Chapter 21 Come Again?

Dante and Vergil found Lady bent over, with her arms around her waist as if trying to avoid being violently sick. She was supported by a marble wall next to a closed, oak colored, wooden door. When she sensed their arrival, she immediately came up with guns tracking both Dante and Vergil.

Though she was chalk white with beads of perspiration shimmering over her face, her mouth was pressed firm and her eyes held a fiery hatred with a stone cold promise of death.

While his first instinct was to go to her, Dante paused. He couldn't believe Lady was wanting to pull the trigger on him. Yeah, she sure did like to take pot shots at him, (gun or no gun) but never with this kind of deadly intent - a deadly intent he hadn't seen since they'd first met. At a loss, while Vergil remained motionless as he studied Lady with thoughtful, narrowed eyes, Dante quietly, soothingly said, "Lady. It's me. Dante. I'm here to help. Come on babe, lower the piece."

"Not a chance," she warned in her creamy voice, "You're one of THEM, aren't you? All this time I thought we were friends, but you were stringing me along. I've seen what your kind's like and I'm thinking maybe you aren't as 'friendly' as you act."

Taken aback (and not wanting to go down this road again) Dante asked, "What? What're you talking about? One of 'them.'? Who's 'them'?"

Vergil's eyes honed in on Lady as she replied a mockingly sweet, "Are you going to tell me you don't know that the entire Demon World knows you're a mighty Devil Master who managed to snag an apparently highly prized pure priestess without even trying?"

"Huh? I did?" was Dante's response, lost at sea.

Discounting his confusion, Lady explained as her voice changed to become uncompromisingly hard, "Evidently, this woman purposely sought you to gain your attention in order for you to not only help her rid herself of her unwanted, hated original Master, but to take her under your protection. They sealed the deal when you gave her a new name, which she willingly accepted. She is known as your chosen special pure one because she's a woman of power and is also feared by her ability to take out demons."

Dante's bafflement went a long way in appeasing Lady as he floundered but was quickly catching on by the clues she dropped.

"You gotta be kidding me. You? Are you talking about you? And me? Leave it to the Demon World to come up with something that far out. Although I am curious as to why they would think you 'courted' me, so to speak."

Laughing coldly, she told him, "It seems I took a unique approach, since you're known for playing hard to get, by shooting you and you not dodging the bullets. They seem to think when I hit my mark, I was actually 'marking' you."

"What?!" Dante exclaimed, "Eating a couple of bullets was my way of saying I was thinking over your so called offer? What the hell? Oh. Right. Only in Hell could they come up with something so asinine. That's a good one. Everyone knows I'm SO into being used as target practice when I was just trying to save you from making a splatter on the ground?"

Unconvinced, Lady narrowed her eyes as she flung at him, "Don't give me that. You sure didn't eat any bullets afterward. You expect me to buy you didn't see it coming when you were fast enough to grab me while I was falling? And you DID name me."

Starting to get annoyed, Dante huffed, "You really don't know, do you? My devil hadn't awoken yet so, no, I didn't see it coming, have the speed to dodge or ability to shield myself yet. As far as your name goes, if I remember correctly, YOU'RE the one who told me you didn't have a name and to call you whatever I wanted. You can't point the finger there. That was your doing, not mine. You didn't have to take me calling you lady as a name for the love of God."

Hearing him, Lady felt dismay well as she realized Dante was right. Without knowing it, she was the one who had been going after him instead of vice versa. Hadn't she always attacked first and lectured him furiously on caring about others?

Mother of God. What had she unwittingly done? And Dante, being part devil, had he responded as a normal devil would?

Furious with herself for setting herself up, she accused, "You're a Devil, aren't you? Why would you have helped me if you weren't after something? If you weren't, and was acting like a human, then why haven't you set the record straight? I don't want to be any supplicant to some demon Master."

"Oh no you don't. Don't you put me in with those demons from the Demon World. You of all people KNOW I'm not like that. Aren't you the one constantly getting the drop on me, ordering me around, and swindling me? And I let you, like a dumbass. That sure isn't how Masters act. As far as setting the record straight, just how am I supposed to do that? Plus, you're not using your head. If the demons want to think you're a badass demon hunter who's got me as your backup, isn't that a good thing? We do our jobs in the Human World not like demons do."

(If Dante heard one more person, who should know better, lump him in with a bunch of bastard Masters, he swore he was going to wring his or her neck - he didn't care which.)

"Oh yeah? Then what're you doing with HIM?" she acclaimed, pointing her gun aggressively at Vergil, "If you're so keen on destroying demons, then you would've taken him out. Or didn't you have the guts to pull the trigger? You know what he's like."

Appalled, Lady suddenly realized what she said and was hardily sorry to see the haunted pain in Dante's eyes as he paled. Yeah, she was as mad as a hornet, and feeling betrayed by someone she trusted, but she found hurting Dante was as bad, if not worse, than hurting herself.

"Would you really want me to do that Lady? I thought you cared for me, at least a little. Why would you ask this of me?" he questioned lowly.

Surprised to find himself instinctive shifting to protect Dante when he felt Lady thrust this dagger into him, Vergil stilled when she dangerously glanced at him. Sensing her remorse for causing Dante pain, Vergil picked up Lady somehow blamed HIM for causing Dante pain also - and wanted to severely punish him.

Puzzled, Vergil stood down while continuing to listen closely while Lady apologized, "No Dante. That was a cruel thing to say and I do care about you. It's just that he 'chose' a 'pure one' didn't he? I know what those marks meant on Kyrie and how Nero had to 'bargain' with him to get her back. That's all part of a demonic ritual, isn't it?"

Oh shit. Lady had just thrown Vergil into the Master department and Dante knew what that meant. Sensing Vergil's anger, Dante didn't want him going off like a nuclear missile (and he could tell Lady wasn't too far behind). Making his voice a beguiling octave, Dante changed his eyes to a enthralling ocean blue.

"Lady. I'm not going to insult your intelligence and say you're wrong, but it isn't what you think. I may have a rep. in the Demon World, but I need it to do my job and keep you and Trish safe. You know me, they don't. Go by what you know to be true instead of these disgusting, unnatural things going on." Reaching out with his power, Dante eased his into hers as a means of calming the agitated distress claiming her.

Feeling, and understanding him, Lady grabbed hold of his comforting, familiar energy like a warm blanket to wrap around her freezing heart and body. It was then Lady realized Dante was, and had always been, the Dante she knew, not the one the demons thought he was.

He was right. While always giving into her (and she did have to admit, getting the drop on Dante did make for satisfyingly perverse glee) he never asked for anything from her - except for his cut of the jobs she often pocketed as part of the game she played for fun (at least, it was for her). He wasn't lying to her - he'd been being himself. Dante couldn't help being part demon anymore than she could help being part witch.

Though she was more than glad she hadn't been duped by one of her best friends, Lady felt she couldn't allow Vergil to go about his merry way. If Dante couldn't harm his brother, (she would've respected him less if he wanted to and his actions confirmed his humanity) she could help keep him safe from being taken in by his natural feelings toward his brother. Slowly lowering her gun in Dante's direction, she kept the other steady on Vergil.

Dante didn't have time to let out the breath he was holding as Lady trained both guns on Vergil while asking, "And what about HIM? I wouldn't want you to go through that again. It's alright if you can't do it, but I sure can. I'll pull the trigger for you so you don't have to." While warmed by Lady's misconstrued concern, Dante was definitely alarmed. Locked and loaded, Lady was primed and ready to make good on her promise.

Searching to defuse the situation, Dante started to explain, "Lady, Vergil..."

She cut him off with a savage, "I know his name and I don't want to hear it."

"Okay..." Dante trailed while gathering his thoughts. How was he going to explain without saying Vergil's name? Relieved his brother had the smarts to keep his mouth shut, Dante tried again, "You see, Ver... Ah, this Devil here was only pretending to claim Kyrie. I promise he didn't hurt her."

At her furiously skeptical glance, he elaborated, "I mean, yeah, he did have to mark her and in doing so, did cause her discomfort. He didn't want to, but had to. If you have any faith me at all, then believe me when I say I know. I was with Nero and know this's true. Kyrie knew the score because she didn't fight him. I even heard her say she knew he didn't want to hurt her, but was forced to, in order to keep her safe."

"Safe? You call that safe?" Lady cynically refuted.

"Yes. Yes, I do. You've obviously seen some bad stuff and must know what would've happened to her if he hadn't looked after her, so to speak. He protected her the best he could. Can you understand?"

Trying to see past the heinous crimes she'd witnessed, Lady fought to focus on Dante's explanation. Grudgingly, she briefly nodded without taking her eyes off Vergil. Dante did breathe again as he saw he was making progress.

"As far as the ritual goes, Nero had to go through it. If my brother (he slipped that term in hoping she wouldn't go off but would associate Vergil with him) hadn't proceeded the way he did, then both Kyrie and Nero would've been demon bait. He helped them both there. Besides, you can't blame him for wanting his own sword back, can you? I don't."

Wrong thing to say.

Lady flared and Dante was afraid she was going to fire off lightning rounds into Vergil right then and there.

"You bet I can. You might not care, but if it's all the same to you, I'd rather he wasn't armed, especially with that diabolical, mind of its own, sword of power. You've seen, and saw, what it's capable of. Are you so laid back you don't give a damn something of that magnitude is now in the possession of a power hungry Devil who knows how to use it to its fullest potential?" she venomously charged.

Very calmly, Dante said honestly, "No, Lady. I'm not that laid back. If anyone other than this Devil had gotten a hold of Yamato rather than Nero or myself, you can bet I'd be after them in a heartbeat. There's no one on the planet better able to control and use the sword more properly than him."

Although accepting his judgment, Dante could tell Lady wasn't too enthused to hear this. Even if she didn't approve, he was glad to know she trusted him enough to be able to take of any not so funny business that may occur.

"Now, are you gonna stand down and let me in the know, or what? Where's Trish?" Dante asked conversationally.

Stubborn streak coming to the forefront, Lady held fast to her guard while saying, "No, there's no way I'm standing down. Not in front of HIM. That's for certain. As for you, you might be curious to know your 'caste one' is making friendly small talk with a Demon Lord. Trish is enjoying a reunion with an old friend - one I wanted to blow away but she wouldn't let me. So I decided to take a break."

Dante suspected additional happenings, but came alert at Lady's reference to Trish reuniting with an "old friend."

"What kind of 'old friend'?" Dante asked suspiciously. Engrossed and extremely intrigued by the entire affair, (and as taken aback as Lady, if not more, Dante had said he welcomed Vergil reclaiming Yamato) Vergil caught on, but Lady was too focused on Vergil to catch Dante's ominous tone.

"Apparently, the Demon Lord and her knew each other from way back when and enjoyed each other's company. Even though he's got a young HUMAN woman he's marked and claimed, she doesn't want to put him down for the filth he is. She wants to send him back to the Demon World all safe and sound as if he hasn't done the unspeakable," Lady explained in frustrated ire, "When I went to take care of business, she stopped me. I split. Being in that room made me sick."

"Is that a fact?" Dante remarked silkily, "Just how friendly is this demon with Trish?"

"Beats me. Seems they had a lot of things in common and would chum around now and then," Lady told him finally getting Dante might jump to a few conclusions that weren't necessarily there. She might want Dante to show that unwelcome visitor from Hell what oblivion was, but she didn't want Trish hurt in the process by giving him the wrong idea.

Too late.

"Chum around, huh? A lot in common? Tell me. What does this demon look like and what's his name?" Dante purred. Lady was professional enough to keep a bead on Vergil while wanting Dante to stay composed and shrugged. That didn't cut it. If anything, her gesture made Dante's temperature rise higher.

"Lady?" Dante asked forbiddingly.

"Alright already. His name's Mercurous. So he's charming, for a demon, and makes for a good looking human. That doesn't mean anything. He's still a demon, isn't he? Trish isn't going to lose sight of that," Lady assured a getting hot under the collar Dante.

"Rigghht," Dante drawled and then slid hooded, glittering eyes to Vergil. "You know this guy?" he asked him.

Keeping a bland expression in the face of Dante's mounting jealousy while concealing a smirk, Vergil answered, "Yes."

When Vergil stopped there, Dante glared with a firm, "OK you. You know what I wanna know. You sure were forthcoming before. Don't close up now. Spill it. What do you know about this demon and how does he know Trish? Or rather, how well does he know Trish?"

Unable to resist teasing Dante, Vergil mused, "Well, as Lady said, he is what you could call charming and quite sought after by many wishing to be under his protection. As far as being attractive, I suppose there are those who consider him to be a handsome devil. As you know, Trish is a highly respected, admired, powerful demoness - much sought after herself. Many wished to make her solely theirs, but she was ever one to go her own way."

Ignoring Dante's woefully complaining, "Don't I know it," Vergil went on, "I admired this about her because, though a force to be reckoned with, she refused all those seeking to be her supplicants, valuing her independence and ability to maintain her status. It is true she enjoyed Mercurous' company, as they shared similar interests. The rumor was he had what humans would call a 'crush' on her. That is all I know."

Dante didn't like the sound of that and his imagination began to kick in - making the heat under his collar spread to his hands, inching to do heavy damage.

"Similar interests? Handsome devil? A crush? Sounds like I'll have show Prince Charming in there the back door while demonstrating what a REAL crush feels like," Dante responded with menacing relish.

As he turned, Vergil reluctantly stopped him, thwarting Lady's delight. "Dante. As distasteful as I find this to say, you cannot."

"What? Why?" growled a not too happy Dante.

"Within the Demon World, this Demon Lord happens to be one of those which keeps, what you may consider, balance and maintains order. As much as I dislike (to put it mildly) Masters, he is a tolerant one and keeps within the rules set between the two worlds while enforcing them on others, if he must. Do you understand what I am explaining?"

Fuck. Dante did. This demon was one of the higher ups, hadn't broken any laws and helped maintain them. If he was to take him out, there would be an upheaval within the Demon World which could, and most likely would, spill into the Human World.

Damn. This just kept getting better and better.

Then he perked up. Dante may not kill him, but he could scare the Hell out of him. That could be fun all on its own.

Alright! Let's rock.

Then he remembered something. "Ah, Vergil. Maybe you want to come with me? Lady might like to be left alone for awhile," he suggested as delicately as possible.

Lady agreed with a threatening, "Yeah, get him out of my sight. If you want to keep your brother," she spat the word, "alive and in one piece, I suggest you do."

Vergil, however, disagreed, "No. I do not think that would be wise."

"Really? And why is that?" Dante asked, uncertain who to listen to.

"Because within the Demon World, I was known for my, you could say, disdain for those who had supplicants. Though we never met, I am quite sure Mercurous would know me on sight and grow fearful," Vergil informed Dante.

Getting what Vergil was saying, Dante's eyes lit up as his grin became devilish. Vergil must've cut down any Master he could find he felt deserved his attention to the point of gaining a reputation of being one to steer clear of at all cost.

Now they were talking. Bring it on. Thinking of his resemblance to his twin, Dante said with malicious joy dripping from every syllable, "Is that so? I do believe you're right Vergil. We wouldn't want to scare him to death before I set him straight, now would we? I can't wait until he gets a gander at ME."

With a narrowed glower in Vergil's direction, Lady poked Dante toward the direction she wanted him to take by informing him, "By the way, just to let you know, this Demon Lord happened to mention he wouldn't mind taking both me and Trish under his 'protection.'"

Abruptly halting, Dante did a double take. "Come again?"

"According to him, now that Vergil's loose, you might have your hands full. You know, with Vergil being into power and all. Since you have, and I quote, 'refined taste, not to mention a cunning, clever, charm to entice superlative supplicants,' Vergil here, having refined tastes himself, might decide to try and take them from you. After all, it's also well known in the Demon World the two of you have serious conflicts between you."

Vergil covered an urge to laugh flat out at Dante being described as having refined tastes while being clever, cunning and charming. My, when the Demon World got something wrong, it got something WRONG.

Feeling and hearing him, Dante sent him an eat death message. Affronted, he haughtily disagreed out loud, "I can too be all that. How else do you think I got me some superlative supplicants? Jerk." At Dante's declaration, said in that manner, Vergil really had to smother his laughter.

Catching the byplay, against her will, Lady had to grin at Dante's irritation and Vergil's efforts to control his hilarity. Evidently, Dante wasn't too worried about Vergil taking over his "supplicants." He certainly had nothing to worry about when it came to her; if she was going to seen as a supplicant (gross!) she'd take Dante over Vergil any day.

Her amusement turned to glee as Dante's expression hardened and he commented to Vergil, "Well now, Vergil, I don't know. Lady's got a point. That sounded like a challenge to me. I thought you said this guy played by the rules. You think he's gone insane in thinking he can take me on?"

Knowing exactly what Lady was up to, and that she must have been grievously insulted by a Demon Lord wishing to make her one of his chosen ones, Vergil glanced at her coolly while saying, "I cannot say. But I can see where you would be suspicious of his designs. If that is the circumstance, then yes, I would say he not acting rational or prudently."

"Not acting prudently? You hit the mark there. If it's a showdown he wants, I'm ready to rumble."

"Dante, try not to get too enthusiastic in your endeavors to teach this demon manners. Remember what I said, and that this Demon Lord is one of the more powerful," Vergil cautioned.

Irked to be denied his prey, Dante slyly replied, "Yeah, I get you. But if he has gone nuts, then we wouldn't be doing either worlds any favors by sending back a crazed, high on the ladder, Demon MASTER," knowing that title in particular would set Vergil off.

He scored.

Eyes lightening to a lethal hue, Vergil smoothly purred, "I believe you may be correct. We would not be doing our duty if we allowed such a being to exist. If you have need, call, and I will come to your assistance."

Lady could not believe when, eyes brightening, Dante smiled sinisterly, "I'll get back to you. Time for me to have a look and see what's what."

Feeling Dante's rambunctious anticipation in playing with the demon inside, Vergil started to say, as Dante whirled in a flourish of his coat, "Dante, there is a door handle..." Vergil shook his head in resignation as Dante ignored him and kicked in the door so hard it rebounded against an inside wall to slam shut behind him.

As for Lady, she was shocked Dante would even propose trusting Vergil to have his back while realizing she was left alone with a devil she was way too eager to annihilate.

As Vergil imagined the effect Dante's appearance was having (with several pleasant scenarios coming to mind) he turned his attention to Lady who became more aggressive than she had before. Mystified, Vergil had no idea why she was intent on attacking him to the extent of the guns in her grip shaking as she struggled not to pull the triggers.

"Lady..." he began but she snarled, "Shut up! I don't want hear anything from you."

At a loss, but irresistibly curious, Vergil risked, "But I cannot fathom this hatred I feel radiating from you. Surely you would do me the honor of enlightening me as to your distress."

"Distress?" Lady laughed scathingly, disturbing Vergil by the bitterness he heard and sensed. He had no wish for Lady to suffer this intense a state and attentively listened (with all senses open) as she continued, "That's one word for it. And the only honor I'll give you is the honor of my contempt. As for showing you the light, that would be wasted breath. You wouldn't understand. Not a Devil like you. What would you know about feelings when you have none?"

Well, that was not only inaccurate, but harsh. "Why would you think such a thing? Am I not alike in being to Dante? You certainly know he has emotions. Do you not think I would as well?" Vergil carefully asked.

"What I meant," Lady explained through clenched teeth, "was that where you might have 'emotions,' those emotions aren't worth counting as they are cold and on the dark side."

"And how have you arrived at this conclusion?" Vergil wanted to know.

"Because you tried to kill my father by running him through without a thought, you arrogant, power driven Devil. You twisted him for your own gain and tempted him with promises of demonic rewards. Not only that, you betrayed Dante. If it hadn't been for you," she sneered, "interfering with family business, I wouldn't have ended up to my neck in demons after my blood, when I'm human, damn you."

Aghast and mortified, Lady heard the deep, dark secrets she'd buried within her bursting forth. After being able to hold them in with Trish, who she trusted, why were they coming out in front of Vergil of all beings? Weeping and raging inside from wounds she refused to show, Lady couldn't tame her feelings of shame, fury and loss of control brought on by the atrocities causing the past to surface, and by coming face to face to Vergil, himself.

His very presence blurred the past with the present until she couldn't see her way through.

Searching hard, cold, unique eyes made luminous with fiery, unshed tears forged from a fierce determination to right an unutterable wrong, Vergil then knew why he was drawn to Lady. He and she shared a bond as tempered as the steel which created them both. She was feeling controlled by others and hunted because of her bloodline. (He definitely knew where she was coming from there.)

What had she said? She had ferociously attacked Dante for "naming" her and felt a fool for accepting the title Dante had blithely called her - without thinking there may be possible consequences. With a sense of sympathy, Vergil could only imagine her vehement repugnance upon learning what this meant within the Demon World. He had been "renamed" as well but unlike Lady, it was not a name he accepted, chose or took pride in.

In mentioning "family business" he surmised she blamed him for her father's actions. In allowing Arkham to aid him in his quest for his father's power, Vergil guessed this was where Lady felt he had not only betrayed and hurt Dante by the ensuing events, but her as well. Thinking of Lady's father, Vergil remembered her one ambition had been to avenge her mother, herself. Instead, Vergil and Dante had interfered and she almost missed her chance, but then, Lady had grieved her father's death.

This was what she must have meant by not wanting Dante to go through "that" again - recalling Dante's anguish at feeling he had killed him. This must also be why she was angry at him for "hurting" Dante. If Vergil hadn't made the disastrous decision to return to the Demon World when Dante wanted him in the Human World, Dante wouldn't have been tricked and forced into the same position Lady had.

Vergil understood. Lady needed to place the blame on him in order to live with her own actions which she felt put her at the same level as her treacherous father. Unlike Dante, however, her killing of the only family she had left, had a lasting effect. Her father wasn't coming back as he had.

His mother had been killed as well. Not by his father, but if his father had been there, Vergil was confident she would be alive. Would this not make his father somewhat to blame if he was alive, somewhere, that is, if he wasn't imprisoned as Vergil had been? Vergil didn't know but could see the parallel.

Obviously in need of relief and comfort, Vergil was confounded as to how to help Lady regain her confidence and self-worth. Yes, Kyrie had advised him to imagine what he would like someone to do for him if he was in need, but he didn't think Lady needed to gain help the way he had from Dante.

Deciding to seek guidance, he called mentally, "Dante."

"What?!" Dante snarled, "Busy here."

Ignoring his tone, Vergil explained, "Lady is in need of comfort and guidance as she is chaotic and confused in her mind."

"You mean like you did when you were in crazed psycho mode?" came Dante's observation.

Wanting to strangle Dante for reminding him of something he wanted to forget, Vergil managed to admit evenly, "Yes. But I do not believe the technique you used on me will work on Lady."

Dante actually laughed, "You'd be right. What's her problem?"

"Apparently, she is blaming me for certain... things."

"By golly! Something's YOUR fault? What a shocker."

Impatiently Vergil told him, "Can you ever focus? What am I to do?"

Winding down under his brother's dilemma, Dante had to struggle to maintain his poise as he explained, "Listen, Vergil. Guys fight. Women vent. Lady needs to vent all that stuff out of her system."

"Vent?" Vergil asked, confused.

"Ya'know, shout, yell, and since we're talking Lady here, probably pound on you while accusing you of all kinds of stuff you got no clue of. Word to the wise, don't try to understand, or make sense of what comes out her mouth. Just agree with everything she says. Oh. Yeah. Be careful. Try not to get ventilated while she vents," Dante snorted.

Vergil hissed, "Very funny."

In a normal tone, Dante responded, "Hey dude, no joke. Lady's got guns trained on you, ready to drill you full of holes. You think she's kidding around? Don't count on it." Unable to dispute the obvious, Vergil had to agree.

As he was about to sign off to meet this seemingly impossible task, he heard Dante ask an aggravated, "Vergil? Are you absolutely sure we need to keep this guy around?"

Startled, Vergil replied, "That would be the wisest course of action. Why?"

Rumbling deep in his throat, Dante answered, "'Cause this guy's seriously pissing me off. He has some inane idea I'd be willing to 'bargain' for Trish."

Vergil got his turn to be amused by Dante's situation. "I see. You know this to be a common practice in the Demon World. Why are you surprised? There is no need for your anger. Simply deny his request."

Annoyed, beyond irritated and thirsting to rearrange the demon's pretty face, Dante replied, "You don't get it. It's like this guy's in love with Trish or something. He's awfully persistent and won't take 'no' for an answer."

"Do you believe him mad?" Vergil asked.

Grudgingly Dante said, "How can I call him crazy when I can't blame him for falling for Trish? If he's crazy, then so am I. I guess, in this case, I really can't tell."

Pausing, Vergil thought for a moment then advised, "I understand. Try to keep a lid on your temper and engage him in conversation, or find another way to divert him from Trish in order to properly gauge his state of mind."

The last Vergil heard of Dante was when he grouched, "You don't ask for much, do you? I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, be ready if I call, and do what you can to get Lady to open up."

Studying Lady who appeared to be fighting to restrain herself from attacking him, Vergil thought he knew what to say to get her to lose enough control to "vent," as Dante said. He only hoped he said what he thought best in a way that wouldn't cause her to use her weapons rather than her words.

Though, when it came to Lady, Vergil thought he may possibly prefer she use her guns rather than her words since they seemed to be the mightiest weapons at her disposal.