Fade in to a formation of red flying ships, referred to (somewhat improperly) as "airships", flying north. Fade out, then back in, to show the deck of one of the ships. A man in dark armor stands at center, flanked by numerous generic soldiers in gold and red.

It turns out that "airship" is an actual English term referring to any powered and steerable lighter-than-air craft. Though certainly powered and steerable, these don't appear to be lighter than air. They look little different from normal oceangoing ships except for the massive propellers that keep them aloft.

In the DS remake, select scenes, including this one, are fully voiced.

As a form of shorthand, Cecil's lines are (in the Japanese versions) always set off with a 『 mark, rather than using his name.

The EasyType has a tendency to make minor adjustments to the text here and there, typically adding spaces or substituting more commonplace terms for more obscure ones to improve readability. I won't note all of the changes, but some of the more interesting ones seem worth mentioning. Here, the EasyType appends こく (koku) to バロン (BARON), making it plain that Baron is a country. The English version, meanwhile, doesn't mention their destination at all.

Cecil, who seems to be brooding on something unpleasant, lowers his head. The soldiers talk amongst themselves.

The EasyType replaces めいれい (meirei) with おうの　ごめいれい (ou no go-meirei), specifying that these are the king's orders.

The screen dims and transitions to another setting.

Cecil, flanked by the soldiers, is shown confronting a group of mages in classic Final Fantasy garb. The soldiers advance on and attack the mages, shove aside an older man who appears to be their leader, and stand by while Cecil walks up, takes a large Crystal, and walks away, looking upset.

This flashback scene contains no text in the original Japanese version. The English and EasyType versions have the following dialog added, though the scene has more impact without it, in my opinion.

The DS remake does something similar to the original version, though with a series of disjointed flashbacks suggestive of the events running unwelcome through someone's thoughts, and indeed, the other solders have to snap Cecil out of it before the scene continues.

The scene returns to the airship deck.

Cecil steps forward.

The EasyType replaces バロンこくのはんえいのため (BARON koku no han'ei no tame, for the sake of Baron's prosperity) with バロンこくのため (BARON koku no tame, for the sake of Baron); perhaps はんえい (han'ei, prosperity) didn't seem clear enough. It also refers to the people of Mysidia as まどうしたち (madoushi-tachi, mages) rather than simply as ものたち (mono-tachi, people).

But the way he keeps staring at the ground and trailing off suggests Cecil doesn't like this any more than the crew does. Further discussion is forestalled when another soldier announces:

The soldiers take up positions as monsters attack. Cecil faces three フロータイボール (Float Eyeball) and swiftly dispatches them with a Red Fang.

Other than a rare drop from late-game monsters, this is the only time you'll see this item anywhere in the ET or NA versions of the game. Incidentally, because Cecil has 200 hit points, the damage is 100 + (0~100), multiplied by four because the creatures are very weak against Flame, for a final damage of 400 to 800 (or a bit less if he took any damage first, since it's based on current health, not maximum).

A soldier is down after the skirmish. Cecil checks on him.

This time, Cecil faces a ズー (Zuu), which he swiftly dispatches using a Blue Fang.

This is the only time you'll legitimately see this item anywhere at all in the ET or NA versions of the game. The damage is comparable to that of the Red Fang on the Float Eyeballs, since this Zuu is very weak against Thunder.

The DS remake has the player control Cecil when facing the eyeballs, then skips the Zuu encounter entirely. In what may be a callback to the original, it also provides him with a Red Fang to use for an easy win, though he should be able to handle them without it.

The soldiers gather around Cecil.

The soldiers return to their posts, and the airships land by a castle with an attached town.

Cecil is met at the castle gates by two soldiers. They stand aside, and one opens the gate. A soldier in a fancier uniform walks out of the castle.

"Baygan" I could see... but "Baigan"? It doesn't really work with English phonetics. His name is pronounced like "bacon" with a 'g' instead of a 'c'.

Beigan escorts Cecil into the castle, then has him stop in a fancier hallway that presumably leads to the throne room.

The EasyType replaces the uncommon しばし (shibashi, for a brief while) with ここで (koko de, here), matching the English version.

Beigan leaves Cecil behind and walks into the next room, where he talks to the king.

The EasyType replaces おそれながら, (osorenagara), which shows respect and humility when saying something that may not go over well, with どうやら (dou yara), which roughly equates to "it seems as though".

Beigan walks to the door.

Cecil enters and halts at a respectful distance.

Beigan walks over to Cecil...

...and back to the king.

Cecil begins to leave, then hesitates and turns back.

Beigan and the king startle.

Cecil advances another step.

Cecil advances another step.

The guards flanking the king advance and push Cecil back.

Genjuu (幻獣) literally translates to "phantom beast". FF9's "Eidolon" is probably the best official localization I've seen, being an appropriately exotic term and essentially referring to the astral essence of a living or deceased being. I prefer to leave the term untranslated in most cases.

Cecil tries to circle around the guards, but they keep blocking him. Another man, this one in dark armor with unusual ornamentation, enters.

The guards shove both of them across the room. The king stands and advances on them, followed by Beigan.

The guards force Cecil and Cain out of the room entirely.

The English and EasyType versions expand Cain's dialog, apparently to help new players:

The soldiers don't have much to say, except that the king has seemed a bit odd lately, and that the Mist Valley lies to the northwest. Cain, on the other hand...

The EasyType clarifies Cain's らしくない (rashiku nai, out of character) after Cecil's ellipses to おれらしくもない (ore rashiku mo nai, out of character for me).

As Cecil continues toward his room in the left tower, someone calls him to a halt.

A woman with light hair and a deep pink outfit comes up behind him.

Cecil starts to walk away.

She leaves, glancing back at him before exiting.

Cecil can visit the castle dungeon, where several Mysidian mages are held captive. Some have things to say that seem important.

As Cecil continues to his room, a funny-looking man with goggles and a large beard spots him.

Cid waves, then rushes through the connecting passages to meet Cecil outside.

Cid talks kind of oddly. I've tried to reflect that in translation, though my initial attempt went overboard and I've cut it back quite a bit since then.

Cid rushes off, leaving Cecil free to head to his room with no further interruptions... until he runs into the maid.

The DS remake also has Cecil run into Namingway, the name-changing NPC. However, character names can't be changed, due to voice acting in certain cutscenes, so Namingway, distraught, sets off on a journey to find a new purpose, which turns into an extended sidequest for the player.

She leaves, and this time, Cecil finally makes it to bed without being waylaid again... except by his own misgivings.

Rosa walks in. Apparently these late-night visits are not an unusual occurance for them.

Cecil glances at her, then turns away as she approaches.

Cecil hesitates, then begins talking, but doesn't turn around.

Rosa walks closer.

Cecil still won't turn around.

Rosa steps away.

Cecil finally turns around, but Rosa is facing away now.

She looks upset. Cecil steps out of bed and to her side.

Instead of sticking around and... well, it's pretty strongly implied what they would normally be doing.

Rosa leaves. Cecil walks halfway across the room toward the stairs.

Yay, an ambiguous line. I see two possibilities, which would be roughly: "I'm not good and pure like you" or "I can't be with you".

Fade out. The next morning, Cecil descends to the main entry hall of the castle, where he meets Cain arriving from the other direction.

Cain's additional comment about preparing in town only exists in the NA and ET versions.

Cecil and Cain walk out of the castle as the familiar (to anyone with previous Final Fantasy experience) Prelude plays. Change scene to a side view outside the castle, showing some surrounding terrain, a larger and a smaller moon, and plenty of sky for the following introductory text to scroll along.