Well I'm back with another chapter and more of the plot is revealed.

Hope it's worth the wait.

Enjoy

**********

Some Truths

"Zephyr-"

"You're not supposed to be in here."  Without turning to acknowledge the intruder, the tall brunette ran forward, cutting down three lizard-like demons with his twin hooked sabers, back flipped to avoid a blast of fire from a Fetish and twisted into the air, decapitating the demon.  Two more fire breathing devils appeared on either side of him and he dropped to one knee, taking out the legs of one and thrusting upwards to knock the head off the other.

All the demons in the room were dead.  The lights came back on and Zephyr stood up and walked towards the wide-eyed boy waiting in the doorway.

"What is it?" he asked, wiping sweat from his brow and sliding his weapons into straps on his back.

"It's Raven, sir."

"Yeah, what about her," Zephyr squeezed by the red-headed young man to take advantage of the fresher air of the hallway.

The boy followed.  "Well the council told me to monitor Raven, you know, let them know when she checks in and stuff and well-she hasn't yet."

 "So?" Zephyr said, stretching, "That doesn't surprise me.  She never does."  He narrowed his eyes, "Why are you telling me this anyway?"

"See that's the thing," the boy lowered his gaze, "The council wants you to go out and look for Raven 'cause she was supposed to be back over an hour ago."

Zephyr shook his head and left the young man.  "Great," he mumbled, walking down the hall, "Just great."

***

"Dante, we better get going...Dante?"

The white-haired hunter suddenly stumbled forwards, pressed his hands against a stack of lumber for support and retched."

"Whoa, Hero, you okay?"  Raven asked with concern, as she watched Dante try to stand up again.

He swaggered on his feet.  "Do I fuckin look alright?  I've just been pulverized and had my head cracked open.  I can't see straight and I've just thrown up half my vital organs.  So yeah, I'm just peachie."

"I was just asking," Raven said defensively, "I'm not exactly ready to run a marathon myself."

"And whose fault is that?" Dante responded angrily, "You're the one who just had to take that shortcut."

"Don't you dare, Dante," Raven warned, "Don't you blame this shit on me.  I was as taken off guard by this attack as you were."

"So this wasn't some sort of test?"

"If it was, I didn't know about it."

"...convient," the hunter mumbled to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Look, Dante," said Raven, forcefully, "If you have problem, just spit it out."

Dante turned, "You wanna hear it?"

"Yes."

"Fine.  You're my problem; you and your whole fuckin organization, which you keep mentioning but I know nothing about.  In fact, right now, I don't seem to know anything.  You have me following you around like a helpless puppy and I'm fuckin tired of it.  I want to know what's going on, and I want to know right now, starting with that shadow thing that just took off.  Why is it after you?"

Raven sighed, "I already told you.  Because of what you hold in your hand."

"This?"  Dante quirked his eyebrows at the weapon in his hand; a sword unlike anything he'd ever seen, or heard existed.  It had an exceptionally long blade, similar to Alastor's, but instead of silver, it was pitch black, but at the same time almost translucent.  Dante could see through it.  When he tilted it in the light, small symbols shone faintly blue.  "I completely forgot I was holding it.  What is it?"

"A sword."

Dante scowled, "Yeah.  Got that.  But why did that thing want it?  It's not like it could use it....could it?"

"No, but we could against it.  You saw how it reacted when you swiped at it.  You wounded it.  That's why it took off.  That sword, Ombris, is the only thing that can hurt it.  Since the creature is shadow, it's impervious to any other weapons because they pass right through it, but that sword is basically a shadow itself, and it was created to be used against them."

"It destroys shadows?" Dante asked, looking at the sword again.

"Yes," said Raven, "So naturally the Stalker was hoping to get rid of it before someone could use it against it."

Dante glanced quizzically at the dark-haired woman, "The Stalker?"

"Yeah, that shadow creature is called 'the Stalker.'  It's what was controlling all the demons that attacked us.  It has no real power on its own, but it's very dangerous because it can control demons, both weak and powerful, depending on its strength.  It gets stronger by taking people's souls, by devouring their shadows.  It uses other demons to weaken its prey and then it comes in for the kill.  It's what it tried to do to me...and what it did to Trish."

 "That's what got Trish?"  Dante's anger sparked.  "It's using her soul to control demons?"

Raven nodded solemnly.

Dante punched the air, "I can't believe I let it get away!"

"Dante," Raven tried to sooth, "You didn't know.  There's no way you could have known-"

"You knew," Dante shot angrily, "You could have told me."

Raven shook her head in frustration.  "Before now I wasn't completely sure if you could wield Ombris.  I wanted to be certain before I let you know any of this," she defended.  "I also didn't want you to be distracted.  There's so much riding on your abilities that I needed you to keep a clear head while we were testing you.  No one else is strong enough to control Ombris or face the Stalker.  Even in your weakened state, it couldn't take your soul, so you're an enormous asset to us.  We need you."

Dante stared at her coldly, "And are all these tests over now, Raven?  Have I passed?  Is your organization satisfied with me and my abilities? Do I finally get the truth?"

Raven frowned, "I am telling you the truth, Dante?"

"Not all of it," he approached her. "I want the whole truth, Raven, not just bits and pieces to keep me quiet for a while or until it's a convenient time for you to tell me something.  You told be about the Stalker and Ombris, but there's gotta be more to this story.  A shadow with a mind of its own isn't all that's scaring you, is it?"

"...no..."

Dante smiled and sat down, "Then spill.  I'm all ears."

"Hate to break up the love fest."

Both Raven and Dante turned to face a tall brunette in a dark overcoat.  Although he smiled, there was no amusement in his cold green eyes.  He looked disdainfully at the pair of hunters seated together in the mud.  He walked up to them, his grin fading.

Raven smiled with relief, "You're late, Zephyr."

The man shot Dante a quick icy stare, then returned his gaze to the dark-haired woman, "So are you.  And you look like shit."

"Yeah, well I've felt better too."

The brunette smirked, "It took me a while to track you down."  He looked past Raven at the disassembled bike, "That your ride?"

Raven grinned, "Used to be.  Dante's bike is totaled too I think?"

Zephyr turned amusedly to the silver-devil, "That true?"

Dante nodded, catching Zephyr's smirk.

"Well it's a good thing I brought my car, then.  I wouldn't want the son of Sparda to have to walk."

Dante glared.  'Stuck-up asshole.'

"Lay off him, Zephyr," said Raven tiredly, "Let's get going before the underworld decides there's a round two."

Zephyr shrugged, "Sure," he said, helping Raven to her feet, "And you can fill me in on what happened here."

"Right," Raven held his arm for support, "You comin Dante?"

The silver-haired mercenary got to his feet without a word, never taking his eyes off the taller man.  He trailed behind Zephyr and Raven, feeling all the more like a lost puppy.

***

"From what you've told me, the Stalker's gotten a lot stronger than we thought."  Zephyr left the main traffic of the boulevard and turned into an alley.  "I didn't expect it to be able to control level five demons just yet."

"No, neither did I," Raven said gloomily, "We're going to have to kick things into gear and eliminate it before it gets too strong."

"Hm," Zephry nodded.  "So what do ya say, Sparda?"  He glanced at Dante through the rearview mirror, "You man enough for the challenge?"

Dante shifted his pale eyes up, looking distant, "Since you apparently aren't. I guess I have no choice."

Raven hid a smile in her palm and looked out the window to avoid eye contact with Zephyr.  The brunette was silent as he pulled in behind a building.  He stopped the car and took the keys out of the ignition.

"We're here," he said and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

Raven couldn't help giving Dante a passing smile as they followed Zephyr into the building's back entrance.  They walked down a short hallway, turned left and got into a hidden elevator that blended in with a cement wall.

"Pretty slick," Dante commented to himself as they stepped inside.  He looked at the control panel, noting the various buttons.

"Don't touch anything," Zephyr warned him, "We don't want you to cause us any problems because you can't keep your hands to yourself."

Dante turned on him, "I wasn't going to touch the damned buttons."

"I wasn't referring to the buttons," Zephyr mumbled and pressed a red one to close the doors.  He pushed another and the elevator began going down.

Dante ignored him and leaned against the back of the elevator.  "So where we going?" he asked Raven.

"Underground," she said, joining him on the wall, "And you'll finally get all your answers."

"Good," Dante eyed Zephyr, "I'd better."

**********

Well that's it then.  Sorry that there isn't any action in this one, but I had to get on with the story a little more.  Thanks for all the reviews thus far.  Keep 'em comin.

* REVIEW * REVIEW * REVIEW *

And for those who care, I have another DMC in the works, but I'll let you know when I actually put it up.