Chapter 3: Pray for Yourself

Maria's head swirled with the events that had just unfolded as she walked to her designated rest area. Her tent was closer to the site of the gates leading to the demonically possessed city.

"If he really is Dark Angel... That is believable. Dark Angel leaves no witnesses. He's an expert Demon Hunter and only an idiot would claim to be him they were not him really. He's even more infamous than Devil May Cry. Whereas they say Devil May Cry has friends, Dark Angel is completely solitaire. No one knows anything about him, except that no one ever speaks of him. Some people speak of Devil May Cry but no one talks about Dark Angel, like he's a curse or something." Maria thought as she got to her tent.

As Maria entered her tent, she smiled. Noin had set up an area just for Maria's meditation.

Noin had come in on Maria while she had been meditating on one of the missions she had been contracted for.

"Hey what are you doing?" Noin questioned as she saw Maria kneeling before a crucifix, her head bowed and back facing Noin.

"Praying," Maria had stated simply. She then turned around to face the tall woman.

"Do you do this every time you go on a mission?"

"Yes but I usually do more meditation and praying when I'm to fight Demons and Devils. It is then that temptation can overwhelm a person easier." Maria said plainly.

"So you believe in God?"

"Do you?" Maria asked.

"Not really, I guess." Noin said uneasily.

Maria quirked an eyebrow at the older woman, "Even after encounter Demons and Devils yourself?"

"You keep referring to them as two different things why?"

Maria realized Noin was trying to dodge the question she had posed. She decided that she would relent for now. "Because they are, but there actually three different types. Demons are the lower classed of the two. They're usually not as smart. Then there are the Devils, or the higher class. These ones are much more conniving and dangerous. About 2/3 of them are intelligent enough to give me a run for my money." Maria shook her head.

"And the third type?"

"Well, I guess they're not really a type per say but I consider them to be. They are the Half Devils." Maria stated.

"Half Devils? What's the other half of them?" Noin said confused.

"Human."

"Are you serious? There are Humans who would actually sleep with Demons and Devils?" Noin looked utterly repulsed by that little tid bit of information she'd just received.

"Yes, well not all of them look as disgusting as you've seen. There are some who can take on Human forms, and they usually choose the most tempting form they can have. Then there are the cases of when the Human counterpart is raped." Maria said as she folded her arms under her breasts.

"My God." Noin said horrified.

"To me, the Half Devils are the most dangerous. With Demons and Devils you know that whether they may torture or whatever they want to do, that they are not human and don't hold regard to Human emotions. These can easily be seen as nothing but monsters that go bump in the night. But with Half Devils, you keep telling yourself that they have a chance since they hold Human blood that they might not be like the others and other such nonsense. Most usually let their guard down and that's when they die.

But that's not the only reason they are dangerous. You see having a Human side allows them to blend in so much better than the usual Demon or Devil, and so you can be caught unawares a lot easier. They're just more of a problem for me." Maria sighed.

"So what about the Holy Water you use? I take it you've dealt with these Half Devils before?" Noin asked.

"Unfortunately, and the Holy Water works, just not as well. It's a pain seriously. It's come to the point that now when I encounter one, I kill them on site. It's just too much of a chance to take." Maria said shaking her head once more.

"I don't blame you. I'd do the same thing if I were able to sense them like you." Noin looked at her pointedly.

"What?" Maria asked as she stood up.

"Oh come on Maria. I know you can sense them. You're always ready for them right before appear when none of us has even heard a whisper. I looked up information about Demons, most seemed bogus, but I did happen along a site that told about some people being able to feel the Demons' approach. You can, can't you?"

"I've been able to sense them since I was a child thrown out on the streets. I've always been freakish. But it seems to work both ways for me, I can sense the Demon and they can sense me." Maria said looking away from Noin. Damn and she had almost considered the woman a friend. When was she going to learn?

"I'm sorry," Maria heard. She looked back at Noin who looked at her with sympathy.

"I'm sorry you've had to live like that for so long. Is that why you don't trust anyone? You're afraid they may be a Demon? Or that they'll get hurt?"

"At first I did, but now I just don't care to have any friends. It's just easier that way and the Demons won't have anything to use against me." Maria said nonchalantly.

"Consider me a friend you'll never be able to get rid of Maria." Noin said as she walked out of the tent.

Since then, whenever Maria had been called in to do a mission there had always been a little altar set aside with a crucifix and candles on it and a pad on the floor for her to kneel on. She knew it had to be Noin who fixed it up. Noin was the only one who knew or had seen her pray.

Maria walked over and lit the candles and kneeled before the crucifix.

As she began to pray she felt the hairs on her neck rise again, and felt the swirl of demonic energy. Maria ignored it and continued to pray as Vergil entered her tent.

Vergil was a bit taken back by the site of Maria kneeled before a crucifix. He snickered. "You pray?" Vergil almost wanted to laugh.

"Yes I pray and you happen to be interrupting. So your either going to shut up, sit down, and wait for me to finish or get out." Maria bit out as she turned her head toward him.

"By all means Human, pray. You may need it later." Vergil smiled evilly.

"Is that a threat Half Devil?"

"No not from me, but tell me, do you really believe in God. That this so called being exists and cares for you?" Vergil inquired.

Maria turned to face him completely. "Yes I do. I've seen too many things to not believe in him. There was a time when I would have been killed by Demons when they had started seeking me out. I should have died, but I didn't."

"What did the sky open up and Angels came to save you?" Vergil snickered at the thought.

Maria glared at him. "The sky didn't open up but I was saved by Angels who came and obliterated the Demons who would've killed me. Thank you." She glared at him more.

Vergil laughed lightly and shook his head. "Well, well, well. It seems he does exist and that the Angels exist too. I had been wondering if they existed. I've yet to see one myself."

"Just because you don't seem them doesn't mean they don't exist." Maria gave him one last meaningful glare and then turned back around to pray.

Vergil was actually stumped. To think that this little slip of a woman was praying to God whom she believed to exist. Okay so he was a Half Devil. That still didn't mean that the Angels and God existed. Why was it he was considered to come from the Christian religion? The demons could easily have come from a different religion or not come from a religion at all. These options were highly possible.

"Oh well. What does it matter to me?" Vergil thought he continued to watch Maria to pray. He sat down on the little fold out bed that was set up in the tent and waited for her to finish.

"I see you actually stayed. I figured you'd leave when you couldn't tempt me to stop my prayers." Maria said as she stood up.

"I don't care whether you pray or not." Vergil stated.

"Why did you come here anyway? What do you want?" Maria asked as she eyed him.

"If you're coming with me then we need a plan to get into the city. You're going to slow me down I know it, so we need to think up an easy way for us to get this done quickly. I don't like spending much time on these sorts of missions. They bore me quickly."

"Oh I'm so sorry that there couldn't be any other highly powerful Devils out decimating cities to entertain you more." Maria said as put her hands on her hips.

"Don't talk to me that way Human. I've killed others for less." Vergil growled.

"Just what I'd expect from a Half Devil," Maria said under her breath, fully aware that he had still heard her.

"Are you sure? I'd expect that more from you Humans. Humans happen to be far more treacherous than Demons. You know that a Demon will kill you, they're quite straightforward on that. You Humans on the other hand..." Vergil stopped there to see Maria's reaction. Her pose was that of indignation, but he noticed that she didn't argue. He found highly amusing and interesting.

"So here's what we should do," Vergil said as he pulled out a map from his jacket and laid it on the bed.