'Move down. As quickly as you can, we haven't got much time!' Cid hollered over the loud bubbling of the Mako crater.

'Don't we all know that, Cid!' Tifa said, quivering on the climbing rope, 'It's not as though I don't want to hurry! I positively detest heights,'

'So, how do you want to get down into the crater?' Reis asked Ultima Weapon, stroking its jet-black neck.

'We fly. Climb on my back,' it growled, unfurling its charcoal canvas wings and stretching them out.

Gingerly, Reis clambered on the dragon's back, the others staring in apprehension at the strange sight. Barret even mouthed some silent curses, before sliding down the coarse brown climbing rope. The Weapon flapped its wings, hovering a few inches above the metal deck of the Highwind, before soaring off into the sky. Reis held on, her silk dress fluttering in the rush of air, the two-handed katana falling this way and that as they plunged down into the depths of the crater. Howling winds passed over their ears as they flew into the dark depths of the crater, the eerie, dim glow of the Mako energy illuminating their outlines in a faint aura of unease.

Treading softly on the dusty stone floor, Reis crept along the edge of the crater, peering down at her feet; there were cliffs, fifty, sixty, possibly a hundred feet down. Falling would be certain death. Shivering, Reis continued on, inching her way across the narrow passage, while Ultima Weapon stayed where he landed, staring up at the rest of the party, who were scaling down the steep granite walls of the crater, slowly, carefully.

'Slow, pitiful humans,' he hissed, shaking his head in disappointment, 'We need to act quickly. They said it themselves. Now look at them. Slow, incompetent fools they are,'

'Hush, Ultima, they're not totally useless,' Reis shouted, stepping down onto a wider platform of stone with a large, gaping hole in the wall behind her. A strange feeling spread on her shoulder, heated air being blown in steady bursts behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the head of a dragon, its flaming red eyes staring straight at her, its mouth open and displaying a razor-sharp set of teeth, bent at odd angles. Breathing embers onto the ground, the dragon stepped forward, forcing Reis to step backward.

'What do you want here, human?' the dragon growled, leering at her with one crimson eye, 'Go back to your puny friends. You are not welcome here,'

'I believe I have every right to step in this place, your serpent-y-ness,' Reis retorted, insulted by the dragon's words, 'And also I believe that I have the right to kill. Back, now, before I am forced to kill you,'

'Is that so, puny human? Let's put that to the test, shall we!' the dragon roared, as if in laughter, before Reis brought down her two handed katana onto the opposing dragon's neck. Inflicting a deep gash, Reis stepped back, further towards the edge of the ledge, while the serpent hissed in pain, blood spurting out from its ruptured flesh. It was not, however, enough to discourage the dragon; it moved forwards, deliberately, forcefully. Knocking Reis off the edge of the cliff, the dragon roared in glee, pleased with its success.

Reis held on to the cliff with one hand, straining it as much as she could. I must not fall, she thought. Rocks crumbled from beside her hand, falling down the distance and evaporating before they touched the bottom, the intense Mako radiation from beneath sufficient to vaporize the stones.

A series of claw-slashing sounds, grunting and snarling, and the body of a black and silver dragon was tossed unceremoniously from above, dripping blood on Reis, its body disfigured by numerous slashes and bite marks; one of its front legs was severed and its neck appeared to be broken. Descending into the Mako pool, the corpse disintegrated, no trace of it remaining.

Scooping up Reis with one black claw, Ultima Weapon made a comment that made Reis' ears burn in embarrassment:

'Have you truly got the blood of the Holy Dragon within your veins? I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, however your fighting style does not reflect upon the skill, grace and precision of the Holy Dragon. In short, you are far inferior to your ancestor…if what you said is true,'

'Of course it's true!' Reis shouted, spreading her arms to the heavens, 'I've been locked up in a coal mine for a number of years just because I was a Holy Dragon for that time!'

'A true, honorable dragon would never be subject to humans,' the dragon hissed, disgusted, 'They would not fall into hiding, no. They would resist, and claim their freedom, even to the death. You have dishonoured us. However, I must go on, for I may not break my word,'

Now that the party had been regrouped, it was time to begin the assault on the Northern Crater…

Ultima Weapon led the way, blasting aside crystalline materia stalactites; their powder billowed through the darkened tunnels as she crushed them to powder or heated them to breaking point. Stamping down on the uneven ground, Ultima Weapon had all the looks of a bulldozer; he had leveled a smooth, flat pathway through a previously inaccessible cavern, magic pots and shadow dragons dashing as fast as they could for the nearest exit. Imposing as Ultima Weapon may be, Reis saw a kind side to him; he was chivalrous to the last degree, though perhaps not quite for the 'being nice to women at all times' part, and keen to preserve as much life as it was possible. Indeed, he had the power to end many lives in this cavern; he had just walked into one full of shadow dragons; he could have slain them all with one searing blast of his flaming breath, scorch their flesh and bones with his lightning breath and finish them off with a good barrage of Flares.

Following behind the large dragon in his path of obliteration, the party shifted along, examining every shadow and every movement. Once or twice they had mistaken the red dog for a small shadow dragon; naturally, he bit down upon Barret's hand, who had opened fire as soon as he saw the tufted tail. Howling in pain, Barret danced in circles, holding and massaging the throbbing bite mark upon his hand.

Repressing an urge to laugh, Reis moved on forwards, holding her katana above her head, ready to strike. Sure enough, there was something moving across the floor to the side—better wait for it…

'Feel the power of the Planet!' an icy voice said, a silver-haired man yelled, striking Reis' katana out of her hands with an even larger katana. A fleeting moment passed, where Reis thought she would die—a moment of shock, a moment of inactivity, a moment where time was slowed down to a near complete stop. Had the blade been lowered but an inch lower, her hand would have been severed—she had been saved by the wide hilt of her katana.

Just as Reis picked up her curved blade and was ready to strike, the man vanished—twirling a cloak around himself, he disappeared without a single fragment of evidence that he was even there at all. Lowering her sword slowly, Reis muttered, 'Whoever that person is, he's got to be very skilled…'

'We'll protect you,' Tifa said, putting her arm around Reis' back, though a little unnecessary as Reis pushed it away. Barret was flat on the ground; peering into a hole.

'Shit. There are several shadow dragons moving this way. Sephiroth must have ordered them to come here,'

'That would be easy to take care of,' Reis said, fingering her blade, 'I will slice them to pieces,'

'That just doesn't sound like you, Reis,' Tifa said, crossing her arms, 'Aeris told me that you were a gentle woman,'

'Well, I might have been one once upon a time. Let us not tarry, we must hurry, if we are to stop Sephiroth's plans of ultimate destruction,'

Reis dashed towards the shadow dragons, her katana blade held aloft in the air, ready to strike down. Her eyes were no longer the kind, deep blue eyes that they once were; now they were cold, hard aquamarine orbs, a fierce glow emanating from within them. Slashing off the first dragon's head, Reis had something to prove to Ultima Weapon; even if it meant killing a creature that she most loved, a creature that was nearly her own flesh and blood. She spun her blade around like a windmill, deflecting a fire breath from one, to the amazement of Tifa and Barret, before thrusting the deadly tip of the sword through the dragon's chest, impaling its heart and lungs in one fatal stab. Drawing the blade out of the black flesh, Reis struck the dragon behind her in the eye with her fist, before swinging her blade twice, three times, causing the dragon to stagger backwards in pain, two gashes delivered to the face, obliterating the eyes, and another at the neck, bleeding copiously. She then jumped up, her blade held high, point straight down—the dragon roared in agony before collapsing, its spine having been broken by the downward movement of the sword.

Turning to the last shadow dragon, she saw that it cowered on the ground, terrified, before running off as fast as its four legs could take it.

'Well, I have proved my dragon-like ability to fight, have I not?' Reis asked Ultima Weapon, who nodded and walked forward, tail swinging slowly as he moved.

'How on earth did you manage to kill three dragons in such a short time?' Tifa asked, eyes wide in amazement, as Reis attempted to wipe off the crimson stains off her face.

'I have no idea. Possibly it is from my dragon descent,' Reis replied, climbing down another cliff, which appeared to descend into the base of the crater.

The party reached the base of the crater, breathing in the stale fumes given off by the greenish, bubbling liquid at the base. A black stone hovered above the centre, about three feet off the base of a rock platform. Reis made a movement for it; but was barred by Ultima Weapon's tail.

'Allow me to go first,' he hissed, eyeing the stone with utmost caution, 'It is my duty as a guardian of the Planet,'

'But why?' Reis asked, perplexed, 'It's only a black stone, suspended in the air due to magical auras of some sort,'

'It is my duty as a guardian of the Planet,' it repeated, treading slowly over the black rock floor towards the stone, 'Do not question me any more, young dragoner. Remember of your manners as a dragon. Respect the elder ones, just as they respect you, and follow their decisions to whatever end it may lead to,'

Reis followed Ultima Weapon, about ten feet behind him all the way. The Mako pool bubbled ominously as they approached the black object, spitting out freezing shards of green fluid. She even thought that she could hear Aeris' voice talking to her again when some splashed next to her ear, barely audible, faint. Before Ultima Weapon had the chance to take down the black stone, a shape moved with incredible speed along the edge of the pool, finally leaping the entire length of the lake, landing neatly on the rock platform and slashing a wound in Ultima Weapon's outstretched claw.

A silver-haired man, with a large two-handed katana. She had seen this man before. She had been nearly killed by this man, who had inflicted that deadly wound on her stomach.

'Welcome to my kingdom,' he announced, spreading his hands out to the blackened interior of the crater, 'Make yourself welcome…before you will join the Reunion, where you will become one with the Planet…one with me once again,'

'Sephiroth!' Cloud shouted, running up next to Reis, his blade trailing behind him, 'So that is your plan! To try and kill all life with the forbidden magic, to gain power for yourself!'

'No, no, I am not getting strength and power for myself,' he laughed, staring coldly at them all, 'I am merely allowing them a share of the incredible strength that they will have, once all the life and the Planet itself had merged together. You see, that was my plan; to unite all life and energy within one entity; to use the lifestream itself to create a single, most powerful living thing. Simply to put it, you are witnessing the birth of a God!'

'I will not allow you to do this!' Cloud said, swinging his buster sword madly, 'I will strike you down, now! Before you can destroy life itself!'

'Speak for yourself, fool,' Sephiroth replied lazily, batting away Cloud's sword with a single sweep of his katana, 'YOU are the one that I will strike down—now, as you put it,'

Cloud, deprived of his weapon, became an easy prey for Sephiroth. Picking him up, Sephiroth slammed Cloud down onto the ground with absurd ease, the spiky-haired man not standing a chance against the powerful arm of his once-had-been mentor. Grappling madly with the one arm of Sephiroth, he never knew another thing; Sephiroth gave off sparks as he launched one final attack on Cloud, allowing a powerful current of electricity to flow within himself and through to Cloud. Instantaneously incinerated, the smoking form of Cloud was disposed of, thrown to a distant corner behind Reis.

'Now, who will be next?' Sephiroth said, his grey eyes scanning the cavern, stopping at Ultima Weapon, whose claw had been mangled beyond healing with a single sweep of Sephiroth's blade, 'I think you would do,'

He held out a palm, gathering energy from the nearby Mako pool, flecks of light gathering at the base of his palm, spreading to the entire hand, before throwing the collected force towards Ultima Weapon. Blasted off his feet, the dragon was promptly sent into the depths of the Mako pool, sinking, giving agonized roars of pain before succumbing to eternal sleep in the frozen depths of the green fluid.

'You, young lady, would you care to join me in one last dance?' Sephiroth asked, holding out his hand, 'In one last dance of death?'

'I will never join a villain such as you,' Reis spat, holding out her katana in front of her.

'Pity…it is such a pity that I have to end the life of such a beautiful lady. You would have been acceptable as my queen. En garde!'

The decisive duel began. Sephiroth's two-handed katana swept downwards, dodged by Reis, before the legendary warrior kicked her to the ground. Reis immediately jumped up again, parrying a swift blow deftly with her katana, striking Sephiroth in the stomach with her fist. The punch went unheeded; he made a sweeping movement with his blade to her head. Reis ducked, before slashing Sephiroth's leg with her katana.

'Ugh! You aren't any normal woman, aren't you?' Sephiroth yelled, blood spurting out of his slashed calf.

'You can say that if you want,' she shouted back, panting as she parried another potentially deadly strike.

'Normal or not, you will die by my hands today!'

The two made a wild swing with their large blades in the same directions, meeting in a weapon lock. Grunting and panting, the two pushed their weight into their weapons, sweat dripping down their faces. Reis' golden sheets rippled as Sephiroth knocked back her weapon, though she still held it. Her hand still unsteady, she was unable to deflect a blow that Sephiroth delivered.

'Argh!' she screamed, blood seeping down the arm of her silk robe, the blade having sliced the flesh of her shoulder down to the bone.

'Now we're even,' he said, a mad glint in his eyes.

Ignoring the pain, Reis kicked Sephiroth in the shin, knocking him down in a howl of agony. Batting the sword a fair distance away, she pointed the blade of her katana at his neck.

'I don't believe it,' Barret muttered, eyes wide open, aghast, 'T-This woman took on the greatest swordsman in the world and won! I must be having a dream…'

'Say your prayers,' Reis snarled, her fine features distorted in anger.

'Say my prayers? I think not,' he mocked, raising his hand and blasting Reis with a powerful blast of energy, sending her flying a few feet, disarming her katana, 'Now we'll see who should say their prayers,'

Circling each other, the two injured warriors made insulting movements and feigned attacks, snarling and spitting. Barret moved closer to the two, as quietly as possible, while the wounded Ultima Weapon rose to the surface of the Mako lake, breathing heavily but otherwise alive, dripping in green fluid and scrambling over the edge of the steaming green surface.

'Reis! Duck!' Barret screamed, as he turned on his machine gun and aimed it at Sephiroth. Deflecting the bullets easily with one sweep of magical energy, he glared at Barret, who froze as the effects of Stop took hold of him.

'Fool. All that oppose me shall die!'

'Reis!' Ultima Weapon roared, throwing Sephiroth's disarmed katana at her. She caught it gracefully, spinning it in one hand before resuming her fighting stance. Sephiroth stepped backwards. Grinning malevolently, he gathered energy in his hand again, but not quick enough. Reis brought down the dreaded blade, severing his hand in one swing.

Screaming, Sephiroth blasted Reis with what energy he had gathered. It was only sufficient to knock the blade out of her hands, however; she was only knocked over, stunned slightly. Limping over, Sephiroth picked her up by the neck with one hand.

'You will pay for what you did,' he hissed, 'No more mercy for you,'

Reis convulsed as a powerful shock raced through her body. The blinding pain escaped her lips as a high-pitched scream. Never before had she endured agony of this kind.

'Comfortable?' he mocked, enjoying the display of pain, 'How about another dose?'

I mustn't go on like this. There must be a way out…and then she remembered the knife Beowulf gave her on her engagement. Drawing it out of the sheath as another shock pulsed through her, she gathered her strength for one finishing strike…

Stabbing upwards with the silver knife, Reis pierced Sephiroth's ribs; through cloth, skin, flesh and bone, fatally damaging his heart and vital organs. The legendary warrior collapsed; a brief curse escaping his lips as his soul faded away into inexistence.

Now, holding a blood-stained knife and sporting a bleeding shoulder, Reis had to figure out a way to escape. The walls of the crater were crumbling; large boulders were crashing down onto the ground.

'No,' she muttered to herself, 'I mustn't leave empty-handed,'

Laying her hand on Sephiroth's corpse, she uttered a quick incantation to crystallize his mind. Absorbing the crystal, she felt a sudden surge of energy, a burst of knowledge and battle experience flooding her mind. Picking up his katana and snatching the black stone from the air, she searched around for Barret and the other party members.

'HERE!' Ultima Weapon roared, motioning Reis to come with its healthy claw. It had gathered all the party members and Cloud's dead body during the last moments of Reis' duel. Spreading its wings, the dragon shot off into the sky, pulling the victorious party out of the crumbling cavern, and into the light of the world above.

Next week…

Reis sat down next to Barret and Cid, wearing a gown of jet-black linen. The red dog and Tifa were leading a coffin along, the bearers of the coffin somber and behaving as though they were carrying the body of a great war hero. Cloud had come to rest, as his coffin touched the bottom of the marble grave, his soul to rest forever in the Lifestream.

Weeping, Tifa sobbed into Barret's shoulder, who comforted her with a pat on the shoulder. Reis fingered the black materia, holding it next to Aeris' white materia and the red one she had found.

'It is time,' Ultima Weapon growled, 'Please, lay your hand on my side,'

Reis did as she was told, feeling foolish. The stares of the surrounding people didn't help much either. Suddenly, in a flash of red light followed by a blast of life energy, the dragon had vanished, crystallizing at his own will. Reis, who had her hand on the dragon, picked up the crystal, which melted in her hand.

'This is my last gift for you, Reis. It is the strength of the dragon, which both I and you possess. However, I will give you my soul, so that you may use this strength without having to disgrace yourself in front of others,' a fading wind whispered into her ear.

'Thank you…' she said, looking up into the brilliant orange sunset.

The materia in her hands glowed, fusing together into one silver crest in the shape of a lion. Feeling its weight, Reis suddenly could not hear; she could see people mouthing at her, Cid pointing at her, Barret and the red dog running towards her, before all faded into dark shadow and disappeared…

A/N

THAT'S THE END OF ACT 1! hope you enjoyed reading act 1. More reviews pls, so that I can improve!