Is Meracydia going to be a a inspired retelling of FFIX?

[Raikai]

But it looks like it's going to drag on and it still hasn't been resolved, meaning the next expansion will have less prep leading up to it and payoff once we get there, especially so if it's for a whole continent unrelated to anything going on right now.

I know, right?

There's very little time for a meaningful build up, which leads me to speculate that is either one of the following:

a) Something secondary triggered as a side-effect, from .5 (part1) to .55 (part2), of the void arc resolution, which will lead into the next story.

b) Something really simple, like for example, Krile asking you to acompany her to wherever that missive she got leads to, but in this case there's very little cliffhanger value on its own (as in, without the teaser we'll get this week).