Chapter 9

"Phoebe, can you pass me that handgun?" Lady pointed at the weapon that was lying on the coffee table. She was sitting on the couch, tying her boots, while the ginger was on her feet with a bottle of beer in her hands. Phoebe looked at the gun and looked back at the brunette.

"… I'd better not."

"… Do you want me to say 'please'?" She arched one eyebrow and the other girl shook her head.

"No! It's just that… Look, you don't want me touching your stuff any time soon." Since the witch had found out about her power of retrocognition, it had become stronger too fast, which caused it to get out of hand. Half of the things she touched would trigger a memory, and they were all bad. Phoebe was still asking Dante to forgive her for seeing Vergil fall in Hell, even though he had already said it wasn't her fault.

"Is this about that… thing you do?"

"Yes, it's about the thing I do. Even though you make it sound illegal and weird." She took a sip from the beer and looked through the window. "Ugh… I need to kill something."

"You're not stealing my job."

The witch quickly sat by her side and pouted. "What if I told you I'm sad? And depressed. And sad."

"… You don't have powers over me." Lady arched an eyebrow and stood up, ready to leave. The redhead snorted and hid her face in her hands.

"Aaaaand that's exactly why I prefer to hang out with men."

"By the way, where's Dante?"

"Sleeping. He spent the whole night on a mission."

"… And you've been sitting here for hours?" She arched both eyebrows. How could someone stay in that shop for so long if it had nothing to do?

"No, sometimes I walk around." Phoebe watched as the other huntress sighed and rolled her mismatched eyes. "It's better than my house, at least I can listen to my thoughts in here." The redhead shrugged.

"… Okay. When he wakes up, don't forget to tell him I have a clue on that liver-eater demon." Lady took her handgun and put it in the holster.

"Why haven't you told me that before?!"

The huntress arched her eyebrows as she slowly answered. "I did. That's why I said 'don't forget'. Pay attention, Phoebe!" The witch ran to desk to get a post-it and a pen. "Do you know that old record shop in downtown?" She shook her head lightly. "One that's been out of business for years?"

"Oh, and that's falling apart?" The brunette nodded. "I know where that is."

"Good, and there's no problem if Dante destroys the place because no one can find its owner."

"Yeah… I'm not telling him that. He might get excited and end up destroying the whole block." She rolled her eyes and placed the pen back on the desk. Lady laughed and nodded in agreement. Then, she picked Kalina Ann up and placed its strap on her shoulder.

"Bye." And Lady left the shop while adjusting her balance to carry that big weapon. Phoebe always wondered how long it would take for her to have a chronical pain on her back or something.

The girl looked up while hitting the post-it lightly in her left hand, wondering if she should wake up Dante or not. He had only been asleep for a couple of hours, he needed the rest. On the other hand, the demon could decide to hide somewhere else while she was waiting. The redhead slowly walked up the stairs and walked to the hybrid's bedroom, which he had left the door open. She leaned her left shoulder on the door frame and watched the way he was sprawled on bed, with both arms outstretched, and only in his pants.

Usually, if one looked close enough they would notice that at least a muscle of his body would be contracted. But right now the hunter seemed so peaceful that Phoebe just couldn't wake him up, even part demons needed to rest sometimes. She cracked a smile and cautiously walked to the bed table, leaving the post-it there. The girl was about to turn around and leave when she heard the bed creaking and, before she could look at it, the witch felt a pair of arms close around her waist that pulled her. She only watched as Dante crawled on top of her and brushed his lips against her right ear.

"I know I'm handsome, but watching me sleep is a little too much, don't ya think?"

"It's so rare to see you with your mouth shut that I was enjoying it." She chuckled. "Did I wake you up?" The redhead was almost sure that she didn't make any noise on her way from downstairs, nor when she placed the post-it on the bed table and yet, there he was.

"Yes, when you were yelling at Lady for not telling you about the demon."

Phoebe frowned and looked at him. "Was I that loud?" Dante chuckled and raised his head a little to look back at her.

"Half-demon, remember?" He pointed at himself. "My hearing is much better than yours. However, there are situations in which you are really loud." The hybrid smiled maliciously.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're almost a dog." He quickly licked her right cheek and started to laugh when she narrowed her eyes and tried to wipe it away with her palm. "Ugh. Totally uncalled for."

"I've licked worse places."

"… True." Then she realized they were way off the subject. The demon could decide to change its hiding spot; they didn't have time for that. Unfortunately. "We gotta go, Dante."

"C'mon, Pheebs, let's be quick and then we go." He bit her neck and squeezed her breasts over the shirt, causing Phoebe to bite her lower lip. However, it wasn't enough to change her mind.

"We never are quick. And the demon might hurt someone if we take too long, it has to eat, after all. The bed will still be here when we come back." She smiled.

Dante sighed and got out from top of her, she was right. He sat on the bed and started to put his boots on while Phoebe combed her ginger hair with the tip of her fingers. The Devil Hunter stopped, though, when he heard the main door downstairs being opened.

"Is anybody home?"

That female voice sent shivers down the witch's spine and her body froze completely. The hybrid, believing it was just another ordinary customer, inhaled to answer the woman. "I'm c—" And that was exactly when Phoebe placed her hand over his mouth.

"Shhh!"

He slowly turned his head to face her, his blue eyes full of malice. "Have you changed your mind already?" She didn't even pay attention to his muffled voice.

"That's my mother's voice!" She whispered.

Dante started to laugh, believing that was some kind of joke. However, he frowned when he realized the serious expression on the redhead's face. Why in the world would her mother be in his shop if she didn't even know of the existence of that place – or so he expected? Then his expression changed again, to something that Phoebe couldn't read. All of sudden he got out of bed and walked toward the stairs. The witch desperately went after him.

"What are you doing?!"

"She's a customer." He grinned.

"No, she's not!" She got in his way and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Pretend you're not here. She'll leave." But his curiosity would never let him do that.

"What if your house just got attacked by demons?"

"Pfffft, don't you think I'd know if that happened? And besides, my mother has so many bottles of holy water that they'd self-explode!" Dante tried to get past her, but the redhead just took a step to the side and got in his way again.

"Look, it's about my daughter… I think she's possessed."

The hybrid snorted, trying to hold back his urge to laugh. When that failed, he covered his mouth with his hand. Phoebe just stood there with an annoyed expression on her face, with her arms folded.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." She said under her breath. Dante took the opportunity and slipped past her.

When Johanna was looking for someone to help her, she had no idea she would end up with suck a… terrifying aura. There were skulls hanging on the wall. Some had horns, but none of them even resembled a human's. Were those… Trophies? She took her black chaplet in her hands and started to pray. When the woman saw the white-haired and shirtless boy coming downstairs, she started to pray even louder.

"If you came to pray, you definitely came to the wrong place, Mother Superior."

"I'm doing you a favor. This place is full of sin."

"No shit." The hybrid whispered to himself and chuckled. He sat on his chair and propped his feet on his desk, causing the woman to narrow her eyes. "How can I help you?" Meanwhile, Phoebe was hiding on the steps upstairs.

"I already said: I think my daughter is possessed." Dante was having a hard time trying not to laugh.

"Okay, maybe I could look into that." The redhead narrowed her eyes and controlled herself not to throw her boot in his head. "Do you have any pictures of her?"

"Yes." The religious woman took a picture from her purse and handed it to the Devil Hunter, being careful not to touch him. As soon as he looked at it, the smile disappeared from his face. The girl in the photo looked a lot like Johanna, they even shared the same shade of brown hair, except for the hazel eyes. And she was also a little older than Phoebe. "What?! Could you tell from the picture that there's something wrong about her?" That snapped Dante out of his thoughts.

"Demons aren't like ghosts, Mother Superior." Could it be that Phoebe had a sister and never told him? "Wait here." He went upstairs and signaled to the redhead to follow him to the bedroom.

The girl was smiling; completely unaware of what was going on. "Is the picture that bad?"

"No, because it's not even you in this photo."

"Oh, very funny. Lemme see it." But she widened her eyes when he held the photo in front of them. "What the hell?" She said slowly. The witch took the photo from his hand to take a better look at it. "That's… That's aunt Robin."

"Wait, what?"

"She's the youngest child… My mother was only seventeen when she—" When Robin was born. And Tara had already told her once that Johanna wasn't so religious when she met Erwin. "My grandparents raised Robin as their child." Phoebe whispered to herself.

"And that reinforces my theory that all nuns have a dirty past." Dante grinned. "She's always trying to keep you in a tight leash, but she had a lot of fun back in her days. It's totally not fair if you think about it." He started to laugh but then remembered about the more pressing issue. "Wait, do ya think your aunt, half-sister, whatever, is possessed?"

"Nah, she just became a vodouist. That's all." She handed the photo back to him. "Religion fanaticism makes you forget that people are free to believe in whatever they want. Or in nothing at all."

"You okay?"

"We weren't raised as sisters." The girl shrugged. "I'm not going to lose my mind over that." Dante nodded and walked to the door. However, before he left, he looked at her and when he was about to ask if she was sure, she snapped. "I'm fine, Dante! Just get my mother out of here."

"Whatever you say." Then he finally left.

"I am!" Phoebe controlled herself not to yell, Johanna could end up hearing.

Johanna was still standing in the middle of the shop, refusing to touch anything and much less sit on anything. When she saw the white-haired boy again she was impressed by the fact that he didn't care about putting on a shirt. What happened to good manners?

"I was talking to my partner who's… an expert in possession. And she, he… He told me that there's no way this girl is possessed." Dante handed her the photo and sat back on his chair. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"But you said that demons—"

"I was wrong." He shrugged. "Good luck with your daughter."

"You are going to burn in Hell for not helping others." She showed him his chaplet and left in fury. The hybrid bursted in laughter as Phoebe slowly walked down the stairs.

"Be grateful that she didn't throw a bottle of holy water at you."

"Is she always like that?"

"Twenty-four-seven." She sighed and sat on the desk. "Let's go after the demon, I already had to kill something, but now…"


The old record shop was a two-store building which the letters from the sign had fallen years ago. Nobody knew who the owner was, and old people that lived nearby back in the 70's claimed that one day, all of a sudden, the store wasn't open. They also said that a beautiful blonde woman worked there, but she would give a different name every time someone asked. Dante threw away the piece of wood that was blocking the window and got inside, Phoebe right after him; they were soaked from the rain. It was no surprise that the place was completely dark, and she created a small flame in her left hand to light the way.

"… The ball is on the other side of the street." The redhead heard a bored female voice. It was her retrocognition again. She still didn't know what was worse: when she actually saw something, or when she only heard voices.

"… Excuse me?" The male voice sounded confused. The girl could already notice the solemn tone his voice had.

"The Masquerade Ball being held on the other side of the street. You're going there, right?"

"No, why would you—"

"Your clothes." She answered slowly.

"Pheebs?" The witch didn't even realize she was standing in the middle of the store while Dante was waiting for her to get to the second floor.

"Oh, sorry. Let's go." She went after him, the wood creaking with each step they took.

"… I fail to see what is wrong about them when everyone around me wear lots of colors that do not even match." Phoebe heard the female laugh in response. "I was told you could give me the location of a certain demon."

Dante opened the door he believed that would lead them to the upper floor; however, it was only a room full of books. When the witch approached him, they light from her flame allowed them to see a big collection of weapons hanging on the wall. The hybrid whistled and picked up the rifle to take a look at it.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about." The female voice said in a melodic tone.

"Whoever owned this shop was either a hunter or helped hunters." Phoebe mumbled.

"What did you see?" He leaned the barrel of the gun on his shoulder. It was a 230 Winchester model, he was definitely keeping it.

"I was also told to say something about a… strawberry sundae."

"I heard. In fact, I still am. Pass me that shotgun." Phoebe pointed at it.

"Winchester M97. Whoever owned this place had a thing for Winchesters." The hybrid said while taking a look at the weapon that was now in his hands.

"Who doesn't?" She took the pump-action shotgun from his hands. Dante closed the door and they went back to search for the stairs.

"Now you're talking." There was a brief pause. "Eva. But if you go around telling my name, I'm gonna have to deal with you…"

"Sparda."

The redhead widened her eyes and her feet stopped moving. Since the Devil Hunter had finally found the stairs, he didn't even realize she was in shock and quickly went to the upper floor.

"… Like the demon from the legend?" She asked while trying to hold back her laughter.

"Precisely."

"Your parents must be interesting."

An unbearable silence filled the shop then, the memory fragment was over. Phoebe wasn't sure of what to do; Dante would never talk about his father, no matter what. But she couldn't keep the fact that Sparda frequented the shop away from him. Well, if she told him he wouldn't be mad, just ignore it and live his life like he had never known it. It was worth a shot. The witch started to walk up the stairs, each step making a long and loud creak everytime she took a step.

The Devil Hunter started to hear a long and loud growl, though the demon refused to show itself. He started to click his tongue and snap his fingers.

"C'mon, Whiskers, show yourself." The demon hissed, his glowing purple eyes finally showing in the middle of the darkness. Dante grinned and took his sword, but the purple orbs disappeared again. "You wanna play hide-and-seek? Fine."

"Hey, Dante." When the creature heard Phoebe's voice it immediately tried to jump on her. Thankfully the witch was paying enough attention to see the creature and throw the flame she had in her hand in its eyes. She created another flame right away, allowing the hybrid to cut one of its legs off with Rebellion.

The demon growled loudly and jumped on Dante, throwing him on his back on the floor and managing to puncture his chest with its claws. The impact opened a big hole and they fell to the lower floor, Phoebe widened her eyes and kneeled close to it, looking down to try to find the half-demon.

"Are you okay?!"

"Relax, Pheebs, Whiskers and I are just playing." He took the rifle from his back and touched the barrel against the demon's face. After he shot, the creature fell to the side, dead. The redhead jumped in the hole to get down faster, flexing her knees as her feet touched the ground. When she looked at Dante, his wounds were already healed.

"Oh, well. It's over." The demon opened its eyes again and hissed as he tried to jump on the witch's back, but she squatted just in time for it to get past without even touching her. Phoebe created three fireballs, one after the other, and shot them at the creature. It screamed until the Devil Hunter sliced it in half with a single vertical slash. "… Now it has to be over." He chuckled.

"What were you going to say before?"

"Oh, yes, I f—" She stumbled on a table and almost let the record player fall on the floor, holding it in the last second. "That's The Way (I Like It)" started to play, but she already knew it wasn't real.

"… I refuse to dance like that." Sparda was standing in the middle of the shop, staring at the blonde woman whose back was turned to the witch. Phoebe got closer, trying to take a good look at the Dark Knight. For a second, it just felt like looking at a Dante that just decided to brush his hair back — which she now hoped that he never has that stupid idea —, and wore a ridiculous monocle over his left eye.

However, when she looked in his eyes, she couldn't find anything familiar. The witch had already told him he had his mother's eyes, even though he wouldn't believe. There was something mysterious in Sparda's eyes, they were not easy to read, and they missed the sparkle his son had. If one really paid attention to Dante's eyes they could almost read his mind, and maybe he was unconsciously aware of that, since he would often use his bangs to cover them and, when that wasn't enough, he would look down.

"How are you going after a demon in a Disco if you can't even blend in? It's not that hard! You just have to be more like Travolta."

"… I don't need to blend in. And is that Travolta going to be there?"

"What?! No! I'm talking about John Travolta." Sparda didn't even budge and Phoebe heard the woman sigh. "… Saturday Night Fever?" And again, no response. "Carrie? The Boy In The Plastic Bubble?" He shook his head lightly. "Oh, my… We need to work on that."

Phoebe finally turned around to look at the owner of shop and her jaw dropped when the blonde took her hand off her forehead. She wasn't just some random chick that the redhead would easily forget when the memory was over. She was the woman from the framed picture on Dante's desk, also known as his mother.

"You just hate everything about the 70's, don't you?" Eva started to laugh. The witch smiled as she realized how right she was. Dante took a lot after his mother. "If you walk in there dressed like that they'll run away thinking you're Dracula. I mean, Dracula is a vam—"

"I understood that reference." Eva laughed again. "And I do not hate everything about this decade." Sparda walked to the record player and changed the records. The blonde woman got on the tip of her feet to take a peek at the cover.

"Elton John?" She grinned "Awn, you're soft."

"It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside. I'm not one of those, who can easily hide. I don't have much money, but boy if I did, I'd buy a big house where we both could live."

"Come here." The white-haired demon grabbed one of her hands and turned her around, placing his arms around her waist as soon as she faced him.

"If I was a sculptor, but then again, no. Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show. I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do. My gift is my song and this one's for you."

Eva slowly placed her arms around his neck and followed his rhythm. They were completely focused on each other's eyes, getting to the point of rarely blinking. For the first time Phoebe saw a sparkle of emotion in Sparda's eyes.

"And you can tell everybody, this is your song. It may be quite simple but now that it's done. I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words, how wonderful life is while you're in the world."

The witch was hypnotized, not even realizing the single tear that was falling down her cheek. Their foreheads touched and Eva closed her eyes, fully appreciating the moment.

"I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss. Well a few of the verses, well they've got me quite cross. But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song, it's for people like you, that keep it turned on."

Sparda also closed his eyes and they stayed like that: slow dancing and feeling each other so close. They really loved each other, no one who watched that scene would dare to deny it, it was written all over their faces, their gestures, even in their eyes for crying out loud! Phoebe just wished there was a way to show it to Dante.

"So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do… You see, I've forgotten if they're green of they're blue. Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean… Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen."

"If that's your plan to catch the demon, it might work if it's a she." She said, playfully, as she wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her left cheek against his shoulder. Sparda just smiled in response.

The music stopped all of a sudden and when Phoebe realized she was back to reality, holding the record player to save it from a certain death. She put it back on the table and wiped the tears that were falling down her cheek.

"Pheebs?" It wasn't hard to figure out when Phoebe accidentally activated her retrocognition, she would either become very pale all of a sudden, or start screaming if the memory was horrible. It all happened too fast. However, that was the first time he saw her crying.

"Give me a sec." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. But after that the witch smiled and looked at him. "Come here." Dante walked to her and she grabbed his right hand, putting it on the record player under hers, making him give her a puzzled look. "I—I don't know if this is going to work…"

"Don't tell me you're trying to exorcize the record player."

"Nope. Wait." Phoebe closed her eyes, it was her first time trying to activate her power willingly, and she didn't even know if it was possible to make other people access a memory. She opened her eyes when she felt the Devil Hunter slowly taking his hand from her grasp. Their eyes met for a second and the redhead knew he had seen it. He turned around and left the shop.

Dante just stood there, looking up, as the rain fell on his face and washed the tears he was trying to hold back. Since he failed, his only option was to hide them. He missed his mother so much it hurt in a way that devastated him. At least, seeing her so perfectly right in front of him, even if it was just a memory, soothed his heart in a way he never thought possible. The hunter heard the girl's footsteps right behind him and felt her arms wrap tightly around his chest, her fingertips brushing the spots of his shirt that the demon had torn. She leaned her cheek against his back and they both sighed.

"I'm fine." The hybrid said in a low voice.

"I know." Phoebe shrugged. "I'm just cold."

He smiled.


RIGHT IN THE FEELS. While this chapter was still in my head, I had no idea it would be so… FUCKING CUTE. God, I love the fact that I was able to insert a Eva x Sparda here. 3

So, yeah, I made Eva a bit of a badass. I can't stand the thought of her being some kind of damsel in distress. I mean, look at her husband! Look at her children! That woman must've been amazing.

I'd really like to read your opinion, guys, because this chapter has a special place in my heart right now.