Generation Gap
Sharice crossed her legs as she heard the door open and then slam shut. "What did she say?" she asked as Dante stomped past her. He stopped halfway across the room. "Why did you come back? Where is Lilith?"
Dante glared at her as if she'd insulted him. He immediately calmed down when Deanna's image flashed through his mind. He settled for sitting in the nearest chair and neurotically rocking back and forth in deep thought.
"What's going on?" Sharice insisted. "You came back too soon, and empty handed on top of that. What did you do? You might as well start talking, in case we don't see each other again."
Dante sat up and glared at her again. "Don't be ridiculous, Deanna. You're losing what's left of your mind."
"What did you say?"
"I said you're losing your mind."
"No." Sharice lowered to the floor and edged towards him. "You called me Deanna."
Dante looked as if he'd been caught stealing. "I'm sorry."
"No, you're not. And I think I know why."
"It's not what you think."
"Are you sure? Do you even know what I think?" Sharice pressed herself against his leg and rested her elbow on his knee. "You actually see her, don't you? Right now, you literally see her, right here, talking to you. Against your will."
"What makes you think it's against my will?"
"Because you are the kind of person who would want to forget about losing something you were so attached to."
Dante leaned to his left and massaged his temple. "It is this thing in my head. It makes me see things through time and space. It makes you look like Deanna. It makes Lilith look like my mother. I can't begin to describe what I saw in Xasho, though my father's blood helped."
"What you're seeing is real."
Dante gave her a gaze of bewilderment. "It's real," she repeated. "I am aware of what that piece of crystal shrapnel in your brain is doing to you."
"Lilith told you everything," he belatedly realized. "After I specifically told her not to."
"She couldn't help it. I wouldn't let her keep it a secret." Dante cursed under his breath. Sharice insisted, "You might as well tell me all about it. I deserve your unconditional honesty, or else you had no business marrying me."
"I sort of had no choice either way," Dante said. "I was going to marry you anyway."
Sharice tilted her head as if she didn't believe him. "Why is that?"
"Because the crystal is showing me your soul. You are, or rather you were, Deanna. In another life."
Sharice felt her face twitch. "Well, I did say that what you were seeing was real. I'll leave it at that, then. I'm not jealous, if that's what you're afraid of."
"What? You're not going to grill me on it?"
"No, you have something more important to worry about. What would be the point? I'll make your life a living hell when you return."
"I don't think that's possible. I grew up in hell."
"So did I."
(X)
Lilith floated in a black abyss. She felt herself curl into a fetal position as she slowly opened her eyes. There was no sense of gravity to tell her which way was up or down. She stared straight ahead into nothingness.
"Wake up," she heard a whisper in her ear. Lilith didn't respond, though she was already conscious. Whoever spoke ignored her silence. "Look forward, and see your fate."
Lilith wondered silently if this was one of her grandfather's mystical visitations. He seemed to be spending more and more of his time with Dorian, but she hadn't forgotten what it felt like. In Sparda's presence, she always felt a warm familiarity and pensive connection. Here, there was only cold silence. She dared to open herself anyway at the risk of losing herself to the darkness. Then she remembered a speech Dante had given her long ago, about why he had cultivated the evening glory gardens throughout the empire. Along with honoring her mother's memory, it was a reminder of life persevering in the dark. Lilith breathed deeply as she let herself go.
She sensed Saera and Syron in front of her as she lay engulfed within the Dark General. Saera and Syron were in a large room made completely of smooth stone. The Dark General was suspended from the ceiling as a squirming silver-black glob. Saera was extremely unhappy.
"How could you!" Saera screamed in rage. "You had a chance to be rid of him right then and there, and you sent him home!"
Xasho waved two tentacles in front of her. "It is a matter of honor," the Eclipse of Hope said matter-of-factly. "I would not expect you to understand."
"Don't feed us that," Syron said. "We brought you here with a job to do."
Xasho gave off a sound that could have been mistaken for a laugh. "You dare to command me? Only Lord Mundus could garner such respect from me, and Lord Mundus you are not."
"You bitch," Syron said. "Don't you dare even think of betraying us."
"What if I do? I am the Eater of Souls. What could you possibly do?"
Saera stepped in front of Syron. "That won't be necessary. All we want is for you to get rid of Lilith's family and leave the rest to us. Then you can do as you please."
Xasho was silent for a moment as if in thought. Lilith could sense what Xasho was about to do. She didn't know if she could stop the Dark General, but she had no intention of trying this time. Xasho raised one of her tentacles.
"I have a better idea."
(X)
Sharice sighed in her sleep as Dante stroked her bare back with a bare hand. At that moment, she looked like Sharice. Dante lifted his eyes to gaze through the window. The late afternoon sun shone like a threat. It was a grim reminder of what he had to do within a few hours. He allowed himself a few more minutes before getting up to get dressed. Sharice awoke from the bed's movements but made to move to get up. She waited until Dante was headed out the door before turning her head to look at him. He glanced at her one last time to see Deanna smile at him. He smiled back before closing the door.
Dante made it to the Mishra Tower on foot with only a few minutes to spare. He carefully laid a hand against the crystal barrier. It heaved as if it were breathing. A rift in the crystal appeared beneath his hand. It spread quickly across the crystal just enough to allow passage to the entrance. He sprinted across and made it through the door just in time to avoid being crushed by the closing crystal. The door slammed behind him and left the entire building in darkness.
"Xasho," he whispered mockingly, as if he were searching for a child. "Where are you?"
There was a soft bing as he heard the elevator open ahead. The shard in his head activated, and the entire room was illuminated in the familiar blue and white hue. He could tell the architecture had been altered. He walked forward into the elevator. He waited patiently as it carried him to the top floor. He inhaled deeply as he stepped out onto the stone floor.
"I was hoping you'd make it," Xasho called out from the total darkness. Lilith's form stepped out from a behind a pillar. Her body was tinted a deep blue.
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't?" Dante and Lilith circled around each other. Dante noticed dismembered bodies amid pools of blood on the floor. "I see you had a disagreement with the ones who brought you back."
"They wouldn't let me do things my own way. You know I don't like that. And I was feeling a bit hungry."
Dante glanced up the wall on the other side of the pitch black room. He noticed the outline of a large gargoyle close to the ceiling. Its mouth was wide open. A swirling mass rolled around on its tongue. It was a bright milky white, but it could not illuminate the room. He recognized it immediately as a condensed mass of souls, probably of the people who had died in the street the day before. "A midnight snack?" he suggested.
Lilith responded by spreading her arms. Six tentacles of slime emerged from her spine. They curled and raised up in preparation of attack. Dedicating himself to the consequences, Dante withdrew the Yamato and held it out at his side. Lilith and Dante stared at each other through the dark as they waited to see who would make the first move.
Dante finally began with a single thrust towards her. Lilith turned to her right as a tentacle lashed out from her right. It curved around her in time to parry on her left side. Each attack was thrown aside with a lash of a tentacle. Parrying one final attack, a right tentacle wrapped around Dante's wrist and pulled it out of the way. A second one smacked across his back. There was a loud snap as the tentacle popped back like a whip. Lilith moved as if to flip him to the floor, but he twisted his wrist and severed the tip of the tentacle holding his arm.
Lilith screeched and stumbled away. The glob of slime that fell to the floor quivered for a few seconds, then sat still. Dante brushed it aside with his foot. The remaining tentacles withdrew into Lilith's spine. Dante's enhanced vision showed a flash of black against the blue. Lilith spread her arms again. This time, her bone spikes emerged from the sides of her arms. They were covered with Xasho's slime.
Lilith lunged forward and swung her elbow for Dante's neck. He knocked her arm aside with the Yamato. She stumbled again as her momentum carried her past him. As soon as she turned to face him, he plunged the Yamato between her ribcage. It was barely high enough to miss her uterus. Lilith jabbed Dante in the chest and kicked him away. A slime tentacle emerged long enough to pull the Yamato out and place it into her hand, then withdrew into her spine again. She considered whether she should toss it aside or give it back to him. She tossed it aside when she sensed him stand.
Dante cracked his fingers as he considered the next move. He saw a faint sparkle just below where he'd stabbed Lilith. She broke the stillness by throwing her arm towards him. Dante held up his right hand as several darts flew towards him. They continued on their path until, at the last possible moment, an invisible force knocked them aside. Each one soared past him without touching him. With a snap of his fingers, shards of ice flew back Lilith's way. A shield of slime emerged from the floor, but one shard slipped past and pierced Lilith's shoulder.
In a fit of new rage, Lilith parted the shield. She parted it into thick ropes and slung them all at Dante. He leapt straight up and landed neatly on the one that passed beneath him. Lilith released the other end from her body and joined him on the rope. She quickly glimpsed at the gargoyle behind him. The milky white mass began to brighten, but it still could not give off any light.
Dante took advantage of the split second distraction. Lilith recoiled as the fingers of his right hand jabbed into where she'd been previously stabbed. She threw a punch at him, but his right hand caught it. A surge of energy from the crystal in his hand sent a jolt of hot pain up her arm. She swiped the side of her free arm across Dante's abdomen. The force was strong enough to throw him up and away from her. Lilith steadied herself as she grabbed her arm. The energy jolt had partially numbed it. She felt the rope vibrate as Dante landed on it farther away.
Lilith braced herself as Dante charged at her. As if by reflex, two tentacles emerged and pulled Lilith to the ceiling. She flipped upside down and landed against her feet. The tentacles retracted. Lilith was left stuck to the ceiling by force of will. Dante continued past her and threw himself off. He grabbed the Yamato as he soared over it. When he landed, he turned back towards Lilith, who waited patiently on the ceiling. He slashed his way through the ropes of slime as he ran back to her.
When he reached her, he leapt at her and swung the sword. She parried with her arm and kicked at him. He flew backwards into a pillar. He rebounded at her again. She spun to dodge. As he flew past her, the Yamato slashed across her back. Lilith shrieked and fell to the floor onto her back. Before she could stand, Dante landed with each foot on either side of her. He raised the sword to nail her to the floor with it.
