Devil May Cry Zero: Past Ties

Chapter 5


It had been some time since Vergil and Dante were separated from the Rei and Mia. Once again, they found themselves lost inside the old castle.

"Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight…"

"Would you stop it?" Vergil said in irritation. Fifteen minutes ago, Dante started to count each silver knight as they walked past.

"What's wrong? It doesn't hurt anyone," Dante shrugged and continued counting. The next moment, the knight he just counted scattered on the floor in pieces. Vergil sheathed his katana and raised his eyebrow at the younger twin. "Fine," Dante thought it'd be a good time to shut up.

They made a turn at the next corner and found themselves staring at another dead end. "Not again," groaned Dante. On their right there was a strange ornament stuck on the wall with strange symbols around it. There were ten different kinds in total. Each symbol carried a faint red glow.

Vergil watched as his twin started smashing the ornament with Rebellion. He had gotten used to it. Whenever Dante reached his tolerance limit, he always destroyed the nearest item in sight. Only this time, the symbols lit up one by one as he struck it. Soon, all ten symbols lit up like lightbulbs, emitting a brilliant radiance. The dead end opened up and revealed a new path ahead.

"It's sad isn't it," Dante sighed, whilst his face told a different story. "They said geniuses always die young." The moment he finished saying that, a figure came running from the path that just appeared in front of them.

Mia's eyes widened when she saw the twins. Unaware that there was a fallen vase on the ground, she tripped. Dante caught her before she could land flat on her face. He and Vergil didn't have to wait long to find out why she was in such a hurry. A cloud of darkness formed in the air and out came a Hell-Vanguard.

"Be careful, its weapon is long-range," Mia warned. While Vergil was blocking its direct attack, Dante used the chance to fire at the demon. The Hell-Vanguard was strong but didn't last long against Sparda's sons. After being eliminated, it turned into red orbs.

"Where's Rei?" Dante asked Mia.

"We got separated when we were being chased by demons," answered Mia. Her face was a little pale.

"Really? Is that really when you were separated?" someone asked. It wasn't Vergil or Dante. The three of them searched for the origin of the voice. A woman with blonde hair stood next to an angel statue, her face hidden in the shadow. Dante knew who she was instantly from her voice.

"Who are you?" Mia remembered that she was the one who drove the truck and brought her there. She didn't understand why she was being asked such a strange question.

Trish stepped out of the shadows. Her long blonde hair fluttered behind her like a golden hood. For the first time, Mia saw her face. She looked like she was in her early thirties. Those blue eyes of hers were familiar to Mia. "Impossible," she shook her head in disbelief. "Ms Eva?"

Dante didn't know which he should be more stunned by: the fact that he was seeing someone who looked exactly like his mother or the fact Mia seemed to know his mother.

"You know someone called Eva?" Vergil asked her tensely. He never imagined the clues he needed could be so close. The chances of Mia knowing his mother's cause of death was low but it wasn't zero.

"I…" she uttered. His piercing blue eyes looked like they were trying to see through her, searching for information in her head. So much was happening at the same time she couldn't catch up. Suddenly, she knew where she had seen Trish's eyes before. There was a strong resemblance between her and the half-human brothers.

"You know where your twin sister is, don't you?" Trish continued, "Why are you so afraid to accept the truth?"

Some images flashed inside Mia's head, though she wasn't fast enough to grasp it. "What are you talking about?"

Trish's lips curled up to a fiendish smile. Dante remembered he saw that image in his head while walking up the stairs of the future. "Is it because she is dead?" she asked. "And that you killed her?"

"No," Mia shook her head, her long strands of black hair fluttered in the air. Her heart was beating fast. Rei couldn't be dead. They just got separated. Or did they really get separated? Where were they separated? Had she forgotten something important? The more she tried to remember, the more her head ached.

Mia killing Rei was the last thing Dante would believe. On the other hand, Mia's responses were strange and suspicious. Having similar feeling as Dante, Vergil was more concerned about what Trish was trying to do, and why she was doing it.

"I take that as you've forgotten how your twin died," Trish said, walking closer to Mia and Vergil.

"Rei's not dead!" Mia cried, holding her head with both hands. "I didn't kill her!" Trish's words echoed in her head. Why was she questioning her own memory? Why was she feeling so anxious? Where was Rei?

Trish stopped on her track when Dante drew out his guns and pointed them at her. "I don't know who you are," he said. "But I don't like the way you talk." Glancing back at Mia, she looked like she was about to cry.

"Oh Dante, you're not really going shoot me, are you?" Trish could see Dante's expression softened slightly as she spoke. While he had his attention on her face, Trish pressed down the guns being pointed at her. There was no mistake about it, Dante realised. Trish looked like she came out of the same mould as his mother Eva. He couldn't help but to wonder if Eva had a twin too. That possibility was quickly ruled out. No human could have such evil aura around them.

Taking notice that his guns were no longer pointing at her, Dante raised them again. Chuckling, Trish said, "I'll see you again soon." She turned back to the way she came, melting into the shadows.

"Where is Rei?" Dante demanded, his hands on Mia's shoulders. "You know, don't you?"

"I think I do, but I can't remember," Mia replied. She looked so lost and confused. Vergil and Dante looked at each other. Neither of them thought she could be lying.

Wincing, Mia shook off Dante's hands. She tried to move her arm but it wouldn't. The joint between her shoulder and arm dislocated. "Sorry," Dante apologised. He didn't realised he was grabbing her so hard.

As the daughter of a doctor, Mia knew a bit about emergency treatment, including how to fix her own arm. Taking a deep breath, she put it back in place. The last time she had a dislocated joint was years ago. She forgot how much it hurt.

Suddenly, she remembered everything.

"Oh man, where are we now?" Mia groaned. After falling through the secret door with Rei, they found themselves in a grand library. Similar to these old state libraries, shelves of books stack on top of each other, some unreachable unless one utilised a long ladder. There was a large, unlit crystal lamp in the centre of the library ceiling. Taking the age of the castle in consideration, the lamp was in surprisingly good condition.

Curious, Rei pulled out a random book off a shelf. While trying not to breathe in the small particles, she wiped off the thick layer of dust. The paper of the book was rough and yellow in colour, probably due to its age. It was written in a language she didn't know. She flipped through the pages and found some unusual pictures and diagrams.

"Rei," she heard Mia called her from behind. "Hmm?" Rei replied, busy looking at the book.

"There's something I want to ask you," Mia said. There was something in her voice that caused Rei to stop reading.

"Can you tell me again how mum died?"

Rei froze. She wished she just imagined what she thought her twin said. "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" She had a bad feeling about the direction of this conversation.

"I know you told me before, but I want to hear it from you again," Mia crossed her arms and stared into her twin's face, she wanted to see how Rei's expression will change.

"Mum, she…" Rei bit her lip. It was the last question in the world she wanted to answer. Not only it brought back bitter memories, she didn't want to lie to the closest person of her. "She," Rei swallowed hard.

"So it's true. Mum didn't die from sickness. She was murdered," Mia laughed sourly. "I saw it. She was killed by her family, because they needed to get through her in order to kill us. To make her death look more natural, they put poison in her food. They killed her bit by bit, little by little…"

"Enough!" Rei covered her ears. She could shiver by just looking at Mia's eyes; they were as cold as ice.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" Mia asked. Rei had never heard such tone from her twin before; it was unfamiliar and harsh. It was as though she turned into other person. And it scared her.

Hearing no response from Rei, Mia continued. "Is it because I'm still a kid to you? Is that right?"

"No, I –"

"I know I'm not as smart as you, Rei. Everyone says I'm the dumb twin and I can live with that. But I have the right to know what really happened to mum!" Her heart ached slightly when she saw the upset look on Rei's face. The words hurt her.

"No, I never thought that way. I just don't want you to -" at the same moment, Rei saw the cord that connected the crystal lamp to the ceiling snapped. Mia was standing directly below it. Dashing forward, Rei pushed her out of the way.

Books fell on Mia as she was pushed backknocking the bookshelves with considerable force. It was the first time she was buried under so many books. It was more painful than she imagined. By the time she got herself out of the mountain of books, she couldn't see much because the air was filled with dust. It was caused by the concrete that fell down along with the lamp. It didn't clear out until a couple of minutes later. The crystal lamp landed on the floor where she stood seconds ago. It was buried by large parts of ceiling concrete. Rei was nowhere to be seen.

After a while, Mia managed to choke out her twin's name. She didn't know why she was shaking her head, but she was. She didn't want to think, if she did she would have to accept the truth. If her sister wasn't anywhere in sight, there was only one place she could be. Rei wasn't the type to joke at a time like this.

It was when the Hell-Vanguard appeared.

Just as she remembered it, Mia told Vergil and Dante everything. "I'm such a coward," Mia hugged herself. "I didn't want to believe what I saw, so I just made up my own memories." Vergil and Dante listened to her in silence. Being twins as well, they could understand to some extend her reactions to the trauma. "If I wasn't so persistent, I would've noticed the lamp. If I did, Rei wouldn't have…" her throat felt so dry, it made talking difficult. She wanted to cry, but no tears would come out even if she tried forcing them to.

"Rei is not dead. She won't die so easily," Dante assured her.

"They won't let her die yet. Mundus and Trish should still have use of her," Vergil added. "What do you know about Eva?"

"Rei and I met her years ago. But she should be dead," Mia replied. "You know her too?"

Vergil's face darkened. "How do you know she died?" he drew out his katana and pointed it at her throat. "Tell me everything you know."

"I know, because Rei once told me who she is," the girl replied, not afraid of the sword at all. "I don't know any more than this." The blade moved closer to her throat. "I can't tell you what I don't know. You can stick your sword, point your guns, wrap a time bomb around me and I still won't be able to tell you. If you really want to know, you should ask Rei. She knows Ms Eva a lot more than me."

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Dante pushed the two away from each other, placing himself in the middle. "Hope I don't have to make you guys shake hands. Right now, what we should do is find Rei. Then we'll find out what really happened, agreed?" He gave his elder twin an eye signal to tell him to put away the katana.

Mia almost told Vergil to go away and she would find Rei by herself. However, she refrained herself from doing so; she needed all the help she could get. It made her so angry that he didn't care about them at all. All he wanted to know was that woman called Eva, or Trish. The elder of the twin brothers had such apathetic attitude that she wondered if they were really friends. He seemed to care sometimes yet so distant most of the time. Mia couldn't understand why her kind elder twin would like him at all.

They decided to go back to the library, where Mia lost Rei. Everything stayed the same way as Mia left it. Pieces of crystals detached from the lamp scattered on the library floor. The lamp itself was as large as a dinner table. Quite an amount of concrete fell on top of it so they couldn't see what was hidden underneath. With heavy hearts, they started digging. It didn't take them very long to clear all the ceiling pieces. Dante and Mia both gasped after taking a look. There was nothing underneath the rubble. Pressing a hand on her chest, Mia let out a relieved sigh. However, just like Vergil and Dante, she couldn't help but wonder where Rei could be.

"What now?" Dante said, looking at Vergil and Mia for suggestions.

"Not a very smart question Dante. We need to find her," his elder twin said.

Dante threw up his hands. "Ok, where should we start looking?" Vergil and Mia were standing a little further apart from each other than they should. He thought it was pretty funny. They looked like people who don't want to stand next to those who just finished playing sports and sweated all over.

"We can't go through room by room, it takes too long. We need to hurry," Mia said. "I don't get it," she put a hand under her chin. It was too strange. She was almost certain the lamp fell on Rei. She couldn't just walk away without a single cut. Yet she really wasn't found under the rubble.

"We need clues," Vergil stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Well duh," Dante said, rolling his eyes. "Not like clues will appear if we ask for it."

At the corner of his eyes, Dante saw a candle near one of the four library entrances lit up. Realising the room had become a little brighter, the other two looked over to the same direction. One by one, candles lit up, unmistakeably showing them a path. No one came to light up the candles, they just lit up by themselves.

"I wonder what will happen," Dante said to Vergil. "If you say, 'we need some food,'?" As usual, Vergil ignored him. The brothers started heading towards the lit path.

"Wait, that's probably not the best way to take," Mia warned. She was surprised they didn't seem to pause even a second to think before deciding to press on.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" asked Vergil, looking back at her.

"You're going to step right into it even knowing it is a trap?" Mia didn't know if she should think of them as brave or ignorant.

"If I have to, yes," Vergil replied. He moved on, leaving Mia and Dante behind.

"No worries, Mia-mi," said Dante light-heartedly. He then turned a bit more serious. "We'll find Rei for sure."

They're right, Mia thought, feeling resolute. They had no choice but to keep going. Like a wind up music box, they couldn't stop until they reach the end.


Author's note: Right now it's snowing outside. It's the first time in my life to live a winter at a place that snows. Back to things related to this fic. For a few times I thought about stop writing it because no one seems to like it. I know there are people who like it, may be it's partly because of the other pressure.

Hope everyone have a safe and happy holiday in advance.