AERITH....THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?


PART XIX

RYLON'S TRUE INTENTIONS

As Aerith walked towards the door of the bar, she suddenly stops and realizes that it's wrong to go out at night.  She wouldn't want to disobey her father, even though she would like to go outside and look up at the night sky.  She gives a sigh before walking over to a stool and sits down on it.  I hope this trip to Demon World could help me be free of this curse...I don't anymore people getting killed because of me... She thought to herself.  She looks around the empty bar, knowing that this is her last night staying there before she leaves in the morning.  Deep down, she really didn't want to leave her home or her family behind.  All she wanted was to be like any other average girl with a family and a home, being able to go to school without worrying about being a creature that's not even human.  With a sadden look on her face, she heads back upstairs to her room, deciding that she should get some sleep and tomorrow would be a long day for her...and the start of her journey.

Later that night, Rylon sits near the edge of the rooftop of the ShinRa mansion, looking up at the night sky.  He was thinking about the events that happened so far, especially about his past and Aerith.  As he goes deep into his thoughts, Yazoo walks out of the mansion then looks up at the roof.  "Rylon!  Someone wants to speak to you on the phone!"  He called out.  Rylon snaps out of his thoughts when he heard Yazoo then looks down at his uncle with a slight annoyed look on his face.  "And who might that be?"  He asked as he stands up on the roof and jumps down, landing on the ground in a crouch then he looks at Yazoo before he walks into the mansion.  

Once inside, Kadaj stands nearby, holding a phone, then he looks at Rylon.  "Here.  It's for you."  Kadaj said as he hands the phone over to Rylon.  Rylon holds the phone and answers it as he gave a slight sigh.  "Friend or foe?"

A voice of a woman speaks through the phone, "This is Juliet Douglass.  My partner would like to meet with you tonight as soon as possible."

Rylon became silent as he listened to Juliet then he slowly hangs up the phone and looks to his father before he walks out of the mansion wordlessly.  Kadaj and Yazoo watches in silence then after a while, Yazoo walks into the mansion and speaks to Kadaj.  "That kid of yours is at it again...Off to speak to those things again or probably go on a date with that girl."

Kadaj shrugs and responds, "Believe me, not even I know what that kid's doing.  Though he doesn't seem like he's showing any true affections when that girl's brought up...It's almost as if he's got something else planned for her."

"Just remember, Kadaj.  Hojo is still hunting him down, it won't be long til he figures out that he's the lycan that escaped him a long time ago.  Should we inform Cloud on this matter?  I'm afraid that there's gonna be deception towards him and his daughter."

Kadaj thinks about the manner for a few moments then slightly shakes his head, "We should see what happens...If Cloud could see the deception, he could stop Rylon...if not, then there's a chance his daughter would be in terrible danger."

"He's your son, Kadaj.  You should try to stop him."

Kadaj gives a sigh.  "I'm afraid there's really nothing I can do."

Meanwhile, Rylon heads over towards the town, but doesn't even look back at the mansion.  He didn't notice Lust standing near a well with a slight grin on her face, as if she expecting him.  "It took you long enough, Rylon." She said.

Rylon stops when he heard Lust and looks at her as he slowly walks over to her.  Once he got close enough, he stops in front of Lust and responds to her, "I take it Envy and the others sent you here, correct?"

"They sent me to check up on you."

Rylon gives a sigh.  "It's going to take alot of time for me to get the girl's demon side unleashed...and the problem is that those fools back at ShinRa HQ are making her leave in the morning.  With Hojo now finding out that I'm the lycan that's gone missing from his lab, he's not going stop hunting me down let alone myself ever showing my face back at ShinRa HQ."

Lust's slight grin turns to a frown.  "I've heard about the news of the girl leaving...and I just received orders from 'Father' that he wishes to meet with her."

"What?  Why?  She's can no longer be a human sacrifice to you guys and I doubt Cloud is going to let you near the girl."

"And why should you care about the girl, Rylon?  You destroyed her world already...there's more to the girl than it seems.  And as far as her demon side goes, there are other ways to get the job done since we can't have her as our human sacrifice."

Rylon closes his eyes for a few seconds before making a smirk as he chuckles.  "You honestly think I actually have feelings for the girl?  I only let her live because she might prove useful to us in the future."  A dark look crosses his face.  "Yes...I know what should be done with her."

Lust raises an eyebrow after hearing Rylon as she folds her arms over her chest.  "And what do you have in mind for the girl?"  She asked.

Rylon gives an evil grin as he responds,  "I think I found a replacement to get Hojo off my back."

"I see.  You're planning on having Hojo take the girl in your place, and how are you going to pull that off?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

"What are you planning?"

"You do want the girl to meet with your father, correct?  This plan is the perfect opportunity to have that arranged."

The grin never left Rylon's face as he whispers to Lust on what the plan is.  Lust grins after hearing what it is and she starts to head towards the mansion slowly with her fingernails extended slightly.  Gluttony, who seems to be nearby, follows after Lust with a look of hunger on his face along with an evil grin.  Rylon watches with a dark look on his face as screams echoed throughout the town.  He didn't feel any sadness or regret on what just happened inside the mansion.  He just gives a shrug before turning his back towards the mansion and slowly leaving Nibelheim as he pulls out a tablet from his pocket that has the name "AERITH" engraved on it.  Little did he know, Vincent has been watching the whole event unfold from the shadows.

~DREAM~

"Aerith..." A voice calls out as Aerith finds herself in the Forgotten City.  She looks around, trying to find the source of the voice, but she doesn't see anything or anyone.  She spots the lake nearby and quickly runs over to it with a smile on her face as she tries to find the source of where she heard the voice.  She stops near the lake and looks at her reflection.  She tilts her head slightly, but suddenly perks up when she heard the voice call out again, this time it sounded close by.  She looks around again, but once again, didn't see anyone.  Figuring it was just her imagination, she looks back at her reflection then all of a sudden her reflection changes as something is being viewed.  She could see a young fox demon, wearing what appears to be a bandit outfit, but part of her face couldn't be seen.  Aerith watches in confusion as the fox girl seems to be attacking someone with tears flowing down her cheeks as if she was feeling pain and sorrow while taking her anger out on the figure.  Aerith watches the event in confusion, but she doesn't hear what anyone is saying.

"What's this?" Aerith asked in her thoughts.  She wonders who the fox girl is and why is she seeing all of this.  The scene in the lake changes to what appears to be a laboratory and this time, she could hear screams of agony and pain.  She flinches when she heard the screams and her body slightly trembles at the sight on seeing figures being used as test subjects.  Her heart pounds fast inside her chest as bits of sweat start to form on her face.  Why was she seeing these horrible sights?  She flinches again from hearing more screams before the scene in the lake changes again.  This time, she sees fire in the background and a shadowy figure could be seen with eyes that glowed a blood red color then seems to be howling.  Aerith continues to watch in confusion as fear continued to overcome her.  The figure in the lake fades into the flames as the scene reverts back to Aerith's reflection.  Aerith's heart kept pounding rapidly inside of her chest as she breathes shallowly before letting out a soft sigh of relief, glad that it was all over.

"Aerith..." The same voice calls out again as Aerith jumps and gulps as she looks around.  "Who are you!?" She calls out to the voice, but receives no answer.  Figuring that the voice is coming from inside the building nearby, she slowly walks inside it and looks around.  "Hello?" She asks as she walks toward a fancy stairway.  She wipes away the sweat on her face with her hands before she stopped walking.  She looks at her hands then all of a sudden, she could see blood on her hands.  Her eyes widen with fear.  It was exactly the same image from when she woke up and finding blood on her hands.  She backs up slowly until her back is against a wall.  She closes her eyes tightly and shakes her head, hoping that it was just her mind playing tricks.  Was it someone's idea of a cruel joke?  Or is it just a nightmare?  Those questions have entered her mind as she slowly opens her eyes and looks around.  Nothing is there to be seen.  She looks at her hands again, but sees nothing on them.  She gulps slightly as she starts to walk back over to the fancy stairway.

As she walks down the stairway, she finds herself in a field of flowers.  Aerith blinks as she saw the flowers then gives a smile as she walks over to the flowers.  She kneels in front of them and picks one of the flowers.  She brought it close to her nose and sniffs it.  The smell was sweet and enough to make Aerith feel more calm and the fear that overcame her has disappeared.  She loved flowers alot and they make her happy in some way.  She looks at the flower she picked, admiring its beauty then looking up at the star lit sky.  Her eyes glittered with the light from the stars then she looks toward the distance.  All of a sudden, she could see a light flickering from a distance. "Huh?" She said as she runs toward the direction to where the flickering light was coming from.  As she got closer, she could see a house at the spot where the light was flickering from.  She makes her way towards the house, but sees a lake in her way.  She makes a slight frown before noticing stepping stones then her frown changes to a broad smile.  She goes over to the stepping stone and makes her way across the lake as she giggles a bit.

Once she made it halfway across the lake, she now stands what appears to appears to be an alter.  She blinks as she looks around at her surroundings then she realizes that the alter she's standing on is the exact same one where she met Cloud for the first time.  All of a sudden, she could hear a voice shout out, "She's dead!"

"Da...Daddy?"  She asks softly then suddenly an image of Cloud holding a dead body of a female.  It was that same woman who appeared in Aerith's mirror. Tears stream down her adoptive father's cheeks as he grits his teeth.  "She can no longer laugh, cry, or even get angry!"

"Daddy!" She calls out as she runs over to Cloud, but as she got to where he was, he was gone as if he was never there.  A sad look shows on her face after seeing that image of her adoptive father feeling so much pain and sorrow.  "Daddy..." She murmured to herself then suddenly perks up again when she heard the voice from before calling her name once more.  She wonders who's calling her name and why?  More questions build up in her mind then she sees the light flickering in the distance.  She keeps running then all of a sudden, she falls down a hole and lands on her rear in the middle of a room.  She slowly gets up on her feet as she looks around the room.  The room had mirrors on the walls as the floor had a giant painting of the Yin Yang symbol in the middle of the room.  She examines the symbol and is confused as to why would there be such a symbol in a look like this.

"Aerith..." The voice calls out, but this time it's louder than before.

Aerith perks herself as she heard the voice again.  "Who's there?" She asks as she looks around then directs her attention to the Yin yang symbol.  She was standing in the center of the symbol, but has her left foot on the black area while her right foot was on the white area.  Seeming that she's not going to get answer from the voice, she looks at one of the mirror at her right.  She could see a reflection of herself then as she looks at one of the mirrors on her left side, she could see an image of a werewolf with blood red eyes instead of her reflection.  Her eyes widen a bit as she saw the image, then suddenly jumps when she heard her name get called again by the same voice.  She turns around to look behind her, but sees a mirror, showing a shadowy figure which appears to be in the shape of a female fox demon.  She gulps a bit as she turns back around and faces a mirror in front of her.  This mirror shows Aeris herself with a smile on her face.  Aerith tilts her head in confusion as she slowly walks over towards the mirror.  "...Aeris?"

"Aerith...daughter of Cloud Strife."  Aeris responds.  "Your journey will be full of challenges and difficult decisions that have to be made."  Aerith stops in front of the mirror and speaks.  "I don't understand, Aeris...what were those images that I've seen?"

Aeris smiles as she answers, "You will understand in due time.  Just be prepared and don't forget that your father still loves you, even though you'll be separated from him."

"I'll miss him though." Aerith spoke with a sadden tone in her voice, but then gives a slight smile.  "We'll always be a family no matter how far away I am."

"And along your journey, you'll make new friends and possibly enemies along the way...Maybe make an impact on someone's life."

"Maybe...Aeris...Will I ever find my parents?  Since now I know that Miyoko's my sister...I want to find my parents or whoever's left in my real family."

"Who knows...It all depends on the path you choose.  I cannot give you all the answers.  The answers will come to you along the way."

Aerith gives a nod as she backs up to the spot in the center of the Yin yang symbol then she closes her eyes.  On the white spot on the black area of the symbol begins to slightly glow crimson as the black spot on the white area begin to slightly glow a greenish color.  Aeris watches with a smile then speaks, "You must remember that there's balance in all things.  There will be times you will make an enemy out of a friend as you'll make a friend out of an enemy, depending on your actions."  As Aeris spoke, green energy and crimson energy start to swirl around Aerith.  Aerith could feel some form of comfort as she places her hand on her chest, but suddenly she falls to her knees as the energies disappear.  "I'm scared....I'm scared to be alone..." She murmurs softly as she was finally on her hands and knees.  She suddenly feels a sharp pain in her heart as if someone just stabbed her as she sees the same images from before flashing before her eyes until it stops with herself covered with blood.  Aerith's eyes widen and screams, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

~THE REAL WORLD~

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Aerith screamed as she quickly sits up on her bed, breathing fast as her heart pounds inside her chest.  She looks around her room as she heard the sound of footsteps running up the stairs.  Cloud stands near the doorway of Aerith's room.  "Aerith.  You okay?" He asks as he walks over to her.  Aerith looks at her adoptive father as tears swell up in her eyes and hugs him tightly then she starts to cry softly.  Cloud holds his adopted daughter close and gently strokes her hair, he mostly upset that she has to leave in the morning.  He knew this is her last night here so he must try to give her much comfort as possible.