Disc 3 opens with Squall lamenting about what has happened and the coma-like condition of Rinoa following Edea's defeat. Quistis will tell you to head for Edea's House to meet with their former Matron. Before we continue on, since we're on a new disc, there are a couple of extra things to do.
On the left-side path through the Training Center, there is now a Weapons Monthly July magazine discarded on the ground you can claim.
If you check on NORG, you will find that whatever was inside his "cocoon" has hatched and escaped. Two Shumi Village residents are also here to apologize for the things NORG had done. If you talked to the guy in the boat outside the inn in Fishermans Horizon earlier on, he will have mentioned that Shumis eventually "evolve" which must have been the case with NORG. Unfortunately, this is never followed up on, but is interesting.
With Zell in our party, we need to make our way back to Balamb Town. At the entrance of town, you should see a female NPC walking towards the group. If you speak with her, she will mention to Zell that a girl stopped by his house looking for him. At the Dincht's residence, talk to Zell's mom who tells you that nobody has been here. Finally, stay at the Balamb Hotel and afterwards the Pigtailed Girl will give Zell a Combat King 003 magazine that teaches him the limit break, Meteor Barret.
Remember we needed to wait until disc 3 to obtain better items from the bone painting side-quest in Dollet? We can finally complete it now. If you haven't visited Dollet and started it yet, there will be a kid standing outside his home on one of the Dollet backstreets. Follow him inside and watch the scene with his grandfather and it will begin. The object is to find the location in Dollet where the kid painted the bone on his grandfather's painting. This is easy since a dog will always be waiting at that exact spot. You can find the dog just to the right of the fountain outside the inn. Once you search near the dog, you will find an X-Potion.
Return to the grandfather's house and there will be a new painting and bone. The dog is, this time, located outside of the pub. Here you will receive a Mega-Potion.
Lastly, back to the house and one more painting and bone. You don't have to go far for this one: the dog is right outside the house. Search and Squall will pick up an Elixir. Follow the grandfather inside and this small quest is complete; although we will be visiting these two again later on.
If you drop by Deling City, although there is nothing tangible to obtain, you will find that Seifer is Galbadia's leader now and a new Sorceress, Ultimecia, has appeared. Another reason I am bringing you to Deling City is: we are about to be cut off from the world for a period of time and you need at least six Steel Pipe items in your inventory to obtain a GF soon. You can easily steal them from Wendigos on the world map outside.
One final note before we proceed to Edea's House. Now that you have Alexander, begin learning its Med Data ability. This will unlock Med LV Up to learn, which will be required for not only a good amount of rare recovery items, but to obtain the before-mentioned Guardian Force, as well.
When you first enter the interior of Edea's House, you will see Cid emerge and can pick up another Timber Maniacs magazine on the ground nearby. Talk to Cid to be taken out to the back of the House where Edea is.
Edea will explain the situation to the party: She undertook the powers of Sorceress Ultimecia to protect Ellone from falling into her hands. With Ellone's unique powers to send others back to the past, Ultimecia hopes to achieve her goal of time compression.
Make absolutely sure that you talk with Edea and Cid until they have no more left to say. By doing this, you will pick up the Esthar (1), Esthar (2), Time Compression, and Great Hyde portions of the tutorial/information section of the main menu. If you don't get them now, they will be lost for the remainder of the game.
Edea is also the holder of her own card. Be careful though, the Random rule is in effect in this region, so make sure to save beforehand. If you still haven't gotten the Seifer card from Cid, you now have another chance for this, also.
Head back to the infirmary to check on Rinoa and Ellone will take you back to Laguna's time, once again...
Surprisingly, the game will allow you to pick which characters fall into the dream world with Squall this time. Note: if you have visited Shumi Village and gotten the Timber Maniacs magazine there, Ward will not be apart of this dream, which is why I generally wait until later to visit there; although, it's not important either way.
The group is taking part in a movie to make some quick Gil. Kiros and Ward will be asked to put on a Ruby Dragon costume to play a part, but a real Ruby Dragon will appear and Laguna will have to defend himself in another frustrating mini-game battle. Just hammer the attack button and when the dragon rears back, attempt to hit the defend button; which Laguna will rarely do in time. There's no penalty for retrying, so just do the best you can: it took me about eight times to do it, myself.
Kiros and Ward will join up with Laguna to battle the Ruby Dragon, but have Laguna select to "hold on" and you will be out in the Trabia Canyon area and can adjust your junctions, fight random battles, and save your game, if you'd like. There are only Bite Bugs and Mesmerizes to be found, although the screen where the Ruby Dragon is, you can find Gaylas and Ochus.
You probably thought you were about to fight a Ruby Dragon on the level of the ones in the Centra forests, but this one is severely under-leveled and you should be able to drop it with ease. Make sure to steal a few Inferno Fangs from it, if you haven't gotten any yet.
You'll see a scene at the orphanage involving Laguna and Edea, afterwards. Laguna had come looking for Ellone at the orphanage, but she had already been taken to Esthar.
When Squall awakens from the dream, he decides to seek out Ellone and if she can help Rinoa. Return to Edea's House and she will give you the Sorceress' Letter item and direct you to the White SeeD Ship that is more-than-likely hidden somewhere around the Centra continent.
As seen in the screenshot above, the White SeeD Ship is located in a cove almost directly north of Edea's House, but you'll have to do some maneuvering with the Garden to get to it.
Onboard the Ship, the party will get a rather lukewarm reception and nobody wants to talk about Ellone. You will then be reunited with Zone and Watts, from the Timber Owls much earlier in the game. Zone will be furious with Squall for having not protected Rinoa and will run off, but Watts will supply the party with some useful information. If you didn't get the Angelo card from Watts back on disc 1, you need to win it from him now. The White SeeD Ship is only available to visit for a limited amount of time.
Upstairs, in the wheelhouse, there is a Timber Maniacs magazine on the floor to pick up. If you don't get it now, you won't be able to return here later and it will become missable.
Remember that Girl Next Door magazine you picked up at the Timber Maniacs building near the beginning of the game? If you talk with Zone a few times, he will ask Squall for it. If you give it to him, you will receive a Rename Card and the Shiva playing card. However, be warned, you will lose the Girl Next Door item from your inventory and you can get the Shiva card elsewhere on disc 4. Personally, I'm keeping the magazine for completion, but you make your own decision.
Talk to the White SeeD Leader, who shall remain nameless, in the cabin below the ship. Squall will hand over Edea's Letter to him and he will reveal that Ellone, willingly, left with a ship from Esthar. Back at the Garden, Squall will determine that our next destination is Esthar, but Quistis and Xu are skeptical that it can be reached with the Garden, however, there use to be a railway that ran from Fishermans Horizon to Esthar...
You can either pilot the Garden to FH or visit Rinoa in the infirmary, either way, Squall will attempt to take Rinoa to Esthar by himself.
On the way, Squall will reminisce about himself and how he has changed since meeting Rinoa.
Your fellow party members, Edea included, will be waiting for Squall and Rinoa at the Esthar station to join him on the trip. Edea, having business with Dr. Odine in Esthar, will now temporarily join your party, much like Seifer did at the beginning of the game.
Edea's level will, likely, be way lower than the rest of the party and, unless like me, plan to use a Gameshark to have her for the entirety of the game, you probably shouldn't use her much. Like Seifer, she does have a place in the character report, though, and you have a chance to add some kills to her character while she is with you, if you'd like. Edea's Ice Strike limit break is based on her Magic stat, just for reference. Shouldn't her weapon be "Astral Punch" instead of "None", though? I mean, that's the attack she used against you in battle, but anyway...
Outside on the world map now, search the barrier on the railway for a hidden Curaga draw point.
Then, a Tornado draw point is hidden in the mountains to the northwest of the Esthar station.
The Great Salt Lake dungeon will lie between you and Esthar.
The only encounters in this area are Vysage and his friends, Lefty and Righty. If you didn't visit Winhill, this will likely be your first encounter with them. You can steal Lightweights from Vysage, Rune Armlets from Righty, and Life Rings from Lefty. It's also recommended you summon Siren at the beginning of the battle to inflict them all with silence to prevent being bombarded with magic.
Climb the dragon remains up the right-hand-side near the entrance and you will find a Meteor draw point that is hidden. Cross the bone-spine bridge to the next area and have Squall and party jump off the ledge. In the next area, take a right to a save point, then the left path to a boss fight.
Abadon is another simple boss. You can just outright kill him by casting Life or using an X-Potion, since he's undead. He has a Power Wrist item to steal, but he also can drop ten Flare Stones upon defeat. You'll be able to buy Power Wrists soon, but have to refine Flare Stones, so you decide which one you want to obtain. When Abadon stands up tall, note that his defense will rise immensely, and it's recommended you use this time to stock Flare magic from him. In his normal position, Curaga, Ifrit, and Alexander are your best choices for damage, if you wish to give him a fair fight.
Have Squall search the staticky wall afterwards and a chute and ladder will be revealed...Inside, you can check the control panel that will explain how Esthar uses camouflage to hide itself from the world, not that the static wouldn't give it away, or anything.
The party will find themselves out on an elevator where the glory of Esthar will finally be unveiled. However, upon arriving at the entrance, the party (Edea excluded) is once again taken into the dream world.
