Can’t Get the Words Out
by Sawako NATORI
Video Game Scriptwriter/Novelist

Freelance scriptwriter and novelist. The first page I always read in Viva☆Tales Magazine is the reader submissions corner. I read it all, down to the messages written next to the pictures. Even the fine print gets me excited!

The Discovery that Eternia Gave Me

Once when I was an elementary schooler, I decided to secretly make a recording of the conversations my family held at the dinner table. It was just supposed to be a little prank.

After waiting for everyone to finish eating, I confessed to my family what I had done, and pressed the “play” button on the recording so that they could listen.

What the tape contained: the voices of my brother and I each taking turns to talk about our day at school, my father’s jokes, my mother’s laughter, the clinking of dinnerware, occasional moments of silence... But among all these sounds, there were none of the fun happenings that I had hoped for. There was only the feeling of time that had supposed to be flowing along without a care, now being unceremoniously sealed off.

I remember suddenly going quiet, even though I had originally been the one laughing the most out of the family, and my brother giving me a questioning look. I didn't mean to make him worry, but as an elementary schooler I didn’t have the words to adequately express what I was feeling at the time.

But now I think I can explain a little.

You see, that was the first moment I ever realized that time can be lost. I felt shocked at the fact that the happy family gathering recorded on the tape had already slipped away into the past, never to return again. Those moments could only belong to their own time, and that time could not be recreated. The sanctity of it... the fragility of it... The prank had been my own idea, but it left me with a bitter discovery.

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“How would you like to write a short story about Eternia for the first printing of the premium edition of Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave?” When I accepted this commission, it had actually been the first time in more than ten years since I last interacted with the world of Tales of Eternia, giving me the chance to experience that particular sense of time that only video games can provide.

The time that elapses within the story of Eternia can never be lost. Even a decade later, Reid is still the Reid from the game, and Farah is still the same Farah. When you press the start button, they will always utter the same lines, go on the same adventures, set up camp the same way, go through the same ordeals, and end the story in the same way, whether in the past, present, or future. They live in an eternity that's almost dazzling in its unchangingness.

But what about the players? Even if we go down the same rivers again, get lost in the same Forest of Temptation, ride the same Craymel Railroad, or undertake the same Three Trials, our past selves from the time we once played it can come back to us. Like when I got a phone call from so-and-so while I was visiting this town, or when I spilled my ice cream while I was listening to this skit, or when my fingers cramped up while I was fighting this enemy; it goes on and on.

While we're experiencing our present time following the time unfolding within the story, we also end up retracing our own past.

As for me, the one who wrote the story, there’s even more to recall: the setting sun peeking through the window as I sat in my seat at work writing the characters’ dialogue, even the faces of my coworkers walking around the office, carrying bags of convenience store dinners... All these memories come rushing back, making me dizzy.

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Time that won’t return—time that’s precious, and fragile—and yet it isn’t lost without a trace. Even after it’s flowed away, it’s actually still packed tight inside of us.

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My reunion with Eternia has given me this new discovery. And I’m thankful for it.

Natori, Sawako. "The Discovery that Eternia Gave Me," Viva☆Tales of Magazine, Apr 2012, p. 206.