“My name is Damian.” The kid had said, “My name is Damian.”


Over and over. Just like me, he was suffering from memory loss. Just like me, he had junctioned Ifrit to himself. Just like me, he'd been using the GF a bit too much as of late. I suppose I was lucky. Most of my memories had stayed put. The ones that were off on a wander took place during and after Time Compression. Damian, on the other hand, was starting to forget his friends and family. With those closest to him vanishing from his mind, he was panic-stricken.


I'd found him hiding from a scavenging band of monsters. Whatever he did before I arrived, it worked and the monsters were leaving. I held back until they were a safe distance away before checking on him. He was repeating the same words even then... except, there were more words back then.


After I took him along, we would end up finding another stranded SeeD, Yelena, who'd lost some memories through her junction with Doom Train. Of the three of us, she had kept her memories together best, but there were some conflicting accounts between the three of us. Apparently, something else had happened after the headmaster's team returned from Time Compression, but her placement of those events contradicted the ones I recalled. It must have fit together somehow, but we didn't retain enough to make a complete picture.


“But that's what happened.” She had whined, throwing her arms down in her exclamation.


While Damian was still struggling to keep the precious memories he had left from slipping away, Yelena was much more adamant about what she thought she remembered. At least, she felt it was important to believe them that she would accept no other information. In the end, she was probably just as scared as Damian to lose them. I only tried to see if we could fit enough pieces together to get a sense of direction. Even with three of us, we would wander the barren wasteland devoid of any progress. After losing them, I was still just as lost.


Oh, right. I did lose those guys.


“Maybe I should start saying some of that 'my name is Tross' stuff now.” I said to myself, looking up at the sky with a sigh.


A full party, but I still ended up losing them. I guess it wasn't disappointing to me anymore. I'd lost more since then. I was still trying to find the last two that I'd encountered. Unlike Damian or Yelena, I'd recognised Koemi the second she ran smack into me. She'd confided in me in the past. I didn't really know what she got out of it, but I was happy to listen. As for the other one, well, who could forget her? In spite of Yelena's weird memories, the ones that girl had were on an entirely different level. She even called the planet by a different name.


“How pitiful. Typical of humans.” Same old Ifrit charm.


“You know, I'm in this mess thanks to you.” I grumbled back at him.


“You still live thanks to me.”


“Don't sound so smug because you've been helping me beat back the monsters. There just happens to be a lot of them and I can't figure out how to get away from here.” I spat, “Would've been nice if I could remember how I got here, but my memories aren't what they used to be.”


“Don't complain to me about your human feebleness. Or do you hold me responsible for the boy, as well?”


The boy...


Damian was getting worse the longer we were stuck out here. By the end of it, he didn't even remember me. After we'd had another run in with some monsters, he had decided to use Ifrit again in fear. It was the last time he'd do so. The strain of the GF cost him the last of his memories and he ran from me after the battle, thinking I was an enemy in confusion. I tried to calm him and explain what had happened, but be it that he was losing his language or that fear had overrun whatever was left of his mind, he kept running. We were in an inhospitable environment. Eventually, you run into the wrong things. And the thing he ran into, not even Ifrit would have saved him, if he even remembered how to use him.


It took too long. It was taking too long for us to make any progress on finding out where we were and, more importantly, how to get back. The longer we were out here, the worse our chances and that was why it was very important that I find the ones I still could.


“You had best do so before you humiliate me as the boy did.” Ifrit grumbled again.


I decided to ignore him. Instead, I thought it was hopeful that I was still remembering what had been happening since I found myself out here. It could mean that my memory loss was slowing or, with any luck, at an end. I should look for draw points. Using magic wouldn't have as much of a detrimental effect as fully summoning Ifrit.


“Curse the cold. The one housing Shiva must be near.”


That, I took to heart. Shiva was a Guardian Force that Koemi and I encountered after we found Nichola. I already had Ifrit and Koemi was protected by Quetzalcoatl, but she was seriously injured when we found her and had no GFs junctioned. It was too dangerous to be out here without one even if it meant memory loss. To that end, Koemi suggested we join her with Shiva.


Hiking up the nearest hill, I looked out into the distance. The only thing nearby that could be used as shelter was a large razed building, still sturdy enough for a temporary stay. However, when I made my way closer to it, I saw that monster again. On the day Koemi and I found Nichola, we were attacked by a wicked creature. It wasn't anything we documented before. There was no information in the bestiary and it didn't seem weak to any element. I guessed it was a weapon class monster, but even for a weapon it was too strong. If I had to describe it in weapon terms I would say the humanoid portion of it was female. It didn't have the same quadruped haunches as typical weapons or the second head that appeared at the torso. In place of these features, it had large collections of hooks that seemed to meld with its hair. It even looked like it had clothing, but even the clothing was a weapon, every edge sharpened and glistening like a razor.


We were lucky there were other powerful monsters out there. Before the thing got close enough to use any of those nasty looking hooks, another weapon got its attention. As they brawled, we got out of dodge. That gave us a chance to grab Nichola and get the girl to safety.


Just like that day, I hid from that monster and waited for an opportunity. It didn't look like there were any other monsters around to lure it away or keep it busy so I might have been out of luck. But just as I thought that, it stretched out an arm and then started wandering off like it was trying to catch up with something.


Once it was gone I snuck through where it had been and got myself to the library. Of course, once I'd gotten that close I realised there was a lot more there than just that one dilapidated building. I also noticed that I'd not be needing to search a single one of them. There was now a makeshift campsite outside of one of them in the far distance. I sighed in relief and took my time to get to it, relaxed now that I had found them. I had to admit Ifrit had been useful on many counts thus far, but I didn't expect his bickering to be the most useful.


Finally, I reached the camp. Nichola was flat on her back with only her pack to cushion her head. There was a chocobo resting nearby, as well. Did she feel safe out in the open like this? If a monster were to attack, she'd have only the chocobo to warn her of it and little else safeguarding her. And that made another thing immediately clear to me.

“Is she not with you?” I asked, rousing her.

“What do you want?”


Koemi wasn't with her. It was good that I'd found Nichola, at the very least, but Koemi had been gone almost as long. We needed to find her, but I would first need to convince this one to come with me and, as she'd gone back to resting, my task wouldn't be an easy one.