Aly landed as well, and changed form, getting in between Eke and the woman.

"Stop!" she said.

"I don't know who you are, but you look like you're hurting Eke!" she told her.

"So go away!" she said further.

"I won't let you hurt him!"

"...." Aly was silent as she saw this, before she felt something she'd never felt before: sheer, unadulterated anger.

She'd been mad in the past. Irritated, annoyed, aggravated, but this was the first time she'd ever felt herself get to THIS level of anger.

"....I don't care..." she said.

"You're scaring and hurting Eke..." she went on, quietly.

"LET HIM GO!" she then screamed, as she launched herself at the woman, wanting to tackle her down to the ground.

Aly looked at Eke, worry in her eyes.

"Eke..." she said quietly.

She then transformed into her dragon form, and started to fly through the air, carrying Eke with her. They arrived at Eke's home, with her transforming back.

"Ryker!" she called out, tears in her eyes.

Ryker came running out, and grabbed Eke.

"Walk and talk." he said as he started to carry Eke to his bed.

"Damn it, Eke!" Ryker shouted upon seeing Eke in this state.

"What's... what's wrong with him?" Aly asked.

"I don't know." Ryker responded.

"He got like this when his mother touched him." Aly then said, causing Ryker to freeze.

"....." he was silent, until the demon in him took over.

"Let's see what's goin' on inside him, then!" he declared, as an arm made of shadows came out from behind him, and slipped into Eke's body.

".....Ry." the demon seemed to know what was going on, and did something in response.

He took Ryker's consciousness, still tethered to his body, and placed it inside Eke's consciousness, almost like a physical being.

Ryker looked at the 5 year old that was there, and slowly made his way over towards him, sitting down in front of him.

"Hey..." he said quietly.

"It's noisy here." he commented.

"Betcha hate it, huh?" he then asked, just trying to calm Eke down and focus on him.

"It won't stop because it still wants you." Ryker responded.

"It's miserable. And it wants you to be miserable as well." he told him.

"It wants to keep you shackled to it." he continued.

"But you need to break free of it. You need to keep trying. It'll be hard. It'll be seemingly impossible at times. But you need to move forward, away from it." he told Eke further.

"There are people that truly love you. And they're waiting for you to return to them." he smiled.

"Eke, wait!" Ryker called to him, but he was gone.

".....damn it." he cursed quietly, before the door appeared.

"......?" he was silent, definitely confused.

"Welp... just gotta move forward, and hope it helps." he told himself.

With that, he grabbed the knob on the door, and twisted it to open it.

"......." Ryker was silent, before making his way forward.

"Uh... hey..." he said.

"Eke?" he addressed him.

"You doin' okay?" he asked.

"Whatcha got there?" he asked further.

"You're not dead." Ryker responded.

"You're trapped." he said.

"Trapped in a place that... well... is in a weird state of existing, but not existing." he muttered.

"Eke... this isn't where you belong." he then told him.

"This dark and awful place? No. No, you shouldn't be here." he went on.

"I mean, you don't want to be here, right?"

"....kid... everyone dies..." Ryker responded.

"....most people die..." he then mumbled, remembering his own rather... unique... situation.

"Life isn't about trying to make it last as long as possible. It's about getting the most out of whatever time you have." he said further.

"The question is... do you want a long life, or a good life?" he asked.

"Do you want to stay here, alone, or do you want to be with people that genuinely love you, and care about you?"