Author's notes: Depicts AeriSeph pairing. If you don't like it, then go away. Reviews are welcome. Flames are not. Flamers will only be pointed and laughed at and ignored.

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7. I don't own Squaresoft. Please your head. All original character belong to me. Take them and die. And yes, I have PMS.

Vile Rose
Chapter 2: The Meeting
By Silver Countess

"Aeris, come on babe, wake up," the gentle voice spoke. She felt a gentle pat against her cheek as the voice called out again. "Aeris, you gotta wake up. Come on, wakey-wakey."

Emerald eyes blinked open sleepily to find a mop of red hair and a pair of cerulean blue eyes looking down at her in concern.

"Reno…?" she asked groggily. Relief flooded his eyes as he smiled down at her.

"Finally," he muttered and scooped the protesting young woman up toward the bench where he placed her. Aeris blushed at the way her childhood friend was treating her and began to self-consciously fix her hair. She picked up the dried leaves and sticks from her hair—she knew she looked like a mess.

"So what happened?"

Aeris sighed and began to tell him about the voices. She never kept secrets from Reno, despite the fact he was a Turk. Reno on the other hand never betrayed her trust, not even to any of superiors. The two came down a long way, since they were kids in fact, but strangely enough, nothing romantic came between them or anything close she had experienced with her ex-boyfriend, Zack.

"I see…" Reno said thoughtfully after Aeris explained what had happened. He frowned, disturbed at what Aeris had told him. She suddenly felt very guilty dumping her problems at him. Reno had enough of his mind with his job as a Turk and trying to keep her out of trouble at the same time. Aeris couldn't read the thoughts that seemed to cloud his eyes and immediately began to apologize.

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have told you—" she began but Reno only grinned.

"No worries, Aeris. I'm just really glad you trust me enough to tell me," at that he chuckled and began ruffling her hair.

"Hey, knock it out! I'm not seven anymore," Aeris protested swatting his hands off her hair.

"Yeah, well I wish you still were, it was easier for me to take care of you," he said a bit ruefully, running a hand through his own messy hair.

"Are you trying to say that I'm worse off now than before?!"

"No. What I'm saying is that you've grown up to be too hot to be kept out of my sight for too long without being groped by a guy," he rectified as the young Ancient blushed madly. Reno didn't seem to notice as he continued. "Which reminds me, my shift is going to start in a three hours, so you know the drill, right?"

Aeris snapped out of her blush and nodded. "I keep out of sight and hide out good and don't come out after six hours."

"Make it three days," Reno corrected. "Hojo's a bit angry with us for not finding you sooner so he's making us do a thorough search in the area. Actually, I'd feel better if you could leave Midgar for awhile."

"But I don't know anyone outside Midgar!" Aeris protested, "and there is no way I can stay indoor for that long. I need to work."

Reno frowned at that. "Look, babe, don't sweat it. I'll take care of anything you and aunt Elmyra would need. The important thing is that you keep out of sight. Let me handle the rest of the details."

"But you could get caught helping us—" she began but Reno cut her off.

"No buts. Just keep it low and stay out of the trouble."

Aeris sighed in defeat and nodded. "Alright. I'll just put some new bedding before I go home and tell mom where I'll be going since it's late. Early tomorrow morning, I'll hide out at the Honey Bee Inn with Maurice. It's the only place I know Shin-Ra isn't going to go look for me."

At that Reno laughed and gave her a brotherly kiss on her brow before standing up to leave. "Smart. Just promise to keep away from Don Corneo, ok?"

She nodded. "I promise."

"Good girl."

Aeris was putting the final touches in her garden when a huge explosion from above startled her. She gave a squeal of fright and automatically covered her head. Nothing happened. She waited for a few more minutes when she decided to open her eyes and peeked.

"What on earth…?" she muttered puzzled as she quickly threw her stuff together to leave the church when the roof above her suddenly gave way and a man, she knew to be man, fell through the roof and landed on her flowers.

She took a jump back in fright but as the dust began to settle and took notice what had fallen from the roof, she took a tentative step closer and found a spiky blonde haired man moaning on her flowerbed. Aeris knelt beside the unconscious stranger, forgetting for a moment that she had to escape and went to check his pulse.

"Oh good, he's alive," she breathed a sigh as she felt his pulse point.

Kill him.

Her eyes went wide at the sound of the unknown voice. "What?" She waited but there was nothing. Probably the wind, she thought to herself and dug into her basket for a potion and carefully fed it to him.

The young man groaned as a pair of glowing blue eyes blinked sleepily open. "SOLDIER," Aeris whispered in awe, suddenly struck at the strange resemblance of this spiky blonde stranger to the man she was once gave her heart to.

"Ugh…Where am I…? And…uh…who are you?"

Aeris giggled. "First off, you're in the old church in sector five. As for your second question, I'm Aeris Gainsborough."

"Cloud Strife," the young man introduced himself then noticed the crushed flowers he was sitting on. "Uh…it seems I've destroyed your flowers."

She waved him off and smiled. "That's ok. Flowers are resilient creatures, they'll grow back pretty soon."

At that the young man smiled in relief. "Ah…"

Suddenly the church's doors were brutally kicked open and five figures came in. Four of the men were wearing typical Soldier uniforms, their mako guns aimed at the ready. The fifth one on the other hand wore a blue business suit and a pair of black sunglasses. He was bald, and not the typical red hair Reno has but still Aeris recognized the man. She had seen him before with Reno and Tseng. He was Rude, one of the Turks.

Aeris' eyes widened in fear and shock. Impossible! She still had at least an hour and a half to hide.

Do not fear them.

What…? Aeris thought in wonder. She was beginning to hear things again. The voice was beguiling and sweet, yet there was something sinister in it that made her shiver.

Insects. They all are. Make them suffer. You have the ability.

She took a step back, more to the voices in her head than the immediate threat. Cloud noticed her apprehension, and mistook it as fear against the Turk as he too stood up and positioned himself protectively in front of her.

"Hand the girl over and we wont kill you," the Turk spoke softly, yet his voice had a hint of steel at them. Cloud narrowed his eyes as he whispered at Aeris.

"Is there a way out of here?"

Aeris nodded, forcing to ignore the voice in her head. "At the back. There's a ladder leading up to the roof." Cloud nodded.

"Good. When I give you the signal, I want you to run back there and climb out while I distract them."

"Okay."

Cloud carefully slipped out a small smoke grenade from his pocket. "NOW!" he yelled as he suddenly threw the grenade. Aeris didn't hesitate as she ran towards the back of the church, smoke filled the church as the soldiers cursed and stumbled. She looked behind and saw to her relief the glowing mako eyes following her.

They quickly climbed the ladder and made their way to the roof. Cloud took his sword, which he grabbed at the last minute, to smash the ladder to prevent their pursuers from following. He looked around and then at Aeris.

She was trembling slightly as Cloud slowly approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Come, I'll take you home."

Sephiroth stopped when he reached the outskirts of Midgar. He gazed at the huge metal and concrete structure before him, noting the place surrounding it was barren and lacked vegetation a contrast to the lush greens of the fields he had passed through.

"Welcome home."

He shook his head. "I don't have a home. This place was just one of those places where I had to stay until the next mission brought me someplace else. Nothing here is home and I doubt I'll be able to find it."

"You'll never know," the presence in his mind mysteriously replied, as the wind blew gently across the plains.

Sephiroth was silent for a moment and closed his eyes in slight meditation (the way she taught him how).

"From here on, you are on your own. Whatever your decisions you would have will have a profound effect on what is to come. So choose wisely and remember all the things I have taught you."

"You're not making this any easier," he muttered as he took another deep breath as the presence in his mind chuckled. She had basically told him that the fate of the world is resting on this mission. "It makes me wonder why I even bother to wake up after all these years."

"Don't talk that way," the voice gently yet firmly admonished him. "Rest assured I would be watching you. You will not be totally alone."

At that, he smirked. "Do I get a reward if I get an A?"

"Something like that."

Sephiroth was surprised at her answer. "I actually get something after all this?"

"Let's just say that Destiny has a way of rewarding those who do what they are supposed to do. Now I must leave you for now. Don't worry overly too much, you'll do quite fine," the voice assured him and then left.

He was now alone, standing before the metal city pondering. Something inside him told him that something was about to happen in Midgar yet he felt…uncertain. A strange thing coming from the greatest SOLDIER that ever lived. He did not like this feeling; his training in SOLDIER combined with his training in the Life Stream should have dispersed all of his doubts and worries. No use standing there thinking, while precious minutes ticked by.

The wind blew again, disturbing the dust on the barren ground as Sephiroth made his way toward Midgar.

"Any idea why Shin-Ra's chasing you?" Cloud asked as he held Aeris' hand and assisted her in crossing the rickety rooftops.

Power.

Aeris blinked at the internal voice and mentally shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe they thought I'm SOLDIER material," she grinned and winked at the surprised blonde.

"You think so? It doesn't seem that way," he said grimly. Aeris fought the urge to roll her eyes heavenward.

"It was a joke," she replied, trying to keep the annoyance from her voice. Honestly, don't this guy have any sense of humor?

"No offense, but I don't think you have what it takes to be SOLDIER," he replied seriously, and then winced at what his remark sounded like. "What I'm trying to say is that there are some characteristics that Shin-Ra needs for SOLDIER that common weak—err oh man…"

Aeris felt a little stung at that remark, she knew she wasn't physically powerful and her self-defense skills were simply put, adequate enough to handle a mugger or at worse the drunken groper at best. The only reason why she was so safe walking the streets was Reno's 'demonstration' to a bunch of would be rapists that had the unfortunate luck to try and grab her. Word had gotten out to the underground about Reno's demonstration and warning, and since then, no one in his right mind and senses had tried to bother her.

The presence in her mind spoke softly, whispering words, fueling the growing animosity of the flower girl's heart.

Weak. He called you weak. Maybe he's right. So what do you do about it?

She forced a perky smile on her face, ignoring the voice yet again as she reassured the blundering blonde. "Hey, it's alright," she giggled, genuinely amused at the young man's rather uncomfortable expression. "I know what you mean, so forget it. I don't mind."

So you say now. But we'll see…soon you'll understand that you're not as weak as they think.

"What did you mean by that?"

"Huh? What is it, Aeris? What's wrong?"

Aeris blinked and then shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Well, we're almost near your place. I'll just drop you off there and I'll head back to Sector 7."

This is your chance.

"Sector 7? That's a long way from here. Why don't you rest at my place and we can leave tomorrow?"

"You're place?" Cloud looked surprised, "We? Tomorrow?"

"Yes, silly," Aeris giggled. "Don't worry. My mom won't bite you. Think of it as my way of saying thanks."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Cloud said doubtfully. "Sector 7 is rough neighborhood."

Honey Bee Inn.

"Actually I have some business there, actually on the way there, the Wall Market to be more precise," she said casually, almost too casually for Cloud's liking.

"Wall Market? That's even a rougher neighborhood than Sector 7!" he was surprised and Aeris laughed it off.

"I've been there a couple of times. My friend works at the Honey Bee Inn, and I promised her that I'd visit her tomorrow," she said, though a bit guilty at the half-lie. "See? I'm not that helpless if I can survive going through Wall Market unscathed."

"Alright," Cloud allowed. "I'll stay with you, but only to make sure that nothing happens to you on your way there."

"Alright, alright, you can be my new bodyguard," she replied. Sheesh. What is wrong with this guy? He barely knew her for less than an hour and already he acts like Reno. Unknown to her, Cloud is thinking of the same thing as well…

Sephiroth trudged through the dark filthy streets of the lower plate. He pulled his hood down that covered his hair and eyes. He knew that many still could recognize his face, especially in Midgar. Wishing to remain anonymous, he had brought along a hood to hide his features. He wanted no trouble from anyone, especially from Shin-Ra.

For a moment, he wondered why on earth he was scouring the Midgar slum. Then remembered the mission: to find the Other. Whoever this person was, he knew to be powerful, powerful enough to plunge the Planet into chaos or worse its destruction.

Damn, those twin destinies, Sephiroth thought to himself. If only there was a clue in finding this person. From what the presence told him, he should be looking for a person who came from a dying race, the Ancients or Cetra. From what he could remember, Shin-Ra had been searching for any survivors of this race as well, notably, in Midgar.

So deep was he into his own thoughts that he failed to notice the couple that brushed past him.

"Are you sure your mom won't mind, Aeris?" the blonde man asks his companion.

The young woman laughed. "Of course! She won't mind, knowing that you're the one who saved me from them. You at least deserve something for that."

Something about the woman's voice and the name caused Sephiroth to turn around, but the couple had just turned around the corner and disappeared from his line of view. The last thing he saw was a flash of pink and brown.

Probably nothing, he thought to himself, but he couldn't feel so sure. No matter now. They were gone and who knew where they went. The only thing logical for him to do was go to the Shin-Ra building and look up for that information himself.

Aeris gripped the material of her long skirt with uneasy fingers and wondered briefly for the umpteenth time how she got into this situation. After reaching home, her mother reacted exactly as Aeris thought she would and Cloud got to spend the night with them. The next day her 'bodyguard' was escorting her through the Wall Market when they found out that one of the members of Avalanche had decided to go undercover at Don Corneo's mansion. What happened next was a shopping trip round the market and her bodyguard transformed into a cross-dresser named 'Ms. Cloud.'

And now she was seated on the edge of the bed, in Don Corneo's room no less, the very same man Reno didn't want her to be with, had decided that he wanted to spend more time with her than the other two choices. Not that she blamed him…Cloud's nice in a dress but not that nice and the other choice, Cloud's 'friend' but she doubted if they were just 'friends', though very beautiful, she looked more or less like the average harlot on the street in the tight dress and make-up.

Oh damn…if Reno ever saw her, she knew she'd be deader than dead, she groaned inwardly at the thought. What a mess she got herself into. But she smiled inwardly at the thought, still it was kind of fun. Sort of like an adventure.

The door creaked open and in stepped or rather skipped in a rather fat middle-aged man. He had a swarthy skin and a horrible moustache over grinning yellow teeth. His pig like eyes looked lecherous at her as she edged away in disgust from the horrible man.

"Oh my, my! What a fine pretty thing you are," Corneo crooned in delight as he walked around to examine her. "Such fine features and your eyes so full of innocence. I can bet you've never bedded a man before," he leered.

Aeris cringed as she edged away from him further. Fear and disgust were beginning to form into her mind as she tried to imagine what this man was going to do to her. She silently prayed that Cloud would come quickly and save her.

He won't come for you and even if he did it would be too little too late. He's too busy saving the other girl to be a bother to you.

Aeris didn't want to believe the voice, but as Don Corneo stepped even closer she was beginning to think otherwise. He placed his cold slimy hand on her shoulder and immediately shrugged it away like it was some poisoned snake.

"Now, now dearie, don't be shy," he snarled as he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down on the bed, his grip surprisingly strong for one so small and ugly. "You don't want to alert my guards don't you? I should remember to reward them for finding you, you are the best so far," he licked his lips in anticipation as he looked her over. "It's just too bad the two suddenly ran off when I gave them away to my boys as a reward for a job well done," he guffawed as Aeris listened her body suddenly going still in shock at what she heard.

Don Corneo continued, "They asked a lot of questions for two bit whores not to mention they fight better too. Could have sworn they were those filthy Avalanche," he grunted and then smiled down at her, "but they're nothing compared like you, my beauty."

She remained still, unbelieving at what the old letch said. But she looked at him carefully and knew he was not lying. Why should he?

"Now that's a good girl…don't move," the man chuckled having understood her stillness as a sign of submission, as he pressed down his knee between her legs to spread them apart. Aeris' emerald eyes widened as fear began to slowly choke her mind into a dark haze.

"You're 'friends' have deserted you."

No. That's a lie. Cloud wouldn't…

"But he did," the voice hissed back at her mind.

He'll come back…he has to…he's my bodyguard for the Planet's sakes! Aeris felt like she was going hysterical, no longer finding it strange that she had assumed a conversation with the strange consciousness that seems to reside in her mind.

"What type of 'bodyguard' leaves you like this?" the voice hissed again, the voice seducing and angry at the same time. "Do 'friends' leave friends?"

Aeris was suddenly at a loss at what to reply, and then gasped as she felt the old letch snap the slender straps of her dress and yank it down. She began to struggle helplessly against his slimy embrace, trying to claw his face and eyes but he was just too strong. She tried to knee him in the crotch but he had her legs trapped and she couldn't move.

She sobbed, as tears began to fall from her cheeks as she wished for strength, power to overcome her enemy. She cursed her vulnerability her fragility and hated the feeling of helplessness.

Her struggles caused Corneo to grunt in anger and slapped her hard she began to see stars and her movements ceased. Don Corneo grinned in triumph has he allowed his hands to explore her exposed flesh.

"You don't have to be helpless."

I want power.

"I can give it to you."

I don't want to get hurt again.

"No one will ever hurt you anymore," the voice crooned softly, triumphantly, as Aeris' emerald eyes suddenly lost its luster going dull and blank.

I want them ALL to pay…for hurting me…abandoning me.

"Of course they will. That is why you were born: to destroy the race that has brought nothing but suffering to you, the Planet…to the Cetra."

Yes…

"Start with this swine first," the voice instructed.

Time became irrelevant; unnecessary as she slowly opened her eyes and let the voice instruct her on her new found power. The strange magical energy began to gather in her body, swirling around her like a protective light green mist. Don Corneo had stopped spreading his slimy kisses on her bare chest when he saw Aeris turn her head to look at him, those once innocent emerald eyes now a dull shade of green. Instinctively he knew something was wrong, that this was not the same girl he had taken advantage off minutes ago. This person was different. Deadlier.

He yelped when he felt a strong shock of electricity shoot through his arms and rocked through his body, nearly shorting his nervous system and shutting down one or two of his vital organs. The power, he somehow knew, originated from her body.

She narrowed her eyes viciously at him, as he suddenly gave an unconscious step back and slumped helplessly and in pain on the floor. Aeris suddenly stood up, and glared down angrily at the whimpering old man, who would have cried out for his guards if not for the pain that choked him even of his breathing.

"Swine," she hissed softly, in the same tone of voice the consciousness in her mind had used as she took a step forward to the scared man, not noticing the gown that began to slide off her body. "Filth," she said again, as she raised her hand and knelt down closer to his level.

"No, stay away!" the man shrieked in a hoarse voice, as he tried to scamper away, avoiding to look at her eyes. "Demon let me be!"

Aeris' eyes narrowed even more in anger. The nerve of this lowly creature to label her as such, after what he did to her! No, he will not be forgiven. He shall not be spared. He shall be punished.

"You do not deserve to live," she whispered as she suddenly placed her hand on his face and directed the power within her into his system. He tried to scream and push her off, but some strange force kept him there.

She continued to direct her power into him, causing his cells to burst and his organs to internally rupture. He was already writhing in pain and alternated from shrieking in horrible pain and begging for mercy, but Aeris refused to listen, remembering her own ignored pleas, as she intensified the power even more.

Half of Don Corneo's body mass was almost sludge, but Aeris had been very careful in keeping him alive and awake as she continued the torture. Five minutes more and he was silent and only did Aeris stopped.

She stood up to gaze down placidly at him, but deep inside, she felt a great deal of both accomplishment and horror. Never in her twenty-one years had she ever hurt anyone in her life. But the power…oh by the Planet, the power that coursed her veins and made her mind filled with a strange type of euphoria was simply incredible.

Still in shock as she absorbed in the events she did not hear the door open or the whisper of footsteps behind her. All she could remember was the sudden blow behind her head and the pain, as she doubled over. Her visions blurred and soon darkness engulfed her.

Crazy Pen Archives: Where the Pen is crazier than the sword.