Author's note: Yeah, I lied in the description. It's obviously not one chapter, which is proof that you just can't trust what I say ;)

REBIRTH: THE FIRST DAY

Rayman took a weak breath. He heard someone gasp, and his eyes flew open. He could feel immense pain, but he also discovered that he could breathe easier. He looked down and saw that the hole in his chest was covered in bandages. The hole. The casing and spear were both gone. He looked over and saw that the spear was still where it had been, but he had been moved. He then looked forward and saw Ly.

"Ly!" he got up with some effort and began to move forward.

"Don't come any closer!" Ly jumped back, anger and terror in her voice. Rayman stopped.

"What?"

"How?" she asked. "How are you still alive?"

"I..." Rayman stammered. "I don't know. Why are you so afraid?" He began to step forward, and gasped as a fireball flew passed him, singing the ground as it fell behind him.

"That was a warning shot," Ly told him. "Come any closer, and I'll kill you. And this time I'll make sure that you stay dead." Rayman was confused and afraid now.

"What did I do?" he asked her. "What did do to make them want to kill me? To make you want to kill me?"

"How could you not remember?!" Ly cried out. "You killed them! How can you not remember killing them?! Were they that meaningless to you?! Just puppets for you to throw away whenever?!"

"Who did I kill?" Rayman asked. "What are you talking about?" Ly gave an incoherent shout and Rayman felt his chest burn as fireball knocked him to the ground.

"Monster," she spat. "You killed Globox and the Grand Minimus, Rayman! You took the both and tore them apart! And now you can't even remember that you did it!" she paused, and her voice grew softer. "I...I liked you. You were kind, and strong, and you stood up for what was right. But I suppose that that was just a cover. You disgust me, Rayman. You killed your best friend and you don't even recall doing it!" Tears filled her eyes as Rayman felt another fireball fly into his chest. Ly ran away, her sobs filling the hollows of Rayman's mind.

"Globox...?" he said quietly. Rayman could feel realization, pain, and all around misery welling up inside of him, until he couldn't hold it in anymore. "Globox!"

* * *

Rayman staggered to the cemetery, the old forgotten cemetery. He was trying to run, but he couldn't move his body properly. He fell upon the headstones, pushing himself off and continuing as he went on, searching for the grave. He could hear himself muttering in a hoarse voice, "no...no...no...", but he couldn't stop. He didn't care. At last, he came upon the grave. There was a name and a brief obituary.

Globox

The Victim of a False Friendship with a False Hero

Once again, Rayman wept, and he felt his strength fall away. He fell to the ground in front of the headstone.

"I'm sorry Globox," he whispered weakly. "I'm...so...sorry..." Rayman could feel himself drifting away into nothingness.

* * *

"Wake," Rayman felt himself wake up suddenly. He could see a silhouette of someone. It looked like...Ly? The light then faded, and Rayman saw that the one leaning above him was not Ly. It was indeed a girl who looked as if Polokus had made her in the same image as Rayman's former friend, but instead of lively yellowish-orange with purple stripes, she wore a gray outfit with black stripes in the same places. Her face was gray as well, and she had white hair and a white tail, both the same kind and style as Ly's. A bandage was wrapped around her head, covering her right eye. Her left eye had a red iris, and, as far as Rayman could tell, no pupil. Upon closer inspection however, he realized that the pupil was just a slightly darker shade of red only visible at close proximity.

"It's uncomfortable when you stare at me," the girl said monotonously. Rayman jumped a little and looked away.

"Sorry," he said. The girl didn't respond. She stood up fully, and motioned for Rayman to stand as well.

"Why are you here?" Rayman asked her. The girl didn't answer. Instead, she started walking away. Her hand came up made a gesture for Rayman to follow her. Rayman ran up beside her.

"You are dead," she said as soon as he caught up to her.

"Huh?!" Rayman cried out, tripping. The girl turned to him and promptly placed her hand on his cheek. Rayman didn't feel any heat or cold from her oddly soft hand.

"Your body is cold, and your heart does not beat," she continued, standing up and beginning to walk again. "You have no pulse, and no blood flows through your veins." Rayman followed her, almost straining to hear her quiet voice.

"However," she stopped. "You still live." Rayman looked at her, confused. The girl either didn't notice or bother to respond.

"Rayman," she almost whispered. "You didn't kill Globox or the Grand Minimus." Rayman's eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know?!" he asked.

"Your own memory is proof of that, is it not?" the girl reasoned. "You cannot remember ever killing them; you don't even have any memory of the past two days."

"Yeah, I—" Rayman stopped. "How do you know that I don't remember anything from yesterday or the day before?"

"If you did remember what had happened we would never have met," the girl answered completely unfazed, as if she had already expected the question to come. "Because you would've already stopped the true murderer." She continued walking. Rayman stared after her, even more confused than he had been.

"No matter how many times you stare at me, it's not any less uncomfortable," she said suddenly. Rayman jumped.

"Sorry," he apologized as he caught up with her. She didn't seem to notice. They walked on in silence for what felt like hours.

"Um," Rayman attempted to start a conversation. "Where are we going?"

"Why would you ask me?" the girl responded. Despite the comment, her voice held no emotion at all. "This is about you being framed. Therefore, where are we going?"

"If this is my task," Rayman wondered aloud, "then why are you helping me? Just who are you?"

"My name," the girl looked at the ground, and Rayman thought he saw the slightest bit of emotion in her one visible eye. "My name is Niehr." Something about the name put Rayman on edge. He couldn't tell what it was though.

"You look a lot like someone who used to be my friend before all this happened," Rayman blurted out suddenly. "I only wish you maybe acted like her, too. Maybe then I still wouldn't feel so alone in all this."

"Perhaps you are," Niehr replied without any hesitation. Rayman looked at the ground. This girl, who resembled Ly physically, was so different from her. He didn't like Niehr. Something about her...wasn't right.

"I know you don't like me," Niehr told Rayman suddenly. "When you saw me, you thought that I would be like your friend Ly, isn't that right?" Rayman, surprised, nodded.

"I'm sorry," if Niehr was sorry she certainly didn't sound it. "I cannot change to make other people happy."

"No, I'm sorry," Rayman found himself apologizing for reasons he couldn't explain. "Maybe I was basing too much off how you compared to Ly." Niehr looked at him for once.

"There was your proof," she said, the faintest smile on her lips.

"What?" Rayman asked again.

"The Rayman that supposedly killed Globox and the Grand Minimus wouldn't have said that," Niehr explained. "Or at least wouldn't have meant it. I can...I know that that came from the true Rayman." Rayman couldn't believe that Niehr had said something so...encouraging. It wasn't what he had expected from her at all. Maybe then, he thought just a little bit more of her.

"Niehr," he turned to her. "I would like you to help me find out who framed me and had me executed. From what I can tell with you, the only way to ensure your help is with a formal statement." Niehr seemed to give a small smile for just one instant, then said, "Yes." The two continued walking down the desolate road.

* * *

Ly felt horrible. Rayman was alive, and she had said awful things to him. Just thinking about the conversation made her stomach hurt, matching the ache in her heart. Did he really not remember?

"Ly," a voice said from behind her. Ly turned around and leaped back.

"You!" she cried out. She readied a fireball. "I thought that I killed you last time!"

"Ly, wait!" Raymond held out his hand. Ly ignored him and charged forward, throwing the fireball as she did so. Raymond's sword was out, and the fireball was deflected, as were all of Ly's kicks. Raymond then ducked down, and tripped her. She fell to the ground and looked up at Raymond.

"Go on, then," she said with bitterness. "Kill me." Rayman just wordlessly sheathed his sword. Ly looked at him.

"You killed that," he clarified, "but I still lived." Ly sat up.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice still holding a trace of hostility in it.

"I heard that Rayman was executed," Raymond said. Ly nodded.

"So?"

"He was framed," Raymond stated firmly. Ly looked up in surprise.

"The only other Limbless in the world says that his brother was framed," Ly subconsciously rolled her eyes.

"Please, Ly," Raymond pleaded. "Please believe me. I think that we may be able to get proof." Ly looked up too quickly to hide her excitement. Raymond gave a knowing smile.

"I overheard a group of Fairies talking about the execution after it had been carried out," Raymond explained. "One of them asked if that meant that they'd 'gotten away with it,' but was immediately hushed up by the others. One of them happened to notice me, but I don't believe that we need to worry about that. Ly, help me clear his name. It may be too late for him, but I would like my brother's memory to be untarnished." Raymond held out his hand. Ly reached out, pulled back, and then grabbed his hand.

"Alright," she agreed. "I'll help you."

Wow, this chapter was really hard to write. Just so you know and aren't confused with my stories, I've never played Rayman 2, so I'm basically making up Ly's personality as I go based on what little information I have. Just so that none of you are like, "She'd never do that!" or stuff like that.