Devil May Cry: Zero

Chapter 13: The Summon

Rei waited for Zorlin to slit her throat any moment. She didn't want to die, but there wasn't any strength in her body left to fight back. She wasn't afraid of death. In a way, it was a kind of relief, an end to all her problems. If she never existed, her father and Mia could have lived a normal life. They could have got along with their relatives. Mia could have stayed at a place long enough to make friends, to fall in love, and enjoy simple happiness like these.

Dante and Vergil knew they couldn't possibly make it in time. Nevertheless, they hurried towards where Zorlin and Rei were as fast as they could. To their surprise, the demon leader jumped away rather frantically all of a sudden. When they looked closely, they saw that he was being chased by a bunch of snake-like silver slimes that had appeared out of nowhere. Those little creatures exploded into ice shards when they caught their prey.

Vergil reached Rei quicker than Dante. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to where Mia was. Meanwhile, Dante fired his guns at Zorlin to make sure he stayed busy. His blue eyes widened when he saw where the silver creatures came from.

Vergil looked at the girl he was carrying. He couldn't tell if she was unconscious or asleep. Her pulse was unstable. One moment it could be beating extremely fast and the next moment there was close to no beating at all.

Mia was woken up by the sound that the devil hunters made when they arrived where she was. She scolded herself silently for fainting at such critical time.

"Rei!" Mia's gasped when Vergil he put down her twin next to her. Rei looked very pale and there was blood was all over her. It hurt Mia to see her twin's face twisted in pain as she suffered the after-effects of overusing her power.

"Look after her, we'll take care of the other side," Vergil said to her. Mia didn't seem to have heard. Regardless, the twin brothers hurried back to the battleground.

"Hey Vergil, there's something I don't get," Dante glanced over to his twin. "Why does he have to kill Rei and Mia if he is after our amulet?"

"Zorlin main objective was to open the Gate and had always been from the beginning. Perhaps he plans to help the prince of darkness to regain the control of both worlds once again as well. Who knows? But what I know is he wanted the Priestesses at first. But, when he knew our amulet could be used instead, he changed his plans," Vergil explained. "If he wants to kill Rei and Mia, there can only be one reason."

"Don't tell me…" Dante came to a sudden realisation. The answer was so simple that he felt a bit stupid to have asked.

"Yes, the Priestesses should have the power to seal the Gate."

Mia cradled Rei gently as though she was a broken doll. "Please Rei, don't do this to me," Mia could feel tears welling up her eyes. "You said we need to change destiny, remember? You can't just leave now." She wished everything that was happening was only a bad dream. In fact, she wished more than anything that Rei could have lived their lives for both of them. Their life would have been so much better if only one of them was born.

By the time Mia noticed Rune, he was already right beside her and Rei. Instinctively, she moved her twin away from her cousin as fast as she could while doing it as carefully as possibly. "What do you…?" Before she could finish, he was gone. Unknown to her, he reappeared on the other side in a ghastly manner. It almost made her jump when she saw his hand resting on Rei's forehead. "Don't touch Rei!" Mia snapped. "Or I will…"

"Or you will what?" Rune shrugged with an amused expression on his face. "You can't possibly defeat me in such condition."

Mia bit her lip. He was right, but she wouldn't let him do whatever he wanted either. "What else do you want? Just sit back and enjoy this show that you spent so much effort setting up."

Dante was about to turn back to where the girls were as soon as he saw Rune's appearance, but Vergil stopped him. "He won't hurt them," Vergil told his younger twin.

"Can't I see my cousin?" Rune smiled at her. Mia was still eying him in a warily. Her cousin would have been considered very good-looking to ordinary human women, no less than Dante and Vergil. Mia, however, was beginning to find his smiling face quite sickening. "Alright, I promise I'm going to help this time," He said. There was nothing you can do really, Mia thought to herself bitterly. You couldn't save Rei before nor protect her from danger now. "If you do anything to her," Mia warned. "I'll kill you." Her face told him that she was dead serious.

A stinking smell that came from the Gate's direction caught Mia's attention. Her eyes widened in dismay when she saw the 'thing' where the revolting smell originated. "Oh Rei, what did you call up?" Mia said to no one in particular.

Right in front of the dissolving seal was a pool of black ooze, twisting and turning as though it was alive. On top of it were all kinds of different rubbish such as body parts of demons, bones and skeletons. Apparently, it was pursuing Zorlin itself as well as releasing many silver slugs to attack him at the same time.

As soon as a new wave of silver slugs went towards Zorlin, Vergil signalled Dante to go to the other side of him. Although he was not completely sure if the ooze was something Rei summoned, it appeared to be on their side. The moment that a few silver slugs exploded on Zorlin, the twin brothers used the chance to pincer attack. To their dismay, Zorlin somehow managed to avoid the ice explosion and blocked both of them cleanly and solidly.

Mia watched Rune as closely as a prison guard would watch over prisoners while he was healing Rei. After a few minutes, he removed his hand. "I can't heal her injuries, but I've recovered her strength," Rune said and gave Rei back to her twin's care.

After Rune's treatment, Rei's condition seemed to have improved slightly. Her face was no longer as pale as a sheet. Her expression was more relaxed, she didn't appear to be in pain anymore. "Why are you doing this?" Mia asked. It seemed impossible for anyone to understand her cousin. "You can control the destiny of this world in your hands easily. Why are you helping us now?"

"Well, I just feel like it I guess," Rune replied light-heartedly.

"It was you who told Zorlin about Dante and Vergil's amulet, wasn't it?" Mia confirmed her hunch was right when she saw Rune return her a smile.

"Rei!" Mia called her twin when she saw her starting to stir. "Oh gosh, I thought you were going to…" Mia broke into tears.

Rei sat upright and brushed a tear off her twin's face. "It's ok," She smiled and hugged Mia. "Everything's ok, I'm not going anywhere," Rei said, patting Mia's back softly to comfort her.

By the time they let go of the embrace, Rune was nowhere to be seen. "Rei, what is that thing? It is something you summoned, right?" Mia asked as she wiped away her tears.

"It is called Nightmare. In the Underworld, it is regarded as one of the most powerful devils." Rei explained while watching the thing that she almost died in order to beg help from. It was no longer chasing after Zorlin; rather, it was being hindered by the two slugs which are his underlings. Nightmare shot out silver needles at the two slugs while changing its body shape constantly to avoid being touched by its attackers.

Bloody hell! Dante thought. He just barely avoided another close call. It was starting to get on his nerves that they weren't able to deal any notable damage to Zorlin. He and Vergil were fighting side by side yet it was almost like their opponent could handle them single-handedly. If anyone told him that a month ago, he would have laughed. As Zorlin was evading another one of Vergil's assault, Dante tried to sneak in an attack in from the opposite side but failed to hit his enemy. In the opposite, he had to hurl himself backwards with a back step to dodge Aura's sharp blade. It missed his forehead by a little but cut off some of his silver strands.

"Ah thanks, I've just been to the hairdresser a week ago," Dante said but everyone ignored him.

Zorlin used his crystals to block away the silver creatures sent by Nightmare. Despite his attempts to commend it to fight against Vergil and Dante, the low intelligence devil ignored his calls. He regretted to have underestimated Rei. He didn't think the Priestess was capable of performing another summon. Even a devil as strong as him was unable to fight against a Nightmare and Sparda's sons at the same time. So he ordered his own slug underlings to deal with Nightmare while he dealt with the twins himself.

It was still hard for Mia to believe she was witnessing such a nightmarish battle. "Come on Mia," Rei walked towards the Gate. "We need to close it up." There was only a small area of the seal still in place. Millions of red eyes could be seen on the far end of the black hole. An army of devils was making its way towards the human world.

"But Rei, you only just got better," Mia caught up with her twin. Compared to the world, she was more worried about the people she cares for.

"My condition looks worse than it actually is," Rei lied. Her powers had returned but her injuries had not recovered a single bit. "Besides, we are the only ones who can reseal the Gate."

The Priestesses stood very still facing the Gate, directly below the floating red amulet. Watching the moving mass of red eyes gave Mia the creeps. She looked at her twin with an anxious face. Rei could guess what Mia was thinking, she was worried that they made not be able to complete the seal before the army of devils arrived and cut them into pieces. "We'll make it," Rei said firmly. She offered her right hand and Mia held onto it with her left hand. Seconds later, they were surrounded by a blinding white light. Slowly but surely, the seal was being replaced from the edge to the center with a new, double-stranded net.

Zorlin wasn't about to let the Gate close again. Vergil noticed what the girls were doing before the taller grey-haired devil did and attempted to block his way. The devil leader struck Vergil hard enough to send him stumbling backwards for a few steps, but didn't expect Dante to appear behind his twin. Dante used Stinger to knock back Zorlin similarly. Before Zorlin could halt himself to a stop, Vergil was quick enough to get behind him. Zorlin reacted quickly but was still received a deep cut to his arm. Despite sustaining the injury, Zorlin struck at Vergil faster than he could block. Aura cut into flesh. However, it wasn't Vergil who it cut into. It was Niji.

"I'm sorry, but I owe him a favour," Niji said to Zorlin with Aura impaled through her chest. She didn't know why, but it really bothered her that Vergil didn't kill her when he could have.

"Is that so?" Zorlin said plainly, his face stiff and expressionless. Niji let out a small cry when he pulled out his sword. She fell on the ground and instantly turned into a puddle of water. The twin brothers watched the last moments of life of the water demon. Dante never really liked Niji but for some reason it made him angry to see what Zorlin did to her. His grip on Rebellion tightened and ran towards his enemy.

The seal was gradually being repaired from the edge to the center. Rei and Mia were replacing the gold stranded net by a double stranded one. They tried very hard but they were not able to close up the entire Gate. The red amulet that once belonged to Sparda was preventing them from doing so. All that was left to be sealed was a gap of the size of an ordinary door.

"Dante, Vergil, separate the amulet!" Mai called out to the devil hunters. As soon as they heard, Dante went towards the Priestesses while Vergil left behind to delay Zorlin. With a double jump, Dante was able to retrieve the amulet. He jumped away instantly followed by landing before Zorlin could slash him with Aura.

"Guess what, we've never been beaten when it comes to monkey in the middle," Dante said with a smirk while swinging the whole amulet playfully with a finger. At a speed quicker than eyes could follow, Zorlin headed towards Dante. Vergil had already caught his half of the amulet Dante threw at him before Zorlin got to his twin.

Dante performed Sword Pierce by throwing his sword at Zorlin, simultaneously firing Ebony and Ivory like there was not tomorrow. With his agile movement, Zorlin was able to avoid Dante's attack but not Vergil's dimension cuts. They had to be cautious not to hurt Rei and Mia as they do since they were so close. Zorlin looked at the Gate and began to panic. There was no time left, the seal was almost completely repaired. Just when he was about to throw his deadly sword towards one of the Priestess, the Nightmare engulfed him from behind.

Vergil and Dante watched as the devil leader struggled inside the pile of goo. It looked to them that Zorlin was trying to break out when his crystals but was no use against Nightmare's invincible body. They were both thankful that it wasn't Nightmare they had to fight against. The devil disappeared once its job was done along with Zorlin inside it.

Mia felt Rei had let go of her hand. She was about to ask why since they still hadn't completed the seal yet. Mia would never have guessed that Rei would knock her out without a word. Rei caught Mia before she dropped on the ground. The glow around their body had faded away.

"So, what's up now?" Dante pointed at the unconscious Mia after putting Ebony and Ivory back to where they belong.

After handing Mia to Dante, Rei spoke. "Though it may seem like it is, the seal is in fact still not finished. Right now, the strength of this seal is probably the same as Sparda's at most. He sacrificed a human priestess to create it. The reason why it could be broken was because it was not complete. If he wanted a complete seal, he had to seal from both sides – this side, the human realm, and the other side, the Underworld."

"Don't tell me you're going to the other side," Dante said.

"It's the only way," Rei replied.

"Well yeah I forgot to mention I don't take cash, only deposits," Dante rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry that I can't repay you personally. If you find my father, he will pay you for helping me." For some reason, although Rei had only met Dante and Vergil a day ago, they felt like old friends to her. Not that she really had any old friends, nor she had said long farewells to anyone.

"How come I have this feeling you're going to tell me you won't be able to come back after you completed the seal?" Dante asked. Rei didn't answer.

"Why are you doing this?" Vergil asked. "For mankind?"

"I'm not that sainted," Rei shook her head. "I just don't want my father, Mia, Dante and you to live in a world where you have to fear for your own life every moment. That's why I can't let the Gate to ever be opened again." She took a step forward. The gap that had not yet been sealed up was just big enough for a person to walk through.

"Didn't you say to Mia that you want to change destiny?" Dante said. "She needs you."

Rune walked out of the shadow nearby. Everyone was so used to him appearing out of nowhere that they didn't even raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want the Gate closed up forever?" Rune asked. "Not far from the other side of the Gate is the power of Sparda that had been trapped for hundreds of years. That power can turn you into the most powerful being on the planet in moments. With that power, you can even rule both worlds."

The person who knew Vergil best was undoubtedly Dante. There was nothing in the world Vergil wanted more than to become stronger. Even as his twin, Dante couldn't fully understood why Vergil kept on chasing their father's shadow.

Vergil knew Dante could never understand why he wanted to be like their father. Power was not important to Dante. His twin was more like their mother while he was more like his father. He looked at unconscious Mia whom Dante was holding. Then he looked at Rei, who was also looking at him. He was beginning to understand why his father gave up all his power and chose to live in the human world.

Rei turned around with a sigh. All people could think about was power, may be she was wrong about him. He was no different to others. Just when she was about to head to the demon realm, someone caught her hand and stopped her.

"You don't have to do this for us," Vergil said to her. She was facing the other way so he couldn't see her expression. "How can you be totally sure that the human world won't be threatened again? There may be other ways of opening the Gate that you don't know of," he continued. "It's not your fault that you and Mia were born as twins."

"That's right. As long as we're still hanging around, you've got nothing to worry about," Dante said.

"I…" Rei turned around to face them. Her throat felt dry and tears were stinging at the back of her eyes. She held back her tears with force because she had promised herself she wouldn't cry; she needed to be strong. Vergil's gloved hand was so warm and wide it made her feel safe. She had never had anyone who was willing to do so much for her besides her parents and Mia. The whole world wanted her to die for good. She, too, had always thought she should never have existed. However, right now, there was someone willing to take the weigh off her shoulders unconditionally.

"You sure are talkative today," Dante commented on his twin's unusually long dialogue in Vergil's standard. Vergil glared at his twin. He had let go of Rei's hand by then. "I mean in a good way," Dante added with a grin.

"There is something I would like you ask you," Rune began. "Sparda sacrificed the Priestess who was our ancestor in order to seal this Gate. At that time, the Priestess had a daughter, who would become the new Priestess if the present Priestess died. Why didn't Sparda kill her too?"

Vergil and Dante looked at each other before turning back to Rune. "It's obvious isn't it? Father believed those with the Priestess's bloodline should live. He wanted them to change their own destiny." Dante said.

"Your destiny is in your hands, not in anyone else," Vergil finished for him.

"Is that so," Rune chuckled, seemed satisfied at the answer. He turned around to face his cousin. "Well then, goodbye, Rei."

"Rune…" Rei watched as he walked back into the shadows. As though melted into the darkness, he disappeared. No one in the world knew where he was heading next.

After that, they began to find their way out of Domain. Mia woke up on the way. She was a little mad when she found out why Rei knocked her unconscious but nonetheless was relieved to see her twin and the devil hunters alive. When Mia asked how Dante survived the fall, Dante explained it was Rune who helped him for no reason.

In a couple of hours, they managed return to the ground above by coming out from a manhole. When they did, there were many police cars and officers around the fallen Moon Corporation headquarters. It looked almost like a severe earthquake occurred but only at where the building once stood.

Dante popped open the manhole cover and took a deep breath of the fresh air. The city air smelt good thanks to the rain that fell earlier. Vergil came out last after Mia helped Rei out of manhole.

"I've always wanted to ask," Dante looked at the twin girls. "Which one of your is the older twin?"

Rei and Mia giggled mischievously. "Take a guess," they said together. Their identical smile was more beautiful than the evening sun.

The End

Author's notes: Sorry about taking so long to write this chapter. I've been busy with uni and being sick (again). had been down for the past few days this was delay even longer. Anyway, how do you like the ending? There were so many ways I could have ended this fanfic but I chose to end it this way? Liked it? Hate it? Please review and tell me! Big thanks to all those who have reviewed for me, I couldn't have made it this far without you. Lastly, I'd like to thank Loki for beta-reading this chapter for me.

Date written: 29-5-05