'Beowulf…how long will it be until I can see you again…?' Reis mumbled in her sleep, tossing and turning in her bed, 'I can't stand waiting and longing for you, I don't want to be alone…I don't want to be friendless…I want to be with you again…just once…'

Waking up, dripping in cold sweat, Reis shook her head and lightly hopped off her bed. Slipping on her silk and wool dress, she walked outside into the ruined walkways of Kilika.

Sparkling insects that Yuna and Lulu called 'pyreflies' hovered everywhere; they were…beautiful, in their own right, sparkling and shimmering as they flew through the air. Catching one, Reis dropped it in shock; on the contrary to its warm appearance, it was as cold as ice; and upon contact with her skin, it had frozen to a crystalline form, glowing light blue in the moonlight, before falling to the ground and breaking into a million minuscule shards.

Sitting down on the edge of a walkway, Reis dipped her feet into the warm tropical waters. Staring up at the pale, round face of the moon, she began to wonder…was the death of Beowulf a price to pay for her sinfulness? The separation that bites and gnaws away at her heart, day and night, every single day?

No…That can't be right…

Can it? You've killed many people, Reis. Many people indeed, and sealing their souls into eternal damnation…

'She's a dragon, Yuna,'

Reis stood up at these words. Crouching low, she crept towards the source of the noise, finding two moonlit figures standing on the wooden pontoon of the port. One had voluminous robes that seemed to be composed of many, and the other's frill was visibly frizzy. They were talking at a very high pace, albeit rather quietly. Squeezing herself against a wall of a house, Reis listened to what they were saying.

'What if she was a dragon?'

'Dragons are fiends, they're dangerous,'

'She's never done any harm to us,'

'You will never know,'

'She's not a fiend, nor is she entirely a dragon,'

'Yuna, it is once said that your opponents hide before they strike. I don't trust the motives of this…dragon girl. She must be a fiend,'

'She is not a fiend. Nor is she evil, for that matter, Lulu. My mind is set. She will be my guardian, whether you like it or not,'

'Please yourself, Yuna, but I am only concerned with your well-being and safety,'

'Thank you, Lulu. Be more appreciative of your fellow guardians, please. We don't want in-fighting, we want integrity. And peace,'

Squashing herself even closer to the wall, Reis held her breath as the two women walked past her, not noticing her slender form in the dark shadows. Her face burned with anger.

A fiend? Is that what Lulu thinks of me? A simple, foul beast, monster, creature? I am more than that! I have feelings, just as normal humans do! I…I'm normal, aren't I? To the extent that I do have a human form, and not a foul beast's?

Creeping back into the inn, Reis climbed up the staircase silently, avoiding the gaze of the two women as they chatted by the open window; slipping back into her bed, she began to doze off…

Waking up early the following morning, Reis ran down the stairs, tucking the Esthar blade in the inside lining of her dress. Lulu's words still rang clearly in her ears; the words of cruelty, the words of intolerance.

I will change the way she thinks of that today…

'Fiends!' a little boy cried, 'Fiends are coming to Kilika! Help, tall sister!'

'Where from?' Reis demanded, 'Where?'

'Over there!' the little boy said, pointing at the jungle.

'I'll check it out,' Reis muttered, drawing out the energy saber with a flourish and running forwards at a high speed, the shining edge of the blade trailing behind her as she leapt off the wooden pontoons and spread her wings, flying towards the dense vegetation.

'Your fate is sealed!' she roared, slashing downwards on a Flan, parting the jelly-like creature into two halves, then incinerating it with a good blast of her fiery breath. Holding out her hand, she drew the resultant red crystal towards her palm, crushing it to leave only crimson powder, fine and sand-like.

'Reis! Why are you out here this early?' Yuna cried out from behind a tree, 'I thought you were still at Kilika,'

'I'm sorry, Yuna. A little child asked for assistance to kill some threatening fiends,'

'A noble cause, but you must never abandon your charge,' Lulu said from behind Yuna, crossing her arms, 'Remember, the summoner is worth your life,'

'Alright, I'll keep that in mind,'

The group advanced through the dense jungle, Kimahri in the lead, batting aside fallen trees and swatting down large, flying fiends with easy sweeps of his heavy pole arm. Once or twice Yuna was attacked by falling flans, only to be defended by Reis' powerful blade.

Flesh and metal are but water to this blade…it must contain some sort of hidden power within…

'High Summoner Ohalland came from this temple,' Lulu said, pointing to a stone structure built on the top of a high mountain, 'Kilika Temple. The temple of fire,'

Temple of fire? But I can't see any fires…

'Up the stairs, Yuna,' Lulu said, sweeping her hand towards a long, winding staircase up the side of the mountain.

'Yes, Lulu, I will,'

The staircase was built of a black volcanic rock; pitted, worn and eroded, they were in some places nearly impossible to walk upon. Peering over the edge of the top step, Reis spotted…

'Sinspawn! Duck!' Lulu screamed, pushing Yuna onto the floor. A large plant grew out of the crater in the center of the paved square at the top of the staircase, flailing two large tentacles around in the air with terrifying speed. Reis bravely advanced, holding her energy saber in a defensive stance. Parrying each blow that descended towards her from the limbs of the plant; slashing furiously at the stump of the tentacles, she severed both of them in two fell sweeps, causing the flailing plant matter to collapse and shrivel up, dry and withered.

The plant spitted acid into Reis' face, causing her to stagger backward blindly in pain. Howling in agony, the dragoner rubbed her eyes desperately, just as a tentacle slammed down on her head. Furious and regaining her eyesight, the dragoner pointed the shining blade at the creature.

'The doom of a planet…Crush Punch!'

The creature exploded into broken fragments of plant matter, sap and splinters thick in the air as the pieces flew outwards. It was as though a giant had trodden on the now-dismembered plant-animal; scattered everywhere, the pieces had frozen into hard, shining black crystals.

'Reis…?' Wakka mumbled, stepping up uncertainly, 'Are you alright? Your head is bleeding…and your eyes are badly bloodshot. Take a rest, ya?'

They are…? Heh, I don't even feel any pain…

'I'm not quite sure if I'm actually hurt. I don't feel any pain at all,'

'Better to wipe off the blood anyway before you come to the temple, it's disrespectful to Yevon, ya?'

Nodding, Reis wiped off some of the blood from her face with the sleeve of her dress; casting a minor Cure spell, she sealed the wounds in a breeze of healing power.

'Now we'd better move on to the temple,'

Kilika temple was different to Besaid's; it was built of stone as well, however it was sunk into the ground. Chanting could be heard from the depths of the dark prayer hall, low and repetitive. Two people were striding up from the hall, one in robes and the other wielding an enormous hammer.

'Well, well, well…what do we have here? A summoner with a rabble for guardians,' the summoner mocked, causing Kimahri and Wakka to step forward, only to be held back by Lulu and Reis, 'I, for one, feel no need for such numbers. You must be very inexperienced to need so many,'

'There is safety in numbers, Lady Donna,' Yuna said, smiling, 'I believe that having many is not a sign of weakness at all,'

'Weakness? You've plenty of that, foolish one. Numbers is a sign of infirmity,' Donna laughed, while her guardian cackled foolishly.

'Watch your words, disrespectful woman,' Reis snarled, still restraining Kimahri from bringing down his halberd with vengeance upon Donna's head, 'You may be a summoner, and you a guardian, but that gives no more right to insult others. You are an example! A mentor! Someone that the rest of the people can look upon! Get your act together, fools,'

'Says who?' Donna hissed, staring coldly at Reis, 'You're a mere guardian, what can you say about your superiors, the summoners?'

'Says me. And I—am not a mere guardian. I am a person, as you can clearly see; not a slave, not a fiend, and not just a mere guardian,'

'Barthello! Teach this foolish girl a lesson she will never forget!' Donna yelled to her guardian, looking livid, 'You will see for yourself—what punishment guardians will have if they insult their superiors!'

'Yes, ma'am,' Barthello grunted, slamming his hammer into Reis' chest. Winded, the dragoner stumbled backwards, clutching at her heart; eyes narrowing in cold fury, she struck the hammer head with her open hand as it came down again, breaking the head clean off the handle. Staring fearfully at the broken handle, Barthello moved backwards, holding his hands up as the furious woman moved forwards.

'Your underhanded attack sickens me,' Reis growled, grasping the whimpering guardian by his arms and catapulting him against a stone pillar, 'You will pay for it,'

'Mercy please, madam,' Barthello begged, squashed against the pillar, casting a fearful glance at the round stone in Reis' hand, 'Please don't throw that at me,'

'I have said before that you will pay—and I keep my word,' Reis roared, throwing the rock with all her might towards the hapless guardian. The stone pierced the pillar half an inch above Barthello's head, leaving only a perfectly circular hole; a palm tree behind it collapsed as the stone split its trunk cleanly into two halves.

'Get yourselves out of here before my anger peaks,' Reis snarled at Donna, licking a dribble of her own blood from her mouth, 'Now!'

They left in a hurry, Donna berating Barthello soundly for his failure as a guardian as they descended the stairs; Yuna and her guardians simply stared at Reis as she sat down and collected her own blood in a small bottle of glass. Slipping the bottle away in her dress, Reis bowed to Yuna, motioning her to the temple. Smiling weakly, the summoner walked into the stone building, her guardians stony-faced and inexpressive.

'Reis…' Lulu said, 'I know you overheard us talking during the night,'

'What about it?'

'I'd like to take back what I said about you…being a possible fiend and insecure person,'

'And what if I don't want to accept it?' Reis laughed evilly, 'What if you don't really mean what you have just said? From my point of view, what you've said during the night is what you really feel. Are you sure that Yuna hadn't told you to say this to me?'

'I'm sincere,'

'And I don't think you are,' Reis said, with definite finality.

'Come, you people, the Cloister of Trials,' Wakka whispered to the two, glancing at the disgusted faces of the people around them, 'Let's get away from here,'

The Kilika labyrinth was nothing like the Besaid labyrinth; a large wooden door stood in front of them as soon as they entered, with two red spheres set into the pedestal in the middle. Yuna pulled one out, inserting it into the slot in the wall; a pulse of fire shot from it and along the line traced on the floor, igniting the door. Angry flames blazed forth from the floor, engulfing the entire wooden object in searing heat. Shielding her eyes from the blaze, Yuna pulled out the fiery orb again, and the flames subsided; leaving only ash in the place of the door.

There were three sphere-holders in the next hall; Yuna stared at all three, wondering which one to insert the ball into.

'Try each,' Kimahri growled, putting the other orb into the left one, where it launched a trail of fire across the room, which slipped under the center wall. A loud blast was audible from the other side, and sparks flew under the small cavity under the wall.

'Kimahri, pull it out again…at least we now know that there's something behind that,' Lulu muttered, placing Yuna's orb into the right side; nothing happened. Kimahri extracted the sphere inserted where he was, and threw it into the center slot. A blazing red line traced itself on the wall, forming a cross-shaped symbol ringed by elaborate and intricate patterns of arcane symbols; something that Reis had seen before. Stepping forward, Yuna removed the sphere, touching the resultant black mark on the wall with her hand.

A wave of green light spread outwards along the wall, which slid out of the way, revealing a large chamber; lava flowed along the gap in the center, bubbling and sending out large fountains of fire periodically. Holding the orb, Reis approached the pedestal close to the river of flame, holding her arm out to let her dangling sleeve protect her eyes from the intense glare of the fire. Inserting the orb quickly into the pedestal, Reis was amazed to see that the lava had subsided entirely; not a single pool of heated rock left behind. A staircase had materialised in front of her, leading down into where the lava had been.

'Well, no other way to go,' Reis muttered, gathering her courage and leaping into the gap. Sighing in relief as the lava did not return, the dragoner moved forwards, followed by the others.

'The Fayth is close ahead…I can see the door…' Wakka said, pointing at the steel door ahead of them, 'Let's go, Yuna,'

'Yes,'

Yuna…I pity her…she has to pray at each temple for days on end…When can she rest? This time she prayed for nearly a week, while us guardians simply waited. The poor thing…she was nearly dead by the time she staggered out. Rest she needs, and food and water. I gave her my blood potion in the hope of giving her some of my gift—the blessing of life and energy.