Please Enjoy. I only own the Plot, Wiccan and every other OC. I apologise in advance if any of the characters seem OOC. Please review to let me know your thoughts.

Chapter 5: - The Second Horseman

As I descended towards the ground I turned back into my human form and landed on the soft, slightly muddied earth. I looked around to find that the leaves of the trees that surrounded the grove I had landed in, were an unusual colour, they glowed a beautiful lilac colour. I realised that these trees were infused with magic and that meant that something of witch origin was nearby.

I walked carefully around the grove until I found a large boulder hidden behind a willow tree, the boulder had the triquetra engraved onto it. I placed my hand on the boulder and sent pulses of magic through it, the boulder then began to shake. I stepped back and watched as the boulder twister and rose out of the ground revealing an entrance that descended deep into the ground.

I began to travel down the stairwell, an orb of light hovering around my form and lighting my way. I arrived at the bottom of the stairs and found myself in a large room, no detail could be seen since the light didn't reach anything, except the stone floor beneath my feet. I snapped my fingers and the light multiplied before flying about and came to rest inside of the lanterns that were hung in the area and they easily lit up the entire underground complex.

It was a circular shaped library with a large round table in the centre that held a map of the current area and any other important areas that were close by. Sitting areas were dotted about and the lanterns dangled in the air thanks to the magic of this place, I headed over to the map and placed my hands on the rowan wood edging as I looked at the map.

Whilst a Witch compass could lead a witch anywhere, only the Map of Pagan could point us in the direction of one of our kin, they were hidden away in these underground bunkers after the Witch Trials since the humans for a witch to help them use the maps to track down other witches and kill them. I closed my eyes before placing my hand on the worn paper and focused on Mirage's face as I sent magic into the map, when I opened my eyes I saw a pulsing point of energy that was located quite a way from my current location.

Knowing my destination, I quickly searched for a book on Incubi and Mercuno's past, took them and placed both into one of my pockets before setting off to the point of the map, some old ruins only a flight away from the newly erected metropolis city known as Daemon Capitala, a rather unusual name in my opinion.

*Devil May Cry*

I arrived on the hills that surrounded the ruins and began to sense if Mirage was anywhere nearby but she was out of my range, but it didn't mean that she had left the ruins yet. I continued my trek towards the ruins as the gentle breeze swept along the hillside giving it a serene appearance however I knew that it was only a matter of time before I was attacked by more demons seeing as they were intent on slowing me down, trying to stop me from reaching whatever was at the end of the path I was on.

I arrived at a large crumbling fortress that was encompassed by a deep cavern, one that I couldn't simply jump over. I began to walk around to see if there was another way in, however before I could find anything to point me in a direction I saw an electrical attack crawling towards me.

I managed to dodge the attack and looked passed the attack and saw three giant, electrical, one-eyed bats. They were the demon Plasma who had the ability to transform into the shape of its opponent, allowing it to copy their behaviours and actions, and even though the demon was few in numbers they could easily separate into two new bodies, each fully recovered, luckily this usually happens only when it is attacked with a sword, meaning my magic was the only weapon again. However because of its' ability to manipulate ambient energy, it can bend light, and is immune to electrical attacks.

While in bat form, it is able to fire a blade of electricity that travels quite fast, though it telegraphs this attack by charging its body with light, first. It is also able to fire a beam of charged electricity that sweeps horizontally across the room, but this is slow enough to spot and avoid, which was the attack it had just used.

I twisted my hand and the shadows around me surged upwards, striking towards the creatures who flew up to avoid the attack. However I quickly used my telekinesis to grab a hold of the demons, determined to finish them off quickly before they attempted to force their splitting ability or copy me. I dragged them back down towards me with one hand and launched a shadow punch at the creatures which swallowed them whole, I used my magic to condescend the shadows in sphere.

I could hear the Plasmas flying about inside the sphere, occasionally slamming into the walls as they desperately attempted to get out. I brought my hands towards each other condensing the sphere even more as the flying sound got louder as they realised what was happening, eventually when my hands meet the sphere crushed the Plasmas, killing them instantly.

I continued around the ruins, hoping to find the pathway inside, I eventually found a crumbling stone bridge that I could tell use to connect to the fortress, as I could see the other end of the bridge attached to the edge of the platform the fortress rested on. I walked to the edge and gathered my magic before extended it to the earth around me and I lifted up the pieces before hardening them into rocks and I brought them up to float between the bridge ends, creating a floating pathway of earth.

I allowed my magic to continue to hold the earth in place, as I used the platforms to hop across to the other side. When I reached the other side, I returned the earth to where I took it from, before heading to the doors, I pushed them opened and they creaked loudly causing the sound to echo out through the world that lay before me.

I walked through the ruins that the map had lead me to, it was very much the same as the old Fortuna castle, old, crumbling and abandoned. I looked around searching for something to show me where Mirage could have gone, I placed my hand on the floor and sent out pulses of magic, whilst pulling out a dagger and throwing it to my right and at my stalker.

"I know you're there so come out Dante," I called out to the man. Through my peripheral vision I saw him walk into the room that I was in, but he didn't come close to me, I retracted my hand from the floor and stood up summoning my dagger back to me as I turned to face him. "Why are you stalking me?" I asked. Dante chuckled as he leant against the wall, his laidback attitude already annoying me and he hadn't even talked.

"Babe I'm not stalking you, I just happen to be heading in the same direction as you," Dante responded. I rolled my eyes at that as I sheathed my dagger, before following my arms as I stared down at the strange man.

"Sure. You expect me to believe that, when you showed after I found out about these killings, when I was fighting my sister and right now. If you're not stalking me then how do we keep meeting?" I asked. Dante kicked off the wall and got in close to me, I shifted back a little bit uncomfortable with someone invading my personal space outside of a fight.

"Maybe its' fate," Dante responded, in a low voice. I spun around on my heel and walked away from him, as I laughed at what he said.

"Yeah right, you're stalking me," I stated, as I continued to examine the ruins since my sensing had failed again. There were three doors and each held a symbol above them, one was a rose, the second was a lightning bolt and the third was a crystal. I head towards the crystal door and pushed it open, I entered the hallway behind it and heard footsteps following me, I glanced back to see Dante still stalking me.

"Where are you going?" Dante asked. I could only guessed that he hadn't brushed up on the history of the town or didn't know that this place existed to begin with.

"Out. This is an old Mercuno fortress back when the humans fought wars everywhere. The symbol of the Mercuno builders was a crystal, which was the same symbol that was above this door," I explained. Dante made a sound of acknowledgement as we continued walking. "I'm assuming you have no information on this place or Mercuno," I stated.

"That stuff's boring babe, I prefer to go with the flow than study my opponents," Dante responded. I turned around causing the man to come to a swift halt so as to not crash into me.

"That's stupid, knowledge is power in our world Dante. I suggest that you learn to get as much information as possible before diving head first in, or it'll get you kill one day," I told him and continued walking on when he stopped me from moving.

"Ok, how do you known my name, and what do you mean by our world, babe?" Dante asked. His hand had seized my arm which was keeping me in place, it was like being held by steel with the strength he was putting into his grip, I knew he wasn't going to let go of me until I answered his questions.

"An associate saw us fighting and got my informant to do some digging and I mean our world as in demon hunting," I said and managed to wriggle my arm out of his grip once he loosened it. "And stop calling me babe, my name is Wiccan," I snapped at him before continuing my search.

We arrived in a large circular room with only one door and a skylight which allowed the noon daylight to stream through but the chilling presence of demons prevented any warmth from reaching us. I went over to the door and pushed against it but it didn't move, I sent a small pulse into the door to scan beyond it and once that was done I looked around for a lever of some kind but there was none, greatly confusing me as I knew that there another room beyond the door and that this fortress had no complicated mechanisms to escape.

"We're locked in," I informed Dante. He walked up and attempted to shoot the door down but the bullets barely made a dent in the surprisingly solid door, Dante blew out a puff of air before holstering his guns and began to walk around the area. I ran my fingers over the door trying to see if I missed anything but I didn't find a thing and it seemed that we were truly locked in.

"Looks like the only way out is up, Babe," Dante stated. I rolled my eyes and walked over to stand under the skylight, picked up a small stone and threw it into the air, before the stone even reached halfway up it was sliced in half and it clattered back to the floor.

"Unless you want to end up like that stone, I wouldn't do that," I told Dante before returning to my search of the room. Suddenly a crashing sound echoed and from the floor came another demon, he was as tall as Pestilence with sickly yellow armour and the same burning red eyes. I took a hold of my weapon and withdrew it, prepared for just about anything that this creature could throw at me.

"Didn't I deal with you already?" Dante asked. Both me and the demon looked over at him to see that he was waving a gun at the demon, an annoyed look on his face.

"I do not know you worm," The demon said. He raised his arm which held a giant burnished bronze balance scale and swung it at Dante, he managed to dodge the attack but the plate slammed into the wall creating a crater before it returned to its' normal length.

"So I assume you're Famine," I stated. The demon bowed before throwing an attack at me, I ducked under the plate before swinging myself up onto the strings and rushed across the wires and jumping over his head. I landed behind him and Dante came and stood by my side.

"You know him?" Dante asked. I shook my head, refusing to take my eyes off the demon. Famine turned around and threw the scales at us again, I jumped up and grabbed a hold of the metal pole that jutted out of the wall. Dante had casually stepped out of the scales path and just smirked at the demon.

"We should get out of here, only Mundus and Sparda working together could defeat these creatures," I told Dante. However, the stupid man simply unleashed a barrage of bullets at the demon, Famine simply used his scales to block the attack.

"So my old man faced this guy, figures he'd leave me another one of his messes to clean up," Dante snidely commented, he then glanced up at me and smirked. "What's wrong babe. Scared?" Dante taunted. I gritted my teeth before jump down and glaring at him.

"I know when I am unable to defeat my opponents and will not get into a fight with them," I snapped at him. Dante pulled me out of the way of an attack Famine had launched since I was distracted, we landed on the floor with Date on top of me. "Get off," I hissed before kicking Dante in the gut, forcing him off of me.

"Geesh woman you really pack a punch or kick in this case," Dante groaned. We both rose to our feet and faced Famine, the demons scales held burning black flames. Me and Dante exchanged a look and an understanding passed between us, a truce for now until we got out of here.

Dante began to fire bullets at Famine again and the Horseman blocked the barrage again, I used this chance to pull out the Scared Water and coated my sword with it before managing to stab the demon in his arm causing a roared of pain to escape him and he swung out at me, slamming his arm into my body sending me flying backwards.

I slammed into the wall and pulled myself out of it, my muscles screamed in protest to my movements but I ignored them as I had to defeat this demon if I wanted to save Mirage. Dante withdrew his sword and began to engage Famine in close combat which proven to be a smart move as Famine was barely able to hold him off.

I rolled my shoulders and rushed at Famine, flanking him and causing him to stumble as he dodged both mine and Dante's attack. Me and Dante stood next to each other our weapons prepared to fight Famine, the demon's eyes glowed a violent red shade as his anger towards us was conveyed without the need for any words.

"You said you faced him before," I commented, as we both continued to stare at the demon who simply returned the look, as he waited for us to make the first move.

"Yeah, except that he wore blood red armour and had a great sword and was a hell of a lot more vocal that time," Dante responded. I realised what Dante's description meant as soon as he spoke it, three Horsemen had been resurrected and the Third was War, I curse under my breath at that realisation.

Famine had, had enough of waiting around and threw his scales at us again, I jumped up and landed on the centre before rushing down and bring my sword towards his head, the Scared Water shining in the light, however he dodged the attack ad threw me of off his weapon. I landed on my hands and sprung onto my feet, Dante began to fire at him again but Famine was once more able to block the attack, so Dante jumped over to where I was.

"If we want to get out of here we'll have to work together," I told him. Dante nodded and glanced at the water that flowed around my weapon.

"What is that water, it seemed to do some serious damage?" Dante asked. I glanced at him and pulled the water off my weapon and allowed the shimmering liquid to float just above my palm.

"It's Sacred Water and at this point the only thing that can defeat him," I told him. Dante nodded and walked forward, I was confused by what he was doing until he became encased in a pulsating red light and when it ended Dante had transformed into a another form, one which I recognised as a Devil Trigger.

Dante's Trigger was very different to the kid's as his was physical, the Trigger was very reptilian, it gave a reptile-looking appearance to Dante's arms and legs, his head seemed to produce spiky edges, there were cracks on his chest. His coat appeared to have separated into three parts that were shaped much like an insect's wings. Dante lifted his guns and fired even more rounds, however unlike before were the bullets had simply bounced off harmlessly, these managed to dent the scale, surprising both me and Famine.

"Strike when you see an opening babe," Dante told me. I nodded understanding that with his true form active, he was a lot more powerful, in fact he was just as powerful as him. I recoated my weapon and proceeded to begin to circle around the demon waiting for the chance to strike as Dante kept his attention by repeatedly attack him and taunting him, which I found amusing as I also had the tendency to mouth off to my enemies.

I found an opening when Famine had raised his scales to shield him from Dante's sword attacks, leaving his back wide open. Charging magic into my legs I began to rush forward and once in range I launched my sword out and buried it deep into Famine shoulder causing him to roar in pain once again.

Famine stumbled back, the scales falling from his grip, Dante unleashed another barrage at the demon who was unable to protect himself. Just as the final bullet was about to impact Famine was swallowed by darkness and spirited away by an unseen force, I glanced down at the water to see that it was contaminated because of the demonic blood and thus had lost its' Sacred properties making it useless, so I removed it and threw it onto the floor.

"What was that?" Dante asked as returned his guns and sword to their positions. I looked at him, annoyed that he was so obviously out of touch with the demonic world knowledge.

"He was a member of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, a very powerful and dangerous group of demons," I informed the man. Then the door that had been locked now creaked open and so we left the ruins, coming out onto a grassy hillside with two pathways curling through the mountain that sheltered this place.

"Well, see ya babe," Dante stated as he began to walk away. However what he said earlier rang in my mind and so I rushed over and landed in front of him before pointing my weapon at him, Dante remained still, the cocky smirk back on his face.

"You stated that your 'old man' had fought Famine or even the Four Horsemen before. Who was is, Mundus or Sparda?" I asked. Dante's answer would decide his fate, a spawn of Mundus was too dangerous to have running around, good or evil whilst Sparda's children would be beneficial unless he turned out to be evil.

"I'm the son of Sparda," Dante stated. I looked into his eyes trying to figure out if he was lying but I saw no deception in the crystalline depths only honesty, I withdrew my weapon and swung it back onto my back. I walked around him and began to head down the opposite path before stopping and turning back to the man who had been watching me.

"I don't know what you're up to or why you're hunting the Horsemen. However if you get in my way and preventing me from performing my duties I won't hesitate to kill you, Sparda's son or not," I told Dante. The man looked at me, it was an indescribable look, almost as if he was unsure of what to make of my statement.

I began to walk away not bothering to hear his response, but after seeing him fight and hearing who he was descended from I began to wonder if having that annoying, arrogant man as an ally would be helpful, considering that without any Sacred Elements working together with him might be the only way to stop the Horsemen… especially if all Four were released.