As you can guess from the icon, this is based on the opera sequence from Final Fantasy 6, with the story of Maria, Draco and Ralse. Most of it follows the tune of the original, but with embellishments in some places, and some entirely new sections.

This is actually a rather old song that took about eight months to create, mostly because I hit a difficult section in the middle of the piece where the main theme plays. After not being able to get the chords to sound right for ages I abandoned it, but came back later because I felt it should be finished. To my ears the chords still sound a little awkward in places, but that was the limit of my ability at this stage. =)

The climax of the song (including the version of the FF6 boss theme) is the part that I like best, but by the end I just didn't know where to stop it. Because of that, the sudden slowdown was included, followed by a melody that every Final Fantasy fan will recognise.

And I have to apologize for the appalling sound quality (56kb/s), which is necessary to be able to upload a seventeen-minute song and stay within the file size limit. A better version in IT format is available from my main music site, http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~wong/modsite/.

[Lyrics, mostly by Nobuo Uematsu]

[Narrator:]
The West and East were waging war
The peace between the lands was no more
Draco, great hero of the West
Thinks of the love that he left

Maria, is she safe, waiting there alone
As Draco fights the battle far away from home

[Draco:]
Oh, Maria
Oh, Maria
Please, will you hear my voice
Oh, how I long to be with you

[Narrator:]
The forces of the West have fallen
And Maria's castle's been taken
Ralse of the East has taken her hand
But still she waits for Draco to return from his command

[Maria:]
Oh my hero, so far away now,
Will I ever see your smile
Love goes away, like night in to day
It's just a fading dream

I'm the darkness, you're the stars
Our love is brighter than the sun
For eternity, for me there will be
Only you, my chosen one

Must I forget you, our solemn promise
Will autumn take the place of spring
What shall I do, I'm lost without you
Speak to me once more

[Apparition:]
Maria, take my lead...

[Maria:]
We must part now, and my life goes on
But my heart won't give you up
Ere I walk away, let me hear you say
I meant as much to you

Oh, so gently you touched my heart
I will be forever yours
And come what may, I won't age a day
I will wait for you always

[Chancellor:]
Come, Maria, forget your past
Ralse wants your presence at the dance

[Ralse:]
Maria, take my lead...

[Guard:]
The survivors of the West attack!

[Draco:]
Maria!

[Maria:]
Draco, I've waited so long
I knew you'd come

[Ralse:]
Maria will finally
Have to become my queen

[Draco:]
For the rest of my life
I will keep you by my side

[Ralse:]
It's a duel!

[Maria and Draco:]
I'm the darkness, you're the stars
Our love is brighter than the sun
For eternity, for me there will be
Only you, my chosen one

In the darkness, I've found light
Forever we will shine
For eternity, there'll be you and me
Now and for all time