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Oerba – 200 AF
-OMG I FOUND VANILLE’S LITTLE PET STILL ROLLING AROUND HERE
[Later edit: I found another too, so maybe it’s just a version of that robo-pup.]
-These connect-the-dots mini-games seem like they’d be frustrating for the color blind. I wonder if there’s a color-blind mode like some games have.
-Resolving anomalies gives me moogle lore. “My moogle body is actually a puppet, and the real me is inside the clock! I am totally, absolutely telling the truth. Kind of.”
…ok. But people do keep asking if Mog is a toy, so I think he is (kind of) telling the truth.
-There’s a rooftop with stuff on it I keep trying to jump to and failing. Maybe I need to come back with a chocobo.
[Later edit: Nope, tried it with one. No luck. I’ll come back some other time.]
-Next crystarium expansion, I pick commando role boost for Noel and medic unlock for Serah.
-Datalog tells me that the losers in Valhalla always must obey the winners. “It’s the law, kupo.”
Mog fought Lightning in an intense duel and lost. Though it sounds like the duel was a game of rock paper scissors lol.
-Serah reminisces how this was Fang’s and Vanille’s home. They traveled to the future to save the world. In a way, we’re following in their footsteps.
-Argh! I feel like I’m so close to reaching that rooftop, but just can’t make it.
-Reached the schoolhouse roof to find an Oracle Device. A woman who we only notice at the last second (Yeul maybe??) tells Serah to not touch it, but it’s too late.
-The Device plays an image, the end of XIII. The true happy reunion.
-They affirm Serah’s memories, but she sees another set of memories interject. Hard to tell exactly what’s happening, but clearly something bad happening to Lightning. Caius keeps appearing in these new memories.
SERAH: “The prophecy… it’s been changed!”
-Then Caius himself appears. Not just an image – he warps in.
CAIUS: “If you change the future, you change the past.”
-Yeul arrives too. Noel knows both of them, even grabs Yeul by the shoulders.
YEUL: “I am not the Yeul you know.”
CAIUS: “There are many Yeuls.” We know her power is passed down. What about her personality?
-Caius heard about our time-hopping. Yeul has been watching us, which has some kind of major significance to Noel.
Btw, I’m not a huge fan of Caius’ design. I can’t quite articulate why, but it’s similar to why I don’t like Snow’s design.
They seem like they’re trying for a particular style SO HARD.
-Boss time, against Caius Ballad. He seems like a time cop of some sort, which is surprising given that all his abilities seem themed on chaos rather than order.
-Pretty straight forward fight. He backs off then spams big attacks at Noel.
-What’s going on here? Are they family or something, brothers maybe? I get the sense Caius isn’t totally in the wrong here. He definitely doesn’t seem Exdeath-style of “EVIL.”
-Yeul stops before Caius finishes off Noel. It’s too late; the timeline has changed.
Things we do in the future affect the past, which is unusual. Time travel narratives usually just hold this the other way around.
CAIUS to YEUL: “Let’s go, before you are made to witness more.” Something about these changing timelines is a burden on her. Maybe it’s like that Ashton Kutcher movie “The Butterfly Effect,” and each change forces Yeul to absorb a lifetime of new memories.
-They leave through a portal.
-I think part of why I don’t get “Mwa-ha-ha-EEEEEVIL” vibes from Caius is his relationship with Yeul. It doesn’t seem like he kidnapped her or is holding her against her will. They seem to have similar goals.
-My crystarium expands again. This time, I increase each character’s accessory capacity by 20.
-I collect the Artefact of Origins, “an artefact radiating the sun’s warmth.”
-Hee! A live trigger lets me ask Noel how much we could sell the Oracle Device for. I have a hard time imagining Serah asking that.
[Later edit: I find myself using “I” pronouns with Serah. Something about the game’s set-up makes me feel she’s more the protagonist than Noel. I’m curious if that’ll keep up.]
-OOH! Found a Lucidon (one of those porcupine beasts) with Late-Bloomer status. A long-term ally.
-I pop the Artefact of Origins into the new gate, and we’re off.
Got a “Whimsical Headdress” reward for my live trigger actions.
-This is very Interesting. I just created a new timeline, Yaschas Massif 01X AF. This is 10 years after the fall of Cocoon, but an alternate version of events.
The artefact taking me there is the sun artefact. I’m guessing that since we resolved some future paradoxes, Fenrir may no longer be hunting for something below, leaving it sunny rather than dark.
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Yaschas Massif – 01X AF
-I’m excited. I love alternate timeline shit.
-Mog’s voice is disconcertingly similar to Monokuma’s. His “kupo” is like Monokuma’s “puhuhu!”
-This Yaschas Massif no longer is engulfed in an eclipse.
-I like the small detail how Serah jump elevation regularly. None of Lightning’s acrobatic flips.
-THANK YOU SERAH! She gets how changing the past can affect the future, but how does the reverse work? Maybe this is like the Jeremy Bearimy theory of time. Everything loops around so much that changing anything changes everything.
-Found an “Ivory Crystal: shimmers like fresh snow in winter.” A key item. No clue what it’s for.
-Hm. I found a gate here that I can open with a Wild Artefact… I’ll come back to it. Want to finish what I can in this area before checking that out.
-oh you gotta be kidding me. One of these hyper behemoths appears.
Narasimha.
I have no chance against it, especially after it goes into its second phase and rips me apart.
-HI YEUL WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE
-Of course. This is a different Yeul.
YEUL: “I can trace the timeline. I see the future, and lead others along the correct path.”
-She thinks Serah has a similar role. “You, too, can show others the way.”
Then she walks away. Frigging seers. Always so enigmatic.
-Noel interprets this to mean Serah will show others the true timeline. I agree.
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Next time: down to the Paddraean Archaeopolis.
