Prologue

"Come on. You're almost done. It's almost here." The demon placed its hand between the woman's legs. Its palm supported the top half of a baby's head. The woman screamed as another contraction seized her. "It's almost here," the demonic midwife repeated.

The woman leaned forward. With one final push, she felt the head slide out. The demon caught the baby and pulled it free. The woman heard it cry as the demon held it up. "It's a boy. A handsome one at that."

With eyes wide with fear, the woman watched the demon cradle the baby in its arms. "What are you doing to my baby?" "What you wouldn't let me do to your first one. Just relax. It's almost over." It waved its fingers over the baby's face. The baby inhaled a white sparkling mist that fell from the demon's fingers. Then the demon placed the baby on the woman's abdomen. In one clean swipe, it severed the umbilical cord with a claw. "Take him. He's yours, for now."

"What did you do to him?" the woman asked in a trembling voice.

"Shut up. Just take him home. Let him meet his family. I'll call for him when he's ready."

"You can't have him."

"You should have thought of that sooner."

(X)

Lilith Divinity Sparda gasped and sat up. She threw the bed sheets aside and rubbed her abdomen. "It was a dream." She reached for the glass on the dresser beside the bed. She took out the last piece of ice and chewed on it. She carried the glass downstairs to the kitchen. She was a bit startled to see light under the door. "He can't be up this early." She swung the door open. "What are you doing up?" she asked before she saw him.

Dante was at the table with a plate of three sandwiches. One of them was in the process of being devoured. Dante mumbled something with a mouth full of bread, tomato, lettuce, and turkey.
Lilith rolled her eyes. "Try saying that without the sandwich."

Dante swallowed and smiled. "I haven't eaten in almost two days, and you know people like us can't go hungry for long."

"Lovely." Lilith set the glass on the table and sat down. She reached for a sandwich, but Dante lightly slapped the back of her hand. "Okay. I'll make my own."

"Did you have another dream?" Dante asked as she opened the refrigerator.

"Yeah, but it still doesn't make any sense. Some woman giving birth."

"You don't have anything to tell me, do you?"

"No. It wasn't me."

"Better not be." A brown dog trekked into the kitchen and walked straight towards Dante. It placed its head on Dante's lap and whined. Dante scratched its head and dropped the rest of his sandwich to the floor. The dog leaned down to snack.

Lilith sat down again. "Why are you feeding Guess table food?"

"He's already spoiled. There's no point in forcing him to eat dog food anymore. He doesn't want it."

"Because you always give him table food."

"So?" Guess raised his head as if to beg for another sandwich. "Not today buddy," Dante teased.

Lilith tossed her sandwich onto the table and leaned her head against her palm. "I'm bored."

"Then go back to bed. I know I am."

Lilith leaned back as he stood to leave. "That's it? No spectacular midnight show?"

"Of what?"

"Well, you still owe me a Soul Calibur II rematch." Lilith coughed to cover her laugh as Dante cursed under his breath. Guess moved to her side of the table as soon as she lifted her sandwich. "Not in this lifetime," she said with a scowl.