Thankfully, the Wallman, Edgar, had some answers, his form was less than human now, considering that he was half a studying scholar and the other half was a whirlwind torrent of books and scrolls as he peered through all of the material he had learned and obtained during their brief visit and subsequent runs to Fortuna. "In official channels, Alex, there is no mention or references to a Celica that would be Vergil Sparda's spouse. However, based on the time frame, there was a large shipping company in Fortuna that went under, due to its prior owner's unexpected death to demons and his heir was nowhere to be found, so they had to shut down the company and move in other assets to make up for the loss, but the rare moments of this heir being seen would classified her as a radiant woman that oft wore a crimson red dress, her appearances a bit more frequent with the appearance of a man wielding a katana before he left and she hid away."
Edgar swiped the scroll out of the air and dropped the book into the torrent, it getting picked up and flying about him. "Judging by the time and events that followed, I may point out that they hid her away and her child was left at the door as a last resort, to keep the identity of Sparda's blood out of the loop, but this has the more tragic effect of ill-bred rumors on the boy. We could move in and pick up the boy, clarifying that we would be a ward to him."
"Yes, but going through the channels will be a problem, we have to assume that the kid was registered into the system and we have built up a rep as being a rival and friend to Dante, and considering what we have managed to gather and understand form the island, Fortuna may have been a closed community, but Sparda ruled there as a feudal lord as he sealed the Hellgate there, this gave rise to the Order of the Sword, a zealot religion that worship the very dirt that Sparda walked on." Alex moaned as he massaged his temple. "This is reminding me of the..." He trailed off and huffed before he spoke again. "...Of the Order of Ecclesia before they reformed, led by everything they personally believed to be true and making VERY poor life choices." Edgar closed up the scroll and extended a hand onto Alexander's shoulder as the young man looked up to the monster scholar.
"...I miss them as well, Alexander, I miss Mist's happy moods and she asking me to read her all of the stories and fables that I found and carried, some tastefully edited for her pleasure and I miss your spouse and her being a good parent, a real love for you..." Alexander nodded with a sigh as Edgar continued. "But just the same, while we are on the ideal, you believe that the Order may be looking into 'fighting fire with fire'?"
"It is a possible thing and I don't want to suspect, but the options are out there, we need to be on guard." Alexander spoke as he got up and tidied up his wares before swished a white cloak over his shoulders and it settled perfectly on his shoulders without his arms going into the sleeves, the image on the back being a pair of guns crossing over what must have been the Sparda. "I think I'll check out Fortuna again, see if I can find any leads on her that we could have missed."
"May Sparda protect your cause, Alexander." Alexander deadpanned at Edgar and pointed before he gave up and walked out, Edgar chuckled as he went into a rift and disappeared from the shop, Alexander turning the sign over to 'CLOSED' before he continued on, it could be a while before he heard from Dante, what with getting into a slight mishap with Lady AND Trish on account of a found demon gun and Enzo trying to get the Devil Arms off Dante's hands, he getting paid, but for a new hand... it could be a while before Dante came knocking for some details to correct...
As picturesque as Fortuna was and would always be, Alexander had little time in checking out the scene again as he investigated the whereabouts of the town, the cloak flapping in the winds, but never falling before he landed on another building, his eyes peering around the older town and searched back before he took off again. 'This witch hunt, pun intended, is being turned into a needle in a ocean, you can only count yourself lucky if you even find the thing in murky and dangerous waters. Vergil said as much that he met and spent a lot of time with her here, in Fortuna, but even if the physical evidence was removed, I should STILL be able to sense out her presence or whereabouts.' He leapt again, bounding across the structures before landing on the opera house.
'But that's the problem, even if she was killed or murdered, I should still be able to sense her presence...' Alexander paused before he massages his jaw on a thought. 'No... I am thinking on the terms of she being an ordinary human, if she was born and raised in Fortuna, then in some way, there may have been effects with growing up close to the Hell Gate here.' He eyed up the solemn black monolith before he breathed with tuning his senses and pulsed.
The air clapped like lightning, freaking a few people out to the sound, but Alexander didn't bother with them right now as he felt everything out, the pull of the portal strong and had to be destroyed, but it would look bad so he denied it, but his senses honed in and he opened blazing azure eyes to leap away once more, landing on the outskirts of the town and arriving to a large manor, derelict and abandoned, as he looked down to the door and pushed himself in, one of the doors shuddering before falling off to the rotten wood floors as Alexander strode in, the greatest source of the demonic energy being here and he intended to find out why and, if possible, if Celica still drew breath. At first glance, one would think that, after years of neglect and abandon, that the mess across the house and home was just part of nature taking back the land and animals rotting the place to pieces.
Alexander saw differently as he could see the stubborn Vergil actually taking the time to converse and stay with the woman that called his name, donning the red dress that he was sure was the first thing that drew his attention, but it changed to him actually engaging her in dialogue and carrying a small smile, but still holding a sense of wanting to be elsewhere, something she couldn't fail him for if he wanted to do so.
These whispers of their interactions served him well as the echoes carried what had went on, how she saved some part of his soul from total darkness and gave him a reason to live, but it was not enough to turn him from his quest to seek that power that called to him, she even seeing him off with a sad look on her face under the cowl of white and, for the briefest of moments, he had turned his head to her and nodded before heading off. Alexander's brow furrowed as the story later told him what had happened as she had discovered the gift she was given, how she fought with her uncle with zeal, and how she did her best to fight off those that came to steal away a child of growing white hair.
"...Clearly... she was more than enough for an average man..." Alexander mused with founding one of the armors, smashed into the floorboards hard, denting the stone underneath as well before glancing up to the hanging arm of some fool who thought a shock prod was in good fashion on the rustic chandelier. He pushed on to follow the grooves of claw and fire that surged before he found where they started, where she gave life... and had it stolen away from her.
However... it didn't answer the question if she was alive or dead as he carefully surveyed the site, running his fingers across the toppled cradle, the fading walls of intact wood and shredded pictures, remains of steel and leather before his boot kicked something and he peered down to a canister that rolled, its rusted appearance apparent as he shifted and crouched to pick it up and turned it over, seeing an icon on it, a meld of a sword and a feather together, the icon of the Order, as Alexander hummed. "Enlisted the Order for this mess... a business hired the Order to steal away the boy and either deposes of or hide Celica away..."
He ran a hand through his hair as he mused on it before he placed the canister back down and stood up with shifting back out of the manor as he raised his hand and pulsed again, the sound of thunder echoing again before he took off in searching. The Lower Reaches of Fortuna City echoed to him and he made his way to the path, back to the city before he made it and dropped to a cellar space, he frowning as he walked down and into the dark, dim lights glowing along the path before he found his target, a woman suspended in a type of sleep capsule, a likely attempt to put her under for a while, with the surrounding area dusting and decaying before he typed away and the capsule opened up, the woman slumping forward before Alexander caught her and carefully checked her over for any scars, one being a thin line from right brow to lip and another being more of a burning of molten metal over the lower abdomen than a branding under the medical tatters she wore before Alexander projected Vision. "Ring up Dante." Vision chirped and the static filled the space before Dante spoke.
"Dante, coming in from Optic to Vision. Alexander, pal, where the heck did you get off to?"
"I dropped by Fortuna for a small search and..." Alexander breathed as he spoke. "We are going to need to set up a apartment building... I found her..."
"Her...? Wait, you don't mean...!?"
"It is Celica, I am sure..." Alexander breathed as he continued his medical check. "So far, she is in a medical coma and should be able to come out of it rather soon, but whoever did this was deliberate, she is slightly radiating with demonic energy coiling around her, but... whatever attack or raid she suffered, there are gaps in her mind that need to be eased into and I am not sure if she will be the same after."
"Well... great..." Dante huffed before he spoke again after running his hand through his hair and speaking. "Verg is not going to like it, but... at least she is okay... right?"
"Time will tell..." Alexander mused as he glanced up with the idea. "Time will tell. Dante..." He started to get up with her in bridal carry as he spoke. "Alexander, cutting the link..." The connection stopped and Vision landed on the coat's shoulder as Alexander took off with getting out of Fortuna, as nice as it would be to reunite Celica with her son, she needed time to heal and it shouldn't be in a city where she was being held prisoner for some vile purpose...
Returning to Devil May Cry, Dante found a decent agent to get jobs from, J.D. Morrison, another one of the brokers that knew Dante's days as Tony Redgrave, and he helped out with getting a small apartment for Celica once Alexander explained the matter and the issues that came with it, a decent and good fellow who didn't quite believe in demons, but he was there to help and Dante somehow made amends with the daughters of Grue, finding his would-be remains wasn't hard, just annoying for Alexander as a calm settled on the agency with Dante scoffing down another pizza as Alexander finished his check. "Celica is recovering, that much is a given, but I had to implant a new eye as the cut was not superficial and the burns to her stomach were quite severe, likely an attempt to neuter her, not to mention the gaps in her memory that would imply a state of amnesia." Dante frowned with resting his arms on the deck, the apartment the other building next door as the two worked to get it and make it homely for anyone dropping in for a brief stay.
Alexander tucked the clipboard under his arm as he continued. "Dante... like it or not, we need to let her recover naturally, this is delicate and rushing it will have more permanent damages than what we are looking for."
"...You said that the Order was involved..." Alexander hummed before nodding as Dante huffed in grumbling. "If she is connected to my brother and... what I think had happened happened, then it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that his... kid was snatched up as a vessel or a tool for a bunch of cultists worshipping my dad..."
"True, but we shouldn't worry about it right now." Dante's glare was intense and Alexander stood his ground with a breath as he relaxed his stance a bit. "Family is family, I know this, but if you dropped in to pick up the kid, then the Order would be on your butt in ten seconds and my own would be met with resistance to draw you or pick up the kid sooner, we should wait until he can put up a fight before we try to converse that you are his uncle." The stare-off pulsed through the air and surged in the chamber, rattling the decorations and furniture, the Devil Arms emitting intense auras in trying to suppress the energy that Dante was exhibiting before Alexander breathed and everything went silent, Dante freezing with the room going into an intense darkness, even with the light streaming in that dimmed out as well as Alexander spoke with one of his eyes going full azure and a wraith bellowing from his back as he spoke. "If you want to rush it, go ahead, Dante. I won't stop you if you don't want to leave things as they are..."
Dante's hands tightened before he loosen them and sat up straighter and Alexander took the hint as the darkness was dispelled, the room warming right away to the growing light of day as Alexander hummed. "I understand you want to connect with a new family that you just discovered, but shouldn't the 'uncle' prove he can care for a family before he tries to connect to his brother's own?"
"...You have a point, Alex..." Dante breathed as he ran a hand down his face and spoke. "It's just... I haven't really met a girl that I would really like, Lady is nice and she can kick my ass twenty times to Sunday, but... she doesn't look like the type to just settle down and have a family, not with what happened with her dad, and Trish is complex in that she is a demon who is starting to understand humanity with the flaws and joys to boot, but she was modeled after my own mom, that would feel wrong on several levels..." Alexander nodded as Dante breathed with running a hand down his face. "Not to mention that I would just rub off my habits off to other kids if I am not keeping them in check. I don't really know if I can be a good uncle..."
"Reasonable..." Alexander answered before both felt the sudden chill of death on their shoulders and Alexander slowly turned to the door opening, Dante fingering Ivory before a smooth voice spoke.
"Calm yourself, Son of Sparda, Dante." Who arrived as a stranger in the shaven head, the dim eyes, and the clear reference to being a religious figure, Alexander pausing before he spoke.
"I don't believe it... Zead!?"
"In the flesh..." Alexander laughed before Agni and Rudra flew into his hands and crossed at Zead's throat as Alexander spoke.
"Is this another roundabout that I need to deal with, Death!?" Dante swallowed at the intense power that emitted from the lackluster man, clear that Agni and Rudra were also saying prayers in Indian as their slight trembling was held shut by Alexander as the man mused.
"Nothing of the sort, young Alexander. I am here with an offering of good will."
"Considering that you donned this same face when I met Hector and had me deal with my wayward and mentally unstable ancestor, you will pardon my lack of trust in a 'offering of good will'." Zead's face frowned and the pressure only increased, two great powers and the Devil Arms were actively shaking in fear as the two stared off, the wood and metal warping before Alexander breathed and removed the cross hold, Zead resuming a smile and the presence dissipated like a whiff of air on a summer day. "Okay, offering of good will, what did you bring?"
"Why, just a slight reunion, after all, taking and purifying the shattered remains of the Darkness' form has yielded an interesting connection this one time." Dante didn't like the sound of using Mundus's remains to bring something or someone over to his world, Alexander frowning at the sound of it as well before he turned to the side and breathed, the energy gathering firmly before it gently pulsed, lingering for a moment before his eyes flashed open and he slowly turned to Zead in shock.
"That's no ordinary gift... You..." Dante stood up to demand what was the problem, but he stopped to the brimming tears in Alexander's eyes as he continued. "You... you didn't have to bring them here..."
There was a soft light to Zead's expression as he spoke. "You have helped me twice now, you have sealed the Temen-Ni-Gru and prevented more demons from seeping through the veil and you have aided in stopping Mundus's desperate attempt of breaching into the Human World, that is more than a simple favor repaid, Alexander, it is a debt that I will forever keep to my chest in honor of your deeds and your actions. We may be allies in the other world, but we are friends here and friends will always give the world to each other when they ask of it." Alexander paused before he started to laugh again as he spoke.
"Not how that goes, but..." He smiled as he walked past Zead. "Thank you, you don't own me for keeping the line, now if you both will excuse me... I have someone to welcome..." With that, Alexander left Devil May Cry, Dante zoning in on Zead as the bald priest just gave a smirk and a part of his face decayed to a skeletal face and glowing violet eye.
"Take care of yourself, Son of Sparda..." With that, Zead completely changed into a mist and vanished from sight, Dante flopping down in his seat and breathed as he rested a hand on Sparda, as if to ask for any opinion or hint to Zead just now.
"I don't suppose you know that Zead character... do ya, Dad?" For the faintest of moments, the blade shuddered and Dante gasped to feeling out of his body, a scene playing out in his mind of Sparda, armored and wielding the blade Sparda, but he was panting, eyes staring into the face of a... no, not even a Harbinger Sin, the creature before Sparda was no ordinary demon, it was a sheer deity of such power that its hands exhibit the same energy and power that it represents, the essence of death as the rubble that it pulled from the land actually decayed and screamed before fading to dust and ash while in the other was a scythe, no show piece either as the battle started and both clashed with the land getting torn up and scarred with each blow and strike that was lashed out.
The battle ended with Sparda trapped under the sharp blade, it cutting into the armor and actually showing a shifting of a spectral façade of Sparda almost getting pulled into the blade before the deity lifted the blade free and left through a portal, Dante gasping in returning to his body as he felt his neck. "I guess even Mundus was petrified of him to send you after him, but he just casually shows it off... and leaves. He was a remainder of being mortal, that nothing can escape the ultimate fate of all."
"Death exists... and Alex has that power in spades..."