Welcome to Gaia! ::

**Ah, but you should have known Ai wouldn't go... sweatdrop **

Ai merely holds onto him, enduring the pain, and Kero, in some dim recess of his mind, feels the angel's strength pouring into him, aiding him in his fight. Subconsciously he is grateful for his presence, but still he struggles to get free, only to find that while Ai might look like a whimp, he is anything but. No matter how hard he tries he cannot break free.

And still Ai holds on, praying with all his might, sending his strength straight into Kero now, helping him to fight this monstrous hold. He cares not if he is injured. even less if he is killed. What he refuses to do is let Kero succomb to the darkness that wells up from within.

Then every so slowly he begins to realize they are not alone, as a pair of strong arms embraces them both and Bez's head comes down gently on his own, then two smaller pairs of arms join him... and lastly he feels the mind touch of his brother, all sending him their strength and love, all ashamed of running away, all willing to do what it takes to pull him back from the brink.

"Be strong, Kero... love can conquer even this, if you let it..." sends Ai with a tenderness that cannot be explained in his position, except he has no fear, none whatsoever.

Ai grins at him and give him a firm and loving hug. "Welcome back." he murmurs with a smile of affection. "Feeling better?"

Ai sighs. "Go if you must, but we are not afraid of him, Kerobian. None of us are and fear is his weapon. He feeds on it, thrives on it, and he isn't going to find any here. Here you are safe from his clutches."

Kero looks around and sees everyone nod in agreement. Ari even goes so far as tokiss his cheek. "We love you, Kero. And he is a part of you... so, we love him too."

Bez chuckles bitterly. "Yeah, Brat... if he's a part of you, he's in for the ride as well... we may not like what he does, but one cannot love only a portion of another person... It's an all or nothing arangement."

Mara nods and simply steps forward to take his hand in hers.

Ai sighs and pushes them into a chair, reaching for the towel Bez hands him to clean up with. "I'll have you know I am very proud of you two, but if that ever happens and I'm not around, you are to run... both of you... in opposite directions... no ifs... no buts... no maybes... When Kero talks of feeding the beast, he's not talking about feeding the flesh with food and if he harmed either of you, all hell would break loose." He looks at Bez and smiles thinly. "You should probably run as well, if only to draw him away from the girls... He and I are connected, in more ways than one, and I can hold him, whereas you cannot."

Ai looks about then picks up an apple. biting into it he says, "This is how we eat, right. We consume food and transform it into energy so that our bodies can thrive."

Then holding out the apple he makes it vanish. "When Kero speaks of feeding he consumes things down to nothingness. Literally. He doesn't really eat food, kids. He consumes energy... and living creatures give off far more energy than that which is inanimate. He is alive because of magic and his magic requires vast amounts of energy to keep him functioning. It's a vicious circle... and not a very pretty picture when you think about it. But he struggles with this all consuming hunger on a daily basis and yet he remains a good person. He doesn't want to harm anyone, so normally he goes off and hunts... like a mind crazed beast, until the hunger is sated. What happened tonight is a rarity. He's usually in control."