[A/N: Sorry for the delay... I was sick for a week, because the dentist we had gone to was coughing. I had to stay in bed so it wouldn't get worse, and refrained from my summer classes. I haven't recovered yet, and I'm still having coughing fits now. Anyway, Here's chapter seven. It's shorter than the others, sorry, but I couldn't think straight.]

Chapter Seven: Awakening

Nero's eyes stayed fixed on the wall clock opposite him. His demon arm was draped around Kyrie, whose sobs had already subsided, but was still deep in worry. The glow from his hand illuminated her tired face, and the trails of tears that had flowed down her cheeks.

Earlier, she had told him the whole story, and he had reassured her that Lady would be alright. After all, Dante and Trish had both gone to bring her back, and he had faith in both of them. Kyrie, however, had shook her head and lay it on his chest, still trembling from the encounter.

Both of them had elapsed into deep silence, with only the sound of Vergil's deep breathing punctuating the still air. Nero kept her close, maintaining a protective aura over Kyrie, because he feared that the events might have broken her… but, despite her appearance, he knew that determination lay behind her fragile frame.

The minutes ticked by, ever closer toward a new morning. And, Nero could not believe that so much had happened in a span of two days, and they had only rescued the elder twin yesterday. There had certainly been an increase of events, activity, and danger in the last forty-eight hours. Yet, it had resulted to several near deaths for their group, including him.

With that thought, his eyes left the ticking hands and settled on the blue-clad man.

About now, Vergil looked as if he was merely sleeping. The multitude of cuts and bruises he had sustained showed though his partially ripped clothing, along the neck, arms, and lining the lower abdomen. Despite these, his face remained peaceful, partially obscured by longer hair. It was even longer than Dante's now, but the way it was framed around his face gave no doubt of the uncanny likeness between the twins. Although he did not have the bulk of muscles Dante now had, his lean figure emanated strength and power.

Nero frowned in thought. Ever since he entered that portal in the Hell Gate, the glow of his Devil Bringer had died down to its normal intensity. And even when he had been in the midst of Vergil for the whole part of two days, it had not given any more frenzied reaction to the man, like the itching he had experienced while he and Dante were searching for the path. Had something happened to Yamato?

He raised his arm and clenched his fist. The glow remained its normal blue.

Maybe it's because of the gas, he thought.

Just then, Kyrie lifted her head and looked at him at the loss of contact. She looked at his arm, and back at him again. "What is it, Nero?"

"I'm just wondering… why my arm isn't reacting to Vergil anymore. When we were inside the Hell Gate it was itching like mad."

She turned beside him and took his demonic arm into her hands. Nero softened at her expression, his thoughts of Yamato slipping away, and took her into a gentle embrace, which she returned.

They talked in low voices for some time, but five minutes later, their silent conversation was interrupted by the characteristic hum of motorcycle engines. Kyrie practically jumped at the noise, but she was barely at the door when they heard raised voices, particularly Dante's and Trish's.

"Look, would you stay put for a minute and talk to us—"

"Lady, you should listen to him—"

"What on earth has suddenly gotten into you? 'Cuz one minute were talking and the next—"

Kyrie was about to lay her hand on the doorknob when the double doors flew open, and there stood an enraged-looking Lady. Both their expressions changed to relief when they saw each other, and Kyrie immediately took her in a tight hug. She returned the gesture, but said in an odd voice, "I'm glad you made it back safely."

Before she could respond, Lady had stepped away from her and started toward the stairs. Dante and Trish entered the building together. He threw Kyrie and apologizing look. "Sorry 'bout that, but I swear it wasn't me, babe. Must be that time of the month."

He took a few long strides and the devil hunter caught the lady at the foot of the stairs.

"Lady—"

"STAY HERE!"

He was so taken aback by her outburst that he actually hesitated at the bottom stair. However, Dante recovered quickly and caught up with her on the second floor, where she was headed toward one of the rooms.

He increased his pace, muttering about women and their freakishly unnerving mood swings. "Lady, why're you acting so strange all of a sud—"

He had barely finished his question when Lady barged in through one of the doors. And, in the split second later, her pistol was pointed to a forehead, just as a huge, glowing revolver was pointed to hers.

---

---

Lady's eyes sparkled pure rage as she stood on gun point with Aki, both barrels trained between each other's eyes. The girl, however, softened her expression and lowered the revolver almost immediately.

"Wow, you scared the heck out of me Lady. You should knock twice next time like I told you—"

"It was you… wasn't it?"

Aki's expression changed to confusion. "I was what?"

Lady grit her teeth and jabbed her pistol toward her collarbone instead, making the girl step backward, confusion lining her face even more. Lady seethed, rage rising. "Don't play tricks with me. I knew it, I just did. You can't be trusted."

"Lady, what are ya going on about—"

"It was her, Dante! She shot Chris, she took Spiral, she's the assassin!"

It was silent for a while, before Dante scoffed. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head when you toppled the bike over?"

She glared at him. He shrank back a bit from the look in her eye. "Look babe, the girl's been in here the whole time, fixing Nero's sword and gun." His eyes trailed to her hand, where she held Blue Rose, and his jaw dropped.

The surface of the revolver had returned to its usual flawlessness, and its patterns had been repainted precisely to the finest details. However, that wasn't the only change in the gun. It was glowing slightly with a light blue tinge, and the top, he noticed, had five glassy slots in them, from which the glow came from. The barrels had become slightly narrower, if his eyes didn't deceive him. Both sides of the handle had been fitted with a strap which extended around her wrist, continually connected with a string of bullet trios for immediate swap-reload action. It was like looking at your typical revolver crossed with a machine gun.

However, Lady's sharp voice brought him out of his daze. "Nero and Vergil were the only other ones here when Chris was shot. The assassin had Spiral. Your devil arm, Dante. Who else would have taken it?"

His eyebrow rose at his statement. "Spiral, my sweet baby rifle? It's downstairs."

Lady froze for a moment, and looked back at Aki. "I've never been downstairs since I came up, so I haven't fitted Spiral with anything new yet."

"That reminds me—" said Dante, who took something from his pocket and threw it at her. Aki caught it, and she immediately brightened. In her hand was a Timex Expedition digital wristwatch, in perfect working order. "Sweet!"

"Got it from your uncle," he said, winking at Lady. "Hope ya don't mind."

Lady did not respond though, as she turned and head down the stairs. The fourteen year old gave Dante a shrug, dropping the revolver on the tabletop, and both of them went out of the room to follow her down. When they reached the bottom, Lady was standing in utter shock, eyes fixed on the Dante's weapon set on the wall. Sure enough, the enormous black rifle was among his firearms, next to Artemis and his other shotguns.

It wasn't long before Kyrie's voice came floating over. "Lady, are you alright?"

She shook her head quietly and rubbed her temple. She muttered something incoherent, though Dante was able to distinguish: "I could swear it was the rifle…"

She turned and hugged both Kyrie and Aki. After she pulled back, she turned to the younger girl first. "Sorry about that… I thought…"

"Nah, it's okay, Lady. I know what you mean. Well, not the assassin part, anyway."

Lady nodded her thanks and focused on Kyrie. "Were you hurt? I'm so sorry about dragging you into that mess… you could've died…"

Lady was once again silenced as her friend gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. On the side, Dante wiped mock tears from his eyes and immediately boomed, "So, we're finally back together! Who wants some pizza?"

No one answered that question, as the clock ticked twelve to twelve.

---

---

Everyone took a seat around the sofas, as the story was explained in full, starting from Lady and Kyrie's departure. When the reached the part about Credo though, everyone except Lady and Aki looked at Kyrie. Nero was the first to speak. "Credo? But I… he's…"

"I know, Nero. I just couldn't help feeling… hopeful, that my brother would somehow be alive."

"You have a brother?" questioned Aki. Kyrie nodded quietly and lay back against Nero, her expression suddenly going dead. Dante frowned.

"Since he was changed into a demon, then it's likely," he started, picking up Kyrie's attention. "But," he continued, "if he's Nelo Credo now, that would mean that he's not exactly on our team. Sorry to break it to ya babe, but since you are humans… it means your brother's soul would be easy to corrupt by demons. The same thing happened to Verge," he sighed, looking over his should at his brother.

"Nelo Angelo," stated Trish, remembering their past.

"Mundus, the bad guy of the underworld, managed to get V as well. And all the while, I thought he was dead. But now, we have him back," he smiled. Kyrie sat up on her seat. "Does that mean… we can get Credo back too?"

At the question, Dante's face fell. "Um… I can't be sure about that… Kyrie."

She nodded sadly, and leaned back once again, seemingly accepting defeat. Nero wrapped his demonic arm around her as a sign of support. At this gesture, Aki snapped her fingers and bolted back up the stairs. Before they were able to ponder the departure, their eyes suddenly fixated on the item in her hand as she came down.

"It also connects to one thing. Lately, demons are becoming stronger. I saw some yesterday, a couple of reptilian-looking birds, but they disappeared almost immediately when I tried to get a closer look. I've seen their kind before, but the disappearing act was definitely something new. My best guesses are that they've started mutating or evolving, or someone's rigging them as well."

At the end of her sentence, she swept her hand on both sides of the revolver, reloading all six bullets into it in two swift movements, and held out Blue Rose to Nero. He took it in utter awe in his left hand, looking at it from every angle.

"It looks like I'll be rigging as much as I can to get us even with them now," she said, and lay a finger on top of the barrel. "I've studied the way you've modified the power hold on the gun. The five slots here," she pointed the glassy one at the top, "Are for faster power absorption, optimized to the fifth level for your charge shot." Nero's jaw dropped slightly.

"Try taking it in your right hand." The young devil did as he was told, and was surprised as the gun glowed brighter at the contact with his right hand. Concentrating energy into the devil bringer, it took just about five seconds to fill all slots. As the fifth slot filled up, Aki walked behind him and made an opening in one of the windows.

"Kyrie, you may want to move back a bit."

Once the girl had moved away, Nero pulled the trigger. His immediate reaction was to hold the gun tightly because the recoil stunned him from his awkward position. As he peered out the window, the wall outside started crumbling, looking as if it had been hit by some C4. A second later, two consecutive fiery blasts pulverized it completely.

Dante's jaw dropped again, and he pointed an accusing finger at her. "And I thought it would just be some scopes or something—"

"If you want me to outfit your guns next, you can just tell me."

"Yes please," he replied with a childish grin, throwing Ivory at her. She smirked as she caught it and threw it back at him. "I'll take the black one first."

"Huh? Why?"

"I like black."

He snickered at her unexpected answer and gave her Ebony instead. Aki then turned and headed up the stairs, twirling the already-customized handgun around her right finger.

"Hey, thanks a lot, Aki," called Nero, just as she disappeared.

"Walay sapayan," came the reply, in her native tongue.

The five who were sitting downstairs immediately put their heads back together.

"Still think she's evil, Lady? I mean, now that she's improving our stuff and all…" asked Dante, giving her a smooth look. She rubbed her temples and put her face in her hands, sighing into them. "I'm just not sure anymore… I could swear…"

"Well, enough of that babe, let's put the past behind us," he offered, patting her reassuringly on the shoulder before snatching Nero's revolver on his right. He let out a surprised yelp and tried to grab it back, but Dante held it back to him after he had given it a look.

"Just because you're jealous doesn't mean you have to do that—"

"No, but I can, if I want to, and I just did. Anyway, that's not the point. I was thinking how she'd managed to fix that thing so quickly."

"I thought we had agreed that she was pretty queer. Queerer than most."

"That isn't possible unless she has a tool, magical of some sort, to help her in her job. Plus, she does have the knowledge to work things out better than others can. You customized it yourself, right, Nero?"

"Yeah," he said, holstering the revolver into his coat.

"If you want to know how I do things, I can show you, if you like."

Their heads snapped in the direction of the stairs, where Aki was sitting at the top and was fiddling with the handle of a magnificent-looking Red Queen, whose tip was touching the fourth stair down. She smiled at their expressions, and turned the sword so that the flat side was facing them.

It was pretty much the same, except that she had added intricate golden patterns on the blade. To give them a better look, she revved the sword up just one level.

Nero immediately saw that more exhausts were added, as the length of the blade glowed its signature fiery color. Just like his revolver, it had the glassy slots on one side, as seen from the reddish glow emitted from just one of the seven power holders. Aki moved her hand up to the tip of the handle, and they saw two knobs there.

"Check this out," she said, and put her hand over both and twisted.

The motor of the fuel injection system roared again, and the red moved to the third slot immediately. However, the first slot was now replaced by a light blue glow. She suddenly twisted the sword and slid it across the length of the stair. As its blade came in contact with the wall on her right, they shielded their eyes from the flash it emitted.

As they lowered their hands, they looked back to find the wall black and scorched, at the same time, covered in ice.

"Woah."

"Yeah, weird huh?"

"How did you—"

"Well, I kinda…" she scratched the top of her head, suddenly looking very guilty. "There was this dog that came to me…"

"Cerby!?! I knew I should've kept him on a leash…"

She grinned guiltily and held out the icy triple-nunchucks. "He offered me help, so I figured I could put ice and fire together. I promised to rig him after, as well."

Trish and Lady looked disbelieving. "How did a monstrous three headed dog manage to speak to you?"

"The nunchucks. They spoke to me when I came to check on Nero and Kyrie while they were asleep."

"How did you know it was a dog?"

"It sounded like one. I had a dog back home, my best friend. Well, before demons raided us, anyway."

Falling silent at her words, she shook her head and held out her arms. "It's alright, guys. That was a long time ago. Now I'm here to—"

Crash!

Aki's head snapped up as the sound of splintering glass came from the top. Not looking back, she sprinted upstairs, away from their view. Trish was about to follow her up when all of them were sprayed with shards of glass as well, as all of the ground floor windows of Devil May Cry burst and black-cloaked Mephistos zoomed in. Kyrie screamed as they dove for her, but Nero had covered her as the rest scattered.

Dante pulled out Ivory and Coyote-A, going about trying to rid them of their cloaks. Streams of bullets came from Lady as well as she backed away, trying to reach her launcher. Trish stood in place, firing her handguns as she as well tried to cover for Vergil.

They were locked at point. As soon as Dante was able to remove the cloak of one it would quickly gain another before its true form hit the ground. The demons had divided each of them, effectively backing Lady further away from her launcher and toward the stairs. Kyrie was caught against the window behind Nero, who was standing with one leg and firing repeatedly, unable to charge the revolver because of their number.

"Don't let them use their attack!" yelled Dante as he rolled toward his weapons. As if called for, his gauntlets of light strapped themselves immediately to his forearms and legs. He swiped upward, causing Beowulf to flash brightly, and subduing the creatures of darkness for a moment.

Lady took the chance and ran toward her launcher, docking it to the ground. "Trish!" she yelled, and the blonde nodded and sent out brief charged bolts of yellow to attract their attention. "Duck!" she yelled, surprised, as Nero had yelled the same along with her, and caught a brief second's glance of his glowing revolver before everything became a flash of white.

Everyone had hit the ground as Mephistos burst around them, Lady's seeker missiles wiping out the first half and Nero's charge shot wiping out the other half. Two were remaining, and as Dante was about to lunge for them with his gauntlets they burst into fire, from the aftershot explosion of Blue Rose.

"Aww, don't tell me Lady and the kid got all the kills!" he pouted. Just before anyone could answer, another explosion boomed from upstairs.

"Aki!" yelled Lady, and she was halfway up the stairs when a shrieking creature fell an inch from her nose, charred black. She breathed heavily at the near impalement of the Gladius, her breath melting the tiniest of ice crystals in front of her face.

"I'm okay, but don't come up yet, they were bringing the gas," called a muffled voice from upstairs.

"What? What about you?"

"I have protection. Nobody come up, I have to clear this before it reaches downward. Dante, Nero, stay clear of the stairs. You don't want the gas in your systems added."

"How did you know?!" called Dante.

"I listen to your conversations, man!" she replied from upstairs.

"Well if—" he started, but was once again interrupted by the all-so-familiar whoosh coming through the window. He groaned without looking. "What is it with these guys?! I mean, after you wipe out Hells you get the freakin' Vanguard…" he complained, before turning to face the Faust.

Its left hand pushed its 'hat' up, as if to get a closer look at the group. A revolver, a UZI, and three handguns were already pointed at it, and Dante brought up the fourth handgun and a shotgun. The Faust did not attack, though, and it pointed one of its long fingers at the sofa.

"You want my bro? Well I need an ID for that one sir. I need to know if we're related, see, though I highly doubt it."

It hissed, bringing an unnatural shudder over the group. It moved closer to Trish, and pointed to Vergil once again. She, however, stepped in between the demon and the half-demon. "No," she growled firmly.

The Faust hissed again, and without warning it used one hand to swipe at the three behind its back. Lady was caught off-guard but managed to stagger away unscathed. They took to firing their guns but before Nero could charge the revolver it was swiped out of his hand as well. He hit the ground, rolling awkwardly as its bladed fingers scratched the floor beside him.

Dante took the chance and ran behind it. The Faust turned quickly but was faced with a wide barrel as Dante emptied Coyote-A into its face. It shrieked and flew sideways. Nero grabbed Blue Rose once again and fired, but missed it by an inch, his shot going wide through the window. The Faust recovered, and it began to single out Nero, but was kept at bay from his dual shots.

Dante quickly ran behind Nero, vaulting himself into the air, gauntlets glowing brightly. Bright blue eyes flashed at the hollow ones of the demon as he hit the core of the Faust with full force, and everything flashed white once again.

Nero was about to sit up and cover Kyrie again, but was stopped in his tracks.

The Faust was down on the ground, and one side of its frame looked chipped. However, to their horror, it rose ominously from the floor, revealing all five of its finger spikes embedded in Dante's body, and plunging it deeper into the devil hunter by the second. Blood spluttered out of his mouth as the wounds took their toll.

He could barely hear Lady's voice scream his name, as blood rushed out of his wounds. With a pained guttural cry as the Faust wrenched out its blades, he coughed out the blood that was starting to fill his lungs.

Nero roared and fired wildly at the demon, only to feel the same flash of red and pain as the blades' swipe caught him in the face. He fell back, a wet feeling trickling down his cheek. Kyrie ran to his side immediately, trying to pull him out of the demon's range, but he held her back, trying to get up.

The Faust, feeling that the damage was done, finally approached the elder Spardan twin again. Its fingers stretched out toward Vergil when Trish intercepted it, using electric charges to attack. Lady fired her UZI as well, defending their unconscious companion.

The demon swiped both women away angrily, injuring both in the process. Lady was flung across the room and smashed into the leg of the billiard table, clutching her bleeding side. Trish healed instantly, but now it was her against the black creature. Before she could fully recover, she was pinned down at the foot of the sofa.

Her heightened senses sensed her end coming. All around her, her companions lay dying; Kyrie was crying over Nero, who barely had the strength to sit up, blood streaming from his face. At the back, Lady was gasping for air as red stained her shirt, seeping through her fingers. On her right, light was slowly leaving Dante's eyes as he gripped his chest, struggling to breathe.

Her eyes lifted back slowly into the hollow sockets of the demon. It hissed at her, its prolonged rattling breath caressing her face. Its left hand drew its blades out slowly.

She grit her teeth and blasted Luce and Ombra at it, together with bolts of energy, making her last stand. It shrieked at the sudden assault once again, and swept the handguns away from her gripping fingers, locking her wrists in invisible binds. She struggled feebly against it, but nothing was to prevent the descending swipe of the blades.

A flash of blue, and darkness blinded her for a second.

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---

Silence deafened the surroundings.

As Trish opened her eyes, she thought her soul was in an endless oblivion. She could not make anything out for a while, but as she recovered, her eyes readjusted. She was alive, and it was dark in the office of Devil May Cry.

As she looked up from her position, she saw the Faust had frozen. It had the expression of something akin to horror on its twisted face, but in the next second, its head rolled smoothly off its body, a clean slice separating it.

A body towered to her left, an arm stretched out over her head. In the hand of the outstretched arm was a gleaming katana.

Barely breathing, she stood up beside the figure. He was leaning forward slightly from the slash he had made, platinum hair framing his face. His eyes were closed as he lowered his weapon and turned to face her. Without warning, he slumped forward, but she caught him before he fell. Lowering his head back to the armrest, he breathed deeply.

Slowly, his eyes opened. He looked at her softly, unsure of his environment. Holding out a gloved hand, he touched her cheek. Trish barely caught the single word that he muttered.

"Mother?"

She shook her head slowly and lowered his hand from her face. "Vergil…"

Suddenly, at the sound of her voice, he wrenched free and placed Yamato against her collarbone. His eyes were trained on her, but were not focused on her. "Who are you?" he growled.

She said nothing but approached him instead, putting a hand on his arm to lower his katana. Surprisingly, he did not fight her touch and lowered his sword, but was alert even as his body was dangerously swayed.

"We have met before, Vergil. Your mind was imprisoned in a cage then…" she said softly. Vergil's breathing slowed, and he slumped back down on the sofa.

"You…" he whispered, fighting to stay conscious. "I do not remember much…"

"Rest now, you don't have to remember."

He faced her, but his eyes were still unfocused. As he drifted closer to rest, a memory tingled at the back of his mind.

"Trish…"

She was surprised that he recognized her. All around them, the others were getting up. Lady was limping, and Nero was already standing, all wounds gone. Dante was up and feeling his chest. The gas was gone from their systems. They were saved by a tick of the clock.

However, Trish did not notice what was happening. All she focused on were his eyes, as they slowly looked back into hers, the same shade of icy blue mirroring both, sensing something was wrong. He did not focus on her still.

She recoiled in shock, realization hitting her before Vergil closed his eyes.

He was blind.

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[A/N:

'Walay sapayan' - 'no problem' ]