Beginner ' s Primer The Beginner ' s Primer is a comprehensive summary of the story of " Final Fantasy XIII " included in the main menu of its sequel " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , enabling those who have not played the original game to get familiar with its plot before playing " XIII - 2 " . The summary of each chapter is read by the narrator , Anna Vocino , and accompanied by , and clips from the game relevant to each chapter . Story . Prologue . Cocoon — a utopia in the sky . The populace live a life of ease under the protection of almost godlike beings , known as the ' fal ' Cie . ' The lowerworld , Pulse , over which Cocoon floats , is believed to be a land both hostile and uninhabitable . One day , on Cocoon , a dangerous Pulse fal ' Cie is uncovered in the seaside settlement of Bodhum . The governing body , known as the Sanctum , announces that all residents of the town are now contaminated . The Purge is enacted — legislation that requires every citizen from the infected area to be forcibly relocated to Pulse . Chapter 1 - Hanging Edge . The Purge has begun . A band of young rebels emerges to oppose the army and its attempts to exile innocent civilians to Pulse . Moving through the midst of the confusion is Lightning , a soldier who fights against the Sanctum ' s forces , along with Sazh , a middle - aged man with his own purpose . She makes her way towards the structure where the Pulse fal ' Cie was found . In that lowerworld ' vestige , ' her sister Serah is being held prisoner . Others also converge on the same location : Snow , Serah ' s fiancé ; Hope , the teenager who watched his mother perish ; and Vanille , a young girl of unknown origin . All those who would play a part in Cocoon ' s future are unknowingly drawn together . Chapter 2 - Pulse Vestige . Fal ' Cie possess the power to transform humans into accursed l ' Cie . Both Lightning and Snow have entered the vestige to rescue Serah from just such a fate . As if guided by an unseen force , the would - be saviors arrive in the deepest part of the structure along with Sazh , Hope , and Vanille . There the five discover a bewildered Serah , only to witness her transformation into crystal . Lightning , driven by rage at losing her sister , hurls herself at the Pulse fal ' Cie . She is joined in the battle by a determined Sazh , who has his own reasons for wanting the fal ' Cie destroyed . Chapter 3 - Lake Bresha . The battle with the Pulse entity changes the destiny of the five companions forever . They have become l ' Cie — cursed servants of the fal ' Cie . All l ' Cie are given a ' Focus . ' Those who complete this Focus are turned into crystal . Those who fail , however , are doomed to become mindless monsters . Their master is an enemy of Cocoon . Are they now fated to destroy their own home ? As the others sink into depression , only Snow retains a positive outlook . He believes that Serah ' s last wish , for them to ' protect Cocoon , ' is their true Focus . Snow stays behind to protect her crystal , while Lightning and the rest attempt to break through the army ' s rapidly closing net . Chapter 4 - Vile Peaks . Lightning and her companions , now enemies of the state , are pursued by Sanctum forces . The former soldier makes a decision — rather than be hunted down , she vows to take the fight to Cocoon ' s capital and slay the fal ' Cie in charge of the government . The young boy Hope , drawn by Lightning ' s strength , chooses to follow her . Sazh and Vanille choose another route and flee through the Vile Peaks . Meanwhile , Snow is captured by an army unit under the guidance of a mysterious woman known as Fang . These soldiers are members of ' the Cavalry ' — a group that professes to be an ally of l ' Cie . Chapter 5 - Gapra Whitewood . As part of their journey towards the capital and the Sanctum fal ' Cie , Lightning and Hope enter the Gapra Whitewood . The Whitewood serves as an experimental facility for the army , but patrols here are few and infrequent . As they walk , Hope explains his reasons for being there . At Snow ' s urging , Hope ' s mother joined the battle at the Hanging Edge , and was killed in the fighting . The grief - stricken youth had then chased Snow into the vestige . Lightning tries to counsel the young man , but Hope ' s desire to exact revenge on Snow burns brighter than ever . Chapter 6 - Sunleth Waterscape . With no place else to go , Sazh and Vanille find themselves wandering the Sunleth Waterscape . Sazh eventually spills his story to Vanille . He explains that he joined the fight for the sake of his son , Dajh , who had been chosen as a l ' Cie servant by a Sanctum fal ' Cie . Sazh thought that if he could defeat an enemy of Cocoon , he might release his son from his Focus . After hearing his story , Vanille is consumed with guilt . Both she and Fang are Pulse l ' Cie , and enemies of Cocoon . Their presence near the Sanctum fal ' Cie is the reason Dajh was cursed in the first place . However , she cannot bring herself to tell Sazh the truth . Chapter 7 - Palumpolum . With the help of the Cavalry , Fang searches for the other l ' Cie . She has a debt to pay — her lost memory and forgotten Focus were the reason Serah was cursed by the fal ' Cie . The Gran Pulse native later encounters Lightning in the city of Palumpolum and apologizes for Serah ' s fate . Lightning ' s response is a blow to the jaw . Elsewhere , Hope finally gets up the courage to confront Snow . The teenager is consumed by his lust for revenge , and attacks the NORA leader . Despite the boy ' s actions , Snow puts himself in danger , protecting Hope from an army air strike . The four l ' Cie later regroup at Hope ' s house , and meet his father . They reconcile their differences and decide to work on finding a future , rather than dwelling in the past . Chapter 8 - Nautilus . In Nautilus , the city of dreams , Sazh and Vanille ' s frantic flight from the Sanctum comes to an abrupt end . Dajh , now in the custody of the army , has used his l ' Cie powers to track down his father . The boy turns to crystal upon completing his focus — to locate an ' enemy ' of Cocoon . A PSICOM officer appears before the unbelieving Sazh , and tells him the truth : Vanille is the reason his son was made into a l ' Cie . Vanille admits her guilt . She offers no resistance when Sazh raises his pistols to fire . But Sazh realizes her death will change nothing , and lets Vanille go . Such mercy is all he has left to give . Chapter 9 - The " Palamecia " . Lightning joins Snow , Hope , and Fang in an assault on the Sanctum flagship . The Cavalry has lent them its aid in rescuing the captured Sazh and Vanille . After a long search , Fang is finally reunited with Vanille . The six l ' Cie then fight through the ship ' s defenses and come face - to - face with the Primarch , representative of the Sanctum . However , the truth that he reveals is beyond their wildest imagining . The Primarch who they thought to be human is actually a powerful fal ' Cie by the name of Barthandelus . The fal ' Cie also shocks them with knowledge that their Focus is , in fact , the destruction of Cocoon . Barthandelus guides the l ' Cie to a vestige hidden beneath the capital , where other truths await them . Chapter 10 - Fifth Ark . The companions encounter Cid Raines , the commander of the Cavalry , in the bowels of the monster - infested Fifth Ark . He explains that should they complete their Focus and destroy Cocoon , then countless lives will be lost . This sacrifice is necessary to draw a deity known as the Maker back into the world . Raines then reveals himself as a l ' Cie of Barthandelus . The soldiers of the Cavalry had been mere puppets of the fal ' Cie . Now , however , the commander is acting under his own — human — will . To prevent Cocoon ' s destruction , he attacks Lightning and her friends . Although he is ultimately defeated , Raines still turns to crystal . He shows them how the fate of a l ' Cie can be overcome . Chapter 11 - Gran Pulse . The six l ' Cie have crashed on Gran Pulse , the terrifying lowerworld that the people of Cocoon speak of in whispers . Seeking for a way to overcome their cruel fate , the companions travel to Oerba , Fang and Vanille ' s hometown . There they uncover an ancient prophecy that tells how Fang and Vanille attacked Cocoon several centuries in the past . It also speaks of how they entered into crystal stasis , and later awoke , once again driven to destroy the floating shell . All their actions recorded and prophesized , but no mention of how to avert the catastrophe . But if they refuse to fight , then Cocoon will fall . Readying themselves for the conflict to come , the l ' Cie head for Cocoon ' s capital once more . Chapter 12 - Eden . Chaos rules in the capital city of Eden . Raines , though he wishes for the independence of mankind , is a helpless tool of the fal ' Cie . And the soldiers of the Cavalry who trusted him have now risen in revolt . They mean to slay Orphan , the fal ' Cie that lies at the center of Eden , unaware that its death would mean the destruction of Cocoon . To prevent this cruel catastrophe , Lightning and her fellow l ' Cie battle through the streets in pursuit of the vengeful soldiers . They finally catch up with the Cavalry , only to see them transformed into hideous Cie ' th . Only one thing remains to be done : the l ' Cie must face Barthandelus , the mastermind behind all that has transpired . Chapter 13 - Orphan ' s Cradle . Lightning and her companions claim victory over the mighty Barthandelus , but in doing so awake Orphan — the fal ' Cie who keeps Cocoon aloft . Their first battle with Orphan ends in failure , but through the sheer force of their belief , the six rise to fight again . They have the power to make miracles happen , and the strength to change their fate . Awakened to the power within them , the l ' Cie achieve the impossible and defeat Orphan . At the moment of the fal ' Cie ' s death , Cocoon begins to plummet towards Gran Pulse . Then a miracle occurs — Fang and Vanille undergo a transformation into a great crystal pillar that halts the fall of Cocoon . As the dust settles , Serah is freed from her crystal stasis , and greeted by Lightning ' s smiling face . Or so it was meant to be . . .