Sorry for the long update! (Yes yes, excuses excuses.) I got randomly elected as editor of our school literary magazine…which means I've been forced to read dozens of poems by high school freshmen who really couldn't care less about what they're poems say and generally consist of things like "the blight my soul is like a persistent mushroom" or "I saw a green cloud in the sky then found it was your face" [actually lines]. What the hell do those mean, I really don't know. Needless to say, I feel like gibbering madly after reading and having to retype all of them. Ahh, feel better after ranting though. ^_^
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Chapter 9: Home Again
Dante never got around to hearing the rest of Catullus's story. After wandering through the desert before finding civilization and a cab (the ride during which Catullus hide under Dante's coat and Dante had to bribe the driver to ignore his sword and the Staff), Dante promptly walked into his hotel room and passed out the bed without a spare second. Catullus gave his new owner/partner a disapproving look before flying over to the tv and curling up atop of it. He might as well get some shut eye too.
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Dante had nothing against dreams. The truth was that he very rarely remembered them, and those he did tended to consist of random things like orange penguins and weird nonsense. His current dream had so far been rather nice. Dream Dante was lying on a warm sandy beach, half shaded from the Caribbean sun by a lush palm tree. Beside him was a very well endowed and very scantily clad blond woman who was feeding him grapes. He knew this was a dream and he planned to enjoy it. Dream Dante smiled, closed his eyes, took a sip of his Corona, and choked on it when he opened his eyes again.
Lannister dodged the spray nimbly. "Easy there boy, just had this dry cleaned," he said shaking out his sea green pants.
Dante gave him a sour look. "Damn it, why the hell am I dreaming you for? Don't tell me this is really a nightmare…"
Lannister waved a hand at him. "No such luck. This simply me invading your dreams for a bit. Nice scenery though," he added with an admiring glance towards the woman. Lannister held up a hand before Dante could speak, and the dream world suddenly fizzled and left the two on a gray empty plain. "I just thought I'd give you a warning. You'd better leave now if you want to catch your plane on time. We wouldn't want you to get stuck in Egypt when the fireworks go off now would we?" With this last statement, Lannister saluted a farewell and fizzled away like the rest of the dream. Dante sighed and looked around the gray nothingness. "Well there went a perfectly good dream." He strained to think about waking himself up.
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Back in the real world, Dante woke up suddenly and stiffly from his flopped down position and stared blankly for a moment at the room's clock. It was 5am…a few hours after he had gone into the underground temple…wasn't it? A chill passed over him. But what DAY was it? He hurried over the tv and flipping it on surfed to a news channel. Catullus, awakened by the noise, yawned groggily from his perch and peered at the images beneath him. Dante looked at the date and time in the channel's corner. Shit…it was May 10th...five days after he had gone day…and also the morning of his 6 o 'clock flight home. "Damn!" he swore jumping into action. "I spent five days in that hole?!? That leaves only an hour to get to the airport…" He gave the sleepy Catullus a bap on the head. "Wake up time beautiful. We need to move and move quickly." Apparently that damn dream…or whatever it was…was right.
After a few minutes of hastily packing and a heated debate on whether or not the custom officials would be opposed to have a dragon in a suitcase, Catullus was not at all willingly put into an easy inner access pouch of Dante's luggage. "You can climb out once you're stowed with all the other luggage," Dante snapped. A semi-resigned hiss was the only reply from the suitcase.
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An hour and a half later, Dante was soaring comfortably a few thousand feet above the ground. In the window seat next to him was a middle aged American guy who had given Dante's outfit one disdain look and promptly pulled out a magazine to read. Friendly. Dante leaned back and was about to catch up on some of the sleep he had missed while apparently in some time warp under the desert. No sooner had his eyes closed, however, than a familiar, perky voice popped into his head.
Hey pops, are we there yet?
Dante jerked awake and asked, "What?" The middle aged man glanced at him and leaned away a bit. Dante looked around cautiously. That had been Catullus's voice! Please don't let that dragon be in the cabin somewhere, he thought fervently.
Relax, I'm down with the luggage. Can barely breath though, if it makes you happy.
Dante was a little disconcerted. He wondered though….Hey, can you hear me?
Dante got the impression of a mental snort. Of course I can. Jeez, you really are ignorant about a lot of stuff. We can talk this way because you own the Staff now. Before I could only semi-communicate through the stupid thing. Just enough to nudge you along.
Dante blinked. The brain link? That was you?!? Holy shit you were annoying as hell. I barely got any sleep because of you. And I'm still not getting much.
Mental shrug. I know you need your beauty sleep princess, but you can live a minute or two longer. I just wanted to let you know we could communicate this way if you needed to.
Well gee, thanks. But I don't think it'll be much of a problem. With that Dante managed to semi mute the dragon's voice until he finally shut up, frustrated. "What a pain," Dante muttered. It earned him another cautious look from his neighboring passenger and another inch scooted away. It was going to be a fun flight.
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Dante walked into the front of Devil Never Cry and dropped his bags in the middle of the lobby before flopping down in his big easy chair. One of the bags wobbled then popped open to have Catullus fall to the floor in a heap. "Gods…" he breathed. "Finally, air! The smell of your laundry was going to kill me."
Dante ignored him and punched his answering machine. *Beep 'You have…43...new messages.* Holy shit. Dante sighed, grabbed a beer, and prepared for a long sitting. First message…
The first thing to come on was the temporary message he had put on his machine. "Hey, it's Dante. I'm in Egypt right now. Yes, Egypt. I'll get back to you, later. *Beep*" Undoubtedly it had made a few people very confused, he thought wryly.
"Dante, where the hell are you?!" Ah, Sarah. She sounded pissed. "You can't just leave messages on your machine that just say, 'Hi, I'm in Egypt.'! I need to talk to you pronto! There's some scary stuff going around on the streets since you left."
A couple worthless messages later, "Dante? It's Ray. You're in Egypt? Is that a joke? Anyway, I found some more stuff out about the Five and their Staves…um…really, really important stuff that you in particular should hear. Get in touch with me as soon as possible. Thanks."
The rest of the messages consisted of prank calls, telemarketers, the usual people without passwords, the few that had had them to no avail, and a few more demanding calls from Sarah. Well apparently the first things on the agenda of home sweet home were visiting Sarah and Ray. Dante pursued his lips. It might actually be better if they all three met. Ray definitely needed to be introduced to a new girl instead of a new computer. Dante sat forward suddenly cocking his head. Had he heard something from the kitchen?
Walking in, he stopped at the sight of Catullus with his wings wrapped around a martini glass and lapping it up. Catullus paused and looked up at him foggily . "What? Can't a guy have a drink anymore shese days?"
Dante stared. "You're a dragon damn it, not a guy. Besides you probably only weigh about 25 pounds. You're already drunk off half a martini!"
Catullus grinned sloppily. "Acsually shis is sha second. Or shird. Whichever…shaddup and have a drink wit me." The dragon plunged his whole head into the glass and slurped.
Dante just shook his head. Somehow he'd never imagined have an alcoholic miniature dragon in his kitchen. But now that the occasion had presented itself… "You're on Shorty," he said pulling out a bottle of Southern Comfort.
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Across town, Sarah headed out the door. According to her sources, Dante had returned home about two hours ago. And yet despite her all the messages she had left, he still hadn't called back. At first she had been worried that something had happened to him. Now she was just a little irritated. She hopped in her Audi and drove over to give him a piece of her mind. When you're one of the central devil hunters in town, you can't just up and leave the country unexpectedly like he did.
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Next Chapter: A Gathering
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Chapter 9: Home Again
Dante never got around to hearing the rest of Catullus's story. After wandering through the desert before finding civilization and a cab (the ride during which Catullus hide under Dante's coat and Dante had to bribe the driver to ignore his sword and the Staff), Dante promptly walked into his hotel room and passed out the bed without a spare second. Catullus gave his new owner/partner a disapproving look before flying over to the tv and curling up atop of it. He might as well get some shut eye too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dante had nothing against dreams. The truth was that he very rarely remembered them, and those he did tended to consist of random things like orange penguins and weird nonsense. His current dream had so far been rather nice. Dream Dante was lying on a warm sandy beach, half shaded from the Caribbean sun by a lush palm tree. Beside him was a very well endowed and very scantily clad blond woman who was feeding him grapes. He knew this was a dream and he planned to enjoy it. Dream Dante smiled, closed his eyes, took a sip of his Corona, and choked on it when he opened his eyes again.
Lannister dodged the spray nimbly. "Easy there boy, just had this dry cleaned," he said shaking out his sea green pants.
Dante gave him a sour look. "Damn it, why the hell am I dreaming you for? Don't tell me this is really a nightmare…"
Lannister waved a hand at him. "No such luck. This simply me invading your dreams for a bit. Nice scenery though," he added with an admiring glance towards the woman. Lannister held up a hand before Dante could speak, and the dream world suddenly fizzled and left the two on a gray empty plain. "I just thought I'd give you a warning. You'd better leave now if you want to catch your plane on time. We wouldn't want you to get stuck in Egypt when the fireworks go off now would we?" With this last statement, Lannister saluted a farewell and fizzled away like the rest of the dream. Dante sighed and looked around the gray nothingness. "Well there went a perfectly good dream." He strained to think about waking himself up.
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Back in the real world, Dante woke up suddenly and stiffly from his flopped down position and stared blankly for a moment at the room's clock. It was 5am…a few hours after he had gone into the underground temple…wasn't it? A chill passed over him. But what DAY was it? He hurried over the tv and flipping it on surfed to a news channel. Catullus, awakened by the noise, yawned groggily from his perch and peered at the images beneath him. Dante looked at the date and time in the channel's corner. Shit…it was May 10th...five days after he had gone day…and also the morning of his 6 o 'clock flight home. "Damn!" he swore jumping into action. "I spent five days in that hole?!? That leaves only an hour to get to the airport…" He gave the sleepy Catullus a bap on the head. "Wake up time beautiful. We need to move and move quickly." Apparently that damn dream…or whatever it was…was right.
After a few minutes of hastily packing and a heated debate on whether or not the custom officials would be opposed to have a dragon in a suitcase, Catullus was not at all willingly put into an easy inner access pouch of Dante's luggage. "You can climb out once you're stowed with all the other luggage," Dante snapped. A semi-resigned hiss was the only reply from the suitcase.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An hour and a half later, Dante was soaring comfortably a few thousand feet above the ground. In the window seat next to him was a middle aged American guy who had given Dante's outfit one disdain look and promptly pulled out a magazine to read. Friendly. Dante leaned back and was about to catch up on some of the sleep he had missed while apparently in some time warp under the desert. No sooner had his eyes closed, however, than a familiar, perky voice popped into his head.
Hey pops, are we there yet?
Dante jerked awake and asked, "What?" The middle aged man glanced at him and leaned away a bit. Dante looked around cautiously. That had been Catullus's voice! Please don't let that dragon be in the cabin somewhere, he thought fervently.
Relax, I'm down with the luggage. Can barely breath though, if it makes you happy.
Dante was a little disconcerted. He wondered though….Hey, can you hear me?
Dante got the impression of a mental snort. Of course I can. Jeez, you really are ignorant about a lot of stuff. We can talk this way because you own the Staff now. Before I could only semi-communicate through the stupid thing. Just enough to nudge you along.
Dante blinked. The brain link? That was you?!? Holy shit you were annoying as hell. I barely got any sleep because of you. And I'm still not getting much.
Mental shrug. I know you need your beauty sleep princess, but you can live a minute or two longer. I just wanted to let you know we could communicate this way if you needed to.
Well gee, thanks. But I don't think it'll be much of a problem. With that Dante managed to semi mute the dragon's voice until he finally shut up, frustrated. "What a pain," Dante muttered. It earned him another cautious look from his neighboring passenger and another inch scooted away. It was going to be a fun flight.
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Dante walked into the front of Devil Never Cry and dropped his bags in the middle of the lobby before flopping down in his big easy chair. One of the bags wobbled then popped open to have Catullus fall to the floor in a heap. "Gods…" he breathed. "Finally, air! The smell of your laundry was going to kill me."
Dante ignored him and punched his answering machine. *Beep 'You have…43...new messages.* Holy shit. Dante sighed, grabbed a beer, and prepared for a long sitting. First message…
The first thing to come on was the temporary message he had put on his machine. "Hey, it's Dante. I'm in Egypt right now. Yes, Egypt. I'll get back to you, later. *Beep*" Undoubtedly it had made a few people very confused, he thought wryly.
"Dante, where the hell are you?!" Ah, Sarah. She sounded pissed. "You can't just leave messages on your machine that just say, 'Hi, I'm in Egypt.'! I need to talk to you pronto! There's some scary stuff going around on the streets since you left."
A couple worthless messages later, "Dante? It's Ray. You're in Egypt? Is that a joke? Anyway, I found some more stuff out about the Five and their Staves…um…really, really important stuff that you in particular should hear. Get in touch with me as soon as possible. Thanks."
The rest of the messages consisted of prank calls, telemarketers, the usual people without passwords, the few that had had them to no avail, and a few more demanding calls from Sarah. Well apparently the first things on the agenda of home sweet home were visiting Sarah and Ray. Dante pursued his lips. It might actually be better if they all three met. Ray definitely needed to be introduced to a new girl instead of a new computer. Dante sat forward suddenly cocking his head. Had he heard something from the kitchen?
Walking in, he stopped at the sight of Catullus with his wings wrapped around a martini glass and lapping it up. Catullus paused and looked up at him foggily . "What? Can't a guy have a drink anymore shese days?"
Dante stared. "You're a dragon damn it, not a guy. Besides you probably only weigh about 25 pounds. You're already drunk off half a martini!"
Catullus grinned sloppily. "Acsually shis is sha second. Or shird. Whichever…shaddup and have a drink wit me." The dragon plunged his whole head into the glass and slurped.
Dante just shook his head. Somehow he'd never imagined have an alcoholic miniature dragon in his kitchen. But now that the occasion had presented itself… "You're on Shorty," he said pulling out a bottle of Southern Comfort.
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Across town, Sarah headed out the door. According to her sources, Dante had returned home about two hours ago. And yet despite her all the messages she had left, he still hadn't called back. At first she had been worried that something had happened to him. Now she was just a little irritated. She hopped in her Audi and drove over to give him a piece of her mind. When you're one of the central devil hunters in town, you can't just up and leave the country unexpectedly like he did.
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Next Chapter: A Gathering