Okay, so first off I would like to apologize to everyone for the late update of this story. It was meant to have been done much sooner but due to having to prepar for the shut down period at work, organising car services and rego payments, visiting and hosting family, xmas and new years celebrations and my severe holiday laziness disease, this chapter was put on hold for quite a bit. I hope to not cause you to wait for a chapter for so long ever again, but I don't know if I can actually promise that, hehe (avoids the numerous thrown objects).

Thanks to laciesoputan & Suikorin for the kind reviews. And everyone else who followed and/or favourited my story. Nothing beats hearing how people like your work or helps get me motivated.

Anyway this chapter introduces the Devil May Cry guys to the mysterious hood figure. I wonder what happens? Well you'll have to read to find out.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters from it. But that doesn't mean I can't do whatever I want to them in my imagination. *Giggle*

EDIT: 6/6/2020
Reason- Fixing punctuation, grammar and spelling errors. Adjusting the layout for easier reading and adding some more detail into the fight scene which was a little bland before.
EDIT: 15-10-2022
Reason- Fixing punctuation, grammar and spelling errors. No Major story changes.

Devil Children

Chapter 2

The smell of blood and ash was thick in the air as the group ran through the streets of Fortuna.

Dante was sporting his trademark badass grin looking forward to a good fight, while his twin bore his usual stoic expression that did little to hide the waves of promised bloodshed he would undoubtedly deal upon the unsuspecting demons.

The ex-order member was gripping tightly onto Kyrie's hand as they trailed after the twin devils, unable to feel his usual cocky excitement at the thought of been able to slay some demons, determined as he was in making sure the songstress was kept safe.

As they rounded a corner the sounds of carnage increasing in intensity around them, the three devils and one human came to a sudden halt.

The scene before them rendered them speechless.

Debris littered what once seemed to have been a market square. Smoke rose from a few of the cloth storefronts and more delicate wares that had caught flame.

The fire thankfully didn't seem like it was going to spread to the mostly stone buildings nearby, largely due to the towering pillars of ice coating the nearby residences.
A small mercy given the city was still in the stages of rebuilding from the last major demonic invasion.

It appeared as if the main culprits behind this destruction were a gathering of Mega Scarecrow's and two Frosts.

Low level demons the trio of hunters had faced and defeated before on numerous occasions.

Normally the three hunters would already be in the thick of things.

Easily and stylishly defeating the demons and getting paid, though sometimes begrudgingly, for their efforts.

But there was a main difference now in that someone was already doing their job for them.

Features hidden beneath a black cloak the stranger rolled to the side dodging a blow from one of the Frost's.

Now on their back they swung their sword to the left in a sweeping motion, cutting the Scarecrow that was about to skewer them with it's scythe in half.

Getting to their feet the veiled figure started running forward as they twisted the wrist holding the blade.

Much to the surprise of the four onlookers, the individuals sword split into numerous bladed segments each connected to the other by a thick wire.

The now whip like weapon cut through the demons around the stranger who then cracked it, a metallic thunder clap echoing in the market square, at a demon sneaking up beside them.

Sharp edges caused ribbons of blood to bloom across the crumbling pavement as the unfortunate demons head was rent nearly in two.

A sharp jerk of their wrist and the sword clicked back into its whole form.

The only sign that it could be anything other than a pure unbroken blade were the thin lines running diagonally along the blade.

Sword in hand the cloaked person spun and sprinted in the direction of the two Frost's.

Flecks of ice flew on contact as the demons and figure began their deadly dance.

Twirling and leaping amidst the flash of metal and frozen shards reflecting the flames surrounding them.

The demons screeched with every near miss and evaded blow.

A lone Scarecrow slowly shuffled toward the strangers unguarded back.

Allegedly unnoticed as the individual continued their combat with the Frost's.

"Watch out behind you," Kyrie yelled, fearful she was going to see this stranger slain before her.

Dante, Vergil and Nero started rushing forward, ready to slay the lone demon before it could attack the hooded figure.

Though the belated attempt to intervene proved futile as without even glancing behind them the figure thrust their left arm backwards.

A ghostly lavender and burgundy hand closed around the unsuspecting demon and captured it.

Claws tightening around the Scarecrow with numerous sickening cracks as the hand crushed the body into a broken bag of meat and bone before chucking it at the Frost's in front of the cloaked individual.

The stranger then snapped their right arm up.

Sword once again in it's whip like form as it lashed forward through the Scarecrow remains and imbedding itself in one of the Frost's who screeched in pain.

The wounded demon then yanked the segmented weapon towards itself, causing the hooded figure to release the hilt of the weapon, least they lose balance and fall in front of the demon.

The second Frost who had been watching, darted forward as soon as the stranger had let the weapon go and swiped at them with gruesomely sharp claws.

Swinging their right arm up, to block the blow that would have otherwise pierced their chest the figure kicked the Frost in its face using the motion to flip backwards away from the shrieking demon.

Crimson liquid dripped down their right arm, staining the pavement below them with yet more blood.

Evidently ignoring their injury, the stranger drew a previously concealed gun and shot the demon who had maimed them.
Hitting it dead centre in its head.

The cloaked individual then snatched the other Frost who was still attempt to remove the blade that was buried its flank. Slamming it into the ground so hard it cracked from the impact.

Raising their patterned left arm they punched the Frost.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Following it up by placing their right foot on its chest, effectively pinning it to the ground.

Tucking their gun back beneath their robes the stranger grabbed the handle of their sword and yanked it out of the demon. Twisting their wrist to snap all the segments back into place.

Raising the blade above their head they stabbed it down.

Demonic blood splattered all over, coating the stranger as the demon roared in agony with the weapon now pierced through its chest.

The Frost gave a few shuddering spasms before it finally succumbed to it's injury and ceased to move.

Swinging their blade in an arc to remove any excess blood on it the figure returned it to the sheath on their lower back.

Clutching their wounded right arm with their abnormal left one, the glowing pale bluish-purple light seeming to dim beneath the deep red scaled armour.

Robes flapping in the breeze the stranger then turned to the audience who had watched the battle in it's entirety in frozen silence.

The devils and songstress could hardly believe what they had just witnessed.

It wasn't that the stranger had taken down the demons without assistance.

No, the three hunters could have easily done the same themselves and most likely had on a few occasions.

No what rendered them mute was the lavender and dark red clawed appendage that the individual bore.

Looking from it then to the ex-order members own right arm and back again. The similarities were too impossible to ignore.

Their arm looked exactly like Nero's Devil Bringer.

Hours seemed to pass as the odd group stared at each other in silence.

Yet in truth it was only mere moments.

The hooded figure features still obscured by the dark robes they wore, seemed to regard each of them in turn.

Their hidden gaze appearing to settle on Nero the longest before the stranger turned on their heel and began to walk away.

The ex-order member gasped in surprise.

He had so many questions for this stranger.

The biggest been why they had a devil bringer the same as him.

The twins seemed to have the same idea as they gripped their weapons tightly, ready to stop the stranger from leaving.

By force if Need be.

It was the songstress who came up with the peaceful solution.

Stepping out from behind Nero and ignoring the arm he reached out to stop her with, she kept walking forward until she stood a metre away from the figure.

"You're hurt. Please let me treat your injury at my place. You can also take a shower and wash the demon gunk off as well. It's the least I can do when you hurt yourself slaying the demons that were causing so much damage and protected the residents of this city," Kyrie said with a soft smile on her lips.

Her eyes held a fierce determination.

The stranger turned and even though the songstress couldn't see their eyes she knew they were fixed firmly upon her.

Feeling uncomfortable at been stared at so intensely she wanted to hide behind Nero again.

Instead she stood her ground and kept her fierce gaze on the figure, refusing to give in.

Eventually the hooded individual gave a single small nod and the songstress sighed with relief. "Thank you."

Kyrie felt an arm on her shoulder and raised her head to find Nero looking down at her worried.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he whispered to her quietly.

He couldn't say he didn't want the stranger to stay and hopefully answer the questions he had rolling around in his mind.

Nevertheless he didn't want to place his adopted sister in any unnecessary danger.

They knew nothing about this mysterious figure they could be an even bigger threat then the demons they had just slaughtered.
The songstress placed her hand on his and smiled at him.

"I can't leave someone who is hurt Nero."

The ex-order member opened his mouth to argue before giving up with a sigh.

He knew her too well.

Kyrie could be surprising stubborn, even more then him. Especially when it came to helping people.

"Alright, but be careful."

She nodded before turning back to the figure. "It's this way, please follow me."

She started walking with the young hunter a step behind her.

The robed figure watched them before turning their hidden gaze to the twin devils who were still standing there.

Dante made a sweeping gesture with his hand, "after you."

After a short moment the hooded stranger moved to follow the retreating ex-couple.

Grimly the twin slayers looked at each other weapons still clutched tightly, before they too followed, keeping a sharp eye on the robed individuals back in case they decided to run.

Upon reaching a white marbled two story house with a small but pretty flower garden out the front, the odd group stopped. As the songstress walked up to the front door and started digging in her pockets for keys.

Finally finding them Kyrie opened the door and turned to the hunters behind her, "please come in."

Nero immediately entered after the songstress.

After a pause the stranger walked in after him, the two devils a step or two behind.

The interior of the house was similar to a stereotypical elderly grandparent's home.

With soft and comfortable flower patterned armchairs and couch, fluffy carpet, lace curtains, doilies, as well as a set of knitting needles and wool on a small table in the corner.

It had that warm and nuzzling feel of a home well lived in and cherished.

Dante had been here once before and while he would never tell the kid this, Kyrie's home gave him mixed feelings of peace and sorrow.

The maternal atmosphere of the home relaxed him but it also never failed to remind him of his mother.

Sitting down on the couch bringing his feet up to rest on the coffee table he stopped, as he saw Nero shoot him a murderous death glare and mouth the words, 'feet off'.

Sighing he put his feet on the carpet and looked at Vergil who had seated himself in an arm chair to his right. If he had any mixed feelings like his red twin he wasn't showing them behind his blank disdainful expression.

The ex-order member leaned against the arm of the couch, his eyes on the hooded stranger who was standing silently.

Their head turning ever so often as they regarded the home's interior.

"You won't need your weapon's here."

The teen didn't like the idea of the stranger been armed in his adopted sisters home.

Even if he was sure the stranger was still dangerous while unarmed, it would help put his mind at ease.

If only a little.

The figure didn't reply or show any signs that they had heard him.

He was about to say it again, only less politely when the stranger grabbed the hilt of their sword.

Instantly the three hunters gripped their weapons anticipating an attack but the figure only removed the sword and placed it on the table.

They watched stunned as the gun from before joined it, as well as a glove or perhaps an arm guard of some kind, a pouch, numerous daggers and what seemed like needles and some throwing stars soon followed.

All the weapons pretty much taking up the whole table.

Causing the three devils to wonder how it had all remained hidden beneath the stranger's robes and what the reason had to be that they were armed to the teeth.

Kyrie walked over to the stranger a bundle of clothes in her arms.

"Here. I got some of Nero's old clothes that he left here when he went to stay at Devil May Cry. You'll probably want to have a shower first to remove all the demon blood and so. I'll treat your wound after you're done. Follow me and I'll show you were the bathroom is."

The figure nodded as they accompanied the songstress up the stairs to where a bathroom was located.

Kyrie placed the bundle of clothes on the counter before turning to leave the room.

"Please don't be afraid to call out if you need anything."

Again the cloaked individual nodded and watched as the songstress left the bathroom, closing to door behind them.

Removing their soiled robes as well as the rest of their tattered clothes they placed them in a corner, as they would probably have to be thrown out or burnt being unusable now with vicious tears and the stink of demon gore clinging to the tattered material.

The stranger turned the water on in the shower and regarded their injured arm as the room slowly began to fill with steam.

Despite not showing it in their expression they were quite amazed that they had found the individuals they were searching for so quickly.

They had only hoped to find some clues to their location in this religious city.

Let alone the targets themselves.

At least it saved them the trouble of having to track them down.

Stepping beneath the water they stood for a moment letting the heat soak into their weary bones before getting to work on removing the lingering traces of demon fluids from their skin.

Downstairs Kyrie had just returned from the kitchen with a small tray of drinks and sandwiches for herself and the three hunters.

Dante immediately grabbed the bottle of beer, which he knew the songstress only kept in the house for him and tossed the can of soft drink at the teen on the couch beside him.

"Damn it old man. You had to shake it all up."

The red devil laughed causing the teen to glare at him as he waited for the drink to settle before he opened the top.

Smiling at their antics Kyrie placed a cup of tea in front of Vergil, avoiding the clutter of the weapons that were still taking up most of the coffee table, "sorry, I didn't know what you like so I hope this is okay."

The blue devil stared down at the cup a scowl on his face, when he heard his twin cough causing him to look up.

Dante looked from him to the cup back to him.

Stern features silently informing him 'to get the stick out of his butt and drink his god damn tea.'

Narrowing his eyes at the red devil he looked down at the cup, blinking in surprise as he saw it wasn't just standard milk tea but a rich herbal blend.

Picking up the cup he gave it a hesitant sip.

It wasn't his usual choice of tea or brewed the way he preferred, but it wasn't completely disgusting and still a better choice of beverage then what the brat and his idiot twin were drinking.

The songstress smiled and sat in the armchair next to Nero before sipping at her own beverage.

Dante gulped another mouthful of beer than finally choose to bring up the topic they were all no doubt thinking about.

"So, what are we going to do about this guy?"

Kyrie looked at him confused, "what do you mean?"

"They were no amateur. He knew how to handle himself and eliminated the demons efficiently flawlessly, with the exception of that one moment they left themselves open to attack," the blue devil remarked dryly.

The ex-order member fiddled with his can as his mind swirled, "I thought I was the only one with this arm but he's got one too. He knew how to use it in a fight. They might know something about it," he muttered, not mentioning that the stranger might know more about him as well.

Nero didn't know much about his demonic heritage or the reasons his arm changed. Just mere speculation and theories.

The twin devils had helped clue him in about a few things but even they didn't know all the answers either.

This stranger could hopefully fill in the blanks.

Dante looked at the teen.

He knew the kid wanted answers about himself and this stranger might be able to help him with that.

But he didn't want the kid to be hurt in the attempt.

"True, but we also don't know why he was here in the first place. Or their motives. We can't exactly let him go until he gives us some answers. Plus they aren't quite human if he's got an arm like the kids. He could be planning to bring back the hell gates to amass more power or something similar. Wouldn't be the first time someone's tried to do something like that," he said glancing at his twin who proceed to ignore him.

"I'm sure they aren't like that. They did kill the demons who were attacking and hurting everyone and even got hurt in the processes," Kyrie pointed out feeling the need to defend the stranger.

The red hunter sighed, "Maybe so but that doesn't mean he's not a bad guy, which is why we can't just let him leave until we find out more about him."

"It's better to deal with a threat early rather than later," the blue twin remarked.

Nero saw the songstress flinch at that and open her mouth to reject that statement.

Placing his hand on hers he said gently, "don't worry Kyrie, we aren't going to attack them out of nowhere. We just want to ask him some questions first."

"The kids right. This stranger currently holds all the cards and we can't do anything until we see his hand, pardon the pun. If we have to take action against them depends on the answers he gives us. Hopefully he finishes soon so we can get to the bottom of this."

They heard the stairs creak behind them as a set of soft footsteps descended slowly from the floor above.

"Speak of the devil," Dante smirked before turning to glimpse the guy beneath the robes.

What he saw caused him to become mute.

The others seeing his expression turned to look as well before they too became frozen in shock.

It wasn't the ocean blue eyes so much like the kids that stared back at them.

Or the pale white hair still damp from their shower.

Not even the fact that they were only clad in one of Nero's old sleeveless red hoodies, showing off smooth porcelain skin that had previously been hidden beneath the shapeless black robes they had worn.

While all these factors were startling none of them were what had rendered the group of them speechless.

It was something even more simple.

Dante chuckled and gave a low whistle. "Well now that's a surprise."

The blue twin meanwhile narrowed his eyes but his expression didn't change apart from that.

Feeling regret as her cheeks burned a faint blush gracing her cheeks, the songstress realised she should have asked the stranger about their clothing requirements and garment size.

It was Nero cheeks stained pink who stated the reason for their shock.

"YOU'RE A GIRL?!"

Haha, yeah sorry to leave it there on such a cliff hanger but it just seemed like the perfect place to stop. If fact when I wrote the plot for the first few chapters I intended to end the first chapter here. But I split it in two so it wasn't one big lump of action all at once. (Yes, I actually plot out chapters before I write them. It helps me keep track of things that have already happened and helps the story flow smoother. I also have an idea sheet for idea's I would like to put in eventually but am unsure of where to put them currently in the story, So they might end up in later chapters.)

So a few things:

1. The Fight Scene.

I'm not sure if I managed to write this out as well as I could have. I was a little restricted in that I didn't want to reveal their gender until the very end of the chapter or name any techniques, which I might do later. I will name the techniques for the other Devil May Cry characters (if I can remember them *excuse to play the games again*) as it will help you have a better picture of the fight scene and what they are doing.

2. Tea

I'm not as sure about Vergil's taste in food and beverages as with the other characters but I picture him as a sophisticated gourmet aristocrat. Given that Kyrie is not likely to have a rare vintage wine lying around I figured tea would likely be better. Of course Vergil been like he is, it couldn't be just plain tea, but some fancy kind. Given that I don't drink tea (or coffee for that matter) I couldn't really name any specific brands or flavours of herbal tea. So I just kind of winged it. If anyone has any recommendations of what tea Vergil could be drinking, please feel free to message me and I'll change it in the story, and of course credit you too.

3. Group Discussion

I'm not 100% happy with how this scene is written and may eventually come back to edit it one day. I just didn't feel it flowed that well and was really struggling to get through it. (For people who don't know, which I guess is everyone on this site. I really have trouble sitting down and writing for long periods of time. While I have the plot and everything all organised, my fingers can't keep up with what I'm imagining happening next, so I end up having to keep stopping myself and backtracking quite a bit. Or I want to skip the boring part and move to the interesting part even if the boring part is for the sake of plot and story progression. Of course this means that I usually only write a few paragraphs at a time and then leave it for awhile before coming back, but since I was feeling guilty about the late update, I kind of forced myself to keep going and finish writing the chapter in one go. Which is something I should be doing anyway if I want a career as a writer.)

Lastly thanks for reading, especially if you read the author's note down the bottom which is basically me just ranting and venting frustration in my lack of writing skills. Please review and respond as I love knowing what you guys think and it helps me improve as a writer. Again please let me know if the characters become to OC giving room for story progression and growth of course.

Shadow Wishes