{{Authoress' Note : 'Ello again people. I'm finally updating after too long. Even though I think this chapter sucks like whoa, I tried, and I hope you enjoi it anyways. I'm just hoping everyone understands what's going on. I'm always afraid I'll confuzzle my readers.}}
Chapter 19 : Just A Friendly Duel
The sun had sunk below the horizon. Darkness had enveloped the whole city. There hadn't been any dusk – it had just suddenly become completely dark. Dante looked out the window with a grin determination. The sky was empty. There were no clouds, no stars, no birds or bats. A full moon was all one could see in the sky. Its luminescent light palely lit up the streets.
Strangely enough, there were no streetlights on either. It as if everyone hadn't realized day had suddenly disappeared.
Dante could sense a supernatural power on the wind. Something he had become familiar to, after being in the castle on Mallet Island. It was Mundus, of course. The air almost literally sparked with his power. Dante figured Arson could sense it strongly too.
Now he didn't claim to know much about was going on since Xy had showed up, but he knew a demon king when he felt it. From the time he had somehow ended up in this new "world", he could immediately tell it was nothing like where he had come from. But something was on the rise. Maybe these two "worlds" were merging?
He smiled lightly. Xy probably thought he was as clueless as a bottle of mustard. He understood lightly as to what was happening. He was in a world where he obviously didn't exist in reality. While watching T.V., he had seen a commercial for a game called "Devil May Cry". Granted, it had surprised him when he had seen his face on T.V., (not nearly as handsome as the real thing he thought smugly) but he had always known something was up. So in Xy's world he was a fictional character. Fine. He could deal with that.
He wasn't much into that whole "Am I real or not?" crap anyways. He was alive, breathing, and he bled as much as the next guy. In his book that made him real. Besides, he didn't have time to question alternate dimensions and all that scientific stuff. He had a job to do, and damned if he wasn't going to do it. Mundus better hold onto his boxers, because Dante was coming.
As soon as he learned how to get the hell back to his world.....
Xy looked at it and frowned. Rings were not supposed to give off their own light. Well, this ring was supposed to be "magical" and all that fairytale crap, so maybe this particular ring was an exception.
When it had started glowing, Arson's wings had disappeared, as if the light had chased them off. Judging by the weird stuff that had been happening every second, Xy supposed they were connected somehow.
"I don't think this is good." Xy said, spinning the ring around her finger. It made the light spin around like a lighthouse. Before Arson had time to comment, the room erupted into a blinding flood of red light. Both Xy and Arson wrenched their eyes shut, trying to shut out the light. A great gust of wind seemed to appear in the room, making a roaring ring in their ears. Before they had both gone deaf with the noise, it all had stopped. The 'Demon's Blood' ring had stopped glowing, as Xy found out after she opened her eyes.
Her head was still on his chest, and she could hear his heart pounding loudly and his short intake of breath when he had opened his eyes.
Somehow, they had found themselves back at Mallet Island.
"Well...shit." Xy said, her voice echoing throughout the deserted stone hallway.
"Jeez. First he sends us away, and now he brings us back. That Mundus sure needs to make up his mind already." A voice said behind Xy said. She turned and smiled.
"Hey Maria!" She stopped for a second and frowned. "Where've you been all this time?"
"Just galloping across the country looking for everyone else." Maria looked at Arson and chuckled. "I'm not sure I want to know what you've been up to."
"Very funny." Xy said, blushing.
Arson grinned, remembering his ripped shirt, but then turned serious. "If you're here, then Dante should be here too?" He made it a question.
Maria nodded. "We probably all got our butts dragged back here. Alca should be somewhere too."
Xy got up and looked around. White marble encased the room, even the floor. High windows let streams of light in, lighting the whole chamber. She noticed that her sword had somehow appeared back on her back. She noticed Maria had one too. Arson's were probably still hidden. 'Maybe Mundus wanted to give us a fair chance?' she pondered. She didn't have time to wonder more on it though, because Arson had pointed to the far end of the room and asked, "What's that?"
Maria and Xy both looked and then wished they hadn't. The gigantic statue of Mundus was looking down at them, and smiling.
"Mundus...oh crap.... not good...." Xy said. Maria frowned at it and remembered her previous encounter with the stone god. She had to keep him fooled...
She sighed and slipped out her sword that had been sheathed to her back. It was a smooth katana, just as Alca's had been. The handle was wrapped in some kind of cloth, which was a crimson red. She made her way to where Xyphos stood at an unbelievable speed.
"Hey Maria," she said, turning her attention back to her friend, "what do you – Ow!" She felt a sharp pain as blood flowed down her arm. "Shit, man!" Xy looked up to see Maria, holding the sword pointed right at her. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
Maria ran by again, cutting Xy's other arm, making both of them bleed. This time, it really hurt, and Xy was getting pissed. She looked up at Maria with a look that was both hurt and angry. Arson had made a move to check to see if Xy was all right, but she shrugged him off. "I don't know what the hell's wrong with you, but I'm not just gonna stand here and let you cut me up. I know Maria wouldn't do this.... so you can't be her!"
Xy unsheathed her sword, and made a charge towards Maria. Maria blocked it easily, and the two became locked together, driving their sword against the other's. Small sparks emerged from the friction of the two swords. In the background, Arson was yelling for them to stop, but they both ignored it. Xy had been shocked by Maria's sudden uncalled for attack, but was glad her instincts had reacted. Wouldn't have been smart to just stand there and let her friend slice her to pieces.
Maria smiled, and spared a quick glance towards the statue of Mundus.
Xy was frowning at her former friend, trying to ponder the situation. "So it's the old cliché of best friend turning against best friend, eh? Some things never get old."
"No, you're wrong," Maria said, glancing again at the god. "It's the old cliché of best friend tricking bad guy into thinking she's trying to kill her best friend." Maria jumped back, circling Xy with her sword in front of her, leaving Xy to evaluate the words.
She smiled. "Ah." She glanced at the statue just as Maria had. "I get it." She twirled toward Maria with a slice that was inches away from Maria's legs. "How long will this last?" she whispered as nonchalantly as she could.
Maria made a stab towards Xy, also missing by inches, intentionally. "Until Dante and Alca get here."
"Let's make it showy, then." Xy said, grinning. She made a fake-out to the left and came up on Maria's right, slicing air beside her head. Maria made a comeback by jabbing the sword right behind Xy's back, barely missing her. They began circling at each other again, biding their time. Xy stopped for a millisecond as she felt something, a power, but went back to the 'fight'.