A/N: I am SO sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've had a bad case of Writer's Block, and I have another fic I'm working on too, so I've been trying to juggle these both. Oh, and John-Paul, I hope you didn't think I was ignoring you before; I will try to answer your question.

Chapter XIII

Raziel led me up the path and I followed without question. I wished Fenrir was trotting beside me, though, and I really wished my friends were there with me. They'd never believe all this when I told them. If I told them. Would I ever see them again? I was silent, looking at the ground for the most part as I walked. Raziel either didn't want to disturb me, or didn't notice, because he didn't speak either. Something was tugging at my mind, what was it? Rhythm…words…music! A song. A phrase from a song sang into my head, but I couldn't remember the words even a second after I had heard them. I shook my head, trying to quell the music, and it stopped. Raziel stopped suddenly, and I nearly walked into him. I looked up and looked around. We stood on a cliff over a huge lake surrounding a great impassable wall and gate.

"The Sarafan Stronghold," I said knowingly. "Why have you brought me here?"

"It is not the stronghold that I am interested in now," replied Raziel. "Come here." I did so, and he put one cloven hand on my back, pointing at what he wanted me to see with the other. "Look there, to the east a little." I looked, and saw what he meant.

"The Light Forge?" I asked. Raziel nodded. "Why there?"

"Because it's safe," answered Raziel, "and it's one of the few places that I believe to be guarded from unwanted ears." I nodded, understanding perfectly.

"The Elder," I guessed.

"The very same," said Raziel. "Now, to get down safely…" his voice trailed off and he looked at me curiously. I frowned slightly, nervous.

"What?" I asked.

"Do you trust me?" he asked plainly. I blinked in surprise and considered for a moment.

"Yes," I said with finality. "I do."

"Good," said Raziel, lifting me up in his arms suddenly. "Then hold on around my neck and don't let go, whatever you do." Before I could ask questions, Raziel jumped over the side of the damned cliff! I shrieked, which is a landmark moment because I never do anything like shrieking. I locked my arms around his neck, unable to keep from watching as the ledge just above the surface of the lake came ever closer. Without warning, Raziel let go of me and seized hold of his wings, gliding to a gentle and graceful stop. He gently disentangled me from around his neck and held me steady.

"Are you all right?" he asked. In response, I smacked his arm as hard as I could

"DON'T ever DO that AGAIN!" I shouted, furious.

"Good, you're all right," said Raziel, for all the world as though he had expected this reaction. I growled, fuming. I swear Raziel would have been grinning at me had he possessed a jaw. Activating the Soul Reaver, he unlocked the door to the Light Forge and gestured for me to go in ahead of him. Still fuming, I did. He followed and the massive door shut. I started to speak, but he said, "Not here. Further in." I followed him deep into the Forge until we reached the very altar of light. There, Raziel sat down and gestured for me to do the same. I shook my head and folded my arms, looking at him and waiting. He sighed. "I assume that you want an explanation."

"Right in one," I said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

"Very well," said Raziel, leaning back. "Your mother's name, as I said, is Alatáriël. She is a beautiful and clever Hylden woman, as well as the most powerful necromancer known in this land. Your father's name is Findecáno, an equally handsome and powerful vampire alchemist. Findecáno knew Janos Audron before his death. He knew Kain as well. I even dare to say that Findecáno and Kain were friends. When he took over, Kain gave Findecáno great power in this land. In the monarchy, Findecáno is nearly as powerful as Kain."

"And my mother?" I whispered. Raziel's eyes were sad.

"She, unfortunately, was lost through the portal that banished the Hylden. You, however, were not. As I said, you were born dead when you shouldn't even have been born at all. Your mother resurrected you with her power. You grew up greatly loved by all, especially Janos. He treated you like a daughter. Kain had a great interest in you as well, and that progressed to having an actual fondness for you. You were born looking the way you do, with your white hair and skin, but you were not quite a vampire. Don't ask me how to explain that; I cannot. But you weren't. You have your mother's eyes. You spent as much time with Janos as you did with your father. Janos taught you to control and develop the powers you had inherited from your parents, but it was you yourself who taught you how to combine them. When you weren't practicing magic, you would practice arms. You were – are – an excellent swordsman…apologies, I mean woman. You're equally deadly with a bow, but you always preferred the sword. You became very interested in swords and spent much time in the smithy with Vorador, watching him work and asking him to explain it all to you. You are the one who made the design for the Soul Reaver. You thought it would be beneficial to have a weapon that drained a person of his lifeblood, killing him almost immediately. Therein lay the necromantic aspect of the Reaver – bringing it to life, in a sense, giving it a hunger that had to be fed. The alchemic aspect lay in the entrapment of my soul within the Reaver blade to give it a hunger for souls. You never intended the design to be used; you felt that, while it was fascinating, it was too danger, for the hunger in the blade could easily become overexcited and turn on its wielder. You meant to take the design to your father to show him, but you lost it, dropped it somewhere in Janos's aerie. You thought nothing of it – until Vorador showed off his latest creation to you: the Blood Reaver. He told you Janos had coerced him into forging it, as a test for his skills. You were stunned, but not worried. Why should you have been? There was no cause for alarm, as long as the Reaver remained in Janos's guardianship. No one expected the attack, least of all myself. I should have known I was being used again, but I was too eager to learn my fate. But I digress. You were devastated when Janos died, and resolved to retrieve the Heart of Darkness from the Sarafan. However, you, like myself, could not find it. You could only help Vorador keep the body safe within the tomb under the garden. Your garden, as a matter of fact. In time, you grew to accept Janos's passing and possible return. You often visited Kain, and he treated you like his own princess. When he raised my brothers and me from the grave as his vampire 'sons', he introduced you to us as such. We all grew to love you, though you never much cared for Melchiah or Turel. Turel was always trying to gain your favour, but that you gave to…me. Don't look at me like that. I told you we were close. Kain and Findecáno, your father, actually encouraged our liaison. They felt it couldn't be more perfect – the most powerful lieutenant of the vampire king with the all-powerful daughter of an impossible union of Hylden and vampire. I loved you very much. I never stopped loving you. You were with me when I first evolved my wings. You were thrilled, but cautioned me against presenting them to Kain. You wouldn't say what you were afraid of, but you were afraid. I didn't heed you, saying that everything would be fine. I carried you in my arms and we touched the stars that night. The next morning was that fateful day when I 'fell from favour'. The last thing I heard after Kain gave the order for my brothers to cast me into the Abyss was your voice crying out for mercy. I searched for you wherever I went after my strange resurrection. I came to learn the awful truth: no one had seen so much as your shadow for a long time. I tried to find Findecáno, but he was gone too. Even if I had asked Kain, I wouldn't have believed him. Janos knew, though. During our brief discussion, he told me that you had gone to the Lake of the Dead every day and cast your beautiful roses down into the water in remembrance of me. One day, you went to the lake as usual and didn't come back. It turns out Findecáno had followed you and, fearing some great evil coming to find you, sent you into the Hylden dimension with new memories. That is where I found you."

I was stunned. My world, my hideously boring, criminally monotonous, sinfully repetitive world was the Hylden dimension! That world! Impossible! Then, the Hylden were…humans? I didn't understand.

"I don't understand," I whispered, my voice barely audible, my eyes wide and disbelieving. Raziel nodded understandingly, but didn't speak. "B-but the Hylden…they're human? My world can't be the Hylden dimension! You've seen it; don't you think? There's no way! And my mother…who is she there? Did I know her? Was she my human mother? Was my family human? My friends? Why don't they look strange and evil? What happened now that I'm not there? Has my life stopped? My family, my friends…have they all stopped?" Raziel gently pulled me down next to him. I stared past him, trying to wrap my head around all this.

"Your games adopted a bit of artistic interpretation," he said gently, holding me like a little child. "The Hylden looked much like humans, except far more beautiful, unearthly beautiful, and their eyes glowed with their power. You've seen it." I nodded silently. I had seen people's eyes glowing strangely, but I had put it all down to a reflection of streetlights in their eyes like any sane person. "The Hylden weren't exactly evil, just like vampires aren't exactly evil. They were living in the way they had to to survive. But neither was willing to share this world, most of all because the Hylden seemed to feed off of us the way we feed off of humans. But you are the connection between the two warring races. Only you can end it all." I looked up at him, then hung my head. This was too much. My stomach clenched and the room spun. I pulled away from Raziel abruptly, dizzy and hot.

"Oh God," I managed to say before vomiting onto the floor. I turned away from Raziel, shamefaced and sick. His strong but gentle hands closed over my shoulders as I shook. When I didn't show signs of being sick again, he pulled me back to lean against him. "I've disappointed you," I said quietly.

"Not at all," replied Raziel softly. "It's better than you disbelieving me entirely and running from me. You never ran from me, except in play. I couldn't bear it if you ever ran from me." He started playing with my hair, running his claws through it. It took me a moment to realize he was braiding my hair. I stayed still and let him. It was a comforting sensation.

"What do I do?" I whispered.

"Whatever you do, I'll protect you," said Raziel. "I hope, though, that you will consent to help me. I need you."

I need you…no one had ever said that to me. No one had ever said I love you either, not counting family. Hell, they weren't even my family and they didn't love me! No one loved me. No…Raziel did.

"Of course I'll help you," I said, my voice almost a whisper. "But I'm…afraid."

"I know," Raziel replied, tying my hair at the bottom and releasing it. "On some level, so am I. I don't want to be imprisoned within the Reaver forever, but I no longer wish destruction upon my own kind, the vampires. I fear, though, that in order for the latter to come to pass, the former must first be realized."

"No," I said, turning to face him. "No, that's not true. I designed the Reaver. I'll find some way around this. But have questions."

"Absolutely," said Raziel. "Ask what you wish."

"My name…" I said hesitantly. "Why, if I came before the Reaver, was I named for it?"

"Your parents foresaw the forging of the Reaver at your birth. They knew it would be closely connected to you in some way."

"So, I'm older than you, or even Kain?"

"That is correct."

"Where is my father, Findecáno?"

"I don't know. The assumption was that he followed you into the Hylden dimension, but no one knows for sure. Not even Janos knew."

"How can I stop this war?"

"I could tell you that when the Hylden and the vampires see you then they'll realize they overcome their differences and live in harmony, but that is not true. You are the only one with power great enough to come between them and survive. Or maybe you have another destiny. I'm honestly not certain."

"My friends, back in the other world…"

"Say no more, I understand. They're not Hylden. They're humans. They were good friends of yours in this world before you were taken away. They too have a destiny here, and will be joining us soon."

"…How did I get the mark on my forehead?"

"Oh, that. In all seriousness, I tell you that you got that as a result of a small accident. It's a scar from where you were burned in Vorador's forge once. You became known as Soul Moonscar to many. That's all it is, I swear."

I smiled vaguely. "Then I think I know all I'll need to for now. Wherever we're going, let's go." Raziel smiled back at me and we rose together. We started out of the forge, but right as Raziel activated the Reaver, I froze. I felt so strange. I suddenly understood the ending of Soul Reaver 2 when Raziel said he saw memories blooming and dying behind Kain's eyes. I felt the same exact thing.

"What's that?" I said softly to no one in particular.

"Soul?" asked Raziel in concern. "What is it?"

"What?" I said, not speaking to Raziel. "No, no, it wasn't me…was it? Oh no. I did it. No, it's not my fault."

"Soul, what is it?" said Raziel. "Soul, tell me what you see."

A/N: Hahahah, cliffie! Booyah! I love cliffhangers! R&R, and I'll get my ass to work on the next one!