~Woohoo! Author's note time again. You know you love listening to me whine and go on and on and on.... Anyways, to more important things. Again I must say that I do not claim ownership to anything DMC. I don't own Arson or Dante, but I do own Xyphos. Alcapacien and Maria belong to my friends who they are based off of. Ok, well, I'm still not getting a lot of reviews, and that makes me a sad panda. And yes, I do know some people do review regularly (Quiggles, Sakura Lee, and Bustahead come to mind) and I REALLY appreciate all who do review, even if they've only done it once. You must understand that reviews and having good friends are the only things that keep a writer like me going! ^_^ I'm happy to say I haven't recieved one flame, which would REALLY dampen my spirits. Or be used for my grill. Whichever comes first.
Oh yes, I also failed to mention that Arson belongs to the Master Writer Bustahead! *bows to her* A special thanks also to my bestest friends Aly and Mia...*cough*... I mean Alca and Sakura for always cheering me on and raising my mind-boggingly low self-esteem! =) And a SUPER-ULTRA-BIGGIE-AWESOME-FANTASTIC-TO THE THIRD POWER- thanks to Bustahead for 1. Letting me use her beloved character (well, beloved by me) Arson. And 2. For helping me bunches with each chapter! I don't think they would be half as good as they are (or I hope them to be) if she didn't RP with me everyday! Also go read her stories welps! They're what inspired me to continue this fic....even thought she doesn't know this yet.... but she might if she reads this. o_O Well, on with the show as they say, and leave a review please!~
Chapter Fourteen : Another Twist
"So where are we again?" Dante asked gruffly, brushing dirt and grass from his crimson coat.
"I told you once. We're where me an' Xy live. Can't you just pretend to believe me?" Alcapacien asked in despair.
"Let me think about it....." he said, rubbing his chin. "Uhm......no."
Alca sighed in frustration. He was just making it more difficult to explain, even though she didn't know much more then he did. 'How did we get here?' Alca wondered silently, looking about her as they sat down on an artisticly sculpted wood bench. The question had plagued her since she had woken up to find herself in a park of some kind. Dante had so politely left her on the dirty ground by herself and walked off to go look at their new surroundings. After dusting herself off and getting the sand out of her shoes, she also got up and looked around. At first she had thought she was in some kind of forest since the park had many large trees, but she knew instantly where she was when she saw the sign where Xy and her would usually meet after school. "Los Angeles City Park." Dante read outloud, shifting his sheathed sword higher on his shoulders. "What the hell are we doing here?" he asked, impatiently tapping his foot as he started pacing in front of the sign.
"As if I know. But I do know exactly where we are. Me an' Xy don't live far from here."
"Your missing the whole point. What happened to Mallet Island?"
"Oh jeez, quit your bellyaching." Alca said with an authoritive voice. "No use worrying about it now right? Don't you think we should go look for the others?"
"Yeah, I guess." Dante asked uneasily. "I've just never been to Los Angeles before."
"Don't worry, chum. I know exactly where we are. There's just a tiny itsy-bitsy problem."
"And that is?"
Alca rolled her eyes, she had thought it was obvious. "Your sword and guns, idiot. We can't just walk into a city carrying a bunch of weapons!"
Dante just grunted and made it so his coat covered his guns.
"That coat of yours won't cover your sword. Hopefully no one's out this late. Let's just get going and make it fast." Alca started walking through some of the trees that crowded the park, following the shortcut that she had discovered one day after school. She hoped no one was out this late at night. There was no way she could think of to weasel out of telling someone why she had a sword and was travelling with such an old looking guy.
"So where ARE we going?" Dante asked as he made to follow her.
"To Xy's house of course."
* * * * *
The night was getting colder and colder. Xy and Arson just stood there silently. Arson's face was still red and his brown eyes were fixed on the ground. Xy stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and fury.
"So..." Xy said finally, "You didn't drown? So I didn't need to do.....that."
Arson scuffed his shoes in the dirt and shook his head. "Well......kinda..." he said, uncertainly.
Xyphos sighed angrily. "I swear....sometimes your impossible."
Arson raised his head and blinked. "It's just that...well....I didn't drown....but I couldn't breathe...and...I was awake...but I couldn't move..."
'Excuses,' Xy angrily thought. "Right.......and you could have healed yourself without my help, right?" 'I can't believe he didn't say anything to me to stop me....or something...' Xy continued to think as she wached Arson's display of helpless shyness.
Arson just shook his head shyly again and looked back towards the floor. His soft brown hair fell into his eyes, giving him a innocent child-like apperance. "I'm sorry..." he said honestly. Xyphos's eyes softened as she realized he meant every word.
Xy turned her back to him to hide the incoming blush. "Well......I'm just your okay. I wouldn't have wanted you to die on me..." she said, trying to not get all emotional. She hated doing that.
Arson raised his head again in surprise. "But....I thought you hated me..."
Xyphos almost fell over with surprise. "Geez...I was cold to him wasn't I...?' she thought. She always thought it was wierd; she hated being emotional, but she also hated being cold to people. "I never hated you..." she had to stop because of fit of chuckling overcame her. "....But you did annoy me a couple of times. I'm sorry if I was cold to you....I really didn't mean it. I can just be that way sometimes." she shrugged casually.
Arson blushed and smiled, softly joining with Xyphos's laughter. "It's...it's okay..." He stopped and looked around, his face still a deep red. "Um.....where are we?"
Xyphos looked around too before answering, the fimiliarity of it comforting after being in a strange world for so long. "Los Angeles my friend. This is my street..... my house is about a block away. I think we should get moving before it gets really late."
He looked startled at this. "Los Angeles? Wow.....I've never been to America before....just England....but..." he paused, and blushed a even deeper red, if that was possible. "Where am I gonna stay?"
Xy sighed again and thought. "Well, you can stay in my house of course...guest room's full though....well...I guess you could sleep in my room. It's not too messy in there."
Arson's eyes widened and he blinked while looking at her. "I couldn't possibly..."
Xy laughed. "We can't just let you sleep outside, it gets really cold. And I don't have any money for some fancy hotel room, and there arn't any around here for miles. I'm sure I can smuggle you into my room somehow. It seems pretty late now.....I'm sure my parents are asleep. We'll just have to make sure no one sees you."
Arson looked suddenly nervous and frowned at Xyphos worridly, looking around hopelessly. "B-b-but.." Arson didn't finish, but lasped into silence.
Xyphos turned to face him again, looked confused. "What's wrong? It's okay with you, right? I don't mind, and hopefully my parents won't either.."
He smiled nervously as she watched him blush more. 'He must be really embarrassed....' she kept thinking silently. Arson made no fight against the decision, but gently nodded his head, causing his hair to flop back into his eyes. Xy shook her head and laughed. "Come on now! There's no need to be nervous." Xy said, feeling very sisterly to him all of a sudden. "You'll just have to remember some simple stuff while your there. Mostly it's this: when you meet my parents, you can't tell them the obvious stuff. Do NOT tell them your a demon, or Dante is, and don't do anything stupid. Don't use your powers either....I really wouldn't like my house burned down." Arson blushed again when she said this.
"I...I think I can do that..." he said with growing courage.
"Oh....one more thing. Don't take your weapons out or anything. And don't turn into a demon. I'm talking obvious stuff here. So just play nice, okay?"
Arson chuckled softly. "Alright."
Xyphos and Arson walked in silence down the poorly lit street. Xy stopped in front of s dark blue house, with a quaint little porch out in front and a crimson door. The backyard was surrounded by a stained brown fence. Arson looked up and down the house in curiousity, while Xy checked to make sure no lights were on. "Well, how am I going to smuggle you in....?" Xy asked herself, running a finger up and down the blade on her back.
"Smuggle? Why do you have to smuggle me in?" Arson asked confused.
"So my parents don't see you. They'd get really suspicious if they knew I was letting a guy sleep in my room." This caused Arson to blush yet again. "There's really no other way to do this. You'll just have to be extra quiet." She started digging into the pockets of her navy blue jeans, finally taking out a simple silver housekey. Silently she slipped up to the door dragging Arson by the arm behind her. A low 'click' came from the door and made a low creaking sound as Xy opened it. Pushing a curious Arson inside, she closed the door and locked it back up again. "Just follow me." Xy whispered as she caught a hold of Arson's arm and led him up the stairs next to the door. There were no hallway lights adorning the walls of her house, so she had to navigate by memory, which wasn't at all hard of course. She felt a small span of happiness - after spending what seemed like years in a moldy old castle, it was great to be back home. It surprised her to remember that she had never once felt homesick when she was gone. It surprised her even more when she actually started thinking about the situation as she walked down those dark hallways leading Arson by the hand.
'I never thought of it before now.....but when you really do think about it, it's unbelievable! I mean...a while ago I was inside the world of my favorite game, and now I'm back home leading a fictional character, who I might add is a demon, through my house!' she thought and then sighed in sheer confusion. 'This goes against all physics that I know of....... and it's a lot more deeper then it appears to be.' She grunted in pain as she banged her foot against a door. 'And it's obviously not a dream, since you don't feel pain in dreams.' Arson froze and dragged Xy back again as he heard some rustling. Just as he had suspected, a woman of fairly middle age with tumbling curly brown hair shuffled out of a room into a room across it. Xy froze as she squinted against the light as her mom went into the bathroom and turned on the light. Xyphos nodded a thanks to Arson as the door closed behind her mother. Quickening her pace, Xy ran into the room at the end of the hall, and quickly closed and locked the door, careful to make it silent. She leaned against the door panting in relief. "That was waaaay too close." she said as Arson looked around Xy's room.
It was painted a darkish purple color, with a pair of dragons painted on one wall. Posters adorned every surface, ranging from bands to video game advertisements. A oak desk sat in one corner, with a computer and lamp sitting on it. "Not much is it?" Xy said as she hopped onto her blue-covered bed. "But I love it."
"Hey....that looks like Dante..." Arson said as he stared at one wall. Xy panicked as she ran over to it and ripped the poster down. She shook a bit nervously. "Oh...it....uh....wasn't...just some guy that looked like him...ya know....heh."
Arson looked skeptical. "So what's 'Devil May Cry'? I know that's the place Dante owns...but why's it on that poster?"
"It's.....a...uhm....band...and yeah... the main singer reminds me of Dante and stuff...." she laughed nervously as she crumpled the paper, opened a window and threw it as hard as she could. The bathroom door creaked open as her mom walked out yawning. Xy quickly turned her light off and pushed Arson behind the door. He frowned as the door bopped his nose as her mom opened it quietly. "I see you're back from your sleepover Xy, dear." Xy's mom said happily as she scooped her into a hug.
"Sleepover? Yeah.....sorry...uh...that I didn't tell you." Xy smiled as she pulled away and tried moving the door so it wouldn't hit Arson again. Xy's mom yawned as she leaned into the door. Arson tried not to move or voice his pain.
"What's behind this door...?" Xy's mom said as she closed the door behind her.... only to freeze as she saw Arson rubbing his nose in pain. Surprisingly Xy's mom just laughed. "Hiding boys from us already dear?"
Xy's face turned a dark crimson as she frowned at her mom. "No mom! He's just a friend! Don't you start getting the wrong idea!"
Her mom had already scurried down the hall towards another door while Xy stood there fuming. She came back with a blanket and pillow. "Here you go dear." she said as she handed the things to a obviously confused-and-embarrassed Arson. He mumbled a thanks as he sat on the ground looking throughly confused at Xy. Xy's mom smiled as she yawned again. "No funny stuff tonight kids." she said, grinning ear to ear, as she left a very red Xyphos and Arson behind her.
"So......you want to sleep on the bed?" Xy said after her mom had gone back to bed.
Arson blushed as was his custom and shook his head. "No......where would YOU sleep?"
She shrugged. "I can always sleep on the floor."
"That's not fair though.....this is YOUR house."
"Cheer up chum! You are the guest, and the guest must always be comfortable! Just....don't burn the blankets." she answered with a sly grin.
He pouted and glared at her. "I refuse to kick you out of your own bed....besides...the covers are pink..."
"Hey! They're not pink. They're red. They're just been washed a few too many times. Anyways, it doesn't matter. I'm tired from all this frantic running around and I'm happy to have a nice place to sleep for once. Just pretend the covers are blue or something."
Arson became silent and sat down on the bed and ran his hand up and down the edge. He hadn't been far off, the covers and sheets were a light-toned "red". It was a very large bed, her parents had used it before they had married and got an even bigger one. The frame was a normal brown wood, but on it were carved complicated designs, most of the a kind of Celtic cross.
"Well I don't want to kick you out of the bed....and it LOOKS big enough...so...uhh...." he paused for a second and continued blushing, looking down to the floor. Xyphos cocked her head to one side looking at him curiously. Sure, she was very intellegent, but sometimes just unbelievably slow to catch on.
"So uh what?" she asked, wondering what he was thinking.
He turned his back to her and rubbed a wrist with a hand and practically whispered his answer. "How about sharing?"
Xy's eyes widened with understanding and she blushed once again. 'I think I know where this is going....' she thought. "You mean the bed?"
Even those his back was turned to her, she could feel his embarressment as he nodded. "Y..yeah..."
"And this is okay with you....?"
".....if it is with you..." he shivered almost as though cold and he looked at the opposite wall blankly.
Xyphos scratched the back of her head in complete surprise and embaressment. "Uh...sure!"
Arson smiled shyly and climbed into the bed, motioning for her to follow. She did so and shrank under the covers to hide her red face. The ONLY time she had ever slept in the same bed with someone else was on those stormy nights when she would go cuddle up with her parents.... or the time after her brother had died when she had been there to grieve with her parents....
"Hopefully my mom won't come back in here...." Xy finally said after the lights had been turned out. Her voice was muffled slightly by the covers. "She always gets the wrong idea about EVERYTHING."
Arson smiled sleepily as he turned his back to her. "Hey....Xy?"
Xy yawned loudly before she answered. "What?"
"What did your Mom mean by funny business?"
If Xy had been standing up she would have fallen over. She had thought it was obvious...and she really hated her mom's jokes about things like that. "She meant...ya know....sleeping together...the other way..." 'He's just too damn innocent...' a voice said to her.
"Oh....um...well....we've both got clothes on so I don't think she'll mind?" Xy had to stop herself from shouting "HOLY CRAP!" Arson should could say some very unexpected things.
"Err....I guess you could put it that way...."
He smiled tiredly as he shrank down more into the covers. "Good night Xy...and thanks..."
Xy grinned as she felt his body relax. "Anytime Arson...anytime..."
'This is too wierd.' she started to think as she heard Arson breathe quietly. 'For one thing, I've always hated guys... they always seem to be so full of themselves. And I've never been a "touchy-feely" person...but here I am, in the same room with a guy, in the same bed. This has just gotten....too strange. To make it even more unbelievable.... he's a fictional person. I mean hours...days more like it.... I was transported to a fictional world, full of fictional characters and fictional monsters. And I was transported there by a ring. I know I'm superstitious....but this is rediculous....' Xyphos turned her back to Arson and frowned at the two dragons on her wall, eternally locked in battle. She felt like that was what her mind was doing now....fighting with reality. 'I feel like I'm taking all of this too lightly....it seems like some kind of fantastic dream...something I never want to wake up from. I mean, I would think anyone else in my place would freak out completely....but here I am, falling asleep in my own house with a technically non-real person. Jeezus.....and it defies everything I've worked so hard in Science to learn and remember. And I STILL haven't found out how we even got back to my own world....I just hope Arson being here won't disrupt any kind of "balance" or something....' She listened as an owl hooted outside her window, oblivious to her inner conflict, that was giving her a killer headache. 'And now I'm actually starting to really care about my favorite character's grandson. Maybe obsession has made me insane and I'm in some nuthouse outside L.A. living inside my own head?' She had to keep herself from giggling at the absurdity of it.
While in the middle of her web of thoughts, she felt Arson suddenly wrap his arms around her and nuzzle against her back. She immediately froze, feeling the unexpected touch. There were a couple of things he hadn't told her....and one of these things was his little "night-time problem". When he slept, he liked being near people or something else, like a stuffed animal or some kind of cuddly toy. Later on Xy had silently wished he had told her this sooner. Arson got a dopey smile on his face as he nuzzled against her frozen back and settled down again. Silently looking at the wall with its fighting dragons, she calmed her nerves and eventually relaxed in his arms. She was surprised at herself though....she had always hated touching like this....it made her feel violated. 'Maybe you care for him more then you originally thought...? a voice said but she silently laughed. 'Yeah, I'm sure that's it.' she told the voice as she rolled her eyes. Arson slept on, oblivious to her silent arguement with that same goofy grin on his face, looking quite stupidly cute.
'Maybe I should push him off? .....na, that's just plain mean. I'm way too tense.....' She unhooked his arms from her waist and gently lifted herself off the bed, tip-toeing to the bathroom. Turned the light on made her squint, and the bright violet purple of the bathroom didn't help her dark-adjusted eyes. She turned on the faucet with a slightly trembling hand, and splashed at her face with cold water, looking at herself in the mirror. "How come I didn't notice these cuts before...?" not waiting for an answer from no one, she gently dapped at the wounds with a warm cloth. After yawning several times, drying herself off, and running into the door, she got back only to find a kicking and screaming Arson on the bed. The covers had been thrown across the room, casting eerie shadows on the wall as Arson had a internal struggle. She froze, not knowing what to do. He quieted down and whimpered pitifully. "No....no stop...please...please...." He went back to screaming and tossing again. Xy rushed over to the bed, holding him down and shaking him back and forth, trying to deperately wake him up. He cried out in dispair one last time, loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood and causing Xy's ears to ring, before awaking in a hot sweat and collapsing into Xy's arm pitifully.
Xy hugged him in a embrace of relief and pity. "Are you okay Arson?"
He only shivered in answer, but froze when the doorbell echoed loudly over and over again.
"Wait here for me." Xy said as she got up and ran downstairs. She didn't like leaving him alone after that incident, but she saw her mom come out and knew her mom could comfort him better then she could. Her mom walked over and watched Xy race downstairs. She walked into Xy's room, only to find a shivering and lonely Arson on the bed, staring at the ground. Xy's mom walked over and looked down at him with concern. "You poor dear.....what's wrong?"
Arson tried to smile but failed, shivering lightly as a tear trickeled down his face from the memory. "I..it's nothing....I'm fine..."
"Will you be okay, then?"
He didn't answer immediately, but instead leaned against her and covered his face up. "I'm sorry.....I'm so sorry...."
* * * * *
".....I think they would have heard by now..."
"I'm sure they did after you pressed the doorbell 20 times..."
"Me? That was YOU."
Alcapacien snorted indignitly. "I only pressed it 5 times." Dante glared at her as she shrugged. "Hey, don't give me that look, bub."
"...Geez...how long does it take to answer the door?" he asked himself, impatiently tapping his foot.
"Well, I assume they're all asleep because it is in the middle of the night....imbecile..."
"Your a really annoying kid, ya know that?"
"And your a really annoying senile old man."
Dante sighed and leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and smirking. "Your such a annoying son-of-a--"
"XY!" Alca interrupted as Xyphos opened the door yawning.
"Sure took long enough," Dante growled as he hated being interrupted.
Xyphos frowned up at Dante. "I could have just NOT answered the door....I'm not a slave you know."
Dante pushed her aside, laughing as he strode into the hallway. "You wouldn't dare. Now where the hell is HE?"
"Cocky bastard..." Xyphos mumbled. "Arson's upstairs Mr. High-and-Mighty. Please, do come in." she said, rolling her eyes and locking the door behind Alca.
Dante ignored her of course. "....No skulls? I thought you were a Hunter..." he said, looking about.
"Errr.....right..." Xy feel back next to Alca. "How the hell did you stand being near him for so long?" she whispered.
Alca sighed dramatically. "It wasn't easy.... it makes me wonder how you can worship him like that."
Xy frowned more deeply then before. "Do not say that EVER again....I don't want to know how he'd act if he knew....Anyways," she said, starting to talk normally, "I find skulls and blood to be horribly....morbid. I don't think I'd even consider putting them on my walls."
Dante just laughed somewhat mockingly and shrugged. "Figures..."
Arson shivered and buried his head in his knees. His voice is incredibly muffled but he says something that sounds like "Mother" to Xy's mom. She put a comforting hand on his back as she heard a unfamiliar laughter coming from downstairs, wondering just what Xyphos was doing down there. Arson blinked and looked up quickly as he heard the oddly comforting and familiar laugh.
"Would you please keep it down?" Xy asked, becoming a little nervous. It wasn't everyday she had her hero in her house....as fictional as he may be. Even though he was a real bastard sometimes....but Xy just tried to ignore that fact. Ya know....constantly.
Oh yes, I also failed to mention that Arson belongs to the Master Writer Bustahead! *bows to her* A special thanks also to my bestest friends Aly and Mia...*cough*... I mean Alca and Sakura for always cheering me on and raising my mind-boggingly low self-esteem! =) And a SUPER-ULTRA-BIGGIE-AWESOME-FANTASTIC-TO THE THIRD POWER- thanks to Bustahead for 1. Letting me use her beloved character (well, beloved by me) Arson. And 2. For helping me bunches with each chapter! I don't think they would be half as good as they are (or I hope them to be) if she didn't RP with me everyday! Also go read her stories welps! They're what inspired me to continue this fic....even thought she doesn't know this yet.... but she might if she reads this. o_O Well, on with the show as they say, and leave a review please!~
Chapter Fourteen : Another Twist
"So where are we again?" Dante asked gruffly, brushing dirt and grass from his crimson coat.
"I told you once. We're where me an' Xy live. Can't you just pretend to believe me?" Alcapacien asked in despair.
"Let me think about it....." he said, rubbing his chin. "Uhm......no."
Alca sighed in frustration. He was just making it more difficult to explain, even though she didn't know much more then he did. 'How did we get here?' Alca wondered silently, looking about her as they sat down on an artisticly sculpted wood bench. The question had plagued her since she had woken up to find herself in a park of some kind. Dante had so politely left her on the dirty ground by herself and walked off to go look at their new surroundings. After dusting herself off and getting the sand out of her shoes, she also got up and looked around. At first she had thought she was in some kind of forest since the park had many large trees, but she knew instantly where she was when she saw the sign where Xy and her would usually meet after school. "Los Angeles City Park." Dante read outloud, shifting his sheathed sword higher on his shoulders. "What the hell are we doing here?" he asked, impatiently tapping his foot as he started pacing in front of the sign.
"As if I know. But I do know exactly where we are. Me an' Xy don't live far from here."
"Your missing the whole point. What happened to Mallet Island?"
"Oh jeez, quit your bellyaching." Alca said with an authoritive voice. "No use worrying about it now right? Don't you think we should go look for the others?"
"Yeah, I guess." Dante asked uneasily. "I've just never been to Los Angeles before."
"Don't worry, chum. I know exactly where we are. There's just a tiny itsy-bitsy problem."
"And that is?"
Alca rolled her eyes, she had thought it was obvious. "Your sword and guns, idiot. We can't just walk into a city carrying a bunch of weapons!"
Dante just grunted and made it so his coat covered his guns.
"That coat of yours won't cover your sword. Hopefully no one's out this late. Let's just get going and make it fast." Alca started walking through some of the trees that crowded the park, following the shortcut that she had discovered one day after school. She hoped no one was out this late at night. There was no way she could think of to weasel out of telling someone why she had a sword and was travelling with such an old looking guy.
"So where ARE we going?" Dante asked as he made to follow her.
"To Xy's house of course."
* * * * *
The night was getting colder and colder. Xy and Arson just stood there silently. Arson's face was still red and his brown eyes were fixed on the ground. Xy stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and fury.
"So..." Xy said finally, "You didn't drown? So I didn't need to do.....that."
Arson scuffed his shoes in the dirt and shook his head. "Well......kinda..." he said, uncertainly.
Xyphos sighed angrily. "I swear....sometimes your impossible."
Arson raised his head and blinked. "It's just that...well....I didn't drown....but I couldn't breathe...and...I was awake...but I couldn't move..."
'Excuses,' Xy angrily thought. "Right.......and you could have healed yourself without my help, right?" 'I can't believe he didn't say anything to me to stop me....or something...' Xy continued to think as she wached Arson's display of helpless shyness.
Arson just shook his head shyly again and looked back towards the floor. His soft brown hair fell into his eyes, giving him a innocent child-like apperance. "I'm sorry..." he said honestly. Xyphos's eyes softened as she realized he meant every word.
Xy turned her back to him to hide the incoming blush. "Well......I'm just your okay. I wouldn't have wanted you to die on me..." she said, trying to not get all emotional. She hated doing that.
Arson raised his head again in surprise. "But....I thought you hated me..."
Xyphos almost fell over with surprise. "Geez...I was cold to him wasn't I...?' she thought. She always thought it was wierd; she hated being emotional, but she also hated being cold to people. "I never hated you..." she had to stop because of fit of chuckling overcame her. "....But you did annoy me a couple of times. I'm sorry if I was cold to you....I really didn't mean it. I can just be that way sometimes." she shrugged casually.
Arson blushed and smiled, softly joining with Xyphos's laughter. "It's...it's okay..." He stopped and looked around, his face still a deep red. "Um.....where are we?"
Xyphos looked around too before answering, the fimiliarity of it comforting after being in a strange world for so long. "Los Angeles my friend. This is my street..... my house is about a block away. I think we should get moving before it gets really late."
He looked startled at this. "Los Angeles? Wow.....I've never been to America before....just England....but..." he paused, and blushed a even deeper red, if that was possible. "Where am I gonna stay?"
Xy sighed again and thought. "Well, you can stay in my house of course...guest room's full though....well...I guess you could sleep in my room. It's not too messy in there."
Arson's eyes widened and he blinked while looking at her. "I couldn't possibly..."
Xy laughed. "We can't just let you sleep outside, it gets really cold. And I don't have any money for some fancy hotel room, and there arn't any around here for miles. I'm sure I can smuggle you into my room somehow. It seems pretty late now.....I'm sure my parents are asleep. We'll just have to make sure no one sees you."
Arson looked suddenly nervous and frowned at Xyphos worridly, looking around hopelessly. "B-b-but.." Arson didn't finish, but lasped into silence.
Xyphos turned to face him again, looked confused. "What's wrong? It's okay with you, right? I don't mind, and hopefully my parents won't either.."
He smiled nervously as she watched him blush more. 'He must be really embarrassed....' she kept thinking silently. Arson made no fight against the decision, but gently nodded his head, causing his hair to flop back into his eyes. Xy shook her head and laughed. "Come on now! There's no need to be nervous." Xy said, feeling very sisterly to him all of a sudden. "You'll just have to remember some simple stuff while your there. Mostly it's this: when you meet my parents, you can't tell them the obvious stuff. Do NOT tell them your a demon, or Dante is, and don't do anything stupid. Don't use your powers either....I really wouldn't like my house burned down." Arson blushed again when she said this.
"I...I think I can do that..." he said with growing courage.
"Oh....one more thing. Don't take your weapons out or anything. And don't turn into a demon. I'm talking obvious stuff here. So just play nice, okay?"
Arson chuckled softly. "Alright."
Xyphos and Arson walked in silence down the poorly lit street. Xy stopped in front of s dark blue house, with a quaint little porch out in front and a crimson door. The backyard was surrounded by a stained brown fence. Arson looked up and down the house in curiousity, while Xy checked to make sure no lights were on. "Well, how am I going to smuggle you in....?" Xy asked herself, running a finger up and down the blade on her back.
"Smuggle? Why do you have to smuggle me in?" Arson asked confused.
"So my parents don't see you. They'd get really suspicious if they knew I was letting a guy sleep in my room." This caused Arson to blush yet again. "There's really no other way to do this. You'll just have to be extra quiet." She started digging into the pockets of her navy blue jeans, finally taking out a simple silver housekey. Silently she slipped up to the door dragging Arson by the arm behind her. A low 'click' came from the door and made a low creaking sound as Xy opened it. Pushing a curious Arson inside, she closed the door and locked it back up again. "Just follow me." Xy whispered as she caught a hold of Arson's arm and led him up the stairs next to the door. There were no hallway lights adorning the walls of her house, so she had to navigate by memory, which wasn't at all hard of course. She felt a small span of happiness - after spending what seemed like years in a moldy old castle, it was great to be back home. It surprised her to remember that she had never once felt homesick when she was gone. It surprised her even more when she actually started thinking about the situation as she walked down those dark hallways leading Arson by the hand.
'I never thought of it before now.....but when you really do think about it, it's unbelievable! I mean...a while ago I was inside the world of my favorite game, and now I'm back home leading a fictional character, who I might add is a demon, through my house!' she thought and then sighed in sheer confusion. 'This goes against all physics that I know of....... and it's a lot more deeper then it appears to be.' She grunted in pain as she banged her foot against a door. 'And it's obviously not a dream, since you don't feel pain in dreams.' Arson froze and dragged Xy back again as he heard some rustling. Just as he had suspected, a woman of fairly middle age with tumbling curly brown hair shuffled out of a room into a room across it. Xy froze as she squinted against the light as her mom went into the bathroom and turned on the light. Xyphos nodded a thanks to Arson as the door closed behind her mother. Quickening her pace, Xy ran into the room at the end of the hall, and quickly closed and locked the door, careful to make it silent. She leaned against the door panting in relief. "That was waaaay too close." she said as Arson looked around Xy's room.
It was painted a darkish purple color, with a pair of dragons painted on one wall. Posters adorned every surface, ranging from bands to video game advertisements. A oak desk sat in one corner, with a computer and lamp sitting on it. "Not much is it?" Xy said as she hopped onto her blue-covered bed. "But I love it."
"Hey....that looks like Dante..." Arson said as he stared at one wall. Xy panicked as she ran over to it and ripped the poster down. She shook a bit nervously. "Oh...it....uh....wasn't...just some guy that looked like him...ya know....heh."
Arson looked skeptical. "So what's 'Devil May Cry'? I know that's the place Dante owns...but why's it on that poster?"
"It's.....a...uhm....band...and yeah... the main singer reminds me of Dante and stuff...." she laughed nervously as she crumpled the paper, opened a window and threw it as hard as she could. The bathroom door creaked open as her mom walked out yawning. Xy quickly turned her light off and pushed Arson behind the door. He frowned as the door bopped his nose as her mom opened it quietly. "I see you're back from your sleepover Xy, dear." Xy's mom said happily as she scooped her into a hug.
"Sleepover? Yeah.....sorry...uh...that I didn't tell you." Xy smiled as she pulled away and tried moving the door so it wouldn't hit Arson again. Xy's mom yawned as she leaned into the door. Arson tried not to move or voice his pain.
"What's behind this door...?" Xy's mom said as she closed the door behind her.... only to freeze as she saw Arson rubbing his nose in pain. Surprisingly Xy's mom just laughed. "Hiding boys from us already dear?"
Xy's face turned a dark crimson as she frowned at her mom. "No mom! He's just a friend! Don't you start getting the wrong idea!"
Her mom had already scurried down the hall towards another door while Xy stood there fuming. She came back with a blanket and pillow. "Here you go dear." she said as she handed the things to a obviously confused-and-embarrassed Arson. He mumbled a thanks as he sat on the ground looking throughly confused at Xy. Xy's mom smiled as she yawned again. "No funny stuff tonight kids." she said, grinning ear to ear, as she left a very red Xyphos and Arson behind her.
"So......you want to sleep on the bed?" Xy said after her mom had gone back to bed.
Arson blushed as was his custom and shook his head. "No......where would YOU sleep?"
She shrugged. "I can always sleep on the floor."
"That's not fair though.....this is YOUR house."
"Cheer up chum! You are the guest, and the guest must always be comfortable! Just....don't burn the blankets." she answered with a sly grin.
He pouted and glared at her. "I refuse to kick you out of your own bed....besides...the covers are pink..."
"Hey! They're not pink. They're red. They're just been washed a few too many times. Anyways, it doesn't matter. I'm tired from all this frantic running around and I'm happy to have a nice place to sleep for once. Just pretend the covers are blue or something."
Arson became silent and sat down on the bed and ran his hand up and down the edge. He hadn't been far off, the covers and sheets were a light-toned "red". It was a very large bed, her parents had used it before they had married and got an even bigger one. The frame was a normal brown wood, but on it were carved complicated designs, most of the a kind of Celtic cross.
"Well I don't want to kick you out of the bed....and it LOOKS big enough...so...uhh...." he paused for a second and continued blushing, looking down to the floor. Xyphos cocked her head to one side looking at him curiously. Sure, she was very intellegent, but sometimes just unbelievably slow to catch on.
"So uh what?" she asked, wondering what he was thinking.
He turned his back to her and rubbed a wrist with a hand and practically whispered his answer. "How about sharing?"
Xy's eyes widened with understanding and she blushed once again. 'I think I know where this is going....' she thought. "You mean the bed?"
Even those his back was turned to her, she could feel his embarressment as he nodded. "Y..yeah..."
"And this is okay with you....?"
".....if it is with you..." he shivered almost as though cold and he looked at the opposite wall blankly.
Xyphos scratched the back of her head in complete surprise and embaressment. "Uh...sure!"
Arson smiled shyly and climbed into the bed, motioning for her to follow. She did so and shrank under the covers to hide her red face. The ONLY time she had ever slept in the same bed with someone else was on those stormy nights when she would go cuddle up with her parents.... or the time after her brother had died when she had been there to grieve with her parents....
"Hopefully my mom won't come back in here...." Xy finally said after the lights had been turned out. Her voice was muffled slightly by the covers. "She always gets the wrong idea about EVERYTHING."
Arson smiled sleepily as he turned his back to her. "Hey....Xy?"
Xy yawned loudly before she answered. "What?"
"What did your Mom mean by funny business?"
If Xy had been standing up she would have fallen over. She had thought it was obvious...and she really hated her mom's jokes about things like that. "She meant...ya know....sleeping together...the other way..." 'He's just too damn innocent...' a voice said to her.
"Oh....um...well....we've both got clothes on so I don't think she'll mind?" Xy had to stop herself from shouting "HOLY CRAP!" Arson should could say some very unexpected things.
"Err....I guess you could put it that way...."
He smiled tiredly as he shrank down more into the covers. "Good night Xy...and thanks..."
Xy grinned as she felt his body relax. "Anytime Arson...anytime..."
'This is too wierd.' she started to think as she heard Arson breathe quietly. 'For one thing, I've always hated guys... they always seem to be so full of themselves. And I've never been a "touchy-feely" person...but here I am, in the same room with a guy, in the same bed. This has just gotten....too strange. To make it even more unbelievable.... he's a fictional person. I mean hours...days more like it.... I was transported to a fictional world, full of fictional characters and fictional monsters. And I was transported there by a ring. I know I'm superstitious....but this is rediculous....' Xyphos turned her back to Arson and frowned at the two dragons on her wall, eternally locked in battle. She felt like that was what her mind was doing now....fighting with reality. 'I feel like I'm taking all of this too lightly....it seems like some kind of fantastic dream...something I never want to wake up from. I mean, I would think anyone else in my place would freak out completely....but here I am, falling asleep in my own house with a technically non-real person. Jeezus.....and it defies everything I've worked so hard in Science to learn and remember. And I STILL haven't found out how we even got back to my own world....I just hope Arson being here won't disrupt any kind of "balance" or something....' She listened as an owl hooted outside her window, oblivious to her inner conflict, that was giving her a killer headache. 'And now I'm actually starting to really care about my favorite character's grandson. Maybe obsession has made me insane and I'm in some nuthouse outside L.A. living inside my own head?' She had to keep herself from giggling at the absurdity of it.
While in the middle of her web of thoughts, she felt Arson suddenly wrap his arms around her and nuzzle against her back. She immediately froze, feeling the unexpected touch. There were a couple of things he hadn't told her....and one of these things was his little "night-time problem". When he slept, he liked being near people or something else, like a stuffed animal or some kind of cuddly toy. Later on Xy had silently wished he had told her this sooner. Arson got a dopey smile on his face as he nuzzled against her frozen back and settled down again. Silently looking at the wall with its fighting dragons, she calmed her nerves and eventually relaxed in his arms. She was surprised at herself though....she had always hated touching like this....it made her feel violated. 'Maybe you care for him more then you originally thought...? a voice said but she silently laughed. 'Yeah, I'm sure that's it.' she told the voice as she rolled her eyes. Arson slept on, oblivious to her silent arguement with that same goofy grin on his face, looking quite stupidly cute.
'Maybe I should push him off? .....na, that's just plain mean. I'm way too tense.....' She unhooked his arms from her waist and gently lifted herself off the bed, tip-toeing to the bathroom. Turned the light on made her squint, and the bright violet purple of the bathroom didn't help her dark-adjusted eyes. She turned on the faucet with a slightly trembling hand, and splashed at her face with cold water, looking at herself in the mirror. "How come I didn't notice these cuts before...?" not waiting for an answer from no one, she gently dapped at the wounds with a warm cloth. After yawning several times, drying herself off, and running into the door, she got back only to find a kicking and screaming Arson on the bed. The covers had been thrown across the room, casting eerie shadows on the wall as Arson had a internal struggle. She froze, not knowing what to do. He quieted down and whimpered pitifully. "No....no stop...please...please...." He went back to screaming and tossing again. Xy rushed over to the bed, holding him down and shaking him back and forth, trying to deperately wake him up. He cried out in dispair one last time, loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood and causing Xy's ears to ring, before awaking in a hot sweat and collapsing into Xy's arm pitifully.
Xy hugged him in a embrace of relief and pity. "Are you okay Arson?"
He only shivered in answer, but froze when the doorbell echoed loudly over and over again.
"Wait here for me." Xy said as she got up and ran downstairs. She didn't like leaving him alone after that incident, but she saw her mom come out and knew her mom could comfort him better then she could. Her mom walked over and watched Xy race downstairs. She walked into Xy's room, only to find a shivering and lonely Arson on the bed, staring at the ground. Xy's mom walked over and looked down at him with concern. "You poor dear.....what's wrong?"
Arson tried to smile but failed, shivering lightly as a tear trickeled down his face from the memory. "I..it's nothing....I'm fine..."
"Will you be okay, then?"
He didn't answer immediately, but instead leaned against her and covered his face up. "I'm sorry.....I'm so sorry...."
* * * * *
".....I think they would have heard by now..."
"I'm sure they did after you pressed the doorbell 20 times..."
"Me? That was YOU."
Alcapacien snorted indignitly. "I only pressed it 5 times." Dante glared at her as she shrugged. "Hey, don't give me that look, bub."
"...Geez...how long does it take to answer the door?" he asked himself, impatiently tapping his foot.
"Well, I assume they're all asleep because it is in the middle of the night....imbecile..."
"Your a really annoying kid, ya know that?"
"And your a really annoying senile old man."
Dante sighed and leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and smirking. "Your such a annoying son-of-a--"
"XY!" Alca interrupted as Xyphos opened the door yawning.
"Sure took long enough," Dante growled as he hated being interrupted.
Xyphos frowned up at Dante. "I could have just NOT answered the door....I'm not a slave you know."
Dante pushed her aside, laughing as he strode into the hallway. "You wouldn't dare. Now where the hell is HE?"
"Cocky bastard..." Xyphos mumbled. "Arson's upstairs Mr. High-and-Mighty. Please, do come in." she said, rolling her eyes and locking the door behind Alca.
Dante ignored her of course. "....No skulls? I thought you were a Hunter..." he said, looking about.
"Errr.....right..." Xy feel back next to Alca. "How the hell did you stand being near him for so long?" she whispered.
Alca sighed dramatically. "It wasn't easy.... it makes me wonder how you can worship him like that."
Xy frowned more deeply then before. "Do not say that EVER again....I don't want to know how he'd act if he knew....Anyways," she said, starting to talk normally, "I find skulls and blood to be horribly....morbid. I don't think I'd even consider putting them on my walls."
Dante just laughed somewhat mockingly and shrugged. "Figures..."
Arson shivered and buried his head in his knees. His voice is incredibly muffled but he says something that sounds like "Mother" to Xy's mom. She put a comforting hand on his back as she heard a unfamiliar laughter coming from downstairs, wondering just what Xyphos was doing down there. Arson blinked and looked up quickly as he heard the oddly comforting and familiar laugh.
"Would you please keep it down?" Xy asked, becoming a little nervous. It wasn't everyday she had her hero in her house....as fictional as he may be. Even though he was a real bastard sometimes....but Xy just tried to ignore that fact. Ya know....constantly.