Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- is a ten-episode novella set after the events of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. It takes place after the game's ending and leads into the game's epilogue. It was released last year in Japan via Famitsu and Dengeki.

 

Since then, seven of the ten episodes have been translated into English which you can read here. I am excited to announce the amazing goldpanner is translating the missing three chapters. Please be excited.

 

Additionally, goldpanner has found through the early translations that this novella set was planned by the legendary Motomu Toriyama, who was of course the director of the Final Fantasy X and XIII series along with Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings & Blood of Bahamut and has also contributed to various other Square Enix titles since 1994 including Final Fantasy VII where he was behind the Cloud & Aerith romance. Daisuke Watanabe, the lead scenario writer of the Final Fantasy XIII series who has also written for many other Square Enix games including the Final Fantasy X series planned it with Toriyama and is also the writer.

I had no idea that this was a thing.  Thank you very much for this, this will be a perfect way to end my replay of the XIII saga.

I had no idea that this was a thing.  Thank you very much for this, this will be a perfect way to end my replay of the XIII saga.

Exacty the same, I had no idea that a continuation actually existed. Many thanks, Sora96.

This is SO awesome. When will the 3 missing chapters be ready? I MUST READ THEM!!!

This is SO awesome. When will the 3 missing chapters be ready? I MUST READ THEM!!!

 

When she has time. Can't wait.

When she has time. Can't wait.

*Sigh* Yet another thing to look forward to. -_-

Oh wow, this is pretty badass!  I haven't played Lightning Returns yet though, but I really need to play it at some point!  But I find it awesome that the series expands onto the pages of a novella!  It just helps with the world building of the XIII Universe, which is awesome!

Oh wow, this is pretty badass!  I haven't played Lightning Returns yet though, but I really need to play it at some point!  But I find it awesome that the series expands onto the pages of a novella!  It just helps with the world building of the XIII Universe, which is awesome!

 

Go play Motomu Toriyama's latest masterpiece!

Go play Motomu Toriyama's latest masterpiece!

Haha, I surely shall, soon enough!

If it's as disapointing as that FF-X audio drama, no thank you.

If it's as disapointing as that FF-X audio drama, no thank you.

 

Toriyama & Watanabe had nothing to do with it.

Toriyama & Watanabe had nothing to do with it.

The drama, or this novella?

The drama, or this novella?

 

The drama.

 

The Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster audio drama was written by Nojima with the idea of it by Nomura & Nojima.

 

The Final Fantasy XIII novella on this topic is written by Watanabe and was planned by Toriyama & Watanabe.

The amazing goldpanner has translated Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- #2 into English. This is almost certain to be the first ever English translation of this part. Written by Daisuke Watanabe, the lead scenario writer of Motomu Toriyama's Final Fantasy XIII series. You can read #2 below. This is Sazh's episode/chapter. goldpanner will be translating Nora and Serah's next. You can view the other chapters here. Make sure to give a big thanks to goldpanner below!

 

 

Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories-

 

#02 Sazh Katzroy

 

“When I think about it… I went through all that for Dajh’s sake.” 

– Sazh Katzroy

 

An earsplitting roar comes from behind me. In a moment the thing has flown over my head, parting the white clouds and soaring far off into the sky.

 

This is an airfield on the city outskirts. It’s not an airport for passenger planes, it is used for chartered planes belonging to individuals and media companies, and emergency rescue planes.  

 

There is a hangar with an open shutter. Inside, in the middle of a space large enough to fit a concert hall, a brand new airplane is parked. The silhouette of the fuselage is unfamiliar – the wings and body form a complex curve. It’s a new model craft still undergoing testing.

 

Standing there is my target. Perhaps preparing for his next flight, he is checking various areas on the body of the craft with a tool in one hand.

 

“Authorised personnel only, Miss,” he says, without even turning to me, continuing with his maintenance. He must have noticed the sound of my heels.

 

“It’s quite all right, I have a coverage permit.”

 

“Nice of them to go giving out permits,” he begins to grumble to himself, with an exaggerated sigh. “Even though this craft is a bundle of trade secrets. Ah well, ain’t my business if you’re a spy or something come to steal data on this here new model. I’m just the humble hired pilot. My job is flying the skies, spy management was not in my contract. Yo, Miss Spy, I’ll turn a blind eye if you like. If you get anything from selling the data, at least buy me a beer, yeah?”

 

Even as he makes these frivolous cracks, so light and unreserved, his hands don’t stop for a moment. The skill with which he moves through maintenance, swapping each tool for the next, looks like sleight of hand. According to what I found when I researched his personal history, he is remarkably skilled at flying, too, but I decide to pretend I don’t know and ask anyway.

 

“What a curious design this craft has. Can you really make it fly?”

 

“Yeah, this one flies, all right. She does look a little odd, I’ll give you that, but she’s got special features and then some. She follows my orders like a lamb, which makes her a real pleasure to fly.” He pauses. “Well now, I did used to fly something more fun, a long time ago.”

 

“I understand how you feel. Normal aeroplanes just don’t satisfy you, do they? What you really want to fly isn’t ‘aircrafts’, but ‘airships’, am I right?”

 

He snaps around to face me with enough force that his afro causes a gust of air.

 

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Sazh Katzroy.”

 

His eyes are wide and round with shock. Even his nostrils are flared.

 

(2) Sazh Katzroy

 

I explain the details behind my data collection – that so far I have listened to many people, gathering testimonies regarding the mysterious memories. The strange coincidences in those memories which relate to a world that does not exist in reality. The hypothesis that we, humankind, once lived in this ‘other world’. And how, since meeting Hope Estheim, I have come to believe in this hypothesis.

 

“I would like to hear what you have to say. Please, Mr. Katzroy.”

 

He smiles, showing me white teeth. “Sazh is fine. Guess if Hope’s referred you I can’t say no. Okay then, where do I start…”

 

Just then, a cheerful voice echoes through the hangar. “Hey, daddy!”

 

Sazh’s smile brightens as he notices the tiny boy running towards us, and he throws his arms out wide.

 

“Oof, what a strong attack! Even Daddy’s no match for you,” he says, laughing and hoisting the boy into his arms.

 

“What’s up, did you come by yourself today?”

 

“Uh-uh, with the lady.”

 

Sazh turns to me, muttering something like, is that so.

 

“This is my son, Dajh. Ain’t he the spitting image of me?” He pets his son’s matching hair with a faraway look in his eye. “When I think about it… I went through all that for Dajh’s sake.”

 

We could fight because we are human

 

Sazh invites me inside the aircraft. As the fuselage is still mid-testing there are experimental devices lined up inside, but there are also seats where we can sit and talk.

 

Dajh is in his own little world, playing pilot at the controls. He grips the joystick, corresponding with imaginary air traffic controllers over the radio.

 

Gazing at his son, who is fully enjoying his fantasy of flying the skies, Sazh begins to speak.

 

“Dajh was turned into a l’Cie, and there was nothing I could do but fight. Do you know what l’Cie are?”

 

“Beings bestowed with magic that humans don’t have… They lead a cursed existence, feared by the people, right?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much. l’Cie come in two kinds. You can roughly divide them into l’Cie who are trying to destroy the society we call Cocoon, and l’Cie who on the other hand are trying to protect society. But y’know, things ain’t good for either of ’em. When you become a l’Cie that’s it for you, you don’t get to go back to your normal life. Even the protector l’Cie don’t get treated like they’re human. When Dajh became a l’Cie, he was just six years old. When it happened, well. It wasn’t like we could just sit on our asses and cry.”

 

“I have heard that the attempts made by Sanctum of Cocoon to kill innocent citizens were also due to background fear of l’Cie.”

 

“Yeah, the Purge policy. I entered a Purge zone myself, helping Dajh after he got turned into a l’Cie. Meeting Lightning and the others there was the end of me. One thing led to another and I got tangled in something that ended up in me getting turned into a l’Cie myself. So then it was me and my son both, who would’a thought. We sure got the short straw…”

 

He speaks so casually of the difficult journey he had undergone. It seems like a painful past that anyone would rather not remember, but he peppers it with grumbling and jokes as though he is telling a funny story. I feel as though I now understand how this common pilot was able to survive such a cruel battle.

 

“No matter how heavy the reality is, you aren’t crushed, you can keep laughing – I’m sure that, your composed heart, is your strength, Mr. Sazh.”

 

“Stop it, you, I’m nowhere near that amazing. I can laugh now it’s over, that’s all. At the time I didn’t have a shred of composure. I was especially terrible to Vanille, poor thing. When I found out it was her fault that Dajh got turned into a l’Cie, I lost my head at her. I was even gonna kill her. In the end I couldn’t shoot her, though.”

 

“I think both those things – wanting to kill someone, not being able to do it – are very human reactions.”

 

“That’s a scary thing to say… But I think you’re right, really. We got turned into l’Cie, but we felt the stress because we are human, and we could fight because we are human. The fal’Cie who controlled the world were monsters, they were pretty much gods, and despite that we humans were the ones who won in the end.”

 

In the Palace of Pleasure

 

“May I ask you about what happened after the ending of the age of the fal’Cie?”

 

“You most certainly may, but I don’t really have anything worth saying. Didn’t Hope tell you anything about what happened to me after that?”

 

“He said that after your journey, Mr. Sazh, you went missing for two years…”

 

“Yeah, me and Dajh both. We were swallowed up along with the airship we were in by a tear in space and time, and we came flying out into some mighty strange place. Serendipity, it was called. Do you know it?”

 

“No… This is the first time I’ve heard of it. Phrases along the lines of ‘that world’ have come up often during my data collection so far, but this is the first time I’ve heard the name Serendipity.”

 

“Is that right. Well, I ain’t surprised that it’s so unknown, that place is kind of like another dimension, or maybe like having one foot in the realm of the dead.”

 

“What did you do in such a place?”

 

“Gambling. I couldn’t find Dajh, and got told that if I wanted to see him I oughta bet on the future. I was desperate, and I was not gonna mess around.”

 

“Separated from your son, and all alone….”

 

“I wasn’t alone, I had a fearsome ally. Someone who’d been with me since that first journey, a chocobo chick.”

 

“A chocobo chick… was a fearsome ally?”

 

“Oh yeah, she was the best. She didn’t help just me. I hear she gave Serah and Noel a whole lotta support on their travels, too.”

 

A chocobo chick, helping people? I can’t quite believe it, so I decide to put the topic aside for now.

 

Sazh’s story has arrived at the year AF500. The year that the old Cocoon fell, and the artificial Cocoon was raised. The conclusion of the travels of Lightning’s sister Serah, and Noel Kreiss.

 

The Torrent of Chaos

 

“I finally managed to get Dajh and we escaped Serendipity safe and sound, but something awful was happening to the world. The deluge of Chaos.” Chaos–the name of the enormous energy that they say fills the realm of the dead. It is a dangerous force that brings ruin and destruction, but as it had been sealed inside the realm of the dead, they say it hadn’t had much effect on the realm humanity resides in, until that point. “I heard about all this after the fact, but apparently the goddess Etro was the one who’d been holding the Chaos back. But then this piece of work called Caius Ballad tricked Serah and Noel, and destroyed the goddess Etro. With nothing to stop the Chaos, it came flooding into our world. And that started the age of destruction.”

 

“Please allow me to ask about that period. Mr. Hope told me about events up to the year AF500. I don’t know anything about what happened after the Chaos overflowed.”

 

“…Well, it ain’t a fun story.” A heaviness has crept into Sazh’s previously witty tone. “In the beginning, we had no idea how serious things actually were. I talked to Hope and Snow, Noel too, and we decided to go up against the Chaos. We thought if we worked together we could figure it out, we could weather this thing if we pushed ourselves one last time, something like that. My old ass aside, the youngsters were heroes, the lot of ’em. They had gone past the limits and pulled off miracles so many times before, we had a fire under us – if we stake our lives on it there’s nothing we can do! I didn’t just cheer ’em on, of course, I did what I could. I took down monsters that came from the Chaos regions more than once or twice. But, you know…” His words cut off. “I became useless,” he forces out. “Dajh went to sleep.”

 

Dajh, asleep

 

He says there was no warning. One night Dajh went to sleep as usual, and the next morning he didn’t wake up. He says that no matter how he called out or shook him, Dajh could not be wakened.

 

“I rushed to have a doctor look at him, but Dajh was the perfect picture of health. There was nothing physically wrong with him at all, but no matter what we did he wouldn’t wake up, like only his soul was frozen. Comatose, cause unknown. Hope was so worried, he had the toppest of top doctors investigate, but nobody could figure anything out. I had too much going on in my head. I couldn’t think about anything other than saving Dajh. I even stopped helping my friends with their work.”

 

“That’s… completely understandable. He’s your irreplaceable son, after all.”

 

“Before I knew it a year had gone by. Then two. Dajh kept sleeping, and I got more and more lost in my own head. ‘I don’t give a damn about the fight against the Chaos, If it’d help Dajh I’d even sell my soul to the Chaos’… That sort of thing.”

 

“Did you become estranged from all your friends, too?”

 

“Nah, those guys took good care of me. It was around then Hope rose up as the leader of the people, and was trying to make a system to fight the Chaos. Snow and Noel were putting their lives on the line to fight and protect the people. They had those huge tasks on their shoulders, and even then they found so many moments in their busy lives to come see how we were doing and encourage me. Come on pops, don’t give up, that sort of thing. I was so grateful. Too grateful to even… know how to handle it. Eventually I started to push them away.”

 

“So much kindness was too heavy… perhaps.”

 

“And they never once told me to act my age, you know. From then on I was pretty much a recluse. I went all around looking for a way to wake Dajh up, and when I couldn’t I despaired, and when I couldn’t take the despair I kept wandering… It was an endless cycle. I did that for years and years, and I lost all sense of time. It was sometime during that that Hope was ‘spirited away’.”

 

“Spirited away? Do you mean Mr. Hope went missing?”

 

“Apparently he left a certain message and suddenly vanished. I don’t really know the details myself. I was so fixated on things with Dajh I wasn’t paying attention to what was going on in the world… But I was aware that Hope getting spirited away marked the beginning of change in the world. It was around then that the teachings of the Order of Salvation began to spread. Vanille and Fang woke up, and a little girl named Lumina appeared. And then, finally, Lightning came back.”

 

“The ‘Saviour’, right? It’s a word I have heard many people say during my data collection so far.”

 

“Oh-ho, you sure have done your research.”

 

“However, I still do not know the fundamental details on this ‘Saviour’, such as what exactly they were. Everyone, myself included, has nothing but fragmentary recollections of it all. You people, however—” I can’t hold back my question. It’s weighed on me ever since I met Hope Estheim. “You and Mr. Hope and the others are special. You have clear memories of the things that took place in the ‘other world’. But we are different. Only hazy, vague memories remain. What sort of people were we, when we were in that other world… We can’t even remember our names. What is the difference? Were your memories so firmly engraved because you people, Mr. Sazh, fought so desperately, perhaps?”

 

“I wonder… Well, we did fight desperately, that’s for sure, but there’s no way we were the only ones. The citizens who got purged, the soldiers in the army, everyone was desperate.”

 

“Then what is the difference, I wonder? Is it the power of a l’Cie?”

 

“Sorry, I don’t really know myself. But, you know, your memories may be hazy now, but there might be something out there that could make you remember. Something that could answer for you what kind of person you were, I mean.”

 

After the interview, I try asking him about Lightning and Snow’s current whereabouts, but he replies that he doesn’t know.

 

I don’t know whether he truly doesn’t know, or whether he does and is hiding it. There’s also the possibility that he deemed my asking, stepping into the territory of their pasts and bringing up the memories of their painful struggle, too unpleasant. It seems that I will simply have to find them myself.

 

Suddenly, I sense someone coming in through the hatch of the aircraft.

 

Dajh, who was amusing himself playing at being a pilot, brightens like a switch has been flipped. “It’s the lady!” He must have known by the footsteps.

 

“Yep!” yells a long-haired woman, giving a joking salute. “Ready for a break~? You were all just dying to see me, weren’t you?”

 

I can’t really tell how old she is. She has a lively, youthful energy about her, but she also has a strangely grand presence.

 

“Dying to see you, my ass,” Sazh grumbles, but the woman of unknown age doesn’t pay any attention to him.

 

“Well now, Dajh, I bet you’re getting hungry! Let’s chart a course for dinner!”

 

“Roger that! All aboard!”

 

She leaves the craft with Dajh, playing around as they go.

 

Sazh sighs and looks at me, pulling a wry face, as though to say ‘thank heavens’.

 

It seems his troubles never end. And, he seems happy. I get the feeling he was able to have some warmth shared with him.

 

I state my thanks for his help with my data collection, and just as I have parted ways with him and am about to head back, I am stopped by a shout.

 

Of course, it is the woman of unknown age. She gives me a wide, meaningful grin, takes my hand, and presses something into it.

 

“Uh… What’s this?”

 

“Choco-boco-lina ♪” She gives me a thumbs up and a flashy wink, as though that is any sort of answer.

 

I have no clue what she is on about. I find my eyes dropping to the object I’ve been given.

 

It’s a small scrap of paper. Something has been written on it. An address, and what seems to be the name of a store. Perhaps it’s some sort of restaurant somewhere?

 

“Um, is this…?”

I raise my head, and the woman is gone. There’s only a cottony yellow feather, drifting gently in the air.

Edited November 18, 20159 yr by Sora96

Do you know when the next translation will be released? It's annoying to not have translated the first episodes... (I know that from 5 onwards are translated, but I would like to read them in order)

 

 

Anyways, thanks for sharing, Sora96!

Edited November 17, 20159 yr by Xamtehwt MC (Trece)

Do you know when the next translation will be released? It's annoying to not have translated the first episodes... (I know that from 5 onwards are translated, but I would like to read them in order)

 

 

Anyways, thanks for sharing, Sora96!

 

It's simply whenever she has time to translate. She does it all herself in her free time.

Thank you SO much!

I can't wait for the other missing 2.

The amazing goldpanner has translated Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- #3 into English. This is almost certain to be the first ever English translation of this part. Written by Daisuke Watanabe, the lead scenario writer of Motomu Toriyama's Final Fantasy XIII series. You can read #3 below. This is Nora's episode/chapter. goldpanner will be translating Serah's next. You can view the other chapters here with #2 here. Make sure to give a big thanks to goldpanner below!

 

 

 

 

 

Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories-

 

#03 Get Back (Nora)

 

“NORA is even stronger than the army!”

 

All that was written on the scrap of paper she—the unidentified woman I had met alongside Sazh Katzroy—had given me was something which appeared to be the name of a store and its location.

 

I had never heard of it. A cafe restaurant establishment came up when I looked it up, but to me it only looked like the kind of joint you could find anywhere. It wasn’t even in any guidebooks or the like. I couldn’t see anything special about it from the photograph.

 

So, I have decided to go and see it with my own eyes.

 

I take a plane to a beach in the far south. I know it is haphazard of me to make a data collection trip on the basis of one questionable note, without any guarantee of being able to meet anyone. However, for some reason, I cannot curb the feeling that I have to go there.

 

At the airport there I climb into a taxi and give the name of the restaurant. The driver looks surprised. Apparently it’s a little-known local treasure. They tell me that most of the patrons there live nearby, and that it’s rare for non-local tourists and travellers such as myself to visit.

 

“The food can’t be argued with though.” It seems the taxi driver is a regular patron, too.

 

We drive along the coast for a while, and arrive at a cafe that faces the water. The name of the place is NORA House.

 

(3) Get Back

 

The restaurant is neither too crowded nor too empty, and the patron’s friendly chatter creates a pleasant atmosphere. Just as the taxi driver had told me, the patrons seem to be mainly local regulars. They appear to be familiar with the staff, too, creating a ring of casual conversations across the various tables.

 

I have no idea which dishes are good, so I try ordering the ‘NORA Special’.

 

When I have finished eating, I am bewildered.

 

It had tasted great. I can’t believe that this place isn’t famous. I wouldn’t sincerely compare it to a full course at a first-class restaurant, but as something meant to be enjoyed while listening to the sound of the waves, the flavour had been exceptional.

 

It was a stripped-down, honest taste. A nostalgic taste.

 

Yes, nostalgic.

 

But… more than simply nostalgic.

 

—What? What is this feeling?

 

I can’t properly put into words the sensation welling up mistily in my chest.

 

“I’m sorry, was it not to your liking?”

 

A young waiter has come over and is apologising to me. It seems that my expression had turned sour as I was lost in thought.

 

“Oh no,” I deny, flustered. “It was absolutely delicious.”

 

The young man, who has blue hair, seems relieved. “I’m glad… To tell you the truth, I was kinda worried. You’re not from here, are you, ma’am? Our food has a very ‘local’ taste, so I wasn’t really sure how people not from around here would find it.”

 

“No, I enjoyed it very much, thank you. It’s a rather nostalgic taste, I think. It aroused a little homesickness, perhaps I could say, or it reminded me of my hometown. It’s not a taste I’d expect from something I was trying for the first time.”

 

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realise.

 

No, that hadn’t been the first time.

 

I know this taste. I’ve had it many times before.

 

I remember the taste of the food at this restaurant.

 

There’s no mistaking it, it’s the taste of her cooking.

 

—Her? How do I know it’s a ‘her’?

 

What was the name of this shop, again? I had felt nothing at the name when I first saw the note in question.

 

But, now that I’ve brushed with this flavour, the fact that the name holds a special meaning rises up in my memory.

 

NORA House—’NORA’.

 

Now that I am thinking about it, I have heard that word before. It has appeared in several testimonials during my data collection so far. However, compared to keywords such as ‘Purge’ and ‘l’Cie’ that affected society in general it is a minor term by far, so I’d put it away in the back of my mind.

 

It is a word I’d forgotten. A memory I’d nearly lost.

 

“Ma’am, are you okay?” The blue-haired waiter is staring at me worriedly. I had sunk into silence.

 

I remember him. Back then, in the midst of the chaos of the battlefield, he had forced down the fear of death and kept his rifle steady. To encourage the people around him, and to raise his own spirits, he had cried out, “NORA is even stronger than the army!”

 

—What is this memory?

 

The roar of the ocean resounds from outside the window. A place deep in my head is going numb. Memories are breaking, one by one, like waves. The world is going dark.

 

“What on earth are you feeding the customers to make them pass out?” says a deep voice from beyond the darkness. From the voice alone I can tell it’s a man of great physical stature. “You didn’t use any spoiled stuff now, did you?”

 

“If I did, I’d serve it straight to you!” returns a headstrong-sounding voice. It’s a woman. “Hey, Yuj, how had she been, do you remember? Did she look unwell?”

 

“No, she didn’t,” comes the voice of the waiter. Oh yes, his name had been Yuj. “She ate everything on her plate, too.”

 

“I’d hate to think it was my cooking, though… Gadot, let’s take her to the hospital. Come with me.”

 

“Okay. I’ll take her out, first. Lebreau, you close up shop before we go.”

 

I am aware of my body rising up. The man named Gadot has picked me up easily.

 

I come to my senses.

 

The ocean is spread out before me. It seems as though I had passed out inside the restaurant and have been laid down on a deck chair on the terrace facing the shore.

 

“How are you feeling?” asks the big man who had gently lifted me and taken me to the deck chair. His voice is incongruously kind.

 

“I… feel a great deal better. I think I am fine, now.”

 

The three of them look relieved.

 

The muscular giant is Gadot.

 

The blue-haired waiter is Yuj.

 

And, the black-haired woman is Lebreau. It is her flavour that I remember.

 

Suddenly, I need to see something.

 

“Um, is Mr. Maqui not in today?” I ask.

 

“No, he’s out scrounging for parts at the junk shop—” Gadot notices it before he finishes his sentence. Lebreau and Yuj both turn pale. “You! How do you know Maqui!?”

 

Because I remembered.

 

In that world called Cocoon, whether it is a past life or an alternate universe still unclear, I had met these people.

 

In the tragedy where innocent people were exiled upon order from their leaders and had their lives taken in attacks by the army—the upheaval of the Purge—a group of young people were there, fighting desperately. They were called ‘NORA’, and, despite not being professional soldiers, picked up arms and took lead in fighting the army for the sake of the townspeople. The members of NORA resisted the army’s attacks and escaped to the no-man’s-land of inner Cocoon with the survivors.

 

These three and Maqui were the core members of that group. During the days spent in hiding in that harsh environment, each of them held the people up in their own particular way—Gadot with his indomitable fighting spirit, Lebreau with her good character and cooking, Yuj with his heartfelt consideration, and Maqui with his excellent engineering skills.

 

I was one of those people whom they held up and protected.

 

I reveal the details of my data collection so far: that I am pursuing people’s memories regarding the world in which Cocoon existed. That I’ve met with Hope and Sazh. What I realised while speaking with Yuj.

 

“I’ve remembered you. You’re the reckless journalist who sneaked in to expose the reality of the Purge, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes. I nearly lost my life, but you all saved me. And after that, when we were on the run, thanks to everything you did I was able to protect the footage I’d taken of the Purge monstrosity.”

 

“Awww! I remember too! You’re the one who blew the lid on the Sanctum and the fal’Cie’s lies by playing the footage of the Purge! You teamed up with Maqui to hack the broadcast, didn’t you?” It seems as though Gadot has remembered.

 

“And you definitely popped into New Bodhum to see us after the fall, didn’t you?” It appears Lebreau has, too. “I have a feeling you ate my food lots of times. I’m so sorry, you’re by no means a stranger and yet I forgot all about you.”

 

I should be the one saying that. “I myself forgot. Not just about you people, but about myself, too. Up until now I had no idea what sort of person I was when I lived in ‘that world’. But the taste of the food at this restaurant made me remember. Who I was, I mean…”

 

“You mean my cooking can cure amnesia? Is that an honour, I wonder?”

 

“It was probably more like shock treatment. Since it tastes so shocking.”

 

“Excuse you, Gadot, would you like to run that by me one more time?”

 

“Uh… Well…”

 

While Gadot’s huge figure cringes, somebody comes clattering over.

 

“I’m back! What are you all so excited about?”

 

“Hey, Maqui. Your timing is terrible. You’re interrupting something.”

 

“Nooo, you have perfect timing. You saved my ass.”

 

“…You lost me.”

 

Yuj, who had been listening in silence, exchanges a look with me, and shrugs as though this is old hat for him. It seems that this is how it is all the time.

 

That’s right. These silly exchanges happened back then, too. During our harsh lives on the run, chased by the army and wandering remote areas, they always made trifling conversation with us and made us laugh with them, as though to give us back the ordinary, peaceful lives that had been stolen from us.

 

We reminisce as kindred spirits as though it is the most natural thing in the world, and I also gain some helpful information.

 

“I remember you,” says Maqui, when I am leaving. “Back then you were… Ms. ‘Aoede’, right?”

 

I give a firm nod. It’s different name from who I am now. But, it is definitely my name.

 

I can now remember everything. My former self was named ‘Aoede’, born and raised in Cocoon, and witness to the moment the Sanctum crumbled after the Purge policy riots. I saw with my own eyes the end of the age of the care and rulership of the fal’Cie, and I saw with my own eyes the beginning of the AF period, where humanity tackled the restoration of civilisation under our own strength.

 

And, now I have been born again, and am living in this world.

 

I want to give my thanks to the unidentified woman who told me about this restaurant. Without her guidance I would not have encountered that flavour, and I am sure my memories would not have returned. I have decided: this is how I will continue on from here. No matter how tiny or vague the information, if my instincts tell me something, I will pursue it right to the end.

 

That said, the information I have gained at this restaurant is not vague. I have information on someone with intimate knowledge of the battle concerning the ‘other world’. Lebreau told me in confidence the whereabouts of Lightning’s younger sister, Serah Farron.

 

Amazing! Thanks for letting us know all about this, Sora96!

The amazing goldpanner has translated Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- #4 into English. This is almost certain to be the first ever English translation of this part. Written by Daisuke Watanabe, the lead scenario writer of Motomu Toriyama's Final Fantasy XIII series. You can read #4 below. This is Serah's episode/chapter.  You can view the other chapters here with #2 here and #3 here. Make sure to give a big thanks to goldpanner below!

 

 

Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories-

 

#04 Serah Farron

 

“Ever since I was little, my big—my elder sister did everything for me.”

 

The perpetual snow on the rocky mountain peak drips water droplets that eventually become a clear stream that sustains the mountain flowers. The rapids, which crash into several waterfalls as they rush down the gorge, are tempered as they are caught by the pockets of deep forest, and discover stillness in deep, dark pools in the shade of the trees. The stream breaks out of the forest and crosses the plains, skirting around hills, and when it arrives at the fields, the current is nothing but gentle. That river, bringing the blessing of the earth to the people, is just over there.

 

This town, which is situated on the bank of the river, has prospered through trade since long ago. There is a university that boasts several centuries of history, famous for a library that holds a collection of books numbering in the tens of thousands.

 

Apparently the establishment was originally a library that became a university afterwards. According to legend, a particular aristocrat, obsessed with collecting historical documents, bought up all the old documents that he could get his hands on, from ancient maps to handwritten drafts and letters. He invested vast amounts of treasure into set after set of valuable books, and scholars began to visit him, seeking such information. They engaged in vigorous debate, polishing their scholarly principles and theories, and when young people heard rumours of this, they gathered to ask for lessons, and before long a university had formed.

 

Apparently, however, the aristocrat died in bankruptcy.

 

His complete absorption in the collection, to the point of the ruin of his health, could perhaps be blamed on the fickle river. The flow of the stream is like time itself. It seems unchanging, and the water flowing by is always new—what has gone by never returns. As lonesome as one may think this is, the flow of the river cannot be stopped. And, time and rivers alike both relentlessly wash away that which is old and that which we miss. Time makes us forget the past, and the years steal away even our lives. Perhaps the aristocrat, living on the bank of the river, understood the ruthlessness of time, and, wanting to save for the world even just a little of that which was disappearing, became infatuated with the act of collecting.

 

If so, then perhaps I too—unusually obsessed with the memories of ‘that world’ that are lost in the reaches of time, continuing to gather data so that I may record them—am no different from him.

 

(4) Serah Farron

 

I had arranged to meet Serah Farron in a cafe near the library. We had corresponded regarding my background and the aim of my data collection ahead of time, but before we begin the interview, there’s something I want to say to her.

 

“So far, I have interviewed many people and collected data on their memories of ‘that world’. Most people don’t remember anything. For those who do, it is only fragmentary. I myself also had vague memories, but… they were like a faint dream. They didn’t feel real.”

 

Serah, who has been listening, seems as though she understands what I am trying to say. “But not any more… Yes. After listening to what Hope and Mr Sazh had to say, and meeting everyone from NORA, you changed.” I had told her everything that has happened so far. 

 

“Yes, my memories gradually came back. I remembered what kind of person I had been. I was a citizen of Cocoon, just starting out as a reporter. I exposed the truth covered up by the government—the reality of the Purge policy—and ended up on the run from the army, but I was saved by everyone from NORA. That isn’t a dream or a delusion, it is a ‘reality’ I actually experienced in the past. I must have lived in that world.” This is what I have been wanting to say to her: “Ms Serah, you saved the world. I lived in that world. Thank you so very much for fighting to protect us.”

 

When I met Mr Hope and heard that they had saved the world, it had still felt like some distant affair. But, the return of my memories made me see. They hadn’t fought to protect some unrelated far-off land, it was the very world I myself had lived in. They saved me—I became able to feel this in my heart. I had felt I must express my gratitude.

 

Serah gives a wry, distant smile. “Me, save the world? Well, I don’t know…” It doesn’t seem like she’s merely being modest, she seems honestly awkward. “People were looking after me the entire time. Ever since I was little, my big—my elder sister did everything for me,” mumbles Lightning’s younger sister, looking down.

 

The cursed l’Cie, enemies of humanity

 

The sisters had lost both their parents early in life. Lightning, the older sister, joined the army and supported their two-person family. Serah, the younger sister, met Snow Villiers while she was a high school student, and began a friendship with him around the same time she decided to continue onto tertiary education.

 

“My big sister wasn’t very happy about it. She thought Snow and the others in NORA were an irresponsible lot. Well, Snow certainly was a little rough… But, I’m sure if she had just talked to him properly, she would have understood right away.”

 

“You didn’t have time for that, though. You unfortunately came into contact with a fal’Cie, and were turned into a cursed l’Cie.”

 

“That’s right… I became the enemy of everyone living in Cocoon, of humanity. I had absolutely no desire to harm Cocoon, of course. But…”

 

Even if she held no malice, the general public of Cocoon saw l’Cie as hostile, and tried to eliminate them. The surge of the people’s emotions in their near-blind fear of l’Cie had shaken society and led to the tragedy of the Purge policy.

 

And then, in the middle of the Purge war, time stopped for her. Right before the eyes of her elder sister Lightning and her fiance Snow, she transformed into a crystal statue and went to sleep.

 

That was the beginning of the battle that changed the society called Cocoon forever. Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Hope and Vanille, who had been watching the instant Serah fell asleep, and later Fang, despite clashing fought their destiny. In the end, when they saved Cocoon from destruction, Serah was released from her crystal sleep.

 

However, when Serah awoke, the world had warped in a new way. Lightning had disappeared.

 

Through time, distorted

 

“I heard that when you were revived from the crystal, you were told that Lightning had died.”

 

“Everyone thought… that she had sacrificed herself to stop the collapse of Cocoon. But I just couldn’t believe it. I could remember very clearly that my big sister had smiled at me and given my engagement to Snow her blessing when I woke from the crystal. But, I was the only one who did.”

 

“In reality, your memories were correct, Ms Serah, and it was everyone else’s and the history of the world that had been distorted. Your elder sister was not dead, she was imprisoned in another world, Valhalla. When you realised the truth you made up your mind to put the world back onto the correct history, yes?”

 

“I wasn’t thinking quite that deeply, at first. Noel was the one who kickstarted me. He and Mog came and gave me a message from my sister… and I just rushed off because I would have done anything to see her,” Serah recites, in a soft voice. “And after that, too, it was thanks to Noel pulling me along that I was able to continue the journey.” She gives a reserved shrug. “Yeah, like I said, I was relying on people the entire time.”

 

She speaks of her journey in which she repaired the history of the world spanning several hundred years. If the flow of time is like a river, then that situation was one where the ground had been warped by a great force, changing the current. Serah and her friends had flattened the rocky outcrops that were stopping up the flow and dammed up places that were flooding in an attempt to return the river to the original flow.

 

It is an unbelievable series of events, but it’s the gentleness of her tone that makes me believe it’s the truth.

 

Gate. Paradox. Artefact. Fragment—these were things that defied the laws of space and time. The power of the Farseers, who could divine the future. The seeress who repeated life and death infinitely, Yeul, and the old enemy who threw the world into disorder trying to save her, Caius Ballad.

 

At the end of the journey, Serah lost her life.

 

“And then my big sister protected me again. I died, but she held my soul and protected it. It turned her to crystal.”

 

“The two of you were together then, right?”

 

“Well… I spilled out somehow. At some point I was separated from her. I was asleep, so I couldn’t have noticed when it happened.”

 

Special beings

 

“Do you and the others have things you can’t remember, too?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I lived in ‘that world’, too. As a reporter in Cocoon, my name was ‘Aoede’. However, those memories only returned very recently. The level I previously remembered things at was merely vague scenes. I wasn’t the only one. I have conducted a great deal of data collection on that world, and not a single person can remember their own name—save for you and the others. Are you and the others special beings who can remember everything from that world?”

 

“No, we aren’t. I’d forget my own head if it wasn’t screwed on… and I’m nobody special. You remembered too, didn’t you? Your name and your experiences from that world, you remember them properly now. In that case, maybe you’re not the only one whose memories could come back someday if the right chance comes along.”

 

“Perhaps the key lies with the existence of you and your friends. I believe my memories returned thanks to the data I was able to collect from all of you starting with Mr Hope. That is why I want to continue to collect data from you and the others about the things that happened in that world, and find out as much as I can.”

 

“…What are you going to do with what you find out?”

 

“I want to put it into one story and release it to the public. Listening to you all brought my memories back. In the same way, perhaps if I spread the story of that world, then it’s possible that more people could regain their memories and—”

 

“Wait, please.” Serah’s voice, while not loud, has taken on a clear and unprecedented edge. “Remembering that world might actually cause pain to people. It could bring back bad memories, or… if they get stuck on memories of an old world that doesn’t even exist any more, what if it holds them back from the life they are living now?”

 

Her words pierce my chest. It feels as though she is talking about me. Am I, fixated on and engrossed in chasing memories of a lost world and obsessed with the past, sacrificing my life?

 

As though she has read my mind, Serah smiles sadly. “We do, after all. I remember that world. There are things I wish I could forget, but there are joys I suffered to gain, too, so in the end all my memories are important. I’m glad I can look back at them. But thanks to those memories we can only ever be who we were in the old world. Sometimes I feel distanced from this new world, you know?”

 

“Then, is it meaningless to try to know about that world? If I would have been happier forgetting about a bygone past, then I—”

 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t criticising you. I’m sure you have it harder than me. You had the memories of another life suddenly returned to you when you were already living with your feet on this world. You’re wavering between the memories of two worlds—maybe you’re the real special being here.”

 

Night has nearly fallen by the time the interview draws to a close. Parting with Serah Farron, I linger on the banks of the river that flows through the town, the night breeze crossing the surface calming my thoughts. Despite the lights of the town, the current is dark and deep. The river at night is deep black throughout as it flows off into the dark distance.

 

Was my data collection meaningless?

 

If the flow of the river is like time itself, then perhaps the way I’ve acted, chasing after memories of an age now gone, of a world that no longer exists, is as foolish as trying to scoop out river water that has long since flowed into the sea. Is that water now undrinkable salt water, no matter how you try to take it back?

 

But, Serah had told me something.

 

I don’t know… what following the memories of that world means in this world.

 

But, you are different. You remembered that world while living in this one. I think someone like you will be able to find a meaning that’s right for you.

 

I hope you can find everything out.

 

So, I will resolve myself. It seems like she understood, too. When we parted, she had shaken my hand firmly, and told me the whereabouts of Snow Villiers.

Edited December 4, 20159 yr by Sora96