Academia Academia , also called City of Academia on the official site , is a location in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 . " It is Hope Estheim ' s new hometown and the new capital city of Gran Pulse , run by the Academy . Datalog . " Academia is the capital city of the settlements that have sprung up around the base of Cocoon ' s pillar , and the location of the Academy Headquarters . " " Construction of Academia began approximately four hundred years ago . Later , the artificial fal ' Cie Adam was completed and set to oversee the running of the city . " " Academia is protected by a highly advanced security system . In the event that intruders enter the city , a range of countermeasures will be set in motion to contain and eliminate the threat . " " Academia is the capital city of the settlements that have sprung up around the base of the Cocoon pillar . " " In the east is the merchant ' s area , with Grand Avenue running down the middle , and in the west is the residential district called New Town . To the north stands the headquarters of the Academy organization , a popular sightseeing spot for visitors and locals alike . " " After a full day of shopping , we recommend heading to the Academy HQ building and checking out the night views from the restaurant on the top floor . The restaurant is run directly by the Academy , and it serves up dishes that tickle the intellect as well as the palate . " Story . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Due to the creation of the Proto fal ' Cie Adam and its role in the slaughter of the Academy ' s personnel in 13 AF , the history of humans being manipulated and branded by the fal ' Cie is repeated . Arriving in 400 AF , Noel , Mog , and Serah watch citizens being transformed into Cie ' th when Adam detects their presence . Sending a duplicate of Caius to represent it , with Serah and Noel mistaking it for the real Caius , they learn they are contradictions in the timeline due to something that would happen in their future , which has already occurred 200 years in the past involving them learning something forbidden sealed within a tower . Fighting their way through streets of Cie ' th , Serah and Noel find Yeul under attack before being mortally wounded by Zenobia . While Yeul explains her death was meant to happen this way , Serah collapses while blaming Noel and herself for sealing the seeress ' s fate . Yeul dies leaving an artefact to lead them to Augusta Tower 200 AF , where they learn the forbidden history that gave rise to the time Academia was ruled by Proto fal ' Cie Adam . By erasing Adam from history , in the alternate timeline Academia becomes a peaceful utopian society . Finding Hope and his assistant Alyssa there due to a time capsule he ' d devised , Hope tells Noel and Serah about his change of plans for a new " man - made " Cocoon that will be powered by five Graviton Core s . After Serah and Noel bring him the cores , Hope begins to set up preparations that would take a century to complete . Manipulated by Caius through her desire to continue existing despite being a paradox herself , Alyssa gives Noel and Serah the Vagabond Artefact for a recently repaired Time Gate to entrap them . Serah and Noel escape Caius ' s trap and , upon fixing the time paradoxes , Alyssa is erased from history with only a few people retaining faint memories of her . By 500 AF , the streets of Academia have been infused with chaos , transforming it into a labyrinth of floating blocks . The city is mostly abandoned as everyone is evacuated to the completed man - made Cocoon , called Bhunivelze . Noel and Serah navigate the city while being haunted by Yeul ' s voice warning them of fighting Caius . In a scenario interview with Toriyama and Watanabe in the " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Ultimania Omega " , it is revealed that the Caius Noel and Serah meet in Academia 500 AF is the same Caius from Noel ' s time who has arrived from Valhalla ; even if Caius can ' t normally travel in time the same way Noel and Serah can , he is able to make his way to Academia from Valhalla because the city is so strongly affected by chaos as a result of him creating paradoxes across the timeline . Noel and Serah reach Caius and a battle breaks out in the abandoned city where Caius transforms into Chaos Bahamut and Serah and Noel ride an airship piloted by Sazh Katzroy . Caius opens a wormhole on the sky and flies into it , and Serah and Noel jump in after him . After defeating Caius in Valhalla , Noel and Serah emerge out of the final Time Gate back to Academia 500 AF . The city is no longer affected by chaos and has returned to normal . After Etro ' s death chaos consumes the world and Academia is replaced by the city from Valhalla that surrounds Etro ' s temple . " " . Five hundred years later , the city is in ruins and has become part of the vast Wildlands . Some of the ruins are near Aryas Village , and during a quest Lightning must venture into the ruins at night to discover where the nest . Areas . Academia is a futuristic city with high skyscrapers and platforms for citizens to move around the town . Quick - travel passes move in straight lines easing citizens ' foot travel across the town . When the city is in peaceful times , the dominant color of the neon lights is blue , but in times of conflict the lights turn red . Creation and development . Director of " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , Motomu Toriyama , has explained that Cocoon in " Final Fantasy XIII " was built on fal ' Cie technology , but in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , the power of the fal ' Cie is no more and Academia is a city based on human technology . When designing Academia the developers experimented with visionary architecture , suggesting how city planning may appear on Earth in the future . When Academia is first visited battles occur under dramatic conditions , in the evening and during rainfall . These choices were made to enhance the sense of tragedy and the developers consider this setting a visual reference , and a symbol of " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Youji Iio , Environment Technical Artist , says that initially the developers started on the map ' s day version as this is where the player has access to all areas . The designers realized that a large metropolis with lights and skyscrapers can be visually impressive in the evening , and so moved on to the 400 AF version to work on the lighting , and then continued on implementing the rain and all of the finer details and features . In the end , the 400 AF version of Academia was finished first . Once the developers had decided to allow the main character to jump on the field , they knew they wanted a game location where the level design would offer a platform challenge . Thus the idea for Academia 500 AF was born . Musical themes . " Threat Level Omega " and " Chaotic Guardian " play in Academia at 400 AF . At 4XX AF , Academia has an eponymous theme , titled " Academia " , composed by Masashi Hamauzu . " Yaschas Massif " and " March of the Dreadnoughts " from " Final Fantasy XIII " also play at 4XX AF . " Labyrinth of Chaos " plays in Academia 500 AF , the game ' s final dungeon .