Translation credits to Galvea@GameFAQs.
CHAPTER 7: OERBA YUN FANG & OERBA DIA VANILLE
The dry winds kick up a veil of sand; just beyond, Aoede spies the shadow of a steeple in the distance, and knows that she is approaching the ruins, her destination…
She has just been to the village, little more than a collection of cattle ranches among the rocky wilderness. The village community is small enough for every face to be familiar, and it is thanks to this that Aoede quickly tracks down the two women; the villagers tell her they are often seen in the ruins, some distance away from the village. As Aoede makes her way there, she thinks she understands why the two women have taken a liking to the place: the ruins standing among the desolate landscape reminds them of home.
Aoede enters the ruins, and finds herself in a great stone hall, where the walls are thick and sturdy, and the sound of the biting winds deceptively far away. Although the ruins have been abandoned for many years, Aoede notes that it is considerably well-preserved. The place is surprisingly clean, and might even be habitable with a few pieces of furniture. Aoede has to remind herself that the two women she is looking for don’t actually live here.
Aoede takes a deep breath, and calls out:
“Is anyone here?”
Aoede’s voice echoes throughout the empty hall. Before the last of the echoes fade, a voice speaks up from behind Aoede.
“Stop shouting, it makes a damned lot of noise.”
Aoede is caught unawares; just a moment ago she could have sworn there was nobody there. She turns to find a tall woman with dark skin and black hair, and Aoede knows she has the right person.
Fang:
“The people down at the village gave us a heads up, said some woman was trying to sniff us out. Who told you about this place, you little weasel?”
Aoede:
“Um… Noel. Wait, to be precise, I met Snow before him, and he had this message…”
Overwhelmed by the hostility emanating from Fang, Aoede fumbles to find her words, and the resulting explanation is too cryptic to earn points in her favour.
“The hell are you talking about?”
Fang is now all the more suspicious of Aoede, and just as Aoede thinks Fang is about to throw her out –
“Did I hear that right!? Miss, you met Snow and the others!?”
A voice pipes up, full of innocence, and the tension in the air is shattered at once; Aoede finds that she has just been saved by a red-head with pigtails, peeking out from the shadows of the hall. Aoede takes this opportunity to compose herself, and this time the introduction goes well. After all the practice she’s had Aoede is getting to be an old hand at telling her story, and even Fang is persuaded.
Fang and Vanille begin to tell their story; eventually they arrive at the point where they save Cocoon by turning into crystals.
Fang:
“We turned into crystals and went to sleep, but we were able to watch the people go about their lives on Gran Pulse.”
Aoede:
“Now that you mention it, Serah told me that in the middle of her travels through time, the both of you saved her.”
Vanille:
“Oh yes, I remember that. She asked for help in the world of dreams. I’ve always felt that Serah and I share a connection, somehow. I mean, when we first opened our eyes in Cocoon, Serah was the first person we met.”
Fang:
“Yeah, it was our fault Serah became a l’Cie. We wanted to save her, make it up to her. If we could have fought by her side, maybe things would have ended differently, and Serah wouldn’t have died.”
YOU ARE READING
FINAL FANTASY XIII: Reminiscence Tracer Of The Memories
General Fiction[FFXIII ORIGINAL NOVEL] Written by Daisuke Watanabe. Aoede is a journalist who wants to uncover the truth about the "Another Life" . Follow her journey where she gets to meet the heroes who she believes have saved the rest of the humanity.
