Chapter 8:
Landing down from more than thirty meters wasn't exactly to be called smooth to Dante. Pain surged from his foot up to his calves upon the impact with the ground. Normally if someone had fallen from that height they would be extremely lucky to leave with two broken legs. The ground surface where he landed on concaved as though it received a small-scale meteorite hit. He was holding onto Rei with both arms, who still remained motionless. Quickly, Dante scanned his surroundings to see what kind of location they were in. Every direction he looked, complete whiteness was all he could see.
They were enveloped by a heavy mist. It stood out as rather unnatural, considering the stormy weather only a while ago. Sometimes, mist could be resulted from long hours of rain. However it was rare that it formed so quickly and came in such density. Visibility was very poor. Dante couldn't see more than a few meters in front of him. He decided it was wiser to stay and wait until the mist cleared, as it was dangerous to wander around in an unknown area in such condition. Moreover, he suspected it might be the enemy's doing. Not able to see anything besides the mist made Dante felt like he lost his sight. Gently, Dante put Rei on the ground. He took off his jacket and popped it under her head as a small pillow, though he was unsure if she could feel anything at all. He then sat beside her. He remembered seeing an image of her unconscious form exactly liked what he was seeing now, back when he was walking up the stairs of the future. Was everything he saw going to become reality?
The noises he had been hearing were nowhere near leaving him. The voices were there all the time. The voices were not talking to him; rather it was like he was hearing random phrases in others' conversations. It seemed never ending. The voices changed sometimes, it weren't the same voices all the time. To make it worse, other noises began to join in like a torture symphony. Sometimes he could hear random sounds produced by things such as tyre screeching, or hammer hitting on nails, or roadwork construction.
"Stop it!" a woman's voice called out.
"Please!" the voice of a young boy begged.
"Give me another chance," an old man demanded.
"I'm sorry, I only wanted to…" a girl sobbed.
"I told you to leave me alone!" a man shouted.
"They don't care anymore," an old lady sighed deeply.
Dante smacked his forehead, though not entirely hopeful that would help. In frustration, he covered his ears. The voices made him felt like he lost another one of his five senses. He couldn't trust what he heard anymore. It was driving him crazy. For a couple of times, he thought he heard Trish's voice. He could distinct between Trish and his mother Eva because she said things Eva would never say.
At the corner of his eyes, Dante noticed Rei's eyelids fluttered. Her chest was slowly but surely raising up and down once again. She was stirring awake. A cold feeling washed over him. If Rei was waking, did that mean Mia died? If she did, she was either killed by the big fall, or murdered by someone. Dante could only hope Vergil was not stupid enough to have anything to do with any of it. He couldn't completely rule out the possibility, especially when he understood how much Vergil wanted to revenge for their mother. His twin was the type of person who could do anything to do what he wanted.
Rei's eyes opened and were focusing on him. She looked like she was about to say something.
"She'll say his name, not yours," Trish voice hissed in his head, mixed amongst other noises. "Because she likes him, not you."
Dante knew Vergil somewhat liked Rei, no matter how much he refused to admit. He figured out she liked his twin too. Dante half-held his breath, waiting for her to mistaken him as his mirror image.
"Dante?" Rei said softly, still sounded half awake. Dante felt slightly relieved when he didn't hear what he expected. He helped Rei pulled herself up from where she laid.
"How are you feeling?" Dante asked her.
"My head feels like it's twice as heavy as it should be," Rei answered, shaking her head in attempt to clear the fogginess. She froze momentarily as memories came flooding back into her. "Where's Mia? And Vergil?" she asked him anxiously. "What is this place? Why am I wearing…this?" she asked more questions, looking confused and perplexed.
Unsure of what to tell her, Dante asked her back. "What was the last thing you remembered?" What could he say to her? That her twin sister might be dead and the person who killed her might be his twin brother?
"The last thing I remember was…" Rei began to recall her memories. It wasn't something she wanted to be reminded. "I had an argument with Mia. I didn't know how it happened but a chandelier came loose and was going to fall on top of us. I pushed Mia away and then…I couldn't remember what happened after that," she said solemnly.
Dante spun back to look behind him. He thought he heard someone call him a moment ago.
Looking in the same direction, Rei found no one. "What's wrong?" she asked. Dante continued to stare in that direction. "Dante?" she asked again, now worried.
"Ah," Dante stammered, realizing she was talking to him. The noises in his head had become so loud that they drowned her voice. "What did you say?" Before he received an answer, the dark-hair girl stood up abruptly.
Using Rebellion as support, Dante, too, was back on his feet. "Um, what did I just miss out? Not free shampoo sample I hope?"
The way Dante could joke anywhere at anytime somehow always managed to surprise Rei. "I'd like to tell you you're close but no," she replied. "I saw someone just walked by and went that way. Come on!" Having said that, she ran into the thick mist.
"Oh man," Dante grumbled. The elder twin sister he knew of should understand the danger of their current situation. Her action was more reckless than usual. He wondered what caused her to run off in such a hurry. Blindly, Dante followed where he thought she went, hoping she ran in a straight line at the same time. The instant Dante found her, he skidded to a stop. He was close to trampling over her.
When Dante focused, he realised his fear came true. Rei was kneeing beside an injured Mia. He couldn't see clearly because Rei was blocking his view, though he was sure she was hurt on the chest. The ground the younger twin sister laid was bright red – soaked in blood. Rei tried to stop the bleeding by pressing onto her wound. She couldn't do it very well because her hands were trembling terribly.
"Mia! Mia!" Rei called her unconscious twin frantically. Her hand was covered in the sticky red liquid that was Mia's source of life. She remembered seeing this exact same scene when she took the steps on the stairs of future.
Mia's eyes slowly opened. Her face was pale. "Sis," she responded with a half-smiled.
"Mia, what happened? Who did this to you?" Rei asked urgently.
"Rei," Mia said, lifting up her hand for Rei's. Rei reached out her free hand and squeezed Mia's. "I'm sorry about what I said before," the younger twin said. She paused for breath. "I know you didn't tell me about what really happened to mum for my own good. I'm really sorry for yelling at you like that."
"I wasn't angry at you," Rei said, her eyes reddening. Shaking her head, she continued, "No, I shouldn't have hide it from you. I didn't know you would be so upset that I did. I'm sorry." She noticed Mia was loosening the hold on her hand. Her eyes widened with fright – it couldn't be happening.
Mia's breaths were slowing down at an awfully fast rate. "Sis," she said with considerable effort, struggling for breath. "Be careful…of Vergil." All of her movement ceased after those last words.
No, Rei stared at the face that was same as hers in disbelief. Why did it happen so suddenly? Was it all a bad dream? Why would Vergil do such a thing? Why? She wanted to scream but she lost her voice.
Dante could hardly believe what he saw. He didn't trust his ears, but he definitely saw Mia mouthed Vergil's name. Also, it didn't make sense to him. Mia should have been dead before Rei could wake up, and yet… Rei was still kneeing beside Mia's body, stiff as a stone. Now that he could see clearly, Mia appeared to be pierced through by a sharp object on the chest. If it was a cut from Yamato, it would fit perfectly. Unsure of what to do, Dante put a hand on her shoulder.
"Vergil," Dante heard her mutter at the same moment. Knocking his hand off her shoulder, she marched into the mist again.
"Wait a minute-" Dante grabbed Rei upper arm. Her pretty face darkened like clear sky covered by storm clouds.
"Let go of me Dante!" Rei demanded loudly. She attempted to shake off his grip. It turned to be a useless effort. Every cell in her body was burning with anger.
"Listen to me," Dante was surprised by how strong she was. He had never heard her raising her voice until then. Was it a power driven by rage? "Vergil couldn't have done that!" he said.
"I don't want to believe either! But you heard didn't you?" Rei's whole body was shaking in anger. "He killed my only sister!" She was still struggling to free herself from Dante.
Rei was struggling with all her might. The wrath in her was the source of her newfound strength. Dante knew he couldn't hold her back like this for much longer. With no choice left, he put his arm around her.
"What are you doing? Let go!" Rei tried to push herself away. How dared he embraced her? Part of her knew it was silly to be throwing her anger on Dante. He was only trying to talk to her. Part of her was so enraged she didn't want to be reasoned. She didn't want to be touched by the brother of the man who murdered her twin.
"It's ok," Dante said. "It's not true." He held her to him while she kicked and punched. "Everything we're seeing is an illusion."
Illusion? Rei blinked. "Impossible. I could see her, hear her and touch her. Can't you see Mia? She's lying back there and she's not-" Breathing, she finished off silently. She couldn't bring herself to say it. "How can you say it's all fake?"
"Ever since I got here, I found this place strange," Dante began to explain. "All the things we have been experiencing are illusions. Vergil will never kill Mia. Never."
"You really trust him," Rei said. She thought she did too. She wished she still could; but no, not after what she saw and heard.
"If I don't trust him, no one will," said Dante gravely. He finally understood. He had to trust his twin brother. He just had to. "So trust me," his cool blue eyes looked into her pale green ones.
Tears welled in Rei's eyes. The last thing she wanted to believe was that Mai's death was true. Even so, it was horribly realistic. How can anyone believe it was all an imagination? Still, she wanted to cling onto that belief. If she didn't, she was afraid she would shatter into pieces like a dropped plate.
Rei nodded at Dante, tears rolled down her cheek. "I…trust you." Dante stroked her smooth dark hair.
"Are you an illusion too?" Rei asked, confused at her own feelings. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Well," Dante smiled. "I don't think so."
Feeling much more calm than she was previously, Rei closed her eyes. For that moment, she just wanted to be held by him forever.
Author's note: The last chapter was full of mistakes because I uploaded the wrong version of my file. I've now corrected it. Please don't forget to review
