A/N: Well, here is the moment you Vergil fans have been waiting for! I was going to continue more, but I liked how this scene ended so I'm leaving it here. Hmmmm... what could possibly happen next? (mwahahaha!)

My previous two chapters readers seemed to think was too short, so I may end up combining the two in the end.

Thanks to all who have submitted reviews. I'm glad to hear you are happy so far, keep it coming! Enjoy.

Yours Truly,

N.


Chapter 8

Hell's Doorstep

The car ride up the highway from Nika's penthouse wasn't too long. Dante got off a few exits later and headed into an older upscale part of the city. The car turned a few streets and came upon the rows of stately urban dwellings. Lining the city street stacked next to each other, were the tall and impressive manors. The buildings were old, but in pristine shape.

The sidewalks were void of activity and several cars were parked on the curbs in front of the buildings. Manicured trees that lined the sidewalks were starting to change color. Some leaves descend to the ground leaving the sidewalks spotted with the dying foliage. Beautiful ornate lamps lit the street with a warm soothing glow.

"Dante, where are we going?" Nika finally said.

"To my brother's house," Dante said casually.

"Your brother's house!?" Nika said in surprise as she stared at Dante.

Dante turned off the radio and at the next turn of the corner, parked the car along the curb.

"We're here, babe," Dante said as he looked over at Nika who was still staring at him in wonder. "What?" Dante said at her questioning gaze.

"I ... I just didn't think of you having a brother is all," Nika finally answered.

"Yeah, well, sometimes neither does he," Dante added as he stepped out of the car.

Nika followed along as they walked up to one of the grand buildings on the corner. The facade was made of beautiful stone work. The porch was covered by an expansive awning, held up by two large romanesque columns. Judging by the neighborhood in contrast to Dante's own tired dilapidated habitat, Nika thought Dante's brother must be considerably more financially stable than him.

As they advanced up the stone steps, Nika noticed that this particular dwelling was rather dark. There appeared to be no lights on inside and unlike the other manors lining the street, this one did not leave it's porch lights on.

"Do you think he's home?" Nika said.

"He's home."

As they reached the heavy dark wooden entrance door that was adorned with leaded glass inserts toward the top Nika quietly inquired now, "Why did you need to see your brother?"

"Business," Dante replied as he looked back at Nika standing just behind his right shoulder. Although there was a button for a doorbell, Dante choose to bang on the door with his fist instead.

They waited a moment, but there wasn't a sound from the other side of the door. Dante pounded again this time announcing himself loud enough that Nika thought the neighbors might hear him.

"Vergil, it's Dante, your favorite brother ... come on, open up," he annunciated.

Still no sound from the other side of the door. Nika looked around the quiet street to see if anyone had noticed Dante's commotion. Just then, there was a faint sound of shoes slowly gaiting across a hard floor getting louder as it approached the door.

Dante looked over his shoulder at Nika again and smirked, satisfied that he was right about Vergil being home.

The footsteps stopped at the door and a muffled voice spoke behind the door.

"Go away, Dante," the voice said flatly.

"Aw, come on Verg, when was the last time we saw each other?" Dante playfully pleaded.

"I don't have the time for you or what ever it is you want right now. I'm busy," the voice replied more sternly now.

Nika thought his brother sounded rather indifferent to Dante's presence. She was feeling as if he was slightly unwelcome.

"Oh you're always busy, come on Verg, open the door," Dante now adding a touch of sternness to his voice.

His brother didn't reply and all was silent for a moment. Nika felt rather uncomfortable standing on the porch of a host that was none to eager to let his guest in. Finally, Dante spoke again.

"I got something you might be interested in," Dante said as he flashed a sly look back at Nika.

She raised an eyebrow. She wasn't too sure she understood what he meant by that comment or liked it, for that matter, the way he looked at her when he said that.

Still no reply from the other side of the door.

"What do you know about a fancy sword enchanted with ethereal power that can kill demons?" Dante casually asked as he leaned his head closer to the door to speak.

The lock on the door unlatched and it heavily creaked open on its hinges. The door opened with just enough of a width to present Vergil cloaked in the darkness. He stared at Dante, who was now grinning at his success at getting Vergil to open the door.

"Show me," Vergil instructed.

"Well, I don't actually have it ...," Dante hesitantly replied.

Vergil immediately began to close the door when Dante stuck his foot in the jamb and stopped him. Vergil's force on the door managed to pinch Dante's foot, and he slightly winced.

"Come on, this is something big, I can feel it ...," Dante said seriously now.

Whether it was his interest in the mysterious info or the tone in Dante's voice, Vergil decided, after a moment of keeping Dante's foot wedged in the heavy door, to let him in.

Vergil stood back as he swung the door open to let Dante enter. He stood tall and stiff with his arms folded, following Dante with his eyes as he passed through the doorway. Dante advanced into the foyer and gave Vergil a half-appreciative 'thanks' as he strolled past him. Before Dante could say anything, Vergil began closing the door behind him when he suddenly felt a slight resistance on the door. He frowned in confusion as he pulled back the door to see what the problem was. To his surprise, a girl was standing there with her hand on the door as to make sure she didn't walk into it. Vergil stared at her, looking up and down at her with his eyes. She looked a bit unnerved and confused.

After dropping her hand from the door that almost closed on her, Nika now stared at Vergil as he emerged out of the dark foyer from around the door. Although it was quite dark, she could see now that Dante's brother – looked just like him! Twins. Nika stared dumbfounded at Vergil for a moment not only surprised now that Dante had a brother, but a twin brother as well.

"Hel–lo," Nika managed to get out nervously.

Vergil did not answer and just stared at her.

"Yeah, Verg, this is Nika," Dante managed to finally say in the confusing moment and held out his hand to Nika coaxing her into the darkened foyer.

Nika sheepishly looked at Dante then at Vergil. He remained still and continued to stare at her. Nika had never felt more uninvited to somewhere as she now felt here. She then looked back at Dante and decided to come in. When she passed though the door, Vergil turned his head studying her movement, as she entered the foyer and walked up eagerly close to Dante. No one spoke, and Nika felt like she really didn't want to be here. Vergil closed the door and silently glided passed them into the long hallway. Dante followed with Nika staying close behind.

Their boots tapped along the smooth surface of the black granite tiles that lined the foyer and hallway floor of the dark abode. A large classical painting hung on the left side of the hallway wall but other than that, Nika thought it rather sterile.

There was a soft glow of orange light coming from the right at the end of the hall. They entered that room which happened to be a substantial living area. There was a sudden contrast in temperature from the cold dark hallway to the living room. The orange glow was coming from a large fireplace lit on the main wall, and a few candle sconces and oil lamps were flickering around the room. The only electrical light on, was that of a small dim lamp sitting on a rather large old ornate desk in a far corner. It was surrounded by a few, tall, glass door bookshelves filled with books.

"So whatcha been up to lately, bro," Dante casually asked, breaking the silence as he looked around the large room they entered.

Vergil did not reply. He simply walked over to the fireplace and grabbed the stoker that hung off to the side of the mantle and began rearranging the glowing logs in the fire. As he adjusted the burning wood, it caused the flames to lick and dance sending tiny glowing embers floating up in to the chimney like sparkling confetti.

"What of this sword you are inquiring about?" Vergil said dryly with his back to his uninvited guests as he hung the stoker back up.

Dante slightly sighed knowing that his brother would not entertain him with small talk, and began to tell him about his ordeal with the masked figure and the sword. Dante wandered around the room as he spoke, fingering little artifacts and curios placed about on shelves and tables through out the room.

Vergil turned and stood straight with his arms folded in front of him. His eyes followed Dante attentively as if waiting for him to break something.

Nika's attention was on Vergil. He stood near the fire place, enveloped by the glow of the fire. He stood rigid and tall and she thought his stature actually made him look slightly taller than Dante. The more she stared at him, she realized that although identical twins, he and Dante appeared quite different.

His hairstyle was smartly swept back away from his face, and only a small pale lock hung over the side his forehead. He wore a periwinkle colored long sleeve button-up shirt. It looked like the finest of materials, smooth with a slight sheen to it. The top two buttons he left undone and he left his sleeve cuffs unbuttoned. He wore it untucked over a pair of stiffly pressed tailored black slacks. His clothes fit his statuesque build perfectly. Nika noticed that only on his right hand, he wore a black leather glove. With his arms folded, she noticed that the gloved hand's grip on his arm seemed slightly askew than his other hand. There seemed something awkward about it.

What Nika noticed mostly though was Vergil's face. This twin's face so identically matched to his brothers, yet still strangely different. Like Dante's, Vergil's face was smooth and chiseled nicely. But that's about the only thing Nika thought was similar. Vergil's skin was very pale like pure porcelain; unlike Dante's, who although quite light complected himself, had a healthy peachy cast to his flesh tone. She also noticed that his expression seemed to perpetually remain in a slight scowl. So much so, that he had tiny creases on the side of his mouth from his frown. His eyes, she thought, were as exceptionally cool blue as Dante's. These eyes though, were truely cold. Although Dante's were cool in color they exuberated a life and playfulness about them. These eyes were full of something else she couldn't figure out and they felt dark and empty. As she began to lose herself in thought staring at Vergil's eyes, she also momentarily felt – sadness.

Suddenly Vergil who had been following Dante around with his eyes, cast his glance over to Nika.

Nika startled by Vergil's sudden attention, darted her eyes to where Dante was standing in the room. She felt nervous and her cheeks flushed a bit as if getting caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing.

Dante was finishing his story when he picked up a tiny strange clay artifact off of one of the wall shelves. It appeared to be a primitive figure of some kind of demon – with rather grotesquely large breasts on it. It was so odd, in fact, that it made Dante pause in mid sentence. He brought it close to his face and examined it with an expression of both fascination and repulsion. He glanced up at Vergil with a raised eyebrow then set the figure back on the shelf and finished his sentence.

"What do you think?" Dante asked Vergil after telling his story.

"I think I have never heard of such a sword," Vergil replied studiously.

"Well that doesn't help," Dante said rolling his eyes at Vergil's useless reply.

Vergil shot Dante an annoyed glance, and walked over to where the large desk was. He lifted the glass door on one of the lower book shelves behind the desk and pulled out a large thick old leather bound book. He set it on the desk as Dante walked over to where Vergil was and stood next to him. At Dante's approach, Vergil casually slid a small group of papers with handwriting on them under a small stack of books that were laying on the desk.

Nika watched as the two twins stood side-by-side. She was intrigued to see them together so close. Nika could tell now that Vergil was in fact the same height as Dante but their contrast in character surely made them different. She held back a grin thinking about how Vergil's sophisticated and polished appearance, made Dante look all the more rough, rugged and casual. Cute.

Vergil opened the large tome that he had pulled from the bookshelf. Its dry leather binding creaked as he took care to touch the ancient book with a small white cloth.

Dante glanced at Vergil and thought that his brother's care with the cruddy old book was slightly eccentric, but he decided to keep his comments to himself this time.

Vergil turned the thick old yellowed pages carefully. The pages appeared to be hand written in some foreign alphabet, and numerous hand drawings of curious and fantastic weaponry illustrated the pages. He gently flipped past a section on bashing-type weapons to the mid of the book, passing the section on spears and poles. He continued past other unique items like gloved and chained weapons. Some had additional illustrations depicting certain extraordinary abilities the weapon must have possessed. Dante grinned in recognition of his personal experience with a few of the images they thumbed past.

Vergil continued through this encyclopedia of arms, past knifes and daggers, finally coming to the section on swords.

"Ah, here," Vergil said.

The first few types depicted were that of broadswords and long swords. Dante was mildly amused to see that Rebellion and Alastor had there own entries in this collection.

"You said it was a long sword, correct?" Vergil questioned Dante.

Dante thought a moment then said, "Yeah, but it was ... dainty, you know, really thin."

The brothers examined the entries in the long sword section. Vergil pointed to various potential models, but Dante shook his head in disagreement to each one.

Vergil passed the broad and long sword section and scanned through claymore and cutlass-like models. Dante shook his head at the images not matching his description. Vergil continued through groups of other various models from katana to scimitars, then stopped on small-swords. Nothing resembled what Dante had seen. The next page Vergil turned started a new category of axe-type weapons.

"Is that it?" Dante asked.

"Do you have any idea what type of sword it is ... specifically," Vergil said emphasizing each word with mild annoyance to Dante's inability in describing the sword properly.

"Well, no...," Dante replied slightly agitated with Vergil's tone, "I mean, it looks familiar, I know I've seen that type of sword before," he continued.

"That really doesn't assist in our research," Vergil flatly said as he eyed him with building frustration over his ignorance in weapon identification. Vergil never understood that as much of an idiot savant Dante was with using weapons, he always thought he was quite the dolt at knowledge of the weapons themselves.

"Look, alright ...," Dante replied now annoyed with Vergil's impatience. "It has a very long thin blade and the hilt was really fancy with these rings that intersected and looped around," he continued to describe as he held out one hand mock holding a sword and sweeping his other hand around it. Vergil closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and sighed.

"A rapier?" Nika suddenly answered quietly.

The twins quickly looked over at Nika, as if they had almost forgotten that she was standing there. Nika shifted her glance from Dante to Vergil and back again to Dante, almost embarrassed now that she had said anything and quickly looked away at the fireplace.

Vergil furrowed his brow and opened his mouth, about to address Nika.

"Hey! That's what it is!" Dante exclaimed as he pointed at Nika in recognition.

Vergil closed his mouth as he stood up straight from where he had been hovering over the book. "It appears the information you seek is not in here," Vergil stated to Dante as he folded his arms.

"Don't you have any other books on weapons?" Dante questioned.

"On specific weapons, yes ... specifically on a rapier, no," Vergil replied looking over at Dante from under his eyebrows.

Dante sighed and walked out from behind where he stood with Vergil at the desk.

"Say, I was thinkin'," he started, "do you think 'ol Edgar would have the answer?" Dante questioned Vergil.

Vergil, delicately putting the relic back in the book case, replied, "That would be the only person, I should think, who may know anything about what you are inquiring."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Dante said with a sigh as he leisurely walked back over to where Nika had been standing.

"Well, it's been awhile since I've seen the old devil, so looks like it's time to pay him a visit," Dante stated as he turned to leave the living room.

Nika, who began to follow, almost collided with Dante when he abruptly stopped. She stepped back as he turned and faced her.

"Hey babe, I'm gonna need you to stay here," he smoothly said as he gently put his hands on her upper arms and smiled.

Almost in unison, Nika and Vergil exclaimed a 'what!?' at Dante's statement.

"I'm not staying here!" Nika said as she stared at Dante with sheer dread.

Vergil upon hearing Dante's remark, had quickly moved out from behind the desk and stalked up to where the other two were standing. He came up rather close behind Nika who was in his way of getting up close into Dante's face.

"First you intrude and disturb me from my research with your trivial inquiries, and now you think you are going to leave your girlfriend behind for me to babysit," he blatantly proclaimed now almost leaning over Nika.

Nika although mortified at Dante's statement, suddenly scrunched her face at hearing Vergil's comment. "I am NOT his girlfriend," she blared out as she half twisted around to address Vergil directly. He didn't acknowledge her and continued to glare at Dante.

Dante looked at Nika with slightly surprised and disappointed eyes at how harshly she made her statement.

"She is right, Verg, she's just a client," Dante added flatly and turned to continue his exit. Nika followed close behind with Vergil not far behind her.

"Look it'll be just for a few hours–," Dante began as he continued down the hall to the front door.

"A few hours!?" Nika and Vergil almost replying in unison again.

Dante had reached the front door as he turned to see the look of panic and terror on both their faces topped off with pinch of loathing.

"Look, it won't be long, and where I'm going it's not a good thing to be human," Dante said, mostly addressing Nika.

"I don't care, I'm not–," Nika tried to persist.

"You'll be much safer here, trust me," Dante said as he smirked and turned back around to open the door.

"You are not leaving her here," Vergil demanded once again as he pushed past Nika to get to Dante. But it was too late and Dante had already stepped out on the porch and headed down the front steps.

Nika did not know what to do. She stood there astounded, afraid to move. He left me!

"Dante!" Vergil blared out the front door but Dante did not react and got in his car and sped off.

Vergil yet again, furious with his brother, growled as he stared angrily at Dante's car disappearing down the street then out of sight. Vergil roared and slammed the door so hard, it made Nika gasp and jump. He spun and marched back down the hall past her, almost knocking her over.

Nika now stood alone in the foyer in darkness and silence. Her heart was in her throat and she swallowed hard. She looked over at the front door and almost motioned for it. I could call a cab and leave, she tried to reason with herself. But something stopped her. She suddenly remembered the look in Dante's eyes when she had defied him about calling him after rehearsal. She knew he was serious about wanting to protect her and help her and she had made a careless mistake. She also knew that one more time and he wouldn't forgive her. She needed him.

Nika stood in the silent dark for some time staring at the front door. Her rational side telling her to flee, but her emotional side telling her she needed to do what Dante told her to do. After what seemed to be a long time, she slowly turned around and reluctantly headed back down the hallway to the living room.

Her boots tapped along the cold granite as she made her way down the hall. She slowed down her gait as she came upon the large classical painting that hung on the wall. She studied it for a moment noticing the images depicted in the scene. She could see it contained several creatures, demons and beasts, writhing around in a dismal setting, attacking and feasting off of nude human figures. The helpless human figures wailed and cried out, frozen forever in perpetual torture and agony. It made Nika shudder.

As Nika walked past the painting, she turned her attention to the entrance of the living room. The orange glow flickering ahead on the wall now seemed to represent the opening to hell beckoning her to enter. Nika swallowed her heart out of her throat again, and wiped her sweaty cold palms on the sides of her jeans as she slowly turned the corner back into hell.