Even the Gods Have a Sweet Tooth

Lilith leaned over the ledge. She could see several small figures in the darkness roaming around the courtyard below. She instantly recognized Koromos standing in the middle of the rabble. They were obviously on guard, as if they were waiting for her.

"What do you see?" one of her companions asked. She held up a hand to signal for silence. She watched as Koromos walked the perimeter of the area. A woman was tied down in the center of the courtyard. She was sure he knew she was there. With hand movements, she ordered half of the unit to circle around and the other half to stay put. Then she leaned further over the side and jumped over. She landed silently behind one of the sentries. All he felt was her hand on his chin before she snapped his neck in half in a single move. She lowered him carefully to the ground and rolled to the nearest pillar.

She could hear Koromos begin the citadel's final dedication to Mundus. She saw Derik, her second-in-command, circle around the edge of the courtyard. He hid within a shadow and signaled that everyone was ready. Lilith took a deep breath before stepping out of her hiding place.

Koromos took a kris shaped knife from a nearby demon. In his other hand, he grabbed the woman's hair to pull her head back. She was shiny from sweat and fire light. "You understand," he said, "it's nothing personal." He lifted his hand to stab her throat. Before he could plunge the knife into its target, a white blaze severed his hand from above. He watched it fall to the ground, flex, and release the knife.

General chaos broke out. Amid a shower a bullets from her unit, Lilith stepped forward. The twirling white blaze that severed Koromos's hand returned to her. Without any move on her part, it flew around her and attached itself to her back. Koromos then realized it was a sword. While the rest of his crew was busy with Lilith's crew, he picked up his hand and pressed it against his wound.

Lilith dove for the knife at his feet. He saw what she was doing and stepped on it. She compensated and punched him in the gut. He dropped his hand before it could finish healing. She kicked it aside. He grabbed her with his one hand and jabbed her abdomen with his knee. She returned with a head butt.

Koromos gave her a head butt of his own that was harder than hers. Before she hit the ground, he picked up his hand. He put the thumb between his teeth and grabbed the woman with his other hand. Then he jumped over Lilith's head. Lilith rolled to her feet in time to see him land on top of the citadel wall. She jumped after him. She chased him and the screaming girl into the castle. He led her through numerous corridors, but she wouldn't be left behind.

Halfway over a catwalk, Koromos nearly stumbled. The catwalk gave way under him. He and the girl plummeted to the floor below. Maintaining her momentum, Lilith vaulted over the twenty foot gap. She spun and kneeled on the edge. The girl had landed relatively safely on top of Koromos. Koromos pushed her aside. He sat up and pressed the severed hand against the wound.

Lilith sighed and stood. Just as she was preparing to jump down, she felt her right eye fill with a dark stinging fluid. "Oh no. Not again." Lilith wiped her face and looked at her hands. They were covered with blood. She flicked the blood away and threw herself off the catwalk. She transformed in mid air. Using all six of her wings, she stopped short of landing on Koromos and hovered over him. The woman screamed and pushed herself away with her feet.

Lilith drove one of her arm spikes into Koromos's neck and flew away with him. She propelled herself through the nearest window. Koromos pulled himself off the spike (with both hands). He let her go, but she seized his arm and continued flying until they were over the ocean.

"Tell your father that he's lost again. We won't concede." She released him into the water. When Koromos didn't resurface, she flew back to the castle. She landed on an outdoor staircase that led to an entrance. She reverted to human form and dropped to a knee. Each transformation grew easier than the one before, but they still left her fatigued.

"Just a few more, and that won't be a problem." The blood always fell from her eyes right before each one, as if her thoughts triggered it. She took a deep breath and stood. She ran up the staircase and reentered the castle. She backtracked to the room where she'd left the woman. The woman was huddled on the floor as if she still expected to die. Lilith removed the gag. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, Princess." She fell silent when Lilith covered her mouth.

"Don't do that," Lilith informed her. "I hate being called Princess." She proceeded to remove the rest of the woman's bindings. "Let's get the hell out of here." She was startled when the woman screamed again. Lilith followed her eyes. A large ghostly figure in a flowing black robe approached them from above. It carried a scythe in its hands.

Lilith knew exactly what it was. "Death Scythe." She stepped in front of the woman and raised her guns, Tiamat and Marduk. The woman backed into a corner as Lilith made short work of the Death Scythe and the Sin Scythes that followed it. When the mask of the final Sin Scythe shattered, she felt her cell phone vibrate.

"I need a break." She answered the phone. It was Derik. He simply told her that everything was clear. When she hung up, she called Dante on his cell phone. "Dad, we did it," she said. "We have Mallet Island."

(X)

Lilith relaxed in the plaza. She was one of nearly a hundred people there. She was sitting on the shoulder of a statue of her grandfather Sparda. If she were anyone else, her action would have been considered an act of vandalism. She watched as the people below placed offerings at the foot of the statue. They left everything from food, to flowers, to jewelry, to incense. She sighed as if she pitied them.

"People will make a religion out of anything."

"Indeed they will."

Lilith looked up at the statue's head. Dante smiled and waved. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just watching my father's adoring fans in their moment of piety."

"Why do they do it, Dad? Why do they think we are gods?"

"Because they want to be free. We're the only ones who can save them from Mundus and hell. We did not start the religion, but it would be unwise to denounce it."

"I hate being a goddess. It's too much pressure."

"What's worse? Being a goddess, or a princess?"

"It's bad enough being both."

Lilith returned her attention to the people below. A child held up a dead rat by its tail. A woman clutched his arm and shook it. She was obviously embarrassed by the child's choice of offering.
"Woman!" Dante's voice projected over the plaza. The sheer force of it caused Lilith to nearly lose her balance. The entire plaza fell silent. When he was sure he had her attention, he ordered her, "Release the child!"

She obeyed and stepped back. The little boy picked up the rat and held it up. "Is that all you have?" Dante asked. He was cautious to make his voice gentle but powerful. The boy nodded. "Then we accept." The child placed the rat at the foot of the statue.

"Diplomacy," Lilith muttered.
"Hey!" Dante called to the boy. "Wash your hands!" The child nodded and followed his mother out of the plaza.

"Diplomacy and sanitation," Lilith said a little louder.

"They do what they can. The least we can do is assure them that we're reasonable and they won't be struck by lightning if we get upset."

"Which we can actually do," Lilith added.

"That makes gaining our favor that much more desirable." Dante popped something into his mouth.

"Hey," Lilith said, "what are you hiding?"

"Jolly Ranchers."

Lilith remembered how, when she was little, her father would always throw a Jolly Rancher into her mouth whenever she was about to make an inappropriate remark. He never failed to see it coming. Even better, he could always tell the difference between an actual insult and something she said just to get a piece of candy. "I suppose even gods have a sweet tooth."

"Uh huh." Dante dropped a Jolly Rancher into her hand. "In the end, we are all just people. I just hope no one has to figure that out the hard way."

Lilith knew he was referring to death. "I hope for that more than anyone."

They stayed on the statue throughout the entire ritual of offerings. It was twilight by the time the last person left. Dante and Lilith jumped from the statue. With a snap of his fingers, Dante summoned several people from the shadows. They rushed to the statue with bags to gather the mess the worshipers had left behind. Lilith followed him out of the plaza to the sidewalk.

"Take a look at this," Dante said.

Lilith glanced around as if to actually look for something. "What?"

"It's so quiet out here."

"Okay." Lilith was sure her father was going insane.

Dante stopped and held up a white flower on a nearby vine. The flower was just beginning to open in the coming darkness. "An evening glory, a moonflower," he explained. "How appropriate to cultivate a flower that blooms only at night on the side of the street. It reminds the people that there is life in the darkness, too."

"That could be good or bad." Lilith always felt disturbed when her father got into this mood. It made her feel as if he were possessed by a dark entity trying to hold back some secret craving. Sometimes she was afraid of him.

"You're right," he said, "but it's hope. Sometimes that is enough." He plucked the evening glory from the vine and held it out to her. "Your mother loved these."

Lilith felt her gut twitch when he mentioned her mother. She carefully took the evening glory and sniffed it. It seemed to be the only connection she had to an almost dead memory. Dante walked away from her. She snapped from her woolgathering and ran back to his side. She held the flower up. "You never really told me the whole story."

"What?"

"That night, when the first house was attacked. I remember the last time I saw her. I was going to bed because I was tired of watching you and your brother play games all night. We were attacked, and the house was destroyed."

"Yeah," Dante said with a tinge of impatience. "What's your point?"

"She died. I know you watched it happen."

"You were only eight. You can't possibly expect me to have told you the whole story then."

"No, but now I'm sixteen. I think I can handle it." Dante didn't say a word. "I hate when you do this," Lilith said. "You always grow quiet when I suggest something you hate. Pretty soon, you'll probably end up throwing fire at me just to shut me up."

"That's a good idea."

Lilith stopped herself from crushing the flower. "Then why did you bring her up in the first place? Over a stupid flower, no less."

Dante snatched the evening glory, crushed it, and threw it into the street. Lilith fought down her anger. She merely puffed and continued walking. "I wish you wouldn't do that!" she almost yelled.

"You're right," Dante said. "I shouldn't have brought her up."

Lilith held her head as if she were getting a headache. "I'm sorry. It's just been a bad day. Hell, it's been a bad life, but I manage. It could be worse." Lilith pulled out another Jolly Rancher and sucked it up. "Ahh, drugs."

"Did you bleed?"

Lilith almost swallowed the Jolly Rancher. "What?" she said after coughing it up.

"Your eyes, I mean."

"Oh. How'd you know?"

"The same happened to me."

"Is it an omen?"

"I don't know." Dante lifted his head. He heard a distant squeaking sound, like a horde of mice or bats.

Lilith picked up on it right afterwards. "Already? It's too soon."

"They don't seem to notice that." In a flash of black light, Dante sped down the street. Cursing her luck, Lilith transformed and ran after him. She had to exert herself to keep up. She would have stopped if she hadn't seen the creatures chasing her.

As she turned a corner, a creature slammed into her. The surprise attack sent them both rolling. When they finally stopped, Lilith found herself on the bottom. The demon held her down by her throat. The creature appeared to be female. Its hair was made of flowing shadows flying in a perpetual wind. It opened its mouth to reveal two rows of fangs.

Panic surged through Lilith's body. This was the closest any hitman had gotten. She must be getting careless. She felt a fire fill her blood. As the rest of the pack descended upon them, Lilith felt the blood trigger. She focused on the fire and commanded it out of her body. Everything around her was filled with a hot blinding white light. She felt the demon disintegrate around her.

Dante returned just as the light died. He found Lilith lying on the ground among a pile of smoldering ash. She was staring up at the sky. Her eyes drifted towards him, but she made no other move. Dante reached down for her.

"Let's get back to the manor," he said. "If there's more of them, that light just attracted them."

She took his hand and pulled herself up. Though they were in a hurry, they allowed themselves to go only as fast as was comfortable.

It took nearly an hour to make it to the manor. Lilith ran for the living room and threw her boots off. She stretched across the divan next to the window and focused on the sky beyond the trees.

"I think I'll stay here tonight."

"Fine." Dante walked away without an argument.

Lilith felt apprehensive about that. She sat up on the divan. "Are you mad at me?"

Dante stopped but didn't turn around. "Why would you think that?"

"Because of the whole thing with the flower."

Dante continued walking. After closing the curtains, Lilith lay back on the divan and closed her eyes. She was almost asleep when she felt someone shake her. "What!" She pushed the person away.

"How the hell are you, too?" Vergil sat on an available spot on the divan. "What's been going on? You look like shit."

"Thanks for telling me." Lilith ran her hands over her forehead and through her hair. "Just so you know, it's been a less than perfect day."

"Uh oh, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. I just got back from Mallet Island and spent the rest of the day in the plaza watching people give offerings. Believe it or not, one of the children offered a dead rat."

Vergil's face showed he obviously didn't believe it. "You're joking. What did Dante do?"

"You know how Dad is. He accepted it, then told the kid to wash his hands."

Vergil laughed. "Diplomacy and sanitation."

"That's what I said. It was past dusk when we left. We passed some vines and he got all sentimental on me."

"What?" Vergil asked in confusion.

"An evening glory. He gave it to me and started reminiscing about Mom. When I asked him about her, he got quiet and a little bit hostile."

"You asked him about her death, didn't you?"

"Am I that predictable?"

"No. I just happen to know you too well."

"Other than the obvious, why does he always get so upset when I try to talk about her? After all this time, you'd think he'd grow up and let go."

"There's more to it than growing up and letting go. He lost his wife."

"Then why can't he talk to me about it? I'm mature enough to handle it."

"Maybe it's guilt."

"Guilt?"

Vergil shrugged. "When the word got out that she was pregnant, Mundus sent out packs of hitmen. Starting the very day you were born, they went specifically after you. Your father wasn't too worried, but your mother never got a good night's sleep ever again. She was so busy worrying about whether or not her baby would see another sunrise. To make a long story short, the stress made her very ill."

Vergil stopped suddenly. "That's not what killed her," Lilith challenged. "She didn't disappear until the day the last house exploded."

"True. She was killed when the explosion threw her onto a wooden stake. It pierced her heart. There was no way to save her, so she told him to kill her."

Lilith sucked in air. "I don't believe you."

"Why would I lie? She didn't want to be taken alive. Even though she was fated to die, she definitely would have lived long enough to be captured if they wanted her to."

"Oh my god." Lilith covered her mouth with one hand. Vergil pulled her hand away.

"You know absolutely nothing about your mother. I bet you don't even know where she was from."

"As a matter of fact, I don't."

"Ah. Her name was Deanna Min Ná."

"I know that part."

"Did you know that she wasn't from around here?"

"'Around here' being?"

"Earth." Before Lilith could ask, he elaborated. "She was from another realm called Shangri-La. She was having some demonic trouble, so she sent someone to Earth to take us there. It was a lost cause, so we brought her here."

"A lost cause? What happened in Shangri-La?"

"The people were being possessed. While your parents were busy courting, I discovered a woman who was getting too close for comfort."

"Meaning?"

"She was behind the demonic possessions and was even trying to steal Deanna's soul. We discovered what was going on and killed her on the spot."

"You make it sound like you did the whole thing yourself."

"Of course not. It took all three of us. Just don't tell anyone what I told you. Then we'll both be in trouble, and I do not want to hear my brother complain."

"That makes two of us." Lilith pulled her final Jolly Rancher from her pocket. "You want this?"

"Sure," he said as he took it. "Even gods have a sweet tooth."