Chapter 21

"Rei, what happened…to Lilith?" I asked, struggling to try and stand, "I remember her landing on my sword as she wounded me, but that's it."

I was lying to her, and Rei probably knew it. I still remembered talking to my brother and being led away from the light and back to earth, but I wasn't about to worry her with that particular story.

"The wound wasn't mortal," Rei replied, "She threw you back through the air with an energy burst. As I saw you fall…"

Rei's voice trailed off. I saw images start to appear in my mind. Clearly, it was easier for Rei to show me than to tell me.

Through Rei's eyes, I saw myself hit the ground after wounding Lilith. I didn't get up or even stir. The picture became blurry.

I had started to cry, Rei explained.

The tears cleared up momentarily as Rei turned back to face the bleeding Lilith, only to be replaced by new ones: tears of rage. Rei drew her sword and attacked the Demon Mother head-on. This time, it was Lilith's turn to be surprised. Before she knew what happened, Lilith had lost her left arm. She shrieked in agony and lashed out with her right hand, trying to skewer Rei with her talons. However, Rei wasn't about to allow herself to be touched by the demon. With unbelievable ease, Rei spun off to one side and slashed at Lilith's neck. Narrowly, the Queen of Evil avoided having her head taken off.

Lilith took off on her wings, realizing that she was outmatched and deciding to make a run for it. Rei wasn't fooled. She unleashed a hail of ice spikes, ripping holes in Lilith's wing membranes. The Demon Queen fell back to earth with a shriek. The Ancient Temptress turned to face Rei, now hissing like a cornered animal.

Still hissing and shrieking, Lilith charged Rei, slashing with her talons. Rei, still driven by rage and passionate vengeance, ducked the claws, slashed off the arm, and drove her sword into the demoness' midriff. This sudden pain stunned Lilith, allowing Rei to strike again. Rei fired a blast of freezing ice point-blank, encasing Lilith's body in a crystalline cocoon. Lilith's exposed head spouted curse after bloody curse, but she was unable to do anything except scream and curse.

"You are ended," was all Rei said before firing a second blast at Lilith's head, encasing her totally in ice and finally silencing the Demon Mother's venomous words. Then, using all of her strength and rage at once, Rei gave a mighty punch and shattered Lilith's frozen form into a thousand tiny shards. The Demon Mother was dead. My limp form came rapidly into view as Rei raced to my side. I saw her cradling my head and heard her trying to talk to me physically. The images became heavily blurred by tears. My head dropped back limply; I had just faded.

The memory ended. Rei was crying again; in the present, this time. I took her gently in my arms and held her close.

"Rei…I'm so incredibly proud of you," I said fondly, my voice soft and gentle.

"Why?" she asked, "Because of my hesitation at the beginning of the fight, you were nearly killed because you had to save me."

"And you did die to save me, as well as everyone else, against the Sixteenth Angel," I countered.

"If I had fought against Lilith at the outset instead of freezing like a coward--," Rei started again.

"Rei, that's enough!" I roared angrily. My chest gave a throb as I snapped. Rei cringed slightly at my sudden anger.

"You were taken by surprise, that's all. I have no regrets about taking a hit that was intended for you. I'd do it again in an instant. I won't stand here and let you continue to berate yourself over something that neither one of us had any control over, do you understand? I simply will not tolerate it."

"But…I…"

"No," I said, still more firmly, "I won't hear it, and that's all I'm going to say. Let it go. We're both going to be fine. Now, I think it's finally over at last. At least, for now it is…until we're needed again."

Rei still seemed like she wanted to fight herself. However, I knew that she would respect my request and not voice her self-loathing. It was now on her own shoulders to forgive herself. I couldn't do it for her.

"Let's go home," I said.

"The apartment complex was destroyed when SEELE attacked, remember?" Rei pointed out.

"By God, you're right," I replied, "Hmm…well…"

"What about Shinji and Major Katsuragi?" Rei asked, "They do not have homes to go to now, either."

"That they don't," I agreed, "and neither does Asuka. I think Hyuga will take them in, though. He's a nice guy that way. That just leaves us to decide what we're going to do."

"For the time being, I think that we can just stay here at NERV in some for a spare room," I said, "I know there have to be emergency quarters of some kind in here. Ikari didn't seem like the kind of fool to build a fortress without preparations for having to barricade himself in here."

"There are emergency quarters in NERV," said Rei, "I don't know why you'd want to live there, though."

"You won't…be living…at all…"

"Now what?!" I demanded fiercely, turning to the source of the rasping voice.

My heart skipped a beat as my eyes widened with shock.

"It…can't…be…" I breathed in disbelief.

"Oh…it most certainly can."

It was Ikari. Gendo Ikari; the man I had imprisoned in his own mind. He was up, walking around, and he looked mad as hell!

"How?" I demanded.

"My…Lady Lilith…set me free," Ikari rasped in reply, "She also…made me immune…to having the same thing done to me again."

"And what did it cost you?" I asked, "A piece of what's left of your soul?"

"Oh, no," said Ikari, "She said that I was already…destined for Hell. No…she only wanted me…to kill you! I had to admit…I liked that plan…so I agreed. She released me…from your powers…and gave me powers of my own. Like, for instance…this!"

The ground underneath Rei and I opened up and a tower of Hellfire erupted from the chasm. It hurt; a lot. I saw Ikari flying through the air towards us. He tackled me and wrestled me to the ground, all the while punching me in the face. His strength was unreal.

That might explain why Lilith was so weak, I thought while trying to fight Ikari off, She had transferred much of her strength to Ikari.

No, his strength is coming from a different source, Rei said, reading my thoughts, I suspect he is using his body as a host for a demon.

Possession? I wondered, Well, it's happened before…

"Begone, demon!" I roared, placing my hand on Ikari's face and trying to drive out the demon's malevolent influence.

"Oh…did I forget to mention that?" Ikari chuckled, "Ikari isn't hosting me…I'm hosting him! You see, the damage you did to his body was such that he couldn't have hosted me if he'd wanted to. My presence would have vaporized him to red mist. No, it's just his thoughts and influence on my own self. You see? This is what I really look like."

Ikari's body changed shape to a grotesque, gargoyle-ish demon. Its skin was stony and covered in razor edges. Its eyes were blacker than hell. It laughed at me then; a soulless, shrieking, horrible laugh. Driven by a new force, I kicked the demon off of me and rolled clear. My skin smarted from the Hellfire burns.

"Rei…" I remembered. I raced over to where my partner lay. She was badly burned and unconscious. I shuddered with fear and remorse as I scooped her up into my arms.

"I'm not…dead yet," I heard her whisper softly, "Just give me…a minute…to get my strength back…"

"No," I replied gently, "You just rest here. I'll take care of this one."

"He's…too strong," Rei protested, grimacing with pain.

"We'll see about that," I growled, gently setting Rei back on the ground.

I was hit from behind and sent sprawling out on the ground. Kicking quickly back to my feet, I saw the Ikari-demon wheeling through the air, circling back around for another strike. I had to counter-attack; that much I knew. Until I saw differently, I decided to go with my patented style of brute-force bull-rushing. I spread my wings and flew up to greet the demon.

"So, you come to face me yourself, Za'afiel?" he asked.

"I do," I replied.

"Well, first I'd like you to meet some old friends of mine," the demon remarked. He made a gesture.

From the same chasm that the Hellfire had erupted from, now sprang a legion of demonic soldiers. The very armies of all Hell now faced me. The demon laughed, still floating in the air.

"Do you know who I am, yet, Avenger?"

"Samael," I growled, "The general of Hell's armies."

"The very same," Samael said, taking a bow in mid-air, "Now…how would you like my army to dismember you? Kill him!"

The army of demons launched its attack. I unleashed a wave of Heavenflame; to no effect. The demons were only momentarily slowed, and undamaged.

Of course, I thought, why should flame work against creatures who were spawned in a region of fire? I guess we do this the old-fashioned way…

I drew my flaming sword and launched into the fray. Shortly before crashing into the demons' frontline, I was joined by another army; Cherubim, Heaven's soldiers. All of them were bearing shield and sword and wearing brilliant armor.

We met the demons head-on and smashed their lines. By tens and hundreds they fell. A Cherub turned to me and said:

"My lord Za'afiel, return to your Guardian and aid our Lieutenant."

"Your—who? Who is it? Who was sent?" I demanded.

"It is Gabriel."

I turned and left the fray. Quickly winging across the field, I beheld the Archangel Gabriel kneeling down beside Rei. He looked up as he saw me land.

"Hello, Za'afiel," he said, "Michael instructed me to lead his army to your aid against Samael."

"He did not come, himself?" I asked.

"He could not," Gabriel replied, "The higher Archangels are forbidden to come down from Heaven more than once in a day's time."

"I see," I replied seriously, "So, that means that this is the only time that you can come to our aid, as well."

"Correct," Gabriel answered.

"So be it," said I, "How is she?"

"Zophiel has been badly burned by Samael's Hellfire," Gabriel replied gravely, "It is likely that she will die. And because she died by the touch of Hellfire, her soul may be lost to the burning Nether Realm."

"No. No, I won't allow that to happen," I said firmly.

"Then you must follow her soul to Hell," said Gabriel, "However, be warned: Once you enter Hell's Gates, the Powers of Heaven will not be able to assist you. Your own powers will be diminished to near-Mortal levels. All of your Divine powers will disappear. You will have only what gifts you had before your Awakening. The only Angelic qualities you will retain will be your wings, and your power of flight. Your sword will be diminished to a plain blade of merely sanctified steel. You will be Mortal in body; able to be killed, though you are in warrior form."

"I understand," I responded, "Now…how do I follow her to Hell?"

"You must commit a Mortal Sin," Gabriel answered, "Though it saddens me to divulge how to damn yourself. You must choose one of the six of the remaining Seven Sins. You are immune to damnation for Wrath, for that is your title. You must choose from Sloth, Greed, Envy, Lust, Pride, or Gluttony. Though I pray for your success, should you choose this path, you do so against my sternest warnings."

"I understand, Gabriel," I said, "But I must do what I can to save her. I love her more than anything in this world or any other. I want nothing more than to be with her and…"

Here, I froze, for I realized just how I could follow Rei's soul into Hell. I fought down all of my inhibitions and reservations and went for the gusto.

"I want nothing more than to fulfill my lustful desires and have sex with this woman all day and night!" I said heartily, fully meaning every word I said. I started laughing loudly. This drew Samael's attention.

"What's that I hear?" I heard him crow, "Do I hear a Seraph talking about lustful sex?! Boys, I think we've got something more important to deal with, now! Take him! Bring the Guardian along, too. She belongs with him in Hell!"

A hundred demons swarmed over me. I didn't fight them; I didn't even bother trying, though my skin crawled with revulsion at their touch. Samael crowed with laughter as the Cherubs wept. Five demons scooped up Rei's dying form and carried us back to the Hellmouth. As they carried me down into the rift, I had a flash of fear. I was going somewhere where no Mortal, or half-Mortal, had ever gone to alive and returned unscathed. I was going straight to Hell; in a hand-basket of my own making, and I feared that I may never escape.

A.N.: Well, how about that? He's gone to Hell! I don't quite know how to continue off of that; it's such an epic event! What do you say: Continue, or end the story here and let him rot in Hell? You tell me! I'll have a poll on my profile page and you can leave your vote. Also, feel free to leave your opinion in a review!