Devil May Cry: Zero

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 8: The Parting

The Eighth Floor was a spacious cubic room. Not like Mia had expected five-star hospitality, but there was no furniture in the room at all. The titled floor under her feet felt icy cold no matter how long she sat there. There wasn't any other place for her to sit except the corner of the room. She could choose to sit anywhere but the corner gave her a sense of protection. Mia glanced at her watch. She had been there for almost a day. Damned Chest Pieces blocked the door to prevent her from escaping. For a few times she tried to sleep but she was afraid something might happen if she did. She was worried about Rei and her father. They were her only family that ever cared about her.

In the middle of the room was a special round tile that can be used to travel to the floor below. It worked like an elevator. A while ago, Zorlin went down to check the seal. Mia wasn't sure when he would return and drag her down to break the seal on the Gate cast by Sparda. However, he wouldn't be able to unseal Mundus completely without Rei. Mundus required a guide to lead him and his army to the human world, and only Rei's summoning powers could achieve that. That was how powerful Sparda's seal was. Mia only hoped the devils wouldn't find Rei in time. However, knowing Rei, she was probably looking everywhere for her.

The large bronze door creaked opened slowly. Mia stood up alertly, expecting it to be one of Zorlin's subordinates. To her surprise, a silver-haired young man whom she hadn't seen before came through. He had a gun on each hand, one black and the other white. There was another person with him. Mia couldn't believe it. It was Rei.

They saw each other at the same time. The Damned Chest Pieces responded to the presence of strangers and began to move. Pawns moved first, followed by Knight and Bishops. Dante picked the ones on the side to deal with first to make way for Rei to go through. Immediately, Mia ran up to her sister.

"Mia!" Rei was so glad to find Mia unharmed. The tightness in her chest loosened simultaneously. "Are you all right?" She asked.

"I should be the one asking you," Mia frowned as she replied. Her twin sister had cuts and bruises all over. The dirt on Rei's face didn't hide her paleness. Red and green stains were found on her clothes that resemble awfully like demon blood. On top of that, a sleeve was missing from her shirt. "How did you find this place?" She asked, rubbing off some dirt on Rei's face with her hand. Behind them, Dante was busy dealing with the Chest Pieces.

"The demons left a message behind after they got you. I found two task-takers who helped me to get here. But it's a long story," Rei answered. "Anyway, we have to get out of here."

Mia looked at her gratefully but shook her head. "I can't. They are looking everywhere for you. If I go with you, we'll be caught together. You should leave now, the demon leader is going to come back soon." She knew her sister wouldn't like the idea, yet she must try to convince her.

In a way, Rei could see it coming from Mia. She understood her twin too well. But, why they must make such decisions? "You're probably right. Destiny can't be changed. May be we really shouldn't exist." Rei looked at Mia in the eyes. "But if there is a chance…I want to try change destiny."

"Rei…" Mia said softly. She could understand her sister's pain better than anyone.

Dante blew up the last couple of Damned Pawns with his handguns. The Chest Pieces weren't strong although they took him a while to finish them off. After putting his guns back into the holders behind his back, he went over to Rei and Mia. He studied the other girl closely. Both girls had the same grass-green eyes, silky black hair and slim figure. There was no doubt they were identical twins. Their outfits were different though. Mia wore jeans instead of a skirt like Rei. Dante thought it was a little ironic that Mia was suppose to be the one to be rescued yet Rei was in worse shape than her. Still, he was glad that Vergil's suspicion about Rei was wrong.

Dante couldn't help but interrupt the conversation. "Look, it's not that hard. Your job is waiting to be saved and my job is to save you," he said to Mia.

"I didn't ask you to come," Mia argued, slightly irritated by his rudeness.

"Please, Mia," Rei pleaded. She was beginning to worried about how Vergil was as well.

Mia sighed and smiled. She couldn't remember being able to reject her sister's begs. Rei had a way to make her give in. "I'm sorry. I can't believe I thought about giving up." She was touched by her sister's kindness and courage.

"By the way, this is Dante." Rei introduced the devil hunter to her sister. The two of the shook hands reluctantly.

"Well then," Miaclapped her hands together. "Let's get out of here!"

One of the wolves jumped onto Niji whilst she had her attention on the other four. She used her arm to block its bite. Vergil saw an opening so he attempted to attack her from behind. If this was a ground battle, it would have been much easier. It was hard to fight on water. It was more difficult when the enemy could use water in any way she wanted. Despite having a wolf on her arm, Niji directed a pillar of water towards Vergil. The water knocked the devil hunter into the lake like a giant hammer. Niji saw another wolf was going to leap at her, so she tossed the one on her arm, making them crash into each other.

Vergil swam to the nearest piece of boulder. He was dripping wet from head to toes. The weight of the water that his clothes soaked up made him feel heavier. Some of his hair blocked his sight after getting wet. Vergil brushed his fringe backwards using his hand. He was yet to figure out how to defeat the water controller. Niji's actions wasn't very fast nor her attacks hard to evade. The hardest part was to get close to her before she could react.

From a distance, Vergil could see blobs of water of the size of tennis balls forming on the surface of the lake. One by one they raised into the air like bubbles. All at the same time, thousands of water blobs dropped and exploded like mini bombs. Knowing it was impossible to avoid them all, Vergil tried to dodge as many as he could. The blobs exploded into pieces upon touching any object. After exploding, they turned into shreds and cut anything that went in their way. Vergil was hit about four times. Each blob was not very powerful by itself but together they hurt. He knew he must end the fight quickly before Niji could unleash another attack like the previous one.

The wolves appeared to have guessed what Vergil had in mind. They were all injured in the explosions in some ways but still found strength to circle around Niji once again. Vergil went up to her from behind again while the wolves kept her busy. It was, however, a fake move. Pretending to attack from behind fooled the water controller to concentrate on her back. A couple of wolves took that chance to bite Niji's legs. She cried out in pain. Vergil went around to her side and knocked her down using Yamato's sheath.

The lake's surface returned to its once frozen state. With her legs hurting badly, Niji struggled to get up. She gave Vergil a hateful stare before disappearing into a water pillar.

Before setting off to find Dante and Rei, Vergil nodded to the wolves to thank their helpfulness. One of the wolves strolled up and sat on the ground beside him. It looked at Vergil with its bright eyes. Vergil patted its head. Its fur was thickand smooth. The wolf showed affection as it was patted. All five wolves howled at the same time and vanished within the air.

Vergil followed the only route that Dante and Rei could've taken. Just when he was about to open the door to Cathedral, the door suddenly opened in front of him. Before he could see who was coming through, that person had already ran into him. Both of them fell back upon the collision and landed on the ground.

"Vergil!" Vergil heard Rei's voice. When he sat up and realised it was Dante who ran into him. He could almost see stars in front of his eyes.

"That's the other task-taker?" A girl who looked exactly like Rei asked. Instantly, Vergil knew she must be Mia. Rei nodded in response.

"Man, I'd prefer you tell me that you're hardheaded in another way," Dante grumbled while rubbing his sore head.

"Anyone who is not retardedcould see it was you who ran into me," Vergil stated as-a-matter-of-factly. The girls giggled at this precious scene.

Unnoticed by any of them, someone walked out of the shadows in the Cathedral. Perhaps it was partly because the colour of his clothes matched the surrounding so well. No one was aware of his presence until he spoke. "Finally, all the casts are here," Rune said in his usual carefree tone.

Dante drew out his guns and pointed them at the new enemy. He was a little surprised at his brother's lack of reaction. Of course, it wasn't Vergil's calmness and prudence that drew Dante's attention. Vergil had always been able to stay focused and collected in any situations. He was being wary of Rune's presence but he wasn't as nervous as he was supposed to be for seeing an enemy for the first time. It was like Vergil had met the stranger before.

Meanwhile, Vergil's attention was more on Rei and Mia. Rei looked shocked to see Rune. Beside her, Mia was shocked too but Vergil could see anger was building up in her eyes at the same time.

"No way…Rune?" Rei managed to say. She could hardly believe who she was seeing.

"I see, it was you who sold us out," Mia said in disgust. "No wonder they could find us."

"I'm sorry I couldn't say hello to you earlier," Rune said to the girls, not bothered by Mia's negative reaction.

"You know him?" Dante asked Rei. She didn't respond. Mia knew her sister was so distressed therefore she couldn't hear Dante.

"Why are you doing this? Do you…hate us so much?" Rei asked, confusion filled her elegant features. She took a step forward without knowing. Mia pulled her sister back before she could get closer to Rune. She feared he might do something weird to Rei. "Save your breath, it's no use talking to him," Mia said.

Vergil was beginning to be able to piece together the whole story. Some questions in his mind were answered but there were still many things he didn't understand. He tuned in to their conversation to try to grasp what was going on.

Rei was slowly taking in the truth. However, she was completely unaware of the fact that a black void was gradually forming behind her. Nobody noticed because everyone was listening to Mia and Rune. A pair of black hands reached out of the void andcovered Rei's mouth before pulling her into darkness.

Author's note: Mia finally makes an entrance in this chapter. It took longer than I originally planned. I needed to be careful with her because she has to be distinctively different from Rei in terms of her personality.

Anyone ever wondered why the date written is always not the same as the day I post the chapters? That's because I usually finish with the next chapter before posting the previous one. By doing so, I can make changes to the story if I need to. Please review – it'd make my day!

Date Written: 23 March 2005