Love's Memories

The next day, the duo arrived in Lorbenia. Lyle asked Rasha to wait outside of the house while he went inside. She agreed, and he went to talk to his friends.

"Lyle, we were worried," Fam admitted, "You ran off without telling us what was up."

"Never mind that, just give us the dirt. Where were you for all these months?" Ihrie inquired.

So Lyle told them all about his travels, giving great attention to his trip to Arus, and the fact that Rasha was alive. He told them, "I want you to pretend you're meeting her for the first time. If she finds out who she really is again, she might try to kill herself again. I lost her once, I won't lose her again."

Ihrie nodded. "You can count on us. Right Fam, Migel?"

Fam nodded as well. You can tell she didn't really want to have to agree with Rasha, but she didn't want to harm her either. She was too gentle a soul to try and do something that would cause great emotional trauma to another person, no matter who that person happened to be.

"Are you sure she won't go crazy again?" asked Migel, "I mean, she is Rahashina."

"No, I'm not 100 percent sure. But all I know is that Rasha has no memory of what happened, or of us. There is a chance that Sargus did something to her in order to both protect the world from the Sinistraels and save her life. I don't know what that is, but I am willing to give her a chance," Lyle replied.

Migel was about to say something, but decided against it at the last minute when he saw Ihrie glaring. He didn't know why he let these girls walk all over him. He'd let Rasha because he was afraid of her blasting him. But Ihrie wouldn't do that, least she turn into a mouse again. There was just a certain appeal to her that he hadn't found in any other woman. Maybe that was why they'd become a couple in the past year. Well, Fam's matchmaker scheme could have something to do with it too.

Finally, Rasha was allowed to come in. She introduced herself, and then asked for their names. One by one, Lyle's companions gave their names, and the party was on.

But sometime later, Rasha began to feel uncomfortable. The four had shared such an incredible adventure together, and had so many stories to tell. She, on the other hand, had lost her memory after the boat she was on crashed near Arus, and her parents had been killed. Rasha could only dream about the places Lyle and his friends had seen, and imagine the adventures they had.

Rasha thought, 'If only I had gone on an adventure like that. I would love to have something to brag about besides my little abilities in the kitchen, and slight magical powers.'

Fam began telling her about the time that the gargoyle had captured her, and Ihrie had tried to attack with her magic. "You see, Ihrie has this curse, where she turns into a mouse whenever she uses her magic. So she cast a spell on the demon, and poof, she became a mouse. She landed on my shoulder, and we had the monster laughing so hard that Migel killed it rather easily."

"Mouse, did you say mouse?" asked Rasha, "Please, don't do any magic in front of me then. I'm scared of mice. I spent all last winter hiding from the ones that snuck into the house."

"Some things never change, right Ihrie?" inquired Fam, forgetting Rasha didn't remember.

At that moment, Rasha began feeling twice as silly. Why had Fam said that? Rather yet, why did she have the feeling she's seen a curse like Ihrie's before? Could the group have come to her hometown while on their travels, and she'd talked with them a little bit? But it seemed like it was something much more than that, some deeper connection that she couldn't explain.

Rasha politely excused herself, and went outside to sit on the docks. She asked herself, 'What is going on with me? Why do I feel like these people are important to me? Just who am I?"

Suddenly, a woman's ghost appeared. She had on a white sundress with gold arm cuffs and sandals on her feet. Her necklace was made of round onyx beads with some golden tooth shaped ones that were situated so that they lay on her shoulders. But her facial features were strange, with pointed ears, and blue eyes shaped like that of a demon. And the hair on her head matched Rasha's.

The woman looked at the girl. "Rasha, listen closely. I am Rahashina, the Sinistrael of Death."

"Sinistrael of Death!" exclaimed Rasha, "What do you want with me?"

"I want to help you. You have forgotten yourself, and your true purpose," she replied.

Rasha asked, "Who am I? Why have you come to me? Death has no reason to help the living."

Rahashina's eyes fixed on the sorceress. "You are me, as a human. A hundred years ago, I fell in love with Maxim, while I was testing to see how humans could stand against Super Beings such as Sinistraels. It was so strong, that I betrayed my nature to save his son. After that, I wished to be human. It was granted, and I was born to human parents, seventeen years ago."

"As me, right?" Rasha whispered, "But what happened to me then to make me forget?"

"My powers were still active, and my brothers came back to life. Lyle and his friends went up against them, and you had come along, as Lyle was your childhood friend. But once the battle was won, you thought that you could kill yourself to stop it from happening again. Sargus refused to destroy one who cared more about her friends than herself, so she split us into two beings. I returned to my spirit body, and will have to petition for a new existence again. But you were stripped of your memories and given back your life. Now, I will help you remember who you are. It's the least I can do, for you have shown me such a happy life as a human," Rahashina stated.

Rasha closed her eyes. She remembered the demons slaughtering her human parents, hoping to get to her. She remembered her foster father, who died of a disease when she was seven. She remembered her childhood with Lyle and Meria, as well as Meria's tragic death. She remembered all of the adventures Lyle and the others had taken her on. And she remembered how she had given up her life, hoping to spare Lyle from another fight with the Sinistraels. The chants for all her spells, the strength she had gained, all of it returned to her, making her the feared sorceress once again.

* * *

Lyle went out to find her shortly after that. He saw the young sorceress sitting by the docks, looking at herself in the water. The youth asked, "Rasha, are you ok?"

She turned to him and smiled. "I'm more than ok Lyle. I can remember my past. The spirit of Rahashina came to me, and told me about how she only wanted to be a normal human. Then, she gave me back my memories. I can remember our childhood together."

"Does that mean you remember what you said to me in Doom Island?" Lyle inquired, "Because I wanted to say that I feel the same way about you too."

Rasha's eyes brightened. She ran towards Lyle, and fell into his arms. Then, they kissed. That lasted a good five minutes, until they heard Fam calling out for the two of them to come back inside.

- - - -

I'll put the thank yous up now. First, to Taito for the story. Second, to whoever made Ruin Explorers for the characters. Third, to the many variety sites that got me into Slayers, as I got interested in RE through watching the ads on my Slayers OAVs. Finally, to my good friends Carolyn and Suzie, who got me into Lufia.