Previous Part: Metamorphosis

Storyline text and attempted translations from...

Final Fantasy VI

The Airship Blackjack  | . . . . . . . . . . .

The party lands on deck. While this beats staying on a disintegrating airborne continent, things aren't looking good, especially when the sky goes black.

『三闘神の力は止められないのか? "Can nothing stop the power
of the Three Warring Gods?"
Can't you diffuse the statues?!

Wild energy scatters from the destabilized statues, much of it raining down on the surface below. The ground reacts by violently rising, falling, shaking, splitting apart... basically everything solid ground shouldn't be doing.

{セッツァー}「つかまってろ! {Setzer}: Hang tight! {SETZER}: Hang on!

Setzer does his best to steer them to safety, but there's just too much wild energy flying around. The Blackjack splits in half, leaving Cayenne, Edgar, Stragus, and Shadow (if present) on the rear end, and Tina, Setzer, Mash, and Relm on the front, while Celes barely hangs on to the edge of the split and Lock tries to help her. However, Celes soon falls off, Lock, Mash, and Relm blow away, and Tina and Setzer manage to grab the edge only for a moment before also falling. This doesn't look good.

Gau and Mog are nowhere to be seen during this scene. Presumably they were left out because it's possible to leave Gau on the Beast Plain and skip Mog entirely, but since Shadow appears only if waited for, why don't these two do something similar?

Meanwhile, the surface isn't faring any better against the untamed power of the Three Warring Gods. If a few million years of continental drift happened in the space of a few hours, it might look something like this. In short, it's a worldwide catastrophe.


       その日 

    世界は引き裂かれた……

That day,

the world was torn apart...

    On that day, the world
    was changed forever...

Despite the similarity to Chrono Trigger's "lose to Lavos" bad ending, not only is this not a Game Over, it's an unavoidable part of the story.


So that's the Major Plot Spoiler. Cefca's psychopathy leads to a series of events that literally rearrange the surface of the planet. The world prior to this event is generally termed the World of Balance (WoB), while afterwards it's called the World of Ruin (WoR). Aside from having a drastically different world map, the World of Ruin also has completely different inventory in most shops, and of course completely new monsters and dungeons.

Japanese, incidentally, seems to favor variations on 崩壊前 (pre-collapse) and 崩壊後 (post-collapse).

The following locations are no longer available: Colts Mountain, the Returner Headquarters, the Lethe River, the Misleading Forest, the Crescent Moon Mountain Cave and underwater Serpent's Way (it's now dry land), the isolated hut north of Kohlingen (replaced with a rather larger structure), Vector (including the Imperial Castle), the Mystic Barricade Lookout, the cave west of Thamasa, and (of course) the Mystic Continent.

The Imperial Army Encampment near Doma, the Grim Train, Baren Falls, the Sorcery Factory and Sorcery Research Laboratory, the Cave to the Mystic Barricade, and the burning house in Thamasa are also inaccessible, but they were already unavailable at the end of the WoB anyway.

Come to think of it, though, it's mind-boggling that so many significant locations come through largely undamaged.

Regardless, even where the same locations still exist, very few of the WoB monsters remain present in the WoR anywhere outside of the Beast Plain, which hardly counts as a reliable source of encounters. Naturally, the Beast Plain won't include monster formations that were never actually encountered, and some special monsters never appear there anyway, so even that's not a sure thing.

These previously buyable items will never appear in stores again: Dagger, Mithril Knife, Air Knife, Mithril Sword, Greatsword, Bastard Sword, Kodachi, Sakura Fubuki, Mithril Spear, Kotetsu, Kikuichimonji, Mithril Rod, Flame Rod, Ice Rod, Thunder Rod, Poison Rod, Chain Flail, Full Moon, Morning Star, Boomerang, Hawkeye, Mithril Claw, Buckler, Large Shield, Mithril Shield, Hairband, Feathered Hat, Triangle Hat, Bandana, Iron Helm, Twisted Headband, Mithril Helm, Tiara, Cotton Robe, Kung Fu Suit, Iron Armor, Silk Robe, Mithril Plate, Shinobi Garb, White Dress, Mithril Mail, Potion (though High Potions are readily available, so no big deal), and Jerky. Only some of these are still useful anyway, and many remain obtainable in other ways, such as stealing from monsters, but never again will getting them be as convenient as it was before.


An Isolated House  |

The story resumes with the camera panning across a brown ocean toward a desolate island beneath a sky that is also an unhealthy shade of brown. There's a small house falling apart near the shore, and inside is Celes, lying motionless in a bed. Cid walks in soon after, apparenty tending to her before taking a seat at a nearby desk. Celes stirs, then slowly gets up, looking rather dazed.

シド「おお {セリス}よ…… Cid: Oh... {Celes}... CID: {CELES}...at last...!

He walks over to her, stunned enough to repeat himself.

シド「おお {セリス}よ…… Cid: Oh... {Celes}... CID: {CELES}...at last...!
シド「やっと目がさめたか。
{セリス}「私……
 どれくらい眠っていたの?
シド「ちょうど1年じゃよ。
 もう助からんかと思っておった。
{セリス}「1年間も……
 シドが私をかいほうしてくれたのね?
Cid: You're finally awake.
{Celes}: I...
 how long was I out of it?
Cid: It's just reached a year.
 I thought you might be beyond help.
{Celes}: A whole year...
 Cid, you took care of me?
CID: You're finally awake!
{CELES}: I...feel like I've been sleeping for ever...
CID: For one year, actually...
I thought you were out for good.
{CELES}: A whole year...
You've watched over me the whole time?
シド「ああ、でもわしももうつかれた。 Cid: Yeah, but now I'm worn out myself. CID: Yes, and I'm about out of energy.
シド「小さい無人島じゃよ。
 世界が引き裂かれた後、気づいたら
 この島に倒れておった。
{セリス}「引き裂かれた……
 夢じゃなかったのね。
Cid: We're on a small deserted island.
 I woke up here on this island after
 the world was torn apart.
{Celes}: Torn apart...
 then it wasn't just a dream.
CID: We're on a tiny, deserted island. After the world crumbled, I awoke to find us here together with...
...a few strangers.
{CELES}: The world...!
So, it wasn't just a dream.
{セリス}「みんなは?
 …{ロック}は?
シド「わからん。
 島以外の事は何も…
 世界はこの島を残して全て
 ちんぼつしてしまったかもしれん。
シド「あの日から世界は一歩一歩破滅に
 近づいている……
草木や動物はどんどん死に追いやられ
生き残った島の人も
次々と希望を失い北の岬の崖から
身投げしよった。
{Celes}: What about the others?
 ...{Lock}?
Cid: Outside of the island...
 I don't know a thing.
 The whole world might have sunk
 and left just this island behind.
Cid: The world has taken step after step
 toward destruction since that day...
Plants and animals are steadily overtaken
by death, and even the other survivors on the
island lost hope one after another and threw
themselves off the cliff on the northern cape.
{CELES}: Where are my friends? Where's {LOCKE}...?
CID: I don't know.
I only know we're here...
Maybe we're the only people left alive...
CID: Since that day, the world's continued its slide into ruin. Animals and plants are dying...
The few others who washed up here with us passed away of boredom and despair.

The game references the line about the cliff on the northern cape later, so it's kind of important to keep it.

{セリス}「皆はもう……
 生きていないかも……
{Celes}: It could be that...
 none of them are still alive...
{CELES}: My friends...
they're probably all gone...
シド「{セリス}よ。気を落とすな。
 お前はわしにとって世界で一人の
 家族じゃ。
 ここでいっしょに静かにくらそう。
{セリス}「ええ……
 そうね…シド……
 いえ、おじいちゃん。
 そう呼んでいい?
シド「おじい!? へへ てれるのォ
 突然孫娘ができたみたいで……
 ゴホッ  ゴボッ
{セリス}「ふふ おじいちゃん。
Cid: {Celes}. Don't get depressed.
 You're the only family I have in the world.
 Let's live together in peace here.
{Celes}: Yes...
 Okay... Cid...
 No, grampa.
 Can I call you that?
Cid: Grampa!? Heh, heh, you're making me blush.
 It's like I suddenly have a granddaughter...
 *cough* *cough*
{Celes}: *giggle*, grampa.
CID: {CELES}...you're the closest thing to family that I have...we could just live out our lives here peacefully...
{CELES}: I suppose so, Cid...
Or should I say, Granddad?!
May I call you that?
CID: Gramps, eh?
I'm overwhelmed! All of a sudden I have a granddaughter!
Cough... Wheeze...
{CELES}: My long-lost Granddad...
シド「ははは ゴホッ ゴホッ
{セリス}「おじいちゃん。
 おなかすいたでしょ?
シド「ああ 三日前にね込んでから何も
 食っておらん。
{セリス}「何か食べたい?
シド「…と言っても海岸の魚くらいしか
 食い物はないがの。
{セリス}「私とってくる。
Cid: Ha ha ha *cough* *cough*
{Celes}: Grampa.
 You're hungry, aren't you?
Cid: Yeah, I haven't eaten a thing
 since I took ill three days ago.
{Celes}: Want something to eat?
Cid: ...sure, except the fish at the beach
 are pretty much the only food here.
{Celes}: I'll go catch some.
CID: Ha, ha...hack...cough!
{CELES}: Hey, are you hungry?
CID: I...haven't eaten in 3 or so days, ever since I became ill.
{CELES}: What would you like?
CID: Well, unless I ask for fish,
I won't get anything!
That's all there is here!
{CELES}: I'll go catch some.

And so, after helping Cid into bed, Celes heads out into a barely recognizable world.



Previous Part: Metamorphosis

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