The golden light filtered into the velvet-lined room of the Traveller's Inn, casting a dappled shadow over the still form of Reis. Sitting up, the dragoner yawned widely, stretching her arms up in the air and sliding off the soft, warm bed. Strolling out of the door of the Inn, she was sprayed by a warm, stinking fluid; a feather floated down before her wide, shocked eyes; chocobo corpses were strewn all over the green fields outside the wooden building.

Staring around in horror, she could not see anything that could have caused the destruction; kneeling down, she touched the horrific wounds on the dead chocobo nearest to her.

Bite marks. Hundreds of them. And they're not pretty; they're…really deep. Whatever caused this is definitely not the most friendly of things…

Drawing back her bloodstained hands hastily, she crouched low on the ground, holding an energy blade in her left hand. Stepping carefully over the dead bodies, Reis pressed herself against the wall. There was a loud squawk, and a heavy sound of a corpse falling down; something is still killing the chocobos.

I think that sound came from behind the inn. I'll take a look there. God…to you I pray that it is not the most dangerous of beasts. I am unprepared for that kind of opponent.

Creeping along the wall, careful to hide in the shadow cast by the dawn sun, the dragoner witnessed a most horrific scene; a large, yellow bird, dangling limp from the jaws of a larger, stronger beast; blood was still trickling down from its mangled neck and its open beak, its eyes torn out by a slash from the beast's great claws.

A strand of flesh still protruding from between its foot-long fangs, the creature licked its black lips, saliva dripping down from its crimson-coated tongue; emitting a low growl, the beast stomped towards Reis, its claws stretched out. The shine of a razor-sharp edge caught her eye; this was not a fiend to be underestimated. Sidestepping a lunge from the lethal claws, Reis stared on in horror; the creature was after her; to kill; to destroy.

Brandishing her shining blade, the female warrior snarled at the beast.

'Come and get me, you fiend!'

Roaring in rage, at this display of bravado, the beast lunged forwards once more, its great, heavy jaws snapping at the trailing robes of the dragoner; who struck away its claws with each swing of her energy sword. Cleaving a claw in two, the dragoner pointed her blade at the monster once more, watching it growl in agony, cradling its mutilated and useless right claw; the gleam of wrath in its eyes, it charged forward once more, heaving its great mass at the slender huntress.

'Fool!'

Leaping upwards, she let the monster slam into the rock on the edge of the sea cliff behind her; severing its tail with a downward sweep of the blade, she stepped backwards, watching the beast roar in pain once more; stabbing her sword downwards, she uttered the finishing incantation.

'Doom of a planet…Crush Punch!'

Watching from behind as the edge of the cliff shattered into powder, the huntress tucked her blade under her robes; walking away, she did not notice the beast's claw whip upwards in a last, desperate attempt to take down its killer along to its grave; the attack slashing a broad, deep gash along Reis' back. Staggering in blinding pain, Reis groaned in agony, feeling the blood soak into her torn and shredded dress; peering over her shoulder, she sighed in relief as the monster gave one last, shuddering roar, as its body was dashed to pieces against the rocks at the bottom of the shore. Spitting on the ground, Reis limped back to the inn, gasping with each swaying step she took. Blood trailed behind her; the wound was deep and severe.

I…I've never felt this much pain before. Maybe once or twice. It's blinding. I can't feel a thing. I can't think. I just want to get back into safety. I just want to go home.

Go home. Isn't that a nice thing to say; I have no home; the land is my home. And yet, this isn't my land. There is no home for me now.

'Is anybody awake?' Reis shouted, in a wavering and unsteady voice, shaking as she stood; her vision was clouding, a sharp, throbbing pain in her head; she could see her own blood pooling where she stood, 'Is anybody awake?'

'Yes, yes, I'm awake,' the innkeeper yawned, stopping abruptly when he spotted Reis, 'Ur so kut, what in Spira have you done to yourself?'

'Please…hurry…I need…help…with…this…' Reis gasped, tapping her back with a healing spell on her lips, shaking her head as it amounted to little, only slowing the blood loss, 'Please…get summoner Yuna from one of the rooms that I had rented…'

The innkeeper disappeared from Reis' sight as she dropped her head lower, her breathing hard and shallow; her blood streaming down her back and legs, the familiar warm fluid wrapping itself around her foot; snakelike, it coiled downwards from the wound slashed across her back, a trail of red on a white robe.

'Dear Yevon, what have you done to yourself?' Yuna whispered to herself as she supported Reis, helping her into a seat, 'This much bleeding…I've never seen so much…'

Holding a finger over the wound, Yuna began to chant, a soft, calming enchantment, full of flowing, peaceful energy; the blood stopped flowing as she completed the first chant, and yet the gash was still there; an unsightly slash on Reis' perfectly smooth skin.

Didn't I…didn't I…make…a potion…before the Blitzball Tournament? With any luck…if nobody has taken it…it should still be here…

Putting one unsteady, shaking hand into the folds of her robe, Reis felt around for the blood potion that she had made on the ship to Luca; uncorking the glass bottle, she drained the large bottle in one gulp, the dark, ruby red fluid within spreading a stain on her lips. Wiping the excess from her mouth, Reis stood up, the gash mending itself before Yuna's and the astonished innkeeper's eyes; before she ascended the stairs to her room, the wound had sealed, leaving no trace of any violation ever happening before.

'Reis…can you tell me…what on earth were you doing?' Yuna asked her, wiping a finger coated in blood on her voluminous robes, 'There is no way you would receive that sort of wound from a normal monster…that…that cut, that slash…if it had gone down even an inch deeper, you would've been dead. That…that had broken the back of your ribs…'

'There was a fiend eating all the chocobos outside. I…I couldn't leave it there, to finish them all off. I had to go and kill it,'

'Well, you could've asked some of us for help, at least. You forget; my guardians are also there to help you as well; as you do for them,'

Feeling foolish at Yuna's words, Reis entered her room, lying back on the linen and woollen covers of her bed; before sitting bolt upright again, the pain in her back still sharp and fresh.

This…hadn't happened before, this wound's worse than I thought. My potion works on me. In the matter of seconds. But why? Why would this wound not heal that fast?

'Saving lives is an honourable goal, Yuna. That's why I did that,'

'And yet you took a life?' Yuna said, 'That's not saving a life,'

'True…it is not saving a life. However, by taking one, I save many others. I would gladly give my life for my beloved Beowulf, at any rate,' Reis mused, 'In any case, I think I'd better wear my armour at all times,'

Sliding the black crystal pieces of armour over her robes, Reis reflected on the life that she had. Would it have been better if she had died in Beowulf's place when they had fought with Altima? Or would it have been better if she were not born at all? Not to be the cause of jealousy among men, and not to be the cause of a war; one that happened between Goug and the church. Picking up her lance, she pushed aside these thoughts.

'I will go ahead and look for any hostiles,' Reis called to Yuna, shutting the door behind her as she left.

Tossing a few hundred gil on the counter of the inn, Reis left the comfortable building, holding her large spear, which was nearly one and a half times her height; made of reflective black crystal. Finding a man with several chocobos nearby, she waved to him, beckoning him to come closer.

'Good morning, sir. Are these chocobos for sale?' Reis said, shaking his hand.

'No, they are not,' the man muttered, walking on, his straw hat bobbing up and down as he led the sentient chocobos along.

'Would this make a difference?' Reis asked, tossing a small bag of gil, straightening out her single, knee-length ponytail of golden hair with her other hand; the man caught it, his eyes aglow with greed as he saw the fabulous sum within.

'Yes, yes it would. I will give these to you…for…ah, how about sixty thousand gil? Apiece?'

'It's a deal,' Reis smiled, counting out an additional two hundred and forty thousand and dumping them into his hands. Taking the reins of the saddled chocobos, she swung herself on top of one with an agile leap. A quarter of a million was a mere nothing to her.

Much as I'd prefer to ride a dragon, chocobos are, apparently, the only mode of transport here, aside from walking.

The man ran off in glee, counting out the coins in such haste that trails of gold were left behind. Driving the yellow birds forward, the remainder of the guardians emerged from the inn, yawning and half asleep. The sun had risen slightly higher than the horizon, tinging the sky pink and streaking it with yellow; wispy clouds dashed the curtain of air with white.

'Good morning, fellow guardians. Let's just say that I've found a more…ah, comfortable way of travelling,' Reis said, dismounting and helping Yuna load their baggage onto a chocobo's back.

'Where did you get these, Reis?' Lulu asked, almost accusatively, 'Did you steal them?'

'Again, and again, why do you accuse me of such vile deeds?' Reis sighed, shaking her head, 'I have purchased these from a man; alas, I think that you may be more inclined to steal,'

Laughing as she watched Lulu's face burn in shame, Reis helped Yuna onto a chocobo, when she noticed that there were not enough. Auron and Kimahri could sit on one each, for they were too heavy to permit any others to ride on the same chocobo; Lulu could sit with Yuna, and Tidus had to occupy the fourth and last one. There was none for Reis.

'Reis, you don't have a chocobo,' Yuna said, moving to get off hers when Reis grasped her hand and pushed her gently back on. Dark wings burst from the back of Reis' back, dripping in blood as it pushed through the armour; her face was distorted in pain, panting as it subsided. Beating them about, she noticed that something was different; it was no longer black leather, but black feathers; as though her dragon wings had become raven's wings.

'It's alright, I can fly, Yuna. I'll follow behind as I don't know the way,'

The summoner drove the chocobo forward, slowly at first, uncertainly; gaining pace as she gained confidence in herself, Yuna rode swiftly towards a narrow ravine, along the edge of which they must traverse. Small clumps of sparse flowers grew along the ragged rock edge of the ravine; the road along it cracked and crumbled, at some parts indistinguishable from the surrounding dirt. Chocobos down below stared upwards nonchalantly as the riders moved overhead; resuming their pecking as they left.

Winding around a mountain range, the bottom of the ravine was a fair way down; the darkness below was thick; thicker and darker than the darkest shadow; the bottom invisible in the gloom. Pebbles fell to the bottom as a chocobo kicked them aside; falling down into the dark, landing with a loud crack on the bottom five seconds after it was dislodged.

A fear of heights…that I've never had. But this valley, this pit, this hole in the ground, this slash in the land…it's different.

The road eased slightly a few minutes through this dangerous road; the dirt path showed signs of maintenance, the damaged fragments of cobble becoming less common as the loose bricks joined to form a straight, smooth path once more. A vast stone arch spanned the valley ahead, sealed by a palisade gate. Cages of snapping, roaring fiends sat outside this gate, dragged along by teams of chocobos. Men stood waiting by them, pointing their spears and halberds at the beasts, forcing the creatures to cease their fierce resistance.

'What are they doing there?' Yuna said, 'I've never heard of any crusader activity to happen here?'

'I hope they're not doing anything stupid,' Auron mumbled, pushing his dark sunglasses up, 'They will only be able to fight Sin only at Luca, where there are many of them,'

I've seen what that thing can do to a town. And these men…they're trying to destroy it? With lances and halberds? Very little chance of that.

'Even if the Crusaders wish to do that noble deed, Yuna must complete her pilgrimage to Zanarkand. They will not bar us,'

She must. She has to. Why? Is there a good reason why? I haven't heard any so far. Why, if I can destroy one of Sin's fins, surely there are enough black mages to destroy it in entirety.

Driving their rides forward, the travellers were barred by the Crusaders, who formed a fence of spears as they tried to ride through the palisade gates in the rock arch.

'Halt! State your business,' one said, raising his visor, 'Only Crusaders and the Al Bhed may pass,'

'Al Bhed?' Wakka shouted, 'You're letting the filthy Al Bhed into the Crusaders' activities!'

'Calm down, Wakka. There must be an explanation for it,' Yuna said, praying in their usual fashion, 'Please, tell us what is happening here,'

'There is a military campaign to be led here, by the Crusaders and the Al Bhed,' a cold, calm voice said; the Crusaders parted and saluted to a blue-robed man, his turquoise hair rippling in the slight breeze, 'If it may please you, summoner Yuna, you—and your guardians—may pass through. But under one condition; you must come with me,'

'Wherever she goes, we go!' Tidus yelled, his chocobo bucking violently in surprise, 'We, as guardians, will not allow Yuna to be taken away!'

'Then I will allow you to come with her,' the man said, his voice noticeably far colder, 'Come, Yuna. I will show you the might of the Crusaders, when they are joined by the Al Bhed,'

He's talking as though he knew Yuna…or does he? Or does he only have plenty of influence?

Sweeping his hand in a parting motion, the Crusaders behind him moved aside, bowing as the group passed through.

'Maester Seymour…' Yuna said, softly, 'Is it really advisable to attempt this? To try and destroy Sin with Al Bhed machina and with the Crusaders' blades? It appears to be futile to me, for it is only with the Final Summoning that Sin can be destroyed,'

'Futile it may seem,' Seymour sighed, 'but it is necessary for the good of Spira. To try and defend our towns from Sin we must,'

'But there are no towns here,' Reis spoke, hovering behind Yuna, 'This is not the defense of a town,'

'It may not seem like it, but if Sin travels further past here, he will be able to destroy Luca. Enough. Do not question me any further on it. The council of the Maesters have decided on this campaign,'

The road that they travelled on was rough; cliffs surrounded them on all sides, with a deep pit at the base of the rock platform they were on. Water trickled steadily down over the edges of the stone; sparse flowers grew wherever the rays of light touched the barren, brown rock. Sickly and yellowing, they appeared to know the coming of doom—the approach of Sin, and the fate of the Crusaders.

They will be annihilated. They can't possibly resist Sin, when he has levelled a town, single-handedly.

Stepping on a glyph on the floor, Seymour looked on amusedly as Yuna and her guardians glanced bewilderedly at the ground as it rose; a powerful jet of water having issued from the base of the rock plate that they were on. Emerging at the top of the cliffs, they ventured out into a bustling encampment, thousands of cannons lining the walls of the steep-edged bay that they were in, the sapphire waters of the sea lapping peacefully at the pure white sands of the beach below.

'Today the Crusaders shall complete the will of Mi'ihen. They will defeat Sin by their own hands—and that of the Al Bhed in addition, with their machina,'

'This will not work, Maester,' Wakka retorted, bouncing his blitzball on the rocky ground below him, 'Machina are forbidden by Yevon. It is against the religion, and it is definitely against your doctrine that we use them!'

'It is the will of Yevon that we join hands with the Al Bhed and use their machina,'

'Then…then…isn't it sacrilegious for us to do so? Why are the crusaders permitted to use them?'

'Is it in your mind, young guardian,' Seymour sighed, entering a tent and putting up a map of the bay, 'That you will partake of their devilish weapons? That you may use them freely? I can assure you, it is not by their own free will that they have chosen to use these weapons. It is the will of Yevon that they will do so, to crush Sin once and for all,'

'But…' Wakka retorted once more, faltering as he saw the cold light in Seymour's eyes.

They're…going against the doctrines of their own religion? To go against their principles and the principles instilled into the minds of those who follow it devoutly? I am…disgusted. More than that. I am appalled.

'Right. I'll explain what we're trying to do here,' Seymour said, pointing to the largest cannon, mounted atop a cliff, 'We're luring Sin here with as many Sinspawns as we can gather. Then, all the Al Bhed machina will attack Sin as the Crusaders fight off his scales. Quite simple, really,'

'And you have absolute certainty that this will work?' Yuna said, holding her summoner's staff rather tightly, 'It had been said before in the scriptures of Yevon that the only way to destroy Sin is through the Final Summoning. And even then, he will return again on an uncertain date, to terrorise and plague Spira. It is said that he is eternal, indestructible-'

'You've seen Reis destroy his fin once, Yuna,' Lulu interjected, 'You've seen her destroy one of his fins using whatever magic she has,'

That's the first time Lulu ever commented on me in a nice way.

'A woman that can damage Sin,' Seymour laughed, 'I have never heard such a preposterous claim. Unless I see it with my own two eyes, I refuse to believe it,'

'See for yourself if she decides to do so again,'

'I will, then,' Seymour said, with some annoyance and finality in his cold voice. Striding outside, they watched the Al Bhed load their cannons; the clouds overhead gathered, dark and threatening. The waves intensified, pounding against the dark granite cliffs. Ripples formed in the ocean; sea birds above it swooping past the Crusaders as they fled in haste.

The Crusaders took a step back as the enormous form of Sin rose from the azure waters; the Al Bhed cannons blasted a vicious barrage of shots as their commanders shouted the order to fire. The noise was deafening; cannon blasts and the screams of men echoing in the bay against the rocky cliffs; and Sin's deep, low groan of sound as it moved didn't help either.

The largest cannon atop the cliff was firing intermittent rays of energy into Sin's scales; ripping off some as it wrought holes and cuts into Sin's back. Crusaders and their chocobos charged into the shallow waters, trampling sinscales and fiends as they dashed forward to attack their enormous opponent.

Reis looked on over the chaos, while Yuna gasped, horrified; hundreds of Crusaders were locked in combat, hand to hand, with the bug-like Sinscales; some fell to the ground, while the others took their place and finished off the fiends. Sinspawns, locked in their cages, struggled to escape and fight; the one directly next to Reis bending its prison bars severely. Bracing herself, Reis moved backward, the Sinspawn having broken out the next second.

'Yuna! Watch out! This one's free!' Reis yelled, deflecting a blow from its flailing arms with her black shield. Spitting acid, the monster was furious; some splashed on to Reis' face, burning into her skin. Hissing in pain, Reis leapt forward, burying her crystal spear into the creature's mottled scales. Snatching it out of the Sinspawn's flesh, Reis slammed the opposite end into the creature's arm; so forceful was the blow that the entire limb was severed.

Panting, the dragoner narrowed her eyes, jumping backwards as the other remaining limb pulverised the ground where she was a second ago. Holding her black crystal spear like a javelin, she hurled the spear into the creature's head; black blood spurted out of the hole in the creature's eye as the spear shot out the other side, where it remained embedded in the rock. Reeling over, the Sinspawn collapsed onto the ground, vaporising into one, large red crystal, which Reis crushed with her fist.

'Protect yourself, Yuna. I suggest you get out of here,' Auron told her, drawing out his katana and batting down a stray sinscale.

'I will, Auron,' she replied, grasping her staff rather tightly, 'But I will not leave,'

'Oh my God,' Reis whispered, pointing at the largest cannon as she extracted her spear from the rock face, 'Look at that…'

Sin was resisting against the cannon's energy ray; a glowing yellow bubble of force surrounded it, expanding; it was pushing back the cannon's blue beam, driving it back all the way to the muzzle—

'Get down!' Seymour shouted, pushing Yuna aside as the cannon's flaming remains fell on the ground next to them; Sin had blasted the entire cannon to scraps of metal with its attack. Sinscales were still flying thickly from its skin; the weary Crusaders below fighting an ever-increasing foe, their numbers decreasing with every Sinscale they defeated.

I must do something about this…I must do it. These men cannot continue the battle, or they will be annihilated. Sinscales are too numerous…

Raising her visor, Reis began to dance; her golden ponytail moved fluidly as she twirled and sang, a song that had no words, that had an ancient power about it; a song of death and decay. Her spear she twirled above her head, as she stared at the darkening skies above; her other hand drawing an magical symbol in the air, a trail of reddish energy hovering in front of her; finishing the song on one last, wavering note, she thrust the black spear into the sphere of energy, screaming the final verse in the hoarse, draconic voice that she possessed when enraged.

'The sun, stars and sky…combine as one to crush my foes! The power of darkness and earth…destroy my enemies! Fire and water shall befriend each other to rid this world of evil! Prominence!' Reis roared, plunging the energised spear into the ground.

The clouds overhead thundered, streaks of lightning flashing across the black clouds; freezing bolts of ice rained down upon the Sinscales, impaling them upon grisly javelins of frozen water harder than steel; clouds flew apart, one thin, weak beam of light shining upon Sin's exposed body. Several other columns of light descended upon the great fiend's back, before thousands, even millions of balls of fire, along with their hundreds of fiery rock trails fell in a ferocious barrage; staring upwards, Reis shouted another spell for all to hear.

'Shadow Flare!'

It was as though a chocobo wagon had slammed into the dragoner's front; reeling backwards, Reis felt the aftershocks of the spell that she had just used; a forbidden spell, one that consumed part of her soul to destroy her opponent to nothing. Blood spilled out from her lips, flowing along the glistening black handle of her spear; kneeling down, she felt the warm flow of blood upon her legs. Lifting up her weary head, Reis caught a glimpse of Sin's form disintegrating by her spell; Sin moving away, Sin moving away in fear, in pain, in destruction.

Her strength began to fail; Reis' hands began to slide down the smooth handle of her spear, before she collapsed onto the ground, sprawled on all fours upon the cold, hard stone. The crimson liquid still flowed from her mouth, the familiar coppery taste tickling her tastebuds; she swallowed, and all faded into darkness…

A/N

Is there something I'm doing wrong? Is there something that you readers want me to improve? Is there something wrong with me? I've received 1040 hits for this story, and yet there are only a few reviewers! Can you please tell me, if you read this, why you like my story? It seems odd to me that many will read this, and yet few review.