"Take a chill pill V," he dragged Vergil through the arch that led to the main entrance. Dante snapped his head to the ceiling. "Do you hear that," he asked Vergil.
"What. I'm afraid I'm still deaf from your act," Vergil had indeed heard what Dante had but chose to annoy his brother instead. Dante dragged Vergil to the main staircase and looked up. There was a hole in the ceiling.
"Hey," he called up the hole. "Anyone there?"
"Oh," a feminine voice called down. Vergil could see the gears turning in Dante's head. If ever there was a time for Dante to be a lost cause, now would be it. A woman strode to the edge of the hole and took a seat on the edge to face him. She held a seductive smirk on her face. "It's you two," she stuck a sucker into her mouth and crossed her legs. She bent her head and gave a wink down at them.
"Hey. It's you babe," Dante let go of Vergil and leaned on the stair railing. Vergil took the time to lean against the wall and take a breath. He was beginning to feel a bit cold.
"Me? Who is me," the woman played. She took out her candy and leaned forward to flirtatiously flaunt her cleavage.
"Please. I would know that angelic voice anywhere."
"Angelic. My, my. I hope you don't mean the kind I deal with devil-boy," she pulled off an offended face.
"Hey don't take it the wrong way beautiful," Dante eyed the woman up and down. He took in her voluptuous form then meet her face. He gave a smirk. He was liking what he saw so far. Not many women could pull off a beehive of that size or cat-eye glasses.
"I should hope not," she gave her candy a seductive lick before returning it to her mouth. Dante watched her closely. "I really don't enjoy the way those feather-faces look. Me bird-like," she let her train of thought drop. The flirting was beginning to annoy Vergil.
"Hey, babe," Dante called back to her. She looked down. "What is your name," he asked with a heated smirk.
"Isn't it rude to ask someone their name before offering their own name," her eyebrow flew up as she popped the last of her treat out of her mouth and tossed the stick aside. No one would care in a place like this. Where was she to dispose of the stick anyway.
"Idiot," Vergil murmured. Dante was in his own little world and this world did not include Vergil. The elder twin groaned. Dante flipped his coat back for a dramatic effect.
"The name's Dante," he said as he continued his flirtatious tone. "Why don't you tell me your name, baby?"
"I don't give out my name," she smiled as she saw Dante's face fall. His cool wall fell. He was never told anything like that before. Usually the woman stabbed him, shot him, or ignored him. "That is my game with you," she smirked.
"What," his tone was now normal.
"Remember? I did mention we would play a game, Dante," she dragged out his name in a purr that caused Dante to shiver. Even though she was flirting, Vergil was already liking this woman a lot. She had managed to shut-up Dante.
"I remember but I gave you my name."
"I know. That was very sweet of you," she switched her legs. "You will have to find out my name. You can only find it out from me or my friend," she smirked.
"This is gunna be a bitch," Dante thought to himself. "What's stopping me from jumping up there and making me tell me?"
"A barrier," she laughed at his dumbfounded face.
"You're kidding me," he gawked.
"I rarely jest, Devil," she smirked.
"What do I get when I win," he asked.
"That is up to you. If you win," she smirked and turned her attention to Vergil. "Oh my. That must have been nasty," her attention was drawn to the wound at his side. Vergil covered it up in a flash. He was not going to stoop down and ask for help.
"Hn," he grunted. She rolled her eyes and stood up. She waved her hand into the air and there was a flash of light.
"You can borrow this," she tossed down a katana which Vergil caught with ease. "Its name is Shuraba, a devil arm, bring it back to me later."
"Thanks," Vergil answered.
"Jeanne would kill me if her toy was left to die," she smirked. Dante once again spoke up.
"Hey how do I get up there then, babe," he asked.
"Well there are two ways," she smirked. "Sadly the main staircase here was broken so you're stuck with the ends of both of the wings," she paused. "Oh yes," she leaned forward once more. "I was supposed to share this tidbit."
"What is it now," Dante was back to leaning over the railing. He was taking in as much of her as possible.
"I suppose you found something about a time riddle. We have found that as well in one of the journal pages that are left around here. Apparently Adam was quite the writer. We found five of his pages. So keep a lookout. There are a lot of things that we don't know," she stood up. Dante saw a few lights surrounding her. "Business calls boys," she disappeared from sight but the sound of gunshots could be heard.
"What a woman," Dante smirked.
"Dante get your head in the game," Vergil was beginning to feel cooler. He tossed away the knife. It had proved useless anyway. The sword wasn't Yamoto but it felt better to be holding a blade again. He could feel the demonic heart beating within the sword. It hungered for blood.
"Fine. So now we have to collect pages. They better be good."
"Considering what we have learned about Adam," he pointed out.
"Yeah. That was unexpected. That really changes the game," Dante trailed off. "Let's split up here. I can trust you to be safe with that sword. I worry for anyone that challenges you," Dante turned to face Vergil but only saw his retreating form. "Be safe," he called out. Vergil waved his hand into the air. That was the only signal Dante was going to get out of him. He sighed and looked up. The noises had stopped. The woman must have moved on. He was left at little options. Vergil had decided to take the right wing's second floor. That was likely where most of the bedrooms would be. Dante shook his head and jumped off the railing. The second he hit the floor, a bullet hit him in the head.
"Sorry," a familiar voice called out.
"Wow he went down fast," another voice exclaimed.
"Damn," Dante stood back up. "You three are late."
"Give us a break," Lady put her gun to her side. "We just got here."
"We are only eight hours behind you," Trish smirked.
"It's been that long," Dante blinked. He could have sworn it was less than that. They have been putting a lot of hours into their searches though.
"Geeze Dante. A greeting would be nice," Patty scolded. Dante sighed.
"I think Lady's shot was a harsh enough greeting."
"Lay off it," Lady grinned. She was proud of her abilities to injure the demon.
"Where should we search," Trish asked.
"We have the house covered well enough. You guys should check the yard."
"This whole place," Lady's eyebrow shot up. "Is there a treasure we should know about?"
"No it's just there are four of us searching."
"Who is us Dante," Trish glared. If Dante was drunk on a mission again she would surely have him impaled on Sparda.
"We have other people searching. Vergil says they are witches. I really don't know. All I know is that our goals are the same," Dante answered back in a relaxed tone.
"Thank God you aren't drunk," Patty answered the silence.
"Hey," Dante groaned.
"We will check the yard. If we find anything I'll call you and if we don't find anything we are heading back here to search," Trish led the way out. Lady scoffed.
"You better be careful Dante," she smirked. "I want my money back and I can't get it from you dead."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just get out of here," he told Lady playfully. Lady followed Trish out of the door. "You too squirt," he looked at Patty. She huffed and followed the women. Dante groaned. He was going to be impaled soon. He could sense it. Sooner or later Patty's biological clock would strike the "stab Dante" time. At least now he didn't have to dig in the back. He was sure the last time he was here there was a cemetery and a huge forest to search. It would also keep Patty from trouble. He didn't think she was ready for it yet. He sighed as he turned away from the door. There was a grand door in his path. He whistled. "Oh baby," he smiled. The demonic aura was heavy from behind the doors. There was a faint sound of music coming from there as well. He pushed open the doors to reveal a large ballroom lit by thousands of candles. The walls were covered in gold-leaf and the floor was neatly polished. The large windows left a shadow on the floor. Yes, the time was defiantly off yet again. The faint classical music now boomed through the room. "Hell yeah," he yelled as he walked across the room. The music stopped and the lights were extinguished.
"How dare you interrupt my party," a multitude of voices that were combined into one scolded.
"Wow. You're the first one to actually see me when the rooms are like this."
"See you? Who couldn't see a lousy hybrid like you," the voices scoffed. "Time is manipulated by my master."
"About that," Dante smirked. The sun was beginning to rise in the windows. Faint traces of light lit the horizon. The sky was just lighting up slightly. It was enough for Dante to see his foe slightly. "Who is your master," he looked at the form of his enemy.
"He has no name to give," the voices were in perfect sync. The emotionless tone behind the voices was beginning to annoy Dante. It was bad enough that Vergil used the same tone as well. The creature's shape showed that of a man. He stood rigid as he faced Dante.
"Are you going to talk. It's two in the morning buddy," Dante asked in a calm tone as he scratched his head. The creature moved its head but ignored the man in red. Dante grasped Rebellion and shot forward. In a flash he was behind the demon. Blood dripped from the blade. A thump was heard behind him. "Well I guess you were never a problem," Dante returned the sword to his back and dusted off his hands.
"Do you call that fighting? That was indeed rude. My master was speaking to me."
"Rude? You were the one ignoring me," Dante rebutted.
"You talk too much," the sliced off half rose up and returned to its other half. A gross gush was heard as it linked together again. Dante pinched his nose to hold in the bile. Some demons were really too much. The demon finished its fusing. That was something Dante was grateful for. Surely his singing wasn't as bad as that noise.
"Then shall we dance instead," he smirked as he threw a barrage of bullets onto the demon. The candle's lit once more. Now Dante could see the demon he was shooting at completely. It's shadow left a lot to the imagination. He didn't expect anything this bad. He was surprised he didn't smell it first. Perhaps all of the mold ruined his sense of smell. The demon laughed as all of the bullets dropped down from its body in a slush of flesh. The human shaped demon was composed of rotting flesh. Normally something that would be easy, but it oozed a brown substance.
"Is that the only dance you know," it mocked. Dante sprung into action.
"Listen buddy. It takes two to tango and I only showed you a two step," he leapt at the demon. The foe merely stepped back. He swung his sword to the side instead. A direct hit. The demon slammed into the tables that held a fourth of the candles. The demon shrieked. The ooze lit on fire. "Burn, baby, burn," Dante smirked as he leaned on his blade. The demon extinguished the flames.
"Don't mock me. No one mocks Grendel."
"Hey," Dante laughed. "My brother slew your Beowulf," the demon was not pleased. Another sickening sound was heard. Dante was sure he heard bones snap as well. He drew his attention to his foe. "Gross. You should buy this thing called soap," he gagged at the new smell. There was more of that ooze trailing off its body as it changed form. It was no longer human shaped. The demon now towered over Dante. New spikes traveled down its body to its newly formed tail. Rough serpentine scales coved it's new slim form. Although he retained the rotten flesh look. Yellow eyes now glared down at Dante. On its head rested several sharp horns. Dante noted how it's stance changed from upright to all four's. It sort of looked like a demonic cat. Dante whistled. "Wow. Just when I thought you couldn't look any uglier," he smirked. The demon brought one of its claws down onto Dante. It looked confused after it lifted its paw back up. There was nothing there. "Looking for someone," Dante asked from his perch on top of Grendel's head. Grendel roared.
"Foolish," he vocabulary was obviously limited in his feral form.
"Hey I can hear you already you know," he knocked on Grendel's head. Grendel swiped his arm at the hunter.
"Die," the voices called once more in sync.
"Now why would I want to do that," he asked as he avoided the attack. He failed to avoid the spiked tail. Dante's left-leg was impaled by one of the spikes. He cursed as he ripped his leg from it. The wound would take some time to heal. "You have some nasty tricks," he mocked. Grendel brought his maw down onto Dante. Narrowly dodging the attack, he called out to the monster. "Hey watch where you breath. It smells terrible."
"Demons," Grendel answered as he snapped his teeth. Dante took the chance to back flip and hail a barrage of bullets at Grendel's head. The demon was temporarily blinded. It writhed in pain. Dante landed hard on his now healing leg. He shook it off and rushed at Grendel. Grendel gasped as he felt a sharp pain in his arm. It only saw a bleeding stump.
"Looking for something," Dante held his arm in triumph. The demon changed its stance to two legs. "I should take this as my prize," he looked over the arm. Grendel slammed its remaining claw down. "Aw. You're not even trying," Dante mocked as he stood on Grendel's remaining arm. He tossed away his prize. Grendel growled as Dante raced up the arm and in front of its face. He shot Rebellion into Grendel's left eye. He ripped Rebellion back and kicked off Grendel's face. Grendel fell onto its back as he keened in pain. "Man you have the face only a mother could love," He began walking toward the demon. Rebellion was slung over his shoulder as he neared the beast. The demon began to whimper and plead in a demonic tongue. Dante took no heed to its words. This creature was beyond saving. He slammed Rebellion straight through its neck. He had left a clean cut. Dante wiped the blood off his blade on Grendel's skin. Grendel's body flashed into a single ball of light and threw itself on Dante. Dante looked down to his hands to see a large battle hammer shimmering in the candle light. It was covered in silver with spikes on the ends of it. A single yellow eye could be seen on one of its sides. The handle was covered in a crimson leather and it was about four-feet long. Dante swung the Hammer around to test it. It was light but when he slammed it onto the ground the entire floor was covered in cracks. Soon the cracks were filled with the brown ooze and was quickly lit by another sharp strike. The entire floor was covered in flames. Deciding that the fire was enough, Dante began swinging the hammer above his head in a circle until the flames were out. A large clock face stood under his feet. He smirked at his new toy. He decided to dub it "Greek-Fire". He slung it over his shoulder and looked over the clock face. Thirteen would be considered one in the afternoon. He shrugged. If there was something to open the door, it would require a key. He turned away from the carnage and left.