Chapter 3
People on the streets screamed as a blonde woman landed perfectly in the middle of the street. A red haired one followed her, slowly descending from the building. From the balcony, Lady yelled:
"Trish, don't hurt her! She's out of her mind!"
"I know!"
Phoebe had no expression on her face as she slowly approached the demoness, it was hard to understand exactly what was going on inside her head. Trish stretched her arm in her direction and sent a lightning bolt from her palm, however, the sorceress deflected it with a red magic circle. Then, it was her turn to create fireballs and throw them at the blonde, who used electricity to explode them midway.
The human went down the stairs as fast as she could, listening to the loud explosions on the way. When she finally reached the street, she ran to position herself behind Phoebe and shot a rope from Kalina Ann's, aiming at her ankles.
Lady managed to bring her down, but she quickly burned the rope and got back to her feet. Now acknowledging the huntress' presence, the red head turned to her and quickly created and shot many fireballs at her.
As she quickly deflected all of them protecting herself with the huge rocket launcher, Trish took the opportunity to get close and place two fingers on the sorceress's neck, with voltage high enough to immobilize her. The demoness grabbed her as she fell unconscious.
Unfortunately, there was a reason for Phoebe avoiding sleep at all costs: the same nightmare.
"Wow. They did real a number on this person." Dante commented as he looked at the many organs hanging by the ceiling, blood still dripping from them and creating an enormous pool that they were stepping on. The only light came from the few small flames the sorceress had created to float around them.
"They called us here to confirm whether this was made by demons or not... But don't they know that demons would've drunk all this blood?"
"I guess even the police loves wasting my time nowadays." He heard Phoebe chuckle from the other side of the room. "You think that was the mob?"
"It looks like their work."
"I told Morrison it wasn't..."
From the corner of her eyes, the sorceress saw as the devil hunter's shoulders suddenly turned stiff.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I thought I saw something, it was just a rat that has been eating better than us." He turned around and placed an arm around the red head. "Let's go."
She knew something was off, Dante was clearly trying too hard to hide, but she could notice his body was still too stiff. She refused to move.
"Dante, what's wrong?" Phoebe looked at the direction from where he came, and the way he quickly moved to place himself in front of her gave it all away. "Dante!"
He gently placed one hand on her shoulder as the other cupped her face. Her heart was racing, but he stared at her so intently that all she could look at were his blue eyes.
"I'm sorry." Her heart skipped a beat. Was it someone they knew? The half-demons eyes tried to comfort the red head. It was someone important to her. "It's Billy."
It felt like forever until her brain completely understood what he had just said. Then, denial washed over her. He must be wrong. He had to be. Her younger brother couldn't be dead, he couldn't have been killed in such a horrible way. Dante patiently waited for a reaction as she stood in shock.
"No." She muttered.
"I'm sorry."
"No... No! No!"
Phoebe tried to break free from him as she kept screaming. She needed to see it with her own eyes, make sure that was really him.
"No, no, no, don't look."
He tried his best to make her stop without hurting her, even though she was using all of her strength.
She finally managed to lay her eyes on Billy for a very short moment: his face forever frozen in pain and fear as it was detached from the rest of his body. The sorceress froze and Dante finally managed to hide her face in his chest. She closed her eyes and burst into tears
Outside the dream realm, Phoebe opened her eyes while feeling the worst migraine of her entire life. She brushed off her tears and sat up on her bed, hearing voices from outside her bedroom. After a sigh, she decided to go to the living room to resolve this matter at once.
"What did I do?" The sorceress asked as she leaned against the door frame.
"You attacked Trish." Lady said.
"Fuck." She muttered. "Sorry."
"Don't worry, it wasn't the first time I was attacked by someone in this room." The demoness looked at Lady, who widened her eyes.
"It was a job!" Trish laughed and she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we're sorry too... We didn't know what you were... going through."
"It's fine."
Suddenly the apartment's door burst open, with Nico and Nero arriving, the latter prepared for a fight as his hand was ready at the grip of the Red Queen.
"What do you people think that my place is?!" Phoebe yelled as Morrison, Trish and Lady were visible embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, I had Morrison call him while you were..." The woman with the mismatched eyes made the crazy gesture. "It's okay, Nero, everything's settled here."
"Oh."
"Did you get to investigate the abnormality?" Morrison asked.
"Yes."
"Then let's talk about it in the office. Ladies?" He let Lady and Trish go first and followed them right after.
"Wait, the kid stays." The sorceress said with her arms crossed. "I wanna talk to him first."
The devil hunter arched an eyebrow and Nico quickly walked past him, leaving the apartment.
"I'm gonna wait in the RV. I seriously wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now." She whispered the last part.
"So..." He spread his arms wide open. "What do you want with me?"
"What's in there?"
"Why do you care?"
"Wanna keep talking in questions for how long?"
Nero rolled his eyes. "There are demons gathering to make a building with their own bodies. I don't know what's inside, it won't let me touch it. It started moving in a weird way like the place is alive."
"Where is it?"
"Why?"
"Why do you ask so many questions?!"
"Because nobody ever tells me anything!" He punched the coffee table, making a hole in it. He got a deadly glare from the sorceress in return.
"You're paying for that."
"Whatever! Look, I met Dante last year and he didn't even bother to tell me we were related back then. He only told me about my father because I wanted to kill the bastard! I'm tired of being left in the dark!"
Phoebe sighed and sat on the couch, gesturing for the boy to do the same. She knew that feeling too well from her own family.
"You're lucky I'm too easily moved by sob stories. I used to be Dante's partner, before Trish, until I quit devil hunting. As you probably noticed, I still hangout with them from time to time. Let's do this: I'll be the cool aunt and give you thirty minutes of pure honesty. Ask me anything and I'll answer what I know."
Nero arched an eyebrow, suspicious at how nice she seemed all of a sudden.
"What's my father like?"
"I've only seen Vergil twice when we were kids, before the death of their mother. He changed after her death and I only know what Dante has told me. I feel that, deep down, he feels like he has never been loved and that has created a hole in his heart that he tries to fill with the pleasure of defeating his brother. Lady has met him once, I think she might tell you more."
"I sincerely doubt that. Why didn't Dante tell me sooner that we were related?"
"He was protecting you."
The devil hunter chuckled bitterly.
"Protecting me from what? From having a family?"
"It's the way he is. Dante believes that hiding some stuff is a way of protecting others. Being Sparda's blood isn't easy, and maybe he didn't want you to be disappointed for being Vergil's son."
"Why can't you open a portal to the underworld?"
Phoebe sighed, stood up and started pacing around the room.
"You promised to be honest."
"I know, I just..." She stopped and stared at the broken window where she had tossed Trish. "I had a kind of adopted younger brother, he's name was William before... well, that part doesn't matter, but I called him Billy. He was a good kid." She kept staring at the window, she couldn't get herself to look at anyone's eyes while telling that story. "I used to do some really bad stuff for some bad people until we eventually escaped... It took years but they eventually found us, and killed him in a horrible way to affect me. It worked." The truth is: I can't open the portal because I developed PTSD from it, I practically live off chamomile tea and meditation because if I'm under stress I have an episode and I end up hurting people."
"... I'm sorry." Nero stood up and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "I guess it's too much to ask only for you to save a former partner..."
"Dante is not just my former partner!" She aggressively took his hand away from her. "If I could, I would've opened that portal as soon as the Qliphoth fell, but there's no guarantee that, if I have an episode and fail to perform the spell, that it won't have catastrophic outcomes."
"Like what?"
"Sparda sealed the underworld, right? This spell creates a temporary weak spot in the seal so we can get across. Getting it wrong may just create a tiny, controlled explosion or destroy the fabrics that separate the human world from the underworld."
"The latter seems a little exaggerated." He shrugged. "Can't you just find a way to not have an episode?"
Phoebe chuckled bitterly. "Oh, I don't know, Nero, can't a person with an amputated member just find a way to get their member back?!"
The devil hunter smiled and showed off his right arm. "My father had cut off this arm, I spent one month with a prosthetic arm until… bam! It grew back."
"Excuse me?"
"Just ask anyone."
"Weird… Anyway, you got the idea."
"Look…" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Growing up, I only had two people in my life who weren't my real family but they accepted me anyway. Now I got the chance to know what it feels like to have a real one. Please." Nero stared deeply into her eyes.
"... Fuck." The redhead mumbled. "Okay, okay, I'll try to think of something."
She started to pace around the room and moved her mouth a few times, as if trying to say something, then grabbed his arm to get a better look at it.
"You said something about prosthetics, right?"
"... Yeah."
Phoebe started to walk around again, if it were a cartoon, the boy would be able to see the gears of her brain working. Her left hand touched her chin as she sometimes mumbled something to herself. Nero tilted his head, curious.
"What are you…?"
"Shh, I'm thinking." She raised a palm in his direction, gesturing for him to stop. "Okay, I used to torture people psychologically with the use of illusions inside their head…"
"You did what now?"
"I was forced to. Shut up. What if… I can do the opposite? Create a calm and nice illusion to soothe the brain while I perform the spell? You're a genius."
"I'm glad I could help."
The redhead stared at him with an arched eyebrow. "I was talking to myself."
"Oh."
"Okay, we need a test, and Trish to zap me if anything goes wrong." She was on her way to leave the apartment, when she suddenly turned around and looked at the boy. "Congratulations, kid, you might be the only functional adult among us."
"I don't know if I should be glad or sad."
"Definitely sad."
After protesting for not wanting to be teleported, they both went to the RV and Nico drove them to the Devil May Cry. Phoebe clutched to the seat with all the love she had for her own life as the gunsmith drove through the streets like an insane person. It was amazing how that vehicle did not have even a tiny scratch on it.
"Next time I'm teleporting myself and you meet me there."
"What are you talking about? I'm the best driver in this country!"
"If there is a category for 'best driver at killing its passengers', I agree!" She yelled as Nico suddenly hit the brakes in front of the office.
They went into the place and explained the whole plan for Lady and Trish: the latter would go to the demon building with Phoebe as she tried to remain calm while fighting the creatures. If it didn't work; then she would knock her unconscious like last time. The demoness quickly agreed.
Both women got themselves ready and Nero explained to the sorceress where exactly he had seen the abnormality.
"I'm sorry, but you're about to feel nauseous."
The sorceress grabbed the blonde by the arm and teleported them out of there before she could even ask what she was talking about. As soon as they popped in somewhere else, Trish understood it and brought a hand to her mouth as she was about to vomit.
"After a few times you get used to it."
"I don't think I wanna get used to it." She took a deep breath to recover herself. "Okay, I'm fine, let's go."
"Remember to stay close to me at all times."
"Good to see you willing to do this…"
"To be honest, this is the first time I feel truly excited in years…" Phoebe smiled and the demoness realized that was the first time she had seen it without Dante telling a joke to cheer her up.
"So, what's the plan?"
"I think I'll ignore the building for now and go for the lesser demons coming from there." She pointed at one of the four directions that had a long line of demons.
"Well, work your magic… literally."
The sorceress placed two fingers on each of her temples and closed her eyes. For years she had tried to suppress the bad memories by being surrounded by calm things and it never worked completely. Perhaps what she really needed was to make things loud enough.
The most distracting thing she could think of was creating the illusion of being in a music video. Yes. With the song playing loud in her head and all. Phoebe opened her eyes once again and charged at the demons the way she used to years ago: teleporting between targets and attacking with a mix of pyrokinesis and punches and kicks packed with telekinetic blasts.
Trish arched an eyebrow as she thought the way the redhead sometimes seemed to interact with things that weren't there was a little weird, but as long as things were working, it was fine.
There were at least ten demons around the former devil huntress, she quickly teleported to dodge the attack from one of them, however, in doing so put her in the way of the attack from another one, almost getting hit if she hadn't jumped to the side. This raised her adrenaline to the point she saw a flash of Billy's face in the back of her mind and zoned out for a few seconds.
The blonde demoness prepared herself to knock her out when she realized Phoebe had closed her eyes, but she managed to snap out of it and created a fire tornado to get rid of all the demons surrounding her. She teleported back to the devil huntress' location.
"It's working pretty well so far."
"Wanna try the building?"
"Sure!"
They approached the flesh structure and took some time analyzing it. The demons seemed almost glued together and were completely paralyzed until Trish raised an arm and placed her palm on the wall. As soon as they felt her touch, the creatures started moving until the the part where she had touched was no longer in contact with her.
"Weird…"
"Lemme try something." The redhead stretched her right arm and created a red magic circle around her hand and touched the walls with it. The demons started moving in a different way, opening a hole on the structure. She didn't move until they could finally have a peek on what was inside.
They both saw the silhouette of what seemed to be a big demonic head with long horns that curled down. Phoebe widened her eyes as she recognized who that was and swiftly retracted her arm. The demon's red eyes seemed angry as he didn't recognize her, although they quickly turned to sadness as he saw Trish.
"Eva…?" The deep voice sent shivers down the sorceress' spine.
The building quickly started to move as if trying to swallow the demoness, managing to grab one of her arms. She desperately tried to get free as it kept pulling her. Phoebe could feel her entire body tremble as Billy's expression of terror flashed in the back of her mind again, but snapped out of it in time to grab the blonde's other arm and teleported them away.
They were both panting as they stared at each other in shock.
"Was that who I think it was?!"
"Yes… that was Sparda."
