Your presence still lingers here
and it won't leave me alone

I was walking up and down the main road going past the wrecked store for about the hundredth time before Dante broke his sighing, groaning and mumbling trance. He pulled me aside and ran a hand through his hair.

"Okay, what are we doing?"

"Trying to see which way your little precious has gone," I shook him off like his touch actually hurt.

"We've been stomping down the same damn road for over an hour. Her scent or tracks or whatever isn't going to just miraculously re-appear. What if teleportation was used?"

"Where do you suggest we go look then?" I growled in frustration.

"Your place."

"Is non existent," I bit back. "Just have some patience. I'll track her easier once the sun goes down."

"Oh, and why's that?"

Because she's going to get worried that we haven't done much to find her, and she's going to move. Like a bunny into the predator's line of sight. "It's a demon thing," I said instead.

"You're only half-demon."

"No, you're half-demon. I'm nothing like you, Dante," I huffed.

He backed off a little and trailed behind me quietly until dusk began to settle. A couple of hours into the night and I was doubting my theory. I headed toward the city where my apartment lay in rubble, and wandered around the debris aimlessly. I found my couch and kicked a few planks off it before slumping into it.

"This place was nice before Sanctus messed it up. You must have had a pretty view," Dante said distractedly.

"I hate this place," I said.

He paused in his tracks and looked at me in the dark. "It's home to us."

"My home burnt to the ground a long, long time ago," I said gloomily, glancing about the debris. "Fortuna was a last resort."

"I get it."

"Sure you do." I got up and scanned the area angrily.

"Look, once we find Karla, you can move on. You don't have to stay here."

"Oh, now that I have your permission, it makes me feel so much better!"

"Well that's one way to kill a conversation," Dante said with equal heat.

I started toward the docs and he followed suit. Everything was quiet and dark, which ought to make tracking Dez easier, but all I kept seeing and smelling was Dante's scent. Yep, he was definitely slowing me down. He had stopped outside the gates of a run-down resort and was staring at the name arched over the entrance. I kept my gaze diverted as I strolled past him back toward the city streets. He fell in stride with me a moment later, and I noted something about his demeanor had changed. I knew what he was thinking.

"Don't pity me, Dante."

"I pity the situation."

"It won't change anything."

We were nearing the broken-down cathedral when I spoke the reality that had been gnawing on my mind. "It never ends, does it?"

Dante started to reply but I carried on. "I thought he'd be a good friend. Out of the two of you, he'd always seemed the more reliable, level-headed, low maintenance brother. The go-to guy, right?"

"He'd always been good at deceiving people."

I blinked, surprised, and looked away when he gave me a small smile.

"I'd put too much trust in him. He used me over and again for his purposes, like I was some mindless puppet at his mercy," I said and grinned at Dante bitterly. "And look at me now. Fifteen, sixteen years of being free of him and then he walks in and within an hour I'm right back at the end of his strings."

"Don't look at it that way."

"I don't know whether to admire him or envy him for it."

"Cora, you're here because of me," Dante said and blocked my way.

I stared at his chest for a second before looking up at him. "You mean, because Vergil told you to interrogate me and I happened to make a vow to you."

"If I remember right, I had you before he sent his troops in to arrest you," Dante smirked. "Whether Vergil had interfered or not, I would've discovered you had been in contact with Karla, and I would have found you, and we would still end up right here, right now."

"You would have still cut off my fingers?" I asked, taking a step back.

"Technically, that wasn't me," Dante said, his smirk waning. "I'd have gotten you to help me find her, regardless."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm doing something that will benefit Vergil. I mean, what do I get out of this?"

"The potion, remember."

"I would have gotten the potion from you whether Vergil and his spawn were part of it or not."

"Karla."

"Huh?"

"Her name is Karla."

"Yeah, I like Desdemona better," I said, wrinkling my nose in disgust before brushing roughly past him.

"You didn't actually call her that, did you?"

"No, at first I just called her Rue. Then she kept coming back and annoying me so I called her a demon-child. It kinda stuck," I said over my shoulder as I picked my way toward the council chambers across the road. "I call her Dez for short."

"Don't you think that's kinda harsh?" Dante asked as we both stopped short outside the black iron gates leading into a hole ridden courtyard.

"Don't you think it's harsh how she came to be in the first place?" I retorted sharply.

"Cora, she's a good girl. Don't blame her for Vergil's actions."

"I don't blame her for anything. I never wanted to blame her for anything. Why'd you think I was so hellbent on aborting her?" I managed to squeeze my small frame through the iron bars and for a minute, it was very tempting to just leave Dante stuck on the other side and make a run for it. He kicked half of the gate off its hinges before I could act on my instincts and I swallowed a disappointed sigh.

"But you didn't. That's got to mean something," Dante said, evoking a short, icy chuckle from me. The questioning look he gave me put me very ill at ease.

"Just because she's here, doesn't mean I didn't try. I never wanted her any more than I wanted Vergil. But you already knew that," I said, marching up a flight of stairs off to the side of the courtyard. A shadowy corridor stretched out at the top and I placed myself at the mid-way point. Dante didn't follow me this time.

I stared out at the dark city - a few dots of light gave way that people had begun to return to their homes - but otherwise it was veiled in a comforting silence. I didn't even have the time on me. I could go ask one of the witches, maybe Hazel if I caught her, to help me track down where Dez was hiding. It would be so much easier to find that girl than to try find Kat.

That would mean I'd have to go to one of the rifts, and then it would still be a wild guess to find any comrades capable of helping me out. That would also mean I'd have to take Dante with me. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, but then it wouldn't be the best thing to do either. Chances are he didn't even know about the rifts. I'd be selling a secret to someone who probably shouldn't be privy of it, being a demon hunter and all. I wonder what the patrons at the rift would do at the sight of Dante? A Son of Sparda crashing the party.

Then again, everyone was too mellow to get hyped up quickly. The rifts were relaxed little islands of paradise. And I was in need of a few drinks.

I pulled away from the window and glided down the stairs. Dante looked up from where he was sitting on a large dislodged concrete block and got to his feet.

"You know where to go?" he asked.

"I know exactly where to go." It's just not where you want it to be.

The rift was hidden behind hills of collapsed stone and dust in the alley. Conquering those hills was the easiest thing I'd done all day. I sketched some incantations in the air where I knew the portal to be, and stepped through.

Deep red walls, warm timber panels, shiny counter and table tops, the smell of alcohol thick in the air. I breathed it in and felt at home. It felt like ages since I'd been back to one of these, where I was safe and hidden, and surrounded by familiar faces.

"What the hell is this?" Dante asked, a little too loudly, next to me.

I jumped and glared at him. "Keep your voice down."

I headed for the bar counter, to my usual seat, and noted that the majority of the patrons were witches and warlocks. A few shapeshifters, a couple of humans, and absolutely no demons aside from myself. And of course there wouldn't be any demons present, if the luminous trail leading to the far back of the joint had anything to do with it. Who'd want to be around that stench?

"Hey, Cora. Can I get you guys anything?" one of the friendly waitresses waltzed past us and whipped out a notepad.

"The usual for me, thanks."

"And your date?"

"What are you doing?" Dante was staring at me like he wanted to shake me. "How is this helping?"

I stared back up at him and huffed. "He'll have a beer. And he's not my date."

"Sure. Bet you Kurst will be happy."

I turned toward the girl in disbelief, but she'd already made her way behind the bar. "What is with these people?" I muttered.

"Cora." He had my elbow in a steel-grip and narrowed his eyes at me. "You're not playing games with me, are you?"

It took me three times before I managed to free myself from him. "Me, no? Your little precious, yes. While you were chopping off my fingers and running around blind, she was over there tucking into some chicken."

Dante whipped his head around and we both looked at one of the farther booths where a couple of people were seated. One I didn't recognize, the other had brilliantly rich crimson hair. Dante glanced at me, stumped. "What-"

I lifted my hands to wave him off. "Don't ask me, it's not my problem." I took the glass of whiskey the human girl had prepped and put on the counter for me and headed over to the booth. I sank down heavily and ungracefully in the seat across from them and took a sip of my drink as Dez stared back at me with wide eyes.

"How did you find me?" she asked. There was a wailing note in her voice that made me want to strangle her across the table. The woman next to her was obviously a witch, with a very annoyingly vaguely familiar face.

"This is her?" the woman asked, shocked and distrustful. She saw me for what I was, and that somehow made things a whole lot less stressful.

"Karla?"

"Uncle Dante!" Dez physically jumped in her seat and stared at him with even wider eyes. The colour drained from her face and I could almost hear her nerves start to grind.

"What are you doing here?" Dante asked, casting his shadow over the table as he stood scrutinizing the scenario. "Imara, you know Vergil wants your head, right?"

"It's not her fault!" Dez piped up quickly, waving her hands frantically. "She wouldn't let me go on my own so I had to get her involved."

"Involved in what, exactly?" Dante didn't sound happy. Which was ironic. I'd have thought he'd be happy to find her safe and well, but he just looked really pissed off. "What are you playing at, Karla?"

"Nothing! I just- where's dad?"

Fear. I could almost taste its honey as it blossomed over her face. A different kind of fear that part of me was sure it recognized, but I couldn't place it - didn't want to place it. Funny that Vergil's little spawn would be afraid of him.

"Out there turning the city over to find you," Dante was saying. "Have you been here all this time?"

"I... yes. It was the only place you shouldn't have been able to find me."

"So what, were you running away from home? 'Cause you sure picked one hell of a bad time to do it."

"No, I'm not running away, I just...I just wanted to make things work."

I glared at her and chucked the last of my drink back down my throat. I put the glass down on the table hard enough to draw their attention.

"What things are you talking about?" Dante demanded, eyeing my empty glass with a frown.

"Mom and Vergil," I said when Dez deflated. I cocked my head to the side and arched my eyebrows at her. "That's why you got me involved, isn't it?"

"He didn't want to go looking for you. I said you were...he said mean things about you, and I know they're not true, and I knew if I showed him that he's wrong that he'd try harder, and that you would take him back and and and you'll make it work..."

I'd been shaking my head throughout her confession and she was tearing up by the end of it. "I can't believe you set this whole thing up just to force our paths to cross."

"Mom..."

"Job well done, Dez, I'd applaud you for it but exactly what do you think you've achieved by doing this?"

"I-"

"Think that one over while I go get another drink," I said, scooting out of the booth.

I got my glass refilled to the brim with pure whiskey and had downed half of it before I decided to head back to the table. Dante had taken my seat and I slid unsteadily into the booth beside him. Dez was white as a sheet and crying as Dante talked to her in a low voice.

"So?"I said, interrupting them.

"I wanted you to make it work," Dez sobbed.

"Even though I've never even mentioned your father? Ever. Don't you think that should have lifted a little red flag?" I asked pointedly.

"I thought you never talked about him because you became a demon, 'cause you were scared he'd reject you..."

"And that's why you were so keen to help me find the cure?" I asked.

"And because I wanted my mom back!" Dez said defensively.

"Cora," Dante said warningly.

"Let's not cut around the bush here. Your mom, or the mother you want, doesn't exist. She never did, Dez. I've been changing since I was younger than you are right now. You haven't missed out on anything, trust me," I said, and reached across the table to cup her hands in mine. "Stop crying."

Dez sniffed hard and visibly did try to pull herself together.

"Now," I said reassuringly. "I want you to let go of all these petty fantasies you've conjured up about me and your father. You don't know our history and until you're mature enough to accept the truth, it should be kept well under lock and key from you. "

"You mean like how I came between you two? How you abandoned us?"

"What the fuck did I just say?" I snapped. Dez cringed away from me but tightened her grip.

Dante cleared his throat as another warning, and I reigned back my temper.

"Listen to me," I emphasized before looking at her swollen, teary eyes. "Forget what you think you know. Be happy with what you've got. It's a whole lot more than I was willing to give you."

Dez dropped my hands and sank back into the cushions of her seat, her gaze darting from me to Dante and back. "What's that supposed to mean?" she whispered.

Home run.
I sank back into my own seat and took another long sip when a different waitress came over with a beer for Dante. He didn't touch it.

"What's the time?" I asked her before she could disappear.

"Last I checked it was about five am. It's probably around six or so now."

"Well," I said and turned to Dante. "I get my potion, you get your niece. High five." Dante looked at my hand in disapproval and I dropped it lamely. "Or not. Let's get a move on, shall we?"

"Where are we going?" Dez asked tensely when Dante got up after me.

"The pier," I said.

"What's at the pier?"

"A surprise," I said and won another intensely disapproving scowl.

"Your father is waiting for us," Dante said.

"Oh please, please, I can't see him!" Dez exploded into a new river of tears. "Uncle Dante, you've got to hide me-"

I stopped dead to stare as she slid from the booth only to collapse onto her knees.

"Karla, you made your bed, you're going to have to sleep in-"

"I can't! Please don't take me back! You can't take me back! Please!"

"You should have thought about the consequence before you pulled a stunt like this," Dante said, hauling her to her feet very unsympathetically.

I hung back as Imara and Dante had to nearly drag a suddenly lame Dez from the rift. I followed close behind as we made our way through the destroyed city toward the coast, expecting that Dez's teenage angst-fit would fizzle out as we went. It didn't. It grew stronger and more intense the closer we got to the pier. Finally, the docs came into view. There were men positioned everywhere, black shadows in the breaking dawn. Dez stopped whimpering and begging and fell silent.

Her silence disturbed me even more. There was something horribly familiar about the way she was holding herself with a rigid grace. Vergil appeared from the shadows, walking closer to us quickly.

"Sir," Imara half-bowed.

"Imara?" Vergil asked, confused, and took Dez's hand while inspecting her with hawk-like eyes. "You're safe. Where did you find her?"

"Some bar," Dante said.

The expression on Vergil's face spoke volumes. "A bar, of all places? Was she held hostage?"

"Nope. She's been safe all this time."

"For crying out loud, why did you scare me like that, child?" Vergil breathed out, and I saw Dez quiver.

"I didn't mean to," she said softly. "Daddy, I'm sorry."

"We'll talk this over once we get home," Vergil said, putting his hand lightly on her shoulder before his gaze found me. "We had a deal."

I stepped forward cautiously and paused when he held out a small bottle the length of my hand. It almost looked like it was glowing in the dim light. Like there was moonlight trapped inside. I took it wordlessly, careful not to touch his fingers. It was surprisingly heavy and cold.

Thank you, God; redemption was mine at last.

I curled my fist around the bottle and started backtracking when Vergil turned his attention back to Dez, who was watching me through tear-ridden eyes. I tore my gaze from hers and avoided looking at anyone else as I started back in the direction of the ruined city. I'd have to find some place new, just to prevent bumping into Dante again, not that I was sure he would ever go to the rifts willingly.

"Not even a goodbye?" Dante asked as I passed him. Guilt-trips only work when you can feel, Dante.

"Are you hurt?" I heard Vergil ask in what I found to be uncharacteristic concern; for him anyway.

It was the weeping that caught me. It had that fragile essence of one already shattered; the kind of cry that struck your core and threatened to break you down with it. The kind that, demon or not, moved your entire being.

Don't turn around, Cora. You don't have to. This isn't your problem.

I slowly forced myself to turn back. I've only ever heard Eva cry like that, after Sparda had gone. And just like then, when the boys had flocked around their mother in helpless agitation, Vergil now had his arms wrapped around Dez in a desperate, fruitless bid to comfort her.

You don't have to do this. Don't feel like you have to. You've got what you came for.

I took a step and stopped, staring at the scene. I could almost feel every sob. Why the hell was this happening?

There's nothing you can do. You already rejected her. There's no making up for that.

Imara had joined Vergil and was whispering against Dez's hair. They were a distance from me but I could hear every word. "We love you, Karla. We're your family, and we love you so very much. We love you."

You could never give her that.

I shook my head, in confirmation or disagreement I wasn't entirely sure. What good was I, anyway? What good could I ever be for her when I had so much loathing for Vergil. Dante paced in front of me, disrupting my view of them, and I squinted at him. He was watching me, his expression unreadable.

I can't do this.

He nodded his head in their direction. Yeah, you could, he gestured.

I took a step back instinctively, even as the sobs tore at me. How often had I felt like crying like that? I had lost everything, I had actually physically and literally lost everything. She had so much more than I did, so why was she the one crying the tears I couldn't?

I took another step back. Dante stopped his pacing and folded his arms across his chest. Our eyes locked for the briefest of moments; and then he gave the slightest nod.

It's okay.

I took a deep breath and felt like the emotions that had been dormant inside of me was suddenly ripping me apart. Dez looked so much like Eva, a pretty little rose that had tragically been bruised and stomped. Vergil's eyes were burning dark when he saw me. I took another breath, and turned the other way.

*gives muse cookie*

Good boy, Mikael, GOOD boy! :D