"Stay with me, Celes!" Leo pleaded with me. "Stay with me!" His voice sounded odd as if it was coming from the bottom of a well. The world around me grew silent and slow. Eyes were around me. I could feel them. My skin felt the coldness of the air. It was the kind of feeling felt by those who were just about to grow completely numb.
I was drowning in my own blood with every breath I took. I could not move my lower body. The dagger that pierced my flesh had also severed my spinal cord. My sight was fading slowly, dwindling with my failing pulse. Leo held on tightly, but no mortal hands could prevent me from slipping away.
And then, I was falling. Weightlessly falling... drifting... dying.
So this is death, I mused calmly. Just a place that takes away the worry. It's not so bad.
"And why should death be a bad thing, Child?" a scolding Voice asked me. "Is it not considered among mortals as the Final Rest?"
"The moment of attestation of the greatest question of your kind, nothing more," added an amused Voice, sounding neither reprimanding nor comforting.
"Only you don't get to share it with your kin," said the scolding Voice again.
"Tonight is an exception, is it not, Sisters?" a gentle Voice answered.
"'Tis not!"
"A Sacrifice."
"A Compromise."
"The mortal belongs to me!"
"I belong to no one," I answered. I could've sworn that I shouted it. But my own voice only came out as a soft whisper.
The swirling realm of black, white and gray made me dizzy. The floating islands were whole again. I was standing on what appeared to be the center of it all. I saw no monolith this time. I saw no sword or runes. It was just me, standing before the presence of the Voices as if in a trial.
Confusion, anger and fear seemed to be unwelcome in the plane. I felt none of those emotions.
"The mortal is right. We cannot make a claim yet," said the second Voice.
"She is here. This is our realm!" replied the scolding Voice.
"She is not to stay here as was agreed on," the last Voice said.
I had numerous dreams about this place in the past. Each time, the Three Voices spoke in unison. This time was different, however. They seemed to be in disagreement... and I was the reason.
"I do not belong here," I said.
"True enough!" the Voices answered together. The union didn't last.
"She must cross over now before he comes for her!" the first Voice argued.
"She must stay. We should not give her up!" the second Voice said.
"No, Sisters. She must return," the last Voice said with calm finality. I liked her most among the Three.
"Are you mad? They are weak!"
"Only their bodies. Each has the potential to be great in spirit."
"And this Child shows promise."
"A lot of good it did us to trust these mortals!"
"The fault was ours. We have not completely severed our ties with their realm."
"This time is different. She will aid us."
"What would you have me do? Do I not get a choice in the matter?"
"Indeed! You choose one--" they began to say in unison, but their last words for the sentence were different.
"--Death."
"--Life."
"--Rebirth."
Being a human devoid of negative emotions, I was only left with logic to decide. Death did not scare me. I rejected it only because it didn't seem logical. Life was the logical choice. Why not? I had clung to it for as long as I could and was quite comfortable with the idea of being alive. However, curiosity tugged at my mind.
"What is rebirth?" I asked.
"The door to the culmination of your truest potential," the gentle Voice said.
"Should I choose it?" I asked.
"The mortal relinquishes to us the decision?"
"No. She asks for advice."
"Child, we cannot choose for you."
"I just need to be certain."
"'Tis a human need."
"This Realm is impartial to mortal needs."
"Your choices are all wrought with uncertainty."
"I do not wish to go back to the troubles of my previous life."
"Then Death is your escape."
"But I wish to live again," I said.
"Then Life is your logical choice. You continue where you left off."
"There is much that I did not know when I was alive. Much that I did not understand. I want to discover them. I need strength to discover them."
"Then embrace your rebirth," the gentle Voice whispered.
A bright light appeared in front of me. I was powerless to close my eyes or look away. I was forced to stare at it. The intensity stung. It felt as if my head was about to explode.
"He comes!" the scolding Voice said.
The mysterious light source split the empty space in front of me. It grew larger each second. The rift opened into a perfect circle before me. It was a window to another world--mine!
Through the small window, I could see familiar faces. Cid, Kefka, Leo... I saw my lifeless body on what appeared to be an operating table. The dagger that killed me protruded from my belly still.
"What is going on?" I asked... in fear. The primal emotions were overtaking me. The realm was losing its calming effect on me.
"Choose quickly, Child!" the Voices said in unison.
"I still don't know what you would have me do? What do you want from me?"
The rift continued to grow as if ready to swallow me whole.
"Rebirth is your key to understanding. Do you choose it?"
Panic followed confusion. I was afraid and the widening rift was a reasonable cause for alarm.
"I don't know!" I shouted. "I want to know what's going on!"
"So be it!"
The rift stopped growing when it was about ten feet in diameter. The circle was framed by a bright halo with snaking bolts of lightning. It wasn't just a window to my world any more. Now, it was a doorway. I saw a group of spellcasters. Kefka was in the middle. The mages were robed and hooded. I could not see their faces. They were chanting continually. Energy poured from out of their mouths and held the rift open.
Kefka saw me. He was grinning. His face sent chills up my non-existent spine. How could he see my ethereal soul?
Kefka's smile vanished from his ugly face. A silhouette of grander being appeared between us. It was a woman--no three! Three feminine ghostly figures hovered before Kefka, all of them occupying the same space.
They were the Three. Because of the bright light and the converging figures, I was not able to make out each their true form.
"Behold, mortal!" the Three said together. "She is the instrument of our vengeance, and the omen your fate! Turn away from your foolish quest, and we promise you swift, painless death. Pursue it, and you shall be cast down into the Realm of Eternal Agony."
"Never!" Kefka shouted defiantly.
What happened next, transpired too fast. I felt my being enveloped by magical energy coming from the rift. I felt a similar but different energy hold me back for a split second before they let go. I felt myself hurtle through the rift at a frightful speed.
Pain filled my being the next second. The swirling realm was gone. The rift was shrinking quickly. I was surrounded by the cult, and was suddenly too weak to move.
A literal gut-wrenching pain followed as one of the fanatics pulled the dagger from my flesh. The chanting of the fanatics changed quickly. Warmth slowly enveloped me. It pushed away the pain though it did not drive away the lethargy. I knew my wound was closing magically. I felt my organs mend themselves. The spine that was severed by the blade was once again whole. I began to feel the rest of my body though I was not able to move them.
I felt a jolt coming from inside my chest. It was my heart. It was followed by three more. My lungs heaved, forcing me to take in a huge breath of air. I coughed though the lungs did not stop from taking air in. I was choking. My heart jerked inside again in irregular heartbeats. My body was in shock.
My whole body started to jerk in violent spasms. The fanatics had to hold me down lest I fall off the operating table. I threw my head to the side and vomited blood. It seemed to have cleared my air passage. I began to breathe more normally. My heart started to calm. I felt my pulse in several different parts of my body. I could hear them in my ears.
The spasms went away. My body was limp again. My heart and lungs functioned normally now. My nerves started to pick up the sensory perceptions that they were meant to detect. I felt the water from the emergency sprinklers hit my face. I smelled the sickly odor of my own blood. I began to have control of my own eyes again. The first thing that caught my attention was the closing rift. The diameter was only about a foot now, hovering eerily above me.
A column of intense energy shot from the other side of the rift and struck me. I was covered in a bluish aura. It was deja vu. It was as if it happened to me before a long time ago. I felt oddly homesick.
The magical energy that was building up in me detonated in a violent burst of blue-white light. I heard crashing noise all around me. Then there was silence. The chanting of the fanatics stopped. The water sprinklers ceased. The room was awfully cold all of a sudden.