Things just got interesting, no? Well it's about to get even more exciting! Our dear Rydia has left this world... Someone else might have to leave too, in order to bring her back! (duh-duh-duuuh...)

2222222222

Chapter 7: The Life Spark

2222222222

"I don't understand..." Rosa fretted. "She should have woken up by now."

"Well why hasn't she?" Edge demanded.

"I don't know," Rosa said, shrinking away from him.

"But you have to bring her back! Please!" He begged her.

"I can't so anything more for her, Edge. I'm sorry," Rosa whimpered, cowering from him.

"No! That can't be... It can't..." Edge cried, craddling Rydia's limp body in his arms. "It's not fair... You can't go," He whispered. "Don't leave me like this."

Angel stood and strode away. She couldn't bear to see the ninja like this. It made her stomach roll to even picture Edge like this.

Think, Angel, think, She thought. There must be some way to bring her back... Think think think! Nothing came to mind for what seemed like a long time. And then she got an idea.

"Mom, what about the life spark?" She asked.

"No one here can preform it, Angel," Rosa said saddly.

"The life spark? What is it?" Edge asked hopefully.

"It's where, instead of just calling on elemental force to heal, you actually give the hurt person some of your own life; how much you gives depends on how long you make the spell last. Enough of this spell can re-spark a dead person's life, even. But only begining white mages can successfully preform it, beacause they can easily lose control of what they're calling on," Rosa explained. "It's a brilliant idea, dear," She said to Angel, "But we don't have any begining white mages around."

"Yes, we do," Angel said. Everyone looked at her questioningly.

"You've got me."

"What... No! Absolutely not!" Rosa screeched, rising to her feet and walking over to Angel. "I forrbid you to preform the life spark."

"Mom, I have to do this," Angel protested.

"Angel, do you know how much of your life it take just to re-spark Rydia's life? It would take all of your life just to give her a spark!" Rosa explained, but Angel diodn't seem persuaded in the least by this.

"Uh... What exactly does that mean?" Sefi asked nervously, not liking where this was going.

"It means," Angel said to her twin, "That in doing this for Rydia, it will ultimately lead to my own death."

Sefi's eyes went wide with horror.

"No! Angel, you can't!" She cried, leaping up.

"There must be another way," Cid suggested.

"There isn't another way. It's either this or nothing," Angel said calmly to him.

"Angel, no," Rosa said firmly, looking Angel square in the eyes and taking her by the shoulders. "We need you here, in this world."

"Then it's a good thing that Baron's got backup," Angel said darkly, shrugging out of Rosa's clutches and backing away from her. "If I die, so what? Baron's got Sefi, who actually wants the job. But if Rydia dies, Eblan has no queen. Baron can spare me: Eblan can't spare Rydia." She glared defiantly at her mother and walked back to everyone else. She knelt down in front of Edge and took Rydia's hand.

"But, Angel, the voice on Mount Ordeals said that you would rule Baron one day," Sefi argued.

"He must have been talking to you," Angel said, looking up at Sefi. "Rule well," She added.

Cecil put his hand on Angel's shoulder. "I can't believe that once I found you, I have to lose you again," He said, hugging her from behind.

"It's my job, you know. As a paladin I have to do this," She reasoned.

"I know. I just can't believe that it had to be you," He said, holding her tighter.

"I know. I'm scared too," Angel said.

Somewhat relectantly, Cecil let go of Angel and she began casting the only cure spell that she knew: cure.

Once the spell was casted, Angel felt as if something was draining out of her.

It's working, She thought, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. No one else is ever going to think this again, but this is a good thing. Rydia's going to come back... Even if I don't.

After what seemed like ages, Angel felt a sort of tug deep inside her like a string pulling on a wagon.

It's the last of my life, She realized. It's refusing to leave me. She mentally struggled against the tug for a minute, but her life refused to come forth. You have to leave me. You have to go to Rydia. Get out of me! She demanded, knowing that it wasn't like her life could hear her.

Wait... She thought. Am I trying to hard? She relaxed, feeling for the first time just how tense she'd become. Once she did, she felt that last bit of her life flow from her hands like water. The instant it did, she felt as if she were little more than a shell. She pitched to the side and fell over on the deck with no life left in her at all.

"Angel!" Everyone screamed at once. Edge was just about to say something, but he felt something move in his arms. He looked down at Rydia and, to his overwhelming joy, her eyes were opening again. Edge reached down and picked up her hand and felt that it wasn't so cold anymore.

"Rydia's waking up!" He exclaimed.

Rydia groaned sleepliy and tried to sit up. She failed and sank back inot Edge's arms, sending a hand to her head.

"What happened...?" She asked breathlessly. "I... I can't remember. That zu... he kicked me and then... I don't remember what happened after that," She said.

"What does it matter?" Edge asked, embracing her. "You're back: that's all you really need to know."

"What?" Rydia asked, confused. "What are you talking about? Where did I go?"

"You've been dead for five minutes," Sefi explained. "Angel... She gave you her life," She said, very close to tears now.

Rydia's eyes went wide. "She did?" She asked, scarcely able to believe it. "Is she alright?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Sefi sobbed quietly, burrying her face in her hands.

2222222222

Angel sat up the second she was selfconcious. It had been jet black all around her a moment ago, and now she was sitting in the middle of a bright white void. There was nothing there: just her. She looked around franticly for someone or something else but had no success. She tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't move. She was glued here in the middle of nothingness and couldn't get away. She found that she couldn't even open her mouth and scream someone's name.

"Hm... Maybe I should have come to you before now," A man's voice said behind her.

She snapped her head around and saw a tall man dressed in black armor sitting down beside her. She found it quite startling that he had dark purple hair, almost the same shade as Sefi's, and that he looked an awful lot like Cecil. In fact, Angel was a bit scared of him at first.

"I'm sorry that we had to meet for the first time under such circumstances," The man informed her. "You're a very brave little girl. It's a shame that all females can't be like you and your pretty mother."

"You look so much like daddy," Angel murrmered, glad that she could open her mouth once more.

"Aha! I was wondering if you'd notice that," He laughed, messing up Angel's hair. "I'm your father's brother, your uncle Golbez."

Angel blinked.

"I... I thought that you were alseep on the moon," She said.

"Good call, kiddo. Sharp as a tack, I see," Golbez praised. "You're dreaming. This is a vision, of sorts," He explained.

"I thought I was dead. I did the life spark on my friend and gave all my life to her," Angel said.

"Not quite all of your life. Apparently, there's still a little bit left in you," Golbez reasoned.

"How's that possible? Mom said that I'd need to give Rydia all my life to bring her back," Angel said.

"Well, obviously, Rosa was wrong... For once in a long while," Golbez said. "Uh... Please don't tell her I said that, okay?" He asked.

"Uh...Sure," Angel agreed.

Golbez sighed heavily and put his arm around Angel's shoulders. "I don't know if my brother ever told you, but you have lunarian blood in your veins," He said.

"They told me once, but it's not something we talk about a lot," Angel explained. "In fact, we haven't talked about it since I was eight."

"Hmph. I don't know what it is that Cecil's trying to acomplish by hiding these things from you. You don't know very much about how they saved the world, do you," Golbez said, shaking his head.

"Well... No," Angel admitted.

"Bah... That's another discusion. Back to what I was saying about your lunarian roots," Golbez said, "Do you know who's voice it was that addressed you on Mount Ordeals when you took your trial?" He asked.

"I don't know, but he called me and my sister his granddaughters," Angel said.

"He wasn't just being strange," Golbez assured her. "That voice was the voice of your lunarian grandfather, KluYa. By him, your father and I are brothers."

Angel's eyes widened in wonder. That is so cool! She thought.

"If ever you need help," Golbez said to her, "You can call on me and your granduncle, FuSoYa, and we will come and help you."

"You mean like a summons?" Angel asked.

"Yes, exactly like a summons," Golbez said. "I believe that you've already called upon FuSoYa to come and help you. If I'm correct, he helpped you and your friends ward off an angry flock of cockatrices," He added.

Angel thought back to the cockatrice attack on the way to Damcyan, remembering when she'd been looking for her sword and swore on FoSoYa when she had trouble finding it. She'd found it right away, and when she'd run to the door the cockatrices ran away from her.

She'd wondered why; now she knew.

"In the meantime, you still have work to do at home. If you're going to do that work you'll have to be alive," Golbez said, and handed her a small red gem that she hadn't noticed before.

"The ruby is an important gem," He explained. "It's said to harbor the spark of life. That explains why the ruby is used for so many dangerous charms and spells; some people even wear rubies when they cast meteor. In fact, the life spark gets it's name from this aspect of the ruby. Hold that ruby in your hands and your body will revive enough for someone to heal you."

"What important work will I be doing?" Angel asked.

Golbez closed his eyes and loooked like he was concentrating hard. After a minute he opened his eyes again and said, "I foresee a terrible war, which you shall help to win. Without you, that war is as good as lost."

"What will I do?" Angel inquired.

Golbez shrugged. "How should I know? I can olny tell what someone will do, not how they'll do it," He explained. "I also predict a long time of peace and happiness in Baron, where all doubts and prejudices against your country will be wipped away by the courage, kindness, and wisdom of it's queen," He added.

"Am I that queen?" Angel asked.

"Yes, you are," Golbez said, radiating pride in her. "I bet that you thought it was your sister, didn't you."

Angel nodded. "Are you sure that it's me? I can't lead anything to save my life," She said.

Globez looked again at his pretend vision and nodded his head. "...Nnnnnnnope. It's you, alright."

"So, as you can tell, you need to go back home," He added.

Angel looked down at the blood red ruby in her hand, and saw that it was begining to glow deep inside, like the sand ruby.

"I'm not sure if I can do this," She confessed, knowing that she probably didn't have a lot more time to speak with her uncle.

"You'll be great. I just know it," Golbez told her. "I know I should have come to you sooner; it was a mistake to have waited for so long," He apologized. "I'll come to you again. I can't say when, but I will come again."

"I hope so. Considering I just met you, I feel as though I've known you forever," Angel said, feeling the ruby suddenly grow warm in her hand. She looked down at the ruby again and saw the light inside it growing stronger, and spreading up her arms like a net of roots. She felt full of something jumpy and happy. She'd felt so empty for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to feel full.

Everything began to blurr, like when Porom used a teleport spell. The blazing white light all around her turned to gray, and then to black. She wasn't completely sure, of course, but she was pretty sure that she fainted and fell over on her back.

2222222222

When Angel woke up again, she felt much better. She hadn't slept so well in years. She felt so good, in fact, that she sat straight up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Angel?" A familiar voice nearby asked. Angel looked to her left and saw Cecil sitting on the bed next to her. Angel was slightly surprised to see him there. She wasn't even sure where she was.

Cecil immidiately pulled Angel closer to him and hugged her. "We thought you'd gone," He said to her. "If you ever do that again, I don't know what we'll do to you."

"I won't, daddy," She promised. "I really mean it this time. I'm not going anywhere for a long time; count on it."

Angel suddenly remembered everything that had happened before she blacked out. "Is Rydia alright?" She asked.

"She's fine, thanks to you," Cecil informed her proudly. "She was still a little bit weak when we got back, but she's a lot better now. There was also... an unexpected surprise that we found out."

"What was it?" Angel asked. "

Well, she's going to have a baby," Cecil told her. Angel's jaw fell open.

"That's wonderful!" She exclaimed. "...Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Did I really do all that these past two weeks?" She asked, not quite ready to believe that all she had done had actually happened.

"Yes, sweetheart," Cecil said, nodding his head. "You really did."

2222222222

Ha ha! Quite a twist, eh? Betcha didn't see that one coming! Well, it's not over yet; there's still a little more for the sisters and their new friends to do before things wrap up. No war yet. That's coming much later.

Well, school officially starts tomorow. I'm glad I finally finished this phase of Angel and Sefi's journey before I got stuck in that time crunch. New chapters will not be so frequent anymore. Look for new updates, at best, every weekend now.

Much love, Freida.