Author's Note: I just want to take a quick moment and say thank you to those that have favorited and followed my story. After a 14-year hiatus, it means so much to know that people are enjoying my writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Eva's Wish

Chapter 6

Nico barreled down the gravel road, her passengers bouncing and jostling around. "Watch it Nico," Nero yelled, while steadying Kyrie. She'd insisted on coming to keep Nico company while Nero and Lady made the dangerous journey.

"I can't believe ya all are crazy enough to be doin this," she drawled while fishing a cigarette out of the pack while steering. "Who in their right mind willingly goes to hell?"

"Remember little girl, kidnapped by a demon?" Nero said, exchanging a look with Lady. Lady had begged Nero to keep Lilith's parentage a secret. They figured if they found Vergil, they would likely find Dante too and Lady had argued that it should be her who told Dante about Lilith. Nero had agreed, so only Nero and Lady knew Lilith's true identity.

"I mean it's heroic and all," Nico said, trying to light the cigarette in her mouth, "but still bat shit crazy."

Lady nodded. This plan was crazy, but they were desperate and it seemed like this was their best shot. Nero stepped forward and looked out the window. "This is it," he said. "I'm sure of it. Nico, take that fork to the left down toward the beach," he directed. Nico followed his directions until the road petered out in a meadow above the beach. "Looks like the rest of the way is on foot," Nero said. Lady nodded and started grabbing her things.

"Lady, catch!" Nico said, tossing something in her direction. Lady caught it and stared. She was holding a gun magazine. "I cooked those up special. High capacity and highly blessed, found a priest who did a number on the casings for me. Might come in handy," Nico said.

"Thank you, Nico," Lady said, dropping the magazine in a pocket in her skirt. She hadn't worn the skirt in years, but she needed to carry all the ammo she could and this was a convenient way to have it handy.

Nero gave Kyrie a kiss goodbye. "If this works, I'm bringing them home-all of them," he said.

Kyrie smiled. "I know you will. I'll be waiting right here. I love you."

Nero smiled at her. "I love you," he said. He glanced at Nico. "Hey Nico, take care and make sure nothing happens to Kyrie for me."

"Yeah, yeah, you got it. Have a nice trip to hell," she said, waving.

Nero started down to the beach with Lady following. They walked along the beach parallel to the crashing surf until Nero pointed ahead. "There's the arch, the cave should be just beyond." Lady nodded. Fifteen minutes later the entrance to the cave came into view. They cautiously approached the mouth of the cave. Nero peered inside, checked his watch and looked back at the surf line. "We should hurry," he said. "We've got a half hour until the tide changes and I'm not sure how far back it is."

"Then let's get going," Lady said, pulling a flashlight out of one of her many pockets. They entered the cave and started making their way through. It was slow going. The cave was littered with large, algae covered boulders that were super slick. Before long the water level in the cave started to rise.

Picking their way through a particularly tight and slick patch, Nero had to suppress an overwhelming feeling of panic. The water was over waist deep and they hadn't seen any sign of the portal. Pushing past a very large boulder, Nero felt his heart collapse. It was a dead end. They'd reached the back of the cave and it was just a sheer rock wall. More terrifyingly, they wouldn't be able to make it back to the cave entrance before the cave fully filled with water. They would drown.

Nero looked at Lady, panic in his eyes. Lady was scanning the wall carefully with her flashlight. "Lady," Nero started, his voice shaking a little. "I think we're trapped."

Lady shook her head and smiled at Nero. "Nope kiddo, look over there," she said pointing.

Nero followed her finger and grinned. "Wow they did a good job hiding those, I totally missed them!" Nero said, starting toward the worn, rock steps that appeared to be irregularities in the wall at first glance. Carefully ascending the steps, Nero and Lady squeezed through a crack in the rock.

"Good thing I'm not claustrophobic," Lady muttered, side stepping through.

"At least you're short. This fucking sucks," Nero said, crouching down to squeeze past another rock overhead. "How did Agnus fit in here, ugh."

Lady felt a rush of cold over her boots and looked down. Water was starting to seep into the crack. The cave they'd come in through must be filled with water. "How much farther?" she asked.

"Almost there," said Nero, "maybe another 30 feet."

"We should try and pick up the pace. The sea cave is full and it looks like this is next," she said.

Nero tried to hurry along but it was slick and he had to be careful. By the time he reached the end of the crack, the water was waist high and the current made it hard to move. Stepping out of the crack he saw they were in a larger cave. The crack opened onto a ledge and the floor sloped away to their left. Swinging the flashlight to the right, he caught sight of something. Nero gave a celebratory whoop. "Found it!" he exclaimed.

Lady followed the light of his flashlight. It was illuminating an oval mirror-like object whose surface pulsed and throbbed with a dark gray coating. Lady could feel the evil emanating off it. They jumped down off the ledge and walked up the slope to the mirror. Reaching in one of her pockets Lady took out some glow sticks. Opening them, she activated them and tossed them around the mirror to light up the area. Nero stepped up to the portal and stuck his right hand through it. Suddenly he screamed. Lady panicked and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. She then realized Nero was laughing. She glared at him.

"So sorry, couldn't resist," he said holding up his unharmed right hand. "You had such a serious look on your face, I had to," he said, laughing.

Lady frowned. "You are so related to Dante that it hurts," she said.

Nero gave her a big grin. Unsheathing Red Queen he held his left hand out. "I think it's a good idea if we step through together and hang on to each other. In case this is one of those that flings you who knows where," he said.

Lady nodded. "Probably smart," she said, un-holstering one of her guns with her left hand. Grabbing Nero's hand, she nodded at him. Together they stepped through the portal. Lady felt like she was tumbling through space. She couldn't tell up from down and even though her eyes were open she couldn't see anything. Suddenly everything stopped. She found herself on her hands and knees on ashen ground. She looked up and felt her head spin.

Nero was a few paces away on one knee. He shook his head. "That was something, wasn't it?' he said.

He looked back, just as Lady felt her stomach lurch. She leaned over and retched. Nero stood up and looked around awkwardly. There wasn't much to see. The ground was ashen with gray clumps that resembled dried out grass as far as the eye could see. It seemed like a very desolate and empty place. He felt a bit of panic looking around because it seemed like there was nothing here. Nero looked to his right to see a small hill. It was the only thing that broke up the desolate plain.

Lady sat back on her heels and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked around. She felt a rising sense of fear. There was nothing here. She looked at Nero.

"Yeah, this place seems empty," he said. "I'm guessing it's not. There's a small hill over there," he said, pointing to the small rise. "I say we make for it. Get to some higher ground and see what we can see."

Lady nodded and stood up. "Seems like a good idea," she said. "Lead the way."

Nero started in the direction of the hill. "Given how open it is here, we may we want to be on the quieter side if we run into trouble," he cautioned.

"Yeah I can see this getting interesting," Lady replied.

The words were no sooner out of Lady's mouth before the air around them shimmered in three spots. "Portals," Nero spat. "Run," he said, taking off for the hill. Lady took off after him. It was too open and given that this was hell, she anticipated they'd be overrun if they fought in the open. She followed Nero, close on his heels.

As he ran, Nero could feel cold spots come up on his right and left. Something in the back of his mind told him to give the spots a wide berth. He angled around them. Finally they reached the hill. It was sheer on one side, like something had scraped half the hill away. Nero turned and faced the demons coming toward them. More had joined the original three and a small horde now bore down on them. Nero felt slightly more confident with their back covered. Beside him, Lady had her pistols drawn. She nodded at him, selected her first target and started firing.

In another area, Dante sat against what qualified for a tree in the underworld. It was more the husk of what a tree would have been like rather than the living thing. Vergil had disappeared. The demons were avoiding him. With no battles, no one to talk to and no sunrise or sunset, it was easy to lose track of time. Dante sat and drifted through his memories.

He drifted back to a memory he hadn't thought about in a very long time. It had been a late spring day and his mother had taken him and Vergil on a picnic. It was one of the rare times he and Vergil weren't fighting with each other. Vergil sat on a large rock near the nearby stream, reading a book. Dante had spent time examining the creatures in the stream, while Eva sat on a blanket and enjoyed the warm sunshine.

Dante plopped down next to her as a breeze blew dandelion seeds past them. Eva reached over and picked a dandelion that hadn't yet lost its seeds. She held it in front of Dante. "Close your eyes, make a wish and blow," she instructed him. Dante did as he was asked. He opened his eyes and watched the seeds float away on the breeze. "It's good luck to wish on dandelion seeds," Eva said.

Dante picked one and held it up to Eva. "Your turn mommy," he said. Eva closed her eyes and blew as a strong breeze caught the seeds and sent them on their way. "What did you wish for?" Dante asked.

Eva smiled and pulled Dante into her lap, wrapping her arms around him. "I wished that someday you and Vergil find someone special and you teach your children about wishing on dandelion seeds," she said, squeezing him tight.

"Ugh, no," Dante said. "Girls are icky."

Eva laughed. "You won't always feel that way," she said.

Dante's thoughts shifted again and he returned to the memory of the night he spent making love with Lady. "Yeah mom, you were right. Girls aren't so icky anymore," he said softly. He closed his eyes and thought again about that night with Lady had made him feel. He'd been so excited to finally be with her and terrified all at the same time. He'd kept everyone at a distance for so long and with Lady he'd been tempted to let down those walls.

A loud boom echoed around him and Dante sat up. "What the," he said, looking around. Only silence answered him. He shook his head. "Starting to hear things…not a good sign," he said, sitting back. The boom rang out again. Dante bolted up. "Not hearing things, that's the Kalina Ann. Shit," he said, running toward the sound.

"What happened to stealth?" Nero yelled.

"It went out the window the minute that thing showed up," Lady yelled, pointing Kalina Ann at the Behemoth that was preparing for another charge. The heavy armor was still intact.

"Damnit," Nero cursed. "There's too many of them."

"I noticed," Lady said, letting the missile fly as it hit the armor on the Behemoth and it cracked. She reached back to reload the rocket launcher, when movement from above caught her eye.

"Nero, incoming from above," she yelled.

Nero looked up to see a flash of red arch overhead and land in front of him. It was Dante. Dante looked over his shoulder at them. "Tsk, tsk…having a party without me?" he said, drawing his demon sword.

"We didn't have a forwarding address for the invitation," Lady yelled, leveling her gun at a Hell Caina coming from her left.

Dane laughed. "Missed you too, Lady. Let's rock," he yelled spinning his sword and launching himself at the Behemoth.

Nero shook his head and revved up Red Queen, preparing to face the group of Nobodys to his right. The three battled in unison, Dante and Nero's swords carving up demon flesh while Lady's guns laid down suppressing fire. Where once Nero was afraid they'd be overrun, now he was feeling hopeful. The demon ranks were starting to thin. Suddenly there was a shower of blue sparks and the three demons in front of Nero exploded, their crystallized, red demon energy falling to the ground. Nero looked up and met the cold, icy eyes of Vergil.

"Verge, about time you showed up," Dante called out.

Vergil snorted. "What Dante, you didn't have this in hand?" he asked coldly.

"I've got it under control," Dante said, pushing back on the Hell Judica he was engaged with. "Just get a little nervous when you disappear is all."

Vergil didn't respond. He flicked Yamao at a Fury and it split in two while he looked at it with derision.

Nero cut down the last Nobody in front of him and sheathed Red Queen. He shook his head. "Man, that was close. Dante, thanks for showing up," he said.

Dante let go of his sword and it dematerialized. Turning he faced Nero with a frown on his face. "Tell me something kid," he said, his tone icy, "if you're down here, who's keeping things safe up there?" Nero gave Dante a confused look. Dante's anger flared. "I asked you a question," he yelled, "who's looking out for things in the human realm?"

Nero looked at Lady for a second but she seemed in shock at Dante's tone. "Well Trish is looking out for things," Nero started.

Dante stepped up and got in Nero's face. "I didn't leave things in Trish's hands, I left them in yours," Dante yelled, poking Nero in the chest with his finger. "I didn't come down here to look after Vergil so you could wait a hot minute and run down here."

Nero's brows knit together and his anger flared. "A hot minute? You ass, it's been almost a year that you've been down here. You don't think I had a good reason to come down here? You think this is some whim?" Nero shouted back.

"Nero," Lady said, stepping forward and touching his shoulder. He looked at her and saw the pleading in her eyes. He shook his head and stepped away.

"Nice," Dante snorted, "just run away."

Nero turned and lunged toward Dante. A strong arm caught him. "Enough of this foolishness," Vergil said. "Dante, while I don't know Nero well, what I do know of him is that he's honorable. Why don't we allow him to explain while he and the human female are here?"

Nero shrugged out of Vergil's hold. "A little girl was taken by a demon. She was taken from an orphanage in the middle of the night. No one up above has any information on the demon who took her. We couldn't find any reference to a demon that matched the description in any of the texts we had access to. We came down here to find the one person who we thought might be able to help us," Nero said, anger punctuating his words.

Dante looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tell me about this demon and maybe I can help," he said.

Nero's eyes narrowed. "You weren't the one we were looking for," he spat.

Dante jerked his head back. "Just who the hell were you looking for?" he asked.

"My fa..Vergil," Nero said.

Vergil quirked an eyebrow. Lady spoke up. "Dante, while we were looking for Vergil for information, we were looking for you too. We expect this is going to be ugly and well…it wouldn't be a party without you, right?" she said.

Dante smiled. "Damned right," he said. "So what are we dealing with?" he asked.

Nero frowned. "We're not even sure. We don't have a lot to go on. The only ones who actually saw the demon were the other children in the room when the little girl was taken. They described a demon that was large-it had to crouch down to enter through the door, it had six arms and gave off a rotting, sweet smell," he said.

Vergil frowned. "Gilgoth," he said.

"So you know the demon?" Lady asked.

Vergil nodded. "I have seen him. I have never interacted with him directly. You say that he took a girl. Do you know anything of her parentage?" he asked.

Nero shot Lady a look but she ignored it. Vergil saw it and mentally noted it. "She was in an orphanage," Lady said as an answer.

'So you know something that you're not telling,' Vergil thought. 'Very interesting.'

Dante furrowed his brow. "Why would the kid's parentage matter?" he asked.

Vergil looked at Dante. "Taking a human child makes no sense. Then again, Gilgoth is hardly intelligent. This is not something he would do of his own volition. He is likely working for another demon.

"Any ideas on who he may be working for?" Dante asked.

Vergil sighed. "The only one who makes sense would be Xerxys," Vergil said.

"Shit," Dante spat.

"Okay," Nero said, "so who the fuck is this Xerxys guy and why do we care?"

Dante shook his head. "Vergil, you want to explain this one?" he said.

Vergil regarded Nero and Lady. "Xerxys for all practical tense and purposes is currently in charge down here," he said. "He is very smart, very cunning and rather dangerous."

"He's also full demon with supercharged power," Dante said. "Worst of the worst right now."

Lady clenched her fist. "Do you think this Xerxys would have the girl?" she asked.

Vergil nodded. "It is most likely," he said. "Gilgoth does not maintain a keep of his own. He is usually found at Xerxys' hold. If Gilgoth took the girl, he would take her there."

Nero looked around. "And where in this place would you put a keep? I don't see jack shit here," he said.

Vergil gave Nero a look. "Tell me Nero, have you felt anything as you've moved around down here?" he asked.

Nero furrowed his brow. "I've felt some cold spots. They felt kinda weird so I avoided them. Kept Lady away from them too," he said.

"Wise," Vergil said. "The cold spots you've felt are doors of a sort."

"This place is like a labyrinth," Dante explained. "Those doors lead to other places."

"Dante is correct, after a fashion," Vergil said. "The doors lead to other dimensions of this realm. The most powerful demons hold dominion over parts of this place. Xerxys is such a demon."

"Are the doors similar to the portal we came through?" Lady asked. Vergil nodded. "Great," she said.

Nero appeared to think for a minute. "Can't you use Yamato to move us there faster?"

Dante laughed. "He could, but we'd be jumping in blind and Xerxys has himself quite a few followers."

Vergil nodded again. "You say he's taken a little girl. I would approach with caution. That means I would recommend we use the doors and survey his keep before entering, so we know what we're dealing with," he said.

Lady hoisted Kalina Ann on her shoulder. "Then let's do this and get it over with," she said.

Vergil turned and walked out on the plain. "Nero, join me," he said. Nero stepped up to Vergil's side. Lady and Dante walked behind. "Tell me, do you sense anything?" Vergil asked.

Nero stopped. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind as he'd been taught during sword training. Suddenly he felt his demon senses awake. He could feel multiple doors to the right and one to the left. "One door to the left and three…no four doors to the right," he said.

Vergil nodded. "Very good. We take the door to the left," he said, striding to it and stepping through.

Nero looked back at Lady. "You gonna be okay?" he asked.

Lady's eyes narrowed. "I'll be fine," she said. Nero shrugged and stepped through.

Dante looked at her. "These doors can be really disorienting and mess you up," he said. "We've got the benefit of demon blood which lessens the disorientation, so it's bad but tolerable. Lady, you don't have to do this," he said, his tone soft.

"I'm not turning back," she said, stepping past him and through the door. She almost regretted her words coming out the other side. She once again ended up on her hands and knees, but at least this time her stomach held. Nero reached out a hand and helped her up as Dante came through. Dante gave them an odd look, but Nero and Lady missed it. Vergil, however saw it. 'So Dante has feelings for this one,' he thought, looking at Lady. 'She's tougher than most. Few humans can handle travel through a door.'

Dante looked around. "Which way now?" he asked.

Vergil turned to his right. "This way," he said. Vergil led them through two more doors. Lady was exhausted but refused to say anything. The plane they were currently on was warmer than the previous ones they'd been through and appeared to resemble a washed out desert. Vergil came to a stop. "We should rest here," he said.

"We can push on," Lady said.

Nero shook his head. "Lady, we're all exhausted. If me with my demon blood is tired, I don't even know how you're still standing," he said.

"Kid's got a point," Dante said. "I expect there's some nastiness waiting on the other side of that last door. Better if we go through tip-top."

Lady sat down and laid Kalina Ann down beside her. Nero sat down nearby. Vergil stood for a moment, scanning the horizon before coming to sit across from Nero. Dante sat next to Lady. Leaning back on his elbows, he looked at her. "Has it really been a year since I left?" he asked softly.

Lady nodded, digging around in her skirt pockets for some food. "At first we thought you would be back quickly. As more and more time passed, we got worried. Nero told us he was sure you were okay, but…," her voice trailed off.

"So, you missed me?" Dante asked.

"Yes," Lady said, meeting Dante's eyes.

"Missed you too," he said. "It's way too quiet here, you know. No one bugging me about all the money I owe them," he teased.

Lady rolled her eyes. "Well you do still owe me money, so I'm bringing you back too so you can work on paying me back," she said, grinning.

Dante laughed. "Yeah, we'll see," he said. Lady yawned. "Grab some rest," Dante said. "Douchebag will keep an eye out. Right Verge?"

Vergil stiffened. "We're safe for the time being," he said.

"Thank you, Vergil," Lady said, her eyes drooping as the exhaustion took over. Nero stretched out and closed his eyes. Soon his breathing evened out.

Dante watched his companions for a few minutes, before looking at Vergil. "Where'd you disappear to?" he asked.

Vergil looked at Dante. "I went to seek some answers," he said.

Dante signed. "Not more supreme power bullshit I hope," he said.

Vergil's eyes narrowed. "I have already told you I will not take action that will harm the human realm again," he said.

Dante gave Vergil a weak smile. "I want to believe that," he said.

Vergil shrugged. "Believe what you want," he said.

Dante laid back. "Wake me when you're ready for some rest," he said. Vergil nodded and Dante closed his eyes. After a few hours Vergil woke him. Dante watched over the group as Vergil took his rest. He let his demon senses stretch out, confirming they were safe. He felt an arm drape across his lap and looked down to see Lady had rolled over in her sleep and covered him.

'Think good thoughts,' Dante thought over and over. He gently pushed the hair back from her face. Part of him couldn't believe she was here and that it had been a year he'd been gone. It hadn't felt that long down here. But time moved differently in the underworld. He'd had so much time to think. He'd spent a lot of time thinking about how he regretted pushing her away. She was the one person who he felt comfortable enough to be himself around. She'd seen him at his best and his worst and she was still there. He'd hurt her, he knew that. Somehow he needed to fix this. He needed to figure out how to make things right between them. He'd been scared of his feelings after spending the night with her. But he couldn't deny that for so long all he wanted was her with him.

Lady's eyes fluttered open and Dante removed his fingers from her hair. "Ah, sleeping beauty is awake," he said, smiling.

Lady realized her left arm was strewn over his lap. She blushed. "Sorry," she said, removing her arm.

Dante shrugged. "Most action I've seen down here, I'm not complaining," he said, smiling his best roguish smile.

Lady shook her head. "Same Dante," she said.

"Hey, you know you missed this," Dante said, giving her a lopsided grin.

"Get a room you two," Nero muttered. Lady kicked his leg. Nero grinned.

"Now that you're all awake, shall we continue?" Vergil asked icily.

Lady stood. "Yes, we should get a move on," she said.

They walked over to the door. Vergil, then Nero stepped through. Lady fidgeted. "Dante, we," she started. Dante stepped up alongside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and before she could say anything else, pulled her through the door.

Dante kept her upright as they came out the other side. "Better?" he asked softly.

Lady still had some nausea going through but it was better. "Yes," she said. "What happened?"

"I was wondering if maybe being in contact with someone of demon blood might make it better," Dante explained.

Lady thought back to stepping through the original portal holding Nero's hand. It hadn't helped then. "I don't know," she said. "Honestly, I don't care. I'm just glad that's over with." She stepped up alongside Vergil and Nero. They stood on a rise overlooking a plain, cracked with a gorge. On the other side of the gorge, stood a large stone fortress with a tower rising up inside the walls. A stone bridge connected the plain to the fortress. A heavy iron gate stood closed at the end of the bridge. It looked impenetrable.

Dante stepped up next to Lady. "This it, Vergil?" he asked.

Vergil nodded, "Xerxys' keep," he said motioning at the fortress.