Historia Crux

The Historia Crux is a gameplay and story element in Final Fantasy XIII-2. The Historia Crux is the crossroads of the timeline that allows players to travel between locations and visit them in different time periods. The ability to use the Historia Crux, or the power to travel through time, is a power that originates from the goddess Etro.
Though the future of the world can be visited via the Historia Crux, the events before or during Final Fantasy XIII cannot be revisited, as these events took place before the paradoxes began.http://www.siliconera.com/2011/11/11/final-fantasy-xiii-players-get-a-special-item-when-starting-xiii-2/
In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the portal which serves as a gate between the Ark and Nova Chrysalia uses a monochromatic version of Historia Crux in cutscenes where Lightning is traveling between the two locations.
==Datalog==
The Historia Crux is the crossroads between the Time Gates. It is a separate dimension connecting one age to the next.
This surreal plane is said to be the border of the chaotic realm of Valhalla, and only those with an affinity for the power of chaos are able to use it to travel through time. Even the godlike fal'Cie are not free to enter the Historia Crux as they please.
==Gameplay==
To unlock new places and time periods, the player needs to find artefacts scattered throughout time. Visiting areas at different times will give players access to new items, new monsters, and new sidequests, and can change the course of the game in the form of paradox endings. With Gate Seal, any gate in the Historia Crux can be closed, resetting the storyline of that area; the player still keeps their current party, level, and items. Closing gates allows a fully powered team to fight any previous bosses with more of an advantage. Fighting earlier bosses with the Paradox Scope active can trigger paradox endings.
The date system is marked by the letters "AF", which stand for "After the Fall". Visitable years range from 3 to 700 AF. In each location and time, there are a certain number of fragments, with 160 in total, and the number of fragments the player has obtained from each area is displayed in the Historia Crux menu. Years containing X, such as 1X AF, indicate an alternate timeline created by solving paradoxes. There are also places marked with year unknown, such as "Serendipity -Year Unknown-".
All places originally marked with -Year XXX- (-XXX年-) in the Japanese version are changed to -??? AF- in the English versions. In the Japanese version, when traveling to the places of -Year XXX- and -Year Unknown-, "AFXXX" and "AF???" are displayed on the traveling screens respectively, while in the English versions, "??? AF" are displayed for both -??? AF- and -Year Unknown- places.
The final structure of the Historia Crux varies between two states depending upon the order the player resolves the paradoxes within Yaschas Massif and the Sunleth Waterscape. This does not affect the story or gameplay, and is to preserve continuity so that the player does not use a gate in one location to unlock a disconnected location elsewhere.
==History==
thumb|right|Lightning falling into the Historia Crux.
In the aftermath of the events that took place in Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning was captured by darkness from another world and dragged to the edge of time, thus written out of history. She fell through the Historia Crux, and was transported to Valhalla.
In a distant future where mankind was on the brink of extinction, Noel Kreiss, the last remaining human, prayed to Etro for a miracle. A portal opened for him and Noel entered Valhalla. He traveled through the Historia Crux to find Serah Farron, Lightning's sister, upon Lightning's request, and together they set out on a journey to save the future by using the Historia Crux to visit different eras to solve the time paradoxes.
thumb|left|Noel and Serah traveling through the Historia Crux.
Upon leaving Academia 4XX AF through a Time Gate opened by a booby-trapped artefact, part of the Historia Crux was damaged and hit Mog, nearly throwing him out of the system. Serah rushed to help him and was separated from Noel; although the two left through different exits, they both ended up in the Void Beyond.
After Caius Ballad was defeated and the Heart of Chaos within him was destroyed, the Time Gates closed, sealing access to the Historia Crux. It is unknown what happened to the Historia Crux in the end, as the chaos of the Unseen Realm invaded the Mortal Realm and the world became Nova Chrysalia.
==List of locations==
===Academia===
*400 AF, a paradox Academia full of Cie'th, due to the intervention of Adam.
**Gate Seal: "Flight" - Village Proper, Oerba 300 AF
*4XX AF, Academia in 400 AF in a timeline where Adam was never created.
**Transcript: "The Future is Hope".
**Gate Seal: "Promises" - A Dying World 700 AF
*500 AF
**Gate Seal: "Final Battle" - Academia 500 AF
===Archylte Steppe===
*Year Unknown, Archylte Steppe during the period 1 AF - 500 AF
**Gate Seal: "The Calm" - Throne Room, The Void Beyond ??? AF
*??? AF, Transcript "A Giant Mistake"
===Augusta Tower===
*200 AF
**Gate Seal: "Facts" - Entrance, Academia 4XX AF
*300 AF
**Gate Seal: "Silence" - 51st Floor, Augusta Tower 200 AF
*??? AF, Transcript: Test Subjects ending.
===The Void Beyond===
*Year Unknown, a shadow of Valhalla. Visit in both Episode 3 Parts 1 and 2.
*Year Unknown, a shadow of Valhalla. Visit in Episode 5.
===Bresha Ruins===
*005 AF
**Gate Seal: "Scars" - Pass of Paddra, Yaschas Massif 010 AF
*100 AF
**Gate Seal: "Disaster" - Bresha Ruins 100 AF
*300 AF
**Gate Seal: "Labyrinth" - Echoes of the Past, Bresha Ruins 100 AF
===Coliseum===
*Year Unknown
**Gate Seal: "Prediction" - Throne Room, The Void Beyond ??? AF
*??? AF (DLC)
===A Dying World===
*700 AF
**Gate Seal: "Determination" - Academia 500 AF
*??? AF, Transcript: "Heir to Chaos" ending.
===New Bodhum===
*003 AF
**Gate Seal: "Leaving" - Excavation Site, Bresha Ruins 005 AF
*700 AF
**Gate Seal: "Sisters" - Academia 500 AF
*Year Unknown, a dream world in New Bodhum known as Hollow Seclusion. Transcript: "Fate and Freedom" ending.
*??? AF, Transcript: "Beneath a Timeless Sky" ending.
===Oerba===
*200 AF
**Gate Seal: "Encounters" - Pass of Paddra, Yaschas Massif 01X AF
*300 AF
**Gate Seal: "How Things Were" - Village Proper, Oerba 200 AF
*400 AF
**Gate Seal: "Hometown" - Village Proper, Oerba 200 AF
*??? AF, Transcript: "Vanille's Truth" ending.
===Serendipity===
*Year Unknown
**Gate Seal: "Eternity" - Bresha Ruins 100 AF
*??? AF (DLC)
===Sunleth Waterscape===
*300 AF
**Gate Seal: "Farewells" - Academia 400 AF
*400 AF
**Gate Seal: "Thunderstruck" - Sunleth Waterscape 400 AF
*??? AF, Transcript: "Mog's Marvelous Flan Plan" ending.
===Valhalla===
*Year Unknown
**Gate Seal: "Hope" - Final Battle
*??? AF (DLC)
===Vile Peaks===
*010 AF
**Gate Seal: "Afterimage" - Twilight Odin Battle, Vile Peaks 200 AF
*200 AF
**Gate Seal: "Return" - Twilight Odin Battle, Vile Peaks 200 AF
===Yaschas Massif===
*010 AF, a paradox Yaschas Massif, darkened by an eclipse caused by the fal'Cie Fenrir.
**Gate Seal: "Visions" - Village Proper, Oerba 200 AF
*01X AF, Yaschas Massif in 10 AF in a timeline where the eclipse never happened.
**Gate Seal: "The Fall" - Serendipity ??? AF
*100 AF
**Gate Seal: "Reminiscence" - Paddraean Archaeopolis, Yaschas Massif 100 AF
*110 AF
**Gate Seal: "Maleficence" - Paddraean Archaeopolis, Yaschas Massif 110 AF
==Musical themes==
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The Historia Crux's eponymous leitmotif was composed and arranged by Mitsuto Suzuki, with vocals performed by Russian singer ORIGA. The lyrics were written by Atari productions.
Suzuki completed the basic structure of the song in two days and added overdubs afterwards, then continued to refine the song as the development team sent in game footage. The song changes between multiple irregular time signatures; Suzuki joked, "it must've been tough for the drummer, though."
It is the 19th track of disc 1 on the Final Fantasy XIII-2: Original Soundtrack.
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The theme "The Void Beyond" is a variant of "Historia Crux", and is used during the segments the characters are lost within time and most locations are inaccessible. A prototype version of "Historia Crux" on the Final Fantasy XIII-2: Original Soundtrack PLUS titled, "Travelogue_GuideVocalDemo" features vocals performed by the male artist Yosuke Kakegawa.
===Lyrics===
The official lyrics were released on the Final Fantasy XIII-2: Original Soundtrack.
:The stars shine in the deep sky
:Endless stories of the distant yesterdays
:Take me in your arms
:Keep me in your heart
:Time is flying by
:The only moment is now
:The only moment is now
:Feel that everything is real
:Everything is real in the dream
:Going on a trip to somewhere I've never been
:Across time and space
==Other appearances==
===Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call===
The Historia Crux appears as the background for the Field Music Sequence of its eponymous theme.
==Behind the scenes==
The director of Final Fantasy XIII-2, Motomu Toriyama, has said there are a few reasons of why the developers included time travel in the story; they wanted to tell the story of the rebuilding of the world after Cocoon's fall, and thematically felt time travel was a good fit for this story. Square Enix received a lot of feedback regarding the linear gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII, and with Final Fantasy XIII-2 the developers wanted to incorporate a new gameplay system with the Historia Crux to let the player advance through different areas within the world seamlessly.
===Voice===
The narration of the summaries in the Historia Crux is by Michiko Neya in the Japanese version and by Anna Vocino in the English version.
==Gallery==
HistoriaCrux.jpg|Utilizing the Historia Crux in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
Historiacrux.jpg|New location unlocked.
Time reversal unlocked.jpg|Time reversal unlocked.
Noel_in_the_Hisrtoria_Crux.png|Noel flying through the Historia Crux en route to Valhalla.
Traveling in historia crux.jpg|Traveling in the Historia Crux.
FFXIII-2 Historia Crux Artwork.jpg|Historia Crux artwork from Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega.
InfrontofHistoria.jpg|Historia Crux (1).
InfrontofHistoria2.jpg|Historia Crux (2).
FFXIII-2 Retro Historia Crux.png|Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Retro-spective trailer.
==Etymology==
Historia is Latin for "history", while Latin crux means "to intercept at a central point"—in other words, "to cross".
==References==
de:Chronosphäre
es:Umbral de las Eras
Category:Final Fantasy XIII-2
Category:Gameplay in Final Fantasy XIII-2