Author's note: I don't not own the DMC Characters...wish i did though but Capcom does. Thanks to my beta editor Jamie for making sure the chapter made sense. Hope you guys like it. :)
Chapter 1: Discovery's
Nero growled under his breath impatiently as he waited for Dante to take his shot. They had been playing pool for the better part of an hour. He and Dante against Lady and Trish. And so far, Lady and Trish had the upper hand.
Dante finally took his shot and managed to make an excellent shot, only for it to be interrupted by a shrill sound. Nero growled at the phone as Lady walked over and answered it.
"Devil May Cry, Capulet City's number one in demon hunting." She answered. She picked up a pen and paper and scribbled down the information before hanging up.
"Looks like we'll have to finish the game later. You two have a job." She told them as she handed Dante the information.
Nero tossed his pool stick lightly onto the table and grabbed Blue Rose and Red Queen from where they rested on the coffee table after their last cleaning.
"This is in the next town over. Why the hell are we taking this job?" Dante asked.
"Because this is the first job in a couple months. That debt's not gonna pay itself off." Trish pointed out.
Dante grumbled under his breath, but sheathed his weapons in their holders before following the younger half demon out the door.
"Keep up, old man. I am not losing you now!" Nero yelled as he tore another demon to shreds.
"Yeah right, kid. Just watch your back!" Dante shouted right back as he drove Rebellion through the belly of a Frost.
Nero rolled his eyes as he managed to avoid a knife to the throat. "Where the hell are these things coming from?!" he yelled.
"I have no fucking clue! Just keep hacking!" Dante replied. "I'll go check it out!"
"The hell you will, old man. Just make it quick!" Nero shouted, shooting back. His reply had been quickly dismissed, as the infamous son of Sparda was already making his way into the abandoned chapel behind them.
Nero jumped back as the Frost demon went in for another attack. He tore the demon in half, dragging Red Queen right down its center.
Nero panted and caught his breath as the last of the Frosts blew away with the harsh wind. It wasn't uncommon for Frosts to be so aggressive during this time of year.
"Damn mating season." Nero growled under his breath as he powered Red Queen's engine off and placed it back in the holder on his back, also sliding Blue Rose into the holster tucked away in his coat.
He ran a hand through his naturally-white hair and followed after Dante into the chapel, keeping a steady hand on Red Queen.
"Old man…you in here?" he asked. He raised up his right arm, letting the glow of his bringer shed a little light in the dark place.
He turned his head as a soft scuffle caught his attention and the Bringer's glow intensified.
"See anything?" Dante asked, coming up behind the younger half demon.
"Christ, old man. Don't sneak up on someone like that." Nero half shouted.
Dante rolled his eyes and chuckled.
Both turned their heads at a sudden sound and Nero used his bringer to grab what was scurrying around. They expected a cat or something. Nero's right arm seem to glow to full capacity as whatever it was he had latched onto was pulled back.
Nero looked over at his partner to find he was instead next to the person, demon, whatever it was that was struggling to breathe. Nero could see that it had claws, sharp ones that actually dug in the hard skin of his right arm. Next, it seemed to have a tail, a long tail that wrapped itself in a coil around the other being.
It was too dark to see the face, but from what he could see, it was some sort of demon. He could hear it gasping and whimpering as he squeezed its neck harder, finding it weak.
"Nero. Stop." Dante told him.
"What?" Nero asked. "It's a demon. Probably the demon that's been summoning all the frosts."
Dante looked at Nero with a look he had never seen before. It was a mixture of intense seriousness and a hint of pleading.
Nero complied, setting the demon on its feet, only to have it collapse in a gasping heap. Nero held out the demon arm and the demon winced at the sudden light.
Dante made a noise of recognition in the back of his throat before reaching out to the demon. Nero moved to stop him, only to stop himself as he got a better look at the demon.
First, it was a female demon. A half demon, he noticed. She looked young—at least nineteen. She had short raven-black curly hair with a matching pair of cat ears and sickly pale skin. She had longish sharp nails. Her clothes were basically just strips of cloth, and deep scars marred her entire skin.
Dante reached out and touched the demon's skin. She winced and whimpered as he brushed part of her hair away, and Nero used his free hand to cover his mouth. The left side of her face had deep raw marks. Her left eye seemed to have been gouged out, leaving nothing but a black hole and deep marks.
"What do you think happened?" Nero asked.
Dante shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm taking her with us."
Dante leaned forward to lift her up, only to have a basilisk jump out of nowhere and plant itself before her, growling.
Nero reached for Blue Rose only to have Dante stop him. "I don't think it's going to attack us." Dante told him.
"That thing jumped out of nowhere." Nero pointed out.
The basilisk watched Dante warily as he once again picked up the female partial demon, gently holding her as he stood. Nero watched the basilisk retreat back into the darkness and looked back at Dante.
"Come on, kid. Don't got all day, here." The older half demon said.
Nero rolled his eyes and led the way out of the chapel and over to the sleek black Dodge Charger parked a couple blocks away.
"Does this mean I get to-"
"No." Dante interrupted. "You already nearly wrecked the mustang."
Nero refrained from pouting and opted for scowling instead as Dante handed him the girl, who was seemingly rather light. He then noticed how thin she was. She curled into him, letting out what sounded like a childlike purr.
Nero managed to get into the car while keeping a gentle hold onto her.
"Dante. Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Nero asked.
"I don't, kid. But for whatever reason I can think of, she's in bad shape and we couldn't just leave her in that chapel." Dante answered.
Nero nodded in agreement as Dante started the engine of the car. Nero looked back down at their discovery.
"Seems to me she's already taken with you." Dante said.
"Just drive old man."
Nero watched as Dante paced outside the small room while the demon doctor checked out the still-mystery partial demon they found at the chapel. She had been out for over a day now, her open wounds healing, although the socket where her eye used to be held a bandage. Dante halted his pacing as the doctor stepped out of the room.
"It's quite lucky you got to her when you did." he started. "She's severely dehydrated and malnourished. Her cuts are infected, and her eyes... Even a demon can't regenerate those."
"Will she be okay?" Dante asked.
"She will be fine. I will come back in a few weeks to check her over again. Make sure she gets rest and food and plenty of water." The demonic doctor answered.
Dante nodded and walked the doctor to the door. He thanked him before he left.
"Hey old man." Nero said, bringing Dante out of his thoughts.
Dante looked up.
"You were lying when you said she didn't know who she was, weren't you?" The younger Halfling asked.
"Can't get one past ya, can I kid?" Dante answered.
He took a seat next to Nero and sighed.
"So who is she?" Nero asked.
Dante thought for a moment.
"Well, first off her name's Rayne. She was an orphan I took in about, oh, nearly fifty or so years ago." He answered. "She was about 10 or so when I first met her. Used to come by my shop a lot and help me keep things neat. Great kid. She was picked on a lot because of her appearance. All the kids picked on her, called her names, some even threw stones at her and called her a demon. I remember one night, I got a call from the police. Apparently there had been a party and things took a turn for the worst, and some kids got beat up pretty badly. I couldn't understand why they called me until they told me they suspected her of doing it. A ten year old kid suspected of injuring people. Man, I was pissed. I practically tore the station apart while giving them a piece of my mind. The next day I signed the documents stating I was her legal guardian. Couple years after that, I sent her out on a job. It was real simple. Just two lowlife demons possessing a couple of thugs. She left around five that evening and never returned. I went to check up and found the two demons talking about the number they did on some cat freak and about how she wouldn't last for another minute. Only, when I went to check, there was no body. Just her necklace, her sword, and daggers and some bloodied fabric..."
Dante got quiet and shook his head. "At first I figured she went off somewhere to lick her wounds and finish the job after. She would do that. If she didn't get it the first time, she would try again. She was fucking persistent. But after a week or so, she never came back. I went out looking for her, always turning up empty-handed. I finally stopped looking after a couple years." Dante clenched his fists. "When I find the son of a bitch, I swear I will end his life before he has time to see me."
Nero, noticing the shift in Dante's mood, decided against pushing any further.
"I'm going to go to the grocery store. Keep an eye on her, kid." Dante said.
"Sure thing, old man." Nero replied.
Rayne winced as she slowly opened her eyes. Or eye, as she remembered. She looked around the room, noticing how familiar some of it looked. She pushed herself into sitting position, hissing at the searing pain in her arms.
The last she could remember were bits and pieces. All that mainly registered was seeing Dante's face. She picked up the mirror that lay on the night stand and looked at her reflection, covering the eye that held the bandage.
She set the mirror down, only she missed the nightstand and the mirror ended up shattering on the floor. She winced at the noise, hands immediately going to her ears as they flattened against her head.
Perfect. She thought.
Rayne pushed back the covers and gently brought her legs over the side of the bed, clutching her side as she reached down to pick up the broken pieces of glass. She laid the pieces of glass on the nightstand and pushed herself to her feet.
She sucked in a sharp breath and almost doubled over in pain. Her healing had yet to kick in, it seemed. She shuffled to the door and twisted the knob, pulling the door open. She poked her head out of the door before gingerly stepping out and wrapping her arms around herself.
She shivered as her bare feet walked across the wooden floor to the stairs. She stood there, looking down, hardly noticing the door next to where she stood opening. She flinched at the sudden change in the atmosphere, almost losing her footing, only to have an arm wrap around her waist, pulling her back.
"Careful. I don't think Dante would appreciate you getting even more hurt on my watch."
Rayne looked up.
"S…s…sorry…" she stammered weakly.
Nero let go of her and helped steady her balance. "You alright?" he asked.
She nodded and gripped the banister.
"Where's…Dante?" she asked.
"He's out. You should lay down some more." Nero answered.
Rayne shook her head. "I can't sleep…"
Nero scratched the back of his head. He looked her over again as she focused on her surroundings. He noticed that she had deep violet eyes with hints of gold mixed together. It took him a minute to notice her looking at him. Studying him, he noted. He watched her eyes travel to his bringer and instinctively put it behind his back.
"What?" he asked defensively.
She shook her head no and looked down bashfully. She was still dirty, he noticed. Well, seeing as how she was unconscious for the past couple of hours, he doubted she would have showered.
"Nero? Dante?"
Nero cursed under his breath as he heard Lady's voice and feet on the floor. He sighed.
"Upstairs." He answered.
Lady appeared at the foot of the stairs a few seconds later, her eyes going as wide as saucers. Before Nero knew it, he was shoved out of the way and Lady was hugging the girl tightly.
"I thought Dante was lying when he called me earlier." She said. "You poor thing. All beat up and dirty. You didn't think to give her a change of clothes?" Lady asked him.
"She only woke up ten minutes ago. Cut me some slack for Pete's sake." Nero replied.
"You're lucky I brought some clothes." Lady said matter-of-factly. "Why don't you go make some food, hmm?" she told him.
Nero nodded and watched as Lady ushered the girl into the bathroom and slammed the door. Nero shook his head. Girls…
Nero looked up from his book for the third time in the last hour. Lady had been upstairs with Rayne for almost two hours. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or not.
"Hey Kid. Wanna give me a hand here?" Dante called as he walked into the shop. He had about five grocery bags in each hand.
"What's with all the food?" Nero asked, getting up.
"You heard what the doctor said. She needs lots of food and water." Dante answered, taking the remaining bags into the kitchen.
Nero followed after him, setting the bags on the counter.
"Did Lady stop by?" Dante asked.
"Yeah. She's been in the bathroom with her for over two hours now." Nero answered while putting the cold food in the fridge and freezer.
It took them a half hour to put all the food away, and another half hour to figure out how the stove worked, and they began making soup.
Lady walked into the kitchen, dumping a pile of dirty clothes and bandages in the garbage.
"I hope you plan on making more soup then that. The girl is thin enough to see her bones, Dante." Lady told him matter-of-factly.
"Is she at least clean and dressed?" he asked.
She nodded. "She'll be down in a minute. I gave her some vital stars for the worst of her wounds. The rest were redone. I will bring her some more clothes tomorrow."
"I'd say I owe you, but I already do." Dante told her.
She rolled her eyes before leaving. Dante opened a couple more cans of soup while Nero sat at the table. He traced the dishcloth with his clawed hand and blew a strand of his hair out of his face.
Both half demons' looked up at the sound of light footsteps on the wooden floor. Dante broke into a grin before pulling the feline demon into a bear hug, burying his face into her shoulder. Rayne simply lifted her bandaged hand and ran it through his hair comfortingly.
Dante was the first to pull back, the grin still evident on his face.
Rayne shifted slightly and ran her hands up her sweater-clad arms. Lady had dressed her in a pair of black leggings and a red long-sleeved fleece sweater.
"You look like a pirate with that eye patch." Dante pointed out.
She blushed. "It was Lady's idea."
Nero looked between the two before abruptly standing up. "I'm gonna go out for a bit. Don't wait up."
Dante shook his head as the front door nearly slammed shut.
"You hungry? I made some soup." Dante told her. She nodded as she sat at the familiar table. He grinned. "Great. Cause I made like five cans of it." He added.