Valhalla ( Fabula Nova Crystallis ) Valhalla , also incorrectly identified as the unseen realm by humans in the " Final Fantasy XIII " trilogy , is a location in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . It is a city located in an alternate dimension from Gran Pulse . Motomu Toriyama , the director of " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , has said that Valhalla is located in a gap between the unseen world and the real world and is heading for death . The death - bound nature of Valhalla manifests itself in distortions of the timeline and battles that take place in Valhalla are expected to go on eternally . Daisuke Watanabe , the lead scenario writer for " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , has explained Valhalla as thus : " " Valhalla exists on a different reality plane , one that lies between the real world and nothingness . Time doesn ' t flow in Valhalla because it is a timeless , lifeless place . With Etro fading from the real world , Valhalla is her only refuge : it is a ' middle world ' where she waits until she dissolves completely " " . Datalog . " Valhalla is an otherworldly dimension , also known as the unseen realm . According to Pulse legend , it is the final resting place of the souls of the dead , and the chaotic world where the goddess Etro makes her home . Some theories describe it as a city that exists beyond the flow of time , and others claim it is a future where time has come to a standstill . " " The seeress of Paddra describes it thus : ' The entire span of time can be seen from Valhalla . But to exert power beyond its borders , one must first open Etro ' s gate . " " Valhalla is a world that is connected to every age , every timeline . When the seeress of the Farseers gazes into the future , Valhalla is at the heart of the vision . " Fragment s . " The seeress also has the power to send her inner voice through Valhalla and then to the time and place of her choosing . However , only those with great chaos in their hearts are able to hear the words of the seeress . " " In the heart of Valhalla stands Etro ' s temple . The throne that sits within , the throne of the goddess , is always empty . " " No one can say how long the goddess ' s temple has stood in this place . In a world where time does not exist , such a question has little meaning . Some speculate , however , that the goddess built the temple with her own hands , as a prison for some long - forgotten enemy . " " Valhalla , where the temple of the goddess stands , floats on the vast ocean of chaos into which all things must flow . There is no beginning or end to chaos . Those that fall into its waters are condemned to float for eternity in the rift between life and death . " " The ocean of chaos has drowned the Pedestal of Time . There , on that holy of holies , did the goddess Etro first step into the unseen realm . But as her power waned , the sacred spot where her foot touched soil sank beneath the sullen waves . " Profile . The unseen realm was first introduced in a video shown at Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere event on January 18 , 2011 , which details that the unseen realm is the other half of the universe . The two sides of the universe must stay in balance , and if the balance between the two dimensions was to be broken , the whole universe would be in danger of collapsing . The unseen realm is filled with chaos , a dangerous substance that threatens the world balance if unbound . In " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , Valhalla is called the unseen realm in the datalog , although development notes from the " Ultimania " guides call it the place between the visible world and the unseen realm . The legends state that those who die in the visible world pass through the Door of Souls , known as Etro ' s gate in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , to Valhalla . A cycle is established where the souls of the deceased humans enter Valhalla and sink into the sea of chaos , eventually to be sent back and reborn in a new form . Many back in the visible world have tried to find the gate , most evidently many of the fal ' Cie created by Pulse and Lindzei , and the fal ' Cie ' s quest to find the gate to the unseen realm is the driving force behind the story in " Final Fantasy XIII " . Etro is the goddess tasked with protecting the world balance . She operates the gate between the two worlds , and was the one to gift humans with their heart , by placing a small piece of chaos inside every human , keeping the level of chaos constant . This is why the ability to time travel derives from the goddess ; those whom Etro has gifted with great amounts of chaos , will be able to travel through the time using the Historia Crux , control monsters , and see changes in the timeline . The most prominent structure seen on Valhalla is that of the Temple of the Goddess . A crystal throne sits within the temple , one that is always empty . It is said in a fragment entry that some speculate that the goddess built the temple with her own hands , as a prison for a long - forgotten enemy . Time does not exist in Valhalla , and it therefore has no past , nor any future . The entire span of time can be seen from Valhalla , letting its residents gain insight to every era and every different timeline . It is said that when the seeress of the Farseer s gazes into the future , Valhalla is at the heart of the vision , and that the seeress has the power to send her inner voice through Valhalla and to the time and place of her choosing . This is how Lightning residing in Valhalla is able to communicate with Serah , Snow , Sazh , and Hope via dreams . A number of beasts reside in this realm , as well as the Eidolons , Etro ' s servants . Valfodr is said to have once been the strongest knight in Valhalla . In the " Cuddly Chronicles " Fragment entry , it is said that Valhalla is a world where only the strongest survive and those who are born weak must hone their strength and skills in battle against more powerful foes . The place where Etro ' s temple is located is surrounded by tall buildings , like an ancient metropolis , but the area is dead as it doesn ' t appear that the realm has any other sentient lifeforms apart from Etro , Lightning , and Caius Ballad ; it has no civilization or culture to speak of , and Caius and Lightning appear to be the only humans inhabiting it . In a scenario interview with Toriyama and Watanabe in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Ultimania Omega " , the creators reveal that Valhalla is a place between the unseen realm and the real world , where the flow of time has stopped and where people pass by on their way to the beyond . According to Watanabe , the buildings don ' t house people , so they do not need to have staircases or toilets . The abandoned metropolitan area is surrounded by water . It is said that Valhalla floats on the vast ocean of chaos into which all things must flow and that there is no beginning or end to chaos . It is said that those who fall into its waters are condemned to float for eternity in the rift between life and death . It is implied in a fragment entry that Valhalla wasn ' t always sunken beneath the waves , but that the ocean rose due to the increased amount of chaos coinciding with the waning of Etro ' s powers . After Valhalla and Gran Pulse merge and form Nova Chrysalia , Etro ' s temple ' s remains are the only thing left of Valhalla , found in the Wildlands . Story . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Lightning was brought to Valhalla by the effects of a time paradox . When Etro saw how bravely Lightning and her fellow l ' Cie fought to save Cocoon , the goddess took pity on them and released them from their crystal stasis and wiped their l ' Cie brands . By doing this , however , Etro distorted the timeline and created a time paradox . At the end of " Final Fantasy XIII - Episode i - " , some of the chaos of Valhalla spilled forth into Gran Pulse through a rift and dragged Lightning into it , erasing her from history and altering everyone but Serah ' s memories of her ever being on Pulse after Cocoon ' s fall . Etro sealed the dimensional gate and stopped the chaos from escaping , but was greatly weakened and entered a deep rest . Now a resident of Valhalla , Lightning was drawn to Etro ' s temple where she saw mankind ' s future and vowed to become Etro ' s knight and protect the dying goddess . Valhalla ' s foremost structure is the temple to the goddess Etro , dominated by two towers with green spirals . The sleeping Etro rests within the temple with Lightning becoming her protector when she envisions Caius Ballad entering the unseen realm to kill the goddess . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Ultimania Omega " hints that Lightning engages Caius in never - ending war that can only end if Lightning enters crystal stasis . During their duel Lightning spots Noel falling out of Etro ' s gate and saves him so he can meet up with Serah back in the mortal realm and guide her to Valhalla . After surviving a meteor Caius summoned to crush Etro ' s temple while Noel heads for a Time Gate , Lightning continues fighting Caius until she is knocked out while catching a glimpse of Serah dying in Noel ' s arms back in the mortal realm . When Serah and Noel find Valhalla from 500 AF , they defeat Caius in battle . Though Noel refuses to kill him , and instead tries to talk sense into him , Caius impales his " Heart of Chaos " with Noel ' s sword to create the ultimate paradox : the death of Etro . With the goddess dead , nothing can restrain the chaos as it erupts into the mortal realm . Lightning comes to Etro ' s temple and watches Serah ' s soul being restrained by the spirits of seeress Yeul who intend to keep Serah with them and summon the resurrected Caius who has become one with chaos itself . After defeating Caius , Lightning demands Serah ' s return , but the Yeuls claim Lightning is to blame for guiding Serah to her death . Lightning returns to Etro ' s temple to mourn for Serah whose spirit appears to Lightning and tells her not to blame herself , and assures they will meet again . Intent to keep her promise to always remember Serah , Lightning ascends Etro ' s throne and becomes a crystal epitaph to preserve the world along with Serah ' s memory , and her soul . " " . Centuries after the realms merged , Valhalla has been integrated in what has become the Wildlands of Nova Chrysalia . The only thing remaining of Valhalla is the ruined Etro ' s Temple , which has become Caius ' s abode where he resides alongside the many incarnations of Yeul . When Nova Chrysalia is destroyed in the Apocalypse , a new unseen realm is born and the Yeul incarnations — excluding the Yeul of 700 AF — take up Etro ' s role of maintaining the cycle of life with Caius remaining as their Guardian . Valhalla is also seen as an apocalyptic vista in the trial known as the Altar of Birth in the Luxerion Cathedral . Creation and development . When art director Isamu Kamikokuryo was designing Valhalla he used a picture of the Cuban city of as his inspiration . In the scenario interview in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Ultimania Omega " , it was revealed Valhalla was at first envisioned to be the place in 999 AF that is also mentioned in " Final Fantasy Type - 0 " and that would have tied the games together , but this idea was scrapped . Other appearances . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " . Valhalla appears as a Battle Music Sequence for " Etro ' s Champion " . It features the place where Lightning and Caius were fighting after Lightning was saved by Odin in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call " . Valhalla reappears in the sequel to " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " . It features the beach and the cityscape in the Battle Music Sequence s for " Heart of Chaos " and " Etro ' s Champion " , respectively .