"Here it is kid! My amazing stash!" Dante grinned while slamming open the door.
Nero shook his head. "You just have to always make an entrance, don't you?" He followed Dante into the one room in Devil May Cry he hadn't been in before until now. But, with enough persistence, he had got Dante to cave and allow him into the room on the condition Dante was with him.
His eyes widened at how all four walls in the room were covered in weapons. While he recognized some in terms of their general type (sword, gauntlets, etc.), he couldn't recall Dante wielding most of them specifically. He knew he would have remembered Dante sporting around that purple guitar on the wall to his left. Why was that guitar in here anyway?
His gaze lingered on the instrument as Dante walked past him. "I keep all my Devil Arms in this room except for the one named after me. I keep my guns in my bedroom as you've seen before. But, I had a feeling you meant you wanted to become more acquainted with this collection."
Nero scoffed a bit. "Yeah well, I don't got any and here you got…" He trailed off while counting the number of weapons he saw on the walls. "At least over ten devil arms?" He still didn't know if he should count the guitar or if the red and blue skull swords were counted as one or two separate weapons. It didn't help there were empty slots, meaning either Dante had the weapons on his person or they were meant for new weapons. Either way, it was kind of a slap in the face how Dante had more on him than just experience.
"Eh. That's about right." Dante walked over to the guitar and smirked a bit. "I see you keep eyeing good old Nevan up. I haven't used her in a long while." The older devil hunter plucked the devil arm off the wall.
Nero swore he saw a seal briefly appear and break in that short time. Then again, he thought he saw a red seal on the door before Dante opened it. He glanced at his feet to see a large circular shape with writing he couldn't decipher and markings like something he might see on a pentagram. He slowly pointed down to the floor.
"Oh, there is one above you too." Dante said casually while walking over to Nero. "If you can see it, they are on the walls as well. They are protection seals to keep people from being able to steal them but also to keep the people near them safe."
"So, these Devil Arms could attack someone?" Nero blinked and then grunted when the guitar got shoved against his chest.
"Yeah, each one of these weapons are very much alive. Can't you feel the energy?"
Nero raised an eyebrow. He didn't have his old arm that glowed at a demonic presence. He was tempted to flip Dante the middle finger since Dante had to know that. But, he decided Dante couldn't be that dumb and forget something so obvious. And he had been able to slowly start sensing strong demons on his own (like that chicken demon). He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
His fingers rested on the frets while his other hand lingered over the strings. The blackness behind his eyes started to have a faint purple hue where he imagined the guitar to be. As he started to pluck the strings, he heard a feminine voice whispering inside his mind.
"Been awhile since I've had a skilled hand play my strings. Go on big boy."
His cheeks reddened while starting to play a song he listened to many times. The longer he played, the brighter the purple hue. He furrowed his eyebrows though at hearing the sound of bats? He opened one eye to see purple electricity coming off the guitar and bats with sparks flying around him. "Huh?!" Nero jumped back and dropped the guitar onto the floor.
"Now that wasn't nice dear." The feminine voice spoke again as if she was in the room and not in his head this time.
Nero looked down to see the guitar had become a half naked woman. He felt his face become tomato red at how she lied on her side, her boobs only barely covered by her long orange locks. The woman twirled some of her hair between her fingers and slowly stood up. Nero looked away and rubbed underneath his nose.
"Do I need to teach you some manners?"
Nero tensed at feeling a finger trail along his chest.
"Now Nevan, play nice." Dante grinned cheekily and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He doesn't have the experience I do. He's still learning. You would probably drain him dry before he could learn a thing."
"What?" Nero asked while glancing between Dante and 'Nevan'.
Dante chuckled loudly. "You don't know? She's a succubus." He pushed Nevan back when she tried to press herself against him. "Demons like her have to live off others' energy to live. I give her some to keep her alive, but that's about it. Most of the time she doesn't need it while she is in Devil Arm form." He smirked slightly while pressing his lips against the corner of Nevan's lips, Nevan laughing at the action. "She's just being cheeky right now."
Nero scowled a bit. "Yeah, I don't want to be there when you do that." He shook his head and watched as Nevan shifted back into the guitar. He didn't dare to touch it this time.
"You afraid kid?" Dante teased as he picked up the guitar from the ground. "But, guess that was one way for you to learn these Devil Arms aren't like your Red Queen there."
"Great way to show him, Master!"
Nero blinked at hearing a new voice.
"Yes, he will have a better understanding of Devil Arms now!"
The second voice sounded only a bit deeper than the other. If he wasn't paying attention, he might have thought the voices belonged to the same person.
"Now what did I tell you about staying quiet?" Dante glared and pointed at two swords, one blue and one orange, that had skulls at the tip of their hilts.
"But-" That time, Nero saw the mouth of the blue skull move.
"He doesn't know our-" The red skull attempted to speak, but Dante had gone right on over there and bonked the two skulls together.
"I can introduce him to you two just fine. Now shut it!" Dante huffed and put the swords back on the wall. "Sorry about that kid. That was Agni and Rudra, my most talkative devil arms."
Nero raised an eyebrow. "So, you are telling me that all these devil arms are alive and able to talk?"
Dante nodded with a slight grin. "Yeaaah, it can be annoying sometimes, especially when they don't know when to shut up." He glanced back over at Agni and Rudra. "Those two could talk for hours if you let them."
"Right…" Nero looked at Dante. "So, how were you able to get so many demons to willingly become weapons for you? I mean…I sure as hell can't imagine some demon just deciding one day to become a living weapon for some devil hunter, let alone you."
Dante laughed and walked over to Nero. "Most of these demons I defeated in battle or I passed their test, and they submitted to me as a result. Demons do have a power hierarchy thing that makes them do that sometimes." He waved his hand about as if that was normal. "Others become weapons out of an emotional bond apparently. But, the only weapon I think may have done that for me was Rebellion. That was special circumstances though." He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged.
"Hell, Balrog turned into one with the assumption he would get stronger traveling with me and be able to best me in a future duel. So, demons got their reasons, and you don't always have to kill them to get them to turn into one." Dante ruffled Nero's hair. "It's all things you'll learn in time, Nero. Here." Dante took a weapon off the wall. "You can try out this Devil Arm if you want. It's called Alastor."
Nero swallowed and slowly took the weapon from Dante. "You sure? I mean, after what happened to Yamato…" He frowned before gritting his teeth at Dante hitting the top of his head. "Ow!"
"Stop blaming yourself kid. I'm just glad Vergil didn't kill you." Dante wrapped an arm around Nero's shoulder and squeezed him into a one arm hug. "And at least now I think I can trust my brother with Yamato for now. I'll always kick his ass if he does anything stupid with it again."
"As long as you two don't try to kill each other." Nero quickly said and glared at Dante.
"Yeah yeah. I promise." Dante hugged him again and let go of Nero. "Now, let's go practice with Alastor. I can tell ya how I got it on Mallet Island and everything."
Nero blinked as he watched Dante leave the room. "Mallet Island? Wait isn't that…?" His eyes widened, and he quickly ran after Dante. "You got this on the same island you bested Mundus on?"
Dante grinned as he looked over his shoulder at Nero. "Yeah Nero, I did." He said as he raised his hand, the seal once again over the door to the weapon room.
Nero walked beside Dante as they headed out of the shop. "Damn, I kind of can't wait to hear this story." He chuckled and heard Dante join in.
"I'll tell it to you in its entirety. After all, you probably are wanting to know how I ended up killing your dad once…"
Nero rubbed his temple. "I kind of and kind of don't want to know that part."
Dante snickered and ruffled Nero's hair again. "You'll hear it anyway."
Nero smiled slightly at seeing Dante grin, walking with his uncle out of the shop for yet another day in the misadventures of his new family.