Once again it's after midnight and I am writing a new chapter. Nocturnal life seems to suit me lol. Hope you enjoy!

Bed, bed, bed was the mantra going through Aeris's tired mind. All she wanted to do was get to her cozy home and sleep at least fourteen hours straight. After the tumble she took in the forest, the majority of her muscles were sore and bruised. Not to mention the sorry state her clothes were in, especially her precious cloak.

Her chocobo had been galloping for what seemed like hours, but truthfully it had only been minutes. The young woman sighed in relief when she finally saw the many tiny lights illuminating the town of Kalm.

Aeris was beyond grateful for her feathered friend. Earl had led them straight to town without needing any assistance from her. The area had changed too much for Aeris to be able to locate herself. She was going to need time to get her bearings.

Once the twosome reached the outskirts of town, Aeris slid slowly off of the saddle to keep her muscles from protesting too much. Finally on her own two feet, she grabbed the reins and was about to lead Earl when she stopped in her tracks.

Why were there so many guards at the main entrance? This was the first time she came home this late so she didn't know if it was a regular occurrence. Aeris quickened her pace and approached the half dozen men hoping she was making the right decision.

However as she came nearer she noticed their attire. Her eyes widened in alarm at the many weapons they were equipped with. A few had long swords strapped to their hips while the rest had riffles and guns fastened to their belts that would have made Vincent proud. Their sturdy boots and metal body armor suggested they were military, but appearances could be deceiving.

Aeris began to rethink her initial rush to talk to them.

The clicking sound of guns being readied seemed to prove her assumption.

"Halt," said one man loudly. "State your purpose here."

None of the guns swayed as they aimed at the petite woman's body. The giant green bird stayed behind her, making soft warking noises.

"Um, hello," said Aeris looking at the man who addressed her, trying to ignore the instinct to run away. "I live here."

It sounded dumb even to her own ears but it was the truth. The armed man in front of the rest lowered his weapon and gestured with his right hand to the rest of his team to do the same. He sighed loudly as if this situation happened all too often for him and asked,

"Papers please."

"Papers? What papers?" responded a clueless Aeris.

He sighed once again while the other men snickered. Had she missed something she wondered.

"Your identification papers, Miss. You need them to be able to enter towns at night," he explained slowly.

"But I don't have any papers. You see I came from the Northern Continent just a few…"

Immediately the guns were raised once again and this time some swords as well.

"She is one of them, sir!" exclaimed one of the younger looking soldiers, his wide eyes staring fearfully at the smaller woman.

"We need to kill her! There could be more around," added a more frantic soldier, sword raised high in the air positioned to strike.

"We are not going to kill her, Harris," came the leader's strict reply. Aeris could tell he was trying to maintain a grip on his temper. "We are still civilized, unlike Midgar where they shoot anyone at night."

The group of soldiers nodded gravely at their leader's words but still did not lower their weapons. Aeris couldn't take the tension. Her hands were wound tight around the leather rein she held, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears and drops of sweat were running down her neck. As if sensing her discomfort, Earl gently rubbed his beak on the Cetra's head in a gesture of support.

"Grab her," ordered the leader.

Straight away the rest of the soldiers advanced towards her. One roughly snatched the reins from her hands and dragged the panicked chocobo away while the rest posted themselves around Aeris. The soldier who had taken Earl away suddenly took out a knife from his pocket and aimed it at the bird's side.

Seeing what he intended to do, Aeris screamed and ran blindly towards Earl. Almost at once something hard jabbed her brutally in the ribs causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground. She could feel the tears form behind her closed eyelids as the piercing pain spread through her chest. Aeris knew she couldn't get to Earl on time to save him and once again was reminded of how pitiful she was.

She dared to look up expecting to see Earl being butchered but instead the man was far too busy ripping her saddle open with the knife instead of the chocobo's flesh.

"There is a staff in here, but no other weapons sir," said the soldier simply, completely ignoring the wounded woman.

Aeris was beginning to think that either the world had gone mad or she was about to. How could they act so viciously with her all because she didn't have a bunch of stupid papers?

Finally a gun barrel was jammed into her back forcing her to get up. Someone tied her wrists behind her back and pushed her to move forward. Relief flooded her as the ache in her ribs was beginning to dull which meant nothing was broken.

Aeris noticed that there weren't many people out and about in town. In her experience, there should be people out drinking and simply enjoying the nightlife, but not here. She wondered if fear of the nightly militants was the cause of such obvious lack of life or another more frightening reason.

As the armed soldiers dragged their prisoner through the many empty streets of Kalm, Aeris was silently praying they would pass by the inn she resided so she could get a chance to see Peter, the innkeeper who could confirm her story.

Luck, once again, wasn't on her side as the group of soldiers led her to the center of Kalm, the part where the buildings were taller and made of massive stones. Aeris had never set foot here because the buildings were for governmental purposes.

They finally stopped in front of a considerable building where the word PRISON was written in bold, black letters on the front double doors. Aeris shoulders slumped, she should have known this was where they were taking her.

Only the leader of the soldiers led her inside while the rest left, probably to patrol Aeris assumed. There were a few soldiers within the building but it was relatively quiet. Aeris shivered as the cold air seeped through her torn clothes. The candles on the many desks and walls illuminated the vast room, casting eerie glows on the stone walls.

He continued to lead her down some stairs, to Aeris's dismay was where the cells were. He took out a set of keys from his pocket and proceeded to open one of the huge oak doors.

As she entered the small room she asked,

"Aren't you going to untie me?"

"No," he replied as he shut the heavy door loudly, "For now you will stay tied as a precaution until we know who you really are."

"But I already told you. I live in Kalm!"

"That's what they all say," he answered dully. With that he locked the door and left her alone.

The cell consisted of a tiny window and one small bed in the corner. It wasn't home but at least she finally had a bed to lie in. But there was one thing to do before she could sleep. Aeris sat herself on the floor and lifted her knees to her chin. She then moved her hands from behind her back, under her bum and finally over her feet so that her tied hands were now in the front. The simple knot was quickly taken care of thanks to her agile hands.

Aeris looked closely at the bed and decided to put her cloak on it before she'd lie down. She'd rather be cold than catch some type of disease. She didn't want to imagine who had laid there before.

After lots of tossing and turning, Aeris finally settled herself for a chilly night of dreamless sleep.

Aeris woke up a few hours later to the sound of mass screaming. She realized she wasn't dreaming so she stood up on the bed and looked out of the single window. What she saw horrified her. The neighboring buildings were fiercely blazing, people were running and screaming while others were trying to put the fires out.

She immediately ran to the cell door and began frantically pounding on the door for someone to let her out because the fire would eventually reach the prison. As much as she pounded and screamed, no one came.

Aeris eventually gave up and went back to the window. Now there were soldiers shooting, but she couldn't see at what from her point of view. So there was something out there attacking the town. She gasped when several soldiers burst into flame in front of her eyes. Aeris had to look away from the gruesome massacre.

Whoever was out there had mastered materia in their possession, which meant they were very dangerous. But who had the power to attack a defended town? Only one name came to her mind: Sephiroth.

She suddenly remembered the destruction of Nibelheim, how Sephiroth had burned it to the ground in a fit if rage. She didn't know why but she felt a small pang in her chest, as if of sadness. Aeris immediately dismissed the idea, she would not allow herself to feel disappointed by the fact that he was still the same. But he did save your life, pointed out a little corner of her mind.

Well it didn't matter now because he was probably here to kill her since he was tearing Kalm apart. Aeris was truly scared since she was trapped and there was no way for her to escape. She sat on the edge of the bed trying to block the sound of bullets and screaming trying to remain calm and rational.

Abruptly her cell door burst open and in came the very monster she was dreading to see. Aeris lifted her chin up determined not to see her cower even though her insides were frozen with terror.

"We need to leave now!" Sephiroth bellowed.

"What?" Aeris croaked at the unexpected command.

Sephiroth forcefully grabbed her by the arm and began hauling her away without waiting for an answer. Aeris stopped in her tracks forcing him to look at her.

"Why are you doing this? These are innocent people, they have nothing to do with you or your deranged ideas. If you want to kill me, just go after me!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"You think I am behind this?" Sephiroth yelled back at Aeris. "As much as I would like to take credit for this, it is not my work." And with that he once more grabbed Aeris's forearm and led her outside.

The stench of burnt wood and blood assaulted her nostrils causing Aeris to cough. Sephiroth on the other hand seemed undisturbed by the smell. The strong flames illuminated the city letting Aeris clearly see the destruction that was taking place. She could hear crying and wailing off in the distance and the unmistakable sound of gunshots. Smoke filled the night air as it rose into the sky making everything seem dead. So this was war, Aeris thought.

Meanwhile Sephiroth secured his grip on the small woman and led the way. He had to constantly pull Aeris who tried to stop and help every wounded person on their way.

He wanted to tell her that there was no point and should focus on getting away from Kalm as fast as possible. His senses were telling him that they were getting dangerously closer. The General finally came to the somber conclusion that they weren't going to outrun them at this pace.

Halting in his tracks, he turned to Aeris,

"Are you afraid of heights?" he asked.

"Heights?" stammered Aeris. "I don't think so."

Sephiroth's experienced eyes could tell that she was in choc at what she was seeing, but it couldn't be helped.

Instead he fiercely hugged Aeris and before she could protest, he had lifted them both up into the air, past the rising smoke, high enough to allow Aeris to get a good view of the scene below.

Half of the city was on fire and she could see small black dots methodically advancing through the streets. Was that what they were running from? Small black dots? It finally dawned in her numb brain that they were flying high in the air.

Without thought, she gripped Sephiroth's back tightly not caring in the least who he was at that moment. All she knew is that she didn't want to fall because he might not catch her.

Whoa it's late. The ending seems too abrupt (sniffles). A long chapter if I do say so myself. I had to cut back and put some of it into the next chapter which means it has already been started (woohoo). I wonder if u r wondering who the "they" are. It will be explained in the following chappie. Comments? BE GENTLE PLS! Will I ever grow up and be mature? Guess not.