I don't feel a thing
and I stopped remembering
The days are just like moments turned to hours

Mother Used to say
if you want, you'll find a way
Bet mother never danced through fire shower

I don't hear a sound
Silent faces in the ground
The quiet screams, but I refuse to listen

If there is a hell
I'm sure this is how it smells
Wish this were a dream, but no, it isn't

Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain
I walk in the rain, in the rain
Am I right or am I wrong
and is it here that I belong?
~Rain, Cowboy Bebop



Luce ed Ombra
Chapter Thirteen

Wit Down
[By Ultema and Guo]


The night pressed on, the hallways silencing again as the people from the dance said their goodbyes and filed out back to their rooms, chattering away until the sound was a mere dim drone in the background of things. It seemed as though the thunderclaps of the rainstorm outside had already begun getting much louder. The white ribbons that flashed and crawled across the sky lit the candle-laden hallway back to their shared room, the rain pattered against the stone and newly installed glass windows.

Isabella held tightly to the arm of her date, still having long since forgotten her troubles, at least for the time being. Instead the two of them shared mutual laughs and chortles as they continued down the hall.

"Thank you. " Breaking the silence that had found its way into their musing, she uttered graciously towards her partner.

His eyes had been elsewhere when the words were offered to him, but soon pulled themselves back to her, a slight bewildered look in his eyes.

"What for babe? I haven't done anything yet." So what if it sounded like a bad pickup line, he was being humble. Flicking his coat around his shoulder as he stopped walking and shifted all of his weight onto one foot, posing with his head down, eyes looking up to Isabella with a sly grin on his face. He was already about to get back to walking, there was no point in dragging anything out too long, after all, sleep could very well be waiting for him back at the room -- something he hadn't gotten much of recently.

She paused only momentarily when he did, and kept walking as he put his coat on, still heading towards the door that lay ahead. Outwardly the path was clear, devoid of anything vicious or imposing, but she could feel the eyes of the unwelcome boring on them, and tried to ignore it.

"For just being." As cryptic as it was, it was indeed what Isabella had meant to say, though the thought of what he would say, and how he would act if the full truth was known, was something that worried her. Not that it mattered at all, really... the end result would still be the same when it all came down to it, but now instead of worrying about that, she had grown fond of his quirky attitude and outgoing demeanor. A surprise, really, considering the whole basis of their relationship revolved around their respective natures.

Soon back inside of their room, Dante had removed all unnecessary items from his being. Boots, socks, vests, tossed over to the side. He was going to shower, he was far too sweaty from his escapade, to stand.

"I'll be out in just a sec…" He smirked, a towel grabbed, and into the bathroom he went. Various articles of clothing flew out of the room towards the pile he had just made previously. It was only a few minutes before he emerged, underwear, t-shirt, hell, he didn't need anymore, and he was too tired to care. Pausing beside Isa, he smiled somewhat lopsidedly. "You're a lot more fun than I originally gave you credit for." A slight awkward moment ensued, but was broken quickly with a soft, yet quick peck to her cheek.

For some reason, it just felt wrong kissing her... even though that was only kissing by the loosest sense of the word. He couldn't quite figure it out, nor did he care at the moment. She mattered, but right now, sleep was in control. He made his way to the couch and stumbled onto the cushions by way of rolling over the back. "I'll be right here if you need me..."

Isabella nodded in compliance with her partner, and once he took his place to the loveseat couch, she had grasped the top cover from the single bed and placed it over Dante, before leaning down and brushing the platinum from his forehead and placing a feathery kiss of her own upon it as a mother would to their child before they went to sleep.

"Sleep well ... you will need it ..." Isabella whispered, standing back to her full height and moving towards the drawers in which the three large suitcases had been emptied into. Waving a hand nonchalantly, the candles blown out as her fingertips passed them, she removed two new articles of clothing from the mahogany dresser, red tango dress soon discarded and left on the top of the it. Her new, much less formal attire donned, she stepped out into the hallway, careful to not stir her partner. A breath of fresh air was what she needed to clear her head, and to rearrange her now discombobulated thoughts.

Looking left and right, the woman paused at the nearest window. Lifting the glass pane upwards, she stuck one leg out, followed by one side of her body, her head, and then the opposite side, and closed the window again. The rain was warm, and coming down hard, the thunder was much louder out here than it was inside, as well. Upon her shoulders, both eye tattoos gave off a faint cerulean sheen as a hand cupped over her brows, peering into the night.

But a moment or two after she had stepped outside of the window, the large avian known only as Griffon arrived. The sound of him landing was quite audible by any in the area, inside or outside. Dante, however, was already out cold by the time Isabella had left, random mumblings of the word 'baby', or what sounded like 'pliskin' coming from him.

Multiple crimson eyes looked down upon the female climbing out of the window, as they were still higher than her, despite Griffon standing on the ground while she was on a rooftop.

"Griffon," Isabella started, turning her head at the sound of his arrival not out of surprise, but half out of relief that it was to be him that came to her, and not Vergil. The rain battered at her skin, slicking her hair and clothing to her body as she stood, now facing the great avian fully, a mere fraction of a fraction of his size.

"Do you really think this can work? ... You know what you did to these boys..." These weren't threatening sounding words, like those of Vergil's, instead, they were ones of wisdom.. "This doesn't mean give up ... this means, be mindful. The truth is all that can set either of you free, but it's what is holding both of you back." This was true as well, Dante, while he remembered nothing of the past, was subconsciously repressing feelings towards her. "But this isn't going to be easy for you two, we can't just let both of you through.. we have orders."

"I realize you have your orders ... but I have my orders, too. They just don't come from the same source, yours and mine."

The conversation was lacking in any hostility from either side, instead respect shown in simple word, hushed under the sound of the crashing thunder above. The streaks of lightning illuminating the both of them for mere moments before the darkness enveloped them again. Isabella paused, taking a glance down towards her boots, before squinting up again at the multi-headed bird.

Griffon's heads lowered themselves slightly in unison. "I understand ... then let him sleep ... you'll be hearing from me again, I hope. Go to Cerberus, he has what you seek, but I will not help you in defeating him. We've known each other for a long time, Isabella... I hope I won't lose you." He lifted his enormous wings and paused for a moment, shaking his heads rapidly in order to remove the off excess rain before moving one of his heads close to her, his friend. Before long, and with only a stare towards her, Griffon's wings forced the air downward, lifting himself into the air, and flew away with only a soft sound emanating from his wings, quite surprising for such a huge creature.

Surprisingly enough, as Griffon took off, Isabella remained standing still and silent as though the gust of wind that whipped her hair away from her face posed no problem to the whole of her body. She watched in silence as the great avian took off and rose into the air noiselessly, effortlessly. She had many friends, didn't she? Griffon being the longest, Vergil, and now Dante. But the truth, as the wise old bird had said -- the truth was what held the power to make and break everything she was subconsciously working for.

As the avian vanished from view, Isabella turned on her heels and walked silently along the slick stone rooftop, staring over the side down to the ground below. There was no point in thinking too much more about this. She didn't really need it, but it would be a luxury for her to get some sleep -- it had been nearly sixty hours since the last time she had any.

Moving back towards the window she crept out on, Isabella opened it again and slipped back inside, drenched from head to toe from the rain. Aside from the squeak of her boots against the stone, she quietly opened the door again and slipped into the room she shared with the hunter. Passing by his resting place, taking only a moment to glance at him as he slept peacefully (Aside from his occasional outburst), she smiled. A perch taken on the soft bed only a few feet away, her head turned towards the closed window that led to the elements outside, she attempted to drift and to dream; something that wasn't a common occurrence any more.







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Author's Notes YES! Last day of finals, I'm free to work on this and other things for about 5 months now. The updates won't be so far between now, and work on the site will pick up muchly. We'll let you know when it's ready. And sorry for the short chapter, just a little something to tide over until we complete the next one. One more thing; at the end of this, does anyone want a preview of our next works coming up? Not all of them have to do with DMC, in fact we're shuffling around in categories quite a bit. Whatever your thoughts, please let us know! ^_^