Rebirth

The first thing Nier saw when he woke up in Popola's arms was the face of a traitor. Her long red hair cascaded down all around him like the bars of a scarlet cage. Her features were different than how he remembered. Her eyes were a strange shade of aqua instead of the gray that colored his memory. She was pretty. Even prettier than he recalled. Her visage had not a single hint of age. No wrinkles, no blemishes… nothing. Her lips curved with worry. It was perhaps the most genuine emotion he had ever seen from someone so soulless.

"Devola," she called but didn't take her eyes off him. "He's awake! Bring the water!"

Popola's visage hovered like a phantom mere inches above him. He couldn't even see Devola approach through the forest of her hair. Popola wasn't cold like the ghost she should've been. He could feel her arms press down on him. All the weight of a woman made of metal closed down around him. No, she wasn't a ghost, though, it would've made more sense to Nier if she was.

Devola aimed the weathered pitcher to his lips and Popola gently tilted his head as if he couldn't do it himself. The whole thing was embarrassing, but in that weakened state, Nier wasn't confident he could move so much as a muscle. He may not want their help, but he certainly needed them.

Mucky water mixed with what tasted an awful lot like wet sand stung his lips and mortified his tongue. He drank on instinct. His throat was so dry, it felt like it would close on him. He drank a few swigs before Devola drew the pitcher back. He recognized the old thing. In fact, it wasn't a pitcher at all. It was his old watering can. The sky-blue paint had long since chipped away and left nothing but rust behind.

Popola eased his head back down on a pillow that felt more like a sack of jagged stones. The mattress wasn't much better. Popola withdrew a bit but refused to leave his side for whatever deceitful reason she likely had. He hadn't the energy to shove her off. All he could do was sit and endure her roaming hands.

"You okay," came Popola's voice again.

Nier felt dizzy just looking at her. She should be dead. "Popola? Is that you?"

"I take it you knew us."

"And you know me," he reminded. His head sunk into the aged pillow. Popola loomed over him. Her face was illuminated by the shine of Devola's flashlight. Her hair almost glowed under the gleam of artificial light like a blaze of hellfire. He could see very little else of her but her shape was still felt in the dark.

The face of a traitor. How he'd love to snuff her smile out of existence forever. Her cries of grief played on loop in his head. Every time she sent him and his party out to fight like the pawns they were. The time she kicked his friends out of the village just to weaken them more. The heartless way she worked for the monster that took his sister. The way she… taught him to read or gave him medicine anytime Yonah needed it.

After a few agonizing moments, he smiled up at her. A smile that betrayed the burning grudge festering behind the blue of his eyes.

"I'm glad you're here," he said earnestly.

Popola lit up. Her cheeks turned as red as her hair. Even Devola who had eyed him with skepticism the whole time seemed to soften a bit. It was as if the twins had never been complimented a day in their lives.

Nier might've hugged them both—or maybe just cut their heads off—had his arms been willing to obey him. Every muscle in his body ached from undeath. His heart thumped with a conflicted mix of tormenting rage and longing. For the time being, words would have to suffice. "I missed you so much."

Too bad the moment didn't last longer. The instant Nier felt his strength returning, he shoved the twins both aside and headed for the stairs. He stopped only to glance back at the massive egg at the other end of the room. It seethed with an aura he couldn't quite comprehend. It puzzled him just as much as it puzzled Devola and Popola, but he could worry about the mystery of it all later. He turned and headed down to the lower floor. Devola called after him but he let her voice go in one ear and out the other.

Yonah's room was in even worse condition. At least there was more room to move around without that strange egg taking up half the space. Clutter was buried under timeless sand. A glimmer of metal drew Nier's attention. It was Rebirth. One of the swords he collected early on during his grand adventure to slay the Shadowlord. He strapped the hooped blade to his back and scanned the rest of the chamber.

The walls were eroded. The narrow windows were blocked by dunes. The whole planet really has changed and not for the better it seemed. Hovering by Yonah's bed, Nier spotted a familiar face. It seemed that face spotted Nier at the same time.

"By my yellowing pages! I thought I'd turn to dust waiting on you!"

Nier could recognize that arrogant tone anywhere. "Weiss! Guess you got shoved in the egg too?"

"So those twins say."

Nier stepped up to Weiss' side. Together they stared down at the mummy laid up in Yonah's old bed. Her small frame was reduced yet more in size by the ruthlessness of marching time. Were it not for the faded dress, Nier would've never been able to recognize his own sister. His stomach churned at the sight of her petrified remains. He could've gone his whole life without seeing that and would've been better off for it.

"What's happened to us," Nier asked in a hushed tone.

"Take a look outside," murmured Weiss. "You'll find out quickly."

His curiosity was piqued. Nier threw open the front door and his jaw nearly hit the sandy floor. The village hardly resembled its old self. His neighbors lay decayed and whithered in the desert dust. The sky was blotted out by creeping sandstone. The homes, fountain, and library were almost lost under the rise of shifting dunes.

Weiss' voice tethered Nier—pulled him back from the edge of madness. "What do we do, lad? What's our first move?"

"Straight to the point," Nier said as he shut the door. He stepped back to Yonah's bedside.

"I don't have the patience to be obtuse anymore, old friend."

Nier reached down and brushed a few strands of ancient hair—still white as ever—out of Yonah's melted visage.

A gentle voice sundered the silence. "Please don't strain yourself, sir." It was Popola. She and her sister stood on the edge of the stairs. They looked on with equal worry. "I don't want you hurting yourself."

Weiss tilted toward Nier and whispered, "And what are they doing here? Aren't they supposed to be dead?"

The swordsman shrugged. "Guess the big sleep isn't so big after all."

Regardless of it all, Nier made up his mind then and there. In fact, he made up his mind the instant he saw his precious sister lying dead and decayed in her bed. He reached down and took her in his arms.

"Now, lad," Weiss nagged. "I know what you're thinking…"

"Then you also know that trying to argue is pointless. Yonah's coming back. I don't care about anything else."

Nier marched to the stairs. The twins reluctantly moved out of his way and he carried on without so much as a hint of hesitation.

Nier approached the egg. He stared down at the husk of a body grasped tightly in his arms. For some odd reason, he felt like he was being watched all of a sudden. He took another step closer. His boot crunched a little white feather. He moved back and saw a few of the things. Pearly feathers all neatly arranged around the egg. Odd. Neither he nor Yonah ever collected feathers. Perhaps the twins left them here? Regardless, he moved ever onward.

"Hold, lad," came Weiss' voice from behind.

Nier glanced back. His de facto companions stood by the stairs. Weiss, Popola and Devola. A strange twist of fate this was.

"I told you already," warned Nier. "She'll live."

"We still don't know what that thing is," pleaded Devola. "Just leave her be for the time being. Until we can learn more about what's going on! We can always revive her later."

"I'm in agreement with Devola," added Weiss. "We know not what powers we toy with, and I can't shake the feeling that there's something off about that… thing. Something sinister!"

The only one who didn't argue was Popola. She stood timidly in the corner, anticipating his next move with unknowable interest. Nier shrugged them all off. They were right, of course. He knew that. He just didn't care. None of that mattered right now. None of them mattered. All that concerned him was breathing life into poor Yonah.

"Raise her," Nier whispered. He spoke to the egg and nobody else. "Raise this village now!"

With a thrust, he plunged the cadaver deep into the egg. Its once solid shell liquefied and accepted her remains with gluttonous greed. She disappeared into the unseen yolk. The whole room lit up with runes. The egg spit Yonah out with an eruption of enchanted light. Her flesh was restored. Her chest heaved with every gentle breath. A full head of white hair cascaded down as she fell back into her brother's arms. Unconscious, but she was alive again.

"I hope we don't wind up regretting all this later," said Weiss but Nier was more than happy to ignore him. He shot a glare at the twins as if daring them to try and interfere. Neither of them moved an inch.

All fell quiet for a moment. For a moment…

Suddenly, a pulse of energy exploded from the egg and ripped through the silence. It traveled with force yet passed through the walls as if it had no form at all. Nier felt every bone in his body rattle.

"What was that," exclaimed Devola. "That didn't happen the first time!"

Popola felt something tickle her leg through her boots. She looked down. Little blades of grass, flowers, and other green flora sprang from the sandy floors. It was as if that shortwave had brought new life into the very soil. "Look!"

She pointed down to the rapidly expanding mass of overgrowth. A rumble subtly shook the walls. A disturbance came from outside the house. Nier was the first to get up. He sat Yonah down gently. Something was going on outside. He needed to see it.

The others had the same idea. He, Weiss, and the twins charged down the stairs and threw open the front door. To everyone's utter bewilderment, the whole village was coming back to life. Lifeless sand turned to dark soil filled with life-giving neutralists. Right before their eyes, roots, and plants erupted from the ground. Massive blankets of grass coated the whole village as if the place had just been doused in green paint. The many corpses mummified over eons of erosion and decay softened and started to move. They came to life all on their own. Rotting hands and skeletal fingers exploded from the earth. Corpses rose one by one.

Nier and Weiss recognized some of them. The old lady that liked sitting by the fountain and watching the children play. The farmers across the field. Even their pigs and chickens were being resurrected all in the span of a few minutes. Guards, children, and the elderly all sprang up from their graves. Their old flesh manifested over their decrepit bodies as they rose like zombies.

Devola shrieked. She stumbled back and rushed inside the house. Popola was at a loss for words. She looked like she wanted to scream but she just couldn't bring herself to make the sound. Weiss was equally speechless. The magical tome swayed uncomfortably back and forth as if he were about to faint.

Nier just watched it all with bright eyes. A mix of divisive emotions just as conflicted as his feelings for the twins squirmed in his undead heart.

Whatever that egg was, it had just granted his only wish.