatural evolution. Check the right side of this room to find a side closet with a chest, guarded by a Combot. It can hit somewhat hard, but isn't a huge problem. The Combot is guarding a Hell-Bound Element.
Return to the elevator and check the left room. There's some sort of experiment underway inside. Check the various computer consoles (look for flashing lights) for some hard ties to Chrono Trigger, then go through the northern door. There's a Rainbow Shell in this small back room. Rainbow Shells are hard to come by, so you definitely want to grab this one.
Head back to the elevator and check out the fourth floor. Once again there are two doors. Pop into the left room and you'll see four spirits speaking of something of great importance to Chrono Trigger. Check the door on the right and you'll find a path to the stairwell from earlier. Go down to the third floor and you'll find a chest containing a Magnify Element. Speak to the spirit and it will mention the 'chief', headed out to the docks for a walk.
You can't go through the left door on the fourth floor yet, so descend to the first floor and check the docks. Speak to the spirit on the upper docks, north of the save point, and it will leave. Go back to the fourth floor and the blocked door will now be open. Inside are more spirits and more computer monitors. Check the terminal directly across from the door for some important story information, speak to the spirits for yet more info, then check the left side of the room. A Combot here is guarding a chest that contains a Card Key.
(Check the glowing button near the treasure chest. If you've played Radical Dreamers, it will mean a lot to you.)
The Card Key you picked up will grant you access to floor B1 via the elevator. It will take you to a bridge guarded by Combots, at the end of which is a locked door. Serge can open the door, given his unique status as 'Arbiter', via the panel to the left of the door. Make sure you've saved recently before you go inside, as you're about to get hit by a biiiiig info dump... and then, a major boss battle.
FATE
Yep, this is the big bad you've been hunting all this time. A computer program with some rather complicated aspirations, FATE uses harsh Black Innate Elements to take your party down. Starting off with Diminish to weaken your Elements, FATE when they begin a countdown from five, using powerful moves such as Gravity Blow Gravitonne, Freefall, and Heat Ray each turn to blast your team. When the countdown reaches zero FATE will use Dark Energy, an insanely powerful Black Innate attack that will do between 300 to 400 points of damage to everyone in the party. Anyone who's White Innate will likely get wiped out in one hit. Once it uses Dark Energy FATE will start the countdown over.
FATE is tough, but its utter reliance on Black Innate Elements is its weakness. If you have it, equip the Black Plate on Serge and he will absorb almost everything FATE can throw at him. If not, put a Black Innate member in the party and give them at least one Revive, to bring Serge back in case Dark Energy goes off, or give someone Negate Magic and use it on Serge just before the countdown ends. Then spend your five turns doing as much damage to FATE as you can before its countdown runs out. Ensure everyone is at full health if / when it does. Heal up after it's over, then go back on the offensive. So long as you don't rely too much on your White Innate party members besides Serge you should survive Dark Energy and be able to keep going. Keeping the Field Effect as White as you can in the meantime will make the whole battle easier, even if your Elements don't hit as hard as they should.
You'll receive a Star Level, 2,457 g, and a Magic Seal for defeating FATE. You'll then watch what to new gamers is no doubt a very confusing cut scene, and once it's done you'll have a new destination: Terra Tower. Before we go there, though, there's someone we need to bring back into the party.