If the player gets enough Eradia, an extra "14th day" is created before the final 13th. The day allows to player to complete an extra dungeon. It's a not so much a dungeon, but a boss rush. Each level contains a powerful "omega" version of the monsters in the game. They are the "last ones". That is, there is a finite amount of each enemy in the game, and this is the last one. Any last ones that Light has already defeated will not appear in this secret dungeon, but their treasure will still be present.
The final floor is home to a super boss named Ereshkigal. It was a neat little diversion, and yielded some powerful items, but there isn't much to write about it.
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| "I'll destroy this ultimate creation of God's, and prove to him just what we humans are capable of." |
Late in the game, upon returning to the Ark, Lightning is visited by a vision of Cid Raines, an ally and antagonist from FF13. Cid explains that he has been formed by the dead souls within the chaos. They speak through him, and chose his form to appear familiar to Lightning. The dead are worried, because the Soulsong ritual will not only kill Vanille, it will destroy them, completely. It is not salvation, but oblivion. Destroying the dead will also destroy people's memories of them, creating a clean slate in the new world, which is God's will. Lightning believes that these souls can be saved, but it would be defying Bhunivelze.
Upon returning to the Ark before the final day, Hope appears to Lightning. He reveals that his time is up. He was resurrected as a vessel to be Bhunivelze's eyes and ears in the Ark. However, as his usefulness is over, Hope will now be disposed of. "God doesn't like leaving loose ends," as Hope puts it. With Hope gone, our good friend Mog now sits at the controls. He wears a crown, as he is chief of the moogle's in the Wildlands, but that's a story for another time.
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| "Whose the moogle?" |
Lightning makes her way to the cathedral in Luxerion, encountering Lumina outside the gates. She is her usual self, but strangely begs Lightning not to leave her there alone. Lightning soon encounters Noel and Fang as well. She explains to Fang that Vanille has the power to save the dead souls, which would allow them to be reborn. The Soulsong is not about saving the dead, but easing the burdens of the survivors by making them forget their past. The Order wishes to free the living from the "dead weight of the people they used to love." "The bastards want to pretend their sins never happened," Fang puts it. They enter the sanctum, where the chaos, and the souls of the dead, gather.
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| Lies! |
Vanille believes she will atone for her past sins by saving the dead. Lightning reveals that they will be destroyed. The High Priestess urges that that is the will of God, to purify the survivors. Lightning pleas for Vanille to listen to the cries of the dead. She relents, and is buckled over with the pain of millions of souls crying out in anguish. They wish for salvation, she says, but not a one wishes to be destroyed. The High Priestess is not deterred however, and activates the Clavis. At the climax of the ritual, Snow makes his heroic entrance, breaking through the ceiling of the cathedral. Fang tosses him her glaive, and with it, he destroys the Clavis. Fang embraces Vanille, and together they instruct the living and the dead to look to the sky and find the Ark, where their souls might be reborn in the new world.
Lumina and Yeul appear. They reveal that Lumina was a vessel, created by Lightning, to hold Serah's soul. Serah was with Lightning during her long crystal sleep, but Bhunivelze "cut her out." Lightning created Lumina from a part of herself, to keep Serah's soul safe, instead of adrift in the choas. Lightning does not have memory of this. However, all is not well. "God... is awake," Vanille says. He makes quite an entrance in the form of Hope.
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| On the final day, God awakens. |
Reaching out his hand, he gathers the souls of Lightning's companions, they disappear. "These are mine," he exclaims.
Tune in next time... for the thrilling conclusion!
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