When Shadow stepped into the ground floor, he felt so tired. Overcoming the stairs was like climbing the tallest mountain in one day. Sonic didn't stop supporting him, leading him to the bathroom.

"Can you wait a bit?" asked him Gold with Eclipse on her back. "I'll find you some new pants."

"T-Thank you," he nodded, realizing the hardly one-day worn clothes were tattered and in pieces.

The tenrec headed to the living room, letting the small demon sat down on the sofa. She heard him hiss with pain. He folded the wings behind, curling up a bit. There was a roar coming from his stomach. "Would you like some cookies?"

His head shot up, being bright and shining, however, in the same moment he shivered and withdrew his limbs, realizing he was talking with an enemy... technically speaking. She gave him encouraging a smile. "Don't worry. I'll bring them in a sec." She left the room to get new pants for the ebony priest from Silver's room.

As she was climbing the second half of the stairs her head spun for a moment and she hit the wall. The tenrec medium pressed the temple to push a headache away. She quickly grabbed the trousers from the wardrobe, heading down, wearing a fake smile to mask her nausea. The priest thanked her and entered the bathroom, leaving Sonic outside.

"Do you want some cookies too?" she asked. "I'll put them on the coffee table in the living room."

The boy nodded, walking there while she headed to the kitchen. She was so glad they baked four hotplates so there was still plenty of them left. All of them were put on a big salver and brought to the front room. There the medium jerked as she glimpsed sitting Silver. He must have been there the whole time, looking gloomy and lost in thoughts, but she completely overlooked him as he was motionless. The blow to his head must have affected him since his face fur seemed to be paler.

She put it on the table, noticing Sonic was between Silver and Eclipse, who was curled up, pressing the knees against his chest. The medium rushed back to get plates and glasses and milk, as that was quicker than preparing a tea. Once all was placed, she divided the cookies among them. The sight of them made the small demon happy since he started to nibble on them immediately.

That inspired others in imitating him. Even Silver reached for one, munching it. Gold sat down too on the other side of the sofa, trying to enjoy the sweet taste, but it was hard. The atmosphere around them was suffocating. It wasn't just in this room, in the bathroom where the water was running was standing a lonely ebony figure.

He had already washed his body, now he was letting the freezing drops to pierce his body while he was gazing at his open palms. There was no blood on them yet he could see it. The blood of those townspeople he massacred... how many other other lives he had taken? How many of them he murdered? Devoured? Robbed them of their simple happiness? He gnawed his lip sensing his wings flapped. 'Who... am I?'

He wasn't the only one having questions on his mind. The young exorcist was munching his first cookie for minutes now. It was like his brain was slowly returning to its normal state, perceiving the outer world. He saw Eclipse eating his last cooky and glimpsing the one he had. The psychic smirked, clearly saying he has some and he don't. This small torture lifted his mood. He put the rest of the cookie in his mouth, reaching for the next one when they were gone in a blink of the eye.

'W-Wha--'

Sonic took a louder slurp of milk, redirecting the silver hedgehog's attention to himself. The plate in front of the small demon was full of cookies!! The owner of the plate didn't hesitate to gulp them in one go, stuffing his cheeks so much crumbles were falling down. Silver's face was twitching. He had understood too well what had just happened. Sonic used his speed to play a prank on him!

Gold was giggling while having a hard time not to burst into a laughter. Her partner didn't get angry or threw tantrum, but his expression had shown clear displeasure.

]So you like her cookies too?[ she asked him with telepathy.

]Not really,[ he took a sip of his milk, trying to sound indifferent.

]Which reminds me, where is Amy?[ She looked around.

]She is getting gut by the other demon by now,[ he leisurely answered since it was him, who directed her to the first aid kit.

"SHE'S WHAT?!!" the tenrec hedgehog barked, abruptly standing up making Silver jump to the top of the armchair, looking like a scared cat. Gold stormed out of the room.

Sonic and Eclipse felt similarly, and once their eyes met, they had awkward expressions. The small demon actually hid behind Sonic.

"Sis!" he shouted, running after the woman with the blue lad behind him. Only the psychic didn't bother to follow. He got down, noticing his dress was drenched. His ears drooped, he hated to wear dirty clothes.

Before any of this, before Gold distributed the cookies, Amy was still in Crestia's hands. The demoness' vision was blurry and the burning feeling was getting stronger. "Why don't you just scream---!! Gaaah!!" She screamed instead, as she moved her lifted hand further, she hit the barrier resulting in serious burns. She let go of the girl grabbing her hurt hand, and falling backward on the barrier.

Normally she would simply shrug it off, but her body was drained, leaving her with just a strength to move. Amy tried to catch her hand, but she was too slow and Crestia suffered additional burns. "Stop moving, you will only hurt yourself more!" the girl shouted, helping her to lay on the belly while she knelt next to her side. She quickly grabbed the box, but the demoness smacked it from her hand, scattering the content around.

"I don't need this!" she barked.

"Stop being so bratty!!" Amy strongly rebuked her, staring into her eyes. Eclipse's sis accepted the challenge, staring back. This went for a minute or so when the pink hedgehog said: "You have winked."

"I didn't!" she opposed, blinking.

"You just did," the lass impishly smiled.

"Wha-- Wai... You... You... Ho-- Could... That's..." she was at lost with words, unable to make a sentence as the brain understood she had been had. So instead, she smashed the forehead into the ground.

"Aren't you hurt enough already?!" complained the hedgehog girl bringing the first aid back, picking everything that fell outside. This time she applied the disinfection without interruption, pressing the cotton against the wound.

"Ouch!" screeched the demoness, jerking her hand.

"It just stings a bit," the young lass scolded her again. Crestia growled, sat up and covered her arm, not letting her to apply the ointment. The pink girl was frowning, before having a smug smirk. "Oh, is the big scary demon terrified by a bit of disinfection?"

"Never!!" she strongly barked, feeling irritated that runt was making a fool of her.

An open palm was offered to her. "Then there is no problem with me treating you. It would be bad if there appeared any inflammation." The voice was serene, calming and sincere.

The moment she entered the cellar, the demoness knew she held no ill will against her... and that was making her grumpy. "Why? Why are you looking at me so calmly?! Why aren't you scared of me?!"

"Because I can see your soul," she answered. After a moment of hesitation, Crestia let her treat the wounds.

It was stinging, but she could feel a warm feeling taking it away. This child... was so mysterious. "What do you mean, you can see my soul?"

"When I look into other person's eyes I can see their true self... their soul. My father once told me eyes are a window into one's soul. I would never imagine it would be literal for me," she made a slight smile.

"What do you see in mine?" She was honestly curious.

"I can see..." The way she was looking at her... it wasn't unpleasant... but more like... she could perceive depth no one else could. "... a caring and bold girl, that's not afraid to use her fists, and she can feel compassion as well."

Crestia's jaw slightly dropped. Like seriously? Is she insane? Caring demon? Compassion? When did she... Yeah, right, Eclipse happened... she felt it for him. As was Amy tending her wounds, the demoness felt the anger to slowly disappear. 'Why do I feel so relaxed? Is it her power? Is this the reason Eclipse stopped? It's... so pleasant. So... nostalgic.'

"Amy!!!" shouted Gold bursting the door open, scaring both of them. She was gasping. "You... You...!" No other word left her trembling lips.

The pink miss looked over her shoulder since she sat back to the door. "Ah! My dress!!" It was dirty and torn in a few places. "Man, guess next time I decide to run from home I should pack at least spare dress," she smiled like her life wasn't in danger just minutes ago.

"You are alright," the tenrec slid to her knees, feeling relieved.

"Sis!" shouted Eclipse afraid she might have done something endangering his future plea to release her. Sonic was just a step behind him, looking scared.

"What's wrong with you?" Amy complained, pouting. "Why are you looking so scared to death?"

"'Cause you may have been dead!" shouted the blue boy back, feeling stupid for worrying.

"Eclipse's sis is a good person, I can see that, so where is the problem?" She prepared a new cotton ball pouring the smelly liquid at it.

"She is a demon for once, and she has no collar, she could attack you anytime!" the young lad pointed obvious points. He might have helped Eclipse just moments ago, but that was only to annoy Silver. He still felt insecure next to him.

"If we calm down and talk things over, we will definitely find a way to coexist. My father told me something similar once," she replied.

"Did he tell you to run from home too?" Crestia almost quoted her.

Amy jerked, having a wavy smile. "Well, you have got me there." She giggled.

The demon smirked. 'What a strange human.'