Everything was darkness.

'Where am I?

There was no movement. She could not feel, emotions, senses; it was just... the void. No, she remembered the void. It had been full of turmoil and swallowed everything. This was just nothing. What was this?

'You're dead.

The voice was familiar, she knew it well but it wasn't her own. She wanted to face the source but it wasn't here, it was inside of her.

'What?

'You died. You are dead.

It responded, frustrated, angry. It blamed her; it hated her but couldn't exist without her. She found it. It didn't have a shape or a form but it was enshrouding her from something. She needed that something.

'Give it to me.

'You are weak. You have nothing.

'Give it to me.

She repeated.

'The weak are always meant to fade to die. It is stronger than you. How will you control it? It is greater than you and your weak human soul.

'Give it to me.

It was there, beyond her reach and the voice was keeping it from her. She needed it, if she just could reach it, she could control it. She had tasted the power and now she wanted all of it.

'Give it to me now.

'You are weak you can not—

'You are weak!' She suddenly exploded, 'you cannot control what was once yours! Now stand aside and let me take it! I am NOT weak, I will NOT give up and if you stand in my way I will cast you out.

She held her ground and the apposing force shrunk under her demand.

'It will consume you…

The voice whispered.

'I will not let it burn me away. I will not give up. So give it to me.

The voice faded and the separation did as well. A fire bloomed before her and she could see herself again. She reached out, gentle wrapping her hands around the little flame. It licked at her fingers and she could feel the heat. It tried to burn her but she didn't release it, instead she embraced it and it consumed her. She could sense it covering her, burning her but she felt no pain. She forced it inside of herself and the flames dimmed, melting into her skin until she glowed with the fire now burning through her veins. And then it was hers and she understood.

.

.

.

.

: twenty-five :

.

The blue glow leaked out across the city, illuminating it under stormy skies. The towering pillar of unnatural, black stone hummed, shaking the air around it as wispy trails followed after the entities that rushed from its gaping maw. The screams of demons and monsters fighting each other to crawl from the opening were a symphony of pain. They had to battle, tooth and claw, forcing the weaker out of the way as they reach forward, out of the pits of the demon world. And they were free, released unto the unsuspecting world of humans; they disappeared into the night or faded into the shadows.

Once again, a true hellgate had opened once again and hell was leaking in the world around the battle at its base. Two great devils exchanging blows the battlefield around them slowly turning to dust beneath their feet. The foolish demon that exited the gate into their paths was cut down without thought and the space soon turned red.

One glowed in the night, its rage turned into a darkness that clung to his form and gripping at the night with wispy fingers illuminated by the light that grew from his chest with a rhythmic pulse. The light ran between the layers of black armor jagged and accented by the glint of silver that had meddled into the trigger. His claws pulsed and the gauntlets around his arms rippled, changing as he willed them. His lips were set in a grim line, though the glowing gashes where his eyes should have been revealed no emotion. His tilted back his horned head, the weight different but suddenly as natural as the thorned tail and wings that extended from the center of his back. His demon reveled in its freedom and the power in this shape.

Dante stood in a complete trigger as Zigor reeled from an attack. Neither was making progress. In a rage, his demon was merely fighting for blood, but the wounds inflicted on its looming opponents had no effect other than a moment of pain and then Zigor healed. While the devil was huge, his speed was not hindered and it prevented Dante from truly making any headway. The ancient devil knew how to prolong the battle, waiting for the devil hunter's trigger to fade so he could finish this mêlée.

Dante reigned in his demon and recovered his control. This had gone on too long. The gate behind them was open and he needed to destroy it, not waste time letting his rage control him. He tried to focus but his demon itched to rip things apart again, to be let free to kill and wreck havoc.

He looked back at the gate and Zigor laughed low and quiet.

"It's too late, Dante. Even you would be unable to close that gate now. I won't even try to stop you if you tried." The great devil stood threatening over Dante who glare cockily up at him. "To close a gate you must kill the demon that opened it, but that demon is already dead."

Dante sneered, his voice not his own. "Guess I have to settle for the next best thing." He pointed his sword at Zigor and slashed the air, the echo if his sword cutting the great devil across the face. The giant devil stumbled back, stunned and they began to exchange blows again, fighting as if there was no tomorrow as rain began to fall around them.

Neither noticed that slowly rising presence.

Jazmin's corpse remained slumped over the pole impaling her. Her blood had run down its length, seeping into the white shirt of the dead man before her. Both had been beyond the destruction of the two devils and the cold raindrops began to turn their clothes dark. Her jeans were splattered with blood, a rip on the side where a tentacle had sliced into her leg. Her originally white tank top had tears and holes, dirty, dust and blood streaked across it. The skin visible through her clothes had faded from gaping holes to angry red scars, shimmering like the ring of spots on her shoulder. The tear still clinging to her pale cheek threatened to fall from her skin. But, instead the liquid suddenly evaporated in a puff of steam, leaving behind a crust of salt. The air around her bodies rapidly grew hotter; the previously wet stone floor swiftly growing dry, hissing and steaming as the rain fell on it.

The air began to move around her, her hair tossing as the hot breeze tugged at her, as if urging her to rise. Then, Jazmin's eyes opened. They were not the usual gray, but burned like they were on fire. She lifted her head, unseeing as she gripped the pole in her chest and pushed herself up, back along the length. She felt no pain, as she slowly stood, moving backwards until the offending object was no longer invading her body. The blood that followed her path over the pole dried and cracked on the pole, the end almost red hot as she stepped away from it. The air swirled around her, whipping her hair back and forth, the stone floor around her feet growing dry around her feet. She blinked and fires seemed to lick along her eyelashes, the air growing so hot the rain turned to steam before it could even touch her body. The gaping hole in her chest glowed and swirled, appearing as if molten lava was burning inside of her, burning the hole away until it seemed to be covered by ash. As it was blown away, her skin was beneath, healed over the wound.

She turned towards the battle. The devils clashed, spark flying from the force of their blows. Jazmin took a step towards them, suddenly felt a rush pulse through her body. She let it go and the air caught on fire around her as she triggered as an echo. The luminescent devil that appeared around her leaned back and let out a blood-curling scream.

The devils stopped, both staring in shock at the risen girl. The giant devil moved back, as if disbelieving of what he was witnessing. The second stared, the darkness clinging to his body blowing away in the wind.

Jazmin reached over her shoulder and the echo gripped a large jagged horn that protruded from its back. She gripped it and swung it over her shoulder. The echo mimicked her movement, pulling free the horned handle of a sword from its back and swung it toward Zigor. Fire exploded from the sword, streaking across the ground and setting the devil on fire.

Zigor roared in rage as the fire engulfed him, the dark tentacles shriveling and dropping to the ground, curling into ash. He shirked, flailing in an attempt to put the fire out. She looked from the devil she had just set on fire and meet eyes with the Devil hunter. It was as if an unspoken word past between them and Dante pulled his eye away from the reanimated corpse of Jazmin. He drove his sword towards Zigor. The fire that clung to Zigor's body licked Dante's body and he could feel the intense heat as his sword now sliced through the other devil's armored flesh. The wounds no longer were able to heal, as the fire devoured each new gash.

"NOO!" Zigor bellowed, collapsing to the ground as the fires engulfed him. Slowly, the flames dimmed, running out of fuel to burn. "How could she… she was just a human, she could she posses such power?" His voice faded to a dry whisper as his body charred and began to fall to embers around him. Dante stalked to his face, looking down on him as the great devil lay dying, defeated by the girl he had just killed.

"Humans have more power than you could ever understand." He said quietly, gripping Rebellion tightly. Then, he decapitated the devil. He watched for a moment as the glow fled the demon's eyes and he turned to ash.

He turned back to see Jazmin watching him. Her eyes glowed and fire licked around her face and in her hair as if it was praising her. She watched him and he could see an understanding in her eyes, an ancient knowledge that had not been there before. In his triggered form, he approached her. She looked up at him and slowly raised a hand, trailing her fingers gently across his black and demonic face. Fire danced form her finger to his skin. She turned from him without a word and approached the still open gate. The blue light pouring from the gaping hole had a great force behind it, pushing against them even as they approached, threatening to blow them away.

Jazmin reached out, the echo copying her as she placed her hand on the dark stone. The echo's hand disappeared into the gate and Dante watched in stunned silence as she closed her eyes, head falling back. Then the gate began to still. The blue hole seemed to collapse back into itself, even as the last desperate creatures slipped from its depths. Her echo trigger faded to barely larger than her body as the hellgate turned cold again. Dante reached for his sword, ready to destroy the remains of the gate but as Jazmin stepped away the gate, it began to melt, tumbling down and separating from itself. As it finally lay still, the charred remains of the gate looking like the now cold forms of molten stone, now blowing away into the wind and melting into the rain.

Jazmin stood, watching the remains, until she stumbled as the echo completely disappeared. Dante extended a hand to keep her balanced, his trigger unraveling around him as his finger touched her. She sunk to the ground on weak legs and Dante knelt next to her. The rain finally touched her skin but it still grew dry too quickly. He could feel the heat radiating off of her body, far hotter than any fever a person could survive. She tilted her face back, as if feeling the rain for a moment then opened her eyes to the heavens. Her eyes were gray again, but lighter then he remembered. She blinked and he watched as her eyes faded to an almost white, icy blue.

"Jazmin." He whispered and she looked at him.

"Dante… I am a demon, aren't I?"

His face grew serious; he was still trying to comprehend what had just transpired. "I don't know what you are."

She sighed and he could feel her body cooling in his arms. For a moment he was afraid she was going to continue cooling until she was a corpse again.

"I'm not afraid anymore." She said and closed her eyes.

Dante, unsure, held her close and looked back toward the gate as it disappeared with the rain.

No one was aware of the singular figure that had slipped through the gate just before it had closed. He was covered in red; so dark it was almost black, and as he stood on a distant building, looking across at the figures next to the dead gate, the rain began to wash away the blood. The blood of so many demons he had fought and slaughtered to escape from the demon world. He stood, staring, unaffected by the chill of the rain as it slowly revealed a strong face framed by white hair. A long jacket torn and tattered, but obviously once a proud blue and the long gently curved of a sword gripped in a hard fist

"You have something that is mine… so enjoy her while you can," A toothy grin spread across his face as he turned his back on them and stepped off the edge of the building. "…Little brother."

.

.

Oh my. Just one more chapter! Then part one is done of Jazmin's story and I can start working on part two! I'm so excited! Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! PLEASE please please review and tell me what you think.

Reviews are the aphrodisiac of authors. PLEASE REVIEW!

DISCLAIMER: I, sadly, do not own any characters from the various Devil May Cry series, nor to I make any money from this reproduction.