The question took Dante by surprise, seeing that the EOD Syndrome was nothing more than a myth invented by devils. He nodded. "You got me. I'm Dante, owner and employee of Devil May Cry." He closed his eyes, his smirk returning only for a moment as he opened them again and looked at the girl. She seemed to be too fixed upon her thoughts. He looked back at Nightrose. "The EOD Syndrome, you say? It's only a myth. A myth spread by demons throughout this realm. I've read about it myself a few times...let's see what I can remember. It's a virus that has its origins in Hell. The virus infects only humans, and causes them to become fleshy puppets, controlled by devils. The humans do the devil's bidding, whether it be murder or opening the portal for more devils. When the human is of no use anymore, the devil simply discards it and finds another. The EOD Syndrome, also known as the End of Days Syndrome, is fast becoming more than just a legend. More and more operatives in our line of work are seeing its symptoms, and are in the end killed by it themselves. I'm starting to think this all a part of a bigger plot against us." He finished, leaning forward on the counter, contemplating all of this.
Nightrose nodded slowly, taking in all the information. Breaking free from her thoughts, she looked Dante up and down, seeing that to her, the man didn't look like much. But through his veins ran devil blood of the purest quality. "I'm guessing there's no known way of protecting against it, is there?" With a sigh, she leaned back, running a hand through her bright orange hair. The tips, which Dante saw now were purple, curled elegantly against her back and chest.
"And as far as I've heard, no one knows who's causing it, yet." She looked back at Dante, smiling sweetly. "So, what about the kid? She's so cute. Is she yours?" she asked, tilting her head innocently at the tall man.
Dante snorted, his smirk turning to a wry grin. He responded bluntly, not caring what the woman thought of him. "She's a demon. I killed her brother by mistake. A Demon Marionette gave me the wrong location of my mark." He finished, ordering another strawberry sundae. He waited for a few moments, then received his sundae with a smirk. He began to eat, wondering what Hiro was doing to his shop while he was here. He looked at the girl, seeing that she had finished her sundae. He called the bartender over and ordered another one for her, receiving it a few moments later. He slid it down the top of the bar and she began eating slowly again, savoring the taste of the strawberries.
Anshin felt her tears coming back up again, her throat clogged as she sucked on her spoon of ice cream and she began to cry again. She put the spoon back in the ice cream and pushed it away, dropping her head on the bar as she began to cry. Her hat was still snug on her head making it look like she had pokes of kitten ears instead of Capricorn horns. "John didn't do anything wrong! I'm the reason he was here and... and... and you killed him after challenging him to a duel!" the little girl whined into her arms. Her little coat was still splattered with his blood. Her arms had red stains scattered over them that were now getting drudged up by her tears. "You killed him and burned down my house!" she sobbed louder.
She began to think of the orphanage and wondered dismally where she was going to go, what she was going to do, or even if this new girl would kill her. The little grayish silver haired girl was sobbing hysterically now, she didn't know what she was going to do for food. She was also very depressed about the fact that the cake she was baking for the orphans was now ruined. That got her into crying harder and she looked at him. "We were baking a cake!" she complained outright.
Dante rolled his eyes during the little girl's fit. He nodded to the bartender. "You'll have the money at the end of the month." He grabbed the small girl's hand, leaving his stool and dragging her off of hers. He left the bar just as one of his favorite songs was going off. He walked down the sidewalks at a quick pace, ready to get out of the chilled, snowy air. The white flakes that were falling fell into his hair, not showing at all since his hair shared the same color as the flakes themselves. He continued walking, not looking anywhere but ahead and not sparing a glance even for the small child he dragged along. His boots thudded over the hardened layers of snow, not crunching as it would with a thin layer. He finally reached the shop, the neon sign buzzing faintly as it cast its crimson glow over the white ground. He walked through the heavy door, letting go of the girl's hand as he shrugged off the guitar case and set it against the wall. He didn't even notice the familiar blonde woman sitting at his desk. He walked over to the jukebox, hitting the button of a different song. The music blared as he heaved a sigh, ready to relax.
Hiro looked at Dante. "You have two guests and you don't even say hello? Jeez, you'd think Eva would have taught you better manners." He then looked at the blonde woman. "I'm assuming your Trish, then? My name is Hiro. A pleasure to meet you." He gave a slight bow.
Anshin came away from the door first thing, but she didn't approach any of the weird people already there. She felt crowded and threatened by all of the new faces, and new places. She went over to the corner of the area and sat down, curling up and rubbing her bare feet. She hadn't thought to grab shoes when she left her house to run to her brother and she was regretting it now, her human toes feeling like they were going to break off from the ice and her ankles not wanting to support her weight at all. She rubbed her feet and looked over at the woman sitting on the desk. What was going on here? Was this man a player or just a killer? He surely had a lot more friends then she thought he would, all of them seemed to just surround him.
Dante's eyes gave Hiro a reproachful glare. "Don't speak about my mother, Hiro. She's off-limits, got it?" He looked at the small girl. "There are blankets around here somewhere. Go warm up." He turned from the jukebox, noticing Trish. "My, my, isn't this a nice surprise? When did you get back into town?" The last time he had seen Trish was when she had returned to the city after a brief absence. Lady, another devil-hunting acquaintance of his, had been hanging around and mistook Trish for a demon and had tried to terminate her. Dante, in the end, had had to step in and make introductions. At first, the women hadn't gotten along, but now they got along fine, much to his distaste. He approached the desk, leaning forward with his gloved hands on the surface. He cocked his head to the side. "My, aren't we looking lovely this evening...just get done with a date?" He smirked, going over and flopping down on the couch again. He kicked up his boots, resting them on the arm of the couch opposite his head. He closed his eyes, the heat in the room helping cool the bitter chill that had resided upon his skin. Small droplets of water fell from his snow-white locks, remnants of the snowflakes that had fallen into them. He gave a sigh of contentment, glad to be home.
Nightrose wandered down the streets of the city, flustered at being left so hastily. She stopped in front of Devil May Cry, sighing. How could he leave without saying anything? Bah. She walked in, and seeing the large selection of people inside, she laughed nervously, "I'm not crashing a party, am I? S-sorry, I'll be out in a moment...I just wanted to..."
She looked over at the small girl, sympathy in her eyes. She placed her cake next to the little girl, kneeling in front of her. "I'm sorry, this cake probably isn't as special as the one you and your brother were making, but please have it. My address is in there, as well. If you need anything, or get sick of that silly Dante, come over to my place." She placed a hand on the girl's head, smiling at her, "Or you could come with me now, if you like."
Anshin nodded and picked up the cake, "Please... let's get out of here..." the little Capricorn said quietly. Her feet were still a bit sore from how cold it was on them, but she was used to hooves, and hooves didn't really feel any more than nails or teeth did. She picked up the little cake and grabbed onto Nightrose's cuff. She would rather be with her than Dante at the moment, not only was he a player, but an extremely bad one that ruined her gift to the orphanage. "We were going to give the cake to the orphanage... but thank you for the thought," Anshin told the woman, holding the cake. She looked down at it and thought about all of the orphans that would never be able to enjoy something so simple unless it was a special occasion or they were adopted. She remembered what it was like in the orphanages, lonely, and hungry. You were only fed just enough to eat because the orphanage didn't have enough money to go around. That was just how it was: eat what you can get, and steal what you can't. Anshin looked up at Nightrose, hoping that where they were going wouldn't cross the path of her last home.
She led the girl out, looking over her shoulder at Dante, smiling angelically, "Remember what I said, Dante! Behave!" She twined her fingers with the girl's and led her out. "We can bake a cake for the orphanage tomorrow, if that would make you feel better. What is your name? Mine is Nightrose, but you can call me Rosy if you like."
"My name in Anshinritsumei Dwin'ghymn," Anshin told Rosy after she had been quiet, having taken her hand. Anshin looked back at Devil May Cry for a moment before gazing ahead at where they were going. Things would be new for her now, she knew it. She would have to actually fight back against the demons that opposed her peace, her wonderful serenity that she had held for four hundred years. Anshin sighed and dropped her head, wondering how much like a baby this woman would treat her.
Nightrose led the girl farther away from Devil May Cry, out of the slummier areas of the city and into the nicer parts. Eventually they arrived at a large brick building, old by the look of it, but classy. Leading the way in and up the old-style cage elevator, she stopped at the top floor, taking them to her large corner apartment. Unlocking the door, she ushered the girl in. The main room had an entertainment area, fluffy couches and chairs with a kitchen in the corner. Off to the sides were hallways leading off to bedrooms and bathrooms. The whole apartment was decked out stylishly in cream, burgundy, and sage green.
She walked to a room with a large fluffy bed connected to a bathroom. "You can use this room, there's a nice big bath tub in the bathroom if you want to take a bath. Welcome to your new home. Well, it's home as long as you want it to be. If you need anything, my bedroom is just down the hallway." She walked out, leaving the girl with her thoughts. She walked to the kitchen to make some food.
Anshin shut the door, finding it had a lock. She didn't lock the door though, just shut it, and set the cake down on a table by the door. She pulled off her hat, revealing her curly horns and her grayish green eyes began to tear up again. The girl slowly unbuttoned her coat, pulling it off and laying it to the side on a chair with her hat. This revealed layer after layer of gentle padding until finally, it revealed a very girly little form. Anshin only looked like a child from beneath her cloaks, but after she took off her last layer, she stood alone, in a white tank top with shorts on. The girl had black hands and feet compared to the rest of her body. She went to her bed and crawled under her covers, pulling a pillow close and crying.
Back at Devil May Cry, Trish watched, slightly amused still, as Dante came in and went about his business. Her attentions were caught by the little girl that had left. When Dante had finally noticed her, she turned her attention back to him with a charming smile. "Me? Oh, just a little while ago. I've been looking for you." Her voice was warm with familiarity and she chuckled a little at his comment about the way she looked. "I was dressing up just for you, Dante. Who else would I be dressing up for?" The blonde woman's smile turned to a bit of a grin as she tossed him a wink. "Anyway." Trish swung her legs down from the desk where they had been resting and set her heels on the floor, standing up and tossing an envelope over to Dante. "I did come here to see you for a reason." She nodded to the envelope, her face now serious. "I've just recently gotten this, thought you might want to take a look at it."
Copyright 2008 Kevin Sims