I'm on a roll. Enjoy and feel free to review!
The corridors were bathed in a harsh red light, dim enough that walls were partially hidden in shadows. Every step echoed in each direction, loud enough to wake the dead. Her shaky hand followed the path of the wall, scraping against crumbling brick. The further she walked, the closer a hulking black mass become until she stood in the shadow of its bulk, watching its massive horned helm rise and fall with every breath. It turned around, bearing its red eyes down upon her.
"Will you find me?" it rumbled, the noise reverberating through her heart.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice only a whisper.
"I left it to be found."
A scream filled the tunnel, tearing the world apart into darkness.
Persephone shot up from her bed, falling to the floor her knees slick with sweat. Gasping, she lifted he head to see the sun just barely lighting the night. Leaning against the bed, she sighed and stretched out her legs, the scream lingering in her ears and she wondered if she would ever have a full night's sleep again.
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He sat up from the bed, and ran his hands through his hair. Sleep had evaded him for the past two hours and the sound of Rose's breathing next to him nearly caused him to leap from the window to get some quiet. No matter how hard he tried to calm his mind, it kept up a never ending film of Persephone and demons rolling. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something but knew he had to be right. Demons were demons; he saw it firsthand. His parents had trusted the man who came to do their door, the gentle pastor with blue eyes who only wanted to talk. Instead, at midnight he ripped them apart as Mark hid in his closet, hiding under a pile of toys. Through the slots of the closet he could see the inhumanely blue eyes as it licked the blood from its fangs.
They were deceivers. They were killers. They deserved to be killed.
But her smile lingered in each thought and all he felt was doubt. Whether he was right, whether he was now the hunted, becoming entrapped in their web. But he knew better, didn't he?
"Are you alright, baby," Rose groaned, wrapping her arm around his waist.
"Shut up you two," another sleepy companion called from his cot adjacent to theirs.
"I'll be fine," Mark replied.
"You don't have to keep doing this. We can find another way," she said.
"It's fine. She already trusts me. They won't expect it. I just wish Mara would hurry up. I don't want them to make a move," he said and lay back down.
"She's still paying us. I don't know what she is planning to do to separate them, but she warned us it may take a while for her to set things up," Rose said, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm beginning to doubt this whole situation," he said, turning his back to the young woman.
"We kill demons. No matter what it takes. Are you getting too close," she hissed into his back.
Mark's lip curled into a snarl and he fought the anger in his chest.
"I not forgetting what they are. I can't forget. I know better than you what they can pretend to be," he said, closing his eyes. He saw blue eyes again, not of the preacher, but the smiling girl.
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Dante grinned from his spot at his desk, his leg bouncing anxiously. He hadn't felt this excited in a long while. He imagined, like Vergil, that he had planned this day for sixteen years. Neatly arranged on the desk and floor was an array of different weapons, some blades, some maces, some indescribable, all demonic. More than he had ever used but somehow amassed during his time on earth. It was wonderful, made all the more glorious that they would find someone who could use them as they were meant to be. He nearly felt like weeping with joy.
"Is she here yet," Lady asked, descending the stairs.
"Not yet," he said as the front door creaked open and Vergil stepped through, follow slowly by Persephone. Dante laughed out loud when he realized they matched. Black pants, blue jacket as if Vergil had cloned himself. Persephone looked tiny next to her father, his mass easily overwhelming her skinny frame. Dante always thought she was strong, seeing her launch herself into the air for a perfect flip or holding a position for an hour just to get it perfect, but looking at her it was hard to see.
Worry rushed into his chest and he wondered if she could do it, or would she be simply not strong enough. Then father and daughter trained their blue eyes on Dante, glowering at his laughter and he felt foolish for his doubt. She was Vergil's child; the demons didn't stand a chance.
"What's so funny?" Persephone asked.
"Just thinking how cute your two are," Dante replied, getting up from his desk.
Persephone's eyes fell on the weapons covering the surface of the desk and the surrounding floor. Her eyes widened briefly before they darted towards her father who smirked.
"This is the hard part you were talking about, isn't it?" she asked.
"Hard for you," Vergil said and picked up a scimitar from the floor, the black gems on the handle glinting in the dim light. "Fun for the rest of us."
"I don't know how to fight. Remember that karate class you wanted me to take?" she stammered, stepping back as Vergil took an experimental swing with the blade.
"You'll learn. The demonic blood with help; it knows how to survive. The rest, we'll teach you," he said, setting the blade down.
Persephone bit her lip and clasped her hands, unsure of what to do with them. Her uncle and father picked their way through the weapons like a child would through his toy box. She couldn't recall seeing her father more relaxed. Lady walked over to Persephone and gave her hands a quick squeeze. She always thought her aunt was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen, but also, a complete enigma. Like everyone else in her life, she was seemingly eternally young but her style had toned down remarkably from when Persephone was a child. And despite knowing Lady her entire life, she actually knew absolutely nothing. The questions Persephone had were nearly overwhelming.
"Don't worry so much. You were made to do this," she said, smiling softly.
"Yeah. Nero never had a teacher and he turned out ok. Kind of sloppy, but decent. Too bad you don't have his arm. That thing was mighty handy on occasion," Dante said, swinging mace towards Vergil's head who easily ducked out of the way.
"Nero is flawed. The human and demon should be seamlessly combined," Vergil replied, dodging another swing from his brother. His fist shot out from his waist and Dante jumped backwards, laughing.
"Didn't I meet him at my 10th birthday? What is he like a cousin or something?" she asked the fuzzy memory of the cocky man coming to mind. Her ten year old brain had only glazed over Nero's similarities to her family, thinking nothing much of the stranger.
Dante and Vergil exchanged glances, halting their mock sparring.
"We don't really know," Dante said said slowly.
Persephone spread her hands. "Seriously? You have no idea if grandpa has an illegitimate child. How many halflings are running around? Do you all just go around making little bastards? Dad, does mom know about the demonic inclinations?"
"Trust me, your mother's sexual exploits far exceed my own even as a human," her father replied, completely unphased by her question. Persephone grimaced at the thought.
"Yeah, she made her way around. First person who could ever say she slept with both sons of Sparda," Dante said, throwing back his head and laughing.
Persephone wrinkled her nose, attempting to keep the mental image out of her mind.
"Ew," she said, curtly.
"She had a good reason," her father said, glaring at his brother.
"Yeah, the reason being I'm sexy as hell," Dante retorted, raising his eyebrows. Her father never rolled his eyes, that method was far too base for him to show his ambivalence. Instead, he stared, the same bored expression someone would have towards the sidewalk that they walked upon, before turning back towards Persephone.
"Are you ready?" he asked, eyeing her closely.
"Well, I'm a little emotionally scarred at the moment," she replied. He only raised an eyebrow and tilted his head towards Dante, indicating she should stand in front of the desk.
Persephone bit the inside of the cheek as she stepped forward, eyeing the displayed weapons carefully. They came in every shape possible, some she couldn't even begin to place into the categories of her limited knowledge. The edges and tips seemed to flash in her vision and she wondered if she were seeing things when a slow buzz began to emanate from the many crafted metals. It briefly took her breath away as it grew stronger until she could feel it in her toes. She began to taste blood from biting her cheek so hard as a nervous flutter formed in her stomach. She could have been reading Sanskrit and it would have felt more familiar. It was all so alien, yet her father, uncle, and aunt stared expectantly waiting for something she couldn't understand.
"What am I supposed to do?" she finally asked.
"Choose the one that calls to your demonic soul," he father said matter-of-factly, as if the answer was as obvious as two plus two.
Persephone breathed in and slowly let it out, feeling her mind steady as she reached inside for that newly ever-present feeling of power that sat just below the surface. It spread through her easily, eagerly awaiting the moment it was summoned. At first nothing changed, then she began to see waves emanate off the weapons, like concrete on a hot summer day. Slowly, the blades began to glow, soft at first, then the light became brighter, stinging her eyes. Each seemed to have its own color, its own essence that transformed the light surrounding it. She stared at a large axe that glowed a brown green, the light from it looking almost sickly, and she shied away from it. Another, a long and elegant rapier, flashed purple, its light blinking in and out as she watched. Sitting next to it was a small dagger letting off a weak blue. Watching it, she felt a suddenly pang of sorrow and an unexplainable feeling of loss.
The mosaic of colors and lights seemed to all blend together, growing more intense until she had to close her eyes. She could almost hear whispers, as if they were reaching for her, speaking their stories. Persephone walked slowly along the circumference, examining each weapon until the whispers and buzzing stopped, halting her steps. At her feet were two blades of equal size in their scabbards, bound together with a ribbon of gold silk. She kneeled down and gently lifted the blades into her hands, their smooth lacquered sheaths warm in her palms. The hilt of one was elaborately decorated with silver and lapis lazuli, forming intricate patterns of blue flowers, but the leather of the grip was well worn and dirty. The second was simply made of warm wood with a single polished gold bulb for a pommel. They glowed together a deep, pure white that was both comforting and saddening. She felt the urge to clutch them to her chest so that they may never be separated.
"That is interesting," Dante said, kneeling next Persephone.
"Why is that?" she asked, undoing the yellow ribbon. She unsheathed the silver blade, examining the blade that was about a foot and half long, sharp and thin.
"Those blades were owned by a Lord and Lady who they said were very much in love. But in order to protect her lands and save her people, the Lady sold her soul and slowly became insane and corrupt. Before it finally took complete control, she begged her Lord to kill her with his blade. After he did, he took her blade and killed himself, unable to live without her. The blades become infused with the demonic essence inside of her and their sacrifice of love," he said and lifted the Lord's blade with the wooden handle. "They can never be separated. Watch."
He threw the blade across the floor. It arched away from its trajectory and came whirling back towards Persephone. She yelped once before her uncle easily snatched it out of the air inches from her face, and presented it to her.
"Those are tame compared to the others, but strong. Kind of wish you would have picked the battle axe. My sword and Vergil's were heirlooms from our father. But the most important sword is this one," Dante said as he climbed to his feet and darted to the wall behind his desk retrieving an absurdly large sword. The blade was nearly as tall as her, wickedly curved into an arch and was attached to a flesh like base with a large red jewel towards the hilt.
"This my dear, dear niece, is your grandfather's sword, infused with his power," Dante said, grinning from ear to ear as he held out the blade. Persephone cautiously took the sword from his hands and felt a shock run through her system and immediately handed the sword back.
"That sword, is powerful. Not for just normal use and definitely not for you," her father said as Dante returned it to its space on the wall.
"So I don't get a sword from grandpa," she said, taking notice of the katana at her father's side.
"Not yet," her father replied. Dante grabbed the large sword on his back and laughed. She heard the click of pistol's safety and felt her aunt move behind her as her father drew his sword with a single ring of metal.
Persephone's body suddenly tensed and she felt a roaring from the depths of her soul as she swung to the side to avoid her father's blade coming towards her, stumbling over her uncle's foot who was suddenly standing next to her. Her knees and hands scrambled against the splintered wooden floors as she righted herself to face her assaulters. Her father and uncle stood next to one another, blades drawn and trained on her, both grinning.
"What the hell!" she cried, clutching the Lord and Lady blades to her chest.
"Immersion therapy," Dante said.
"You could have killed me," she shot back.
"You would be dead if that's what we wanted," her father said. "This is training."
"I don't know how to fight! I can't attack you."
"Then I guess you need to learn how to run very fast," he replied and disappeared in a blue blur. Persephone blinked once before ducking, feeling him behind her, the roaring sensation beginning to fill every muscle, bone and sinew. The blade whizzed past above her and she darted forward only to be blocked by her uncle's hulking mass who effortlessly elbowed her in the chest, causing the wind to rush from her lungs. She heard the click of gun's trigger and without thinking turned her head to the side, avoiding the bullet as it brushed by her hair. As one part of her mind panicked, another part was calm, moving her nearly without thought, responding to each sound and motion.
Dante took her moment with the bullet to encroach upon her, thrusting the sword directly towards her face. She quickly stepped to the side and forward, only to run directly into his fist and her vision went black for a moment. Reaching for her eye, she remembered she was still holding the two blades. With one hand, she scrambled to remove the sheathes, sending them clattering the floor. Clumsily, she held the two weapons completely unsure of what to do with them. Dante laughed and she nearly wanted to scream. He was enjoying this.
The anger hit her like another of Dante's elbows in her torso and she spun towards her father who slowly circled around her, his hand on the hilt of his sword which was now sheathed. She remembered the pole in the basement of their home and knew he would do the same to her. In one swift motion he unsheathed the sword and brought it towards her in a deadly arc. She crossed the two blades in front of her in an X and brought them towards his descending attack, catching his sword with her two. The impact shocked her arms and she nearly dropped her weapons. Scissoring her blades, she pushed his sword away and shifted to his side, keeping her eyes locked on his as she brought the silver blade up swipe at his torso. He easily jumped up and away from her, leaving only open air for her to hit. As he fell back to the earth, his boot connected with her mouth and she felt her lip split and blood gush into her mouth.
"Always expect there will be another attack," he said and slashed at her.
Persephone ignored the pain of mouth and flipped to the side, the movement easier for her than it had ever been. She landed next to Lady who blinked in surprise from behind her gun as she spun and brought a knee up and into her rib. Lady doubled over with a grunt and Persephone spun on one foot towards her uncle and father.
"Oh, nice one," Dante said. "A little mean picking on the human, though."
Persephone held the blades on either side of her body, feeling them hum gently in her hands. Her uncle rushed towards her in a red blur, colliding into her and she let go of the silver blade sending it flying past his head. He pinned her against the wall with one arm, grinning widely.
"And that last move was so impressive. One trick pony?" he said.
"Oh, I have another," she said as the silver blade circled back. Dante twisted to the side with her, barely avoiding the flying sword returning to its partner. It stuck into the wall next her and as she grabbed it with her free hand she thrust the other towards the off balanced devil hunter.
He easily smacked it away with his own sword, but he was sent backwards and away from her, smiling the entire time. A familiar tingling climbed up her neck and she dropped to her knees, spinning on them around her father and swiping the blades crosswise across the back of this calves. He grunted in surprise as she rolled onto her feet. Blood dripped from his wounds and mortification overtook her.
"I am so sorry," she said on instinct, lowering her blades.
"Never apologize to your enemies," her father replied, righting himself as if it had never happened. He smiled at her and she saw something in his eyes she had never experienced before.
Pride.
"I don't know Verg, I think we're being a little too easy on her," Dante said, joining his brother in front of her.
"I think you might be right. You better hope all those dance and gymnastics classes paid off," her father said. Persephone felt her stomach drop as the two of them exchanged glances and in a second they were rushing towards her, a blur of red, blue and flashing blades.
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The thumping of her fingers against the makeshift desk echoed through the small room. Mara rubbed her forehead with other hand, feeling the warm spot in the middle and struggling with the urge to reach out. The sound of the workers with their hammers and pick axes could be heard faintly through the large wooden door that separated the room from the main hall. It was nearly falling apart, but they had done a decent job of removing the worse of the rubble, making it liveable. When she had first turned her nose up at the living arrangements, she had secretly cursed herself for wanting human comforts.
A blue mist leaked into the room from under the door, taking on a human shape in front of her desk.
"Any news," she asked.
"Nothing yet. Perhaps the work would go faster if demons…." It whispered.
"No demons," she said, cutting it off. "They don't take kindly to humans giving orders."
"But you are not human," it replied and Mara almost smiled.
"That's sweet, but completely untrue. But not for long. When I find the tomb, they will come."
"Are you finished with your preparations for them?"
"Why the curiosity. Do you doubt me?" she asked, leaning forward.
"Never, mistress."
"They can't know until it is too late, so be patient," she said. The mist writhed before disappearing under the door again.
She glanced at the photographs she had setup on her desk as a reminder, and as punishment. A smiling coupling with a frowning blonde child and an older man, standing proudly at a dig site. She recalled the splash of blood on marble and smiled.
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Evangeline glanced at the spell book in front of her, eyes growing heavy. It described conjuring fire with the power of one's mind with a long detail explanation of meditation techniques.
"You aren't very good at this are you?" Gabriel said, looking over her shoulder.
"Quiet," she grumbled. In truth, he was correct. Her mastery of her powers was limited to viewing the world and seeing demons. On great occasion she had scryed for Vergil, locating demons or missing people, but it had often left her drained. Sometimes, her brother would appear to her or Eva, showing her something Vergil or Dante needed but only when she was not distracted by day to day life. Vergil had told her when they were first together to make herself useful, but she can't say she had lived up to her end of the bargain.
"It's complicated and I'm sorry I am not better at this," she said.
"That's ok, Aunt Trish said she can teach me," he replied.
Evangeline looked at the silver haired boy who stared contemplatively at the book, his eyes deciphering every word with a ferocious hunger. It reminded her of Vergil tracking an enemy. It still struck her how much her twins looked like him, but sometimes she would see in the shape of their face or some aspect of her in the way they tilted their heads or laughed.
"I'll teach you how to figure out what you see. It's easy to not see separations between demons or items. You can almost see entire stories and if you have a good spirit guide, they can even point you in the right direction," she said.
"What's your spirit guide?" he asked, staring at a spot on the kitchen table.
"My brother. I guess I never told you that I'm a twin too," she said. A sudden flash and small flame erupted on the kitchen table and quickly went out. Gabriel grinned. Persephone slowly clapped, nodding at the display.
"Very nice," she said and grabbed her son's face in her hands to plant a large kiss on his cheek. He squirmed away.
"When do I get to do something," Caleb asked as he entered the room, frowning. Evangeline could feel his disappointment and despite being secretly glad he had turned out to be demon free, she knew the feeling of isolation he must be going through. Even his brother, his constant identical reflection was separating from him. More than anything, she wanted to make her youngest happy. He was the unexpected one, hiding behind his brother in the womb. His birth after Gabriel was a shocking surprise but she couldn't help but to be elated as she held them both. Her own twin was the love of her life and she was determined that Caleb and Gabriel would get it right. Even if the world fell around their ears, they would always have each other. It was her promise.
"You mean you want a kiss too, come here sweetie," she said, leaping to her feet . Caleb ducked into the kitchen as she followed after.
"Mom, stop!" he cried, picking up a wooden spoon from the counter and holding it in front of him like a sword.
"On guard," he said and swung the spoon at her. She grabbed a lid from the dirty dishes and blocked his swings.
"Haha, your spoon is useless," she said, dropping the lid and jumping deftly on top of the table with her bare feet.
Caleb darted into the other room as Evangeline leapt down, chasing after him running straight into an oncoming pillow. Caleb hid behind the chair next to a laughing Gabriel, winging pillows towards her, each managing to find her head no matter which way she dodged.
"God, Caleb. I forgot how good your aim was. Maybe you do have a little demon," she said from behind the couch, rubbing her slightly injured nose.
"Give up?" he asked, holding a cushion above his head.
"Not a chance," she grinned and leapt out from her hiding spot and rushing towards the chair. Caleb jumped out, laughing too hard to throw the pillow. Evangeline reached up and swiftly kissed her son the cheek before he smacked her with the pillow.
"I win," she said and he smiled. He grabbed her in a hug and she realized her head only reached his chest. Too tall, she thought.
"I love you, mom," he said.
"I know you do. You know that you will find something. You don't have to be the one with the sword to make Sparda proud," she said, holding his face in her hands. He nodded, messy white hair bobbing up and down.
All three turned as door opened and Persephone entered chattering wildly, followed by her father and uncle. They grinned at the girl who waved her arms around excited.
"Hi, guys," Evangeline said and stepped into the foyer. Persephone looked towards her, clutching two swords at her side and Evangeline nearly hit the floor. Persephone's pretty face was marred by a large black and purple bruise around her eye, causing her eye to be held half shut. Her lip was split and still bleeding, her teeth stained faintly red from the blood. Amongst that were a myriad of small scratches , but despite it all she was smiling.
Evangeline took in each injury before turning towards Vergil, fists clenched tightly. Dante's smile quickly faded as her gaze turned towards him and he felt a slight quivery feeling in his stomach.
"What happened?" she hissed between clenched teeth.
"She was being taught how to fight," Vergil said coolly. Evangeline's hand snapped out and slapped him firmly across the face. His head hardly twitched and she knew it hurt her damned more than it hurt him.
"Beating the shit out of a sixteen year old is your idea of training?" she said, standing on her tiptoes to bring her face as close to his as possible. Her entire body trembled as she stared him down, as angry at him as the day he had left her all alone in the city of Fortuna. It was incomprehensible that he could ever raise a hand towards his daughter, let alone leave a mark.
Vergil placed his hands on his lover's shoulders, feeling her quake beneath him.
"Evangeline," he breathed. "I know his is difficult, but it needed to be done. You should have seen her."
Persephone stepped up and grabbed her mother's hand.
"Mom, I'm fine," she said, eyes dancing. "It was amazing. I totally got dad."
Evangeline turned her head towards her daughter who was smiling bigger than she had in a long time. She sighed and gently brushed a strand of hair away from Persephone's bruised blue eye.
"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked.
"I'm fine. Besides, Uncle Dante said it should be mostly gone by morning. It doesn't hurt that bad," she said.
"Why don't you go get cleaned up and I'll meet you in a while to put some ointment on it," Evangeline said and Persephone laughed and darted up the stairs, practically dancing.
Evangeline looked back towards Vergil who was staring towards their daughter prancing up the stairs to her room. He was smiling more than he had in a long time, as if every burden was removed from his shoulders.
"You're proud of her," she said and he looked down towards her.
"How could I not be. She drew blood," he said. She could feel his fingers playing with her hair and he pulled her towards him and she rested her head against his chest. His heartbeat was strong and she could feel every muscle relax as the tension of sixteen years of unknown futures melted away.
"Aww, that's sweet," Dante said. "It was more entertaining when you hit him."
"Yeah, do it again! That was awesome," Caleb shouted from the living room.
"Hey, I gotta talk to you about something," Dante said after his nephew and walked into the next room.
Evangeline looked up towards Vergil again who ran a thumb along her jaw.
"I'm so sorry. I made the wrong decision when I said we wouldn't tell them," she said the guilt heavy in her stomach. "You look so happy."
"I won't hold it against you. You're only human after all," he said with small smile. "But I never blamed you for it. You protected them, raised them well."
"Well, you did help a little bit," she said. He leaned down and kissed her the future clear and the present as it should be and as it should have been many years ago.
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Persephone hummed slightly rubbing her hand over the condensation on the mirror to reveal her reflection. She leaned forward to examine the injuries on her face. Most of the tiny cuts had healed and her eye was no longer so swollen that she couldn't open it. Even the cut on her lip had already healed into a scab.
"Cool," she said. No more injuries for her but she winced when she moved. She opened her towel and glanced at her naked torso where a very large round bruise had formed. That one would smart for a while. She smiled and began to hum again as she pinned her wet hair up. Her body was buzzing slightly with the remnants of adrenaline and her head felt light with the thrill. She remembered each movement and nearly jumped out of her skin with excitement. It was probably the first time she had ever truly understood her father.
Tale as old as time, she sang the notes to herself. She remembered Mark laughing and her whole body became flushed. His handsome face stared at her and she could imagine the shape of his neck or how strong his arms looked under his uniform. She blinked and knew she hadn't thought of it before. But that thrum of anger was being pushed to the side as a new feeling rose to the surface, making her head swim and her neck burn. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought of his arms encircling her, his hand trailing from her shoulders and down her back. Persephone touched her stomach, enjoying the slight tingle.
There was a soft knock at the door and Persephone was snapped from her reverie.
"You decent?" her mother asked.
"Um, yeah. I'm in a towel but you can come in," she said.
Her mother opened the door and closed it behind her a small opaque bottle in one hand. She wiggled it at Persephone.
"Trish gave this to me a long time ago for your father. Supposedly works wonders on demons," she said. "Try not to mind the smell."
She began digging through Persephone's cabinets filled with various items from her and her brothers. Persephone hopped onto the counter, watching her mother rummage for cotton balls. Her mother was small but had enough curves to cause her father to stare when he thought no one was looking. Everyone told Persephone she looked exactly like her father, but when she turned her head she could see her mother's sharp cheek bones and her cockiness her smile. Aunt Lady and Trish were also beautiful women, inhumanely so, but that seemed to make more sense now. But their buxom appearance did nothing to make her feel better about her own attributes. Despite hearing how pretty she was, Persephone was always insecure with her body. Not with her weight, but rather her lack of weight in certain areas. Not that anyone was privy to her thoughts on the matter.
Her mother gave a shout of triumph when she found the cotton balls under the sink and shook some of the bottle's contents onto one. Persephone wrinkled her nose at the sharp smell of mint and something very rotten.
"I know it stinks. That's why I never used it," her mother said and patted the cotton ball around her bruised eye. Persephone winced slightly.
"So how did you and dad get together. I mean the real story, not the abridged version," Persephone asked. Her mother paused a cocked her head to the side.
"Why the interest?" she asked.
"You are two unlikely people, but he is completely and totally in love you," Persephone said with smile. Her mother laughed softly.
"Admittedly, it has been a little toned down since three of you," Evangeline replied with a sly smile.
"Ok, why is everyone talking about your sex life today," Persephone said, wincing gain at her mother's cotton ball, this time on her lip.
"What were they saying?" her mother asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"Just that you had a lot sex with a lot of people…like uncle Dante."
"He never fails to bring that up, unbelievable," Evangeline muttered and returned to placing the ointment on Persephone's eye. It was warm and seemed to sooth some of the pain away.
"Well, your father was in hell after being defeated and then I arrived after they took me. It wasn't some love at first sight, but torture has a way of bonding people and we spoke of our mutual misery. I was ready to give up when he decided to save us. Killed a demon with his bare hands. We found an exit, but I need your father's sword and amulet which is why I slept with your uncle so I could steal it," she said. "Any other wounds?"
Persephone shook her head.
"I couldn't just leave him there so that's why I did it. Afterwards, it's not like either of us had anywhere else to go so I stuck around while he hunted demons. I guess he still needed to protect me, but really we needed each other. Someone to know what had happened, someone who understood. He seems cold, but really he needs to pretend to be because he feels things more than anyone else. It's almost overwhelming. I loved his resolve, his steadfastness and even the way he didn't make excuses for anything he did. Somewhere in all that we fell in love. Truthfully, I'm not just myself anymore. I need him and he needs me," she said, saying each word slowly as she contemplated it. "That and he has a great ass. You don't realize this, but he is incredibly attractive. You know, I never had to actually come up with reasons why. Love is something that you can explain how it feels, but why, that is completely different."
"Do you think I'll ever be in love? Find someone I can share this with?" Persephone asked. Her mother raised her eyebrow knowingly.
"I think you will. Why?" she said with a smile.
"Mom," Persephone sighed exasperated.
"Alright, I get you are demon and I can't imagine the hormones that brings. Did I ever talk to you about about safe sex?"
"Holy, hell," Persephone said and buried her face in her hands. Her mother laughed.
"I'm kidding. You know I can't help it. Any other questions," Evangeline replied.
Persephone pulled her hands away from her face and caught her mother's eyes, noting the dancing brown shadows in their depths.
"Do you ever think I'll be good at this? Dad and Dante weren't even trying and I was up a creek," she said.
Evangeline placed her hands on either side of her daughter, keeping her eyes firmly locked.
"Before I knew I was pregnant with you, I was infected with something terrible. It killed nearly every demon and almost killed me. I can't describe the horror of it, but despite that, you were unaffected. Shortly after you were born, you and I were taken to hell. He died, you survived. You survived more in the short months of life than many could ever say. So if you asked me if you are strong enough, I say yes. Your father wasn't always this strong but he learned, and so will you," she said. Persephone nodded slowly.
"Now get some sleep," her mother said and stepped away.
Persephone jumped off the counter as her mother walked out. She dropped her towel and grabbed the long cotton robe hanging on the back of the door. In the hallway, she could hear the sounds of her brothers talking with her uncle loudly with the occasionally punctuation by her father. She walked to her room and closed the door, heading to her phone still on the nightstand. The screen flashed multiple messages.
From Jane: Feeling any better?
From Mary Ann: I totally heard about what happened yesterday. So embarrassing.
She scrolled down the various messages and updates of their days pausing at the last one.
From Mark: I'm glad I got to see you yesterday. Hope I can see you tomorrow.
Persephone felt the familiar flush through her body, the stutter of her breath and the acceleration of her heartbeat after seeing his name. His voice formed the words in her head as her body warmed with the thought of him. She had kissed a boy once and felt little to nothing at the gesture despite his attempts to stick his tongue in her mouth. In fact she was happy when her father scared him off, unsure of how to get rid of him herself. But even just thinking of Mark, any part, sent a quiver to her stomach and an ache between her thighs. She wasn't an idiot, she knew what sexual attraction was and knew that she had it bad.
But it felt different this time, like she was fighting again. A singing in her blood calling her to the hunt. Every time her heartbeat she imagined grabbing him, pressing his mouth against hers, letting his hands roam across her body. Her hands brushed against her thighs, taking some small comfort in the tiny thrill but it did little to quell her desires. She clenched her fists tightly and slowly began to breathe. A part of knew she could find him and have him. That thrum in her heart beat more loudly with every fantasy. However, the other part of her shut off her phone and refused to respond, glancing at the swords placed carefully on her desk. For once, she actually had bigger things to worry about. Learning to avoid her father's fist being one and the other the specter of the demons she was expected to face; an unknown for which she couldn't even form an image. The thought scared her, and she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Persephone groaned and sprawled across her bed shifting her thoughts to math and English. Anything except chemistry and demons.
Peace out!
