Chapter 11

'Great! Where the hell is he?' Dante snarled irately as he stared about the area directly in front of the airport. Trish shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her body. Dante gave her a quick sideways look.

'He's just over there!' Siren pointed to where Arson stood, his back turned towards them. Trish frowned.

'So where's Inferno?' Siren shrugged as she bounded over towards him.

'I expect he's already been to the hotel and checked us in.' She reached Arson and extended her hand to tap him on the shoulder. She suddenly hesitated, remembering how he had reacted before and then dodged in front of him, so then he was facing her.

'Surprised?' Her smile vanished on her face as she took in Arson's face. Dante looked at Trish.

'Something's wrong.' Trish nodded her agreement and started to walk towards Siren and Arson. Siren carried on gaping at him, her violet eyes sparkling with tears.

'What happened Arson?' she whispered. Arson shook his head as he saw her tears and gently brushed them away.

'Shit! What the hell happened, kid?' Arson turned his gaze from Siren and looked directly at Dante.

'I was attacked.' Trish laughed. It was a hollow meaningless sound.

'No shit, Sherlock.' Angry red slashes decorated Arson's face. One eye was swollen shut and though Arson had tried to hide it behind a pair of stylish sunglasses, it was obvious.

'We need to get some ice on it,' said Siren helpfully. Trish frowned again.

'So where's Inferno? How come he hasn't helped you yet?'

'He's gone as well.'

'Where?'

'To the same place as Val most presumably.' Dante looked concerned at this.

'Someone wants you out of the way, and quickly too by the looks of things. I've been giving this some thought. Val isn't exactly the most powerful person around. The only reason why I can still sense that she's alive is because she's an angel. My theory is that the people who did this were hoping to drive you insane with grief and anger. When it didn't work, they decided that they would have to take away the only one who could help you survive all injuries. Getting rid of Inferno's one way of making you vulnerable. You've got to be careful, kid.'

'I know who did this. It was one of Razzia's men. He called himself Duraar. I saw the emblem on his clothes so there is no doubt about it.' Dante grinned, saying the first thing that came into his head.

'You guys have some weird names.' Trish however, had more important things to think about.

'What does this emblem look like? If we're going to be facing these guys then we've got to know how to tell them apart from the other demons around here. We can't just kill every demon around here.'

'Why not? That's our job isn't it?' Dante raised his eyebrows. Arson looked panicked by this statement.

'Not all of us are bad, remember? Because of what one did to your mother and brother, it doesn't mean that we are all to blame. Am I to blame for what happened to them? Is Trish?' Dante rolled his eyes.

'I was just trying to make a point.'

'And so am I.' Trish decided to cut in again.

'Yeah well, Arson if Dante doesn't decide to interrupt with one of his stupid comments, would you like to tell us what this thing looks like?' Arson looked at Siren at this point. She nodded for him to go on. Arson took a deep breath.

'Well…it's the same as mine. All of Razzia's men are marked by it. It was to tell us apart in heated battle and also to make the lesser beings tremble with fear. At least, that's what Razzia taught us.' Dante looked at him quizzically at this point.

'What you mean to say is that, you're one of them?'

'I used to be, yes.'

'Why?' Arson's eyes met those of Trish. He automatically lowered them again, feeling ashamed. Siren stepped in at this point.

'I think we should talk about this some other place, where it's more private. Anyone could be listening to us at the moment and…I don't feel very safe.' Dante nodded.

'Fine let's get going.' Dante pocketed his passport and walked out of the airport. Arson looked at Trish's curiously before she put it away.

'What do you need those for?' Trish smiled at his childlike innocence.

'To get onto the plane basically.' Arson looked at Siren curiously.

'Do you have one, Siren?' Siren shook her head, smiling smugly to herself.

'Nope.'

'So how did you manage to get on the plane?'

'I sang a song or two and they were like putty in my hands. I told them what I wanted and of course, they didn't refuse.' Siren smiled at him and hooked her arm around his, snuggling up to him. Arson pulled away from her grasp.

'I thought we were through,' he said, a hint of disdain in his voice. Siren appeared not to notice it and hummed a little song to herself, smiling all the while. Trish tapped Arson on the shoulder, snapping him out of the trancelike look that was beginning to play across his features.

'Which hotel are we staying at?'

'The Hilton Hotel. Why?' Trish gaped at him. Arson nervously cleared his throat and looked away.

'We don't have that kind of money!' Siren looked at her curiously.

'What? You mean you can't afford it? But it's so cheap! And besides, Arson's the one who's paying so you don't have to worry about anything.' Siren left the two and joined Dante outside the airport. Trish looked at Arson fleetingly before she ran out of the airport.

'Dante? You'll never guess what Siren just told me!' Arson emerged through the doors and looked up in wonder as an aeroplane flew overhead, its deafening rumble surprising him. Dante stared at both Siren and then Arson.

'You guys are crazy! What are you? Millionaires or something?' Arson looked puzzled but then his face cleared.

'I thought Val told you about the future problem with money. Hyperinflation took place.' Trish looked as though she had trouble understanding. Dante nodded though, for some odd reason excepting this easily.

'In other words, you're rich over here?' Siren's tossed her hair over her shoulder arrogantly and smirked. Arson glared at her witheringly.

'I don't think it matters. You can't place a price on happiness. Look, let's just go, okay?' Arson grabbed a couple of suitcases and left in a haze of white smoke. Trish noted the looks they were getting.

'I agree with Arson. Let's go, and quickly!'

---

'I'm not sharing a room with anyone! I'm sick and tired of having to share rooms with people!'

'Sharing a room with me wasn't that bad, was it?'

'Well…no but-'

'Me and Arson will share a room. I don't mind.'

'We know you don't!'

'Can we please stop arguing?'

'Keep out of this, Arse-wipe!' Arson looked at the floor in embarrassment and said nothing more. Siren looked around the lobby in admiration, as did Trish. Dante was looking at the time impatiently and then looked at Arson.

'Damn! First day and we've already got a problem! They made a mistake and booked us three rooms instead of four. How can you make a mistake like that?' Arson shrugged uneasily and then smiled mildly.

'Mistakes happen all the time.' Dante snorted with disgust. Siren jangled the room keys. They tinkled musically.

'Okay! Let's go!' Arson lugged Siren's suitcase along with him, complaining bitterly.

'Please! Don't unpack everything today! We're only staying for two nights before we have to go!' Trish looked up at this.

'Two nights? I thought we were going to stay a little longer than that!' Arson shook his head. Trish suddenly smiled. 'Before we go, can we eat at one of those posh restaurants they always talk about?' Dante groaned. Trish and her restaurants. Somehow, he always got dragged along. Usually, they caused an uproar somehow or another.

'No way!' Siren sided with Trish.

'Well I'm hungry! And we're going to go out!' Arson and Dante looked at each other and groaned simultaneously.

'First it was shopping and now it's this!'

The four of them managed to get safely up to their respective hotel rooms without any mishap, for which Dante was grateful. With a potential explosive walking behind him, it kind of put pressure on him to make sure the kid didn't do anything stupid or outlandish. He grimaced as he remembered the wheels incident but was quickly snapped out of his reminiscing by the sound of Trish's voice.

'Will you explain to us now?' Arson nodded softly. 'Why were you involved with Razzia?'

'I used to be his general. I used to help keep command.'

'…you were evil?' Trish stared at him in surprise. Arson lowered his eyes. Dante remained silent, his face like stone.

'I did it because I needed to get away. He…he knew something about my troubles-'

'Troubles?'

'I…don't want to talk about it.' He paused, collecting his thoughts. 'Anyway…he uh…he said it'd all get better if I just joined him. I was naïve. I believed him and so…I joined. Needless to say, I realised my mistake. Nothing got better, it just got worse.' He paused again, eyes far away as he thought. Dante frowned and snapped his fingers in front of his eyes. Arson gave a start.

'What made you leave?'

'The realization that nothing was happening. That everything at home was becoming worse and worse. Even Val began to hate me and that's when I realized I had to stop. It wasn't just that though. I couldn't kill for fun. Not like how the others were. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

'He was furious when I left. He threatened to kill me. And he has been trying ever since. He tried to kill my family and friends. I saw the terrible destruction he was creating everywhere he went. And that's when I knew I had to return to the past. That's when I knew I had to find you.'

---

'We'll have to catch a train. When we get off of it, we find the entrance to the underworld from there, where we can destroy the source.'

'Couldn't we have just gone to the underworld from America?'

'No. It would have taken too long. There are many gates to the underworld throughout the globe. Each gate takes us to a different area. The one where we're going, it has been dormant for some time, but I might be able to find a way to break through. The source is somewhere around there. We need to find it and destroy it.'

---

Dante closed his eyes as the train rumbled on, remembering this new information about the gates to the underworld. Arson stared out of the window, as though mesmerized by the constant sound of the train. He looked around nervously and then returned to staring out of the window. Trish watched him, feeling uneasy by the way he kept starting whenever someone walked past the compartment they were in.

'Where's Siren?' asked Arson suddenly. Trish shook her head, indicating she did not know. Arson felt around in his pocket for something, sighed and then withdrew his hand from his jacket. Dante opened one eye and glared at him.

'Stay still!' he growled.

'Sorry, sir.'

An hour passed. Arson was getting more and more edgy. At last he stood up and got out his twin bars. Siren jerked into wakefulness, having returned from wherever she had gone. She looked dazedly at Arson and then stood up, her violet eyes serious.

'This is when it all starts, doesn't it?' she whispered. Arson nodded. Siren gritted her teeth and tensed up slightly. Trish and Dante were asleep, lulled by the rocking of the train as it clattered along the railway line.

There was a sudden shriek of pain from the compartment in front of them. Siren could hear the thuds of bodies against metal, could hear the screaming. She squealed as the door was suddenly ripped open. Arson lunged into battle straight away.

Dante opened his eyes as he heard someone snarl with rage. He yanked Trish out of the way, just before the door came crashing down where her head had been a moment earlier. Trish clung onto Dante, not fully awake.

'Where's! My! Sister! Bastard!' roared Arson, each word punctuated by a swipe with his blades. He gasped as steel hit against steel with such force that it sent tremors up his arms. Dante pushed Siren to one side, next to Trish and fought alongside Arson. He was sent reeling back from intense heat as Arson morphed into his devil form. Siren screamed, having never seen this side of him before.

Arson's hair rose out of his eyes and became a flaming red colour. Flames surrounded his body, encasing him in a shield of heat. He let out a sudden berserk roar as his eyes changed to coal black. Wings unfurled, coming to fold up neatly on his back. His twin blades were also changing. Dante's eyes grew wide as he saw how they were suddenly twisting and curling into live things. Arson was now barely recognisable, except for the silver glinting medallion that decorated the inside of his wings. Dante regained his footing, his eyes narrowed as he noticed something else. Something red.

He had no time for a second look. Arson snarled and charged forward, wild, untamed. Something like a laugh cut through the air as Arson focused on his prey. Siren too was undergoing a change. Her violet eyes were becoming darker, changing to a brooding purple colour. No wings were appearing for her though, but this didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. Smiling almost teasingly, she glided across to where Arson stood. Dante gave a sudden agonized moan as something pricked his throat. A dark haze appeared under his eyes. He tried to blink it back but then felt himself falling to his knees and then collapsing. He was no longer in control of his movements. He sighed and tried to struggle back to his knees. He could faintly hear Trish screaming.

Gathering the last of his deserting strength, he "devil triggered". Alastor, the sword crackled merrily as it responded to Dante's powers. The black cloud was coming closer, enveloping him in its velvet folds.

Dante's voice cut through the air like a knife as thunder crackled through the corridor. Arson, Siren and Trish were blasted out through the train window, into the darkening world.

---

Trish shivered as rain splattered hard against the ground. Siren stood over her, trying to protect her from the worst of the rain.

'Arson! You should be more careful!' From far off, she could hear Arson's voice.

'I forgot that her clothes weren't fire proof!' Trish crouched down, clasping her knees close to her, in affect concealing herself. Arson looked up at the sky. The rain was beginning to ease off. He shouldn't suffer too much. He shrugged out of his jacket and then pulled off his top. He motioned for Siren to come closer to him. Siren took his clothes from him and passed them to Trish.

'We're really sorry, Trish. We didn't know this would happen.' Trish said nothing but wordlessly pulled on Arson's top and wrapped his jacket around her legs. The clothes clung to her wetly, making her figure more pronounced. Arson came up to Siren and Trish and lowered his eyes.

'Trish? Listen, I'm uh…'

'It's okay.' Arson looked up and then shouldered his bag.

'Let's get going.' Trish slowly stood up but then fell heavily, crying out in pain. Siren's face blanched as she saw the blood that came from her leg.

'Shouldn't you have healed by now?' Trish nodded, tears of pain running down her face. She cursed. She had never been brought down to tears before. But it was so bad. She looked up at the dizzying myriads of stars. She realized that she wasn't crying only because of the pain. Dante was nowhere beside them. She couldn't even sense his presence. She cradled her head in her hands, her tears silenced as she realized that the only one who could understand her, was gone.