NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Malice (who belongs to my sister).

AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XIV

CLOUD'S ULTIMATE DECISION

The lycan slowly walks into the church, and she looks around as her ear quirks at the direction where the sound of footsteps heading her way. She growls softly as she closes the door then hides in the shadows to wait for the footsteps to pass by. It was the footsteps of the soldiers that were hunting her down. They search around the area for the female lycan, but all they found was small drops of blood on the ground. Thinking that she got away, the soldiers then start to leave the area. After the sounds of footsteps faded, Aerith slumps against a wall as she then sniffs the air, catching the scent of something. She slowly stands up and follows the scent as she explores the church.

The interior of the church seems to be abandoned as if no one comes in here anymore. She could see two rows of benches as well as some columns that hold the structure together. As she walked down the aisle, she spots what seems to be a pool of water at the front of the benches. The water seems to be shimmering from the moon's light Aerith looks up at the ceiling, noticing a large hole in it. She looks up at the night sky through the hole, then howls at the moon. She then sniffs the air, catching the same scent from before, and she looks to her left. The scent was coming from a small patch of yellow and white flowers. The lycan slowly walks over to the small patch and sniffs at the flowers, but then she sneezes softly.

All of a sudden, she holds her chest in pain while softly whimpers then she slowly transforms back into a human. She falls to her knees once she was back to normal, then she shakes her head. What happened? She thought as she rubs her eyes, and looks around the room. Where am I? She thought again. How did I get here? Last thing I remember was being in my room then just blacked out. She looks at her hand then all of a sudden her eyes widen as she saw stains of blood on her finger tips. Blood!? She thought. Where did it come from? She then slowly stands up and backs up. She couldn't believe that there was blood on her, but hopes that she didn't kill anyone. She then spots the flower patch, and blinks a bit as she walks over to them. She checks the flowers if anyone stepped on them or not as she starts to relax a bit. This place is very peaceful, and these flowers...they're beautiful. She thought with a gentle smile on her face.

She starts to walk out of the church, thinking that it might be a good place to bring Cloud at sometimes. As she got closer to the door, she could voices coming from outside. The voice of her adoptive father and the voice of a woman. She slightly opens the door, but only enough to peek at Cloud, who was standing nearby the entrance. He was facing at Scarlet, who was laughing her stupid laugh. They seemed to have been standing there for a while, possibly they have followed Aerith's howling from earlier. "Kyah ha ha ha ha! I've heard rumors about you keeping a werewolf, Cloud." Scarlet said. "Come on, why would anyone want to keep a filthy, flea-bitten, moon howling, blood-thirsty beast like that?"

Cloud glares at Scarlet. "It was none of your concern, Scarlet." He said calmly. "Aerith was a lost little girl who needed a home and a family."

"Kyah ha ha ha! Don't make me laugh, Cloud. The girl is a monster, and yet you treat her like she is a human being."

Aerith's eyes widen at what Scarlet said about her, then she gently leans her back against the door, looking at her blood-stained hands. Am I really a monster? She thought, trying to blink back tears as she stares at her hands. My hands...They're covered with blood. Tears start to roll down her cheeks as she sits down on the floor. She didn't like the scent of blood at all, but she was able to tell what type of blood it was due to her enhanced senses from being a lycan as well as now becoming a demon. It was the scent of human blood. I really must be...a monster. She suddenly perks her head up when she heard her adoptive father speak. "Aerith IS human! I don't care if she is a monster. She's still my daughter! And I'm proud to be her father!"

Scarlet scoffs, "So are you going to let her continue her killing spree until her bloodlust is satisfied?"

"Aerith is not like that! All she wanted is to be like any other typical girl."

Scarlet rolls her eyes as all of sudden, a voice speaks to Cloud, "Cloud..." It was the voice of Rufus Shinra, who walked from another area not too far away with Dark Nation at his side. From hearing Rufus's voice, Cloud quickly turns to face the President and his faithful pet. "I hate to tell you this, but for the sake of innocent people in Midgar...you can't keep her." Rufus said with a serious look on his face. Cloud's eyes widen a bit from the news then responds, "You can't be serious!?"

"I am serious. Tseng hates this as well. I'm sorry, but she's gonna have to go."

"But where will she go?"

Just as Rufus was about to answer, Scarlet interrupts, "Kyah ha ha ha! You have no choice, Cloud. It's either she leaves here permanently or she dies." She laughs again, but all of a sudden, Rufus stuffs a sock down Scarlet's throat, apparently he was annoyed with her stupid "Kyah ha ha" laugh as much as he was annoyed with Heidegger's horse laugh. He often wondered how his father put up with people like Heidegger and Scarlet. He laughs triumphantly as Scarlet gives an evil look, then he turns his attention back to Cloud. "You have no idea that I've been wanting to do that. Tell you what...I'll give you two weeks to make your decision." He said before walking off towards a helicopter in the distance. Scarlet and Dark Nation follow after Rufus as Cloud watches them leave.

After the helicopter flew off towards the ShinRa building, Cloud then slowly walks over to the door of the church. Aerith gasps softly then quickly runs to hide, thinking that it might be one of the Turks coming for her again. She hid behind a column and quickly wipes her tears away as she watches the door open. She could also see the shadow of someone coming in, but was too scared to see who it was. Cloud walks into the church and looks around. "Aerith..." He said softly as he starts to walk toward a bench. Aerith suddenly perks up from hearing Cloud's voice then peeks from behind a column, spotting Cloud walking. She then runs over to her adoptive father and hugs him tightly. Cloud stops when he felt the hug then looks at his adopted daughter with a sadden smile as he returns her hug. "It's alright...I'm here..." He said softly.

At that moment, Tifa and Demon walk into the church and spot the two. "Aerith!" Tifa called out as she runs over to Cloud and Aerith. "Are you alright?" Aerith looks at Tifa and gives a slight nod in response. She then notices Demon, who was leaning against a wall. "I remember you. You're that guy in the forest from the other day."

"Yes, I am he." He said with a slight grin.

Aerith gives a gentle nod as she walks over to the small flower patch. Cloud watches his adopted daughter with a smile, thinking to himself, She's definitely like Aeris...I can never forget that day when we met the second time. Aeris would check on the flowers here in this church until the incident with the Turks...more like the incident with Reno. Cloud then frowns slightly as he explains to Tifa on what Scarlet and Rufus had told him earlier. Tifa's jaw dropped slightly when she heard the news then clenches her fists. "They can't be serious!?" She snapped. "That's not right!"

"I know..." Cloud responded with a sigh. "But you know Rufus calls the shots. What other choices do we have?"

Tifa then hits her palm with her fist before taking a deep breath. "What are we gonna do now?" She asked softly.

"I won't let Aerith die...It seems exile is the only choice..."

"But where to? Barret and the others travel around in the Highwind. Marlene and Denzel don't have a place of their own either."

"I guess I'll go pay Vincent a visit. He might know where we could take her."

"At least let her go to school one last time."

Cloud gives a nod as glances back at Aerith, but then he turns his attention to Demon, who has been listening to their conversation. "Cloud," Demon said before taking a deep breath then closes his eyes. "There's something I must tell you."

"What is it, Demon?" Cloud asked.

"I'm the one who gave her the curse." Demon responded softly as he then opens his eyes. "I'm sorry for what I've done." Cloud, not too surprised about what Demon said, walks up to the silver-haired Turk and places his hand on his shoulder. "I kinda figured that you were the one, but there's no need to apologize." Cloud said. "I'm still in your debt since you did try to save my daughter's life." Demon looks at Cloud before glancing at Aerith as he remembers what Lust told him the other day. He snaps out of his thoughts when Cloud asks him, "Would you like to come with me tomorrow to see Vincent?"

"Sure." Demon responded with a slight grin as well as a nod.

Cloud nods as well then speaks, "I guess we'll be heading home now." He then looks at Aerith and calls out to her. Aerith perks up from hearing her adoptive father call out to her and looks at his direction before running over to him. Demon then watches Tifa, Cloud, and Aerith leave the church as he shakes his head slightly. He wondered how Cloud figured out that he was the black lycan. Could it be from Tseng's suspicion? He knew that Cloud is still feeling suspicious about him, but seems a bit more open since Demon did try to save her life.

Demon gives a sigh as memories of his past start to play through his mind. At a young age, he was taken to Hojo and was experimented on. Hojo, by that time, lost interest in the Jenova Project, but became interested on doing research on various demons. Due to the experimentations that was done to him, Demon lost some of his memories. Though he was able to make his escape in the form of a black werewolf. He couldn't control himself until his encounter with Aerith 10 years ago. After he bit her arm, he was able to regain some control of himself from noting the great look of fear in the child's eyes. Wanting to live a normal life, Demon decided to work at the ShinRa company as a Turk under the alias "Demon", knowing that Hojo would found out his identity and wait for the opportunity to capture him once more. Snapping out his thoughts, he now wonders if he should tell them what the homunculi are planning. He shakes his then loses his eyes as he then walks out of the church.

At the 7th Heaven, Aerith was sleeping in her room after her wounds were bandaged. Cloud was downstairs relaxing in a couch as Tifa was sitting on a stool, sipping on some cider. All of a sudden, a black and white cat walks into the bar. It was wearing a red cape, a crown, and a pair of boots. "Why the long faces?" It asked with a bit of a Scottish accent. Tifa perks up slightly from hearing the cat speak then she glances over to it. "Oh hello, Cait Sith." She said. "What brings you here?"

"I've heard about the lycan incident from Rufus." Cait Sith said with a sadden look on his face. "I'm sorry that your daughter had to leave."

"Don't apologize, Cait." Tifa said with a sigh. "We'll figure something out. Cait...What do you know about Demon? I've heard that he was the newest member of the Turks."

"Demon?" Cait Sith asked as he tilts his head slightly. "Oh! Yeah, I know who you're talking about. Yes, he became a Turk a long time ago under the alias 'Demon' as you may know. The reason why he wouldn't reveal his actual name is beyond me. Though there is some info you should know."

"Really? What is it?"

"I've caught Demon conversating with some strange woman in a black dress. They were saying something about your daughter creating the 8th homunculus, whom they've called Malice."

"Homunculus? Isn't that an artificial beings created from alchemy?"

Cait Sith gives a slight nod, "I think so. Anyways, the strange woman wants Malice to join her cause. As for Demon, I'm not sure what his intentions are...To be honest, when I first saw him, I thought for a moment that it was Sephiroth himself."

"Hmmm...You think maybe he might be Sephiroth's reincarnation like Aerith is Aeris's?"

"Who knows...but I'll try to dig deeper into this guy for ya."

"Please do, Cait. There's something about him that's off."

Cait Sith says with a nod, "I'll see what I can do." With that said, the cat walks out of the bar. Tifa gives a slight yawn before getting up from her stool. She notices that Cloud had fallen asleep and walks over to him. She covers him with a blanket before she goes upstairs to her room for the night.