Final Fantasy XIII-2: Fragments After

Prayer & Wish: III

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. 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 her self 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. 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.

"That's-!?"

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. It was a person dressed in old armor that would be present in fairy tales and they were brandishing their sword, fighting with something. She did not know what with which the person was fighting. But she knew for sure that there was a target at which that those lightning spells were aimed.

"That's... me!?"

It wasn't that their features were the same. She just felt that way. She somehow knew that it was herself.

"Then that Odin is-!? Is that you?"

So she asked but Odin did not answer. The voice with which she asked was very different from her voice a second again. Her voice seemed to echo with many layers like she was in a cave.

"Can you hear my voice?"

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.

"It looks just like you."

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. Her gaze collided with her other self's. A light smile spread across the other Lightning's face.

"Go to the Goddesses throne. All of the answers are there."

The other Lightning informed her as she slipped by. Then Lightning remembered. Of course, all of the answers were in the Goddess' throne.

"What did I just-?"

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?

"Stop Odin!"

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.

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.

"Alright then. Head to the shrine, Odin."

"What was that just now?"

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. She did not guess what would happen from this point on; she remembered it. She could not say that feeling was anything different.

"Memories of the future?"

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. But, why did she encounter such a thing? She could see herself and it was not like the staring was unrequited. (?) Furthermore, she spoke to her... her future self spoke to her. Of course, this would be impossible when thinking conventionally. But what if this place was that kind of place (an unconventional 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.