At least they're putting the paladin shields to good use!

Is it just me... Or is there a sprite outline above the text bubble from the little girl?

You know, it's hard not to look at the spell name Merton and wonder if there's a companion spell called Hislop.

Of course, I don't think anyone else besides Drekal will get that reference.

The problem is now what you would call the third spell in the group. I' m sure purists would want Deayton, but I'd prefer Blessed myself.

I can't tell for sure.

But I did notice that the purple "sorrow" aura isn't centered on the girl.

Also, I think a certain little girl needs a hug right now. I suspect the heroes are too busy trying to fight Kefka to realize that the real battle is in keeping her from losing it. Again, Kefka's strategy would be fairly easy to demolish, by simply showing love to that girl. Unfortunately, that isn't exactly covered in Heroes 101.

It... kinda looks like there is a little sprite outline, just a bit below and to the right of Locke. It resembles a party member under 'Vanish,' even though I'm not sure that's seen outside of battle. Any chance another ally cast that on him-/herself?

Whoever/Whatever the figure is, the aura's not the middle of the aura. It seems centered on the speech bubble its-- Wait, no, the big dark aura is still centered on the girl, but the light in the dark is coming from the bubble. Interesting...

"Primal" Terra's first line is obscured, but it's a good one: "Ultima next time".

EDIT: Well, actually, I think it's "Utima next time". But it should be "Ultima".

Armstrong, perhaps?

You see, Setzer, when you see the castle glowing, that's when you should've goosed Terra. Glowing Castle = Emergency. Now you'll have to turn around and outrun a sorrow-fueled shockwave!

In other news, Locke and Celes apparently fail as parents. And Kefka still fails at what Mr. Rumsfeld calls "unknown unknowns."

Also, I'm guessing that the invisible outline is Gau in one of his rages. It's either Gabledegak (casts Vanish), which means he only has time to either save or completely doom 1 more party member before said sorrow-wave, or Intangir, which brings up a very interesting question: Can Pep Up neutralize Sorrow Energy?

I'm guessing Intangir, as a ill- (i.e. well-)timed Pep Up would have the effect of maximizing the potential chaos of the sorrow-wave.

Fun fact: Intangir is the only rage Gau is confirmed to have.

The Intangir battle involved Gau neither Leaping (ends the battle instantly) nor returning to battle (only happens after defeating all the monsters; they were forced to escape the battle due to the Sketch Glitch), which are the only ways Gau can learn new Rages, other than his starting set (which does not include Intangir, and with good reason: you can't fight Intangir until some time after Gau joins the party.)

So, um, no.

I didn't notice that outline before it was pointed out here, but it's also in #755 (first panel, and kinda sorta in the fourth), safely outside the "sorrow" aura.

(BTW, assuming it is Gau and not some other weirdness, Gobbldegak and Intangir aren't the only options. He can cast Magic through the normal command, you know.)

Any fight Gau is in the veldt for counts. JD could drop him off forever.

Nope. Only those where Gau actively leaps or Gau actively returns. Period.

While you're fighting and Gau stays away, Gau WILL NOT learn the Rages of the monster formations you defeat in the meantime. Some people may claim otherwise and even suggest hurting Gau whenever he returns to learn as much as possible in one go. This is false info. Pretty much spells it out.

Gau will randomly return at the end of another battle, and he will have learned the Rages of not only the enemy he Leapt onto, but also those that were defeated in the battle he came back on. (Note that it says nothing of the battles fought in the meantime.)

I think Gau is standing behind Locke's first speech balloon (I see feet, anyway).

The hidden figure is either an accidental meaningless blur, or (since it seems to be closer to the center of the glow than the girl is)... something that she's summoning. Something that glows strongly purple.

...yeah there are no good conclusions to be drawn here.

I reiterate: outline is also in #755. It's unobscured (well, relatively) in the first panel, and clearly Gau-shaped.

The only feet I see under Locke's text bubble in this comic belong to a monster-under-the-bed.

Just a musing here...
Is it Terra's Esper side that awoke....
Or is it something else?

Ti-Phil: From all signs over the past 2 comic, it's just Terra's Esper side, with purely animalistic instincts. If Setzer had let her be and if a wave of sorrow overtook her resting place, I would've expected her to have remained unaffected.

Which leads me to this:

Actually, I'm now getting the notion that the P-Shields will be put to better use in the next comic or two. As in, "being able to prevent the upcoming 'Wave Of Sorrow'™ from affecting anyone holding one." (After all, the first one had to be purified from its status as a "Cursed" Shield, so it should hold some sort of energy...)

EDIT: Kefka's still going to get screwed over royally, though.

The only energy these pally shields hold is glitch energy. After all, they all came from Relm sketching a hole in the pixels of reality.