This side quest involves tracking down some Cactuars in the Sanubia Desert to obtain the Mercury Sigil for Rikku’s Celestial Weapon, the Godhand.

The Cactuar Village side quest is much easier if you have armor with the No Encounters ability. Random encounters will drastically increase the amount of time and effort that the quest entails, and you should not attempt to complete it without obtaining this ability. Check out the No Encounters page in the Tips and Tricks section for more information on how to add this ability to your armor.

There are four separate areas of the Sanubia Desert. Press the or button to bring up the menu screen to find out which location you are in. The four locations are:

• Sanubia Desert - West
• Sanubia Desert - Central
• Sanubia Desert - East
• Oasis

You start at the Oasis, and as you travel further north, you will pass through each of the other areas in the order listed above.

Start by traveling to ‘Sanubia Desert - West,’ which is the area furthest away from the Oasis. Walk over to the stone glyph in front of the cliff to begin the “Village of the Cactuars” side quest.

You must approach each of the Cactuars and complete a mini-game once you find them. You will receive the Cactuar’s Sphere if you complete the mini-game or a Sphere del Perdedor if you lose.

Take whichever Sphere you receive back to the stone glyph in ‘Sanubia Desert - West.’ You do not need to complete each of the Cactuar mini-games to receive the Mercury Sigil at the conclusion.

Tomay

The glyph clue: Tomay’s Gone. Gone to fetch the water.

You can find Tomay in the Oasis near where you first land when you step off the Airship. You can use a Save Sphere to warp back up to the Airship and then travel down to Bikanel Island again to return to the Oasis.

Just run directly towards Tomay each time it turns to look away from you. Ten seconds is plenty of time.

Rovivea

The glyph clue: Rovivea’s gone walkabout.

You will find Rovivea in ‘Sanubia Desert - East.’ As soon as you enter from ‘Sanubia Desert - Central,’ you will see an area off to the west side that leads to an area where you previously found a chest. Rovivea is running around in this area.

The mini-game is the same as the one for Tomay.

Chava

The glyph clue: Little Chava likes big numbers.

Chava is in ‘Sanubia Desert - West,’ which is the same area as the glyph stone. There are two signs to the left of the glyph stones. Examine the second one to reveal Chava’s hiding place.

The mini-game for Chava is the same as the previous.

Alek and Aloja

The glyph clue: Alek and Aloja play tag in the ruins of men.

Alek and Aloja are located in ‘Sanubia Desert - Central.’ Make your way to the Save Sphere and head to the northwest. You will see the two of them running around between the ruins.

The mini-game that you play against Alek and Aloja is the same as the previous mini-games.

Vachella

The glyph clue: Vachella seeks the shining blue.

You can find Vachella near the Oasis at the start of the Sanubia Desert (‘Sanubia Desert - East’). Touch the Save Sphere under the ruins and the tent to make it appear.

The mini-game for Vachella is the same as the previous one, but it is much more difficult. It turns around quite a few times in succession right after its first “Needletime”. You will need to move in between each turn to make it before the timer runs out.

Robeya

The glyph clue: O, Robeya’s stuck inside.

Travel to ‘Sanubia Desert - Central’ and search inside the treasure chest on the far west side of the map.

The mini-game for Robeya is slightly different from the previous ones. There are three treasure chests along the pathway to Robeya. Starting with the treasure chest closest to Robeya, they contain a Blessed Gem (front-right), two Shining Gems (left), and two Shadow Gems (back-right).

You can keep the items even if you don’t complete the challenge, so you can make mistakes on the first and second trials to obtain the items if you wish. Making it to Robeya in 14.0 seconds is not too difficult.

Isrra

The glyph clue: A fiery inscription - The lord of the hole is gone. Isrra thinks.

You can find Isrra in ‘Sanubia Desert - West,’ which is the same area where you receive the clues; however, you must leave this area and re-enter it to make Isrra appear.

The mini-game is the same as the previous ones, but it’s much more difficult due to the length of time Isrra spends staring in Tidus’ direction. You must spend every available second running towards the Cactuar to make it in time. Note, though, that you can jump into the nearby hole and travel forward to make this mini-game much easier.

Elio

The glyph clue: Much-curious Elio has left on a journey.

Enter the Oasis area and follow Elio as it warps up to the Airship. You can use the Save Sphere in ‘Sanubia Desert - Central’ to warp to the Oasis; however, you will have to leave and re-enter the area to see the cinematic of Elio teleporting up. Elio hangs around on the deck.

The mini-game involving Elio has an added twist of a moving Airship to deal with. If you manage to reach Elio, it will jump off the Airship and leave you with Elio’s Sphere.

Flaile

The glyph clue: Flaile is always behind.

You do not have to search for Flaile. It just appears behind you as soon as you insert the last Sphere into the Cactuar glyph.

The mini-game for Flaile is the same as the previous ones; however, the “Needletime” messages and sounds do not correspond to its movements. Focus on when it turns and use only your vision to know when to stop and go.

Place the red Flaile Sphere inside the Cactuar glyph to complete the quest. The placement of this Sphere will cause the glyph to repeat all the clues back to you, and then the sand in the area behind the glyph will disappear.

There are two treasure chests in this area. The first chest contains the Mercury Sigil, which you can use to create the Celestial Weapon for Rikku, Godhand. The second treasure chest will contain a different prize depending on how many Cactuar quests you were able to complete successfully.

• If you completed 1 or 2, you will receive a Potion.
• If you completed between 3 and 6, you will receive an Elixir.
• If you completed 7 or 8, you will receive a Megalixir.
• If you completed 9 or 10, you will receive a Friend Sphere.