Lucia and Dante rushed in over the broken door to Lucia's apartment, both of them staring in shock.
Tables and chairs were overturned, weaponry was spread across the floor, the windows were punched out. The entire place was a mess, arranged in complete disarray. In the center of the room was some kind of talisman pressed into the center of the rug and next to it was a small, beaten body, blood dripping from it.
"Mother!" Lucia cried, running and taking ahold of it. She shook the little body in her arms, crying at it her to wake up. "What… Who? Who did this Mother? Who?"
Dante gently stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder as she held her closer and closer, a knot tying in her throat and tears in her eyes.
"It was Conquest and those damn things wasn't it! Mother… Mother we killed him… Please Mother… Please wake up!"
Dante looked upward as Lucia continued to plead to the lifeless body, noticing static on the television set and an old fashioned video camera sitting on top of it.
"Luce," he said, stepping towards it and noting a VHS in the side slot. "I… I think she left us something." Lucia didn't respond, still sobbing as he took the tape out and slipped it into the VCR. Lucia only finally looked up when Matier appeared on the screen, looking solemn.
"Lucia… My daughter, if you're seeing this than it was already too late… It is not you my child, I promise. I swear. It was not you." Lucia tried to regain her composure enough to look up. "I know I sent you out to find the Son of Sparda and convince him to come here… Dante, if you are with her, and I pray you are, you must also heed my words."
"A great and horrible prophecy is coming to pass… I have felt it in my bones for all too long, but I just wanted to believe I was wrong… But I have seen the demon Conquest in our city today. I know it must be so… Conquest is the first, the first of the four horsemen, whose presence will mark the end of our world… They are servants. Harbingers of the will of The Plutuson, an ancient demon finally given shape. The beast said to bring about the end of earth and Hell… Somehow, I fear you already know just what this creature is."
"Dante," Lucia said, trying to regain her composure, "What… What is that? Why do we keep hearing about it?"
"I'll… I'll explain when the video is over," he said quietly.
"I am sure I will not make it through this day… Do not weep for me Lucia," she said, beginning to tear up herself but wiping the droplets away quickly. "All I have ever done I have done for the good of this world… Maybe there will be a reward for that, when all is said and done…" There was suddenly a number of crashing sounds very near to her and the echo of numerous creatures running up stairs. "There is no time left… Dante, The Plutuson is within a palace in Hell, but he cannot return fully until the Four Horsemen have cleared the way by reinvigorating four Hell gates. Your best chance is to kill him before he can escape! The entrance to his palace is in some kind of underground city, to the south of a small theocracy across the sea called Fortuna… I believe you have been there before." Dante nodded ruefully.
"I'm so sorry I cannot tell you more," she said gently, wiping at her eyes again. "I know… I know you can stop him… Together I believe you can do anything… I know this because you're your father's son Dante," she smiled as best she could, "And Lucia… You're your mother's daughter."
The words barely escaped her mouth when the door behind where she had recorded was broken down. Something deep and black as jet stood on the opposite side of the door, tall, with what appeared to be a cape flowed into its shadowy form, what looked like droplets of ink ascending upwards from its body. Matier swallowed hard and turned.
"And what have you come for then?" She asked. "Come to kill me so your dear horsemen can help put your gate back together? I do not fear you you foul creature… You will never succeed, do you hear me?" The creature did not respond. "Go ahead then… Because there are others who will avenge me… Go ahead and build the motivation you monster… Do what you came here to do!"
With that the creature put out an arm and Matier was run through with what could well have been a hundred needle-thin swords. She did not scream, she only gasped for a moment as the demon jerked his arm back and she fell to the ground, surely already dead.
The demon just stood there for a moment before it approached the camera, finally coming into focus. Some of its facial features were faintly discernible, but they didn't mean anything to Lucia. All that was immediately were three pulsating red eyes, two in their normal places and a third on the forehead, bangs brushed aside to reveal it.
"Dante," the inky shadow said in a slow, distorted voice in a mocking tone. "Come back… We have unfinished business… Come back!"
And with that the video gave way to static.
"What… What was that thing?" Lucia asked through her sobs. "Was… Was that-"
"Was that him?" Dante replied. "Yeah… Yeah that was him. At least as much of him as he could get into our world."
"That monster!" Lucia screamed. "We… We're going after him! We have to! We-"
Both froze at the sound of a gun being cocked. They both turned slowly to see a woman with orange hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a red, hooded jack partially unzipped with a black shirt underneath and a pair of deep blue slacks, the gun in her hand what appeared to be a customized revolver. Slung over her shoulder was a bizarre looking sword, its handle almost appearing like it was taken from a motorcycle. Dante had to double take when he saw it all.
"Wait a minute… Kyrie?" He asked in disbelief. She stared at him confused for a moment before responding:
"Dante?"
The three held their positions for a few more seconds, Lucia trying to figure out what in the world was going on before Dante said, "What… What are you doing here?"
"I… Okay first things first," she pointed the revolver towards Lucia. "Are you aware she's a demon?"
"I don't know Kyrie, am I aware I'm half of one?" He asked, rolling his eyes.
"And… And you're sure you can trust her?"
"She used to live with me for God's sake, put the thing down already!"
Kyrie looked at Lucia intently for another moment before sliding the gun back into its holster. "So," Dante began, "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"I've been seeking something… Ever since what happened ten years ago."
"Was… Was that when you tried to retire?" Lucia asked.
"Yeah," Dante confirmed. "Are you… Are you hunting demons now?" He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Kyrie nodded slowly.
"I went through my brother's old notes again and again… I got good at it all… A few years ago I found another of Sanctus's old tomes about The Plutuson… That's what led me here."
"Alright enough already!" Lucia screamed. "What… What in the name of all things is this Plutson thing everyone keeps going on about!"
"You haven't told her?" Kyrie asked, surprised. "She lived with you after what happened… And she doesn't know?"
"Kyrie, I don't want to know what happened," Dante said bitterly. "Look… The city's been under attack by some fat freak on a horse… I don't think this is the best place to discuss matters-"
"No!" Lucia protested. "Dante my- My mother is dead! I deserve to know what happened! What did this!"
"Lucia, I'm going to tell you, alright," he asserted. "Right after we get out of here, alright? Hell, Kyrie will tell you if I don't. But right now we need to get out… Kyrie how'd you get here?"
She reached into one of her pockets and held up a talisman of some kind. "This," she replied. "I studied the old ways of the demons and learned how to craft it. It can allow travel near particularly powerful Hell gates."
"Good," Dante said. "All things considered… You better get us to Fortuna. I'll explain everything from there."