Yuki wasn't entirely sure how to look for what she wanted. The internet probably wouldn't have anything useful, a human wouldn't be any help and she didn't know any demons besides her parents. Wait. There was one she knew of. It had been a couple years since she had last seen him but at least trying to find him would be better than having no plan at all. How should she start? Both times they had met under completely random circumstances. Where could she look? Whatever she was going to do she needed to decide fast, it wouldn't be too long until one of her parents figured out that she was missing, if they hadn't already. No way in hell was she going home empty handed. She was going to prove to Dante that he was wrong. She WAS strong enough to take care of herself.
"Hey," she called brazenly to a man walking by. He stopped and looked at her. "You ever hear of a bar called Trudy's?" She was remembering a bar she had once heard her father talk about, a bar that demons frequented.
"And why would a little girl need to know about a bar like that?" the man asked.
Yuki seethed. The last thing she needed right now was another person calling her little.
"My mom works there," she lied smoothly, "and I don't remember where it is. She told me to come find her if my deadbeat dad showed up at the house."
The man faltered. What had previously been a patronizing look on his face now turned to pity.
"Oh, sorry. Yeah it's on Flatline Ave, just between Keeper's St and the St Lucy Cemetery. Do you need help getting there?" There was genuine concern in the man's voice.
Yuki considered taking him up on the offer. She had no idea where Flatline Ave was, but she did have a pretty good idea of where that cemetery was located and it was pretty damn far. In the end, though, she decided not to accept the ride. She was going to be in enough trouble as it was without adding 'got into a vehicle with a strange man' to the list.
After saying her thanks to the helpful man she made her way towards the bar. It was a good 30, 35 miles away. Luckily, she knew most of this city like the back of her hand and was good at reading a bus schedule. Just the same, it was well into the night before she saw the dimly lit sign of Trudy's.
Without hesitation Yuki marched straight into the bar and onto a barstool. She waited there for the bartender to acknowledge her or throw her out, she didn't know which to expect in a place like this. While waiting she could feel her senses stretching out instinctively. There were 7 demons in the bar right now. She didn't know how she knew that, but didn't doubt the knowledge either. None of them were particularly strong and she had her little pistol resting inside her jacket which gave her a very false sense of security. Despite her training and knowledge, if any one of those demons chose to pick a fight with her, she would lose. Age and experience count for a lot when it comes to combat.
"You waiting on someone in particular?" the bartender asked casually. Mel, his nametag said, though she suspected that wasn't really his name.
"More like trying to find them," she replied in the best imitation of her father's mannerisms that she could do. "Maybe you could help me out."
"Sure, if you can make it worth my while." Mel answered swiftly, no one did nothin' for free around here.
"Come on mister," Yuki grinned, "can't even help out a lost little girl?"
The bartender lost all sense of banter and stared daggers into Yuki's eyes.
"If I was you I wouldn't be advertising my situation around here. Lots of folks would just love to get their hands on a thing like you, lots of them are in this bar right now."
He picked up a glass, poured in a shot of bourbon and set it in front of Yuki.
"Tell you what," he said as he slid the glass towards her, "if you can down this without a grimace I'll tell you whatever I can about who you're trying to find, but in return you better get the hell out of here as soon as I do. Got it?"
Yuki didn't hesitate, she grabbed the glass, slammed the shot in one gulp and looked straight at Mel. She didn't flinch once, not even as the amber liquid burned its way down her throat and into her gut. Mel cracked a grin.
"Alright sweetheart," he said the endearment in a kind of sneer, "who are ya after?"
"His name is Sid. Heard of him?"
Mel snorted.
"I have, but only because he's been in here a couple of times looking for a little muscle. He's nothing, a weakling. What the hell do you want to find him for?"
"An explanation was not part of the deal," Yuki reminded him. She was smart enough not to give away anything she didn't have to.
"Alright, alright. I was just askin'." Mel picked up a new glass and started wiping at it with a grimy rag. "Last I heard he could be found at Fairview Inn, a little dive just on the other side of the cemetery. No guarantees he's still around though."
"Thanks."
"Now that I've held up my end of the bargain," Mel said, letting the finger he was pointing to the door finish his sentence.
"Yeah, I got it, get the hell out," Yuki murmured as she slipped off the stool and left.
The outside air was thick with moisture, almost cold, but Yuki was so pleased with herself she didn't feel it. She had gone into a dive bar and come out with the information she needed. If she had any doubts about her ability to take care of herself before, they were gone now.
What she didn't know, however, was that Dante frequented that bar. Whenever he needed information or was just looking to blow off some steam on a good fight he would come down. Mel didn't particularly like Dante, the weak rarely truly like the strong, but he could tell exactly who's kid Yuki was with just one look. Same as over half his bar's patrons. He scooted her out of there so damn quick because he didn't think he'd be able to stop one of them if they chose to have a go at her, and Dante the Devil Hunter was the last person he wanted as an enemy. So as Yuki was headed off to the Inn he sent her to, Mel was making a phone call to the Devil May Cry.
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Dante was too horrified to be angry. His baby was out there somewhere, on her own, with an over-inflated ego that he was pretty sure was partially his fault. He was walking swiftly down the streets around the apartment with absolutely no idea how long Yuki had been gone or which direction she had taken. Trish was on her way uptown as he headed in the opposite direction. Dante had been so worked up that he even phoned Lady to ask for her help in the search. She had been tactful enough not to make any cracks about how long it had been since they spoke and simply asked where they needed her. Shit. After this was over he was going to need to stay in touch better.
An annoying ringing from his jacket pocket snapped him out of his thoughts. He flipped the cell phone open with more force than necessary and held it to his ear.
"Dante," he answered gruffly.
It wasn't his usual phone greeting but it was the best he was going to do at a time like this. He listened for a split second before interrupting the caller.
"Listen Mel, I've got a bit of a situation on my end… What?... When?... Why the hell would you send her back out there!?" he yelled into the phone. He wouldn't let Mel know, but he was relieved to have at least a rough estimate of where his daughter was. "She is? Really?"
-"Yeah," came the voice from the other end, "it's a shit hotel, but I told 'em to keep her there until you came for her. She should be safe but I wouldn't press my luck if I were you."-
Dante snapped the phone shut without any further discussion and headed towards the Fairview Inn like a bat out of hell.
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Yuki was on cloud nine. She was walking the streets late at night entirely by herself, almost no chance of one of her parents showing up to save the day. On top of that, she was in the middle of conducting what she thought was a very successful investigation. Let's see some other 9-year-old do that!
She was nearly halfway through the cemetery when she felt something. There was a demon close by. Low level, by the feel of it, though she had very little experience using these new senses.
"My, my," came a raspy voice, "all alone again?"
Yuki smiled to herself and turned around.
"Sid," she said as a way of greeting, "I was just on my way to see you."
"Is that so?" There was real surprise in Sid's voice, try as he might to hide it.
"It is. Look, I really don't have too much time. I'm looking for a ritual."
"Well there are a lot of those," Sid responded evasively, waiting for Yuki to tip her hand.
"The kind that can summon a demon," she continued with narrowed eyes.
"There are a lot of those, too."
"Damn it! Can you help me or not?" Yuki had a natural talent for detective work, there was no doubt about that, but her patience wasn't yet what it needed to be.
"Please don't misunderstand young one, I would very much like to help you." It was only partly a lie. While he was still afraid of Yuki's bizarre power, he also wanted to make Dante suffer, and nothing would make him suffer more than having his only child devoured by the very demon she summoned. "I simply do not know how. Perhaps if you could give me the name of this demon?"
"Tiamatu," the word alone held great power.
It had taken her a long time to find the name. She had stumbled upon it once accidentally while reading some of the books back at the Devil May Cry.
Sid's eyes widened. This was better than he could have possibly imagined.
"The great sword of the abyss?" he needed to confirm that that was her intention.
"Do you know another Tiamatu?" Yuki shot back sarcastically.
"Of course not, I simply had to be sure." He needed a moment to compose himself. "He will not be an easy one. Last anyone heard of him was after he was freed by the one who wielded him, that was thousands of years ago."
"Can you do it or not?"
"No," Sid shook his head in mock sadness, "I do not poses the strength to summon such a powerful demon, but I can tell you how to."
Perhaps if she hadn't been elated at the news she would have suspected something about Sid's unwillingness to be present. Unfortunately she was far too eager to get this demon.
"I will tell you what you need and how to do it, that is, if you will tell me why this demon?" Sid was a very low level demon, he knew, other demons knew it. The only way he could get by in such a cutthroat world was with knowledge so he never passed up an opportunity to get information from somebody.
"So I can be strong," Yuki told him without hesitation. "My dad has all sorts of swords from the demons he's killed, if I get one too then there's no way he can tell me I'm weak."
Sid grinned a huge, frightening grin.
"Then we had better get started right away."