Note/Disclaimer: I'm sure you all know that most of these characters aren't mine. The newest characters are, though. And I'm sorry that it took so long to add the new chapter. I hope you like this one as much as the others. I know I don't really know what to think of this one. Well, enjoy. And thanks, Fallen Ryu, I hope I got your name right. Just be careful of who you shoot.

-

I push the door farther, revealing a standoff between my brother and the demon we all feared. But something isn't right. The appearance if the "great" monster isn't masculine, but feminine.

"Help me, Virgil." She speaks in a voice so soft and innocent that I nearly draw my sword.

I let my eyes drift from her dark hair, the color of dark chocolate, to her slender form. Somehow it is amazing to me that she is dressed. She wears such clothing to appear harmless. A long silk dress, covering all she hides, but not well enough it seems. For I can see the two knives fastened to the outside of her thighs. Such deadly beauty she holds.

"So," Dante speaks. "You've come to protect your queen. I should have known you would do this."

"Did I say I was choosing sides?" I reply with such calmness that not even I recognize it as something I had voiced.

"Come, Virgil. Be my protector here and become my king afterwards. Hell needs a strong leader such as you. Will you accept?" The demon before me speaks.

Could this truly be the demon we all revered? The demon we all fought for? Or is this something else? There is too much fear in that voice, though she tries to hide it. It is as familiar to me as the sun is to my brother.

Slowly, new memories enter my mind. The woman that stands before us never was whom Dante had assumed. She was never a demon, but a pure soul chosen and stolen by our true enemy.

My mind slips into the past. Long before either of us knew what we were. And by either of us, I mean my brother and I.

A cry fills my mind as I remember life so many years ago. It was the first time I ever saw that dark-chocolate hair, those calming eyes.

Suddenly, it is not only in my mind. I see the past through a window. I watch as the boy I once was walks through dark streets only to hear a soft whimper in the distance. The boy's mind is filled with curiosity as he follows the silent cries.

Before long, he reaches a small alley where a tiny girl of no more than four or five cries in a corner.

At first, his heart fills with disgust, until her glassy eyes meet with his.

"I tried to save it," She whispers.

He then looks down to see that she is holding the shredded remains of a dove.

She continues after a few more sniffles, "The monster. It came down while I was feeding it. I tried to scare it away, but it wouldn't leave." She broke down with stronger sobs.

I watch as the boy goes to her, his muscles tightening with every step.

As he reaches her, he gently brushes her hair back.

To his horror, she drops the bird and clings to him.

He froze for a moment before stroking her hair back from her face.

For the first time, he feels something different towards what he thought to be his own kind.

He kneels down and whispers to her, "Don't worry. I'll kill the monster for you, I promise."

She looks into his pale eyes with a look of horror.

She shakes her head and answers, "It's gone. You won't be able to find it." Then as an after thought, "What's your name? I'm Dawn."

Suddenly the memory ends. Why does my mind refuse to call back what happened afterward?

"Virgil?" The woman whispers to me. She too has remembered whom it is that stands before her.

"My bride recognizes her would-be hero. How touching it is."

I look to where the new voice had come from to see the monster I had expected. His skin black with burns from many fires. His eyes yellow from what would seem an infection.

"So," the vile monster speaks. "My greatest warrior betrays me once again. Yet again he holds the name of Sparda. But it is not pity that makes you revolt against me. Will you still attempt your escape when you learn of the fate of your precious Dawn? Perhaps it would help you to know whose soul she holds. A soul that had attached its self to her as its body died."

'Don't listen to him, Virgil. Follow your heart." The guiding voice whispers.

"Virgil." Dawn speaks to me, her voice trembling. "You see the monster from before we met. Please, keep your promise."

Doesn't she know I once served her monster? Doesn't she know I have become one of her monsters?

'Trust in what she sees.'

Should I protect this life that, years ago, touched mine? In her tears I saw…what? Why does this part of my past still elude me?

Why must this final encounter mean more than I had intended?