Given To Destroyers
Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters = © Capcom. I don't make any profit from this story.
Warnings in general: Bad language, violence, lots of blood, and yaoi.
Warnings for this chapter: language, gore, horror.
A/N: I made a cover. You can see the full res version here on my tumblr: elusi v e- il lusi ons. tumb lr. com (slash) post (slash) 49458400351 and thanks to ffn for making it even harder to post links yay -_-
Also, I'm very slow at replying to messages right now and I'm sorry for that. I really appreciate every single review I get and I'm always happy about feedback :3
Chapter 5 – Sorry
The mirror shattered but I barely noticed the blood running down my broken knuckles. My heart was pounding like crazy, my breathing hard and labored. I'm having hallucinations. I'm losing my mind, I'm going fucking insane!
One piece of glass clattered as it fell into the sink. I stared into the remains of the mirror, quickly tearing my gaze away.
Okay, calm down. You are tired and you've been on edge the last few days – everything will be alright.
"Dante, what happened?" Nero looked absolutely bewildered as he entered the bathroom.
I pressed my lips together. Tch, calm down. Easier said than done. "It's nothing, go back to –"
"I'm going nowhere. Why did you break the mirror?" He glared at me angrily, crossing his arms over his chest.
I sighed, taking a shaky breath. "I just saw... I... think I'm going insane or something."
He raised a brow, waiting for me to continue.
"I saw Vergil in the mirror."
"Your brother?"
"My dead brother." Dead, gone because I killed him. Because I had to kill him. "He talked to me."
"What did he say?", Nero asked, his arms slowly becoming unlocked. He came a little closer, not sure what to do. At least he didn't question what I've seen, didn't think I was crazy.
"He repeated what he said to me shortly before our father went back into the Underworld and died", I replied and took a deep breath. Nero, I'm afraid. I don't understand why I'm not able to sleep. I'm having nightmares and flashbacks...
But I never said it out loud. And once again, I stared at the submission mark on Nero's neck.
Nero grabbed my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes instead of the wound.
"Let's go back to bed", he whispered, kissing me gently. He wrapped his arms around my middle, pulling me close. I shook my head.
"Dante –"
I don't want to see all those things again and again – my past, my family, my life before it went downhill. And I was sure I would inevitably see them as soon as I closed my eyes.
I pried his arms off, ruffling his hair with my hand. "Go back to bed, love. I don't think I can sleep tonight."
Nero protested, once more pulling me in, his hand gliding over my back. I knew that to him intimacy was one of the most important parts of our relationship. The problem about this was that Nero tries solving problems with sex. Since the year we spent apart – the year he spent sleeping around, drinking and almost getting himself killed – he sees sex as solution or as a way to repress his feelings.
He needed to feel loved and wanted – and I knew that and was always happy to give him what he needed. But now I was insecure about everything and had no clue what to make of our fucked-up situation. Nero needed affection, even more so after his sister's death and here I was, being a complete jerk and depriving him of it because I didn't want to put him in danger.
Hell, times like these I wished I'd never fallen in love in the first place. Feelings make life so much more difficult.
I squeezed Nero in my arms, kissing the top of his head before letting him go. "Go to bed, I'll be there in a minute."
He sighed, pulling away. "Alright..."
I stayed in the bathroom for another minute, washing the blood off my hands and throwing away the glass shards of the mirror. Seeing Vergil again felt like a slap to the face. A reminder that I had to destroy my own family. And his transformation into Nelo Angelo … I still had no clue why or how he had turned into him. Well, I actually didn't want to know. I simply wanted the past to rest, I didn't want to be reminded of it all the time. Dealing with things like these was complicated and incredibly painful so I simply bottled everything up and never dealt with it.
But looking into mirrors always reminded me of Vergil because I always saw his reflection as well whenever I looked into one. And Trish looks just like my mother. I'm constantly reminded of my family tragedy – every single day.
I rubbed my face, ignoring the mirror. There were more important things to deal with now – the firebeasts we encountered today, for example.
Neither of us were able to sleep this night, the safety distance I was putting between us not helping either.
We were silent for a while before Nero spoke up. "It must've been hard to kill him." He swallowed. "Even worse than … than what happened to Kyrie."
I thought about it for a while. "Vergil wasn't himself anymore", I said then, "He's been dead for a while. When I met him on Mallet Island he was Mundus's puppet. No soul left."
"But –"
"Can we not talk about it?", I interrupted him, "Nero, some things can't be changed. And I don't like thinking about it."
"Yeah sure..." Suddenly, his voice was small and a little shaky. Good going, old man. I'm such an idiot.
I bit my lip, turning around and away from Nero. This was getting worse from day to day and the fact that I didn't know what to do made it even more worse.
"Dante", he said into the silence. "Please … I don't want you to be distant."
No matter how pissed I was at myself, I had to overcome it quickly. Nero was blaming himself again – thinking that somehow he was responsible for all of the shit we came across in the last few days. But he wasn't. This wasn't about putting the blame on anyone of us.
I tentatively reached out for him and he instantly snuggled up to me, placing a kiss on my collarbone. "I think I woke an instinct when I bit you", I said reluctantly and Nero shifted so that he could look into my eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"I forced you to submit to me", I explained. "Even though I promised to never force anything onto you."
"Will you stop that now?", he asked angrily, "I'm getting tired of repeating myself, Dante. I don't even recognize you anymore. Stop agonizing about this."
His hand cupped my cheek and he placed a short but firm kiss onto my lips. "I'm depressed enough for both of us. And I can imagine what you're going through at the moment." He kissed me again. "Get some sleep. We have a job tomorrow and we're going back to Asatrus with Trish."
I tensed at that. I didn't feel comfortable with Nero being so close to Fortuna once again. It could make memories resurface. Memories about Kyrie and a life he left behind one year ago.
"What job?", I asked.
"More of those fire demons", he replied, yawning loudly. "And Lady pointed out how strange it was that nobody in Fortuna and Asatrus died."
"Nobody?" How was that even possible?
"It's strange, isn't it? The guy Lady met in Fortuna called her, asking her for help when the wounds of the townspeople reopened. They suffered from the burns but it wasn't live-threatening."
That's weird. How come those demons managed to hurt me so badly but didn't really hurt humans? And Nero took no damage...
"Old man... sleep."
I kissed the top of his head. "Whatever you say, kid."
Trish was currently packing the first-aid kit, stocking it up with holy water. I watched her as she put the little flasks into her case, her brow furrowed as she counted them, checking if all of them were corked tightly. She also seemed to be a little fidgety, losing count twice and starting over again.
Nero meanwhile was busy loading Nevan and Cerberus into the trunk, scratching his nose when Nevan lit up in his hand. He climbed into the car in the next minute, Trish getting in as well a minute later and we drove off into the direction of Fortuna.
"Where's Lady?", I asked her curiously.
"At home, I guess", Trish replied a little hesitantly.
"Did something happen?", Nero queried, raising a brow and turning around in his seat to face her.
"No", she replied automatically and a little too fast, making both of us suspicious. What was going on with her lately?
"You sure?", Nero continued asking, twisting around in his seat to get a better look at her.
Trish nodded and waved him off. "Everything's fine, Nero. You worry too much."
With one last questioning look, he sat back again, staring out of the window. Something was going on with Trish and Lady but I didn't know what it could be. Nero on the other hand seemed to have an idea... I decided to focus on the road. We had an accident yesterday and didn't need another one today.
Some hours later, we arrived at a village that laid in ruins. As soon as Nero got out of the car, he frowned at the people standing there. All of them stared at him, apparently recognizing him. The majority of the townspeople had burn wounds, though none of them were as deep as my own yesterday.
All of them glared evilly at Nero, whispering things under their breath. It sounded like a swarm of angry bees. No wonder Nero had always hated Fortuna.
"That's what you get when coming to help people", I said. "Instead of being thankful because you saved them, they chase you out of town."
"It doesn't matter anymore." Nero shrugged. "Trish, can you treat their wounds? Dante and I track down and kill the demons."
She nodded and went to work while we followed the path of destruction the fire beasts had left here.
And suddenly, it was there again – this damned unnatural silence that seemed to follow us the last few days, hanging over us like a dark cloud of doom.
Nero was biting his lip, his left hand clutching Cerberus tightly. He picked out the weapon, saying the icy devil arm would be an advantage over the fire beasts.
"Somehow, I forgot the way they used to look at me", he whispered quietly, referring to the townspeople. "As if I were a freak."
Slowly but surely, I was getting tired of this discussion. Yes, I constantly assured him that there was no reason for him to feel like this and both of us knew it. Yes, he's had a rough past. And yes, he also needed my support right now.
Nevertheless, we've went through this topic so many times that I've lost count of it and even though I usually was very patient with Nero – given our current situation, it was enough. "Nero –"
"Yeah, I know. Sorry."
Seems like the irritation in my voice was more than clear. Even the most simple things now turn complicated …
We went quiet again for some minutes. The trail of ashes lead us through streets with destroyed houses to the edge of the small town and continued through the woods. There, a lot of trees had fallen, many plants had died in the flames. The leaves of the remaining plants were coated with a thin layer of ashes, making the whole forest look dull and grayish instead of green.
We kept on walking until we reached the beach. There, in the distance, the island of Fortuna could be seen.
"It's just that I can't forget about it", Nero mumbled, "About Fortuna. Or Kyrie. I grew up –" he pointed at the island – "and spend my whole life there. And I'm just... I don't know. I'm overwhelmed by all the memories, all the emotions... It's just too much at once."
I reached out for him but was interrupted by an ear-piercing shriek. Behind us, a fire demon emerged. It looked similar to a dog, only that it was twice as big – maybe some kind of hellhound. Flames danced at his feet and his jaw was filled with long, saber-like teeth, and there were sharp, slightly curved claws on its paws.
With a snarl, it flew forward. I rolled to the side, pulling out Nevan and quickly playing a riff. Several bats were summoned and shot at the hound. Just as the firebird we encountered yesterday, it was fast as hell and dodged the attacks effortlessly.
Nero came down onto him, spinning around Cerberus but missed. The beast meanwhile charged at me and I waited for it to strike, swinging the guitar up when it was close enough, slashing it horizontally. Blood splashed – the liquid strangely thick and black – and the demon roared in pain. I felt a cold whiff and suddenly Nero was there, hitting the demon multiple times.
I rolled out of the way, letting him do the work. Nero seemed to be on the edge of triggering – his eyes gleamed red and there were blue sparks dancing around him. But he kept on pushing his trigger back … There was no reason for doing that, triggering would only enhance his powers and healing abilities so why was he holding it back?
His bringer plunged into the demon's body and Nero pulled out its heart, throwing it onto the ground and stomping on it afterwards. But then, he collapsed onto the ground, clutching his side, his face contorted in pain.
I quickly ran up to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. Nero leaned onto me, breathing heavily.
"It stabbed me with its claws", he wheezed out.
There were deep scratches on his ribcage, blood oozing out of the wounds and staining his clothes. Nero put his hand over the wound, his breathing erratic and short.
"I think it might've punctured your lungs", I said quietly, helping him to walk. "Trigger. I don't want you to bleed out before we get back to Trish."
He breathed in shakily. "N-no."
Did he just say 'no'?
"Nero, trigger."
"I can't!", he yelled, wincing in pain afterwards.
"What do you mean you can't?" Now that I actually thought about it... I haven't seen Nero trigger in a while. For about half a year, in fact...
"I j-just can't!", he shouted, his face scrunching up in pain once more. "Please Dante, just... help me."
I scooped him up into my arms. This wasn't the time to fight. "Put some pressure on the wound."
He did as he was told, his eyelids drooping. I stroked his cheek. "Stay awake, kid."
Nero opened his eyes again, managing to glare at me even in a situation like this. "I feel like shit."
"You need to be more careful", I said, "Or you need to trigger. Right now."
He went silent, avoiding to look at me. This was bad. Why didn't I notice it before? I usually tried to keep an eye on Nero while fighting, tried to prevent situations like these. But I never noticed that he doesn't trigger anymore. Was it because he was still trying to get used to his bringer and his demonic descent? No, he had already accepted his nature and himself... right?
We arrived at the village some minutes later. Nero's wounds seemed to start healing – and that much faster than they would usually. As if on cue, Trish met us halfway. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Nero who was stained with both his and the demon's thick black blood.
"What happened?"
"Got stabbed by a hellhound", he replied and I set him onto his feet, helping him to get his bloodstained and torn hoodie and shirt off. The blood was already clotting and the cuts knitting themselves together.
Trish stared at the wounds for a second, frowning lightly as she observed them before pulling out a pair of latex gloves. Then, she used holy water to clean the cuts.
Nero sucked in a breath, screwing his eyes shut. "Aaah fuck, that hurts... What about the humans here?"
"I gave them the holy water and showed them how to treat the burns", Trish said, "They'll be alright."
Nero's wounds closed one by one, leaving smooth satin skin behind. I noticed the townspeople glaring at him, especially at his bringer, pulling off my coat and giving it to him to shield him from their stares. It seemed to be two sizes two big for him though.
Nero sniggered quietly while he pulled the arms back so that he would be able to use his hands. The coat was too wide on his shoulders as well. "Thanks babe", he said, pecking me on the lips. And for the second time today, the townspeople started whispering in the background.
"A demon and also gay."
"Nero Angelo's going to hell."
Nero's shoulders slumped down and he stared at the ground, seeming ashamed.
"Don't listen to them", I said, gripping his face and forcing him to look at me. "They have no clue what they're talking about. Let's go home, okay?"
He nodded weakly and I kissed him again, giving the people that started whispering again the mental finger.
Some hours later, we were back at the office.
Trish had announced that she finally collected all the items she needed to summon a witch Nero met half a year ago in Verroth's castle. Nero explained to me that said witch – Sayume – helped him finding his way to me and that he had promised her to get her out of that place.
By now, we were setting everything up in the office to start the summoning.
Trish had drawn something onto the floor with white chalk. It was a pentacle – a five-pointed upwards star with a circle surrounding it. She was currently adding some symbols to it as final touch.
Meanwhile, I was crushing something in a mortar that looked like bones, having been instructed me to grind them until they were a fine powder.
Trish finished the drawing, patting off the chalk dust from her hands. "Okay, we're almost done preparing. It's a simple spell but I had to get those damn flowers from my ever elusive client." She pulled out a small bouquet of half dried flowers. They were crimson and seemed to have sharp petals, almost looking like they were made out of paper.
"Desideria?", Nero asked and Trish raised a brow.
"Exactly", she said with a small grin, "How'd you know?"
"They were in that shelter where I met Sayume. Those flowers helped me to find Dante when I was at Verroth's castle..."
"I see...", Trish said slowly, taking a step back to observe the drawing. "So far so good. All we need now is the summoning spell."
It was a quick procedure. A very quick procedure, in fact … I frowned lightly. "I thought the preparations took you months?", I asked Trish who shrugged in response.
"It's a simple spell. Getting all the occult items was the main problem." She sounded strangely tired and refused to look at me.
"Trish... where did you even get those items?"
She still didn't look at me. "You wouldn't like the answer."
That alarmed me. I firmly grasped her shoulders, putting a hand under her chin, forcing her to look at me. "What's with you? You've been acting weirdly for the last couple days. What's going on?"
"Let it be, Dante. Please."
I shut up then. She would tell me eventually. Or at least so I hoped. "Alright. Can we start then?"
She nodded and fetched a book. It looked extremely old, most likely one of the books the girls found in the library of Temen-ni-gru. Its yellowed pages were slightly crumpled, the ink faded and hard to read.
Trish placed the dried flowers onto the pentagram before scattering the bone dust over the whole pattern. Then, she instructed Nero to switch out the lights and lit up the candles she had placed in each tip of the star.
Nero and I sat down on the couch then, watching Trish carrying out the ceremony. She mumbled the words for the summoning and Nero nudged my side, whispering: "What's she saying?"
I gestured to him to keep quiet, intensely listening to the last line.
Trish ended the spell by snapping the book shut. Simultaneously, the candles went off, a silent shhh and a wisp of air sweeping through the office.
We were quiet for a full minute, waiting for something to happen. When nothing happened after another minute, Trish opened the book again, turning to the windows and trying to read it in the moonlight. "I don't understand, I thought I –"
BOOM.
Nero and I flinched and Trish yelled in surprise at the sudden sound. The candles flickered and burned again. In the middle of the pentagram, a young girl had appeared. She was a little disheveled but other than that she looked fine – she was quite petite, looking a little younger than Nero, maybe about seventeen or eighteen, with pale skin and ghostly white hair. It wasn't the same shade as mine or Nero's hair – it was a pearly white with a faint golden undertone.
He got up from the couch, gently picking her up and brushing her long hair out of her face. She instinctively snuggled closer to his chest.
Why did that scene look so familiar to me …? It reminded me of when Nero carried Kyrie after the savior incident – oh.
Sayume opened her eyes, looking scared. No, not scared – terrified. She tried to fight Nero off in the first few seconds before recognizing him.
"Nero!", she shouted, throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing loudly. "You kept your promise, thank you so much..."
She cried on his shoulder for a while and Trish and I used the time to clean the office. Nero meanwhile gently petted her head, waiting for her to calm down.
"What happened to your skin and hair?", he asked quietly and she froze.
"What... why?", she shrieked, suddenly seeming to freak out.
Nero continued to comb through her hair, trying to calm her down. "You look kinda pale, that's all. I remember you being slightly tanned and having light brown hair but it's –"
She pushed him away, staring at her reflection in the window and choking back a scream. "It's white! What in the name of Lucifer happened to me?!"
She touched her face and the huge wooden plates that were embedded in her ear lobes, carefully stroking the pale skin her neck, all the while staring at her reflection as if she didn't recognize herself.
"Sayume, why don't you get cleaned up?", I offered and she flinched, turning around to face me.
"And you are...?"
"Dante."
"Yes, sure..."
Nero led Sayume upstairs after saying goodbye to Trish.
"Try to be a little sympathetic this time, Dante", she said and straddled her bike. "Sayume never lived in the human world. She doesn't know anything about technology."
"Yeah, alright", I said, touching her hand before she could drive away. "Trish... what's bugging you? Don't think I didn't notice."
She bit her lip. "Bad things happened. I fucked up, I... I think I need some time alone." She pushed my hand away, speeding off like a madman.
I watched her drive away, knowing she was about to leave the town for some days. What was going on with her? Usually, Trish was so composed. It unnerved me to see her like this... Why wouldn't she tell me what happened?
I walked back inside with a sinking feeling in my stomach, hearing Nero and Sayume talk on the first story. "What's that?", Sayume asked in a mix of curiosity and a little fear.
"A sink", Nero explained patiently and I heard the water run. "See? The water comes out of there. You can turn it on and off here."
There was a silent clatter sound – as if someone was tapping their nails against something. "What's that made of?"
"Porcelain, I guess..."
"Fascinating..." It was like explaining the world to a child. Sayume was clearly overwhelmed by her new surroundings, trying to process the information she was now being flooded with.
Nero continued to explain to her how the things in the bathroom worked. "I'll leave you alone now, okay? Here's a towel and some clothes to wear. Just come downstairs when you're done, Dante and I will order some food."
He came downstairs after that, rubbing his temple. "Vera promised to bring along the tape tomorrow, maybe then we can make some progress about those firebeasts."
"Hopefully." I sighed. Damn, when did things get so complicated?
Veronica was delighted to meet Sayume. She came along the next day after sunset, bringing some clothes for the witch and set it as her goal to help her adapt to the human world. Sayume didn't seem that excited about it though. Some hours with Veronica around and she had been turned into another person: her long, almost sickly white hair has been braided into thick dreadlocks, the wooden plates in her ears and the studs in her nostrils replaced by white plastic, her outfit now consisting of a pair of washed-out and tight fitted jeans and a gray hoodie.
As thankful as she was for having been saved, she couldn't hide that she felt miserable here. Considering her past and what she's been through it made sense that she wasn't happy.
Veronica meanwhile regarded her handiwork – she called it "modernizing" Sayume so that she'd fit better into the human world. She seemed quite contented with how her newest piece of art turned out.
Sayume in turn called Vera crazy multiple times, telling her she felt alienated from herself. Maybe they would warm up to each other in time? … who am I kidding?
Nero was fighting with the jukebox, trying to get the old thing to work so that we could listen to the tape Veronica brought with her. Lady was there as well, sitting next to Veronica who nervously shifted every time Nevan, who was placed onto her stand next to the couch, lit up. Lady, who's never seen a witch in her life, was meanwhile still eying Sayume suspiciously.
A loud thump made me startle in the next second. Nero had hit the jukebox with his bringer. "Damn thing stops working when we need it the most, fucking typical!" He rubbed his face tiredly, sighing a little.
"It's okay, kid", I said, walking over to him and laying a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get it to work."
Maybe I didn't only mean the jukebox and Nero seemed to understand, smiling a little before sighing again. "Any other way we could listen to it?"
"Are you sure you did everything in your power to get it to play?", Veronica asked, standing next to us and swiftly kicking the machine. As if on cue, it finally turned on and started playing.
Nero's jaw dropped. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Veronica laughed and wriggled her eyebrows, choosing not to comment on it.
We listened to the song then. The words felt strangely familiar... the voice too, now that I thought about it...
"Evanescet lux,
Ardebunt astri,
In favillis mundus iste occidet.
Sol ultimus elevabit,
Inflammabit omnis,
Luna cedidiebit infra eius vim.
Hostes omnes extinguebintur,
Depugnabit aureum saeculum.
Memora, numquam tanguntur sol et luna
Memora, numquam tanguntur sol et luna..."
The song ended and all of us stayed silent for one whole minute. I broke the silence first: "It is the same spell we discovered months ago."
"This is no spell." Sayume said calmly. Everyone stared at her. "This is an ancient tale... yes okay, someone turned it into a spell but originally, it's a tale. A tale about my clan, no less."
"Your clan?", Nero inquired with a raised brow.
Sayume nodded. "Our history can be traced back several centuries. Back in the old days, our people used to be fierce fighters. Children of the Sun. Firebirds."
I knew that story. It was one of the bedtime stories dad would tell me and Vergil when we were little.
Sayume took a deep breath. "It is said that the king of our clan conquered many lands, the old city prosperous, the people happy and contented. His wife and children were healthy and his eldest daughter ready to claim the throne … Ready to be married as well. But there was a problem – the mate she had chosen proved to be a fatal decision."
She rubbed her eyes. "And at this point, everyone usually continues the story in their own way. What we know is that the king of the firebirds made a lot of enemies by conquering and one of them proved to be the self-proclaimed lord of the Underworld."
"Mundus...", I whispered into the room.
"Yes, Mundus", Sayume confirmed. "His troops erased the firebirds from the map of the Underworld. Only a small number remained, my ancestors being one of them. But back to the topic – legend says Mundus attacked the clan because Yulija, our princess, fell in love with one of his higher commanders. Their love was strictly forbidden, never had a chance. So he brutally forced them apart and killed her."
"What happened to that commander?", Lady asked.
"I don't know", Sayume said with a shrug. "But there are songs about their undying love for each other, none of it saying anything precise about her lover."
"Are there any more verses?", I asked and Sayume nodded.
"All of it basically describes what I've just told you and it's pretty vague. But Dante... isn't it unusual for spells to be recited as songs?"
"It is... damn, all of this is strange. The monsters, the attacks, this spell. I never encountered things like these before."
"Maybe because they're not from this world?", Nero mumbled quietly, "Think about The Void again."
"Nero, I don't think this will lead to –"
"Hey wait", I interrupted Sayume, staring at Nero. "'Somewhere in between' … You went there, didn't you? When you were in Verroth's castle?" I felt like slapping myself. That's what he wanted to tell me that night and I didn't listen to him.
"Well yeah...", Nero said quietly.
The girls watched us attentively, none of them saying a word.
"But that's not the only thing that happened there." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, I guess you will find out anyway so I might as well say it right now."
Nero took a deep, shaking breath. "Dante, we went out on the very first night I moved in with you. Vera, that was the night we first met at the Phoenix, maybe you remember."
"Yes, I do", she said, "There was a demon attack that night."
Nero scratched his nose. "Exactly. Anyway, Dante and I quickly killed the demon. But when I ripped out its heart... something happened." He fidgeted on the couch. "Its heart dissolved, leaving a small black pearl behind –" My stomach churned at that. Pearls...? That wasn't a good sign. "– which my bringer absorbed."
Nero took another deep breath. "And... and when Verroth tortured me... I'm not sure what exactly he did to me but ever since then I couldn't trigger. It hurts. It hurts as if I'm gonna die, as if the poison he injected is still running through my veins. I think it's connected to that pearl."
"It might be true, Nero", I said quietly, "Verroth used those in his breeding station and as power source for the hell gates he forged."
A magical pearl. The last time I had found a pearl, my family had been killed... And then, there were those pearls I had found at Verroth's castle. But there was no need to panic – I destroyed his breeding station so they were no more of them... right?
"We have to get it out", Sayume said, "If it blocks your powers, it has to be removed."
Nero bit his lip. "Fine but how?"
She looked at Nero's bringer for a moment. "I'll cut it out of your demonic arm." She decided and I felt a weight settle in my stomach. That didn't sound good at all.
"Nothing gets through Nero's bringer", Lady remarked quietly.
Sayume pressed her lips together, seeming to feel uncomfortable for a second. "Nothing but Verroth's poison or pure holy water."
Nero paled. I wrapped my arm around his middle, giving his waist a squeeze. He calmed down a little but his breathing turned a little faster. Maybe he was having flashbacks of that night where Verroth –
"I'm not sure if this a good idea", I said and Sayume's gaze darkened.
"It's an unknown source of magic. It has to get out of there." She pointed at Nero's arm. "And you need to steady him when I'm cutting through."
"But –"
"Trust me, it's for the best."
I huffed angrily. "Fine, fine, you're the expert here but you better do a good job." My devil side growled lowly, emphasizing the warning.
"I need some tools."
"There are some in the bathroom cabinet", Lady piped up, "Trish keeps them there together with the holy water. For … emergencies." The way she said the last word sounded a little strange to my ears – distant, slightly aggravated. Hell knows what's gotten into her and Trish …
Sayume and Lady went upstairs to get the supplies. Veronica stayed downstairs with me and Nero, flinching when Nevan lit up once again. I raised a brow at that. It was unusual for Nevan to act like this … Veronica leaped up when Nevan did it again, following the other girls.
Nero turned to me then, still looking unhealthily pale.
"You sure you want to do that, kid?", I asked him and he nodded.
"It hurt when the pearl was absorbed. My bringer never hurts when it absorbs things...", he mumbled. "Besides –" he turned around and buried his face in my chest, "it blocks my trigger. I... I could have died yesterday when that demon hit me or if –"
I tightened my grip around him, feeling my heart clench in my chest. "Stop saying things like these. Everything will be alright, okay?"
I desperately wanted to believe that myself but I've never had it easy in life. Nero cupped my face with his hands in the next second, pulling me down to kiss me, hard and almost desperate.
We parted a moment later, Nero still looking a little scared. "It's going to be okay, love", I told him, gently stroking his face and ruffling his hair. "Sayume knows what she's doing and she would never hurt you on purpose. She's just trying to help." And if she doesn't I make sure to kick her ass.
He managed a small smile, his face a little flushed from the intense kiss. I grabbed his bringer, interlacing our fingers.
"Okay Nero, you ready?", Sayume asked him as the girls came back. She had brought Trish's first aid kit with her, setting it onto the coffee table and pulling out a scalpel and holy water.
He nodded, sitting down next to her and holding his arm out.
"Dante, hold him from behind, and Veronica from the front", Sayume instructed and I did as told.
Nero swallowed hard. "Why exactly –"
"Maybe some... instincts will kick in as soon as I cut through your skin", she explained, "We need to restrain you in that case."
He slowly inhaled, shakily exhaling through his nose. "Okay. Do it."
Sayume dipped the scalpel into the small bottle of holy water, gripping Nero's arm tightly and snaking her way through the scales to the light blue skin. Nero jerked under me, obviously a little uncomfortable.
"How are you holding up, kid?", I asked him and he grunted quietly, hissing in a breath through gritted teeth.
Sayume meanwhile seemed to feel around for something and after some more moments, she found it. Nero suddenly screamed in pain, trying to claw his way out of mine and Veronica's grip. It was a scream of pure agony but I held him tighter nonetheless when he threw himself against me.
"I hit it!", Sayume yelled, "Hold him still!"
"I'm trying to!", I said angrily over his screams. It was torture to hear it, to know that I could do nothing to help him. The rational side of my brain knew it was for the better to remove the pearl – but my devil side wanted to jump Sayume and claw her face off for doing this to Nero.
"Almost there –"
Nero's screams turned into cries and pleas now, screaming to make it stop.
"Hurry up!", I urged her and she jammed the small knife in deeper, a strange sound – something like a crunch – coming from the spot before she abruptly pulled the scalpel out.
Nero instantly went slack in my arms and Veronica gently let go of his front, brushing his hair out of his eyes. I pulled him into my lap, kissing his forehead.
Nero's eyes were closed, he seemed to have passed out either from the pain or shock. Veronica sat down next to me, seeming even paler than usual, if that was possible for vampires.
"Oh no …"
My gaze snapped to Sayume who looked at the scalpel in disappointment and anger. There was a small item speared at the tip of the blade. "I … I broke it. The pearl – half of it is still inside him." She actually looked close to tears, shaking badly.
"What exactly does that mean?", I asked tensely.
"Ingrowth. The other half is already connected to his body …" Yeah sure. As if things couldn't get even more worse from here. "I thought I've cut out all of it but I couldn't break through … whatever it was that suddenly caused him so much pain. It's connected to his system already."
"Any other way we could get it out?"
"I honestly don't know, Dante. It is not demonic, neither angelic."
"What the hell is it then?", I asked, slowly but surely getting agitated. This was ridiculous. I needed to know how to get that thing out of Nero before it could kill him – and the sooner the better.
Sayume shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry, I don't know." She was shaking even harder now. "I hope I didn't make it worse … I just wanted to help."
"It's alright, you did what you could." Veronica lightly patted Sayume's shoulder, giving her an assuring smile.
Nero stirred in my arms, scrunching up his nose. I smiled at the familiar gesture, carefully caressing his cheek. He opened his eyes then, staring at me a little anxiously.
"How are you feeling, love?", I asked him and he moved to get up but I pushed him down again. "Shh, stay like this for a bit. How are you?"
"I'm fine, I think", he said, clutching his head with his human hand. He turned to Sayume then. "Did you get the pearl out?"
She shook her head, tears glazing in her eyes. "Nero, I'm so sorry, I think I made it worse."
He disentangled himself from me, pulling Sayume into a hug. I observed them both as she explained to him what she had done, feeling strangely cold and rejected by him.
Nero shrugged Sayume's explanation off. "Maybe we should focus on those fire demons before we decide what we're going to do about the pearl. They're more important now anyway."
I couldn't sleep this night either. Too many thoughts were running around in my head, too many worries keeping me awake.
I climbed onto the roof of the office, something that I've done more often when I had been younger, shortly after having bought this place. Seeing the city lights of Capulet had a strangely calming effect on me. Light meant life, that the world was still spinning and that there were more lonely souls somewhere out there.
But someone already occupied my usual spot. Sayume turned around when she heard my footsteps, making room for me to sit next to her.
"Can't sleep as well?", I asked her and she nodded.
"It's too loud."
I gave her an inquiring look.
"There are too many sounds here – cars, people, music. Almost enough to cover the screams."
She wasn't really making sense to me and I was getting a little worried. "Screams?"
"Mother Nature's screams", she replied, staring into the distance. "She's somewhere beneath all that … gray, stone-like material humans buried her under."
Was she talking about concrete?
She frowned as she looked at the street. "Everything is gray here. The ground, the buildings, the plants. Even the sky. There isn't one single star up there."
"They're hidden behind the clouds", I said.
She scoffed bitterly and we both stared into the sky for some minutes before she spoke up again. "What do you think Hell looks like?"
I thought about it for a moment. That was actually a good question – and given that I was actually a half-devil whose home technically was Hell it made the answer more complicated.
"A place of endless pain I guess", I said, "A place where your fears eat you alive."
"Someone's Hell might be another person's home. In this case the human realm is my hell", she whispered, sobbing quietly.
I put my arm around her and she sobbed even harder. "Dante, I'm so sorry for what I did to Nero today", she continued, "And even more so because I don't know what will happen from here."
I tensed. "What could happen to him?" I honestly was afraid of the answer, images flickering before my eyes. It was similar to what I felt when Nero had been captured by Verroth – suffocating fear that I couldn't help him in any way, that I had to watch another person die because of me.
She swallowed hard. "I'm not sure what that pearl was made of. It is not of purely demonic origin, there's something alien in it, something that makes my skin crawl."
My stomach started churning. It was getting worse and worse from second to second.
"Let's say it's magic – dark magic. It's fused with Nero now – and in the worst case it could slowly bleed him dry from the inside until –" Her voice broke.
This felt like a stab to the gut. She can't be serious. "What can we do to get that thing out of him?" I was surprised how calm my voice was. Maybe because my insides just have turned to ice.
"Find out where Verroth got the pearl from in the first place. Nero absorbed it form one of his creations." She wiped away her tears. "I'm sure that it wasn't his invention though. He always was more of a commander than an alchemist and none of his experiments ever succeeded."
"And then?"
"Destroy it? Get the whole pearl out of him? I wish I knew what to do, Dante."
We fell silent for a while and I came to the conclusion that I was damned. Death seemed to follow me everywhere, always attacking people close to me, people I love. Why does this keep on happening?
I sighed. Brooding over it won't change a thing. "You don't happen to know how to remove submission marks, do you?", I asked into the silence, not really expecting an answer.
"Mating creates a bond between the mates", Sayume said, "Imagine it like a red string that ties you together. It can become tangled up, there can be knots in it but it never separates. Unless – one of the mates dies."
"What happens to the survivor?"
She thought about it for a moment. "It depends", she mumbled. "The deeper the bond, the more difficult it becomes to cope with the other's death. If they shared a long life together as mates, the survivor will most likely go insane without the other, can't bear to stay alive without their other half. But connections like these are rare and explaining things like the bond between mates is hard."
She twisted one of her dreadlocks around her finger. "Nero asked me about the mark as well. He wanted to know why you reacted like this and why you're trying to keep your distance."
I avoided to look at her. "So, what did you tell him?"
"I told him that usually, both mates mark each other as a sign of respect, if you can call it like that. Dominance and submission belong into a relationship but they go hand in hand and not by force."
Once more, silence settled between us for a few minutes while we were both lost in thoughts.
"Look, the submission mark you put on Nero is kinda like a big messy knot in your relationship." Interesting comparisons she was using. Though she did sound a bit like a hippie … or maybe a little like a stoner.
"Okay thanks but what exactly does that mean to me?", I queried.
"It means it's up to you to untangle your mess", she said as if it was obvious. "But you have to find out yourself how to do it."
Never ask a witch for advice.
The light was on in our bedroom. I carefully pushed open the door, seeing Nero in bed, reading one of Kyrie's journals. Great.
"Dante, take a look at this", he mumbled, gesturing to me to get closer.
"Nero, I thought we'd agreed that –"
"Yeah, I know but I thought I've overlooked something." He pointed at the corner of the endpaper, peeling it off. One single word was written or rather carved into it: moriar.
"Dante, what does it mean?", Nero asked.
I swallowed. "It means 'I'm going to die'."
So Kyrie had known it all along? But why did she write the single word there in Latin? My head started to pound as another flood of questions started to float into my head.
Nero meanwhile looked completely shocked, mouth hanging open as he stared at the small book in his hands. I put my arms around him, soothingly stroking his back. He stiffened a little before returning the embrace, leaning his forehead against my shoulder.
This was going to be a long night.
She looks so graceful, even when she's asleep.
Pheolae watched her mate sleep, taking in her relaxed expression, her scaly golden skin that shimmered greenly in the eerie light of the candles that lit up the room, the deep red lips that were curled into a soft smile …
It had been an exhausting day for both of them. Pheolae had shown her new queen how to use her powers today, making sure she'd be prepared for the oncoming battle. She absentmindedly brushed through her mate's long hair, the structure feeling silky under her fingertips, as she waited for sleep to consume her as well.
"Do you like my replacement?"
She froze, sitting up and staring at her mate. Empty eye sockets bored into her gaze, the golden skin replaced with charred black skin and burned, once bright red and orange feathers.
Yulija sat up, adjusting the flower crown on her head. It was made out of half-decayed roses, the edges of the petals black and grimy. Patches of her once beautiful skin clung to her skull, her bone structure visible on several spots of her body where her skin had burned off completely.
"She's no replacement", Pheolae said quietly, not daring to raise her voice above a hushed whisper, terrified by what she saw in front of her. A nightmare come to life.
"She's no replacement", Yulija repeated, chuckling quietly. Her lips trembled. "What is she then?" Suddenly, she started screaming. "You didn't get to me in time, it's your fault I had to die! And now …"
She drifted off, seeming to stare into space even though her blind eyes couldn't see anymore. "Then, you even cheated on me to gain power and for what?"
"To be with you again", Pheolae replied in an instant, "I wanted us to be together again."
"But this is not me!", Yulija screamed angrily, "I am dead and even your little spell won't bring me back! What in Lucifer's name did you think would happen? That suddenly your wish would come true, that asking for a little power could turn back time?!"
Tears began to fall from her empty eyes, the liquid thick as blood and dark as ebony. It flowed down her chin and dripped onto the bedding but didn't leave any stains on the creme-colored sheets.
"She's beautiful, isn't she? My copy –", Yulija's charred hand tenderly stroked Pheolae's cheek, her nails scraping over her skin. Pheolae swallowed thickly, forcing herself to not flinch away.
"Look at you", Yulija whispered venomously, "You are disgusted by me. Am I not pretty enough anymore? Is that why you always told me you loved me? You shallow bitch!" She get louder again, the hardened tips of her nails scratching Pheolae's cheek but they left no wounds.
"You know that's not true", Pheolae sighed but Yulija's index finger pressed against her lips, gesturing to her to keep quiet.
"I don't want to hear it." The steady stream of black tears didn't cease as Yulija got up with some difficulty, walking around in the room. As usual, there were flames dancing under her feet with every step she took. Still, she didn't look as graceful as she had once been. Some pieces of clothing were clinging to her deceased body, fluttering with every movement; some pearls that had been sewn into her gown still shining as they were illuminated by the green light.
"Remember the shelter you created for me? The small lake with the cranes?", Yulija asked into the silence, approaching the harpsichord that was standing in the room. Her fingers touched some keys and yet, there was no sound coming from the instrument.
"I remembered this place while the flames ate me alive, thinking that it was kinda ironic for me to die in a fire", she continued, her voice soft and steady, a raspy edge swinging in it from her destroyed vocal chords. "I asked myself why you bothered creating it in the first place when you actually didn't care if I died or lived."
"I did care and I still –"
"Silence."
Pheolae obeyed again, watching Yulija as she moved around in the room.
"We are damned, my love", Yulija said in a sing-sang voice. "Both you and I. And my instable copy." She spun around, a flicker of gold breaking through the black. "You know she's instable, don't you?"
Pheolae whispered a 'yes', staring at Yulija as she approached the bed again, unable to move from her spot.
"Instable, just like your sanity."
Pheolae nodded, knowing that she lost her mind many years ago when Yulija died and their mate bond broke.
"Ah, my love – but your sanity isn't the only thing you lost. You also lost your sense of judgment." Yulija's voice turned thin and shaky now. "What have I done to be remembered like this? Easily replaced by one of your experiments?"
"She's no experiment", Pheolae piped up but was quickly interrupted.
"Shut up!", Yulija roared, more tears falling from her eyes. "Your little plan won't work and you know it!" Her voice cracked as she become more furious with each passing second. "You have ruined everything since the moment you went into The Void, ever since you got involved with those living nightmares! But nevertheless, you got involved with Daevus and then you even decided to ask Him for the power of raising the dead!"
"I'm sorry." The words were barely audible over the sound of Yulija's sobs.
"Sorry?", she repeated quietly. "It doesn't matter anymore whether you're sorry or not. You know how this is going to end, my love. And you know it's your own fault."
Smoke started to fill the room, thick and black, making Pheolae choke on it as she helplessly watched her former mate disappear in flames, screaming for her to come back.
Seconds later, everything stopped, a cool hand feeling her forehead.
"You screamed in your sleep, Mistress", her mate said, her completely black eyes staring at Pheolae's face. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"You could call it that", Pheolae replied, pulling her closer to her, trying to keep herself from shaking. Someone was sending those illusions to her. Or was it her conscience, her deep guilt, that made Yulija up? She was dead, gone forever and Pheolae had only dreamed of her …
