The final chapter. It's very short. To be honest, this fic didn't turn out the way I planned. I was going to do a lot more reality bending head games, and some Matrix-esque battles making use of the dream world setting. Stuff happened though, and I got really tired and upset, and I need a little break from writing.
No, there is no battle between Dante and Morpheus. If you were looking forwards to that, then sorry to disappoint. I just didn't feel like writing up a fight that is a forgone conclusion from the moment it starts. Plus I got the feeling that people didn't care about everything else I was writing, and only wanted to see a punch up. Well, this 'aint no action flick folks.
I'd like to thank everyone following this, thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't ... then sorry. I try my best.
DMC: Sweet Dreams
Chapter 9: Moving On
Dante tossed a glass vial through the air, where it was snatched by a deft hand. Lady examined the vial, holding it up to the light to reveal that it was full of glittering sand. She lowered it and regarded Dante.
"And just what is this?" she asked. Dante leaned back against his desk, arms crossed, and shrugged.
"Just what's left of that demon when I was finished with him. That's one Sandman that won't be creeping around people's dreams anymore."
Lady examined the vial for a moment more before sighing and tucking it away. Well, the job was done. The people at the hospital had all woken up now, as had everyone else in the city. After a long night of troubled dreams of course. From what she'd been able to gather, if Dante hadn't killed the demon responsible, she would still be in the land of nod, same as everybody else in the city. So really, he'd done a lot more than just identify an obscure marking for her.
"Here's your payment," she said, tossing him a very small bundle of rolled up notes. Dante caught them and glared at the meager sum despondently.
"Anyone ever tell you you're a heartless greedy gold digger, Lady?" he muttered. Lady didn't take the remark personally. She was used to it by now.
"Only the people who owe me money, Dante." She tilted her head slightly and gave him a teasing smile. "Say, why don't you treat Patty to something nice? Way I hear it, if she hadn't dragged your sorry ass out of the dream world, that demon would still have free rein over all of us. I reckon you owe her as much as you do me."
Dante dropped the money on his desk and scoffed. "Well I would, but the kid's been avoiding me ever since it happened. I get the feeling I did something to piss her off. And the annoying thing is, I don't even remember what it was."
Lady frowned, puzzled at that. She shrugged it off though, and headed for the door, giving Dante a wave as she went.
"See you around."
Once outside, Lady had to pull out her shades and put them on, the glare from the sun was so intense. It was sweltering hot as well, and the streets were practically cooking. She could really use a drink right about now. Or even an ice cream.
"I wonder ..." she murmured thoughtfully.
At Restaurant Fredi the air conditioning had still not been fixed yet. Consequently, the place was devoid of customers. All save one at least, who sat alone at one of the booths, poking at a strawberry sundae without really eating it.
"I thought I might find you here," said Lady, sliding into the seat opposite the girl. Patty sat leaning against one hand, while she twirled her spoon around idly with the other. She seemed, if anything, glum.
"Hi Lady," she murmured. She didn't look up, instead she just kept staring at the sundae in front of her whilst exuding an air of general melancholy. Lady snatched one of the strawberries from Patty's dish and popped it in her mouth. The girl neither complained nor reacted.
"I'm going to make a huge intuitive leap and say that something is bothering you," said Lady with astonishing insight. Patty exhaled sharply.
"That obvious, huh?"
Silence fell between the two, broken only by Lady drumming her fingers on the table. After a while, she leaned back and crossed her arms and legs. The waitress Cindy skated over to take her order, and she asked for a drink, which was brought in short order. Ice cubes floated in the fizzing liquid, bobbing about lazily.
"You wanna talk about it?" Lady asked after a while. Patty sighed heavily and continued to poke at her sundae.
"There's not much to say," she replied, her voice growing somewhat irate, "I had a stupid crush on Dante, and that demon used it to try and trap me in the dream world." She finally set down her spoon and actually looked Lady in the eye, her expression deadly serious. "I was married to him, you know. In my dream."
Lady opened her mouth to say something, but when she did she realized that she didn't actually have any words for the occasion. She resisted the temptation to laugh, because from the look on Patty's face she might just upend her uneaten sundae over her head if she did. She coughed instead.
"Married? To Dante?"
Patty looked away and stared out of the window. "I know. Sounds stupid, doesn't it?"
Yes, thought Lady, it did. In fact she even said as much. "No arguments there. I can't even imagine why you would want to marry that lazy pig."
"I thought I was in love with him."
"And are you?"
Patty regarded her and frowned. Lady seemed to be seriously asking her. She wasn't joking, wasn't just humoring her for the sake of being nice. She thought about what to say for a moment.
"No," she said at last, "But it took a lot for me to realize that, and I ... I almost ..." she clenched her hands tight, her fists almost trembling with the memory of it, startling Lady. Lady watched her closely, taking in all the little signals she was giving off, and put that together with what she knew. She almost gasped.
"... oh," she said, eyebrows shooting up.
"Yes," said Patty quietly.
"Oh," said Lady again, unfolding her arms and sitting there in shock. Patty pushed her strawberry sundae away and sat back once more.
"I stopped myself before it went too far. I'm just a kid Lady, and I don't care about Dante that way. I just wanted to be an adult so badly ..." she trailed off, before picking up again a few seconds later, "I guess you could say Morpheus did me a favour."
"Really?"
Patty nodded. "Last night made me realize ... being a kid isn't so bad after all, and I shouldn't try and grow up too fast. Not if I don't have to."
Lady took a sip of her drink and then smirked. "You know Patty, you're pretty smart for someone your age. And seriously ... you can do a lot better than Dante. He might be a legendary devil hunter, but he'd make for a lousy boyfriend. Or husband. Trust me."
"I know that now. Oh, Lady - here," Patty reached around and then dropped a small black velvet bag on the table between them. Lady stared at it.
"What is it?"
"They're for you. To cover the debt Dante owes you. Give him a clean slate. I want to make up for ... well, forcing him to play house with me when I should have been waking him up."
Frowning, Lady scooped up the bag and opened it. Her eyes went wide in utter disbelief, and she held out a hand and poured the contents of the bag into her hand.
They were diamonds.
"What ... are these real?"
Patty grinned and nodded. Lady gaped at her, then at the tiny glittering gems nestled in the palm of her gloved hand. She very nearly choked as her mind started calculating the value of what she had just been given.
"How?" Lady breathed in astonishment. Patty extended her arms and shrugged, as if handing over a million dollars worth of diamonds was no big deal.
"A dead alchemist relative of mine made them for me out of coal. He thought it would cheer me up."
Lady didn't understand a word of what she was saying, but a part of her didn't care. Diamonds! Actual honest to goodness diamonds! And they looked top quality as well. Unbelievable. And Patty had just given them to her. She frowned again and held her hand out towards the girl.
"Wait, there's far too much here. This is enough to cover the money Dante owes me ten times over. I can't take all this."
Patty slid out of her seat and smoothed her dress down, before regarding Lady with a sweet smile. "Keep the rest. As a gift from me." She winked and then strode out of the diner without another word, leaving a flabbergasted Lady behind with a fortune in flawless diamonds. A moment later Cindy skated over with a bill for Patty's uneaten strawberry sundae and slapped it down on the table.
"Hey, where'd she go?" She glanced about and realized that the little girl was nowhere in sight. "I don't believe it - she ran off without paying!"
Lady slipped the diamonds back into the little black bag and then raised a finger to get the waitress' attention.
"Actually Cindy, I'll pay for it."
