Chapter 2: Enter the Ether
Finding a hotspot couldn't wait and Dante needed to find it now. Once at home, he found a map of the city and spread it across his desk. Lady promptly began scrying for a location and Dante pondered how he could get his hands on Yamato. True, opening a portal could be done without his brother's keepsake sword, but having it would make things a little easier. Dante looked up and watched Lady slowly swing the crystal over the map as she scanned it quadrant by quadrant.
Trish walked through the office doors to find that Lady and Dante were already home. Lady was leaning over Dante's desk staring intently at a map with a crystal in hand and Dante was in a trance, sitting Indian-styled on the floor nearby with Rebellion spread across his lap.
"What is going on here," asked Trish.
"Looking for a spiritual nexus," Lady replied without glancing away from the map.
"Okay... so, what's he doing," Trish then asked.
"Calling for Yamato," Lady answered almost deadpanned.
"Nero has it doesn't he? And isn't Fortuna quite a trip from here?"
Lady shrugged.
"How long has he been at it," Trish followed with yet another question.
"About an hour and you're breaking my concentration," Dante answered without opening an eye.
"But Yamato isn't your sword. You gave it to Nero."
"I know."
"So how can you just 'call for it'?"
"It's a twin thing... you wouldn't understand."
"It makes sense," Lady cut in, "If the sword belongs to his bloodline anyone who is remotely related to the original wielder, should be able to have some control over it."
"Back to the map, woman," Dante said. He went silent again, focusing on his brother's blade. In theory, it was an easy deal. There had been countless times where he had called Rebellion to his side during battle; however it had never been done over vast distances. The other challenge was that Yamato had never been his sword to begin with. There had been times where he had fought with it, hell he had even been taught by his father on how to use it. But this was a blade that given to his brother with Vergil's fighting style and outlook in mind. It was tailor made for Vergil, so to speak.
How could he lock in on it? He knew that Nero kept the blade inside of his devil bringer and that the man was in Fortuna, at least a day's journey away.
Maybe if I think like Vergil, Dante thought. Could it be that easy; just telling himself to think like Vergil would have? He could picture it. The O-katana that rested in near darkness, illuminated by only a blue glow. Now all he had to do was to reach for it. Almost out of instinct, Dante raised an arm with the other still resting comfortably on Rebellion.
"Duck," Dante uttered softly. The women were not one to question Dante when it came to his acute senses, so they obeyed. Not even a full second later, Yamato came crashing through one of the shop's front windows and into Dante's outstretched hand. Dante stood up with Rebellion in his left hand and Yamato in his right. The two female hunters stared in disbelief at the sword in his right hand. He had actually done it. He handed Yamato to Lady and said, "This should help in boosting the crystal's power. I gonna go take a nap. Wake me if anything comes up."
Lady took Yamato and nearly dropped it on the floor. It was much longer and heavier than she remembered. True to his word, Dante curled up into the couch that flanked a wall near the stairs. Lady tried with the crystal for about ten more minutes. Just when she was ready to give up, the crystal dropped of its own accord onto the map and stood on its facetted edge at a cross corner. "13th and M street," she read aloud.
"What are you waiting for," Dante interjected as he hopped off the couch, "Let's go."
"Hey," Trish began with a hand on Dante's shoulder, "Are you sure you want him back?"
"What do you mean? Of course I do. He's my brother."
"He's been in Hell this entire time and now you're going to bring him back, just like that," she snapped her fingers to reiterated her point. "Dante, how do you think he will react when he finds out that he has been brought back to the Human World? You think it's going to be all hugs and cheers when he gets back? Don't forget that he chose the Demon World over everything."
"I get it. But we will cross that bridge when we get there."
"I'm not sure that you do," he could see the concern in Trish's eyes, "Lady and I care about you and we would rather not see you set yourself up for disappointment."
"Time's a-wasting," Dante said turning to Lady as he sheathed Rebellion, "Let's go." He turned away from Trish. Her hand slipped off his shoulder as he walked away and slumped to her side. "Good luck," she whispered.
Lady and Dante hopped onto his motorcycle and took off to the streets the crystal had indicated. Soon they had arrived. Both got off of the bike and Dante uttered, "Lead the way, Lady"
Lady held the crystal out in the palm of her hand and it began floating into a vertical position. "The crystal is pointing—" Lady craned her head to the direction of the top floor of a high-rise building, "—up." Dante grabbed Yamato and wrapped an arm around firmly around Lady. "Take a deep breath," he said, keeping his eyes on his destination. He bent his knees and took off like a rocket. Dante arched his back slightly, just enough to keep him streamlined, just enough height to get to the rooftop of the of the fifteen story building without using his Devil Trigger.
"Mom," a child shouted at the sight of Dante and Lady propelling past his window, "There's a man and a woman flying!"
"That's nice, Billy," she shouted back.
Dante hovered some ten feet above his landing zone, before dropping into position. His landing was a little heavy, leaving imprints of his combat boots in the concrete. He let Lady down and walked to the edge of the building and peered down to the still bustling streets below. "Where to?"
Lady could feel the static in the air. The nexus must be near. She dropped the crystal over the ledge and watched as it ended its freefall about ten feet below. It floated there, as if it was suspended in clear gelatin. "Right here, Dante," she said pointing down to the crystal below. He nodded and began the ritual to opening a portal to the Underworld. Dante mumbled chants in a demonic language to himself as he unsheathed Yamato. He walked over to the ledge where the crystal floated. Red electricity crackled around him as he neared the nexus. Dante continued mumbling the demonic words as he brought the blade to his left hand and sliced into it, in the same fashion his brother had done in Temen-ni-gru so many years ago. He held his bleeding hand over the ledge, with droplets falling onto the crystal. The self-inflicted wound began to close and it became a struggle against his own body to hold it open, at least until the portal formed. Dante stuck a finger into the open wound in the palm of his hand, and torn at his skin to wedge it open wider. He winced slightly, but pushed on with the chants, determined not to interrupt it or mess it up in anyway. Dante finished up the chant by repeating the last word three times which meant 'open.' More energy rose up crackling, with a shockwave that threw Dante and Lady back. A portal form just in front of them with a wind whipping past their bodies. Dante laid Yamato to the side and began his walk to the portal. "Dante, wait," Lady shouted as she got up to walk towards him. He stopped, turned towards her and held her in a warm embrace. Lady wished that this moment could last forever.
She laid her head against his chest, allowing his heartbeat to soothe her. "Come back to me," she nearly whispered. Dante placed the velvet ring box in Lady's hand without taking his eyes off of hers. His embrace became tighter as he went to kiss her. Dante brought his slightly parted lips to hers. The passion, the fire was there. As his tongue gently danced with hers, she could swear that she saw fireworks. "I love you," he said softly in her ear. They both knew what had to be done, but she still didn't want to let go.
With that, he took off and ran full speed into the portal. Tears saturated her cheeks as her heart began to break when she watched her love rush off into peril. Lady opened the box and became weak in the knees at the sight. A two and half carat, princess cut diamond engagement ring. The tears came harder. "You had better come back alive," Lady whispered.
She felt a presence behind her. She turned to see Trish walking up towards her. "I couldn't very well let you two do this all on your own," Trish said flashing a grin reassuring Lady of her support. "So Dante went in already?"
"Yeah."
"Now, all we do is wait." The two women stood silent near the portal waiting at the ready for something to emerge... whether it was friend or foe.
--
With a bright flash, Dante was in the Underworld landing on a boulder. He always found it a bit unsettling down here. Blinding lights came from all directions to assault his vision. The Demon World was always bright and it reminded him of a silver daguerreotype or a very well done black and white photo. He had wondered on his first trip here when he was eighteen, if this world meant to be a perversion of Heaven itself. After all, it would make sense; given that the Fallen of yesteryear were the higher-ups around here.
Dante took a step further and more boulders snapped into place in front of him creating a land bridge. Even that sent a shiver up his spine. Why did Hell feel the need to roll the welcome mat out for him? Still he pushed on, with the lonely sound of his boots clacking to keep him company. He walked up to an iron door with the words bannered across the lintel: Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here. (You could practically see the sweat drop) Are they trying to make fun of me?
"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that phrase," Dante said to no one in particular. He then thought I had better not find Vergil in a block of ice. He heaved the door to see a labyrinth of stairs before him. "Are you serious?!" One could see why he was pissed. As soon as he stepped through the door, the maze seemed to have stretched on for days. Each set of stairs twisted and even ran upside down like a psychology test gone awry. At the end of every other flight was a full length mirror. Dante figured that it acted as a teleporter, but the question was to where. It held the same possibility that one could transport him straight to Vergil or to another point in the labyrinth while another could send him into a combat a demon that he wasn't completely prepared to fight. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.
--
"Don't sweat it," Trish commented to Lady as she filed her nails, "Dante will be back before you know it."
"I hope you are right," Lady replied deadpanned, glancing down at the ring she wouldn't dare to wear until she saw him again.
--
"Wahhhhhh! Ooof!" Dante screamed as he was unexpectedly dumped from a mirror that hovered fifteen feet above the ground. He jumped up to his feet, giving himself a once over, making sure that all of his body parts were still intact. Dante then began to dust himself off until he heard the crashing steps behind him. He turned slowly to see a thirty foot tall (that's over 9 meters for those using the metric system) devil standing behind him. "Oh, my—" Dante's eyes grew wide.
"Prepare to die, Son of Sparda," it bellowed. Dante was sure it was holding a flail-like weapon, but that was not what concerned him in the least. What really caught his eye or anyone else's for that matter was the fact that the monster in question was a big steaming pile of...
"Shit," Dante exclaimed with a disgusted look on his face. The monster's 'skin' dripped and oozed with every movement. It swung its flail down at Dante which he able to quickly dodge. But the half-devil also had to keep in mind to avoid the falling excrement of the demon. Dante rolled away, narrowly avoiding the brown drops. At this point, Dante didn't care if he defeated the devil or not... he just wanted out. The smell alone was terrifying.
He spotted a mirror just behind the monster's left leg. Dante darted out of the way of another flail swing. "Never easy, is it," he whispered to himself. He kept his eyes on the devil, trying to anticipate its movements. Dante unsheathed Rebellion and held it back, charging it full of red energy. "I'm sorry Mr. Diarrhea, but I can't stay to play... I have people waiting on me." Dante cocked his armed back and launched Rebellion high, like a javelin. He didn't wait to see where it hit; he made a break for the mirror. Only when Rebellion landed next to the mirror, did Dante look up to see the demon staggering around blinded. "Damn you, Son of Sparda," it screamed in pain. Dante begrudgingly picked up the poo-covered sword and stepped through the mirror.
--
"I wonder what he's doing right now," Lady said aloud as she drew a new card from the top of a deck. She and Trish sat on the roof playing cards, which was the number one thing to do on long missions.
"Probably battling a shit demon," Trish commented nonchalantly as she rearranged the cards in her hand.
"Whaaa?!" Lady wasn't sure that she heard her right.
"Kidding," Trish said with a straight face as she placed her hand down, "Gin. Do you want to play again?"
--
Dante made the mistake of bringing his hand to his face. He'll never try that again. He continued down a new corridor, wiping his sword against the wall to mark his path and up another flight of stairs and into a new mirror.
He exited into a dark corridor (and just he was getting used to the bright lights). He made a right turn and down another long hall. Dante was just about to round another corridor, when he heard chattering and hissing. He stopped and opted to hide behind a large column. He peeked around the corner to two lizard-like creatures dressed in armor, talking to each other. "Blades," he said to himself.
He continued to watch. The two blades guarding a doorway, snapped to attention as two Faust demons came towards the door dragging a figure in tow. Only when they just about dropped it on the floor did Dante notice a tuft of white as its head unconsciously lolled back and forth. "Vergil," Dante found himself whispering. They entered the doorway with Vergil and returned empty handed. One Faust began arguing with the two Blades. Dante watched as they shouted back and forth in their demonic language.
"As much as I'd love to sit and watch this little soap opera," Dante began, talking to no one in particular, "I gotta break this up and get inside." He pulled out a glowing orb of Super Holy Water and kissed it. What makes this holy water superior is the fact that it is blessed by several different religious leaders. It is said to be much more potent than its regular counterpart. Let's hope that the old nun was right about this. "Fire in the hole," he shouted as he lobbed the orb like a grenade. The demons in front of the door were confused. Dante shifted his body back around the pillar and closed his ears and eyes. There was a blinding flash and a fizzling sound like soda when it's first opened. Dante peered around the corner to see both sets of devils reduced to a pile of hot ash. They didn't know what hit them.
Dante moved carefully for the doorway, trampling through the ashes. He walked in to see that the room looked like dungeon. From the irregular ceiling, Dante could tell that it was carved out from a cave. He looked around seeing chains on the walls and various torture instruments. His eyes were brought to a stone slab that centered in the room. He began to approach it, seeing that Vergil was chained down.
"Verge. Verge," his whisper filled the room. And there was no answer. He came closer to see his brother lying there with a black eye, a trail of dried blood just under his nose, and a busted lip. Dante had remembered that Vergil had been a little thin, but now... "Verge," Dante called softly again. He began to panic when he realized that he couldn't tell if Vergil was even breathing or not. Am I too late? "Verge," again he called, placing a hand on his bare shoulder. God, his skin was so cold. It was like touching death. He shook his brother gently.
Dante watched as Vergil's eyes roll under his eyelids before opening halfway. Vergil winced and swallowed hard before his hoarse voice said, "Dante? You smell like shit." Dante chuckled, happy to see that Vergil was alive.
"You haven't changed a bit," Dante smiled warmly.
"Why have you come?"
"To get you, silly," Dante grunted as began breaking the chains with Rebellion.
"Please leave me, before they..." another hard swallow to catch his breath, "... catch you."
"That's not an option. Besides," Dante broke the final chain, "You'll miss the wedding."
"What? Who?"
"Lady and me." Dante helped Vergil off of the table. "Let's get out of here." Vergil stared at Dante in shock. "I'll explain once we're out."
The two brothers left the room. Dante didn't realize that Vergil was barefoot until they came to the ashes. The two tiptoed around it. "What h—," Vergil began to ask.
"I'll explain that one too."
The twins ran down the corridor rounding another at to the end of the hall where the mirror was located. Dante grabbed Vergil by the wrist, desperate not to let go. They raced down the stairs, Dante in front and Vergil trailing, just barely able to keep up. "So, Dante, did you get her knocked up?"
"You picked a hell of a time to show that your sense of humor is still intact," said Dante while panting.
"Just trying to make conversation," Vergil said innocently.
Dante gave uneasy chuckle as he looked at his brother. He went back to concentrating on finding his exit. Dante looked around frantically. This fork was NOT here before. Eenie, meenie, miney, mo... no... Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish... um.
"You don't remember, do you?"
"Shut the fuck up, Vergil!" Dante picked the center path and dashed towards it.
Down another corridor and into another mirror. "You never answered my question; is she pregnant?"
"No, not yet." Vergil tried to imagine a home with little Dantes running around. It disturbed him deeply.
There was another mirror, straight ahead. The two jumped through to see the shit monster still shuffling around, blindly groping around the room. "I will find you seed of Sparda!" Vergil stood in the center of the room, staring at the devil with his mouth agape. Dante pulled Vergil away, narrowly missing a dripping. "Is that... what I think it is?"
"Yes," Dante hissed quietly, "It's a devil made out of shit... Let's get the fuck out of here!" They exited through another mirror that appeared in front of them. The brothers arrived at another fork and Dante rushed into the corridor on the left. Up a set of upside down stairs and into another mirror... The two found themselves standing before the gates of Hell. Without hesitation, Dante pulled Vergil through and across the self-forming land bridge. They were almost home-free.
Sensing that danger was afoot, Dante turned to see a horde of demons gaining on them. He stood to fight. Dante looked to his side to see Vergil standing there in a fighting stance. "What are you doing?"
"Standing my ground," Vergil said.
"I can take care of them," Dante said. He looked over his shoulder and could make out the apartment building just beyond the portal he created. "The portal's right there... go ahead; I'll be there in one second to seal it forever."
"No."
"Fine then." Dante turned and shoved Vergil. Vergil grasped at Dante, but only caught onto his exposed amulet. The chain broke from the force. Vergil went flying backwards out of the portal landing on the rooftop in the human world. Dante held the flat edge of his sword against the horde. It was effective enough at holding back the masses, but Dante really didn't see an out here. He ran his hand against the sharp edge of his sword, drawing some blood. He began chanting as he thought, if I can't get back, then I'll make sure that they can't get out. They won't get past me.
--
The two women stood as they watched a figure tumbled backwards out of the crackling gateway and crashed into the concrete wall behind him. Lady and Trish rushed to its side to see that it was Vergil. "Did he just toss Vergil out of Hell," Trish questioned aloud. That wasn't outside the realm of possibility, considering how emaciated the man was.
Vergil briefly opened his eyes and said before succumbing to unconsciousness, "Please... you have to... save... Dante." They could see, that he was clutching Dante's amulet tightly, close to his chest. This alarmed Lady. "DAAAANTE," she screamed as she ran to the portal. Trish laid Vergil's head tenderly onto the ground, before running after Lady. "Lady, wait!"
Lady watched in horror as the portal began to get smaller. "DANTE," She called again with tears in her eyes.
--
Meanwhile, just inside of the gateway, Dante could hear his name being called. "Ya hear that? That's my girl calling and I'm gonna make sure that none of you are going to ever get at her." Just then, a Frost crashed in Rebellion, causing it to crack down the middle, due to the rapid freezing. The ice melted just as quickly as a Phantom charged into Dante and caused Rebellion's blade to break into three pieces. The pieces and the hilt were flung out of the portal.
--
Trish sensed danger and pulled Lady back away from the closing portal and the rain of blood covered metal. Both looked on as the portal closed, for good. It was all over for Lady once the static that kept her close to Dante all night, disappered into the ether.
"NOOOOO," Lady cried, "You promised that you would come back to me! You promised!" Tears trickled down her face in full force. Trish didn't know what to do. She held Lady in her arms in an attempt to console her. Lady's legs gave out on her as she sunk to the ground. Trish remained there, holding her, until they were both on the ground. "You promised," Lady whispered quietly.
Beware the poo-monster! I try to proofread a lot... but if you see anything that escaped me, please let me know. Reviews earn you hugs, kisses and candy!