Zeke had suddenly forgotten his pain as his sister disappeared right in front of his eyes. It was as if an invisible curtain had been drawn around her, as at first half of her disappeared, and then the other half. What had just happened? Was this Lucifer's doing? Was it Raine's? Could it possibly be Nocturne's? Zeke was beginning to feel as if he was losing his mind. Things were getting even crazier than Zeke thought possible. First he was dealing with a lost fallen angel, then her half-angel, half-demon fetus, then the demon that had gotten her pregnant in the first place, then the Messenger who wanted to kill her and Lucifer who was only out for his own benefits. It was so crazy, so messed up. The pain in his arm seemed to infect every part of his body as the scar ate away at the skin on his arm and burned steaming gashes into his flesh. And to add to that he was battling the mental anguish that came with thinking that something really bad might be happening to Nocturne and now Kayli. What was he to do?

Without realizing it, he climbed to his feet and marched over to Raine, who glared down at the floor as if he were a five-year-old pouting over the cookie he'd been denied. Zeke grabbed the Messenger by the front of his open white dress shirt and pulled him down to the floor.

"Listen to me, Raine," Zeke hissed as he tried to see through his tears. "You've got my sister in your damn void now along with Nocturne. I don't know what your problem is, but you know how to fix this, so you'd better do it now!" The Messenger only looked at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. "Did you hear me? Get them both out of there!"

"I already told you; I can't get in."

"You goddamn liar!" Zeke yelled, throwing the Messenger down; Lucifer and Amethyst watched with wide eyes as Zeke finally snapped. "You get them out of there now! I'm sick of sitting here watching Nocturne suffer! I'm sick of watching you do nothing but whine about how she's the only one who can do anything! She can't do a damn thing! You expect her to just come out and hand over her heart? You think she'll just willingly die? What the hell is wrong with you? Did God or did God not tell you to bring Him her heart?"

"He commanded that I-"

"That you get Nocturne's heart. So you'd better start operating, Messenger, cuz she ain't giving it up willingly, and you'd better work fast cuz I'll be damned if I let you take it from her. Do what you need to do." Raine finally had to deal with the real reason he decided to stay out of his own void. It would be dangerous for him to go in there, especially if he were to attack Nocturne again and try to take her heart. He had been beaten on his own turf before by the Hybrid and he knew that it could more than likely happen again. Raine wasn't about to give it another chance; that's why he was waiting for Nocturne to come out.

"I'm not going in there."

"But you'll let my sister go in there," Zeke replied. "Get her out of there."

"The Hybrid invited her in."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Hybrid brought her in. For whatever reason. Perhaps at this point Kayli is the only one it feels it can trust."

"That's crazy! If Nocturne can trust anyone, it's me!"

"Tch," Lucifer said from his corner, his arms crossed over his chest. "You tried to rape her too."

"I . . ." Zeke looked down, his face turning a bit hot. "That wasn't my fault. I . . . didn't mean to hurt her."

"Yes you did," Lucifer taunted. "All you could focus on were your desires. That's why you're better off on my side; you humans are a lusty bunch."

"Shut up," Zeke mumbled, averting his eyes; he couldn't help but remember the fight he'd had with his ex over the topic, the reason she'd broken up with him. "I'm human, okay? Sometimes-"

"Sometimes you succumb to your own hormones, yes I know. Don't you just love the things I come up with?" Lucifer boasted with a chuckle. "You know, because of that, Nocturne can't trust you ever again. Perhaps she might have started to trust you, but since you pulled that, she thinks you're just like everyone else."

"Kayli's the only one who hasn't hurt her yet," Raine pointed out. "Or at least Kayli's the only one who has yet to prove she's untrustworthy. And that's why the Hybrid is more dangerous than you might think. It can manipulate Nocturne into thinking that the world is against her, until she realizes that the Hybrid is the only thing on her side; at that point Nocturne would give in completely, but that takes time. I'm sure right now the Hybrid is attempting to twist Kayli into another enemy. So far it's done a wonderful job with the rest of us."

"So you're gonna just let it?" Zeke asked. "Get my sister out of there."

"I can't get her out. The Hybrid let her in; the Hybrid has to let her out," Raine told him, enunciating every syllable to make sure Zeke was going to understand him.

"You want me to rip off your other wing, Raine?" Zeke threatened and Raine couldn't help but do a double take.

"Did you just threaten me?" the Messenger mused aloud, a grin spreading over his face. "You really think you could rip my other wing off?"

"I'd sure as hell give it a try. Now for the last time-"

"Give up," Amethyst croaked through her own tears. "It isn't going to happen."

"Dammit!" Zeke yelled, frustrated with the whole situation. "Then you get me in there and I'll get Kayli out."

"The Hybrid will kill you," Raine told him. It took everything in Zeke to keep from losing his temper completely. He just wanted his sister and Nocturne out of there; he didn't care if it killed him to get them both out. "Don't ask me again; I'm not letting you in."

^^^

"How do you plan on getting out there, Mother? I control this place; you can't get out unless I let you." Nocturne had to admit that the Hybrid did have a point, but maybe there was someway that she could negotiate with it, or maybe Kayli knew of a way that they could get out. Of course, that wouldn't make much sense; why would Kayli be able to control the void? She was only human. "You're going to stay right here until it's time for me to make my debut in the world, and we'll have Kayli to feed me." Nocturne felt her eyes move towards Zeke's sister and for a moment, a wave of blood-hunger rolled over her that she knew had been caused because of the Hybrid. She really didn't want to hurt Kayli at all but she knew that if the Hybrid could get enough strength, Nocturne would be powerless to save Zeke's younger sister. Her only chance was to prevent it from happening in the first place, and as she ran this notion by herself, a somewhat disturbing idea came to her, a thought she tried her hardest to keep from the creature in her head. What had happened to Nocturne over the past three days? She had become a completely different person, a human with something remotely akin to trust for the people who were trying to take care of her. She had been so wrapped up in the series of events caused by the Hybrid that she hadn't had too much time to think about self-mutilation, but now the fallen angel realized that the thing that she'd been using to try to kill herself would probably be the only way she could save herself and get herself and Kayli back out into the real world. Looking around though, Nocturne realized that the void was completely empty of sharp objects; the fallen angel would have to resort to using her own fingernails it seemed.

Kayli had been standing patiently, wondering to herself how exactly this girl planned to get them back to where everyone else was. She seemed almost powerless to do so if what she was saying about some monstrous fetus was true. Could this creature possibly have the power to keep them here in this nonexistent reality forever? Well, she could ask if she wanted to know that badly.

"So you'll give up your heart?" Kayli asked and Nocturne jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Yes. I'll give up my heart. In fact, you can bring it to them. I can't leave here." This was only partially true. The thing Nocturne was about to do she hoped would be enough of a threat to make the Hybrid let her go. Of course, the fallen angel realized that it wasn't going to be easy.

"How- how are you going to give me your heart?" Kayli asked.

"Stand back a bit and you'll see; but make sure you're very far away because I don't want the Hybrid doing anything to you. It's got a very bad temper you see." Nocturne's old tone and way of thinking had suddenly returned and she tested the sharpness of her nails on her palm by making a tight fist with her right hand; it was going to hurt more than anything she'd ever felt before, most likely, but it was the only thing she could think of. "I'm going to give you my heart now."

"Mother?" the Hybrid began. "Mother, what are you going to do? You can't give her your heart. What- what are you going to do?"

"Just you wait . . ."

"Mother!"

"Make Zeke stop hurting."

"What?" Kayli was confused.

"If you don't, I'll cut out my own heart."

"You can't."

"I will. I'll do it if you don't make him stop hurting. Get rid of his scars."

"A- are you talking to me?" Kayli asked, looking around her.

"Mother, you're crazy. You can't cut out your own heart." Nocturne raised her hand to her chest and dug her nails into the skin there. It hurt, a lot, and she hadn't even drawn blood yet. "You're not serious."

"Let me out so that I can help Zeke, or I'll kill us both right here and now."

"Mother . . . stop it . . ."

Nocturne pressed her nails in deeper and winced against the pain. She could feel skin breaking beneath the pressure and suddenly warm paths of blood trailed down from beneath her nails. It took Kayli a moment to figure out what was happening, and when she did she gasped and raised a hand to her mouth.

"Mother! Stop it!"

"I'll kill us both." Nocturne gripped at the skin on her chest, digging her nails into her own skin as hard as she could possibly bear to, and her eyes filled with tears at the pain. "Let me go so I can help Zeke and so that Raine can do this without hurting us as much."

"I'm not letting you go. I'll kill Kayli if you keep this up."

"I'm not letting you out," Nocturne told the Hybrid through gritted teeth as more blood ran down the front of her. A burst of energy told Nocturne that the Hybrid was going to try anyway, and she did her best to suppress the change. "I'm not letting you out," Nocturne cried as she continued to claw at her own chest, drawing her nails down across the front of her, ripping open shallow wounds. Her lip trembled and the pressure between her shoulder blades grew until she felt her back would just split open at any moment. "You can't come out," Nocturne said as feathers broke through the skin on her right arm and dripped blood at her feet. Her other arm began to grow longer, then suddenly shrunk back to its normal size before shooting out again. "Stop it! You can't keep me here forever! You can't come out!" Nocturne screamed, falling to her knees. The spikes jutted out from her back and the three tails whipped out, spraying blood everywhere. Kayli felt like she was almost about to throw up as she watched this girl get taken over by the monster that had almost killed her brother. This was the creature she wanted to get revenge on, not the poor girl who was willingly offering up her heart to make peace. "You can't come out!" Nocturne screamed as her fingers turned into claws, and suddenly pierced through her own chest. This was perhaps the most fatal mistake the Hybrid could have made. The claws on Nocturne's right hand hadn't punctured near deep enough to reach her heart, but it had broken through a few more layers of skin with a little less pain. "Go ahead," Nocturne said, her voice turning to a throaty, gurgling growl as she gained height and her skin began to dissolve. "Come out if you want; you're only going to kill yourself." She pressed her clawed hand further into her chest, sending an unbearable pain all through her. "I'm going to rip out our heart whether you like it or not." Nocturne could almost feel the pulse of her heart beneath her fingertips as she reached further and further into her own chest. Blood was oozing all down her chest and stomach, pouring down her legs and pooling at her feet. And then, without warning, the void disappeared, the Hybrid stopped in mid-transformation, and Kayli and Nocturne were back in Zeke's living room.

^^^

Lucifer, Amethyst, Raine, and Zeke froze, staring wide-eyed at Kayli and Nocturne. Blood poured down the front of Nocturne's naked body as she sat with her fingers imbedded in her own chest, her eyes vacant and distant. Kayli stumbled back a few steps, turning her eyes away from the gory image of Nocturne trying to rip out her own heart. In the few seconds that it took for the four of them to comprehend what had just happened, the fallen angel's hand had fallen away from her chest, and Nocturne fell to the floor in a small puddle of her own blood. Her plan to scare the Hybrid into doing what she wanted had been successful, but as a result, she was unconscious again. The other half of her plan seemed to be working as well, as the scars on both Amethyst and Zeke began to fade with a soft hissing sound. Zeke was the first to make a move towards the unconscious Nocturne. He knelt down beside her, turning her over onto her swollen and bruised back and holding her head in his lap. The wounds caused by Nocturne's nails looked to be pretty bad, but like every other injury the fallen angel had ever sustained, they began to heal, fading until they were nothing but scars.

"This has got to stop," Zeke whispered, brushing a few strands of black hair out of the fallen angel's face. He kept his hand on her cheek and as he looked down into Nocturne's face, he noticed the grin that was playing on her lips. Something else was about to go wrong.

Raine stepped up behind Zeke and held out his hand. Nocturne began to rise up off of Zeke's lap, floating in the air and coming around Zeke to land in the Messenger's arms. Still, Nocturne grinned, and finally she opened her eyes, which were wide and a deep purple.

"Perhaps I need to try a different kind of blood to make me strong," the Hybrid said, reaching up and pulling its face up close to Raine's neck. It was going to attempt to bite Raine. This, too, was a horrible mistake. As the Hybrid leaned Nocturne's body closer to the Messenger, Raine stabbed his fingers into the fallen angel's chest and brushed his fingertips against Nocturne's beating heart. Her body flashed a bright blue as blood vessels appeared all over her body from where Raine's hand was in her chest. They wrapped over her shoulders and neck and went over her face, reaching down behind her back and covering her legs and feet. Nocturne's mouth was open in a silent scream as blood poured out over her chin and dripped from the gaping hole in her chest. Everything seemed to be completely silent now. Everything was still.

The room filled with a bright, golden light as the wings between Nocturne's shoulder blades emerged, pierced by the huge gold rings. They flared and stretched, filling the entire living room, and Raine lost his grip on Nocturne, dropping her to the floor. The blood vessels that covered her body from head to toe seemed to suck back into the wound from which they originated and Nocturne rolled onto her stomach, holding her twitching, bleeding wings out on either side of her.

"Nocturne," Amethyst breathed, reaching out to touch one of the immense black, feathery wings.

"Nocturne," Zeke echoed, touching the other wing; they were wet with the fallen angel's blood.

"No!" Nocturne screamed, pushing herself to her feet. "I'm not going to let you kill me! I haven't done anything wrong!" She brought both of her wings out in front of her, grabbing onto one of the rings. Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, she whipped her wing back out behind her, still gripping the golden ring that pierced it. In a spray of black blood that glowed silver, Nocturne ripped the ring right out of her wing. She dropped it and grabbed the other one, but before she could pull out the ring, Raine pulled her arms back, spinning her around to face him. "No!" she screamed and jumped back, hitting into Lucifer and knocking him down. She pressed herself against the wall, hoping desperately that she would just disappear into it. "I won't let you kill me!" Amethyst caught her attention and she turned her purple eyes to the demon. "Ame . . ." she said softly, then whipped her focus back to Raine, her eyes glaring. "I won't let you take my heart," she growled, gripping the other ring. The motion was swift, yet seemed to happen in slow motion as Nocturne ripped the second ring from her wing. "Now leave me alone!" She turned toward the window, and folding her wings close to her body, dove through it, spreading her black wings only in time to pull up into the sky. The fallen angel's flight was a bit clumsy due to the gashes in her wings, but somehow, she managed to fly off, and everyone just stood there, staring after her.

"Do not tell me that Nocturne just flew away," Zeke said, his eyes wide. Kayli stood beside him, her voice completely lost to her, and Amethyst looked a bit bewildered. Raine's face held a look of determination and seemed to have the only out-of-place expression at the moment. "Did she just sprout wings and fly the hell away?" Zeke wanted to know.

"I don't know if it was the Hybrid, if it was the Nocturne that you know, or if it was the angel that fell, but one of the three has gone away, and now things are turning really bad," Raine said. "But thanks to a certain demon, I can't go after her." He pointedly glared at Amethyst, who cringed under his gaze. "I'm sending out Cassidy and Amadeus to bring her back," the Messenger continued as he headed back into Zeke's bedroom. The two angels were still lying on the floor in pools of their own blood. "Wake up," Raine commanded, and as if on cue, the two of them stirred and opened their eyes.

"They aren't dead?" Zeke asked.

"Only wounded," Raine answered. "You need to get Nocturne. She's flown off."

"She what?" Cassidy said a bit groggily as he sat up and stretched his wings; Amadeus seemed to be still grasping the concept of Nocturne flying off.

"She's gone?" the other angel asked. "What happened?"
"She flew off." The Messenger stepped up beside them and held out his hand, which held the two rings in it. "Find her." Numbly, the two angels reached out and took their respective rings that had been gifted them by Nocturne. It seemed they were beginning to understand the circumstances, and turned towards the windows in Zeke's bedroom. They both spread their wings and as they reached the wall, became translucent and seemed to move through the solid, closed windows as if they weren't even there.

Raine and Zeke both returned to the living room where Lucifer, Amethyst, and Kayli were sitting silently, looking a bit baffled. The demon broke the awkward, tense silence.

"Why does Cassidy have a ring?" Raine turned his night-colored eyes to her.

"He stole it from you." Amethyst looked up.

"How?"

"You haven't noticed it missing?"
"I have."

"You have a knack for leaving things behind in Heaven that belong to you. If you were paying more attention to keeping the ring Nocturne had given you instead of her virginity that she'd given you, he wouldn't have it," the Messenger explained with a sneer. "Now shut up and wait for them to get back."