Hey guys, been a loooong while. I've been on spring break and been working
on research papers, so it's been hard to get this done. I hope no one
wants to read this story over, because I accidentally erased chapter 9
while getting rid of the pyro warz. (Chasm said I should. . .) Oh well, it
wasn't anything super important, I think.
Kay, here we go!
Chapter 19 Hatred to the Lupin
Schala groaned lightly as she rolled over, half asleep. She stretched long and rolled again on the cool floor. This caused her to fully awaken, not from the coolness, but the musty smell of old bags. She rolled in the other direction, only to bump into someone else. She glanced over to see Dante, cuddled to himself, sleeping peacefully on his side. She slowly sat up and stretched again, then started messing with her untidy bed hair. After a moment, her stomach begged for breakfast, rumbling loudly. Schala rubbed her belly softly and began pacing around, trying to get a little bit of exercise.
As Schala paced, she heard a small squeak of sorts come from the corner of the room. She looked over to see Demitri beginning to stir to life. His head popped up from the ground like an alerted hound and he sprung up looking around wildly, as if forgetting where he was. After a quick inspection of the room, he calmed down, looking in Schala's direction. Schala just stared at him, pondering what the hell he had been doing.
Demi mumbled something after standing awkwardly for a few moments and shuffled over to Dante. He stood over the sleeping hunter, glaring down at him.
"Wai up. . ." Demi mumbled sleepily. Schala assumed that Demi was still partially asleep, seeing as how he was swaying dangerously over Dante.
Schala thought to grab him and pull him away from Dante before he did anything stupid. However, she decided it may be fun to see what Demi would do. Demi continued to stand next to Dante, gazing down at him with sleep filled eyes. He finally bent down and reached his arm out, poking Dante in the back.
"Daddy. . .wai up. . ."
Schala cocked an eyebrow at Demi. Had she heard things, or had Demi just called Dante 'daddy'? Schala was quite amused with Demi's actions, so she sat back against the wall opposite of Dante, watching the show Demi was putting on.
It wasn't until Demi rolled Dante over onto his back that the hunter's eyes snapped open. Dante gawked at Demi with a rather alarmed look on his face. After Dante's mind woke up completely and he realized who was sitting next to him, he closed his eyes and removed the startled look from his face.
"Oh, it's just you. . ." Dante sighed, sitting up. His thoughts wandered somewhere between recollecting the events of the night before and what he was going to eat this morning. He cracked his neck and stretched, then noticed that Demi was still sitting next to him.
"What's wrong Demi?" Dante asked, cracking his knuckles. He became aware of the minutely shocked look on Demi's face. "What? Are you alright?"
Demi blinked a few times before plopping down on his butt and pointing at Dante, a semi frightened look on his face. "You aren't my daddy!!"
A rather surprised look crossed Dante's face, somewhere between amused and irritated. "No shit!" Dante said, smirking. He put one hand into Demi's hair, ruffling it up. Demi suddenly appeared to actually wake up and realize what he had just said. He flushed horribly and put one hand to his face, trying to hide his embarrassment. Dante just laughed lightly.
"Get up," Dante said, still amused at Demi's actions. "We've gotta go."
It only took about five minutes to completely gear up and the three left the little room. Dante peered down the hall, checking for any hostiles. They were in the clear, so Dante took the lead, walking at a rather quick pace. Maybe they could finish what they needed before the day was up. Besides, hunger bit at Dante's stomach, and he hoped he wouldn't have to go too much longer without a bite to eat.
"A nice, warm pizza or a burger would be nice about now. Hell, I'd take a cold pizza or a frickin' cup of noodles right now." Dante mumbled to himself as they began down the stairs to the floor below, entering a very short hallway.
Schala came next to Dante and glanced at him. "Did you say something, Dante?"
Dante looked over at her and smirked sheepishly. "Nah, just griping at myself for not bringing food with me for the trip. . ."
Schala chuckled lightly and patted him on the back. "Don't feel bad, we're all hungry."
Dante stopped as he came to the end of the hall, glaring at the grated door in front of him. It seemed to be an elevator of sorts.
"Why couldn't they have one of these on the other side of the place?" Dante asked out loud. Schala only shrugged and reached at the grating, pulling it back to reveal an old pulley type elevator. Sighing, Dante motioned for everyone to enter and came in last. He shut the grating and grabbed the rope that allowed for the elevator to be moved.
"Okay, everyone watch your hands, feet, or anything else that may be hanging out of the elevator. I don't want anyone getting a broken finger or something." After everyone was situated, Dante pushed up on the rope, causing the elevator to move down some. He repeated this action numerous times. There were small windows for people to look out onto the courtyard from the elevator, and Schala and Demi watched as they lowered to the same level as the water. It was like being inside of one of those underwater tubes, being able to look through the glass and see the underwater world. Not that there was really anything to see in there.
Dante finally stopped the elevator as it hit the ground softly. There was another grated door in front of them "I wonder what floor we ended up on."
"Probably the first." Schala considered, taking hold of the grating. As she pulled it open, Dante and Demi shuffled out, both gawking around.
"Um. . .this doesn't look like a first floor. . ." Demi mumbled, looking around at the darkened cave like room they had arrived on. The air was somewhat stale and dank, the ever so often sound of water dripping could be heard echoing somewhere within the cave.
"Must be the basement level." Dante explained. He cautiously came forward, coming to a curve in the cave. As he turned, he could see a hole in part of the ceiling. The morning light pored from the hole, shedding some brightness into the otherwise dim cavern. "Do you guys think we should go back?"
"I don't k—" Just as Demi began to speak, dirt and pebbles began to fall from the hole. Dante backed away from it, instinctively putting one hand on his sword hilt. Something covered the hole, destroying the light within the cave. Dante could hear something struggling to get through the hole as it panted and grunted, trying desperately. Unable to see the creature, Dante backed up a little more, the others doing the same.
There was a soft plop sound on the ground and the light reappeared in the cave, shining brightly on what appeared to be a small, black wolf cub. It hopped up quickly, shaking the dirt from its coat and looked around wildly. Dante took his hand from his sword and examined it curiously. What was a wolf doing here?
The pup looked up at Dante and the hunter could see fear well up in it's eyes. In a panic, the whelp scurried down the cave and out of sight. Above the hole, Dante could hear the sound of monsters, snarling in their own demonic language. It was apparent that the pup had run from the demons.
"Ooookay. . .what the hell was that?" Dante asked calmly. He turned around, looking to Schala as if she might know the answer. He cocked an eyebrow when he saw a rather disturbed look on her face. "Hey, you okay?"
"Oh god. . ." Schala whispered in a frightened tone. She put one hand up to her face, shaking slightly.
Dante came up to her and put one hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Schala snapped her head up and glared into Dante's eyes. "Follow that pup!" She tore away from Dante and took off into the darkness.
"WAIT UP! You don't know what's down there!!!" Dante yelled after her, sprinting to catch up. Demi tailed behind him, even more curious as Dante.
Finally, Dante caught up with Schala, who was standing in front of a fork in the cave. She repeatedly snapped her head from one side to the next, like a panicked animal.
"What the hell's going on, Schala?" Dante asked as he stopped next to her. She let out a small whimper and grabbed Dante, frightened and still shaking. "Wha—"
"I lost him. . ." Schala cried softly. "What is he doing here!?"
"What are you talking about? That wolf pup?"
Schala nodded. "That was no wolf pup. . .it was my brother. . ." She whispered.
"Come again?"
"IT WAS SKAIL!!! And now I've lost him!!" Schala yelled, crying again. Dante hadn't had a clue that Skail could change into a wolf. Besides that, what the hell was he doing here?
"Don't worry, we'll find him, don't panic. . ."
Schala pulled away from Dante and took a deep breath. "You're right. . .I just need to calm down. . ." She bent down and began examining the ground. Curious, Dante bent over her. "Right, just. . . yes!!" Schala jumped up, nearly popping Dante in the jaw with her head. She pointed left and looked up at Dante. "He's gone left. Come on!" With that, she grabbed Dante's hand and began on down the cave.
***
Outside of the cathedral, two msira's laid dead on the ground. A large, light gray wolf towered over one of the demons, panting slightly, the monsters indigo blood covering his beautiful face.
The wolf sniffed the ground around him. "I know you came this way, Skail" The wolf thought. He finally picked up the scent he was searching for. However, it went into a nearby hole that looked somewhat like a rabbits den. He stuck his snout in and managed to squeeze his entire body down, plopping gracefully on the earthen floor below.
Immediately, the wolf began sniffing the ground, searching for the scent again. He picked it up quickly, along with three others.
"So, Dante's here too. . .so's his partner and. . .isn't that Schala?" The wolf thought. "So, I wonder if they found him. Oh, please have found him. . ." With that, the wolf loped down the cave, still on the search of his son.
****
Dante stood, somewhat miffed. He put both hands on his hips and sighed.
"Dead end. He tricked us." Dante shook his head and turned, heading back. Schala and Demi followed. "Guess it's right then. . ."
The group backtracked to the fork and they went right this time. As they traveled down the hall like cave, there was a sudden bright red light to Dante's left, indicating that perhaps a demon had appeared. He struck out toward it, hearing the loud screech of msira.
"Don't even start. . .I'm in no mood for a fight." Dante mumbled to himself. With the darkness within the cave, it would be quite difficult to battle. "Let's just hurry, okay?"
****
Wow, it's so dark in here." Skail though, smelling his way through the cave. He was surprised to see some dim light begin to shine before him, illuminating a large opening to an open part of the cavern. He ran to the opening and began to look around. The room before him was huge: There was a large, orange, stained glass dome overhead, letting in only a strange orange light. Skail seemed to be on the second floor. He gazed downward to a cleared area where two me were talking. Skail ducked down, listening intently to the men's conversation.
"Surt, where is Kaos?" One man asked.
"We don't know sir. He went missing late last night." The other, wearing brilliant armor supposed.
"You don't suppose he tried to destroy Dante again, do you?"
"No sir, I believe he learned his lesson the yesterday."
Skail peered exclusively at the man Surt. He had never met the man, but had heard his name numerous times. The demon hated Skail's clan for some reason. Especially the Kiyashi family. Skail knew the other man to be the leader of the demons, Gaul.
"What do you want us to do sir? I've been told that Dante has invade the premises." Surt asked.
"Yes, I know of that already." Gaul said sharply. "What I want to know, is why he hasn't been disposed of yet. Even better, why the hell is he here in the first place?!"
"I-I don't really know sir. . ."
"I know exactly why he is here." A woman's voice said. In a wisp of smoke, Skail watched a beautiful woman with bluish colored hair and deathly completion appear near the two demons. Skail noticed her too. It was the illusionist demon Isra.
"Do you now? Then spit it out already." Gaul commanded.
"He wishes to bring his mother and brother back to life with the relic." Isra explained, a tinge of amusement in her voice.
"Really? What a childish thing to use such a powerful weapon for. He has no idea what it's real purpose is." Gaul fell silent for a moment, then began again. "Has Belthis spoken yet?"
"No sir, Merin was supposed to persuade him to tell, but. . ."
Gaul gritted his teeth and glared at Isra. "Where is Merin?!" He spat.
"Right here, calm down. . ." The voice of Merin grumbled from the second floor across from Skail. Merin hopped down to the first floor, then began walking slowly toward Gaul with a wide smirk across his face.
"What are you so happy about?" Isra asked, somewhat irked. "You know you're in trouble for not doing your job, right?"
"And I care?" Merin snapped at her. He hated the wench with a passion. He wasn't the only one who detested her. Kaos hated her twice, no, thrice as badly. Not only did she have a horrible blood lust for humans, but she was also just a bitch.
"You'd better begin to care, Merin!" Gaul spat angrily.
"Yeah? Or wh-"
"Someone is here." Surt interrupted. He began to smell the air. "It's one of those lupin bastards. Surt suddenly disappeared.
"Where'd he go?" Skail thought. Suddenly he felt a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Found you, cur."
I'll leave off here. My writings been crappy lately, sorry. It's been so long since I've written that I guess I need to get back in the habit of it. (That's what I get for playing video games and drawing manga instead to thinking. My brain's numb, I guess. . .) I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner than this on. Review, please? Come on, maybe that'll help me write better. . .
Kay, here we go!
Chapter 19 Hatred to the Lupin
Schala groaned lightly as she rolled over, half asleep. She stretched long and rolled again on the cool floor. This caused her to fully awaken, not from the coolness, but the musty smell of old bags. She rolled in the other direction, only to bump into someone else. She glanced over to see Dante, cuddled to himself, sleeping peacefully on his side. She slowly sat up and stretched again, then started messing with her untidy bed hair. After a moment, her stomach begged for breakfast, rumbling loudly. Schala rubbed her belly softly and began pacing around, trying to get a little bit of exercise.
As Schala paced, she heard a small squeak of sorts come from the corner of the room. She looked over to see Demitri beginning to stir to life. His head popped up from the ground like an alerted hound and he sprung up looking around wildly, as if forgetting where he was. After a quick inspection of the room, he calmed down, looking in Schala's direction. Schala just stared at him, pondering what the hell he had been doing.
Demi mumbled something after standing awkwardly for a few moments and shuffled over to Dante. He stood over the sleeping hunter, glaring down at him.
"Wai up. . ." Demi mumbled sleepily. Schala assumed that Demi was still partially asleep, seeing as how he was swaying dangerously over Dante.
Schala thought to grab him and pull him away from Dante before he did anything stupid. However, she decided it may be fun to see what Demi would do. Demi continued to stand next to Dante, gazing down at him with sleep filled eyes. He finally bent down and reached his arm out, poking Dante in the back.
"Daddy. . .wai up. . ."
Schala cocked an eyebrow at Demi. Had she heard things, or had Demi just called Dante 'daddy'? Schala was quite amused with Demi's actions, so she sat back against the wall opposite of Dante, watching the show Demi was putting on.
It wasn't until Demi rolled Dante over onto his back that the hunter's eyes snapped open. Dante gawked at Demi with a rather alarmed look on his face. After Dante's mind woke up completely and he realized who was sitting next to him, he closed his eyes and removed the startled look from his face.
"Oh, it's just you. . ." Dante sighed, sitting up. His thoughts wandered somewhere between recollecting the events of the night before and what he was going to eat this morning. He cracked his neck and stretched, then noticed that Demi was still sitting next to him.
"What's wrong Demi?" Dante asked, cracking his knuckles. He became aware of the minutely shocked look on Demi's face. "What? Are you alright?"
Demi blinked a few times before plopping down on his butt and pointing at Dante, a semi frightened look on his face. "You aren't my daddy!!"
A rather surprised look crossed Dante's face, somewhere between amused and irritated. "No shit!" Dante said, smirking. He put one hand into Demi's hair, ruffling it up. Demi suddenly appeared to actually wake up and realize what he had just said. He flushed horribly and put one hand to his face, trying to hide his embarrassment. Dante just laughed lightly.
"Get up," Dante said, still amused at Demi's actions. "We've gotta go."
It only took about five minutes to completely gear up and the three left the little room. Dante peered down the hall, checking for any hostiles. They were in the clear, so Dante took the lead, walking at a rather quick pace. Maybe they could finish what they needed before the day was up. Besides, hunger bit at Dante's stomach, and he hoped he wouldn't have to go too much longer without a bite to eat.
"A nice, warm pizza or a burger would be nice about now. Hell, I'd take a cold pizza or a frickin' cup of noodles right now." Dante mumbled to himself as they began down the stairs to the floor below, entering a very short hallway.
Schala came next to Dante and glanced at him. "Did you say something, Dante?"
Dante looked over at her and smirked sheepishly. "Nah, just griping at myself for not bringing food with me for the trip. . ."
Schala chuckled lightly and patted him on the back. "Don't feel bad, we're all hungry."
Dante stopped as he came to the end of the hall, glaring at the grated door in front of him. It seemed to be an elevator of sorts.
"Why couldn't they have one of these on the other side of the place?" Dante asked out loud. Schala only shrugged and reached at the grating, pulling it back to reveal an old pulley type elevator. Sighing, Dante motioned for everyone to enter and came in last. He shut the grating and grabbed the rope that allowed for the elevator to be moved.
"Okay, everyone watch your hands, feet, or anything else that may be hanging out of the elevator. I don't want anyone getting a broken finger or something." After everyone was situated, Dante pushed up on the rope, causing the elevator to move down some. He repeated this action numerous times. There were small windows for people to look out onto the courtyard from the elevator, and Schala and Demi watched as they lowered to the same level as the water. It was like being inside of one of those underwater tubes, being able to look through the glass and see the underwater world. Not that there was really anything to see in there.
Dante finally stopped the elevator as it hit the ground softly. There was another grated door in front of them "I wonder what floor we ended up on."
"Probably the first." Schala considered, taking hold of the grating. As she pulled it open, Dante and Demi shuffled out, both gawking around.
"Um. . .this doesn't look like a first floor. . ." Demi mumbled, looking around at the darkened cave like room they had arrived on. The air was somewhat stale and dank, the ever so often sound of water dripping could be heard echoing somewhere within the cave.
"Must be the basement level." Dante explained. He cautiously came forward, coming to a curve in the cave. As he turned, he could see a hole in part of the ceiling. The morning light pored from the hole, shedding some brightness into the otherwise dim cavern. "Do you guys think we should go back?"
"I don't k—" Just as Demi began to speak, dirt and pebbles began to fall from the hole. Dante backed away from it, instinctively putting one hand on his sword hilt. Something covered the hole, destroying the light within the cave. Dante could hear something struggling to get through the hole as it panted and grunted, trying desperately. Unable to see the creature, Dante backed up a little more, the others doing the same.
There was a soft plop sound on the ground and the light reappeared in the cave, shining brightly on what appeared to be a small, black wolf cub. It hopped up quickly, shaking the dirt from its coat and looked around wildly. Dante took his hand from his sword and examined it curiously. What was a wolf doing here?
The pup looked up at Dante and the hunter could see fear well up in it's eyes. In a panic, the whelp scurried down the cave and out of sight. Above the hole, Dante could hear the sound of monsters, snarling in their own demonic language. It was apparent that the pup had run from the demons.
"Ooookay. . .what the hell was that?" Dante asked calmly. He turned around, looking to Schala as if she might know the answer. He cocked an eyebrow when he saw a rather disturbed look on her face. "Hey, you okay?"
"Oh god. . ." Schala whispered in a frightened tone. She put one hand up to her face, shaking slightly.
Dante came up to her and put one hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Schala snapped her head up and glared into Dante's eyes. "Follow that pup!" She tore away from Dante and took off into the darkness.
"WAIT UP! You don't know what's down there!!!" Dante yelled after her, sprinting to catch up. Demi tailed behind him, even more curious as Dante.
Finally, Dante caught up with Schala, who was standing in front of a fork in the cave. She repeatedly snapped her head from one side to the next, like a panicked animal.
"What the hell's going on, Schala?" Dante asked as he stopped next to her. She let out a small whimper and grabbed Dante, frightened and still shaking. "Wha—"
"I lost him. . ." Schala cried softly. "What is he doing here!?"
"What are you talking about? That wolf pup?"
Schala nodded. "That was no wolf pup. . .it was my brother. . ." She whispered.
"Come again?"
"IT WAS SKAIL!!! And now I've lost him!!" Schala yelled, crying again. Dante hadn't had a clue that Skail could change into a wolf. Besides that, what the hell was he doing here?
"Don't worry, we'll find him, don't panic. . ."
Schala pulled away from Dante and took a deep breath. "You're right. . .I just need to calm down. . ." She bent down and began examining the ground. Curious, Dante bent over her. "Right, just. . . yes!!" Schala jumped up, nearly popping Dante in the jaw with her head. She pointed left and looked up at Dante. "He's gone left. Come on!" With that, she grabbed Dante's hand and began on down the cave.
***
Outside of the cathedral, two msira's laid dead on the ground. A large, light gray wolf towered over one of the demons, panting slightly, the monsters indigo blood covering his beautiful face.
The wolf sniffed the ground around him. "I know you came this way, Skail" The wolf thought. He finally picked up the scent he was searching for. However, it went into a nearby hole that looked somewhat like a rabbits den. He stuck his snout in and managed to squeeze his entire body down, plopping gracefully on the earthen floor below.
Immediately, the wolf began sniffing the ground, searching for the scent again. He picked it up quickly, along with three others.
"So, Dante's here too. . .so's his partner and. . .isn't that Schala?" The wolf thought. "So, I wonder if they found him. Oh, please have found him. . ." With that, the wolf loped down the cave, still on the search of his son.
****
Dante stood, somewhat miffed. He put both hands on his hips and sighed.
"Dead end. He tricked us." Dante shook his head and turned, heading back. Schala and Demi followed. "Guess it's right then. . ."
The group backtracked to the fork and they went right this time. As they traveled down the hall like cave, there was a sudden bright red light to Dante's left, indicating that perhaps a demon had appeared. He struck out toward it, hearing the loud screech of msira.
"Don't even start. . .I'm in no mood for a fight." Dante mumbled to himself. With the darkness within the cave, it would be quite difficult to battle. "Let's just hurry, okay?"
****
Wow, it's so dark in here." Skail though, smelling his way through the cave. He was surprised to see some dim light begin to shine before him, illuminating a large opening to an open part of the cavern. He ran to the opening and began to look around. The room before him was huge: There was a large, orange, stained glass dome overhead, letting in only a strange orange light. Skail seemed to be on the second floor. He gazed downward to a cleared area where two me were talking. Skail ducked down, listening intently to the men's conversation.
"Surt, where is Kaos?" One man asked.
"We don't know sir. He went missing late last night." The other, wearing brilliant armor supposed.
"You don't suppose he tried to destroy Dante again, do you?"
"No sir, I believe he learned his lesson the yesterday."
Skail peered exclusively at the man Surt. He had never met the man, but had heard his name numerous times. The demon hated Skail's clan for some reason. Especially the Kiyashi family. Skail knew the other man to be the leader of the demons, Gaul.
"What do you want us to do sir? I've been told that Dante has invade the premises." Surt asked.
"Yes, I know of that already." Gaul said sharply. "What I want to know, is why he hasn't been disposed of yet. Even better, why the hell is he here in the first place?!"
"I-I don't really know sir. . ."
"I know exactly why he is here." A woman's voice said. In a wisp of smoke, Skail watched a beautiful woman with bluish colored hair and deathly completion appear near the two demons. Skail noticed her too. It was the illusionist demon Isra.
"Do you now? Then spit it out already." Gaul commanded.
"He wishes to bring his mother and brother back to life with the relic." Isra explained, a tinge of amusement in her voice.
"Really? What a childish thing to use such a powerful weapon for. He has no idea what it's real purpose is." Gaul fell silent for a moment, then began again. "Has Belthis spoken yet?"
"No sir, Merin was supposed to persuade him to tell, but. . ."
Gaul gritted his teeth and glared at Isra. "Where is Merin?!" He spat.
"Right here, calm down. . ." The voice of Merin grumbled from the second floor across from Skail. Merin hopped down to the first floor, then began walking slowly toward Gaul with a wide smirk across his face.
"What are you so happy about?" Isra asked, somewhat irked. "You know you're in trouble for not doing your job, right?"
"And I care?" Merin snapped at her. He hated the wench with a passion. He wasn't the only one who detested her. Kaos hated her twice, no, thrice as badly. Not only did she have a horrible blood lust for humans, but she was also just a bitch.
"You'd better begin to care, Merin!" Gaul spat angrily.
"Yeah? Or wh-"
"Someone is here." Surt interrupted. He began to smell the air. "It's one of those lupin bastards. Surt suddenly disappeared.
"Where'd he go?" Skail thought. Suddenly he felt a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Found you, cur."
I'll leave off here. My writings been crappy lately, sorry. It's been so long since I've written that I guess I need to get back in the habit of it. (That's what I get for playing video games and drawing manga instead to thinking. My brain's numb, I guess. . .) I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner than this on. Review, please? Come on, maybe that'll help me write better. . .