[Video/Filtered to Cosmos People]
[Video/Filtered to Team Cosmos]
[Her voice is soft, with an undercurrent of nervousness, but she tries to squash that down and go for quiet determination, as much as she can.]
Hello. I've met plenty of you already but for those I haven't, my name is Terra Branford. I was called by Cosmos to fight in the previous war, as were several of my friends, also likewise returned.
Much is the same as before...but much has changed, too. I can only tell you what I experienced, but I can't guarantee all that knowledge will be relevant now. Still, I hope enough of it will to help you and help us all.
Here's what I can do; I'll tell you about the enemies on the battlefield that are familiar to me, from the time before. I'll explain how we attained our crystals...and how we ultimately defeated Chaos.
[Pause.]
For those of you who were there with me, please--share your side of the story, too. I can only tell mine. And...I'm not very good at public speaking, so you might need to correct me.
[And another voice joins in, male this time and definitely full of confidence. Whether it's overconfidence or not, that's another matter, but that's just Tidus for you.]
Come on Terra, you're doing great! Don't worry, we're here, we just have to tell people what happened. We'll back you up. But I'm, uh, I'm Tidus, and I was here before, too - it's really, really different than the last time, so we figured we'd say what happened last time and maybe things'll be easier to understand.
[Then there's a third voice, which is also decidedly male but with a slightly higher pitch, suggesting the owner to be a younger boy. In contrast to Tidus Zidane possesses a more casual tone to his approach.]
Tidus is right on both accounts. Together we'll share the story of what happened before. Anyway, this is Zidane, and I was around last time too. Last time . . . Cosmos and Chaos were fighting, like they are now. It must have lasted for a good while. The crystals didn't come into play until later though -- that's when we came in.
[Terra's voice picked up, a bit less nervous now that she had the boys to back her up.]
Right. We were separated, but Cosmos appeared to all of us. She spoke of how Chaos destroyed the balance, threatened the fabric of reality itself. There were ten of us left, and she asked us to obtain the crystals. With ten gathered, there would be hope yet to save the world. And she was right, though the paths to the crystals were dangerous and different for each of us....
Yeah, really different. [For a moment Tidus' voice gets more serious; after a short pause he comes back as normal, though.] But a lot of stuff happened, a lot of stuff we didn't know would happen. She told us to get the crystals, but then Cosmos... Chaos showed up, and he- he killed her, right in front of us. Then Kefka and Exdeath said that we were the ones who killed her - 'cause we'd gotten the crystals.
Things got really strange right after that. We were about the vanish. But we didn't, and we thought it was Cosmos's doing with the crystals and all. I thought I was -- [Zidane interrupts himself. There's a pause before he resumes.] We didn't disappear. We stayed, so we decided to continue fighting for her sake, even though the world wasn't in very good shape.
[Terra sighs.]
No, it wasn't. Chaos, having lost his one equal, only cared about bringing ultimate destruction, taking everything down with him. The crystals, shards of Cosmos's power, allowed us to remain long enough to do defeat his warriors, those we fought to obtain our crystals in the first place. And so we traveled to the Old Chaos Shrine, the place were we could cross over into Chaos' realm.
And once we got there, we faced him. He's this really big... thing, with four arms and horns and these really small little eyes and his voice's all deep and he's just weird guys. He's Chaos - that's not even just his name, that's what he is. And man he hurts when he hits you, worse than anyone. And we fought him once we found him, and we got rid of him, and then- did we ever figure out where we went? [That remark is clearly for the other two, but he goes on without an answer.] Stuff just started blowing up and coming apart and we all disappeared again and showed up in this field near a big castle and a forest and a lake. And we all still had our crystals - then they started glowing, and we just knew. [And with a small laugh, Tidus repeats his words from back then.] "Gotta go, huh? Don't worry, the crystal knows the way. And besides, I'm always right here." Then I ran, and jumped - I thought I was going home. Next thing I know I'm back here and it's all starting again, only different this time.
[There's a small laugh from Zidane as he recalls that moment.] I was next to go. I remember going up -- up and into the sky. I thought I was going back to where I belonged. But since we're back here, I guess not. Since I went after Tidus, I kind of don't have anything else to share as far as previous experiences go. Terra was there longest out of the three of us.
[Terra speaks up just after that, her tone wistful.]
I wasn't there that much longer. After Cloud vanished, I was next. But...after that, I too heard Cosmos' voice and awoke back in her sanctuary. Firion, Bartz and Squall, warriors from last time, returned, too. The others...they haven't reappeared. I don't know why. However, some of Chaos' old warriors have also been returned to his side. As far as I know, they would be Kefka, Kuja, and The Emperor. There could be others, but I haven't heard or seen them. And for some reason, The Emperor doesn't remember any of this, just as Cloud doesn't....
[Her voice grows a bit saddened at that.]
Sephiroth's back, too. [Oh guess who Tidus doesn't like. At this point, despite his dad being the one he had to fight, he's still a lot more wary about Seph.] Last time he was with Chaos - and he did a lot of stuff to a bunch of us, stole from Firion, attacked Light and a few others, chased Cloud around forever and ever and lied to him about killing us. But he doesn't remember that, either - and he's on Cosmos for some reason. [He's kind of - privately - wondering if the goddess' death made her lose her mind, because seriously, Seph? Not a good guy from what they know.] But a lot of people from last time aren't here, and as long as more of the Chaos guys don't show up, that's great for us.
[An odd sound erupts from presumably Zidane once Kuja was mentioned, considering he hadn't exactly counted the possibility of the guy being here (and much less heard from him), but he's quiet before long. That is, until he pipes up again.] Yeah. Try to give Sephiroth a chance, though, guys. He doesn't remember any more than Cloud and The Emperor do. . . . Also, in case anyone was thinking it, Chaos isn't "Vincent." Just a heads up, since I talked to someone when we first woke up about this.
[Terra perks up a bit at that.]
Oh, I heard the same thing. But anyway...for those of you who haven't had the misfortune of meeting Kefka, I should probably explain. I probably know him best, since I fought him the most and defeated him twice. [Her tone isn't bragging, but weary of having had to do so.] He dresses like a clown, but please don't let his appearance allow you to underestimate him. He's a very powerful mage, with no interest in anything other than destruction. His magic is largely the elemental, projectile type, only it's as twisted as he is, moving in erratic patterns. That can make him extremely dangerous, but he himself doesn't move much while this happens, so that could make him vulnerable. Just...don't turn your back on him, ever.
[And she falls silent, expecting the guys to help explain the other two.]
You gotta be kidding me, you're letting Sephiroth off the hook? [Tidus clearly isn't too pleased by that, not at all no sir.] He's- Okay. Okay, [and he's clearly having to pull himself back together.] but if he loses it even once he's toast, got it? Look, the Emperor's probably the worst of all of 'em - he's the one that had the whole plan to kill Cosmos for real, he manipulated everyone, even Je- just everyone. He's gonna manipulate you and taunt you and do everything he can to make you do what he wants you to do even if you don't know you're doing it. So if you ever see him just hit him in the mouth real quick so he can't even start to talk. He really likes using words against people.
C'mon, Tidus. He doesn't know! Unless he slips, we've got no reason to treat him differently. [Much, anyway. Another pause, then Zidane continues.] Okay . . . Kuja's the guy in strange clothing with silver hair -- he has feathers sticking out of his head. He's pretty long-winded, you should be able to tell it's him just by the way he talks. Like Kefka, he's a powerful mage, and he has a habit of flying and throwing magic around. He might try to mess with you using words. All I can say is, just ignore him. Don't let his words or magic get to you.
[Terra sighs, sympathetic.]
Tidus, I understand, but...[No, they've both said enough on that subject.] Zidane's right, though it's easier than it sounds. Kuja is fast, and he hits hard. He's good at attacks that stun people, just like The Emperor is good at magic traps. Neither are impossible to defeat...but I won't lie, they're very formidable.
You've gotta dodge really fast. If you see something coming for you, or something on the floor, just run. That's what the Emperor does, and worse is he's good at it. [Tidus has fought him enough to know that.] Just... keep your eyes open. Chaos likes to pick people that wanna destroy things, but this time it seems he's got some other people with him that're more like most of us on Cosmos. If you see... If you see Cloud, he's a good guy. We don't know why he's over there, but he shouldn't be and we've gotta get him back where he belongs. He's our friend.
You've got that right. Cloud's not a bad guy, and we'd prefer to avoid confronting him. Last I talked to him, he didn't even care to fight. So he shouldn't be a problem, unless . . . never mind, let's not think about that. Point is, let's not start unnecessary fights. That way we can save energy and avoid extra damage. [His voice fades a bit as he talks directly to Tidus and Terra.] Is there anyone else? I think that's it.
[There's a pause and Terra cautiously agrees.]
As far as I know, none of Chaos's other warriors have returned...but we should be wary, just in case. [A small sigh.] As for Cloud...we might have to fight him, after all. He wants us to prove that we meant what we said, I think. [Sound familiar, anyone?]
...I don't think Chaos will show himself directly, yet, but he could. Maybe we should go back to him.
Go back to him? Would that work after last time? It was supposed to be permanent then, remember? [It's unlike Tidus to be pessimistic, but hopes and dreams of going home were pretty much dashed on the rocks.] It'd be great to smack him one again, but we'd probably have to take out everyone else on the way again.
Ah, Tidus. We did it before, we can do it again. But that's probably gonna be the case. He wouldn't come to us when he has a bunch of warriors on his side. I don't think we have to worry about beating down Chaos for now. First, let's let everything we just said settle. I mean, we did say a lot, and we don't want to confuse anyone.
We have to try...but you're probably both right. [Terra's silent for a moment, then she speaks up again.] I know we covered a lot of things, but if there's any confusion over what we said or you want us to elaborate on something you think needs it, we'll give you whatever answers we have. We know that the only way we're going to get through this is to work together, so...
Yeah, so we're gonna help you. Whatever you wanna know, just ask, got it? We'll give you all the answers we've got. [There's a pause as Tidus looks up at the others.] Uh, you think that's it?
[Zidane nods, which ends up being a pregnant moment for the listeners.] I think that is. We'll cover everything else later. If we missed anything, someone will ask. So, I'd say we're done. You agree, Terra?
[A pause, as Terra considers that, and--] I agree.
Okay then, so that's it. Just... go ahead and ask if you wanna know. We'll do the best we can. [Tidus reaches to deactivate the crystal, then pauses briefly.] ...Hey, good luck, guys.
[Bzzow. End Broadcast.]
[Her voice is soft, with an undercurrent of nervousness, but she tries to squash that down and go for quiet determination, as much as she can.]
Hello. I've met plenty of you already but for those I haven't, my name is Terra Branford. I was called by Cosmos to fight in the previous war, as were several of my friends, also likewise returned.
Much is the same as before...but much has changed, too. I can only tell you what I experienced, but I can't guarantee all that knowledge will be relevant now. Still, I hope enough of it will to help you and help us all.
Here's what I can do; I'll tell you about the enemies on the battlefield that are familiar to me, from the time before. I'll explain how we attained our crystals...and how we ultimately defeated Chaos.
[Pause.]
For those of you who were there with me, please--share your side of the story, too. I can only tell mine. And...I'm not very good at public speaking, so you might need to correct me.
[And another voice joins in, male this time and definitely full of confidence. Whether it's overconfidence or not, that's another matter, but that's just Tidus for you.]
Come on Terra, you're doing great! Don't worry, we're here, we just have to tell people what happened. We'll back you up. But I'm, uh, I'm Tidus, and I was here before, too - it's really, really different than the last time, so we figured we'd say what happened last time and maybe things'll be easier to understand.
[Then there's a third voice, which is also decidedly male but with a slightly higher pitch, suggesting the owner to be a younger boy. In contrast to Tidus Zidane possesses a more casual tone to his approach.]
Tidus is right on both accounts. Together we'll share the story of what happened before. Anyway, this is Zidane, and I was around last time too. Last time . . . Cosmos and Chaos were fighting, like they are now. It must have lasted for a good while. The crystals didn't come into play until later though -- that's when we came in.
[Terra's voice picked up, a bit less nervous now that she had the boys to back her up.]
Right. We were separated, but Cosmos appeared to all of us. She spoke of how Chaos destroyed the balance, threatened the fabric of reality itself. There were ten of us left, and she asked us to obtain the crystals. With ten gathered, there would be hope yet to save the world. And she was right, though the paths to the crystals were dangerous and different for each of us....
Yeah, really different. [For a moment Tidus' voice gets more serious; after a short pause he comes back as normal, though.] But a lot of stuff happened, a lot of stuff we didn't know would happen. She told us to get the crystals, but then Cosmos... Chaos showed up, and he- he killed her, right in front of us. Then Kefka and Exdeath said that we were the ones who killed her - 'cause we'd gotten the crystals.
Things got really strange right after that. We were about the vanish. But we didn't, and we thought it was Cosmos's doing with the crystals and all. I thought I was -- [Zidane interrupts himself. There's a pause before he resumes.] We didn't disappear. We stayed, so we decided to continue fighting for her sake, even though the world wasn't in very good shape.
[Terra sighs.]
No, it wasn't. Chaos, having lost his one equal, only cared about bringing ultimate destruction, taking everything down with him. The crystals, shards of Cosmos's power, allowed us to remain long enough to do defeat his warriors, those we fought to obtain our crystals in the first place. And so we traveled to the Old Chaos Shrine, the place were we could cross over into Chaos' realm.
And once we got there, we faced him. He's this really big... thing, with four arms and horns and these really small little eyes and his voice's all deep and he's just weird guys. He's Chaos - that's not even just his name, that's what he is. And man he hurts when he hits you, worse than anyone. And we fought him once we found him, and we got rid of him, and then- did we ever figure out where we went? [That remark is clearly for the other two, but he goes on without an answer.] Stuff just started blowing up and coming apart and we all disappeared again and showed up in this field near a big castle and a forest and a lake. And we all still had our crystals - then they started glowing, and we just knew. [And with a small laugh, Tidus repeats his words from back then.] "Gotta go, huh? Don't worry, the crystal knows the way. And besides, I'm always right here." Then I ran, and jumped - I thought I was going home. Next thing I know I'm back here and it's all starting again, only different this time.
[There's a small laugh from Zidane as he recalls that moment.] I was next to go. I remember going up -- up and into the sky. I thought I was going back to where I belonged. But since we're back here, I guess not. Since I went after Tidus, I kind of don't have anything else to share as far as previous experiences go. Terra was there longest out of the three of us.
[Terra speaks up just after that, her tone wistful.]
I wasn't there that much longer. After Cloud vanished, I was next. But...after that, I too heard Cosmos' voice and awoke back in her sanctuary. Firion, Bartz and Squall, warriors from last time, returned, too. The others...they haven't reappeared. I don't know why. However, some of Chaos' old warriors have also been returned to his side. As far as I know, they would be Kefka, Kuja, and The Emperor. There could be others, but I haven't heard or seen them. And for some reason, The Emperor doesn't remember any of this, just as Cloud doesn't....
[Her voice grows a bit saddened at that.]
Sephiroth's back, too. [Oh guess who Tidus doesn't like. At this point, despite his dad being the one he had to fight, he's still a lot more wary about Seph.] Last time he was with Chaos - and he did a lot of stuff to a bunch of us, stole from Firion, attacked Light and a few others, chased Cloud around forever and ever and lied to him about killing us. But he doesn't remember that, either - and he's on Cosmos for some reason. [He's kind of - privately - wondering if the goddess' death made her lose her mind, because seriously, Seph? Not a good guy from what they know.] But a lot of people from last time aren't here, and as long as more of the Chaos guys don't show up, that's great for us.
[An odd sound erupts from presumably Zidane once Kuja was mentioned, considering he hadn't exactly counted the possibility of the guy being here (and much less heard from him), but he's quiet before long. That is, until he pipes up again.] Yeah. Try to give Sephiroth a chance, though, guys. He doesn't remember any more than Cloud and The Emperor do. . . . Also, in case anyone was thinking it, Chaos isn't "Vincent." Just a heads up, since I talked to someone when we first woke up about this.
[Terra perks up a bit at that.]
Oh, I heard the same thing. But anyway...for those of you who haven't had the misfortune of meeting Kefka, I should probably explain. I probably know him best, since I fought him the most and defeated him twice. [Her tone isn't bragging, but weary of having had to do so.] He dresses like a clown, but please don't let his appearance allow you to underestimate him. He's a very powerful mage, with no interest in anything other than destruction. His magic is largely the elemental, projectile type, only it's as twisted as he is, moving in erratic patterns. That can make him extremely dangerous, but he himself doesn't move much while this happens, so that could make him vulnerable. Just...don't turn your back on him, ever.
[And she falls silent, expecting the guys to help explain the other two.]
You gotta be kidding me, you're letting Sephiroth off the hook? [Tidus clearly isn't too pleased by that, not at all no sir.] He's- Okay. Okay, [and he's clearly having to pull himself back together.] but if he loses it even once he's toast, got it? Look, the Emperor's probably the worst of all of 'em - he's the one that had the whole plan to kill Cosmos for real, he manipulated everyone, even Je- just everyone. He's gonna manipulate you and taunt you and do everything he can to make you do what he wants you to do even if you don't know you're doing it. So if you ever see him just hit him in the mouth real quick so he can't even start to talk. He really likes using words against people.
C'mon, Tidus. He doesn't know! Unless he slips, we've got no reason to treat him differently. [Much, anyway. Another pause, then Zidane continues.] Okay . . . Kuja's the guy in strange clothing with silver hair -- he has feathers sticking out of his head. He's pretty long-winded, you should be able to tell it's him just by the way he talks. Like Kefka, he's a powerful mage, and he has a habit of flying and throwing magic around. He might try to mess with you using words. All I can say is, just ignore him. Don't let his words or magic get to you.
[Terra sighs, sympathetic.]
Tidus, I understand, but...[No, they've both said enough on that subject.] Zidane's right, though it's easier than it sounds. Kuja is fast, and he hits hard. He's good at attacks that stun people, just like The Emperor is good at magic traps. Neither are impossible to defeat...but I won't lie, they're very formidable.
You've gotta dodge really fast. If you see something coming for you, or something on the floor, just run. That's what the Emperor does, and worse is he's good at it. [Tidus has fought him enough to know that.] Just... keep your eyes open. Chaos likes to pick people that wanna destroy things, but this time it seems he's got some other people with him that're more like most of us on Cosmos. If you see... If you see Cloud, he's a good guy. We don't know why he's over there, but he shouldn't be and we've gotta get him back where he belongs. He's our friend.
You've got that right. Cloud's not a bad guy, and we'd prefer to avoid confronting him. Last I talked to him, he didn't even care to fight. So he shouldn't be a problem, unless . . . never mind, let's not think about that. Point is, let's not start unnecessary fights. That way we can save energy and avoid extra damage. [His voice fades a bit as he talks directly to Tidus and Terra.] Is there anyone else? I think that's it.
[There's a pause and Terra cautiously agrees.]
As far as I know, none of Chaos's other warriors have returned...but we should be wary, just in case. [A small sigh.] As for Cloud...we might have to fight him, after all. He wants us to prove that we meant what we said, I think. [Sound familiar, anyone?]
...I don't think Chaos will show himself directly, yet, but he could. Maybe we should go back to him.
Go back to him? Would that work after last time? It was supposed to be permanent then, remember? [It's unlike Tidus to be pessimistic, but hopes and dreams of going home were pretty much dashed on the rocks.] It'd be great to smack him one again, but we'd probably have to take out everyone else on the way again.
Ah, Tidus. We did it before, we can do it again. But that's probably gonna be the case. He wouldn't come to us when he has a bunch of warriors on his side. I don't think we have to worry about beating down Chaos for now. First, let's let everything we just said settle. I mean, we did say a lot, and we don't want to confuse anyone.
We have to try...but you're probably both right. [Terra's silent for a moment, then she speaks up again.] I know we covered a lot of things, but if there's any confusion over what we said or you want us to elaborate on something you think needs it, we'll give you whatever answers we have. We know that the only way we're going to get through this is to work together, so...
Yeah, so we're gonna help you. Whatever you wanna know, just ask, got it? We'll give you all the answers we've got. [There's a pause as Tidus looks up at the others.] Uh, you think that's it?
[Zidane nods, which ends up being a pregnant moment for the listeners.] I think that is. We'll cover everything else later. If we missed anything, someone will ask. So, I'd say we're done. You agree, Terra?
[A pause, as Terra considers that, and--] I agree.
Okay then, so that's it. Just... go ahead and ask if you wanna know. We'll do the best we can. [Tidus reaches to deactivate the crystal, then pauses briefly.] ...Hey, good luck, guys.
[Bzzow. End Broadcast.]