(Er...I know it's been so long...This is probably my best chapter yet. THIS WILL BE FINISHED BY CHRISTMAS...Like I promised it would. Later days!)



"Aeris, you realize this won't help you at all." Sephiroth glanced at the small dagger in his hand. He smiled grimly. "I guess I don't have a choice then." He carved a symbol on his hand, then walked in a circle around Aeris as the blood trickled off his hand.
"What are you doing?" Aeris had given up struggling long before, and refused to answer any questions, even if he tortured her. Which, he hadn't, yet.
"Well, I'm playing a game." He smirked.
"A..A game?" Aeris looked at him, quietly wishing that Reno was there.
"Reno can't help you. I can read your mind. Yes, you and your baby will die." He let his blood trickle down his arm for a minute before cleaning it. "You see...those symbols on your back, yes, the ones that sting eery time I get near you...They allow me not only to break your protective barriers, but I can also read you mind and slowly kill you. But, I'm a nice guy. I'll only make it kinda slow." He was smirking now.
"What?" Aeris was looking at him in disbelief.
"Well...I'll postpone your friends long enough...for you to get really bad. Then kill you in front of them. Now..I only have one question for you dear..." Sephiroth began to wipe his bloody hand on his pants. "Who's the father?"
Aeris spit at his feet. "Like I would tell you."
"Fine. Be that way. There's only 4 possabilities. One's not human." He walked up to her, his freshly cut hand seemed to be healing rapidly ,leaving only scars as the only reminder that he had just cut that same hand. "Now this is going to hurt a bit..." He opened his hand and pressed the scarred palm onto Aeris's forhead.
At first, she felt nothing. Then a searing agony tore through her, like she was being ripped in half. She started screaming and writhing, trying to get away from that painful touch. It only increased, and his laughter echoed in her ears as she slowly fell into pained darkness.
Reno stopped in mid-step as a scream echoed in his ears. "Oh my God...He's killing her..."
Tifa looked at Reno, puzzled. "What's wrong, Reno?"
"I- I just heard Aeris screaming."Reno's face was pale, almost white as he stood still, trembling slightly. "We can't wait for the others...He's killing her!"
"Killing her?" Cloud walked over to them, his hand running over the back of his sword instinctively.
"Reno heard Aeris scream. He thinks Sephirother is killing her." Tifa was pulling on her battle gloves and trying to find her materia. "We SHOULD wait for the others...But I think he's right. We CAN'T wait for them."
Cloud nodded. "Alright. But someone has to stay out here and tell the others."
"I'll ^$#^$%& do it." Cid walked up behind them, panting. "The others? All there are is You, Tifa, Reno, Red, and me. You forget that that #%$%$ bastard Barret ran off."
"Oh yeah." Cloud was pulling out some battle materia. "Well, wait for Red. Then come in after us. It looks like this is one big cave...but Tifa thinks it may have many little side tunnels that lead to small caverns, one of which Sephiroth is in. Hopefully he's not to hard to find...:"
"I hope not." Reno was quietly loading a magazine of ammunition into his guns, his face as white as ever. His hands were shaking.
"Let's get on with it then." Cloud walked into the cave, calling out not long after. "It branches into three tunnels. I'll take the one farthest right. Reno, you take the middle, and Tifa, take the one farthest left."
"Sure." Tifa yelled back. Reno had already started into the cave. "Hey! Wait for me!" Tifa ran to catch up to him.
"What if it's too late?" Reno was staring straight ahead, and thanks to his Shinra training, he could see very well in the dark. "Oh God, what if it's too late?"
Sephiroth glanced at the crumpled form at his feet. "She'll die in less than 15 minutes..." He glanced over at his mother, a sheepish grin on his face. "Is that according to plan?"
Jenova made a series of growls in her...throat, then backed off into the shadows.
"Oh, right, Barrett will be here any minute." Sephiroth rubbed his hand, feeling the increased energy as Aeris slowly slipped into death and all her energies and powers seeped into his own being.
"Sephirooooooooooth!" Barrett stormed in, a scowl on his face. "You tricked me! You-" He saw Aeris lying at Sephiroth's feet and he went pale. "God damn! You never said anything about killing her!"
"Some things you're better off knowing." Sephiroth turned to face him. "In fact, You're time is almost up."
"What the Hell..!" Barrett swore as a glass cage suddenly surrounded him. He pounded at it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Barret, you wouldn't be the father of her child, would you?" Sephiroth began preparing his sword, polishing it.
"She's #%$#% PREGNANT too?! And you're killing her?! #%$#^!!" Barret pounded at the glass.
"That's right. So I take it you aren't the father. That leaves...2 humans and one...thing." Sephiroth dropped his sword on the floor and pciked up Aeris. "You know, if mother and I didn't have any plans, I would've kept her and brainwashed her. Maybe the child too. "
"YOU SICK @$#%$#!" Barret screamed, pounding even harder.
"Just wait Barret." Sephiroth smirked, setting Aeris on a table , right in the center of the cave. "They're almost here."
Reno rushed into the main cavern, looking around. At first all he could here was Cloud and the others' footfalls behind him, but then his ears picked up something else. Barret, to one side, was pounding at a glass dome around him, yelling something that Reno couldn't hear. Then he hear laughter, and his eye adjusted to the light and he saw her, a crumpled, pale form laying limply on a steel table. From here he could hear her labored breathing.
"Sephiroth." He said it coldly, his rage boiling up inside him. She was going to die...He had found the woman he loved and she was going to die.
"Yes?" Sephiroth appeared, a dark shadow covering his angel's form.
"What have you done?!" Tifa was shrieking and sobbing as she came in behind Reno.
"Aeris?"
"AERIS!?" Red and Cloud had come in behind Tifa. Cid wasn't very far behind.
"HOLY #%^56%!"
Reno was nearly weeping uncontrolably, when he saw a flash of metal in the irredencent lighting in the cave. "No!"
Everything was happening so fast...Reno heard a dull thud as Tifa fell to the floor, a pair of cries from Cloud and Cid as they caught her, he felt a dull warmth behind him. Sephiroth must've cast a fire spell past him and Tifa had taken the full hit. Red was running in slow motion, it seemed, as Sephiroth raised his blade above Aeris.
"Sephirooooooooooth!" Red was growling as he lunged at him. Sephiroth swung the blade and it slashed it along his belly, as Red flew back from the impact of the blow. He must have also cast another spell, he heard the yells of Clud and Cid as they were hit and fell. Sephiroth was grinning at him now, a cold hard glare. He swept his hand over Aeris, his hand lingering above her stomache and drifting down to her feet. Her eyes flickered, opening, instant recognition flashed to her features.
"Reno?" She stood up. Sephiroth had disappeared. She stumbled, and Reno ran to catch her.
"Aeris? Aeris? Are you okay...?" Reno gently held her up with his arm. " We have to get the others out before he gets back, so I'll help you-"
Aeris's face had gone paler than it hhad already been, her mouth in a small O and her eyes wide with horror.
"Aeris? Are you okay? I said we have to get out of here. Aeris?" Reno looked at her quietly, before he was aware of the shadow that had fallen over them. "Aeris stand back you'll-"
"Kill the baby." Aeris whispered quietly, her hands pressed hard against her stomach and gut. It was then he realized that blood was seeping through them, and Sephiroth's sword lay at his feet, bloodied.
"Go ahead, kill me." Sephiroth's voice was calm and cold, like he was planning this all the time.
"Baby? Aeris? Bleeding..." Reno trailed off, his head was spinning. Somewhere there was a scream and another couple of yells. Aeris crumpled beside him, he was too numb with shock to catch her. There was a shattering sound as something exploded into a million shards somewhere behind him. Sounds of fighting grew around him and he just stood there. "My baby? Aeris?" He shook his head, and quickly looked down at her form. A quickly growing pool of blood surrounded her as she looked up at him, her eyes wide and frightened.
"I-I was going to tell you the day we left the city..but.." Aeris coughed violently.
"Shhh.. You're going to live. Save your breath. Please..." Reno laid her head down gently as a soft and quiet sigh escaped her lips. Her eyes closed with tears in them.
He stood up. Drawing his gun, he aimed at Sephiroth's head. He was fighting Cloud and had just wounded him . "Sephiroth." Sephiroth turned to see the gun aimed at his head and a surprised expression crossed his face before Reno pulled the trigger.
Aeris opened her eyes and looked up at Reno. She could fell the screaming in her head,feel her blood seeping out over the floor. See the tears in Reno's eyes. "I-I was going to tell you the day we left the city but..." A hacking cough escaped her, even as she tried to to warn him of what was going to happen . She knew, because it was a part of the spell Sephiroth didn't know about.
"Shhh...You're going to live. Save your breath. Please..." Reno was looking at her. She wanted to tell him she loved him, but when she tried to speak, a sigh came out. Oh no, not this soon, no.... Her eyes filled with tears. She had to warn him... Everything faded into a light gray mist...she found herself flotaing.

"Aeris? Back so soon?" A voice murmered in her ear.
"Back? Where am I?" She looked around, but all she saw was the mist.
"Between the earth and the lifestream. What we call a 'halfway house' of sorts." There was a hint of sadness in the voice. Aeris knew she was dead.
"Oh, no dear. You're not dead! We just needed to tell you what you don't know. You see, you're not going to die. Not for another...While. Nither is your children. Sephhiroth didn't know that when he slid his sword into you, he was breaking his own spell. You were wounded, but the lifestream interviened just in time to save your babies. You would've lived anyways."
"Oh." Aeris felt her head spinning...or the feeling of it anyways. "I get it."
"Just look dear." A window opened in front of her, showing Reno carrying her away from a smoking crater in the ground. Cloud and the others were standing nearby, looking very sad. Tifa was crying. She could see trails of his tears down his drity face, she felt a pang of sadness.
"Am I going back?" She wanted to. It hurt to see them all like that.
"Not yet." The voice was closer now, somehow.
"Aeris, you realize this won't help you at all." Sephiroth glanced at the small dagger in his hand. He smiled grimly. "I guess I don't have a choice then." He carved a symbol on his hand, then walked in a circle around Aeris as the blood trickled off his hand.
"What are you doing?" Aeris had given up struggling long before, and refused to answer any questions, even if he tortured her. Which, he hadn't, yet.
"Well, I'm playing a game." He smirked.
"A..A game?" Aeris looked at him, quietly wishing that Reno was there.
"Reno can't help you. I can read your mind. Yes, you and your baby will die." He let his blood trickle down his arm for a minute before cleaning it. "You see...those symbols on your back, yes, the ones that sting eery time I get near you...They allow me not only to break your protective barriers, but I can also read you mind and slowly kill you. But, I'm a nice guy. I'll only make it kinda slow." He was smirking now.
"What?" Aeris was looking at him in disbelief.
"Well...I'll postpone your friends long enough...for you to get really bad. Then kill you in front of them. Now..I only have one question for you dear..." Sephiroth began to wipe his bloody hand on his pants. "Who's the father?"
Aeris spit at his feet. "Like I would tell you."
"Fine. Be that way. There's only 4 possabilities. One's not human." He walked up to her, his freshly cut hand seemed to be healing rapidly ,leaving only scars as the only reminder that he had just cut that same hand. "Now this is going to hurt a bit..." He opened his hand and pressed the scarred palm onto Aeris's forhead.
At first, she felt nothing. Then a searing agony tore through her, like she was being ripped in half. She started screaming and writhing, trying to get away from that painful touch. It only increased, and his laughter echoed in her ears as she slowly fell into pained darkness.
Reno stopped in mid-step as a scream echoed in his ears. "Oh my God...He's killing her..."
Tifa looked at Reno, puzzled. "What's wrong, Reno?"
"I- I just heard Aeris screaming."Reno's face was pale, almost white as he stood still, trembling slightly. "We can't wait for the others...He's killing her!"
"Killing her?" Cloud walked over to them, his hand running over the back of his sword instinctively.
"Reno heard Aeris scream. He thinks Sephirother is killing her." Tifa was pulling on her battle gloves and trying to find her materia. "We SHOULD wait for the others...But I think he's right. We CAN'T wait for them."
Cloud nodded. "Alright. But someone has to stay out here and tell the others."
"I'll ^$#^$%& do it." Cid walked up behind them, panting. "The others? All there are is You, Tifa, Reno, Red, and me. You forget that that #%$%$ bastard Barret ran off."
"Oh yeah." Cloud was pulling out some battle materia. "Well, wait for Red. Then come in after us. It looks like this is one big cave...but Tifa thinks it may have many little side tunnels that lead to small caverns, one of which Sephiroth is in. Hopefully he's not to hard to find...:"
"I hope not." Reno was quietly loading a magazine of ammunition into his guns, his face as white as ever. His hands were shaking.
"Let's get on with it then." Cloud walked into the cave, calling out not long after. "It branches into three tunnels. I'll take the one farthest right. Reno, you take the middle, and Tifa, take the one farthest left."
"Sure." Tifa yelled back. Reno had already started into the cave. "Hey! Wait for me!" Tifa ran to catch up to him.
"What if it's too late?" Reno was staring straight ahead, and thanks to his Shinra training, he could see very well in the dark. "Oh God, what if it's too late?"
Sephiroth glanced at the crumpled form at his feet. "She'll die in less than 15 minutes..." He glanced over at his mother, a sheepish grin on his face. "Is that according to plan?"
Jenova made a series of growls in her...throat, then backed off into the shadows.
"Oh, right, Barrett will be here any minute." Sephiroth rubbed his hand, feeling the increased energy as Aeris slowly slipped into death and all her energies and powers seeped into his own being.
"Sephirooooooooooth!" Barrett stormed in, a scowl on his face. "You tricked me! You-" He saw Aeris lying at Sephiroth's feet and he went pale. "God damn! You never said anything about killing her!"
"Some things you're better off knowing." Sephiroth turned to face him. "In fact, You're time is almost up."
"What the Hell..!" Barrett swore as a glass cage suddenly surrounded him. He pounded at it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Barret, you wouldn't be the father of her child, would you?" Sephiroth began preparing his sword, polishing it.
"She's #%$#% PREGNANT too?! And you're killing her?! #%$#^!!" Barret pounded at the glass.
"That's right. So I take it you aren't the father. That leaves...2 humans and one...thing." Sephiroth dropped his sword on the floor and pciked up Aeris. "You know, if mother and I didn't have any plans, I would've kept her and brainwashed her. Maybe the child too. "
"YOU SICK @$#%$#!" Barret screamed, pounding even harder.
"Just wait Barret." Sephiroth smirked, setting Aeris on a table , right in the center of the cave. "They're almost here."
Reno rushed into the main cavern, looking around. At first all he could here was Cloud and the others' footfalls behind him, but then his ears picked up something else. Barret, to one side, was pounding at a glass dome around him, yelling something that Reno couldn't hear. Then he hear laughter, and his eye adjusted to the light and he saw her, a crumpled, pale form laying limply on a steel table. From here he could hear her labored breathing.
"Sephiroth." He said it coldly, his rage boiling up inside him. She was going to die...He had found the woman he loved and she was going to die.
"Yes?" Sephiroth appeared, a dark shadow covering his angel's form.
"What have you done?!" Tifa was shrieking and sobbing as she came in behind Reno.
"Aeris?"
"AERIS!?" Red and Cloud had come in behind Tifa. Cid wasn't very far behind.
"HOLY #%^56%!"
Reno was nearly weeping uncontrolably, when he saw a flash of metal in the irredencent lighting in the cave. "No!"
Everything was happening so fast...Reno heard a dull thud as Tifa fell to the floor, a pair of cries from Cloud and Cid as they caught her, he felt a dull warmth behind him. Sephiroth must've cast a fire spell past him and Tifa had taken the full hit. Red was running in slow motion, it seemed, as Sephiroth raised his blade above Aeris.
"Sephirooooooooooth!" Red was growling as he lunged at him. Sephiroth swung the blade and it slashed it along his belly, as Red flew back from the impact of the blow. He must have also cast another spell, he heard the yells of Clud and Cid as they were hit and fell. Sephiroth was grinning at him now, a cold hard glare. He swept his hand over Aeris, his hand lingering above her stomache and drifting down to her feet. Her eyes flickered, opening, instant recognition flashed to her features.
"Reno?" She stood up. Sephiroth had disappeared. She stumbled, and Reno ran to catch her.
"Aeris? Aeris? Are you okay...?" Reno gently held her up with his arm. " We have to get the others out before he gets back, so I'll help you-"
Aeris's face had gone paler than it hhad already been, her mouth in a small O and her eyes wide with horror.
"Aeris? Are you okay? I said we have to get out of here. Aeris?" Reno looked at her quietly, before he was aware of the shadow that had fallen over them. "Aeris stand back you'll-"
"Kill the baby." Aeris whispered quietly, her hands pressed hard against her stomach and gut. It was then he realized that blood was seeping through them, and Sephiroth's sword lay at his feet, bloodied.
"Go ahead, kill me." Sephiroth's voice was calm and cold, like he was planning this all the time.
"Baby? Aeris? Bleeding..." Reno trailed off, his head was spinning. Somewhere there was a scream and another couple of yells. Aeris crumpled beside him, he was too numb with shock to catch her. There was a shattering sound as something exploded into a million shards somewhere behind him. Sounds of fighting grew around him and he just stood there. "My baby? Aeris?" He shook his head, and quickly looked down at her form. A quickly growing pool of blood surrounded her as she looked up at him, her eyes wide and frightened.
"I-I was going to tell you the day we left the city..but.." Aeris coughed violently.
"Shhh.. You're going to live. Save your breath. Please..." Reno laid her head down gently as a soft and quiet sigh escaped her lips. Her eyes closed with tears in them.
He stood up. Drawing his gun, he aimed at Sephiroth's head. He was fighting Cloud and had just wounded him . "Sephiroth." Sephiroth turned to see the gun aimed at his head and a surprised expression crossed his face before Reno pulled the trigger.
Aeris opened her eyes and looked up at Reno. She could fell the screaming in her head,feel her blood seeping out over the floor. See the tears in Reno's eyes. "I-I was going to tell you the day we left the city but..." A hacking cough escaped her, even as she tried to to warn him of what was going to happen . She knew, because it was a part of the spell Sephiroth didn't know about.
"Shhh...You're going to live. Save your breath. Please..." Reno was looking at her. She wanted to tell him she loved him, but when she tried to speak, a sigh came out. Oh no, not this soon, no.... Her eyes filled with tears. She had to warn him... Everything faded into a light gray mist...she found herself flotaing.

"Aeris? Back so soon?" A voice murmered in her ear.
"Back? Where am I?" She looked around, but all she saw was the mist.
"Between the earth and the lifestream. What we call a 'halfway house' of sorts." There was a hint of sadness in the voice. Aeris knew she was dead.
"Oh, no dear. You're not dead! We just needed to tell you what you don't know. You see, you're not going to die. Not for another...While. Nither is your children. Sephhiroth didn't know that when he slid his sword into you, he was breaking his own spell. You were wounded, but the lifestream interviened just in time to save your babies. You would've lived anyways."
"Oh." Aeris felt her head spinning...or the feeling of it anyways. "I get it."
"Just look dear." A window opened in front of her, showing Reno carrying her away from a smoking crater in the ground. Cloud and the others were standing nearby, looking very sad. Tifa was crying. She could see trails of his tears down his drity face, she felt a pang of sadness.
"Am I going back?" She wanted to. It hurt to see them all like that.
"Not yet." The voice was closer now, somehow.