Mutatis Mutandis

Dante stood between Lilith and Kaliel, though he knew it was useless. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked Lilith.

She simply shrugged. "Doing what Kyra should have done years ago. Get out of the way."

"Think about what you're doing."

A flash of anger appeared across Lilith's face as if he had insulted her. "You would have killed him. This doesn't concern you, so move."

"You're not strong enough."

"It doesn't matter!" Kaliel called from the other side of the cathedral. "What can she do?"

"Move aside," Lilith said with more determination. "He's mine."

Dante did not move. "You can't fight him."

Lilith leaned against the altar. "Just move, Dad. Please." She raised her hand as glowing flames leapt up her forearm. "This is my fight."

"Are you willing to carry this burden?"

"I said move!" Lilith waved her free hand. An invisble force knocked Dante out of her way. He landed against a pillar and dropped to the floor. Before he could stand, Lilith had already launched a wave of fire towards Kaliel.

Kaliel raised his hand to return the gesture. A stream of flame flew from his palm and collided with Lilith's. She clenched her teeth as she strained to overpower him. Her other hand created another flame which she threw to reenforce the first one. Kaliel tried to block it with his free hand, but the flesh on his hand blistered and charred. He screamed and fell to the floor. Lilith spread her hands to kill the fire. Dante took a few quick steps towards her, but she extended her arm to hold him back.

"Don't interfere," she warned him. "It has to be this way."

"No, it doesn't. Let me do it."

"He didn't bury you alive for three days."

Kaliel pushed himself to his feet. His held his burned hand against his chest. "I can't believe you two are arguing over who gets to kill me. Don't I have a say in it?"

"As if you would let us."

"That's the point." He raised his uninjured hand. "I say neither of you will get that chance."

Dante remained silent and still as Lilith stepped towards Kaliel. She raised her arm and spread her fingers. A wavy blue light, like a transparent flame, came to life on her forearm. "It's time to kiss your ass goodbye."

"And the island? And the people on it?" Kaliel asked.

Lilith kept her arm raised, but she stood still as if contemplating what Kaliel's words. There was a second of doubt on her face.

"Think quickly," Kaliel said as if challenging her resolve. "You cannot afford to make a decision you will regret."

The look of doubt lasted for only another second before Lilith made up her mind. "Mutatis mutandis."

Kaliel understand what she meant immediately. Lilith threw the glowing blue flame. Kaliel retaliated with another fire assault of his own. The blue flame sailed through it without slowing down. Kaliel responded quickly by erecting an invisible barrier with his injured hand. Lilith's blue flame bounced off harmlessly.

A second blue flame instantly burst to life on Lilith's other hand. Kaliel's fire assault passed over her. Lilith clenched her teeth as she released the second wave of blue flame. This time it pierced Kaliel's barrier. He watched in shock as the rest of the flesh burned completely off the bone. Then the bone slowly began to incinerate.

Lilith screamed as she reenforced the blue flames. Dante watched with mixed disgust and resolution as Kaliel's flesh melted from his body. Kaliel took several steps through the flames, even as he clothes burned off him. Lilith matched him step for step. As they grew closer, the flames intensified. Lilith got a close up of what was left of Kaliel's face before making her final move.

"This is the end!" she screamed as she summoned more energy. With a final hefty push, both she and Kaliel were engulfed in a massive explosion of blue fire.

Dante covered his eyes out of habit. The shockwave from the blast knocked every pillar down and blew out the windows. The entire cathedral shook as its supports crumbled to the floor. Chunks of stone fell from above to reveal ominous clouds. Dante avoided one in time to see Lilith standing alone in the center of the cathedral. She held her towards the altar without looking. The Yamato flew from the altar and landed in Lilith's hand. She stepped towards what was left of Kaliel's body. A smoldering pile of ashes and charred remains lay at her feet. Lilith raised the Yamato as if to plunge it into the ashes. Dante raced to her side and caught her arm. She did not resist.

"Haven't you done enough?" Dante asked. He feared she would misinterpret the question, but she simply shrugged. He released her arm. "We'd better leave now."

Before Lilith could make a smartass remark, the ground rumbled. It was strong enough to shake the most of what was left of the cathedral to the foundation. There was another rumble in the clouds. Lilith opened her palm to catch the rain. She could smell it, but there was something wrong with the odor, as if it were contaminated. The first drop of water that fell into her palm bubbled like acid against her skin. Lilith clenched her teeth as the clouds suddenly released a barrage of poisoned rain.

"This is it," Dante said. "Let's go." He transformed without waiting for Lilith to respond. She remained rooted where she was as she felt the ground shatter. "Lilith!"

She slowly looked up as her father hovered over her. A quick flap of his wings sent several droplets of rain into the air. The water hissed in midair. Lilith blinked against the noxious rain. "Now is not the time!" Dante called to her.

She waited as if trying to make a difficult decision. Then she transformed, but she took her time taking to the air. As soon as her feet left the floor, a great fissure ripped through the earth under the cathedral. She did not look down. She tuned out the faint screams of terror in the background. Lilith flew past Dante towards the ocean. She watched rogue waves roll across the water as the island continued its fatal plunge into the ocean.

(X)

Lilith stared straight up at the stars as she stretched out on the rooftop. She had not been home for an hour, but she was uncomfortable indoors this night. The warm early autumn air stirred slightly. Lilith inhaled deeply before sitting up.

"I know you're down there," she said. "You might as well come up."

Dante peered over the edge of the roof before pulling himself up. "You are no fun." Lilith did not even smile. Dante crawled to a spot beside her and folded his legs. "What are you thinking?"

Lilith sighed and copied her father's movements. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Don't feel guilty about it now. It's over. And I'm not trivialzing it."

"That's easy for you to say. You didn't kill those people. I don't want to get into a battle of semantics, so don't tell me I didn't kill them either."

Dante propped his chin against his palm. "I used to be like you."

"Why do I find that difficult to believe?"

"Can you at least pretend to listen to what I'm preparing to tell you?"

Lilith responded by simply scowling, but she refused to look his way. "Why didn't you tell me about Kyra?"

"I did tell you about Kyra."

Lilith let herself relax. A cool breeze carried the scent of imminent rain. "I mean before I was buried alive for three days. If I have other living relatives, outside of Eva's family, shouldn't you feel obligated to tell me?"

"When Kyra and I parted ways the first time, we did so on bad terms. I spent many months hating that woman."

"Why? What did she do? Or not do?"

Dante was silent as his mind raced to find the proper words. "It's difficult to explain."

"I don't believe that either."

Dante huffed. Lilith fought the urge to laugh at his discomfort. "Well?" she asked.

Dante's eyes focused on the skyline just above the trees. "The first time I went to your mother's home realm, Kyra was the one who nagged me into bringing your mother back to Earth. There was a lot of bad blood between Kyra and me until I slept with her sister."

Lilith nearly choked trying to avoiding laughing out loud. Dante continued without missing a beat. "I didn't know at the time Deanna was the empress. She used a decoy. It was soon after that incident I discovered Deanna was the monarch. By then the place was being overrun by demons. Kyra nagged me into bringing Deanna to Earth with me. I said no."

Lilith shrugged. "What changed your mind?"

"Eventually, when push came to shove, Deanna followed me and nagged me herself. She was very persistent until the day she died. Both times."

"I'll leave it at that, then. Kyra couldn't have been a terrible person, though she had poor decision making skills. At least she though she was doing good for someone."

Dante detected more in those words than Lilith said. "What does that really mean?"

Lilith subconsciously began tapping her thumbs together. "I did kill them, whether you care to acknowlege it."

Dante sighed and pressed his palm against the crown of her head. "I guess it's now or never. What's on your mind?"

"Killing people."

"Why? You've been killing people since you were a teenager. You've been wanting to kill since kindergarten."

Lilith knew he was leading her on, but she took the bait anyway. "I kill minions of evil and despair. There's a difference."

Dante pressed harder against her head. "It's easy to be detached when you kill something like that."

"I killed one," Lilith interrupted, "and he took tens of thousands of innocent people with him."

"They had no life. You know that. It's no easier than trying to kill your own brother. Or your son. Because their hearts were corrupted." Dante thought fleetingly about Vergil and the baby Deanna had named after his brother. It seemed to have happened ages ago. "Once it gets easy, then you have reason to worry." Dante ruffled Lilith's hair before letting her go.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I know you hate it."

Lilith scowled for a split second before letting a chuckle escape instead. She used her fingers to hold her mouth shut, but it was futile. Another breeze, followed by a crack of thunder, reminded them of the coming rain. The air was fresh and revitalizing. It was a complete contrast from the rain that fell when they fled the island. Lilith inhaled deeply.

"Are you heading indoors?" Dante asked.

"No," Lilith said softly. "A good clean rain never hurt anyone."