A New Dawn

Covering FF8, FF15, FF13 :) **Spoilers ahead!!!

Demons from True Moon (FF8)

 

        Born of the Void by Zodiark, the God Hyne was gifted with the magic of Kefka to battle the fiends of the world. Growing tired, he created humans to do the work for him, but left them little instruction before going into a long sleep (events of FF10 and FF7 take place). Once awakened, he found himself in a completely different world (FF8) devoid of magic (no Materia) and overpopulated with humans. He sought to destroy them but they were technologically advanced. In the end, he gives most of his power to one human woman to create the first sorceress and none of his power to make the “Body-half” while he returns to The Void and is summoned in Planet R (FF3 events occur). The humans fight over “Body-half” thinking it has all the power while the sorceress goes into hiding. She finds a companion and makes him her knight (sorceress’ knight). Humans figure out the power lies in the “other half” and search for the sorceress for centuries while she passes on her powers through generations; for each sorceress she has a knight to protect her. At some point, the sorceress makes her presence known by displaying her power. The civilization of the Centra arises in the Southern continent; they worships the sorceress as the “rebirth of Cetra”�" humans who can use magic naturally. They travel around using “Gardens” (FF4 events occur during this time).

        They create two empires, Dollet and Esthar. Esthar becomes a scientifically advanced society while Dollet becomes a military power. The first Lunar Cry strikes down and destroys the center of Centra society; Dollet divides into Galbadia and Timber as a result The Lunar Cry happens many times through the centuries. The Lunar Cry is when demons descend to the planet from the True Moon when they are aligned just right; they travel through the Crystal Pillar created by Seymour. Jenova created the Lunar Cry as a last attempt to destroy Gaia after her failure by gathering up fiends of the different worlds over time and giving them the power to parasitize other organisms. In a FF9 kind of way, when the fiends died on Gaia, they were reborn on the Moon and eventually a saturation point would be reached. A beam of red light would send them down through the pillar. However, a genetic defect makes the fiends weak to sunlight, so the Lunar Cry only happens periodically and is transient. Eventually, the Crystal Pillar is lost and remains buried in the Centra civilization. Jenova and Seymour collect more fiends again. In the time of sorceress Adel, she rules over Esthar and orders troops to look for her next successor. They attempt to capture a young girl, Ellone who can telepathically communicate with others consciousness and have them inhabit another’s at a different point in time. They failed to capture her and she ends up in an orphanage.

        Dr. Odine studies Guardian Forces (spirits of summons from the Rift). He is able to “junction” them- connect their powers to the human brain so they can use magic again without the need for Materia (mind over matter). The magic is obtained by “drawing it” (absorbing it) from nature. However, the more the person uses the magic of Chaos, the more memory loss they can suffer due to Shinryu’s presence. Other scientists-engineers settle down elsewhere and make Fisherman’s Horizon. Adel starts war between Esthar and Galbadia in a quest for world domination. Timber gets drawn in. She unearths the Crystal Pillar and orders the construction of Lunatic Pandora to induce another Lunar Cry from Esthar. Insides it resides  the magic Meteor, Holy and Ultima and  the Crystal Pillar that connects moon to the planet. Dr. Odine finds old records of research conducted by Hojo and Deepground on Synaptic Net Dive; the act of imprinting one’s mind into a network and subsequently a machine or person. Using this technology, he  creates a machine Ellone capable of using the real Ellone’s powers. A Space station is constructed as well to monitor the Lunar Cry, however, Adel is sealed in a container by Laguna and rebels, sent to Space, and  monitored from space station.

        The container created a radio interference that made the use of wireless communication absolute. Due to time compression created by another sorceress, Ultimecia’s power is passed onto Edea of the orphanage. She establishes the Gardens by building them on top off ancient Centra structures, Balamb (Midgar), Trabia (Forgotten City), and Galbadia  (North Corel) and creates SeeD with her husband Cid to train the orphans to defeat Ultimecia in the future. Edea will pass the sorceress power to Rinoa and Squall becomes her knight. Ultimecia of another time used machine Ellone to control Edea’s mind, but she is defeated by Squall and friends-ending the time compression. Nations replace the Gardens and develop with aids of crystals from the arrival of new deities and Astrals (FF9 events occur during this time). Jenova and Seymour (of the True Moon) steal Lunatic Pandora and use it as a breading facility to make daemons using Chaos power, Jenova cells,  the dark crystals of Ivalice (FF12) and Dalamud shards (FF14)�"both absorb sunlight-thus creating a dark cloud of photosynthetic parasites. A summon, now called Astral, Ifrit seeks to use that power against the humans of the newly named planet, Eos, thus recreating the Lunar Cry.

 

The King and the Oracle (FF15)

 

        The world of Eos was created by beings “that descended from a higher plane”- old deity, Minerva (Life/Soul), the new deities Yami (Cosmos/Light), Yama (Chaos/Dark), and their creation, Mwynn (Death/Rebirth)- and “from the stars”, Astrals (summons rebirthed by Big Bang) are made to protect the planet from destruction. The deities leave the 4 dark crystals of the Blue Planet (FF4) with the Astrals who are also tasked with lightening the crystals. Mwynn is summoned to a new world while Yami and Yama retreat to the Crystal World. The only memory of them is a painting of Mwynn. The Astrals are the new deities of Eos and were respected (feared) by the nation that arose; Solheim.  Like in the world before, humans can draw magic from the environment. The Astrals co-existed with the humans; they usually stayed out of human affairs, but not all the Astrals are fond of humans (perhaps resentment for being trapped in Materia).  Ifrit attacked Solheim leading to The Great War of Old; Solheim of the desert is destroyed and some Astrals were furious, namely Shiva. The nation divided into 4 smaller ones, Nifelheim, Lucis, Tenebrae, and Accordo. Each of these nations were initially given one of the dark “mothercrystals” (3/4 were either obtained by Nifelheim, destroyed by Nifleheim/drained by respective nations, or merged into the one “Insomnia Crystal”).

        The parasite unleashed by Ifrit turned the population into monsters called, Daemons. The Star Scourge brings longer nights and powerful daemons. It is a Cloud of photosynthetic organisms that absorb light before reaching the ground; they can parasitize people (like Jenova) and transform them into daemons that resemble C’eith (FF13) and other fiends. To combat this, Bahamut chose a human to inherit healing powers to prevent the Star Scourge from disrupting the human populace. Ardyn Lucis Caelum healed thousands  by absorbing the daemons into himself; as a result he was deemed tainted by the Astrals, denied death, denied entry into the Crystal World, and demonized by the humans- especially a jealous king (Izunia perhaps- relative of Ardyn-brother or son?). The Astrals didn’t want the crystal(s) to darken any further than they already were. Ardyn is now immortal and the physical embodiment of the Star Scourge. Seeing the struggle, the Yami and Yama forge a ring from the world crystal infused with the power of The Ancients (Yami and Yama) and Mywnn-Etro (Goddess of Death/Rebirth).

        The ring and crystal are given to Bahamut; should darkness take over the world- a sacrifice to the crystal will restore the light. Bahamut choses a human woman of the Tenebrae family to became an Oracle- a healer who purges the daemons from a person using healing light�"halting the Star Scourge, however the healing drains the Oracle’s life to fuel light into the crystal. The oracle also communes with the Astrals. She is given a trident that can summon the Astral, this becomes the first Armiger Weapon. He also selects a human man (Izunia?) to inherit the Insomnia (world) Crystal and the Ring of Lucii (collective power and wisdom of ancestors). He becomes a king who can summon the Astrals (after proving his worth), use special death magic and weapons of his ancestors to destroy daemons.  He tasks Shiva with guiding and protecting them. To commemorate this pact, the Genesis painting and Cosmogony book were created. Together, they can protect the people from the parasite. However, to obtain enough power to rid the world of darkness and lighten the dark crystal, enough light must be gathered and this takes time. Immortal Ardyn waits to enact his revenge.

        For now, the Astrals rest to conserve their energy for the fated day. 113 generations later, even more war breaks out as Niflheim begins to conquer the other nations (and steals their crystals possibly). With the help and powers of Ardyn, they create the Magitek Infantry that are people bred with daemons and protected from sunlight by armor. The Diamond WEAPON (FF7) resting in the planet was also used to make a giant daemon (many copies). Niflheim began their attack on Lucis. The 13^th King dies protecting his homeland while Insomnia’s crystal choses his son, Noctis  to be their savior. Current oracle, Lunafreya awakens the Astrals so Noctis can acquired their power while Niflheim is convinced that slaying the Astrals will give them ultimate power (really Ardyn just wants revenge). Noctis must collect the Armiger weapons of his ancestors (hold the spirit of the Knights of the Round) and absorb them and all the light of Insomnia’s crystal into the Ring of Lucii. By doing this, he can end the Star Scourge for good by allowing Ardyn to find eternal rest, but this task comes at a great price for the chosen king. Dawn returned to this New World and this is the world that another finds herself in after hers is consumed by Chaos; however it is not known if she arrived before, during or after this new dawn.

 

A New Dawn (FF13)

 

        Yami and Yama created Mwynn in the likeness of their mother, Minerva. She was given the world crystal to shape this world. She has a son, Bhunivelze who kills her and she is sent to The Unseen Realm (World of the dead where Chaos resides). She curses the living world- all that will be born will die. Bhunivelze creates Pulse, Lindzei, and Etro (looks like Mwynn) to find a way to the Unseen world to destroy his mother for good to prevent his own death. He goes into a long sleep only to be awoken when the “door” to the unseen realm is found. New Eidolons are created by Lindzei and Pulse by fragmenting the world crystal- they are machines called Fal’Cie which are powered by a crystal and are giving tasks to maintain and develop the world of Gran Pulse (Planet) and Cocoon (Red Moon). Etro creates the first human by destroying her body and using her blood; after partial death she was sent to Vahalla and becomes the new Goddess of Death after Mwynn perishes in the Chaos seeping into Vahalla- realm between Visible and Unseen realms (new Memoria). Etro is tasked with keeping the living and dead worlds in balance, should she fail the planet will meet the same fate as Gaia and Terra before them. She uses the Chaos to make more humans and give them a heart, a fragment of Chaos. When they die, the heart and soul return to her and the soul is reborn.

         One girl was chosen to inherit the “Eyes of Etro” which gave her the power to see the future, but was forbidden to change it; the girl (the first human) was named, Yeul (“reincarnation” of Yami). She chooses to store her vision in a device known as the Oracle Drive (“Recording apparatus from ancient times”- device created by a Fal’cie-much like Owen’s or Spira’s), but in time she chooses to store them in her guardian- Caius. Yeul and Caius are continually reincarnated. To progress the development of the world, the Fal’cie give tasks to certain humans called a focus and when that focus is fulfilled they turn into crystal and if not they turn into fiends called, Cie’th. The L’cie are able to call on the powers of Eidolons- summons that rest inside them- using crystals called, Eidoliths. Even when fiends are defeated, they spawn crystals and can be call on during battle. Lindzei and Pulse retreat to Vahalla in search of Etro with 4 fragments of crystal.

        Here in the World of Orience is created, there are 4 great nations each having their own crystal: Rubrum (Bird-magic) led by Chancellor Chival, Concordia (Dragon-monsters) led by Queen Andoria, Lorican (Tortoise-giants) led by Gilgamesh, and Milities (Tiger-weapons) led by Marshal Cid. Other high-ranking officials are L’cie who are chosen by the crystal to inherit special powers and are given tasks; they know the crystal’s will. When their task is complete or they are no longer useful, the L’cie are crystallized- trapping their souls. Milities invades other nations using Magitek- technology fueled by Milities Crystal. Invading Rubrum, they encounter Class Zero. Class Zero is 12 warriors whose magic is not from the Bird crystal, but rather Phantoma which is the souls of the fallen. The twelve and two others are tasked with protecting Rubrum’s capital, Akademia, its crystal, and ultimately save the world from Tempus Finis (Apocalypse). To prevent ruin, the world crystal, Rusus (dark) will chose a savior (Agito) to bring balance by “opening the gateway to Etro”. Rusus Crystal created by deity, Gala (Fal’cie of Lindzei) choses a L’cie to become The Judge who will chose the Agito- if no one is worthy, then Orience will be destroyed. Arecia is the Fal’cie of the God Pulse.  Both Arecia and Gala want to open Etro’s gate for their Gods, but in different ways- this creates many cycles because each time the “16” (12, Rem, Machina, Joker, Tiz) kept choosing to become L’cie, the cycle started over, Etro’s Gate remains closed.  When they decide not to, they are able to break the cycle, open the gate and enter the unseen world. Marshal Cid seeks to free Orience from the Crystal’s rule so they can have a future in which they decide their own fate. His goal is accomplished through much sacrifice, but 2 of the 14 lead the world to a brighter future through the dark ages until the world is rebuilt without the aid of crystals. This becomes Vahalla where Etro’s Throne now resides. However, with the gate open, Chaos slowly seeps into Vahalla over time.

         Back in the visible realm, War breaks out between Cocoon and Pulse in which Pulse Fal’cie Anima and it armies invaded Cocoon due to them stealing resources and people to populate the “paradise” that is Cocoon.  In reality, Cocoon Fal’cie wanted their people to parish so Etro’s gate would be revealed to the visible world and Lindzei would return to reform the world. Two pulse women were given the task to turn into Ragnorok to destroy Cocoon, but Etro crystallized them before their task could be carried out. Over time, the population of Pulse became Cei’th. Now, a Cocoon Fal’cie, Barthandelus choses Cocoon citizens to finish the job: Lightning (Claire), Sazh, Snow, Hope, Vanille, and Fang. They do destroy the main Fal’cie, Orphan, but prevent the collision of Cocoon and Pulse.

        Through a series of events, Lightning ends up in Vahalla, people leave Cocoon for Pulse and make new settlements, and a paradox is created in which there is a big time jump. Changes in the predicted future caused Yeul and Caius to die and be reborn again and again. Caius seeks to stop this cycle. 1,000 year gap, Nova Chrysalia (Merge of Gran Pulse and Valhalla) is created. The old world is dying due to Chaos invading the world from the unseen realm. Lightning and friends are able to sever Bhunivelze's hold on the souls of humanity. The souls then unite and defeat Bhunivelze. In the aftermath, Caius and Yeul choose to remain in the Unseen Realm and protect the balance between worlds since Etro is no more. The Eidolons depart for the Unseen Realm, Lightning, her allies, and the souls of humanity travel to a new world where they can decide their own fate.  In actuality their dying world was absorbed into the Crystal World and is merged with the old world of Gaia (FF7) now called Eos. In this world, she finds peace and yet conflict is brewing between warring factions. 

Thus this ends this part of this tale of Final Fantasy.