Who Am I? What Am I?

By: Sorceress Myst

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters so don't sue me, I'm broke anyway.

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          "Well Mrs. Brentworth, I'm off. Take care of Robin for me." Said the young woman to her guardian. The small brunette tried to leave but was cut off by a little girl with blonde hair.

"Where are you going Tarae?" Tarae sighed and patted the girl's head.

"I'm going to help a friend in Midgar. I'll only be gone for a week… maybe, so be good to Mrs. Brentworth."

"Wait!" called out an elderly lady as Tarae tried to leave again, "What about that discovery you were supposed to announce tomorrow?"

"E-mail President Shinra and tell him I'll be there to announce it at his meeting the day after tomorrow." And with that, Tarae finally left her office/room.

"Why didn't Tarae go with Tifa when she was here?" asked Robin as she made herself comfy in the armchair behind Tarae's desk now that she was left in charge of the factory and mansion until her cousin returned.

"Because Tarae just came back from the party and was still in a daze from dancing with you-know-who." Mrs. Brentworth answered with a smile on her wrinkled face.

          Tarae was on the roof of her mansion looking at her accomplishments. When Tarae was around 8, she had to take care of her self and her cousin, who was no older than 1. After she discovered a way to make materia grow stronger, her small business grew bigger and bigger. Soon every invention or discovery of hers made her a million Gil richer and Shinra Inc. wanted to hire Tarae. She began to smile as she remembered Shinra's attempts to have her join the company, like the one time President Shinra offered to adopt her because she couldn't run her own company without someone to take care of her, since she was only a child. But Rufus ruined his plan by offering his nanny, Mrs. Brentworth, to take care of Tarae until she was 18. Now Tarae was 17 and has 6 months until the awful day she has to say goodbye to her nanny, who became a close friend.  

"Miss Destine, we're ready to go when you are." Said the pilot.

"Good let us depart to Costa del Sol and take the jet to Midgar." Said Tarae as she climbed into the helicopter. The pilot nodded and started the propeller, Tarae watched her mansion get smaller as the helicopter ascended into the night sky.

"I hope you don't mind my asking, but why are you going to help that rebel group when you know they are trying to destroy the very people who gives you a supply of Mako to experiment on?" the pilot yelled over the noise emitting from the helicopter.

"Because one of their members saved my life." Tarae yelled back, "After that accident 10 years ago, Robin and I were about to freeze to death until Tifa's family took us in for the rest of winter."

          20 minutes later the helicopter landed and Tarae got out and stretched.

"It'll take around 15 minutes before we can get the jet operational." Said the pilot as he climbed out.

"Very well, I will be at the beach until then." Tarae walked past the quiet town and made her way to the shoreline. She closed her eyes as the water lapped at her boots and the gentle sea wind blew her shoulder length hair about. Sometimes, when the world about her was quiet, she could hear the planet softly humming into the night, but now she heard it crying in pain. This distressed her for some time, but she knew that she couldn't do anything about it. At least not before the problem gets worse. Unable to bear the depressing sound, she began to walk away. Suddenly the planet gasped and a faint rumble could be felt. With a grin on her face, Tarae faced the dark ocean again and chuckled.

"That was probably a Mako reactor exploding. Isn't it nice to know that some people besides the Cetra still care about you?" Tarae's question was answered by the planet's resumed cry. She just shrugged and continued to walk out of the beach, speaking with the planet was never one of her strengths anyway. Tarae returned to find everything ready, the pilot motioned for her to get on the jet.

"Now remember, land in the outskirts of Midgar and do not get caught in their radars." She reminded the pilot.

"Yes ma'am." The pilot answered as he shut the door to the jet and started the engine.

          Tarae walked toward the city gates and swiped her fake I.D. through the card slot. The small computer beeped, but didn't allow her to pass. Frustrated, Tarae entered a code into the computer and the machine short-circuited. Before she entered the city, she pulled out a blue scarf from her travel bag and tied her hair back so she wouldn't be recognized.

"Sector 7 hadn't changed at all", thought Tarae as she walked through the slums, "I wonder why Shinra restricted this area. Does he know that AVALANCHE lives here?" Soon her train of thought was interrupted when she sensed a threatening presence following her. Acting as if she was looking for somebody, Tarae turned around and spied a young man no older than her with rusty brown hair and a wicked looking smile. He started walking towards her. She turned around with a disgusted face.

"Well this should be interesting" Up ahead was an older man in his late 20s, so she walked up to him, making it look like he was who she was looking for.

"Excuse me sir, could you please tell me where Tifa's 7th Heaven is?" The man looked at her, she could sense he was worried.

"I don't think I should tell you, that place is a bar. It's a terrible place for young women." The man started to walk away but Tarae grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, you misunderstand. My friend works at the bar and I was hoping to visit her." She said politely and looked at the man with pleading eyes. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well you do seem honest," he started, "Keep going straight ahead and take the first turn right. Soon you will see a signpost in between two buildings. Just pass the signpost and Tifa's bar should be right in front of you." Tarae pulled out a small bag full of Gil and held it out to the man.

"Here, this is for your kindness."

"No, I can't take your money." He refused, but she grabbed his hand and put the bag in the palm of his hand.

"I insist. After all don't you have a family to feed?" Surprised, the man stuttered a 'thank you' and Tarae just smiled. The grateful man hurried home, leaving Tarae to continue towards her destination once she noticed the young man was gone.

Once Tarae reached the signpost, she saw a group of men walk away. As soon as she passed the signpost, she found out the reason why the men were leaving. There was a large African man with a gunarm blocking the entrance to the bar.

"Let me guess, I have to fight him to get through." She thought irritably.

"Hey there angel face." she turned to find that rusty haired man from before.

"Hello." She muttered back.

"Don't you know this is a dangerous area for women? For a price, I could get you through this town safely."

"I'll take my chances." she said angrily as she tried to walk away from him. The young man seized her arm and forced her against a wall.

"But I can't leave 'til I know you're in a safe place."

With a sigh, she took out a smaller bag of Gil from her pocket and muttered darkly, "Take your damn Gil and don't let me see your sorry ass again."

"I don't accept Gil, I only accept something a little personal to women." He said, eyes traveling from her face to her breasts. With venom filling her emerald eyes, she pushed the man out of her way, but he pushed her back against the wall and pulled out a knife.

"I was hoping I wouldn't resort to this but you leave me no choice. Come with me or I will kill you." The man said, frowning.

"That's a nice sharp blade there," Tarae said while she pulled out her short sword, "It reminds me of my blade except mine's bigger and sharper." The young man jumped back for a second but didn't back down. He started to attack her but she easily dodged out of the way and back kicked him into the wall. The man regained his senses and prepared for another attack. Tarae saw him coming and shouted, "Radiance!" Suddenly the man was covered in a bight light and fell unconscious. She sheathed her sword and dropped a Gil on the man.

"Thank you, I've been meaning to test out this materia orb." Then she looked at the bar's entrance to find the guard gone. She turned around to make sure that he wasn't going to attack her from behind too. Satisfied, she walked into the bar.

Sorceress Myst: So did you like it? Or did you hate it? On the next chapter, Tarae will finally meet the members of AVALANCHE. C ya next chapter!