Final Fantasy XIII

Create Your Own Adventure

The game begins when a fal'Cie from Pulse named Anima is discovered in the coastal city of Bodhum and threatens Cocoon's security. The Sanctum orders an emergency plan called "The Purge," which involves exiling all of Bodhum's inhabitants to Pulse. During the Purge, Lightning, accompanied by an exile named Sazh, commandeers a transport train to rescue her sister, Serah, who has been transformed into a lu'Cie and is trapped within the fal'Cie Anima. Meanwhile, a rebel group called NORA, led by Snow, forcibly frees the exiles. During this battle, the mother of Hope, one of the exiles, is killed. Hope, accompanied by another exile he met during the battle named Vanille, sets out to avenge Snow for causing the conflict that killed his mother. The five arrive, for different reasons, at Serah's, just before she turns to crystal. Immediately afterward, they confront the fal'Cie, who, defeated, marks them. The only clue to their potential mission is a vision of a beast called Ragnarok destroying Cocoon. Unsure whether their mission is to prevent or bring about this event, the five embark on a journey to save their lives and avoid becoming Cie'th.
During this journey, Snow is captured by a Guard general named Cid Raines and taken to a Guard airship where he meets Fang, another lu'Cie whose mission appears to be the same as the rest of the group's. Meanwhile, Lightning and Hope separate from the group and head to Palumpolum, while Sazh and Vanille go to Nautilus, Cocoon's resort city. In Palumpolum, Hope and Lightning encounter Snow and Fang. Hope tries to kill Snow, but at the last moment she relents and decides to spare him, and the four escape the city on a ship.