The kitchen, as always, was a warzone. Fallen pieces of neatly cut vegetables laid on the ground as they waited to be swept up by the broom that for now stood in the corner. Knives and cutting boards were submerged in the water in the sink. Anyone who bothered to look in through the windows that were opened wide between five and seven in the afternoon could see the magic happening—Kyrie, like a magician, methodically working her way through the chaos that eventually gave way to order. And the results were, if someone asked the children living in the house or the odd guests that turned up from time to time, worth it.
Not that many spied through that window or joined the dinners lately, for that matter. No one was ever turned away, according to the city's poor, but most were discouraged by the almost militant protectors of the woman who seemed to be none the wiser of their behaviour when she was not present. Her partner, odd choice as he was, was one thing; most knew him. Most had their opinions of him, had an inkling of what he was capable of, and knew just the lengths he would go to in order to protect his beloved. But as annoying as his presence was to the city, he was from around and he was a grown up. Which in the mind of the folk equalled safe.
No, the problematic ones were the children and the woman who moved to Fortuna a couple years ago. Literal devils in disguise. After someone coloured the wool of old man Janus's sheep blue (it came out easily, but did require some washing to which the animals protested), no one really critiqued audibly about Kyrie.
But for now everything seemed to be in order. One could almost call it an angelic picture as she stood in the middle of the madness, while Nico and the children sat around the table, reading silently.
"Well, do you know when we can expect you?" she asked, stirring the chopped onions with one hand, holding the phone to her ear with the other. The phone crackled as the answer came, sounding as if the one on the other end of the line spoke from twenty-thousand leagues under the sea.
"Not really. They're being really secretive about this job."
"You do what you have to do. We're not going anywhere."
"You're the best, you know that?"
She saw in the reflection of the pot as Nico covered her mouth with her hand, pretending to throw up. If the stifled giggles were anything to go by, it was a hit with the children who started making gagging sounds themselves.
"Someone keeps telling me so, but I think he has some ulterior motives, so… Who knows."
"Ulterior moves? Never." More crackling. "Tell Nico I heard that. No dinner for her tonight."
"Hey!" the engineer yelled, "You're not the boss off me!"
The answer came immediately, the volume forcing Kyrie to shove the hand holding the phone out in surprise. "Yet you eat what we put on the table! Never once paying! My wallet is not bottomless, you know!"
"I'm paying with my genius, genius!"
"Nero. Sweetie. My ear."
"Sorry," he said, his honestly remorseful. She smiled. Ever since he was a child, he wore his thoughts and feelings on his sleeve. "You can kick her out if you want to, you know. Anyway, gotta go now. I'll be home soon. Can't be much longer."
"Be safe. Love you."
The line disconnected. Nico looked up from her magazine and pushed up her glasses that slid down to the tip of her nose, a cheeky grin plastered across her face.
"Thank goodness. I thought I'm gonna get a sugar shock from all that sweetness. Loverboy still under house arrest then?"
"Something like that," Kyrie nodded as she poured the stock over the onions that meanwhile turned translucent. Now to let it simmer, she thought as she untied her apron. "I really appreciate that you fixed the faucet."
"Got nothing better to do, plus free dinner? Cha-ching, sold! Amirite?" she asked holding her hand up for a high-five. The kids enthusiastically smashed their palms against hers.
Kyrie smiled.
Previously she did not have many female friends. The ones that she frequently met with usually always wanted one thing or another from her or from Credo, knowing that as the captain of the guards, he had the ear of Sanctus. The sisters at the orphanage were kind enough, but those relations always had something that was missing from them; they were almost transactional. There was one or two, true enough, but eventually they either moved away-a rather rare occurrence for someone from Fortuna-or their families' forbade contact after the order came crashing down.
Then, one day Nico arrived like a hurricane, and stuck.
She turned to the children. "Dinner will be another thirty minutes. Did you finish your homework?"
"Yes?"
The sheepish looks on their faces told her the reality of the matter.
"Off you go then. Shoo."
"We'll do it after dinner!"
"I think what she wants to say, is that there be a grown-up talk coming, pups," Nico said, lifting the girl out of her chair. She squealed in delight, but the boys turned pale with terror at the prospect of grown-up talks and jumped out of their chairs on their own. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Scurry off! One-two, one-two! Lil' beasts."
"You're really good with them," Kyrie said as she poured herself some tea. She set it safely on the table before she went to close the windows.
"The trick is acting like the fun aunt," she said, sitting down again, her face turning serious, "So when do you plan to tell him?"
"I don't know." She looked at the steady steam that rose from her mug. "It's still early and we never quite talked about children."
"It's kinda late for that, don't you think?" she asked, motioning towards the stairs where the kids disappeared.
"You know what I mean."
"I get it. Under a lot of pressure, you don't wanna press him, yada-yada. But he's not as fragile as he looks. I mean dude keeps regrowing limbs like some kind of lizard. What was it that went last time?"
"His left foot."
"See? Creepy, yes. Admittedly not the sharpest knife, definitely careless when it comes to his own well-being, but not fragile. Maybe it'll even do him good. Makes him think twice before going up against tentacle monsters three times his size as his track record with them? Not that great." Nico looked up at the ceiling, squinting as she did so. "Say, sugah, you do not have any vibration machines in the ceiling, right?"
"What? No."
"And you didn't leave the Surrender on?"
Heat rose to Kyrie's cheeks. Nico's ability to talk about such private matters so matter-of-factly always caught her off-guard. "No."
Then they heard it. A deep groan from the depths of the earth, just before the ground started to shake, the utensils and plates rattling away in their cases.
"Shit, is this normal?"
"No."
Kyrie pulled aside the blinds, revealing panicked people running up and down on the street. The lights flickered both inside and outside the house, aside from the red glow that lit up the night sky. Upstairs, the kids screamed her name.
"The Hellgate," she whispered to herself. But that was impossible. Dante destroyed it, she was told as much.
"The what now?" Nico demanded as she quickly caught the coffee cup that got dangerously close to dancing off the edge of the table.
By now the children joined them again, but she barely took notice, locked in place by the sight and by the onslaught of memories as spots of black mixed in the red, twirling and jumping through the air.
"There was a Hellgate under the city. I think Nero took you there."
"But there's nothing but rubble!"
"Kyrie, I'm scared!" the little girl cried, her well-worn bunny plushie clutched tight against her chest.
"It's going to be okay, Darla. You have to be a big girl now, huh?" she said, quickly organising her thoughts, "You too, boys, I need your help. We're closing down the house, like we practiced. Don't let anyone in who…"
Before she could finish the sentence, another tremor shook the house. The window shattered into a thousand pieces. She heard the children's terrified scream as the tiny shards, that shimmered like stars in the flickering light, flew around them, bombarding them. Kyrie felt one sharper piece graze her cheek. Warm blood started flowing, but the adrenaline rush suppressed any pain.
Covering behind the desk that somehow fell onto its side, Nico looked up at her, "This is not looking good princess. Got a plan B?"
"Get the kids to the van. I'll be right behind you."
"Where are you going?"
"Just grabbing some things."
She heard Nico curse under her breath. The kids fell in a line in front of her, the boys keeping Darla firmly in the middle, the glass crunching under their feet as they crossed the destroyed kitchen. Outside the night turned a deeper, darker shade of red.
What's taking her so long?
Nico rolled her neck impatiently to relieve some of the stiffness. This was not what she had planned. Not in the least. First, she wanted to tinker some more with one of the arms that she was developing and should be awe-fucking-some by the time she is finished with it; then a nice hot bath to wash off the grime. And a drink. Heck, she had the one life, maybe a bath and a drink at the same time.
"Nico!"
Her head snapped in the direction from which she heard Julio yell. The boy was trembling like a lift as he pointed at one of the ugly-ass motherfuckers creeping towards her on the ground like some sort of serpent.
A really nasty looking son of a bitch.
"Get in the van and close the door," she said, backing in the opposite direction.
"But…"
"Do it." She saw the child's jaw muscles clench as if he wanted to argue against her command, even though he was shaking in his boots from fear like a chihuahua does from anger; but thankfully he obeyed. The door clicked shut softly, not alerting the creature to the much easier prey. If anything, it seemed to be completely deaf to the world.
"Here boy," she said, inching towards the workbench where like a shining ray of hope sat a half-finished devilbreaker. Not perfect yet-especially since this was a prototype that she used to teach Kyrie some basics, definitely nothing like the one that was still mostly in pieces in her apartment, but should be enough to blow this asshole to pieces all the same; hopefully without taking her own arm with it.
Wouldn't that be an irony? An arm for an arm.
When the creature lunged, so did she. But she was slow, so painfully, humanly slow and she knew it. Her eyes closed shut involuntarily, awaiting the pain and agony that the mouth full of rows of teeth, dripping with something yellow that could only be venom, promised.
What came instead was the deafening bang of a shotgun. Then another.
Opening one of her eyes, squinting as she did so, she took in the sight of the demon–not quite dead yet, but not jumping around anymore either–and Kyrie standing in the doorway, holding a shotgun in her hands, white as a sheet, the fallen copper shells not far from her feet.
"Holy mother of mercy," she gasped for air as relief washed over her like that bath she longed for, "When did you learn to shoot?"
"After you came back from the tree. Lady taught me. Said she owes one to you and Nero. He doesn't know." She looked her sheepishly in the eye, like a kid caught red-handed. "Please don't tell him?"
"That his girlfriend is a badass and he doesn't deserve her? Whatever floats your boat." Nico looked at the gaping garage door. Shadows started dancing on the wall of the opposite house and something large and the colour of clotted blood flew past. "I do think that it was an invitation for open hour, so let's get this show on the road."
"The city" Toni said looking through the window of the door, "It's a mess."
"Sit down, kid, I ain't gonna tell you again."
"Or else?"
"Toni."
Kyrie didn't need to say anything else; she did not even turn her gaze away from the rubble that fell from the destroyed buildings as the ground pulsated below them like a living thing.
"Cheeky little bastard," Nico snorted. The boy stuck his tongue out in place of a reply. "So? Where to?"
"The harbour. Maybe we can still get on a boat. If not, the mines nearby have been fortified after… Sanctus's rampage."
She still did not really want to talk of it. No wonder. She only told Nico her side of the story once about the time that she spent inside that giant statue, unmade, yet aware of her own existence and that of those around her. And the plain evil she felt circling around when Sanctus joined that flow of energy.
"All right," she nodded, swerving around a large and hairy mass that moved on spidery legs before running over an empusa that seemed to have half its body torn away by something bigger and meaner, "Back to the topic on hand. Why did you learn to shoot?"
"After all that happened, would it not have been ignorant of me not to? And I know I have no chance at hand-to-hand, so… Guns."
"Well, you look like a veritable goddess of war doing so, so… What do you think?" she asked, nodding towards a shape in the distance. She slowed down slightly, but stopping entirely was risky as the town continued to come apart at the seams. "Can you take that one? Yeah that one, the gooey fatso in the middle of the road. Toni, rifle, the short-barreled."
"You're not the boss of me!"
"Do you want to be dinner?" He did not answer. "Thought so. Yellow cartridges, the one that says C-2. I said yellow. Keep away from the blue."
Antonio handed Kyrie the rifle and the ammo.
"From a moving car?" Kyrie asked, her voice full of doubt.
You trust everyone so readily. Should start practicing the same with yourself, woman.
"Come on! We are not going that fast, but it seems to be interested already. It's gonna be fun. Trust me, I did this a couple of times."
"You and I have very different ideas of fun," Kyrie said as she aimed at the behemoth. "Kids, don't look."
Julio, ever the dutiful boy, covered Darla's eyes and locked his own on the jukebox.
Nico saw Kyrie's hands tremble as she exhaled, but when she pulled the trigger, they were completely still.
The detonation sent chunks of meat flying in all directions, covering the nearby houses with goo and intestines.
"Can we look now?" Toni asked in a thin voice. In the mirrors, the women saw as masses of people started pouring out of their houses where they cowered so far, afraid of the ravenous behemoth. But that seemed to be just what other monsters were waiting for.
A horde of bat-like beings descended on them, lifting out well-grown men from the crowd. She saw as a woman drove a kitchen-knife through one's face; others scrambled to get back into the perceived safety of their homes. The phone on the dashboard rang a couple times before Nico chucked it to the back of the van.
"No. Best not."
The harbour was on fire. Even the waters seemed to be ablaze. Some luckier ships made it out and struggled against the rolling waves to put more distance between themselves and the land, while other vessels were turning into ash and blackened metal. Black beasts circled around the harbour master's office, striking at the rails randomly.
Only pieces of wood were left from the drawbridge that led to the mine tunnels. Scarecrows danced on it, screeching in frustration at their flying adversaries.
Nico turned off the engine. For a moment, absolute silence ruled in the van.
"Are they fighting each other?" Julio asked in surprise.
"Looks like it, bud," Nico nodded in agreement as she massaged her temples. "So this ain't gonna happen. Any other ideas?"
"The forest," Kyrie said, the red and orange flames reflected in her eyes, "We could still run into trouble there, but it should keep out the larger demons and the flying ones at least."
"Allrightie. Camping trip it is," Nico said, forcing her voice to sound upbeat, "What say you, kids?"
But the children were silent. They only watched the flames consumed the ships and the ones beyond salvation slowly drifted down to the seabed.
The crickets chirped away in the background. The quiet was strange to Nico's ears after the chaos that was the city and the harbour. The smoke of her cigarette lazily made its way upwards, the end glowing in the dark like a tiny red eye.
"Q&A," Nico said as Kyrie joined her outside, quickly putting out her smoke. The other woman looked at her, quite puzzled.
"What?"
"Questions and answers. We gotta kill the time somehow. Favourite colour."
"Yellow."
"Really?"
"Yes. It reminds me of the sun. I don't really wear it though, it makes me look washed out."
"Never took you for a gal who cares about colour-coding."
"Guilty," Kyrie said with a smile, "So what is yours?"
"Black. I know, I know, it's not really a colour if you listen to my second-grade arts teacher, but just hear me out – it's the ultimate all-in-one option."
"I never see you wearing black though."
"You can only wear it so many times before people start asking questions. Did someone die, darlin'?" Nico said, her voice jumping a pitch or two as she mimicked an elderly lady, "Is something the matter? Did something happen? Do you need help?" She shook her head. "Honestly, why can't some people just bother with their own sh… Stuff?"
"Don't ask me. I'm famous in Fortuna for always sticking my nose where it does not belong."
"Heard the legends. But you do it to keep the crazies from getting back into power, not because you think someone needs to spend a summer in a mental institution. Which brings me to my next question - why did you never skip town? I mean Fortuna is nice and all, once you forget the loonies exist, but did you ever think about exploring the world?"
"Not really, no. For all its faults, Fortuna is my-our-home. Is that weird?"
"Nah. Much like my pops, actually. The still kickin', not-douche one, obviously. He always says"-her voice dropped a few notes-"Nico, you are still young, one day you'll understand."
She leaned against the wheel. The stars were shining brightly, but just towards the bottom half of the sky, the lights of fire still burned.
Just how much will be left of the city by tomorrow? A good chunk of it is made of stone, but all that timber…
"Don't think I ever will tho. There is just… So much to see. To learn."
"You may be right, but… I'm content."
"Even if people talk behind your back?"
"Oh, it was a lot worse after Sanctus's death. That was not a good time. But we survived, and the kids helped. A lot. Did you know Antonio kicked a man in the shin when he spat at me? He was around six at the time."
"The little rascal. I'm betting you gave him about proper behaviour a lesson he'll never forget."
"Obviously. And a tub of ice cream."
Nico snickered.
"I can't tell if you are the best or the worst at raising kids. They do seem to be a happy bunch, so I guess that's all that matters."
"I'm glad you think that. I'm just not sure how they will deal with this whole situation; they already experienced so much sorrow, and they are not yet ten."
"There is no helping it that. You just do the best you can and hope it all turns out well. Plus, these kids are surprisingly resilient. I don't know if it's something you feed them or something in the water, but… They'll be ok. Maybe not now, but eventually. You gotta have faith in that. Anyway, they are plenty excited about that bun you are baking."
"What?"
"They are kids, Kyrie, not i… Blind. Darla noticed it first. That girl has some serious observing powers; one would say they are almost preternatural. It's god-damn creepy, no offense, but she could immediately tell when I misconnected a node in one of the Breakers. And with Julio's silver tongue… If that lot decides to start their own workshop, they'll run me out of business in no time."
"They are not yet ten, Nico."
The woman shrugged. "Can't be too careful with potential competition."
"Then maybe you should bring them into your business?"
"With their grimy lil' fingers? Nah. Hard pass. I'll just continue being the best at my job."
After what seemed like an eternity, the sun finally broke through the blanket of an uneasy night that enveloped the forest. The first birds tried their voices uncertainly, before letting the world know-they survived. They could still continue singing.
Nico yawned as she pulled the trigger that pulled driver's seat into its regular position. Somewhat disoriented, she reached out tentatively for her glasses as the memories of the day before came back to her.
Right. Demon attack, fire, camping out. Was there still coffee in the van, or only Nero's disgusting energy drinks? That guy's system had to run on two things – his love for Kyrie, and those monstrous, loathsome beverages.
Tiptoeing around the bundle of blankets that covered the children, she opened the door. Kyrie slept with her back propped against a tree, snoring peacefully, her hair messy from the tossing and turning she probably did as she tried to find a more comfortable position.
Hearing the door close she immediately sat upright and rubbed at her eyes.
"I wasn't sleeping."
"Sure you weren't. Just resting your eyes."
"That's what it was," Kyrie agreed, stretching, "The kids?"
"Would take time a cannon to wake them now," Nico said, holding out her hand. Kyrie took it. "Next time just tell me when you are tired, capiche? We won't be better off if you can't stay awake."
"No, no, I'm sorry. You needed your rest too."
"No, don't you worry about that. If anything happens to you, it's my ass on the line. You seen anything before you fell asleep?"
"The Gate's light went out at around six, about"-she squinted at her watch-"eighty minutes ago or so. A couple fires further in the forest. Probably some people had the same idea as us."
"And got lucky that demons do not acquaint fire with humans. The morons."
"Just desperate."
"Yeah, right. Come on. It's time we moved."
"Yeah and quick," they heard the tiny voice of Darla. The girl stood in the doorway, her hair a mess from sleeping, but she watched intently a spot deep within the forest. Nico focused-so damn hard without coffee-and saw a big, murky spot, half hidden by the trees. And the spot looked back at her with its glaring orange eyes.
"No rest for the wicked," she said with a groan as they slowly backed up towards the van. The beast reared.
"Nico?" Darla asked, her voice alarmed as she swung past the children straight into the driver's seat. She heard Kyrie slam the door shut.
"There are belts on the sofa," she said as the engine roared (Thank fuck.) to life, "Just reach to the back!"
Three soft clicks. Kyrie fell into the other seat as she floored it. The first fireball blasted off the passenger-side mirror a moment later.
"Umm, Nico? I think we may have a problem."
"Other than the fire-spitting demon chasing us?"
"Yeah," Antonio confirmed, "There is more of them."
The van got thrown forwards by an explosion at its back.
"Why bother fireproofing it, he said…"
"What?"
"Nothing. Any idea where this road goes?"
"To the old bridge. But…"
"Good enough."
And just as they cleared the last patch of the forest it indeed came into view.
"Nico."
"I'm concentrating."
"It's not finished."
"How much is missing."
"I don't know, like three or five meters, but…"
Can the van make it?
Her knuckles turned white. Of course it can. It was her baby after all.
"Then we jump."
Three-hundred meters to the bridge.
"Nico, we'll fall!"
"Yeah, and if we turn, those things are gonna make pork roast out of us!"
A hundred.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Should be fun."
Fifty.
Ten.
It wasn't a big gap, didn't seem like it, and there was just the right angle of kick off that might take them over.
Please work, she prayed to whatever deities there may be, Please work. If it doesn't…
With sinking heart, she saw the world slowly turn.
My luck finally ran out, huh? After all this time.
She heard the cries of the children. The ground was rushing to meet them.
Then a grey and blue flash as time and space seemed to slow. They were no longer falling, but tiny items she never bothered to fasten into place around them were. She felt something sharp slide across her ear. Probably her scapel.
Something big and heavy crashed behind them. She heard a disappointed cry from above. Then there was silence. Nico opened her eyes, squinting slightly and glared straight into a pair of golden eyes rimmed with black. A blue devil.
The shotgun went off next to her.
"Shit!" the demon groaned in a vaguely human voice. The van dropped the last meter or so, sending a tremor up her bones. The kids yelled in surprise, their voice already raw from the screaming. The demon now knelt in front of them, one hand on its face. On her right, she saw as Kyrie's own hand was plastered to her mouth in shock, the other one, trembling, still holding onto the gun, the flickering blue light reflected in her eyes.
Nero fell over, still holding his face, trembling somewhat. Whether from pain or from laughter, Nico could not tell, but knowing the bastard it was probably both.
"Right," she said, reaching over, and carefully removing the gun from Kyrie, "I'll take that."
"Nero!" she yelled as she clambered out of the van as fast as she was able.
"Nero? But that couldn't have been him. Isn't he abroad?" one of the children wondered aloud, not at all that fazed by their near-demise.
"That was a demon. Kyrie must have hit her head bad."
"See for yourself then," Nico said, leaning back in her seat. The children let out an audible gasp. "Yeahh, that's right! So you better not make a mess and eat your dinner!"
"Ewww!" Julio scrunched his nose as Kyrie, after forcing his hands away from his face, pulled Nero into a long-and admittedly bloody-kiss.
"Hey! Look away if you don't like it, but no commentary. Kissing is a part of life. Y'all will understand. Someday. Hopefully none of you will have to get shot in the head for it tho. He gets away with it only 'cuz there ain't much going on in there anyway, so maybe don't go trying it out, you hear me?"
The kids squirmed uncomfortably.
"Can we go now maybe?"
"In this van? Not in this decade, poor baby. Besides. I'm quite enjoying the sight."
"We heard that! Go away, you creep!"
Kyrie laughed.
"Your fault anyway, being away for so long!" she yelled back, before falling into her seat with a huff, "Whatever, you have much to talk about either way. Huuuge issues."
"Nico!" Kyrie wasn't laughing anymore. Using the momentary silence, the gunsmith ushered the kids out of the van, scratched up, battered, but whole.
"Sorry sugar, just giving you the kick needed. Never a better time than now."
"I know, but…"
"He ain't fragile, I told you that."
"Talk? Talk about what?"
They were already back on top of the hill when they heard the woman laughing.
"Put me down!"
"Never."
"You'll have to, eventually."
"We'll see about that."
A/N.: Deus ex Nero. There is no power that'd keep him from Kyrie in case of trouble, and those flight powers come in handy, too!
