DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters.

Please R&R^^

Late again… got new projects at school to work on. On the bright side: I can hopefully be done with school half a year earlier than expected, because of that project.
Anyhow, this chapter is longer than the last ones, and I hope it's also a bit better ^-^' So to whoever is still reading this story, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

The further the six angels walked, the stronger the smell of sulfur seemed to get. The fires increased too, not in numbers, but in size. Watching them almost fearfully, Rei had noticed that while they had been only a few feet tall at the beginning of this circle, they now were taller than the angels were. Which wasn't exactly comforting. He didn't really expect the fires to attack them, but yet he didn't feel too sure that they wouldn't. After all, they were in Hell. And these fires, which were fed by nothing but thin air, clearly weren't just a natural thing.

"Man, I'd wish we'd just encounter that demon already," Gai complained, unable to fully hide the fear in his voice.

"I'd rather just be passed it already," Ruka responded.

"Alive, preferably," Yuda added dryly.

"I don't think we're that far away anymore," Shin remarked. "The sulfur in the air is so thick, it can barely get any worse. I do wonder, though, if those fires are under its control too. They're much larger than the ones at the beginning, and it seems almost like they're approaching us."

Feeling a shiver running through his spine, ironically, Rei took another look at them, and realized his friend was right in a very disturbing manner. It wasn't that the fires were actually located closer to them. Rather, they appeared to lean over at them, their flames reaching out to get as close to the angels as possible. Which made Rei all too eager to keep walking in a straight line, not getting any closer to them than absolutely necessary. Even if there wasn't some supernatural effect to the touch of those flames, he had the common sense to know that touching fire hurts.

"Rei, maybe we can fly up to check ahead. If we're close already, we should be able to see the demon in the light of those fires," Ruka suggested.

"That'd be a good idea indeed, but be careful not to get attacked if it sees you." Turning around to look at them, Yuda added; "It has probably seen us already, but it might see you as a direct threat."

Both Ruka and Rei nodded. "We'll watch out. But if the fires get too close, it could be a good thing if out wings are already spread." Even if that did mean that they'd be a lot weaker in battle. But no one seemed to be that eager to point that out, therefore it kept quiet. Giving each other a silent look, Rei and Ruka spread their wings and slowly flew up.

"Can you see the top of this cave?" Ruka asked, stating up into the darkness.

"No, can you?"

Ruka shook his head. "Better not get too high, then."

Despite everything, Rei couldn't suppress a slight chuckle at that mental image. It wouldn't be good for their egos to get knocked down by the ceiling, instead of the enemy. It earned him a somewhat strange look from Ruka, but his angel didn't make any comment on it. Instead, he looked ahead in the distance, and Rei followed his gaze.

Every last bit of non-stress related emotions disappeared, as they saw the form in the distance. It wasn't particularly large, or small. It wasn't even all there. Instead of a true figure, hundreds of those creepy fires had concentrated on one spot, but instead of light their flames appeared to spread shadows. Which was why it hadn't been visible from the ground, it was too much hidden in the darkness of the flames. Only when seeing the full being, it was clear that it was actually there.

A sudden realization hit Rei, and he suddenly grabbed Ruka's arm. "Those fires," he mumbled, when his angel looked at him. "If the demon consist from those fires, doesn't that mean it fully controls them?"

Ruka's faced paled a bit. "That wouldn't be surprising. Damn… We'll get burned to ashes if it'll use all those fires to attack us."

"Let's get down to the ground to inform the others," Rei decided, forcing himself not to panic.

Only a moment later, though, it truly was time to panic. Having spotted the angels, the demon didn't bother lurking in the shadows for any longer. Just when Rei and Ruka started to move down to the ground, the flames flared up, encircling their friends and meanwhile making it impossible to get to the ground.

On instinct, Rei attacked, his ice managing to break the flames for long enough to see their friends on the ground. Without any need for discussion, Rei and Ruka did the same as they saw their friends doing. Moving towards the demon as fast as they could, fighting away the flames. Only Yuda looked up for a moment, and his gaze crossed Ruka's. Then, the flames flared up again, and Rei realized that, although they were practically at the same place above the air, this demon had managed to split them.

"Ruka!" His angel only nodded in response, immediately understanding what Rei wanted to say. But there wasn't much they could do about it now. As long as they'd all keep moving in the same direction, it wasn't a direct problem. It would be a problem if Ruka and Rei would get hurt while diving through the flames, to get to their friends. Besides, being split up like this, could even work in their advantage. It gave them the perfect opportunity to attack from multiple angles at once.

All too soon, they had reached the demon, and it attacked. The flames shot towards the angels, the shadows stretching all around them. Rei felt the heat, at instinctively he used his ice powers to shoot back at the demon. The creature let out a loud noise, a scream you'd expect to hear from a burning house full of people. Rei couldn't help but to cover his ears to block it out, as did his friends. The demon instantly used that opportunity to attack again, its aim bad enough to barely hit, but enough to cause pain.

Flames almost hitting his legs, Rei let out a cry at the heat. "Keep attacking it!" he heard Yuda's voice coming from the ground. Indeed, if they'd just keep attacking it, then it would get tired eventually. Just like the last large demon, right? He could only hope, but it was the only strategy they had.

The six angels kept shooting at the creature, barely bothering to aim at a specific spot. It didn't seem to matter where they hit it anyway, it would always let out that horrible scream. It did seem to change, though, as the angels kept attacking it. Instead of pain, the sound started holding more and more angel. And something else, a demonic undertone like Rei had never heard before. Honestly, he'd wish he'd never heard it, as the sound would probably come back to haunt him in some nightmares.

At least that was a sign that their constant attacking was affecting the demon in any way. It wasn't noticeable at all by the way it still attacked them in return. Rei and Ruka managed to avoid being hit by flying around, but the four angels on the ground were less lucky. Looking down for a moment, Rei saw them struggling not to get fried. This had to end quickly, that realization seemed to almost give him more energy to fight. As his shooting got more powerful, he saw his friends' attacking in the same way. But how long could they keep this up?

The demon suddenly let out yet another scream, the flames fading out a bit. As if it were on purpose, the Saint beasts now all attacked at once. Another scream, the flames shaking violently before flaring around with more raw power than they had shown before. Rei heard his friends on the ground screaming as they got hit, couldn't stop a scream of his own when he and Ruka got also touched by the flames, but no one stopped attacking. Then, like someone had just lowered the gas of a stove, the flames went down.

"Now! Run!" someone yelled, it sounded like Goh. In blind panic, rather than following up a strategy, the six angels ran past the demon. A large door, closer than they'd thought. Of course, the demon's shadows had been there for a reason, making it impossible to see anything past it. Not dwelling on that subject, Shin said the spell and the doors opened, leading the angels into another lava-lit passage. When the door closed behind them, it almost felt like they were safe.

That feeling faded soon, though, when Rei had calmed down enough to look up. Including himself, no one got away without a scratch. Or rather, without any burns. Even Yuda had a burn on his left side, and Rei had never felt more guilty when Yuda wordlessly started healing the other angels' injuries. No one said anything, but their looks said enough. Only one more circle before they'd reach the deepest point of Hell. No way that burn, or Yuda's shoulder, would be healed by itself before that. Not only did that make the whole situation a lot more dangerous, due to the fact that if Yuda would end up too injured or worse to heal them for the fight against whatever waited after the ninth circle. It also meant that he'd be an easier target. And somehow, evil beings always managed to know that, and they wouldn't hesitate to use that against the angels. If they'd lose anyone at this point, they wouldn't be able to win this fight. Knowing that, the demons would undoubtedly attack the already wounded angel first.

"I… I think it'd be better to wait until tomorrow, before going into the last circle," Shin remarked softly. "It's already late in the afternoon, and those demons are even stronger at night." No one argued about that, only Yuda looked at the floor a bit guiltily. Still, he went on with healing his friends without saying anything.

Ruka was the last one to be healed. "Thanks," he mumbled. "And… sorry that none of us can heal you."

"Like that's your fault," Yuda responded dryly. "As long as five out of six angels are at full health, we'll stand a chance of completing this assignment."

"Now that's positive thinking," Gai grinned. The tension in the air faded a bit, and while Ruka and Goh searched for demonic reptiles to eat, Shin tried his best to take care of Yuda's injury.

The fact that the red-haired angel refused to accept help, though, didn't make him an easy patient. "Just show me the burn!" Shin finally yelled at him. "I don't care if I can or can't help, at least allow me to try!" Yuda just stared at him for a moment, the look of surprise on his face was almost funny. "Show me the injury. Now." This time, the red-haired angel nodded softly, but couldn't suppress a grin when he finally allowed Shin to check the wound. It was red, and it'd leave a scar if it wouldn't get magically healed. But most of all, it was large and undoubtedly painful.

"See? Nothing to do about." The glare he got in return, almost gave him goosebumps. Feeling a bit hurt, he asked; "Are you angry, that I didn't defend myself good enough? You're acting a bit… unfriendly." Again, his angel looked up at him, but this time there was clearly guilt in his eyes. "I'm worried, Yuda. I didn't mean to sound unfriendly. I'm just really worried," Shin explained, painfully calm. "It scares me when you try to act like you're not in any pain, because it makes me wonder what injuries you're hiding from me."

That last remark hurt, and Yuda unsurely took hold of Shin's hand. "I'm not hiding any injuries. And it won't make anyone feel better if I cry out every time I move and the injuries hurt."

"But you're pretending not to be hurt at all, and that won't make anyone feel better either," Shin responded, his soft voice tense. This conversation wasn't getting increasingly unfriendly, but he refused to allow his beloved one to go on acting like this. Honestly, what if he'd hide his pain but get overwhelmed by it during a fight? If his friends didn't know on what level his injuries were bothering him, there was no way of reacting quickly enough to save him. Feeling the frustration rise again, Shin realized those thoughts didn't even make a logical sense. Or did they? But…

A soft kiss on his lips startled him from his panicky thoughts. When he sat up straight again, Yuda gave him a worried glance. "Shin? We shouldn't be having these kinds of arguments right now. I'm sorry for pretending to be okay, but it…" A quiet sigh. "It helps to fool myself. It shouldn't, but it does." He didn't look away, not even while admitting that last part. Those beautiful turquoise eyes showed some embarrassment, though. And also something that almost felt like fear. Fear of what?

It didn't matter right now. "You can fool yourself all you want. Just please don't try to fool me." Tenderly, Shin caressed his angel's silky red hair. "It only makes me worry even more, not to know as much facts as possible." It made him feel like every tiny bit of information he didn't know, would turn out to be way more important than what he did know. And in a case like this, while having to save both Heaven and Earth from some evil being from Hell, it felt terrifying for him to feel like he knew too little.

To his surprise, Yuda suddenly wrapped his arms around him, pulling the smaller angel against himself. "If you must know, my back hurts from being to move stiffly because of my shoulder. That same shoulder sends out waves of pain , bad enough to make me feel sick, every time I move it. Like just now. And that burn… well, it burns like the fire is still touching it. And overall, I feel like crap for getting injured. Because I almost never get injured, and now I manage to do so during the worst possible assignment to get injured on." It had been spoken so quietly, only Shin had been able to hear it. For a moment, the blue-haired angel just hugged him tightly, then he suddenly sat up.

"Rei, can you freeze a piece of rock?" Shin asked, like it was the most foreseeable question possible. The purple-haired angel stared at him for a moment, then glanced at Yuda's burn and evidently understood what his friend was planning. Carefully, he used his powers to make a smooth layer of ice on one side of a small rock. "Thank you," Shin said, picking up the half frozen rock. "Yuda, sit still." The red haired angel wouldn't have dared to move, as he was way too scared to accidentally increase the pressure of the rock against the burn.

The cold, though, started to numb the pain almost instantly. He opened his mouth to thank his angel, but Shin just smiled. "See; I can help." Which was essentially the same as; I told you so. But Yuda knew his angel was right, and besides that, as long as the burn would stop hurting he couldn't care less what anyone said.

As always, I'll try to update as quickly as possible. It's actually on my list of New year's resolutions to find a better balance between school and writing, so I'm working on it ;)

Thanks for reading!