The soft whirring of something woke Reis up with a start. Groaning, she sat up on the hard white mattress that she was laid on, touching the wounds—or where there should have been wounds before. There were none at all; just pale circular marks where the ice javelins had riddled her body with holes. Standing up, she examined her surroundings.

It appeared to be a small moving cell; there was a filthy toilet in the corner, a small window on the hexagonal walls, and a hard wooden bed that she was sitting on. Other than that, the room contained little except for a small bowl of gruel on the floor; it was, apparently, intended for her. Having had little to eat over the past hours, or even days while she was unconscious (dragoners, though they heal wounds quickly, cannot regenerate large ones in hours). Picking up the bowl, she drained the thin meal in one gulp, setting aside the bowl with a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. That…would have been the foulest thing I've tasted in my entire life…excluding the rats in the colliery, but that doesn't count.

The cell stopped moving with a gentle shudder, the window now revealing nothing but darkness. Staring at the ceiling light, she wondered what would happen next…

'Come out, you lazy bitch!' the guard outside hollered, unlocking the door.

Feeling around for her katana, Reis realised one thing: this was a prison. She would not have her weapon. Gritting her teeth in apprehension, she pushed open a hexagonal door…

'Finally you're out, you treasoning bitch! We're going to have fun today, boys…but first, Edea's orders…' the guard said, rubbing his hands together. He bound Reis' hands together with one swift movement, kicking her until she was against the strangely-marked wall behind her.

'Stay still,' he commanded, kicking her one last time as hard as it was possible on her arm, causing a large blue bruise to appear on the creamy skin. I…hate…this…bastard…Reis thought in her mind, the bruises still throbbing.

'Now, I'll stand back for a minute. Bring in the other prisoner!' the guard shouted, standing back after he had attached a ring of metal on each of Reis' limbs. She looked on in fear as she was raised higher into the air.

'Now…See-D bastard…tell us, what was your objective of trying to assassinate Edea? Speak! Or I will hurt your friend here!' another man said to Squall, his expression fearsome.

'See-D's…are to spread peace in this world…' Squall said, bowing his head. Oh my God, he could have made a better lie than that, nobody would believe such a thing from a mercenary group…

'Liar! I assume you like seeing your friend getting tortured, do you? Just wait and see…'

Whatever is happening, I don't like it, another two are nodding to the questioner and are aiming their guns at me…

'See what happens if you don't comply…properly…Fire away, boys!'

The guns exploded, firing off bullets at Reis. One struck her in the thigh, and the other on the hand. Screaming in pain, she made an attempt to escape her bonds, but failed. Blood began to trickle down her leg and fingers, crimson, warm and familiar.

'I will give you another chance…tell me! What do the See-D want through the assassination of Edea? Speak!'

'I will not say it…'

'Let your friend suffer again. Fire!'

Another two bullets pierced Reis, this time on her other leg. Panting softly, trying to ease the pain in her mind, Reis stayed put, looking on with apprehension at the next thing that could happen. She noticed that the two gun-wielding guards had put down their rifles, staring intently at her.

'Take him back to his cell. Tell senator Edea that they will be executed at daybreak tomorrow by firing squad,'

Executed. What a nice thing to say. At least I will meet my beloved again…even though it's not the way I would like it.

'But first, we'll have fun with HER! Turn on the current, boys, we're going to see some quality entertainment for once in years!'

One of them grinned and flicked on a small switch. Immediately a shock surged through Reis' slender figure, causing her to thrash around on the spot, shrieking in pain, while the guards simply looked on in brutal amusement. They flicked off the switch again.

'Had enough fun? Let's go again, shall we?'

They're mad…They're evil…and they will pay for it…later.

The current coursed through her body again, agonizing, numbing. Pain seemed to lessen as her eyesight became blurred. The guards' laughing seemed to be far away and indistinct, their forms unfocused in her view. Falling into darkness, Reis became unconscious once again…

Ugh…That was hell…

'Reis?'

'Yes?'

'Wake up, Reis, wake up!' the insistent voice of Selphie trilled, shrill and high-pitched.

'What on earth did they do to you? You were a mess when you entered here, instructor,' the rough voice of Zell said.

So this was the high-security prison that they were talking about earlier…

'It was all Squall's fault…' Reis said, sitting up painfully, 'He refused to give them details about the Garden's actions…so the guards shot me and shocked me…'

Selphie and Quistis clapped their hands to their mouths while Zell swore loudly at the details. Reis put a finger up to silence them.

'I can get you all out of here. Turn away from this corner of the room,'

They followed her orders obediently, without question. Not even Zell peeked…

A flash of white light, a great roar, and a silver dragon stood in the corner of the dark prison, next to a pile of female clothes. The others simply gaped at Reis as she spread her wings and flapped them slightly.

'How is this?' she growled, stomping towards the prison cell door.

'B-Brilliant. Couldn't be any better for breaking down a prison. Boo-yah!' Zell shouted, punching the air.

'Stand back,' Reis hissed, bracing herself. The solid steel door in front of her did seem solid, but who knows until you've tried…

Bang. A small dent in the steel. Smack. A larger dent in its place. Whack. I can see the light outside… BOOM! Out flies the wall, down goes the guard outside. I think he's crushed…

'Well, we're now free to go,' Reis growled, stomping off towards the central barrier to look down over the edge. It was…virtually a hollow tower, with what appeared to be a claw at the very top. The bottom was not visible…

'We're not going until we find Squall,' the other three chorused, crossing their arms when they saw Reis about to take off. The dragon paused, lowering her head and glaring at them with an angry ultramarine eye.

'I'm not going to find a person like that. He may have saved his own honour, but at the cost of my pain,'

'Speak for yourself, Reis! You wanted to protect YOUR own honour during our mission, when if you did try to do so before I had dropped the gates, the mission would have failed! Think of what cost that would come at. All of us executed. That would be the cost of about seven lives, if General Caraway was counted as well,' Quistis snapped.

'True…but for this once—and once only—I will help you to find him. Afterwards, I will leave Balamb Garden to do what I must…'

'Which is?' Selphie asked.

'It is none of your business. Hurry. The guards may come anytime soon,'

The three clambered on Reis' back, bracing for a rough flight as the dragon spread her wings and took flight into the middle. Hovering slowly and ascending the myriad floors, she scanned each for any sign of guards or Squall. But one thing caught her eye…

'Is that what I think it is? Our weapons?' she hissed, pointing to a number of guards next to a pile of weapons with one great claw.

'I think so, yes. What about them?'

'Wait and see,'

She swooped down towards the guards, who cowered as they spotted her flying at high speed at them. Sweeping all but one out of the way with an easy whip of her tail, she picked up the last remaining guard with one sharp nail.

'Tell me,' she growled, her eye right in front of the guard's face, 'Where are the other See-D prisoners?'

'I won't tell,' the guard spat, straight into Reis' eye. Blinking in rage, she strode over to the edge of the central barrier.

'You'll fall down there if you don't tell me. You do know how many floors there are, hm? Well, you're going to be a scrambled egg at the bottom if you don't tell us,'

'Alright, alright, I will tell you…he's going to be electrocuted at the very top in…about ten minutes,' he said, checking his watch, 'SO can you put me down NOW?'

'You're not in a position to bargain, but oh well, I'll let you down,' Reis hissed, letting the guard go over the edge of the barrier, letting him scream as he fell to a certain, horrible death at the bottom of the prison tower.

'Very nice, Reis,' Quistis said sarcastically, 'At least we have our weapons back. Here, your katanas,'

'Thank you,' she murmured through her teeth, grasping the loops of cloth on her katana sheaths with two nails. Taking off once more, she knew where to go next: the horrible room at the top of the prison.

Transforming back into a woman once she reached the top, she drew out one katana. Edging closer to the door that read 'Execution Chamber', she muttered 'Doom of a planet…Crush punch,' very quietly, and the door burst open, as though rammed by a truck. Dashing into the room, she held her blade at guarding position, expecting heavy opposition.

Indeed there was; there were about twenty guards, all with their eyes intent on Reis; her beautiful and unclothed form was eye-candy for them. Reis, enraged at this, roared and charged.

'ONE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT A SOUL! DEATH!' she screamed, sweeping her blade in a semicircle. There was a pause, then the immediate reaction; a dozen guards held their throat, choking, before collapsing onto the ground, unmistakably dead. Stepping calmly forwards towards the remaining eight, she was grinning; a malicious gleam in her eye as she shredded their flesh and bones. Emerging from the blood and gore victorious, she cut Squall down from the wall, helping him up.

'I shouldn't have rescued you, but thank Quistis for convincing me to do so. Let us go now,'

Sheathing the blade, she crouched on the concrete floor, feeling the roughness, before transforming in a blaze of light. The dragon snatched up all four people, and picked up the katanas once more, before dashing out of the chamber and into the main spiraling corridors. Seeing a door marked 'Top Exit', Reis threw down the door, snarling as she ran her way up the dragon-unfriendly designed-for-humans staircase. It hurt for a dragon, to step on a number of sharp-cornered steps at a time, especially with their greater weight and size.

'Aloha, ladies! Care for a last dance before death?' a familiar voice said, before a gunshot rang out and struck the steel step next to Reis' front claws.

'Irvine! You traitorous bastard!' Squall shouted, grabbing his gunblade and making a single step forward on Reis' back; but stopped immediately as another shot pierced his arm.

'Business is business, young fella; the senator offered me half a million gil if I didn't shoot with a proper bullet. I used a rubber one, didn't you notice? If it were the real one it would have gone through her brain in an instant, to splatter her mind all over the crowd,'

'You…son of a bitch!' Reis roared, charging forwards, ignoring Irvine's repeated shots to her face. It hurts like hell, but why should I care? The mission failed because of this money-bagging, fat-money-bag-loving, money-over-friends-and-honour bastard! I must kill him!

'Yeow!' Irvine yelled, as Reis ripped the gun out of his hands. Holding a battered and torn arm, Irvine stepped back slightly.

'No more mercy for you, dishonourable fool,' Reis snarled, stabbing him through the stomach with one razor-sharp claw. Blood poured out of his mouth as Reis repeatedly struck him over and over again in the chest, before her tail descended to crush his head and silly hat to a flat pancake. His body reeled over, headless, oozing copious amounts of blood from the crumpled neck, the spine visibly thrust through his back flesh. Breathing flames upon the corpse, Reis obliterated all remains of the traitor.

'We'll get out of here…like this,' she growled, raising her bleeding head towards the ceiling and blasting it wide open with a highly-charged fire breath. The smouldering remains of the ruined ceiling insufficient to hold the dragon back, they shot out into the bright desert sunlight, the four people clinging onto a silver serpentine creature.

Soaring through the bright blue skies, they noticed a number of white streaks leaving a building in the distance. Puzzled, Reis flew towards it, against the protests of the other four.

'I will drop you off here,' Reis murmured, setting down on the edge of a forest close to Dollet, before flying off once more towards the building that launched the white streaks, 'Take care,'