.5.

Aeris was running even before her brain had computed that the screams belonged to a child. She could feel something nearby, something insidious and vile, and its very presence made her skin crawl. She'd felt something like this before, and so she pelted with an unerring sense of direction across the town square and skidded to a halt before the open mouth of a secluded avenue. Though night had almost completely engulfed the world, her eyesight, more enhanced than that of a human, could make out two figures in the middle of the darkened street—that of a frantically struggling child, and another, larger, hulking figure. The child's screams were more piercing now; the creature, which stood manlike on two legs but seemed somehow warped and twisted, had the child in the grasp of its arms and was steadily drawing it nearer.

Aeris brought her staff down hard before her in a swift arc, and it struck the cobblestones with an echoing clamor. With a whispered word she incited the small and barely noticeable piece of materia embedded near the top of the metal haft to blaze to life, flooding the street in a wash of harsh light. The creature reared back and screamed; it was a sound the entire population of Nibelheim could hear. The child was a boy—the same boy Aeris had been watching earlier, judging by the bandages which covered his bare leg, and as the creature faltered in the wake of Aeris' light he wrenched free and hurtled towards her—

With a speed that was astonishing, the creature ambled forwards and caught the boy by the back of his shirt. Able to see clearly, Aeris noted the aspects of the monster in a matter of seconds: the two heads which lolled oppositely back and forth on weak, scrawny necks, the abnormally long legs and arms which appeared too weak to function but were deceptively strong, the yellowish-grey skin that covered its entire form. She knew instinctively that this was one of the by products of the nearby Mako reactor; she could feel the angry pulse of energy coursing within it, consuming, transforming, and it sent shivers racing up and down her spine.

Shouts went up somewhere behind her; the child had resumed screaming again. She hesitated, torn; should she interfere and destroy the creature, her cover would be blown …

The boy was fighting, crying, pleading for her aid. The monster's heads, one forward, one back, gave a garbled cry in unison as it wrapped its claws around the child and lifted him in the air, brought him closer to the gaping, fanged mouths—

As if spurred by the terrified screams, the Ancient ones began to wail within her mind with a strength that was almost staggering. They shouted to her, telling her that she must not do this; the boy was one life to save a whole … Aeris gave a sharp, furious cry and spun aside, letting the light die, leaving the boy with the darkness—

"Where?" A voice roughly demanded as someone—Sephiroth—appeared suddenly before her. Voicelessly she pointed with her staff, and the General vanished into the shadows. Sounds rushed back to her; the clarion echo of a sword being withdrawn, an anguished shriek, the unmistakable sounds of a violent struggle, and Aeris found herself fervently hoping with bated breath that her nemesis would succeed.

Silence fell, so heavy it seemed that existence itself had paused. Aeris backed away; she needed to return to her room, to be away from the crowds that would soon be here … Something touched her back and she whirled around with a savage hiss.

"Easy!" It was the blonde friend of the SOLDIER she had turned down; his fierce head of spiked hair was telltale even in the dark. He had a hand on her shoulder, meaning to soothe, but he didn't realize that Aeris wasn't afraid. Enraged, disgusted, she pulled away from the ShinRaofficer with savage force.

"Hey, take it easy," He repeated, his voice low and soft, meant to be calming. The town square was swarming with people now, voices raised in confusion and alarm. Their volume increased as Sephiroth shaped himself out of the shadows, one hand carrying his bloodied Masamune, the other clutching the hand of a pale and shivering child. Aeris took the opportunity to skirt around the officer who had eyes now only for the spectacle before him, and quickly made her way back to the inn. She was just reaching for the doorknob when a hand slammed onto the door itself, the attached arm effectively blocking her progress. Aeris sighed inaudibly, hand tightening around her staff, and raised her eyes to meet the startling luminescence of the General's irate gaze.

"What happened?" He demanded, and made it clear by the tone of his voice that he expected an answer.

At his words, the ghosts, which hadn't yet fallen silent, began to frantically roil within her. Gritting her teeth against their noise, against their warnings, she said slowly, "You saw it—a monster."

"Where did it come from? Did you see?"

"No." She held his eyes a moment longer, recognizing and despising the mild contempt she read there. "I didn't."

"Then why were you over there?"

"Because I heard the boy screaming." She lowered her eyes to stare pointedly at his arm. "I'd like to go in now."

He didn't move. She gripped the staff so tightly her hand shook. Was he aware, she wondered, that if she chose she could make move him by brute force? That she was just as powerful as he? Oh, how she yearned to show him … the Ancient ones were in chaos, screaming a multitude of orders at her, and she couldn't take it much longer. She took a deep breath and said, "Please. Let me go in."

It was a heartbeat before he complied, and he did so slowly. The urge to strike him down here and now was almost overwhelming. As she opened the door and swiftly slipped past him he said with no small amount of condescension, "Little girls shouldn't venture out past dark."

She halted then, and very deliberately turned around. For a moment she let her true self slide behind her eyes, let him see that she wasn't just a mere mortal for him to mock and loathe; she was his anathema, his perfect enemy. And then she quickly shuttered that side of her away from view. For long, tense moments they stared at each other, their green eyes distant cousins. A line had furrowed his forehead; for a fleeting moment he was unsure, she realized, of what she was and could do. The moment passed, and she said with a brittle smile, "Thank you for the advice."

He said nothing, but his expression was snide, and as he turned to walk away it was all she could do not to leap upon his back and bash him until only bloody pulp remained. The bloodlust was a mixture of her own anger and the hatred of the Ancient ones at the glimpse they had caught within him of the Calamity.

On the other side of the door, she breathed deep. The common room had been emptied; even the innkeeper had deserted his post to see the commotion outside. She was rattled by what she had just experience, and it was a sensation she hated more than most anything in the world. She couldn't afford to be disconcerted, not here and now, not when everything was so close to fruition.

Her mouth thinned, and resolutely she began to climb the stairs.