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Rita finds Raven sitting cross-legged on the wall of the bridge, looking down at the water. He doesn't notice her as she comes up behind him.
"When were you planning on asking me?" she asks loudly, and snickers when he jumps visibly.
"Askin' you what?" Raven responds as he turns around to face her. "You're gonna have ta be more specific than that."
Rita sighs. "Come on, take off your shirt."
The look on Raven's face is pretty priceless. "Ah... Rita darlin', I knew you'd come ta appreciate my charms someday, but--"
"Oh, shut up," Rita says, and socks him in the center of the chest. He flails and grabs at the edge of the bridge to keep from toppling backwards. "Let me see your blastia."
Raven's face goes immediately blank, his knuckles white where he grips the stone. "It's not really important."
"Ha. Yeah, right, it's not." Rita holds up a finger. "It uses your life force instead of aer, but it's got a core like any other blastia, right? That means it'll stop working when it's gone."
"That's kinda what I'd figured, yeah." Raven rubs the back of his head. "But it's not important. We need every core in the world for this plan of yours, right? It's not the only thing that'll break."
"It's your heart! That's pretty important. All my magic will stop working too, but that doesn't mean I won't find something to replace it!" Rita stomps her foot and gestures sharply.
"Hey," Raven says, holding out his hands, eyes darting around. "Try not to yell about that so loudly, would ya?"
"Pfft, like I care." She crosses her arms. "You're the one who's being stupid. I'll yell until you listen to me."
"Fine, fine." Raven climbs down from the ledge with a resigned sigh. "Ya can take a look. But not in the middle of the city."
"This is more like the edge of the city, you know." Rita responds automatically. "But whatever. Come back to the inn."
"Not the inn." Raven frowns, looking towards it. "I don't want to worry the others."
"We're already worried, idiot," she snaps, and Raven turns back to her in surprise. It takes a moment to realize what she said, and her face heats and she turns away. "I mean, er... I know Yuri is worried. I'm not sure everyone else has thought it out far enough yet, but they'd still care if you died, old man. For some reason."
"Why, thanks, Rita," Raven drawls. "I'm truly touched by yer concern." But he's smiling gently when she sneaks a glance out of the corner of her eye.
"W-whatever. I don't really care where we do it, anyway. Just pick somewhere."
***
There's a room in Altosk headquarters that Raven uses occasionally when he's in town. It's late enough that they only run into a few people on the way, but it's also late enough that they all give Rita looks that make him worry for his reputation in the morning. He sighs audibly.
"What now?" Rita asks, glancing at him sidelong.
"Nothing, Rita dear. Just down this way," he says. When they reach the room he holds the door open for her.
She strides in and takes a seat on the floor, looking at him impatiently. "Take off your shirt and sit right there."
"Whatever you say." Raven tries not to feel self-conscious as he strips to the waist. Rita just gives him a cursory look over while he takes a seat, then summons a formula console.
"Hmm," she says immediately.
"What is it?" Although he's not sure he wants to know.
"It's... just be quiet for a while. It'll take me a bit to look over the details of the formula. The fundamentals are the same, of course, but it's structured way differently than what I did with Estelle... It's a lot more..." Rita bites her lip as symbols scroll by in glowing light.
Raven waits a few beats before realizing she's not going to continue. "Sure, sure. You're the genius mage. Just don't break my heart, alright?"
Rita only spares a quick glare at him before turning back to her work without comment. Raven takes the hint and falls silent.
The room feels uncomfortably cold with his torso bare, even in the muggy humidity of Dahngrest. And even if he knows her eyes are actually focused closer, on the glowing console in the air between them, it looks like Rita is staring at his chest. He's nervous, he realizes. It's strange. It doesn't really matter what she finds, of course, because he's already been dead for ten years. But his heart is beating quicker than usual. He wonders if Rita can tell.
An interminable amount of time passes while he watches her work - fingers darting from point to point, eyes jumping back and forth, occasionally narrowing in consideration or widening in surprise. He relaxes, a little, and begins to wonder if she even remembers he's there.
He shifts a bit.
"Don't move." Rita says without looking up.
"Darlin', my leg's falling asleep."
"Stop whining. I need to verify the core frequency, and it's a lot easier when you're..." she trails off. A few seconds pass and Raven decides she's lost again.
If his leg wasn't really falling asleep before, it is prickling painfully by the time Rita's hands abruptly still, banishing the console, and she looks up to his face again. "Alright, I can do it." She's smiling.
Raven takes a moment to find words again. "What do you want to do to it?"
"Switch the formula so it's powered by the spirits, of course." Rita sounds annoyed. "What, did you think I was just looking at it for fun?"
Raven stares at her. "But it's a blastia. The whole thing is part of the formula, right?"
Rita looks briefly impressed. "That's more than I'd expect you to know, old man. That's right - normally blastia are independent units, and the structure of the blastia is a major part of defining the formula. But yours is already different than that - it's got a complicated formula laid through your whole body to gather your life energy, but the physical blastia itself is actually pretty simple. If I can get the energy itself from somewhere else, it shouldn't really need the core just to control your heart. Your body handles most of that already."
"Whoa, whoa. The detailed explanation is a bit too much for this old man." Raven rubs at one of his shoulders, where the muscles are knotting tightly.
"So can I do it?"
"I'm not sure. You sound a bit too excited about this, Rita dear."
Rita's face flushes. "I-it's a completely unique experiment! I won't ever have a chance like this again!"
"And that's real confidence-buildin', right there." Raven sighs. "You want to do it right now?"
"It won't get any easier later." She crosses her arms and looks at him, waiting.
It still sounds impossible, but it's not like he can get any more dead now than he'd be when they go through with their plan. "Alright," he says before he's quite sure he's going to. If anyone can manage it, Rita can.
"Good. Stand up for this part." Rita stands as well, summoning the console again and tapping out a few things before taking a stance. "First I'll set up the spirit formula. Ready?"
"Go for it."
Rita gestures, and suddenly he can feel the energy tingling through him, and see it glowing just slightly blue across his skin. It's a rush, and he feels his heart rate pick up, his mouth suddenly dry.
"Alright, I'm switching off the life energy formula," Rita says, tapping quickly at her console, and he freezes with instinctive panic. He marvels distantly that he's still capable of it.
It's harder to describe what happens next; the energy rush is abruptly gone, the pleasurable tingle absent, but at the same time, he feels warm. And freer, like he's taken off a heavy cloak.
"Okay?" Rita asks, and she's looking directly at him, not at her console.
Raven nods absently. "Is that it?"
"Yeah," Rita says, and takes two steps closer to him.
He's not sure what he expects Rita to do, but it's definitely not what she does, which is reach into his blastia and pull loose the core like it's nothing. He can hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he gapes at her. "Dammit, Rita, that--"
"Better to find out if it didn't work now than when you lose that for good." She grins, rolling the core around in her hand. "But it did work, right? You're okay."
Raven takes a few deep breaths. "Looks like."
"Good. You'd still be in trouble if someone pulled out the blastia itself, but not any more trouble than anyone else would be if you pulled out their heart."
"...That's a charming image, Rita, thanks."
"Ha. Like I'd want to charm you."
Raven puts on a smile. "Well, you've got the core of ol' Raven's heart already. Why don't you hold on ta that? In a few years maybe you'll be able ta win over the rest."
"Ugh," Rita growls, and throws the core at him. "You can keep it."
Raven picks it up and pockets it, then grabs his shirt. "Let's head back to the others."
"Yeah," Rita says, mouth twitching back into a grin of accomplishment.
Somehow, Raven can't help grinning too.