Auth note: this is the final chapter to my little headcanon crossover of the two Devil May Cry volumes! And yes, there are some Capcom 'cameos' of certain names across this fanfic. Hehe, thanks for putting up with this especially since it's reboot Dante x Nico heavy….
Appreciate it!
Chapter Four: Everything's Alright
"I'll be there soon, Nico, jeez."
"Fine, fine, jus' make sure the portable grill I got in my van is out of the desk, behind my workstation, 'kay?"
"Yeah, yeah, got it."
"Oh, oh! And the meats I got preserved in the mini-freezer! Take 'em out when ya get here!"
"Is that safe to eat?"
"Just get here quick!"
"Yeah, yeah, alright!"
The two professionals continued to bicker on their phones as Nico watched the twilight world outside become brighter, sitting on the sofa and already holding breakfast, a salad and a slice of cold pizza. When she finally hangs up, she sets her food down at the lounge's table and goes to check on Dante; still fast asleep. Trotting to the kitchen, she decides to get all his food stuff out of the fridge and surprise him with breakfast, but also with the thought that Nero's grilling skills could start trouble. She chuckles at the thought.
She hears movement from their bedroom and figures Dante has woken up. The sound of his footsteps and the running water from the bathroom, the placing of various plates and reheated packed lunch boxes; the kettle and coffee maker sounding off to make their drinks of tea and coffee, and the cracking joints and loud yawn from the both of them fill their serene morning.
"Wow, I didn't take you for a morning person." Dante teases with a stretch of his arms and scratching his head. Looking over his disheveled morning look—which is cute—Nico jives with a chuckle, "Haha, and I can say for sure you're the kind o' person who eats breakfast at 2pm!"
"Morning to you, too." He quips instead and leans to peck her cheek. But Nico lets go of the dining ware before her to wrap her fingers on his face to kiss him full on the mouth.
Separating with a smack, Nico banters, "Decided t' wake early to get more doses of you b'fore my friend arrives."
He smiles, "Hm, no one wants to be the third wheel."
"Hmm…" She ponders with a roll of her eyes. "Maybe I intend to make 'im feel tha' way, for all the times he did that wi' his girlfriend while I was in the same room."
He shakes his head. "Oh, that's mean. I mean, that's amusing, but too mean."
"Yeah, you're right," Nico admits and goes back to getting a second, but hot, slice of pizza. "But Nero picks up pretty quickly. No doubt he'll berate me 'bout fuckin' you last night."
They continue conversing about the possible reactions Nero will have about them, with Nico being pessimistic and Dante being a bit realistic, noting that Nero only cares that his friend's got an unplanned penis appointment along the way of this mission. She amicably laughs at that perspective.
They decided they want their breakfast-to-lunch spent in the outdoor lounge area, where Nero can see them and where the grill can be placed. It's funny, Dante thinks, how a cover story was becoming true before their eyes. But he thought that Nero should have a good perspective on what just happened here in GlampHeight; his and Nico's resources and insights can help them narrow down on a plan to take Moira to justice. All the while they have a grill session on this glamping site.
Picturesque…
Nico had gone out first to wipe the outdoor table of any dust, since they had a long saging campfire last night, with Dante bringing in the rear with their food. But…
...he felt a cold feeling weighing in his stomach. He put the bowls and lunch boxes of food to turn and see, on the outside, Nico conversing with the same clerk from yesterday. On the outside, everything looks and feels normal…
Yet that itching, cold feeling deep in his veins as the foul smell from Moira's cursed potion drifts in his memories, inside his nostrils, yet he knew there was none of it around to make that odor at all! And...and that chanting, that accursed chanting spell…
He can hear her drumming those harsh words through and through, over and over, muttering it madly on both his ears…
And from the woods nearby, where the giant white tarp covers the corpse of the draugr, Dante felt this chill that familiarly seared his skin, its acidic tendrils burning flesh!
Nico!
"Thanks for more firewood!" Nico says, grinning at the clerk as he places them next to the fireplace. "I hope your management ain't too angry about the unwanted thang still lyin' at the frontyard."
"Pfft, yeah, we did get reprimanded about that," the clerk clarifies, annoyance in his voice. "But, eh, nothing too serious. It's like reassuring a grumpier customer, which is what it feels like talking to your bosses. But the disposal team coming in, when we told them about you, they seemed to know your occupation and were bringing in special transport to take the body and thoroughly clean the place up. Oh, sorry, purge was the word they used."
Nico giggled, her smile wider. "Oooh-weeh! I'm sure they'll do a bang-up job and with my friend comin' over, we'll prolly have a mini-reunion! He's bringin' the grill!"
"Is that your friend you checked in last night on the desk? Okay, well, make sure that you grill with extreme caution." The clerk even looks behind him to glance at the white tarp-covered corpse of the Wight. "Also, just curious, nothing...creepy happened here? You guys requested a lot of firewood yesterday and figured maybe you two need more, but I hope there isn't anything dangerous that should happen."
"Oh, sure, nothin' bad happened and nothin will!" Nico assures him as she crosses her arms.
The clerk simply smiles, mumbles a "Well, seems everything's okay." and waves goodbye. He picks up his phone he put down on the outdoor couch and begins talking to the speaker on the other end in a hushed tone as he leaves Nico.
But the front door slams open, making Nico and the clerk turn to see Dante looking aggravated. "Where d'you think you're going? And what the hell do you have on your phone?"
Taken by surprise at his sudden wrath, Nico stood quiet as she watched the helpless clerk wave his hands defensively and his shoulders hunched in fear as Dante approached him in huge strides! The clerk continued to spout things he hoped would calm down the guy who looks like he can toss him over to the Wight's corpse, but Dante wasn't listening as he yanks the phone from him!
"Please, don't, it's—it's just…" the clerk muttered and struggled to stand still, his legs shaking.
"Don't what?!" Dante snarled, his fist gripping the phone. He's tempted to snap it in half, but it's undeniable, even without putting the handheld up to his ear!
The harsh muttering of old Norse runes that told of pain and death playing repeatedly on the other side of the phone's receiver is one of the worst things he's ever heard in his life! But the cherry on top of that is when he hears Moira say…
"...finish him off for me, Dante."
The fearful expression on the clerk's face worsened. But if Dante was being honest, fear wasn't the right word to describe the horrific twistedness the clerk's face has become. He began to unclip his name tag from his uniform, clutching it in a shaking grip, looking at his name on it before throwing it to the ground with a whimper.
Both Nico and Dante jump as he did so, staring at the professional-looking name tag: 'Sid...employee.'
There's this chuckle that sputtered out of Sid's mouth, his whole body shaking as if something amusing happened in front of him. He hollers and howls in this agonizing manner, all the while not taking his eyes off the two of them.
Not taking any more chances, Dante ends the line on Sid's phone to stop the looping chant. It is regrettable, however, how he can't trace or even trash talk Moira about this issue right now, but this phone is enough evidence to help nail down Moira. For now, they have to deal with Sid.
He continues to chuckle, with spit even leaking down his chin in dribbles. The words come out of his lips shaking, "I-i-i-i...I'm sorry, Moira...But I still did it, didn't I? Who would've thought there would be people who care for your poor friend? And know a thing or two about draugr like I do?"
There was movement in the woods, the large tarp sheet twitching on top of the corpse of the Wight, its large, rigid body shaking as if possessed by a seizure! Dante turns to Nico, fear gripping him. She takes the hint and goes inside the cabin as fast as she can. His eyes remained trained on the Wight, wriggling and seized with a sickly, rigid movement that worms inside its lifeless body, waking it up once again!
"Moira…" Sid whispers her name, but other than that he keeps muttering incomprehensibly, still stuck in that sickly smile that Dante, out of rage, punches with a straight jab! Sid crumples in a heap on the ground, hacking and crawling pathetically.
"YOU!" Dante roared. "You were there with Moira and poisoned Elza! You made sure that cursed little rock stayed put here! Did she make a deal to make things better for you?! You think that monster is worth getting better pay? Or maybe you just wanted some sick thrill?!"
Sid laughs! It sounded like a gutted animal and Dante can only feel repulsion.
How could he have not seen this coming? He had let Nico look through the past through the topaz because he trusted her instincts and her relationship with Elza. Should he have given it a shot to look at everyone, would he have suspected this clerk to be an accomplice much quicker? If Nico's devil hunter friend were here, would he have better investigative insight?
...should've, could've, would've...Dante berates himself.
The demented employee laughs and laughs, clawing the grass and dribbles of drool pooling down his face. "Moira! Guess I was just a useful sicko for you! I knew you would never like me, nor your cute girl friends. But you didn't like Elza either...fuck!" The mewling, growling sounds that he screams are pathetic and disturbing.
But Dante had trained his sights on the corpse of the Wight. Or was the corpse of the Wight…
"Sid...you know the spell as much as Moira does, right?" He was hoping he didn't need to fight this thing anymore. The large figure slowly and agonizingly stands up, its joints popping in place and its twitching non-stop as its legs try to find its footing and balance.
"Ooh, you stupid bitch!" Sid taunts, slurring the consonants sharply as he shoots his malicious gaze at Dante. "What makes you think I'd cooperate with you?! It's too late! Elza's done for!"
Dante grabs him on his shoulders, clamping his fingers harshly on his skin to pull him close and intimidate him further. But Sid yells, "I'M DONE FOR!"
Dante could only feel the rush of still air invading his senses before he smelled that deathly odor before he was sent hurtling across the ground from the force of the hit on his body! His body shovels a trail across the ground and finally stops a few meters away from Sid...and from the draugr that stands next to him! He recovers in seconds but hacks painfully, glowering at the fact this creature had suddenly become faster than yesterday, or how he had remembered it. He summons his sword, Rebellion, and in a flash the sword materializes.
He readies himself, watching the tall, grotesque Wight stand protectively next to Sid, who whimpers and laughs at the sky. At first, the creature remains still, appearing to be defensive for Sid. But the next thing he sees makes Dante sick!
Sid remains crumpled to the ground, blankly staring at the sky, when the Wight's large hand comes to grab Sid's head and, through its palm, devours his whole body!
Sid's screams of terror are muffled inside the 'throat' of the Wight's arm, its deathly palm sucking him in like an animal's gaping hole for feeding! Sid's body forms inside its arm like muddled lumps traveling up its 'gullet', up towards its bicep and finally to rest somewhere inside the draugr's chest cavity!
"Oh my god…" Dante could only mutter. "Did...Sid even expect that to happen to him?"
The Wight bares its actual maw at Dante, roaring at his face challengingly, making a wide-legged stance in the process! The brawl is definitely inevitable!
With a battle roar of his own, Dante leaps from his spot and grips Rebellion, preparing for a diagonal strike across its chest! The Wight manages to protect itself, raising both its arms as a shield and lets Dante's wide-arced strike graze deeply across its skin!
Quickly landing his foot at the Wight's arm, he leaps again and away from his opponent, anticipating a lunging move from the creature! And it does! It makes a fast one, and Dante must admit, this time the Wight definitely moves much faster than yesterday! He tucks himself midair and, just as quickly, swipes his Rebellion against the Wight's fingers that almost went for his legs! He lands on the ground yards away from the Wight, but as he lifts his head, the creature disappears!
He can feel its presence at top speed and, with his very own eyes, sees the monstrous zeal from this thing's face as he runs across the grounds in a rounded path, wanting to create a surprise attack and going for Dante's left side! At the last half of a nanosecond, Dante summons his gun Ebony and fires several shots!
He sees the flashing bullets piercing its repulsive face and glowing eyes, leaking juice and blood from one of its eyeballs, but the creature continues its speedy intentions! One of its hands reaches for Dante! He sees it coming and hops back, propelling himself in midair and away from the attack, whilst he summons his second gun, Ivory, and together with Ebony fires a flashing storm of bullets against its skin!
But it's no use! Dante grits his teeth and closes his eyes as its giant hand grabs him midair and pushes him down to the ground, creating a crater and cracking the ground! He feels his body shattering and scrambling immediately to reassemble, but a large fist pummels him to the same spot on the ground! His blood, sweat and tears spews out of his body as the Wight lands another fist at his body, and another and another…
Until the Wight yowls in pain when it feels Rebellion piercing one of its knuckles, the tip of the gleaming sword shining through its flesh! Pulling away from the cratered ground, the Wight reels in pain and Dante out of it! Bloodied and angry, holding onto his sword as the creature inexplicably pulls him out of the crater, he claws his bare hands onto its flesh and clings onto the Wight! He intends to climb and stay on this thing!
The Wight panics, its eyes round and glaring at Dante, as he transforms Rebellion into a long chain, Ophion, and belting it around his waist to keep him on the Wight! The creature shakes his arm and tries to clamp Dante with its other hand, but a phantom form of the Rebellion swats at its hand as he continues to cling and traverse towards the Wight's bare chest!
He's had enough! Using a bit more of his magic, he lengthens Ophion a bit more and creates a thorny bullwhip from it! He flails his weapon across its other hand, still trying to swat Dante off, but results in the bullwhip striking deeply across its palm and on its tall digit, creating a deep gash!
The creature howls in agony and in here, Dante takes the opportunity! He flails the bullwhip once again and strikes the chest! He hops up the creature's bicep and makes a break for the bleeding chest, making Ophion disappear in midair and wills Rebellion on his hands, plunging the blade through its left chest area!
The Wight howls as Dante hacks through the flesh! But its monstrous voice is soon replaced by something familiar…
"IT'S TOO LATE FOR ELZA! YOU WON'T GET ANYTHING OUT OF ME!"
Sid's voice booms out of the wide maw of the Wight!
"AND MOIRA! SHE'LL STILL FORGIVE ME!"
"Yeah, you and Moira do have something in common!" Dante chides loudly. "Bad taste in friends! And a fucked-up personality!"
And with that, he successfully opens the chest cavity, sending the Wight in a confused twitch but still conscious enough to do a last resort! He reaches for Dante on its chest and does manage to grab onto him! He, however, changes for Ophion again and flails the length of the thick chains on its gigantic face! The strike hits squarely on its nose, even creating a gorge on its face and disfiguring its nose to bleed! It becomes confused and Dante dives for the chest once again, opening the already open chest further, to reveal Sid still intact, screaming his head off!
"NO NO NO NO NO NO!"
The clerk attempts to resist Dante pulling him out of the monster but eventually, what with the sleek ooze of the dark tar blood of the creature and Dante practically hoisting him out of there, Sid screams in despair as the two manage to finally escape the Wight! Landing on the ground, the two men roll in the dark blood and sweat of the battle. But the Wight is far from dead!
Even with its organs revealed to the world, the Wight attempts a final punch at Dante!
He readies Rebellion to strike, with Sid cowering underneath him!
But a loud blast from somewhere drills a hole on the Wight's forehead! The ringing of that piercing bullet resonated for a few seconds as the Wight finally wavered on its feet, its body slacking before falling on the ground in a dead heap.
Dante heaves a sigh of relief, coming down to his knees. He slowly turns to where the shot had been, looking behind him.
"You should've gone for the head earlier." Nero tells him, a bit concerned, lugging around an unusually large revolver gun.
Dante smiles at him, nodding and a bit tired. "Yeah, well, I wasn't sure if doing that might kill this guy…"
At the mention of him, the two men look at Sid, who stares at one of his hands. Suddenly, he shoots his right hand inside his mouth, choking himself!
The two men quickly try to pry his hand off his mouth but too late! A black, tar-like substance oozes out of Sid's orifices and eyes! His mouth gargles on the liquid as he slowly pulls out his hand, his eyes leaking it like tears! Even with that, he manages to mumble, "I'd...rather die...for Moira…"
The choking, gurgling sounds from his lips continue and are the last thing that sputter out of him after saying those words before he dies in seconds.
"FUCK!" Dante yells angrily, punching the ground. There goes the accomplice and their best connection to finding Moira.
Annoyed and regretful, Nero berates himself, "'Should've been here earlier…"
He looks at the man before him, bloodied and kneeling on the ground, shaking his head in defeat. He walks to him closer, mutters, "hey," and offers his hand for him to stand up.
Dante looks up at him and gradually accepts with a heavy sigh.
He looks back at Sid, then at the large Wight's corpse and then at Nero. "I'm gonna let Kat know. She's a friend of mine and is mutually friends with people who know Elza and Nico. But so what? That guy knew a lot of shit about Moira and he's dead."
Nero clamps a hand on Dante's shoulder to assure him. "We'll find a way. I'm told by Nico about a clean-up crew. They'll fix an autopsy of the creature and probably this guy, too. We'll get a lot of contacts to cast a wide net about this."
With a nod, Dante feels a bit calm. This isn't his thing, not anymore. But he didn't want bad things like this to keep happening.
Footsteps from the cabin came stomping towards them, huffing an annoyed breath. "Yo! Nero! You're fuckin' late! Asshole!"
"Good morning to you, too!" Nero turns his gaze and grins dryly at Nico. "And you're welcome! I saved the day...sorta."
"Yeah, you coulda helped earlier and prevented that sicko from commitin' that thing, don't even wanna say it coz it's upsettin', I will admit it! But good lord, Nero, you dumbass is late!"
Nero merely waves a hand of indifference and turns to Dante again. "How did you survive being with her?"
Dante chuckles. He's thankful the blood and dirt hides his cheeks turning pink. "Oh, me and Nico are good actually."
Of course, Nico doesn't appreciate the fact she's left out and standing next to Nero now. She punches his arm, gaining a whine from him as she glares at him. "Unlike you, he's a sweetie! He got me good food and protected me! You just absentmindedly would make a shoot out if it helps yer ego and rep, while I am still strugglin' trying to make sure your Red Queen sword is in proper order before you bust it broken again!"
"I didn't even use it!" Nero protests. Looking at them both, Dante purses his lips to try not to chuckle at them arguing. He quietly slips away from them, hoping to change into his clothes.
"Well ya can't even use it, duh!" Nico counters, putting her hands on her hips. "You can't even help me make money to get the necessary parts to make it better! Those big assignments ya keep gettin' aren't paying the tab!"
"You do realize I'm making a living for me and my girlfriend, right? She and the roof over our head is priority!" Nero rebuts, his tone becoming annoyed. "I can take care of an assignment without Red Queen!"
"Hah! Good luck!" Nico challenges. "And way to make Kyrie an excuse! She works just as hard and she's the one keeping the roof over your dumbass head!"
Although at least more than two feet away, Dante feels sympathetic for Nero. "Hey, uh, that's really harsh, Nico."
"Pfft, he can handle it!" She tells with nonchalance and sticks her tongue out at Nero.
He responds with two tall fingers to form two finger guns against her. Dante finally chuckles and decides to break it up. "Hey, come on guys. Let's have coffee...and a shower for me. Again."
The rest of the morning remained a bit noisy, with Nico detailing everything there was about what happened yesterday. With the little investigation that at first was supposed to just find a way to help Elza, now leads them to a manhunt and a deeper investigation on a possible information leak of dark magic to the wrong hands.
The clean-up crew finally arrived and the Glampheight staff was further informed regarding Sid. With the revelation, the staff are anxious to cooperate. Sid's family and close friends will have to be questioned to find more clues to connect more dots. Nero and Nico were mostly the ones speaking to the clean-up crew, but they soon spoke to Dante to make heads and tails about the draugr curse. He lets them know that his friend, Kat, can create a draught that can reverse the curse on Elza and its malady on her. The disposal crew decides to take the cursed stone from Dante and have one of their couriers deliver it immediately to Kat for her to craft the potion. With Elza's condition assured, they're left with plotting the whole investigation on Moira and who else to contact to investigate her background further. Nero and Nico have stepped up to the plate to lead the investigation, as Nico is close to the people Elza is with and will have them be questioned, which she herself feels gutted about.
The most satisfying part about the whole morning, however, has to be how the disposal crew had finally hauled the Wight's corpse out of the area. Sid's body will be going to the mortician and inform his family; hopefully, they will grant them permission for autopsy to find any supernatural causes that may still be on his body.
The day grows and soon afternoon arrives. The disposal crew left before lunchtime, which was a relief in a way, as the three newfound friends wanted to enjoy food without the sternness of the demon-hunting business. The three wasted no time in casually eating lunch and getting to know Dante even further. Nero and Nico make use of the grill and manage to make some decent grilled burgers, skewered meat and fish!
It also doesn't escape Nero that Nico has taken a very big liking to Dante, what with her body language being languid and almost possessive of him whenever she wants. And the fact she ignores Nero when she does it is not surprising him the least, though he does admire how patient Dante is. And it seems he enjoys the way Nico dotes on him.
Soon, their check out time nears and the three prepare to leave the cabin. Before they go their separate ways, Nico invites Dante to a small demon hunt assignment she and Nero had agreed to take in Enamel City. He admires the way she looks excited, her eyes twinkle behind her glasses. "Come on! It'll be fun! You fight well! And we'll split the pay! And we get to hang out more!"
The way Dante beams at her has her hoping, but she becomes sullen when he shakes his head. "Sorry, Nico. I gotta get back to my work. And also, I got some assignments under Kat, too. I can't let her down."
She pouts at him and Dante whispers about how she shouldn't be sad ("Well, you got Nero to...hang out with. Hopefully he doesn't get annoyed. Maybe you hope to annoy him."). She smiles and kisses him, deeply, embracing him in her arms and wanting to make him not forget.
"That's my personal number." Nico tells him after having texted him her number. She winks at him. "Call me as soon as you can. I can talk and drive!"
"Be careful." He tells her. He does hope she won't do that, but her mischievous smile puts him in a confident lure.
The two devil hunters board their van whilst Dante prepares to walk to the parking area where he had parked his motorbike. Nero, however, hollers for him and offers to give him a ride to the parking area. And Dante couldn't refuse something convenient like that.
Nero even offered to drive the van instead, as he knew Nico wanted to talk to her new beau a little longer. When they arrived in the parking area, Nico was reluctant to let him go but he promised her he'll call or send a text message.
As he Dante thanks them and leaves, Nero yells his name again.
He turns back to face him with Nero saying, "Hey, good luck. And we'd like to see your music career take off."
"Thanks," Dante says as he walks away. "You two get front row seats! Just let me know! It'll be free!"
A week later...
"Hey, Kat, this is Nico. Just wanna say that Elza's finally okay! That potion you made worked! We're sooo happy! She's still in the ICU but doctor says she looks ready to leave tomorrow! Thnx so much 4 evrythng!"
"Good afternoon, Ms. Godlstein! I'm so glad Ms. Elza's alright. If it's alright, may I get the details of her health and recovery? It can be anything, audio evidence from the doctor or even a picture of her. I need to have 'checked' by another witch doctor to see if she needs another type of potion to fight any symptoms left."
"Sure thing!"
"I'll send them as soon as I can."
"I'm getting an audio record from the Doc! I also took pictures from these medical mumbo-jumbo. I also took a picture of Elza while she sleeping. She actually got embarrassed! Anyway, hope she doesn't need anymore!"
"Thanks, Ms. Goldstein! I'll let you know if she needs any more health potions."
"No, thank u so much!"
"Btw, Ms. Goldstein? Dante sent a package to Ms. Kyrie's address. It was meant to be for you three. I think he finally got himself a music gig! It's not big but it's something. He'll be playing in Red Grave City, I think!"
"O H MY GAWD 1!1!"