Reis strolled along the beach, the dawn sun barely up past its azure bed. Stretching in the golden semicircle's glowing glory, she marveled at the blueness of the ocean and its beauty; a treasure trove of peace and serenity in its depths. Sitting down on the edge of the beach, she let the warm water lap about her white feet, rushing forward and receding again as fast as it came.

This reminds me…of the years in my youth. My father taught me to swim in beaches like these, just south of Lionel near Warjilis. Oh, I couldn't forget…how cold the water was, and how strong the currents were. I nearly got swept away one time…it was the scariest moment of my life…

A ball descended upon her head, luminous and blue; a marble of sapphire in a pale gold sky. Striking Reis on the back of the head, she gasped slightly in surprise, grabbing the ball as it bounced forward.

'Whose ball is this?' Reis yelled, looking around.

'Mine!' Wakka called out from the distant end of the beach, towards Besaid, 'We're practicing Blitzball!'

Blitzball…? Must be a kind of sport…

'Catch this!' Reis cried out, smashing the ball as hard as she could with her fist. It curved downwards, arcing above Wakka's head before slamming into the sand behind him, a shockwave traveling through the ground as it connected. Wakka whistled and picked up the ball, now slightly squashed and deflated due to the impact.

'C-Could you show me that again? If I could do that in Blitz, our team would be unstoppable,' Wakka shouted, tossing the ball back to Reis.

'Certainly,' she replied, smiling, before whacking the ball again, this time landing in the water and causing a large splash. Wakka dived in after the ball, trying out the same movement as Reis did, giving up as he made the ball fall into the sea with no more impact than a fly would have on a bowl of soup.

'How do you even do that?' Wakka said, walking towards her, shaking water out of his hair, 'I can't hit it hard enough,'

'I don't know,' Reis mumbled, 'It just comes when I felt like it,'

'That's lucky for you. Say, do you want to join the Besaid Aurochs for the upcoming tournament? It would be an honor to have you in our team,'

'I don't even know how to play,' Reis muttered, blushing, 'How can I join a team without knowing the rules?'

'It's easy enough…the whole game is based on trying to put the ball through your opponent's goals. You can hit it, kick it or throw it into the goal; all of them count. If the other team has the ball, you have to try and gain possession of it, in any way possible as long as it does not involve doing serious harm to the opponent,'

Serious harm…? Now what's the guideline on that? What exactly is considered 'serious'?

'Sun's rising a bit higher, we need to go to Kilika after this for Yuna's pilgrimage,'

'Pilgrimage? To where?'

'Not to where, but for what. She's going to destroy Sin if she completes this pilgrimage. Come, we have to get to the harbor in time,'

A pilgrimage to destroy Sin. It seems to be a noble cause, and a worthy one at that. To destroy sin would bring peace to the world.

'Is everybody ready?' Yuna shouted to her group of guardians; Reis, Lulu, Kimahri, Wakka and a strange person called 'Tidus'. He had, according to Wakka, lost his mind in close contact with Sin.

Whatever that means…

'Take care, Yuna!'

'We'll miss you!'

'Go and beat up Sin!'

Oh…that's so sweet, the little children waving her goodbye. Perhaps this pilgrimage will be long…

'Tidus! What are you doing? Stop that!' Wakka roared at the strange person, wresting a telescope from his hands and apologizing to a deck hand, 'You need to learn better manners, young man!'

'As if you're not young, Wakka,'

'Be quiet, you,'

'You two, shut up before I fry your heads in,' Lulu hissed, waving her voodoo doll in the air dangerously, 'And Reis, come here for a second,'

'Yes, Lulu?'

'I'm still worried about you. Kimahri says that you're…not human. As if you were a fiend of some sort,'

'Well, I am…not quite human, but I am not a fiend or monster either. Let me show you,'

By the power of the spirits, grant me invisibility!

'Reis? Where've you gone?'

Ah…that's better, at least I won't tear my dress to pieces. Now…The form of a dragon…and reveal me to light!

'By Yevon! Kimahri was right, you're not human,' Lulu mumbled, taking a step back and flattening herself against the wall of the ship.

Everyone stopped and stared at Reis. Some gawped at her immense draconic form, while others backed away silently in fear of being crushed. The crowd surrounding her began to whisper among themselves about a half-dragon; a witch, a human fiend. Yuna herself had rushed to the front of the crowd, only to recoil at the sight of the enormous silver dragon occupying the deck of the ship.

'Reis…? Is this your true self? A dragon?'

'That…I cannot answer…I am both a human…and a dragon. I am both…but neither. Sometimes I wonder. Am I to be classified a fiend and monster, or a human acceptable by society? I am…neither. I'm not accepted where I came from; hunted to pieces I am as a monster…to put it simply, yes, and no. This is both my true form, and yet it is not. I am…who I am,'

At that very moment, the entire ship was rocked by an enormous wave; a mountain-like shape rose out of the sea, towering over the ship like an elephant over an ant. Its shadow covered the entire deck in black, imitating the darkness of its name.

'Sin!' a sailor yelled, before running under the deck for cover.

So that's what Sin is…it's the embodiment of our moral sins…

Small objects flew off its side, soaring through the air with a whistle before they studded the wooden deck of the ship. They were seed-like objects, man-sized, lined with razor sharp spikes all down their sides; bursting open to reveal insect-like creatures within.

'Sinscales. Don't underestimate them,' Lulu said, striking down one with a fire spell.

'Easy enough for me,' Reis roared, splitting the remaining ones on the deck in two with a sweep of her spiked tail.

'More of them on the way!' Wakka shouted, striking one out of the air with a well-aimed throw.

'They need to learn…' Reis hissed, breathing fire upon the hapless, incinerated fiends.

'Pyreflies don't come out of those that you kill…why's that?' Yuna asked her, picking up a small black crystal left behind by a sinscale, 'It's as though…you've sealed their spirits as you kill,'

'I'll answer that later, but now I've got my claws full,' Reis grunted as a sinscale embedded itself within her flesh, to be ripped out seconds later by a six-inch fang, 'This is getting to my nerves…'

Darkness and energy, bind into one! Consume all in your path!

'Shadow Flare!' Reis roared, planting her claws into the ground. The rails of the ship were flung miles into the sky as the blast of superheated air rushed past; the essence of darkness binding with the energy of matter as Reis concentrated all her magical power upon one minuscule point. Day turned to night as the light was thrown into the vortex of force; the immense power gathered launched at Sin with fury.

There was a pause, a sudden silence, as the spell rushed at Sin's exposed fin; a moment of inactivity, before the entire fin was reduced to ashes, leaving a cascade of dark crystals behind to fall into the wine-dark sea. Reis was surrounded by a flash of white light, slamming into the wall of the ship cabin before crumpling onto the floor, breathing labouredly.

'Reis…? Are you alright…?' Yuna asked, seeing the bare dragoner writhe on the floor, as though in great pain.

'She's hurt! Get some help, now!' Lulu shouted to the men on the deck, who jumped and ran under deck, 'And better hurry, too. Look at her face, she's coughing blood as well,'

Is it really that bad…? I just feel…exhausted. Can't feel my leg…or arm…I can't move them.

'Her skin…dear Yevon…she's going cold!'

I can't…feel…a thing…

'Hurry up, you lazy sailors!'

My sight…everything's fading…

'Reis…?'

'Thank Yevon, she's alive,'

'We thought you were gone for sure,'

'Ugh…my head…' Reis muttered, sitting up. She was in some obliterated town; all its buildings, built on stilts in the water, were in ruins; the bridges linking them were totally destroyed in some parts.

'You're safe now, Yuna cured you in the end,' she heard the voice of Lulu say, 'Those mangy curs of sailors…they did not even fetch a single priest,'

'And…what happened to Sin?'

'You drove it away,' Yuna said, 'You drove it away with that spell that you did,'

'I never knew spells could borrow from the life force of the caster itself,' Lulu trilled, 'Being a black magic user for some time, that was the first time I've seen someone use their life energy to boost the spell's power. Not that I would like to do that, seeing as what you've done to yourself after doing exactly that,'

'Well, I feel better now,' Reis mumbled, standing up. This wasn't true; she still had a headache and could not think at all.

'Sin destroy Kilika,' Kimahri growled, bowing his head, 'Sin killed most of Kilika people,'

So this village is Kilika…and I can see why Sin is so feared…he's leveled the entire town.

'Yuna, the unsent…' a villager said, tugging at the summoner's sleeve.

'Oh…alright,'

The…unsent?

'The unsent are the souls of the dead. They cannot reach the Farplane if they are not directed by a summoner,' Lulu explained, following Yuna, 'Come, you will see what I mean,'

Yuna stepped onto the water; standing on top of the coffins of the dead, she began to dance. A slow, graceful dance, dragging her staff in circular motions along the still surface of the debris-filled water; twirling the wooden rod above her head as she spun and leapt on the calm surface, the sparkling pyreflies gathered around her, flying off in a uniform direction as she finished her dance with a final thrust into the air.

'I hope I did well,' Yuna said, bowing to Lulu.

'You did fine, don't worry about it too much,' Lulu comforted her, 'As long as all the souls are sent, it is fine,'

'What happens if the souls remain unsent?' Reis asked, scratching her head, 'Does it do anything bad?'

'Well…the souls of the dead grow jealous of the living; they yearn for life…and for the afterlife as well. Unable to leave for the afterlife and yet still in the world of the living, they eventually become fiends in their revenge on the living. Cursed as they are, it is a pity to know that the fiends were once part of our society…'

'Where I come from, the souls of the departed simply crystallize,'

'That would explain why the fiends you kill turn into sparkling stones,' Yuna mused, walking into the Kilika inn, which had somehow avoided destruction, 'We'll stay here for today,'