tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70420493428731547032024-03-21T20:56:33.864-07:00a little microchu's meadowhome of mecorx's translations and thoughtsmecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-89773574259724247272019-11-17T20:30:00.002-08:002019-11-17T20:31:58.500-08:00Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega Novella TranslationHoly crap, it's finally done!
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TqAq_CpKTp3anFU3fmwoVLFWVYyY0_yYrmv7nVnZ0lU">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TqAq_CpKTp3anFU3fmwoVLFWVYyY0_yYrmv7nVnZ0lU/</a>mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-18969051812992138282014-05-13T05:26:00.001-07:002014-06-11T20:11:38.966-07:00Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yay! This project is finally finished! I apologize for the long wait. Also, I would like to express my thanks </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">to everyone who has contributed to this project in some way, shape or form!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although parts of the translations for this book were done by Hakurou of Gamefaqs, I have posted all of the parts here for the sake of completion. I hope he does not mind... The sections translated by him are specifically noted below. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As usual, most of the translation has not been proofread, so there may be grammatical errors, typos and other wording issues. If you find any of these errors and feel like letting me know, please place a comment in the corresponding </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Doc version of the chapter listed at the end </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please also feel free to post comments and suggestions below!</span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Original Concept: Toriyama Motomu, Watanabe Daisuke</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Author: Eishima Jun</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Translated by: Hakurou of Gamefaqs, mecorx</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-6f118f57-c5f5-aad2-5917-c706e1010bfb"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scans: </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">roxas9001 of Gamefaqs, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anleva and Dapling</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Chapter 1 - Overtura AF3</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-1-overtura-af3.html">Part 1</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Chapter 2 - prayer & wish</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-2-prayer-wish.html">Part 1</a> (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Translated by Hakurou.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Chapter 3 - Intermezzo AF200</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-3-intermezzo-af200.html">Part 1</a> (Translated by Hakurou.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Chapter 4 - will & choice</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-4-will-choice-part-1.html">Part 1</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-4-will-choice-part-2.html">Part 2</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-4-will-choice-part-3.html">Part 3</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-4-will-choice-part-4.html">Part 4</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-4-will-choice-part-5.html">Part 5</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Chapter 5 - Intermezzo AF400</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-5-intermezzo-af400.html">Part 1</a></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chapter 6 - back & reverse</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-6-back-reverse-part-1.html">Part 1</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-6-back-reverse-part-2.html">Part 2</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-6-back-reverse-part-3.html">Part 3</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-6-back-reverse-part-4.html">Part 4</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-6-back-reverse-part-5.html">Part 5</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Chapter 7 - Intermezzo AF500</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-7-intermezzo-af500.html">Part 1</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chapter 8 - memory & hope</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-8-memory-hope-part-1.html">Part 1</a> (Pages 190-195 Translated by Hakurou.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-8-memory-hope-part-2.html">Part 2</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-8-memory-hope-part-3.html">Part 3</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-8-memory-hope-part-4.html">Part 4</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-8-memory-hope-part-5.html">Part 5</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chapter 9 - Coda</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://mecorx.blogspot.com/2014/05/chapter-9-coda.html">Part 1</a> (Translated by Hakurou.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Archived on Google Documents</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LNS9CuZTW6toqhHXBOu7Kr787em8RkdeMNEBLKBBfNg">Chapter 1</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s66zc0r7GA2XgbWAIeFZjWXCRNCc3FMZoqnXdin7iDs">Chapter 2</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lC0FzDxf6PESlffprwpZVTbhwwrsf2ofoDcvUyKKDvs">Chapter 3</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fx6-1Xcxld_LEvShtYiLFMVa83JZkb8Wu74i2HL7xbU">Chapter 4</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S8b0S58gPbxLkRiNBoZPx_O1OS5-DlCFiJAIX_0P1kY">Chapter 5</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-_MYzhANUvfLBiTqahy20jtpb-jld7jyrJu8BcyLV5o">Chapter 6</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zqr95NEa9djpMJz5UpnsnVDhPC8NdEAQ8nb6aAO-mFQ">Chapter 7</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tyh4IMgic7NLh7VuUkWWQHH29LCSYkzeEYnQKFL9Wwo">Chapter 8</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T4bi8IGUkPGZj-Lb-KZyWZU5MjHhBp4WGvMzVTDg_w8">Chapter 9</a></span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-88927097210400712402014-05-13T04:22:00.000-07:002014-05-13T05:24:49.511-07:00Chapter 9 - Coda<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coda</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn't want to see anything. I never wished for that.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those two must be stopped. They must not be allowed to go. That is the only thing that I can do.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please, answer. Heed my voice.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't go ahead. Don't fight that person. You must not kill... the Goddess. Everything will fall to pieces.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will suffer too if you fight.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will hurt too if you change time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? I don't know. But, all that lies beyond the fight is regret and despair, a never ending darkness.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who is the one who regrets? Who is the one who despairs? You? Or that person? Me? Who am... I? What was I trying to say?</span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Help. Help me. Help us.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can you save us?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can all of you save us?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will you not let go of my hand?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will you stay by my side?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can I trust all of you?</span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't want to see anymore. I don't want to see the people lamenting, the people mourning, the people dying... Or the end of the world. So...</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-9234611782593685452014-05-13T04:21:00.000-07:002014-05-13T04:21:12.752-07:00Chapter 8 - memory & hope: Part 5<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That day, Yeul had turned fifteen. Noel went hunting by himself and claimed a prize. It was because there were no more companions for him to go hunting with</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-fc78a3a3-f550-3bde-a5c2-91deea05555e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yanny, I’m sorry…”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he had at long last taken the life of the monster, that was the first thing that came to his mind. Back then, he didn’t even imagine he would end up having to go hunting alone.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Back then, it had been a birthday as well, hadn’t it. If I had gone with you, and both of us had made it back safely… I wonder if you would be here right now.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enough, enough, Noel cleared that thought from his mind. Even if he hadn’t died then, maybe he would have died some other time, or maybe Noel would have been the first to die, and Yanny would be the one here now. But those were nothing more than “maybes.” No amount of thinking would make them become reality.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moreover, there was any number of other things he should be thinking about. Things he should be doing. Things he wanted to do.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the time being, Noel left his spoils there and set off sprinting. He was going to report to Caius that he had put down a large one. Then, he was going to issue a challenge against the Guardian. It was something he had decided long beforehand.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He heard that the Guardian who protects the seeress bore special powers bestowed by the Goddess. It was said that those powers could not be obtained unless one defeated the Guardian in battle. He didn’t know what exactly those powers were. However, they were powers bestowed by the Goddess for the protection of the seeress, so there was no doubt that it would be better if not one, but two people possessed those powers. By the code, there could be only one Guardian, it wasn’t something that he knew.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the two of them were protecting Yeul together, then they would probably be able to travel. Before Yeul was born, Caius had already been single-handedly protecting the seeress and travelling, to begin with. The monsters were much more vicious now than they were then, but the two of them ought to be able to take them on. If they could travel like in the past, then there would no longer be the need to stay in a village where nobody remained.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until today, he had searched for evidence of people on his hunts, but he only confirmed that there was nobody left around there. If he didn’t widen his search radius, then he wouldn’t encounter any survivors.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P224-225</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It would be a lie to say he didn’t have insecurities about leaving the village he was born and raised in. Noel didn’t know of the lands outside of the village and what was around it. However, so long as he remained there, he would probably meet nobody else.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul, who was last to be born in the village had never met “someone unknown” before. Caius should have been the sole “stranger,” but he was the Guardian. Perhaps it was because of his strong ties with the Seeress that even at their first meeting, Yeul had seemed to “know” Caius.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had to be someone completely foreign. The feeling of shock, anticipation and uneasiness, combined upon seeing them for the first time. These were the feelings Noel had experienced when Yeul had been born. He wanted to let Yeul experience these feelings. The meeting of peoples. The Yeul who had, without knowing what had been commonplace around when his grandmother was a child, turned fifteen.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moreover, if they were to be able to join forces with the survivors, Yeul would no longer be alone while Noel went out to hunt. She wouldn’t have feel lonely while she stayed behind.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius would likely agree as well. Caius treats Yeul more preciously than anyone else. There would be no reason for Caius to be against a plan that would make Yeul happy. However.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If desire the power of the Guardian, to surpass me, then kill me.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius’s reaction to Noel revelation of his plan was something completely unanticipated.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’re you talking about? I don’t get it. Kill you? You know there’s no way I could possibly do that. I only want to beat you.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There is only one Guardian. It is not you who knows not of the code.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s a code thought up by the thick-skulled people from the past, right? I have no intention of complying with things like that. I just want to protect Yeul together with you. That’s all.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius’s lips curved into a chilling smile. It was an ironic expression he had not seen until now. Fighting the urge to falter, Noel continued persuading.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You and I will protect Yeul and go on a journey.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A journey? For what purpose? Where do you seek to go at time like this?””</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Where… Why, somewhere where there are people, of course. There has to be many of them still alive, somewhere.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had heard the Guardian was someone who took Seeresses on journeys. Normally, a seeress would not remain in the village of her birth. So, what could possibly be wrong with with them travelling together with Yeul.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Let’s go look for them. If we find other living people then Yeul could get by without having to be so lonely.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a silence. He knew this was by no means an affirmative silence, though. Noel tried to assemble the right words with which to persuade him. He probably couldn’t protect Yeul all on his own. He could manage just within the village, but if they were walking the unknown lands, then Caius’s assistance would be vital. He had to get a yes out of Caius right then and there, no matter what.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, Caius’s reply came before Noel could continue his words.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Even you should know that such hopes are in vain.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What gives! What do you mean my hopes are in vain!?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P226-227</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“People have continued moving in search for a safe place. They left the ocean and hoped for land that was even slightly less contaminated. The final destination those people arrived at was this village”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His grandmother had said she left the land she was born and raised on, discarded the land of her firstborn and moved to this place. She said that people had continued travelling to escape to someplace where the ocean winds would not reach.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This is a place of demise. There no longer remains any other places which are inhabitable.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Well… isn’t that something you wouldn’t know unless you tried looking?!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When his grandmother’s birthplace became uninhabitable, it was not necessary that all of the villagers had relocated to the same place. Perhaps, some of the people had gone a separate way. It would have been the same for when they departed from the next location. Those people who had gone elsewhere might have created their own villages.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If we just give up without doing anything then we’ll never meet anyone. Don’t they say that the goddess opens her gates to those who strive on?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Goddess?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His tone of voice made it sound as if he was saying ‘so what?’ Noel flinched at the hatred in his eyes.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m going to Valhalla. To lay to rest the foolish goddess. I will kill the goddess and liberate Yeul.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Huh? What do you mean…?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What did that mean? What did he just say? What was it that Caius was trying to do?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’ve become plenty powerful. You should be able to protect the seeress even if you were on your own.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wait a second. What do you mean by ‘even if I was on my own’?!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The face of Caius who answered ‘precisely that,’ had resumed its usual gentle appearance. This had inadvertently ended up sparking more anger.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey, what gives! You’re just going to leave Yeul!? You’re the Guardian aren’t you!? Isn’t it your job to protect the seeress!? But, you’re just going to abandon Yeul!? How sad would she be… How lonely do you think she would be if you left!?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To Yeul, Caius was a special being. There could be no one to replace him. Why couldn’t he try to understand this?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Even if it makes her sad, it is fine so long as I can save her.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That can’t be true! There’s no way that making her sad could be alright!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had no idea what Caius was trying to say. What salvation could come from making her feel sad and lonely?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Your feelings of care for the seeress are no lie. You’re already a fully fledged Guardian.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, I’m not you! I am me and you are you! It’s not a matter of things being okay if either one of us was there!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He shouted at the top of his lungs. However, it did not at all seem as if Caius would take back his words.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next day, Caius had really disappeared. Having thought that even if he were to go off somewhere, it would be at some point in the future, Noel was left utterly aghast.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P228-229</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’s with that. I haven’t beaten you yet…”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Somewhere in his heart he had believed. That even though he had said such things, there was no way he would abandon Yeul. Yet, his sentiments had been betrayed.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More so than how he thought it was unforgivable, he was concerned about what and how he would say it to Yeul. What could he possibly say to Yeul? How could he break it to her in a way that would soften the impact? No, he didn’t think there was a way. No matter what or how he said it, Yeul would probably still be hurt. Because there was no way of changing the fact that she had been betrayed by someone that she trusted.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Welcome back. What’s the matter?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel was at a loss for words before Yeul who came out to meet him with her usual smile. He had made up his mind that he had no choice but to talk about despite being depressed, but when the time came, he was no longer able to say anything.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Is it about Caius?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Uh… Yeah.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knew that all he could say was that Caius had left; he went on about some nonsense and then up and left.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You don’t have to say anything. I know.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel looked astonished. Had Caius told Yeul himself before he left? Despite the fact it had been Yeul’s birthday yesterday.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I knew a long time ago.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Huh?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Come,’ she pulled on Noel’s arm. Their destination was the Farseers’ Relic. The place where the Oracle Drive was. They had once activated the projection device behind the backs of the adults as children. Back then, there had still been many people in the village. Only a little over ten years had passed since then…</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I looked at this a little while ago.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul placed her hand on the Oracle Drive. The image filled the skies. The projection was of Noel himself arguing with Caius.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I was shocked so I spoke with Caius… Then Caius taught me how to record what I had seen.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul had told Caius about everything she had seen up until then. It seemed that she was told that from then on, he would no longer be able to listen to her stories, so she should instead record them into the Oracle Drive.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, he told me not to show you this until he had left.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, in the skies there bloomed a flower of light. No, it wasn’t a flower. It was probably some sort of crest.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What is that?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Goddess’s Gate”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s this? What they say is connected to Valhalla…”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P230-231</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to Valhalla, those words of Caius had echoed in his ears. Had Caius gone to Valhalla through this gate? But, before the Goddess’s Gate there was neither Caius’s likeness nor anyone else’s.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He had said that he was going to Valhalla in order to liberate the seeresses from their cursed fate.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Is that all?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He also said that you could now fulfill the duties of the Guardian on your own, so there was nothing to worry about.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nothing to worry about? What a joke. He wanted to grab Caius by the collar and revile him, saying ‘don’t just say everything as you want without considering how Yeul feels’.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I didn’t know what half of what Caius said had meant. All I did know that Caius was trying to do something for the seeresses. So, I didn’t stop him.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul had known. That he would abandon the two of them and leave. She had gone about cheerfully whilst knowing this. What had Yeul been thinking behind her smile when he answered ‘Caius and I are here so you won’t be lonely’. She had to have felt lonely.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Why didn’t you tell me?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If he had known a little earlier, he wouldn’t have let Caius go, even if he had to restrain him. He would have stopped him at any cost.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m sorry. I was silenced by Caius. If you had known this and done something else, the future would have changed and I might have had a vision again. He said that when I have visions, my lifespan is shortened, so I should keep quiet. So that my time with you could be extended if even just by a little, he said.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Your lifespan… gets shortened?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If she has visions her lifespan would be shortened? He hadn’t ever heard of this.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The power of the Farseer is the power of chaos. A power connected to the Unseen World, where the spirits of the dead go. Each time she uses her power, the seeress’s life is sapped by the Unseen World.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘No way,’ the voice that escaped him sounded so distant. He had believed the power of the Farseer to be from the goddess, and hadn’t questioned it. He thought it was a gift from the Goddess who pitied the seeresses.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So he knew all along and kept silent about it! About something this important!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Don’t be mad at him. I think Caius didn’t want you to suffer. If you knew then you would no doubt have be sad. You would live out the rest of your days in sorrow and anguish. That’s why.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No! That’s not it! He…”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He couldn’t say any more than that. Not wanting Yeul to hear those words, Noel just gritted his teeth. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I see. I knew you would be mad too.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul had said this quietly.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I thought I would tell you everything after Caius had left. To me, both you and Caius are important, so I wanted to be considerate of both of your feelings. That’s why I hadn’t said anything while Caius was here. But, I didn’t want to hide things from you. Because I thought you would want to know the truth.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P232-233 </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her voice that apologized with an “I’m sorry” seemed filled with pain. He thought if.Caius had told him to begin with, Yeul wouldn’t have had to talk about it herself.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I knew it would make you said if I talked about it through…”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s fine. Thank you, for telling me. I was surprised but it’s far better than not knowing until the end. That how things are, right?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He also thought that it was normal that the adults in the village hated the Guardian. Caius had no idea about the basics. Caius thought nothing of trampling on the feelings of others.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How much it would hurt to be abandoned by an adult whom was important to you. How painful it is to not know of things that threatened the life of a loved one. It should have been something that one could understand with just a little thought, but Caius did no such thing…</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Let’s stop talking about Caius. Let’s just think about happy things.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He would not think of Caius ever again. He would neither be able to vent his anger, but it didn’t seem as if he could just forgive, either. That being the case, it was better just to erase him from his mind. He didn’t know how long he had left with Yeul, but he didn’t want to spoil that precious time.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“People only really die when they are forgotten by everyone. If even one person remembers, then a person won't die.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those were the words of his departed grandmother. Forgetting would equate to dying.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius, I’ll do exactly what you wished for. I will forget you. I will never again think about you. That’s right, you’re already dead to me...</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There had been less time left than I thought… I become all alone.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overwhelmed by sadness, he took off from the village and wandered about the world of nobody. On that hopeless journey.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Even so, I think it was a good thing that I continued my journey.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hopelessness he found at the end of his journey. That journey led by the distant light that stretched across time. On that journey, he met a number of Yeuls. He also discovered that Caius possessed an immortal body.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I met countless Caius’ and Yeuls whom I didn’t know. At first I had thought that liberating the seeresses was just some excuse and that he just wanted to be have it easy.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ever reincarnating seeress and the immortal Guardian. He is destroying all time from the past into the future in order to put a stop to that cursed relationship. But in the end, isn’t it all for himself, that he is leading the world to destruction based on his own self-centered ideas, he thought.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, that’s not it. Caius probably doesn’t care about how he feels anymore.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Academia of 400AF, he had seen Yeul get murdered by a Cie’th. It had been a Yeul he didn’t know, but it still pained him.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P234-235</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the dream world, he re-encountered Caius and again was present for Yeul’s last moments. All of his memories were connected. He had realized at that moment.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“At the passing of just one single Yeul, I felt heartache and anguish… I felt as if I would go mad. I don’t ever want to feel that way again and I don’t think I could. But…”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Caius has seen the passing of many Yeuls?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel nodded. With what sort of thoughts and feelings had Caius viewed the deaths of those many Yeuls with? How did he come to terms with those countlessly repeated partings.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If he had just wanted to have it easy, then he could have just gotten rid of the seeresses and ran off. But, Caius continued to be by the side of the Yeuls. Over hundreds of long years, always.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Caius’s words of it all being in order to liberate the Yeuls hadn’t been a lie, had they?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He really did only act with just the Yeuls in mind. Only, he was wrong in his method.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if it had been for the seeresses, it wasn’t something that could be forgiven. The act of destroying all time and negating everything.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I did say you couldn’t defeat Caius unless you fought with intent to kill, didn’t I? But you see, I was sort of lying.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knew that he wasn’t the type of opponent you could go easy on. Even if you engaged him with all your might, there was no telling how far it would take you. Even so, Noel thought.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t want to kill Caius.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The only one who could kill a Guardian was one who was worthy of becoming a Guardian. Even though he thought he was capable, he did not wish to wield such powers. If he died, then that was it. He wondered if that could be called atonement.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I want for him to live and atone. I want him to know his methods are wrong. I want him to regret what he has done and to live while atoning for his sins.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Living. It is the only method with which humans can defy the absolute force known as death. That one thing is what equates to atonement. He wanted to believe that.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’re right. That would make the Yeuls happy too. Probably even the last Yeul, too.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The last one… My Yeul. Yeah.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t cry, we will meet again. All he remembered was those words that Yeul said. Even as he traveled far into the world of the past and his memories became unclear, and even if he had forgotten why Yeul had died, these last words would remain.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’ll meet again. For sure.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serah utters the precise words that Noel had just now been thinking about. They echoed in his ears like an omen. Had that vague, foreboding sensation he just felt been real? No, it was probably all just in his mind.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah. We will.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P236</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Silencing the thoughts in his heart, Noel simply focused his mind on that promised place.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-61271717242921097452014-05-13T04:19:00.001-07:002014-05-13T04:19:34.750-07:00Chapter 8 - memory & hope: Part 4<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Noel, where are you going?”</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-fc78a3a3-f54e-817f-20af-0f334df0703c" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was just as Noel was about to secretly leave the village. The one who called to him from out of nowhere had been Yanny. Noel cursed his own carelessness.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was nap time for the young Yeul and his grandmother was teaching Natarle some sort of complicated embroidery. Rigo had just been put in charge of maintaining the tools used for hunting and had been busy sharpening swords and oiling traps since morning. He had thought that with this, nobody would notice he had left. Who would have thought that he himself wouldn’t realize Yanny hadn’t been accounted for.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’re going to where the Guardian is, aren’t you?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No,” answered Noel as he turned away from Yanny. He didn’t want his inner turmoil to be discerned.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You went out of the village yesterday too, didn’t you? And on the previous day, as well as the day before that.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yanny circled to the front of Noel and gave him a meaningful smile.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’ve been tailing me?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“C’mon, don’t put it so harshly. I was worried about you.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“When did you start following me?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without answering, Yanny casually placed his arm around Noel’s shoulder.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey, I wanna learn how use a sword too. It’s okay if I go with ya, right?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel realized that it wasn’t just yesterday when Yanny had started tailing him. He had probably been following since the start. Both Noel and Yanny had probably been thinking the same thing when they saw what was inside the Oracle Drive. That’s why Yanny was easily able to guess what Noel would do after.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel went to great lengths to slip through the sights of the adults, but Yanny didn’t have to go through such trouble. He just had to follow Noel’s lead. Because Noel would have secured a safe route.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, Yanny had probably seen the whole thing. From when Noel was searching for Caius, to when he started being taught how to use a sword. Then, he sought out an opportunity to jump on the bandwagon.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had always been like that. Yanny had always watched and waited until midway through. Until Noel had finished taking care of the problematic and difficult proceedings. Yanny wouldn’t meddle in things until preparations were mostly complete. Then he’d shrewdly say it was “something the two of them had orchestrated.” Certainly, it wasn’t a lie. It had been something the two of them had orchestrated. But, everything else had been left to Noel alone, so it wasn’t so much something the “two” of them had done.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even when they were told by the adults to work on something together, Noel would always be assigned the more troublesome tasks. Whenever Yanny cut corners or slacked off, they would both be scolded, so he would end up doing Yanny’s part as well. There wasn’t anything more infuriating than this.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P214-215</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s fine, right? In exchange, I’ll refrain from telling anyone about you leaving the village, you see.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In other words, he was saying if Noel declined then he would tattle on him to the adults. He had no choice. Noel wondered if he couldn’t at least have Caius decline for him, but unfortunately, things didn’t turn out that way. As usual, Caius who was of little words, answered neither affirmatively or negatively.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We’re always together with Yeul. That’s why it’d be better if it wasn’t just me who could use a sword, I mean Yeul would be safer that way, I guess...”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, the role of convincing Caius had fallen to none other than Noel. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought “why me,” but he had convinced himself that it was for Yeul.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If they were going to protect Yeul then two was better than one. He was a child so it wasn’t that he could become strong right away. Until his strength had become comparable to that of the Guardian, it was better if he had worked together with someone to protect Yeul. Even if that someone had been a guy he didn’t much like, it was better than being alone. The fact that he didn’t have to worry about deceiving Yanny meant more than he thought. Besides, they could exchange blows with each other during their playtime.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether it was because it had been advantageous to have an opponent of similar ability to practice fighting with, or because Caius had been an exceptional teacher, he felt he had been getting stronger every day. As his swordsmanship improved, Noel made a large discovery.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the fact that Caius had been much stronger than he had thought. Before, when he didn’t know anything about fighting, he simply thought he was “strong.” Now, he could faintly see how much stronger he was compared to himself, and how much he had to temper himself to stand equal to Caius.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had hoped to become stronger for the sole purpose of protecting Yeul. However, now he had one more aspiration. That wish was to become stronger than Caius. It was probably natural for an apprentice to want to become stronger than the teacher he revered.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before he realized, the impression he held of him being a “bad guy” from when they first met had disappeared without a trace. How much effort it would take to acquire that strength. How steep that path would be. When he understood those things, a sense of respect had been born. It wasn’t towards the title of Guardian or his social position, but towards the strength that Caius possessed that he felt a sense of respect. He thought that one day he wanted to be in the same position, and to stand toe to toe with him.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He didn’t know how Yanny felt about Caius. However, Yanny too had become strong. Since they would be trained the same way and exchanged blows with one another, when he became stronger, so too did Yanny. That had been self-evident.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long, Noel and Yanny had been allowed to accompany hunts a year earlier than the other children. The adults at the village had long since realized. That the two had gone against the teachings, left the village and learned swordsmanship under Caius.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They hadn’t simply turned a blind eye out of kindness. Around this time, the population of the village had visibly been declining. The bad weather continued and number of those struck down by illness had increased. It wasn’t just the humans, but natural selection amongst monsters had also driven the easily hunted, smaller monsters to extinction.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P216-217</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a result, the only game left to hunt were the vicious monsters, and one after another, people suffered grievous injuries.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Therefore it was no time to be concerned about age and such. They would take anyone who wouldn’t be a hinderance to the hunting grounds. If not, they would have lost the ability to acquire enough food to support everyone in the village.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius had said that “My swordsmanship is not something that would serve any purpose in hunting,” but in reality, that wasn’t necessarily the case either. It was easy to switch from wielding swords to spears, and it didn’t take long for Noel and Yanny to advance from being “helpers” to “contributors.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What wasn’t amusing was how Yanny was taking his job seriously. There was nothing along the lines of cutting corners or outright leaving things to others like when he was with Noel.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, it wasn’t very well possible to cut corners or anything when they were hunting dangerous monsters. He had known that, but it was a fact that Yanny would make no attempt to do what he could have when it was just the two of them. It seemed like he had been taken advantage of, or perhaps gotten toyed with so this was aggravating to Noel.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On top of that, it seemed to the adults that Noel was single-sidedly hating Yanny. If he was lectured on how such an attitude was bad, then he could probably have justified it, too. However, the adults thought of it as “something that happens when you’re kids” without making it an issue, and Noel too lost his opportunity to get it off his chest.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the two of them hadn’t been the same age, if they were even just different genders, or if Noel himself had been more cunning. If even one of these were true, then the outcome would probably have been completely different. However, the two of them the same age, the same gender and their personalities clashed, too. That was what brought about tragedy.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wanna go hunting with just the two of us, tomorrow? Before the others wake up.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the day before Yeul’s birthday when Yanny brought this up. They would gather the supplies necessary for Yeul’s birthday party.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Since we’re talking about us, it’d be fine if we just go with the two of us, right? Let’s surprise everyone. Yeul would be happy too.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, he thought. Was he trying to use me again, that is. He’d do all of the hard work and their accomplishments would be split evenly into two. Give me a break, he thought.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m not going. Ask some other guy.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Why not? There’s no point if it’s not you, is there?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What Yanny was probably trying to say then, was that it’s always been the two of them with Yeul. However, to Noel’s ears, it meant something completely different. It wouldn’t be a sinch unless it was you, since there’s nobody easier to use than you...</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Quit getting carried away about using people!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yanny made a confused face. His unawareness fanned the flames.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If you want to go so badly then go by yourself! Don’t drag me into it just because you can’t do anything by yourself!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P218-219</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps the words, you can’t do anything by yourself, had hit a nerve. Yanny’s made an offended expression and turned his back with an “I got it.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In reality, it wasn’t that he couldn’t do anything, so that was clearly out of line. But, Noel didn’t think to apologize for that. He thought he wouldn’t have to pay for saying that much. On top of that, it wasn’t an exaggeration when it came to hunting. It was impossible to hunt a monster by yourself.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, the next morning, Yanny had disappeared. He went hunting alone, and never came back again.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not a single person in the village tried to blame Noel. Because he did something as unreasonable as going out to hunt alone, the blame rested on Yanny himself, everyone said.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even Yanny’s elder cousin, Rigo hadn’t spoken a single word of complaint. That in effect made it painful for Noel. Why hadn’t he gone with him, why hadn’t he stopped him, it’s your fault that Yanny died; if he had been reviled in such a manner, it might have altogether been much more of a relief.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Grandma, what should I do?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He hesitated to his bedridden grandmother on the matter, but it was too heavy for him to bear alone.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s my fault he died. It’s because I said something like that. Because I said he couldn’t do anything by himself that... he... got so reckless...”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If this was how it was going to be, then it was better to be used. Even if was only detrimental to himself, it would have been much better than to be the cause of someone’s death. Furthermore, even though Yanny had shrewdly taken advantage of him, he hadn’t tried to steal the limelight. He thought himself unforgivable for getting angry at something of that scale.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If that is what you think, then that may be precisely the case.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel’s grandmother who had heard his words, opened her mouth quietly.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, even if it was someone’s fault, he’s already dead so there’s nothing that can be done. Even if you talk about whose responsibility it was, or what the reason was, the one who died will not return. The reason why the villagers don’t blame you is because they know that it is meaningless.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel’s grandmother extended just her hand and caressed his cheek. These past few days, his grandmother’s health had been failing. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We are powerless against this thing called death. If death should come calling, then you simply accept it in silence.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I couldn’t take it. Something like that...”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if regressing back to childhood, Noel clasped his grandmother’s hand and shook his head.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I suppose so. Well, there is just one way to defy it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A way to defy it?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“To live. It’s obvious, but that is the one thing that we can do.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The one sole way for humans to defy something as unfeeling as death is to live. Noel repeated those words inside him. It was likely because he had just lost a companion that those words reverberated with shocking intensity.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The two of you were wrong in that you didn’t choose the path of living on. If you are to regret, then regret only that. You must not regret things like what was said, and what wasn’t said.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P220-221</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What he should have regretted wasn’t what Yanny had said, but the fact that he hadn’t gone with Yanny. He, who had always been together with him knew better than anyone else that Yanny wasn’t the type of person who would have listened to someone telling him not to go. If it was pointless to stop him, then one choice was left. Going with Yanny and then coming back together safely. That was the path with the highest chance for survival. He should have chosen that path.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He never wanted to regret something like this again. That’s why he thought he’d go on never forgetting. Forgetting about living, and the result brought on by a trivial decision made in that regard.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It was shortly after that when grandma died. Everyone died. Rigo, too.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yanny’s cousin?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yes. He was killed by an adamantoise. He said he was going to stop it and ran ahead.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They had encountered the adamantoise by chance. In the midst of hunting, a sudden thick fog appeared, obstructing visibility, causing them to enter the adamantoise’s path.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Doesn’t it remind you of somebody?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serah’s mouth turned into the shape of an “o.” She probably recalled the incident at Sunleth Waterscape.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There were probably other aspects in which they were similar, as well. Like, how they would act before thinking. Or like, how they wouldn’t listen to a single thing that others had to say. Or how they were excessively hot-headed.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their faces were completely different, but their words were completely the same. That’s why the words he threw at Snow at that time were also words he had wanted to throw at Rigo.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I knew he didn’t mean any harm, but I was just completely fed up. Yet,,”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yet?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I wanted him to live.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had begun to think that things like not being able to get along, or downright disliking someone were so trivial. It they would continue living, then it was good enough. That’s how much the population of the village had declined.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before, children whose parents had died would be taken in by a relative’s family, but now it was usual for them to “stick together with the neighbor’s family.” It was because people with living blood relatives were now of the minority.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s why, after his grandmother died, Noel had lived with Natarle’s family. Yeul was there as well. Yeul’s mother had passed away long before Noel’s grandmother.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“In terms of what we had to look for back then, there was being trained by Caius in swordsmanship.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But Caius must have been strict, right?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Well of course he didn’t go easy on us. It felt like being brutalized.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was really because he didn’t go easy that it was worth it. It was difficult to replace the realization that one was actually becoming stronger with anything else.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P222-223</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Plus, you could really feel safe. Because, while the adults in the village were dying one after the other, Caius was the only one who remained completely the same.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He hadn’t known that Caius possessed an immortal body, but strangely, Noel was completely convinced of it. He believed that only Caius wouldn’t die.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Even after all of the adults in the village died, then Natarle too got sick and died, and it had become just Yeul and I… I thought that everything was ok because Caius was around.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking back now, even he was surprised at how much he had relied on Caius.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s why I couldn’t forgive him.”</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was because he had believed in him. Caius’s actions after that was nothing but betrayal.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-17618049101944673872014-05-13T04:18:00.000-07:002014-05-13T04:18:15.623-07:00Chapter 8 - memory & hope: Part 3<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The village was quiet that day, too. The weather wasn’t clear but conditions were fine enough to go hunting in. The children who stayed at home went out as if by mutual consent and all gathered before the Farseers’ Relic. Yanny’s brother Rigo and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natarle, a girl who was two years older than Noel and company, were also there.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-fc78a3a3-f54d-bc1c-5802-298f1a80b917" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The “mastermind” this time around had been Natarle in the first place. She was the one to propose to attempt to secretly activate the Oracle Drive.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Oracle Drive that recorded the “visions” that the seeress had seen was considered sacred and it was a general rule that those aside from the seeress and her guardian were forbidden from touching it. There was no problem with letting Yeul touch it, but she didn’t yet know how to activate the Oracle Drive.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed that at one point, the chief of the village or someone of a suitable stature would activate the Oracle Drive only as an invocation ritual, but that ceremony had long since been discontinued.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey. This’ll be ok, right?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rigo said worriedly. “There’s no danger of the adults finding out, right?” was what he meant. If the projected image were to fill the sky, then the adults would find out about their plan. However, it was said that it is possible to make the projection stay small. Natarle nodded with full confidence.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Cause I was taught how to do it by my sister. The adults didn’t find out about it then, either.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The “sister” Natarle spoke of was actually her cousin. Like with Rigo, after her parents died she lived at Natarle’s home. Although, it had been a very brief period, for as if to follow her parents, she soon died of an illness.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Ready? Watch this.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natarle placed her hand over the Oracle Drive. He was startled when the projection device shone brightly, though instead of in the sky, the image appeared right there on the spot, remaining small. Natarle triumphantly threw her chest out as if to say, what did I tell you?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeul, these are flowers.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natarle pointed her finger at a part of the image. Yeul had been interested in “flowers” because what Natarle had been weaving into cloth had been a “floral pattern.” It had already become a world where flowers no longer bloomed, but the shapes of flowers still remained. They were within the interwoven cloths or embroidery made by the girls.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul didn’t know of any flowers other than those that were in the patterns. Apparently there had been no flowers within any of the “visions” she had seen up until then. Natarle who had heard about that thought she would show Yeul flowers as her cousin had in the past, and proposed this endeavor.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P206-207</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s so pretty!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul exclaimed in admiration. They didn’t know what era nor where it was of, but it had to have been from hundreds of years in the past. Because there were lots of flowers blooming.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed to have been located on the roof of a structure. Below the bright rays of sunlight, flowers of many different colors were in full bloom. There was a girl standing there. As she had her back turned, her face couldn’t be seen, but he could tell that she was a seeress from what she was wearing. Judging by her height, she had probably been quite a bit older than the current Yeul.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if undecided over which one she should pick, her hand travelled back and forth between the flowers. There were so many flowers so she should have just picked as many as she liked, thought Noel. However, she chose only one amongst the many flowers and reached out her hand. It was a white flower.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With flower in her hands, she turned around. But, from there on the image changed. This time, it was a more recent era. The landscape was in ruins and the skies were dark. A sight familiar to Noel and the others was being projected.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s is the end of it.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was just as Natarle was about to turn off the Oracle Drive.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wait!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel grabbed Natarle’s hand. Yanny made a little sound, “ah.” Perhaps he had realized what was being projected.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s him...”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Guardian was fighting a monster. It was a gargantuan behemoth. One large enough to make the Strigoi from before seem nothing more than small fry.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This isn’t just some behemoth, is it?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was Rigo who replied, “probably.” Rigo the eldest amongst them saw behemoth carcasses more than any of them. Of course there were no children who had seen live behemoths. Even the adults who would go hunting would probably only encounter them once or twice in a year. It would take the combined efforts of all the villagers to bring one down, so even when they did encounter one, they mostly just left them alone. It was rare for one’s remains to be hauled back to the village as a part of a kill.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’ve never seen a behemoth this big.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was just one man fighting the behemoth as his opponent. He was confident that this was the future. There was no way he could have survived fighting that kind of a monster.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That guy is gonna get killed by the behemoth isn’t he?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was as Noel was about to express his agreement with what Yanny had said.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He won’t die. It’s ok.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was Yeul who flatly denied. Noel and Yanny reflexively looked at each other. They knew how strong that man was more than anyone else. Even so, this beast was beyond comparison.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Look.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if on cue with Yeul’s words, the greatsword dug deeply into the back of the behemoth’s head. The behemoth that had been standing upright collapsed, writhing. The greatsword slashed a second and third time. Shortly thereafter, the behemoth ceased to move.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P208-209</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“See? Everything went fine, didn’t it?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The voice of a happy sounding Yeul graced his ears. So this is how strong the Guardian really is, thought Noel in utter amazement.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the following day onward, Noel would go against the orders of the adults numerous times. It was in search of the Guardian.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He casually probed the topic, but his grandmother didn’t know the whereabouts of the Guardian. She only replied that he was likely currently somewhere not too far away from the village. He had to be able to come running immediately should the seeress’s life be in danger, she said.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He tried asking the adults in the village, but not one single person would answer him. Some adults even openly expressed their distaste by saying that children are better off not knowing about the Guardian. He finally begun to believe that the Guardian had indeed been hated by the villagers.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the end, he had no choice but to wander about the village periphery. The Guardian immediately came running when they were attacked by the Strigoi. If it wasn’t that he just happened to be there, it had to have been as his grandmother had said; that he was somewhere not far from the village.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He kept the fact he was searching for the Guardian a secret from both Yeul and Yanny. He couldn’t possibly take Yeul out of the village, and if Yanny found out, he would surely say that he was going too. If both of them disappeared simultaneously, then Yeul would probably think something was up.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The problem at hand had been Yanny more so than Yeul. It would take quite an effort to deceive the sharp-sensed Yanny. There was high probability that he would be working with Yanny who was the same age. Whenever the adults were giving errands, they would always try to have them work together.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He could practice his swordplay after returning home, but searching for a person was something that had to be done whilst it was still day. And all the more since that meant going outside the village. He had no choice but to choose a time when monsters were even a little bit more docile.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had the search been long then Noel might have given up part way. Fortunately, his search only lasted until the second day. It wasn’t Noel who found the Guardian, but the Guardian who had found Noel.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What are you doing?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel almost jumped out of his skin as he was called out to from behind.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I believe you were taught that it is dangerous outside the village?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It hadn’t been in an accusatory tone. Noel tightly gripped his hands and looked up at the Guardian. He planned on first thanking him for saving them and then continuing onto the main issue. Both his first and subsequent impression of him from their reunion were as bad as could be, but it was as his grandmother had said; this was someone with whom “there could be no failure.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, as he came under the impaling gaze of his pair of dark colored eyes, the original pan he had thought through was completely blown away. What popped out of his mouth were not words of gratitude.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“... teach me.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P210-211</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His voice cracked. No, one more time. He breathed in and yelled.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Teach me how to use a sword!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The inside of his mouth became parched. He was prepared to get a mocking “those are some pretty big words for a kid,” or to be ignored, but he received neither of those in return.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“My swordsmanship is not something that would serve any purpose in hunting. The one who should become your teacher ought to be within the village.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His tone was gentle. There wasn’t a single hint of ridicule for the fact that he was a child.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t mean for hunting, I mean for protecting Yeul! That’s why I’m asking you!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His answer was silence. But it seemed there was room for negotiation. At the very least, he didn’t seem to be the kind to turn someone away, unsparingly.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Plus, even if you claim it’s no good for hunting, you did kill a behemoth by yourself, right? Not a single person in the village can...”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was about to say “do something like that”, but then he stopped himself mid-sentence. He couldn’t continue.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“How do you know that?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His tone abruptly changed to a serious one. There was an air of intimidation powerful enough to send his feet moving involuntarily backwards. He didn’t remember what happened after. He probably ran from that very spot out of fear. When he came to his senses, he had been panting hard in the middle of the village. Like when they had encountered the Strigoi, his knees were shaking.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You gave up?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No way. I did run away that day, but the next day, and the day after that, I went right back to where Caius was.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He intended on journeying out there as many times as it took to be taken as an apprentice. He knew Caius was the real thing especially since he was frightening enough to make him run away.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Eventually, seemingly giving into my persistence, it gradually became that he would instruct me on how to use a sword.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, it’s not so much he faltered at my persistence, Noel shook his head.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Caius had known. That I’d be the last one remaining.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The villagers died one after another. That meant those who shielded Yeul from danger would dwindle in ones and twos. The one shield that remained to the very end had to be sturdier than any other shield there had been until then.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Because if the one who remained until the end was strong, then Yeul would be safe?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s how it was.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In that village, Yeul was always “the smallest girl.” The ones next youngest after Yeul had been himself and Yanny. That being the case, there was a high chance that one of them would be her “last shield.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s probably why Caius accepted so quickly. When Yanny said that he wanted to learn the way of the sword together.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It wasn’t just you who was learning swordsmanship from Caius?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of that. I thought that Caius should have just refused him.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P212-213</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So that’s how it was. I didn’t know that. Since the one called Yanny didn’t appear in that dream.”</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t that Yanny didn’t appear because Noel hadn’t wanted for him to exist. That dream was in a world that proceeded Yanny’s death.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-36487554834191924112014-05-13T04:17:00.000-07:002014-05-13T04:17:06.862-07:00Chapter 8 - memory & hope: Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That day, Noel had been playing together with Yanny, who was of the same age, and Yeul who had just turned three.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-fc78a3a3-f54c-df28-bd00-dcc373ef9582" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was as his grandmother had said, even when Yeul had learned to speak and began to see visions, she had remained in the village. Even though she was a seeress, she was raised as the other children of the village had been and received no special treatment.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, everyone in the village loved the bright and friendly Yeul. Perhaps, Yeul had been special in that sense. The children vied with each other to invite Yeul to play.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although, at the village, even children had jobs and roles to fulfill. The older children were all busy to some extent. Aside from when the weather remained unfavorable and they couldn’t go hunting, Yeul’s usual playmates had been the similarly aged Noel and Yanny.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P198-199</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On that day, the weather had been pleasant and optimal for hunting since morning. The adults and many of the older children had been out since early morning, and the village had been quiet. In the midst of that tranquility, Noel and the others had been playing by stepping on each other’s shadows.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shadow-stepping could only be done on days when the weather was fine. The weather would be bad or cloudy for the majority of the year so the days where shadows could be made on the ground were precious. Noel and Yanny had played by stepping on each other’s shadows numerous times already, but this was Yeul’s first time. The last time the weather had been pleasant, a monster den was discovered near the village so they were forbidden from going outside. The time before that, she had not been old enough to be running around.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps she had been intrigued by the shadow that would follow her feet wherever she went. Yeul had run happily around the village. When the shadow was projected into the walls of houses, she would try lifting up her arms and legs and jumping up and down.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How far had they run while stepping on each other’s shadows? Suddenly, Noel and the others found themselves outside the village. Before their eyes was a bridge that was placed over a dried up stream. They had been warned by the adults to “never go near there.” It was said that dangerous monsters were lurking around on the other side.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he incidentally looked at Yanny’s face, Yanny too looked back at Noel. They quite clearly knew what the other was thinking. “Oh man, we’d better head back,” that is.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had been Yanny who put a good face on so as not to scare Yeul and said, “Let’s go back.” Noel too hid his real intentions and took Yeul’s hand saying, “Because granny said not to go near the bridge.” Yeul nodded obediently and began to walk.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, their decision had come too late. Unexpectedly, a shadow appeared over the ground. A shadow so large that it completely covered the three of them.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had it been Noel or Yanny who yelled, “run”?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if a shadow passed over the ground or they heard the sound of wings flapping, they simply couldn’t look back. Run before turning back. Just keep running. That was what they were taught by the adults.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel ran while grasping Yeul’s hand. Although, Yeul wasn’t yet able to run that fast. Yanny was getting further away. It had been Noel’s job to hold Yeul’s hand that day. It was a decision between two people who wanted Yeul to themselves. That the one with the role of holding Yeul’s hand would change each day.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He didn’t think that he would be a hinderance. He just thought it would be okay that he was the one running with her. But the problem was whether or not they could get away. Noel didn’t yet have the option of just letting Yeul escape. It was because he had no means to fight against a monster.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wasn’t yet of the age where he could help with hunting, so he had held neither sword nor spear. He was allowed to carry a knife and had been accustomed to using it, but it wasn’t a weapon. Although it was a blade, it was just a tool. You couldn’t defeat a monster with a knife...</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as he thought that far, his left arm was jerked back. Yeul had taken a tumble. The hand that he should have been gripping tightly unraveled from his. He had planned on running at the same pace as Yeul, but alas it seemed there was too great a difference between the running speeds of a three year old and a six year old.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul suddenly started crying. His brain thought to quickly have her stand up and start running again, but his body wouldn’t listen.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P200-201</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, Noel realized he himself had been trembling severely. The monster drew near. It was a Strigoi.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His legs wouldn’t move. He had to run. Strigoi moved slowly. He could escape if they ran. Yet, he couldn’t run.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Strigoi closed in. He at least wanted to shield Yeul, but his legs simply continued to shake. It was as if his legs would snap if he even took one step.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was then. A wicked wind blew in. He thought something had torn through before his eyes. He heard a raspy scream. The reverberation from the falling of its giant body, as well. Someone had defeated the Strigoi. Strength left from his entire body.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man wielding a greatsword turned around. It was that man. He remembered his grandmother’s words: A Guardian fights to protect the seeress all by himself, so he is very strong. There was nothing false about those words. There was no one in the village who could defeat anything like a Strigoi by themselves. Yet, he sent that monster to its grave with just one strike. There was no doubt about it; this man was strong.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man slowly approached. That’s right, he had exposed the seeress to danger. Surely, he would be reprimanded severely. The man was expressionless, but that had rather made him appear frightening.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, without the slightest regard for Noel, the man kneeled before Yeul, grasped her small hands and helped her up.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Are you hurt anywhere?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Yeul shook her head, the man stood up and turned his back, appearing as if he would leave just like that. Noel let out a sigh of relief.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wait.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was he planning to do with Yeul? Regardless of how bold a disposition he held, that man was not someone of the village. Noel thought irritatingly that he should have let him go, earlier.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Thanks.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man nodded in silence, turned his back again and this time, left.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeul, do you know him?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Said Yanny, who he had returned before anyone could notice, in a mystified tone. Noel was unamused by the fact the question he himself had wanted to pose had just been asked.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No. He’s a stranger.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A stranger? You weren’t scared?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The monster was scary. But, that man was not. Because he’s a nice person.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P202-203</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“How would you know if you don’t know him?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I know.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yanny made an unamused face. Noel’s face was the same as well. It was even less amusing than when he had been trumped by Yanny.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We got totally chewed out after that”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Noel laughed saying the three of them were lined up and berated, Serah tilted her head in surprise.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeul too? Even though she was a seeress?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So what if she was a seeress, she was a child of the village, after all. If you went against what the adults said you would be scolded.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I see. The people of the village really cherished Yeul, didn’t they. It seems easy to give a proper scolding but it’s something difficult.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They wanted to let her live like a perfectly normal child. To make up for all of the other Yeuls up until then. She now knew what the village’s adults wished for all too well.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, me and Yanny got the worst of it.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Because you guys took Yeul to a dangerous place?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No, it was because we were older. Yeul had also gone somewhere dangerous. So we were equally scolded for that, but we were older so we had greater responsibility. Incidentally, Rigo, who was three years older than us, was also reprimanded for his failure to supervise us.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rigo was Yanny’s cousin. Rigo who had lost his parents early, was taken into Yanny’s home and the two of them were raised like brothers. If Rigo hadn’t been old enough to be taken hunting yet, then he would have been helping out at home that day.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He was yelled at even though he had been doing chores?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s a fact that he took his eyes off Yanny, right?”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That sure is harsh. I mean, all of the children from your time were pretty mature for their age. Even you tried to stand up to a stranger at just the age of three, right? You understood some pretty complicated things too.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Because it was an age when you would otherwise get left behind.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he saw the children playing by the seaside at New Bodhum, he felt they were younger than they looked. He worried if it was alright that they were so helpless. It was because he had never even imagined an era so peaceful that such things could be allowed.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Children had to acquire wisdom for surviving in their own regard. They had neither strength or magical power, so it was all the more important. Young children were brought up being taught to become smart before becoming strong.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, I wanted to become strong. Even a day earlier. If I had been able to fight monsters back then, I could have let Yeul get away.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Perish the thought. No matter what, a child the age of six wouldn’t have been able to defeat monsters.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P204-205</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Even so, I wanted to protect Yeul.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s why he secretly began practicing swordplay. Only, it was what a six year old child was doing after all, so it couldn’t even count as self-study. Even if he wanted to learn from someone, the adults of the village were all busy. And above all, there wasn’t a single person in the village who could defeat a Strigoi in one blow.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It was when I became discouraged thinking it was impossible after all. When I found my teacher for the art of the sword, that is.”</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-53484550877068990272014-05-13T04:15:00.001-07:002014-05-13T04:50:21.151-07:00Chapter 8 - memory & hope: Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pages 190-195 translated by Hakurou.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">P190-191</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 1</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was as if a sudden wind had whisked away the light. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moment that man appeared, the smiles vanished from the villagers' faces. The village was preparing a magnificent celebration to commemorate the thirteenth day since the seeress' birth. Regardless, the village was bustling, preparing for the festival. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thought that it was like the face one makes when he/she sees a detestable or scary object. But, he knew at the same time that everyone in the village had respect for that man. It was very similar to the facial expression that people showed the most powerful hunter of the village.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who could that man be?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The young Noel could not comprehend the villagers' reactions; however, the man was even more incomprehensible and enveloped in mystery. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man had paid no mind to the villagers and just now had entered the house from which Noel had just exited. Noel had been asked by his grandmother to deliver get-well gifts to Yeul's mother who was in confinement for childbirth.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What could he have come to do?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul's father died without seeing his firstborn child. The only adult inside that house was Yeul's mother. The villagers were taking turns helping but there was a slight lull at the present moment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel felt uneasy and turned around. He couldn't help but feel anxious about the newborn Yeul. He cautiously approached the house and peered inside. His tree climbing prowess rivaled even that of the older children, so he had no trouble climbing up to the window.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before he could get a glimpse of what was happening inside the room, a sound assailed his ears. Yeul's mother raised a piercing cry. "Get out!"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"This child has just been born!"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her voice reverberated outside of the house. Yeul's mother had gotten up out of bed and was glaring at the man. Unlike the villagers, there was only hatred and disgust in her eyes. Noel could feel his hands shaking as they clutched the window frame. That's how much Yeul's mother made her rage clear. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mysterious man approached the bed and Noel saw that he was saying something, but he could not make it out. Noel tried to push his ear up against the window in order to hear. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, Yeul's mother opened her eyes. Her face changed into what anyone else would call an expression of surprise and she looked up at the man. Then, tears started to fall from her eyes. She still appeared to be surprised, but tears fell from both of her eyes in large drops.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"He said something mean to Yeul's mother!"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a rage, he jumped down from the window and ran into the house. He stood in front of the man so as to keep Yeul's mother at his back. To a three year old Noel, this man was as big as a monster, however, he was not afraid. He was intent on protecting the newborn Yeul, nullifying his other emotions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"No, Noel."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P192-193</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A soft voice fell upon his back. It was the voice of Yeul's mother, who seemed like a different person than before. Surprised, Noel turned around.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I wasn't told something mean, Noel. I was crying because I was happy. Thank you for worrying."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeul's mother smiled while drying her tears, an ebullient smile covered with incessant tears. It was incomprehensible to Noel that the two could exist at one time. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was strange to cry at a time when one was neither sad nor in pain.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel thought about this all the way home. "Adults cry when someone dies... because they're sad... We kids cry when we get a scratch... because it hurts. Oh yeah and when we're annoyed we wanna cry. But is it normal to cry when you're happy?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, as soon as he got home, Noel told his grandmother the whole story and assaulted her with questions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Who's that man? Do the villagers hate him? Why was Yeul's mother so angry? Why did she cry? Is it normal to cry when you're happy?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel's grandmother, who was listening to everything, sat Noel on a chair , saying "Hm, where should I start?" From the time Noel had turned three, he did not listen to the important things she had to tell him while atop her lap, rather he would listen while sitting in a chair.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That man is a Guardian."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Guard-i-an?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"A Guardian has an important job: he protects the seeress."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel had already learned that Yeul was the seeress. On the day Yeul was born, Noel heard many people say the word "seeress" so, as would be expected, as soon as he and his grandmother got home, he asked her what the term meant.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"But the villagers, they hated him."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That's not quite right; There's only one Guardian who fights to protect the seeress, so he's very strong. Stronger than any one of the villagers."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Does he act all tough 'cause he's so strong?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If so, then that'd make him a jerk. No wonder the villagers would hate him. However, his grandmother laughed while shaking her head.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That's not it. Everyone cares for him. Traveling and protecting the seeress is a very important job, you know. One mustn't be rude to a person with such an important job, right?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"He's going to travel with Yeul?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Yes. But not right after she has been born. When the time comes. When she can speak and foresee the future..."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel's grandmother explained to him that the seeress can see the future, that people live away from her so as to not provoke people into using her power for bad deeds, and also some rules concerning the seeress.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel was satisfied. He understood why out of all of the villagers who were excited about the birth of the seeress, Yeul's mother was the only one who was depressed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P194-195</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She grieved, for in a not too distant future, she would have to part ways with her daughter.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Yeul's mother was mad because she thought that the man had come to take Yeul when she was still not big enough to travel."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He remembered the shrill voice when she said "Get out!" and her scream when she said "This child has just been born!" as she glared at the man. "So that was it," Noel thought.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"So, is Yeul going to go away from the village?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noel flustered as he realized this truth. Much like the adults, the children were also excited, for they would have a new friend.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"No, I don't think that'll happen. Yeul's mother was crying happily when she spoke to you, no? When people cry tears of joy, it's when they haven't been that incredibly happy until that moment. What do you think would be the happiest thing for Yeul's mother, Noel?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That Yeul doesn't go away?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Yes. I'm positive the Guardian came to tell her that. For a guardian to appear right after a seeress has been born, that just doesn't happen."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Noel let out a sigh of relief, he had a sudden suspicion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Is it okay to break the rules?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The seeress possesses the ability to see the future. Long ago there were people who tried to use that power maliciously or who despaired at her words; these were the people who caused war.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much blood was shed and it is said, the seeress, of her own volition, established this rule and chose to lead a life apart from people.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Won’t something bad happen if we break the rules?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Hmm. We have to protect the rules, but..."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After thinking for a second, Noel's grandmother opened her mouth once more.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I don't think there are any people in this village who would use the seeress' power for something bad. So, the Guardian probably thought it okay for her not to travel and live here with everyone in the village."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"So, if the seeresses up until now were born in a village without bad people they wouldn't have had to travel?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I suppose... so."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something about his grandmother's answer did not sound right.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Maybe granny did understand."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serah replied with a "What, Noel?" When you talk about something, there are questions and answers. Thanks to that, you can get some closure. This is what traveling with a partner means, thought Noel deeply.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P196-197</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were currently heading toward the final battle with Caius. Noel and company were travelling through the Academia of AF500 in search of Caius who was probably aiming for the moment when the man-made Cocoon would be launched. He didn’t want to face the battle whilst still bearing doubts and concerns. That’s why he was thankful for Serah’s request; “Tell me about Caius.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You see, my Yeul was the last seeress.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh...”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His grandmother lived longer than anyone and was privy to the birth of three seeresses. She likely bore witness to the polluting of the land they had been settled in, and then the rapid decline in population, too. One could have easily guessed something like how there would be no next seeress. But she probably couldn’t bring herself to inform the young Noel of this.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Well, granny told other lies too.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Lies?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That he wasn’t hated and that everyone was just being mindful of him.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was true that people were mindful of him, so it wasn’t necessarily a lie. But, it was true that many of the villagers bore hatred for Caius.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was the man who took away the still very young seeresses. An expressionless, mysterious, and eerie man. Yet, he wielded great strength so not a single person could go against him. People harbored animosity for him and began to find the sight of him unpleasant...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I too thought he was probably a bad guy from the start.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Really? But the Noel and Caius I saw in that dream seemed to get along well.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Rather than having gotten along well, it was more that I trusted him. Because I thought there was likely no man more suited to be the seeress’s protector.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is why he wanted to be Caius’s equal. He thought he’d surpass him someday.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, at first I had nothing but a sense of distrust.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His first impression had been as bad as could be, but the impression he had when they reunited wasn’t a very rosy one either.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“To me it was an involuntary, or rather disgraceful reunion, anyway.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had been something that happened three years after Yeul had been allowed to remain in the village.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-18775467554552202952014-05-13T04:13:00.001-07:002014-05-13T04:13:23.946-07:00Chapter 7 - Intermezzo AF500<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P180-181</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-76ec3bb7-f549-5226-219a-9de3bbd16103" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intermezzo AF(After the Fall)500</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I couldn’t tell the Guardian of the first “vision” I had seen.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t just then, for often times I kept silent. Most of the other seeresses up until now probably conveyed all that they had seen to the Guardian without a single doubt in their minds. Because a Guardian is one who remembers what a seeress sees. But, I didn’t think to do the same as they had.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why do they not doubt the Guardian? How can they innocently believe that the Guardian is a virtuous individual?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t only the Guardian whom I had doubted. I couldn’t trust in humans. They only think of themselves, they’re unfair, and they lie without any concern. They ceaselessly oppress those weaker than themselves.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hate humans. They can all just die.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Your wish may soon be granted. It won’t be everyone, but many humans will die. To the disaster known as the fall of Cocoon”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How foolish humans are. Even though they should already know. Even though the shattering of the crystal pillar is something that even humans could have easily predicted. Even though there must have been innumerable things they should have done before having something as stupid as a war.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Cocoon falls then my mother will probably die. When I think of that, I feel a feeling that I can’t put into words. It’s not sadness, but it feels somehow unsettling, like you want to burst out laughing because of it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That woman who, hating her tribe, ran away wishing for a life not bound to laws. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P182-183</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was deceived by a boring man, discarded and then ended up bearing me. To that woman, I was a bothersome nuisance.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of all things, it was a seeress who had been born from the woman who left her tribe in hatred. How ironic a turn of events.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She could have gotten rid of that nuisance if she learned to talk, but I wasn’t much for learning words. No. I had remembered them, but I couldn’t speak them. I was afraid to speak. Because I knew no matter what I did, I would be cursed at and beaten.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed that I had already turned five by the time the crest of the Goddess appeared in my eyes and the had Guardian come. That woman very gladly relinquished the me who didn’t even know her own age.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn’t trust the Guardian, but in comparison with my life until that point, my journey with him was appallingly tranquil. Regardless of the fact that there were outbreaks of war and terrorism all over, and the world was completely up in arms.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even when asked what I had seen in my first vision, I did not answer. It would be a lie if I said that I didn’t want to know what I had seen. But that was something I could look into myself someday.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I said I wanted to go somewhere, the Guardian would take me there without asking for any particular reason. Even if it had been an area under conflict where bullets were being exchanged, he did not object.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He also taught me to read and write. I also learned how to use the Oracle Drive. I fully heard all that was passed down by the tribe and their laws, as well. That is the how I came to understand the way of the world.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I go where I want to go, and learn what I want to learn. I obtained the freedom to do so. I knew it was objectively speaking, by no means a “life of freedom”, but that was plenty for a seeress and it was extraordinary treatment for a child who was born unwanted.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P184-185</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even so, I still maintained my guard around the Guardian. Aside from when I let my tongue slip, I still stayed silent about my “visions” even when I was asked about them.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe it wasn’t about my faith in the Guardian or anything, but rather that I had been scared. The words of a seeress carry great power. It was the fact that those words would be tied to “visions.” </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first thing I had seen was the end of the world. Almost all of the people had died out and a man who was left on his own was walking the ruined lands. That grief and despair were frightening to me.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw that man again. He was not alone yet. Well, he would soon become alone. It was the kind of situation where you could tell.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hate humans. They’re selfish, arrogant and foolish. I had thought they should just all die... That they should all simultaneously die, leaving not a single one.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being the last one alive. I was afraid to imagine that kind of isolation, so I thought everyone should die. Because I knew of the existence of he who was left until the end.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw him at a time when there were still “two.” In the end, he would become alone, so maybe it would be better if their lives together weren’t happy ones. Happy memories would maybe only serve to hurt him more.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still, I could not wish for his misery. Even though I knew it would be lost, even if it was for a short while, I wanted for him to be happy.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P186-187</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have a favor to ask, I said to the Guardian.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Allow the final seeress have a normal life. To be born in a normal family, to be loved by her family, to live a joyful childhood. I want you to let her have a life not allowed to any seeress until then. By then, most humans will already be dead. Laws shouldn’t matter at all.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I promise you, replied the Guardian. That just the final seeress will be able to lead a blissful life.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After that, I didn’t have a “vision.” Then I realized. The Guardian, without having been asked by me, had planned to let the final seeress lead a normal life. If he changed his mind after being told by me, it was not possible that I would see nothing. The way a seeress lived largely impacted history.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I saw the death of the final seeress. Her only remaining companion grieved over her. You kept my promise so she must have been happy.”</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Guardian nodded silently. I thought just a little that it would be alright to trust him. The Guardian who had surely wished for the happiness of the seeresses, Caius Ballad.</span>mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-66936063668516272852014-05-13T04:11:00.002-07:002014-05-13T05:21:41.378-07:00Chapter 6 - back & reverse: Part 5<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He felt the ground tremble slightly. It wasn’t a dramatic shaking. It was a marginal and irregular vibration. It was like a Cocoon long past its lifespan struggling to stay alive, thought Hope.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tomorrow, a new Cocoon would be born. Their old cocoon would cease serving its role and return to the land. In order to conduct a final inspection, Hope travelled to various areas inside Cocoon. Here, Bresha Ruins, was his final destination. Although, the Academy’s research facility had been shut down, and most of the the equipment inside the ruins had been removed.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cocoon’s interior had already been uninhabited since a few hundred years ago. It was because there was the need to purify various facilities and the waste that came out of them. He had been informed by Noel that the hazardous materials that would be dispersed from Cocoon would pollute all of Pulse and drive humanity to the brink of extinction. He couldn’t let history repeat itself.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh, so this is where you were. We were searching for you.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A researcher came running over. True to her words, she was breathing hard as if she had been running all over. With each breath, the ID card around her neck jostled back and forth. As the card which read ‘Aina Stein’ slipped into his vision, he felt something cross his mind.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Has another danger spot been found?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No, that’s not it…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">His words had trailed off there because Hope himself hadn’t been sure either. Why had he come this deep into the Bresha Ruins? He was here before he had realised.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Could this be a grave, perhaps?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aina pointed a finger at the stone peering out amidst the thick weeds. How long they must have had been exposed to the wind and rains, for all of the stones that were lined up looked the same. Perhaps they had been proper grave markers a few hundred years ago.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m not sure why myself either, but I just wanted to come here one last time. Before Cocoon fell,”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halfway through saying it felt as if he was forgetting something important, Hope stopped speaking. He thought he had heard someone’s voice.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">His fingertips that inadvertently reached out as if seeking something, only drifted through the air. He felt as if he had done something like this long, long ago. When had it been? Judging from the fact that he hadn’t been able to recall right away, it must have been an old, old memory.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’s the matter?”</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-080b5a2d-f546-435e-1425-de3b6896f884" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P178</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s nothing.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was the wind… not the sound of someone’s voice.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s time. Let’s go back.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After briefly informing Aina, Hope started to walk.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-34385085683505950422014-05-13T04:08:00.000-07:002014-05-13T17:44:58.960-07:00Chapter 6 - back & reverse: Part 4<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even after getting off the elevator, his destination had remained fixed. The path came to a dead end, and there was only one room that could entered. Moreover, out of the numerous terminals that were in the room, only one had not been destroyed.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was no more crystal dust in sight. They probably knew that Hope would realize that the enemy was not a fal’Cie by the time he had gotten here. Indeed, the crystal dust he had seen on the other floors was fake.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So this is what you wanted to show me, huh.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He touched the terminal with his hand. In the dimly lit room, lines of text gradually began to scrolling onto the display.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-080b5a2d-f53d-0f5e-325a-39e87a56f291" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Academy’s orientations for trainees ended, and I was assigned my first practical training site. Bresha Ruins. I’m glad I got what I had hoped for. Although, I had to pull some strings here and there, and suck up to a variety of people, so it was quite the chore.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But… I’m a little afraid to go.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P156-157</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve gotten used to life at my practical training site. While there are simple-minded people, there are also cranky people, friendly people, hotheaded people, moody people, forgetful people… I guess, things are the same everywhere? For now, I’m just glad there are people who are easy to deceive.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After coming here, I became well aware of the fact that trainees are just bodies for filling odd jobs. Because they just keep on piling on the work. But, when the next batch of trainees come in, maybe I can use this. Since, it feels like if I can win them over so easily if I just act like a caring sempai and help them out for a bit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That aside, I’m rather troubled by how little time I am able to get for myself. Even when I just briefly stray away from my post during breaks, I get told to take care of something else, wherever I go. As a result, I’ve made no progress into finding what I was looking for. Even though I had thought I would find what I was looking for right away if I went to where it was. I even remember where it was. Yet, the path leading to it has disappeared. Why?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most frustrating thing is that because of the appearance of that ‘invisible giant’, parts of the ruins have been sealed off.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The invisible giant has been named ‘Atlas’.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along with Atlas, two people have come out of ‘coordinate zero’. I know one of them simply by name. Serah Farron. I don’t know the other one. According to them, coordinate zero is known as a ‘gate’.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was said that coordinate zero and the anomalies at Bresha Ruins were somehow related. The two who appeared out of coordinate zero are probably capable of doing things that we aren’t. Maybe I could use them to do something about the dead end in my search.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found it! The name on the gravestone reads Nina Stein. I wasn’t the one who died in the cave-in, that day.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, was it really true? Isn’t this a lie, too? Shouldn’t the name on the gravestone really read… Alyssa Zaidelle? Which is the lie, and which is the truth?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Might it have been that both of us had died? We were the best, strongest and most perfect of partners, after all. It would be such a lie for just one of us to die. Only I stay alive. Wouldn’t that be a lie?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No. It doesn’t matter if it’s the truth or a lie. I am alive. Nina is the one who is dead.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P158-159</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My training at Bresha Ruins is over.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been chosen to be a part of the Paddra Ruins investigation team. Not as a trainee, but as a fully fledged researcher. This would be my first time leaving Cocoon, but I’m used to living in new places. This also means that I’ll finally be free from doing odd jobs!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had been Hope Estheim who had recommended that I, despite not having spent even a year as a trainee, be made a member of the investigation team. I know his name. Of course, everyone in the Academy knows his name. But, that’s not it. I’ve known since before long. He was a childhood friend of Elida’s.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, since he was just like Serah Farron, I thought I wouldn’t let on that I was Elida’s roommate.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Certainly, I had no intention of being his enemy. It’s not that I hadn’t thought of it, but I plan on getting along with him decently. Since he </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> one of those up-and-coming types.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stop it. Stop it. I had that dream again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was agonizing. It hurt. It was scary. Nothing has changed. Why? I wasn’t even the one who died. I thought if it became clear that I wasn’t the one, then the dreams would stop.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the investigation team briefing, Hope Estheim announced his theory about the Paradox Effect. If it’s true, then this means I can’t rest easy even if the name on that gravestone isn’t mine. Is that why I keep having that dream even though I’ve seen Nina’s name?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s not it. I won’t accept that. His theory is wrong. I’ll prove it, no matter what…</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Research announcement regarding the gates and paradox effect made at Academy headquarters. It was announced as having been co-authored by Hope Estheim and Alyssa Zaidelle. My research consisted of nothing more than a foundational theory, so I told him just to announce it under his name, but he made the report say it was made jointly with me. What an honest guy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, that was unnecessary. It wasn’t the result that I had wanted, after all. I only wanted to overturn his theory. I hadn’t the slightest idea that it would end up confirming the truth of his theory.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s like I’ve wrung my own neck. You’ve got to be kidding me. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P160-161</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I had died during that cave-in in 0 AF, then after the paradoxes are resolved, maybe it would mean that I ‘don’t exist’ anymore. I can think of no other possibility based on our current research. Because, the timeline where I’m from came into existence because of the paradoxes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No record whatsoever of these seven years, my life, or my research would be left. They wouldn’t remain in anyone’s memories. They wouldn’t be lost or forgotten, it would just mean that they never existed to begin with.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Someone will live in my place, conduct the same research as me, and accomplish the same things as me… It would be as if everything I worked hard to achieve was snatched away from me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if I’m not there, nobody would realize. Nobody would be sad. Time would simply continue as if nothing had happened.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">That dream again. Why do I keep having it over and over again lately?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to find some way to not get erased when the paradoxes are resolved. Or, I have to find some way to make sure just the paradox I exist in remains.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I don’t, I won’t be able to sleep. I’m afraid of that dream. I’m afraid to sleep. It makes me feel like I’ll never wake up again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to think of a formula to determine what timelines have been scrambled by paradoxes.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope Estheim has predicted an ‘anomaly’ in 10 AF using my formula.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It happened again. I wonder why he keeps figuring out all the things I don’t want him to. Using my foundational theory, of all things. That’s not what I was aiming for. There’s a limit to how much harassment you can take.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although, it wasn’t as if a nice guy like him would be harassing anyone in the first place.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ‘anomaly’ that was predicted with the formula has been revealed. It was the appearance of Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss from within the gate inside the Ruins of Paddra. It ought to have been some sort of better anomaly.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Five years ago, they had suddenly disappeared from Bresha Ruins. When I realized, they were gone. Without a single goodbye. There were still plenty of things i could </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">use</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> them for. Were they just going to disappear without a word this time, too?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P162-163</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I patrolled the inside of the ruins, I came upon a suspicious person. Their appearance resembled that of someone who had been shown in the Oracle Drive. Serah Farron knew him. She yelled the second she saw him, after all. ‘Caius,’ she said.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had they been the same person? The resemblance was much too uncanny for him to a mere blood relative.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took some time off and went to the Academy headquarters resource center. Although the process of compiling ancient Pulsian records into databases had come a long way, there still remained many undeciphered pieces.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thought of investigating the old records because I would come across the name ‘Caius’ in them. It was there, regardless of the era. Perhaps ‘Caius’ wasn’t someone’s name, but rather a specific name bestowed upon an individual with a certain occupation or rank. If not for that, might it have been some sort of title?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, the existence of at least five ‘Caius’s’ have been confirmed. Although we haven’t confirmed how long humans of Pulse lived, the assumption is that they only lived about as long as humans on Cocoon do.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there was one instead of five of that ‘Caius’ person, it would mean that he has a ridiculously long life span.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I couldn’t help but think: if only there remained just a little more Pulsian documents. If only I could find records of just one of the five ‘dying,’ then I would have a huge lead.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I began looking into people known as the ‘Farseers’. But, I’ve still only made progress on one point. It would seem as if the ‘Farseers’ and Caius were tied closely together, but I know nothing of the details. There were just too few records on the ‘Farseers’. Or, rather, they might have been erased by someone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everything was all too unnatural.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had that dream again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s suppose the individual we discovered at Paddra Ruins was really the ‘Caius’ from the Oracle Drive. Let’s suppose he was someone who had ties to the ‘Farseers’ tribe and accompanied the prophetic seeress.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While this is just my own conjecture, perhaps he knows more about the paradoxes than we do. No, he would have to. If he was a member of the oldest tribe on Gran Pulse, then some stories must have had been passed down to him. You can’t make light of the knowledge of ancients.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe he would know if I asked him. The answer to my dilemma about whether or not the real me is dead, and the current me is just the fabrication of a paradox. Also, whether or not there is any possibility of me staying alive if that paradox remains unresolved.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to meet him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P164-165</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve searched all I can, but I can’t find him. There is evidence of someone who seemed to be him around various gates. Is he protecting the gates, or waiting for those who come out of the gates? At the very least, it seems as if he travels around to visit the gates.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s why I had thought that if I kept a close eye on the gates, then I would be able to meet him. It would appear as if things will not be that easy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Proto fal’Cie Project has been suspended indefinitely.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reason behind it was beyond stupid. Since both Hope Estheim and Serah Farron had been l’Cie in the past, they ought to have felt uncomfortable at the mere mentioning of the word ‘fal’Cie’.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although, I don’t care about what happens in the distant future, so it doesn’t matter that the project has been suspended. What troubles me is that this occurrence has caused the timeline to change. That means the likelihood of me existing in the future has been changed. Now, I wonder, was the change a positive one, or a negative one?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s frustrating that there’s no way to know how the scales have tipped.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The time capsule that was being worked on concurrently with the Proto fa’Cie Project has been completed. It’s for travelling hundreds of years into the future. Unlike with the prototypes up until now, Hope and I will actually be boarding this one.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed that Hope had originally wanted to go it alone. This was because this capsule takes you on a one way journey. While it can take you to the future, it can’t take you back to the past. You would never be able to meet people from this era again. Which is to say, you would be dead in their eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both his parents had passed away, and all of his ‘companions’ had gone missing. Despite all his efforts, he had only managed to confirm that Serah Farron was still alive. He probably thought that it would be alright for him to go on a one-way journey. Moreover, he placed his bets on the possibility of changing the future. How very like him to think that way.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, while it was difficult to say if they were alive or not, two of his companions were inside the crystal pillar. Hope wanted to save them. Right now, there was no way for him to do so. But, what if he went a few hundred years into the future?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, even if he thought doing so was wrong, he wouldn’t admit it. But, we all saw through him. That’s why I knew. No matter how dangerous it was, and how much he had to give up, he would go to the future.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I said I would go with him, he looked utterly surprised. ‘I didn’t think that was something you would be in to,’ he said. How rude! As soon as I tried giving him an angry look, he took back his words, and apologized. What a simple-minded person.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P166-167</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I told him that I was used to living in unfamiliar places, and that I had already done so a number of times as a child, he seemed more reassured.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, I wasn’t participating in the experiment for that ‘for the future of mankind’ nonsense. It was because if I went into the distant future, to some unimaginable place, then maybe there would be some way for me to survive. Also, I had the expectation that travelling out of ‘the era I should exist in’ would mean the paradox would become irrelevant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted to be free. From that nightmare… From the fear of being erased…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m about to enter the time capsule now. The next time I wake up, that is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">if</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I do wake up, it will be four hundred years into the future. A mind-bogglingly long sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just hope I don’t have that dream while I’m sleeping.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">399 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The experiment was a success. Both Hope and I we able to awaken, unharmed. Although, the time capsule itself had ended up breaking.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Come to think of it, I had met ‘Caius’ during my long sleep. I finally met him. In my dreams, though. Had the location looked like the ‘Valhalla’ from the Oracle Drive because we had viewed the device over and over again during our research, perhaps? Or, had I really been in Valhalla?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It didn’t have to be in real life. Even if it was a dream, there were still many things I had wanted to try asking him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hadn’t the real me died a long time ago?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wouldn’t I end up disappearing if the paradox was resolved?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is there no way for me not to disappear?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet, he didn’t answer any of those. It was my dream, so couldn’t he just have told me what I wanted to hear? He could have just did what I wanted him to, right? Yet, why didn’t he?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He probably didn’t care about me at all. Then I realized. Maybe this wasn’t a dream, but what was actually happening in real life. Wasn’t it because this was real that he didn’t act the way I wanted him to, or give me any answers?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If that was the case, then I can’t back down. I had searched so much, yet failed to find him. If I missed this chance, then maybe I would never get to approach him again.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s why I had decided to make him a deal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew that Hope would get in Caius’s way sooner or later. I realized that there was the possibility that Hope and Caius would end up being against one another. Because, Serah Farron’s sister, Lightning, had been shown fighting Caius in the Oracle Drives. To Caius, Hope’s knowledge and brains would become a threat in their own right.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P168-169</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll get rid of Hope for you. Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss too, if you so desire. They don’t trust in me, but they’ll let their guard down. There’s where you can take advantage.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, tell me how to make a future where I can exist in. Help me stay alive!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lips of the stony-face, emotionless Caius curled into a smile. Then, in a voice as chilling as his smile, he spoke.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Two histories cannot exist at the same time. Whether they are true or false, only one may remain.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t care about whether things are true or false! As long as I get to live! As long as I don’t have to disappear! So, tell me. Save me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Then, close the door with your own hands. In order to open the door that you desire,”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that, Caius had thrown me an artefact. I understood. What his words had meant. He meant for me to give this to Serah and company. As far as I knew, only those two needed these artefacts. This was probably a fake artefact. If they used this to enter the gate, then there was no doubt that ‘the door’ would ‘close’.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They will disappear, and I will remain. I will survive. Live on. Even if what lay beyond was a false history and a twisted future.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before I realized, Caius had disappeared. Had this just been a convenient dream, after all? I discovered that it hadn’t just been some dream after I had awoken. In my hand was an artefact identical to the one I had seen in my dream.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will keep my promise. In return for him giving me this, I will erase Hope.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">400 AF, X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were reunited with Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss. Being the kind souls that they were, they made short work of the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">odd jobs</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> around the Academy. This part of them made me think of how much they were just like Hope.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks to them, all of the parts needed for the New Cocoon Project had been gathered. They really were useful people. They were unbelievably simple-minded, too. All it took was a little acting to get them to trust me, after all. Things like “I’m sorry” and “let’s get along” are like morning greetings to me. Although, as expected, Hope had been a little surprised.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other two unsuspectingly took the fake artefact from my hands and went into the gate. At first glance, nothing had appeared out of place. That’s why Hope hadn’t realized, either. About the trap that I had laid, that is.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m sorry. And, goodbye.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X Month, X Day</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Proceeding to conduct operation at Augusta Tower.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The display suddenly turned white. The diary had ended. The instant he realized that the last date had been today’s, a gun had been pressed against his back. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P170-171</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was Alyssa’s duplicate.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’re not planning on killing me here, right? If you had really wanted to kill me, then you ought to have fired a long time ago.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alyssa’s duplicate had been slow to move. It gave him enough time to turn around and erase her. With Alyssa’s smile on her face, the duplicate disappeared.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Alyssa! You can hear me, can’t you!? I know what you want to say!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He yelled at Alyssa, who must have been monitoring the room from somewhere in the tower.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There is a way for you to not disappear! There has to be! You didn’t have to do something like this…”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wasn’t able to continue. Alyssa’s duplicates had stormed the room. Several of them, at the same time.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s not that I have a grudge against you, Sempai.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of the Alyssas opened their mouths simultaneously and spoke.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Then, why!?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead of answering, the Alyssas opened fire. Hope had long since dived under a counter. With the rain of countless bullets came the Alyssas voices.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I just don’t want to die. I’ve continued living up until now, you see. I’d really continued living for the thirteen years after that cave-in, hadn’t I? Yet, why are you getting in my way? If things continue as they are now, I will cease to have ever existed, you know! Yet, even if you had died here, you would still remain in the official records. All the people in this era would remember you. Isn’t that unfair?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even as she said those things, it didn’t seem as if she was being serious. If she had been serious then she wouldn’t possibly do something like erasing them one at a time. There was probably still something that Alyssa had wanted to say. I have to find Alyssa. I want to talk to her properly, face to face.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More than anything, he didn’t want to bring any more harm to those individuals who possessed the exact same appearance and voice as her.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Please, just stop! Stop doing this!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last individual had disappeared. Had she been hoping to justify what she was about to do to Hope by erasing her own duplicates? Maybe she was thinking, ‘Sempai had been perfectly fine with shooting me, right?’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope scrambled out of the room. He yelled at Alyssa, whose whereabouts were unknown.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The mechanisms behind the paradoxes and gates were understood thanks to your foundational theory! The time capsule, too! Even the man-made Cocoon! None of those would have existed without you! So, let’s search again, together! For a way to keep you from disappearing,”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There had to be something. A way for Alyssa to exist even after all of the time distortions had been erased. It was then. From out of nowhere, he heard Alyssa’s voice.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I had already searched for such a thing a long time ago. I made a deal. I told him I wanted to know how to keep my future and in exchange I would get rid of the person who was in the way. Help me, I said.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knew why Alyssa had went out of the way to make him read her diary. It must have been hard for Alyssa to bear it, having had to fight her fears of being erased all alone.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P172-173</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To bear an individual such as Hope who unknowingly continued researching under the slogan of ‘for the future of mankind,’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People are able to think of others only after their own safety has been ensured to some degree. In other words, the act of doing things for other people itself is proof that one is confident that they are safe. To Alyssa, who couldn’t even know if she would still exist in the next instant, a Hope who trusted wholeheartedly in the future must have been such an infuriating annoyance.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of his words and actions must have felt like betrayal. That’s why she had made Hope erase a number of her own duplicates. It wasn’t as if real blood was being spilled. However, individuals of the same appearance and voice were being erased, one after another. It was comparable to having several cuts carved into your heart. Alyssa had probably wanted to say ‘This is just the kind of thing that you’ve been doing, Sempai’.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I joined the Academy, wrote a lot of reports, went researching here and there, and even made a number of research presentations… Yet, it’ll be as if none of it ever happened before. There will remain no evidence of me ever existing. Everything will become someone else’s. Don’t you think that is much more cruel than even death?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s why we’ll search!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope tried to say this as loud as he could.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We just have to determine the paradox your existence is connected to and then set the timeline by making it follow the distortion as far it can go. Even if we leave a part of the paradox, it should still be maintainable. If we have the assistance of Serah and company who can freely travel through time, then…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A shrill laughter echoed throughout.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sempai, have you forgotten? Wasn’t it I who had erased Serah and the others?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope was at a loss for words. In the diary it had been written that she gave them a fake artefact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t examined the artefact. Just to make sure, he had dated it to make sure it wasn’t something from 400 AF and confirmed that it was an artefact. If not, then he wouldn’t have casually turned it over to Serah and company.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why hadn’t he thought that it might have been a trap at the time? If it had involved someone from another era, then it would have been easy for ‘something that couldn’t exist in that era’ to be created, after all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Alyssa’s distortion had come to light right there, then Serah and the others would still be safe now. While they might not have known the person who had tried to harm them, he could have explained, somehow. All of the research up until now could only have been done because Alyssa was there. If he had appealed to them saying that he needed their help to save that very same Alyssa. At the very least, Hope knew that they would not be ones to refuse.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I should have… realized sooner. I feel bad about that. But, we’re not out of options yet. Things like this have happened a number of times, before, right?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had been by no means easy to tackle these unfamiliar things known as paradoxes and gates. He had gone through a ridiculous amount of trial and error, as well as failures. There were times when he had wanted to throw it all away, too.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P174-175</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The only reason why he kept going despite all this, was because Alyssa had been there. Alyssa had not given up at all. He knew now that in her perspective, her very existence was on the line, so no matter what happened, she couldn’t have afforded to give up. He had only been able to make it this far thanks to her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No matter if we failed, no matter how desperate the situations got, we overcame it all. Even if it took time, we’d always kept moving forward!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was then. A quiet voice came from behind him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This is the result of us moving forward!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A gun was once again pressed to his back. She spoke in a monotone, matter-of-fact way, but he knew it was the real her. This time, it wasn’t a duplicate, but Alyssa herself. He had become so preoccupied with yelling that he had somehow lost track of his surroundings.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s why I have no choice but to do this.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He didn’t hear any goodbyes. The sound of gunfire echoed. The hand he reflexively pressed down with was covered in a warm wetness. He knew he had been shot. He thought it was all too quick a way to go. However.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Why!?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He heard a scream-like cry. He unconsciously looked down at his own hands. He was sure he had been shot, but Hope himself didn’t have a single wound.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’s going on!? Why am I disappearing!?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turning around, he found Alyssa on the brink of tears, staring at her own hands and the gun. Both those hands and the gun had turned transparent and were beginning to disappear.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Probably, at some point in the future I would discover a way for you to not disappear.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Hope had been killed here, then a way for Alyssa to remain would not have been found. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Otherwise, perhaps Serah and Noel had escaped the danger of the trap laid using that fake artefact. Due to that, the future had been changed drastically. That altered future was not the timeline that Alyssa could exist in. That was far more probable. If the future is altered, then so is the past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, regardless of the reason, he had not been able to save Alyssa. Only that grim truth remained unchanged.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The instant I pulled that trigger, I… on my own? No. That’s ridiculous…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both the gun, and Alyssa’s hands that were grasping it had mostly disappeared. Tears were streaming down Alyssa’s cheeks. He thought he would at least wipe them away, but Hope’s fingers would only slip through her cheeks.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Why are you being nice to me. Even though I tried to kill you, Sempai.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Because I am thankful to you, even so. You were a talented researcher and a capable partner.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was two faced, self-centered, and never one to reveal her true intentions. She lied with ease. He had realized all of this a long time ago. Even so, the research that Alyssa had left behind was real. Regardless of her motives, there was not a single lie in the results that she had produced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Thank you. Sorry for everything up until now.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P176-177</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alyssa smiled as if to say that she had really meant that ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’. He could barely even make out her crying and smiling face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Even though it’ll be as if I never existed… If you remember me even just a little, then,”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The words ‘I’ll be really happy’ sounded like the wind.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-25303711596951820282014-05-13T03:58:00.001-07:002014-05-13T03:58:49.360-07:00Chapter 6 - back & reverse: Part 3<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He tried going around to all of the rooms on the fifty-first floor, but there was no sign of Alyssa. There weren’t even any leads as to where she might have been.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He only knew one thing. The fact that the enemy wanted to lead him to a different floor. All of the terminals on the fifty-first floor were broken. This included the ones that remained intact the first time he had checked. It was likely set up so that the moment Hope was being shot at, all of the terminals on the floor would be destroyed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I guess this means I’ve got no choice but to go to another floor.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If it was just the system that was being destroyed, then recovery would have been possible, but since the hardware had been destroyed, there was nothing he could do.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, there was the elevator for travelling to the other floors, which hadn’t been tampered with at all. When he tried activating the control panel with his hand, it operated perfectly normally. Only, it was adjusted so that only higher floors could be selected. It was obvious that he was being led.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It would simple to return the elevator’s settings to normal, but that was all Hope could do. Right now, he didn’t even know the enemy’s purpose, much less their identity. If he took the invitation and continued on to the next floor, then maybe the enemy would give him some sort of clue. Just like how that data file hinted at the existence of an ‘observer’.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Were they enjoying Hope’s reactions, or was there something they wanted to tell him? He could clearly feel its malintent, but he had a feeling that was not all the enemy had in mind.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time he would search for Alyssa before trying to operate the terminals. However, there was no sign of Alyssa in any of the rooms on the fifty-second floor.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-080b5a2d-f539-b856-3a6a-70c5ca6dee74" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P152-153</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe this meant this floor was a ‘miss’. No, wait. None of the terminals on the fifty-second floor had been destroyed. If the enemy hadn’t intended to lead him to this floor, then all of the terminals should have been inoperable, like on the fifty-first floor.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Are they telling me to gain access on this floor?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time he operated the terminal while being wary of his surroundings. Certainly, when he stared at the display, he would become defenseless. That was especially true for Hope. He would get too absorbed into things. That was how he had gotten exploited, just now. It reminded him of the fal’Cie’s tactic of reading a person’s mind for the purpose of manipulating them.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although, the enemy ought to have gathered that Hope would be on guard, having learned from his previous experience of being shot at. While thinking that rather, it would be safe this time, Hope attempted a hack. Again, the hackable location was presented conspicuously.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I see. It would be obvious that an intelligent person wouldn’t fall for the same trap twice. This would mean that the trap isn’t in the hackable location, this time. It was in some other location. Therefore, it would be easier to infiltrate the system than before. Right?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before he realized it, Hope had begun speaking to the invisible enemy. The enemy was trying to convey some sort of message. He couldn’t help but think that. Whilst watching his back, Hope continued operating. This time, he simply used his ID instead of a fake. He had a feeling it would be best not to use any sort of tricks.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It happened as he thought he would be in with just a little more. He heard a scream. It was Alyssa. Hope boldly dashed out of the room.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the slightly curved walkway, he saw a collapsed Alyssa.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Alyssa!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He yelled while running. Alyssa wasn’t moving at all. Was she unconscious, or? No, he didn’t want to think the worst…</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the instant he thought of running to her, an alarm triggered somewhere inside his head. Hope instantly leaped to the side. Something had glanced across his arm. What came after was the smell of burning, and a sizzling pain.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From where she was on the floor, Alyssa pointed a gun at him. It wasn’t Alyssa. It was a duplicate. In a movement faster than that of the researcher from before, Alyssa’s duplicate stood up and prepared to fire. But, Hope had been faster.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The duplicate identical to Alyssa had been erased in an instant.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why were they doing this? Why, of all things, were they making him erase those who were close to him?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On top of that, as if to mock a frustrated Hope, all of the terminals on the floor had once again become inoperable. This included the terminal he had been in the middle of using. That scream had been for drawing Hope away from the terminal. It was likely that Alyssa’s duplicate was programmed to activate after Hope had made some progress.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he returned to the elevator, its destination had been determined. They would no longer give him a choice. They were such an endlessly aggravating enemy.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P154-155</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They employed sophisticated methods for luring him, and then used illusions of those precious to him to unnerve him. These were methods attributable to fal’Cie Barthandelus. While on one hand he thought that perhaps a fal’Cie really was pulling the strings, he had become skeptical. He couldn’t say for sure. Just, there was a possibility that…</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bodhum was sealed and the Purge was announced, but what was happening didn’t feel real. It was inside the Purge train when I finally thought, I won’t be able to go home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was as I witnessed the gunfight between the citizens and PSICOM at the Hanging Edge that I understood that all of Bodhum was to be erased because a Pulsian fal’Cie had been discovered inside the Bodhum Vestige. The military was serious about killing the citizens. I realized that I was going to be killed, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The gate to the Vestige, which should have been unopenable, had opened because of the Pulsian l’Cie. Everything had started because of the l’Cie. I had learned that after I had returned to Palumpolum after I had lived in hiding for a long, long time. I was finally told of the enemy that I should been hating.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The adults didn’t always tell the truth. The more important something is, the more they want to hide it. I, who had just barely still been considered a child, didn’t discover the truth until long after. Of course, even if I had been told, it didn’t mean I could have done anything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet, I didn’t want to remain a powerless being who wasn’t capable of doing anything. I had had enough of being made to do things based on someone else’s expectations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also. Taking someone else’s place, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey, sempai. Would you take my place…</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-31586255015113686712014-05-13T03:54:00.002-07:002014-05-13T03:54:32.349-07:00Chapter 6 - back & reverse: Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thinking back, their conversation on the way here spelled bad news.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sempai, what did you think about inside the Purge train?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She thought of saying something to stall him. It was something from a long, long time ago. Although it felt like thirteen years ago, looking back from this era, it was something four hundred years in the past.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-080b5a2d-f535-257b-91a1-aed0c0156a31" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P144-145</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t really remember much about being inside the train, I guess. What happened after was much too intense.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I was mad the whole time. Why me? I was someone from Palumpolum, and not Bodhum, so was I getting dragged into this? Why of all times did it have to be when I visited Bodhum?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Ah, I might have thought of that too. Why now, of all times, that is. And about how this wasn’t supposed to be something you would run into while you happened to be there on vacation”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Right? If only they had just put it off by a week, then I would have been back in Palumpolum. With my first journey alone under my belt,”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If only they had visited a week before. Or, if only it had happened after they had left Bodhum. Then, mom wouldn’t have had to die. During their long escape, those thoughts stuck like glue.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There were a heaps of tourists who visited Bodhum, right? Like, there were heaps of people who didn’t get caught up in it, so wasn’t it unreasonable that only I got dragged into it?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t as if Alyssa was the only one that got dragged into it, but he knew how she felt. He could believe only he was unlucky and misfortunate, and that everyone else was blessed, back then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps it was because they were at that age. Because of the differences in their rank within the Academy, Alyssa stubbornly addressed him as “Sempai” but they were the same age. They were both fifteen, and they were both brought up in luxury. He simply thought of himself, without the slightest regard for those around. Looking back on it now, he thought he was all too childish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, after that, all of Cocoon’s inhabitants ended up getting caught up in it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yes. I suppose that is true. Cocoon was about to fall, and many people ended up dying. I wonder if they died thinking the same things. Like, why me? Or, wouldn’t it be the same if it were someone else?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“To someone else, something like that would sound ridiculous though. But, why do you ask?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As he asked why she wanted to talk about these things right now, Alyssa replied, ‘just because.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I mean, it was hard to talk about. Because, Sempai, it seemed like you would avoid talking about the Purge in front of me.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s not it. I didn’t try to talk about it, but I would have answered you if you had asked. It wasn’t something to hide, anyway.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh, so </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> how things were. How stupid I was for being so suspicious.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If she had always been ‘suspicious’ until now, then why did she decide to stop on a day like today? If her reason for bringing this up was ‘just because,’ then why was it today? He had his doubts, but did not verbalize them. Something had stopped him from it. Perhaps Hope himself, had a felt an omen as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, never mind. He wouldn’t think like that. If he began thinking it was an omen, then there would be no end to it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">His thoughts kept drifting and drifting to negative things because the bloodstains came to an end at the walkway on the fifty-first floor.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P146-147</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What had happened here? Where had Alyssa been taken? It was as if Alyssa had disappeared from midway through the walkway.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now that the lead he had been following--the bloodstain--had run out, he had no choice but to come up with another. Were there still any functioning facilities within the tower? As long as not all of the systems had fallen into the grasp of the enemy, something could be done.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He started off by attempting to access all of the nearby terminals. Using the terminals meant giving away his location, but he had no other choice. Rather, what good would it have been to consider such things at this point? It was highly possible that the enemy had already understood what Hope was trying to do. Even so, he proceeded as cautiously as possible by not using his ID and making unauthorized accesses.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as he had feared, the main systems had largely been altered by someone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Well, forget contacting the outside. I can’t even control a single duplicate. That’s just great.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The system’s re-writing had been conducted rather skillfully. Perhaps the enemy had infiltrated the system from when the first error was reported, and then slowly modified it from there. It would probably take some time if he were to do a full scale recovery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was there not some part, somewhere, he could infiltrate? He tried to hack his way in a number of times. He only got more impatient. He knew he had to rescue Alyssa as soon as possible. But, it seemed the person who made the re-writes was someone of substantial skill and knowledge. At any rate, there were only a handful of people at the Academy who were capable of re-writes of these proportions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Through trial and error, he discovered just a single weak point in one program. He had considered the possibility of it being a trap, but since he had no other options, he had to break in from that one location. However.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What…!?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His hands that were operating the terminal stopped. The location he infiltrated contained nothing but a simple data file. There was no need for him to open the file, as the text within displayed on its own. In fact, he wasn’t able to do anything else from his side. There couldn’t have been more obvious a trap than this.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only, the problem was the content of the text being displayed. It was a record of Hope’s activities after 2 AF. In 2 AF, he had entered the Academy as a researcher, and in the next year--3 AF--he began researching the ‘Paradox’ Effect and gates, which had begun manifesting. Then, in 7 AF, based on a formula created by Alyssa Z., he predicted the ‘Ruins of Paddra anomaly,’ and in 10 AF, he began researching the Oracle Drive and encountered the individuals, Serah F. and Noel K..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was no record of the names Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss within official Academy documentation. Even within internal records, they were only listed as ‘female age 21’ and ‘male aged 18’. This meant that someone had secretly created these records. It seems that I was being observed in these previous eras, he realized.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">That data was obtained by someone or a fal’Cie from this era. Had they shown Hope this information in order to say ‘I know everything about you,’ perhaps? Also, did this mean that their target was Hope, and not Alyssa?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P148-149</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or, was perhaps the enemy after more than that? Hope dropped to the ground upon realizing the possibility of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It missed him by a hair. The panel of the terminal above Hope’s head had shattered into a million pieces. There was a researcher standing at the entrance. Of course, it was a duplicate. It was possible they were programmed to fire on Hope when he operated the terminal and began reading that data file.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, perhaps because the program had been altered through unauthorized means, the researchers were moving in a slow, and sluggish manner. That’s why he was unharmed. If he had been operating it normally, he would have been shot before he realized that there might have been a sniper.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had his gun trained on Hope once again. However, Hope had been quicker. As he had anticipated this kind of a situation, he was equipped with an anti-duplicate gun. With a sound much quieter than a gunshot, the researcher disappeared.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sorry…”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His original was someone close who had worked on the same team. Even though he knew that the original him, as someone of the past, had died long ago, and that duplicates could be reproduced any number of times, Hope still felt a deep sense of regret for having deleted him. He felt angry towards the individual that forced him to commit such an act.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, it was faint, but there was a glimmer of light near the entrance of the room. Was there a fal’Cie behind all this, after all? Or, was it perhaps Proto fal’Cie Adam, which shouldn’t exist at all.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If so, what were they after?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He simply muttered this to himself without having the slightest of clues.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t care if someone else is a liar. I just hate lying.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So there are people who think that way, she thought, shocked. It was a conversation from when she attended a boarding middle school. The girl who was her roommate had said this. In the first year of being enrolled, they would put you in a two-person room regardless of your preferences, perhaps as a measure against homesickness.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had forgotten what we had talked about, and what I had said; only her words resounded in my memory.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“‘Cause every time you lie, it feels like something being ripped away from you. Like more and more of what’s inside your heart keeps disappearing.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If that was true, then inside of my heart has been empty since a long time ago. Since, I’m not particularly against lying, or anything. It’s a little different from the truth, but it made others happy, and I was able to be happy, too. I don’t think there is anything bad about this at all. It’s a very important skill for getting along with those around you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But for I guess her, Elida, things wasn’t like that. Elida was an unbelievably honest person, after all. Looking back, I think it was remarkable that we were able to become good friends.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ever since I was little, I had moved all over Cocoon because of dad’s work. There were unfamiliar places, and unfamiliar faces. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P150-151</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nobody knew me. Even if I lied saying, this and that happened in the last city, nobody would be able to figure it out. So, it was better to talk about things that made everyone smile and be happy. Even if they weren’t true, there was no doubt that this was better.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nina, whom I had become good friends with in Bodhum, was a liar like me. The two of us told lots of lies together. But, nobody even came close to realizing that we were liars. It was difficult to talk yourself out of a lie, but you could smooth over anything as two. We were co-conspirators. The best, strongest and most perfect of partners.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I went to visit that same Nina’s house, I got caught up in the Purge. On our way through escaping from the Hanging Edge to Cocoon’s exterior, we told a number of lies together. This time, they were all lies that would be discovered immediately. Yet, although the adults were shocked, and they laughed, none of them got angry.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was because the truth was all unpleasant and tragic.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who cared about what was the truth. It was more important to live with humor and happiness. For that purpose, I would lie as much as needed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey, Sempai. I’m not wrong, am I? </span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-91892279655762971032014-05-13T03:48:00.000-07:002014-05-13T05:20:33.672-07:00Chapter 6 - back & reverse: Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P134-135</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone knows that there are dreams that you see over and over again. Only, many of them are illusions, and you’re simply left thinking in your dreams that you’ve ‘seen them before’.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But,” thought Alyssa, “mine aren’t illusions at all.” This was because she would meticulously record things like the date and time of her dreams, and her physical state the night before. It was a dream she wanted to avoid ever seeing again, if possible. That is why she thought she would investigate. If she could discover the circumstances that would lead her to have that dream, then she would know how to avoid seeing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">She started having the dream thirteen years ago. The day she became a ‘survivor of the Purge’ was when the nightmare began.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 1</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two sets of footsteps reverberated piercingly. There weren’t normally that many employees allotted for the entrance of Augusta Tower, but it was rare for it to be completely deserted.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something had to be going on. Hope stopped walking and scanned the perimeter. There were no changes whatsoever on the display panel of the biometric identification system. Things were all green. However, he couldn’t help but think that in itself was all too unrealistic.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entrance, unlike that of the Academy’s headquarters, had nothing like a ‘reception area’. A majority of the researchers had been duplicates to begin with. Even though there were many who were ‘stationed’ there, there were very few who ‘came and went’. Even including Hope and Alyssa, there were only a few personnel registered in the biometric identification system, so there wasn’t any point in having a reception area, anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Quiet, isn’t it? This feels rather…”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a dubious Alyssa was about to continue, Hope gave her a cautioned look. It was dangerous to say something careless in this silence.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At a place like this where most of the staff members were duplicates, things like noise and commotion were normally irrelevant. Nevertheless, with things being this quiet there was clearly something wrong. The building’s structure meant you could hear sounds from the other floors, and even though the staff were duplicates who didn’t have much presence, if they were doing their duties then at least some conversation would have been exchanged.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something, he thought, had to be going on. He had a bad feeling when he received word that multiple system errors of unknown cause had occurred within the tower. Many of the errors originated in programs concerned with external communications.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first thing that came to mind was the possibility that they had been hacked from the outside, but as he investigated, he believed instead that the problem had originated from within. This was because, from a certain point onwards, operating remotely from the system at headquarters had become increasingly difficult. It was as if someone had barricaded themselves inside the tower and was preventing any external interference…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Getting past such a tight security system and breaking in was not something that could logically be considered possible.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P136-137</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Academy technology was the greatest of this era. Yes, only “this” era. What if someone from far in the future with highly advanced technology and knowledge had infiltrated the tower?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was because he thought of this that he had originally intended to conduct investigations remotely through a duplicate. However, as if because this had been predicted, errors had occurred in duplicate related systems. It wouldn’t even accept any external input for troubleshooting. Then, he became certain. There was someone inside the tower. Someone with malintent was lurking within.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a result, he decided to go to the tower, himself. Secretly, of course. There was no guarantee that there weren’t colluding researchers at headquarters. Above all, he didn’t want to endanger people of this era. Even if a colluder was of this era, it was highly possible that the intruder was someone from another era. He thought it would be suitable for someone like himself, who shouldn’t exist in this era, to combat such an enemy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was why he had planned to infiltrate alone. He had slipped out of headquarters without even telling Alyssa anything. But, it seemed as though Alyssa herself had seen right through him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Where are you going, Sempai?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was caught just as he was stepping outside the entrance.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Stop. You don’t have to say anything. I know.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that, Alyssa gave a wide grin. Right then, he gave up on infiltrating alone. If he were to try and convince that grinning Alyssa otherwise, not even all night and day would be enough..</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Besides, truthfully, he was glad to be accompanied by Alyssa. If it was only about recovering the tower’s overridden system then he alone would have been enough, but with the added mission of locating and capturing an ‘intruder,’ he felt somewhat uneasy. With the two of them, he could leave the system’s recovery to Alyssa, and then concentrate on tracking down the intruder himself…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sempai, there should be security guards here, right?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alyssa whispered this to him in an expectedly worried tone. Hope nodded as he scanned the area. There should have been a number of armed security guards stationed in the hallway stretching from the entrance to the elevator.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, forget about security guards, there wasn’t even any sign of the researchers. Perhaps they were kidnapped before they could notify headquarters, or perhaps… they were erased. If they were erased, then it was the handiwork of someone who had information from within the tower. The fact that all of those stationed here were duplicates meant that was information unknown to the outside.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, if the perpetrator was an insider, what would be their purpose?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alyssa gazed at the Hope’s fingers, which were operating the elevator to the higher floors, and tilted her head.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If they were an insider, then you would think they would first destroy the means for travelling to other floors. After all, they’re out if they get outplayed and the system is stopped.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The elevator to the upper floors began ascending at the exact same speed as when he had visited before. Indeed, if this involved someone familiar with the tower then this would be something unusual.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So, the perpetrator is not an insider.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s odd, regardless. If it was an outsider, then they wouldn’t have been able to operate the elevator. They would have to disable the biometric identification system to get to the other floors. Yet,”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P138-139</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The identification system is working as normal. And, there’s no evidence of that, huh?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only occurrences of errors in programs related to communications and the system for the remote operation of duplicates had been confirmed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Never mind the elevator, it shouldn’t even be possible to get into the tower. Oh, wait. If they used gates like Serah and company then it would become possible.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The gates inside the tower shouldn’t be usable by anyone other than Serah and her companion.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had heard that there existed only one copy of the artefact, which acted as the gate key. Plus, those two were already headed for the future.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Serah and Noel aren’t the perpetrators.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The elevator stopped. Since they weren’t an insider and it became harder to believe than it was someone from outside, it seemed more and more likely that they were someone who had come from a different era.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Huh? Sempai, we’re not going to the top floor?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Whether the perpetrator is an insider or an outsider, they would likely seize the central mainframe first. They would hack the terminal from another floor and observe.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It would be a pretty bad idea to get into a clash right off the bat, huh. That’s just what I would expect from you, Sempai!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Look who’s talking, smiled Hope wryly. Despite such compliments, Alyssa had to have been thinking the same thing. As they hadn’t yet ascertained their opponent’s identity or motives, it was better to avoid as much direct contact as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was as he entered the room closest to the elevator and began operating the terminal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Watch out!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alyssa yelled the instant he thought he heard a gunshot. Alyssa had been quicker than Hope to notice. He was blown backwards. He realized he had been thrown against the wall from the impact on his head and back.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No. It wasn’t a wall. Unexpectedly, his vision flipped upside down. When he realized, he was tumbling down the walkway. It was the entranceway that was down the path that continued on the opposite end. It had been locked until now, but perhaps it became disengaged the moment they were blown back.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he heard another locking sound, he stood up in panic. Alyssa was still in the room. He tried unlocking it, but the control panel would not respond. He heard a scream. The sounds of gunfire continued.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Alyssa!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If it wasn’t possible to unlock it from this side, then he had no choice but to go around from next door. Fortunately, the control panel in the adjoining room could be operated without any issue. He impatiently disengaged the lock, and stormed into the room. However, the instant Hope entered, he froze on the spot.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were monsters. Why were there military beasts which should have been kept in the Academy’s experimental labs here?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He didn’t have time to think further than that. He concentrated fully on throwing his boomerang. It had really been years since he last used the item, which he had kept with him in place of a good luck charm. He was so intent on saving Alyssa as quickly as possible, he even used magic. ...Or so he thought, since he couldn’t really remember.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P140-141</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">He dashed between the slow-moving monsters and then out the room. He wasn’t sure if he had killed them. It was as he was about to take the walkway back into the previous room. Unintentionally, Hope’s feet stopped before the entrance. It was blood. Duplicates didn’t bleed. That meant, this was…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Alyssa!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was no sign of Alyssa in the room he burst into. All of the walls had been scorched by gunfire, and there were cracks of various sizes running through the panels of the terminals. As well, there were indeed bloodstains on the floors.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It couldn’t be…”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If that was how it was going to be, then I should have refused to allow Alyssa to accompany me no matter what had she said, he thought with deep regret. But, Hope immediately lifted his head up. It was because he realized something glittery was dancing around in his vision. They were particles of light he had seen before.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Is this crystal?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When they had been pursued like enemies on Cocoon, he had seen it on a number of occasions. Where these crystal particles floated about, there was always a fal’Cie. Thinking back, he thought perhaps that he had seen these same glittering particles when he was fighting monsters in the room next door, too. Only, his first priority was Alyssa’s rescue, so he had left without ascertaining the fact.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was a fal’Cie behind all of this? But, the Cocoon fal’Cie were still in hibernation, and the Pulsian fal’Cie showed no interest in humans. He didn’t think there were any fal’Cie that would go to the trouble of infiltrating a man-made facility.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Could it be, the Proto fal’Cie…”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since the Proto fal’Cie Project had been suspended, Proto fal’Cie Adam didn’t exist in Hope’s memory. However, in timelines where this amendment had not been made, that was not the case. The Proto fal’Cie Project was continued, and Proto fal’Cie Adam gained centralized control of the City of Academia. It was said that in this timeline, both Hope and Alyssa had been killed in an uprising of the AI.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, the timeline was corrected by Serah and her companions. Based on Serah’s words from the future, Hope had decided to suspend the Proto fal’Cie Project. Proto fal’Cie Adam had ceased to ever exist.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only, even when an ‘event’ completely disappears with the correcting of the timeline, it seemed that the same could not be said about people’s memories. There was a researcher in the Academy that had faint recollections of the AI uprising. For some reason, it seemed he could not go near a certain specific location within the Academy’s headquarters. In reality, even though nothing had happened, he knew it to be ‘where he was killed’.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A number of those people like that gave testimonies, but they were in the minority, and most of the cases were dismissed as their ‘figments of imagination’. Why had such ‘afterimages’ appeared within people’s memories, and on top of that, why were they unable to find any regularity in it? They created a research team in attempts come upon an explanation, but results have yet to surface.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless, in the timeline from before the correction, Proto fal’Cie Adam had existed. There were likely people who retained just the slightest memories of that.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P142-143 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe someone who could freely travel time had salvaged files concerning the Proto fal’Cie Project, which should have been suspended. Or, had they by some means, perhaps retrieved Proto fal’Cie Adam from a timeline which should have disappeared after being corrected?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If a fal’Cie is somehow involved, then this spells trouble, grimaced Hope, inadvertently. Alyssa had been kidnapped by such a rather troublesome enemy. However, it was fortunate that the bloodstains left on the floor had not been a pool of blood. While Alyssa may have been hurt, it was likely that she was still alive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, he finally felt he needed to call for outside support. However, Hope was left stunned as he sought to establish communications with the outside. The communications device was broken. He confirmed it was operable just as he was leaving Academy headquarters, so it was possible that he had crashed into it while fighting the monsters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since the communications device was unusable, his only choice was to use the terminal to contact the outside. Only, none of the terminals in this room could be used. He would access an undamaged terminal, and restore the communication systems… Would he make it in time? Would the kidnapped Alyssa be unharmed until then? Alyssa’s rescue was his first priority, right now. He was going to find Alyssa, who was being held somewhere in this tower. Contacting the outside would come later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope glanced at the floor again. The bloodstains continued towards the walkway. If he made it there, then maybe he could figure out Alyssa was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bloodstains left in droplets stopped before the elevator. That elevator was stopped on the fifty-first floor. Perhaps that meant Alyssa had been taken to the fifty-first floor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hope looked up at the elevator that was stopped on the floor immediately above.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-080b5a2d-f531-c3b9-c25b-ef8506da95eb"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t want to die. It’s something that everyone thinks. Maybe when people reach the state of being utterly miserable, and filled with despair, then there are some who wish for death. But, even so, there are no doubt those who do not wish to die. I think, rather, it is those who want to live no matter what, who are in the majority.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think people are probably more desperate to live than they believe. It’s not just me. Sacrificing another to prolong your own life, even if it meant feeling regret, is something you wouldn’t think twice about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Could you sacrifice yourself for someone you loved? No way. It’s just not possible. I hate that kind stuff. If I didn’t, then I’d just never be able to think seriously about what it means to die.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey, Sempai. Would you save me?</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-60179014610532017882014-05-13T03:41:00.000-07:002014-05-13T03:41:16.885-07:00Chapter 5 - Intermezzo AF400<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P126-127</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-30385d5f-f529-d0dd-1601-95fbc4773d02" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intermezzo AF(After the Fall)400</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There had always been music.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For some reason, in all of the “visions” I had seen, I could always hear music. The first “vision” I saw had been like that as well.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A glistening crystal amidst a lush green. Someone standing still before that pillar. It wasn’t him, but the crystal itself that was singing. Strangely, it seemed that he didn’t hear that song. That had to be why he somehow seemed lonely.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If only he could hear that song too.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius said that it was probably the voice of the daughters of the Goddess. The song of the daughters sleeping within the crystal does not reach the ears of man, he said.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If that was the case, then it might rather have been lucky that he couldn’t hear their song. The power of the Goddess is the power of Chaos. The members of a tribe seem to claim it to be evidence of her affection, or a gift, but was that really so.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Living people are better off not knowing the existence of the Goddess. It would be best if they could distance themselves as far away from the Goddess and the unseen world as they can and live by their own strength.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man stopped before the crystal seemed lonely, but there was a great light in his eyes. Even the young me could understand he was someone who sought to fulfill something by his own strength.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ll meet in the future, for sure. Saying that, he left.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The person who taught me of songs was my mother. At the time, I did not know the word “mother” and did not who that person was.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P128-129</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The people of the household speak before the seeress under no circumstances.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even so, my mother probably wanted to show me something. She always hummed a song of no words. A high pitched voice like the chirping of a small bird, a deep voice like the rumbling of the earth. That beautiful voice underwent a number of transformations and invited me to an unknown world. I took in what numbered greater than words, and was taught.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I, who had been late to have a “vision”, lived at my birthplace until the end of the age of seven. I think it was thanks to my mother, who taught me songs in the stead of words, that I was able to live with my family longer than any other seeress had.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Departing from my birthplace at an age where I could understand things was difficult in its own regard, but the sight of him standing before the crystal gave me strength. The sight of him lifting his face to cast off the loneliness and then starting to walk away.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will walk bearing a strong will as he does. No matter how lonely I am, and no matter what awaits me at my destination.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was some years after that I discovered he had been killed long ago during an insurrection by artificial intelligence.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had my first “vision” where no songs could be heard. Instead, there was the sound of severe rains and people screaming. And then, my own death.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was someone who mourned my death. I thought it was someone who I had seen before.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember. He is a person travelling across time. His name is Noel Kreiss. Caius said that he had met him before. He was someone who could twist time, so he had to be watched, he said.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P130-131</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was that really true? Noel Kreiss was shockingly alike the person who was killed by the insurgency of artificial intelligence. They have the same eyes. The eyes of someone who walks forth with the intent of doing something.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those eyes gave me strength. Despite having seen my own death, I can remain this calm because I want to walk as he walked then.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is why I want to trust Noel Kreiss. That he who has continued his journey with the same determination is not mistaken. There could be no evil in he who shed tears for a seeress he did not know. Even if, as a result, his actions would betray the laws.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One must not allow for there to be paradoxes in time. That is the law of the Farseers. I personally do not think to ever violate them. I was born as a seeress and will die as a seeress. That is who I am.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t that I myself had chosen to be born this way, but I am happy to have been born a daughter to that mother. My journey as a seeress too, had been slightly lonely, but not ill-fated.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will go to that city. To the night where no songs can be heard. Not because it had been decided as such, but because it is how I have chosen to end my journey.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-26230422470808513292014-05-13T03:37:00.000-07:002014-05-13T05:19:22.025-07:00Chapter 4 - will & choice: Part 5<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Was I able to keep them safe…?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow clapped his own cheeks with both his hands to keep himself from getting discouraged.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Everything’s fine. We defeated that huge flan. Serah was stronger than I had ever expected, and that Noel guy was strong, too.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had continued fighting with the gigantic flan, and eventually, the Cactuar had been knocked somewhere by a single blow from the creature, leaving Snow alone and in a tight spot. Just as he was getting beaten like an old rag doll, Serah had showed up. He was stunned. He almost thought he was having a hallucination from being on the brink of death.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Man, that Noel guy’s words were right. They really hit the spot.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you don’t care about yourself then the people you’re trying to protect will be the ones who get hurt, he said. Noel probably had someone who was precious to him, too. As well as someone he couldn’t protect. His voice on that day, was that of a person who had felt the regret and heartache of not having been able to protect someone.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Serah hadn’t been there that day, then I might have said that I was the same as you. I couldn’t protect the people I cared for. I had seen that future. I was fighting so that it would not become a reality, I would say.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I gave up then Serah would die. I wouldn’t be able to save her. So there was no way I could just quit. You’re like that too, right? You fight to protect your loved ones from dying without any regard for your own safety, don’t you? Don’t you…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, there was no way I could say those things before Serah, herself. Instead, I said, haven’t you been protecting Serah, too? That was all I could manage. Noel probably didn’t understand what I was trying to say.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If he met Noel again someday, if they were both able to protect their loved ones, if they could arrive at such a future, then he would tell him. Everything. He would lay his cards on the table. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, before that…”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P122-123</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow turned his eyes to his feet. That ‘hazy blackness’ had wound itself around his legs.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah, I got it. I promised. I’ll stick around until you’re satisfied.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ‘hazy blackness’ creeped up Snow’s body, as if to say, really? While it did look rather eerie, it felt as if he was being clung onto by a child, no, a little girl. Somehow, this melancholic feeling to it made him imagine a silent and lonely little girl.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like before, there was still no means to communicate, but judging by how the Cactuar wasn’t putting up any defenses, it probably wasn’t anything that bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But anyway, who knew we’d end up back here after getting separated from Serah?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps, it was because the temporal axes had realigned after they defeated the gigantic flan. Snow had been torn away from where Serah and company were. When he came to his senses, he found himself in that puzzling space where the “Arbiter of Time” was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, unlike before, he had discovered the purpose of this place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Who would have thought that this was a coliseum?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was dark when he last visited, but now a spotlight shone in the center and the circular stands too, were lit brightly enough for spectators to watch. “When the day is come” had likely meant when the arena started its operation as a coliseum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey. So, you wanted me to defeat all of the opponents here?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was no answer. Yet, he had a feeling it wasn’t that. What the ‘hazy blackness’ desired was something different. After having thought that far, something occurred to him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Could it be, that you know too? About what Sis and I both saw,”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was that why it didn’t want to leave his side. I don’t want to see the end of the world, so make it stop, save me. Was that what it was trying to say?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Well if that’s the case, then everything will be fine… Though, I guess you don't understand what I’m saying.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thought that he would tell it, if they were able to convey their thoughts, someday. About how he protected the crystal pillar, about his companions who were fighting to change the future.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The problem was, he had no idea when such a day would come.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh well. All I can do now is fight, anyway.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this moment, at this place, all he could do was use all his strength. Even if he didn’t yet know the reasoning behind it. At the end of these struggles, there would lie the answers.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh. My bad. Sorry, to keeping you waiting.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It would have been more accurate to say “them”. A bunch of light-blue colored creatures had gathered around Snow’s feet. According to the Arbiter of Time, they were “guests from another planet”. The yellow receptor-like decorations on their heads and their smooth bodies made them rather different from any of the monsters from Cocoon or Pulse. For some reason, these strange creatures that were supposed to be Snow’s opponents, had also grown attached to him. Of course, this was after quite the battle had taken place, though.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P124</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His new opponent let out a warcry, having grown impatient. He was equipped with a number of weapons all at once, and looked to be quite the formidable foe. It seemed he would be a good match.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow approached slowly, and raised his fists.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-56903771959618076262014-05-13T03:33:00.001-07:002014-05-13T05:18:26.198-07:00Chapter 4 - will & choice: Part 4<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he came to his senses, he was back to where he had been before. At Old Bodhum, right before the Ark which protruded from the dimensional rift.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Huh? I don’t think… I was dreaming.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a mark of the l’Cie on his arm. Was becoming a l’Cie the condition for getting back there? Or, was it simply a matter of completing the cycle after being sent here and there, and then returning?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He tried taking one step, and then another step. He didn’t feel any sinking beneath his feet. He took another step. It was fine. It seemed that this time he had come back.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps time had passed on its own accord, for the fog had cleared up. The large horde of monsters too, were gone. Had he returned to the inside of the Ark? No, if some time had passed, then the military might have exterminated them.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey, wait! Cactuar! Isn’t this what was in your vision?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before his eyes was the “gate-like” object that was in the vision. It was a gigantic sphere surrounded by haze.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Your Focus was to fight the thing inside there or something, wasn’t it?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was as he approached the shimmering object, saying this. A howl reverberated in the space around them. A gigantic creature had appeared. It was a humanoid, so perhaps it could have been called a giant. Except, whilst being a giant, it was clearly different from the “Arbiter of Time.” It’s blazing eyes were a red reminiscent of red-hot lava.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Heeey. We mean no harm. Why don’t we avoid this needless fight?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A gigantic arm came swinging down at them at the same time as he said this. Perhaps what exterminated that horde of monsters was not the military, but this giant, he thought.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“End of discussion, huh?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running away or waiting things out, these were no longer options for Snow. From then on, Snow had every intention to face all who opposed head on.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cactuar who was bound by the Focus of defeating the enemy within this “gate” had given Snow a Focus differing from his own. A Focus that would have him defeat the jet-black Bahamut alongside Serah.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a response to that gesture, he decided he would defeat whatever enemy stood in their way, whether or not it had anything to do with his Focus. This included the monster behind the “gate”, of course.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P114-115</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, the Cactuar showed him a vision that lasted for just an instant. It showed that Snow and the Cactuar defeating the giant and entering the “gate”. This meant the giant was the gatekeeper of that “gate”. It seemed that the Cactuar knew this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So, that’s our first hurdle, huh? Then we’ve gotta kill it no matter what.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After, saying a quick ‘let’s go’ to the Cactuar, Snow began to approach the giant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as he had expected, the l’Cie powers were on a whole other level. Even an enemy that would have been a struggle for a normal person, could now be crushed with ease, as a l’Cie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So, how do we get in there?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to what was in the vision, they would be sucked into the “gate” simply by approaching it. Although they had already gotten quite close to the “gate”, it gave no reaction whatsoever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Don’t tell me it’s a fake or something. This here is the real thing, right?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slipping away from beside a puzzled Snow, the Cactuar approached the “gate”. By the time he had remembered that it had been glowing like this in the vision, his feet had already left the ground.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knew this feeling. Right after he was sent flying by a monster while trying to escape the dimensional rift, his body floated as if something like an anti-gravitational device had been activated. He seemed to recall that it happened around here, last time. Perhaps they had been sucked into the “gate”, and just hadn’t seen it because they were shrouded in fog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, as predicted, they had ended up in that strange space. As well, when he drifted onwards to the “end” of the mechanical parts, which extended into a spiral, his vision turned white. How gravity returned abruptly, too was the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Here again, huh?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a Sunleth Waterscape in the early evening. Differing from before, perhaps due to the time, there was no sign of the little miniflans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So, I’m not going to sink again if I start walking, right?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He tentatively stuck out his foot and tested the ground’s surface with his toes. It felt like normal grass and dirt. He took a step, and then another step. Nothing happened. He stomped the ground with his feet. It was fine. Snow breathed out a large sigh of relief.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, what am I supposed to do here? Have any ideas?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, the Cactuar showed him no vision whatsoever. He had thought he was sent to Sunleth Waterscape with a certain objective, but at any rate, it didn’t appear to involve the Cactuar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Well, if we’re going to do anything, it’ll be tomorrow. We have to find a place to sleep, today.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sun had already set. It didn’t get dark in Cocoon as fast as it did on Gran Pulse, but even so, they would likely be shrouded in darkness within the hour. Fortunately, unlike around the Archylte Steppes, there were any number of places in Sunleth Waterscape where one could set up camp.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P116-117</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After setting a simple trap to dissuade monsters, he felt exhausted. Thinking back, he had been continuously sent here and there with no time for rest. He had fought some powerful foes, too. No wonder he was tired.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He lost consciousness as soon as he laid himself down. It was as if Snow was already half passed out when he drifted to sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He heard a familiar voice. A voice he had continued searching for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So you can finally hear my “voice”, huh? I was going to stop you from becoming a l’Cie.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was too late, he heard the voice say in dismay, and then he sprang to his feet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sis!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was there before him, it was Lightning. Only, she was clad in an impressive set of armor, reminiscent of that of a knight or a battle maiden from some fairy tale. Perhaps that was why he immediately realized this wasn’t real.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sis, this is a dream, right?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah. It’s a dream. I tried calling out to you again and again, but since you never realized, I forced my way in. We’re still ignorant of what others say as usual, I see.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">She sounded slightly annoyed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Don’t tell me… you’re mad, aren’t you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Of course I am.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had promised he would make Serah happy, but he went and became a l’Cie, anyway. Lightning had good reason to be angry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sorry. I…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, I know how you feel.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">With those words, Snow realized that Lightning was angry not with him, but with herself for not being able to stop him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Since you did end up seeing that.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You knew!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cocoon falling and Serah dying. Had Lightning seen those things, too?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You can see everything from Valhalla.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The thing you walked into in Old Bodhum was a gate. Gates are created as a result of temporal rifts. If you enter a gate and pass through the Historia Crux, you can go to other periods in time.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Historia…? You mean those strange places? The ones that look like mechanical tunnels?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeah, said Lightning with a nod.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Only those who have been granted passage may enter the gates. It was just a coincidence that you were thrown into one by a monster, the first time. At that point, the temporal rift hadn’t finished turning into a gate yet. Since the dimensional distortion housing the Ark happened to be nearby, the two reacted and the incomplete gate ended up being activated.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P118-119</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So that’s what happened. I thought they were similar in principle.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Only, that was something of an accident. That’s why you couldn’t stay in the places you were sent off to.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed that being forced somewhere else if he had so much as moved a step was due to him entering an incomplete gate. That short, yet long journey. If he hadn’t gone through it, then there was no way he would have become a l’Cie.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continuing to live in ignorance as a human, or becoming a l’Cie to change the grim future. He wasn’t sure which he would have been happier with. But, being transported to different ages had allowed him to choose. It was decided not from getting caught up in it, or from drifting there, but by his own will. That’s why he believed it was by no means a waste.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It may have been an accident, but it wasn’t a pointless detour.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if reading Snow’s mind, Lightning continued.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Having been influenced by the dimensional distortion, as you passed through the temporal rifts, your “footprints” were left at your destinations. In time, those would crystallize, and turn into a particular substance. That substance would be be picked up by Serah, who is travelling the ages, and give hope to the people of the future.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was taken aback upon hearing that Serah was travelling through time. He had seen Serah at the places he travelled to. He had also heard that Serah had “defeated the monsters.” So, that’s what was going on, was it?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow, called Lightning, quietly.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I want you to protect the crystal pillar. That’s why I called you here, to the Sunleth Waterscape of 300 AF.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Sunleth Waterscape, there were places where the crystal pillar was exposed. According to Lightning, the origin the pillar’s collapse could be traced to there. A flan that had grown to enormous proportions for some reason or another, had been gradually dissolving the the pillar, she said.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So, this means what I saw was real, huh?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The image of a fissure running down the support pillar and then shattering before his eyes. He had realized that it was real, but now that he was made fully aware of the fact, the reality of it weighed down on him even more.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I see. But,”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thought he saw a powerful glow in Lightning’s eyes.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If you can protect it, then that will no longer be a reality. Please, protect the crystal pillar so that future does not come to pass, as well.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dream ended with the words, for Vanille and Fang who are sleeping within…</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sis!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He awoke to the sound of his own yelling voice. It was morning. Snow gave a large stretch and sat up.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It was a dream, but I really met her didn’t I.”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P120-121</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If he could, he would have wanted to go back to New Bodhum and tell Serah, right then and there. Sis is a live; I met her, he would say.</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, I’m sorry. Please just wait a little longer.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He couldn’t see since it was dark yesterday, but beyond the overgrown trees, he could see a gigantic flan. It was the culprit behind the dissolving of the crystal pillar.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If I beat that thing, the pillar will be safe and Cocoon won’t end up falling. If Cocoon doesn’t fall, then I bet Serah won’t die either.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that future does not come to pass, reverberated Lightning’s voice in his ears.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I know. Sis, I swear I’ll protect Serah. I’ll protect Cocoon, Pulse and everyone else, too.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hero is back in the house. Nodding at the Cactuar beside him, Snow bolted towards the gigantic flan.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-42496246895767299852014-05-13T03:29:00.000-07:002014-05-13T05:17:04.125-07:00Chapter 4 - will & choice: Part 3<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had been long since he last felt the sea breeze. It was the smell of the Gran Pulsian seas. The suns rays were bright. The sound of the waves reverberated comfortably in his ears.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Huh? What am I doing in a place like this?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">His surroundings appeared familiar. It was the seashore of New Bodhum which he departed from two years ago. It was a place he would recognize no matter what.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Am I dreaming or something?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He tried placing his hand atop the head of the cactuar beside him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Owowowow!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sharp needles pierced right through his leather glove. It was painful enough to make want to him leap into the air. Surely, this had to be reality.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I guess this means… I was thrown all the way back here, huh?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Likewise, a familiar face lay ahead of where his eyes had turned to. It was Gadot. Somehow, his face looked glum. It was just as Snow was about to call out to him and ask what had happened. Someone else had said those words before the words before him.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’s the matter? You look down,”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lebreau passed right by Snow and ran towards Gadot.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oi, hey, Lebreau. Is this how you’re going to treat me after not seeing me for so long? C’mon, ask me something like, ‘What’re you doing here?’”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P92-93</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t only Lebreau who had ignored him. Even Gadot, who was within an earshot, hadn’t even bothered to look his way.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Gadot? Lebreau? What’s going on?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Could it actually have been a dream? No, the pain of being stabbed by the cactuar’s needles had been real. Did this mean that the Gadot and Lebreau before him were illusions?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I was thinking if it was a good idea to let Serah go.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">His feet that were trying to walk up next to Gadot and Lebreau stopped on their own. Let Serah go? What did that mean? Where had Serah gone?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Two years ago, the boss said this to me. ‘Take care of Serah,’ he said. He went outta his way to come see me,”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Snow did?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah. Serah seems happy, but she’s not all herself yet. Else there was no way she woulda backed down with a simple ‘wait here for me’.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was right. He looked at Serah, who had simply convinced herself that she had to stay for the kids, and he knew he couldn’t take her along. In Serah’s heart, there were a number of uncertainties, worries and insecurities. She should continue to remain under the protection of their kindhearted companions, he thought. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He said something like, ‘I know you might think it’s horrible of me to leave Serah like that, it’s really, really to make her happy.’ So, please, he said.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, how come I’ve never heard this?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“D’ya even need to ask? It’s a pact between two guys. It’s not just something I can blurt out. Well, I’ve gone and said it now, though.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Really, nodded Snow in disbelief. Who would have thought he would ‘blurt’ that out right before the very person he had made the pact with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Especially since this was Lebreau, there could be no going back. Aside from Gadot, there was not one single member of NORA who could keep a secret from Lebreau. And, well, it wasn’t as if Snow had made Gadot swear to secrecy. He just told him to keep it in the back of his mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless, since he knew of their conversation that night, this Gadot wasn’t some sort of illusion. He was the real thing. He was sure this meant that Lebreau was real and the scene before him was real too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I see. So that’s what it was. I did think you were being just a tad bit defensive.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lebreau nodded with a look of understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’re right. I wouldn’t have let the Serah from two years ago go either. ‘Cause she still seemed pretty unstable. Back then, Serah herself probably wouldn’t have gone either. No matter how much she was told that Lightning was alive.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He doubted his ears. What had Lebreau said just now?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey! Is Sis really alive!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the past while, whether it was about where Serah had gone or whatever, they were all words he couldn’t ignore. Then, something happened just as he tried running up to them, thinking he had to know more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P94-95</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet sank. He thought he had accidentally stepped into some mud, but it felt unexpectedly deep. When he hastily tried to pull his feet out, the ground had already reached the level of his chest.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Indeed, it was sand, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. What he had been standing on, that is. There was no way it should have been sinking like this. Yet, what was it that gave it this mud-like consistency?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I had thought at first this whole coming from the future thing was just a bunch of nonsense. But, now Serah’s…”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What happened to Serah? From the future? What on earth was Lebreau talking about?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow was swallowed up by the familiar beach sands of New Bodhum, left with a number of question marks.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once again, they had exited out into that mysterious space. That place filled with what seemed to be parts of a machine, spiralling into the distance. However, this time his vision turned white before he drifted very far. Just like that, they had arrived at their ‘destination’.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fortunately, he had arrived without crashing awkwardly this time. Thanks to what he learned from last time, he was able to brace himself for the instant he felt he was being thrown out.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh boy. I wonder what we’re doing in a place like this.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In an instant, he knew that this incline surrounded by debris was Bresha Ruins. This was both a hiding place for the survivors of the firefight at Hanging Edge and also the place where many lost their lives in the airship crashes which followed. He had visited the Bresha Ruins a number of times to do things like erect gravestones at locations where they had to bury the bodies and accompany the bereaved families who wished to lay flowers.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only, these Bresha Ruins seemed to have more advanced facilities than he had remembered. Although, you couldn’t originally see very far out from this incline, so it was only a fraction of what he could see now.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So they can’t see us here either, huh?”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chocobos dashed by, narrowly missing Snow. Even though these </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">were</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> chocobos, they would have tried to avoid Snow if they had saw him, and the cactuar was there too, so they ought to have had reacted in some way.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“...But anyway, it must be pretty helpful now that the Gran Elevator has been built.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, his ears perked up. Even though he couldn’t see them, he knew that there were soldiers standing guard nearby.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I can’t believe when we had to order airship tickets all the time.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I know, right? The lines were pretty darn long at first, too.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, didn’t we stop having to do that after the expansion?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Which reminds me, I heard they’re expanding the fourth base next year.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s sure to eliminate all the waiting time.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Well, they’ll probably stop for maintenance again, right? They’re pretty inconvenient now that we can just use the elevator.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P96-97</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What were they talking about? How had he been travelling to Cocoon just a few hours ago? Why, the airships connecting Gran Pulse and Cocoon, of course. He had indeed been “ordering airship tickets all the time.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knew of the plans to build the Gran Elevator. When he last visited Rygdea, they had already began constructing it. However, it would have been due to be completed next year, in 4 AF. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> had been completed and was now something that people could “just use.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’s going on? Hey, what do you think?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though he asks, the cactuar shows him no visions. Was that supposed to mean he had no idea?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh yeah, those guys disappeared into thin air, huh?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah. They’re just like those ‘defenders of justice’ types that appear in movies and stuff, right? You know, how they show up, defeat the monsters, and then disappear.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He could hear one of the soldiers speaking with a sigh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s really too bad. I wanted to get closer to Serah.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was that, just now? He was sure he had heard it. The name, Serah.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey! What did you say about Serah!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He ran towards the source of the voice. However, he wasn’t able ask them what they were talking about. His feet had begun to sink again. As he thought, oh yeah, they can’t hear my voice, huh, he was sucked into debris littered surface of the ground.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Huh, now we’re on a roof?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This too was somewhere he was familiar with. He had visited the village of Oerba a number of times. They had gathered things like half-wild domesticated animals and crops, and conducted a survey on the remnants left behind by past inhabitants. Since the area had been declared a restricted Special Protected Zone after the initial survey, it was probably about two years ago that he last visited.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, he thought the buildings had eroded significantly despite the fact only two years had passed. In the topography too, though subtle, there appeared to have been changes. Instead of two years, if someone had told him some decades had passed, he would have easily believed them. They were those sorts of changes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless, what could that soldier from earlier have been talking about?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was that ‘like a defender of justice’ thing, too. Serah’s name was said right after that.Judging by the context, it would have meant that Serah was the one who defeated the monsters and then fittingly departed like a defender of justice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Who would have thought. No matter what, something like that just”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isn’t possible, was something he wouldn’t say. If Serah was up for it and put her all into training, then it would have been possible for her to become comparable to Lightning in battle. However, whether or not Serah could have put such skills to practical use was another matter. Then, to top it all off, there was the fact of going as far as Bresha Ruins to defeat monsters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Nope. Can’t imagine that at all. I guess it was something else.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The “Serah” person that soldier was talking about was probably someone else.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P98-99</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“At any rate, Serah should’ve been at the village. But, wait?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He recalls Gadot and Lebreau’s conversation. Gadot said something like “was it a good idea to let Serah go,” and then Lebreau had said “I wouldn’t have let the Serah from two years ago go either.” Then, she said “no matter how much I was told that Lightning was alive.” If you connected those, then it would mean “Serah went on a journey to find Lightning,” wouldn’t it? If she had left on a journey, then it wouldn’t be strange if she had passed through Bresha Ruins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Come to think of it, those soldiers had said “those people,” too. He assumed that the monster killing was done by Serah, but this would mean there was someone else accompanying her on her travels. Who, though? Hope, perhaps? If Hope were with her then there was a chance they would have done some monster exterminating. Then, this would mean the one who told that her Lightning was alive, was Hope.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“When was the last time I met Hope?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was it before he departed New Bodhum and visited Rygdea, or after? The Hope he had met with after such a long period of time had grown significantly in height. They hadn’t met for over a year, so it was no surprise that he had grown. However, it was clear that when they next met, he had grown taller again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">”No, wait, let’s put that point aside.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he had last met with Hope, he was still convinced that Lightning was dead. When he had told him about how only Serah’s memory was different, and about how he didn’t realize things until they were pointed out to him, he was utterly shocked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It could be possible that Hope too, had begun gathering data based on having been told about the possibility that Lightning was alive. Then, he could have come across some information. He would visit New Bodhum to convey what he had learned, but Snow would not be there. Serah, who then received this information instead, would have decided to go on a journey with Hope to search for Lightning…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Would that make sense, then? But wait, something still seems strange.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if Serah had asked to accompany him, would Hope have gone along with it? Would Hope, who knew full well the dangers of going on an expedition, have allowed the “family of a former companion” to accompany him? That was just not possible. So long as he hadn’t been told, “take Serah with you,” by Lightning herself that is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was as his thoughts had reached this point. He heard the shrill call of a chocobo. Snow was left utterly flabbergasted as he casually turned his eyes in that direction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Serah!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There could be no doubt that the one mounted on the chocobo, sprinting across the beach was Serah, herself. Even from afar, there was no mistaking Serah for someone else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Heeeeey! Serah!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The instant he began dashing forward, waving his arms widely in the air, he became filled with worry, “am I gonna be sucked into somewhere again?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Serah…!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, he was right on the money. What had been the roof that he was standing on took on a mud-like consistency. There was no resisting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P100-101</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Just when I had finally found Serah…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He sighed. That was real. Serah was really in Oerba. Perhaps it was because he had been shown the lies of the fal’Cie that he could grasp what was real and false when it came to Serah. It wasn’t about logic. He knew based on things like intuition and instinct.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps due to disappointment, it was a while before he realized it was dark around him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Where… is this?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was raining. Nighttime. Colorful lights were illuminating the darkness. As he looked upwards, there was a neck-strainingly tall building. There wasn’t just one of them. A number of buildings towered overhead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whilst taking care not to make any miss-steps, he surveyed his surroundings. It seemed he would be sent elsewhere if he moved away from where he was standing. Having gone through it three times already, it was about time for him to learn his lesson.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were many pedestrians, but it had to be have been reasonably late in the day. The rows of shops had dimmed their lights, leaving only the ones in the display windows. Amongst them, there was a particularly eye-catching boutique targeting young women. There was an outfit of incredibly eccentric design being displayed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though eccentric, it seemed like it would fit Serah well. When it came to Lightning, regardless of how nicely clothes would fit, she would probably flatly refuse saying, “I’m not into that fancy look.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As he thought of such things, Snow, who shifted his gaze nonchalantly, felt his legs go weak. It was because, next to the outfit, he saw the words “400 AF Autumn-Winter Collection.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Woah, woah. What kind of nonsense is this?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Snow was about to laugh it off, he came upon a possibility. Those soldiers that claimed people could “just use” the Gran Elevator, which was scheduled to be completed in 4 AF. Wouldn’t that conversation he heard there have taken place further in the future than 4 AF? Basically, wouldn’t he have been in the future, where the Gran Elevator had already been completed?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even when it came to Oerba, it would have been more logical to say that it was tens or hundreds of years in the future. The deterioration of the buildings and the changing of the landscape were not things that could have occurred in just a few years. Although, it did make him uncomfortable to think that Serah had been in such a future.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If that was in the future, then I guess it wouldn’t be weird if this was in the future as well.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He takes another look around. The clothing worn by passers-by was not nearly as bizarre as the outfit in that display window. However, it was clearly different from the clothing of the people in downtown Palumpolum. Even more so than in design, he could tell that they were altogether of an entirely different material. The luster of the material when illuminated by the street and window lights, was unlike any other he had seen before.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He gave a try at waving his hand before the eyes of a woman who had passed by him. However, regardless of the fact that there was a hand stuck right before her face, she simply walked away without any reaction whatsoever. It was just as he thought; he wasn’t being seen by the people who were there.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Could it be that the dimension has been shifted?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P102-103</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">He recalled the Ark, which was originally housed in Eden. Rygdea had said that it was housed there using a dimensional shift. How you couldn’t see it or touch it even if it was right before your eyes, was precisely the same as his present situation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Now, there’s the matter of what that all means.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">How could stop himself from being sent somewhere else simply by moving.a little ways away?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was just as he was thinking of such things. The faces of people walking right before him suddenly contorted in pain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey! What’s the matter!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">They clawed at their own necks, appearing to be suffering so greatly that despite knowing none could hear him, he couldn’t help but call out to them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the next instant, the people before his eyes transformed. Into a form he had seen a countless number of times within the Pulse Vestige of Bodhum, and at the Seat of the Sanctum, Eden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They’re Cie’th…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why were these normal-looking people turning into Cie’th? Could it be that all of the area’s residents are l’Cie? No, the mark of the l’Cie progressed at a different pace for everyone. There would have needed to be some intervention from a fal’Cie for everyone to have turned into Cie’th at the same time. But, weren’t all of Eden’s fal’Cie in hibernation and hadn’t all of the Pulsian fal’Cie lost interest in humans?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the first time he had seen a horde of this many Cie’th. They began to shamble about in all directions. There were some who came in Snow’s direction as well. He couldn’t help but retreat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was nothing a mere human like him could do for them. Even a fal’Cie could not turn a Cie’th back into a human, Even for fal’Cie Cactuar who had regained his memories and powers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">His footing sank. That was the first time he felt thankful for such a thing. The rain-drenched pavement gradually rose. Then, it happened just as he was about to concede to sinking, Beyond the herd of Cie’th, he saw Serah.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serah was fighting with the Cie’th. With a bow in hand, she shot off a powerful-looking spell, whilst nimbly dodging the approaching Cie’th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, that was all. In the next instant, he could no longer see Serah, or the person fighting next to her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t believe it… but that was Serah. What could possibly have happened?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If that place was really 400 AF, did that mean Serah had lived on for four hundred years? No, it couldn’t be. It wasn’t that, she had probably travelled through time somehow, like himself. However, there was still the question of why Serah could move around freely, while he was rooted to the same place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But man, it sure is rough. Being shown such a sight.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Especially since this was right after he realized what he was seeing wasn’t a dream or an illusion. He thought he would like to see something peaceful next. Something where he could stand around and listen to the conversations of some soldiers on guard duty, would be nice. If there was nothing he could do anyway, he thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P104-105</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This time we’re in Pulse… huh?”</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">He could see a group of tall buildings in the distance. Perhaps the city he had seen earlier was over there. However, based on the amount of deterioration in the buildings, he could tell even from far away that a number of years had passed. They didn’t age naturally. It appeared as if they were destroyed by man, as the result of there being some sort of war.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What could have happened?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the instant he muttered this, he heard a splitting noise. Or, perhaps it was a cracking noise. It sounded as if a crack had formed in ice lying atop a vast lake. The sound came from the skies. Cocoon was in that direction.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s shaking?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It looked as if Cocoon was shaking ever so slightly. Shaking in fear, almost. Again, he heard the sound. It was the same as the one he had just heard. It sounded a second, and a third time. Again, Cocoon shook. This time, more widely and irregularly.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No way…”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thought the color of the supporting pillar had changed. It wasn’t that. It was a fissure. That was the sound of fissures forming in the crystal. Cocoon shook wildly. At this rate, the support pillar would break. Cocoon would fall to the ground. He stilled his feet which threatened to break into a dash and clenched his fists. He couldn’t move from here. If he took even a single step, he would get sent somewhere else. He had to do something to stop Cocoon from falling.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Cactuar! Do something!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the strength that could carve up the landscape of the Archylte Steppe, he thought.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Please!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knew all too well that such a request would be impossible. There was no way he could prevent the disintegration of the pillar just by having been able to carve up the landscape. Even so, as he could not presently move a single step away, he had no choice but to rely on the power of the Cactuar.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The crystal cracked in various places and each time, fragments glittered and rained down to the ground. Cocoon shook wildly as if to twist itself off the support pillar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Pulsian crest appeared in the sky. The Cactuar fully stretched out its little arms and legs. His body began to inflate. However, nothing would happen. There was nothing like the changes that occurred back in the Archylte Steppe.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Vanille! Fang!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though he yells at the top of his lungs, his words are drowned out by the thunderous roar. Although the red glow of the Pulsian crest intensifies, the disintegration of the pillar does not cease. Finally, the gigantic cocoon begins to fall. There are only a few seconds before it impacts the ground. They were a long few seconds that seemed to last an eternity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the ground-shaking thud, his vision was obscured by a miscellany of dust and dirt. He thought something had screamed, but he could no longer hear it. The ground shook violently. Anything and everything was sent flying.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless, Snow stood fast throughout it all, without moving a single muscle. The fact that they alone suffered no injury in this great calamity. This was proof that there was nothing they could do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P106-107</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aside from clenching his fists and shouting, there was nothing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He heard an incoherent scream. He finally realized that the thunderous roar had stopped. The Pulsian crest too, had disappeared, and there was nothing but white around him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He couldn’t do anything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He involuntarily sank to his knees. He couldn’t save them. Not Vanille, Fang, the people residing inside Cocoon, the people living on Gran Pulse, or the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was there really nothing he could have done? Wasn’t there at least one thing he could have done? Maybe he had just one-sidedly decided that there was nothing he could do at the destinations he was sent to. Could he perhaps have missed something, from habitually becoming a spectator of the events that unfolded before him?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He punched the ground with all his strength. Again and again. Pain shot through his fists. How could he think that there was nothing he could do. Wasn’t it that he might have been able to do something, but just didn’t do anything? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s worse is that until he was faced with the collapse of Cocoon, he had been as careless as to think he “would like to see something peaceful next.” He made no attempt to think about why he was there, or why he was being shown these images that could be from nowhere other than the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In what age could this have been in? How far in the future was it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had to at least have been further in the future than 400 AF. He was sure that Cocoon was in the night sky that he saw just a little while ago. The crystal pillar too, remained intact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He thought of this and became filled with terror. If the pillar existed four hundred years in the future, then this meant they were unable to save Vanille and Fang. They had died without being able to save their companions. Then, the crystal would come to disintegrate far in the future. Along with the two of them, still inside.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Damn it…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">They had all wished to save Vanille and Fang. They hadn’t said so out loud, but all of them had to have sworn to save them. They had likely all continued hoping for that until their deaths. Yet, they could not make it happen…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He punched the ground in vain. He wouldn’t have been able to keep himself in check if he didn’t do at least that. From the violent emotion swelling forth, that could neither be described as anger, or regret.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">How long had he been at this. Again, he heard a thunderous roar. Reflexively, snow lifted his face. It was a sound that differed from before. It was magic. Someone was fighting with magic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He strained his eyes and stared at the direction where the sound came from. However, the dense crystal dust was in the way, and he could not see the people who must have been fighting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had thought a great number of lives had been lost from the fall just moments ago, but perhaps, the people had evacuated elsewhere and were safe. There were people who could fight using magic, after all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">People fighting with magic typically meant danger, but now it sounded like a gospel, and even brought him hope. Those sounds meant there were a number of survivors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He stood up, strained his eyes, and focused on listening. He saw Bahamut soaring through the sky. Perhaps he was able to see him this time because unlike on the surface, the dust was less dense in the skies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P108-109</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike Fang’s Eidolon, it was a jet-black Bahamut. It was the color of a sinister darkness.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So, does this mean that the ones fighting are l’Cie?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, Bahamut was moving quickly, so he couldn’t tell who was riding on its back. Just then, meteors came raining down to the ground. The one controlling Bahamut had to be quite a powerful magical user.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Occasionally, he would see intense thunder and flame attacks being fired at Bahamut. Since they were fighting on par with one who controlling such a powerful Eidolon, they too had to have been powerful magic users.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a long, long battle, silence came. Was it over?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Who won?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if to answer Snow’s mutterings, from behind came the sound of something being thrown. It was close. Just then, the jet-black Bahamut took flight. He could hear a roar of laughter. As usual, he could not see them, but he knew from the sound of their voice that they were a man.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serah, echoed a scream-like cry. That sound. Wasn’t that the sound of someone collapsing? He didn’t want to see, he thought. He had a gut feeling that he would see something awful if he turned around now. Even so, he couldn’t keep his eyes turned away. Simply because.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Serah!”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His intuition was right. Serah lay collapsed, having already expired.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’re… kidding, right?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His voice sounded distant. Time had stopped. That’s how it felt. He heard an incoherent yell. When he realized it was his own voice, he could no longer see Serah’s body.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">He came back to his senses after hitting the ground awkwardly. Afterwards, he continued being sent here and there. He recalled a Yaschas Massif shrouded in darkness, a Sunleth Waterscape where little miniflans were spawning in great numbers, and an Oerba where the sandy beach grew ever larger, but his memories were altogether blurry.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As he staggered around, he was sucked into the ground, sent flying to another location, and then he staggered some more… continuing to repeat the cycle. He wished to go somewhere that would tell him this was just a dream, but it was the same no matter where he went. Instead, he only became more confident that this was reality.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is the future of our world. A future that will someday come to pass, whether or not I am alive there.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t as if there was sound evidence. However, he understood this through the illogical aspects. …Serah’s death included.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If that had been someone else’s corpse, then he might have been fooled. “It’s an illusion,” he might tell himself, and then cling onto a false sense of security. If only that hadn’t been Serah.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because it had been someone more precious than any other to him, there was no way he could lie to himself. He knew, now.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As he sluggishly righted himself, a desolate landscape unfolded before him. There was a land of death. There was a lifeless sea. There was debris strewn throughout that one would even hesitate to label as ruins.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Could it be that this is…”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P110-111</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a landscape he had seen before. Because he had seen it since before there was a single house, or even a campground, he could still recognize it in its dilapidated state in just a single glance. It was the shore of New Bodhum. He couldn’t stop himself from muttering, why this?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Our village is going to become like this?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the skies he looked up towards, there was no Cocoon. This was probably the future after Cocoon had fallen. An object of that much mass had fallen down. The ground’s surface had to have been decimated. New Bodhum wouldn’t have been any exception.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The crystal pillar crumbled to dust, Cocoon fell… Serah died. Then on top of that, even our village has become like this… Hey, this has to be some sort of bad dream, right?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cactuar simply stood next to Snow, without showing him any sort of vision at all. Silence. That was the Cactuar’s answer.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I know. I know, alright. It’s not some sort of dream. But how? How did I know that this is real?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was probably because these were things that were precious to him. Even if he couldn’t touch them with his own hands. Even Cocoon. Even Pulse. Even the people living there. Even his companions. Finally, even Serah. They were all things that he needed so much. They were things he would go as far as to offer himself to protect.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of those things had turned to dust and lay here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wanted to yell again. The anger and humiliation welled up once again. The instant when he became stricken with a sense that he was powerless to do anything had come back to him with vivid clarity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow stood up slowly. He placed his feet down on the land of death and looked up at the darkened skies. No. He wasn’t meant to be yelling in anger to his heart’s content. He wasn’t meant to be pounding away with his fists, either. If this was the future they were destined for, then he would change it. He would go against it. He would fight. There was no way he was letting it all end like this.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Cactuar. Turn me into a l’Cie.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cactuar looked up at Snow as if to say, ‘are you sure?’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I said there was no point in obtaining power if it would cause the one person who is truly important to me to suffer, didn’t I. That’s why I didn’t want to become a l’Cie, I said.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cactuar understood how he felt. The power of a fal’Cie, could have easily been used to force a person to become a l’Cie, but the Cactuar did no such thing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, if I wasn’t able to protect the one person who is truly precious to me, and only I’m left alive, then there’s nothing that can be said.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if he became a l’Cie, there would be no one to feel sad for him. Then, what was the point in trying to stay human? Even if he was destined to become a Cie’th, he would have no regrets if there was even one thing for him to protect.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I might not be able offer protection even if I do become a l’Cie. However, if I had power, then maybe I could do something. I’ll bet everything on that.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if to reply ‘okay,’ the Cactuar spread out its limbs. The color disappeared from his vision. It was a vision of his Focus. For real, this time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P112-113</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow was there. So was Serah. The two of them were up against the jet-black Bahamut. Snow was throwing punches at it. Serah was shooting off magic. Snow stood on guard and took a hit from their enemy, while Serah watched Snow’s back.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see, he thought. Up until now, he had always only thought of protecting Serah. The Cactuar was telling him not just to think about that, but to try fighting together.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tendrils of light stretched towards him. Instead of being bound by them, Snow himself reached out his hands and took hold of them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Thanks. I’m glad that we’re companions.”</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-32243124780975218642014-05-13T03:16:00.000-07:002014-05-13T05:14:46.059-07:00Chapter 4 - will & choice: Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a while before he realized he wasn’t falling. It was clear that his body was traveling through space, and as if his sense of direction had become skewed, he had difficulty telling up from down and left from right. When he noticed the cactuar by his side was drifting as if he were swimming, he finally understood that he wasn’t falling ‘down’, but rather he was headed in ‘some direction’.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When he calmed down and took a look at his surroundings, he discovered it was a peculiar space. At first he thought it was as if he had been thrown inside a gigantic machine. This was because he was surrounded by things that reminded him of ancient machinery within Pulsian ruins. However, the objects that surrounded Snow and his companion were moving irregularly. Pulsian machinery operated in a more regular and coherent fashion. Even the older ones wouldn’t make grating noises like that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A tunnel?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">He imagined a tunnel from the fact that what appeared to be the parts of the machine spiralled around them, continuing far into the distance. But, from between the gaps of the parts, he could see that the space was spreading outwards. Rather than a so-called excavated underground tunnel, it might have been more akin to playground equipment in a park. Snow and his companion were drifting through its center</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Maybe its some sort of… pathway? But if that were the case, where are we coming from and where are we headed?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As they drifted, he scanned his surroundings once more. At first glance, the vast space visible from between the “parts” appeared similar to the sky. Like a night sky strewn with stars. However, its color wasn’t that of a night sky. Though, on the other hand, it wasn’t a daytime sky either. It likewise differed from an evening sky. He had never seen a sky the color of a bonfire.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as he was about to ask the cactuar what he thought, Snow’s eyes widened. The decoration atop the cactuar’s head was blinking irregularly. It appeared as if to match the rhythm of the mechanism or wheels around them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey! You ok!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The light grew immensely brighter. The red crystal was vibrating intensely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Cactuar!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It happened the instant he stretched out his hand. His hand had been consumed by something black. No, it wasn’t just his hand. Something black he couldn’t identify as fog nor smoke surrounded him. He batted at it, but it simply coiled around him, as if having a mind of its own.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P82-83</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What the heck is this!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow shook his arms and legs in the directionless space. But, the hazy blackness persisted. Unlike fog or smoke, it had a distinct texture. It didn’t have any mass, and looked like a liquid, but felt similar to a liquid. It felt rather unpleasantly, as if the very shadows were crawling. It was slowly creeping about his body.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, rather than creeping, it was probably more accurate to describe it as clinging. Some unknown substance was desperately trying to cling to him. That’s what it had felt like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Could this be some sort of living organism?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It didn’t appear to be a monster, but it could just be that he wasn’t aware of the existence of such a monster. He could feel a powerful presence, but at least it wasn’t a fal’Cie. Perhaps the cactuar would know what this was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had an epiphany as his thoughts drifted there. What had happened to the cactuar’s crystal?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He hurriedly looked around and saw that the irregular blinking had stopped. The cactuar was back to his usual self. Snow breathed a sigh of relief. No, now wasn’t the time to be relieved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Stop! Don’t attack!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cactuar was preparing to attack the ‘hazy blackness’. Perhaps he thought it was an enemy, having seen Snow struggling with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s not an enemy.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think, added Snow, quietly, as he wasn’t sure of that himself, either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“How should I put this… It kind of feels like when I met you. It’s like I don’t feel like fighting it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, it was just the slightest bit different. As he looked at the ‘hazy blackness,’ for some reason it felt like his heart was being gripped with melancholy. He didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because he mistakenly thought he was being ‘clung’ onto.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, this ‘hazy blackness’ was simply around him, and not causing any harm. If it really had any malicious intent then it would have at least strangled Snow by now. That much would have been easy for the ‘hazy blackness.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I wonder what this is.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It neither spoke nor made any expressions. Why had he he thought it was filled with ‘melancholy,’ regardless?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey. Do you understand what I’m saying?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unsurprisingly, there was no reply. It was as he started muttering about what its deal was. Unexpectedly, everything before him turned white. He didn’t know if it was light or simply the color white. Snow was unnerved by his whited-out field of vision. An attack came from his front. He thought he heard a dull crashing noise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He sat himself up as he scrunched his face in pain. At some point he had ended up face down on the floor. Yes, there was a floor beneath him. It appeared the attack and the dull noise just now was due to him falling onto the floor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P84-85</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">His sense of direction has returned. It appeared there was also gravity. But, visibility was poor. The area was dim, and wide. It seemed like it could be the inside of some sort of massive building.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He saw that the cactuar was beside him and felt relieved. If they had gotten separated in this unfamiliar place, then they might never have found each other again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, the ‘hazy blackness’ had disappeared. Had it been an entity that could only exist in that mysterious place?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I guess we should start with looking for a way out.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It happened as he spoke to the cactuar while looking around. His vision turned monochrome. It was one of the cactuar’s visions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey, what’s this…!?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a vision that he had seen before, but not in its entirety. It was the same as the one he had seen when he asked the cactuar about his Focus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed that just like how fal’Cie would give humans Foci, they too were given Foci by higher-ranking fal’Cie. He thought that if that was the case, then the cactuar too must have had a Focus. When he asked about that, the cactuar showed him a vision.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, parts of it were faded out, as if having been torn away. The vision began with the cactuar standing still before something, but that ‘something’ appeared indistinct, like it was shrouded in fog. The outline of something round with a platform could just barely be identified, but there was no telling what lay beyond that. Did it have a flat surface like a mirror, or was it a sphere? Would it have been something thicker and entirely different if viewed from the side?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moreover, one could tell that the Cactuar had been sucked into that ‘something’, but where had he gone? Beyond that, the vision was almost dyed almost entirely white, so it was uncertain if he had even moved at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even while the other visions had become clear, visions concerning his Focus had remained the same. Snow gathered that perhaps the Cactuar had his memories erased.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The vision that Snow had seen just now contained no blank parts. The familiar beginning remained the same, but it became clear what the Cactuar was standing in front of. The round object was not flat, but a sphere. The object was surrounded by something flame-like and rotating. As usual, the vision had no colors, so one couldn’t say for sure they were flames.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He could only tell that it was giving off an intense light. The intense light encompassed the Cactuar and absorbed him into the rotating sphere. When the Cactuar was no longer visible, the light shot into the skies like a pillar of flames, and eventually disappeared.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">His instinct told him it was some sort of ‘entrance’. Maybe it was the ‘gate’. The ‘gate’ connected to the alternate world that the Pulsian fal’Cie were all searching for. It had to be that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P86-87</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beyond that, the vision continued with clarity. The cactuar was fighting. His opponent wasn’t shown but he could tell that it was something gigantic. Perhaps he was fighting with all his strength; the red crystal was glittering brightly, and the Pulsian crest was visible in the sky.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There the vision ended.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You remembered your vision, huh? Inside that strange space from earlier,”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It must have been when his red crystal was flashing irregularly. It was unclear if it was due to the effects of some sort of force within the space, or if it was sealed in such a way that entering that space would bring back his memories, but the cactuar must have had remembered his Focus at that point.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wait. If you’ve remembered your Focus… does that mean your powers have come back?”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as Snow muttered this, another vision began to play. Snow and the cactuar were standing next to each other before the gigantic ‘gate’. Just as he thought, no way, the glittering tendrils of light extended towards him. They were tendrils used to bind people.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wait! I can’t become a l’Cie.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moment he shouted at the top of his lungs, the vision ceased. The cactuar stared intently at Snow.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sorry. If I was turned into a l’Cie I wouldn’t be able to make Serah happy anymore, right? I’m travelling in order to bring her happiness. Gotta find Sis and bring her back…”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He would do everything over again from the beginning. So that he would never again make Serah feel sad or insecure.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Of course I know there’s something strange going on with the world. Something’s gotta be done about it. I know. I wanna protect everyone.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His companions from NORA, and the people of New Bodhum. Those who migrated to Gran Pulse, and those who remained in Cocoon. He wanted to protect everyone. It had hit him too, that maybe if he had those powers then…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But, if I do that and cause the one person who is truly important to me to suffer, then there is no point. I’ll make Serah happy, as well as protect everyone. I’ll search for a way to do that.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There had to be a way. If he kept searching, then surely...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I know what your Focus is. It’s to kill the beast behind that huge gate, isn’t it? In that case, I’d fight alongside you even if I wasn’t a l’Cie. I’m sure Sis would do the same.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even as a human, he could fight if they worked together. It was a fact that he and the cactuar had defeated many a foe by working together. They had come out alive by sticking up for each other. If not for that, then they wouldn’t have been able to continue travelling the monster-filled frontier lands of Gran Pulse.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I promised didn’t I? We’re partners.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cactuar looked up at Snow as if to say okay.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“First we gotta figure out how to get outta here.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They had suddenly been thrown into the middle of this sprawling space. It wasn’t as if they had come in through a proper entrance. But, was there some part that served as an entryway?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P88-89</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He looked upwards and strained his eyes. It was too dark for him to see if there was a ceiling. From the echo of his voice, it didn’t seem like they were outside. There must have been a ceiling a ways up.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thinking about it, he realized that other than his own voice, there had been no other sounds at all. There was no presence of anything living, either.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What the heck is this place…”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something wrapped around Snow’s leg, stopping him mid-sentence. He looked down as his feet, startled. It was a familiar feeling.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You again!?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That ‘hazy blackness’ was tangled around his legs. Suddenly, it started creeping up Snow’s body and began winding around his arms. It was as if it was trying to say, “don’t leave me.” </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Don’t tell me you followed us here.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was sure that this thing, which couldn’t even be identified as living or not, could only exist in that strange space, but it appeared that wasn’t the case. Even so, who knew it would follow them to a place like this.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This strange thing has gotten attached to me.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow couldn’t help but sigh.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Are you in trouble or something? Is there something you need from us?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, the ‘hazy blackness’ simply continued to squirm, giving no </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">notable</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> reaction.</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You don’t happen to know how to get outta here… do you?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was possible that it knew. The fact it followed Snow here meant it had to know how to go the opposite way. Maybe even how to get back to the skies above Bodhum, where they were before. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The problem was that there seemed to be no way to communicate with this ‘black haziness’. It happened as he crossed his arms, feeling at a loss.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Who’s out there? Why have you come?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A thunderous voice boomed from above. Those were clearly the words of a person. Snow turned his head in their direction.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was hard to tell because of the darkness, but there was something big there. It seemed to have the figure of a person, but its outline shimmered like a heat haze, and appeared indistinct. The fact that it could speak human words meant it was no ordinary monster. Moreover, just like before, he felt no ‘living presence’ around him. Of course, he felt nothing from the gigantic ‘humanoid’ before him, either. Even if he asked himself if it was a fal’Cie, since it wasn’t a living creature, he would have difficulty answering in the affirmative. He could see nothing resembling crystals around him, and it had a presence differing from the fal’Cie he had encountered so far.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Who’re you?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His booming voice rippled the air around him. His answer was brief. I am the Arbiter of Time, it said.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Arbiter… of Time?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I am the one who arbitrates over this plane. A domain connected not to time. A place of gathering for the strong, a place for contesting death.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P90-91</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The words ‘contesting death’, sounded grave indeed. However, now that he thought about it, the place seemed somehow to resemble the Ark. Of course, there was no serenity in the monster-infested Ark and there seemed to be no such sprawling space within his memory, either.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Further, it is a place holding no bonds to the living. Begone in haste.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We too would like to do nothing more than that, but this thing won’t let go of me. If you could do something about it, then we’d be on our way immediately.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He jokingly raised both his arms. Though obviously, he didn’t think the Arbiter would do anything for them. He just wanted to indicate that he harbored no animosity. He wanted to avoid being thrust into battle in his weakened state.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leave now, echoed a voice. Before he could protest, his body started being dragged away. When he realized that he had been separated from that ‘hazy blackness’, his body was already floating through the air. He had been thrown into the air by force. At the same time, he began his descent. It felt the same as when he fell into that mysterious space through the Ark’s rift.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You shall come back when the day is come, and fulfil your covenant with them.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was that supposed to mean? Snow and the Cactuar simply continued falling, without being able to inquire.</span>mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-92056377591257887742014-05-13T03:00:00.000-07:002014-05-13T05:13:10.530-07:00Chapter 4 - will & choice: Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P72-73</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a tongue-bitingly powerful bout of turbulence, the shots came. Snow, who hunched himself into a defense position and whispered at the bag around his leg. “It’s gonna be alright, don’t worry,” he said.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The yells and screams that filled the inside of the craft quieted for just an instant. Perhaps they had been silenced by sheer horror. However, the fact that everything was in a state of panic had not changed. The situation had become no better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had boarded an airship headed for Palumpolum to meet with Rygdea for the first time in a long while. A new year had come around and it was now AF3. He thought it would be a good time to exchange information. Who would have thought he would encounter such an accident on the way there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It had only been one or two minutes prior that an announcement was broadcasted, “we will be making an emergency landing due to turbulence.” Outside the window was a dense fog. Just as he had thought it was ominously noisy within the aircraft, they had lost balance. Everyone aboard had experienced the fall of Cocoon three years prior. There was no doubt this was a vivid reminder of that as even the cabin crew had lost themselves and started screaming.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fortunately, their fall had not lasted for long. Although, ‘fortunate’ may not have been an accurate expression to use. The fact that the time between their fall and impact had been short meant the airship had deviated from its original course and was flying at a lower altitude.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knew the Palumpolum bound route inside out. After all, when the development of New Bodhum began, he had frequently visited Rygdea. The memories of his experiences told him it was impossible for them to be cruising at such low altitudes, regardless of how thick the fog was and how much visibility would have been reduced. It was likely that the instruments had gone haywire even before the pilot had noticed the turbulence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the weather-controlling fal’Cie went into hibernation, abnormal weather patterns and turbulence would often be observed within Cocoon. It wasn’t simply just rain or wind, but also among those were reports of magnetic fields forming and gravitational disturbances. It was said that those phenomena would interfere with instruments and communications.devices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was just as he considered that perhaps this was the case, again. He heard someone shriek, “it’s a monster!” As he quickly turned his eyes to the aircraft’s window, he saw that a herd of monsters had surrounded the airship. He had seen them before. They were the same as the ones that had appeared in Eden. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He couldn’t get an estimate on how many they were surrounded by because of the dense fog covering the area. But, there were already this many in sight, so there had to be quite a number.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The larger beasts were likely charging, as the airship shook each time a crash could be heard. Screams once again filled the airship. There were also passengers who urged the cabin crew yelling, “start flying, quick!” Even they themselves should have known that they were asking for the impossible. Being surrounded by such numbers, taking off wouldn’t even be possible, and even if they were lucky enough to do so, there was no guarantee they would be able to secure a flight path.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Hey! Get a hold of yourselves!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow tried yelling at the top of his lungs but his voice was all too quickly drowned out. They were met with quite a dangerous variety of monsters. Having continuously encountered so many events associated with “that day”, if was likewise impossible to ask for people not to fall into a state of panic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P74-75</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What now.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this rate, they would be in trouble. There were too many monsters for them to outrun or avoid. If he had his l’Cie powers, then he might have been able to act as a distraction while the airship escaped, he thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wait a minute...”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He didn’t have his l’Cie powers, but he did have his companion. Once again, Snow spoke to the bag strapped to his leg. Inside hid the cactuar. Unlike on Gran Pulse, he couldn’t be walking around with a cactuar inside Cocoon, so he now resided in the bag. At the baggage check, he fooled them by saying he was a toy. He was small for a wild cactuar, so while the inspector looked suspicious he pressed no further.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although, this cactuar was no ordinary monster. He was a fal’Cie. Though he had lost the ability to turn humans into l’Cie, he possessed enough strength to carve up a landscape. Of course, like other wild cactuars, he could also shoot needles, or use attacks such as headbutts and kicks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We’ll act as decoys and draw them away. In the meantime, we’ll let the airship escape.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">While it was a civilian airship, they were equipped with smaller emergency crafts or aribikes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You can do that, right?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if to offer reply to his words, Snow’s eyes were filled with a vision. Snow was flying into the herd of monsters on an airbike, and the cactuar was shooting needles in all directions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah. Let’s go with that.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although there were no colors, it was altogether more vivid than the vision they were shown by fal’Cie Anima and easily comprehended.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until then, he had thought the visions that fal’Cie showed were just for providing clues to one’s Focus, but that wasn’t all. On their journey, the cactuar had shown Snow visions a countless number of times. It wasn’t long before he realized that he was trying to communicate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">On top of that, the visions became more vivid each time. Perhaps it was because Snow himself also desperately tried to read the cactuar’s thoughts. It was as if their degree of mutual understanding and the clarity of the image were operating in tandem. As a result, it came about that Snow would use words and the cactuar would use visions so they could convey their thoughts to each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow stood up and rushed towards a flight attendant. It was likely because she couldn’t calm the panicked passengers but could do nothing else that she was standing stock-still in the hallway with all color drained from her face.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Tell the captain for me. I’ll act as a decoy and lure the monsters away. Use that time to escape.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“But sir, that’s…”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’ll be fine. Lend me an emergency airbike. You have them, right?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What! That’s impossible!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P76-77</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The aircraft shook wildly again. Screaming, the attendant anchored herself to Snow and then sank to the ground.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Be sure to let the captain know, you hear!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He ran through the shaking corridor and headed toward the hangar. He had become quite familiar with the layout of this kind of airship. This was because when he rode on the flights Sazh captained, “co-pilot” Dajh would show him around.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If the old man was the captain then I wouldn’t have to ask for her to pass the message on. He’d just go along with things.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I guess I shouldn’t say that, muttered Snow as he started up the airbike.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a ridiculous number of them. From beyond the solid white fog the monsters appeared one after another. They were all the same types as the ones that attacked Eden on that day.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So this is where Bodhum was…”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the fact his vision was obscured, he knew this because what had been Eden, the Seat of the Sanctum, had fallen on Bodhum. It was not only Cocoon that lost its ability to float after the fal’Cie went into hibernation. Eden, which was kept afloat by fal’Cie also fell. Right on top of a Bodhum which was deserted after the Purge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although there were zero human casualties, the seaside city which was known for its beautiful scenery was destroyed beyond recognition. It was impacted directly by a mass the size of an entire city, after all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">That wasn’t the only problem. Not only did Eden contain legislative and administrative bodies, but it also housed an extremely important facility. The Pulsian armory, Ark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the Ark was an armory, it was said to have also served as a training grounds for l’Cie. As a result, it was an extremely dangerous place which not only contained weaponry, but was also crawling with a countless number of monsters. Despite being called an “armory”, having housed that many monsters, it had to have been a gigantic facility. In its normal form, there would be no way that it could be placed within Eden. In other words, it must have been housed irregularly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They created a dimensional distortion and threw it inside, would be the best way to put it. Don’t ask me about the principles behind it. ‘Cause I don’t have the slightest clue either.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rygdea said this and shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner. This was when he asked about why a region of Old Bodhum was under lockdown.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Though if they would all stay inside the dimensional distortion there wouldn’t be any problems. It seems that a rift was formed from the impact of the fall. On top of that, the fal’Cie in charge of the Ark is in hibernation.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He didn’t even have to ask what the outcome of that was. The Ark that was originally housed inside was protruding into ‘this side’ from the rift. Yet, if the Ark had been properly managed, then they could still have done something about it. The gate of the Ark was sealed tightly by the fal’Cie, making it quite difficult to get into.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, as that fal’Cie was now in hibernation, it had been unsealed. The monsters inside the Ark could come outside, or in other words ‘this side’ at any time. As such, the government had decided to barricade a large section of Old Bodhum.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P78-79</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He had heard that the exposed Ark had been surrounded by secondary and tertiary fencing, as well as an aerial barrier, but it would appear as if the airship’s smashed through it in its emergency landing. He thought that the impact had come too quickly after they began their descent, but it would appear that the first impact had been from crashing through the barrier.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though, thanks to the cushioning provided by the barrier, the actual impact of the crash had been softened. He thought it was a miracle that there were almost no injuries from their predicament, but in reality it was due to a bit of luck. Although, this directly exposed them to the worst danger of all, landing in the middle of the herd of monsters that had emerged from the Ark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, he knew the reason behind the massive eruption of monsters. He had to get the airship away from the spawning point by even just a little.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This means the Ark is in the direction the monsters are spawning, huh”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The two of them would fly toward the Ark and lure the monsters. This meant they would be flying directly into the monsters emerging from the rift, but there was no other way to secure a route for the airship.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Presently, the only thing that could be done was to let the airship get as far away as possible, at any cost. So they could report the situation to the government and have them dispatch troops throughout Bodhum as soon as possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Cactuar! Give me a hand!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">He didn’t even have to specify a monster. The instant the cactuar came flying out of the bag, he fired his needles at the greater behemoth. It was the monster charging the airship. The greater behemoth roared and lifted its head. More needles poured down in its direction. The pulsework knights and tyrants that were gathered in the area rushed madly towards the airbike.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow rode the airbike at full speed as he dodged them left and right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Go for the front now!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Needles flew in the direction the airbike was headed. All of the circuitrons that were blocking the way simultaneously self-destructed. While making a sharp turn to avoid the blast, he accelerated even faster. He could hear the airship lifting off. He couldn’t see the aircraft because of the dense fog, but there could be no mistaking it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just a little more. If they herded the monsters around for just a little longer, they too would be able to withdraw from the area.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cactuar repelled the pursuing monsters with needles as Snow weaved the airbike through the approaching ones. They were perfectly in sync. Except….</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unexpectedly, the fog ended and the Ark came into view. Now that he was no longer a l’Cie, if he were to go inside the Ark, there would be no way for him to get by unscathed. A gap opened in the crowd.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P80-81</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A blow came from their side. By the time he realized they had been rammed straight on, they had already been knocked into the air along with the airbike. Shit, he thought. At this rate, they would crash into the ground or the ocean. In his head, he know he had to do get back in control, but there was nothing he could do. He could barely keep a hold on the airbike.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was just then. He felt his body floating lightly in the air. It was a feeling similar to when he had activated an anti-gravitational device.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did airbikes come with those?</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The instant after he thought that, he suddenly began falling. It was a long and abrupt fall that seemed as though it was swallowing him into the depths of the earth.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-54174672231024035522014-05-13T02:57:00.003-07:002014-05-13T05:11:32.876-07:00Chapter 3 - Intermezzo AF200<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">P64-65</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intermezzo AF (After the Fall) 200</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The “time” I saw for the first time in my life was of the world in which frozen flower was breaking apart. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The petals floated while it gave off an empty light. At first, I thought it was a pretty sight, but something was off. I didn’t really understand why but I was scared.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was when I started to understand that that scene was something to be feared. Someone was shouting. A large man was reaching out his hand as if to grab something, all the while screaming. Like he was ready to cry at any moment.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I still lived with my parents and had no way to convey the things that I had been seeing. So, it was a short time later when I realized the reason why I had been seeing these things. I saw that man again. Even at that time, he screamed while widely flailing his fully extended arms. But, his facial expression was surely different from the one he made the first time I saw him. I immediately understood, it was him was calling for someone. He was looking at a girl. She was dashing across the pure white beach on a chocobo.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moment I realized the blooming flowers on the roof and the glistening sea I remembered it…The Frozen Flower that I saw for the first time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was that flower? What did I see? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius told me that it was a crumbling Cocoon and the scattered floating petals were pieces of scattered crystal. What I, a young girl had seen, was the day of destruction that would happen in the far future.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The flowers that bloom on the ground ease the hearts of people; however, the flowers that bloom in the sky take many lives. For this reason, flowers must not bloom in the sky. Only flowers that can be touched can make people happy…</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P66-67</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The time that seeresses see possesses no regularity and the same people or places do not always appear. Of course, the time periods also differ and it was true that I couldn't detect any relation. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even still, I saw that man twice and that woman many times. I wonder if something is fated to happen between the two of us? Why do I see her so much?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was always a man with dark hair by her side. It seems that he is of the same clan/family as me. His clothes and the design of his ornaments and I understood that above all else he knows how to activate the Oracle Drive. But, it was clear that the woman was not of my clan. They were a weird bunch.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were always in places with gates. Before long I saw where they were coming out of the gate. Then I realized that was it. They were traveling across time. That was probably why I had seen them so many times.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I told Caius that they came out of the gate his face grew grim. He punishes those that would disrupt the flow of time. If one disrupts the flow of time, the seeresses see "time" even more. He does not forgive those who would threaten the lives of the seeresses. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius knew them for some reason. He didn't say much but all he told me was that there was a seeress that traveled to the places where there were gates. Maybe that seeress's life was cut short because she saw them many times. Maybe, their actions and the future that they changed snuffed out her life. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caius said that he would make them pay for their sins in blood. I became very sad the moment I heard him say those words.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P68-69</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remembered that large man. If she dies, he will most certainly be sad. He was calling out for her like a child and I thought for such a large man, he was very cute. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I thought that I would have see this though. If their actions were unforgivable sins or if they were something that possessed an entirely different meaning. If their flower was that of the land or the sky. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe I wished to protect them under this pretense. This could have been because I had seen her so many times but before I knew it, I began to feel some affection for her face. I didn't want to make her out to be a criminal. With this in mind, Caius and I headed for Oerba. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surprisingly, the dark haired man knew who Caius was. Those who make a covenant rarely show their form so there are only a few people who know his face.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which means, he is either one of the guardians or a follower of the seeress. He talked to me once he saw me, so he may be one of the guardians. It was because, if he had been a follower he would never have seen my adult form.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naturally, I do not know who he is. I gave him a sensible reply "I am not your Yeul." But these words seemed to hurt him. He looked so sad and hurt. I couldn't stand being there. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Sorry" I apologized within my heart. I wish I was your Yeul. You wouldn't have had to make that face. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He greatly cherished the Yeul that wasn't me.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P70</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, he must not be a criminal. Even if his actions are tantamount to unforgivable sin. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At Oerba, I learned of his name. I was certain of what they were trying to protect. I felt that I could trust them. I felt that they could grant my wish:</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That beyond this moment, the seeresses who are not me, will not see the flower that blooms in the sky.</span></div>
mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-47096863436181933232014-05-13T02:54:00.000-07:002014-05-13T05:09:52.410-07:00Chapter 2 - prayer & wish<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">P18-19</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thought, "Does this place also have a horizon of land and sea?" </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Cocoon, there isn't a slight curve that distinguishes sky and sea or sky and land. One cannot measure Cocoon's sky with his/her eyes. Although, there was certainly airspace for birds to fly and for air bikes to be flown back and forth. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After fleeing to Gran Pulse, I saw a sky that was liberated from the land and sea for the first time. What was above my head was not a continuation of land or sea but the sky itself. The blueness that hurt my eyes was the color of hope. As long as I was under this sky, there was a way. That's what it seemed like. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a sky in this place also, just like Gran Pulse. However, the color was cold and oppressive. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I thought of for the first time I looked up at that sky was the people that I cherish. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wonder if Serah's okay? Well, Snow is probably protecting her without a doubt. I wonder if Hope's okay. I wonder if Sazh and his son have been separated? I wonder if Fang and Vanille, the crystal pillar, are not hurt? What of the people of Cocoon who are supported by the crystal pillar...?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Engulfed by a strange anomaly and waking up to find she had drifted to the shore of an unknown place, Lightning's biggest concern was everyone's well-being. After that, she pondered of where she was. She realized it was useless no matter how hard she thought after endlessly walking along the beach. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, it may have only seemed like forever. Even though she had trudged through the unforgiving sand she felt no sign of fatigue. She did not feel hunger nor did she thirst. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was strange. Obviously her perception of time is going berserk. She could measure the time she felt relatively accurately. This was because she was a soldier and had been trained in this way. It was strange of her to wonder and not know how much time had passed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe this bizarre sea is the culprit? It does not give off any sound and heedless of the color of the sky, its deep black stretches as far as the eye can see. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">At first she walked along the beach and she thought she would try to search for an estuary. She could head inland while staying alongside the river without getting lost. Don't lose sight of your current position, such is the inviolable rule when in a foreign land. But she changed her mind. "I should get away from the water."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furthermore, while walking she noticed that this place was dense with fog. Again, she wondered if she should define this as "fog" but she had seen something that seemed like ruins and now it was masked by something. Although this "something" had the form of fog its color was different. It was a dark color, not black and not grey. Even so one could see, even from far away, that it was not something like soot or smoke. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It kind of looks like "that," Lightning said furrowing her brows. The black entity that had coiled around her whole body at that time. It did look like fog but when touched one could feel a strange power. She did not want to think that "that" and this drifting fog were the same thing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P20-21</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning shook her head and dispelled the thought. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using her experience and common knowledge as reference, she thought she probably shouldn't move away from the beach. She can't measure time or range and she also can't make a landmark of anything, so she would just be left bumbling her way through only to become lost. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, she had a feeling that she had to go somewhere. She has no idea of her destination. She doesn't understand but this beach is different. She felt that she should believe this intuition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She started to walk with her back to the sea. She walked as fast as she could, but she did not run. For if she ran, her stamina would be consumed needlessly. But she did rush as if she was urged on by something. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She would be lying if she said that she didn’t lose heart because she was all by herself. However, she thought that it was better that she was here by herself. There were many times that she lost her way in places as bizarre as this. Also... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"No, stop thinking. I don't want to think what's beyond that." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She walked as if she was running from something. She kept telling herself not to think of the unnecessary. More importantly, she had to find some sort of clue. Just where in the world is this place? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The thought that she had to find a way back never occurred to her. She could assume that this wasn't a place where one could just go back that easily. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking over her shoulder, she could no longer see the water anymore. The entity that resembled fog enshrouded her back. She could not hear the roar of the sea so she couldn't tell how far she was from the sea. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Just have to keep moving onward, I guess..." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She tried to cheer herself up with positive words, no matter how useless doing so may have been. Even still, she could not see the "onward" that stretched before her that well. "Maybe I should wait for the fog to clear? No, this may not be the type of fog that clears when you wait..." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">More importantly, she did not want to stop. For if she stopped, she would start to think of unnecessary matters. Yes, for example:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Could I be dead?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That entity appeared out of nowhere. I was constricted by that entity that resembled the darkness. Then I was pulled into that fissure that ran across the land. Did I not die at that time? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It would be logical to think that way. The fact that I don't see anyone that I know means that they are all alive and that I'm dead. I mean, I can't perceive time nor do I fatigue or hunger. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No! I'm alive!” </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won't accept it... I'll never accept that. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She walked along blindly. She would not get tired no matter how much she walked, so she put her all into walking. She didn't know how big this place was but if she walks from corner to corner she could no longer say that the place was "unknown" to her. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Possessed by this thought, she focused only on moving her feet... How much time had passed? She found something that was a bit out of place where she currently stood.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P22-23</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"A stuffed toy Moogle?” </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They used to be piled in mountains and sold in toy stores for a period of time. They have a gargantuan head and a stomach that bulges with stubby arms and legs along with skinny eyes and a perfect circle of a nose. One couldn't say it was adorable but there was comical and easy to love about it. They were popular with children. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which means, could people possibly be living here? What's more, that includes children that could harbor love for a stuffed toy. However, the toy was very damaged. It was face-down and seemed to be abandoned; it was a bit sad.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"This is mean, even for a stuffed toy."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She thought as she reached out her hand to move the moogle to a more suitable place.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Mog isn't a stuffed toy, kupo!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The thing that Lightning thought was a stuffed toy sprang up suddenly. The wings on its back fluttered and its circular form softly floated in the air. Up until just now, she thought that moogles were fictional beings but it seems that she had been wrong all this time. The summoned beasts of legend actually existed so it wasn't at all strange that moogles existed too. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeing it move like this proves that it is indeed a living creature. She felt that the hue of her surroundings had changed. A sort of warm, nostalgic, feeling of relief. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then the moogle's wings started to droop and it fell back to the ground. Lightning panicked and called to it. This creature had warmed her heart that had been frozen over by this bizarre place.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Are you hurt?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When she looked at it, one side of its wing was a little bent. Maybe it fell from somewhere? Or maybe, it couldn't tell where it was going in the fog and crashed into something?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Are you okay? Let me see."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She then extended her hand.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Duel with me, kupo!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle got up. Although it's voice was cheerful, it was suffering from a deep gash; Lightning could see that its leg was swaying loosely. Just by the soft motion of the wings it looked like a dangling old dish rag.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" A duel? You can't do anything with that gash..."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"It's okay, just duel with me, kupo! That's the rule of Valhalla, kupo!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Valhalla?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was it talking about this place?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You don't know the rule, kupo? The weak abide by the strong. It's a rule established by the goddess, kupo."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goddess? Who could that be? Could it be a god as it says or maybe some person or monster just playing god?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P24-25</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"So, when two people happen across each other they have to fi-"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle's body was shaking violently. He spoke bravely but he was just barely standing.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Get a hold of yourself."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning extended a finger to the moogle's back in order to help lift him up. She was surprised by the warmth. It was beyond a doubt the warmth of a living creature.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The suspicion that she had been dead was completely blown away. That little bodily warmth of that little creature assured her of that. It assured her that she also was living, that without a doubt she was living in this place.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She then picked the moogle up, shocked by how light it was. The moogle slipped from her grasp. Although, as it slipped through, it was unable to stay airborne so it fell to the ground headfirst. Even still, it raised its body with a start.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I... haven't lost yet... kupo."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's so much fighting spirit contained in this little body. Even though the moogle's feet were shaky, it stood and started to make its way toward Lightning. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For some reason, she saw a bit of Hope, at the time when she met him, in this moogle. The fifteen-year-old who was determined to lived on and grow strong during that arduous time of escape.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"This is my fate, huh?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At that time, Lightning herself was being pursued and she had flung harsh words at Hope. She couldn't take it. She thought that she would try to make up for it right now, once more.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Okay. Come at me."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if cheered on by those words, the Moogle rose into the air. She saw that its wings were still drooping, it seemed like it wasn't using its wings at all to fly.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Now, en garde, kupo!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle brandished what looked like a wand with a clock attached and came at her. The moogle tried to attack her from the front, but its power was not into it. Even so this was all the moogle could muster.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning could not bring herself to hit or hurl this sad moogle. But she would not go easy on an opponent who was this serious. The brooding and fretting Mog said thus:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Now it's your turn! Hurry up bring it on!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While looking at those slender eyes and that large forehead, her childhood memories came rushing back. There was a boy, of similar countenance, who was bothering Serah.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Don't make Serah cry!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She got mad and poked the boy on his forehead. As if scared by the single poke and Lightning's enraged voice, the boy never bothered Serah again.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P26-27</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Maybe I'll pull poke him as hard as I can, just like that time," Lightning thought as she flicked her index finger. Maybe it was just her, but the reaction was the same as last time. Except, unlike the bully who ran way half-crying, the moogle didn't run. It just fell to the earth with a flop. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"It was just a forehead poke, but maybe I overdid it," Lightning thought. But upon closer glance, the moogle, who had fallen face down, moved his pom-pom. Lightning let out a sigh of relief. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I lost again, kupo...”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's hard to think that anyone would lose to this moogle. There is certainly no place as cruel as this in which a creature as weak as a moogle must fight as soon as it meets someone.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Have you been fighting like this all this time?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Of course, kupo," answered the moogle weakly.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"If you run away before meeting someone you don't have to fight, right?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Of course not, kupo. Rules are rules."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He became as beat up as an old dust-cloth as the result of abiding by the rules in earnest. He probably realized how weak he was. Being knocked about this badly, he had no choice but to realize it. He stood and fought knowing that he would lose in the end. That foolish honesty and innocence. She thought that she couldn't just leave him.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How long do you intend to sleep? Hurry and get up. Let's go."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle looked up to Lightning looking surprised.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I can go with you, kupo?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"But," the moogle hanged his head in shame, " I'm the weakest in all of Valhalla. I'm so weak and useless that no one ever wants to be my friend."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning came to a vague realization: In this world where which the division between the weak and strong is so defined, those who are assigned to the lowest rank are deemed hindrances and cast aside. The strong demand those who serve them to be strong.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They can't run, even though no one cares. This moogle was fighting a solitary battle here all this time...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The weak serve the strong. That's the rule here, isn't it?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With one more "Let's go" from Lightning, the moogle sprang up energetically. The wings on its back, which didn't even give the slightest flutter, beat strongly as if they regained their power.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Are you hurt? Can you fly fine now?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"All illness comes from the mind, kupo!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Why you sneaky little..."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While giving a bitter laugh, Lightning acknowledged that that might be true. She now understood all too well the strength one can receive from not being alone, and having someone to talk to.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P28-29</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Master... I'll follow you until the day I die, kupo!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't deserve to be called master.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Anyway, tell me, you referred to this place as 'Valhalla'?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle nods. He tilted his head to one side dumbfounded because it's rare to find people that don't know about this world.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I don't know anything about Valhalla. Just where is this place? Are there no other humans?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Hu-mans...?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Did you not see anyone else that looks like me?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After thinking for a bit, the moogle swayed his head from left to right.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I didn't see any here, kupo."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"But," Mog added as if remembering something, "I think I saw someone on my way here, kupo."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Where!? Where were they!?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was it not my home world? Were Moogles known as fictional beings due to the fact that the world which we inhabited was also considered by them to be part of their territory. (?)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I'm sorry. I don't know, kupo..."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle became dejected. It's pom-pom atop its head and the wings on its back faced downward.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I don't really remember what happened before I got here, kupo. I was drifting along the Void Beyond for a long time and when I woke up I was here."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"'The Void Beyond?'"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That's what someone called it, kupo."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drifting for a long time... That means that this place is exceptionally vast, beyond a doubt. And continuing to drift through the void beyond, he ended up here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I think I may have passed by a hu-man back in the Void Beyond, kupo."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"So could that mean the Void Beyond be tied to the place I was?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is a possibility. As long as the moogle didn't mistake a human being for something else.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You didn't duel that person? Isn't the rule of Valhalla to fight? Oh, is the Void Beyond a separate place other than Valhalla?"</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The Void Beyond is a part of Valhalla, kupo. But, it's not a place in which you can fight, kupo. It's a place where you just keep getting swept along, kupo."</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A place where you just keep getting swept along... which further increases the possibility that it's a path that ties my original world to here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How do you get to the Void Beyond?"</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I can go there, I may be able to find a way back. No, I should be able to.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the moogle said "It's impossible, kupo."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P30-31</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"It's not just a place you can go to when you want, kupo. The only way to get there is when the goddess opens the gate or you just happen to get there, either one of those, that's it, kupo."</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Goddess?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You don't know!?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle took an exaggerated step back. It seems that aside from not knowing the rule, not knowing the Goddess is unheard of.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The one who made the rule... that's the Goddess, huh?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle nodded with a "Kupo."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Valhalla is under the dominion of the Goddess Etro."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a name I never heard before. This Goddess Etro wasn't even in any of the tales told in all of Cocoon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Where is Etro?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the Goddess Etro is the only one who can open the gate to the Void Beyond, I'll just have to talk to her directly."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Where... kupo?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Over there," pointed mog with his wand. Even so, the surroundings were covered in fog.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What's more because she had been walking blindly, Lightning lost her sense of direction. She thought that it might have been that structure resembling ruins she had seen from the shore.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Do you want to see the Goddess, kupo?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Yeah. Show me the way."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"But, there are strong ones within the temple, kupo. They're also around the temple, kupo."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeing as how it's a temple, it should at least have guardian monsters. Taking that into consideration, how would one go about fighting them? I don't have any L'cie powers so how long could I stand against them?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Looks like we have to run before we run into them. Even though that's breaking the rules..."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You don't want to fight, kupo?:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I would if I could."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"But, it’s too late now, kupo. There's a strong one right there, kupo."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was something moving where the moogle pointed. It was covered by fog but Lightning understood as well. Anyway it was "right there."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How about speak up faster next time!"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I'm sorry, kupo~"</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She clutched her weapon. It didn't help that she was still in the equipment she was in when she fought the Fal'cie Orphan. It seemed that the knife she received from Serah had fallen somewhere. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She approached slowly while standing readily. At this range, she most likely had already been noticed by her opponent, so there was no luxury of running. She then thought of immediately closing the distance between her and her opponent after getting a bit closer.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Odin!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other side of the fog, she saw a faint form disappearing and reappearing; just by this she knew what it was. It was the Eidolon that had fought together with her just moments ago. She finally met an opponent she knew</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P32-33</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But joy and relief were crushed in an instant. Her silver companion came toward her with brandished sword. She heard a voice: "Fight me." </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Odin?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She knew it was not a voice she heard, for in this place various sensations are disrupted and the sounds one hears become warped; however, she was able to speak fairly easily with the moogle. She soon realized that she had not heard Odin's voice through her sense of hearing, rather, in echoed within her head. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She had not ever heard his voice until this moment. It had only been a short time in which she had Odin as her Eidolon and they had not exchanged words while in the midst of battle. He had acted so precisely to Lightning's will that there was no need to exchange words. She had never even thought that Eidolons were capable of speech.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"No way, does he not know me?"</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She had already fought him once and it was a straining battle. Even abiding by the rules of Valhalla, it should be the same Odin that served Lightning. Notwithstanding, Odin showed no semblance of sheathing his blade.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Guess we have to do this again, given the change of place."</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Odin paid no heed to her question. She felt the voice, "Fight me."</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Fine. If that's how it is in Valhalla."</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Get back" Lightning told the moogle curtly as she took her stance. There was no intention of dragging out the battle, for she was not a l'Cie anymore. She needed to win the battle quickly in order to make up for the overwhelming difference in physical strength.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fortunately, she had fought together with him countless times. She knew his fighting habits and the skills he liked to use. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if waiting for Lightning to ready her sword, Odin suddenly came at her swinging his great sword downward. Lightning dodged this with relative ease and stepped forward. She was closing the gap. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, she noticed that something was off. Swinging downward from that height would certainly produce a fittingly strong attack but would leave him open. Moreover, he would be open when readying his next attack. It was unexpected that Odin would attack in such a manner.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe if they had not seen each other in years, but how could his fighting style change so much in such a short time? Or was it that it only seemed like he favored attacks that sacrificed some attack power for a watertight offensive because Lightning's style had influenced him? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At any rate, this was convenient. She felt she could win like this. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She fell in, getting closer to Odin's chest and then slashed upward. But, Odin's movements were unexpectedly fast and Odin deflected her attack. In that moment, something entered her mind. Something that wasn’t a voice and also differed from a vision.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P34-35</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To put it more distinctly, it was as if the concept itself was being imprinted in her brain without using words. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus, she understood abruptly. She realized in an instant: this Odin is not the Odin that she knew. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, she heard Odin's "voice" again. Maybe because she used to be a l'Cie, but she was half surprised when it bypassed her sense of hearing and entered directly into her head. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If what lies in front of her is not the Odin that she knows, then it should have no knowledge of her being a l'Cie. In other words, he too understood just as she had, when their blades clashed. It was an impossible phenomenon but considering that it had happened to her and Odin's reaction she had no choice but to interpret it as such. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She had almost lost herself in the confusion but came to her senses when she heard the sound Odin's sword rending the air.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Crap!"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Too late. It was too late to guard or to run. She reflexively cast magic. She had not thought about doing this; it was automatic. It was a sort of habit she picked up during her days of fighting. "How did I...? But, I'm not a l'Cie anymore," Lightning thought as a lightning spell deflected the giant blade.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"What did I just do...!?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She didn't think that she was still a l'Cie. When she awoke, she had promptly checked the state of her brand. She had not thought of the possibility that she had returned to being a l'Cie. This also was just a habit. She saw that her brand was gone and felt relieved. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She did not have a brand, but she could use magic. Maybe this phenomenon was to be attributed to Valhalla. This was after she had been confronted with a succession of strange happenings. She felt that this was the most valid interpretation. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was, at the same time, good news. If her l'Cie abilities were still present, she could fight toe-to-toe with an Eidolon. She had a chance.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She cast a lightning spell again and just as vigorously slashed at Odin. Even if his was not the same Odin, she knew its downfalls. This time, she launched a direct attack on his pivotal leg without it being deflected or evaded. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the same time she thought that it's movements would be halted another something was imprinted into her brain. She opened her eyes without thinking.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Odin is Valhalla's...!"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time she understood two things. One, that this Odin, per the Goddess' orders was assigned to a l'Cie. However this l'Cie died valiantly in battle and did not get a chance to employ Odin. She understood: this Odin appeared and came attacking without any objections. He was also faithfully upholding the rules of Valhalla. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other thing she understood was that when battling in Valhalla there was mutual understanding. The reason she felt like something was being ingrained in her brain when their blades clashed the first time was because of their thoughts were connected. This is how Lightning understood that the Odin that stood before her was not the true Odin while on the other hand, Odin too knew Lightning's identity.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P36-37</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"So we can clearly see what's in the other's head. Not sure if that's beneficial or detrimental."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She narrowly dodged Odin's counterattack by a paper-thin margin and gave a wry smile. She thought that it was good that there were no other people here. She could sort of handle understanding the thoughts of an Eidolon, but she thought that it'd be uncomfortable if she fought another human because they would completely understand each other. She had thought this far, and then suddenly realized: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was the rule "the weak serve the strong" brought into existence because fighting is the only way to communicate in Valhalla?" To judge who's the strongest, you have to fight as soon as you meet. If you fight, you both can learn many things in an instant. Or, it could be the opposite. The Goddess could have established this rule beforehand and thought that there was no meaning in making them just fight so she made fights in Valhalla tantamount to conversation. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nothing happened when I met the moogle because a forehead poke isn't really considered much of a fight. Or maybe it's just preferred by those who can communicate with words? No, maybe fighting to communicate is only limited to Odin's species.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her ever-flowing deluge of thoughts was once again cut short. Odin blocked Lightning's attack with his sword. Maybe it was because it was proportionate to the impact, or just chance, but this time she felt much more information. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She learned that not only Odin existed in Valhalla but Shiva and Hecatoncheir among other Eidolons were here as well. Furthermore, "on the other side" where l'Cie become extremely agitated or despair, their lamentations are sent to the Goddess. The Goddess opens a gate in correspondence to their desires and dispatches an Eidolon. It is never to put a l'Cie out of his/her misery; it was to aid them. In the viewpoint of the Goddess, it was pure good intention and favor. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It would appear the the Goddess Etro did not know that for the l'Cie, bending the Eidolons to their will was no simple task.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or, maybe she dispatched them knowing this? So as to say, "If you are a l'Cie, overcome this tribulation." The confidence from the fact that she had once controlled Odin was supporting her now. She had won once, so she would not lose this time. Even if, instead of having friends by her side like at that time, she was fighting alone now. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When she came to, the fight was over. The silver knight that lay before her eyes was hanging his head while on bent knee. She gently felt his thought: "I shall comply." She had once again acquired the capability to use Odin.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I know about Valhalla and Etro. I just want to know how to return home. To the world in which my family and friends are waiting."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Odin nodded showing that he understood already. It was true. Just as Lightning had gained information from Odin, Odin had taken in Lightning's memories and thoughts. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What should I do? Where should I go?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, Odin's features began to tremble and the silver knight turned into a brilliant white steed and stood beside Lightning.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P38-39</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She jumped onto his back without hesitation. It was as if he said “Let us ride.” Maybe because it was because she had gone done this so many times in battle, but she understood his intention. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As she mounted and turned around, the moogle came from a place not too far and looked up at Lightning with anxiety in his eyes. He had done nothing but devote himself to following Lightning’s order back at the place where she told him to “get back.” The battle was already over long ago, but he thought, so long as she didn’t say he could move, he should not move from that spot. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Lightning called “Come on” he came flying jubilantly. It appeared his wounds had healed a bit and his useless swaying wings were now beating busily. Miraculously, living creatures other than humans, regardless of their species, healed exceedingly fast.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Can you keep up?”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Of course, kupo!”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fog had cleared suddenly. Although she had thought she was walking earnestly she had not come that far from the shore. It was still very far from the ruins. Odin set his sights on there and dashed in a straight line. It was as Lightning thought: that was the shrine that the Goddess Etro inhabited. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dashing Odin did not decrease his speed but the moogle kept up. He could fly for an unexpectedly long amount of time. And not only that but it seems like he has the power to sense monsters from far away. He informed her of each one of them while flying next to Odin.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A strong one just ran away, kupo. A very strong one just stopped to survey the area, kupo. There’s a not so strong one on the right…”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It appears he’s upholding Lightning’s command back when she encountered Odin to “speak up a little faster.” His clumsy integrity was cute and adorable.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Okay, just tell me when the very strong one comes close. The others don’t matter.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Are you going to fight the ones other than the strong one, kupo?”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That’s the rule here isn’t it? We’ll uphold it as much as we can.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She learned that she can use magic just like when she was a l’Cie and that fighting in Valhalla also means gaining information. This is what she thought. “That will not be necessary,” replied Odin’s “voice.” “The beings around the shrine are all my subordinates.” It seemed that if they obeyed Odin, they would obey Lightning as well.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Does that mean that all of the monsters around here are servants of Lightning-sama, kupo?”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It seems like it.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Then this weird presence too it… kupo???”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle looked around as if he were perplexed.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’s wrong?”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning also took part in looking around. Then she caught her breath. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something was coming.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P40-41</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She felt a soundless rumbling. Her field of vision swayed. It was just like sunlight reflecting on a surface of water. undulating unsteadily bit by bit. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a presence of something dashing. But it was frustratingly slow. She felt that something was running at full speed but something was interfering. "Then we'll just have to get closer," Lightning ordered as she found herself surprised. Her normal bodily motions like bending her upper body or moving her arms were slow. The atmosphere was like being immersed in goo, like floundering at the bottom of a deep body of water. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A figure appeared in her swaying field of vision. It pierced through the glutinous atmosphere and was running toward her. Lightning spontaneously opened her eyes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That's-!?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was Odin. She was not surprised per se. She knew that there were several Odin's in Valhalla. What surprised her was the person riding Odin. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the image of a person clad in ancient armor that might have been in a fairy tale picture book brandishing their sword, fighting with something. She couldn’t tell who the person was fighting with. But she knew for sure that there was a target at which those lightning spells were aimed at.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That's... me!?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn't that their features were the same. She just felt that way. She somehow knew that it was herself.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Then that Odin is-!? Is that you?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So she asked but Odin did not answer. The voice with which she asked too, was utterly different from her voice until just a second ago. Her voice seemed to echo with many layers like she was in a cave.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Can you hear my voice?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He replied with a puzzled face that seemed to be saying "What do you mean 'me'?" It seemed that his reply was late because he was trying to decipher her question.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Could it be that you can’t see them?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even in the moment in which she was perplexed the range between her and her other self was slowly being shortened. They were both riding an Odin dashing at full speed. They were both so close that they would have passed each other any second, but everything was painfully slow.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her gaze collided with her other self's. A light smile spread across the other Lightning's face.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Go to the Goddesses throne. All of the answers are there."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other Lightning informed her as she slipped by. Then Lightning remembered. Of course, all of the answers were in the Goddess' throne.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"What did I just-?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What did I just remember? The Goddess' throne? In the shrine? That's certainly the place I'm headed to now. I haven't even gotten there yet. But, what did I just remember?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Stop! Odin!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She looked when she turned around but the Odin that her other self was riding on was already far away. Before long, they faded away as if they continued to pursue something. No matter how much she stared, she could no longer see anything.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P42-43</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coming to, Lightning noticed that everything returned back to normal. She did not feel a trembling in the world around her and when she lifted up her arm, it moved without the slightest hint of resistance.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Alright then. Head to the shrine, Odin."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Odin turned toward the shrine and set out into a dash. Just like nothing had ever happened. Maybe that was true from Odin's point of view. He didn't see anything, nor did he feel anything. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"What was that just now?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She did not guess what would happen from this point on; she remembered it. She could not say that feeling was anything different.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Memories of the future?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That explanation seemed fitting. She remembered the events that would happen from this point, the moment she had met her future self. Of course, that was her future self, the self from beyond the current point in which she stood. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, why did she encounter such a thing? It was not as if it was just her staring, she could see her too. Furthermore, she spoke to her... her future self spoke to her. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Impossible...”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, this would be impossible when thinking conventionally. But what if this place was “that kind of place”? What had she experienced after her awakening at the beach? She met a moogle, which had been a fictional creature up until now. She had talked to Odin, who she thought could not speak. It's hard to say that those events were common. Furthermore, she had shared memories and thoughts by fighting. She had experienced many impossibilities.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe this was a place in which impossible things occur all the time. Maybe that was what Valhalla was. "Sounds about right," thought Lightning. However, she was still caught on something. Between the world in which she lived, dubbed the "Other Side" by the Eidolons, and here, Valhalla, what was different? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking back on each one of the things that happened, she came up with an common word: Time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She had walked at the shore without even the slightest hint of fatigue no matter how long she walked. She had also felt a disturbance in her physical perception of time. And, the memories of the future, failure of the general notion of "time" brought all of this into existence. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From where did the moogle say he came to Valhalla? It was the "Void Beyond." Does that mean the place between the realm that possesses a general concept of time, the "Other Side" and the place that lacks a general concept of time, Valhalla?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Makes sense, I guess."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After she whispered she realized how comical it was. This place goes against all convention, so what would trying to make sense of anything accomplish? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, she had to do something like this to keep her wits about her and not become afraid. The fact that she had already lost her wits was a much more simpler and explainable interpretation than going on about general notions of time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Lightning-sama?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems like she was making a severe face. The moogle came and peered at her with a worried expression.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P44-45</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"It's nothing. I'm fine."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's right, the moogle said he felt a “strange presence” when they had met the future Lightning and Odin. Although he could not see them, he sensed them. If so, then that was not an illusion. Then the question still remains: why could Odin not see it? Lightning thought she would not wrack her brain at present.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That doesn't matter right now. Right now, I have things to do up ahead."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning's approach to the shrine was imminent. The shrine that looked like ruins from far away looked like ruins up close, as one could surmise.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But for some reason, there was a clock tower on the shrine. It was a warped clock tower that appeared as if it would fall any second. Why was such a thing here? There was nothing this ill-matched in this world where there was no general notion of time. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When she stepped into the shrine she felt that the shrine was dense with monsters; however, none came to attack.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Are all the monsters here your subordinates as well?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Odin, who had returned to his knight form, slowly shook his head from side to side. It seems like another entity governs these monsters, unlike the monsters outside of the shrine. Odin did not divulge anything else, but Lightning guessed that they were directly under the Goddess' control. At any rate, she would know when she met the Goddess.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She did not have to ask where the throne was, for she already knew. Just like when she had a face-to-face encounter with herself, she remembered where its location as soon as she stepped foot inside of the shrine. She may have to enter this place a number of times in the near future. Her feet moved as if she had walked this path many a time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long, they felt a presence that differed from that of the monsters'. It was the Goddess Etro. It was different from any sensation that she knew. Even though it was called a "god" there was no feeling of intimidation associated with fal’cie or even the sublimity of a god; there was just a feeling that an inhuman entity was smiling. It felt like there was a presence to the smiling. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning confirmed that Etro lay ahead. Odin unexpectedly stopped.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"What's wrong?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Even though you are allowed in this place, I am not," Odin replied and subsequently knelt where he stood.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moogle's behavior indicated that he wished to go with Lightning but he gave up as soon as Odin flashed a glare in his direction. He hung his head to signify that he understood. Doubt flashed through Lightning's mind: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course the moogle wouldn't be allowed in but is a person from the "Other Side" allowed to enter a place where even Odin isn't allowed?" She decided to ignore it. She would not stand back even if someone told her to. She only had one option anyway.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of the answers lie within the throne. "I have to confirm that." They were words spoken by none other than herself. While thinking this, Lightning stepped forward.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P46-47</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, her surroundings turned black. She looked over her shoulder, but she could not make out Odin or the moogle's forms. However, there was no trembling. As soon as one realizes that Valhalla is "that kind of place" one stops being surprised at every little thing. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She slowly advanced forward. Before long, she could see a faint light. It was a weak light that seemed as if it was going to disappear any moment. Regardless, she could feel an extravagant power. There was a mighty entity slumbering whose power was incalculable to any human.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Is this... the Goddess?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning outstretched her hand to the light. A pure white fissure ran across the darkness. No, it was not a fissure. A gargantuan monster was blocking her path. It was Bahamut. However, this one was different from Fang's in that it was a dazzling white. She could feel that it was hostile.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a feeling of intimidation here that was not present even an iota when Lightning could feel Etro's presence.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Etro's guardian, huh? I just came to meet with the Goddess. I don't intend to do her any harm. Can you let me through there?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A piercing refusal of "No" came from Bahamut.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You're telling me to fight?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A terse "Yes" resounded within her mind.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Okay. I'll abide by the rules of Valhalla."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe this Bahamut knew all of the answers. One understand his/her opponent when at war. Given that this was an Eidolon that guarded Etro's throne, it must know more than any other monster in Valhalla.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She cut at it with all of her might while conveying the idea "I'm not hostile or murderous." </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, Bahamut evaded her attack with no effort. It was faster than she thought. She hurled magic while attacking, but was unable to catch her opponent. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remembered</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at that moment. She remembered herself when confronting the black Bahamut and how close of a match it was. Not Fang's Bahamut. It was a jet-black Bahamut enveloped in an ominous presence. Memories of the future.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was just fighting Bahamut but there was another opponent she was trying to defeat. She saw herself in frantically trying to defeat "that man." That was as far as the memory went and she could not remember who "that man" was.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the magic in front of her was rended open, she came back to her senses. She reflexively jumped out of the way, so she did not suffer any damage. She kept telling herself not to think of unnecessary matters. Even though she had no choice because she remembered even when she didn't want to. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She tried cutting at it a second and a third time but her blade missed each time. She felt that she was being rejected. She realized that evasive actions were synonymous with rejection of understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I see. Guess you can't afford to recklessly leak information when you're the guardian of the throne, huh?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She let out a flurry of lightning attacks. She knew that they would be evaded, but as it continued to evade her she could predict where it would move next or where it would evade. One's habits and weak points are brought to light when doing the same thing in short intervals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">P48-49</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"There!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She knew it would not do if she was only one step ahead so she was to steps ahead of Bahamut. It seemed as if Bahamut had been drawn into her blade's tip. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, there was no reaction. In the instant she thought that she caught Bahamut, it took off into the sky. Lightning dumbfoundedly looked up at the soaring Bahamut. She knew how adept Bahamut was at flying, however she was convinced that they were both inside of the shrine so she determined that it could not evade. She was too hasty. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">She should have kept this possibility in mind when the moogle and Odin, both who should have been right behind her, disappeared. They were in the shrine but at the same time not in the shrine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bahamut, who had been circling above Lightning as if to ridicule her, made a sudden descent. She would be in danger if she was hit directly by that attack. She knew guarding it would be impossible. She managed to barely evade the attack but she couldn't stop the force and her body rolled clumsily.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bahamut, who had risen in the air once again, bent its upper body backwards, an omen of a strong magic attack. This was similar to Fang's Bahamut. At that moment she began to cast a defensive spell. She had always left defense and support to Hope so she had not a shred of self-confidence, but it seemed to do the trick. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intense magic came falling from the sky. To Lightning, who had no wings no matter how much magic she used, this was an overwhelmingly inconvenient state of affairs. It took all she had to run and this was no time for counter attacks. Fainthearted thoughts flitted through her mind, "If only I could just ride Odin. If I at least had a single person to help me at this moment." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">As long as Bahamut was in the air, attacking would be difficult. If she would launch a counter attack it would have to be when it rose into the sky again post-descent. It would be for only a second but Bahamut would be open to attack. Lightning awaited her chance to attack while dodging the rain of magic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if irritated by the fact that none of its magic was hitting at all, Bahamut head toward Lightning in a straight line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That's right. Come."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the last moment, after feigning to run away, she went in. This time there was a response. At the same time, there was something burning inside her brain. She had defeated the jet-black Bahamut and there was the form of a subdued man. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Were there two Bahamuts that guarded the throne? In the next instant. there was an impact to her right side. Her only weapon had been deflected and slipped into the darkness. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Crap!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"No way," Lightning thought "I can't lose here. If I do, how would I have been able to tell myself to 'go to the Goddess' throne'? But how will I fight when I have no weapon?" Bahamut was obviously better at magic than she was; in other words, Bahamut was not an opponent that she would be able to defeat by just relying on magic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this rate, she was done for. As soon as I run out of energy to run it'll be over." Lightning tried to escape while bearing these despairing thoughts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Lightning-sama!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">A tiny light came flying in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Use me, kupo!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">His round, stuffed-animal-like body changed form. It was a bow. Lightning grabbed it without hesitation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">P49-50</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It looked like a sturdy bow, but when held it was as light as the moogle's body. She nocked an arrow, pointed toward the sky and pulled all the way back on the string. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe it was mog's power but it was easy to establish a target. The arrow instantly flew through the air set on its target. Shortly after, the arrow split into numerous arrows and rained onto Bahamut. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bahamut's form grew ever more white and the light expelled the darkness. Lightning heard an "Okay" resound in her mind. Lightning let out a huge breath. As if waiting for that, the bow that she held returned back to its moogle form.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Thanks. You saved me."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She smiled and the decoration on the moogle's head shook back and forth.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"My pom-pom told me that you were in trouble, kupo."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The decoration on the moogle's head, or pom-pom, appears to be some sort of antenna. That's right, when he sensed a strong one, the pom-pom was shining, Lightning felt. When he turned into a bow, it was probably the pom-pom's searching ability that was working to make it instantly lock-on to its target.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Odin made a scary face, but I felt that I just had to go, kupo. I'm fine with breaking the rules for Lightning-san's sake, kupo!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She felt her mouth soften when she said "I see." She didn't think she'd be saved when in dire straits by a little creature that she just happened to pick up. She thought that this too had been fated for her. It was just like when Hope, who she deemed a hindrance, changed into a reassuring ally.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She looked around her again and the throne lay right in front of her. It was an empty throne with no one sitting in it. Bahamut protected the throne by enveloping it in darkness.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I'm fine now. Wait here."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She left the moogle where he was and headed toward the empty throne. The Goddess is here, even though she cannot be seen. Just like bugs who hug the ground cannot see humans, the Goddess cannot be seen by feeble humans. Maybe this thing she recognizes as a throne could possess another form. Because, not only one's perception of time but his/her five senses are inaccurate and unreliable.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Even so. the Goddess is here..."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She felt that she was being beckoned. She felt that Etro was not rejecting her. She had many doubts about whether she could manage to converse with a god but she stepped forward anyway.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She outstretched her hand without noticing it. She wanted to touch her hand. She wanted to touch that warm and gentle hand.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her fingertips reached. She felt as if she was getting pulled in. She spontaneously opened her eyes. However, what lay in front of her eyes was no longer the world she had been seeing. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are the Goddess' Eyes. "I'm seeing what the Goddess is seeing..."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In that instant she understood why time was broken in Valhalla and why her five senses were so vague: it was because the Goddess had no use for time or senses. Because she was a human, Lightning could just barely distinguish whether that was the future or the past, but the Goddess probably didn’t make such distinctions. She was seeing and hearing everything at the same time. Conversely, the Goddess was just seeing as if it was an accepted routine and felt that there were things that she would never comprehend.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P52-53</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example. Was that the beginning? She could certainly see it, but it was something she couldn’t quite grasp. She knew of its existence. However, it wasn’t tied to reality. That’s right, it was the form of the ancient god who had created fal’Cie Etro.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Possibly because of her memories conforming with those of Etro's, a name she did not know popped into Lightning's mind. The Paternal God, Bhunivelze. The one sole name that Etro had called.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bhunivelze divided his power and created the Fal'Cie Lindzei and Fal'Cie Pulse. Etro just looked on as power, which she didn't not have, was given to Lindzei and Pulse and she saw them, in the same manner as the Paternal God, divide their power and give life to many Fal'Cie. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro did not know why she had been shunned by Bhunivelze. Why weren't the things given to Pulse and Lindzei given to her as well? She just looked on without cursing them or envying them. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course... Fal'Cie are different than humans; Fal'Cie do not have emotions. Etro did not understand: Why did humans naturally feel indignation or suffered feelings like alienation or isolation. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro, who did nothing but serve as a spectator, tried to imitate their birthing of Fal'Cie by harming her own body. She thought, just as their power took on another form and became a new l'Cie, her blood would possibly give birth to something. She felt that maybe if she could bring life to something she could catch Bhunivelze's attention. Maybe if she could do the same thing as them, things would change. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even when Bhunivelze went to sleep and made his form unseen, Etro did not stop harming herself.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Etro was human, she would have emotions, and would be able to attribute names to them thus comprehend what she was doing. Alas, she did not comprehend what she was doing or what she wanted to do.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I see. That was it, huh? You were just lonely... You wanted him to look at you, just like he paid attention to Pusle and Lindzei. I, seeing the same things as you, am sad to the point where it feels like its cutting my body. My chest aches like it's being torn to shreds. You, an entity higher than humans, did not understand that. If you were a human it'd be so easy to understand. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro, what you wanted to shed was not blood, but tears. What you should have done was not harm yourself but pursue the Paternal God/Creator and cry like a child..."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro, bleeding out, died without knowing this. Leaving only her blood, Etro arrived at Valhalla, a place that she could never have seen from the place in which she was. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At Valhalla Etro met the Goddess Mwynn. The Goddess Mwynn who was Bhunivelze's mother was on the verge of disappearing by being consumed into chaos. Before Etro could comprehend the meaning of this chance meeting, Mwynn was annihilated.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Lightning understood then, why Bhunivelze had neglected Etro.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P54-55</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro was the spitting image of Mwynn. She could not see the Goddess' face; however, she understood: Bhunivelze hated Etro, who had the same form as his mother. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abandoned by Mwynn, Etro was alone in Valhalla as well. She could not comprehend that she was alone. No one was there to think of her or talk to her.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once, a ‘little thing’ came to Valhalla; an unknown thing from the world where Etro had lived previously. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the first human, whom Lindzei made from the blood that Etro left behind: a petite girl of silver hair and purple eyes. Just as Bhunivelze had unconsciously created a Fal'Cie who resembled his mother, Lindzei too created the first human who was akin to a goddess (the goddess?). She had soon after died and her body rotted; only her soul and spirit (spirit meaning things like emotions, intellect, will etc) had reached Valhalla. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her spirit had fallen, becoming unstuck from her soul and scattered, leaving only her soul. Etro loved that little soul. This soul was the first entity in Valhalla that drove away her feeling of loneliness. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long, more and more ‘little things’ came. These were the humans that Lindzei was creating. But, they were engulfed by Valhalla's chaos and disappeared, leaving no soul or spirit. Only the first girl's soul continued to wander throughout Valhalla without ever disappearing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The only soul that differed from the others. An entity that could do naught but wander around Valhalla. As if seeing herself in this soul, Etro pitied the girl's soul and returned her to the world from whence she came saying "return to the others."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro felt deep affection for the ‘little things’ that that came and went. Just as humans admire flowers, and just as they enjoy gazing at butterflies fluttering between flowers while listening to the songs of little birds, Etro cherished these ‘little things’. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She blessed the first ‘little thing’, the girl, freely. Her soul was born again, inhabiting a new body with a new spirit. And like other humans she would return to Valhalla upon the end of her short life. But she, who was the first human, was incomplete, as one would expect, and her soul was left behind in Valhalla. Etro returned her to the world in which she previously lived and she began her third life.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As if she was not compatible with the chaos of Valhalla, no matter how many times she was born again, no matter how many times she died, she would not dissolve into Chaos, being left behind. Etro tried a great many times to return the girl to the others. She believed without a doubt that living among her friends/comrades would be something joyous for that soul. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro would not suspect that there would be someone who would loathe this endless rebirth. She also did not expect that this girl she had favored would be the spark for war among humans. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This girl who had unknowingly received a vantage point that exceeded time, akin to Etro’s, and came to be known as the ‘seeress’ was always at the center of war. No matter how many times she was reborn, people would always be at war around her and she would always encounter hatred. Her words spurred them onward. There were always people who used her even though they did not necessarily hate her. People killed each other and much blood flowed. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She lamented this and lived her life away from the public. The good will that Etro, who did not understand sadness or loneliness, showed her compelled her to grieve and isolate herself. Etro did not understand this. She could not understand this.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P56-57</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For she was not human; that was the sole reason. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The girl lived in the midst of sadness and isolation, and died. For she was human; that was the sole reason. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long, time passed in the world of humans. There was a person that protected her in exchange for his life. The Goddess Etro gave him her heart, so that he may live with her forever. His name was...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That guy! I remember. The guy with the Bahamut other than the one that guards the throne, the black Bahamut. Caius Ballad."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Was that the guy I was fighting with? The person that I was fighting a bitter battle with. The person I was trying ever so desperately to defeat."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After Caius received Etro's heart, many moons had passed. He had waited upon many Yeuls while they were on their deathbed. So many people died, so many that he could not count. Countless souls went on their way to Etro and disappeared. Many lives were lost in the war dubbed the "War of Transgression." Many lives were on the verge of death by the hand of the Fal'Cie Barthandelus.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's... all me. My sin.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the Hanging Edge, and the Pulsian ruins, I killed PSICOM soldiers. It was easy to say that it was all to protect myself. As a matter of fact, I was desperate. They were ready and willing, pointing their guns at us. We had no choice but to counter attack in earnest as well.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, when looking at this from the viewpoint of the Goddess, this matter seemed nothing but trivial. Etro could not distinguish between individuals. They were all the same ‘little things’ and souls that held the same value. Each was a life that had the right to live on the "Other Side" with its comrades for as long as it possibly could. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless of the reason, a sin is a sin. One person killing another. It was a sin that one should never commit.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She heard the voices of those on the verge of death. The voices that Etro was probably hearing. The screams saying such things as "I don't want to die" and "I'm scared." On the other hand, there many in the ranks of the PSICOM soldiers who accepted death passively. They had gone to their death, resigned to the fact that they had to protect Cocoon. Those voices were very quiet.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the Goddess viewpoint, where one can see all things in the sweep of an eye, it seemed that their lives were tangible. There were those that had a blessed life, and those that led a life that would be hard to call a happy existence. Although their pasts were different, each life held the same value. It felt as if one cast off the eyes of a lowly human and was gazing at a countless number of lives.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took their lives just because I didn't want to die. I felt that it was a sin, but I deluded myself, saying I had no choice. I had selfishly decided the weight of life and selfishly convinced myself of it. I didn't even stop to think that their lives were sacrificed for mine. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was all me... so sinful and arrogant.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless, Etro granted Lightning's wish. To aid Vanille and Fang, and make Lightning and the others' brands disappear. Granting salvation to the l'Cie who bore much sin.*</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P58-59</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Etro... she just held humans dear to that extent. She couldn't ignore the voices pleading that they did not want to die, regardless of sin. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were those that called Etro a fool for being so loving. Maybe Etro was a fool for continuing to bestow blessings, acting just on sympathy and out of courtesy. All the while, not thinking at all that her bestowments could sometimes be disastrous or be a torture more cruel than death. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a matter of fact, the Eidolons that she dispatched to be blessings killed many people. The first soul that she sent back to the Visible World was bound by the shackles of her endless rebirth. The guardian to whom Etro gave her heart loathed this eternity and brought destruction upon the world. All of this was a tragedy due to a foolish goddess' thoughtless affection. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether aware or unaware of the things she caused, she continued to bestow blessings in spite of herself. Even in the time when that might Chaos began to flow into the world through a gate she stopped it with all her power. If that Chaos encroached into the Visible world, every human, nay, every living thing and phenomena would be destroyed. Etro forcibly drew it back and tried to sweep it under the rug. Although this caused many tears in the time between the Visible World and the world where she was, she managed to barely protect humanity.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So Etro expended all of her power doing that and now she's slumbering? She knew that it would probably end up like this but she didn't stop giving?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now Etro cannot bestow anything to humanity. Much like before the humans were made, she has returned to being just a spectator. No, in the last moment, the Goddess granted just one more wish. The last surviving human's wish, such would be the last wish Etro would grant...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw a thriving future. I saw destruction. I saw an era facing destruction. I saw the final moments of the first girl. I saw the man who would destroy the world. I saw myself, defeated after having challenged him. I saw my sister, who I love so dear, trapped in a dream that she would not wake from.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even so...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sleep in peace divine Etro. I will stand guard over your legacy</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was much light. She slowly returned to her senses. Just now, what she had overlooked from the eyes of Etro, that long time from the genesis of the Goddess to the end of the world, was just a second.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When she stood, her silver armor made a solemn sound. She realized that as the protector of the Goddess, she had received new power.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Can I not return home?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before she knew it, there was a man standing behind her.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Now that you have gained a new power, it would not be difficult. Go back to where your family awaits you and live your life. The world's destruction lies hundreds of years after that."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This man who dictated so brazenly was the perpetrator that would lead the world to destruction.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"My answer does not change."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She knew already: things that what she could not know as a human. She had learned all of history in the brevity of a blink of an eye and how it looked when countless souls are born and how it looked when they disappear.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P60-61</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a meaning to all of them and they all had aspirations. Etro loved all of them equally. Even if she had returned she would not be happy, now that she had seen herself so selfishly take those lives that were to be treated with importance. No doubt she would not enjoy anything, no matter what she did or saw, all the while tormented until the day she died by the feeling of powerlessness and her sins.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I'm staying here. I will stay here and fight."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Do what you wish," a voice said wrought with laughter, however she did not see the man anymore. Was it a vision that Caius, who had been given a mighty power, had shown her or was this the man who she was to meet?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">・・・</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since then, she had fought many times. In Valhalla, it was forever while at the same time just a moment. She no longer knew where it had started or where it would end, upon this battlefield bankrupt of time in which the future and past mixed.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, in the midst of the fight Lightning would reunite with Serah. That was something that she did not see in the time from the Goddess' throne. There Serah was trapped in a prison called Empty Solitude and she never returned. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But she believed, she believed that Serah would definitely escape from the world of that unending dream. That's why she called Serah, that's why she sought help from her.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When they were children, Lightning was the one who chased off the bully who made Serah cry, but after that, Serah reconciled in her own way with the boy and placated him. Lightning could not forget when she saw that bully in Serah's group of friends. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was always like that. Unlike Lightning who tried to take shortcuts and utilize brute force, Serah took time taking the long way around. And before you knew it, everyone favored her and there were many that would amass to help her.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serah would surely overcome this trial as well. The long, long journey would toughen up Serah. She would also meet people who would be of aid to her. There was Noel, who had wished to change the future and the moogle, dubbed the weakest of Valhalla, who had become a weapon to defeat Bahamut, the strongest of Valhalla.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"It will be fine, we'll see each other again."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And her hopes did not betray her...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How naive. That is much too optimistic and egotistical even for the wish of someone who's going to die."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sound of a blade returned her to her senses. No matter how many times she crossed swords with Caius Ballad, she could not understand him. Only her memories and thoughts were being read while Caius gave a cold laugh.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His heart was enveloped in something akin to a tough husk that was stained pitch-black. Maybe he, whom had been given an undying body by the Goddess and who had lived through many moons, had no other way to protect his heart besides this way. Sometimes only a hate and rage much like a world-ending conflagration would spill forth from a slight tear, along with a freezing sadness.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Or quite possibly, could the guardian of a foolish goddess also be a fool herself?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P62-63</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Shut up!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"She did well... I'll give her that. But her journey did not end there, so she must furthermore walk along a path of hardship. However, what awaits her at the end of her journey is only despair, for her dream of living with her beloved sister again, will never be realized."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning had decided to stay, so she already knew this. Those who protect the shrine cannot leave Valhalla. She crossed over to the "Other Side" to reunite with Serah, but this was only for a moment. That was all she could muster.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Her journey was made longer only to make her sad, only to make her bear witness to the end of the world. Such poor treatment of one's sister."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I told you to shut up!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all her strength, Lightning flung her sword downward, but Caius' body was no longer there.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How will you answer to her lamentations? How will you atone?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lightning heard a voice rife with ridicule at her back.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The world will not end. I won't let it!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She did not see everything from the Goddess' throne. In the things she had not seen from the throne at that time, there lies hope. She did not see hope at that time. This is why she believed.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The future will change. I'll see to it that it does. That'll be my atonement!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For those that died by her hand and for Serah, to whom she could not keep her promise. This is why she had to stop this man. Even if it was in exchange for her life. Placing her prayers and wishes into her blade, Lightning slashed at Cauis Ballad.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Serah... Can I ever make things right?"</span>mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-72182836462602204402014-05-13T02:50:00.001-07:002014-05-13T04:51:24.614-07:00Chapter 1 - Overtura AF3<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">P5</span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-49fa4062-f4f6-0d89-1ff8-f522a758cb66"><br /></span>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-49fa4062-f4f6-0d89-1ff8-f522a758cb66"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overtura</span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-49fa4062-f4f6-0d89-1ff8-f522a758cb66">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AF(After the Fall)3</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first time I had a vision was on my journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I departed from my birthplace, left the land I called home and traveled. I walked lands unknown to me and encountered a shocking number of things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things that fly, things that bloom on the ground, the things that were cool against my cheeks, and things that held pleasant aromas. One by one, the names of those things I didn't know were taught to me by that person. The names of birds, the names of beasts, the names of flowers, the names of grasses. Even the winds and the clouds have names.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are many “things” in this world, and all of them have names.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thinking back to it now, even these seemingly ordinary things had been a shock to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P6-7</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s why when I was asked if I enjoyed travelling, I immediately nodded. Because I can encounter the overflowing abundance of names in the world. I want to go far. I want to go to more different places. I want to know of the names I've never heard of. Travelling is what would grant that wish of mine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s this? How about that?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He answers if I ask. I was so happy with that, I’d ask that person over and over again. The words that originated from me would reach someone’s ears and would be returned to me as different words. What fun that is. I didn't know that the thing called conversation could be so exciting until now. It was also after I began travelling with this person that I discovered such pleasures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the place where I was born and raised, not a single person spoke to me. Around me, not a single word was spoken by anyone; that was the norm.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I speak of such things, that person makes a slightly troubled face and speaks. Those around you did that for your sake, he says.</span></div>
<br /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From when seeresses are able to speak, they are forced to walk the path of a seeress. They have to go far from their homes and their villages too, and live where they will be unseen by others. In order to postpone such a day by even a little, the seeress’s family would try not to have her learn words.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, even if they were cautious to distance her from words, if she even had a vision once, that instant would mark the beginning of her life as a seeress. Unlike words, the powers of foresight was not something people could do anything about.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that is the reason why members of my family would at times look into my eyes, I surmised. </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P8-9</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To see whether or not the crest of the Goddess had appeared in my eyes. Everyone had feared that.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As it turns out, I ended up learning words before I had seen the future. No matter how careful the members of my family were, there were times when words inadvertently reached my ears by chance.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mother.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I heard a voice yelling that. It sounded like a wail. I don’t know the circumstances behind what caused it to be produced.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mother.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thought it a strange sound. So, I tried to mimic it. I was able to mimic it really well, so I tried doing it before the people of my household.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In that instant, everyone’s faces rapidly stiffened. I regretted thinking I had done something I shouldn't have. The girl who always fed me broke into tears. Her voice was so sorrowful. I cried too.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then, before long had passed, that person came.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Come Yeul.”</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The moment I was called that, my tears stopped. It was someone whom I had never seen that had identified himself as Caius Ballad. Yet, I knew. Who it was that was before my eyes. What it was I had to do.</span></div>
<br /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The woman was being swallowed up by the ground. She was entangled by a black something. She struggled until the end. She looked desperate.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was the first “vision” I had seen. It was frightening and saddening. I protested while crying.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who was that person? Did they go somewhere? Can’t they be saved?</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P10-11</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The current me knows how stupid such protests are. Seeresses simply see have visions. No matter what it is they see, they cannot interfere, and they weren't allowed to either. Because the fate imposed on a person was something that belonged to they themselves.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, the first time I had seen that, I was still young. I had finally just learned the few law of the seeress. I couldn't even fully comprehend what I was seeing.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even so, that person spoke to me patiently. As he soothed the a sobbing me. I listened to his usual explanation and understood. The reason why seeresses must never stay in one place and live out of sight. The reason why when she saw a vision or learned words her life as a seeress would begin.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The words of a seeress would lead people astray. It had enough weight to twist the lives of many. That’s why I couldn't speak recklessly. One must not tell of what one sees... Aside from when it is to her one and only Guardian.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if I had met that woman, I could not convey what I had seen. Maybe the woman would be saved if I would inform her. However, what is imposed upon her would not disappear. That would likely become a heavier burden which would seek to crush another person. It would likely take its toll on someone of no relation, of no sins.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was the first time I thought my own words frightening.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thought it was fun to hold conversations. I had been excited that the words that originated from me would reach someone’s ears and would be returned to me as different words.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was because I had been living uninformed.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P12-13</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had seen my second “vision”. A meteorite falling toward a seaside village. A twist in time. A gate appearing. It wasn't strange, nor frightening. A gentle looking woman and a black-haired man leave on a journey. Somehow seeing those two made me feel relieved.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, after not long had passed, I had another vision. It seemed that up until now, no seeress had seen another “vision” within such a short interval, so that person was very worried. The power of foresight cuts away at one’s life.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even so, I was not afraid. Because the third time I had a vision, it had been those two once again. The kind looking woman was called “Serah.” The crest of the Goddess had also appeared on her eyes.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though she isn't a seeress, she must be someone who also plays the same role as I. Instead of having to live away from the eyes of others as I do, surely she must meet a lot of people. And she likely protects many people as well.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After that, I had another vision of her. Of her standing and fighting despite being injured.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serah. A kind and strong person.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was because I wanted to meet her that I had him take me to the seaside village. I just wanted to see her, even if it was from afar.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which era my second “vision” was from, I couldn't say for sure. I only knew it was from right before the meteorite fell.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless, as if waiting for our arrival, the meteorite fell at the village and the gate appeared. We had made it. I could meet her. Just the thought of that made my heart leap. It felt similar to when I had first learned of conversations.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P14-15</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long, just as I had seen, Serah appeared before the gate. Her “companion” did as well. I held my breath and watched in anticipation for Serah and company to depart on their journey.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to watch over those two, I thought. The fact I had seen more visions than any other seeress up until now, and that the majority of them surrounded those two had to be due to the fact that watching over them was my “imposed task.”</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will travel in search for all the gates in the world. If I do that then I can watch over those two. Perhaps, someday I may be able to meet Serah. When that time comes, I want to tell her.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’re not a priestess, but you are the same as me. Surely, you two would be able to do it. Even the things that I couldn't, you surely could.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I loved travelling. Because I could encounter those new names; that had been my only reason for loving to travel. But, It will be different now. I have found a purpose for my travels.</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will watch over you. That is my journey.</span></div>
</span>mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-38603186609780903702014-01-07T22:24:00.001-08:002014-01-08T04:36:06.976-08:00LRFF13 Ultimania Interview Translations Pt.1 [Spoilers!]So, it's certainly been a while since I've posted something here.<br />
<br />
I received a request on my <a href="http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/User_talk:Mecorx#LR_Ultimania_pages">FF Wiki talk page</a> to translate the scans of the interview included in the LRFF13 Ultimania which have been posted here:<br />
<a href="http://www.mognetcentral.com/threads/some-pictures-from-lightning-returns-ultimania.808/">http://www.mognetcentral.com/threads/some-pictures-from-lightning-returns-ultimania.808/</a><br />
As the interview goes on for a few pages, I have decided to post the translations here. I've translated the first two pages, but unfortunately the subsequent pages are too blurry to be read accurately and I can't find alternate images. Please let me know if you find better scans/images~<br />
<br />
Page 1<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">[We wanted to include content to make it so Lightning would be loved for 10 years to come.]</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Q1 - When did you start working on the final installment?</b></span><br />
A1 Kitase: Formally, we started after the final DLC of 13-2 (Requium of the Goddess) was released in May of 2012.<br />
Toriyama: Not everything was made clear in the DLC so we had always wanted to tell Lightning's story with another piece.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Q2 - In comparison to when [the series] started, it seems this installment was produced rather quickly.</span></b><br />
A2 Kitase: We thought players would forget the story if there was too long of a gap, so we set a goal of one year. At the time, it was still quite difficult to make the open-world maps you see now, but thanks to tremendous efforts of the staff, we were able to create a final product that exceeded expectations.<br />
Toriyama: The shortened production time also had to do with the timing of the transition from PS3 and Xbox 360 to next-gen hardware. The concept of "time management" in this installment perfectly mirrored the situation we faced in producing a game while next-gen hardware was right around the corner (laughs).<br />
Kitase: Which is to say, we were able to bring the FF13 series neatly to a close on current-gen hardware.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Q3 - Why was it titled "Lightning Returns FFX13" and not "FF13-3"?</b></span><br />
A3 Kitase: If we put a "3" in the title, it would be hard for new players to get into. We wanted to avoid creating such a hurdle and allow as many people experience the game [with new emotions] as possible.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Q4 - Kitase-san, what kind of a piece did you want to create this time?</b></span><br />
A4 Kitase: What I originally said to Toriyama was: "While Lightning is popular among fans, I think there are players who can't get into her 'cold' personality. So that Lightning will continue to be loved for 10 years to come, for the final installment, I would like for there to be content that allows players to develop an affinity for her. In that sense, secret ending included, I believe the piece turned out just as I hoped it would.<br />
<span style="color: #666666;">[TL: Kitase uses the word クール (cool) to describe Lightning, but unlike in English, the word can also mean things like 'cold-hearted' which is probably what he meant.] </span><br />
<br />
Page 2<br />
Producer: Yoshinori Kitase (Representative works: FF5, FF6, FF7, FF8, FF10, FF13, FF13-2, Dissidia FF, FF Type-0, Chrono Trigger)<br />
Director: Motomu Toriyama (FF10, FF10-2, FF12, FF12 Revenant Wings , FF13, FF13-2, Blood of Bahamut)<br />
Game Design Director: Yuji Abe (FF13, FF13-2, Kingdom Hearts 2, Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix+)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><u>Insider secrets of the current installment:</u></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>This time, we went all around the world for PR. Overseas, we were interviewed by everyday fans and owners of fan sites alike, as well as invited to interact at events. In October of 2013, we met lots of fans in New York. When I returned to Japan and saw the news about the PS4 going on sale, I was surprised! Why, the <a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/196e4ifsav72qgif/ku-xlarge.gif">first person in the world to purchase a PS4</a> was a guy we had met in New York! - Kitase</li>
<li>The DLC garb "Moogle Queen" was originally designed to have kittens and we had even created a polygon model for it. But, after considering overseas animal rights and ethics, we used Moogles, which are imaginary animals of an imaginary world, instead. Also, a number of battle lines had to be scrapped. It was unfortunate we couldn't let you hear the Sakamoto Maaya's wonderful performance, but let's take this opportunity to introduce a few of those lines to you. - Toriyama</li>
<ul>
<li>"How does it feel to lose to a kitten?" *in a sadistic voice*</li>
<li>"I've got kittens on my side" *just as it says*</li>
<li><span style="color: #cccccc;">[Picture too blurry, can't see it]</span></li>
<li>"Let me sharpen my claws"</li>
<li><span style="color: #cccccc;">[Can't read this one either]</span></li>
</ul>
<li>The locked ability on the Miqo'te Dress, Magic Slash, has both physical and magical properties and is favorable when both Deprotect and Deshell have been cast. It can be quite amazing when both are active, but as it is affected by both physical and magical defense there are times when its damage drops dramatically, as well... - Abe</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Q5 - Please tell us how Abe-san, who had been in charge of battle planning, came to be the director of game design for this installment.</b></span><br />
A5 Abe: I was the first one to bring a proposal to the consultation meeting held right after development had begun. It was brief, condensed version of what was to become the model for the game, which I created based on the concept I heard from Toriyama. I was put in charge of game design since the game developed around it.<br />
Toriyama: Of course we didn't put him in charge just because he happened to be the first to submit a proposal (laughs). Even before the consultation, I had asked him, "would you use your experience of constructing the battle system in the previous installments to design something that unifies the game as a whole?"<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">[The "World Driven" concept moves the world and changes the player's experience.]</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Q6 - What kind of a concept did Toriyama-san suggest in the beginning?</span></b><br />
A6 Toriyama: The key words were "World Driven." For this installment, I wanted to make it so the changes in the world around the player would alter their gaming experience. I also wanted to create a world that utilizes a network connection to loosely connect players and have them go about their business with the awareness that there are others out there. In the FF13 series, the first installment was "Story Driven", the second was "Player Driven", so with the world in mind, this time we went with "World Driven". As such, we considered what would make for a good key element in a setup that drives the world. What came from that was the concept of "time".<br />
Abe: With that concept in mind, we had come up with the idea of time counting down and saving the world within that time limit, but the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock">Doomsday Clock</a>" I happened to see on the news, was a big inspiration. I learned that the clock, depicted how close humanity was approaching extinction, and it would progress or regress based on the state of the world. I thought it was interesting. When I heard about the concept from Toriyama, what came to mind was that "world movement = time" and the fact that it was connected with the Doomsday Clock created the concept of "Time Management"<br />
Kitase: Looking back at the FF13 Series, we heard that people wanted to be able to explore more freely since the first installment. As such, perhaps it was only right that we implemented the concept of Time Management, which would allow for players to freely decide how to progress.<br />
Toriyama: However... [something about the countdown to the end of the world being hard on players that want to play at their own pace...]<br />
<br />
To be continued...mecorxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06810967352646000042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7042049342873154703.post-4538341956701950742013-07-17T21:38:00.001-07:002015-09-24T16:30:21.836-07:00Lightning in FFXIVIt's official! According to what was just posted on the official Japanese LRFF13 site, Lightning will be summoned to Eorzea to participate in a FFXIV F.A.T.E event.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkev7nwstTAiCpCIVY5BerijWdmontTxgnxwTd_B6RFADn2dVDpkY0zsIdbgChFiJhmyizpfRaiY5Wc4rD4KiZkrSwv3R-V15URJqCg0viMMK6ZSxUiCh0cXvMievkmhrNpCNs3Gz8nbc/s1600/FF-Go-There_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkev7nwstTAiCpCIVY5BerijWdmontTxgnxwTd_B6RFADn2dVDpkY0zsIdbgChFiJhmyizpfRaiY5Wc4rD4KiZkrSwv3R-V15URJqCg0viMMK6ZSxUiCh0cXvMievkmhrNpCNs3Gz8nbc/s320/FF-Go-There_003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Furthermore, the following gear will be given as rewards. Males will get Snow's outfit and females will get Lightning's outfit.</div>
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Link: <a href="http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/LightningReturnsFFXIII/#go_there_14">http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/LightningReturnsFFXIII/#go_there_14</a></div>
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