A roar sounded as a massive shape streaked its way toward Midgar. Ragnar looked up from his own position and to the sky when he saw it. There, just as he feared, coming out of the clouds, was a Gelinka. It was angling itself down, and preparing a bombing run on the army gathered below. His heart leapt in his throat. For a moment…he thought it would make it. It was coming down fast. He could almost see the people on board targeting their buildings, getting ready to drop their payload…

Yet as the Gelinka hit 3,000 feet…another shape swooped into Ragnar's vision. A larger and most sophisticated one. It was smoldering from earlier, but still in flight. He recognized it as the Sierra. It met the Gelinka in midair, and unleashed its own payload. The pilots of the plane saw it, and struggled to pull themselves up and away. But their own ship was far too clumsy and archaic. They were helpless to move as the rockets pounded them, engulfing them with fireballs. A moment later, the Gelinka erupted, consuming it and its bombs in the process. The Sierra continued to roar by, and shot back up into the clouds to await the next bomber.

Ragnar sighed in relief.

That's one…

The general looked back down to his own situation. His head was out a window at the moment, which might have been bad on his part. The windows on the ruins around him were filled with people already, but all of them were firing down on their foes. So were the ground emplacements and heavy machine guns. Just two hundred feet in front of them was the entrance to Midgar, but the New Shinra was finding out that it might be a gate too far. Despite the freshness of the latest batch of troops, the enemy was once again falling victim to the greatest asset of the Planet Protector Army: exploiting bottlenecks. Breaking through didn't work here. Every tank that attempted to come was stopped cold by PPA weaponry, once again creating a "dam" just like back in the City of the Ancients.

The enemy was starting to hold back now. They were starting to implement those "weasel" things again. However, those too lost their effectiveness. For one, there were too many targets. For another, when the PPA knew they were coming, they were far easier to stop. Thirdly, those in the buildings had discovered something. Simply throwing up a layer of mesh, like chicken wire or fence grating, over the window confused the robots. They would roll on top of it, but be unable to detonate because they weren't at their coordinates yet. From there, a single bullet from a baretta would finish them.

Ragnar knew that the enemy could go around from here, and so he was quickly attempting to keep that from happening. The only active units still outside that he had were the new Chocobo Cavalry, so he split them in half and had them move to the next adjacent gates to harass them. In the meantime, he was calling up personnel from the city's local authority, seeing as he was utilizing all of his troops, to come and seal or blockade the next gates down. In the meantime, a final group, throwbacks to last year when the PPA used everything in their arsenal, was heading to the sides and up the walls. Because of the level of firepower already in the bottleneck, Ragnar was able to send them. They had an interesting bevy of materia with them: Typhoon, Hades, Leviathan, Alexander…and Bahamut ZERO. While only people with powerful auras like Cloud and his friends had the strength of spirit to cast these materias more than once, the five that Ragnar had sent had enough power to do it once apiece. And once would inflict major damage on the enemy, further disheartening them and weakening them from trying an alternate assault.

If we can just hold them a little longer…they'll be forced to break off the attack.

Just a few more hours…

RULER

Uninhabited for two days now, Ragnar's office sat empty and abandoned. The administrative personnel had already evacuated too. However, the general had been the first to leave. The last time he was here was when he was yelling at Aerith for having put him to sleep. That was when he was in a hurry to start preparing for the attack that they were struggling to fend off now. Anything there, he believed, was unimportant and unnecessary, now that he could go directly to anyone and had the much greater concern of fending off an invasion.

Any yet…at the same time…Ragnar was making yet another critical mistake, and one that he had made before last year when he had gone to save Cloud.

Still sitting there from where it had been thrown down that morning after getting the call from Cid to get to the meeting, Ragnar's phone rested on the desk.

And it was ringing.

RULER

"Why do you keep coming after me?"

Barret as well as the things in the doorway turned at that. They saw Aerith. She wielded Princess Guard now, and she was walking into the bar area. A battle-ready look, at least the best that a woman like her could manage, was on her face. She had been weak last time, but now she felt fine…and she had a much greater grasp of her abilities. If that wasn't enough, Cait Sith moved out after her to join the potential fray. However…his rather massive moogle got caught in the doorway in the process. Cait Sith noticed this as he was jerked forward. Puzzled, he looked down and saw his situation. Muttering, he leapt off of the back of his mount, grabbed an arm, and tried to pull it through.

"Good, you came out." The wolfish one, the one Aerith recognized as Fen from Junon, sneered. "You'll save the trouble of us tearing apart this place. Now come with us, and we won't have to kill anyone."

Barret snorted from his own position. He was back on his feet by now, and he reached down and gave a twist to his artificial arm. Immediately, it transformed into the tri-minigun with the microlaser in the middle. "Who the hell are you damn things anyway?" He grunted as he raised his gun to take aim.

"Fen is my name." The one in the lead answered. After this, he gestured to the giant. "This one is Nimrod. And if you think some mere gun is going to stop him, then you're wrong. His skin is as tough as kevlar. And I could rip out your throat before you could even turn your aim to me. As for my associates…"

Here, the other ones in rags began to step forward and enter the room, filling out as they did so. Fen gestured to them as they entered. The first seemed fairly normal.

"You, girlie, have met Meryl." He introduced as he pointed to the first. "Her gut forms spheres of bioluminence and chemicals that act as blinding bombs.

"Clive…" This one looked fairly normal, but was hunched somewhat over. "He has talons that could cut through concrete, and bones that regenerate as fast as you can break them.

"Gelon…" One was short and twisted, looking rather puny and unimpressive. "Not the best physically, but if bidden to bite any one of you will infest your flesh with a number of parasitic larva that will kill you most horribly once they reach maturity.

"Malcolm…" Another giant…but this one with long, dagger-like claws protruding from his sleeves. "You could probably kill him if you hit him head on…but rest assured he could tear you all apart even if he was shot in the brain before he died.

"Slim…" A lanky one that left a sticking sound on the floor as he moved forward. "He can generate an unlimited amount of tentacles, no matter how many you cut off.

"Serena…" One that slinked forward on all fours. "I regret to say that if so much as one drop of your blood is spilled, the scent of it will drive her mad to feast on the rest of it.

"Horus…" The one stumbled in somewhat awkwardly, barely seeming able to move in her shoes. "Let's just say that if she was around you when she was hungry, it would be one of the more painful last few moments anyone has ever endured.

"Kartuum…" Another seemingly normal one. "His stomach produces excessive amounts of acid, making it an effective weapon.

"Mortimer…" This one seemed lumpy and non humanoid as it stumbled forward in its rags. "He was affected the worst out of us all… He too is not a pleasant sight to behold when feeding. He cannot even talk or express himself anymore…and yet somewhere within him he is so disgusted by what he must do to sustain himself that he has starved himself for days on end. But don't think he won't hesitate to eat one of you if it will mean making him human again.

"Martel…" A stiff and jerky moving one entered, darting her head around. "She was once quite beautiful… Now she's as lethal as she is unpleasant to behold.

"And finally…Scion." A drunken-seeming one slid its way in. "You wouldn't want to meet his…children."

This one snapped its rubbery neck to Fen at that. "…Don't…call them that." He hissed through an odd set of vocal chords. "They're monsters…nothing more."

"Now that you know us, and what we're capable of…" Fen went on, turning back to the others. "I suggest you come with us. Otherwise the people in this house will die a very horrible death."

Barret made no sign of backing down. He merely grit his teeth and took aim. Cait Sith grunted once, and finally with an extreme effort pulled his moogle out. However, the inertia threw both forward and rolled over the smaller doll with the bigger one, temporarily flattening him. The big moogle, on stopping rolling, got up and looked around, seeming to wonder where its master was. When it saw him flat behind him, with his normal slit eyes turned into cartoonish spirals, he quickly bent down and placed him on his head.

Aerith, however, lost some of her fighting edge at this. She stared at them oddly.

"You keep talking as if someone made you this way…"

"Of course someone made us this way!" The one called Clive hissed. "You think we were born these freaks?"

"Who?"

"Who else." Slim answered while beginning to extend his tentacles from his sides. "Dr. Hoeng."

"Who is this Hoeng?" Aerith asked. "And what does he want with me?"

"We don't know, and frankly we don't care." Fen retorted. "The only thing we care is about the deal he made us. We bring you and your sister in…we become human again. And frankly…I think seeing you becoming his latest science project is a fair exchange for me to be able to look myself in the mirror again."

"Or for Mortimer to actually chew and swallow…or even talk…again." Horus added. "I could live like this possibly…but not my companions."

"Now that the small talk is over…" Fen answered as he began to step forward.

"Wait!" Aerith called out. "You don't have to do this! Maybe we can help you-"

Kartuum snorted, and then spoke in a raspy voice. "Not unless you have access to the doctor's devices and knowledge, which you don't. And your pleading is useless. There's more at stake here than just getting you and bringing you back. And Dr. Hoeng is making sure that any attempt we make to deviate from his set of rules will end up in us being stuck like this forever."

"Besides…" The one named Nimrod snorted. "You already burned five of our kind to death. Why would we trust you?"

Aerith paled a bit at that. It stirred up memories of regret. It had been a panic move mostly…but it didn't change the fact that it had happened. Now, she had another reason to be upset that she had done that. It had ruined more chances of negotiation. In addition…it made her feet worse now that she knew more. These monsters were experiments…the byproducts of a madman. They were once human. That meant…she had truly killed five people that day, not just monsters…

"Now, if you're finished…" Fen responded. "It's time to go. Or would you like to watch as we feed one of those kids you have upstairs to Mortimer?"

Aerith's eyes widened at that. They knew there were children upstairs. That put them at a greater disadvantage…but it also frankly terrified the woman. Man or beast…these things weren't very scrupulous. And they were obsessed with their chance to become human again. She knew right away that they'd do whatever horrible fate they had planned for them… Now there was a new element…what they might do to the kids…

However, that also broke something within Barret.

"You sons of bitches! You ain't gettin' anywhere near Marlene!"

With that, the huge man opened fire, right in the middle of the Seventh Heaven. The things dove for cover as the three rotating miniguns took off and began to fire off their huge bullets. Some of them had their clothing caught. Some might have even taken a few bullets, because over the thunder of gunfire, Aerith thought she heard some inhuman screaming. Huge shots began to rip apart the walls, and tore up the furniture. Yet for the most part, the enemy shrank behind Nimrod, and let his massive body take the shots with almost no effect.

Barret noticed this, and soon focused all of his fire on Nimrod. The huge man merely laughed in response, letting the bullets hit him and then fall off to the ground like water against a roof. However, Barret had something else in mind. He was warming up his microlaser…

Yet if he was going to attack, he never got the chance. Kartuum abruptly spat at him, sending a wad of greenish-gray goo flying across the room and slamming onto his weapon. Barret wheeled to it…and saw that it was already smoking and hissing. The acidic slime was eating through it. Quickly, he reached down and pressed a button on the side. The result popped off what appeared to be the "outer layer" of the gun, the part that held the three miniguns and the microlaser, and dropped it to the ground. It immediately began to turn into a puddle.

But again, Barret didn't notice this. Malcolm used the distraction time to charge forward. Much like Nimrod, he was huge and looked impossible to stop. Barret turned and looked to him just in time to get laid into with Malcolm's shoulder. The huge man was ripped off his feet, thrown across the room, and smashed into the back of the bar. Glass and liquor smashed all around him and poured down on his body as he slumped to the floor behind it. He looked stunned, and maybe even out of it, to Aerith.

"Hey, Bugbear!"

This comment, directed to Malcolm, caused the beast to turn. A moment later…his body too went flying across the room, nearly ripping his own comrades off their feet as he did, before smashing into the back wall. He actually cracked into it a bit, before falling out and to the floor. The other creatures turned back to see the source, and watched as Cait Sith, conscious again, had his moogle recoil his spring-loaded fist.

He turned to the others, and brandished his spike gloves. "Who else wants some?"

Slim hissed, and then suddenly whipped out a pair of purple, slimy tentacles toward the robot. They slithered down to the ground and wrapped themselves around the moogle's feet, meaning to yank it out from under him. However, such a move was futile. The robot was too heavy. Instead, he swung his fists down and around and pounded them on top of the tentacles, twisting as he did so. This caused the spikes to slice into the appendages, and cut through them. Slim recoiled his tentacle ends in agony at that.

However, he now had the attention of the room. Sneering, Clive extended his claws and ran for him. Hissing, Serena began to run up to him as well. Cait Sith, however, stood his ground. He waited for them to get close, and then reacted. He crossed with one fist, smashing Clive in the face and sending him flying, and then with the other, doing the same to Serena. Yet no sooner had they fallen than a much larger, charging mutant came forward. Their attack wasn't so much an attack as a distraction…one that gave Nimrod the chance to charge forward at the robot.

And yet, Cait Sith merely grinned as he turned back to him. As the huge giant charged forward, he swung both of his fists up, catching him beneath the chin. The robot now showed the full measure of its power as it ripped the hulk off of his feet and sent him flying back. His companions were shocked as he spilled backward, tripped, and then fell flat on his back. The power of his landing shook the foundations of the building itself.

Fen seemed to notice that they weren't doing that well against the new opponent. With that in mind, he turned to Mortimer. "Get him!" He called. "Don't be afraid! He's a robot, not a living thing!"

Mortimer had hesitated until now. But once he heard he was a robot, he only turned his head to Fen once, and then looked back to Cait Sith. With that in mind, he began to somehow make his way forward. Aerith couldn't see his legs, so she couldn't tell if it was a slither or a walk. It looked like a little of both. However, he moved faster this time, and was quickly coming up on the cat. Cait Sith turned to him, and merely cracked a grin. He raised his "dukes" and prepared to strike back once more…

However, he didn't get the chance.

Mortimer only came forward to a certain point, just before the robot could punch. Once that happened, he spilled his head forward. To the disgust of Aerith…and even to his own companions…a virtual waterfall of clear, viscous, and horrible smelling slime poured out of the the hood of the thing. It was so much and so fast that it engulfed the robot, and Cait Sith cried out in disgust as he staggered back. Yet Mortimer kept pouring it out, seeming to actually shrink as he did so…like he was pouring his own guts out…

Aerith soon began to gag and move back. The smell was rancid…nearly stifiling. Serena was still getting up, but she soon hissed and began to move away as she did so. She couldn't stand the scent. Those that had been unconscious before now began to drag themselves back too, unable to take it. Yet somehow, Aerith was able to keep looking. The jelly-like substance continued to pour forth until it had all but covered Cait Sith. But once at that point, it rapidly congealed and formed. It seemed to almost have a life of its own, as it gathered back together and solidified, becoming a more uniform mass. As it did so, it passed over the rest of the robot. Cait Sith was holding his nose at this point, but Aerith could still seem him through the clear material as he looked around at the stuff that he was immersed in, along with his robot. It continued to solidify, until it formed a solid sac of some sort, totally enclosing the Cait Sith robot and his moogle.

That was when things turned worse. The robot looked around a bit more…but then suddenly looked panicked. Aerith found out why. The cloth on his body was eroding. So was the cloth on the moogle. But that wasn't all. Soon the metal crown began to disintegrate too. A mist of material began to flow from both robots and fade out into the sac. The cloth continued to vanish, and the stuffing after it began to flake off into white substance as well. The metal endoskeleton of both began to poke out…and Aerith watched in shock as that too began to fade into a graying mist. The robot began to spazz within the sac. It sparked and shifted silently in the gelatinous mass…and continued to erode.

Aerith was horrified. The robot wasn't alive…but this was still horrible. It looked as if it was dying…

"Now you've seen it." Fen suddenly spoke up, causing the woman to turn back to him. "Mortimer can only eat by vomiting up large amounts of enzyme-rich cytoplasm and engulfing his prey in a vacuole, just like a cell engulfing its food. The enzymes digest whatever is inside it, and he reabsorbs it and eats the basic components."

Aerith turned back to the sac. She could barely see what was left of Cait Sith at this point, assuming there was anything. The clear contents had turned murky and gray with dissolved metal…

"Now…are you going to come with us…are do you want to watch that Marlene girl struggle within one of these as the flesh is melted off her bones?"

Aerith was stunned. She stared blankly at what was happening for a moment. However…it was only for a short while. After that, her face lost its surprise. It became more normal, and she turned back to the others. She stared at them with a cold look.

"…You may have been human once." Aerith told them flatly. "You may have been turned into these things against your will. But that doesn't mean you have to be so sadistic and cruel. It doesn't mean you have to match the physical natures you now have."

"Enough of your stalling!" Slim hissed in response. "I'm taking you now!"

However, Aerith too had enough. She had to stop these people before they did something more horrible. Cait Sith could be rebuilt…but not the children.

Immediately, Aerith extended her hands. She closed her eyes and chanted for a moment. In response, a green aura began to blaze around her. On seeing this, Slim hesitated, as did the others. They feared that another attack was coming that had so totally annihilated their predacesors. However, even if Aerith could pull it off, she wasn't that cruel. Instead, she continued to chant a moment longer, before opening her eyes and making the green aura vanish. In response…a bitterly cold wind suddenly swept across half the room. It pierced the flesh of those gathered, cutting them to the bone. Immediately, it hung on them and grew colder. The windows began to frost up. Breath began to mist from their mouths. Ice crystals began to grow around the room, and pieces of ice began to condense in the air. They started off as snow, but soon grew hail sized. As they continued to grow from there, they began to rain down on the enemy, pelting them with progressively growing chunks of ice. Mortimer shriveled into a ball and began to quiver. Slim shuddered and shrank back as well. The others were mostly immobilized, but these two and some others seemed more effected than the rest…

However, some weren't.

"Nice try, witch." Fen hissed. "But most of my body is insulated with fur." With that, he hissed, and ran forward to lunge at the woman.

But Aerith was ready for this too…at least somewhat. She went down from casting the ice spell, and turned to the charging creature. He was fast…and reacting fast took something out of the woman. However, she threw up her hands and quickly cast a second spell. As she did so…Fen seemed to slow down…like he was suddenly running in water or jelly. As she continued to generate, he almost froze to a halt. His eyes began to slowly widen at his predicament, but it was useless to stop it now. Aerith continued to focus, struggling to complete the technique…

A roar broke her concentration, however. She turned to her side, and saw yet another unaffected person. This one was Malcolm. In a panic move, Aerith spun around and faced him, bringing up her weapon to bear as she did so, and releasing Fen. He was still slowed down, but he hadn't stopped completely, and as he moved in slow motion he struggled to break the spell off. As Malcolm charged, Aerith made a move. It was more out of surprise than anything…but she managed to abruptly drive the end of her staff forward and jab it directly into his throat. She was shocked at what she did, and the impact nearly threw the weapon out of her hands. But it succeeded. Malcolm stopped in midcharge and fell to the ground, gagging and grasping for his neck.

Aerith spun back to the enemy…almost a moment too late. Serena was now on her, up again and not seeming to be affected by the cold either. Hissing and spitting like a cat, she extended her claws and slashed at her. The Cetra gaped and leapt back, almost a moment too late. Serena's claws slashed through her pink dress, just missing spilling her blood. Not done, however, the woman leapt on her and attacked savagely. Aerith quickly brought up her staff and blocked her just in time. However…she was too weak. She was immediately forced to the ground on her back. Serena locked her arms around her staff, and began to push back against her own weak power. She hissed and snapped at her with long, fang-like teeth, trying to bite her as she put her full weight on top of the Cetra.

Aerith nearly panicked…but quickly forced herself to calm down. She concentrated and began to form another spell. A familiar ache began to travel through her body as she did so. Much as her focus had grown, casting these spells off in rapid succession was draining her. Her ability to use materia was still far greater with far more stamina than trying to cast these techniques. But there was nothing for it. She continued to generate, and finally aimed out at Serena. A moment later, a sonic "meow" went out through the bar as a bolt of lightning shot down and struck her. It had roughly the same power as it had when she struck Reno two months ago, and the force was enough to rip her off and send her flying away into her comrades, bowling them over as she did so.

Panting, Aerith began to back up and struggled to get on her feet once again. The enemy was starting to recover from her initial attack. Mortimer was slithering out to bond with his "vacuole". Slim was starting to extend his tentacles again. Fen was almost back to full speed. The others were only getting madder. The Cetra moved to try and stand, but she was feeling a headache coming on, and she was dizzy. She needed a moment to break before she could keep…

"Hey uglies! Eat this!"

Aerith and the others snapped around to the bar. A bruised and angry Barret was rising from behind it, holding his artificial arm up. Although the main gun was destroyed, he still had some capabilities. One of those was his grenade launcher, which was open and ready to fire. A moment later…a sound like a mortar exploding went out as he fired one of his large shots.

The creatures immediately scattered in fear. The faster ones were able to get out right away, dragging others with them. The bigger ones threw themselves down on their comrades, struggling to keep them safe. But as they all dove for cover in that split second…one of their flock was left behind, staring silently and in terror as the shot sailed right for her, and ignited…

A blast of fire erupted within the Seventh Heaven, further ruining the bar. Aerith shielded herself as a rush of hot air and pieces of wooden debris flew by her. Everyone else, even Barret, covered their bodies up as well. Some of the creatures yelled inhumanly. Others hissed or grunted. But for a moment, no one thought of anything else but surviving Barret's explosive.

The eruption died down after a while. Aerith slowly opened her eyes again, and pulled her arms down from herself. She was still lying on the ground, having never fully risen, but she was farther away from the enemy now. She slowly turned, and looked back to see what had happened.

A rather large black crater was in the floor, accenting the point of explosion. The creatures were scattered around it, on the ground and cringing. However, they were slowly getting up as well. Some of them were smoldering a bit, and immediately patted their clothing out. Others were disorientated, looking around as they did so. Everyone was silent, trying to recover from that blast. Aerith was a bit mixed up now, seeing as they had scrambled everywhere, and some looked rather similar. However, in the end, she heard a nearly sonic scream from one of them.

"Meryl! NO!"

The Cetra pushed herself up. She recognized that voice as Horus. And now, the woman was running over to the edge of the black crater. Aerith noticed something she hadn't before. Still smoldering and blackened, lying on the side of the crater, was one of their group. She was still, and not moving. Based on the size, and what the Cetra could remember from her clothing, as well as what Horus had yelled, she assumed it was Meryl.

The other creatures quickly got to their feet too, however, and turned and began to look to her. Most of them stared on intently, and began to quiver with signs of fear and anxiety. Some of them were more cold, and soon looked away and back to Aerith and Barret. Yet no one was more broken up than Horus. The woman had gone to the dead person's side, and kneeled next to her. She raised her head and rested it against her lap. She reached down and pulled back the woman's hood. Most of the face beneath was covered with scales and was rough, but Aerith could make out the vague details of a humanoid face. She still had human hair…and lots of it. It hung long and brown behind her, looking pretty much like real human hair. Her mouth was cracked, and blood was oozing down the side of it. She was definitely dead.

The creatures turned to sadness. The big one, Nimrod, crouched and moved in next to her. Some sort of animal whimper was coming from him. Horus herself lowered her own head and rested it against her brow for a moment. Aerith caught tears falling from the dark hood onto the other's face. She gently stroked her scaly skin, and sobbed softly. But in the end…the sobs cut off…as the dark hood focused solely on Aerith and Barret.

"You…" Horus fumed aloud. She screeched at them next in a high pitched voice. "She was only a child, for God's sake! She never hurt you or anyone else! She was against threatening the children from the start! And all you could do was kill her like she was a monster!"

The woman stood after this. Then…she did something rather unexpected. She extended her arms and grabbed her own ragged clothing. With a show of strength…she ripped it off of her body with one tug. The rags fell to the ground, and her exposed body underneath was revealed.

Aerith was amazed. She couldn't tell whether what was beneath was a snowy owl or a human. She was nude, but most of her body was covered with white feathers. Her feet had long since ceased to be feet, becoming large, hooked talons instead. Her fingers were fusing together and her arms lengthening to accommodate a set of wings that had sprouted from them. As for her face, it was already pressed out into an owl facial disk, and her eyes were large and wide with a cruel notched beak beneath it.

"I was holding back before now…" Horus hissed through her clicking beak. "But now I won't show you mercy either."

RULER

"Come on, Marlene! Call him!"

"I'm trying!" The girl helplessly shouted back. "It's no use! Nobody's answering!"

A few minutes ago, Denzel and Azure had been broken up from their playing with Denzel's toys to see a tearful Marlene burst into their room. However, she had barely calmed down enough to tell them what was going on when the commotion had started downstairs. Denzel went ahead and risked a look…and soon discovered something bad. People were coming in downstairs, and they were threatening Aerith. From the sounds of them, and the descriptions of each one he heard, they weren't friendly.

Denzel had the bravery to go out and grab Tifa's cellular from her room, and brought it in to them. Marlene remembered Cloud and Ragnar's numbers. However, they were getting nothing. They had called them again and again, but it was no use. No one was picking up on the other end. The three were left huddled together on the floor of Denzel's room, not knowing what to do next.

In the end, Marlene threw the phone down in disgust. "It's no good! I can't call Cloud or Ragnar!"

"Then let's call another one of Tifa's friends!" Denzel suggested.

"I don't know their numbers!"

"There's a menu or something on the phone that has everyone Tifa calls!" Denzel responded, pointing to it. "Try going there!"

Marlene hesitated, but then picked up the phone to do as Denzel said. Sure enough, she found a large button marked "menu". However, on pressing it, she found to her chagrin a whole list of other options. She looked around them a moment, trying to figure out what she was looking for would look like. At last, she found one particular option that read, "phone book". Marlene clicked on this, and opened a new menu. This one showed a list of names.

"I think this is it!"

"Find someone else to call besides Cloud, Tifa, or Ragnar!"

Marlene looked over the numbers for a moment. She frowned. A lot of them were in Tifa's shorthand. She didn't know who they were. She moved down over the list, trying to find someone who looked right.

Then…she saw it.

Vincent.

Marlene remembered him. He was the one who saved Cloud back at the City of the Ancients. He had joined the army recently too. Marlene remembered Tifa saying that. Immediately, Marlene hit the enter button. A phone number appeared, and automatically dialed. A sharp scuffle was heard downstairs, and it sounded as if something else broke. Marlene turned a frightened look to the doorway, but then turned back to the phone. She put it to her ear and nervously tapped her hand against the ground. More breaking was heard downstairs as it began to ring.

Pick up…please…

A cry was heard downstairs…and it sounded like her father.

Tears of fear began to well in Marlene's eyes.

Click.

"…Yes?"

Marlene recognized the dark voice on the other end. She screamed in a nearly incoherent chain of babbling.

"HelpHelpMr.ValentineThere'sbadguyshereThey'redestroyingthebarThey'regoingtogetAerithThey'regoingtokillmydadCome herePlease!"

A pause from the other end, and then a response.

"…Marlene? Is that you? What's wrong?"

"Help us!" Marlene cried in a more panicked, but slower voice. "They're in the bar! Please!"

"…The bar? The Seventh Heaven? Mar-"

Marlene heard no more. She dropped the phone a moment later, as another sound distracted her. An especially loud and agonized scream came from downstairs. This one was definitely from Marlene's father. The sound made her drop the phone, and wheel around to the downstairs. She cupped a hand on her mouth. Denzel and Azure turned and looked as well. Denzel was tense…but Azure looked more afraid.

"What…what happened?" Azure asked.

"That sounded like Mr. Barret…" Denzel echoed.

On hearing this, Marlene stiffened. She began to quiver, and gazed at the door in horror. "Daddy…no…"

Denzel held a moment longer. He looked down over his friends. Marlene bowed her head and began to cry. Azure looked on the brink of crying himself, paralyzed with fear. Denzel hesitated, but finally turned back to the door.

"They're hurting Mr. Barret…and they're going to hurt Ms. Aerith too." He sounded aloud. As he did, his face tightened, and he put on the boldest look he could, trying to imitate Cloud as best he could. Finally…he got to his feet, and began to go to the door.

"Denzel!" Azure called out. On getting up, he began to get up as well, and stared at his friend. Marlene stopped crying for a moment, and looked to see him moving out too. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go down there and try and help Mr. Barret and Mrs. Aerith."

Marlene gaped and stared in fear at this. As for Azure, he leaned forward uneasily to him. "They'll kill you, Denzel! You can't go down there!"

"I can't stay up here and let them hurt them anymore either!" Denzel answered. He turned to Marlene soon after. When he did, his eyes began to urge her and his face turned pleading. "Marlene…you can't just sit there and cry when your dad's in trouble! You have to do something too! He could be hurt!"

Marlene held back a moment longer, still nervous and frightened. She cringed slightly, and continued to sniffle where she was. But in the end, she seemed to gain courage from Denzel. She swallowed, but then rose to her feet. She wiped her tears away with the back of her arm, and sniffled once to stop it. "…Alright. I'll go too."

All that was left was Azure. The two turned to him. He quivered uneasily, and drew into himself with a shake. But in the end, he sighed as well, and then looked ready to move too. With that in mind, Denzel turned back to the doorway. He immediately opened it up and ran out. Marlene followed on his heels, and Azure followed behind a little more, going a bit more slowly and uneasily.

The three quickly made their way downstairs. Once they were there, they saw that the door to the bar area was already open. They quickly rushed forward and through it. However, on arrival, Denzel immediately halted. A part of his bravery disappeared for a moment. The other two children came in…and they quickly skid to a halt as well. All three gaped for a moment at who was there…before Azure suddenly cringed and began to pull back. He turned as white as a ghost, and nearly curled into a ball again as he had two months ago.

"No…"

Things in rags were all over the room. The way they were bent, twisted, and warped…they looked like monsters. However, there was one monster in particular that was the center of attention. What looked like a giant white owl was in the center of the room. It had long, sharp talons, and it appeared to be using them. In its left talon, it had Aerith by the neck, looking like it would slice her head off at any moment. Aerith looked a bit dirty and tired, but she was clutching the claw that had her. In her right talon, what looked like the unconscious form of Barret was hanging. Somehow, the creature was holding them both up although they were heavy. Barret, on his part, was covered with deep cuts and bruises. The fact that the creature had bloody talons indicated what was the source. However, on entering, both the owl and the rest of the shrouded people stared at them.

"Daddy!" Marlene called out in anguish.

The owl hesitated a moment, looking at her. However…that was all the moment Aerith seemed to need. She held her hands up and chanted some sort of words. A moment later, a green aura erupted from her, and she pointed one palm in the owl's face. It turned to her, but it was too late. A small hailstorm of what looked like gravel materialized in the air and began to pelt the creature. It screeched a horrible cry, and quickly released Aerith and Barret. Barret collaspsed to the ground silently, but Aerith landed with a weak cry of pain. As for the owl, it staggered back in the air, covering its huge eyes. However, the gravel had another effect. It began to work its way in between the feathers of the owl, hindering its ability to fly. Soon, it was forced to land on the ground, and continued to stagger back, trying to loose the pebbles from its feathers.

Aerith stumbled to her feet. However, she was panting hard now. She looked tired again, like she had when she first arrived. But somehow, she reached over and grabbed Barret by the shoulders, and vainly tried to drag him back. "Get out of here, kids!" She called back to them. "Go get help!"

The rest of the monsters were stunned for a moment. However, it didn't last long. Suddenly, one turned his head to Azure. By now, the boy was on the ground, he was shrinking back, his eyes wide with fear, and trying to cover himself. However, he had swapped out his oversized clothing for a t-shirt and shorts by now. There was nowhere to hide. And so, he lifted his arms in front of him and tried to conceal himself.

"Well, well…" That one said aloud. "If it isn't that damn little brat."

"Huh?" Another answered, turning to him, and then turning back to Azure. Azure was trembling and hiding now, but this new one snickered. "I don't believe it. Imagine the luck. He was right here the whole damn time."

"You've been a bad boy." Another one mocked in a hissing voice. "Dr. Hoeng is going to punish you rather severely when we get back."

Denzel turned his head to his friend. He saw that Azure had almost degenerated back into his previous state by now. However, he also recognized the name. It was the same one Azure told him earlier. He turned back to the creatures with a look of amazement.

"You… It was you guys!" He sounded. "You're the ones that tortured Azure!"

"Azure?" One of them asked in confusion.

"I think that's what he named himself." Another answered.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what he was, kid." The first answered. "That kid is nothing more than a clone of Sephiroth."

Denzel didn't notice…but Aerith froze and nearly dropped Barret at that. She let out a gasp and looked up. As for the one who spoke, another soon moved in and smacked the back of his head.

"You idiot! Dr. Hoeng doesn't want anyone to know that!"

Denzel, however, didn't change. He balled his hands into fists and glared at them.

"I don't care!" He yelled back. "I don't know what a 'clone' is…but people said Cloud was a clone of Sephiroth too, and he's nice! You hurt him! I won't let you get away with it!"

The boy stood his ground, seeming ready to charge forward and pound the remaining twelve into pieces. The owl finished shaking out her wings at this point, or at least gave up on them, and turned to the boy.

"I wonder if she cares anything for this one…" The owl announced. "If she does…then I want to kill him to make her feel pain."

Denzel sneered a moment longer, but then suddenly took off. As crazy and recklessly as he had charged Bahamut Sin itself two years ago, he charged the gathering of monsters right now. He seemed ready to beat them all down with nothing but his fists. They turned and looked to him as he came. Some of them chuckled. Others simply crossed their arms and did nothing.

One of them did finally move.

With a powerful lunge and an animal snarl…he shot forward, seized Denzel by the neck, carried him across the room, and then nearly smashed him into the back wall. Once there, he pinned him against it with his clawed hand, suspended above the floor.

The impact had been hard, smashing Denzel's head against the back wall. His head limply fell forward afterward. When it did…Marlene, from where she was standing, could look up and see blood running down his neck. He had hurt his head when he smashed against the wall. He was out cold now…maybe worse.

"Denzel!" Marlene cried out.

This call, so fearful and scared, pierced the insides of Azure. Despite his own paralyzing fear, he looked up at this, and to the source. He gasped. Denzel…his best friend…was in the grip of the monster he feared so much…the monster that had beat him and starved him for fun, and to relieve his anger at his own sad fate. The one who had yelled at him day and night about how vile and wretched and worthless a creature he was. The one who had enacted out all of Hoeng's punishments. Now…he had Denzel.

He had hurt him.

He could see the blood running down his neck…

What if he…had killed him?

Aerith got to her feet, gaping at this the whole time. Her eyes filled with terror. "Leave him alone!" She cried. "He's just a kid!"

"So was Meryl." The owl harshly snapped. She turned to the man. "Rip his throat out, Fen. Make her regret resisting us."

"No!" Aerith immediately cried out. Her face turned into a desperate beg. "You win! I'll go with you…just don't hurt these children!"

However, to this, the dark hood of the one holding Denzel turned to her. A dark and mocking laugh came from it. "Now look…" He sneered. "Now you're begging us to let you come with us. What a change is this…"

"Let's kill this 'hero'." Another one threw in. "Make her sorry she every torched our friends. Let her know we're serious about what we'll do to them…"

"We could feed him to Mortimer…"

"No…" The owl retorted, stepping forward. "She killed Meryl…I want to kill the child she loves. I want to feel his blood running down my chin. Then again…perhaps we could wait until he becomes conscious again. I'd like to feel him struggling against the walls of my stomach like some doomed rat…"

Marlene was horrified. These people were monsters…horrible, nightmare monsters. She turned to Aerith, desperate to see her do something big. She wanted to see her make them all disappear…or freeze them all…or burn them all up. But Aerith wasn't doing anything. She was shaking all over, and her eyes were filling with tears of terror. She looked as scared and confused as Marlene, not knowing what to do. In another moment…Marlene might have tried yelling or attacking, futile as it was, in a desperate attempt to save Denzel…

The one called Fen chuckled on. His teeth were heard gritting, and he turned his head back to Denzel, ready to devise more torture for his prey…

When, suddenly…he stopped laughing. He gagged instead. With a surprised look beneath his hood, he released Denzel all together. The unconscious boy slumped to the ground. After that, Fen stared forward a few moments longer, and then opened his mouth to speak. No sound could come out, however.

That was because a foot long splinter had skewered him through the throat.

The other monsters had gone silent. They gaped at Fen, staring at him as blood began to run out from his own neck. Gagging, he slowly turned around and looked back to his companions. When he did, they all saw what had happened, and saw the blood beginning to pour forth. He gaped once more and raised a hand to his neck. But in the end…it faltered. It slumped down weakly at his side, and a moment later his body collapsed as well with it. He fell to the ground and moved no more.

The monsters turned and looked around at who was standing, to see who might have just done that. Marlene looked just as stunned as them. So did Aerith. Barret was still unconscious, and so was Denzel. That left only one person, but he was quivering in a ball…

At least, when they looked back over to him, he had been.

Now, he was standing up. His fear had seemed to disappear…and now he was at his full height. He looked much larger and stronger than he had a moment ago, and far more calm and confident. As he walked forward, each footstep he took seemed to echo loud and long through the ruins of the bar. However…his face was the worst.

Azure looked like a different person. His face appeared far more mature now. He wore an enigmatic smile now…one that seemed very confident…and full of sadism. His eyes appeared to blaze almost…and the pupils, if anyone was close enough to them to see, would have appeared to be like cat slits.

"…Care to pick on someone who can fight back?" Azure calmly asked those gathered.

The monsters were shocked and motionless.

"He…he just killed Fen…just like that…"

"He used to be terrified of him…"

"So the shrimp grew a backbone…"

"You idiot! Think about who he's a clone of!"

"This weak little runt? He can't be channeling him…"

"I think I can take him…"

"Be my guest."

Azure finally snorted. "You were all so confident a moment ago…thinking you were going to slice up my friend like a side of beef." He coolly continued. "And now…none of you even have the guts to come up and fight me. That's alright." He smiled a bit wider, and then zeroed in on the owl.

"I do."

The monsters barely saw him move. All they saw was a faint streak before Azure was in front of the owl. Once there, he held a moment…just long enough to smile darkly in the owl's face. On seeing that look…the other monsters recoiled in sudden shock, and the owl gaped. That was right before Azure swung his leg around and crossed her at the side of the head.

Immediately, the creature was ripped off of her feet and flung across the room, smashing her body into a wall. She left a considerable impression in it, however. When she slid off, blood was dribbling from her mouth. Azure turned to her, still smiling, and began to walk to her fallen body. The other monsters, shocked…began to step away from him. The owl finally looked up, and screeched in anger at Azure. Se took off from where she was a moment later, and shot forward at him, foot claws outstretched.

Azure calmly swung his body back when she approached, letting the claws sail harmlessly over him. He straightened back up a moment later, and calmly turned his head two more times, letting her talons sail past him and hit only air. Once that was done…he shot out his hand like a bullet and seized the owl by the neck. After crushing into a choking vise, he snapped his arm up and yanked her to the ceiling, smashing her head into the blade of a ceiling fan. She was unable to cry out due to being throttled, and a moment later she was flung around by Azure into the opposite wall. Though it was farther away, she smashed into this one even harder.

Azure, not having changed his smile, turned and began to walk toward the owl again. The other creatures were frozen. They stared at him, not moving in the least, their eyes wide at the sudden power that Azure had unleashed. The boy, on his part, walked forward smoothly a bit longer…

…Before he suddenly made a sidestep to one of the creatures, moving so fast that none saw him until he stopped. When he did…they recoiled in terror. Azure's hand was protruding from a bloody wound in the back of one of their order. He had punched right through one of them. They heard a dying gasp a moment later, and looked up to see who it was. One of them hung their mouth open loosely…and began to smoke. A wad of acidic slime was in his mouth, a split second from being spat at Azure, but a split second too late. The boy didn't even look like he had noticed him.

He turned his head darkly to the others. They shrank back on seeing him.

"…Anyone else want to play the hero?" Azure asked. A second later, he ripped his hand out from the man's chest, and let his dead body fall. "You should attack me all at once. That way…I'll only kill the first five of you rather than all one by one."

With that, he turned and began to walk to the owl again.

The owl staggered to her feet…and gaped in fear of Azure. Her desire to fight had left her. Instead, she turned and looked for a way to escape. When she thought she saw one, she took off and tried to fly for it. But she was too slow. Azure reached out and seized her by the talons as she went, and swung her around violently once before bringing her down to smash against the ground. Not done yet, he brought her back up and flung her again, this time into the ceiling. After smashing a quantity of plaster, she fell back down to the floor again roughly. She coughed and choked, spitting up more blood, before weakly pushing herself up.

Azure kept grinning…and seemed to channel a different person with what he said next.

"On your knees. I want to hear you beg for forgiveness."

With that, he dashed forward and kicked the owl in the face, ripping her off the floor, flinging her across the room before smashing her into the back wall. That blow knocked her unconscious…if not worse. The other monsters backed off, cringing in the wake of the boy. As for Azure, he calmly walked forward, looking down at the fallen owl. She groaned, but was unable to move or escape. In seconds, he was on her. He bent down and seized her by the throat, and brought her head up. He made a fist, and drew his hand back to finish her…

"Azure! Stop it!"

The boy turned his head at that, ignoring the woman for a moment. Instead, he found himself looking back to Marlene. Her eyes were wide with horror now, but not at the monsters. It was at how brutal and violent he was acting. She was shocked and gaping at him. He stared at her for a moment, silent and still poised to kill.

"Azure."

The boy turned his head again at this. This time, he looked over to Aerith. The Cetra's fear had diminished, and she was much calmer now. She spoke in a much more soothing, controlled, and gentle voice.

"Azure…you need to calm down. You need to relax."

The words seemed to sink into Azure as he held the owl there. He stared at Aerith motionlessly a moment. But then…the light in his eyes began to die down. His fist began to loosen. His jaw slackened and began to hang a bit. Slowly, the hardness and coldness vanished away from him, and once again he was a innocent boy. He turned back, and saw what he was doing. In shock, he released the owl and let her fall limply to the ground. He began to step back, and started to quiver. He raised his hands, and looked at them…seeing the blood that now stained them.

"What…was I doing?"

"What are you waiting for, Gelon? Do him now."

Azure looked up at that, confused as to who had spoken and what this meant. However, this was all he could see. Azure was no longer tuned in senses and expecting danger. As a result, he saw nothing when one of the rag people suddenly came forward, reached out, and clamped his hand down on his neck. A terrible burning sensation soon rocked the boy, and he closed his eyes and cried out in agony. He could feel worms burrowing their way into his flesh, eating and melting holes into his skin to get there. The pain was excruciating. Combined with his mental strain and distress, it was too much. He screamed in agony for a few moments more…and then collapsed to the ground, falling into unconsciousness.

Aerith's eyes widened in shock. She knew who that was… That was that Gelon person. She remembered what he had said about him. Did that mean…?

Aerith snapped around to see who had given the order. When she did, she gasped again.

Her eyes rested on Marlene…and she had the barrel of a gun pointed at her head.

The Cetra looked up to see who was holding it. What was revealed was a man, dressed rather neatly, but wearing a lab coat that covered most of his body. He had black hair and an appearance somewhere between young and middle-aged. His facial features were odd. They looked to be a mixture of a stern face with sharp edges, particularly on the nose and chin. He appeared to be potentially Wutai in origin, but Aerith couldn't place it. The oddest part, however, was what she reminded him of. His face was that of a total stranger…and yet, at the same time…Aerith felt like she had seen it before. But her memory didn't have a record of it anywhere…

He stood in the doorway now, one arm around Marlene, and a gun pointed to her head. He must have snuck in through the back while this was going on. His face was dark and merciless. He turned his head to the remaining creatures and frowned at them.

"…I knew you'd be too incompetent to do it on your own." He sneered.

"You…" Aerith called, causing the man to turn over to him. "You're…Dr. Hoeng, aren't you?"

The man narrowed his gaze at that. He turned again to his creatures. When he did, they shrank back a bit, cringing from him. "…Well now…did my escaped test subject tell her that, or did you let my name out?" He asked them rather coldly. "I gave you sharp instructions never to say my name."

"What did you do to Azure?" Aerith called out again, more insistently.

The man paused, but then turned his head back over to her. "Sentenced him to death." He simply answered, as if it was nothing more than saying he swatted a fly. "Gelon has a special larval parasite within him that he transmits to everything he touches. The worms are burrowing deep into his warm flesh and to his central nervous system, where they'll cyst and cause a combination of paralysis, madness, and extreme pain. Once they hatch, they'll eat their way back out, killing him in the process. Trust me…I've examined the effect on numerous subjects already."

The Cetra was horrified, as was Marlene in Hoeng's grasp.

"That's horrible! Stop it!"

"It can't be stopped." Hoeng simply answered. "That's why I said I sentenced him to death. It will be a pity to lose such a valuable subject, especially since his latent talents appear to be awakening, but I will have to deal with it. A specimen I can't control is hardly a useful specimen. And you all have been coddling him so much I'm sure he's developed far too much of a streak of thinking himself a worthwhile, independent being and not simply a clone to ever control him again."

Aerith was still stunned, and began to get to her feet. "…What kind of demented monster are you?" She sounded out loud. "That you'd think a child is just some piece of lab waste?"

"I created him." Hoeng answered. "He owes me life. Why shouldn't he give it up to me?"

Aerith managed to get up, and balled her hands into fists. She glared at Hoeng defiantly. Normally, she wouldn't do this, but a boy's life was in danger. Immediately, she began to raise her arms. "You better tell me how to cure him, or-"

"Or what?" Hoeng cut off. "You'll incinerate me like you did my previous subjects? Even if you do have enough control of that ability of yours to keep from melting your other little friend here…I'll still be able to pull the trigger the moment you make a gesture toward me. Stop worrying about the clone. Start worrying about the other two children here…or have you forgotten? His fate is already decided, but if you keep making trouble I'll be forced to start dealing with the others."

Aerith stopped, and lowered her arms. To her fear…she realized he was right. He had a good grasp on her, and he seemed even more amoral than his abominations. She could see he would think nothing of killing Marlene now, just like he thought nothing about what was happening to Azure. Marlene was helpless, and looked scared. Denzel was still unconscious and helpless. Cait Sith had been…devoured. Barret was out, and Azure might be dying. There was nothing left. She could cast maybe a few more spells…but she knew she couldn't hit Hoeng before he did something.

She swallowed…and realized she could only do one thing.

"…Alright, I'll give up. But you have to let these people go."

Hoeng hesitated a moment at that. He seemed to actually be thinking it over. In the end, he turned to his creatures. "…Are we ready to depart for the Northern Continent as soon as we're done here?" He asked.

There was a pause, seeing as Fen was dead, as to who should answer him. But in the end, one of them gave a nod.

Hoeng hesitated at that, and thought again for a brief moment. He swished his mouth from one side to another, musing over this. He genuinely seemed to be wondering whether or not to do this. Yet in the end, he gave a slow nod.

"Very well. However, in return, you'll have to follow my rules." With that, he looked down to the girl he held hostage. "Marlene, was it? If you would be so kind as to reach into the pocket on my coat on your right."

Marlene held and swallowed a moment, looking over to Aerith.

The Cetra nodded. "Do it, Marlene."

The girl paused again, but then finally turned slightly so that she could raise her arm and dip it into his pocket. She fished around in there a moment…before grasping something. When she pulled it back out, Aerith saw it was a small tin, like one would use for mints.

"Very good." Hoeng answered. "Now…be so kind as to remove a pill from that and hold onto it, and then shut the tin, drop it on the ground, and slide it over to Mrs. Gainsbourough with your foot."

Marlene was hesitant, but in the end she did as she was told. After opening the tin and taking out what looked like a small, unremarkable pill, she dropped it on the ground, and then pushed off with her foot. She was a bit weak with it. It only went a little over half of the distance to her.

"That's good enough." Hoeng answered. "Aerith, come up and pick it up. Take a pill out and swallow it."

"What is it?" The Cetra immediately asked.

"Just something to sedate you for a few hours." Hoeng answered. "I don't want you causing trouble in transit. Once you have eaten yours, I will have Marlene eat hers to ensure that she doesn't follow us or remembers where we went."

Aerith paused, but then began to slowly inch to the tin. She kept her eyes open and focused on Hoeng. "…How do I know it isn't poison?"

"You're taking one too. And I assure you, I don't want you hurt in any way."

The Cetra frowned. "…You want a specimen in perfect health?"

"A specimen." Hoeng echoed, giving a light chuckle at that. "You think that's what this is about? Having a Cetra as a specimen? You're not even a true Cetra. You're only half-blooded. I have no interest in dissecting you either. In fact, if all goes according to plan, I'll be done with you before tonight is over, and you can return to this bar or the PPA or whatever you want to do. So the sooner you take that pill and take a nap, the sooner I can be done with you, and we can all get on with our lives."

Aerith was confused at this. Dark and cold as this man was, she had a feeling he wasn't lying. But if that was the case…then what did he want? What did he want with the Northern Continent? Or with her? It sounded like he wasn't even interested in the fact that she was a half Cetra. However…she still wasn't comfortable with this. She saw what he had done to the people in the room. What if he tried to do the same thing to her? Or worse? However…he couldn't let him kill Marlene either. It was worth the chance, to her, to save her.

In the end, Aerith finally reached the tin. Still focusing on Hoeng, she bent down and took it from the ground. She straightened up, opened it, and then risked a glance down into it. It was full of identical pills. After hesitating a bit longer…she finally reached in and grasped one. She pulled it out, and closed the tin behind it. After that, she looked up and stared on at Hoeng.

"Go on. I'm waiting." He simply answered.

The Cetra swallowed. This wasn't good. She thought there had to be another way out of it. However, she saw none. The others were still away at the battle. Barret wasn't getting up anytime soon. And she didn't want any of them to become the victims of anymore of these monsters. At last, she gave way. She opened her mouth, put the pill inside, closed it, and swallowed.

"Good." Hoeng answered. He looked down afterward. "Your turn."

Marlene anxiously looked to Aerith. Hoping that she was doing the right thing…the Cetra gave a nod to her. The girl responded by putting the pill in her own mouth and swallowing.

Hoeng removed the gun from her head at that, and released her. Immediately, Marlene broke away from Hoeng and ran up to Aerith. She threw her arms around her and pulled her body close. She quivered with fear. Aerith brought her own arms down and placed them on top of her, trying to comfort her. However…she was already feeling like reality was moving a bit slowly. She knew the drug had to be taking effect. Still, she managed to look up and see Hoeng's next move.

"Nimrod…you can stay here and carry her." He instructed. "Clive, Serena, Gelon…take Horus back with you and secure the prisoner once Nimrod brings her in. Then guard the area and make sure she doesn't escape. The rest of you are with me. We're moving out."

That last word seemed to be a bit vague to Aerith. She kept watching…but she felt her eyelids starting to get heavy. She saw Hoeng walk right by her, and start making for the rest of the creatures. As for those that Hoeng designated, they turned and began to go to the fallen Horus. Clive kicked Azure's fallen body out of the way rather painfully. Aerith opened her mouth to shout out to them…but doing so only made her head swim. The world around her began to spin a bit, and she felt reality starting to slip away from her. The sounds of voices went on, and she thought that Nimrod was saying something to her. However…she couldn't understand it. Her mind had stopped processing words. She turned and looked to him again, but already she couldn't focus on him anymore. The world was spinning to black.

At last, Aerith's world winked out. She collapsed a moment later, a few seconds before Marlene, but she never remembered it happening.

RULER

To be continued...