Everybody just stared at the woman who was standing in front of them. Although she didn't display hostility, she might have still posed a threat to the group. So Aeris and Nanaki moved to block the rest of the group from this new person.

But Victor was completely oblivious to the actions of the people around him. His attention was souly focused on the woman that appeared in front of the group.

There was something about her . . . Something about him. It was a fleeting thought. He knew what it was. Or rather, could feel it. But for some reason the answer alluded him.

He blinked as Aeris' form moved in front of him, blocking his view of the woman. This frustrated the boy. He frowned and pushed past Aeris, so he was in the front of the group.

As he brought his head back up, he caught his breath. Now that he was in the front, he got a good look at the woman. Particularly her eyes. Her eyes . . .

So familiar. They were his father's. They were his.

He froze as he stared into her eyes, and she stared into his. Behind the red, he could see it. The uncontrollable beast within. But for her, it didn't seem to be within. It looked like it WAS her.

But before Victor could say anything to this stranger, her focus shifted. Anger rose in her eyes, and a growl escaped her throat.

Victor was taken aback, and took a step back. A step away from the group. A step taken almost against his will.

That was when it happened. The woman launched herself at the group. A monstrous roar escaped her lips. And she reached out with claw-like hands.

Her attack was carried out with such violence and so suddenly, that the group couldn't react in time. So nobody had time to pull out weapons as she landed on Aeris.

A hand grabbed at her throat, and Aeris began to choke. Alan recovered first and began hitting the attacker. But she fought back, hitting the rod away with a swipe of her clawed hand. But Ash was there, and he sent a jolt through the woman's body. But all that did was make her angry. She released Aeris, who gasped for breath, and launched at Ash.

But she didn't make it. Nanaki who raked the teeth of his comb into her sides knocked her down. She let out a cry of anger, and rose to her full height.

By that time, Aeris had her sword out. She held it high and began to swing it with a large burst of energy. The impact sent the woman flying.

"Stop!" Victor cried out. Struggling not to remain on the sidelines any longer. He finally found the ability to make his legs work again, and moved in-between the woman and the group.

"Victor? What are you doing?" Ash asked.

Victor didn't respond. Instead he looked back at the woman. She lay on the floor, breathing heavily, and panting.

He moved to her side and examined the gash in her side. Then he pulled out a cure materia, and healed her wound.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ash asked, an edge growing in his voice.

Victor turned back to the group who just stared at him in confusion. "I'm saving her," he said.

Everybody just stared at Victor as if he was crazy. Here was this boy, helping this ~thing~ that had tried to kill them.

"You should at least back away from her," Nanaki commented calmly. "When she wakes up, she might turn on you."

Victor looked back at the slowly reviving, unconscience form. "No. She wouldn't hurt me."

"Can you be sure?"

"Yes. I can feel it." Victor paused, closing his eyes, as if concentrating on something. Looks of confusion passed over his face.

Suddenly he stood up. As he rose, the woman's eye's flashed open. She leapt up and back, shifting her gaze between Victor and the rest of the group. Although she appeared to want to advance on the group again, Victor blocked her.

A scolding look grew in her red eyes. It was like a look that a mother would give a child. "What are you doing?" she asked Victor.

The fact that she spoke startled the group. They had assumed that she couldn't. But what suprised the group the most, was her voice. It wasn't really soft or deep, but strangely mesmerising.

Although the voice made the others freeze, as if being hypnotised, Victor was unaffected. I'm stopping you from hurting my friends," he replied.

"You choose strange friends. Usually we don't make friends out of our species."
Victor gave her a quizzical look. "What do you mean 'our' species?"

"You and I are the only ones of our kind. We are what the humans call Chaos."

Everybody just stared at the two. First they were having a conversation like they were old friends, now they were talking about Chaos.

But then a thought dawned on Aeris. What if this woman was the specimen that the scientist on the video was talking about? And was she really Chaos?

Victor was also taken aback. "Are you part Chaos too," he stammered.

The woman's eye's narrowed, and her voice gained a very slight edge. It was almost as if she was covering her suprise at what Victor has said. However it was still said flatly. "No. I am not part Chaos. I am Chaos."

There was no shout of astonishment from the boy. No hint of amaze or suprise. Only a calm acceptance of this new information. "I know," he calmly said.

The entire group appeared was so startled. They all stood there with mouth's gaping open. Nanaki was the first to recover from this shock. "What are you saying, Victor?"

"I've felt that there was something in Midgar since it was in sight. It wasn't very noticeable at first, but it became very intense when we actually entered this city. It was almost as if there was something calling something inside of me. I now know that it was her."

"Yes. I felt your presence too, and knew that you were coming to free me," the woman added.

"Free you?" Alan asked.

The woman nodded. "I've been trapped here for quite some time. Actually it was about 18 years."

"You don't look like you're around 18 years old," Alan commented.

"I'm not. I'm probably 40 years old. I don't look that old because I was in suspended animation for most of my life. It drastically slowed my ageing down." As she spoke, she motioned to the test tube-like thing that was in the centre of the room. "I escaped it when the whole place was shaking violently. I woke up, and broke out."

The group looked at each other. Although no one spoke, the same thought was going through all their heads. This woman was the preverbal 'specimen' in the records. But a question remained unanswered; was she as violent and deadly as had been said? Or was she just slightly misunderstood.

"So are you the specimen that these scientists created?" Alan asked. Aeris glared at him. He certainly was being rude.

"Yes I was."

"Okay. Then you could probably answer me this question; Why?"

"The scientists wanted to create a intellectual hybrid monster. They succeeded with me, but I wouldn't let them control me. So they restrained me and took a blood sample to create another one of me that they could control better. I never learned for sure if there was a success, but I heard that there probably was."

"You could say that again," Ash mumbled, staring at Victor.

"Enough Ash," Aeris said. "Don't mind those two. They are just annoying. By the way, my name is Aeris."

The woman nodded. "Their names are Jet, Ash and Alan, and that's Nanaki over there," Aeris said, continuing introductions.

"My name is Victor," Victor said. "Do you have a name?"

A slight frown grew on her face. "Not really. I was always called 'the specimen'," she commented. "But in the years I've been down here, I have given myself a name. Rathena."

Ash looked puzzled. "Where did you think up that sort of name?"

Rathena shrugged. "It just came to me one day."

Ash looked like he was about to start laughing, but an annoyed glance from Rathena stopped him. He instead turned to Jet to talk. "So, how's it going?"

Victor turned to Rathena. "But what are you still doing here? In this building?" Rathena looked at Victor. "I couldn't escape. The escape ways were blocked by rubble. It was too damaging to the exit's, so I couldn't get out." Just then a puzzled look crossed her face. "How did you get in here?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I just followed my feeling, and it lead me down here."

"Ah. But why did you come here in the first place?"

Victor quickly glanced back at the others. "They're trying to find their parents."

"What are parents?"

Aeris looked shocked at this. "Don't you know?" Rathena shook her head. "Well, that's a first. Parents are the people who gave you life, they care and love you deeply, and would do anything to keep you safe."

Rathena had a strange expression on her face. "I don't have parents then. I know who created me. But he detested me, and tried to kill me."

Aeris was shocked. "Who was that?"

"Hojo."

Nanaki's thoughtful glances were abruptly pulled into the startled and twisted expression that now resided on his face.

"Do you know of him?" Rathena asked.

"Yes," Nanaki said nodding. "Unfortunately I do. He was a brilliant and twisted man. He treated people like inhuman specimens. He performed cruel experiments on them just to create new . . . living weapons."

Nanaki's body had begun to shudder slightly as he spoke. It was so slight that the other's couldn't detect it. But Rathena could. "There's something else about him that bothers you," she flatly said.

The furry beast gazed at the woman in front of them. "I was one of his experiments. He caught me because I am the last of my kind. He didn't get a chance to experiment much on me, though. I was only there for a few days before Cloud broke into the ShinRa lab's and helped me escape."

Alan bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I had no idea that this was my father's past."

"No. It isn't your responsibility or duty to take the blame for ShinRa. You are innocent of these crimes."

Alan faintly smiled but didn't seem all that appeased. But he decided to leave the subject alone.

"I think that we've got a bit off topic," Rathena said.

"You think?" Ash sarcastically remarked.

Glares from all the others, including Jet, shut up him up. "Why did you come here?" Rathena asked the group.

"To find something that would help us find our parents," Jet said.

"Ah, the silent one speaks. But what would this 'something' be?"

Rathena's gaze passed over the group. Could she be trusted? Is she really who she said? And was she still a danger to the group?

These questions passed through Nanaki's mind as an awkward silence followed. Not sure weather he should tell, he decided not to tell at the moment.

But something was growing in Rathena's eyes. It was like a cold fire. A deep, intense, cold fire. It seemed to pulse through her entire body. And it changed her. It changed her into Chaos.

This sudden transformation startled the whole group. They were even more startled when the monster in front of them let out a monstrous cry, and launched itself in their direction. It swooped down at the frozen group with talons expended.

Chapter 11