Something wet and warm brushed by her cheeks. Aeris stirred slightly, not knowing what that thing was. Again, it sniffed her hair, her neck and her jacket. It gave a disdainful scoff and growled.

Aeris moaned a little. The sniffing ceased and seemed to take a step back. Then, slowly, it advanced forward and began to sniff around again. Slowly, Aeris opened her eyes. Her eyes first focused on the starry night sky. She heard the soft burning of woods beside her and finally, her gaze met with something dark that had two menacing eyes. Seeing that she had woken up, it stared at her a moment before giving a loud bark at her.

"Yikes!" Almost leaping out of her skin, Aeris cried, bracing herself.

"Heel, Kappi. Heel." Came a gentle, but firm voice. Immediately, the animal ceased the barking and trotted away towards the voice.

Calming herself, Aeris’ eyes followed the middle-sized dog and her eyes fell on some figure sitting next to the fireplace. Her eyes traveled upwards until she was met with cool gray eyes of total stranger. The man gave a slight grin when their eyes met. "So, you’ve finally decided to live after all?" He asked, rubbing the dog affectionately.

Aeris didn’t say anything for a moment, studying his features. His straight red hair tied behind, the man wore a black jacket and heavy-looking army boots. He had a bandaged left hand and the other, gloved. A sharp looking sword rested on the ground beside him and small backpack near it.

Aeris suddenly realized that she was staring and averted her gaze away in embarrassment. "Ah…yes." She replied. She started to sit up but the dog gave another fierce bark towards her, forcing her to lie down. The man gave a light chuckle. "I think he’s saying you shouldn’t move for a while." He said.

"I’ve noticed." Aeris muttered with a shudder. He glanced at the dog with warmth. "This is Kappi, my loyal companion." He introduced. Then he turned to her. "And I am called Lance. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I am Aeris." She said smiling weakly. "And me too, Lance."

"You were lucky." He said. Aeris raised an eyebrow. "When I got here, you were surrounded by wolves, licking their lips." He patted the dog’s head. "Kappi came to your rescue as soon as he saw you lying down helpless. You should thank him." In response, Kappi wagged his tail. Aeris was still confused but decided to think about it later. Or better yet, as Lance about it. "Thank you, Kappi." She said politely. The dog barked once and dropped down on his two paws. Lance laughed. "I should have known. I should have realized that he likes you the moment he ran for your rescue." Lance’s looked at Aeris. "He usually minds his business."

Aeris shifted under the blanket. "But… what are you doing here? Isn’t this the City of Ancient?"

Lance lifted his finger. "Used to be. Now, it’s just a mere ruin of some sort. I come here to stare at the skies sometimes." He leaned back, looking up. "It’s the perfect place to camp, you know. And Kappi loves it."

Aeris opened her mouth to speak then shook her head.

How could this be? She looked at Lance, still looking up. What does he mean by used to be?

Aeris tried another way. "What about the excavation men? They are supposed to be digging right beyond this point. Even it’s night; there must be some sort of lamplight or something. But, I don’t see anyone there." Aeris pointed out, glancing to her left. The entrance of the Sleeping forest was partially visible among the tree trunks. It almost looked like what Lance said.

A ruin.

Lance was mildly confused. "Err…well, I heard that they excavated something underneath the earth. I heard it was some sort of jewel –I have no idea. But that thing summoned some monster which is now one of the problems to eliminate."

Aeris was getting more and more confused. "I never heard it. When did it happen?"

"About 4 years ago." Lance replied. Aeris threw away her blanket and set up upright from the ground. Kappi started to bark but Lance put his hand on his collar to steady him.

When he looked back at her, he noticed that she was trembling uncontrollably. "Hey, are you all right…?" he asked, uneasily.

Aeris stared straight ahead. "You are lying…" She murmured through her trembling lips. Lance scratched the back of his head. "Well, I wouldn’t say lying. I just have poor memory. It could have been three years… I am not so sure."

"You are lying!" Aeris cried hotly. Kappi barked once more but Lance held him back. He turned to Aeris once more.

"I don’t lie. Besides, why would I lie? And funny you get so excited over that cuz it really happened long time ago. There’s not an iota of people who haven’t heard of ‘The Surd’, which was resurrected from this site." He realized that Aeris was shivering. He quickly knelt beside her and covered her shoulder with the blanket. "Are you all right?" He asked, looking at her.

Aeris didn’t hear his question. Small knot of uneasiness tightened at the bottom of her heart, growing bigger and bigger by the minute.

Aeris gripped the blanket till her knuckles went white.

She must be dreaming. This couldn’t be true…!

Strong nausea hit her head hard. Aeris almost fell forward from the dizziness. Lance quickly grabbed her shoulder and steadied her.

"Aeris!"

This can’t be happening…

Tears formed at the side of her eyes. Lance stared at her for a while before finally asking, "What is it?"

Aeris gulped, the tears now running freely. She thought she had cried enough for the last 22 years of her life. But still, it wasn’t enough.

"…Tell me, Lance…" She whispered. "When did Rufus, the President of Shinra get elected?"

Lance paused for a while. Aeris knew that she was right. But still, she wanted to make sure.

"It was about 41 years ago, Aeris."

Author's Note:
-Can't believe I made it this far. I just hope I dont disappointing ending ^^ cuz I know it's boring as it is now. Oh, and if you have ANY idea what I should do now or want me to do, please e-mail me at Eulike@hotmail.com ^^Thanks for reading, whoever you are.^^-

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