The Witch of Storn

Chapter 16

Rey instinctively knew what she would see when she opened her eyes. She didn't want to, preferring to stay unaware under the comfortable blanket of darkness that had accompanied her in the moments before she regained consciousness. The tutting of a familiar voice however had her opening them in defeat. She glared weakly at her old friend, who brushed it aside like an insignificant speck of dust.

"How nice to see you again, Rey Brien."

Rey rolled her eyes. She didn't see any more need for niceties; she was well and truly dead this time, and it would be a waste of time (not that she was going anywhere). She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at the still smiling being. They seemed to be in a good mood this time unlike the last (and first) time she had seen them. It wasn't as if she cared, so she shrugged it off.

"I can't say the same. Whatever, can we just move on? Why am I here again?"

"Because you died?" They replied in a cheery voice that contrasted greatly with Rey's dull tone. Rey clenched her fists at the horribly out of place smile on their face. She sighed soon afterwards, releasing her fists and relaxing her fingers. There was no point in getting angry, and the sooner she was done with whatever it was this time the sooner she could move on to wherever she was going.

Also, she was tired. She just wanted to sleep, preferably for a thousand years and it would be best if it was a dreamless one. She reluctantly redirected her attention away from her fantasies when they began to speak again, still sporting that infuriatingly happy smile.

"Never mind about that. It was such a shame, really, especially since I was right from the very start, but we'll put that behind us, won't we?" They placed their clasped hands on their crossed knees. This time the smile was replaced with a victorious smirk. Even if it was annoying, Rey thought it was much better than their previous smile.

Rey cut in quickly before they resumed their speech.

"Wait. Wait, what do you mean you were right from the start? I wasn't even dead yet!"

She couldn't believe the effrontery of this being. Were all of them like this? The two beings she had met so far weren't inspiring any good feelings in her. Were these really the right beings to assign people to new lives? They looked like the type to reincarnate souls in objects and insignificant creatures like slime just because they wanted to.

They narrowed their eyes at her. "You died how many hours later, exactly?"

When the only response they received was Rey gritting her teeth they went on contentedly.

"I sensed the aura of death around you, which was why I pulled you out of your body. I admit that putting your soul in Rhaenar's body was a slight mistake--" they grumbled while Rey raised her eyebrows as high as they would go.

"Slight mistake?" Rey interrupted in such a shrill voice that the being winced. They held up a hand hastily, stopping her from starting a rant.

"Fine, fine! I made a mistake, alright?  Two, in fact! Are you happy now?" They glared at her, looking anything but sorry. Rey on the other hand was in shock. The beings possessed the ability to apologise? She fought the urge to rub at her eyes, seeing as they were looking very displeased at her obvious surprise. Secretly she still wondered if she was dreaming. First the being smiled (no matter how fake it was), and now they were admitting their mistake?

Well, whatever. The sensible thing to do would be to accept it and move on graciously, so she simply said a small thank you and moved on to the more urgent topic at hand, ignoring the glare sent her way.

“So what happens to me now?” Rey asked. The being sat up from its sulky slouch, visibly feeling in control of the situation again now that the conversation had changed course. They shifted a few papers around on the table, sifting through the words on them and finally picking one out. Their eyes moved over the paper, putting it down a few moments later. They turned their gaze back to Rey.

“Well, you can reincarnate into a new life, a brand new life this time. There’ll be no memories of your past life. You’ll grow again from a baby into an adult and die. In a nutshell, it’s the cycle of life all over again.”

Rey looked at her feet floating above the white floor and pondered this option carefully. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. She looked up at the being that was reclining in their chair, appearing totally indifferent to the situation, like an unrelated passerby. Rolling her eyes inwardly she put on a simper.

“Oh, I see,” she said. “What are the other options?”

The being stopped rocking their chair at that, something Rey was thankful for as the accompanying noise stopped also. They stared at Rey like she had her head on backwards.

“What do you mean, what are the other options?” they echoed. Rey’s eyebrows drew slightly closer to each other. She didn’t understand what they meant.

They saw the confusion in her face and sighed loudly, shaking their head with a woebegone look. Anyone who saw them would assume that they had gone through so much and would automatically feel sorry for them. Rey just stood there, puzzled and questioning.

“Really, you humans make me wonder how you’ve managed to exist this long in spite of your stupidity.”

“Hey! I take offence to that!” Rey interrupted in indignation. The being just rolled its eyes lazily at her.

“Offence intended, I assure you. And can you blame me? I thought it was obvious but then you asked that absurdly ignorant question.”

They held a hand up, preventing Rey from replying.

“Fine, I’ll answer. There are no other options.””

There was a brief silence, during which Rey tried to make sense of what she had just heard. Logically it did make sense, but for some reason she couldn’t understand it.

She asked, “What do you mean by that? The other being I met after I left Rhaenar’s body gave me two choices—“

“Yes, He did because I made a mistake and it had to be rectified. But now everything is as it should be, so there is nothing else to choose from. Do you understand now?”

Rey nodded. She still had more questions, such as the possibility of an afterlife, or even what would happen if a soul didn’t want to get reincarnated. Unfortunately the being was done with civility, hushing her harshly when she tried to ask. Rey grudgingly stayed quiet and watched them do whatever it was they were doing, grabbing stamps out of thin air and pressing them onto the papers on the table. As they were stamped each piece of paper vanished until the table was bare. The being threw the stamp they held into the air and it disappeared like the rest. They turned back to Rey.

“Your papers are done. Is there anything you would like to say or do before moving on?”

Rey raised an eyebrow. The offer sounded too good, especially since it came from this being, to be true. Also, what would she even do? She would have actually liked to speak to Helene but—

“No? That’s fine.”

“Wait--!”

They snapped their fingers. A portal shimmered into existence, blinding white light radiating from it. Rey looked at it and then at the being, who made a shooing motion towards the portal.

Rey walked towards it obediently, her eyes fixed on the brilliant oval of light. She tried to look away but somehow it held her and refused to let her go. She opened her mouth to speak but no words escaped her open lips. All the while her feet brought her closer and closer to the portal until she stopped directly in front of it. Just as she was about to lift one foot into it she made one last effort, pulling her eyes away after straining herself to the point where tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. She shifted her gaze to the being, who met it with an unwavering stare of his own.

Rey tried to speak, but her time had run out. Her head snapped back to the portal so fast that if she still had a physical body she would be suffering from unbelievable neck pain. Behind her the being watched with interest as her foot which had stayed in the air suddenly unfroze, continuing on its way into the portal. It drew nearer and nearer, getting so close that her foot almost couldn’t be seen any longer, being bathed in the light that emanated from the shining portal. Finally the foot made contact with the portal, and then—

Nothing happened. Rather, what was supposed to happen didn’t take place.

The being fell off its chair, still staring even as its butt met the floor. Rey stared too at the space.  The room looked the same as before; white floor, white walls, furnished with throne-like chair and table and being. That was the problem; it was the same as before.

The being recovered first. They jumped off the floor, banging their palms against the table and glaring at Rey with such intensity that she took a step back, almost tripping over her feet.

“What did you do?” they demanded. Rey shook her head, waving her arms around frantically as if to ward off the accusation.

“Me?!” she retorted, aghast at the mere implication of her having done whatever it was she allegedly did.

“I didn’t do anything! I couldn’t, you know that! I couldn’t even look away from that thing!”

“But it disappeared when you touched it, so there’s no other explanation—“

Rey cut in sharply. “That makes even less sense, you can see that, surely?” when the other said nothing she went on. “You are the one who has the power here and I’m just a helpless little soul. There’s no way this is my fault.”

In response to her defense the being just sank into its chair, slouching in it with a deep sigh. They closed their eyes and stayed like that for a while. Rey realized she wasn’t going to get any more words from them yet so she turned her eyes to the room around her. It was strange. Rey remembered clearly that the portal had felt real to her; it wasn’t an illusion. Her foot had actually touched it for a very short moment before it just winked out of being, like a candle flame being blown out. Did that mean that she was the problem here then?

The being abruptly sat up in their chair, banging their fist on the table and startling Rey at the same time. "I've got it!" They nodded to their self with a pleased expression, like someone who had worked out the meaning of life.

Rey didn't understand. "Got what?" She asked. The being turned to her and their face fell.

"Oh. You."

They said it with disappointment, like they had been expecting something better to be in her place.

By this time Rey was past caring about the way the being turned up their nose at her like she was the filthiest piece of trash to ever exist. Instead she took a deep breath, using the moment to steady her emotions. Then she asked, "You've figured out what the problem was?"

The being pointed their nose up even higher, face almost parallel with the white ceiling and wearing a disgustingly smug smile. Rey snorted quietly at the silly image. She quickly put on an innocent look when their eyes narrowed in her direction. After a beat passed in which they stared at each other; one looking for any disrespectful actions and the other looking like a saint, halo and all, the being rolled their eyes and swiveled their chair away from Rey.

"Of course I did," they boasted with no little amount of pride. "It must have been the way I opened the portal." They nodded again, looking very pleased at their theory.

A beat passed and Rey realized that was all they had to say. She forced down the urge to face palm.

"Wow," she said. There was nothing else that came to mind. The being seemed to think it was genuine though, preening delightedly. If they were a peacock Rey could bet that their tail feathers would be on full display.

"No need to praise me; I know I'm brilliant," the being said in a humble tone, waving a hand airily. Your smile says the opposite though, Rey thought wryly.

She was interrupted in her musing when the smile on their face was replaced by a serious look. The being closed their eyes, breathing deeply as Rey watched, and then they snapped their fingers.

There was a brief silence. Rey looked around the room, and then looked at the confused being.Uncertainly she asked, "Was something supposed to happen when you snapped your fingers?"

The being didn't reply. They stared at their hands with a lost look, looking as if the world as they knew it had suddenly ceased to exist and there was nothing familiar to them anymore. Rey decided not to speak, feeling a little pity for the dejected being. So for the next few minutes the space was silent.

Out of nowhere a piece of paper floated down to the table, drifting this way and that even though there was no wind in the space. At first the being took no notice of it, eyes glancing at it for a second before moving away again in disinterest. The next moment their eyes widened and they grabbed the paper out of the air violently, reading the words it held with greedy eyes.

Rey waited quietly until they were done. Although when they put the paper down after minutes of staring at it all they did was groan and slump in their chair, so she waited for a bit before deciding it was time to say what she wanted to say.

However before she could say a word the being sat up again with another groan. They looked at her with suspicious eyes.

Rey was forced to ask. “What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

They shook their head.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking how wonderful it would be when I’m finally done with your case and never have to see you again,” they said.

Rey felt the same but she didn’t speak. The being still had a lot more to talk about.

They sighed.

“Do you know what this says?”

They waved the paper at her. Rey shook her head in response.

“It says you can’t be reincarnated, why is that? Because apparently, you’re still alive.”

“w-what? But I did die—“

The being nodded sagely.

“Yes, as Rey Brien. However, Rhaenar Aera il Tsaen is still very much alive,” they said.

Rey was silent for a moment, eyes fastened to her feet.

Finally she asked, “That’s good, but what does it have to do with me? You could just put Rhaenar’s soul back into her body and I can move on like usual.”

The being’s face twisted with surprise.

“You can’t!” they shouted. They shrunk back when Rey stared with surprise and coughed into their palm, avoiding her questioning eyes.

“What do you mean, I can’t?”

The being did not reply, muttering something under their breath. They gazed at the paper still sitting on their desk and gave a firm nod. Then they snapped their fingers.

It worked? Rey stared at the portal that shimmered in front of her. She looked back at the pleased being, who made a shooing motion towards the portal.

This time there was not even a fight. Obediently she walked towards the portal, feeling the familiar attraction once more. She reached it and held a hand out; it wasn't hot, unlike her expectations for something that shone so brightly.

“Goodbye Rey Brien.” The being said from behind her.

Rey nodded and walked into the light.