Chapter Two: The Masks
I am the sun and the air….Of nothing in particular
Heavy perfume assaulted the couple as a woman passed them from their first class seats. Lady placed a hand over her nose politely, hoping not to offend; she faced the window to look out, glancing at the planes lining up for the run way. The half-devil who sat next to her didn't seem too phased by the offensive scent and there was a slight smile playing on his lip. Lady rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.
Lady shifted through the magazines that sat in front of them, waiting for the plane to take its turn on the run way. It looked like fog was descending this nightfall. After a moment when the heavily perfumed woman had long gone, the young woman could sit back against the leather seats, her fingers played with the buttons that changed the channels of the large television monitor before them. Looking over, Vergil sent her a rare smile; leaned in and joked, "I take it you didn't bring your perfume with you?"
"What? So I can kill you with it?" Lady's snarky reply amused him.
Although things seem so easy between them, Lady couldn't shake off the feeling that he was somehow dissatisfied. That there was something he wanted to get at, but could not reveal what it was. Lady was amazed at his ability to do inhuman feats, his skill at everything from calculating the distance of time and space, to measuring how other humans acted and reacted. There was also an underlying sense that he despised the human race for some of the things Lady too found appalling. She of all people had been witnessed to how her father, once a loving and kind man who captured the heart of her mother to the mad man he turned out to be. Though her own reaction to this was to simply shove it aside as a weakness and justifiable. He, on the other hand found it despicable and inexcusable, little did she know; they shared the same sentiments.
In the growing silence, he said as an aftermath, "Sadly, my devil powers that you've seen, Lady, I can't remain in that mode for too long for they wane after awhile. It is only when my father's blood in me calls out to his kind that triggers this effect." His light-silver-blue eyes scanned his human companion's face, "I'm waiting for you to ask questions, but I'll start," folding his hands together, he allowed his legs to relax, one of them grazing her own; electrical currents seem to pass again between them. Lady nearly moved away, but her desire to touch him overrode that.
There was this sense of seduction in every thing he did and like a moth to a flame she couldn't shake off. Young Arkham's daughter hoped that she didn't fall into the same trap as her father did. Blinking away those thoughts, she reprimanded herself. This was no ordinary man, but he had saved her, even in his cold manner, courted her. Listening to his silky voice, her thoughts visualized his full power.
"There are special Mayan masks that I'm seeking." he said,"These are protected down a tunnel that leads to a tomb, an unexcavated tomb where some of the aristocratic Mayans were buried before their demise. If I'm able to solve some of the puzzles that enclose the gateway to their power, I can own the ability to possess these powers continuously. Without the help of my father's blood initiating it."
Lady took in this vital piece of information and realized, he wanted more power. Although her heart seem to skip a beat, she searched his face for some excuse,
"Vergil, why do you need to transform into that…"
Pausing, he gave her no room to finish, "That what?" Giving his companion a cold hard look, his whisper dropped with derision, "Into that full demon that you loathe?"
"Forget it." She gritted her teeth, a bit angry at herself. He continued,
"You wouldn't understand. My desires to possess these abilities are really none of your concern."
Ouch. That hurt, Lady scolded herself, realizing how sensitive he was about his demon lineage. He neither cared for his father's kind, killing them at his expense, nor was he the lover of humans who toiled their pathetic lives away. However, this babble coming from him only incensed her, "Don't give me that bull, Vergil. And don't push me away by talking crap like this. So what's the catch? Once you get your full devil trigger, you what? Can remain in that version for a long time and what? Look good in demon form and pose for me? Shall I call Cosmo magazine and ask them that I found every woman's dreams: The devil we love to hate?"
He gazed at Lady unflinchingly, his lids lowered and a tug of a smirk appeared. Unfazed, she challenged him some more, "Wait, I'll do better than that. I'll call up those publishers for Science Monthly and tell them all about the mysteries of gene-pooling and bloodlines that come from demons. Yes, folks they exist. It's not a nightmare from your friendly Resident Evil gamers-one-hundred-hours of game play."
"Feisty," he chuckled, "Listen, you keep talking like that and people will think you're crazy." Lady looked up and saw that other people around them in the small first class cabin were glancing her way. She leaned down, unperturbed by the snooping glances, close to Vergils ear, her lips parted, "News flash, demon, I am crazy. Didn't you know?"
Nodding, his once cold blue eyes closed for a moment, "Yes, I do. Any human girl crazy enough to fall for a demon deserves that title."
"Who said I fell for them anyway?" She snorted, "Might I remind you, I don't like arrogance and demons possess them, don't they?"
"Could have fooled me."