I'll have to say, that this is probably one of the more boring chapters I've had yet…please excuse that, but it's important, really…And I barely got certain parts out, thanks to Chasm for a little help there…you helped me clear my mind a bit on this. (bows lightly to Chasm) I might be a bit slow on updating, since I've been doing some other work as well.

Chapter 15

Fayze stepped out from the bathroom, buttoning up a long sleeved white dress shirt he had been given to wear. His damp hair hung low to his eye brows, and he brushed them to the side as well as he could. He wiped some of his own blood off of his pack of cigarettes that he had saved from his bloody jacket, then stuck them into the chest pocket of his shirt. Although he felt refreshed from the shower, his head still throbbed from the blood lose, and he swayed some as he walked into the living room. He tried to clear his mind as best he could, as to not worry anyone.

A thin smile crossed Fayze's face as he saw Dyne and Nevia. Both were sitting on the carpet near the bookshelf, looking over one of Nevia's tomes. Nevia was sitting quite close to him, pointing things out in the book and explaining what the spells said and such. Dyne would nod his understanding every now and then, and ask questions about the spells as well.

Fayze decided to come over and see how well Dyne was progressing. "So, how're you doing here?"

Dyne smirked up at him coolly. "Learned to harness fire and we're working on earth. Nevia thinks that those two would be best compatible for me to use." Dyne explained.

Nevia giggled to herself. She seemed to be acting more and more social and open around Dyne, and Dyne was acting less and less cocky around her. "Of course, you've got innate skills in both elements. Just look at your personality; strong, brave I suppose, thick headed, stubborn, hot tempered. . ." She snickered. "You're perfect for both elements."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Dyne grumbled sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Fayze smiled lightly at that, and shrugged. "Well, people are born with certain elemental traits. Also, you're demon blood might help somewhat. Demons are usually bound within an element. For example, Shadow's have the darkness, Frosts with ice, Kyclops' use earth, Homromsi use fire elements, most flying demons could be associated with the wind element."

Dyne was now getting a bit confused at this point. "Okay, so as a demon. . .I have an elemental trait? So how do I know what it is?"

"Well, it's most likely earth as your demon element. I noticed that most of the wolf demons can use earth magic, but they usually don't rely on any magic, since they're trying to live like humans. But as a human, you have an element as well, which is most likely the fire element that you've apparently learned."

Dyne sighed with frustration now, all this talk of elemental attributes confusing the hell out of him. "Can we just not worry about how I can do this and just continue learning them?"

Nevia grinned at this point and grabbed his jaw lightly, pulling his head to look back at the books. Fayze shrugged and headed into the kitchen, sitting across from Vergil, who was placidly sitting, drinking a cup of coffee.

Fayze looked over at the coffee pot, seeing that it was nearly empty. He wondered why Vergil would be drinking so much of the stuff, but shook the question off.

Vergil looked up at him quietly, a withered frown on his face. Fayze wondered what was wrong, but he didn't know about Vergil being attacked by the serpent earlier that day while he had been out of commission.

Vergil's body ached horribly from the assault. He felt like his energy had been squeezed from his body. Perhaps it was from having stayed up for four days straight and only getting one night of rest. He hoped that he could sleep as well tonight as he had the night before. That would certainly put him into better shape.

He moved his head some to take a look at the living room clock. Fayze had taken quite a long shower, so it seemed, and it was now mid afternoon-half past 4. Vergil hadn't realized that they had been out hunting for that long. On the way home, Nevia had explained to him what had happened to them in the alley, but that had only taken a few minutes. The more time enduring part of the outing had been the actual walk within the area, he supposed.

Vergil didn't have time to worry about it at the moment. His body was tired, as was his mind. He stood up slowly and left silently, abandoning the remainder of his coffee as he headed off to his room without a word.

Fayze picked up the coffee cup, sniffing it, then wrinkled his nose. How anyone could drink this stuff was beyond him. He took it and dumped the offending liquid down the sink, then headed into the living room to lie on the sofa. He laid facing Dyne and Nevia, so that he could watch their progress.

Dyne snickered from where he sat, then looked over toward the couch. At first, Fayze thought he was looking at him, but then noticed that his eyes were focused on the coffee table. Fayze glanced down at the table, seeing that the only things there were two cup coasters, a small book, and the remote control for the TV.

"Okay, let's see how this goes…" Dyne grumbled, staring hard at the coffee table. Fayze grinned as every object on the top started moving in twitchy motions, then laughed as they all slid off to the floor in Dyne's direction.

"What, working on psychic now? I thought you two were doing earth magic?" Fayze laughed, sitting up and picking up the objects. "Did you give up already?"

Nevia smiled lightly. "Actually, no. We're done with it, and now we're working on something else." She explained. Dyne grinned wide, quiet content with his movement. Of course, he'd had Cerbis lazily give him some advice and help, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

Fayze stared at her as he sat the items down, dropping a coaster. "Wait, what? You're done with it? But it takes days, weeks, sometimes months to learn how to use magic! You must not have taught him much."

"Honestly, I didn't." Nevia smiled. "There's really not as much to using the elements as people seem to think. It's just a matter of invoking the talent."

One of Fayze's ashy brows arched high to his forehead. "Wait, but it takes complicated spells, concentration, and skill to use all that! There's no way he could have learned how to use the stuff already!"

"You're wrong there kiddo." Nevia corrected. "It's only when you don't have natural compatibility with an element that you need spells or extreme concentration. Think about it…when I use magic, I don't need to concentrate much on it. That's because I'm using things that come naturally. Dyne here is pretty good with fire it seems, but not nearly as adept as he is with earth."

Fayze shook his head, massaging his temples lightly. "How do you know that he's proficient with those? Don't tell me you're letting him strike up flames here in the house!"

"No, of course not. I wouldn't trust Dyne with a match in here." She giggled, smiling with satisfaction as she caught the cross look on Dyne's face. "It's true pal, get used to it."

Dyne shrugged and leaned over against the book shelf. "So I haven't actually tried anything yet…If Nevia says I'm skilled, then I must be. She wouldn't say that about me unless she meant it."

"He's got a point there, I wouldn't." Nevia stated, smirking back up at Fayze.

"But if he hasn't even tried the stuff out, then how do you know that he can use them?" Fayze argued, feeling a bit annoyed about all this. It seemed preposterous that Dyne could learn spells, magic, psychic abilities, or any other demon skills in a matter of hours, when he himself had spent half his life learning all of it.

"Well Fayze, I have a certain sense with these things. I can tell what he's good at, and what he's not, so let's just leave it at that, okay?"

Dyne gave a lopsided smirk. He was quite impressed that the girl was standing up for him. That was a first for him, really.

Fayze crossed his arms over his chest, looking down to the book in Dyne's lap. "If he's supposedly has some kind of innate ability to use magic, then why the hell are you bothering to teach him various spells? What's the point in that?"

"I'm giving him an idea of some of the things he could do." Nevia explained. "The book tells descriptions of the spells, along with how they are preformed. I figured Dyne could tinker around a bit and see what works for him."

Fayze sighed, massaging his temples again. It seemed that the lose of blood was getting to him again, and his legs felt somewhat weak under his weight. "Perhaps I should do as Vergil and get some rest…I'm not exactly feeling too well."

Dyne nodded, as did Nevia. "Yeah, you get some rest, man. You don't need to be running around much after dying like that." Dyne said with a grin. Fayze nodded and left slowly to his and Dyne's room, dragging his feet some.

After he was gone, Dyne looked over to Nevia. "I wanna go try these abilities now. Can we please?"

"Well, I don't see why not…" Nevia knew there were people after him, but if they attacked, she'd be ready. "But, where do you want to do this?"

Dyne closed the book in front of him, then sat it down. "Hmm. . .how about that hill where we fought that demon? The big snake guy?"

"Yeah, I know where. That'd be an excellent place." She stood and gave Dyne a hand up, then adjusted her clothes. "Okay, get your stuff and we'll head out."

Dyne nodded, then hurried off to his room. Nevia took the time to get her own sword, and then headed to the kitchen as she strapped it to her side.

She stopped just before she came to the kitchen, looking out the window along the wall adjacent to the kitchen. Their room happened to be at one end of the complex, and she could see numerous other buildings outside. She smiled, seeing a few black birds perched in a tall, leafless tree near the apartment building.

Dyne came back rather quickly, throwing his coat down onto the couch as he began getting his holsters on. As he slipped on the coat, he looked over at Nevia curiously, who was just leaned against the windowsill, staring off.

"Hey, I'm ready any time Nev." Dyne said, hoping to gain her attention. She did turn, looking over at him with a mellow look on her face.

"Already? My, someone's eager." She grinned softly, moving from the window, then to the front door. "This won't take long I hope…"

Dyne smirked and headed out the door as she held it open for him. "Nah, it'll be cake."

The two headed out of the complex quietly, both walking along next to each other. Dyne stuffed his hands into the pockets, watching the surroundings cautiously. Nevia couldn't blame him really; no telling when someone might jump them.

Nevia watched the sky and rooftops, and Dyne glanced over at her, wondering what she was looking for. If they were to be attacked, it would probably be someone sneaking out from an alleyway or from behind something, not from the roofs. He shrugged lightly, walking on.

After a short time gazing upward, Nevia smiled and moved a little closer to Dyne, wrapping her arm around his. Dyne went ridged for a moment, looking over at her in question. What the hell was she thinking? She didn't. . .like him that much. . .did she?

Dyne gave a small cough and blinked. "Um, what are you doing?"

Nevia frowned up at him. "What? You don't like it? I'm just trying to look like an inconspicuous couple here." She smiled thinly, seeing a light blush go across Dyne's face. "I'm not gonna bite or anything, but I'll leave you be, if you want me to."

Dyne chuckled lightly and grinned. "No, no! Stay babe, I don't mind. Just not. . .used to it is all."

Nevia gave him a quick nudge in the ribs, causing him to flinch. "What did I tell you about calling me babe?" She warned, sounding more amused than threatening. "I'm no babe, Dyne."

"Sure you are." Dyne reassured, still smirking. "In a cool, not-so-feminine sort of way." He started snickering, but winced and stopped as Nevia nudged him again, this time a bit harder.

"So I don't act like a sissy girl, so what? Would you prefer me to be the helpless damsel, constantly pleading for your help? Begging for you to rescue me during any small conflict?" She scoffed lightly. "I hang out with a tough ass like Vergil, like I could even consider being a wimp. Around him you've got to be tough, and I was like that anyways."

Dyne blinked. "Hey, I was wondering. . .are you and Vergil. . .Going out or something?"

Nevia gave him a disgruntled look. "Me? Dating him?? You can't be serious!?" She started laughing, leaning against Dyne a little. "No way! We're just partners! Besides, he sees me more as a daughter than anything else. We tease each other a bit, nothing more." She explained, her voice sounding slightly humored. "Do you think I'd be hanging on you right now if he and I were really dating?"

"Well, maybe…Maybe you're both having a slump or something…how am I to know?" Dyne shrugged, but winced as he was nudged again.

"I like it better when you're quiet. You don't say stupid things." Nevia groaned.

"Gee, thanks." Dyne grumbled, letting his head droop. He watched his feet as they went along.

"Aw, isn't that sweet? You two make a nice couple there." Someone said sarcastically from behind the two. Dyne turned, seeing the tall, bulky, blonde haired figure standing only feet away. Dyne's eyes narrowed and he growled, moving back a step and taking his arm away from Nevia.

"YOU!" Dyne snarled. Reese just grinned, his huge arms crossing his chest.

"And what are you going to do about it, Sparda brat?" Reese sneered still, causing Dyne to clench his fists. He hated when someone grinned at him like that. He quickly materialized his gauntlet, squatting down some into a fighting stance. Nevia reacted much in the same way, drawing her sword.

Reese scoffed, then backed up a bit. "You're too weak to stand up against the faction. You should just give up and join us, kid." Dyne growled, not taking too kindly to being called 'kid'.

"I'll show you kid, asshole!" Dyne growled, charging at him. Reese suddenly spun around, making a run for it. He was definitely fast for seeming to be a human, and at that size too. Dyne kept after him, hearing Nevia yell something behind him, but paid it no heed. "Get back here, you bastard!"

Nevia had no choice but to follow Dyne. She knew damn well this was a trap, and apparently Dyne wasn't listening to her. She watched as Reese turned into a narrow alleyway, Dyne following him closely. "Damn it Dyne! You idiot!!" She had no choice but to pursue them, running into the alley as well.

Reese was stopped at the end of the alley, looking up at a tall brick wall before him. He turned around slowly, a smirk spread across his face. Dyne stopped about ten feet in front of him, also grinning.

"What do you have to look so smug about?" Dyne growled, edging a bit closer. Reese made no move, only stood there.

"You're a fool, Sparda brat. My master will have you. . .one way or another…" Reese chuckled lightly, only causing Dyne to become more infuriated.

"Shut your trap…" As Dyne moved closer, he heard Nevia yell from behind him, then turned.

Nevia was turned around, her sword drawn as she backed away from a large group of men. Dyne quickly counted at least twelve of them, each armed quite well compared to the last bunch he'd fought. Each had either a rather large knife, or a small, old looking gun. Nevia glared at him as she backed away.

"I tried to tell you this was a trap!" She growled.

Dyne grinned wickedly as he watched them move forward. "So what? At least I get to practice on them."

Well, that's about enough today I think. I'm seriously trying to shorten these things, as to make them less tedious on any readers…(looks around at the tiny handful as crickets chirp) Oh well…Anyways, I'd love some reviews, really, seriously…But if you don't wanna, I'd understand…I'll try to update soon…