{Author's note : Yay! You get to read more of me ranting! w00t for you! Anyways. In this chapter I'm going to try a new "style" of writing. It's going to be more darkified and angsty then the previous chapters, IF I can get it to work like I want it to. And if doesn't... oh well. -_- It'll probably start during the second part of the chapter. I'm also going to try to use more details, since some friends of mine suggest I do so. Hopefully I want go overboard though. o_O I've also found I do a lot better in 3rd person, so I might switch to it every so often. So get used to it.
Yeah, anyways. I also did a little tweaking of a couple of previous chapters if anyone cares. Mostly I just created the character's outfits, because I noticed I didn't really say anything about them at first. O_o Well, let's hope I can get this chapter going and the angst nice and juicy. =b Now on with the show! Oh yeah, almost forgot. Dante and anything DMC (Blades, Mundus, that kinda stuff) doesn't belong to me, but Xyphos, Maria, and Alca do. Arson belongs to Bustahead, who gave me permission to use him in my fic. AND I DEMAND YOU GO READ HER STORIES SCALLYWAGS! Thanks to all reviewers too....you know I love you guys! ^_^ Ahem.....now on with the show.}
Chapter Thirteen - The Warrior's Way
"Have you sensed anything new lately?" Alcapacien asked impatiently.
"This isn't easy y'know. Your not helping by annoying me." Dante answered gruffly, closing his eyes in concentration. "Aha!"
"What?!"
Dante opened his eyes and smiled. "I've found everyone. Arson and Xyphos are together, and Maria's lurking around near here."
"Hmmm...."
"What's up?"
Alca got a worried look on her face. "Well, it's just that I would have expected them to be all together. I can't imagine why Maria's walking around alone."
"Maybe she got lost?"
"Well, let's hope. Dante, I was wondering....have you sensed anyone or anything else?"
"No.....why?"
"It's nothing.......there's just a group of Shadows coming down that corridor." Alca said, and pointed to the corrisponding hallway. Her hand went instinctly to the sword upon her back.
"Guess it ain't what it used to be, eh?"
"Let's just get this over with." she sighed, hating to be fighting again. She unsheathed her katana, the steel blade singing a metallic tune as it was unleashed. Dante kept his sword on his back, instead bringing out from the depths of his coat, his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory. She cocked her eyebrows at this. "Are you sure guns will hurt them?"
"Well, since swords won't, better use these babies. But of course you knew that." he said and smirked.
She sheathed her sword back up, and sighed. "Hopefully you have another gun!"
"Of course m'lady." he answered, pulling another gun from inside his coat. He tossed it at Alca, who caught it not so gracefully. She grimaced. "A grenade launcher?!"
"Have fun!" he said, dodging a night-black spear that a Shadow had shot at him.
She sighed, trying to hold it steady. She breathed in deeply and pulled the trigger, launching a grenade at a Shadow who had been sneaking closer to her. It exploded right in it's face, and it melted into a black puddle. A purple-red orb emerged out of the puddle, spinning lazily.
"Now!" Dante yelled over the bursts of his guns, "Attack it with your sword!"
Obeying quickly, she ran over with sword in hand, slashing and stabbing it in a frenzy. The globe shattered, the shards and puddle literally melting into the ground. "Now that was invigorating!" she said after her glorius defeat of another enemy. The third Shadow noticed her weakness and tackled her from behind.
Dante's first target disappeared as it was beaten. He looked over at Alca how had been knocked clear off her feet. "I thought you were a good fighter!"
She got up to her feet, her spine throbbing badly. "I guess I've loss the attitude since I know my friends are in trouble." she said while readying her gun again.
"Well," Dante said unsheathing his own sword and waiting for her to hit the last Shadow, "Now's not a good time to be showing weakness!"
"I know that!" she said angrily as she shot a grenade at the final Shadow, who had become confused by the calmness of one and anger of the other. "I don't need your help!" she yelled, anger flooding her sight as she sliced the orb that had emerged in half before Dante got a chance to move in for the kill.
"Geez.....why so angry?"
"I just don't want help from some cocky person like you that's what."
"Maybe so. But being that I have more experience fighting, you should."
She huffed lightly.
"Too much pride can be a bad thing ya know."
"And of course you would know." she said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I guess I would." he said with a laugh.
"How...strange..." she said faintly.
"What?"
"I just remembered how a while ago you vowed to kill me and Xy. Why the sudden change?"
"Well......you sorta did... help me out of the prison place. I guess I owed you guys." Dante faltered a little as he spoke more. She guessed he wasn't used to apologizing and being grateful. She doubted he ever truly was. "Man..........you bunch of kids are making me all softish. I haven't thought of all this until now."
"Your welcome. Ya know,.......I really hate 'Kodak' moments. Let's get out of here already."
"Heh," Dante grinned, "Alright."
Maria sat in silence as she watched them from the darkness infesting the corridor. The same corridor that the Shadows had emerged from.
* * * * *
"Arson!" Xyphos yelled again, seeing that bubbles had ceased coming to the surface. She struggled against her bonds, desperately using all of her strength to break them. The chains held strong. All she had accomplished was making the chains cut into her wrist, causing a small stream of blood to flow down her arm. Her rage at not being able to do anything made her choke with anguish. The fear of watching someone die before her own eyes caused shivers to run up and down her spine. As she hung there struggling, the rage swelled, until it finally clouded her senses and she lost sight of what was happening. The only thing she was sure of was the pain that had suddenly washed over her body.
Her skin started taking on a blackish tone, hardening into a rock-like substance. Visor-like plates covered her eyes, which had taken on a crimson tint. Steel-like plates began literally growing out of her skin, covering her legs and arms with rock-hard scales. Red channels of glowing energy ran along her now protective skin, looking like some kind of grotesque tattoo. Sharp metallic spikes shot out the top of her head and along her back, creating a very dragon-like feel to her new form. Her chest became also covered with the scales, covering every weak spot that she had. Wings forced themselves from her back, pushing her off of the wall, causing more pain to her already-bleeding wrists. The wings sported a bright silver color, with random stripes of a dark green. Strong black veins showed up in the leathery folds of the wings.
Xyphos felt strength course through her new form as the pain dulled. She broke through her already strained bonds easily, immediately flapping her wings to stay above the pool below her. The demon side of her thought only of freedom, of getting out of the small enclosed tower she was in, but the human side urged her body to go down and help her dying friend. As her new form had emerged, it seemed her conscience had split into two, battling each other for control. She dug her razor-sharp claws into the stone wall, using them to walk down closer to the water. The awkward position gave the demon a strange spider-like apperance.
When the creature was low enough, it dived head-first into the water, cupping its wings close to its back to prevent damage. It used a snake-like movement to push itself through the water, frantically searching for Arson. She saw his body near the bottom, his eyes shut and his body completely limp and covered with boils and burn marks. Making her way to the bottom, she caught a hold of his body with one clawed hand and swam towards another wall, getting ready to jump above the surface and climb back up the wall in that strange way. As Xyphos hung onto the wall with one arm she looked frantically for some means of escaping the rock cylinder they had found themselves trapped in. The demon thought of only one thing : freedom at any cost.
Hoisting Arson up under her arm, she held out a clawed hand and concentrated on creating a ball of pure energy. A blue light flashed as the ball came into existance, and a terrible explosion followed the instant she violently slammed the ball into the other side of the tower. As the dust following the explosion settled, a large hole leading into a darkened room made itself visible. The demon lauched itself straight into the darkness, holding the body of Arson close to her chest, determined to keep it protected from further harm.
As she landed with a faint click, Xyphos looked about and took in her surroundings. She shut her eyes and bit her lip in pain as her body returned to the human form, and the demon's conscience went back to the corner of her mind from where it had hidden before. When she looked back up, she was her normal self again. 'Or as normal as a person who could become a demon at will would be.' she thought. All of her thoughts came to a halt as she saw her surroundings more throughly. The recognition made her almost stumble.
She stood up with her mouth hanging slightly open like a child's in a candy shop. "This.....this is my street!" she exclaimed, stepping backwards. "There's no way....how did I get back home?" She looked down towards a lone lit streetlight a little ways away from where she stood. The couldn't help but stare at the simple white letter posted on the normal green sign. "My street...! But how.....? Was it....all a dream?" she found to her surprise, that she completely wished that it hadn't been a dream. As she started to stumble towards her house, she tripped roughly and fell hard to the pavement. When she saw Arson's injured body behind her, she knew that without a doubt that everything so far had really happened. Happiness bloomed, but the worry fell.
She instantly got to her feet and shuffled over to him, looking over his body for the numerous injuries. She couldn't see anything lethal, just many boils and cuts, all weeping tiny streams of blood. Sighing with relief, she put her hand on his chest for comfort. But then realized he wasn't breathing at all. "Crap! What happened to him?" she asked no one, trying to remember what had just happened to her. She found that she could barely remember anything that had happened while she had been a demon. She didn't pause to think why it hadn't happened before, but focused on what she could do to help him. "Alright....I remember he fell in water.... and water is deadly to him.." Frantically she thought of what might be wrong with him. "Ah! Drowning....I hope I got him out soon enough..." She was becoming surprised by her own calmness at the situation. "Ok....Health....what did they teach..." she thought fast, glad that she was one of the few who actually payed attention. When the memory caught up with her, she flushed a deep red. "No.....that can't be the only thing.....not CPR..." she groaned.
The orange sun that had been peaking over the houses that dotted the street vanished. The streetlights lit abruptly with a mellow glow. Xyphos and Arson sat in the middle of a long road, in a eerily-normal looking neighborhood. The houses almost all looked the same : small, bright green lawns, the same trees and bushes, the same doors and over-all houses. No cars sped down the night-black roads, nor could Xy hear any cars from other streets. No couples walked silently down the sidewalks, hand in hand. It was deathly silent, and not even owls or bats flew.
Xyphos focused on the task at hand and made no apparent realization of the silent, unmoving night. She mumbled a few reassuring words to herself and took a deep breath. Still blushing up a storm, she leaned down and breathed into Arson's mouth. Pulling away, she took both of her hands and pounded down on his heart, rubbing annd massaging it, trying to coax it to beat again. She did this several more times before Arson shuddered and coughed up a mixture of water and blood. Relieved that it had worked, Xy hid her face from him and sighed in triumph. When she was sure she was a bit less red, she turned to him. "Are you alright?
Arson held up his head with one hand and shuddered involuntarily. "I think so....." he stopped when a fit of coughing started. She waited it out, knowing , and actually feeling, his strength return. "What happened?"
"Well, let's see. You first fell into a pit of water, and I think you started drowning. I transformed into some kind of a... demon I guess... and helped you out. Truthfully, I don't remember much inbetween. When I came to, we were here." she said, purposely skipping the whole CPR procedure she agonizingly went through.
"Oh." was all he said, but he did start blushing a dark red, about as much as Xyphos had turned.
Xy groaned. "You weren't unconcious?"
Arson just shook his head, his dark brown hair covering his even browner eyes, and simply smiled shyly.
Yeah, anyways. I also did a little tweaking of a couple of previous chapters if anyone cares. Mostly I just created the character's outfits, because I noticed I didn't really say anything about them at first. O_o Well, let's hope I can get this chapter going and the angst nice and juicy. =b Now on with the show! Oh yeah, almost forgot. Dante and anything DMC (Blades, Mundus, that kinda stuff) doesn't belong to me, but Xyphos, Maria, and Alca do. Arson belongs to Bustahead, who gave me permission to use him in my fic. AND I DEMAND YOU GO READ HER STORIES SCALLYWAGS! Thanks to all reviewers too....you know I love you guys! ^_^ Ahem.....now on with the show.}
Chapter Thirteen - The Warrior's Way
"Have you sensed anything new lately?" Alcapacien asked impatiently.
"This isn't easy y'know. Your not helping by annoying me." Dante answered gruffly, closing his eyes in concentration. "Aha!"
"What?!"
Dante opened his eyes and smiled. "I've found everyone. Arson and Xyphos are together, and Maria's lurking around near here."
"Hmmm...."
"What's up?"
Alca got a worried look on her face. "Well, it's just that I would have expected them to be all together. I can't imagine why Maria's walking around alone."
"Maybe she got lost?"
"Well, let's hope. Dante, I was wondering....have you sensed anyone or anything else?"
"No.....why?"
"It's nothing.......there's just a group of Shadows coming down that corridor." Alca said, and pointed to the corrisponding hallway. Her hand went instinctly to the sword upon her back.
"Guess it ain't what it used to be, eh?"
"Let's just get this over with." she sighed, hating to be fighting again. She unsheathed her katana, the steel blade singing a metallic tune as it was unleashed. Dante kept his sword on his back, instead bringing out from the depths of his coat, his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory. She cocked her eyebrows at this. "Are you sure guns will hurt them?"
"Well, since swords won't, better use these babies. But of course you knew that." he said and smirked.
She sheathed her sword back up, and sighed. "Hopefully you have another gun!"
"Of course m'lady." he answered, pulling another gun from inside his coat. He tossed it at Alca, who caught it not so gracefully. She grimaced. "A grenade launcher?!"
"Have fun!" he said, dodging a night-black spear that a Shadow had shot at him.
She sighed, trying to hold it steady. She breathed in deeply and pulled the trigger, launching a grenade at a Shadow who had been sneaking closer to her. It exploded right in it's face, and it melted into a black puddle. A purple-red orb emerged out of the puddle, spinning lazily.
"Now!" Dante yelled over the bursts of his guns, "Attack it with your sword!"
Obeying quickly, she ran over with sword in hand, slashing and stabbing it in a frenzy. The globe shattered, the shards and puddle literally melting into the ground. "Now that was invigorating!" she said after her glorius defeat of another enemy. The third Shadow noticed her weakness and tackled her from behind.
Dante's first target disappeared as it was beaten. He looked over at Alca how had been knocked clear off her feet. "I thought you were a good fighter!"
She got up to her feet, her spine throbbing badly. "I guess I've loss the attitude since I know my friends are in trouble." she said while readying her gun again.
"Well," Dante said unsheathing his own sword and waiting for her to hit the last Shadow, "Now's not a good time to be showing weakness!"
"I know that!" she said angrily as she shot a grenade at the final Shadow, who had become confused by the calmness of one and anger of the other. "I don't need your help!" she yelled, anger flooding her sight as she sliced the orb that had emerged in half before Dante got a chance to move in for the kill.
"Geez.....why so angry?"
"I just don't want help from some cocky person like you that's what."
"Maybe so. But being that I have more experience fighting, you should."
She huffed lightly.
"Too much pride can be a bad thing ya know."
"And of course you would know." she said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I guess I would." he said with a laugh.
"How...strange..." she said faintly.
"What?"
"I just remembered how a while ago you vowed to kill me and Xy. Why the sudden change?"
"Well......you sorta did... help me out of the prison place. I guess I owed you guys." Dante faltered a little as he spoke more. She guessed he wasn't used to apologizing and being grateful. She doubted he ever truly was. "Man..........you bunch of kids are making me all softish. I haven't thought of all this until now."
"Your welcome. Ya know,.......I really hate 'Kodak' moments. Let's get out of here already."
"Heh," Dante grinned, "Alright."
Maria sat in silence as she watched them from the darkness infesting the corridor. The same corridor that the Shadows had emerged from.
* * * * *
"Arson!" Xyphos yelled again, seeing that bubbles had ceased coming to the surface. She struggled against her bonds, desperately using all of her strength to break them. The chains held strong. All she had accomplished was making the chains cut into her wrist, causing a small stream of blood to flow down her arm. Her rage at not being able to do anything made her choke with anguish. The fear of watching someone die before her own eyes caused shivers to run up and down her spine. As she hung there struggling, the rage swelled, until it finally clouded her senses and she lost sight of what was happening. The only thing she was sure of was the pain that had suddenly washed over her body.
Her skin started taking on a blackish tone, hardening into a rock-like substance. Visor-like plates covered her eyes, which had taken on a crimson tint. Steel-like plates began literally growing out of her skin, covering her legs and arms with rock-hard scales. Red channels of glowing energy ran along her now protective skin, looking like some kind of grotesque tattoo. Sharp metallic spikes shot out the top of her head and along her back, creating a very dragon-like feel to her new form. Her chest became also covered with the scales, covering every weak spot that she had. Wings forced themselves from her back, pushing her off of the wall, causing more pain to her already-bleeding wrists. The wings sported a bright silver color, with random stripes of a dark green. Strong black veins showed up in the leathery folds of the wings.
Xyphos felt strength course through her new form as the pain dulled. She broke through her already strained bonds easily, immediately flapping her wings to stay above the pool below her. The demon side of her thought only of freedom, of getting out of the small enclosed tower she was in, but the human side urged her body to go down and help her dying friend. As her new form had emerged, it seemed her conscience had split into two, battling each other for control. She dug her razor-sharp claws into the stone wall, using them to walk down closer to the water. The awkward position gave the demon a strange spider-like apperance.
When the creature was low enough, it dived head-first into the water, cupping its wings close to its back to prevent damage. It used a snake-like movement to push itself through the water, frantically searching for Arson. She saw his body near the bottom, his eyes shut and his body completely limp and covered with boils and burn marks. Making her way to the bottom, she caught a hold of his body with one clawed hand and swam towards another wall, getting ready to jump above the surface and climb back up the wall in that strange way. As Xyphos hung onto the wall with one arm she looked frantically for some means of escaping the rock cylinder they had found themselves trapped in. The demon thought of only one thing : freedom at any cost.
Hoisting Arson up under her arm, she held out a clawed hand and concentrated on creating a ball of pure energy. A blue light flashed as the ball came into existance, and a terrible explosion followed the instant she violently slammed the ball into the other side of the tower. As the dust following the explosion settled, a large hole leading into a darkened room made itself visible. The demon lauched itself straight into the darkness, holding the body of Arson close to her chest, determined to keep it protected from further harm.
As she landed with a faint click, Xyphos looked about and took in her surroundings. She shut her eyes and bit her lip in pain as her body returned to the human form, and the demon's conscience went back to the corner of her mind from where it had hidden before. When she looked back up, she was her normal self again. 'Or as normal as a person who could become a demon at will would be.' she thought. All of her thoughts came to a halt as she saw her surroundings more throughly. The recognition made her almost stumble.
She stood up with her mouth hanging slightly open like a child's in a candy shop. "This.....this is my street!" she exclaimed, stepping backwards. "There's no way....how did I get back home?" She looked down towards a lone lit streetlight a little ways away from where she stood. The couldn't help but stare at the simple white letter posted on the normal green sign. "My street...! But how.....? Was it....all a dream?" she found to her surprise, that she completely wished that it hadn't been a dream. As she started to stumble towards her house, she tripped roughly and fell hard to the pavement. When she saw Arson's injured body behind her, she knew that without a doubt that everything so far had really happened. Happiness bloomed, but the worry fell.
She instantly got to her feet and shuffled over to him, looking over his body for the numerous injuries. She couldn't see anything lethal, just many boils and cuts, all weeping tiny streams of blood. Sighing with relief, she put her hand on his chest for comfort. But then realized he wasn't breathing at all. "Crap! What happened to him?" she asked no one, trying to remember what had just happened to her. She found that she could barely remember anything that had happened while she had been a demon. She didn't pause to think why it hadn't happened before, but focused on what she could do to help him. "Alright....I remember he fell in water.... and water is deadly to him.." Frantically she thought of what might be wrong with him. "Ah! Drowning....I hope I got him out soon enough..." She was becoming surprised by her own calmness at the situation. "Ok....Health....what did they teach..." she thought fast, glad that she was one of the few who actually payed attention. When the memory caught up with her, she flushed a deep red. "No.....that can't be the only thing.....not CPR..." she groaned.
The orange sun that had been peaking over the houses that dotted the street vanished. The streetlights lit abruptly with a mellow glow. Xyphos and Arson sat in the middle of a long road, in a eerily-normal looking neighborhood. The houses almost all looked the same : small, bright green lawns, the same trees and bushes, the same doors and over-all houses. No cars sped down the night-black roads, nor could Xy hear any cars from other streets. No couples walked silently down the sidewalks, hand in hand. It was deathly silent, and not even owls or bats flew.
Xyphos focused on the task at hand and made no apparent realization of the silent, unmoving night. She mumbled a few reassuring words to herself and took a deep breath. Still blushing up a storm, she leaned down and breathed into Arson's mouth. Pulling away, she took both of her hands and pounded down on his heart, rubbing annd massaging it, trying to coax it to beat again. She did this several more times before Arson shuddered and coughed up a mixture of water and blood. Relieved that it had worked, Xy hid her face from him and sighed in triumph. When she was sure she was a bit less red, she turned to him. "Are you alright?
Arson held up his head with one hand and shuddered involuntarily. "I think so....." he stopped when a fit of coughing started. She waited it out, knowing , and actually feeling, his strength return. "What happened?"
"Well, let's see. You first fell into a pit of water, and I think you started drowning. I transformed into some kind of a... demon I guess... and helped you out. Truthfully, I don't remember much inbetween. When I came to, we were here." she said, purposely skipping the whole CPR procedure she agonizingly went through.
"Oh." was all he said, but he did start blushing a dark red, about as much as Xyphos had turned.
Xy groaned. "You weren't unconcious?"
Arson just shook his head, his dark brown hair covering his even browner eyes, and simply smiled shyly.