ITEMS TO GET: Sky Bracelet, Venetia Shield, Shield Armor, Black ?, Anklet, ? Piece, Promised Ring

   The enemies in the Desert Empress include Cuars Cougars, Grimlocks, and Squidlarkins. The first are fairly easy; the latter two are a bit more difficult. The Grimlocks will flip back and forth: when the red head is up, only magic can hurt them, and when the blue head is up, only physical attacks do damage. They also cast Stop on you, so be sure to equip the anti-Stop ability (one of the characters in its name looks like an upside-down T -- it'll be near the bottom of your abilities list). The Squidlarkins don't use Stop, but they do turn themselves invisible, rendering themselves immune to physical attacks. To de-Vanish them, simply hit them with a magic attack.

   Examine the candle on the left side of the bridge to light it. A glowing sphere will appear. Activate the question mark near it and choose the first option to receive a Promised Ring. Continue up the stairs. In the next room, try to exit left; you'll notice the statues' heads turn. The angel statue will create a beam of light. Walk on to it (the base is on the balcony in the center of the room, off to the left) and exit in the lower-right. Light the torch, then return to the statue room. There's now a chest on the right side of the room, underneath the beam. Walk down to its level and open it; it contains a ? Piece. Then go left.

   The next room is loaded with torches. Start by lighting the left and top torches to open the doors. Go north and head through the brief passage; you'll end up on the right side of the previous room. Light the torch on the left, then go back to the left side of the room. Light the rightmost torch and the statues on the left will disappear. Now the light the two torches in the middle of the room, and the status on the right will vanish. Light the two unlit torches on the right, then the large one at the bottom of the screen. The door on the far right finally opens, and the statue begins glowing pink. Examine it for an Anklet, then exit through the newly-opened door.

No, these candles do not contain pork chops and boomerangs

   It's a bit hard to tell from the camera angle, but there's actually three statues lining the right wall in this room. One of them (the back one) has an unlit candle; light it and yet another purple glow will appear. This one yields another suit of Shield Armor. Climb up the stairs -- they're actually on the south side of the balcony, so you'll have to walk to the upper-left, then go down to get on them. Once you're on the stairs, just go right to the next floor. There's a light right by the stairs; turn it on to make a mural appear above you. (It's easy to miss this one -- don't skip it, or you'll have to come back later.)

   Continue south until you reach the library. Climb up the stairs in the lower-right corner of the library. Light the candleabra on the left side of the top level and the mural will move. Go through and grab the Sky Bracelet from the purple glow. Step back into the library. A candleabra will have appeared on the middle level, light it and the mural moves again. Go through the new passage. Climb up the stairs, lighting both candles along the way. (Each one will turn on another floating image.) Then go back into the library and light the lowest candleabra. Go through the mural again and light the candle.

Let's use our quietest library voices!

   When you return to the library, you'll hear a Moogle chirp. Walk left through the wall; there's a Save Moogle waiting. Heal and save, then continue left. Light both torches here and a glow will appear. Grab the accessory from it, then turn off the torch on the left. Go up the stairs in the back and proceed through the brief passage to the left side of the room. Light all three torches for a Venetia Shield (it's actually a glove), then turn off the middle torch. A staircase should appear in the middle of the room. Return to the right side of the room to get on.

   At the top of the stairs lies a long balcony. There should be an exclamation point at the end of it; if not, you didn't turn on the three murals earlier. Activate it to trigger a boss battle against the Varia Pira (or something like that). It's got a high physical defense, so use magical attacks that can't be Reflected (e.g. VIVI's later spells, Steiner's sword skills, Quina's Blue Magic, etc.). After you defeat it, check the exclamation spot again and a blue glow will appear in the middle of the balcony. Stand it in and trigger the exclamation mark.