Hey guys, I felt like updating early because I've managed to type the last chapter of this story which is the next after this! Yep that's right, this is the second last chapter!
SIREN
Mia woke up from her sleep, having sensed a familiar presence nearby.
Usually she woke up earlier than Dante but this time when she checked his clock, it was four in the morning. No wonder she was so tired and groggy. However, the arrival of this presence beckoned to her and she sat up in bed. Hopefully, Dante was still fast asleep. She snuck out of bed as quietly and carefully as she could and left the bedroom, peering at the empty corridor. Mia made her way down the stairs quietly and stopped as soon as she arrived at the landing. The presence was still strong but it was not within the shop. She opened the doors to Devil May Cry and as she correctly presumed, she recognized the face that was staring right at her a distance away.
It was a girl with long black hair; a girl she had seen before, a girl from the Love Planet.
Clio.
She was standing at the mouth of one of the alleyways and as soon as Mia met her gaze, Clio gave her a brief nod, turned and disappeared further into the alley. Mia hastily put on her shoes and followed, pulling on a thick jumper to combat the chilly air. She turned around occasionally to make sure she was not followed or that no-one was watching her. Once she was at the alley, she saw Clio waiting for her, leaning against the brick with her arms crossed.
"...What are you doing here?" Mia asked, still somewhat morbidly half-asleep.
"I saw her." Clio replied, "The girl who looks exactly like you. It seems you still have family."
"Yes, apparently I do."
"How did she react, knowing what you have become?"
"Strangely enough, she was not afraid."
"Yes, you are one of the strangest of us, Mia, for you were a lost human soul rescued by our Queen. On the other hand, I have always been what I am and I have neither family nor love to compensate." Clio said, then she threw her gaze to the side and sighed, "Anyway, I am merely returning a favor today; as you came to warn us that night at the Love Planet, I have come here to warn you."
Mia glanced around before asking, "...Where's Renata?"
"Renata is dead."
Mia stiffened immediately. She had almost forgotten about that night. Dante and Lady had killed one and it turned out to be Renata. She glanced at Clio from head to toe and squeaked out, "How did you escape?"
"Renata created a diversion for me and she paid dearly to ensure my survival."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Clio sneered at her venomously and she pushed herself off the wall, "Renata does not need your pity. She served her purpose to the very end. But you on the other hand...you have been frolicking around with the demon hunter, our enemy."
"As long as we don't harm humans, Dante is not our enemy."
"Now you are contradicting yourself." Clio said coldly, glaring at Mia from the corner of her eyes, "Our natural prey have always been humans. You won't overcome your lust for their flesh no matter how much you stop yourself from desiring it, for that is the Siren's curse."
"I will try." Mia asserted firmly, trying to stand her ground, "And I will succeed."
She saw Clio's lips tug into a derisive smirk. "Then good luck with that."
"What have you come to warn me about?"
"It will be a full moon tonight."
"So?"
"The moon affects the ocean in many ways, Mia, therefore it will affect us too." Clio held out her hand and in her palm was a small, white pearl. "How have you been sustaining yourself?"
"I've been using my Orb."
Clio shook her head. "That won't be enough. Eat this. It was given to me by the Siren Queen herself; this was meant to be Renata's, but she no longer needs it. I'm sure you must've had a few 'problems' these days. Suffice to say, this will assist you in restoring your power while you remain in this weakened human form."
Mia accepted the pearl, feeling its rounded silky texture as she stared at it in the flat of her palm. "So I need to eat this...?"
"If you feel weak, then swallow it whole. The longer you stay away from the ocean, the weaker you become." Clio said, "This is your human form; the form you take on when you have legs. It is what you looked like, what you were when you were still human. It is only for temporary, a cruel reminder of the life you once had."
"Can we become humans permanently, Clio?" Mia asked nervously.
"You could try," Clio started, "And gain the sympathy of the Queen... Although recently, the Queen has become...indifferent. She is less compassionate than she had been centuries ago, but..."
"But what?"
"You could give her something which you have. I doubt you have anything she desires. The Queen granted you immortality, she can take it away, too."
Mia glanced down, pondering.
"Don't be a fool. That buffoonish man is not worth it." The Siren snarled at her, "You're not thinking about it, are you? Is he really worth all that?! Don't you remember the reason why you are the way you are now, Mia?! It was because your heart was weak and you surrendered it once to a stupid man! He betrayed you and murdered you! Are you going to do it again?"
She shuddered inwardly. "...But..."
"I don't want to hear it. You do whatever you want to do. Just promise me, Mia, to keep the pearl safe and should you ever need it, then eat it." She said, before she turned to leave, "I trusted you, so you can trust me."
"Where are you going, Clio?"
"My work here is done. I am returning to the ocean. If you ever need help, I will come to your assistance the best I can."
Mia watched the Siren leave, watching her retreating back disconsolately. Although she was not on friendly terms with the Siren, she hadn't exactly met with another one of her kind for a long time and she didn't want things to end this way. In fact, she wasn't even sure if any of her kind were friendly at all now. The words Clio spoke were so cryptic and strange. Maybe there were no such things as a nice Siren that did not harm humans.
Mia couldn't help but feel a little alone.
Later.
"This thing's getting really tight." Dante grumbled as he came marching out of his closet, dressed in one of his old, red trenchcoats - the one with the single elastic strap fitted over his chest- He wore that coat when he was facing off the many hordes of demons within the Temen-ni-gru all those years ago. He wore no shirt underneath but the coat was rather tight on him, his biceps looking as though they might burst out of the sleeves at any given moment.
"Of course it's tight, you haven't worn it for years." She said as she sat cross-legged on the edge of his bed, watching him with mild amusement, "And you're bigger and more muscly now."
"So it's not cos' I'm fat or anything, right?"
She laughws, "I didn't think you'd be worried about that."
They were tidying up Devil May Cry. With the chest forgotten because Dante refused to use the gold, stating in these exact words: "What kind of man would I be if I needed a lady to pay for all my crap?" To which the answer was "Not a Very Good One", Mia had sulked at the wasted time. She had checked her legs again in the bathroom only to see the sides of her legs were completely covered in scales. In a couple of hours even, her tail would return and she would definitely have to return to the ocean.
Perhaps this was goodbye for final...
...Unless there was a way for her to fully become human, to have legs forever.
Maybe I CAN trade something for legs, she thought, Maybe I could trade my voice for legs. The Siren Queen likes voices...
She wasn't sure if it would work because her voice was weak and the Siren Queen would not like that, and without the ability to talk to Dante made her depressed too. She remembered her encounter with Clio in the early hours of dawn and recalled the fact that she had been given a pearl to eat should she ever feel weak or ill.
"Y'know, I've gotten a lot bigger in some areas too." Dante murmured, bringing her out of her thoughts; she glanced up and he winked at her as she stood to fix the lapels of the coat which were standing rigidly around his neck.
She snorted, trying not to laugh, "Oh really?"
"Yeah, I've gotten pretty big; c'mon, you know just how big." He teased and his grin widened, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.
"Would you get any bigger?"
"I dunno. How big do you like it?" He said and although they were merely joking, her face went a rather nice shade of deep, deep red.
In response, she grabbed the thick elastic over his chest, pulled it out and let go, making it snap over his chest. He winced with a curt 'Ow' but he was otherwise unaffected. "Behave." She said, placing her hands on her hips.
He rubbed at his chest, chuckling as she pushed down the lapels only for them to spring back upright automatically.
"Is it supposed to do that?" She muttered.
Dante shrugged and began to remove the coat, leaving himself half-naked. "Alrighty then, let's move on." He folded and replaced the old coat into one of the boxes in his closet before coming across his next outfit.
He had never really conducted a spring clean of his closet but Mia said she wanted to see what kind of things he had and he didn't see a problem in showing her his belongings. So far, he'd pulled out a couple of old Devil Arms which he hadn't bothered to use such as the Agni and Rudra blades which had a piece of tape stuck across the 'mouths' of the hilts. Then he came across the many outfits he used to wear and she asked him to put them on and let her see. This time, he came across another red coat; it was a lot different than the one he was wearing now; this one was a darker, richer color of red with rolled up sleeves and a soft, black layer underneath. Along with the trenchcoat was a matching red waistcoat with black buckles. This outfit was the one he wore when he was on Mallet Island, fighting against Mundus.
"You really do like buckles, don't you?" Mia asked, as he held it up to show her on the hanger. "I saw it as a recurring theme on the coats you own."
"Yeah, reminds one of BDSM, don't ya think?"
She cocked her head to the side. "What is BDSM?"
"Never mind." He muttered, "Think I'll fit into this coat?"
She nodded. He took the coat and waistcoat off the hanger and handed it to her; she held it for him as he put on the waistcoat and tried to get the first buckle over his broad chest. It didn't stretch over completely. He moved onto the next buckle nearer his stomach. The same thing happened. He moved to the final one, the last one, and managed to clip it in. She gazed at his exposed stomach. Dante grabbed the coat and draped it on.
"So, which outfit you like the best?" He asked, holding his arms out.
"I like the one you wear right now the best." She replied, fiddling around with a lock of her hair.
He grinned at her and removed the outfit, then grabbed his current shirt and coat only to realize he was actually getting a little itchy. "Hm. Getting itchy. Think I'll take a shower." He murmured, before he turned to Mia and put down his clothes. "You're taking a shower with me too."
"But I'm not itchy."
Suddenly, he grabbed her and pulled her into his embrace and they fell backwards onto the bed beside them. She squealed and tried to escape from his hold, wriggling and writhing around as he nuzzled her and playfully nipped at her neck. "You are now." He said, with a wide grin. She tried to roll away from him; he grabbed her and pinned her wrists against the mattress despite her efforts. Although they were only playing, the power he exerted in his mere hold on her had her completely immobile and unable to escape. The pillows and duvet were kicked to the floor amongst the other junk and she quickly admitted defeat by laying still, letting him overwhelm her with kisses.
She was giggling and he pulled away from her. "Hey, Dante?"
He moved so that he was sprawled over her, burying his face into her neck. "Yeah, babe?" He could just fall asleep right now if he really wanted...
"If we really are mates, would that be alright with you?"
"Why'd you ask that?"
"Well, I always thought you would want a stronger person to be somebody you want to spend your life with."
"Mi, you're perfectly fine the way you are. I wouldn't want it any other way." He replied, "What about you? You want to spend your life with this old devil?"
She put her hands on his chest and began rubbing in circles, "You're not old."
"Getting old." He reminded her as he rubbed at his chin which was dotted with stubble. It was true. He was getting old. On the other hand, Mia was looking younger and younger with each passing day.
"Then I'll grow old with you."
He chuckled and lifted his head up to kiss her forehead. "I'm poor."
"Yeah, I know that."
"Wait, lemme rephrase that: I'm not just poor, I'm pretty damn poor." He wasn't ashamed to admit it, "I don't have any secret fortune anywhere. I don't have savings, I don't even have a bank account, I'm up to my neck in debt and Lady comes in almost every third day of the week just to harass me about it. I won't be able to get you nice things. I'll say I will but I can't really."
"That's fine with me."
"Demons will come after you every day because you're with me."
She answered with a shrug.
"There are plenty of nice, good guys out there."
"You're good and nice too."
"What if I die first?"
"You won't die."
"What if I really did?"
"Then I would be sad. And I'll want to die too." She said, "What if I died first? Would you want to die too?" She asked, and there was a silence. Yet, before he could reply, she put a hand to his lips. "No, wait. I'm sorry. That's so selfish of me. I don't want you to die. I wouldn't want that. There is so much for you to accomplish, Dante. Don't be like me. I'm not worth it."
The atmosphere had suddenly gone from cheerful to depressing in seconds. Mia didn't know why he had been asking her so many questions. It felt like he was pushing her away from him. He muttered under his breath, "Mi?"
"Yes, Dante?"
"I think you're pretty awesome for a mate."
"Really?"
"Yeah." He replied and she grinned, before she grabbed the pillow and hit him over the head with it playfully.
She said, "I think you're pretty awesome too."
"Alright, gimme a hug. Gimme a nice, big hug." He held his arms out for her and she wrapped her arms around his neck in response. Mia snuggled into him as he clutched her tightly, holding her tenderly in his embrace.
The room fell silent, until Mia tightened her hold around him, her lips by his ear. Dante chuckled as she nipped him affectionately, closing his eyes. Before long, she withdrew and she was whispering softly in his ear; her voice was soothing and calming. It brought pleasant feelings stirring inside him. Strange... He didn't know what she was saying. He couldn't make it out. Soon, words turned music, and the tune...he didn't recognize it but he felt his body relaxing, his mind at ease. She was singing.
Soon, Dante fell into a deep sleep.
A few hours later and Dante woke up after having fallen asleep with Mia curled up in his arms. It occurred to him she had used her powers on him. He hadn't had such a good sleep like that before for a long time. Even his dreams were pleasant. It seemed during their sleep, they had deviated away from each other. She always preferred the edge of the bed and she was lying with her back to him; he watched her back for a brief moment, raking in the sight before him as she slept, then he reached over and brushed some of her dark hair away, kissing her neck but she didn't respond. He sat up in the bed and spooned her into his arms but when he held her, her skin was freezing to touch. Normally Mia's body was rather cold but not to this extent.
"Mi?"
She did not respond.
"Mi, wake up." Dante shook her but all she was capable of doing was mumbling incoherently. She did not even open her eyes. "Mia, what's wrong? Are you sick?"
When her mouth moved, he put his ear by her lips. "...Dan...te..."
"It's alright, I'm here."
"Dante..." She was murmuring his name out deliriously.
This wasn't normal. This was exactly like that morning when he woke up early to find that she was unwell and unresponsive. It was happening again. He brushed her hair back only to realize her forehead was dotted with beads of cold sweat.
"...Water..." She moaned out piteously.
Shit. Not this again. He clambered out of bed and lifted her off the mattress with him, then he hastily carried her out of the bedroom and into the bathroom where he kicked open the door and placed her gingerly into the tub. He knelt down, watching her as he opened the taps, letting cold water rush out and swirl onto the bottom of the tub. The plug was missing as he searched around, eventually finding it hidden away from a trio of old and empty shampoo bottles he hadn't bothered to throw out. The water took a long time to fill up but he spent the time watching her. He pulled up her pant legs to see the sides of her legs covered in scales. The scales didn't seem to drop off her legs and dissolve into the water, however. They had stayed, clinging to her flesh.
"Mi, can you hear me?" He said, but her eyes were still closed. She merely mumbled again, her breaths were very shallow...maybe she was dreaming? He sat down on his bathroom floor and reached for her hand, holding it in his own as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her icy cold palm. Finally, she shifted and slowly, her eyes fluttered open. He sat up abruptly. "Mia."
"...Dante." She breathed out, trying to lift herself up and out of the bath. "...What happened?"
"We fell asleep."
"...I don't feel very good..." She moaned, "...Something's not right..."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I need to...to..." When she didn't finish her sentence, Dante stood up and glanced around as she returned to her comatose-like state. Mia was too weak at the moment.
He stepped out of his bathroom and into the corridor, down the stairs, entering his kitchen. With his preference to takeaways over home-cooked food, he'd never really stepped foot into the room. He didn't even have a working cooker or any other sort of appliance except from a worn down washing machine and his fridge, which he had settled in the lounge. He found the salt canister on the counter in the exact same place Mia had left it the last time (it had been untouched since then) and he grabbed it then returned upstairs.
Mia was still unmoving in the tub and he poured a large amount of the white granules into the water before using his hand to try and get the salt to dissolve. "Everything's gonna be okay," He assured her as he rubbed at her cold, chilly hand.
He heard the doors open downstairs and stood up. A visitor? He rather reluctantly left the bathroom and stopped at the banister railing, glancing down to see a familiar blond waiting for him on the shop floor. "Trish?"
"Hey." The tall blond demon sidled to his desk and sat atop the surface, crossing her long legs.
He checked the clock to see that it was almost seven o'clock in the evening. "What's up?" He asked.
"You look busy. Have I come at a bad time?" She teased, smiling at him as she placed a hand on her hip.
"It could be a lot worse." He murmured as he threw a quick sideways glance towards the bathroom. He would make sure to check up on Mia in an hour's time.
"Is she not here?" Trish asked, "Your little girlfriend, that is."
"Tch. Is that the reason you've come? And here I thought you missed me." Dante replied, but then he shrugged and added, "She's not feeling too good."
"Poor thing. What's the matter?"
"I dunno." He leaned off the railing and sauntered towards the bathroom. Trish slid off his desk and followed him up the stairs curiously. Once she was at the bathroom door, he moved to the side to let her in where Mia had now completely slid underneath the water, lying motionless on the bottom of the bathtub. A few bubbles streamed out from her closed mouth now and then, floating to the surface.
"A water demon." Trish began as she inspected the girl under the water, "She's quite a catch, Dante." The devil hunter moved towards the edge of the bathtub and knelt down; Trish stopped beside him. "Lady told me she's very fond of you. Were you the one who filled her dark soul with light?"
He growled, which only caused her to snicker lightly in response.
"At least you've finally met a nice girl." She further commented, "You can't keep her here like this, Dante. Even if she wants to stay, she'll need to return to the ocean soon."
"Yeah, I know." He murmured, "I know."
Later.
Mia opened her eyes to see the bathroom empty of Dante's presence even though she swore he had just been sitting on the floor beside her, waiting with her. She must have been out cold for a while. She rubbed at her eyes which felt sore and tired, her vision straining against the glare of the lightbulb which was switched on. Figuring she'd had enough of been submerged in an ice bath, she lifted a hand to grasp at the rim of the tub and sat up but her body felt frail and weak. It had happened again.
Sighing, Mia fished around her pockets of her soggy, drenched shirt and pulled out the pearl Clio had given her. Clio said should she ever feel the way she was feeling now, then she should eat it.
Mia put the pearl into her mouth and swallowed.
She didn't feel particularly different and hoisted herself up and out of the water. No sooner had she stepped out, sopping and dripping, she immediately coughed and she doubled over, choking and heaving and blood gushed out and splashed onto Dante's bathroom floor in large puddles. Before long, her hands began trembling violently and she hunched over, gasping loudly.
W-what's going on?! What's happening to me? Dante, help!
She opened her mouth, wanting to scream and cry, but the only noises that escaped the back of her throat were growls and snarls. Her hands grew bigger, bulkier, and the skin burst away to reveal a slimy, greenish and scaly claw underneath. She felt her spine pressing outwards, forcing itself out of her back before thick spikes began to erupt from underneath her flesh and all the way to the top of her head. She stumbled backwards, slamming into the tub that it crumbled. She also knocked the taps off with immense strength previously unknown to her.
Mia couldn't stop her transformation and as she slowly lost conscious...
By the time Trish left, it was roughly nine o'clock. Time had flown by fast even though they were just talking and catching up with each other over a beer and some pizza. Dante was lounging in his sofa for a short while before he decided to check up on Mia; he had just got up when he sensed something amiss.
Shortly after, he heard a deafening crash coming from the bathroom.
He scrabbled off the couch and stormed up the stairs and once he arrived at the top step, he saw that the bathroom door was open-in fact, the bathroom doorway had been completely destroyed and it was coated in a thick layer of slime and blood - and on the wall, he could see the massive shadow of an unidentifiable creature. On the ground was a giant and bulky, orangey-grey fish tail that was slithering around the corner away from his view, towards the direction of his bedroom.
Whatever it was, and he had a good idea what it might be, he could hear its hard, laborious breathing.
"Mia!" He promptly followed the large, hulking creature but it was already in his room; he heard something shattering and knew it was his window and as he arrived at the corridor facing his room, he could see the creature's tail disappearing; his bed, some aspect of his wall and the window itself was completely bust. Exactly like the bathroom, the entire corridor and the floorboards of his room was covered in a mixture of slime and blood.
What the hell had just happened? He arrived at his newly-broken window and threw his gaze down but he couldn't see anything in the empty streets below. Dante side-stepped around the gungy mess and returned to his destroyed bathroom to see the floor wet, the bathtub broken and devoid of Mia's presence, the wrecked taps throwing cold water in all possible directions.
He cursed and stormed to the shopfloor, picking up Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory on his way out.