DEVIL'S RELEASE
Chapter Two
"Mother…" he cried out, reaching towards the woman as his vision faded and his world was filled with pain. Nero's torso snapped upright in the bed as he awoke abruptly from his nightmare, the same nightmare he'd been having occasionally for months now, the same nightmare he'd been having every single night for the past two weeks. The young devil hunter shook his head in the darkness, clearing his eyes of the damp locks now clinging to his skin as he took in several sharp breaths. He wasn't sure how much longer he could go on like this, Nero had barely had any sleep for the past two weeks, the nightmares doing nothing to help his heartbreak over Kyrie just walking out on him the way she did. He was lost, crushed, and alone, and there wasn't a soul around to comfort him. Kyrie was never coming back, any of the citizens of Fortuna who had tolerated him for her sake now seemed to have turned against him completely, and even Dante hadn't been heard from in over a month.
"Dante…" Nero sighed, shaking his head. His pride, what little he had left, just wouldn't let the boy confide in the elder hunter, it was just too childish in his opinion. Besides, he figured Dante had more pressing issues to deal with than some played out teenaged love story and a few bad dreams. 'Only they're not just dreams… and definitely not a few,' Nero chided himself in his mind, the logical part of his brain trying to reason with him to seek some help from someone older and wiser. 'Well, I don't know about wiser,' he snorted, shaking his head.
Nero frowned and bit his lip, finally giving in and picking up his cell phone from the nightstand. He silently punched in the numbers, unsure of why he was even bothering to call. Not to mention the fact that Dante would either be too drunk or too pissed to want to talk at this late hour. The phone rang a few times before it went to voicemail, the cocky older hunter's voice coming through the line to inform Nero and any other callers that he wasn't available, and was way more 'awesome' than them as well. Sighing loudly, Nero hung up the phone and tossed the useless device aside, flopping back heavily against his pillows. The teenager yawned, feeling the exhaustion hit him like a brick wall once more. After all, he had been missing out on so much sleep lately with everything that happened, and right now he just couldn't seem to keep his eyes open, despite his current troubles.
The platinum haired teen opened his eyes, fully expecting to find himself back in the usual place that his nightmare took him too. Instead, Nero was shocked to find that this dream was something new, entirely different than any of his previous dreams. Taking a hesitant step forward, Nero surveyed his surroundings with interest. He seemed to be in an area made of the most brilliant white and black marble imaginable, except that the floor was swapped with the ceiling. Ornate statues beautiful enough to put any in Fortuna to shame adorned the 'floor' above him, a soft, soothing light radiating from some place in the distance. A chandelier protruded upside down from the stone beneath Nero's feet, and the demon slayer found himself blinking in surprise at what he was seeing.
Nero continued taking in the new location, completely fascinated as he discovered that the statues above him were actually giant chess pieces, and that the ceiling appeared to be an enormous chessboard that stretched across the roof until it warped and twisted into a blur of black and white. "Whoa… pretty freaky," he mumbled, letting his fingers trail along the cool metal surface of the nearest chandelier. Nero kept wandering through the upside down room until something ahead of him caught his attention. Curiosity piqued, the young devil hunter made a bee line for the object, which was lying in the middle of the floor. He bent down, eyes widening as he took in the sight before him. Laying there in all of its simple magnificence was Yamato.
Nero crouched down, gently picking up the precious blade as if it were made of glass. Before he could even wonder what the weapon was doing there, the blade cracked across the middle, crumbling to dust in his hands before Nero could even blink at what had just happened. "What the hell?!" he cried out, not understanding what had just occurred. Nero stared blankly at the slightly shimmering pile of dust covering his hands and the floor before him that was once his beloved Devil Arm, unable to comprehend why the blade had disintegrated the way that it had. Closing his eyes in an attempt to gather his thoughts and understand, the demon hunter exhaled loudly and closed his fists around the remnants of Yamato in anger, wanting to fling the particles away in his confused rage. However, before Nero could do any such thing, something else caught his attention, causing the boy's eyelids to snap open, surprise showing on his face.
The teen blinked, his bright blue eyes widening in shock as he stared down at his hands. Instead of the dusty shards of Yamato he had previously been holding, there was now an icy blue cloth in his grip. Nero's gaze followed the material upward, the surprise clearly written on his face as the material turned out to be a long cloak. An imposing figure stood inches from Nero, clothed in the silky garment the teen was clutching onto and staring down at the boy. Whoever it was seemed to be male, the broad shoulders and the way he held himself giving his gender away, even though the stranger did not utter a word, or even seem to breathe. The teen opened his mouth to speak as the figure raised its hand and placed it on his shoulder, causing everything to fade into black instantly.
The next thing Nero knew, he was opening his eyes in his bedroom in Fortuna. Noticing that daylight was now streaming in through the windows, Nero pushed himself up in his bed and sighed. He honestly didn't know what to make of the dream, but it was better than his previous ones, though the destruction of Yamato still worried him. 'And that guy… totally weird,' the teen frowned to himself. Shaking the thoughts free of his head, Nero climbed out of bed and commenced his usual routine of getting ready in the morning. There were still plenty of demons roaming about, even now, and Nero was itching to work out some frustrations on the bastards.
It wasn't until the sky was dark that Nero stumbled into his home, locking the door behind him as he poured himself into his bed, welcoming the sweet embrace of the mattress. Nero had to admit that he'd overdone it a bit today, feeling extra tired from excessive use of Yamato. It wasn't that the platinum haired devil hunter had really needed the power with the lower level demons he had encountered, but after his disturbing dream it just felt good to feel the blade's power coursing through him. It wasn't warm, Yamato never was, and in fact it was as if ice water had been injected into his veins, but the feeling was still comforting, safe, and it made Nero feel like all of his troubles would disappear with one simple slash of the blade. Even now Nero could feel the Devil Arm tingling inside of his Devil Bringer, and the thought brought a tiny smile to his face for the first time in weeks.
Nero's sleep was relatively peaceful that night, the dream replaying itself in his mind, and cutting off for the second time as the unknown male placed a hand on his shoulder. He awoke, shaking off the dream as he went through his daily routine and returned home hours later, seeking the mattress for comfort, and once again, the process repeated itself. This cycle went on for another week, Nero finding some sort of solace in his upside down dream world, waking up before he could question the mysterious man about Yamato every single time. It wasn't the crumbling blade that bothered Nero, after all the blade had been broken once, yet now resided fully restored within his arm, it was the fact that he didn't understand why it was happening. Was it some sort of ominous sign of things to come, or just another unexplained occurrence in his ever twisted dreams?
Nero had once again reached the point in his dream where the stranger had reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder, and he inwardly sighed as he waited for the overwhelming blackness to carry him back to consciousness. Needless to say, the teen was surprised when it didn't come. The hand lingered on his shoulder for a moment, Nero only now finally noticing how cold it felt, like a living block of ice resting its hand on him. The young devil hunter glanced up in surprise, unable to make out the man's face beneath his hood. Nero opened his mouth to question the other male, but the words were lost in his throat as the sound of wind gently whistling by filled the silence, and Yamato appeared in the grip of the man's free hand. Nero stared at the blade for a while, even after the freezing hand had left his shoulder and the man had turned away.
Shaking his head clear of his initial shock, Nero jumped to his feet and narrowed his eyes. "Hey wait a damned minute!" he called out, glaring at the man's back. "What the hell was that all about?!" he demanded, feeling a little disturbed at what had just happened. Nero wanted an explanation, this was getting way too weird, and he was starting to think that he would have preferred to have the old dreams back again in place of this, at least those were upfront about what they were showing him. The figure didn't respond with words, but as he glanced back he acknowledged that he had at least heard Nero speak. Now maybe he would get some answers.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Nero assumed that the man wasn't about to give him a response, and he growled loudly. "I'm talking to you, damn it!" Nero snapped, stomping his way over with the intention of wrenching the blade from the stranger's grip. If he didn't want to explain, then Nero saw no reason to trust the man with such a powerful weapon, even if it was just a dream. He growled as he reached out to grab Yamato from the man and felt an explosive pain shoot through his right arm. Before Nero could even think to let go of the blade, his eyes focused on the ceiling of his bedroom, lit up brightly by the harsh light streaming from his Devil Bringer as the arm pulsed with light, a searing pain shooting through it making it feel like the limb was scorching him from the inside. Nero moaned in agony as the pain refused to leave for several minutes, until it finally ebbed away and left the boy panting heavily in his bed, wondering what had happened.
Amidst the confusion, Nero felt certain of one thing, Yamato was connected to his dreams in a major way, how exactly, he wasn't sure yet. But there was one thing that he was sure of, the man in his dreams knew something, and Nero intended to find out just what it was, no matter what it took. Nero sighed loudly in a mixture of exhaustion and frustration, dragging himself into the kitchen to splash water on his face. Just how many more nights would he have to endure this torture before he got the answers he was looking for?
A/N: Slowly going back and updating these chapters to hopefully be easier to read and attempt to catch any typos. I lost my author's notes from this chapter, but oh well xD
Disclaimer: I only own the plot and stuff, not the characters.