"Then send me to hell!" Amalia demanded.

Nijuu couldn't wipe the fear from her face, if anything, Grey swearing Genesis won't touch their family, only caused tears to form in her eyes.

The reapers looked at one another, "Are you sure you know what your asking, you are not native to hell, the very environment will harm you, and, only your soul can travel to hell. Your weapon will not be able to go with you, dragon kin."

Grey simply held her, "No matter what you tell me, these words of mine shall not change, and I shall always protect you, for as long as I live......"

Genesis spoke into Nijuu's mind, "Oh the day of which I cannot wait, I will tear out your beating heart, and make him watch you die.......as I walk away holding your little one who can possess darkness, while the other is smashed beneath my heel......"

"I'll survive...send me to hell." Amalia demanded.

An expression of pure terror formed on her face, as the tears she tried to hold back, began to flow uncontrollably. "G-G...." her voice trailed off, as her body began to shake. The color in her face seemed to drain. "H-he's...." She covered her ears, and closed her eyes tightly. "H-he's....in...my....head..." she sobbed.

Grey's normal reaction, at least in the past, would have been fear, or anger, but his eyes let off a hue of bright green, as he spoke, in a voice that was loving, and yet, angelic, inhuman even. "Close your eyes Nijuu, let me banish the darkness......let my love protect you....." He said.

The reapers walked out of the academy, and cut open a black and red portal, "Once your hand touches the inside of this portal, you will be sent to the circle we placed Shrike inside."

Nijuu looked at Grey, tears still streaming down her face. "G-Grey..."

Amalia merely followed the reapers outside. "Fine." She spoke coldly, as she touched the portal, and felt it pull her inside it.

Grey pressed his forehead to hers, and placed his hands on her temples, "Just stay calm Nijuu.....I'm going to help you....trust me my love.........." An aura of peace surrounded his very soul.

A world of ice instantly surrounded Amalia, frozen people everywhere, forced to live their unlives as nothing more than statues. A trail of chain links led north, through a forest of frozen bodies.

Nijuu closed her eyes, after nodding her head. She could feel a warmth from inside Grey that she had never felt before. It was comforting, and seemed to soothe her...slowly her body ceased shaking.

Amalia looked around, feeling quite at home in the freezing cold. She wrapped her wings around her shoulders, and followed the chains. "Shrike!" She called out.

As Omega's energies poured into Nijuu, they began to cleanse her of all but the seed of darkness that Genesis left, leaving her immune to his mental attacks from then on. Grey placed his lips over Nijuu's to awaken her, and nuzzled her. "Are you feeling better?"

A half mile of frozen, damned souls later, the presence of Shrike's soul could be felt, though the area in which his soul now resides, was surrounded by massive chains, coiled around a small structure, built to house a few people. There was blood stains going up the chains.

Nijuu opened her eyes and looked at Grey, nodding her head. "Yes...I-I think so..." she replied.

Amalia stared at the bloody chains, hoping that it was not Shrike's blood. "Shrike!" She called again, as she ran towards the structure.

Shrike's broken soul rested in the arms of a woman, one with fair, white skin, and white eyes. She had black hair, and several demonic, blade like features all over her body. Her only clothing, was what appeared to be the remains of her own wings, dried out like leather, and tied to her body. Going through her wrists, ankles, abdomen, and spine was a set of chains, each blade, each meant to make ever second of her life painful. She sat there, like a mother, watching over a child, and rocked Shrike back and forth in her arms, all the while, her presence was repairing his soul. She was covered in her own blood, but Shrike had not a single wound on him.

Grey smiled, "I let......I let the new voice in my head guide me.....and....she's much more polite than Genesis.....and she knows how to banish him......at least temporarily."

Amalia stared at what she saw in disbelief. "Sh-Shrike?!" She walked closer to the pair.

Nijuu wrapped her arms around Grey. "Then I'm thankful for her." She said, closing her eyes slightly. "H-he said such....such...hateful things..." she whispered.

Grey nodded, "I know........that's what he does, he gets under your skin, he knows to hurt anyone whom he targets, and he does so. But lets not think of him now.....this our time for peace.......okay my dear.....what would you like to do, to take your mind off of him?" He hugged tightly, and started to hum a celestial tune.

The wounded woman looked up at Amalia, "Shhhh....child.....he needs to rest while I repair his wounded soul......." The woman was a demon of extreme power, one who could shatter Shrike soul in her very hands if she wanted.

Nijuu nuzzled Grey. "How about a relaxing bath, love?"

Amalia sat close to the pair, staring at Shrike. 'Did his...our....love, do this?' she thought to herself.

The wounded woman gave Amalia a stern look, "Wipe that miserable look from your face this instant. You both made your own decisions, and you both have to live with them." Shrike's eyes began to flicker open and shut.

Grey nodded, "That'd be very nice.....and I know just the place......" Grey stood up with her, "Dragons like their lakes to be naturally warm......and I know of a lake nearby......." He held his hand out to her, to help her up.

Nijuu smiled gently, as she took Grey's hand. "Oh...what kind of lake?"

The expression fell from Amalia's face...feeling like she had just been scolded by her grand mother...since she didn't remember her own mother. She placed her hands in her lap, as an expression of relief formed on her face the second she saw Shrike's eyes flicker. "Shrike..."

The woman remained silent, as Shrike began to awaken, feeling very out of it, his mind still in tatters. He reached his hand out, though his vision was blurred, so he could not see Amalia's face.

Grey grinned, "A natural spring, the water is warm, but not warm enough to hurt you, we'll be able to relax in there.....and probably......so much more......" He grinned, waiting for her to blush.

Nijuu could feel herself blushing. "Oh Grey..." she said, as she looked into his eyes.

Amalia reached out, and took Shrike's hand in hers. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Shrike tried to speak, but he was too weak to do so at this time, so he merely formed a fake, and very sad smile on his face, as tears of blood fell from his eyes.

Grey grinned, "But first, we have to get to the water my dear......." The sound of sitting water, and the smell of rising steam could be heard and smelled from the distance they were at.

Amalia shook her head, as she wiped the tears from Shrike's face. "No...there'll be none of that." She whispered to him. "I told the other reapers I would go to hell and back for you...and I meant it."

Nijuu nodded her head once, then looked around. "How do we get there, love?" She asked.

Grey pointed north of them, "We run there at full speed, naked, heck, we'll make it a race, if you win, there'll be no teasing tonight, and if I win, you have to endure it all, does that sound fair?"

Shrike gave her a very real smile, but shut his eyes a moment later, his soul entering a sort of sleep again.

The wounded woman said, "He needs more time to recover........they tortured him....it must have been a short, but brutal session.....I found him tattered.......it hurt....but I walked through that forest, my chains pulling at my limbs, and I brought this child I protected all those years ago, I brought him back, to protect him again, because I knew he'd found someone to warm that icy heart of his."

Nijuu blushed more, and looked at Grey. "Okay." She nodded her head, with a determined expression on her face. "Let's go." She added, then ran ahead of Grey, giggling.

Amalia could feel tears threatening to pour from her eyes. "He means so much to me." She said. "When I saw them take him away, I just lost it...I couldn't control my rage...they told me that the more I fought them, the more they would hurt Shrike. So I demanded that they send me here." She looked to the woman. "I didn't know I could feel this way about another."

The woman reached forward, and placed her bloody, wounded hand on Amalia's, "These feelings are what make us real dear child. Its what makes life worth living, and our lives, worth sacrificing for another......." She had an elegance about her, despite her wounds, and an ancient soul too.

Grey chased after her, letting her have just enough speed to stay ahead of him as they ran for the water.

Amalia felt comforted by the woman. She looked at her, with an expression of sorrow on her face. "Those chains..." she paused, and lowered her head. "...they must cause you terrible pain..."

Nijuu continued to run, giggling as she did, ignoring the strange feeling she had in her gut. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, and placed her index and middle fingers on her head, as her eyes rolled back in her head, and she began to fall to the ground.

Grey barely caught Nijuu before she hit the ground, nearly falling himself, "You okay?"

The woman looked to Amalia and smiled, though tears of blood stained her face, "The pain is immense, but this is the price I paid for helping my child, and I would gladly pay it again tenfold........" Chains ran in and out of her torso, into her organs, and around them, holding her in this circle of hell. Moving even five feet was agonizing for her.

Nijuu opened her eyes slowly. "I..I was not expecting that.." she said, as she looked up at Grey.

Amalia looked at the woman, still with an expression of sorrow on her face. "I..wish..I wish there was something I could do." She said to her.