At a local bar, Brad sat at the bar, reading a book when the door opened and Dante and Akira walked in when the half-devil asked, "Mind if we grab a seat?" "Yeah sure", Brad said, "Go ahead" "I'll take a beer", Dante said to the bartender, "and a pizza. Any kind without olives" "I'll have a soda, please", Akira said as she and Dante sat. "Go about your reading", Dante said to Brad, "Don't mind us" "O-ok", he replied, "I believe I will" 'Could he get more conspicuous with that statement?', Akira thought tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear. Back at Angelina's house, the phone rang and the mayor answered. "What?!", the mayor demanded, "You still can't find Angelina?! Don't even think about coming back until you do" He slammed the phone to hang it up as he asked himself, "Is she at that greasy bastard's place?" "I offer you my deepest apologies, sir", the butler said with a bow, "It was because I took my eyes off of her-" The door opened to reveal Angelina back, safe and sound as the butler said, "Miss, you're back" Even though he was relieved that Angelina was alright, his anger got the best of him as he walked to Angelina. "Father, I-AHHH!", Angelina tried to explain but was cut off to a slap to the face, knocking her against the door and she fell to the floor. "Do you understand?", the mayor said as Angelina was placed in her room with tears falling down her face, "From now on, your meals will be brought to your room and you will be watched where ever you go" He slammed the door and locked it as Angelina looked out the window and softly said Brad's name.
Meanwhile, Brad continued reading his book until Dante asked, "What's the book you're into?" "It's a romance novel actually", Brad said. "Really?", Akira said, "I've hardly read romance novels" "I see", Brad said, looking to Akira, "May I ask of one novel you've read?" Akira thought for a minute and said, "Well, there is one book I've read, though it was considered a few different genres. It's called 'The Hunger Games'" "'The Hunger Games'?", Brad asked, "What is that about?" "It's about this country known as Panem that is ruled by a Capitol with twelve districts being forced to bring in one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen known as 'tributes' to fight to the death after a rebellion of the districts. A thirteenth district was eradicated during the rebellion and the districts surrendered", Akira explained, "Years after that rebellion, a girl named Katniss Everdeen volunteered after her younger sister as chosen to be a tribute. It's actually a trilogy, and they even made them into movies, which were good" "It sounds good", Brad said, "As for this book I'm reading, one person's love for another is a wonderful thing. True love is a powerful thing" Dante merely chuckled at the comment, making Brad ask, "You find it strange?" "Nope", Dante said. The bartender walked up to them and placed the beer and soda down, making Dante look to him and say, "Well, that sure took awhile for just a beer and soda. And my pizza?" "They're making it now", the bartender said. "Damn", Dante muttered as Akira thought, 'Talk about slowpoke McGee. Fredi can make pizzas faster and have drinks out in a shorter time span' Dante held his beer and said to Brad, "Drink up" Brad grabbed his drink and said, "Uh, yeah, you too" Dante took a few big gulps out of the beer and sighed with satisfaction as Brad took a few small gulps out of his.
"By the way", Dante said, "You seem like a drifter. Where you from?" Brad was silent for a moment when Dante spoke up again, "It's ok if you don't want to tell me" "I should be going now", Brad said as he stood up and headed for the door. "Here's your pizza", the bartender said, "Sorry to keep you waiting" "Hey, there's olives on these", Dante said. "Oh, stop being such a baby", Akira said taking one and eating it, "Just pick 'em off and hand them to me if it makes you happy" Dante just glared at her and sighed heavily before looking at the door. Brad walked down an alleyway when a large shadow appeared beside him and out came a demon that said with laughter, "Everyone's been saying the gate will open tonight haha" "Will it now?", Brad asked the demon, only to have it say as it licked its fingers, "But to leave the living world like this is a shame" "So then", Brad said, "it was you killing those people" "I'm very fond of the taste of the warm flesh and blood-who did that?", the demon said when a plate was thrown like a Frisbee and smashed into the demon, gaining Brad and the demon's attention, and walking down the alleyway was Dante and Akira. Dante shoved a whole pizza slice in his mouth as Brad asked, "Did you two follow me?" Dante gulped the pizza down his throat before he said, "Eating a large pizza in five minutes" "Gotta say, baby", Akira said, "that's new record for you" "Don't you two mess with me!", the demon roared as his hand went through the wall, only to reappear to grasp Dante and Akira, shoving the young woman into Dante, making her out of instinct place her hands on Dante's chest. In another time and place, and without the demon, she would've been ok with it as Dante said, "Oh, some handshake you got there" He had already drawn Ivory and had it at his hip and shot at the demon's hand, making it let go of the two and withdraw his hand as Akira drew Phoenix and aimed it at the demon as it tried to grab them again, only to have her shoot a few bullets, making the demon yell in pain and withdraw back into the shadows. "You two are as strong as I've heard"
"That makes it sound like you know all about us", Dante said. "I've been in the living world for over a month and I've heard of rumors about Dante and Akira, the Devil Hunters, and Akira in the demon realm is known as the Fire Princess, a descendent of the Phoenix Queen" "That means you're confessing to being a demon then", Akira said. "Yes", Brad confessed, making Dante aim Ivory at him as he said, "Well then, looks like you've got no objections, huh" "No", Brad said, "I tell you the truth that I have no intention of running away, but I want to ask you something" "What's that?", Dante asked. "I hear you're both half-breeds. Both having human and demon parents", Brad said, "So tell me, were your parents in love? Is it possible for humans and demons to love each other" "Who knows", Dante said, "You hear stories about the lovers, like they were made for each other, but inside their hearts are as cold as ice" "That's not what I-", Brad said only to be cut off by Dante, "But, I do believe that deep down inside their hearts, those couples loved each other" Brad just looked down and asked, "You think so?" "Is that all you wanted to say?", Akira asked him. "Yes", Brad said, ready for the shot. A shot rang out and Brad opened his eyes in confusion, seeing Dante aimed Ivory upward as blood began to pour as the demon from earlier tried to sneak up on the two Devil Hunters from above. The demon collapsed to the ground dead as another began to run from behind as Brad yelled out, "Akira, behind you!" Akira clenched a fist, seeing the demon with fire all around her hand and punched the demon dead square in the face, making it go back a few feet. Her other hand extended as a bow was summoned into her hand with a quiver filled with arrows on her back as she took two of the arrows and drew back, aiming the arrows at the demon and fired them. Once the arrows hit the demon, it burst into flames, leaving nothing but ash on the ground.
Dante, Akira, and Brad headed to the place he and Angelina met when Dante said, "I thought you would pull a surprise attack on us, until you warned her about that demon" "I know I can't beat you both", Brad said. "Kinda a wimp for a demon", Dante said only to have Akira elbow him in the shoulder. "At least he's telling the truth", Akira said. Brad chuckled and said, "Even though I'm a demon, I know I can't vanquish opponents like you two. Besides, my role here is done" What does that mean?", Akira asked. "Tonight, my master will arrive into this plane and destroy everything in this world. I was summoned by a human and have done their bidding" "And you're telling us this why?", Dante asked. "Maybe I want to put an end to this. My master is greedy and I don't want him to destroy this place", Brad said, "That cafe with the best coffee…that hill with the beautiful sunset" Brad fell to his knees as Akira asked, "And Angelina too?" "I don't want to see her being devoured by my master. I was treated so cruelly in the Demon World, but she treated me with such kindness", Brad said as tears began to fall, "I can't stand up against my master, and if I did, what would I do? I'm just one demon and not as strong as you two" A reassuring hand was placed on Brad's shoulder as Akira said, "You may be a wimpy demon, but I can tell you truly love Angelina. If you love her that much, then you may live as a human" Brad looked to the phoenix and repeated, "A…human?" Dante smirked and said, "Well, get up. Let's go and give your master a greeting"
Back at the mayor's house, the sound of the mayor yelling in pain gained Angelina's attention. She hurried to her door and asked in a panicked tone as she banged on the door, "Father? Father, what's happening?" She ran to an end table with some flowers on it, removing the flowers by placing them on the floor and used the table to break the lock on the other side of the door, causing the door to open as well. She ran to see her father on the floor below her, bleeding and strange markings as well while she ran to him saying, "Father! Father, please wake up" Out of the shadows came the butler with a dagger and placed it at Angelina's neck. "Don't move", he said, "If you had stayed in your room like a good girl, you would have died without feeling any fear" "Why?" Angelina asked, "Why are you doing this?" "Soon a powerful demon will arrive from the ritual I have performed" Angelina hurried to the door, but discovered it was locked as the butler walked to her. As the dagger was raised, Angelina closed her eyes when gunshots rang out, causing the butler to drop the dagger. Angelina looked to see the door to her right had fallen off its hinges and standing in the doorway was Dante and Akira. "Dante", the butler growled, "Akira" "Sorry to crash in", Akira said, raising Phoenix, "but I guess we knocked too hard" "I had a bad feeling about you two since I saw you with the mayor. You're too late I'm afraid" A window was broken to reveal Brad as he reached the mayor removing him from the magic circle as the butler demanded, "What are you doing? Are you betraying The Great Belpheghor?" No sooner than Brad removed the mayor from the circle, it began to glow, signifying the demon was coming as the butler laughed, "You're already too late The Great-AHH!"
The butler was cut off by Akira who punched him with Dante kicking him in the gut as Akira shouted, "Angelina, hurry to Brad and you father" Angelina did so as the Devil Hunters charged into battle, only to have Dante quickly grab Akira's waist and leap to grab the chandelier above the demon. The duo held onto the chandelier, but Akira let go only to have wings that were on fire sprout from her back as she took a deep breath and released a flame like a dragon with the sound of a eagle cry coming from her. It held the demon back, but her body suddenly felt weak as she began to fall, only to have Dante catch her as he said to the demon, "I'm sure it must've been a long trip for ya" He slammed Rebellion into the demon, pushing it back into the Demon World while Akira drew Sasuke and slammed the blade into the demon, burning it as Dante growled, "It's too bad entry to this world is off-limits to the likes of you" "So we're going to ask you to leave!", Akira shouted as the demon was shoved back into the Demon World and burned. The portal was closed as Dante and Akira placed their weapons back at their rightful places as they heard the mayor weakly say Angelina's name while Akira suddenly fell to the ground, only to have Dante catch her. "Father", Angelina said, "Don't try to speak" She looked to Brad and asked him to heal the wound.
He nodded his head and said, "I've never tried it on a wound this serious, but I can try" Brad's hand began to glow over the wound as the mayor asked, "What do you think you're doing? You…demon, do you think…by doing this…will allow you to see my daughter?" "It is not my concern, sir", Brad answered, "I'm doing this because I don't want to see Angelina sad" Dante had checked Akira's scar in case it opened up again, but thankfully, it hadn't and he realized she had just passed out, possibly from lack of sleep. He had noticed she wasn't sleeping a lot lately and figured it was from the incident on Mallet Island. He overheard the mayor and Brad speaking as he lifted Akira into his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck and the half-devil said, "Sorry, Mr. Mayor, but we can't accept your request. Brad understands love and he'll be just fine as a human. The only things my girl and I exterminate are demons"
A week had passed since then, and Akira had been able to get some more sleep and Dante told her she was going to have a break from demon hunting, which he figured is what she needed. "Hey, Morrison", Patty whined, "did you get it fixed yet?" "Yeah, yeah, hold your horses", Morrison replied. "Aww", Patty groaned as she sat on the floor, "How much longer am I going to have to wait?" "Just relax", Morrison replied, sitting on the couch, fixing the TV, "I almost got it" Dante sat at his desk with his feet propped up while holding a picture of Brad and Angelina as his other hand was behind his head. Akira sat on the desk beside Dante's feet. "By the way", Morrison spoke up, "I've been meaning to tell you two, it's a nice story and they finally got her dad's approval, but I don't see how turning down that offer results in me fixing this TV. My TV repairs are long over" "Less talking and more fixing", Patty commanded, "My afternoon Soap Opera's about to start" Once he was finished, Morrison turned on the TV, making Patty grin from ear-to-ear and say with excitement, "You fixed it!" "I'll just deduct my repair fees from your next pay" Dante just scoffed and tossed the picture back on his desk and said, "Whatever" "Oh for the love of-", Morrison said as he put on his coat and hat while walking out the door, "At this rate, you won't ever get your debt paid off, even if I bring you good jobs"
The door closed as Patty said, "But, Dante you always complain about not having any money. You complain a lot" "Every now and then there are good days like this", he merely said. "There is one thing about days like this, Patty", Akira said, "there's an old saying where I come from and don't quote me on it, but, 'Every dark cloud has a silver lining'. Even though you have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, there's always something good if you look hard enough. Things sometimes don't go the way we planned, but you have to accept them and hope for the best" "I sure hope those two will be happy together", Patty said as she looked to the two Devil Hunters. Akira smiled at her and said, "I believe they will be"
Later that night, Akira opened her eyes and slowly lifted herself up, but she was smiling. She looked to the sleeping half-devil beside her when he opened his eyes and asked in a sleepy tone, "Mmm, babe, what are you doing up? Another nightmare?" She shook her head and said, "No, it was actually a happy dream, for once" Dante smiled and said in between yawns, "That…is good, babe. Maybe…you can tell…me about it in the…morning" Akira smiled and stood up as she said, "I'll be right back, Dante" Dante had already gone back to sleep as the young woman walked to the bathroom when a sudden feel of being sick washed over her. She ran into the bathroom, closing the door and began to throw up. She groaned at the sickness and said to herself, "Guess that pizza wasn't any good. I'll throw it out tomorrow" She stood up and flushed it, though still feeling the sickness in her stomach. She walked out of the bathroom and muttered, "At least Dante was smart enough to let me have some time off" She looked up and saw someone standing in front of her. She didn't know if she should scream for Dante to wake up or take care of the intruder herself, but what stood out from this figure was that they looked familiar. Long blonde hair and gentle blue eyes as she wore a black dress and a red shawl over her with one hand holding it and the other holding a picture of Akira and Dante with Dante kissing Akira's cheek that made the phoenix blush when the picture was taken. The woman turned to Akira after placing the picture on the desk and said in a ghostly way, "Akira, we finally meet, my dear"
Akira widened her eyes seeing the figure was, "Lady Eva" Eva smiled gently at her and said, "Yes. Dante's mother, my dear" "Y-you're dead", Akira said, "Dante saw you get killed with his own eyes" "I died, yes, but I watched Dante and Vergil in spirit form and you as well. But it is not the reason I'm here"
"H-how is it that I can see you plain as day?"
"I have the ability to let anyone see or hear me"
"Then, why are you here?"
"I have come to warn you"
"Warn me? Warn me about what?"
Eva took a deep breath and said, "Your powers are weakening, my dear, and they will continue to weaken" Akira let out a silent gasp as she placed a hand over her mouth as Eva continued, "You've noticed the wound Mundus gave you is healing slower then you first healed it" Akira nodded her head, "And the dreams with the child with the white hair like my husband, Sparda, and my sons?" Again, Akira nodded her head and asked, "Please, Lady Eva, tell me what's happening to me and why does she appear in my dreams?" "For now, I cannot tell you", Eva said as she walked over to Akira, who had tears falling from her face while the dead mother of Dante hugged her, "But, I know you will understand someday. As for your powers, they won't leave you vulnerable as I was when the demons came to kill me and my sons. They will return to you, my dearest Akira. As a Phoenix, you undergo changes, but you are reborn. You are undergoing a change into an young and beautiful Phoenix" Akira wiped the tears away and asked, "Are you glad…that Dante chose me? To be his lover and mate?" "I know Dante made the right choice in choosing you to be his lover and mate", Eva said, "A mother knows best for her child. As for Vergil, I know that what he did, he thought was the right path" Akira smiled as she noticed Eva fading. "I must leave you for now, my dear. Be safe. I will come to you when I am needed and when I have to tell you something"
Eva faded into nothing, leaving Akira as she wiped some stray tears away and walked back upstairs to hers and Dante's room, seeing he was still asleep, completely unaware of his mother visiting her as she carefully slid back into the covers when Dante groaned in his sleep and wrapped his arms around Akira's waist and nuzzled his face into her back and hair. Akira smiled before yawning and letting sleep take over as she thought, 'Lady Eva, I will be strong for Dante. I promise you that'
Author's note:
So the idea of Eva appearing in the story was actually an idea on a story on Wattpad called, "I had it and I lost it". Pretty good story, I recommend it to you if anyone wants to read it, but the author's approach on Eva in the story is different from how I have it. The story is about an OC from England who is half-Japanese and is a fangirl of DMC falls through a portal after being chased by a school bully. The OC, Masumi, lies about her living in Dante's world while trying to keep her secret that she is from another world. The days press on and Masumi knows what will happen before it actually happens and can see Eva who comes to her every chapter either with advice to her, to warn her of incoming danger, or other things.
If anyone is wondering if Akira will be able to do this, the answer's no and will be explained in a later chapter.
As for the jobs on any extra chapters I'm going to do, well I'm gonna have you guys pick a job for Akira and Dante to do, so I'm taking suggestions for the jobs they can do. I've already have an idea for an extra chapter which will be after the next chapter.
References in this chapter are The Hunger Games(obviously) and the movie/children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Before anyone asks, "It's a children's book?" yes it is and I was in the second grade when my elementary school teacher read it to me back in either 2002 or 2003.
The next chapter will be out soon