Chapter Eleven

All entries taken from the game's datalog.

A Fruitless Search

The l'Cie scour Gran Pulse for some way to overcome their Focus, but even after days of searching the bleak terrain, they discover nothing but crumbling ruins and vicious wildlife. No matter how far they range, there is not another soul to be found.

Did the people of Gran Pulse fall victim to the brutal struggle for survival that dominates every aspect of this unforgiving world? And is the rebirth of this same desolate land the purpose behind the Cocoon fal'Cie's plan to slaughter millions of people?

As time passes and their fruitless expedition drags on, the l'Cie slowly succumb to frustration and despair — their most dangerous enemies.

Emotional extremes can accelerate the progress of a l'Cie brand. If a brand evolves to the final stage, it triggers the transformation into a Cie'th.

They are all reminded of how little time remains when Hope's brand suddenly advances another step.

A Man's Hope is His Castle

Eidolons come to grant a despairing l'Cie the death they crave — or so it is believed. But when the Eidolon Alexander is summoned by Hope's confused anguish, Lightning sees a different reason behind the entity's appearance.

She comes to believe that the Eidolons appear in order to prevent l'Cie from giving up on themselves. When l'Cie consumed by despair or rage, are close to losing their path, an Eidolon appears and gives them a life-or-death trial to overcome — thereby forcing them to rethink their decision to surrender.

Through his battle with Alexander, Hope renews his determination to survive and rejoins the others as they set off to the north. That way lies the village of Oerba.

If they can reach Fang and Vanille's hometown, then maybe they can learn the true story behind the War of Transgression, and find a clue to help them break the shackles of their Focus.

The l'Cie continue their journey, each playing their part to keep this tiny flame of hope alive.

Helping Hands

If they choose not to kill Orphan and bring about Cocoon's destruction, Lightning and her companions will transform into Cie'th. But if they do carry out their Focus, their actions will doom the lives of millions of people.

In search of a way to escape this impossible choice, the l'Cie travel towards the village of Oerba in the north of Gran Pulse.

On the endless plains they see beasts and birds aplenty, but not a single person. Could the ruin of this world's civilization have been caused by the War of Transgression, centuries before?

Here, where it all began, Fang finally uncovers the truth that Vanille has so desperately tried to conceal. The l'Cie who became Ragnarok and attacked Cocoon during the war was not her cheerful friend but Fang herself. Not wanting Fang to bear the guilt of the beast's bloody rampage, Vanille chose to take the blame in her stead.

As if to reprimand her for twisting the truth, the Eidolon Hecatoncheir rises from the earth even as the two friends argue. No matter how painful it may be, l'Cie cannot run from reality forever.

Speaking with Serah

When Vanille awoke from crystal stasis, she sought to deny her Focus — Cocoon's doom — by lying that she, like Fang, had lost her memory. But instead of preventing a catastrophe, she only spurred her friend into reckless action.

Desperate to prevent Vanille from becoming a Cie'th, Fang suggested they attack a Sanctum fal'Cie to kick-start their memories, and the tragic incident at Euride Gorge was the result.

Separated from her friend after their escape, Vanille drifted aimlessly until she happened upon Serah.

Though Snow's fiancée thought the meeting was their first, Vanille knew exactly who Serah was. She was the girl who had wandered into the Bodhum Vestige only to be turned into a l'Cie — a replacement for the Gran Pulsians who had seemingly abandoned their Focus.

Feeling crushed by guilt and cruel fate, Vanille would have given up there and then had it not been for Serah's advice that if things seem too much to deal with, you should face them later. If you can just survive, there's always hope that you can overcome your problems. That hope is what has kept Vanille going until now.

When she describes this touching interlude to Snow, the kind-hearted hero renews his promise to fulfill his beloved Serah's wish. And Lightning, her anger now a distant memory, means to help him to do it.

Dust to Dust

The home that Fang and Vanille remember is a beautiful place surrounded by flowers and nature.

But the Oerba that greets them after their long, perilous journey is a wasteland, covered in a layer of fine crystal dust. The hope they had been seeking vanishes like a desert mirage.

Though they have turned their backs on their genocidal Focus, the l'Cie's brands have not stopped advancing, and each passing second brings them closer to the moment of monstrous transformation.

Oerba, their last refuge of hope, is a hollow shell, devoid of life.

But they must continue on. They must follow the road to its inevitable conclusion.

Their Own Worst Enemy

Callous and calculating, the fal'Cie manipulate their human tools via their emotions.

Taking Serah's form to catch the l'Cie off-balance, Barthandelus predicts the imminent destruction of Cocoon.

He has revived Raines, now a compliant puppet, and instated him as the Sanctum's new Primarch — a ploy designed to provoke the Cavalry revolutionaries into overthrowing the government in outrage at their former leader's betrayal.

The gloating fal'Cie also means to play on the Pulse-phobia of the populace to turn neighbor against neighbor, transforming Cocoon's streets into a bloodbath.

Worse, Barthandelus then describes how the Cavalry, unnoticed amid the chaos, will infiltrate Eden and fall upon Orphan, not understanding their actions will bring their world crashing down.

To prevent this disaster, the l'Cie must return to Cocoon — but isn't that what Barthandelus wanted all along?

The fal'Cie could be manipulating them again — attempting to draw them into a situation where they have no choice but to become Ragnarok and slay Orphan.

Leaving them yet another airship, Barthandelus vanishes once again. The choice to return to Cocoon and play a part in her destiny lies firmly in the hands of the l'Cie.

The Road Home

Fang and Vanille visit their home in Oerba for the first time in centuries, seeking a way to free themselves from their l'Cie curse. But what they find is a broken and empty shell of a town, half-buried in a sea of crystal dust.

Meanwhile, Cocoon, the home of their fellow l'Cie, is poised to join the village in oblivion. There, the people stand ready to slaughter each other, their minds twisted by fal'Cie illusions.

The l'Cie have no choice but to return and prevent the impending devastation. Even if every man, woman and child on the floating world regards them as mortal enemies, it is still their home.

But the shackles of the fal'Cie bind their fates...

With their Focus haunting their every step, the very act of setting foot on Cocoon might invite disaster. Yet return they must. There is a war to stop, and fal'Cie rule to overthrow.

In this darkest hour, they must hold fast to hope if they are to protect Cocoon. The time for appealing to long-departed deities, lost loved ones, or lights in the sky is past.

As the l'Cie fly towards their final destiny, they make the only choice that remains to them — a promise to be true to themselves.

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