FINAL FANTASY XIII: Reminiscence Tracer Of The Memories

C8: Hope Estheim Part 2

Translation credits to Galvea@GameFAQs.

CHAPTER 8: HOPE ESTHEIM PART 2
Aoede recalls what Hope said to her at the end of his interview…

“Come back to me when you find out the truth behind “that other world”, and I will tell you everything I know.” That was the beginning of Aoede’s journey; in her quest for memories of a world that no longer exists, she met his friends, and in the midst of it all recovered her half-forgotten memories.

Aoede:
“My name was “Aoede”, back in that other world. You and I, we were part of the same era, and I was also caught up in the Purge.”

Aoede begins her introduction in this manner on her second visit, and Hope Estheim smiles quietly in response.

Chapter 8: Hope Estheim

Before they begin their second interview, Aoede sums up everything she’s learned from the interviews so far – the Purge, the battle for Cocoon, Serah and Noel’s journey to fix Time, and so on. Aoede does this to prove that she did, in fact, “discover the truth behind that other world”, as Hope asked her to. She wraps up the story, at length, and Hope nods, deep in thought.

Hope:
“I’m impressed by your research. There were even a few things I didn’t know. So you really did meet everyone.”

Aoede wonders if this means she’s passed the test, but at the same time she can’t find it in herself to accept the compliment.

Aoede:
“Not everyone. In the end, I wasn’t able to meet the most important person of all.”

Hope:
“I see, so you didn’t meet Light….”

There’s a hint of disappointment in his voice; Aoede wonders if Hope is disappointed in her, for ultimately not having what it takes to meet Lightning – or if he doesn’t know where Lightning is either, and had hoped that Aoede would be able to track her down. She doesn’t have time to puzzle out the answer, however.

Hope:
“Allow me to honour the promise I made. You learned of the truth behind that other world. I will tell you everything I know.”

Hope produces a thick folder, and leaves it on the table. There is nothing on the cover save for the title, which is short and to the point:

‘Chronicle of Chaotic Era’

Hope:
“These are my memories.”

Conseil de Renaissance

Aoede and Hope begin by talking about the dawn of the Chaotic Era.

Hope:
“I assume you already know what happened after Serah and Noel defeated Caius Ballad.”

Aoede:
“The world was flooded by an outpouring of the Chaos because of Caius’s schemes, and Serah lost her life. That was the beginning of the age of ruin. Eventually “that other world” began to sink into the ocean of Chaos, and, for mankind, the cycle of life and death was also destroyed – that’s pretty much what I gathered from everyone else.”

Hope:
“That’s right, humanity lost their ability to age, and it was no longer possible to die of old age. But in exchange, new lives – children, they were no longer born. This unusual phenomenon was confirmed right after the Chaos began to invade.”

Aoede:
“So it didn’t take a few years for you to discover this.”

Hope:
“No, as soon as the fight was over, I assembled each and every one of the Academy’s scientists and had them investigate. At the time, all citizens had been evacuated and were living inside the manmade Cocoon, but even though everyone was safe for the moment, it was necessary to draw up plans for the long term. That was why we hurried to analyse what was happening to the world, and what kind of effects the endless outpouring of Chaos was going to have on the world and the human body. We couldn’t let the public know of our findings without a firm grasp on what kind of reality we were facing.”