Okay just to get this out of the way... forgive me for the dirty humor. If you don't like that sort of thing don't even read this chapter, in all honesty I don't mind. As the reader it's your choice if you read this chapter or not.
Chapter 8
It was darker than the darkest night. It was empty and soundless, the nothingness terrified him inside. Was this the world her conscious lived in?
Looking down he noticed his body emitted a light and he was standing on an invisible floor. If this was the world she was forced to thrive in he would be her light and guide her back. With his will returned he pressed forward.
After a while of walking into nothingness he saw something glow in the distance. Finally finding something, he ran toward it.
As he got closer he noticed that it was Amy sitting on the floor looking up at a glowing sphere in which a sleeping Shino floated in.
"Amy!" She turned to him with a gasp, surprised to actually find him here.
"Soma," as she said his name Shino's eyes snapped open and his face twisted from its peaceful expression to anger.
"No." He said blasting the sphere away in shatters as he continued to float. "I won't let you have mother."
"Hmph, I'll take you out as many times as it takes." Soma said summoning his and her God Arc to his hands out of the nothingness. They both glowed in the same light as him. "But in the end, she's coming back with me."
"Two?!... Well, let's see you try." Shino said forming his God Arc.
"Wait, stop. Don't fight." Amy tried to intervene but Shino pointed his hand toward her, creating a glowing sphere that entrapped her.
"Stay out of this mother. This has to be done." He said gently toward her, but then got stern and moved into his fighting stance as he addressed Soma. "I don't know how you found your way in the darkness, but your journey ends here!"
And so Shino charged at him. His style was good, Soma had to stay on his toes or else Shino would get a cut in. But to his displeasure Shino would unleash attacks he couldn't see, knocking him off his feet.
"Stop it! Both of you! I-I don't want this." Amy said while banging her fists on the sphere wall, trying to break out.
"I'm doing this for you mother. I won't let you get hurt again." Shino unleashed dark energy balls from his hand at Soma, who dashed out of their way.
"In this world... there's no way to stay unharmed. However!" Soma said bursting light from his body that made the area of combat shine. "You're not the only one who cares about her. I will do everything in my power to keep her safe."
"Get real, you hardly acknowledged her existence and now you're declaring to protect her! How do you expect me to believe that?!"
Shino unleashed his tar like whips, but they were unsuccessful. Unlike when the area was dark, Soma could see them coming and dodged them with ease. Soma bombarded him with both God Arcs.
"I've always cared for her in my own way!" Angered, Shino flew higher up and charged a giant dark energy ball in his hand.
"How?! You have done..." Then he threw the energy ball at Soma. "Nothing!"
Unable to pull out his shield in time, Soma blocked it with both God Arcs. The impact with the sphere pushed him back and onto his knees.
"With every mission we went on, I struck to keep her safe." He got back on his feet. "With every block I had to take, I did it to keep attention off of her!" He started to push on the sphere. "With every burst I had, I got stronger to protect her!" The force applied to the God Arcs was enough to push the sphere back.
"What? No!" Shino exclaimed as the sphere came right back at him. "Ahhh!"
As the energy ball consumed him and burst, he fell to the ground beaten and utterly defeated.
"I can't believe it. How... how could I lose?" Shino said tired and crestfallen as Soma approached him.
"Because my drive to fight was stronger than yours." Soma said as he raised his God Arc to give the final strike. "This is the end for you."
"NO DON'T!" Amy cried out as she finally broke out of the sphere. She dashed toward Shino shielding him with her body. Soma stopped at the last second. Soma's and Shino's eyes widened in horror at how close her existence had come to being extinguished. "Please... he's my son. Please don't take him away from me!"
"... You really care about him, don't you?" Soma said lowering his blade.
"Yes."
"Alright then, Amy." said a voice coming from Amy's God Arc as it began to glow into a blinding light.
As the light faded into a see-able glow, her God Arc had transformed into a woman in her late 20's. She wore a Gothic Victorian black strapless dress with a ribbon strapped corset on her stomach with frills all around the borders of her dress. She had an onyx stone choker on her neck, high heel boots and a black armlet. Her hair was a silverish grey and her eyes were like onyx.
"At last you show yourself, my Maiden." Amy said with a smile.
"Amy, at last we finally get to speak to one another." She closed her eyes as if to watch a memory. "For so long I could do nothing but watch you suffer from the hands of others and grieve at your sacrifices so that others could be happy. As you risked your life to save others."
She then opened her eyes again. "Although I couldn't talk back you still comforted me. I loved it so much, I couldn't get enough of it. And now at last, I can repay you for your kindness, my partner."
"I've waited a long time to meet you. I've always wanted to thank you for all that you've done for me and all that we went through together. I can't thank you enough. You know so much about me, my friend, yet I don't even know your name."
"It's Silvia," then she turned to Soma. "Thank you for fulfilling my request. I made it this far because of you. But... this is the last favor I have to ask of you. Give Amy some of your power to save Shino."
"What?! Why would I do that?" He growled at her.
"Because he's important to her." Silvia said pointing at Amy, causing Soma to look.
Amy embraced Shino in a tight grip, afraid that if she let go he would fade into the darkness. As she shielded him with her body. Soma then looked at the boy, there was something familiar about him. Perhaps it was the lost look in his eyes that reminded Soma of the eyes he once had as a child. Perhaps it was because he looked so vulnerable. But in the end, with a big sigh, Soma conceded.
"Fine. What do I have to do?" Silvia grinned at him, while Shino looked at him in disbelief.
"Soma," Amy said with affection and awe as tears of joy tried to escape from her eyes.
"Don't give me that look." Soma growled, trying to hide his blush under his hood as he turned his cheek. "I just don't want his blood on my hands, that's all."
"All you have to do is hold her hand. The energy should transfer naturally." Silvia answered, but she had a grin on her face as if she wasn't telling him everything.
"That's it?" Soma said getting closer to Amy and knelt to one knee. They both blushed as they looked into each others eyes. Soma had no idea why he was blushing like a 5 year old just because he was about to hold her hand. For some reason it felt so intimate, the fact that she was blushing too didn't help either.
Having enough of this nonsense he quickly grabbed her outstretched hand in a firm grip.
Soma's eyes widened as his Oracle Cells came from his wrist like thin tendrils that thrusted into her wrist. Soma would've understood if she cried out in pain, but instead she...
"Ahhh." She moaned out and her blush burned brighter. This reaction caused the feral side Soma tried to keep contained to start surfacing.
"Don't make noises like that, idiot!" His blush became more noticeable.
"I can't help it... I can feel your essence enter inside me." Her voice was ragged as the Oracle Cells pumped into her body. "It hurts... but it feels so good too."
"Don't say it like that! For Gods sake woman Shino and Silvia are here!"
"I know b-but... I can't help it. Mmm." She tried to snuffle her sounds by biting down on her lip.
"You two should get a room." Soma didn't even have to look up to see the grin on her face.
"Shut up, Silvia."
"As fun as it is messing with you two, I think it's about time we got out of here." Suddenly Silvia began to glow brighter.
"Silvia you're not..." Amy couldn't even finish the question, afraid of what the answer would be.
"No, I'm not disappearing." Answered Silvia, sensing her fears. She crushed them with a gentle smile. "We'll be seeing each other again soon."
"Alright, until then for now." Amy closed her eyes letting the warm brightening light of Silvia engulf her. Soon the others were engulfed by her blinding light.
"Oh, and Soma."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you..."
...
The others charged in to the location were Soma's Bio Signal tracked to. The area was damaged from the recent battle. But that's not what got their attention, it was the giant sphere of Oracle Cell tar that did the trick. It felt like deja vu, just like that time with Lindow.
At that time they could do nothing and had to rely on their Leader and her reckless actions to save herself and Lindow. But this time they had to rely on Soma to save her. Suddenly a blinding light cracked through the sphere, causing them to cover their eyes until it faded.
Where the sphere once stood now laid on their stomachs Soma and... Shino! They were flabbergasted, how could he be here? Living in the Leader's body he shouldn't have a physical body. Speaking of the Leader, where was she?
Then they spotted her a couple of feet away from the initial sphere area, as if she was blasted away. She laid on her side with her back facing them.
"Soma! Leader!" Alisa said as they all ran toward them to check on their condition.
Slowly Soma and Shino began to stir, both tired and drained. Soma struggled but eventually sat up, while Shino just pushed his upper half off the floor with his lower arms. He looked at himself then began to look around.
"She's not here. Mother... where's mother?" This caused Soma to look around just as frantic. Suddenly they spotted her, her lack of movement startled them. The others would have done something with Shino up and about but... But the sight of him was unbearable as he pathetically crawled toward Amy with every ounce of energy he had left, reaching out to her. "Mom... please get up."
But she didn't respond. At last he reached her and began to shake her shoulder, getting frantic. "Mother... you gotta wake up." Then he turned toward Soma with a face twisted with grief. "Dad, Mom's not responding."
"As long as she's breathing she's fine. She most likely tired-WHAT?!" Soma exclaimed at the end, finally catching on that Shino called him 'Dad.'
"Ah Soma. I didn't know you had so much time to get chummy with our Leader." Kota said giving him a lecherous grin.
"Idiot, he's not my kid!" The blush Soma sported caused the others to grin.
"Technically I am..." Shino corrected. "The Oracle Cells you gave mother helped create my physical body... so I am your son."
"Aw, now that I look at him, he does kinda look like you Soma." Sakuya said, bending down to get a better look at him. Strange how they didn't notice it before, but with all the chaos going on who could blame them, but his face looked just like Soma's when he was younger. The only difference was his crimson eyes and gray, but now a little more human like, skin tone.
"Lucky you Soma! You got to skip the diaper and potty training stage." Lindow said jokingly as he tapped Soma's shoulder.
"Yeah but he also skipped the 'joys' of making the kid!" Kota said bursting into laughter.
"Damn you. Shut up, you bastards!" Soma growled at them. His face looked more red than its usual tan.
"Guys look!" Alisa said drawing their attention. "Her back... her arm... Leader's wings are gone!"
That's right, her left appendage was back to normal with her God Arc back in her hand. She looked how she used to, with the exception her skin was now slightly gray.
"Ugh, I'm tired. Let's head back." Soma said letting Alisa carry Amy while he went to carry Shino on his back. "Hey, let's go home. All of us."
Shino broke into a warm smile and rested his head on Soma's back. But the moment was soon broken.
"Aw, look at that. Father-son bonding." Alisa said.
"Hey, maybe later he'll teach him how to ride a bike." Kota commented.
"Or about the birds and the bees." Lindow leered.
"Shut the hell up guys!" Soma shouted back at them.
"Leave him alone guys. Soma needs to make up for all the time he missed, and take responsibility as a father." Said Sakuya jokingly.
"Et tu Sakuya." Soma growled at her.
"Dad." Soma looked back at Shino from the corner of his eyes. "When will mother wake up?"
"Soon. She just needs to rest."
"Yeah, child birthing must have really tired her out."
"Oh grow up, Kota!"
"Dad."
"What?" He wasn't quite use to the title. Really, what would the Den say, barely 21 and already a dad.
"Thank you for not taking Mother away from me." Shino said slowly falling asleep.
"Hmph, thanks for sharing her and..."
"And what?"
"Giving us a chance to make things right."