Chapter 9

Lady allowed her eyes to open slowly, the small movement itself seemed painful, and, peering blearily at her own limp palm a few inches from her face, attempted to focus. Her throat was dry, her lips cracked, her head was pounding. Like a bad hangover. She would have grimaced had the sound of voices not startled her. Allowing her eyes to fall shut again she concentrated on them, hoped that whoever it was would not notice her eavesdropping.

The room was apparently still made of that same white marble; it was cold beneath her skin and she heard the harsh click of heeled boots pacing up and down in front of her. Back and forth, the owner was clearly agitated.

"What are you doing with her?" A woman's accusatory tone. There was something strange to it, a hollowness, as though its owner lacked a true command of feeling. "She was never part of the plan".

Lady heard the yellow-eyed demon laugh softly, she could almost picture him, standing somewhere across from her, eyes glinting, mouth quirked into a sardonic smirk. "She's insurance. Daughter of a high priestess you know – I'm sure our master will be thrilled."

"You're wasting time," she hissed, she heard the woman spin on a heel and come to a stop. Lady dared to crack an eye open: yellow-eyes was leaning against a marble pillar, weight resting on one leg – he looked bored. The demoness – for Lady assumed she could not be human – had stopped a step away from him and was leaning forwards a manicured nail pointed accusatorially at the demon. "You could have captured both of Sparda's whelps by now if you weren't messing around with that woman Theo."

They're alive! The thought rang through her mind; it was almost enough to make her smile, just a little. Of course Dante was alive, he was always so stubborn, if he were ever to be mortally wounded he would probably live through it from sheer hardheadedness.

She watched as Theo pushed off the wall a little to lean forwards until his face was barely an inch from the demoness'. "Are you jealous Trish?"

The woman snorted derisively and jerked back swatting at him with an open palm. She said no more however, turning once again, it was as though she couldn't keep still, Lady noticed – she was agitated, her arms folding across her chest.

"Oh no I understand," Theo simpered, "you're worried now that you've been sent out on your own, you know our master has never trusted you like he has me – you're just another toy."

Her eyes flashed, Lady thought she saw electricity crackle at the woman's fingertips, but passed it off as an illusion. "I am not Mundus' toy."

The gasp came before Lady quite realized she had moved. It had been completely involuntary and she had become so engrossed in the conversation she had almost forgotten that she was more than a silent spectator. Her eyes snapped shut, but it was already too late. Trish had turned blazing blue eyes on her, but before the demoness could move Theo had pushed her aside. A second later his rough hands were on her shoulders pulling her upright. Lady still didn't open her eyes, playing dead.

"Come now Lady do you really think I am so foolish?" Theo chided giving her a light shake just for effect.

Lady opened her eyes, braced herself and with a resolution of defiance spat in the demon's face. For a second he appeared completely stunned, she saw one of his eyes twitch. Behind him she heard a peal of delicate laughter from the demoness. That small victory was enough for her, she was through with allowing him to drag her further into Hell unchallenged. Her head seemed clearer with the mere thought and it only strengthened her resolve; she could do this.

Theo threw her backwards sharply as though her skin burned his thin fingers. She was prepared for the action, but perhaps not the force and barely caught herself in time, palms of her gloved hands pressed against the cool stone.

"I'm the toy?" Trish chided mockingly. "I'm the toy and you can't even control a human girl!"

Again Theo's face twitched, Lady suspected that he wished to strike the woman, but something prevented him from doing so. Instead a pale hand reached up to the spittle on his cheek and wiped it away slowly as though he were more concerned deciding how to proceed rather than the action itself.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Theo admonished his voice steely. Lady had never seen him so frustrated and it was a welcome change. Perhaps she could use this animosity between the two, play them off one another and then slip away when a fight started. But that thought was quickly extinguished as Trish assented and turned to leave.

"I hope you can handle her," she threw back idly as she headed for an open doorway at the opposite end of the vast room. "Wouldn't want to have to tell Mundus that you've lost a human as well as Sparda's offspring."

Theo grimaced, and pulled an expression not unlike that of a scolded child. "Let's see how long you last with them!"

Lady waited for another insult to follow, but none came. The clicking of the demoness heels on the hard floor died away as she left the chamber and Lady had a sickening feeling of once again being very much alone. Theo seemed distracted and she used those moments to push herself to her feet her movements cautious, afraid (though she was loathe to admit it) of making herself the target of the demon's wrath. At least now, despite her aching limbs, she no longer felt quite so ill. It seemed that after some incomprehensible amount of time she had adjusted to Hell. Now if only she had a weapon…

Her eyes cast about the room – it was large, the structures seemed ancient, all still a blazing white which left her feeling strangely hollow. It was impossible to tell if anything existed beyond the doorway the demoness had just left from and the ceiling glowed so that it was difficult to make out if there actually was one. Despite the impressive architecture the room was unsurprisingly empty, as though the walls could simply fade out of existence into nothing – it was discouraging to say the least.

"Well since the cat's out of the bag there's no use in keeping you hidden away anymore now is there?" Theo said turning as though addressing the whole of the room.

Lady started at the sound of his voice. Her hands twitched, badly needing some kind of weapon, and when there was none to be found they merely balled into fists. She was concerned by what that meant, at least she had not yet come to any physical harm… but now with that demoness gone after Dante and Vergil it was worrying. What would happen to them? She was sure that if they were dead she would be too… unless… it wasn't quite bearable to think about.

He span nimbly back round to face her, all seriousness forgotten, eyes filled with the mockery of childish glee. "I'm sure our guests will be arriving soon and it wouldn't do to have everyone waiting for you now would it? Besides," he leaned in, gripped her firmly by the arm. "I'm sure the King of Hell will just love you."


Vergil realized his mistake a second too late. He felt his leg jerk backwards out from under him and was knocked off balance. His chin cracked harshly against the dirt and with a sudden thrill of horror he felt the thing dragging him backwards, sucking him further in. There was no time to react; he had barely managed to clear his vision when a wave of black sludge engulfed him.

He felt a cry rise in his throat, but it was replaced by the metallic taste of toxic slime, his eyes burned, his body convulsed, vomit rising into the back of his mouth… Vergil barely had time to think, but he realized with some horror that he was drowning. The substance was so viscid that any movements were insignificant, a few meager attempts at struggling free and his limbs were aching with fatigue. Within seconds consciousness had left him as he sank deeper into the slime.

A second later his eyes snapped open and to his surprise Vergil stood – he stumbled a little upon this realization, but remained upright – on some new foreign landscape. It seemed twisted from bone, the ground undulating with a flesh like substance. The air stank of noxious gases and rippled faintly almost dreamlike. Around him the platform merely faded away into a sky of murky fog.

Straightening up Vergil couldn't suppress the slightest feeling of relief. He had been certain that he was dead, and what a dishonorable way to go, but he was now very much alive – unless this was a fresh kind of hell. His hand instinctively found Yamato's hilt at his hip, and he allowed himself, for a moment, to feel grateful that it was still there and that he was no longer drowning. It was something he did not dwell on however, tried to pretend that a cold sweat had not broken out across his skin at the sheer terror he had felt in those few moments. Never had he felt more human and he hated the idea, it made his stomach twist – he could not stay like this forever. His mind slid to Dante also painfully human, left to deal with that creature alone, and Lady alone somewhere with that yellow-eyed demon. His knuckles tightened on Yamato's tsuka; he would get out of here if only to make the little bastard suffer for daring to drag her into this.

Determined Vergil turned just in time to dodge a deadly blow. Instead a bulled tore through his left forearm, spraying blood as it shore through sinew and bone. A strangled cry escaped him; he drew Yamato instantly and swung in the direction of the attack his mind focused on performing a judgment cut though none would form with his abilities gone. When he finally had a view of the area where his attacker should have been he found nothing. He paused; his left arm hung limply, already staining his coat with a deep red. His hand was useless, but he doubted he would bleed out; still he raised the arm awkwardly against his chest wary of losing too much blood.

"Getting slow in your old age Verg?" The comment was flung at him from above, by a voice Vergil was painfully familiar with.

Vergil looked up; Dante perched atop one of the awkward bone pillars Ivory rested idly across his knee. He looked bored, but there was a sinister smirk curling his lips.

"Dante?" Vergil raised an eyebrow trying to keep his tone even and the alarm out of his voice. Something was wrong here of course, this couldn't be Dante – Dante was back in that bizarre excuse for a forest.

The younger twin threw himself from the structure, landing a few feet in front of his brother. "What, you surprised to see me? Thought you were always so calm and collected," Dante chided a hand reaching slowly up to where Rebellion's hilt was slung across his shoulder.

"Where are we?" Vergil couldn't help the question from slipping out. He needed to know after all, whether this was Dante or not…

"Oh brother don't you recognize it?" Dante queried his voice a mockery of concern. "I know I think about it all the time – I'm sure you do too, like a dream isn't it? Or maybe nightmare is more fitting?"

"I don't have time for this," Vergil snapped angry, confused and disorientated. This was crazy, he must have died after all, that seemed to be the only explanation.

"That's so typical of you Vergil, inviting me places and then running off before we even have time to catch up!" Dante said his voice rising, filled with annoyance. His fingertips were wrapped around Rebellion's hilt now, Vergil watched him carefully realizing that his twin was doing what he did best – making a show of things before he unleashed his attack. In his more appreciative moments of Dante's skill Vergil had often wondered if his mouth was just another ploy to throw his opponent off guard. If Dante merely couldn't help himself or if it was all an act just to make himself look like an easy target or to cause his enemy to do something stupid. It certainly worked on a lot of the creatures who managed to drag themselves out of Hell. In retrospect Vergil decided that Dante just didn't quite have the mental capacity for that kind of deceit. He recalled his twin's loud-mouth from their childhood, his brother had merely found something which worked to his advantage and rolled with it – that was really what most of Dante's fighting style hinged on.

"All I want from you Dante is for you to shut up and stay dead for once," Vergil threw back. "Do you think you can handle that?"

"Oh Verg," Dante feigned hurt, but Vergil couldn't find any in his twin's eyes. This was not his brother, Dante may have always acted tough, but Vergil was not beyond his ability to read his twin. These meetings, these sparring of words always evoked some raw emotions in Dante's eyes despite how hard he tried to conceal them. If he had been facing off against anyone else he would probably have pulled it off, but not with Vergil. Now though his eyes were cool and steely – it was like staring into a mirror.

Making up his mind not to carry on with the charade any longer Vergil raised Yamato and slashed at his twin's unprotected abdomen. Dante countered with Rebellion, drawing the sword over his shoulder and forcing Yamato's blade off course, straight into the pulsating ground. It bled, Vergil grimaced, but had no time to dwell on it as his brother swung Rebellion back in for a blow. Vergil dodged to one side, his movements clumsy given his pre-existing wound. He parried a second onslaught and with a satisfied grin sliced across the back of Dante's forearm.

Dante merely looked amused drawing Ivory to put a bullet in Vergil's thigh. He had no time to dodge, the feeling of searing flesh and muscle more than anything else told Vergil he was wounded. His legs buckled and he dropped to the ground catching his weight on his injured arm as his right hand still firmly grasped Yamato. He gritted his teeth against the pain countering a swipe from Rebellion, but the effort of evading that attack forced him further off balance. Dante took full advantage of that moment drawing in close to his brother and pressing Ivory up under his chin.

"I'm disappointed in you brother," Dante hissed eyes glinting with malice. "But our positions are reversed now hmm? Remember when I was in your place. You didn't care for me then did you? When you ran me through and left me to bleed to death on the top of that stinking tower."

Vergil grimaced the words bringing back unpleasant memories. What could he say to that? Not that he was going to have this conversation with some phantom excuse for his brother.

"Oh now you have nothing left to say?" Dante's lips curled into a cold smile "Figures, you could never feel remorse for what you've done though could you Vergil? Because you're not human – not like mother and I are, she could always tell…"

"Shut up!" Vergil yelled and with a sudden flurry of rage shoved Dante's hand away. The gun went off next to his ear, deafening him. But Vergil was on top of the phantom in a moment driving Yamato straight through his brother's heart.

Dante let out a strangled and broken cry, the sudden attack apparently unexpected. The phantom's eyes shone with pain, but Vergil wasn't fooled. He scrambled awkwardly to his feet expecting for his brother to break free in seconds and rally another attack. Vergil swiped Rebellion from Dante's outstretched hand hefting the weight awkwardly and pointing the tip of the blade at his brother's throat. But his Dante didn't move. Instead he turned pleading eyes on Vergil. They shone with a raw emotion which took even the elder twin back. He knew this was why he had left the top of Temin-Ni-Gru that night – so that he had not had to watch is brother die.

"Kill me," Dante hissed, blood was painting his lips his face had gone a deathly pale. "You've always wanted to Vergil – just make it quick."

Vergil felt his hands go lax, he fought to remain in control, but this was something else. Had he ever wanted his brother to die? It had been necessary when he raised Temin-Ni-Gru, that was what he told himself. To gain the ultimate power and avenge their mother Dante's sacrifice had been justified.

"Dante…" His voice trailed off. It wasn't his twin, it couldn't be, but he felt something inside cracking. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the prone form, the blossoming pool of blood. Vergil couldn't help the rush of emotion seeing his twin die conjured in him. He couldn't help wondering, in those fleeting moments, how they had ended up here – where eventually this would be the only possible outcome for them both.

As he watched the limp form beneath him he saw Dante's lips curl, even as his breathing grew all the more ragged, as he drowned in his own blood, his twin was laughing at him. "Y-you're… pathetic."

The laughter continued until it rang in Vergil's ears. He clenched his teeth, but his blood was boiling. He was about to raise Rebellion, he wasn't certain to what end, the weight was too heavy for his injuries to cope any longer. He let the sword drop weakly panting from some unknown exertion.

The phantom was still laughing. Allowing Rebellion to fall into the pool of blood he paced forwards and dropped down by his twins side, his knees coated in the sanguine liquid. He gripped Dante's collar in clenched fists, raised his head and then slammed it into the ground.

"Shut up!" He barked, feeling the laughter ringing in his ears, inside his own brain. When he managed to clear the fog of rage from his vision it was just in time to see his brother's eyes glowing red. Dante triggered with a roar, Yamato jettisoned into the air and his body burst into red and silver scales.

Before Vergil could even understand the consequences of what had happened he felt blood spill into the back of his throat, coat his tongue with a sharp metallic taste and spray from his parted lips. Rebellion was embedded in his gut, protruding from his back, the red gems in the broadsword's glittering hilt shone mockingly as the blade rent a gaping hole in Vergil's abdomen displacing bone and organs. The pain was almost unbearable, Vergil felt his consciousness fleeing, the edges of his vision growing dark, it was all he could do to gasp for breath.

"How does it feel Verg?" The demonic voice was harsh and electric in Vergil's ear. Dante must have leaned forwards, his grip on Rebellion's hilt the only force supporting Vergil's body. The elder twin's form had gone lax, head hanging, hair red-tipped, as he coughed wetly. Dante twisted the blade savagely and Vergil gagged on a cry of pain. "To be so helpless – so betrayed by your own brother?"

"D-Dan…te." Vergil refused to believe that he heard a note of pleading in his own voice. For the second time in an hour Vergil was certain that he was dying. He was almost becoming used to it and he cursed every fiber of his being which simply wanted to give in to it. He was losing consciousness, he could no longer tell if his eyes were open, his lungs were torn to shreds and with a final plea to his brother he fell swelcomingly into darkness.


The woman was beautiful, but it was also unmistakable; Trish's features were ones belonging to his mother. She could have been Eva's twin. Trish was some strange mockery of Eva; her eyes were cold, almost robotic, her lips quirked into a smile which was far too malicious for his mothers. With heels she stood at Dante's own height. He found her somewhat intimidating because she knew who he was, had saved his ass, and had just pulled so much pain back to the forefront of his mind it was hard for him to focus on what was going on.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Dante blurted finally, stupidly. It seemed to be all he could say. Staring at her, some mere meters across from him, her face glittering with the eerie iridescent lights of the clearing… the whole situation was impossible; uncanny. Perhaps she wasn't real, maybe this was an illusion… maybe he was dead.

Trish feigned hurt, made a vague gesture to herself, her hand hovering above her breast. "Me?"

"Yes you," Dante hissed his voice growing stronger again. He felt the initial shock subsiding, his strength returning as he kept Rebellion level, pointed at her. "What makes you think I won't just kill you now?"

"Maybe, sweetie," Trish said an icy edge creeping into her voice. Electricity crackled across her knuckles "Because I just saved your life."

"Hmph," Dante huffed. He moved around her slowly, Rebellion still pointed at her throat, examining her attire, searching for weapons, a clue… but there were none. When he moved out of her field of vision she turned and he tensed, stopping again.

"Come on Dante your arm must be tired," Trish admonished raising an elegant eyebrow.

"How do you know my name?" Dante ground out. He didn't like that she was mocking him, that he felt inferior around a woman, but this was one woman he didn't know how to behave around.

"The infamous son of Sparda? The one who lost a mother and a brother to evil almost twenty years ago… the man who destroyed Temin-Ni-Gru? Who sacrificed his own twin to save humans?"Trish laughed. "Every demon in Hell knows who you are Dante. And your twin."

"V-Vergil," Dante couldn't keep the tremor from his voice as he remembered his twin. He had almost forgotten, probably because he couldn't comprehend that Vergil might be dead. Now the thought was blindingly real and sickening. It made something twist deep in his gut. Vergil was dead and this woman, this Eva copy was standing across from him reminding him of that fact. In a vain attempt to distract himself his eyes cast about the clearing for his brother and his heart almost stopped. Despite the darkness he could make out a prone form in the shadows somewhere just behind Trish; it was unmistakably his twin, back to him, blue coat fluttering in an unearthly wind which danced across the clearing. "Vergil!"

Trish understood this outburst and turned to glance over her shoulder. "What did you think he was dead?" She had begun to turn back to Dante eyebrow raised, but he had replaced Rebellion on his back and was already striding past her. She smirked; he really was arrogant.

Dante knew he should probably be on guard around this woman, but she had become far too chatty and time had allowed him to regain some of his composure after the grueling battle with the sludge monster. Now that he knew Vergil was safe – of course his twin was alive – the danger, which had felt imminent only minutes ago, had faded to a mere warning at the back of his mind. If Trish wanted a fight he'd give her one, but why had she bothered to save him just to kill him afterwards? With that resolution in his mind he barely hesitated in passing her and moving across to his twin, stooping to turn Vergil gently onto his back.

Vergil was pale, but alive, his breathing was coming in short gasps and his eyes were screwed shut. When Dante tried to shake him awake it only elicited a small grunt of pain and Dante couldn't help but feel concerned for his twin.

"Vergil," Dante hissed trying to hide the worry in his voice from Trish, who he could hear walking across the clearing, closing the gap between them. He shook his twin a little harder. "Vergil wake up!"

Dante didn't quite know what he had been expecting, but it most certainly wasn't what happened next. Vergil's eyes shot open, shining a piercing blue and before Dante could even react Vergil had grabbed Dante by the wrists kicked him in the gut and flung him over his head. Dante landed on the solid ground with a crack and a groan, winded, his back taking the main force of the blow and his kidneys protesting violently. He had barely time to suck in a breath and attempt to roll feebly onto one side when Vergil was on top of him again, pressing him down into the ground with his hands locked around his throat.

"The fuck…" Dante hissed hands gripping his twin's wrists, trying to fight him off. "Vergil!"

Vergil's eyes were wild; his hair disheveled, Dante would have liked to point it out, but he was running out of oxygen and energy. He kicked at the ground with his booted feet, attempted to buck his twin off, but Vergil merely tightened his hold, his grip bruising as he found Dante's carotid artery and squeezed. Spots danced in front of Dante's eyes and he choked, hands sliding down to pull desperately at Vergil's fingers trying to relieve the pressure. He wanted to call his brother's name, but he could no longer speak, his efforts were flagging already, his vision greying at the edges and his limbs feeling leaden.

"Come now Vergil that's no way to great your brother – especially not when he saved your life," Trish chided stopping some feet away from the grappling brothers as she checked her nails nonchalantly.

Her comment had the desired effect. Vergil stopped, frozen by the sound of an eerily familiar voice, his hands loosened and allowed Dante enough space to draw in a harsh breath and then to sling a punch across his brother's cheek.

Startled Vergil dropped back from his twin, landing roughly on one side, but he no longer had any concern for his fight with Dante, instead he was staring at Trish in shock.

"That's better," Trish smiled, "I imagine Nightmare has been playing tricks on you?"

Vergil blinked stupidly his mind working to catch up. Another dream – nightmare like the woman had said – it was another trick, he was in hell… He was about to rise and rush at her, hand already reaching for Yamato when Dante, having regained some of his breath, caught him by the wrists and forced him back to his knees.

"Hey Verg it's alright," Dante tried to get his twin's attention. He felt stupid kneeling in a clearing in some hellish forest across from his twin who was clearly in the grips of some kind of hidden torment, his eyes wild and his breathing ragged. Dante shook his twin roughly not happy that Trish was seeing either of them like this. "Snap out of it!"

Vergil's gaze turned to him and something seemed to register in his mind because he stopped fighting his brother's hold. "Dante?"

"Yeah Verg can you stop freaking out now?" Dante teased, although it was far from playful because he was genuinely concerned at seeing his twin like this. It was unsettling, before he might have wanted any excuse to make fun of his brother, now he wanted cool, calm and collected Vergil back to deal with the absolute shitstorm they had walked into.

Vergil's expression was numb as he sank back onto his knees wrenching himself from Dante's grip. "W-what is going on?"

Dante allowed Vergil to free himself and stood up slowly, not liking that Trish was so close. "Well you kind of got swallowed by that big blob-"

"Nightmare," Trish interjected.

"I didn't ask you," Dante shot back glowering at the demoness. "Then I killed it-"

"With a lot of help from me," Trish added, interrupting him again, arms folded.

"And she," Dante emphasized the pronoun throwing a gesture in the direction of Trish but otherwise ignoring her, "shows up out of nowhere and- what exactly is it you are doing here anyway?" Dante asked hostilely finally rounding on her a hand on Ivory's grip. He was going to protect his brother whilst he processed the information and he wanted some answers from Trish.

"Well I saved your life for one," Trish reminded him, her tone hurt. "Doesn't that count for something?"

"No it doesn't," Dante growled, "now start talking or I'll give you something to really be upset about."

"Don't flatter yourself," Trish hissed her hands glittering with electricity. "I'm here to help you and your brother; you'll want to hear what I have to say."

"Oh really?" Dante asked, drawing Ivory and pulling the hammer back with a click. "You know one thing I've learnt is to never trust a demon, and you're not exactly helping yourself with your choice of looks."

Hurt flashed across Trish's features, but she grimaced preparing for a fight until Vergil spoke.

"Let's hear her out Dante," Vergil said as he stood to his feet controlling the weakness he felt in his limbs. "It might be worth listening to what she has to say."

Dante paused, staring across at the demoness and wondering whether or not to listen to his twin. Taking orders from a brother who had just tried to strangle him and standing about to face off with a woman who was wearing the face of his dead mother. Oh yeah this was one situation he could never have predicted. But for some reason he relented. Perhaps it was because the prospect of another fight was too much to bear right now; he was exhausted. He hated to admit it, but being human was taking its toll on him and he would rather lie down and admit defeat than go on with another grueling battle if it meant he could just get some rest.

He swung Ivory away dramatically, throwing up his arms and clicking the hammer back into position. "Whatever you say Vergil," he sighed turning away from the woman in a mockery of admitting defeat (only he knew how close to the truth it really was). "Just don't expect any sympathy from me when she stabs you in the back."

"Don't be so dramatic Dante," Trish smirked. "Have I given you any reason to think I would do such a thing?"

"You're a demon," Dante called back making his way over to the tree line and attempting to remove himself from the conversation. He had had it – with both of them.

"So are you," she replied an air of irony in her voice.

"Only half." And now not at all…

Trish opened her mouth to speak, but Vergil stopped her drawing Yamato with a sibilant hiss. "If you think that my allowing you to beg for your life was an act of kindness you are mistaken."

Trish arched an eyebrow, grinned and then burst out in a peal of laughter. If Dante hadn't been in such a bad mood he would have felt more amiable towards her, a sense of comradery even, because he had thought he was the only one who found Vergil's death threats so amusing.

"Really boys this little show of masculinity is too much, I accept you both have to keep your pride in tact, but let's cut to the chase – that was effectively ruined the moment you were both defeated by a lump of garbage," Trish said her tone unwavering. Playtime was over, she needed for these two to shut up and listen for once, because once they heard what she had to say they would be hanging on her every word.

"Enlighten us then," Vergil said sourly a sneer forming on his lips. He didn't like to be reminded of his failures.

Trish smiled enjoying the moment. She waited until both brothers had their attention fixed on her; even Dante who had moved almost to the edge of the clearing and had been pretending to study the trees until he finally gave up and turned to watch the exchange between her and his twin. She knew it was only because he didn't trust her not to attack them, otherwise she could see the paleness of both twin's features – how badly they needed rest.

"I know why you're both here, I know why you were so easily beaten by Nightmare," she drew the words out savoring them, waiting until they were both focused on her, working on wrapping the sons of Sparda around her little finger. "After all you're both famous down here, that thing should have been a walk in the park for the pair of you."

"Get to the point," Dante snapped.

Trish frowned the younger twin seemed to have an issue with both impatience and impertinence. "I know where the demon who has your powers is," Trish said finally deciding it was best not to keep them waiting any longer. "And if you help me – it would be the least you could do after I saved both your skins – I'll lead you right to him."


A/N: Sorry this is kind of filler, but it needed writing and took up about 9 pages so I thought it'd be good to update rather than being all like no something else has to happen and then not writing for ages. At least that's an update in under a month and also the next chapter should get into the meat of this fic if I can just get a few things worked out in my brain. (Also speaking of things I was really not sure what to call my demon-dude so he's Theo for now but I am SO open to any cool suggestions for a better name because I literally scoured wikipedia for cool demonic names and references to the Divine Comedy and came up with jack shit).

Thanks for all the reviews and messages - I don't really use the email address linked to FFN anymore so sometimes it takes me a while to reply if I don't log in to FFN regularly so sorry on that front and I will get back to you all. The reviews I have received have really helped to keep me going with this and also made me so unbelievably happy so thank you!

I don't normally do this, but because it's fan fiction and because I am writing this for the people who are reading it (because I know how it ends mwahaha) I am curious as to who you guys would like me to have Lady end up with (if anyone). Like I said I find it odd to ask my audience for opinions, but I could really swing it both ways (I actually have a secret soft spot for Vergil/Lady) so let me know! I'm not saying it will happen as the majority votes it and it does feel weird to ask-the-audience so to speak, but it's been bothering me that I can't decide so any opinions would really help :)

This is the longest authors note I have written in a while, I was just so happy with the response I got for updating it has given me a new fan fiction lease of life. I will try to update about once a month, but I have exams in May so updates may become fewer again (just bother the hell out of me seriously) as I have a lot of work to do sadly.

Until next time guys!

-Luce