Shadow knew it, but still not doing it would hurt him more.

His voice trembled as he spoke, "Sonic, can you stay by my side... I'm scared, I'll go insane."

That was the truth.

This bare truth was haunting him for days now.

"I will," Sonic answered firmly.

The ebony hedgehog let out a loud sigh; a huge burden fell from his heart. They were holding each other for a while before a growling sound interrupted them.

"Now, this is embarrassing," mumbled the priest, slowly standing up, not feeling his legs. His stomach rumbled once more. "Let's have something for a snack."

"Yeah!" Sonic's eyes were a bit red from all the crying, but his face was bright. Together they went downstairs to order a simple dish, after all, neither of them enjoyed the lunch.

They were silent while eating, but this time it wasn't suffocating. The priest felt better and was grateful to the boy for sticking with him despite his uncertain condition. But it wasn't like he didn't feel any uneasiness, traveling with Sonic would undoubtedly put the boy in danger, whether it would come from him or from real demons.

And thinking about demons, he wondered what happened to the one he had fought.

'Wait!' he suddenly thought as he bit the fork. 'My gun! It's still in the abandoned factory!' He took the fork out slowly, chewing mashed potatoes. 'I should have returned to get it,' he sighed, 'but my head was one big mess.' His ears drooped a bit. 'And that demon... should be dead.'

Even if his memories were fuzzy, he was sure those injuries the demon sustained were too severe. The priest glanced at Sonic, who was stuffing his face and decided not to ponder about it anymore. It was in the past, and there were more important matters to concentrate on.

However, neither of them had any idea that the demon was, even at this very moment, still alive, slowly healing. He had left the town with his pets, but that was just the beginning of their journey.

Eclipse was curled up in dark place, having a restless sleep. Nightmares were haunting him, replaying his near-death experience over and over. His body jerked, forcing him to wake up. His eyes shot open unable to focus for a few seconds. He held his breath before he realized there was no danger anywhere. A long sigh left his throat.

He looked around, seeing nothing changed in the old cargo wagon, they used for temporary hideout once the train stopped before dawn. He would continue, but he was too tired for that, and his wing was killing him.

He slowly stretched his limbs one by one, muffling painful moans. He moved to the door, peeking through a small gap, the sun was still up, but it should set soon. However, he didn't dare to open the door, letting light inside, so he went back. It wasn't like it could turn him into ash, but it was making him feel unconformable, and he was sure his pets would suffer.

'I guess it's late noon or so,' he thought tiredly as he tried to stretch his body more.

Pangs of pain were shooting from his regrown wing, making him dig claws into the metal floor.

'Dang it!' he cursed. 'It will take me at least week to get back into shape!' He continued to stretch himself, ending up more tired than before, resulting in sleepiness.

He turned around, checking on his dust balls, which were sleeping in a corner, protected by an old blanket. They looked cute and were the only ones keeping him somewhat positive. He crawled closer, adjusting the cloth, making sure it kept them warm, before he returned back to his sleeping place, losing his smile. Because of him, they weren't getting enough nutrition. He wanted for them to grow and aid him in his monthly work to collect negative energy.

But he felt pathetic, he was the one in need. He sensed a strong urge to kill that priest was rising, but his body shivered once the memories resurfaced, and he fell to the ground, hugging himself.

'Who was he? Such power!' He was afraid... he was terrified. 'What if he finds this place? What if he is looking for me? What would happen to the little ones? Why I never heard about such priest?'

His head was killing him with all these thoughts. He curled up, tightly shutting his eyes, trying not to think about it. Long minutes passed before he was able to fall back to restless sleep.

Around the same time, Shadow was packing his suitcase, and his head was full of gloomy thoughts and fears. Filling his luggage didn't take long, there wasn't much inside of it, and he didn't take out anything either. He more or less only checked the content in a hope to relax his mind. He sighed in his mind, looking out of the window.

The sun was still above the horizon, but the evening would come soon. He checked the lock on his suitcase and then went to close the window. The hinges let out eerie creaks and, for a brief moment, everything turned dark, before his eyes adjusted.

Without saying a word, the priest slowly took down his robe, putting it on the bed. Under it was a bandage wrapped around his chest, and he continued to unwrap it, without uttering a single word.

He could feel Sonic's eyes glued to him, watching him in silent awe. The green eyes widen, as the pair of small wings, growing instead of rear quills, appeared in front of him. The boy's heart skipped a beat, and his legs moved him closer.

The ebony hedgehog's body shivered as a strange sensation ran through his body. It was burning him from inside, and he felt there was some voice whispering in his head, or was it just a hallucination?

It was hard to tell, as the blood in his head was throbbing. He tried to inhale, but no air could enter his lungs. His mouth opened and closed like he was a gasping fish.

"Father, your bandage came undone, let me show you how to fasten it," said a small voice.

The ebony hedgehog went weak in the knees, abruptly sitting down. "Ah, thank you," he replied as he could finally breathe.

The burning feeling was gone, and he suddenly felt tired. What was he hoping for? To scare Sonic? To test his resolve to stay? Or to test himself? He was unclear about that, but those simple words and honesty made him feel better, and that voice was gone.