I've realized I've introduced a new character every chapter so far…and well, this is no exception. This should take care of the main cast though…I think. I have a habit of adding characters that pop into my head. ^_^*
Thanks for all the R&R!
Chapter 4: Dark Link
In a pocket of darkness, where the walls stretched sickeningly as time and space distorted outside them, two red demon cats knelt before a throne hidden in shadows. "Interesting…" mused a voice from the shadows. "If he is indeed Sparda's son, we could use this to our advantage…"
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Meanwhile….
It'd been a week since Dante had visited Ray. He'd continued business as usual, but the incident with Barthalanus and those panther things was nagging more and more in the back of his head. Especially that part about Occasus and a demon army. Apocalypses had a nasty way of sneaking up on you if you let them run loose too long.
At the moment, as he wandered up a street in the middle of the night with some Chinese Take-Out, Dante considered the option of just going after Occasus himself. Hell, why not? Barthalanus had seemed to think he needed that Staff thing, but he'd certainly been Mudus without it. Plus ancient relics, especially staves, didn't interest him. How the hell did a guy fight with some stick, one that wasn't even edged? He nodded to himself, lost in thought while munching on his shrimp fried rice. Plan of action decided: Take down Occasus.
…Wherever the hell he was.
Dante's ears picked up the sudden sounds of scuffling and a muffled scream from a few blocks down. Swallowing the last of his diner he vaulted to the rooftops for an aerial view. A few good leaps had him crouched above an alleyway, staring down at a woman being attacked by some stereotypical low-class devil (scaly, black, red eyes, hisses, etc). Jumping from above, Dante landed beside the startled devil and kicked its legs out from under it, while the woman gave a fluttery moan and collapsed to the ground. The devil got up with a snarl only to have Dante shove Ebony into his mouth and against the soft pallet beneath his brain. "Be a good boy and hold that thought," Dante said as he spared the woman a quick look. She was apparently fine, having just fainted. Turning back to the devil, Dante was about to blow it's head off when a thought occurred to him. He smiled unpleasantly at the devil. "You and I are going to have a little heart-to-heart." The devil hissed around the gun still jammed in his mouth. "I suppose that does make it a little difficult. Let me make you more comfortable." Dante pushed the devil against the wall then spun it to the ground where he pushed Ebony against the back of its head and stepped on its back. "Now then. Where can I find a demon lord called Occasus?" The devil growled and struggled slightly. Dante pressed harder, but the devil just snarled again and glared at him with hate…just hate, no comprehension.
"Damn," Dante growled, disgusted. "You can't even understand me, can you? Let alone speak. Worthless." Two quick shots to the head took care of it. Dante glanced over to where the woman had fainted. She still hadn't moved, which was weird considering the noise they'd been making. Dante reached out to shake her when a voice interrupted.
"Don't bother, she's just having a little nap. As for devil friend, you might think them less worthless when you face them by the hundreds."
Dante spun to find a man sitting on the ledge of the building overlooking the alley, legs draped over the edge. He smiled at Dante. Dante just blinked. The guy looked relatively human, somewhere between age 20-30, though his eyes and spiked backed hair both shone a sea foam green color in the moonlight. He wore a half buttoned up jacket of the same color with gold thread woven into the collar and cuffs, and wore pants of the same green that tucked into trim black boots. A single gold ring gleamed from his ear.
Dante shook his head and chuckled. "And people give ME a hard time about fashion."
The green haired guy shrugged nonchalantly. "As well they should. I've heard half breeds never do know how to dress."
Dante's eyes narrowed. "Do I know you?"
The guy grinned. "I highly doubt it. But I know you, son of Sparda. And of how you met with that smelly old bag Barthalanus, AND of you're thinking of attacking Occasus."
"Seems like you know me, pretty boy, but I still don't know you. You got a name to match that hair?" Dante asked.
The strange man nimbly did a back flip to his feet. "Tsk, where are my manners. Call me Lannister McGuy Bonaparte VII," he replied glibly and bowed with a flourish.
Dante gave an amused snort and gave him a flat, dubious look. "Right, whatever. So then…Lannister…What is you want from me, or why at least do you seem so interested?"
Lannister looked straight into Dante's eyes. "Because," he whispered softly, "I'm your bastard half brother."
Dante took an involuntarily step backwards. "What?!"
Lannister grinned impishly and winked. "Just kidding! My we're jumpy tonight though."
Dante growled in the back of his throat. "I'm not here to play your games. If you have something to say, say it."
Lannister rolled his eyes and gave Dante a hurt look. "No fun at all, you know that. But," he added noticing Dante's hands tightening on Ebony and Ivory, "we'll play your way."
Lannister settled back down to his sitting position and taking a lecturing tone said, "As to your earlier thoughts as to why you shouldn't just take on Occasus on your own, I thought you should first realize you'd have to go through an army to reach him."
Dante shrugged. "Been there. It's old news."
Lannister smiled mockingly. "O, so cocky. But I'm afraid you don't really see…perhaps a firsthand view will help." The light green eyes narrowed sharply and Dante felt himself reeling, falling…then flying across a plain of hell. Beneath him stretched a field of darkness, alive and swaying with the countless bodies of devils that splayed out in all directions. Above and around him swirled wheeling, winged figures that filled the sky…
Then with a snap Dante was back in his body again, staggering as he tried to shake off the vision.
"And so now you've seen it," Lannister's voice drifted down to him, soft and serious now.
Dante got a grip on reality and gave him a hard look. "I saw an army of scum. What I want to know, is where they are.
Lannister just shrugged. "So eager to die? Make no mistake, that will be the outcome." Suddenly misty green flame spirits appeared and slowly swirled around him, leaving an eerie phosphorescent trail. "Find the Staff, Dante, if you want to see this through." He gave a wink before suddenly flickering and disappearing with a wisp of green.
Dante watched the space Lannister had occupied for a few seconds, then he turned as a light rain began to fall. The long unconscious/sleeping woman lady finally stirred as the cool drops fell on her face. Dante pulled out a buck and tossed it towards her. "Call and friend, go home, and forget this ever happened," he said, not unkindly. The woman clutched the dollar and nodded wordlessly. As Dante headed home, the rain turned into a torrent. Wonderful.
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The phone rang with persistent, jarring tones. Dante, half asleep with half a hang over, managed to find the phone. "Hello?" he asked hoarsely, squinting at the light coming through his window's blinds. He still only had his mind half in gear.
"Dante! It's Sarah, returning your call! So what's up my silver friend?" asked an entirely too cheerful voice on the other side of the phone.
Dante covered his face with his hand. He had indeed called Sarah the night before, but it had been so late he had only hit answering machine. But… "Christ, Sarah, when I said 'call back at a convenient time,' I meant convenient for me too. It's 8:30 in the frickin morning." He heaved himself into a sitting position and cracked his neck.
"Yeah, I know, but I'm busy today so I wasn't sure what--" Sarah began, before Dante broke back in.
"Right, I'll just drop by around 12, kay? Thanks." He hung up the phone and passed back out.
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Across town, Sarah stuck her tongue out at the click and dial tone from her phone. "Jerk. He has the nerve to call me at 3 AM, but he hangs up if I call him at 8:30."
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At 12:30, a much more refreshed looking Dante was wandering down the long stairs to Sarah's hidden demon city/hospital/whatever it was. Reaching the platform at the bottom of the stairs, he looked around for a familiar face, of which there was none. He tapped a shoulder of some guy who was strolling around with a clipboard and looking semi important. "You know where I can find Sarah?" he asked.
The assistant looked at him disdainfully. "Ms. McNamara is busy in East Wing right now. I'm sure she can find you later," he said with a sniff and walked off.
Dante considered thrashing the guy, but instead set off for the East Wing. After a few minutes of wandering and asked for directions, he arrived at a large building with a small sign that proclaimed "East." Before he could step inside, however, Sarah came out, pausing in surprise at seeing him.
"So you decided to show up after all," she said with a sarcastic smile, her hands on her hips.
Dante shrugged ruefully. "I'm not a morning person. I was wondering if you could do me a favor though."
Sarah quirked an eyebrow. "The great devil hunter actually currying for a favor? This is new. Just promise me it won't involve more devil bodies piling on my front porch again. They were nasty work to dispose of."
Dante shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm looking for something. Maybe one of your cro…old women…you have down here could some kind of…locator spell thing." They had better as hell be able to, since Ray had all but assured him that such things did exist.
Sarah considered it for a second, then nodded. "I could arrange something. We do have one person who specializes in such. Come on, I think she's not busy right now."
Five minutes later, Dante was being introduced to Brygida Koenigsberg, a small and wrinkled woman with a think Polish accent who liked to wave her arms a lot and jab a finger at him.
[I'm not going to try to 'write' a Polish accent for her since I'd probably do it wrong. Use your imagination. ^_^ ]
"Now then," she said cocking her head at him, "what is it you look for?"
"It's called a Staff of Power," he replied, vaguely uncomfortable. Apparently part of ritual or whatever this thing was required that he stand inside some mystic circle and have runes or something painted on his face and chest. He felt like an idiot as Sarah smirked from the sidelines.
The old lady scowled. "What does it look it?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea."
The lady huffed and wagged a finger at him. "No idea? How can I find something that when you don't know what is you look for? Bah. No connection to it at all."
Dante crossed his arms and scowled back at her. "Listen lady, I'm just try…wait…I might have a connection to it of sorts. I know who it belonged to." Well maybe. Hopefully this Staff thing was his father's.
Brygida harrumphed and muttered sourly, but finally nodded. "Is fine. Now, close eyes and focus on this person." Dante closed his eyes and could hear the old crone walking around the circle and muttering a bunch of gibberish. "See person in mind, and express need for this Staff you seek." Dante had never really known his father, but his mother had had a picture of him that Dante had looked at often when he was a kid. Smoothed white hair, dark eyes, and an aristocratic smile. C'mon dad. Where's your staff…
Suddenly, the second time in twenty-four hours, Dante felt the world turn upside down and spin before suddenly finding himself floating in mid air. Unlike like with Lannister, however, he seemed actually bodily there. And this time he was higher than just a hundred feet. A lot higher, he thought looking down a very, very long 7,000 feet or so. Below him, a river meandered like a snake across glittering sand before it broke into sections reminded him of--
Before he could finish the thought, he was plummeting, being pulled earthbound by a force greater than gravity. He hit the surface…and passed through it. Down he flew through layers of earth and rock, all ethereally passing through and around him. He stopped as suddenly as he had begun, and found himself in an strange underground chamber with a high arched ceiling like a church. Above a platform across the chamber from where he floated sat a gold staff that split in two at the end then ran back together to form a point, giving something of the appearance of a hollow spearhead. Two large gold rings dangled, interlocked with the "spearhead."
Pulled towards the Staff, he was within ten feet of it when dark coils of shadows seemed to rip out of it and latch themselves to him. He screamed wordless as they burned into his flesh and seemed to crawl into part of his soul. Darkness covered his eyes and everything passed into nothingness…
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Back in the real world, Sarah lurched forward in alarm as Dante, fists clenched in the middle of Brygida's burning circle, suddenly collapsed. Brugida, who had been chanting non stop for the last few minutes, gave a hideous shriek and clapped her hands to her head. Sarah ran over to Dante and shook his shoulder lightly. "Dante? Dante, can you hear me?"
Brygida whined in the corner. "Something dark was there. Dark and responsive." She pulled her stole close around her and muttered fiercely in Polish.
Dante stirred and with Sarah's help sat up with a groan. Shit…he felt worse than he had this morning with the hangover. And there was something else…
"You okay?" Sarah asked, concerned.
Dante shook his head, though only to clear it. "Yeah, just…weirded out. I found what I was looking for though." He stood up with less effort. At Sarah's critical look, he held up his hands defensively. "I'm fine, really. All I really need are my clothes and to get this crazy paint off my face."
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Thirty minutes later, driving home, Dante considered what he hadn't told her. He could sense the Staff now, tickling the back of his mind constantly. It was an insistent tugging that he head east, following a dark unseen trail that he felt strengthen with east step. He tried to shake off its seductive whisperings and tried to focus on getting home. It was going to be a long night.
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Ta da! I don't know if Lannister came across the way I wanted him too…He's suppose to look vaguely like a cross of Sephiroth (FF7) and Seymour (FF10) and act like Xelloss (Slayers). Eh well! More too come soon. ^_^
Next Chapter: Egypt
Thanks for all the R&R!
Chapter 4: Dark Link
In a pocket of darkness, where the walls stretched sickeningly as time and space distorted outside them, two red demon cats knelt before a throne hidden in shadows. "Interesting…" mused a voice from the shadows. "If he is indeed Sparda's son, we could use this to our advantage…"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile….
It'd been a week since Dante had visited Ray. He'd continued business as usual, but the incident with Barthalanus and those panther things was nagging more and more in the back of his head. Especially that part about Occasus and a demon army. Apocalypses had a nasty way of sneaking up on you if you let them run loose too long.
At the moment, as he wandered up a street in the middle of the night with some Chinese Take-Out, Dante considered the option of just going after Occasus himself. Hell, why not? Barthalanus had seemed to think he needed that Staff thing, but he'd certainly been Mudus without it. Plus ancient relics, especially staves, didn't interest him. How the hell did a guy fight with some stick, one that wasn't even edged? He nodded to himself, lost in thought while munching on his shrimp fried rice. Plan of action decided: Take down Occasus.
…Wherever the hell he was.
Dante's ears picked up the sudden sounds of scuffling and a muffled scream from a few blocks down. Swallowing the last of his diner he vaulted to the rooftops for an aerial view. A few good leaps had him crouched above an alleyway, staring down at a woman being attacked by some stereotypical low-class devil (scaly, black, red eyes, hisses, etc). Jumping from above, Dante landed beside the startled devil and kicked its legs out from under it, while the woman gave a fluttery moan and collapsed to the ground. The devil got up with a snarl only to have Dante shove Ebony into his mouth and against the soft pallet beneath his brain. "Be a good boy and hold that thought," Dante said as he spared the woman a quick look. She was apparently fine, having just fainted. Turning back to the devil, Dante was about to blow it's head off when a thought occurred to him. He smiled unpleasantly at the devil. "You and I are going to have a little heart-to-heart." The devil hissed around the gun still jammed in his mouth. "I suppose that does make it a little difficult. Let me make you more comfortable." Dante pushed the devil against the wall then spun it to the ground where he pushed Ebony against the back of its head and stepped on its back. "Now then. Where can I find a demon lord called Occasus?" The devil growled and struggled slightly. Dante pressed harder, but the devil just snarled again and glared at him with hate…just hate, no comprehension.
"Damn," Dante growled, disgusted. "You can't even understand me, can you? Let alone speak. Worthless." Two quick shots to the head took care of it. Dante glanced over to where the woman had fainted. She still hadn't moved, which was weird considering the noise they'd been making. Dante reached out to shake her when a voice interrupted.
"Don't bother, she's just having a little nap. As for devil friend, you might think them less worthless when you face them by the hundreds."
Dante spun to find a man sitting on the ledge of the building overlooking the alley, legs draped over the edge. He smiled at Dante. Dante just blinked. The guy looked relatively human, somewhere between age 20-30, though his eyes and spiked backed hair both shone a sea foam green color in the moonlight. He wore a half buttoned up jacket of the same color with gold thread woven into the collar and cuffs, and wore pants of the same green that tucked into trim black boots. A single gold ring gleamed from his ear.
Dante shook his head and chuckled. "And people give ME a hard time about fashion."
The green haired guy shrugged nonchalantly. "As well they should. I've heard half breeds never do know how to dress."
Dante's eyes narrowed. "Do I know you?"
The guy grinned. "I highly doubt it. But I know you, son of Sparda. And of how you met with that smelly old bag Barthalanus, AND of you're thinking of attacking Occasus."
"Seems like you know me, pretty boy, but I still don't know you. You got a name to match that hair?" Dante asked.
The strange man nimbly did a back flip to his feet. "Tsk, where are my manners. Call me Lannister McGuy Bonaparte VII," he replied glibly and bowed with a flourish.
Dante gave an amused snort and gave him a flat, dubious look. "Right, whatever. So then…Lannister…What is you want from me, or why at least do you seem so interested?"
Lannister looked straight into Dante's eyes. "Because," he whispered softly, "I'm your bastard half brother."
Dante took an involuntarily step backwards. "What?!"
Lannister grinned impishly and winked. "Just kidding! My we're jumpy tonight though."
Dante growled in the back of his throat. "I'm not here to play your games. If you have something to say, say it."
Lannister rolled his eyes and gave Dante a hurt look. "No fun at all, you know that. But," he added noticing Dante's hands tightening on Ebony and Ivory, "we'll play your way."
Lannister settled back down to his sitting position and taking a lecturing tone said, "As to your earlier thoughts as to why you shouldn't just take on Occasus on your own, I thought you should first realize you'd have to go through an army to reach him."
Dante shrugged. "Been there. It's old news."
Lannister smiled mockingly. "O, so cocky. But I'm afraid you don't really see…perhaps a firsthand view will help." The light green eyes narrowed sharply and Dante felt himself reeling, falling…then flying across a plain of hell. Beneath him stretched a field of darkness, alive and swaying with the countless bodies of devils that splayed out in all directions. Above and around him swirled wheeling, winged figures that filled the sky…
Then with a snap Dante was back in his body again, staggering as he tried to shake off the vision.
"And so now you've seen it," Lannister's voice drifted down to him, soft and serious now.
Dante got a grip on reality and gave him a hard look. "I saw an army of scum. What I want to know, is where they are.
Lannister just shrugged. "So eager to die? Make no mistake, that will be the outcome." Suddenly misty green flame spirits appeared and slowly swirled around him, leaving an eerie phosphorescent trail. "Find the Staff, Dante, if you want to see this through." He gave a wink before suddenly flickering and disappearing with a wisp of green.
Dante watched the space Lannister had occupied for a few seconds, then he turned as a light rain began to fall. The long unconscious/sleeping woman lady finally stirred as the cool drops fell on her face. Dante pulled out a buck and tossed it towards her. "Call and friend, go home, and forget this ever happened," he said, not unkindly. The woman clutched the dollar and nodded wordlessly. As Dante headed home, the rain turned into a torrent. Wonderful.
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The phone rang with persistent, jarring tones. Dante, half asleep with half a hang over, managed to find the phone. "Hello?" he asked hoarsely, squinting at the light coming through his window's blinds. He still only had his mind half in gear.
"Dante! It's Sarah, returning your call! So what's up my silver friend?" asked an entirely too cheerful voice on the other side of the phone.
Dante covered his face with his hand. He had indeed called Sarah the night before, but it had been so late he had only hit answering machine. But… "Christ, Sarah, when I said 'call back at a convenient time,' I meant convenient for me too. It's 8:30 in the frickin morning." He heaved himself into a sitting position and cracked his neck.
"Yeah, I know, but I'm busy today so I wasn't sure what--" Sarah began, before Dante broke back in.
"Right, I'll just drop by around 12, kay? Thanks." He hung up the phone and passed back out.
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Across town, Sarah stuck her tongue out at the click and dial tone from her phone. "Jerk. He has the nerve to call me at 3 AM, but he hangs up if I call him at 8:30."
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At 12:30, a much more refreshed looking Dante was wandering down the long stairs to Sarah's hidden demon city/hospital/whatever it was. Reaching the platform at the bottom of the stairs, he looked around for a familiar face, of which there was none. He tapped a shoulder of some guy who was strolling around with a clipboard and looking semi important. "You know where I can find Sarah?" he asked.
The assistant looked at him disdainfully. "Ms. McNamara is busy in East Wing right now. I'm sure she can find you later," he said with a sniff and walked off.
Dante considered thrashing the guy, but instead set off for the East Wing. After a few minutes of wandering and asked for directions, he arrived at a large building with a small sign that proclaimed "East." Before he could step inside, however, Sarah came out, pausing in surprise at seeing him.
"So you decided to show up after all," she said with a sarcastic smile, her hands on her hips.
Dante shrugged ruefully. "I'm not a morning person. I was wondering if you could do me a favor though."
Sarah quirked an eyebrow. "The great devil hunter actually currying for a favor? This is new. Just promise me it won't involve more devil bodies piling on my front porch again. They were nasty work to dispose of."
Dante shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm looking for something. Maybe one of your cro…old women…you have down here could some kind of…locator spell thing." They had better as hell be able to, since Ray had all but assured him that such things did exist.
Sarah considered it for a second, then nodded. "I could arrange something. We do have one person who specializes in such. Come on, I think she's not busy right now."
Five minutes later, Dante was being introduced to Brygida Koenigsberg, a small and wrinkled woman with a think Polish accent who liked to wave her arms a lot and jab a finger at him.
[I'm not going to try to 'write' a Polish accent for her since I'd probably do it wrong. Use your imagination. ^_^ ]
"Now then," she said cocking her head at him, "what is it you look for?"
"It's called a Staff of Power," he replied, vaguely uncomfortable. Apparently part of ritual or whatever this thing was required that he stand inside some mystic circle and have runes or something painted on his face and chest. He felt like an idiot as Sarah smirked from the sidelines.
The old lady scowled. "What does it look it?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea."
The lady huffed and wagged a finger at him. "No idea? How can I find something that when you don't know what is you look for? Bah. No connection to it at all."
Dante crossed his arms and scowled back at her. "Listen lady, I'm just try…wait…I might have a connection to it of sorts. I know who it belonged to." Well maybe. Hopefully this Staff thing was his father's.
Brygida harrumphed and muttered sourly, but finally nodded. "Is fine. Now, close eyes and focus on this person." Dante closed his eyes and could hear the old crone walking around the circle and muttering a bunch of gibberish. "See person in mind, and express need for this Staff you seek." Dante had never really known his father, but his mother had had a picture of him that Dante had looked at often when he was a kid. Smoothed white hair, dark eyes, and an aristocratic smile. C'mon dad. Where's your staff…
Suddenly, the second time in twenty-four hours, Dante felt the world turn upside down and spin before suddenly finding himself floating in mid air. Unlike like with Lannister, however, he seemed actually bodily there. And this time he was higher than just a hundred feet. A lot higher, he thought looking down a very, very long 7,000 feet or so. Below him, a river meandered like a snake across glittering sand before it broke into sections reminded him of--
Before he could finish the thought, he was plummeting, being pulled earthbound by a force greater than gravity. He hit the surface…and passed through it. Down he flew through layers of earth and rock, all ethereally passing through and around him. He stopped as suddenly as he had begun, and found himself in an strange underground chamber with a high arched ceiling like a church. Above a platform across the chamber from where he floated sat a gold staff that split in two at the end then ran back together to form a point, giving something of the appearance of a hollow spearhead. Two large gold rings dangled, interlocked with the "spearhead."
Pulled towards the Staff, he was within ten feet of it when dark coils of shadows seemed to rip out of it and latch themselves to him. He screamed wordless as they burned into his flesh and seemed to crawl into part of his soul. Darkness covered his eyes and everything passed into nothingness…
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Back in the real world, Sarah lurched forward in alarm as Dante, fists clenched in the middle of Brygida's burning circle, suddenly collapsed. Brugida, who had been chanting non stop for the last few minutes, gave a hideous shriek and clapped her hands to her head. Sarah ran over to Dante and shook his shoulder lightly. "Dante? Dante, can you hear me?"
Brygida whined in the corner. "Something dark was there. Dark and responsive." She pulled her stole close around her and muttered fiercely in Polish.
Dante stirred and with Sarah's help sat up with a groan. Shit…he felt worse than he had this morning with the hangover. And there was something else…
"You okay?" Sarah asked, concerned.
Dante shook his head, though only to clear it. "Yeah, just…weirded out. I found what I was looking for though." He stood up with less effort. At Sarah's critical look, he held up his hands defensively. "I'm fine, really. All I really need are my clothes and to get this crazy paint off my face."
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Thirty minutes later, driving home, Dante considered what he hadn't told her. He could sense the Staff now, tickling the back of his mind constantly. It was an insistent tugging that he head east, following a dark unseen trail that he felt strengthen with east step. He tried to shake off its seductive whisperings and tried to focus on getting home. It was going to be a long night.
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Ta da! I don't know if Lannister came across the way I wanted him too…He's suppose to look vaguely like a cross of Sephiroth (FF7) and Seymour (FF10) and act like Xelloss (Slayers). Eh well! More too come soon. ^_^
Next Chapter: Egypt