Notes: I'd like to thank merendinoemiliano again for another review.
Chapter 9
When the demons emerged on the nineteenth floor, Phoebe was already in a fighting stance, what stopped her from attacking, however, was how the half demon stared at her as he walked around the room, circling her. She raised an eyebrow, trying to understand what was going on as she dodged the attacks.
"You're pretty slow today, babe." Dante teased as he removed his coat and threw it on the floor, all his movements were sharp and meticulously planned.
"What are you…" She watched him stomp one of his feet on the floor, the sound echoing through the room. "Oh, no." The redhead laughed as she realized his intention. "You're crazy!"
"C'mon, Pheebs, this will be fun!" He said in a tango basic position: his right palm up with the elbow flexed, his left arm positioned as if it were around her back. He crossed his left leg behind his right one with a kick, hitting the face of one of the demons.
She waved her head in disbelief as she conjured up a red rose and threw it to him, the devil hunter grabbed it and placed it between his teeth. The sorceress snapped her fingers and her clothes magically changed: she was in a dark pink tango dress, her boots had transformed into black high heel shoes and her copper hair was tied in a messy bun. She also made music start playing in the background.
They walked sensually towards each other, she attacked the demons on the way with a fireball, he used Ivory to shoot the creatures. They were really in character, with a serious expression, and sharp but sensual and precise movements. They met in the middle of the room, and circled around each other, one of her hands on his abdomen, her green eyes fixed on his icy blue ones.
Dante grabbed one of her hands and spun her around twice. Once she stopped, they descended their hips by sliding one of their legs backwards, her right hand on his left one, both their arms up with flexed elbows, their free hands went to each other's backs. They slowly rose by dragging their feet back into position, and Phoebe took a side step before quickly wrapping her right leg around his left one.
They looked in opposite directions and the half demon picked up Ebony from behind his back and started shooting the demons as the redhead threw fireballs at them as they spun around the room still glued together. They stopped and the sorceress tossed the upper-half of her body backwards, winking at the creatures as she saw them upside down. She stretched both her arms as the devil hunter held her waist, and threw fireballs at them.
She brought her torso to its normal position and unwrapped her leg from his. Dante made her pivot to her side and she stepped around making an eight on the floor. They moved around the room as the redhead kicked a couple of demons on the way, until he turned her on her back and she threw one of her arms around his neck, her nose against his jawline. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist as his other hand slid down her thigh.
Phoebe turned, facing him again and they did a few more basic steps, her legs crossing with his. He spun her around once more and they finished the dance with her wrapping her right leg on his left one again, she grabbing Ebony from his back and aiming at one demon, he pointing Ivory at the creature in the opposite direction.
"Jackpot!" Dante cheerfully said his catchphrase, and they both shot at the same time, killing the two remaining demons.
The sorceress burst out in laughter as she hid her face in the crook of his neck. "We're so ridiculous."
"Maybe. Remember how we used to have fun like this all the time?"
She was glad her face was hidden, so he couldn't see all her happiness fade away. "I miss it everyday." She whispered.
"Well, you could always…" He watched as she separated from him and took a few steps back, Phoebe had a sad smile on her face and he knew she had realized where he was going.
"We should get going." She changed back to her usual attire as he grabbed his coat on the floor and put it on again.
The redhead went on ahead, climbing the stairs. In an attempt to lighten up the mood, the half demon took a really good look at her ass and whistled. "Yeah, babe, that view is good." She chuckled.
However, things didn't remain light for too long. When Phoebe reached the next floor, she felt a few droplets fall on her head, but what she saw when she raised her head to check made her paralyze. The devil hunter reached her shortly after, and sighed as he looked up: there were two human bodies, half eaten, hanging from the ceiling.
"Pheebs…" He affectionately called her as he wrapped an arm around her to move her. She was still under the corpses, blood covering half her face. "It's okay…"
She wasn't prepared for that, and even if she made the trick of loud music playing on her mind, seeing that would've been enough to break her anyway. Dante wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks, but she wouldn't budge. The ground trembled when a giant demon that looked like a scorpion leaped in front of him.
"I found those two imbecile humans poking around this tower… At least they served as good snacks." The creature talked in a really deep voice that echoed throughout the room.
"Can't you see I'm a little busy here, pal?" The half demon placed both hands on his hips as he placed himself between the demon and the sorceress. "Go back to your nasty things, I'll call you when I'm done here."
"Yes, son of Sparda, go ahead, take your time. Your father will soon be ready to take his place beside our lord Mundus."
The half demon sighed as he sat Phoebe down on the floor, her back against the wall. He turned back to the demon, his arms wide open. "My old man is pretty stubborn, I wouldn't be so sure."
"We already broke his mind, he's just a puppet. We just need to get some power into him, since he decided to seal it in so many different places." He laughed, a cold and dark laughter that sent shivers down the redhead's spine.
"Well, you won't like to hear about how I absorbed the Devil Sword Sparda, then." Dante grinned and transformed into his Sin Devil Trigger form. Usually he wouldn't go to the extreme of triggering to end things fast, but he had another priority.
He charged at the demon, red blades floating around him and cutting through the scorpion's skin, who tried to attack him with its tail. However, the devil hunter moved so fast that he almost looked like a blur as he dodged. It took only one swing of his sword to tear the demon in half with a vertical slash. He changed back to his human form and approached Phoebe, who hadn't moved an inch, hugging her knees against her chest.
"Hey, it's okay…" The half demon kneeled by her side and cupped one of her cheeks. She wept copiously. "They can't hurt you." He wasn't talking about the demons.
"I'm not crying because of them." She said between sobs. "I-I'm just…" The sorceress took a deep breath. "You should go, reaching the top is more important right now."
Dante sat down by her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Do you remember some time after we reunited, it was my mother's death anniversary and I just locked myself inside the shop to drink after killing a bunch of demons?" She kept staring at him, waiting for his conclusion. "You knocked, I practically told you to fuck off, you teleported inside and said 'I'm just gonna be here, quiet, for when you're willing to talk.'."
The redhead realized where he was going. "We don't have time for that now, Dante."
"And when will that time be, Pheebs? After Billy died you just isolated yourself, disappeared for years, I only found you because I was still your emergency contact and you had been shot."
He understood her situation, really. The boy's death was only the trigger of a long list of traumas that resulted in her being completely broken. However, eventually, he grew tired of waiting for her to open up like she used to.
"What about Vergil?" Phoebe quietly asked.
"He can have that win, god knows he deserves at least one." The half demon shrugged. "Look, I know you love the independent woman act…"
She angrily glared and interrupted him. "You think that's what this is about?!" He opened his mouth to answer, but he got interrupted again. "I just want to go back to my normal self, so I won't be a burden on you!"
"What? Pheebs, you're not…"
The sorceress didn't even listen. "Tara abandoned me because she realized in the middle of the pregnancy she didn't want to be a mother. My father figure was my uncle, who despised me, made me spend my day studying psychology and practicing illusions, I wasn't allowed to play or make any kind of noise, otherwise he would come to beat me with a belt. He taught me how to torture people when I was seven so he could sell me to the mafia when I was only nine-years-old!"
Dante started caressing her arm, trying to soothe her, but he didn't try to interrupt her or anything, he thought it was better to let her vent.
"The mafia forced me to torture people and treated me like a fucking dog. First time I raised my voice, they broke my nose by slamming my head against a desk. Place was full of demons all around, but the humans managed to be worse." She hid her face in her palms. "Then I thought that escaping that hell would make us finally free. Until they killed Billy in that horrible way and I can't get it out of my head. I don't feel guilty anymore, but it didn't heal my PTSD. I just wanna be normal again because it's not fair to drag you down with me! Because I don't want you to grow weary of me and leave me!" Phoebe was sobbing by the time she finished.
The half demon sighed, there was a knot in his chest from watching her like that. He slowly hugged her and placed her head on his chest, one of his hands gently stroking her scalp.
"Pheebs… I'm not going anywhere. Ever." He kissed the top of her head. "You had to put up with me showing up completely drunk and covered in demon blood on your doorstep. You think that's better than what you're going through?"
"No…" She whispered.
"Then why do you think I'd leave you?"
"Because every now and then a big fucking demon shows up to threaten the human world, and you're the only thing standing between that and everything becoming demonville!" There was a moment of silence, as he didn't get where she was going with that. "How are you supposed to deal with Mundus, for example, when you have to worry about me at the same time?"
"You're not alone, you could have stayed with Lady while I was at Mallet Island!"
"I'm not her problem. I'm not even your problem!"
"Pheebs, whenever I have a problem, you just rush in to try and solve it. But when anyone else tries to do the same for you, you lose your goddamn mind." There was another moment of silence as the sorceress didn't know what to say. "Do you remember when you punched Lady's ex in the face?!"
She chuckled lightly, reminiscing. "Yeah, that was fun."
"It was. Especially the bar fight that started right after that." He laughed light-heartedly. "Anyway, my point is, why do you think it's okay to care about others but we're not allowed to care about you?"
"I don't know…" She mumbled. "It isn't exactly rational thinking…"
"Well, next time you think that, instead of disappearing for months, talk to me, okay?" He felt her nodding against his chest.
"Your patience towards me should be studied by NASA, because it's out of this world." They both chuckled lightly.
"Your stubbornness as well, or have you forgotten how many times I tried to push you away and you just ignored me?"
"Fair enough."
Dante cupped her cheeks and made her look at him, there still were some tears that he wiped with his thumb. "It's settled, then." He gave her a peck on the lips and rose to his feet, helping her up afterwards. "Shall we go? Only a couple of floors ahead."
"Actually, I think I'll check if Trish and Lady need anything."
He raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "You're going to plan a girls night out, aren't you?"
The sorceress grinned maliciously. "… Maybe? Awn, it's so cute that you know me so well." She scrunched up her nose.
The half demon pulled her by the waist and took her mouth into his. Had he already mentioned how much he loved the nose scrunch? After they pulled apart, he slightly slapped her ass and winked at her, making her laugh.
"Go get them, tiger." She said seductively and teleported away.
Dante stood there with a stupid smile on his lips. She was completely crazy.
And he loved it.
Notes: Part of the tango coreography was inspired by the tango scene in Take The Lead. Sue me, Antonio Banderas.
No, seriously, do it. I'd like to meet you.
