-PARADISE-
The car engine hummed low as it proceeded down the long driveway, Autumn leaves strewn along the path and scattering in retreat as the tyres carried the vehicle on towards the entrance. As it pulled up outside the semi-broken mansion doors, the motor became silent, and three dark figures stepped out.
Vergil, the tallest of the three, led them up the stony steps; his silver hair masked by a fashionable trilby hat, the same oceanic blue that he had chosen for his long overcoat and trousers. His pace was slow but stern, breathing in the air of lost familiarity that haunted his childhood home still standing before them; Kat, the youngest of the three, followed closely behind him, her dirty grey hood covering her face and her hands in her pockets, silently calculating her thoughts as she kept in line with the one man who had found her so very long ago; lost in the same darkness that she now helped to fight against.
The runt of the pack, dragging his feet slowly behind, and twisting in movement as he took his surroundings in with greater depth, was Dante. He maintained, with idle effort, the appearance of a young thug - his long red and black overcoat hanging low, covering a loose, black tank top; two guns sat in holsters at his sides, accompanied by a significantly large broadsword which remained strapped to his back.
Vergil carefully swept open the doors and led them onwards into the building. The walls were of ivory colour once, and became a canvas for the inevitable damp that became a regular visitor over the years; Dante swept some dust, that had come loose from the dilapidated roof beams above, from his short jet-black hair.
"Here should do fine."
Dante recognised Vergil's voice as it slowly trickled with echo down the hallway, and as they got closer he noticed that their female comrade had since taken a spray-can and scroll out of her hip pouch.
Kat drew her hood back - long, black hair falling at either side of her face, and she pushed some away from her eyes as she began to shake the can vigorously - with use of her free hand, the scroll became unfolded and a stencil rested upon the floor. Kat began to cover it with the black residue expelling from the spray-can.
Dante took a slow breath as he continued to look around; many of the portraits - though still presentably hung in place - had been torn at and left to disintegrate. He inhaled once more, then coughed and quickly cupped his mouth and nose with the palm of his hand. He turned to the young woman. "Jesus, that's...delightful. What the hell's in that?"
"Sea salt, shark oil, iron shavings," Kat began, never looking away as she continued. "Desiccated coconut, squirrel semen, wolf-"
"You know what?" Dante interrupted, holding a hand out. "Forget I ever asked." The young companion laughed quietly to herself as she continued to fill out the stencil. Vergil moved forward slightly and addressed the other male.
"You remember I told you earlier, Dante, of the rifts we use to access the demon world? This..." He indicated with an open palm to the finished mark on the floor, as Kat rolled her stencil back up and packed it back into her pouch. "This mark is a gateway to that place. Dante, it is crucial that you pay attention to what you see when you enter here."
Dante nodded slowly, rubbing the back of his head tentatively as he cast a gaze between both of his companions. "So, what, I just step on this thing and it takes me somewhere new?" Kat nodded.
"Not new, Dante," Vergil replied. "To another version of this mansion. Seek the truth, and you will find it. I have every bit of faith in you." The taller male rested an encouraging hand upon Dante's shoulder, and he smiled awkwardly but could think of no better way to break the contact than by petting Vergil's hand, little attempt at reassurance, before moving out of arm's length and straight for the pattern on the floor.
Dante stood before them both as Vergil spoke again. "Don't be afraid. This is your home, Dante."
He smirked. "Who said I was afraid?" He gazed around one last time. "Strange...I don't remember any of this."
"You will." Vergil replied. Suddenly, an invisible force began to work upon the pattern below Dante's feet - slowly, it crept in a small twister around his whole body, pushing dust along the floor that had long-since rested there, and soon all Kat and Vergil could see was the rest of the hallway, stretching out endlessly towards a large, open room.
"Do you doubt him?" Vergil had sensed Kat's concern - in the empty space, he had detected a small sigh from her lips. Their eyes locked.
"I trust your judgement, Vergil, but...we don't know what he'll find once he's in there."
Vergil paused - slowly, his gaze casted back over the spray on the ground, where a man most familiar had just stood. "Whatever happens, happens - but Dante needs to see the secrets of this place," Vergil closed his eyes. "Even if what he sees there haunts him for the rest of his life."
