Vision returned to Reis as Ivalice materialised once again in front of her. The dusty, muck-covered surfaces of Mustadio's workshop, the golden globe machine, the crates of tools and things…and lastly, Mustadio and Alma.

'Reis!' Alma cried, hugging her rather tightly, 'I feared that you were dead in the week that you were gone,'

'It's alright, Alma, I'm here now,' Reis said, stroking the hair of Ramza's younger sister. She's crying for no reason, at all…oh, maybe I'm being a little hard on that. She is a young person after all…

Noticing that Mustadio was crouching in the corner with crimson stains instead of his usual black smears, Reis wondered to herself. Had something happened in this time?

'A—Are you alright, Mustadio?' Reis asked, staring at the man's quivering back.

'AARRGGH!' he screamed, extracting a barbed arrowhead from his arm. Blood dripped onto the grey concrete floor, spreading as Mustadio stood up, clutching at his wound.

'What happened?' Reis asked, quickly putting her shoulder under his good arm, helping him stand.

'Reis…I'm so sorry…they…the Hokuten and the Black Sheep…oh my God…I don't think I should say this to you…'

'What has really happened?' Reis asked again, with some urgency in her tone. She had a feeling that whatever it is, it is definitely not a good thing…

'Your sisters…the dragoners…they were all executed under the order of King Delita…' Agrias said, throwing the door open, her battle gear spattered with blood and fragments of flesh. She was in no good condition herself; an arrow remained embedded in her leg, while a horrid slash had disfigured her left shoulder. Limping down the stone staircase, she collapsed to the floor, to the horror of Reis.

'Agrias?' she said, feeling her neck for a sign of life, 'Oh…thank goodness, you're still alive. How long ago was this?'

'Only two days ago…he has gone mad in the past week, even had Ovelia beheaded on false charges of high treason,' (she gritted her teeth) 'To think of all the atrocities…he had accused the dragoners of wanting to usurp the throne of Ivalice, sending the entire region into hunting for them and their dragons,'

'Why…why…WHY!' Reis said, shaking uncontrollably. She was now alone. Truly alone. The last of her bloodline was now gone. No relatives, no family, no blood relations whatsoever. She was now the last dragoner.

'I will avenge…the deaths…of my family…and blood relatives…' Reis said, her eyes glowing with rage, causing Mustadio and Agrias to look up in horror, 'Revenge…that is the right word for it…I will have my revenge, even if it means my death,'

She let out a mirthless laugh, then continued on, 'Delita will face the full power of my wrath…let him cower, let his armies come. I WILL DEFEAT THEM ALL!'

'Reis…calm down…' Agrias said, backing away slowly.

'I will not rest until I have killed him. I will not rest until my sisters have been avenged. By the power of our blood bond, with the dragons and humans, I will slay every last soldier within his personal command! Now…tell me where he is,' she said, in a most dangerous voice.

'I don't think it's-'

'JUST TELL ME THE DAMNED LOCATION OF DELITA!' she roared, every moment rising in temper.

'He currently resides in Lionel Castle,' Mustadio whispered, bowing his head. Agrias shot him a stare of pure venom, mouthing some curses at him.

Without another word, Reis stormed from the workshop and called her dragon. Soaring up into the skies, she flew at top speed for Lionel Castle.

Setting down her dragon on the green fields outside of Lionel, she dashed off towards the castle, Sephiroth's katana in her hands. The guards above looked on with curiosity, seeing the beautiful woman cross the bridge, not knowing what she would do.

'By the power of the bond of blood,

I borrow your strength, o Almighty,

Lend me the wrath of Bahamut,

And I will avenge the deaths of my sisters,'

And so Reis began the siege, by herself, on her own, alone, isolated from all allies, facing a hostile world.

Smashing down the gate with one powerful blast of energy breath, she cleaved the gate guard's head off with a single sweep of her blade, letting the body fall like a sack of wheat. Kicking down the other guard, she pointed the tip of her katana at his neck, pushing it forward until he lay flat against the ground.

'Tell me,' she snarled, 'Where are the chambers of Delita?'

'It's King Delita to you, young lady,' the guard commented cheekily.

Blood spattered Reis' white silk battle robes as she drove the tip into the man's jugular, allowing the man to scream in pain as she smiled. More palace soldiers came running to help.

'Fools…they dare to challenge me…' she muttered, raising her blade and motioning a challenge with the other.

Stabbing the foremost soldier, she spun around, kicking the dead body down to the hard stone. The three others brought down their swords, only to be met by Reis' katana. Fire blazed in her eyes, merciless, hateful. Slashing away two pairs of hands, she allowed herself to savour that moment of an agonised scream, an enjoyment insanely beautiful to her. Kicking the last remaining guard in the groin, she knocked him down to the ground, before driving a sharp silver dagger into the man's exposed neck.

Extracting herself out of the mess, after impaling the others upon the point of her dagger, she marched upon the largest building in the castle; the keep and the great hall.

Meeting an army of half-assembled soldiers in front of her, she simply grinned in an insane, maniacal manner. Endowing her blade with fire, she twirled it above her head, causing flames to rain down upon her enemies. Blinded by the shower of embers, the soldiers lowered their weapons and dashed for the nearest cover, trembling in fear from this newest adversary. Those that could not find cover were unforgivingly roasted by the sheer heat of the inferno; tables turned to ash while the metal shields on the walls disintegrated into rusting fragments of debris. Striking down a pillar behind which a soldier was hiding, she struck him in the nose with the pommel stone of her katana; a brief scream of pain, before silenced by a series of undecipherable babbles; she had cut his neck wide open, allowing the blood to spray outwards. Running in all directions due to panic, the soldiers spread out all over the castle, shouting curses and warnings about an invasion to the surrounding emptiness.

Ascending the flights of stairs to the throne room, Reis permitted her flaming katana to trail behind her; sparks flew and caught on to the tapestries hanging on the corridor walls, engulfing them in instantaneous flame. Shattering the door of the throne room to splinters, she found Delita sitting in his throne, apparently undisturbed by the chaotic ruckus.

'Welcome to my castle,' Delita said, sipping a glass of wine.

'I have come here not for pleasantries, you evil bastard,'

'Come, sit down, talk not so harshly,'

'I have come to exact revenge upon you! By the blood of my sisters that you have spilled, let your death be a price to your sins. No; death by itself is too easy for you. May you be tortured for all eternity in the blazing furnace of Hell,' Reis spat, her rage echoing through the marble hallways.

Raising her blade to her shoulders, she charged forward, to be met by half a dozen guards who circled her.

'Try not to act so rashly,' he said absent-mindedly, still sipping on his half-empty glass of wine, 'I will try to be nice to you,'

'Not if you have executed every last one of my sisters, in the blood at least,'

She spun around, lopping off three heads and disemboweling two. Guts and brains spilled on the ground, while the last guard cowered on his feet and fell to the ground, begging for mercy. This was too late; Reis had already brought down her blade as he uttered the first 'Mercy', and had ripped his body in two. Glaring at Delita, her katana dripping with gore, she advanced towards the royal throne.

Delita stared onwards, wide-eyed, staring at a woman holding a katana against a background of utter obliteration. He gasped as Reis took hold of his throat; grappling hopelessly at her fingers, he looked with terror upon the tip of the sharp blade, in front of his two eyes. A scream tore through the entire castle as the deranged leader was slain; his brains and blood spilled over the royal velvet and ermine, the golden crown rolling across the crimson carpet and bouncing with a soft tink on each of the three flights of the royal podium. Letting the corpse of Delita fall, Reis collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. Her tears soaked the bloodstained carpet, her red-spattered robes bleaching slightly by the water, her knee-length golden hair coated in dried gore and moistened by sadness.

There was one more thing left to do. Picking up a torch from a nearby bracket, she threw this onto the pile of the dead. Running out the open wooden gates, she recalled her dragon, which unquestioningly took her back to Goug.

'I'm back,' Reis said, rather expressionless.

'You're back—oh my god…' Agrias said, walking up to Reis from the workshop room, 'What have you done, Reis?'

'You can say that I have avenged my sisters' deaths…'

'That's…good, I guess…but really, you didn't have to go that far…'

'SO WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO!' Reis shouted, her tear-filled eyes bloodshot, 'Was I supposed to take that lying down? Was I supposed to suffer in silence? Was I supposed to let the deaths of those I love and care for go without my attention? NO! Would you have done the same, if your father or mother had been killed? Would you have done so as well if your sister or brother had been slain? YES! That was exactly how I felt about those dragoners. They-the ones who share my blood, the ones who share my flesh and bones, those that share the very same curse that others call a blessing—they were my only living relatives, relatives in distant blood at least. Now I am truly alone! How am I supposed to simply stand back and watch it all happen? I can't do it!'

Collapsing into the nearest leather couch, she buried her face into her hands and began to weep. Alma and Mustadio came up from the underground workshop, horrified to find Reis covered in blood and guts and sobbing away, with the occasional sniff and snort.

Standing up, Reis walked over in silence towards the machine. She placed the silver lion into the gap of the exact same shape in the side of the flat panel, which immediately illuminated the platform in the centre with a blinding golden light. Jumping onto the platform with not so much as a last good-bye, Reis felt the world vanish around her into darkness…

A/N

Well, I'm happy that someone else actually has begun reviewing it kind of annoys me to have so many hits and few reviews…