The battle had made her exhausted and for the world she didn't have any way of reviving her party.
"No...so close....we can't lose like this!"
Reis stood upon her feet, and in an almost trance-like state, marched upward to the surface. There was no way of telling how long it took for her to get back up, she didn't have any monsters to deal with, and for that she was grateful. The stairs and airlocks were progressively harder and harder to open, the pain and fatigue reaching her.
Standing like a withered root, one breeze could have blown her over. She reached the surface, and sunlight hit her eyes, the waves lapped against the metallic platform designed for landing the Ragnarok.
In one desperate plea for help she cried out.
Then she collapsed, unconscious.
When her eyes opened, she saw the raven-haired face of Laguna peering down at her.
"Ph--phoen--......." the words wouldn't come.
"Shhhh.....don't struggle, you've been out for some time....what happened?"
"Omega.......f-fought.....barely...survived..."
"Where are the braves?"
She shook her head, and a grim face appeared on Laguna, he looked at the medic and said, "We need to get down there and revive those braves. This is definitely not good. Reis, can you tell me what level they were on in the Center?"
"Lowest...." she pointed downward to indicate the bottom level.
"Bottom level of the Research Center....Medic, send a rescue squad down there to retrieve the bodies, make sure they're in top condition, use caution for any encounters, junction Diablos if you have to, but get those Braves!"
Reis looked up at Laguna in surprise, he had been a very peaceful and generous man for the time she'd known him, but now it seemed like he was as strong as Beowulf.
"I guess...he cares about us."
Laguna interrupted her thoughts, "Please rest, I need to keep in contact with my men."
"Yes...."
As Laguna left the room, Reis had time to her thoughts, she considered herself a warrior, right? Yet one attack from a great monster had nearly killed her, she looked at the bandages wrapped around her waist and arms, still very severe wounds, but healing well.
Images of her friends started to appear, and she began having thoughts of each. "Ramza was a leader to all of us, I really didn't expect to be with him this long....what was it? Five years, and still we were allies. I even agreed to go along with Delita as soon as he joined us, I didn't expect him to humble himself like he's done, for the cause of a war he really didn't originally partake in. Alma's been like a sister to me, staying strong even when in a battle situation, I respect her for that. Agrias: she has been my greatest comrade-in-arms since the whole Zodiac incident happened. She helped tremendously in rescuing me in my Dragon form, and getting the stone to change me back into my human form. Aeris and Cloud, although newcomers have shown me how to love better, instead of being just simply a Dragoon, I've learned to be a woman as well. Zidane and Garnet have really taught me how to enjoy life too, I don't think I could think of them any other way. Sephiroth, although he doesn't say much shows me what nobility should be, I remember my life as a simple farm girl, how I wished to become like those of respectability, not the snobs I've had to deal with, but a truly chivalrous person. And Seifer, well, from what I've seen of him, he has dreams and goals, I should follow my own."
"And Beowulf....he is so kind to me, I could never ask for a greater friend or companion, even before the battle with Omega he kept between me and the monster. Always protecting me, even when I didn't need protection, he loves me I know this is true, but there's something more...he's always been there for me, well, I think I shall do the same for him in return, I will always be there for him. I will save my friends."
As the night drifted by, no signs of Laguna returning worried Reis, so she turned on her feet and attempted standing up, somewhat painfully at first. A doctor walked in and scolded her for trying to leave in such an injured state.
"Give me......AN ELIXIR!" She yelled grabbing her spear.
The doctor broke out in a cold sweat and ran for the door.
"Y-yes ma'am!"
Reis found herself leaning on her spear for support, when the nervous doctor came back in the room for what she had asked for.
"B-but your ribs may be broken, and they would need proper setting!"
"Shut up and give me the juice!" she snapped, grabbing the bottle and ripping the bandages off her wound which sort of stung, but pouring the fluid over the gaping hole sealed up any sort of wound there.
"I'm leaving now....don't even think of trying to follow me!" she yelled.
Donning her armor was difficult at first, since the elixir had a morphinous effect on her body, numbing it for a time. Once she was dressed she ran for her room window, looking down she saw she was on the 10th floor.
"No! Don't jump!" the doctor yelped horrified.
She looked back at him in disgust and said, "I'm a Dragon Knight, this is how I get around!" Leaning back out of the window, she dove.
Spinning and landing expertly on the ground, Reis marched over to the nearest Estharian communication terminal.
"I need President Loire....ooh how I hate these things!" she banged on the controls.
A fuzzy image blurred in and out of focus on the screen,
"Skrrrrrtkk This is....Crkkkkklllll.....Laguna, Reis, you're out of the........fazzzzzt......are you okay?"
"I'm fine...reception's bad though, give me a lift on the Ragnarok, I'll wait at the docking gate, also, we need to pick up a Phoenix Pinion."
"Skrrrrk......the Ragnarok? But we haven't found the Bra.....frrrrrzzzt...we can't afford to lose you, there might be more monsters down there.....skkkkkzzzt....besides, how are we going to get a Phoenix--"
"They're my friends, Laguna, I can't abandon them, I know you're trying to help, and I'm grateful, but I know exactly where they are down there. In order for us to resurrect them, we need to find a Phoenix Pinion."
"Do you know how hard....fazzzz....Pinions are to come by! We'd have to kill a Zuu and hope it just happens to have one on it, one in 255 chance!"
"Are you saying it's impossible!" she said eyes welling in near tears.
"No....I'm saying it's dangerous...." she blinked, not knowing he cared so much.
"....I'm a Dragon Knight....I can do this...."
"You're not doing this alone.....Kiros, Ward, and I are more than willing to help."
Did she hear right? Did he say he was willing to help fight Zuus just to get one lousy pinion. Apparently so, maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all.
As Reis waited by the docking gate for the Ragnarok to land, she could only think about how faithful her friends had been to her, and how she just could not lose them, especially with the war so deadly close. They needed to be ready; she needed to be ready.
