Chapter Six - Too Late
Dante had heard the phrase 'deafening silence' before but only now did he fully understand its meaning. It seemed to beat at his ears and mind, gently mocking him. He could hear his blood rushing and pounding. Thoughts chased each other, racing round like greyhounds, allowing him no peace at all. You failed, you let the kid... shouldn't have... failed... couldn't save her... you failed... DEAD! He looked up quickly, certain someone must have said that out loud. But the silence was only broken by hiccuping sobs and gasps.
He couldn't stay here much longer. The office might be big but he still knew that the walls were closing in on him, squeezing the air and life out the room and him too. They were going to cut him off. Claustrophobia was a new feeling for the demon slayer and one he did not like at all.
Finally McGonagall cleared her throat. Everyone turned their gaze on her, except for the two fifth year girls - one standing in the corner, staring out the window with a curiously blank expression; the other sat on McGonagall's chair, knees drawn up, hands over her face, body trembling with each fresh sob.
"Beverly," the Headmistress said softly. The girl raised her face to show tear-streaked cheeks and swollen, red eyes. "I want you to tell me exactly what happen. Why did you go outside?"
"I - I - I didn't want - wasn't - not my idea!" Beverly gasped out, her voice croaking. "I didn't want to! I tried to - to stop them but they just wouldn't, I tried!"
Dante lowered his eyes, not wanting to look at the distraught girl.
"I know you tried," McGonagall said, doing her best to reassure the girl. "But I really do need you to tell everyone in the room."
An audible swallow. Beverly continued in a trembling voice. "They were talking about looking for..." She cast a glance at Dante. "They had no idea where he was. I didn't care, I told them, I didn't -"
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"- think this is a good idea. Seriously." Beverly flicked her hair out her eyes as she glared at her friends. Admittedly, Nichola did not appear quite as excited as Holly. Still, neither of them seemed to be able to stop talking about the bloody demon hunter and it just got a little irritating after a while. Nichola grinned back at Beverly, apparently oblivious of her irritation.
"Come on. It'll be a laugh, right? And then Holly will be able to beg him for his autograph or something -"
"No!" Holly looked stricken. "Only if you do too."
"Fine, we'll ask him for his autograph. And then you ask for his number!"
As the pair lapsed into helpless laughter, Beverly rolled her eyes in exasperation. There really was nothing to be done. She supposed she would have to put up with it, at least until Dante left. Then again, nobody knew when that might be, with those horrible things crawling around outside the castle. One of the pupils who'd been killed had been in their year - Louisa something. While Beverly had not particularly liked the girl, the shock of it had made her realise how serious the situation was. Hence why she did not appreciate this hysteria.
Holly and Nichola had finally caught their breath. "'Kay, let's go now!" Holly proclaimed. Nichola nodded vigorously. Beverly narrowed her eyes.
"Well, if you don't wanna come Bev, you can go back to the common room yourself..."
Bev sighed. "All right, I'll come then. But only because the Ravenclaw common room is so bloody far away. And I won't be able to get in, your insanity has numbed my brain so much I'll get the question wrong."
"Yeah! Bev's coming with us! Bev's coming with us!" Nichola started to skip round in delight, singing her little chant. Beverly grabbed her wrist.
"Only if you stop prancing about like a drunk centaur. Capisce?"
Nichola did indeed capisce and after making sure that Beverly would not try to depart, the trio set off in search of the elusive Dante. Just as well, Beverly thought morosely, that it was a Saturday. At least they wouldn't get into trouble for trying to skip lessons. Nichola and Holly walked along slightly ahead of Beverly, their spirits high. She dragged her heels as much as possible, wondering what this Dante guy would do if they talked to him. He hadn't seemed very pleased to find them behind that tapestry. Harry Potter had stored out of the room not long before, causing Nichola and Holly to whisper furiously about what the hell he had been doing.
But it didn't take long before they concluded that Dante was not to be found. They passed Peeves, who was muttering angrily about something to do with a sword, but could get nothing else out of the poltergeist. The corridors were empty - most of the students preferred to remain inside the common rooms rather than risk any sort of injury to themselves. The walls echoed with the girls' excited chattering.
"This is no good," Holly said at last, tapping her foot impatiently. The three of them were back were they had started, close to the tapestry they'd been hiding behind. Admittedly, Beverly hadn't been helping much, even when she thought she caught a flash of red round a corner, she had kept silent.
"Well, there's only one other place he could be," said Nichola.
"Where?"
"Outside. Duh!"
"Oh no," Beverly protested. "You might have been living under a rock for the past few days, but it's not safe out there."
Nichola grinned at Bev with a rather wicked gleam in her eye. "If you're too scared to come outside..."
"Yeah, but..." Holly began, trailing off when Nichola rounded on her. This sort of thing happened rather a lot among the trio, but it was the first time that Nichola had taken it into her head to do something quite so reckless. The worst one had been when she tried to slip a Love Potion into a seventh year's pumpkin juice. Bev glanced uneasily at Holly who was now raising her hands in self-defence before Nichola's tirade.
"You're the one who's so desperate to meet the stupid guy! And now you don't even want to come with me. What's the worst that can happen anyway? He's probably outside and we've heard what he can do, so -"
"All right, all right!" Holly exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "When you put it that way, I guess..."
"Oh god," Beverly groaned. "You're actually gonna go along with this?" Holly shrugged. Nichola ignored Bev and instead gestured for Holly to follow. With a quick apologetic glance back, Holly complied. Muttering furiously, the third girl set off in pursuit. At the least she could make sure they came to no harm...
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"So we went outside to find him. We didn't go out the front way - Filch was guarding it, and even Nichola knew that was just stupid, all the things were round the front. We went into the courtyard first and then round some of the grounds. The other two were getting annoyed because they couldn't find Dante anywhere."
McGonagall looked up sharply, her gaze directed accusingly at Dante. "Where were you then?"
Dante replied just as briefly, "On the pitch."
"We didn't look there," Beverly muttered. "But then Nichola started being stupid, acting like she was gonna go and see some of the monsters. We didn't take her seriously but she disppeared round a corner. We went after her, we thought we'd be able to catch her but then -"
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The horrified shriek reverberated round the grounds. A few birds perched atop the castle took flight in alarm. They squawked petulantly at the second scream. Silence fell for a few seconds and then another voice rent the air, but it belonged to no human - the demons had found fresh prey and made no secret of their delight.
The grass yielded to Dante's heavy boots and then sprung back up again as he sprinted, searching for the source of the cries. He assumed it was from the front, but he couldn't be sure. He'd just have to -
"HELP! PLEASE, SOMEONE, HELP MEEE -"
Cut off abruptly again. He forced his muscles to work even harder, almost flying over the ground, barely touching down. Definitely the front. And exactly what the hell could anyone be doing round there? He would have thought the deaths of other students would make it plain that these monsters were not to be trifled with. If he hadn't been using so much air to simply run, he would have called to the person in trouble - reassure them, anything, make sure that they didn't give up. That was the problem, humans often subsided into shock when met with their own nightmares and then there was no hope for them at all. For a moment, he remembered the only human he could actually kind of cope with, and who could match the demons. Well, she was far away now. Back to the job in hand.
Namely, showing these demons that Dante son of Sparda was not to be trifled with.
There were no more human screams, but sickening demonic guffaws reached his ears as he drew ever closer, ever quicker. And then a thud. Sounded like the victim was fighting back somehow. Or maybe...
Refusing to even contemplate the other possibility, he reached behind, clasping Rebellion's hilt with a death grip. The ringing sound of metal as he drew it was lost in another scream. He sped round the last corner, nearly losing his balance, and then he almost froze in shock. It was those girls! He'd seen them only that morning, hidden behind that tapestry. His mind struggled with the question of why they had come outside but his musing was rudely interrupted by a Blade erupting from the ground a few feet to his right.
Rebellion lashed out, slicing swiftly through the demonic flesh. Out the corner of his eye, Dante saw that all three girls had their wands out and were having varying amounts of success. One had backed up against the castle wall, a silvery shield surrounding her which the demons could not penetrate - not just yet at least. The other two had managed to actually defeat a few demons, the ragged cloaks and sand providing ample evidence. But there were far too many demons swarming and even more arriving...
The main thing right now was to clear away enough of the things so that the girls could escape safely. Two Hell Prides fell victim to Rebellion's steel bite. Damned Chesspieces crumbled into rumble, blasted apart by Ebony's fiery bullets. Yet they still came.
A flash of bright pink. Dante blinked in surprise. Last time he'd checked, demons didn't wander round wearing pink. As his eyes focused properly, he realised that it was somebody with bright pink hair who had joined the fray. She noticed him gaping, slashing away with Rebellion on auto-pilot.
"Wotcher!" yelled the newcomer.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Dante shouted back, cleaving a scythe in two.
"The name's Tonks. I take it you're the demon slayer McGonagall hired?"
"Yeah." They'd have to chat later. The girl with the shield seemed to be struggling to keep it in place, whether from fear or fatigue Dante neither knew nor cared. A blur of red and he'd disappeared, only to reappear by the girl's side an instant later - always a very useful trick. She stared at him in shock and her shield faltered. Before the nearest marionette could leap on her, Dante grabbed the girl by the scruff of the neck, none too gently; he wasn't about to sympathise with a trio of idiots. He ignored her sobs and transported himself again, this time to the edge of the battle, as close to the door as he could make it. He was about to simply let go of her but then he saw that she certainly wouldn't be able to stand up on her own now. Resisting the urge to raise his eyes to the heavens, he pulled her over to the entrance and kicked open the main doors which banged in a satisfyingly loud way. The girl staggered in and looked up at him, fear shining in her eyes.
"Just wait there," Dante told her, hoping she would actually do as she was told. "I'll help your friends, don't worry." And to think, only this morning he'd been in that Room of Need or whatever it was, drinking. Times sure did change fast.
Dante headed back toward the fight, pausing for a moment to take stock of the situation. Tonks, what a name, had placed herself near the other two witches and seemed to be holding her own pretty well. Still, she could do with some help, what with all the monsters milling round. He threw himself into the fray once more with reckless abandon though he still managed to ensure he didn't cut off an ally's head. That would not have gone down well with dear Minnie.
"Pretty impressive." Tonks stopped for a second, safe behind a shield, to watch Dante dispatch a pair of Fetishes with insulting ease. He tipped her a wink.
"It's not easy being this cool, y'know." She laughed.
No matter how many demons collapsed into sand and rags, no matter how many times Rebellion flashed, and Ebony and Ivory spat out bullets, the fight, if anything, grew yet more intense. To his sudden horror, Dante found himself being slowly forced away from the others, as if the demons just wanted to kill the girls. He wasn't used to demons acting in such a coherent manner and appearing to have some kind of plan.
Whoever was masterminding this knew just how to play their cards right.
A loud shout of fear. Tonks' shield had disappeared. She backed away from the onslaght, doing her best to prevent the demons reaching the girls. A rather impossible task, seeing as they were surrounded on all sides. Dante swore furiously and surged forward, ignoring the marionettes lurching after him, seeking to slow his progress. Fury coursed through his veins. To Tonks, it was as if there was a crackling aura surrounding him, sparks flying round the demon hunter. The monsters fell back before him - they alone realised that they were dealing with something inhuman now. And then he was standing right next to the pair of girls. One of them seemed to hardly noticed he was there - her eyes were fixed on something just behind him. Both of them screamed when they saw the scythe swinging through the air at them.
Dante threw out his left arm and the blade embedded itself in his forearm. The only sign he gave of pain was a slight intake of breath, a brief hissing sound. The offending demon received about twenty bullets blasted directly into its face. Dante wrenched the bloody scythe from his flesh. It didn't seem to hurt him in the least and certainly did not affect his skill when fighting. Now he holstered his gun, sheathed Rebellion, and took one arm of each girl. "Hold on tight."
He moved faster than any eye could follow, bringing both girls along, and stopped close to the doors. Except... wait, there was a slight problem here. The girl he'd already helped pointed it out to him:
"Nichola's still out there!" Crap. His eyes roamed and caught sight of Nichola, lying on the ground just a few feet away from the fight. She must have slipped from his grasp. He lunged forward with his fingers outstretched but they closed on air. She'd been jerked away from him by a Fallen, one of the demons that appeared to be angelic, having fallen from grace and now wrapped in evil. It soared away on huge wings, its feathers constantly floating down gently, and in its hand it clasped Nichola's elbow. Her mouth formed a silent plea for help, her voice lost to fear. Dante leapt desperately for her but the demon had flown out of reach. And she was getting closer to the Forest.
"Tonks!" Dante yelled, his voice raw with fury. "Slow that damn thing down!" But her spells had little effect except to knock the Fallen a a little way off-course. It had carried the girl far away now. It was all Dante could do to keep up. His blood boiled with anger and exertion. He held Ivory in his right hand with white knuckles. If he could fire off one well-placed bullet, maybe the Fallen would drop Nichola. She'd be all right if she fell, that matron woman could fix anything, broken bones, whatever.
The first shot went wide.
The second glanced off a wing. Shit!
The third found its mark. The Fallen screeched and released Nichola, on the very edge of the dark mass of trees. A crack could be heard clearly as she slammed into the ground which was far from soft. Didn't matter. That could be fixed. Broken bones were nothing -
Dante froze, his heart seemed to stop. From the Forbidden Forest something came oozing, creeping forward sickeningly, a great thing that was neither living nor dead. Thick black tendrils reached forward and dragged the mass along. White objects glimmered. It was difficult to tell what they might have been, perhaps skulls of past victims.
And this stuff of nightmares was right next to Nichola.
Nightmare.
The demon slayer sagged, his rage bleeding out of him and leaving him utterly cold. He could not tear his eyes from the spectacle before him and he could do nothing to prevent it. He was too late. Tonks shouted at him. But... it was useless. Nichola tried to stand and even stumbled forward a pace or two before sinking down again, failed by her broken leg.
And then Nightmare seemed to realise that a victim lay close. It surged forward with renewed vigour as if in eagerness, though how such a thing could feel was beyond anyone's understanding. The first of the cold slime crawled over the girl's leg. And then it moved more quickly, swiftly yet almost gently engulfing her.
Only then did Dante turn away, to face the sea of demons once more, trying and failing to block the anguished screams from his mind.
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A/N: ZOMG this took me far too long!!!! I am so sorry about that. I've just been caught up with tons of homework, seriously, I -
Vergil: Liar. You were playing DMC2, despite its awfulness.
Yeah, a bit but -
Dante: She was playing it because I am so awesome!
Oh whatever. Anyway, I really did have a lot of coursework because of school. And yeah, I was playing a lot of DMC2, to complete DMD but LadyLuce won on that score XD and I was trying to get this thing written, so there's my excuse. I know Vergil will disagree -
Vergil: nods
But never mind. I kinda feel that this was a really sucky chapter, dunno why, maybe it just IS, so if you hate it, then... meh. Goodbye for now.