AN: Sorry for the wait, this turned out to be longer than I expected. Hope you'll enjoy. It involves revelations and strange things you should figure out. Hope there aren't many misspellings, 'cause I just proofread it once.
Chapter 14 "Devil by his Side"
Now that they counted the days for the baby's birth, every day just seemed longer, as the four weeks left turned to just two, the so waited day just seemed so far away. Eventhough Dante promised Trish that everything would be okay, he couldn't help to feel a little nervous and uncertain; he tried to hide those feelings though.
The past two weeks, Vergil had been meeting with Nero to try to find portals in the city and also at Fortuna. They hadn't been lucky, but that doesn't mean they'd give up.
Strangely, the city had been at peace and quiet for the past weeks, and this was one more reason to make Dante hesitate. So much serenity just didn't fit to him. He felt that all this calmness was just a time bomb that was soon to explode and he just hoped and prayed it wouldn't, specially the day of the baby's birth. He knew something "big" was happening in the underworld, he could feel it in his gut, though a voice inside of him keeps telling him that everything's gonna be alright, and he so much wants to believe in that voice, a voice he can't quite remember, or perhaps he doesn't want to.
Vergil met Nero at Fortuna. The only thing Nero told Kyrie was that he was going demon hunting with Vergil. She was happy that Nero was getting along with Vergil very well, so she didn't ask anything else. She felt a grand respect towards Vergil so she felt Nero was in good hands and nothing could go wrong.
Vergil and Nero made rounds near the Castle, it had been the biggest source of demons and right now, it was calmed; there was no demon around to be seen. So they decided to look for another place that could be a portal for demons. Vergil knows very well that demons tend to travel betweem the two worlds by ponds; it's usually a search for a weakness in the invisible, fine line that divides the two worlds; finding that rupture, any place can be a portal for demons to cross. A fine line invisible for the human eye, but perceptible for any demon; though the water is an easier medium to cross between the two worlds, you just need to find the rupture. They occur in different intervals, but finding the right one at the precise moment is the key to travel between the worlds easily. The demons use their demonic powers to make ruptures and create portals to cross, but being on the other side is different, but Vergil wanted to give it try anyway.
Nero led Vergil to the only lake in Fortuna; once there, they stopped their pace and stood still for a while. Nero tried to figure out his brother's thoughts, he seemed to be resolving the end of the world, of humanity itself. Vergil was quiet, arms folded to his chest, his eyes closed, wearing a deep thought expression. He frowned as if he were thinking too much and turned his face towards the skies.
Nero just kept staring at Vergil very focusedly, he wanted to know what he was thinking so profoundly, but he didn't want to brake his concentration. He had a bad feeling though, but he didn't want to tell Vergil, he'd say he's a coward.
Nero's demonic arm started glowing slightly. He held his wrist with his left hand and then rubbed his forearm as if it hurt. He concentrated in his arm for a couple of seconds, thinking what could be going wrong. He was taken aback at Vergil's sudden twitch.
Vergil headed to the source of the lake.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Nero followed him.
"To the source" Said Vergil, as he cautiously watched his step through the forest. "Here it is" He stood still before a small cascade.
As they reached the small cascade, Nero's arm glow seemed to lose strength. Vergil noticed that but he wanted to take a look around anyway. Vergil crouched beside the edge of the lake and reached his fingers inside the flowing water. He felt the soothing water brush his fingers smoothly, kind of relaxing though. He stood up and walked to the eye of the cascade. He stood beside it and grabbed himself from a big rock to feel that water; he saw something shiny through the cascade. He folded the sleeve of his coat till his elbow and stuck his arm through the falling waters. He found a Holy Water. How did this end up here? He put it away in his coat and stared at Nero who was a bit far from him.
"Why does your arm glow?" He asked seriously.
"Well, to prevent from danger, mostly. Warn from demons among other things" Said Nero.
"Interesting..." Suddenly something occured to him. "Follow me" He ordered Nero.
Vergil headed to the other side of the lake, perhaps the other end could have the answers they were looking for. As they were reaching the part they were at first, Nero's arm started glowing again.
"Why don't you show me the way?" Vergil asked.
"You and Dante keep using me all the time!" Nero complained.
"We just give a good use to that arm of yours. And besides..." Vergil added. "...if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have that power"
Nero just twitched his lips and glanced at Vergil then continued walking. He had no objections about that. He kept walking, following the intensity of his arm's glow. The glow intensified as they reached the limits of the lake. It simply ended all of a sudden, but there were ponds near the limits. There were around four ponds; the water of these, didn't look quite clean. Vergil looked at all ponds and then stood before one; he reflected at it. The water seemed to form a strange whirl and it turned really dark. He could no longer see his reflection but an enthralling abyss that was luring him to traverse. He gave a small step into the water disappearing through the dimension between the human world and the underworld.
Nero saw how it happened so he encouraged himself to do the same and follow Vergil to the depths of hell. "Wait for me Vergil!" He gave a forceful jump into the pond, but when he did, it had already turned into a simple puddle of mud. He fell over his butt and got himself all covered up in mud. "Damn it!" He stood up, the mud had almost reached his knees. He stepped out of the puddle and headed to another one. He kneeled down at another one and stared at it trying to see something change, something different that could take him to the other side, the eternal darkness of the demon world. He looked at various ponds and when he kneeled at the last one, he saw it change and his arm started glowing intensely. He frowned and leaned his torso forward to have a better look. "This must be it" He said to himself. Before he knew it, the strength of the abyss swallowed him in.
Vergil was stealthily walking through the demon world, trying not to be seen yet, when he suddenly heard a familiar scream. It was Nero, falling through a stream of red light.
Vergil approached to him. "You always have to be so loud?" He asked serious.
"Man, that thing swallowed me in, I freaked out!" Nero complained.
Vergil looked at his clothes that were all muddy. "What the hell happened to you?" He said with a certain mock in his tone. "Let me guess, it's your first time in the underworld and you got so scared that you shit your pants" Vergil mocked.
"Oh shut up Vergil!" Nero pissed off. "You start to sound like Dante. This place surely is hell"
Vergil cleared his throat and swallowed his laughter. "I just couldn't resist" He said arrogantly. "Now I know why Dante calls you kid"
Nero took a deep breath. "Now seriously, let's find your sword and get the hell out of here. This place gives me the creeps!"
Vergil looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "If you keep your mouth shut, we could probably find it faster" He said seriously and continued walking.
Nero kept walking behind Vergil. "Why the stealthiness?" Nero asked in a whisper. He stumbled with Vergil as he suddenly stopped walking just before a turn.
Vergil had a glance at the environment ahead. "There's a war going on right now" Vergil said serious. "We can't just walk in, it doesn't concern us. We don't need more obstacles. We'll just reclaim the sword and head back" He continued.
"Really?" Nero frowned. "I thought you'd be of the kind to fight back"
"Not for the wrong causes" Vergil frowned in gawk as he stared at the distance.
"And what kind of war is going on here?" Nero wondered.
"The usual. To be the emperor of the underworld" Vergil started walking forward really slow as if some sort of power were dragging him to that war.
Nero looked back, and the stream of light he had come from was starting to weaken; soon there'd be no way out. Nero gulped. "V-V-Ve-Vergil..." He hesitated as he turned to look at Vergil who was a little far from him now. "Vergil wait! We need to get back! The light is disappearing, we won't be able to find another rupture, we're gonna be trapped!" Nero said desperate as he aproached to Vergil.
"We can't leave without the sword!" Vergil said roughly. His eyes started to turn red. His devil inside could feel a recognizable power and wanted to discover who possessed that power, so his devil tried to control him.
Nero grasped Vergil's arm to prevent him from going any further. Vergil jerked srtongly and slightly turned at Nero. "Don't you feel that power! The power of Sparda!" Vergil said roughly as if he were about to devil trigger.
"Our father's power?" Nero whispered overwhelmed. He had never thought of Sparda as his father. Was his father really there? "But I thought he was dead?" Nero said hesitant.
"It's not him, it can't be. There must be demons trying to posses his power. It has happened before and I won't let it happen again!" Vergil devil triggered before Nero's eyes.
Nero had never seen how the twins transform into demons, he could almost petrify at the feel of him. "Vergil..." He gave a step back. "We must go now!" The light stream was getting smaller every second. Nero ran to the light; whether Vergil wanted to stay there, he didn't, he didn't want to be trapped there for all eternity. The underworld started shaking, the collision of powers of the battle taking place ahead, iluminated the blackness of the underworld. That made Nero to turn his face back, but still he was leaving, with him or without him.
The wave of power from an explosion tossed Vergil back. Then a voice resounded in his head. This is not your war!
"Vergil!" Nero screamed to him before he jumped to the light.
Still in his demon form, Vergil reacted to Nero's voice, but then a demonic voice called his name, trying to lure him to the depths of hell. His demon inside calling for power didn't help at all; it was his chance to obtain that power. His demon kept yearning for power while Nero's voice resounded in his head telling him to go back home. Vergil shook his head in desperation as he held his head with both hands. He couldn't stop hearing those voices, and then he felt it. His sword, his beloved Yamato was near. He yelled in desperation struggling to gain control of his body, he had to recover Yamato; until a voice told him to go back home. A voice he hardly recognized until he pronounced his name. Vergil! Go! Suddenly the memories came back to him, memories of his childhood, memories from the thousand times he heard that voice calling his name. "Father!"
He stood still for a moment, it seemed as if the whole underworld had froze with him. He returned to consciousness and obeyed those words. There must have been a reason for Sparda not wanting Vergil to be there. Still in his devil form, he ran to the poor light, he reached to it in mere seconds. He flew to the last remaining light that emanated from the rupture and managed to escape from the demon world.
Nero was already waiting for him on the other side. He was anxiously waiting for Vergil until he was finally spitted out from the abyss of the pond. As he crossed he turned to his human form. They were both agitated, breathing heavily, sitting on the hard ground. The pond from which Vergil came out from, dried out all of a sudden.
Vergil angrily scratched the ground and tossed dry mud at the remnants of the pond. He had felt his sword so near, he could have had the chance to get it back, but he didn't. And now they were just like before or worse. He hadn't thought about it, but if he would've recovered Yamato, he wouldn't need any remaining lights to turn back, Yamato is enough to find or make ruptures and leave whenever he wanted, but he had to obey his father; perhaps he could have died in that war, who knows, but Sparda didn't want him there. Now he knew there was a war going on in the underworld, a war to posses Sparda's power and his precious Yamato was in between. And there was nothing he could do now. Why did he hear Sparda? Was it his ghost trying to protect him or was he actually alive and right there so close to him? He remembered the time when Dante and he were at the laboratory, and when things started getting weird, Dante mentioned he heard a voice. Had he too heard Sparda? He wondered. If he did, why was he communicating with them? He needed to see Dante and talk to him seriously.
"I could have sworn we were in the underworld just for a couple of minutes" Nero added due to the fact that it was already dark.
"We were, but time goes by differently in both worlds"
"Kyrie must be worried. I'll head back home" Said Nero.
"Farewell" Said Vergil. "I'll see you around"
Nero just nodded and they both took separate ways.
By the time Vergil got home, Dante and Trish weren't there. He found it strange and even more, that he found the keys from the house on the floor near the door. Where could they have gone in the middle of the night? And why were the keys on the floor? He called Lady for if she knew something.
Hours before...
Dante was sitting behind his desk going through some bills he had to pay. He was worried about the jobs. He had not a single job during the past few weeks, no single calls except for a couple wrong numbers and customers without the password. Suddenly the phone rang; he got a little excited until he heard the voice from the receiver.
"Trish!" He yelled. "You have a call!"
Trish came down the stairs to the office and stood beside Dante. She grabbed the phone with one hand and put her other hand around Dante's shoulders. "Who is it?" She whispered.
Dante just moved his lips saying it was Lady. Trish took the call and while she did, Dante put his arm around her waist and put his ear close to her belly as if he wanted to hear his baby's voice. He then put his hand over her belly and rubbed it slightly. The baby kicked several times, it always reacts very much to Dante's touch and he loves to feel him too. Trish hung up the phone then leaned forward to kiss Dante.
"What did she want?" Said Dante as he recovered his breath after savoring her sweet lips.
"Umm, she just said she bought some things for the baby and a strawberry cheesecake she wants to share with us so she's coming..."
"Strawberry..." Suddenly Dante's eyes sparkled for a moment, but he kept his stare into the nothingness.
"What's the matter honey, everything's okay?" Trish wondered.
"Huh?" Dante shook his head a bit and turned to look at her.
"You are like so lost in thought"
"Nah, it's just that, I got a lot of things to pay and I haven't had a single job in weeks. Where are the demons?" Dante complained.
"I don't know, but you better not summon them. Don't worry about it, they must have taken vacations or something"
Dante just gave a look to Trish and grinned. "Right..." He'd rather think of something else. "So... what were you doing upstairs babe?"
"Packing" She said simply.
"What? What for?" Dante surprised.
"For when the baby borns. You have to take clothes for the baby so they can dress him with 'em and some clothes for me too, for when I leave the hospital"
"Oh, I didn't know that"
"That's what you have me for" Trish gave him a peck on the lips then loosened from his grip.
"Where are you going sweetheart?"
"I'll prepare some tea, Lady must be arriving any minute" She said and then groaned as she headed to the kitchen.
Dante stood up and followed her. "Are you okay?" He said a little worried.
"Oh my back is killing me, and your son keeps moving all the time!"
"Why don't you sit down and relax. I'll make the tea"
Lady arrived a couple of minutes later. The three enjoyed the cake very much. He was totally adding it to his list of favorites. Lady spent some time with Trish. No weird thing happened, everything seemed normal. It was getting late and Lady still had the hope to see Vergil, but he just wouldn't arrive yet.
"Dante, do you know at what time is Vergil coming back?" Lady asked.
"Umm, not really. He said something about going to Fortuna with Nero, but that's it. I'm not his nanny"
"Ugh, whatever. If you see him, tell him to give me a call, would ya?"
"Yeah, sure" Dante said careless. He couldn't stop thinking of Vergil and Nero. Had they found a portal yet?
Lady left and since it was dinner time, Dante and Trish had dinner and then went upstairs to go to bed. Trish was really tired, she just changed her clothes and got in bed. Dante wanted to have some rest too. He was weary just thinking why hadn't Vergil come back yet, had they found a portal? He wanted to know what was going on, but he had no choice but wait. He undressed and just left his boxer on, he put to bed close to Trish. Her warmth relaxed him so they both fell asleep in a while. Trish fell asleep like a baby while Dante just kept in a state of sleeplessness, he could sense any slight movement or sound in the room.
Suddenly Trish started complaining in her dream, in Dante's state, the slightest moan could wake him up, and he did. He turned to look at her, she seemed to be suffering a little, but she was asleep. Dante thought she could be having a bad dream. She was laid on her back and then her expression seemed of pain then she moved her hand to her belly and seemed to hold it tightly as if it hurt.
"Trish?" Dante worried a little. Was is still her dream?
Her breathing started to accelerate, then she woke up. She sat up still holding her belly. "Dante?" She gasped.
Dante sat up too. "Are you alright baby?"
"I'm..." She said breathing heavily. Then all of a sudden it started shaking. "Aahhhh...!" She frowned in pain with gritted teeth.
Dante thought she had screamed because she got scared with the shake. He embraced her to protect her from whatever natural or supernatural earthquake going on.
"Dante..." She panted. "What's happening?" She said still breathing heavily. She shut her eyes and kept holding her belly in pain. But she didn't scream this time.
"It must be an earthquake" Dante said a bit worried. Has Vergil come back yet? He wondered. Could this be an effect of something happening in the underworld? He hoped not. He kept holding Trish tightly.
Trish started hyperventilating then this time she screamed loudly. "Ahhhhh!" Then she paused. "Are you...sure?" She could barely speak, she kept breathing really fast. "Ohh, couldn't you have picked a better day?" She said complaining in pain.
"What? What are you talking about?" Dante really worried this time.
"Dante...Dante, the time has come" She said breathing fast.
The first thing that came to his mind was how could she know that the demons were coming, how could she be so sure, when he wasn't even sure himself? Then putting things together, her screams, her heavy breathing and the fact that she later said the baby's coming! He realized that the baby was really coming, and he freaked out. Then the shaking stopped.
"But it's still two weeks till the day the doctor..." He paused. "It's normal to have contractions, isn't it?" Dante wondered.
"Not if they are every 5 minutes or less" Trish almost cried.
"And are you having them so close?" Dante asked trying to calm himself.
"Why so many questions, just take me to the damn hospital!" She was really in pain, having or not having contractions.
"Okay, let's wait for the next one, I'll take the time alright? It could be a false alarm" Dante said really calmed.
"Dante, I don't give a damn if you think it's a false alarm..." She said madly. "I know he's coming now and if you don't do something I'm gonna give birth right here!" She started hyperventilating more. She held herself from Dante's wrist. "Oh here it comes...Ahhhh!" She squeezed his wrist as if she wanted to turn it to dust. "Ahhhhhh. Ohh this hurts more than hell!" She cried.
"Owww ow, let go!" He screamed in pain. "Okay I believe you!" Dante complained. He rubbed his poor wrist that felt like broken. "Let's get dressed to go"
"What? There's no time for that Dante! What part of I feel it coming out you don't get?!" She said as she stood up from the bed and headed to the bedroom door. He held herself from the handle as the pain never stopped. Everytime it hurt more.
"You want me to just wear my tight boxer? 'cause yeah I look pretty good you know..." Said Dante.
Trish thought about it, in all her pain. "Okay, you do have to get dressed. I don't want those bitchy nurses to keep staring at you. But do it fast, and take my cellphone and the bag!" Trish said as she kept breathing really fast.
Dante opened a drawer and grabbed a black t-shirt, he put it on first and then went to the closet and grabbed the first trousers he found. He put them on and his boots too, then grabbed the bag and the cellphone from her purse. He did everything in a haste, then headed to the door with Trish, and to his surprise she was strangely staring at him.
"What?" Dante asked shocked.
Trish grinned in her battle against pain. "You do look pretty good" She said panting.
"Oh Trish!" He complained. "We don't have time for that!" He said while Trish slid her hands throughout his chest and his muscled arms. "And you were the one rushing me!"
"Oh it's jut that you're so..."
"C'mon let's go, or it was a false alarm?" Dante asked a bit upset.
They went out of the room. Trish meant to go downstairs, but Dante wanted to know if Vergil was there. He turned his face towards his room and headed to it.
"Dante, where are you going?" Trish said holding herself from the banister.
"I'll be right with you" Dante said as he opened the door to Vergil's room. He found it empty. Damn! He knew it. He hurried to Trish's side and carried her downstairs. He put her down near the desk of his office, he took his car keys then put his arm around her back to help her walk. She felt another contraction making them stop.
Dante turned his face down as her belly contracted. "Hey, you're not wearing any shoes!" He complained.
"Arghh! Don't worry about that. I packed a pair in the bag. I'll put them on in the car" She said gasping after the contraction passed.
Dante carried her outside. He held her in his arms, as well as the bag , struggling to lock the doors. When he finally managed to, he dropped the keys.
"Damn!" He murmured.
"Just slide them in" Trish said gasping.
And he did, he hurried to the car with Trish in his arms, he unlocked it, opened her door and put her in. He opened the back door and threw the bag on the seat. He hurried to the driver's seat and turned on the car. He pulled out the cellphone from his pocket and handed it to Trish.
"Call Lady, no wait, let me call Nero first" He took the cell from her hands and dialed the number. It was really dark outside. He turned on the lights and speeded up.
To Dante's surprise or actually not that much, Kyrie answered the phone. He asked her about Nero and she knew exactly the same he did. Except she told him they had gone demon hunting.
"Demon hunting?" Dante wondered. "Okay thanks. Oh one more thing, we're heading to the hospital, the baby's about to be born, for if you want to come or whatever"
She said she'd gladly be there when Nero comes back.
"Okay now, call Lady" He said to Trish and gave her the cellphone.
Trish dialed the number. She was telling her that they were going to the hospital when Dante snatched the phone from her hands and asked Lady about Vergil. She didn't know anything about him yet. She kept thinking why Dante keeps asking her too much about him when supposedly nobody knows about them. Dante was still talking to Lady when suddenly Trish was hyperventilating and screaming.
"Ahh my water just broke!" Trish said as she felt wetness between her legs, she reached a hand there, and evidently her water broke.
"Water? What water?" He wondered. Then he stared down at Trish. "Oh shit!" He lost control of the car for a second. He freaked out. He hung up the phone and threw it to the back seat, leaving Lady with uncertainty.
"My car..." Dante complained.
"Oh shut up Dante! I'm about to give birth and all you care about is your damn car!" She said madly.
"I didn't mean that, it's just an expression, I didn't think about it"
"Trust me, I don't give a damn" Trish said angry. Then she had another contraction. "Aahhhh!" She started sweating. "Oh my God, Dante, I feel it coming" She said as she opened her legs and seemed to be ready to push.
"Wo wo, what are you doing!" Dante tried to close her legs, though it was quite hard to do so and concentrate in driving with Trish screaming and moving so much. "Close your legs, close your legs!" He kept repeating. "Breathe, calm down. You're not having the baby here! We're almost there!" He said really agitated and mostly frustrated, desperate.
"Aaahhhh Dante! This hurts so much, it's even worse than before" She complained. She started crying and kept sweating from all the agitation. The pain turned worse every time due to the fact that her water broke and without the water to bounce in there, the pain is much stronger. "I can't take it anymore Dante..." She cried.
"You can do it babe, you can take anything" Dante tried to give her some motivation. "Trish?" He said as she passed out due to the pain.
They had arrived to the hospital directly to the Emergency section. There were a couple of paramedics outside, so they helped him out, they hastily moved her to a stretcher and headed to the ER.
"She's about to give birth, she passed out!" Dante said worried as he followed the paramedics inside the hospital.
Suddenly a doctor appeared. "Dante!"
"Oh thank God you're here" Dante relaxed a bit.
"So the baby anticipated huh?" The doctor said pretty calmed but ready for action. "Follow me. You wanna be present in your child's birth right?"
"Of course, I'm not leaving Trish alone" Dante followed the doctor to the ER.
When they entered to the room Trish was still unconscious. The doctor approached to her and started to put pressure between her lips and nose with his index finger.
Dante surprised. "What are you doing?"
"Alternative medicine. It always works" The doctor said as Trish recovered consciousness. "Hello there!" He said energetic. "Let's check how you're doing" He said while he put a sheet over her legs and then touched her belly. He put on a pair of gloves and then introduced his hand into her vagina, just like that, without any warn. Dante couldn't help to feel a little disturbed. "How are you feeling Trish?" He asked with a smile.
"Besides the fact that you just introduced your big hand into my tiny vagina, pretty bad" Trish managed to say.
"Don't worry, this will end soon" He said as he flexed her legs and opened them. He had a look at her dilation. "Not very tiny from where I'm standing" He tried to make her laugh, but she just pissed more. "This will end soon, very soon. I promise. You're almost ready" He saw Dante paralyzed behind him. "C'mon Dante, don't stand there and take part of this"
Dante jerked a little. He didn't know what to do. "What?"
"Get him a gown and face mask" He said to the nurses.
"Hey, you're the doctor, that's what I'm paying you for" Dante said as the nurses put him on the gown and mask. "Do I really near to wear all this?" He pulled down the mask to his neck.
"You're not doing anything, you're just gonna have a closer look" The doctor said as he motioned Dante to have a look.
"Holy fuck!" Dante said shocked as he had a closer look between her legs and he could already see the head coming. Dante turned pale and started sweating cold.
"Ha-ha! I thought you had a stronger gut!"
Dante held himself from the edge of the bed. "Man, I'm not looking at that again. I still wanna have sex. How do you do it man?" Dante said as he slowly stepped closer to Trish's side.
"I see it every day, so I got used to it" The doctor said simple.
Then suddenly Trish surprised Dante with a jab on the guts.
"Hghh.." Dante's breath emptied in a second. "You still got strength baby" He panted as he tried to recover his breath.
Trish started hyperventilating, she sat up and held herself from the bed, pressing hard on it. She had another contraction, stonger than any other. She screamed really loud and then held Dante's arm, squeezing it hardly.
"Ow ow! I changed my mind, I wanna see, can I be on your side doc?" Dante said agitated.
"Sorry. Now you stay with Trish"
"You're gonna rip my arm off!" Dante complained.
"Oh shut up Dante! That's nothing compared to what I'm feeling!" She said mad. "What are you waiting for doctor, get him out!"
"You still need to dilate a little more, we could try it like this but it's gonna hurt you more. You want to try it?"
Trish was breathing really fast. "Can't you give me any drugs?"
"No, sorry. It's too late for that"
"If I'm gonna wait, at least I need pain killers" Trish cried.
"Can you let go of my arm?"
Trish let go and leaned back on the bed again, desperate. Dante hated to see her suffer, he couldn't help to feel bad for it.
"It's gonna be alright baby" He said soothing.
"It's easy for you to say it, you're not the one feeling this" She said sobbing.
"Okay, let's try it!" The doctor said determined.
"I'm ready?" Trish wondered.
"You're almost ready, but I don't want to wait more, it could get worse. So let's give it a try. I know you can do this. To the count of three you're gonna push, alright?"
"What?" Trish sat up. She held from Dante's hand.
"Ready? One, two, three. Push!" The doctor encouraged her.
"Arhhhh!" She pushed the harder she could. It hurt her bad. She squeezed Dante's hand really hard.
"Very good Trish. One more push and we'll be over" The doctor said.
"C'mon baby, push, push!" Dante said as he felt his hand so numb.
Trish glared at him. "I'm gonna kill you for this!" Trish said gritting her teeth. "I hate you!" She yelled as she pushed harder.
"One more, one more, keep pushing!" The doctor said.
"Aahhhhh!" Trish yelled and cried in incredible pain.
The baby had come out enough for the doctor to pull him out. So he did, and finally the baby was born. He spanked him and then the baby didn't even twitch. The doctor noticed Trish kept bleeding, it was then that the baby started crying. "Cut the cord Dante"
Dante grabbed the special scissors and cut it.
The doctor gave the baby to the nurses so they could clean him up. Trish smiled when she saw her baby and an instant later, she passed out.
"Trish?" Dante panicked. "Doctor, what's happening?"
"She's bleeding out" The doctor said a little shocked.
"And you hadn't noticed that!" Dante really panicked.
"Yeah, but I thought that since she's a devil it would stop"
"What?! Are you gonna let her bleed to death?! Do something!"
"No! Dante, I need you out of the room, now!" He yelled.
"I'm not leaving. Do what you have to do"
"Alright. But I don't want you to interfere" When the doctor was about to make the next move there was a sudden blackout in all the hospital.
The nurse screamed right after the blackout; the baby had vanished from her arms.
"What's happening?!" Dante thought the worst, it must have been the demons, shadow demons. He had sensed a demon in the room right when the blackout happened.
"Trish, Trish can you hear me?" The doctor asked.
Suddenly she recovered consciousness. Her bleeding had stopped, her powers were slowly returning to her. She started panting.
"My son... where's my son!" Dante really freaked out in the dark and without a sign of the baby. He just scared Trish with his screams.
"Dante, where's my baby!" She cried.
Dante meant to go out of the room to look for their son, but the doors were stuck, he couldn't go out.
"Everybody calm down!" The doctor screamed. He directed to the nurse who was supposed to be carrying the baby. "Where's the baby?"
"I-I don't know, he vanished from my arms right after the blackout"
"That's ridiculous. Why has't the power come back, we have back up" The doctor said.
Suddenly, Dante turned to Trish's direction and saw two tiny red orbs, very shiny by the way. He could just think it was a demon. "Trish..." A lightning iluminated the whole room and he saw him. The two tiny red orbs disappeared as the lights came back. The baby was in Trish's arms. "How did he end up there?" Dante approached to Trish and smiled; yeah it was his son. He relaxed. The baby had his eyes closed.
"Hi baby" Trish said crying. She was so happy to finally have her baby in her arms. She didn't know who it was but she had the chance to glimpse at a shadow who brought her back her precious son. "It's mommy!"
That moment the baby opened his eyes, both Dante and Trish surprised when his eyes were completely red. So those were the eyes he saw; the baby started blinking and then crying.
"Shh.." Trish said softly. "Everything's okay"
Dante reached his hand to touch his son. He caressed his belly and then he stopped crying. "Hey there" Dante said happy as the baby opened his big eyes again to look at him. His eyes had changed into an intense crystal blue, staring at him with delight. He grasped Dante's first finger with his little hand and he squeezed it strongly. "Wow, you're strong. Definitely my son" Dante grinned.
"Why don't you hold him Dante?" Trish said.
"I don't know how to do that"
"Neither do I, but you'll know" Trish put the baby in Dante's arms. "Careful with his head"
Dante held his son full of joy. He couldn't believe he was actually a father now. He stared at him and he felt like crying. "Wow, he's so small. He looks a lot like me and he's got your eyes" Dante said as he couldn't help the tears escaping his eyes.
Trish was immensly happy. She looked at Dante holding their baby and he looked so cute doing so, so happy and excited. Oh the only thing she wanted now was to be home and all together. A whole new stage awaited them.
The doctor approached to them and took the baby from his arms.
"Where are you taking him?" Dante said worried.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. We need to give him a check up, you know measure his weight, size and all, clean him up well and if you brought clothes for him, you can put those on to him."
"Oh yeah, I'll go get them, they're in the car"
"Okay, great. We'll transfer Trish to a room and then we'll take the baby with you, alright?"
"Okay. Just make sure he's safe" Said Trish.
"Oh, and by the way, do you have a name yet? So we can put him a bracelet" The doctor asked.
"Umm yeah. It's David" Said Dante.
The moment Dante mentioned the name, a dark shadow passed outside the room with light speed and vanished. The nurse came out of the room with the baby, she put him in those weird carts for babies and took him to maternity. They did all they needed to, and then they took little David to that room full of babies. They didn't put the bracelet yet, it wouldn't be hard to recognize him anyway; he's the only baby with white hair. The nurse came out of the room leaving all the babies alone while she checked other things until it'd be time to take him to his mother.
Dante went out of the room to go get the bag. When he reached the entrance he bumped into Lady.
"Hey Dante! What happened? Has the baby born yet?" Lady asked. "By the look of your face, that's a yes"
"You have to meet my son, he's incredible, amazing"
"Wow, someone's excited" Lady said surprised at Dante's emotional behavior. "Congratulations Dante, you must be so proud" She said sincerely as she gave him an affectionate hug.
"Thanks, it's the best thing that could ever happen to me. I still can't believe it" Dante said really excited.
"Where were you going?" Lady asked.
"Oh, to the car to get some things" Dante said as he headed outside. "Wait for me here, okay?"
"Sure" Said Lady as she waited for him at the back entrance of the hospital.
Dante returned with the bag in his hands. "Hey Lady..." He said serious. "Has Vergil called you?"
"Yeah. He should be coming here any minute"
"Phew, that a relief"
Lady looked at him suspiciously. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing. Let's go to maternity" He still was curious about what had happened in their journey. They surely found a portal.
When they reached maternity, they found Nero and Kyrie on the way.
"Hey, I'm glad you could make it" Dante said excited.
"We wouldn't miss it" Said Nero as he hugged Dante. "Congratulations Dante" He said followed by Kyrie whom also hugged Dante.
"Thank you, and thank you all for coming at this hour, I really appreciate it" It was three in the morning.
While they met there, a shadow appeared inside the room with all the babies. The shadow stood beside little David and when Dante and the others arrived there, the shadow simply vanished into the nothingness; though Dante could swear he saw something. David started crying then they all peered through the glass window to look at him. When David saw his daddy he stopped crying.
"Aww, he's so cute. His eyes are so blue!"
"So you named him David" Said Nero.
"How do you know that?" Dante wondered.
"By the bracelet" Said Kyrie.
"Oh yeah, the bracelet"
"It's a very beautiful bracelet by the way" Kyrie continued.
"It's just plastic" Said Dante as he turned to look at it. "What?! Where did that come from?"
The baby was wearing a pure silver bracelet, with his name engraved on it. It was shiny and it fit perfectly. A nurse was passing by, so Dante asked her about it to what the nurse said he had done so.
"I did? I must have lost my mind, 'cause I don't remember that"
The nurse didn't reply and just continued her way.
"Great. Now ghosts give presents to my son. I better go check the bill. I hope the mayor's still paying for it" Dante headed to the lobby and the others followed him.
"I want to check my bill, how much is it?" Dante asked.
"Oh your bill's already paid" The woman said.
"What? Who paid for it?" Dante asked surprised.
"I thought you did" The woman said surprised at Dante's shock.
"How did he look like?"
"Well, I was texting a friend and I saw by the corner of my eye a man with white hair so I thought it was you, so I didn't turn to look at him" The woman said a bit ashamed.
Dante shook his heaad in disbelief. "Unbelievable. Whatever, thanks. At least is already paid"
"Oh, Mr. Dante?" The woman said. "Here's your receipt".
Dante turned to take the receipt and he saw Vergil coming. "Brother, you made it!" He hugged Vergil energetically.
"Congratulations brother. My best wishes" Vergil said as Dante kept holding him and he just patted his back.
"C'mon Verge, you have to meet my son" Dante guided Vergil to the maternity section, where little David was. Lady and the others kept following them. "Here he is!" Dante said enthusiastic and then freaked out. "Where's my son?"
"Dante! Here you are. I've been looking for you everywhere! Your son is with Trish. She's in room #328" The doctor said agitated.
"Oh thanks, phew. I freaked out for a second" Dante said relieved.
They all headed to that room and found Trish sat up on the bed holding the baby in her arms.
"Look who's here, everyone's come to meet you honey" Trish said sweetly to her handsome baby.
Everyone surrounded the bed to have a closer look at the baby. You could say that the one most excited was Lady. She couldn't resist she had to hold him in her arms. Trish let her hold him for a little while.
"Oh my God, he's the cutest baby I've ever seen! You guys did a great job. Ohh can I be his godmother?" Lady said as she held the baby with one arm and kept playing with him with her free hand, grasping his tiny fingers and caressing his belly and his cute face.
"Sure, why not?" Said Trish.
"Why don't you hold him Vergil" Lady said suspiciously.
"What! No I don't do those things. I..." He couldn't say more. Lady forced him to do so, putting him in his arms; it's not like he was dropping him so...he held him for a little while. He stared at the baby and David stared back at him very focusedly. "He really looks a lot like you Dante, but he has Trish's fine features" Vergil said with a slight grin.
Then Dante popped up his head from Vergil's back, making the baby a little confused. Why where there two daddies? In the blur of his faint vision, he could just recognize the voices.
"Hey there, it's daddy!" Dante said from Vergil's shoulder. "I'm daddy not him". Dante said jokey as he moved in front of the baby, so he could see him entirely.
The baby smiled and made funny noises when he heard Dante. "You wanna come to daddy?" Dante asked motioning his opened arms to the baby, who jerked a little, meaning he did want to be in his daddy's arms. Dante held his son with joy. So much happiness just seemed to overflow from him, from his eyes, his mere face was different, all lighted up, drunken in pure delight.
Dante approached to Trish and sat next to her on the bed. He looked at her and then to the baby. "You still hate me for this?" He said lovingly.
Trish smiled. "I was just mad at you. Of course I don't hate you. I love you Dante"
"I love you too my love" Dante said softly and kissed her ruby lips. The baby started jerking a little. "You wanna go with mommy?"
Trish held her baby close to her chest, and the baby immediately touched her round breasts, looking for his prize. Those big, soft goodies must have something for him.
"Oohh, someone's hungry" Trish said jokey.
Dante cleared his throat. "Hey guys, can I meet you outside? Now"
Nero and Vergil followed Dante outside the room.
"Okay. Now you guys are gonna tell me what the hell happened" Dante asked intrigued.
"I couldn't get it back" Vergil said disappointed.
"But you did find the portal?" Dante asked.
"Yeah, but it's gone" Nero added. "There was a war going on there, and if we'd have stayed a bit longer, we would've been trapped there"
"So we had to come back. I felt it close, but there was no time" Vergil moved closer to Dante and whispered. "Dante, I felt him"
Dante raised an eyebrow, staring at Vergil very focusedly. "You felt him..." Dante said incredulous. "Listen to your self brother" He shook his head and turned around.
"I swear it Dante, it's not a demon trying to..." Vergil tried to tell him.
"Oh c'mon Vergil!" Dante complained.
"It's him, I know it" Vergil said serious. "If you don't want to believe me, then don't. But when he shows up, don't say I didn't tell you so"
"Did you happen to pay the bill?" Dante asked seriously.
"What? Of course not. As if you deserved it!" Vergil said a little upset.
Nero started feeling a little left behind.
"Why?" Vergil asked pensive.
"Well, I didn't pay for it and it was already paid. They said a man with white hair paid for it" Dante said serious. "You wouldn't know about the bracelet either, or would you?"
"No, I don't. You need more evidence?" Vergil retorted, still referring to the fact that it must have been Sparda himself.
"It must have been the mayor. He was supposed to pay for it, and perhaps the bracelet was just a gift too" Nero said to brake the tension there. "Besides, he's old, he has white hair. It must have been him"
"You're right" Dante said. He took a deep breath , though he kept pensive. How could the mayor know when had the baby born and how they were naming him? Was he actually a demon? Or could it be someone else, a demon in disguise? Perhaps Vergil wasn't that wrong. But right now, he didn't want to worry for those things; he just wanted to enjoy the moment and forget about the rest.
"Believe what you want" Vergil said serious. He was the first one to go back into the room. Dante and Nero followed him.
The baby had already eaten enough, and now he seemed sleepy. He started yawning and fell asleep in a blink.
"Trish" Said Vergil as he approached to her. "Congratulations. My best wishes always, you know that" He grasped her hand and kissed it softly. "Have a good night" He said as his eyes looked at her intensely.
"Thank you for coming Vergil" Trish said grinning. "You too have a good night".
Vergil just nodded and left. Nero and Kyrie said good night too and left, followed by Lady, leaving Dante, Trish and little David alone.
Dante sat next to Trish, she was still holding David. They kept staring at their little child as he slept. He looked so fragile.
"I can't believe this is finally real. Less than nine months ago, we were saving the world and now..." Dante said.
"Yeah, I know. It feels kinda strange, it seems like a dream" Trish said softly as she stood from the bed and carried David to his crib, well that weird cart for babies. "Dante..." She said with a serious tone.
Dante just raised his eyebrows and looked back at her.
"I didn't want to say anything, but where did the bracelet come from?"
Dante hesitated a little before answering. "I bought it"
"You're the worst lier, you know that"
"The turth is, I don't know" Dante said honestly.
"It's demonic, you did notice that, right? I tried to take it off, but it's impossible. It must have a spell or something" Trish said seriously but strangely relaxed.
"You think it could be something evil?" Dante said worried as he stood up from the bed and walked towards Trish. "I mean, you think someone wants to hurt him?"
"I don't know Dante, this is really strange" She said, never losing sight of her beloved son. "The things that have happened lately have been so strange, starting from the loss of Yamato, the shaking, the blackout, the shadows..." Trish was interrupted by Dante.
"What shadows?" Dante asked overwhelmed.
"I saw a shadow right after the blackout occured and I felt it evil and then during it, I saw another one and I don't know, I can tell it was demonic but I felt it different, I think it was him who brought him back to me, so I don't think it was evil" Trish continued. "Then after it, I saw that same shadow outside the room, it passed really fast and then vanished..."
Dante kept pensive. It's always one thing after the other, things always gotta be complicated for him. He couldn't help to worry, now more than ever that he has one more little person to protect. "I saw a shadow too. In maternity, inside the babies' room, beside David's crib" He said emotionless. "It was really fast, it vanished in less than a second. I'm not even sure I saw it. I saw it by the corner of my eye" He put his arm around her once more tiny waist and pulled her closer to him. He embraced her strongly then kissed her forehead. "I guess he's got a devil by his side, huh?" He stared at her penetratingly then grinned. "I'll sleep on the couch next to the baby, alright? We'll try to solve this tomorrow"
"Okay" Trish kissed him goodnight and went to bed.
Dante couldn't sleep. He just sat down on the couch, watching. He didn't even want to blink, he couldn't lose sight of David, not even for a second. Bad things always happen in seconds. How much he wished he hadn't left his beloved Ebony and Ivory back home. He might need them, or at least, he thought so.
In the morning a nurse came into the room; Dante had finally fell asleep an hour ago and he woke up like a zombi when he heard the noise; he relaxed when he saw the nurse. But what if it's a demon in disguise? He thought.
"Can I help you?" Dante said to the nurse.
"I just need to check the baby Mr. Dante" The nurse checked him, he was jerking a little in his sleep, then she lifted him and he woke up crying.
"Smells like something rotten in here!" Dante said twitching his nose.
Trish woke up. "What's all the fuss about?" She saw the nurse holding her baby so she got out of bed and walked towards her.
"Everything's okay?" Trish asked.
"The baby needs to be changed"
"Changed? Into what?" Dante asked shocked.
"The diaper Dante" Trish said tired.
"Okay, I'm gonna show you once how it's done so you can both do it later on" The nurse said emphatically as she started changing the diaper.
Dante's eyes were wide opened and his expression of disgust was enough to tell he'd never want to do that.
The doctor paid them a visit, he checked the baby and Trish and since they were both perfect and they wanted to leave the hospital, he let them go. They went back home and on the way, Trish asked Dante about the bill and the mayor. Dante told her that it was already paid and that perhaps the mayor had been in a hurry so he didn't stop to say hello; so Dante told her he wanted to pay him a visit at his place, he owed him thanks. He believed he still had his business card somewhere in the house.
They arrived home by noon. Trish was carrying little David and Dante the bags. When they reached the entrance steps, he remembered he had dropped the keys last night. He had a glance beneath the door, and obviously the keys weren't there. He decided to open the door anyway. Perhaps Vergil forgot to lock.
When they entered to the place, Dante was the first one, by the way, and he found Lady straddled on Vergil on his small couch. They were making out, very turned on and lustful. Vergil was only wearing a boxer and Lady a long, white shirt that just covered the essentials.
"Holy fuck! That's more than I want to see!" Dante yelled as he dropped the bag.
"Dante! No bad words in front of David!" Trish scold him.
"I said holy, that makes it good" He said turning to look at Trish then back at the suspects. "Man, you never miss a chance, do you?" He shook his head. "You could've gone to her place, why having sex in my place!"
"You weren't supposed to arrive yet" Vergil said seriously.
"You're not that lucky" Dante said upset. "Can't you wear more clothes?" He said to Lady.
"Get off!" Vergil said cold to Lady.
"That's what I was trying..." She said playfully.
"I'm serious" He said harsh.
Lady stood up and sat on the other couch. Vergil stood up too and meant to go upstairs.
"I see your relationship's getting better" Dante said in a strong tone.
"He knew?" Lady said shocked.
Vergil turned to look at her and didn't reply. He turned over and continued his way upstairs. "As if you didn't tell Trish"
Lady couldn't reply to that.
Vergil got dressed and came down the stairs, he handed Lady her panties and shorts; she put them on and remained on the couch. Vergil sat on the small couch, alone.
"So I guess, you'll make it official then" Said Trish.
Lady's eyes glittered at the thought.
Vergil just glared at Trish, what was she thinking? What had he done to her? He slightly shook his head and held it with his hand like thinking. What else he got? He lifted his face resolved. Lady was thrilled waiting fo his answer. He cleared his throat.
Vergil took a deep breath and gave a good thought to his words. "There's no need to make it official when they all know already" He said serious.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Lady asked.
"Take it as it pleases you best" He said slowly. He stood up from the couch. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be upstairs"
Nobody said a word until Vergil was finally upstairs.
"So I guess that's a yes!" Trish encouraged Lady.
"You think?" She wondered. "I guess I'll be leaving now. I'll drop by later..." She said pensive. "...to see this handsome boy!" She said playfully as she grasped David's little hands. "See you later guys"
Dante took the bag and headed upstairs, Trish followed him. Dante started looking for the mayor's business card. He emptied his drawers and couldn't find it. He went to the closet and after moving a lot of clothes and Trish's shoes, something dropped from the upper shelf. He crouched to pick it up and in a corner he saw what seemed like a small white peace of paper; he grabbed it and flipped it over. Jackpot! He found it.
While Dante was in the search for the card, Trish was feeding the baby, sitting on a rocking chair. Dante turned around to tell her he had found it and saw her while she fed David.
"I'm next" Dante said almost drooling.
Trish just glared at him. "You're not eating his only food"
"It's more than obvious there's plenty for both" Dante joked.
"Dante, get in the shower so you can take care of him later. I want to shower too, so we can go to the mayor's house"
"Alright, alright" Dante said as he entered to the bathroom.
Like around two hours later, and after eating something, they were finally ready. They meant to go now, so they headed to the entrance. Dante thought of inviting Vergil so he called out his name and it turned out he had just come down and was at the kitchen.
"Hey Verge, we're going to meet the mayor, you wanna come?" Said Dante.
"I wanted to eat something, but it'll be my pleasure to prove you wrong"
"Whatever brother. We're leaving now" Dante said as he headed back to the entrance.
They followed the address on the card and after 30 min. of driving, they arrived to the place. The neighborhood seemed quiet, there was barely a soul out there in the streets, no kids playing around; that was weird. If it weren't for a couple of old ladies swinging on their rockers out on their porch, you could say that the whole neighborhood was abandoned.
"Which house is it?" Dante asked.
Trish was holding the card so she looked at it. "It's #328" She said simply.
"What?" Dante said surprised. "That's funny" He said pensive.
"What is?" Vergil asked seriously.
"If you think about it, 328 was the number of the room in the hospital. If you separate the numbers, it's today's date, March 28th, our son's birth day and the day that we by quirk of fate, decided to visit this guy" Said Dante.
"Stop being paranoid Dante" Trish said tired.
"Aparently that's the house" Dante pointed to the house in the corner, it was the biggest house by the way.
The three got off the car and started walking towards that strange house. It seemed abandoned, it had a huge front yard, that in better days used to look really beautiful, full of color, brimming of flowers of various kinds, small and intense green bushes and strong grass. Today, there were no flowers at all, the grass was no longer strong and of pure green, it was dried, pale yellowish-brown, and it looked like brushwood, pretty depressing though.
"I think he must have moved out..." Said Dante as he realized that no one could actually live there.
Some windows of the house were broken, the front door had three big scratches from top to bottom that pierced to the other side.
They hadn't even felt the need to go past the fence, the whole place seemed pretty creepy, and that red no trespassing tape all around the house didn't help at all. You could still see dried blood spattered on the once white paint of the outside walls. If that was the look you got from the outside, inside it must have been worse. This shocking scene must have been done by demons. Dante and Vergil couldn't help to revive the memories from their painful childhood, that terrible moment when they were attacked and their mother lied on the ground slaughtered by the savage demons.
"You need any more proofs?" Vergil said feeling he had won for once.
"I'll go ask those old ladies" As if they could tell him something different than a demonic attack had happened there. He walked two houses to talk to those old ladies. Trish and Vergil followed him. "Hello ladies" He said politely. "Ummm, do you know if the mayor moved out or something?"
Vergil couldn't wait to hear the answer, he wanted to shove it to his face that for this one time, he had won.
"The mayor?" Said the two grannies.
"Yeah, I'm looking for him. I wanted to thank him for..." He was interrupted by one of the old ladies.
"Then it's his grave you're looking for. He died together with his family several months ago" Said the granny.
When she said that, both Dante and Trish paralyzed, they felt goosebumps while Vergil wickedly smiled.
"When exactly did that happen?" Dante hesitated.
The old lady seemed to be thinking, she closed her eyes tightly for a couple of seconds and then opened them. "It was around seven months ago during that demon attack"
"Demon attack?" Dante said quietly. That meant that he was dead since they met him. Who was him then? He turned to look at Vergil who was still wickedly grinning. It wasn't funny at all and he seemed to be enjoying the whole thing. "Thanks for the info ladies, have a nice day" He said emotionless and turned to go. He was still perplexed.
Vergil and Trish followed him into the car. No one said a word until they got in the car. Dante stood beside his door for a couple of seconds before getting in; he felt a prescence staring at him. He turned to look behind his back and in a glance, he saw a purple clad man with white hair. He closed his eyes in disbelief and shook his head. He turned to look again and he was gone. Had he imagined it? He got in the car feeling perplexed again. He turned it on and said: "I'm seeing ghosts"
As they go, Vergil peers throught the window and sees a manly figure hidden behind a tree. He can't be mistaken; the figure slowly moves to reveal itself. Vergil could still have a glimpse of him. "Sparda..." He says quietly to himself. "...is not a ghost..." He is confused. "...is he?" He wonders as the purple clad vanishes into the nothingness.
AN: this time I do promise it's just one last chapter left. As you noticed this turned really long and some things were left unsaid so I'll try to point them out in next chapter and add a couple fun scenes with the baby. Of course it could still get longer and longer, this never ends, but I must put an end to this.
Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me. And thank you very much for your reviews, don't forget to write one now. I'll try to update sooner.
What do you think about Sparda's possible appearance? Any doubts, thoughts, ideas don't hesitate to ask.
If you didn't like the baby's name, sorry, I like this one.
Thanks for your continued support. Till next chap! ;)