Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before is a 232-page book, which takes place immediately before the events of Final Fantasy XIII-2 and contains several stories revolving around characters such as Serah, Snow, Noel, Rygdea, and Bartholomew Estheim. The book is priced at ¥1,470 and was released December 15, 2011 in Japan.

List of Chapters

 * imaginary & real: Episode i.
 * teacher & children: A story of daily life in New Bodhum, and Serah's memories of the year 0 AF.
 * friend & foe: The story of Snow's departure and journey.
 * fair & foul: The creation of a provisional government, and the secret history of the founding of the Academy.
 * someday & somewhere: The story of Noel's childhood and journey.

Additional Information Provided by the Book

 * Noel was the second-to-last child to be born at the end of days since Yeul was born after him.
 * Noel's grandmother raised him after his parents died and was the oldest person alive. She also taught him that as a result of Cocoon's fall, its crystal sand containing the violence and bloodshed of the war, defiled the land, air, and water, causing many creatures and people to die.
 * At the end of his journey, Noel's body becomes cold and unresponsive. He is close to death before his unwavering resolve to change the future causes Etro to bless him and send him to Valhalla to meet Lightning.


 * Snow left on his journey in 2 AF.
 * Snow encounters a "Cactuar school" in the Archylte Steppe, and it is implied that he met the fal'cie Cactuar at ??? AF.
 * The Academy was founded in 2 AF.
 * Hope entered the Academy when he was 17 in 3 AF, skipped several grades and became its leader at age 19.
 * The Cavalry helped in the building of New Bodhum.
 * After Eden's destruction in Cocoon's fall, Palumpolum served as the base of operations.
 * Several recent discoveries revealed that people have been living on Gran Pulse until recently, contrary to popular belief that they had been wiped out by the War of Transgression.
 * Normal people can now use magic, which was formerly exclusive to l'Cie, and it's now seen as a part of normal life.
 * After moving to Pulse, Serah learned how to use weapons rather quickly and has exceptional reflexes, noted as having more fighting prowess than she knew.
 * Snow meets up with Sazh, Dajh and Hope after leaving New Bodhum. He met Sazh and Dajh on a departure platform for the Gran Pulse-Cocoon commuter flight route, where Sazh now works.
 * The first action of the new provisional government was to publicize the truth behind the "threat from Pulse" that lead to the Purge as being a fabrication of Barthandelus, helping dispel the people's fear of Pulse and convincing some to go to the lowerworld.
 * Snow decided to have a fresh start with Serah and overwrite her painful memories with new ones, as though no one's memories were overwritten by Lightning's disappearance.
 * Vanille, Fang, and Lightning were hailed as heroes for sacrificing themselves to save Cocoon.
 * Snow learns that some monsters on Gran Pulse act as companions to humans and protect them.
 * The Sanctum's former leaders lost their power after the provisional government was formed.
 * After the populace learned the truth about the Purge, remnants of the disbanded PSICOM were chased out of Cocoon, and they were now supposedly hiding out in Pulse's frontier lands.