Template:Sideicon The following is a list of Datalog entries for the Mythology of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
Almighty Bhunivelze
Almighty Bhunivelze, god of light, stands above other gods and holds the world in his palm.
After creating Pulse the wild, Lindzei the wise, and Etro, the goddess of death and Chaos, Bhunivelze retreated from man's sight and slipped into a long slumber.
It was Bhunivelze who called to Lightning, forcing her to awaken from her long crystal sleep to become the savior. And he made her a promise: if she completed this great task for him, he would use his power to bring her sister, Serah, back to her.
The destruction of the old world
Lightning's younger sister, Serah, set out on a journey to avert the terrible future that awaited humanity. But that journey ended in disaster, bringing about the ruination of both time and space. The goddess Etro, who maintained the equilibrium between the world of the living and the world of the dead, was gone. And with her went the barrier which held the power of Chaos at bay, allowing it to flood into the human world.
Destruction slowly spread across the land over the intervening centuries. There are now only four small islands left amidst the darkness where people still cling to life.
Lightning failed to protect the goddess she was sworn to, resulting in the destruction of her world. She sent Serah out on her journey, ultimately leading to her death. There is so much to regret and atone for, and so little time...
Creating a new world
Almighty Bhunivelze has decided to bring this world to an end and make a new one. There is no way to save Nova Chrysalia from the chaos in which it is sinking.
The destruction began when a single man caused the gate to Valhalla, the unseen realm, to be thrown open. In doing so, he alerted God to the great potential that lay in humans. And so God had decided to give humanity one last chance.
Bhunivelze will use the souls of the saved to populate his new world. For that purpose, he has selected a savior to gather the souls and prepare them for the new world. Bringing comfort and salvation to people is something that the heartless gods could never do themselves.
Eradia and the world's remaining time
The world has nearly reached its end; the last few days now slipping away from humanity. But the savior can give her own energy—her Eradia—to buy more time for the world.
Thirteen days is the limit to how far this time can be extended. On the thirteenth day after Lightning awakes in this world, destruction will come and it will be inescapable. That is when, it is said, God will create his new world. The savior has the power to save humanity's souls to be reborn in that new world, but the question is whether she has the time to wield it.
Eradia is intimately tied to the savior's holy task. To gather more, Lightning must free the hearts of the people from the darkness that has consumed them.
Saving souls
According to the teachings of the Order, when the world finally meets its end, the souls of the faithful will be reborn into a new world.
The people, however, have not lived all these centuries unscathed. Surrounded by death and destruction, some now harbor a heavy darkness in their hearts. These people will not be reborn in the new world; their only fate is to wander forever in the mire of the Chaos. Cut them free of the regrets and griefs that bind them and Lightning will save them for the new world. This is the main task of the savior.
By dealing with these unhappy individuals, the savior will build a relationship with them and lighten their hearts, granting them the right to be reincarnated in the next world. Doing so will help the savior as well, giving Lightning more Eradia and allowing her to grow stronger.
The goddess Etro and Valhalla
Etro was the goddess of death, enthroned in a world filled with Chaos and known as Valhalla. Most people now believe the teachings of the Order, which preaches devotion to Bhunivelze, but there still exists minority groups of heretics who are devotees to the goddess Etro.
Though her believers have not realized it, the goddess Etro died centuries ago. She was the one who held back the Chaos, keeping it within her own realm of Valhalla. Lightning was a sworn servant of Etro who fought to protect the goddess—a battle she eventually lost. Thus began the destruction of the world.
The unseen Chaos
The unseen Chaos is the darkness which dragged Lightning into Valhalla. Five hundred years ago, the border between Valhalla and this world was broken open, and the world was flooded by an ocean of Chaos.
When Lightning came into contact with the unseen Chaos, she touched a darkness that should never exist in the human world. Etro had dammed the unseen Chaos in her temple, but when she died, there was no one left who could stop the catastrophe that later ensued.
If the unseen Chaos were to flood into the world again, it would threaten God's plans for humanity. It is said that a "great Chaos" lies within the temple of the goddess in the Wildlands—the parallels to the unseen Chaos of Valhalla are too close for comfort.
Of gods and fal'Cie
Almighty Bhunivelze created three gods for his world: Etro, Pulse, and Lindzei.
Etro was a goddess without any power of her own. In contrast, both Pulse and Lindzei were granted near limitless power, and they built the fal'Cie, servants that possess supernatural powers.
The fal'Cie that served the god Pulse worked to terraform the expansive lands of the planet, and the world came to be known as Gran Pulse. The fal'Cie which served Lindzei built a world in the sky, and kept humans blissfully unaware within a cage they called Cocoon.
The gods did not reveal themselves, but the fal'Cie were present in every part of humanity's lives. The people depended on them for survival and worshiped them as gods. But there are almost no fal'Cie left in the surviving remnants of the world.
The l'Cie
The l'Cie are humans who have been cursed by the fal'Cie. They are given great powers and magic, but they are forced to obey the gods' will to achieve their Focus, or mission. If they fail, the l'Cie turn into mindless monsters called Cie'th.
Lightning, Hope, and their other friends were once branded as l'Cie, but they managed to bring about an unprecedented miracle and rid themselves of the curse. Snow is now the last l'Cie remaining in the world.
The cactuar statue that you can see in one of the plazas in Yusnaan is said to be a homage to the fal'Cie Cactuar who made Snow a l'Cie once more. It seems that Snow and Cactuar had a strange bond between them, far beyond that of any normal fal'Cie and its thralls.
The murals: The Birth and Death of the Goddess
Etro was a goddess created by almighty Bhunivelze.
She was a foolish goddess who held great affection for humanity. Etro gave all of herself for humanity's sake, until she sacrificed her own life and fell into the long sleep of death.
The murals: The Birth and Death of Humanity
Valhalla is the realm where human souls once returned before being reborn anew.
The wise god Lindzei used the blood that had spilled from Etro to create man's body; his soul was fashioned from the Chaos. These wisps of Chaos filled the vessels that Lindzei had made and thus humanity was born. When a person died, his soul returned to the Chaos in Valhalla, the unseen realm where the goddess Etro rules.
The murals: The Birth and Death of the World
Bhunivelze is the god who rules all things.
He holds the world within his grasp, bestowing favor on the pure and faithful. The souls that are strong enough to stay true until the final day will be reborn in the new world. The death that awaits them at the end of the world is a blessing: a gift from God.
The weak souls that lose their will disappear into the unseen realm and wander forever in the endless sea of Chaos. The death of those who have turned away from God will be an eternal curse.
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