Eva shot across the room toward me like a bolt of gold and took the sword off me. She turned to face the boys squarely, her chin held high – and her eyes were wet. The boys instantly lowered their weapons. The first thought that popped into my head was that Eva had resorted to tears to weaken them, seeing as shouting and physical restraint had done nothing to end this feud.

"You are not little children," Eva spoke, the disappointment clear in her tone. "I shouldn't have to remind you what the house rules are. Whether Sparda is here or not, you will still abide by them."

Dante's gaze lowered to the floor guiltily, but Vergil stared her down with resilience. "He would want me to have it."

"And if you can't abide by the rules," Eva said and swallowed hard. "Then you know where the door is."

Dante's head snapped up and he looked at Vergil tensely. "We'll stop fighting, mother."

"As soon as you give me Sparda's sword," Vergil agreed.

"You can have it the day I die, Vergil," Eva said tersely. "Before then it will remain in my possession. Is that understood, or do you want to debate me about this?"

Vergil said half-heartedly, "As you wish."

"Good," Eva said shakily, and wiped at her tears. "Go to your rooms immediately."

Vergil left the kitchen first with a slow, angry stride. Dante trudged in his wake a minute later. I was about to follow when Eva grabbed my sleeve and held me back. "Cora, wait a minute."

I obeyed and looked at her expectantly. For a long time, all Eva did was to stare at the sword in her hand. She finally leaned it up against the cupboard beside her, and folded her arms across her chest slowly before looking at me.

"I need you to take it back."

I stared at her blankly. "Take what back?"

"Sparda's sword. I need you to take it back."

I chewed my lip and waited for the shock to wear off a bit before I could trust myself to speak. "Why me?"

"No one knows who you are. You'll have the advantage of slipping in under their radar and redoing what Sparda has done."

"Eva, you're doing crazy talk. I don't know where Dante found that sword, and I don't even know what Sparda did, exactly," I shook my head feverishly.

Eva was shaking her head too. "But I do, Cora. I will help you open the seals to the demon realm, and I can give you the exact location to put the sword, and what to do, and I will be waiting for you to return so that we can seal the tower gate together."

"I thought Dante opened all the seals," I said weakly.

"And so he closed them again when he was done. Dante does everything as thoroughly and efficiently as Vergil, even if he does play around a lot more," Eva took hold of my hands pleadingly. "But the tower, the hell gate that was once used to merge the human world with the demon world, it's open. It can't be sealed without great power, and right now, we have that power right here."

I looked at the sword next to us, and felt my heart start a sick thudding in my chest. "What does that mean?"

"It means we have to go fix things before all hell breaks lose."

"Why not send Dante to do it?"

"Look, Cora, I know you're afraid. I'm frightened too," Eva said softly, and her eyes filled again. "I'm scared that they're going to come after Dante now that they know Sparda has a son."

"They didn't know?" I asked too loudly, stunned. "How could they not know about Dante and Vergil?"

"Sparda handled it," Eva said. "But he's not here to take care of this mess. Unless we stop Mundus from destroying the seals, by sealing the demon realm once more, he's going to come after us. We will be the first to die."

"Why can't we just fight him off if this power is oh so great?"

"Only Sparda can wield its true power. The boys can use it, but it will be too strong and it will destroy them," Eva said. "Will you help me? Please?"

"Eva, how the hell do you even know all these things?" I whispered in disbelief.

"Sparda prepared me for this, a long time ago when the boys were still small. And Vergil's notes helped refresh my memory a bit," Eva added. "Will you do this for us?"

"Okay," I forced the word out.

~...~

"Okay, okay, okay, I got it," I said nervously, shifting from one foot to the other. "If you have to tell me the coordinates one more time I think I'm going to go all-out demon on you."

We were standing on the platform that was the roof of the Temen-ni-gru, or according to Eva it was the roof. We were underground in a place so black and silent that I thought I was going to go stark raving mad. If it hadn't been for the lit torch Eva was waving around, I probably would have.

"Alright," Eva sighed heavily. "You know where to go from here. Be wary at all times, and hurry."

"Okay, okay," I muttered, getting to my feet.

"And Cora? Remember who you are," Eva said. She looked scared – but then she hadn't stopped being scared since that morning when Dante brought Sparda's sword into the kitchen – and she looked sceptical all of a sudden.

"Save the melodramatic goodbye for another time," I said frivolously. "I'll be back before you know it."

~...~

It turned out I was wrong, in the end. Not that it came as much of a shock. I would blame it on time running differently in the underworld, but that wouldn't be any more true than what could be said about time in the human world. When things were bleak, time dragged. When things were good, time flew. In the underworld, time would sometimes stand still, other times it would go by too fast for memory to recall.

There were moments that I nearly forgot my purpose in the demon realm. It took stumbling onto Mundus recruiting a legion of higher up demons to remind me why I was there. I'm not a greedy person. I'm not a greedy person. I don't know how many times I told myself that. Eva's dramatic last words only made sense to me when I found myself consumed with an irrational desire to keep Sparda's power as my own. I lost count how many times I had to fight the urge not to try tap into the brimming power in my hands.

Several times I'd turned around and started back toward the gate to the human world, my intentions dark, selfish, and evil; every time I heard Eva's words resonate through my mind, turning me around to go undo what Dante had done. But the look – oh, if there was a God that took pity on demons, I would pray for it – the look on Vergil's face if he could see me beholding Sparda's power. Oh, the look would be worth it; it would be worth millions of lives, worth the destruction, worth the despair I would cause. Then again, maybe not.

Eva was still there when I finally emerged from the demon realm. Her eyes were haunted and weighed down with heavy purple bags, her hair was dishevelled and she looked as white as a ghost. She flung her arms around me and burst into heart-breaking sobs as soon as she noticed me. A second later she pulled away from me and tried to wipe away the flowing tears.

"You've done it!"

"I thought we had to cast some spell to seal this thing?" I said.

"Yes, yes. Come, let's finish this."

Eva wasn't quite herself. She was trembling, looking extremely jittery, and she snapped at me a couple of times when I didn't understand the instructions she gave me. We were both thankful to leave that place when we were done, and the orange sunrise was a welcoming embrace back home.

The problem was that it didn't feel like home. Strangely enough, I'd felt far more at home in the demon realm. I didn't belong here in this world.

"You ran into trouble," Eva said when we got into her car, parked behind an old burnt down chapel, and headed homeward.

"Kind of."

"You did do it, didn't you?"

"Yeah," I said, and gave her a small, reassuring smile. "I felt like Merlin."

"Who?" Eva asked, confused.

"The sorcerer. You know, the Excalibur, Merlin, King Arthur?" I prodded. "Big mighty sword stuck in a hunk of rock?"

"Oh, yes, I see," Eva said. She put her hand on mine briefly. "You did excellent, Cora."

"Thanks." If you only knew the things I was thinking of doing.

We didn't speak again until we were on the lonely track of road leading to the Sparda fortress. "You're alright, aren't you?" Eva said.

"I just feel weird," I said, and shrugged off her worried glance. "It's normal, right? Crossing from one world to another, it'll make you feel funny?"

"I've never been to the demon realm," Eva said quietly.

"I feel like something came out with me."

Eva paled even more. "What do you mean? Like you're being watched or followed?"

"No. It's hard to explain but... there was something familiar about the underworld. Just a feeling I got. And it came here with me. I mean, I don't feel it right this very moment, but it definitely followed me."

Eva said nothing. We were pulling up in front of the house in time to catch Vergil and Dante just getting off their bikes. Vergil whirled around when he heard the car and he started toward us. Dante sent one look our way and leaned back against his bike, pressing a hand up to his face. Vergil wrenched Eva's door open before the car had even come to a complete stop. Worry entwined with immense relief blazed across his face, and his eyes were brighter and lighter than I ever remember them being.

"You didn't... where..." Vergil choked the words out, and then he did something I never would have thought possible. He crouched down and leaned against the seat as if his legs could no longer support him, and he put his head in Eva's lap – and he cried.

Vergil breaking down in tears was a far more terrifying experience than any I encountered in the underworld. I sat and stared at his heaving shoulders, too shocked to move. Eva was bent over him, soothingly rubbing her hand over his back.

She was whispering to him, but her words were lost to me under the shattering sobs emanating from Vergil. I jerked around in my seat when my door opened suddenly, and I stared into a pair of livid blue eyes. It felt like an eternity that we stared at each other; the horrors of hell I'd been subjected to reflected in his gaze. I could breathe again when Dante tore the connection and looked at Eva.

"It's gone?" Dante asked in a clipped tone.

Eva breathed out quietly. "If I ever catch either of you dabbling with your father's business again, I will disown you."

"That's a bit harsh."

"No, what is harsh is your recklessness, Dante," Eva sliced back at him coldly. "You don't know how close we came to the end of the world."

"You don't know that my world would have ended if anything happened to either of you," Dante cut back heatedly. "B'sides, I put my stupidity down to my humanity. You're indirectly to blame for this."

"I beg your pardon!"Eva said dangerously quietly.

"Ya heard me," Dante growled. "Humans aren't exactly the sharpest species."

Vergil had straightened to his haunches, strained and pale, stunned out of his emotional breakdown. "Dante, enough."

"Yes, that is quite enough from you," Eva said angrily. "After what you've done..."

"Like I said, it's my human intellect to blame. I would have taken the damn sword back myself. There was no need for you to get involved and put yourself in danger," Dante interrupted.

"Evidently there was a great need for it. I would never have let you go back there, Dante..."Eva shook her head.

"Why? Because you can heal from serious injury? Rather you than me? If that's the game you're playing at, I'm not falling for it," Dante fumed.

"The demon realm is no place for-"

"Oh, but it is for young girls and mortal women?"

"No, I didn't say that-"

"It's what you're implying," Dante snapped. "I don't care who the hell you think you are or what you think you know, you are human and that was fucking stupid. If you pull any shit like that again, I'll lock you in an infirmary, got it?"

There was a stumped moment before Dante took hold of my hand and gently tugged me out of the car. He leaned back down to spit at them both, "If I catch either of you using Cora again, there will be blood."

I felt a throb of warmth at his words, and yielded willingly when he led me toward the front door.

"Dante!" Vergil shouted behind us.

Dante ignored him. I hurried to keep up with him when we headed down the hallway and through the backdoor out into the backyard. He pulled me into the tyre truck swing with him, and we tucked our legs out of sight. His arm came down around my shoulders and I slipped my own around him. He huddled up to me tightly, and then we just sat quietly. I'm happy he didn't ask me what happened, because I didn't want to recount the things I'd seen. I'm glad he didn't ask me how I was feeling either, because I figured he probably already knew the answer to that.

The wind gently swayed the swing. It was a comforting sensation, like being rocked back and forth. The companionable silence was disrupted when Dante released a bad-tempered sigh. "I wasn't that hard on her."

"No, you weren't. But she was only trying to protect you guys."

"I know, but it was stupid of her. If you died..." Dante trailed off.

"I didn't, that's all that matters," I pointed out. "You should tell her you're sorry. She didn't deserve the insults."

"She knows that."

"C'mon, Dante, it's your mother."

"Yeah. I'll make it up to her somehow. Still, if you'd gotten hurt," Dante tilted my chin up to look me in the face. "What the hell were you thinking agreeing to her crazy plans anyway?"

"How could I say no? Either I did it, or she did it, and then we wouldn't have Eva walking around the house right now."

"But where the hell is the sanity?"

"There is no sanity in this household," I mumbled, resting my cheek against his chest and running my fingers along the faint lines of abdominal muscles taking shape beneath the smooth pale skin. Looks like his workouts were starting to pay off. "You know what a shirt is, don't you?"

"Hmm. I wish you didn't."

"Shut up," I smacked him in the gut and straightened up to look at him. "Did you know you guys were a big secret?"

"Me and Verge? Yeah."

"I've never seen your brother cry before," I said after a moment.

"Scarier than hell, right? I'm gonna ride this one for a while," Dante said nonchalantly.

"Oh, don't be an ass. You'll just make him resent his human side even more," I said.

"Who said it was his human side?" Dante arched an eyebrow.

"Devils never cry, Dante."

"Maybe, but Vergil is a wuss through and through. He's that one devil that does cry."

"I don't think so."

"Any katana wielding dipshit who believes he's it class as a wuss. He's nothing without his toothpick."

"You're an idiot," I said, playfully messing up his hair before cuddling up against him.

We watched the spring breeze tug the last dead leaves from the sycamores in the yard, savouring the peacefulness nature brought with it. My eyes were heavy and drooping shut as sleep came to claim me.

Dante's arms tightened around me. "Did you see him there?" He asked softly.

His words barely registered in my sleep-disorientated mind. "Who?" I whispered under my breath.

"Sparda."

The name echoed across the ragged terrain, disturbing the fiery heat waves that made up the air. A thousand voices uttering the single name; voices that sounded like hollow drums, cracking glaciers, and spirit bells. A frightening, monstrous cacophony filled with a terribly deep, evil hate that chilled my blood and made my ears ring. Sparda...Sparda... And there was so much blood...so much pain... so much horror in the glazed eyes of the humans who fell victim to their greed... and the screams were the worst. Screams that no animal or human could possibly make; screams laced with terrifying sorrow and rage... the chant changed, and I felt an icy shudder rake through my body. Cora...Cora...traitor...traitor...

"I'm not!" The sound of my own voice jolted me awake. I blinked at the bright mid-day sun in momentary confusion, before feeling my cheeks flush in embarrassment when I realized I'd been speaking loudly in my sleep. I sent a shy glance beside me, only to find that I was alone. Well, good, the last thing I wanted was Dante riding me for being a sleep-talker.

I stretched my legs slowly, and cautiously climbed out of the swing. I stopped short when I realized Vergil was waiting for me. Bare foot, dark tailored pants, and his black vest open, he was leaning against the bark of the tree. There was blood mist on him – on his face, his arms, on his chest – the kind that was created when savagely beating something to death. There was a nasty snarl on his face, and I stood paralysed when he stalked up to me.

That's when I noticed Dante lying face down near the back door; his skull was smashed open from what I could tell, and he wasn't moving. There was a blood smeared hand print against the glass door, as though he'd tried to push it open before he died. I tore my gaze from Dante's still form when Vergil reached me, filling my vision.

His entire being screamed out trembling violence, but his hands were startlingly soft when he cupped my face almost lovingly, and he pressed his shaking lips to mine in a passionately tender way that rivalled even Dante's kisses. He pulled back a little after a minute, and his lips brushed intimately against mine when he whispered huskily, "It's mine."

I ripped away from him abruptly with a strangled cry, and found he'd locked me against him with his arms. I struggled, and screamed, and clawed, and kicked against him, terrified out of my mind. He didn't let go. And then he was suddenly peering into the swing at me with a curious frown, and adrenaline gave me that extra boost of strength to increase my fight. I broke free of the arms keeping me entrapped, and fell headfirst out of the swing. I scrambled across the grass, beside myself with pure terror. I couldn't get to my feet because my legs were sponge, and in my bewildered state I heard Eva shouting my name from the kitchen window. I turned toward it, and felt my muscles lock and tremble when Vergil started toward me.

"No!" I shrieked the word over and over, because nothing else made sense, and the rest of my vocabulary had been erased from my shaken mind.

Dante appeared behind Vergil, his face set in stony resolve. His head was whole, and he edged toward me cautiously, flagging me down with his hands. "Take it easy, Cora. Easy, easy." He soothed.

I stared at him so hard that my eyes started to hurt. He inched closer to me, and carefully reached his hand out to me. "Come on, babe, it's just me."

I touched his hand, and when my fingers touched his warm skin, I jerked away from him in horrified confusion. "You're... it wasn't real? It wasn't real?" I wheezed, looking at Vergil. Bare foot, black pants, and his vest open, exactly like in the dream. No blood. No nasty snarl on his face. And he didn't seem interested in coming any closer to me than he had to.

"It was just a nightmare," Dante said reassuringly, and I burst into tears.

"But I woke up... I woke up and you were dead..." I sobbed hysterically.

"I'm not. Look, I'm right here. C'mon, you can punch me if it will convince you," Dante coaxed gently. Then he was in front of me on his knees, and he embraced me securely. "It's okay, babe. I've got you. It was just a nightmare."

He rocked me back and forth, and I cried until my throat burned and my eyes stung. Eva came to offer me a glass of sugar water to calm me down, and only then did I really believe I was awake. Dante never let go of me for the rest of the day. He took me to the lounge and we had ourselves a mini movie-marathon filled with comedies and parodies that was enough to make any one sick with laughter. I couldn't look at Vergil, at all. I was afraid he'd get into my head again, and see what I recollected from the dream, and know what I was feeling when he'd kissed me...

"It's a side effect from the underworld," Dante said later that evening when we were doing the dishes while Eva called in an early night. "The nightmares."

"Figures," I mumbled.

"If you want to talk about it..."

"No."

"Okay."

"Hey," I frowned, packing away a load of clean plates. "Did you ask me about Sparda, before I fell asleep? Or did I dream that?"

"No, I asked you," Dante said.

We both paused to stare at one another. "Why?" I finally forced the question out.

"Because I didn't see him."

"Because he's dead," I said firmly.

"Maybe. Hey, you never know. I had to inherit my toughness from somewhere."

"You think he's alive," I stated blatantly.

"Don't know. That's why I asked you."

"Why would Sparda show himself to me and not you?" I asked.

"Because I'll kick his old ass, that's why."

"Need a hand?" Vergil asked behind us, and I tensed.

"Sure, some strawberry sundae for dessert would be nice," Dante said.

When there was no response, I turned to see Vergil had left us alone. We messed around in the kitchen for a bit longer, filling up the sink with new dirty dishes in our venture to create the ultimate strawberry sundae.

Bedtime ticked around, and I lay in my room for a couple of hours, tossing and turning. I was too afraid to fall asleep. Were nightmares going to be the norm from now on? I eventually gave up trying to sleep in my bed, and decided to sneak into Dante's room. Maybe if I had the comfort of someone else with me, I'd be able to sleep. Besides, it wasn't like he'd mind much.

I stepped into the hallway and quietly closed my door before slowly tip toeing down toward Dante's room. I paused suddenly when I started past Vergil's room and his door opened, trapping me in the rectangle of light flooding from his bedside lamp. He paused too when he saw me right outside his door, and cocked his eyebrows at me.

"I'm going to Dante's room," I whispered. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. It made me feel – exposed.

"Of course you were," Vergil said delicately. "It's just per chance that I caught you outside my door in the middle of the night, I suppose. Coincidence that I happened to open my door just as you were walking past."

My eyes widened at the sarcasm in his voice. "Yeah. What else could it be?" I said indignantly.

Vergil gave a little shrug, and a brief wayward smirk crossed his lips. I found myself staring at his lips, and wrenched myself out of the trance, flushing deeply.

"Is there something you want?"

"What? No," I said, lifting my eyes to meet his. His words secured a blanket of ice around me, made me feel dirty.

"Then why are you idling in my doorway? Do you want to come in or not?"

My breath hitched in my throat, and I stepped away in startled amazement. "Did you just invite me into your room?"

"Allow me to rephrase," Vergil said shrewdly, stepping aside and gesturing into his room. "Would you care to join me?"

I stared past him at his bed – king size, draped in shades of cobalt and navy, a big, soft looking bed, with inviting puffy pillows. I looked at him wide-eyed. "Who are you?"

"Don't be daft," Vergil chuckled playfully. "You're more than welcome, whenever you want."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not sending out messed up signals. I hate you," I hissed at him, hating him even more for making my face heat up like a beetroot.

"Hmm," Vergil said, and I backed up against the second floor railing when he stepped up to me. There was a disturbing twinkle in his eyes, and I literally stopped breathing when he gently pressed his forehead to mine. I lifted my hands to push him away, but his own hands came up to counter it, his fingers weaving through mine like silk. I pinched my eyes closed. It was another nightmare...oh please let this be another nightmare...His lips grazed against mine so softly I barely felt it...It had to be a nightmare...

"Strange, you didn't sound like you hated me at all," Vergil breathed, " When you said my name in your dream today."

Reality crashed over me like gravity pulling all my insides to the floor. I felt sick, and I leaned away from him as far as I could to glare at him. "It was a nightmare, you dick," I shoved him away angrily, and bolted for Dante's room.

My heart was hammering unpleasantly hard in my throat when I closed the bedroom door behind me and locked it. Dante stirred, a black lump beneath the covers of his bed.

"Cora?" He mumbled sleepily.

"Your brother is out of his fucking mind," I hissed, shakily making my way over to the bed in the dark. I slipped under the covers, and the ice Vergil had enveloped me with didn't melt until Dante's arm found its way around me and he pulled me against him.

"Tell me something I don't know," Dante grumbled inaudibly.

~...~