"One more fork in the road," said Cloud, "I say left, so Raieyana wants right, of course."
("Why does he talk to you like that?"
Ish, don't worry about it. What way should we go?
"Which way do you think he is? I've only been telling you what you would have told yourself."
I don't know...left?
"Well, you're right. Go left.") "Left is the way, Cloud," she said.
"I'm glad to hear Sephiroth hasn't muddled up my head this time," said Cloud sarcastically.
"Raieyana," said Legolas, "no offense. But I don't want to go in there, if that's where Blane... I can't."
"Then you don't have to," she said softly, "does anyone else want to stay here and wait?"
"Ray," said Lia. A tear slipped down her cheek.
And Raieyana then knew that Legolas had spoken on Lia's behalf. (She can't see where Aysta died.)
"We have to stay and protect Lia," said Quake.
"I understand," said Raieyana, "you came to help her. So help her. I trust everyone else is coming, then?" She looked around and when she met the eyes of each person, they nodded. "So let's go," she said. She turned towards the entrance to the tunnel.
"Wait," said Reeve, "you shouldn't go first, Ray. Someone else should...someone that Sephiroth wouldn't want. Do you know what I mean?"
"But you can't go in front without a better weapon," said Cloud. Raieyana reached for the Evenstar.
(It's like every word, every action, was scripted long, long ago. We're playing parts in a play where the script was written in stone. And we can't change a thing.) She handed him the sword. "Use this," Raieyana said. He headed into the dark cavern. And she followed, right behind him.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
(You can't hurt her. Cloud can't hurt her. I have the sword and I will protect her.
"Yes, and it was amazing to watch you protect her from Cloud when she was in Junon."
I didn't know you were in him.
"I wasn't in him. I don't manipulate him anymore. Now you..."
Yeah, you're manipulating me right now. That's why I have free will. That's why you won't harm Ray at all. And she will destroy you.
"And I will leave your head and you will live in harmony with your 3 kids and your dog, Spot. You'll be normal. She'll be normal. No more bad dreams. I hate to burst your bubble, but nothing ever happens like that."
The hell would you know...
"I know many things. I know why Cloud wants Raieyana so bad he would... I know why your mother died."
I didn't do anything to her. She was a manic depressive, and she...
"Yeah, that's what your nice psychiatrist told you when you paid him a couple hundred gil an hour to stop the voices in your head. I guess he was a rip-off, because here I am... I know why you couldn't prevent Shinra from destroying Sector 7. And I know why you're holding that sword. Because you are weak...weak, but still a good puppet.")
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Raieyana looked around. It was dark up ahead and she couldn't see Reeve anymore. "Reeve?" she called. "Come back, we can't see you."
"Okay, I'm coming," he said.
Then suddenly she was in the moment. (And everyone else is unaware. That I'm a sitting duck in the dark.) She saw his form walking closer in the darkness. (It comes down to this. I don't want to die.) There was the glint of the hard sword blade. (Reeve, I don't want to die.) It was thrust towards her.
"Hey, Reeve," said Barret slowly, "what're you doing?"
She was fully conscious of every feeling as the blade moved down through her and back out again. She saw Reeve's shocked expression, heard every sound as the sword clattered to the ground when he dropped it.
Finally having regained control of himself, he kneeled at her side. "Ray."
Cloud ran over and tried to get him away. "I think you've done enough."
"Wait," she whispered, "Reeve." And then everyone else was frozen where they stood, motionless, unable to do anything as the final moments came to pass. "You have to stop the spell." She swallowed. "Get the sword."
"Does it hurt bad, Ray?"
"Just get the sword." He grabbed the sword, trying to ignore how it was covered in Raieyana's blood. "We need Faith to stop him."
"The materia?" he asked, bewildered, "But we don't have it. We never had it, never found it. Did we come here for nothing?"
"The sword would never have been safe for anyone to have with all of the materia in it. And I guess I'm not able to trust anyone enough to... I had Faith the whole time."
"But we could have stopped Aysta before it came to this...why, Ray?" She tried to think of an answer to that question.
"Ish," she said, "he took the materia and brought it to Aysta. If we had Faith with it, Sephiroth would be walking among us now... I guess it really was better this way. The materia's in the locket...I wear...around my neck."
He reached down and opened the locket. A small white orb, the smallest of them all, lay inside. He placed it into the last slot on the sword. The materia started to glow instantly. He ignored it and turned to Raieyana, in time to see her close her eyes and take her last breath. (Well, Sephiroth, I guess we both lose.)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Calm down, Lia." Legolas watched Lia as she paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the cavern.
"I can't. I don't know what to do. I know. I'll look at Ray's translation. She opened Raieyana's satchel and took out the notebook where she kept the translation. "Okay," said Lia, "surround the Black materia with the six White on a sword of thrice-tempered Adamantium." She looked at Legolas. "That's the Evenstar." She continued. "The sacrifice will be killed with this sword by the hand of a beloved killer..." She gasped. "What? And that's where she stopped translating. Do you think that it means she... It is her sword... Legolas, she's going to die. She just handed that sword to Reeve."
"And she knew what she was doing," said Legolas, "Lia, finish the translation. Maybe there's a way we can stop it. How fast can you translate?"
She shook her head. "I'm not that good. But this looks pretty easy. And it's short." She studied the glyphs. "...then...Black...materia...will be...destroyed...and...the spell...will...be..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Raieyana was sitting in a grassy field. Above was a clear night sky filled with stars. She saw a man approaching.
"Ray," he said, coming closer.
(Is it?) Then she recognized his face. "Oh. Hi, Ish," she said, "I guess I'm dead now, right?" (It would be a beautiful scene if I didn't feel like my heart was about to explode with all this misery. I wonder how Reeve is?)
"Is it all right, Ray? I tried to make it look like that night so long ago, but I don't remember it that well anymore..."
"It wasn't that long ago," she said, "only a couple of years."
"But it's been such a long time, here, without you. I couldn't call it heaven, with all the pain I've felt..."
"Couldn't agree with you more," said Raieyana, "especially the pain. I might call it hell as soon as I get over the shock of, you know, not living. But it's wonderful seeing you again. I've missed you so much..."
"Yeah," he said sadly, "I've missed you, too." (And I will miss you...)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Ray," Reeve whispered. One of his tears fell on her cheek.
Cloud reached down and felt her neck. "No pulse," he said softly. Suddenly, Mutate was destroyed is a burst of bright light. Yuffie gasped and Vincent held her closer. But Reeve's eyes were only on Raieyana's face.
(She trusted me. And I...all I am is weak. Why didn't I just stay away from her? I destroyed her.) Behind him, the first White materia began to glow even brighter...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
(...when you leave me again.) "Ray," said Ish, "you're not going to stay here."
"What?"
"Something tells me that you never finished the entire translation...if you had, then you would know."
"Know what?" she asked.
"Would you kiss me good-bye?" he said, "I never got to when I was alive, but now you're here--no matter how briefly..."
"What would I know?" she asked.
"Please," he pleaded.
"No," she said, "tell me. Why would we say good-bye?"
"When you go back," he said bitterly. He looked at her. "You still don't get it? You're not really dead permanently." He pushed something towards her.
"This looks like the Ancient scroll I was translating," she said.
He shrugged. "Close. It's an image of it. Everything here is an image, just like this sky is an image of the one from our past. Look at the words you never bothered to read."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lia was interrupted by a blast of bright light from the cavern. "God," whispered Legolas, "has it happened already?"
"...the spell...will be...transferred...into...the one...which has been killed."
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"The first spell...the one Aysta cast...Raieyana said it was successful... It was a resurrection spell," she said, "but I don't know if I should even hope...we never even found one of the White materia."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Ish?" she asked. "Will I be resurrected?"
"Something could always go wrong," he said hopefully, "maybe Aysta cast the original spell incorrectly."
"I won't be dead. I'll get another chance..."
"Just consider, Ray. Reeve killed you. You shouldn't forgive him for that."
She looked at him. "You led me to my death. Maybe I shouldn't forgive you for that."
"Ray, I had to."
"Reeve also had no choice. I wonder how long it will take to get back. I wish it would hurry."
"Ray," Ishmael whispered, "I love you."
She shook her head. "I love you, too, Ish. But I can't ever love you the way you love me. I wish I could..." She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. He turned his head and their lips touched... (I'll just let this happen. He really wants it. And we'll be apart again soon. I'll be able to tell Reeve how much I love him...)