"What do you mean?" asked Relm, puzzled.
"Remember the gold statues in the Gathering Place of the Espers?" Strago responded.
"Yeah..." Relm replied, unsure.
"On them was inscribed the legend of the Goddesses. I don't know how closely you looked at them..."
Strago continued. "The statues always argued. Humans who were unfortunate enough to come between them were transformed into Espers. Finally, in a rare moment of mutual clarity, they agreed to turn each other to stone."
"But how do you know they're alive?" asked Celes.
"The second part to this legend, however uncertain it may be, tells of the Goddesses' spell. The spell was a final haven for them...
"It not only turned them to stone, it ensured the balance between magic and the world would be maintained. When Kefka drained their magic, he controlled the balance. We could destroy the statues then because Kefka would still have this power.
"However, we then destroyed Kefka. The spell didn't cover him... The power couldn't be transferred to anyone else, because no one was left who had magic. The Goddesses were revived. They are wreaking havoc on this world from beyond the Sealed Gate."
"Strago... The Esper Phoenix was talking to me when I held it. It said what was beyond the Sealed Gate provided it with its power," Celes said.
"Celes, that piece of magicite may help Locke if we bring it with us. However, it may bring us to an early grave..."
"What do you mean?" asked Relm.
"Relm, that magicite was once one of the most powerful. However, it is one of the oldest. Those deep cracks are from millenia of use of its powers."
"What does that have to do with anything?" questioned Relm.
"I was just getting to that. The deep cracks require immense healing. That is a power now possessed only by the Goddesses. To heal it now, we will have to ask one of them to heal it.
"That would revive the magicite... and possibly the Esper with it."