Acquaintances
"What do you mean 'YOU left'?" Dante cautiously asked.
"It is a long story and I do not have time to tell it now. Time is running out and they may soon discover my presence here."
"Who?" Trish asked.
"The disciples of Cthulhu. I will explain all that later. The important thing is … will you assist me in destroying an evil that is threatening to destroy the world of humans? That is what you two do, is it not?"
She gazed at them with an inquisitive look. Trish tore her eyes from Alastor that was still stuck in the wall and lightly swaying, and nodded.
"Yes we do. And by the way, we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Trish and this is Dante. And you are…?"
"You can call me Neva. My real name has long ago lost its meaning."
"Why should we trust you?" Dante said with a harsh tone to his voice "You could just as well be a demon trying to kill us, not that you would succeed, but it would be a big waste of our time."
"Maybe you need time to think it over" Neva replied. "I can not give you all the information you need now. There is no time. If they find out that I have been here you are in danger. There are forces at work here that you could not anticipate.
"I can anticipate a lot. That's my job. You get to see many strange things in my line of work." Dante raised an eyebrow, indicating that a thing like Neva's unorthodox entrance was nothing out of the ordinary.
"This is not a mere demon invasion I am talking about. This is something that could wipe out humanity as we know it."
"It always is, babe."
"I told you there is no time. You father would not have wasted my time arguing."
Dante walked over to where Alastor idly swayed and pulled the sword out of the wall.
"Last time someone came in here talking about my father it was to lure me into a trap. I didn't appreciate it then and I won't appreciate it now."
"I am not trying to lure you into a trap. I need to see the sword that your father left you, Dante."
"What do you know about my father's sword?"
"Well, I know that he stole it from me 2500 years ago. And now I need it back, in a manner of speaking."
"He stole it!?" Dante began to get angry. This impertinent woman invaded his basement, accused his father of theft and on top of it all she had some connection with that infernal cat that had been pestering them for weeks.
"To his defence I must say that I kind of let him steal Force Edge. It served my purpose at the time."
Neva started walking towards the door, ignoring Dante's attempts to make her stay where she was. Dodging his arm she quickly ran up the stairs. She searched through the house and eventually found the sword where it stood leaning against Trish's bed.
"Good, it had evolved, just what I had hoped." Neva already held Sparda in her hand when Dante burst through the door.
"Drop it." Dante aimed his guns at the intruder's heart. She looked up and slowly put the large sword on the bed. With a serious face she looked straight into Dante's cold eyes.
"There is no need to get violent. I pose no threat to you. We have met before you know," Neva said softly. "Maybe you were too young to remember. This might refresh your memory." She closed her eyes and her image started to blur. When she came into focus again her hair was drawn back into a bun in the back of her neck and her slender figure was clad in a light grey business suit. The sight of her strict appearance suddenly triggered a memory deep inside Dante's mind.
A strange woman leaned over him and tried to comfort him. Her green eyes were sad when she addressed the police officer standing beside them.
"What happened?" she asked.
"There was a fire, the house was completely destroyed. This boy was the only survivor. It looks like it was the act of a pyromaniac. Two bodies were found but they were burned beyond recognition. We find it likely that it was his mother and brother." The officer calmly repeated the information that was released to the press.
"The monsters … they … they killed them." Dante stuttered, trying to forget the images forever burnt into his mind.
"Shh, this is no place to talk about that." The young green-eyed woman looked into his eyes and gently put her fingers over his mouth.
Dante blinked his unseeing eyes and slowly returned to the present.
"You were there after my mother's death. You're the one who arranged for me to live with Ben."
"Yes, a good choice of foster parents, was it not? I thought that Ben and Jenna would be the right ones to prepare you for your destiny. And I see that they left you their guns."
Dante smiled at the memory of his foster parents who had later adopted him, two devil hunters who had taught him everything he knew.
"So, will you now consider helping me in my fight? I need for you to trust me completely."
"Yes, I will consider it. But I think I'll need some more information."
"That you will receive. If you and your lovely sidekick will be so gracious as to visit me in my office I will tell you everything. Now I must leave. There is no point in attracting too much attention."
Neva changed back to her previous appearance, put her hand behind her back and with a flourish it returned with a card that she handed him. Then she picked up the cat that had strolled into the room and shimmered out.
Dante stood still for a while, looking at the spot where Neva has disappeared and then looked at the card. There was a down town address written on it. He heard a shuffle behind him and turned to face Trish who leaned against the doorframe, looking at him with a troubled look.
"Who's Lewis Carroll?"