Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, fan-based story. Devil May Cry is owned by Capcom, Hideki Kamiya, Hideaki Itsuno, and Studio Madhouse while being licensed by Madman Entertainment and Funimation. Familiar of Zero is owned by Noboru Yamaguchi, J.C Staff, and CTC. Please support the official releases and have a great day/night :)

[A/N: This story takes place sometime after the events of Devil May Cry 4 but before the events of Devil May Cry 5]

[Act One, Chapter Two: The Good, The Bad, And The Vain Blonde]

The next day had arrived for Jessie, and hopefully, it didn't bring any of its unneeded problems along for the ride. The dark-skinned beauty was currently at the local school library with a mountain of old books to her left and a small cup of hot coffee to her right, given to her by Siesta. Truthfully, Jessie had taken a liking to the young maid girl and found her to be an absolute sweetheart with a heart of 24k gold, someone who wouldn't harm a fly if she didn't have a reason to do so. Unfortunately, the same thing couldn't be said for the students, though some of them, emphasis on some, were nice or, at the very least, decent and kept their nasty attitudes to themselves. Placing that little tidbit of information to the side, Jessie was focused on her research and sought ways to get back to her home. Over the past couple of hours, she had been slowly gaining information about the new world she was in and how it operated. Magic was commonly utilized throughout the globe by mages, also known as Nobles. Unfortunately, some select individuals couldn't wield magic and were sadly rendered as peasants for reasons unknown. Now that Jessie had given it some thought, why COULDN'T non-magic users wield magic? Was there some kind of special bone or body part that Nobles gave them the ability to use the art, or was it something different? That was a question she would have to question Colbert about later down the road.

As Jessie continued to read the history books, she felt a weird vibration hitting her thighs. Briefly putting a stop to what she was doing, the brunette reached into her pocket and pulled out an iPhone 7 plus that had a rose-gold color to it and a sky-blue wallpaper with Rosalina and Luma from the Super Mario series on it (1). Luckily, her battery percentage was eighty-five, which was good enough for her. Unfortunately, she didn't have any bars, meaning she couldn't reach out to anybody. The vibration that she had felt earlier was just the alarm clock she had set earlier before coming to the library going off, which she put on silent as she didn't want to freak anybody out when the time came that she had to go back to Louise's dorm. Truthfully, the Nephilim hybrid didn't really want to go back and preferred to spend the day without Louise. The pink-haired girl was a spoiled brat to the highest degree and commanded respect from people like Jessie when she really didn't deserve it. Jessie disliked people like her; those who craved for the finer things in life without working for it, the ones who had a stupid belief that they deserved to have it all because they were rich, the ones who were spoiled rotten to the damn core. Although Jessie wasn't fond of the young Noble, she DID sympathize with her to an extent. The latter was subjected to bullying by her classmates and occasionally her oldest sister because she couldn't use magic as most nobles could. Her spells often resulted in explosions, destroying everything in proximity. Having heard that, Jessie went under the belief that Louise's nasty personality originated from the cruel bullying she had been subjected to and was using her Noble status as a coping mechanism of some sort; going with the idea that even though she couldn't use wield magic like everyone else, she still had a shred of power with her blue blood. While Jessie understood the tragedy of which Louise has gone through, that didn't excuse her disrespectful attitude and her actions in the slightest. Yes, bullying was a terrible thing and shouldn't happen to anyone; however, when you treat others a certain way because of it and give them the middle finger, you lose the high ground and become as bad as the people doing it to you.

Getting up from her seat, Jessie neatly stacked the pile of books and downed what was left in her coffee cup. "You know..." The black-haired woman started, doing a little bit of stretching "...I'm not necessarily obligated to go back to Louise and can just leave her to her own devices whether she likes it or not." That was true. Quite frankly, Jessie had no real reason to stand by the pink-haired Noble's side and act as her personal maid for God knows how long. The girl was at least sixteen years old; she could take care of herself and do things without help, right? The only thing holding Jessie back from breaking away from Louise was the latter's consistent whining and complaining. Every other second, the young Noble would be furious at something and annoyingly reflect it back to Jessie for reasons unknown. The Nephilim hybrid wasn't in the mood to hear all of that, and not meeting up with the vertically challenged Noble would most likely spark something she wouldn't want to deal with. The time was eight o'clock AM. Jessie left around six-fifty, so Louise should be up at that hour. "Hopefully, she'll be too groggy to even care that I was gone."

Entering Louise's room, Jessie was greeted with a pillow to the face thrown by the former, who was still in her large bed. It didn't hurt because it was literally a pillow for Christ's sake, but it was still irritating to get hit with, nevertheless. "I'm starting to regret my decision already..." Muttered Jessie with a small sigh following soon after, throwing Louise's pillow to the ground. "I hope you know that there are better ways to say greetings to a person when they enter a room." Louise glared at Jessie. The dark-skinned Nephilim could tell that the young Noble was in a bad mood, as per usual, but what she was angry about was anybody's guess. Walking over to a nearby seat, Jessie sat down and crossed her legs. "So...is there anything you would like to talk about? Hopes? Dreams? Likes and dislikes? I'm all ears for anything."

Louise gave Jessie the death glare, but that did nothing to help her. Hell, the only thing she had received in return was a look of indifference from Jessie. After a few seconds of silence, Louise finally spoke up. "Where were you?" Questioned the pink-haired girl with her arms folded. "When I woke up, you weren't there. A servant is always supposed to stay by their master's side. Going somewhere without informing me first is unacceptable. Luckily, I won't punish you, but don't do it again." Louise was confused. No servant has ever dared to ignore their master and did as they pleased without a care in the world; it was simply unheard of. Winters was lucky that she was a reasonable person; otherwise, she would be receiving severe punishments for her actions. Shaking her head, Louise got out of her bed and stood in front of Jessie. "Well?"

Jessie raised an eyebrow in bewilderment as she stared at Louise with her arms crossed, her emerald-green eyes locking onto the young Noble's pink ones. Well? Well, what? Wishing well or something? Be specific! "What're you standing around for, child? Are you going to put your clothes on, or are we going to have a staring contest? Don't you have things to do today?" Questioned the brunette. Seriously, what was wrong with this girl? Damn near everything she did was overly complicated for reasons unknown.

"Are you going to dress me? It is very unwise to keep a patient Noble waiting" Louise responded, now starting to get really irritated with Jessie's ignorance. A servant was always tasked with dressing their master every morning. Why her familiar was acting as if that was something brand new was beyond her. "Nobles such as myself never get dressed on their own, that is what we have servants like you for. Quit your inane blabbering and bring me my clothes. You're already on thin ice, don't throw a rock and destroy the ice holding you aloft, familiar."

Okay...the trash that had just entered Jessie's ears was an absolute hell no! The former didn't know who Louise thought she was, but she sure as hell was it. "You want me to dress you...?" Questioned Jessie, using a tone of total disbelief. Louise simply nodded, treating it as if it was nothing special, and in her eyes, it was really wasn't. As stated before, commoners dressed Nobles all of the time, so what was the big deal? Jessie stared at Louise like she had something on her face, and if it weren't for the fact that she was humble and didn't hurt children or teenagers at a certain age point, then should she would have something on her face. The Devil Hunter didn't know what kind of drug the young Valliere was smoking, but she needed to get off of it before something bad happened. "Young adolescent, you are a literal teenager. Do you mean to tell me that you can't perform a small task, one that doesn't require that much effort?"

Now it was Louise's turn to speak her mind, and boy, did she have a lot to say. First of all, how dare her familiar talk down to her as if she was just some ordinary peasant girl. Was she not aware that her master hailed from the magnificent Valliere family, or was she too moronic to know that? Second of all, she recalled saying that Nobles never get dressed when they have a healthy servant to do it for them; what makes her think that she's going to do all of that instead of having someone else do it for her with ease? Lastly, serious discipline was in order, because that act of disrespect would not go unpunished. With all of that in mind, Louise stepped forward and placed a finger on her familiar's stomach. "Now you listen here, familiar..." There was a large amount of emphasis on that last part. "I am the master, and you are the familiar. My job is to deliver the orders, and your job is to follow them. You have a lot of nerve talking down to a Noble such as myself. You're on thin ice, one more screw up and no food for a week got that?"

And like that, the camel's back was broken by a straw...a small, bothersome, and profoundly spoiled straw, one might add. If looks were capable of killing individuals, then Jessie would be a murderer. Normally, the dark-skinned beauty was never one to resort to anger at the drop of a dime and could be quite a reasonable and rational person when the situation called for it, and it usually did...however, there have been scenarios where she has not been the calmest crayon in the crayon box, and that's when things got...hectic, and that was putting in mildly. There was a phrase that applied to Jessie and many people for that matter, and it was 'Don't poke the bear.', and there was a reason for that. Jessie squatted down to Louise's level and looked her straight in the eyes, her green eyes meeting the latter's pink ones. "Now listen here, little one..." The way Jessie referred to Louise as 'little one' caused the short teenager's body to tighten up and if it were to continue any further, it would probably shatter or something along the lines. "I'm going to say this again, so listen closely. If I have to say it for another time, then we're going to have some major issues...and you really don't want those issues, believe you me." Jessie placed a hand on Louise's shoulder, making the pink-haired girl sweat profusely in fear. The dark-skinned Nephilim woman noticed that and rewarded Louise with a warm (and sincerely evil-like) smile, which only served to make the situation more anxious than it already was. "I, Jessebella Winters, am not your servant woman. I have never acted as a servant before in all my years of living and breathing, and I won't act like a servant now. You are a sixteen-year-old girl, not a small child. I would greatly appreciate it if you would be so kind as to act your age starting from this point on...don't follow my one request and I'll make you do it whether you like it or not." Jessie smiled, bearing her teeth. "Have I made myself clear, sweetpea?" Now, Winters was utilizing a warm, gentle, and motherly tone, but that didn't shift Louise's current emotion; hell, if anything, it made her even more afraid.

Louise slowly nodded her head, a small gulp following afterward. This was all wrong! She, a Noblewoman, was supposed to be the one in control, but her familiar pretty much said 'nope' and flipped the roles around like it was nothing special! How in Brimir's name was that freaking possible!?! Truthfully, Jessie's scary attitude reminded Louise of her mother, and that wasn't good. Karin was quite the scary woman, but she was scarier when she was mad, and a terrifying she-demon when she was furious. If her entire life was going to be lived in fear, then it was a life that she most certainly did not want to reside in. Not wanting to anger Jessie any further, Louise grabbed her clothes from her drawer and walked to her personal bathroom. "H-How embarrassing!" Muttered Louise, speaking in her head. "MY familiar ordering ME around! If Zerbst were to see this, she would laugh her butt off..."

Taking pride in her own handiwork, Jessie folded her arms and smiled broadly. "I must admit, it's always nice to drag the spoiled and pretentious back down to Earth instead of letting them roam in La-La Land." She said mentally. Abruptly, the Nephilim hybrid's stomach started to rumble loudly, indicating that she was hungry. Honestly, she hadn't eaten anything in a while; heck, the only thing she had that was related to breakfast was coffee, and that was basically it. Now that she had given it some consideration, Jessie queried what kind of cooking the new world held. Was it the same as the delicacies back in her world, or was it something completely different? Frankly, she could go for either or, because she was starving and needed some nutrients. With her mind made up, Jessie turned to the door. "Louise, I'll be heading to the kitchen now. Feel free to come and join me if you're interested." Having said that, Jessie left the room, leaving Louise by herself, who was mumbling to herself while spewing out negative words that were not suitable for young children.

Outside the academy, Jessie was peacefully wandering around with little to no care in the wide world while watching the students spend time with their beloved familiars. She honestly didn't fancy the notion of kidnapping an animal and forcing them to be a pet against their will, and she certainly didn't understand the purpose of doing so. On the other hand, the animals seemed comfortable with being a pet, so if they were okay with it, then she was okay with it...for the most part, that is. Unbeknownst to the dark-skinned beauty, an uncommonly large salamander with a small fire on their tail was gazing at her with mild interest written all over their face, and it wasn't until they hissed that they finally caught her attention. Looking down, Jessie was surprised to see a salamander of that variety. She had seen wackier things before, but it was still surprising to see, nonetheless. "From what Pokemon-like world did they take you from, Charmander?" Chuckled Jessie, the Salamander wagging their tail in excitement.

"My-my-my, look what the cat dragged in..." Said a female voice, exuding a melodious tone. The potent fragrance of apple cinnamon hit Jessie's nose, and she suddenly felt annoyed, though she couldn't comprehend why; maybe someone was talking about her behind her back. The female voice came from Kirche Zerbst, who was standing beside her familiar and wore a smile that would cause boys to go crazy, girls to feel envious, and Louise to go buck wild with rage. "So you're the familiar of Zero. Heh, I thought little Louise would get a good familiar after all that boasting she did. In the end, she got an average commoner woman. Man, how pathetic is that?" The busty redhead threw her head back and laughed obnoxiously. That only served to fuel Jessie's anger, and if the Devil Hunter wasn't averse to hurting children and teenagers under a certain age limit, then Kirche's laughter would have been cut short real quick. "So tell me, how much is Zero paying you?"

Jessie slowly inhaled, then exhaled. Goodness gracious, this girl was really good at getting under her skin. Eventually, the Devil Hunter answered Kirche's question, though the tone of her voice indicated that she was hesitant to do so; not that she was embarrassed or anything like that, but she did not want to indulge in whatever the redhead had going on and give her satisfaction. "No...Louise isn't paying me." Answered Jessie, rolling her eyes. "I don't know who's telling you that, but it's not true." The Nephilim hybrid had no idea who the voluptuous young woman in front of her was, and frankly, who she was didn't matter much to her. What she did know was that she was a real pain in the rear, and would prove to be a nuisance in future events to come. It was clear as day that the conversation wasn't bringing anything of value and was only giving her a nasty headache. It was eight-something in the morning, and Jessie was ready to pack it in for the day; that's a new record. "Look, child, I have things to do. If you're fresh out of questions, then I'm out of here." Before Kirche could say something else, Jessie walked off in a huff, ignoring Kirche's cries.

"Golly..." Kirche replied, planting her hands on her hips, watching Jessie enter the academy building. "Hmmm...I wonder what's eating the Familiar of Zero up. If she gives the other Nobles that kind of treatment, then things won't be peachy for her later down the road. Y'know, part of me has a feeling that this is Zero's doing somehow. Either that or she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Kirche shrugged and folded her arms under her ample bosom. "No matter. I only wanted to see Valliere's new familiar, and frankly, I'm not too impressed. Once a Zero, always a Zero" For a second time, Kirche laughed obnoxiously, causing the other students to stare at her as if she was crazy, though she didn't mind in the slightest; she was always one for attention when the spotlight was placed on her for all to see. "Good Brimir, this is going to be one enjoyable semester, I just know it."

In the kitchen, Jessie was joyfully chowing down on large quantities of cuisine, while the generous culinarians in the area observed her with pure shock and awe plastered all over their faces. Never in their life have they ever seen anyone eat like that before. It got to a point where they were starting to question if the big eater was even human or some kind of food-loving monster. "I (*chew*) haff to suy (*chew*)" Jessie was in the midst of eating waffles, so she couldn't speak properly (2). "Zhis (*chew*) fuud ith pretty (*munch*) (*munch*) (*munch*) (*gulp*) good!" That was true. Some of the meals tasted precisely like the ones back in her world; hell, they might have tasted better even. "You guys have really outdone yourselves. Good job, you deserve a pat on the back."

The chefs sincerely appreciated Jessie's compliment. The young Noble scholars were never that thankful for the dishes they received, among many other things. A small fraction of the students were appreciative, but that was not enough, sadly. Truthfully, the cooks enjoyed Winters' presence, especially the head chef, Marteau. He was quite prideful and passionate about his skills in the fine art of cooking, and it placed a warm smile on his bearded face when people such as Jessie appreciated his cuisine and how enjoyable they were. "HA-HA!" Marteau laughed hardily. "Nice to see someone has a liking for the finer things in life. We don't have many people like you in this cruel world, unfortunately." Jessie gave Marteau the thumbs up and continued to wolf down the cook's delicious food. "If you're ever in the mood for food, swing by the kitchen and we'll gladly hook you up."

Jessie took that into consideration. She liked the thought of not having to go out into the wilderness and search for food like some kind of unrefined creature; she might have been a demon, an angel, AND a human, but she was still a person that needed to eat, sleep, drink, and eradicate wicked demons, dammit! Before the Devil Hunter was given the chance to show her gratefulness, a young and up-and-coming chef suddenly bursts through the door, gaining everyone's attention. "He doesn't seem to be in a very good mood, today? Wonder what's wrong with him?" Thought Jessie, taking a swig at her drink. When Marteau asked the young chef what his problem was, the first thing to come out of the latter's mouth was Siesta. If the young chef's commotion from earlier didn't capture Jessie's attention, then him bringing up Siesta did. Siesta? What problem had occurred that included her of all people? As the young chef continued, he spouted out important things like Guiche the Brass, two-timing, perfume, and misblaming Siesta. Now sponging up the information she needed, Jessie got up from her seat and walked over to the door. "I'll be back..." The eery tone in Jessie's voice sent chills down the spine of the chefs.

Once they stepped foot outside the academy, Jessie and the servants were greeted with a blonde-haired boy scolding and yelling at a very scared Siesta. The scenario was comparable to that of a giant fox cornering a small bunny rabbit; it was a heartwrenching sight to witness, and it was enough to anger Jessie as well as the other servants. They placed a high value on the young maid, and to see her in something like this was unbearable to watch. The match in the powder barrel was the blonde bastard smacking Siesta, making everyone barring Jessie gasp in surprise. "Okay...time to temporarily break my golden rule." The Nephilim hybrid sure as hell wasn't going to let an act like that slide. She didn't know who in the seven layers of hell that damn brat was, but one thing she did know was that he was going to pay; she was going to make sure of that. Jessie turned to a servant who just so happened to be standing next to her, holding a silver platter in their hands. "Excuse me, may I see this for a quick second?" The servant didn't have time to respond, let alone time to acknowledge Jessie's presence as their silver platter was taken from the grasp. "Thank you very much." With the silver platter now in her hands, Jessie flipped it before aiming it at the annoying blonde. "I think it's high time that I stepped in and sort this out." Having said that, Jessie launched the silver platter like she was Captain America and the hard object struck her target right in the head, though it didn't knock him out; it just gave him an injury and knocked him down in the process. The people who saw Jessie commit the act were utterly surprised; a commoner attacking a Noble had never happened before. She must've been seriously brave or seriously moronic.

In pure rage and fury, Guiche got up from the ground and turned to the spectators with a look of anger written on his face. He wanted to know who was the fool responsible for striking him so that he could punish them with all kinds of terrible torture. "Which one of you wretched cretins attacked me!?" The witnesses didn't take too kindly to Guiche insulting them and calling them wretched cretins as if he was any better. Right then and there, Jessie stepped forward and Guiche growled at her as such. So SHE was the one responsible for that pitiful surprise attack...the Familiar of Zero. Normally, Guiche would be surprised and, of course, angry that someone would have the gull to attack him, but since it was Zero's familiar, he wasn't surprised; he was still pissed off, though. Who the hell did she think she was? Attacking a Noble such as himself for no reason!? Utterly despicable...utterly, utterly despicable. It was clear that Zero wasn't doing a very magnificent job at taking care of her little familiar, so he would have to go ahead and do it for her. It is the right thing to do, after all. "Ah, Zero's Familiar. It is very unwise to anger a gracious Nobleman such as myself. What do you have to say for yourself? Did your parents not inform you to treat Nobles with the utmost respect or were they graceless and uncouth just like you?"

The blonde-haired fool senselessly struck a nerve, and that was a nerve that should not have been struck in any kind of way. Jessie has dealt with demons like Guiche, and every time it ends exactly the way you think it would end, no difference in any other way. In this scenario, however, there was a difference, and it was a big one at that. Guiche might have been a complete-...okay, scratch that out, he was a complete nitwit and a simpleton in every sense of the goddamn word[s] with serious narcissistic issues that only God (or whatever deity he along with everyone else believed in) could find the solution to and a very, very, very punchable face, but he was still a human being, at the end of the day, and Jessie could not kill him, not that she was planning on doing so, mind you. For starters, she strictly followed Dante's 'no killing humans' rule, and two: he was still a teenager, and it would be plain wrong. "Trust me, child, my mother always reminded me to treat individuals with respect and courtesy. However, she DID tell me not to bestow kindness to those that unquestionably don't deserve it, like you."

Guiche frowned, but simply kept his composure. He will not be letting the woman get the better of him; he was far too good for that. "Honestly, such ignorant words." He scoffed, flailing his rose-like wand dramatically. Jessie merely rolled her eyes at that and focused on him. "You paint me as the villain? PAH! Foolish commoner, I was merely punishing that stupid maid girl over there for breaking the hearts of two beautiful maidens" The crowd as well as Siesta knew that was one big lie, but they decided not to say anything for reasons nobody knows. Siesta, on the other hand, didn't want to say anything because she didn't want to make the situation worse and call Guiche out for his evil lies. "When a peasant wrongs a Noble, they must pay the hefty price, and pay she did. If she didn't want to get slapped, she should've never committed the barbaric act."

Despite being one of the many people who weren't at the courtyard earlier, Jessie knew that Guiche was fibbing out of his rear and was using Siesta as a scapegoat as a means to neglect taking responsibility for his own actions. All of that punishment mumbo-jumbo he was spewing out of that sinkhole he called a mouth was just pillows to soften the damage-dealing blow. For the life of her, Jessie couldn't fathom why some people couldn't own up to their mistakes and see that they were wrong; why push the blame onto someone else and make them out to be the bad guy? She just couldn't understand it. "I find it quite odd how you're pointing fingers and telling me that everything that happened here recently was Siesta's fault when I heard through the grapevine that it was actually you're doing." Guiche growled. "Is there something that I should know about? Any events related to two-timing? I would very much like to know what's been going on around here."

Now that she had him on the ropes, Guiche nervously took two steps back and angrily pointed his rose wand at Jessie, his calm composure dwindling by the second. "Y-You insignificant little harlot of a woman!" He whopped and hollered, his crass name-calling sounding absolutely hollow in Jessie's ears. Frankly, she's been called much worse and has heard more creative insults from demons. "How dare you place the blame on me! You obviously don't know the truth, so mind your tongue this instant!" The shell of egotism, narcissism, and ignorance was starting to crack, and with the right words, it would shatter into tiny pieces. Honestly, Gramont wasn't expecting things to turn out this way, but it did. All he wanted to do was punish that stupid maid woman accordingly for besmirching the honor and pride of the two gentlewomen he mentioned earlier and go on about his day, but Zero's familiar had other plans. Why the hell did she even care in the first place? It's not like she knew the damn plebian maid, so what was the big deal? It was because she was a commoner, wasn't it? Yeah, that had to be the case. Commoners sticking up for other commoners; something about that left a really sour taste in his mouth. That kind of mindset would land them in big trouble, and the Familiar of Zero was soon about to find out why that's so. One simply does not mess with a Noble and live to tell the tale to their comrades and family.

Jessie crossed her arms under her chest and glared at Guiche. The latter was starting to get backed into a corner, and the former knew that. "In all honesty, I find it really saddening how you blame others for situations that were entirely you're fault." Said Jessie. Guiche got offended by that, as usual, and was about to make a comeback when Jessie immediately shut him up by continuing further. "It wasn't Siesta that destroyed the honor of those two girls you were rambling about, it was really you, wasn't it? You're just acting childish and pinning the blame on her so you don't look like the monster in that scenario, but it's doing you no justice now is it?" Guiche had no reply as he was trying to think of something to say back, but he couldn't muster up anything, and it was sincerely embarrassing in his eyes. "Here's some food for thought, child. If you're going to cheat on someone, do it where people won't see you...actually, forget that, don't cheat at all! It's unbelievably disgusting and you should feel ashamed of yourself for partaking in!" Jessie's words of wisdom ACTUALLY got to Guiche, and he, believe it or not, felt a little guilty about his actions, but he was too stubborn to admit it. "What have those ladies done to get this sort of treatment? What? You believe that just because you're easy on the eyes that you can do as you please and won't receive karma because you think that they'll simply forgive you with a kiss on the cheek rather than a slap to the face? Wake the hell up! This is real life, not some sort of fantasy! People can AND WILL beat you within an inch of your life if you cheat on them!"

Having heard enough, his face red as a tomato due to his embarrassment, Guiche found himself pointing his wand at Jessie for a second time. This woman...this PEASANT was tarnishing his good name and he wasn't going to take that face down! The time for revenge was now and he was going to make sure that the Familiar of Zero gets everything that's coming to her. "Familiar of Zero!" Guiche said, putting on a brave facade to look cool and amazing, though he was failing incredibly. "I, Guiche de Gramont, Guiche the Brass, challenge you to a duel!" Now THAT right there shocked the spectators to the core, especially Siesta, who was the most shocked out of everyone watching. Guiche smirked once he heard the murmurs and whispers going around. YES! A duel is exactly what is needed to turn his situation around and get his well-needed revenge. "I will not allow you to stain my good name! Meet me at Vestri Court, we will battle there. You had best show up." After saying that Guiche walked forward. He briefly gave Siesta a cold look, which scared her, then went inside the building, leaving only the spectators who went back to doing what they were doing before, however, they were still talking about what had transpired.

Jessie scoffed as she rolled her eyes at Guiche's highly unnecessary stupidity. "An annoying little sea urchin he is..." Grumbled the dark-skinned woman. She was starting to wonder if some of the students at Tristain had some kind of mental problem that needed to be fixed. Either way, she didn't have time to worry about that. There was going to be a duel in a few short minutes, and she was going to partake be the victor. "If he wants a fight that badly, then it's a fight that I will give him. I dragged one egotistical child back down to Earth, I have no qualms doing it for a second time." Right before Jessie was given the chance to leave, Siesta lightly grabbed her by the arm, temporarily stopping her in her tracks. The young maid girl had a look of fear and sadness, and it was one that threw Jessie off-guard. Frankly, she wasn't expecting that kind of reaction, especially since she defended her, so what was the big idea? "What's the matter? You don't have to worry about that kid anymore, he won't be bothering you for a very long time, that I'll make sure of, trust me."

While Siesta was relieved to hear that from her friend, there was still a massive problem to deal with. The duel. Dueling against a Noble was highly uncommon, and something commoners like her tried to avoid with all of their power; it was kind of a golden rule in the commoner community. The child of the Gramont family was an earth mage and a proficient one at that. Siesta wasn't sure if Jessie had a chance of surviving anything that Guiche threw at her. Unbeknownst, to Siesta, Jessie was more than capable of defending herself in battle, but the young servant wasn't aware of that, unfortunately, and assumed that it was going to be a one-sided battle when it probably wasn't going to be one. "Ms. Winters, you mustn't do this!" Pleaded the beautiful maid girl, hugging Jessie like she was an adorable teddy bear. "Guiche is far too strong for you. If you engage him in a duel then you'll lose and who knows what he'll have you! Please think about reconsidering!"

Jessie responded with a small chuckle. The Devil Hunter gently pushed Siesta away and gave her a light head pat of endearment. She was indeed thankful for the maid's caring nature, but she could perfectly take care of herself and solve the problem at hand. And besides, she was never one to shy away from battle; as ignorant and foolish as it sounded, there was something about turning tail and running away that left a really bitter taste in her mouth; maybe it was her mother's headstrong attitude rubbing off on her, perhaps it was something different. Either way, she had no plans on giving up and giving that Guiche kid satisfaction. "Take it easy, Siesta." Said Jessie, still rubbing the brunette's head. "Everything is going to be alright. You don't have to worry about anything. I fought in battles before, something like is just another Tuesday for me. In all honesty, I understand why commoners would be afraid to fight Nobility since they wield powers and commoners don't, but at the end of the day, simply knock the wand out of their hands, and their pretty much useless...unless you're fighting a knight mage, but you see what I'm getting at, right?" With that, Jessie started to walk towards the school building, not listening to Siesta's pleases. "Don't try to stop me, sweetie, I've already made it my mind."

Siesta was left alone by herself and was quivering in fear and panic because her companion was going to get herself killed in battle. She absolutely could not allow that to happen; something just had to be done about it. Suddenly an imaginary light bulb appeared over the maid girl's head and she snapped her fingers, a great scheme coming to mind. Madame Valliere! She might know the solution to the situation at hand! She was one of the most intelligent students in the academy, despite her very low success rate in magic spells. Given that she was Jessie's comrade, she could probably reel her in and persuade her not to go through with the duel. "I must inform Madame Valliere of this, at once." Siesta slammed her hand onto the palm of her fist in determination. "With her friendship with Ms. Jessie, she can convince her to back against Mr. Gramont." With that being said, Siesta scurried off in a hurry to search for Louise. She didn't see her outside, so she must have been in the building.

Jessie had been roaming throughout the castle-like academy for minutes; in her eyes, though, it felt like hours. The dark-skinned lady was looking for Vestri Court, but she couldn't find the blasted place. Ultimately, she got annoyed with the search for the court on her own and decided to ask a few students for directions. Fortunately, the young scholars were more than happy to point her in the correct direction as they wanted to watch the fight. With the information she had obtained, Jessie went off to fight Guiche. Once she had arrived at her destination, the woman was greeted with an incredibly large amount of students who were really eager to watch the duel go down. Jessie whistled. "Now that's a lot of students, I must say." She said to herself. "I know it's a school and all, but still." Standing a few feet away from the Devil Hunter was Guiche, who was wearing that cocky smirk of his that made Jessie wanted to smack him upside the head. "Alright, child. You talk a real big game, but let's see if you're capable of backing up the claims that come out of that mouth of yours." If Guiche was willing to challenge her to a duel, then that means he can able to fight, correct?

"I commend you for showing up, peasant woman." Guiche pointed his rose at Jessie. "You know, most commoners in your position would have run away or bow down to me, apologizing for angering an elegant Noble such as myself." Jessie clenched her fist, though Guiche or anyone else could not see it. The spectators, on the other hand, were eating Guiche's act up like a fish to fish food, and egging him on when they didn't need to do so. The ladies that previously dated the blonde fop must not have been right in the head at the time because there was no way in hell someone looked at him and thought that he was charming, which he wasn't, by the way. The crowd was loving what was currently happening at Guiche damn well knew that. Giving the crowd exactly what they wanted, he continued. "Since I'm a nice person, I will call the duel off...if..." There was a random pause. If? If what? "...if you apologize to me, and admit your mistakes."

Okay, that was an absolute hell no! Jessie was unquestionably not going to apologize for rightfully calling out the blonde nitwit for being an idiotic tool as well as a two-timing cheater. Admit your mistakes? It's quite ironic how he wanted other people to do that, and yet, at the same time, wasn't willing to do it himself for arbitrary reasons; he had no room to talk. "Apologize to you? And why would I do that, exactly? I have no reason to do so, get real." Jessie asserted, causing Guiche to scowl at her with venom and revulsion. "It truly infuriates me how you constantly criticize individuals for their faults and blunders when you yourself don't even acknowledge your own." Now Guiche was starting to get really angry. He couldn't wait to start the duel and put the bothersome commoner woman in her place where she belonged! "Here's a helpful piece of advice that I think you'll need for the future: try acting like a normal human being and see to it that you work on your mistakes. Do that and scenarios like this won't happen to you. I am not your worst enemy, neither is Siesta or anyone else...it's you, you're going to be solely responsible for your own destruction, and no one will be there to lift you up from the heaping pile you created if you keep acting like the way you are now."

The Gramont child was clenching his fist tightly, and if he were to continue any further, blood would start to leak out. That woman...that terribly inferior commoner wench...how dare she...how DARE she make fun of him, treating him as if he was a small child in front of nearly the entire school! That was something he could not let slide, and nobody was going to tell him otherwise. He was going to make that woman pay for her crimes! He was going to have her bow down to him and treat him like the young, upstanding Nobleman he was! "I hope you prepared yourself, peasant woman, I have no intentions of holding back. You will feel the pure wrath of a Noble; you will see first-hand why angering a Noble is one of the biggest mistakes any commoner can make!" The spectators began to cheer again, their excitement getting the better of them. A Noble fighting a plebian? It's not often that you see something like that. The students already knew who the winner was going to be, but, nevertheless, it would be interesting to see if Jessie had a chance at survival. Perhaps she was skilled in combat; maybe, who really knows?

Right as Guiche was about to commence the duel, Louise appeared from the crowd and strutted toward the center, and sought to put the foolish fight to a halt. That servant girl had told her of Jessie's recent escapades, and she had to put a stop to it. Brimir dammit! This was partially her fault! Had she just kept a close eye on her, none of this would have been happening; she silently cursed herself for falling victim to Jessie's nightmarish glare. However, now that she was there, maybe she could convince her familiar to apologize to Guiche. "Familiar! Stop this at once, there is no point in fighting Guiche, so stop this while you're still alive." To her surprise, Jessie ignored her demand and was dead-set on fighting Guiche. Why? Why couldn't she just follow her commands like a good little familiar? Why did she have to make serious problems ten times more complicated than they needed to be? The pink-haired Noble said it once, and she'll say it again: she wished she could've gotten a powerful manticore instead of a human familiar, at least they followed orders without. "You know what? Go ahead! Fight Guiche for all I care! Don't come crying to me when you're injured and need support!" With a huff, Louise stormed back over to the crowd and angrily folded her arms. Her familiar was making a huge mistake, but she obviously didn't care for her safety and health...how moronic of her; there was no way commoners could be this hopeless...

Jessie shook her head at Louise, but hey, the latter gave her the thumbs up, so it was okay, though it was more along the lines of giving up and letting her do as she pleased. The Nephilim hybrid cracked her knuckles. "I'm ready to go whenever you are." She stated with a serious expression. The bystanders, with the exception of Louise, Siesta, and Tabitha, cheered and hollered as they were excited to see some action happen. If it was a fight they wanted, then it was a fight they were going to get, and to hell with the consequences! Dramatically waving his wand around like the big drama queen he was, five rose petals from Guiche's wand slowly descended to the ground and suddenly lit up as five exact Valkyrie soldiers made up of brass appeared out of nowhere. Jessie was surprised by this because she was expecting Guiche to fight. "What in the world? I thought this was supposed to be a one-on-one battle between me and him. What purpose do those things have for being here?"

When questioned about the purpose of the Valkyrie's existence, Guiche responded by saying that they were his prized creations and that they were going to be the ones to partake in the battle against their opponent, taking his stead. Apparently, he didn't want to sully his Noble hands fighting a commoner like Jessie. The latter rolled her eyes and facepalmed. Goodness gracious, every time the blonde fool said something monumentally stupid, a small part of her died. Now she really wanted to defeat him, and teach him a lesson he would never forget. With no hesitation, Guiche commenced the duel and immediately commanded his glorious golems to attack Jessie with very little mercy. The rich kid was wearing an egotistical smirk as he knew how things were going to turn out for his opponent. A little part of him wondered if sending out three powerful Valkyrie golems was a bit much on his part. Sure, he wanted to give the woman a good taste of defeat, but he didn't want to kill her; he wasn't a monster. On Jessie's end, she was calmly waiting for the three golems to approach her and attack her with all they got. Quite frankly, in her eyes, the golems were moving slower than molasses mixed with glue. Once the Valkyries finally came in contact with the Devil Hunter, they each swung with great force, but to their surprise, zero damage was dealt. Now that surprised the spectators most notably Louise, Siesta, and Guiche. Even Tabitha was astonished by that, and she wasn't exactly the type of individual one would be capable of surprising with little to no issue; the short, blue-haired girl was unfazeable as...as...something that was unfazeable. In Jessie's right hand was a spear used by the first Valkyrie. In her left hand was a large hammer used by the second Valkyrie. And as for the third Valkyrie...they were wielding a broadsword, and that sword was stuck in between Jessie's teeth. Applying force to her hands and teeth, Jessie ended up destroying the weapons, and it wasn't even that difficult for her. The Valkyrie's had no idea what to do at that point, but their opponent did, unfortunately. The unlucky golems barely had the opportunity to react and defend themselves as they were swiftly sliced in half with one big slash from Sotiras, courtesy of Jessie.

Guiche watched in complete and utter horror as his beloved golems crumpled to the ground, with Jessie being the only one standing. Confounded! That wasn't what was supposed to happen, not to his prized Valkyries! In anger, the young Gramont created five more Valkyrie's. He was not going to lose to a commoner woman; there was too much on the line and he couldn't risk losing it all. He was going to go all out for this battle; he would not be showing that peasant a fragment of mercy and forgiveness, not! a! one! "Crush the Familiar of Zero!" Louise, of course, growled at that, inwardly. "Show her the power of the dreaded Valkyries!"

Acting on their creator's command, the five Valkyries rushed forward. Jessie, deciding to do the same thing, rushed forward, too, though she was much, much faster than the bronze golems could ever be. With highly inhuman speed, the dark-skinned Nephilim circulated around the golems, the latter incapable of striking, not even once, and it was then that numerous afterimages of Jessie appeared, taking everyone by surprise. It was clear, at least now it was, that Jessie was no ordinary peasant woman. Never in all their years of living had the young Noble students ever seen someone move that fast before. She was a Noblewoman, she just had to be a one; there was no way in hell she was pulling off stunts like that without the use of magic to back it up. Out of everyone watching, Louise was the most astonished. At first, the pinkette thought Jessie was a mere commoner, incapable of doing any spectacular; now she knew that that was one big lie. Back to the fight, Jessie continued to circle around the Valkyries at a high velocity until she moved forward, and sliced three of the five Valkyrie's, which angered Guiche. Luckily for the young Gramont, he still had two Valkyrie's left, so perhaps they could complete what the defeated Valkyrie's couldn't do. Though she defeated two Valkyrie's, Jessie did not let up for a second. Now, it was the remaining Valkyries' turn to attack; the first Valkyrie performed a downwards slash with their sword, leading Jessie to respond by blocking the attack with her sword, causing the Valkyrie's sword to snap in two like it was a weak twig; the spectators were starting to wonder what kind of material they were made out of. The last and final Valkyrie had a large mace and they swung their spiked weapon at their opponent, who dodged and ruthlessly sliced their hand right off. Finishing the job, Jessie drove Sotiras through the golem's chest, then vertically slashed them, their halves slowly falling to the ground.

Five Valkyries! The Familiar of Zero took down FIVE damn Valkyries, and she wasn't even breaking a freaking sweat! Guiche's heart was racing, and he was sweating bullets. His feet were shaking and he was breathing hard; it almost looked like he was hyperventilating, and he probably was, who knows, exactly. If he didn't act fast, then it would be game over for him. In a fit of rage mixed with fear, the blonde waved his wand around and summoned fifteen Valkyries! He commanded them to take down Jessie, and they did exactly...or, at least tried to. Jessie stabbed Sotiras into the ground, then pulled out her Desert Eagles. With a serious expression, she aimed her firearms at the fifteen Valkyries and pulled the trigger, proceeding to unleash a hot array of deadly ammunition. The spectators, as well as Guiche, covered their ears as they were greeted with loud bangs. They had no idea what Jessie was using to attack the Valkyries, but what they did know was that they were annoyingly loud and proved to be quite useful as the Valkyries were dropping like flies, several parts scattered throughout the medium-sized battlefield. What was previously five was now fifteen, and that was the number of golems Jessie had defeated. Yep, he was pretty much finished at that point. He could summon twenty, fifty, or possibly a hundred Valkyries, and it still wouldn't make much of a difference; Jessie would just defeat them all without an issue. Son of a female dog! Why couldn't Zero (or Louise, at this point) summon a normal familiar!? Why did she have to get that irregular beast of a woman!? It was kind of ironic when one gave it thought. Guiche always made fun of Louise for being an embarrassment, yet here he was, being the very thing he mocked Louise for...an embarrassment.

Jessie observed Guiche as he looked like he was about to rip his hair out from all the stress. The dark-skinned Devil Hunter would be fibbing greatly if she said that she didn't find some kind of enjoyment in seeing Guiche at his lowest point. Normally, she wouldn't dare to cruelly ridicule anyone who was at their lowest point in life, but if it was someone who really deserved it, then she'll chuckle a little bit. In her eyes, Guiche had it coming considering the things he had done to Siesta and those two girls, so she had no qualms in embarrassing him in front of everyone. Stepping forward, Jessie gave Guiche an eerie glare, virulence lying within her expression. "Is this foolish battle finally finished?" She questioned. "Do you finally see how outclassed you are?" Responding to her comment, Guiche roared. Jessie simply rolled her eyes and a sigh erupted from her mouth; the blonde fool was only making things worse for himself, could he see that, or was he just too prideful that it blinded him from common sense? Raising his wand, Guiche caused several large rocks to arise from the ground, and he launched them all at Jessie! With her sword in her hand, the latter stormed ahead with no fear, hacking and slashing any projectile that came her way with great speed. Guiche, seeing what Jessie had done, stumbled backward. He was about to use his magic to send out more rocks, but couldn't...because Jessie had Sotiras aimed at his throat. She had a problem with killing him; she didn't have a problem, however, with instilling fear in him. Sometimes the fear was a necessary evil required for certain individuals to become a better version of themselves. "Give up, child..." The female warrior's voice was deep and profound. "By continuing this unnecessary fight, you're only digging your hole deeper and deeper..."

Guiche collapsed right on his rear that was recently kicked (metaphorically, of course). "I-I...I..." Believe it or not, the defeated Noble actually had difficulty coming up with coherent sentences, and could only stammer and mumble, which only served to annoy Jessie even further. He lost...he seriously lost to a peasant woman; his failure...it was so unbelievably embarrassing! How!? How could he be the one to lose!?! He was remarkably skilled at magic and was one of the best damn Earth users at Tristain Academy, so what the hell went wrong? Jessie eventually got fed up with Guiche's frustrating mumbling and aimed her sword closer toward his neck. With no other good choice to fall back on, the blonde-haired boy had only one option to choose from, and he wasn't going to like it, not one bit. "I...I, Guiche Gramont, Guiche the Brass, declare defeat, and declare Valliere's family as the winner." Brimir, that was so embarrassing for him to say, but he couldn't do anything about it, unfortunately.

Even though Jessie was the winner of the duel, the crowd didn't cheer for her or do anything of the sort; they were too shocked and surprised to even speak or utter a single word. With their silence now on display, Jessie took that as the perfect opportunity to state some words of wisdom; a few words that would certainly change the children's way of living. She's had enough of the social Darwinism-like act some of these kids had and wanted it to stop right away! "I would like each and every one of you to listen up and listen to the best of your ability." Now that seemed to gain their attention as all eyes were placed on her, listening with open ears. "You kids are not gods and goddesses. The world isn't your personal playpen, and the poor and unfortunate within it aren't your personal playthings that you abuse for as long as you please, then throw away like trash when you're finished with them. You're humans, for Christ's sake. You're capable of getting hurt, whether it be physically and emotionally, you're capable of catching a cold or disease, and you're capable of DYING" Some of the students winced when dying was brought up. "Quit acting like you're so far above it all, that you don't need to deal with the consequences of your actions because you're rich; that you're allowed to treat commoners a certain way because they don't have what you have; that you think you deserve respect without working for it. You want to be adored by the public? You want to be treated like an Idol? Do some genuine good in the world, instead of strutting around and showing off how incredibly wealthy you are, and perhaps your dream might come true. The commoners in this world don't respect you; they hate you because you're ignorant and disrespectful; they wholeheartedly fear you, but are too afraid to say anything negative in your direction, otherwise, they'll receive inhumane punishment. You may be surprised by that, but it's the truth and the truth hurts really bad. Think long and hard about what I said, it will do you wonders in the future." Jessie turned to Guiche and gave him a nasty look. "And as for you..." The female Nephilim grabbed the once cocky Noble by the collar of his shirt and held him up. "You, child, are going to apologize to the sweet maid girl for wrongfully slapping her, then you're going to find every poor lady you cheated on and apologize to them as well for being selfish toward their emotions. Is that understood? Yes?" Guiche quickly nodded, his head moving incredibly fast and his body shaking like crazy. Receiving a response like that, Jessie gave Guiche the same evil smile she gave Louise and calmly let him go. "Good. I expect to hear your progress later on."

Now that she gave the delusional students of Tristain Academy a well-needed reality check, Jessie placed Sotiras back where it belonged and calmly walked towards Vestri Court's exit; the students parted ways like the red sea as they didn't want to get on the Devil Hunter's bad side, which was what nobody wanted to do, at the moment. Jessie decided it was time to go back to the library. She needed some alone time, and she needed it right away. Though she easily won the duel against Guiche, she still felt annoyed. Maybe it was because she had to go into full-on teacher mode and scold the students for acting like children instead of teenagers. She shouldn't have to do that, that was a job for the parents or whoever was in charge of raising them. Whatever it was, she wanted peace and quiet, and the library was the perfect place.

Several hours had passed by, and the time of day was now nighttime. Louise was busy putting her sleeping down on, getting ready for bed, while Jessie was looking at the delightful night sky. The former was staring at the dark-skinned beauty out the corner of her eye with the latter being unaware of it. So many questions were running through the young Noblewoman's mind; more so, who her familiar was exactly. It was painfully obvious that she wasn't a normal human, nor was she an average commoner. Finally gaining some kind of courage, Louise turned to Jessie and spoke up. "Famil-I mean...Jessie Winters." She said, nervously. Jessie stopped watching the stars and turned to Louise. "W-Who are you, exactly?" Jessie's identity was something Louise just had to know, else she'd be spending sleepless nights trying to find out.

Jessie simply sighed as she knew that the kitty was going to come out of the bag eventually. "Okay, Louise..." She began, folding her arm s. "Things are going to get confusing so please do everything you can to stay focused with every piece of information I give you. Louise nodded and took a seat. "Good girl. Alright, I may look like a normal human, but in actuality..."

[END]

"Good morning/good evening/good afternoon/ good etc, dear readers. TheUnholyGem3034 reporting and I would like to thank you all for reading the second chapter of the story, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. As you might have noticed, I made Jessie much more mature and refined compared to her original self where she was Dante/DMC5 Nero-like in some aspects of her character. She was quite cocky, brash, and cursed like a sailor. When matched to her new incarnate (or reboot self, depending on how you want to go about it) you'll see a big difference between the two. Another thing I'd like to add is the writing style and details. Seriously, if you look back to my old story, it looks like I wasn't even trying or genuinely thought it was good (Hell, I feel embarrassed when I read it sometimes). Thankfully, I've gotten better over the years and read other stories to use as examples to see what I can fix and touch upon. Last but certainly not least, if you're wondering about Jessie's backstory; she has one, which I'll get into, but I'm saving it for a special chapter and for when the time is right. For now, all we know is that she's a Nephilim and a human; she also has parents, obviously, but they're unknown for now. Having said that, I would like to thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoy the next one. Make sure to review and share with friends/family. No flames, please. Let's keep things calm and civilized, why start a war for no reason? Have a great day/night and please stay safe out there."-TheUnHolyGem3034

[Extras, cause why not?]

(1): I will occasionally throw characters, objects, or famous quotes/memes from pop culture into the story. Rosalina is one of my favorite characters in the Mario Bros. series, by the way.

(2): I find it kind of difficult to implement dialogue when the character is talking with food in their mouth, so I did the best I could. I apologize in advance if it's confusing to understand.

(3): Not that anyone really asked, or even cares for that matter, but for those of you who would like to know what Jessie sounds like, she sounds like Android 18 from Dragon Ball Z, but the ocean dub version; voiced by Enuka Okuma, who also voices Rhodonite from Steven Universe. I don't watch the show, but I just wanted to let you guys know for the heck of it. One of the many jokes about the Ocean Dub is the bad acting excluding Brian Drummond's Vegeta voice, of course, but, in my opinion, 18's voice doesn't sound that bad; it sort of sounds like the Funimation dub in some areas.