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Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details of the Ys series. Do not read it if you have not played it and intend to do so in the future. |
Reah (レア) is a mysterious blue-haired poet in Minea who asks Adol to find her lost harmonica in Ys I.
History
Just like Feena, she later reveals herself to be one of the twin goddesses who governed over the mythic kingdom of Ys. She also plays a prominent role in the prequel Ys Origin.
After the fall of the Eldeen civilization, she and her twin sister Feena came to Esteria with the Black Pearl. With the help of six families who were well-versed in magic, they built the kingdom of Ys. The kingdom prospered under their guidance until a series of disasters befell Ys, which forced the Goddesses and the Six Priests to evacuate Ys by lifting a part of the kingdom into the sky using magic. In order to put an end to the disaster, the twin goddesses sealed the Black Pearl with their wings and fell into a seemingly-eternal sleep until the seal gets broken 700 years later.
In Games
Ys Origin
More than 700 years before she met Adol Christin in Esteria, the Kingdom of Ys came under attack by demons. During the war against those demons, the entire kingdom was burned except for Solomon Shrine, so together with Feena and the Six Priests she used the Black Pearl's power to lift the Shrine into the sky. However, the demons started to build Darm Tower in order to gain access to the Shrine, so she and Feena went down to the burned ground of the Kingdom of Ys to investigate.
Long before that, Reah became close with the disinherited member of the Fact family-Toal Fact-who served as a Holy Knight, protecting the Goddesses. Though he initially sought to keep distance between himself and the Goddesses due to perceiving himself as a mere mortal serving them, the two eventually convinced him to drop the formalities, and he became their friend. Over time, Toal became Reah's closest companion-potentially even closer than Feena-as when both Feena and Toal were worried about Reah overworking herself carrying out her plan to seal all the Cleria underground, Feena expressed the belief that Toal would have more success than her in convincing Reah to take a break.
The night before carrying out the plan of lifting the Solomon Shrine into the sky, Reah was visited by Toal and given a harmonica made of Cleria. Unbeknownst to Reah, the harmonica was not only a token of his feelings for her but also a momento to remember him by, as Toal was planning to secretly join Saul Tovah in his mission to stay behind and buy time by holding off the demons.
After Reah learned Toal remained behind she was saddened, but as the demons' deeds down on the surface became more and more conspicuous during the next six months, the Twin Goddesses became aware they had a traitor among them. The Goddesses decided to leave Solomon Shrine and descended on the destroyed surface together with the Black Pearl, finding that the ground had became even more distorted during their time away. Later, they found Toal's broken Cleria sword, which saddened Reah and briefly caused her to believe him dead. However, his sword started to shine, and she realized he was not dead yet.
Reah and Feena entered Darm Tower and became separated. Feena served as a bait in order to allow Reah with the Black Pearl to move upstairs without any major problems. Reah eventually met Toal again, now having taken a part of the Demonic Essence into himself. The reunion was far from happy, even though they were both happy to see each other again. Acting in his role as a member of the Darklings, Toal demanded the Black Pearl and revealed his demonic form to her, promising that he'd ensure her safety if she came quietly. Reah refuses, and requests that Toal return to his human form as she knew that retaining both his demonic form and his sanity put him under a great deal of strain. Though a conflicted Toal eventually offers to help her, Reah declines, claiming she must do her job alone.
The two encounter each other again in the upper parts of the Darm Tower where, now knowing the Goddesses plan to seal away the Black Pearl and fall into a slumber, Toal seeks to find a way to save her. Acknowledging his feelings for her, Toal expresses the desire for a future where he can live alongside Reah, and asks her to work with him to find a way to resolve the conflict without either of them sacrificing themselves. Reah is moved by Toal's words, but before she can react the Darkling leader Dalles reveals he had been eavesdropping, anticipating Toal's betrayal. Reah was brought to the top of the Tower, trapped and tortured until she lost consciousness while the Black Pearl's power was absorbed by her captor.
Soon Toal arrives, having worked with the knights and sorcerers of Ys to fend off the other Darklings. Using the power of Reah's Goddess Ring at her behest to counter Dalles' magic, Toal challenges and defeats him. After his defeat, a reeling Dalles is finished off by Cain Fact, one of the Six Priests, who reveals himself as the traitor Reah and Feena had suspected, having manipulated the actions of all of Ys to gain more power. Using the power of the Black Pearl, Cain becomes seemingly invincible, however Feena returns Toal's Silver Sword to him, its Cleria channeling the power of all of Ys and allowing Toal to pierce Cain's barrier. In response, Cain merges with the Black Pearl to become Darm, whom Toal then faces and defeats before collapsing, exhausted.
Realizing that Darm is not dead and that the Black Pearl must still be sealed away, Reah takes advantage of Toal's fatigue and retrieves her harmonica from him, which he had found earlier. She tearfully thanks him for everything he ever did for her, and tells him that hearing he wanted to spend his future alongside her made her happier than she has ever been before. Ignoring Toal's pleas, she asks to be placed deep underground after things are done, and together with Feena seals the Black Pearl, becoming petrified and falling into a deep slumber.
Toal and the rest of the successors of the Six Priests then granted them their wish and sealed the two Goddesses along with the Black Pearl deep underground in the abandoned mine.
Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished: Omen
Adol first meets Reah upon his arrival at Minea. She tells Adol that she lost her Silver Harmonica and asks him to find it. Later on, the harmonica is found in the Abandoned Mine. Once he returns the harmonica to her, she plays her harmonica and recites a poem about the mythical kingdom of Ys.
In Darm Tower, Adol meets her again at Rado's Annex, where she is held captive. Here, Reah reveals to Adol that the man responsible for her kidnapping and the monsters' appearance in Esteria is none other than Dark Fact. She also tells him that Dark Fact's cloak is made of the special metal called Cleria, so unless Adol also uses equipment made of Cleria, Adol would have no chance of defeating Dark Fact. She gives him a monocle, which allows Adol to read the books of Ys. Lastly, she comments that although Darm Tower is a scary place, she can't help but feel nostalgic for some reason.
Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished: The Final Chapter
In Ys II, Reah appears only at the end of the game. It is revealed that she is one of the twin goddesses of Ys along with her sister Feena. Right before the final battle against Darm, she and her sister Feena infuse Adol's Cleria sword with the power of the ancient kingdom of Ys. After Adol's victory over Darm, Feena and Reah seal themselves along with the Black Pearl so the Black Pearl may not be used for evil ever again.
Trivia
- One can distinguish Reah from her twin sister as Reah's hair bangs completely cover her forehead.
- Her silver harmonica is a gift from her lover Toal Fact 700 years before the events of Ys I.