It's about time I got this chapter done. I know it's been a while, and I know that people seem to be losing interest in the Devil May Cry section, but hey, for those of you who are still out there reading this, then enjoy the latest chapter. It took me a while to write it because of coursework and homework and the like but…at least it's finally here now.

Another thing I should have done.

Disclaimer: Dante and Trish belong to Capcom.

Claimer: Any of the names you don't hear in Devil May Cry 1 or 2 belong to me. That's right. Reiko, Remy, Lorelei, Rose, Cathy, Ms. Avalon, even the dragon belongs to me. And so do the others…when I remember what other OCs I put in here. Gwah!

Anyway, Happy New Year to you all!

As always, please review, because what else do I have to keep me going? (smiles) There's still quite a bit to this. So far this fic has totaled 80 pages and I don't think that's going to end any time soon so…you're in for a long story. (HAPPY GRIN)

Chapter 16

Love. It always seemed to get in the way at the best of times. Whether it was Dante's love for battle, Trish's love for cooking and then more often than not causing disasters, it always seemed to cause trouble. Rose was the most perturbed though, by the fact that she couldn't seem to shake her thoughts away from Reiko. They had only met a few times, but each of those times had been a memorable experience, and she found herself reliving them in her head with great relish, and wanting to experience more meetings with the vampire. She couldn't quite pinpoint what it was she liked about him, and she couldn't quite bring herself to admit that she was in love. After all, the word was probably too strong for what she was feeling. This was more like…like…infatuation. She wrinkled her nose at that. Maybe infatuation was the wrong word too. If not love, and not infatuation, then it had to be a…a crush.

She growled mentally at the offensive word. A crush, such a terribly juvenile way to describe what she was feeling, but she wryly noted that perhaps it was the most accurate description. The vampire seemed to haunt every one of her dreams and she would find herself day dreaming and imagining him laughing, smiling, moping, anything really, and then later grew frustrated when she realized she could no longer keep her thoughts clear.

So when Dante had sent her to find Reiko, to ask him if he had any inkling on how to destroy a dragon, her stomach had churned, her heart had leapt and she had immediately found that a grin had plastered itself on her face and wouldn't go away. Though, admittedly, it was an odd request…why Dante thought that Reiko would have anything to help them was a mystery, especially since Reiko was a vamp and she'd always been taught that vampires weren't the brightest of creatures.

Speaking of Dante…ever since the fight with those cats –she had no better way to describe them- a strange light had entered his eyes. Trish treated this as cause for celebration, but Rose, having never seen Dante in his usual frame of mind wasn't so sure she could share the same sentiments as the black clad demoness.

His eyes had put the cold of the frost to shame. Pure determination fuelled him, as well as a raw hatred and a lust for revenge. His eyes had seemed to blaze ice blue whenever the word dragon dared to mentioned in his presence.

Yet, for all of his determination, they had no idea on how they could possibly defeat it. As a last desperate attempt she had been told to call on her vampire. Her vampire? Euw…However, finding a vampire was difficult and trying to find one that wished to remain hidden was damn near impossible. Near impossible, but she had never said it was impossible. There would still be hope as long as she believed.

So here she was, continuing to crunch on through the streets, realizing at that point that she was putting herself in a very dangerous situation. The frost did nothing to quiet her progress and she was pretty sure that any vampire in the area would know that there was a harpy on the loose, alone and unprotected. She prayed that they would mistake her for an ordinary human being and pass her by without paying her any heed.

But then again, if she was thought of as being human, then the vampires wouldn't pass up the chance of gaining a meal. She groaned at that. It seemed that no matter which race the vampires took her for, she would still be in grave danger.

Rose knew that she was more than capable of taking out a vampire but they were beginning to grow numerous as the harpy population died out and the dragon continued to live and prey on her race. If she attacked one vampire, even in the name of self-defense, there was a likely chance that another seven would arrive in order to protect their fellow vampire. Harpies were perhaps as strong as a vampire with the ability to possess a weaker vampire's mind and poison them in the process but if there was a fight between one harpy and eight younger vampires, even if they were inexperienced, there would be no question as to who would win. Sheer weight of numbers would pull her down to her death.

At that point, she slipped and squeaked as she felt herself lose her balance and fall. Instead of hitting solid concrete as she had expected, she suddenly felt herself being pulled upright, lifted clear off the ground and set down on her feet. A pair of hazel eyes loomed in front of her.

'Are you all right?' How convenient. The vampire stood before her, dressed in all black as was his trademark. She blinked suddenly, feeling his power crawling along her skin, making the hair at the back of her neck stand on end. The power seemed to move of its own will, and seemed to shimmer in front of her, so tangible that she felt as though she could touch it. Reiko seemed to be unaware of the fact that she could sense the raw power that he held. She suddenly realized that she had been staring at the vampire for perhaps a little too long. Reiko didn't seem to notice.

'Are you all right?' He repeated again. She felt a blush slowly creep across her face but she refused to acknowledge it and turned her dazed look into a glare.

'I'm perfectly fine, thank you,' she said primly. Reiko's lips curled up ever so slightly at the corners of his mouth. Rose sighed at that point. 'It's a good job that I found you though. Dante sent me to look for you.' Reiko raised a dark brow.

'Dante? What does he want? To issue me with another death threat?' He queried blandly. Rose couldn't help but smile at his sardonic tone.

'Nothing quite as serious as that.'

'I don't consider it serious at all really,' came the impassive reply.

'I thought you would have!' Rose stared at him in shock but Reiko only let a bitter smirk touch lightly upon his features.

'No,' he said softly, shaking his head.

'Jeez…Sparda must really be losing his touch!'

'Or maybe I'm past caring.' He stood there before her, hazel eyes glittering in the darkness, his coat sweeping the back of his legs as the wind carried it. He stiffened slightly and turned his head, but to Rose's eyes the simple movement had the same grace as a deer. Or maybe it was just her eyes. She rubbed at them, trying not to appear inconspicuous and then looked back towards the vampire. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her, for he was watching her interestedly, and the former grace was gone. He looked utterly human, his face bland and devoid of emotion. No…she was wrong. That kind of stillness was anything but human.

'He's really upset…there's this strange look in his eyes,' she murmured.

'He's just pissed off and lashing out. Besides, I did call him a coward, and if there's one thing Dante hates, it's being accused of being scared. He considers it a weakness.'

'And what do you consider it?' She asked, momentarily forgetting the true purpose of her search for Reiko. The vampire searched her face impassively before answering.

'I consider fear to be natural and human. It is nothing to be ashamed of,' he said simply. 'Fear is a very human emotion. Perhaps the most.'

Rose blinked before smiling. 'I think I prefer your take on things. They make more sense.'

'You have your opinion. I have my opinion, as Dante also has his own opinion. There is no wrong, and there is no right.' He turned away at this point but then stopped. 'By the way, had you carried on the way you were doing so, you would never have "found" me.' A wry smile passed over his face as he finished. Rose frowned at him, trying to hide her surprise.

'What do you mean by that?'

'I was following you all this time.'

'What? You were stalking me!' She cried out in shock, staring at him. In response, Reiko sighed and rolled his eyes before fixing her with a look of long-suffering.

'I was not stalking you, Rose. This is vampire territory, and your progress was incredibly disrupting. You were alerting every vampire in the vicinity to your presence! I was following you, so then if any vampires attacked you, I would have been able to step in and make them stop before you came to any harm.'

'Wouldn't it have made more sense if you just walked alongside me?' She asked icily.

'You'd think that, but no. I can't seem too friendly towards harpies, otherwise I'll probably end up having to put down a rebellion,' he explained, sighing as he did so. Rose nodded slowly.

'They think you've just been appointed as a delegate?'

'Yes. My clan doesn't know that I genuinely want peace.'

'Are you ever going to tell them?' she asked. Reiko simply shrugged and started to walk off before coming to a halt, frowning and turning to her slowly.

'You said Dante wants to see me?'

'Huh?' asked Rose, raising her eyebrow.

'Dante. You said he wanted to see me.'

'Oh…oh yeah…I remember…Um…' Reiko quirked an eyebrow and frowned softly but still managed to keep a polite tone to his voice.

'You remember, huh?'

'Okay, so maybe I didn't remember as much as I thought.' Reiko's frown deepened at that but then Rose snapped her fingers, her eyes brightening. 'Dante wanted to know whether you had a book that might be able to help us!'

'A book? What kind of book?'

'You know…one of those things with words in them that you open up and read?' Rose rolled her eyes at him, which only earned her a sharp growl and a glare in return.

'A book pertaining to what?'

'Dragon killing,' she said simply. Reiko frowned before turning away, setting off towards his home, leaving Rose to stare after him, confused. Reiko paused and then looked over his shoulder at her.

'Are you coming then?'

Rose stared around in wonder as Reiko opened the front door and stepped in before turning to the left and going through a door. When he realized Rose was still staring at the chandelier, he sighed.

'This way.'

'Oh!' Her eyes widened slightly before she dashed off to stand at his side, where Reiko was already scanning the bookshelves, his eyes narrowed in concentration, his pupils seeming to dance as his vision flickered here and there, quickly reading the book titles that were printed on the spine of each volume. Rose bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, too energized and having nowhere to get rid of it.

'Found anything?'

'No…not yet…but I'm sure that…yes…' He smiled suddenly as he pulled out a relatively thin book, it's cover looking as though it had never been opened and read. The book was a paperback, a stark contrast to the thick hardback books she had seen in Dante's office. The cover was a strange murky green colour, what an embellished picture of what looked to be a werewolf. The title was in red. Rose read it to herself and smiled.

'"The Little Known Facts Behind Myths"? You really think this will help us?' Reiko shrugged.

'Laugh if you wish. You asked me for my help and I merely gave it,' he said icily, though his face looked as though it were carved of ivory, emotionless, dead. It was a chilling sight to behold, but it still held Rose fascinated nonetheless. She suddenly realized he was talking. 'This may be a children's book, but sometimes simple facts are all that we must know.' Rose swallowed hard and then nodded in agreement.

'Okay…sorry…' she whispered. Reiko said nothing but remained standing there, the book in his hand, as though expecting her to say something more. She couldn't bring herself to open her mouth when fixed under his piercing stare. At last, after a period in which Rose could almost taste the tension in the air, Reiko sighed and relaxed before looking somewhat uncomfortable. He passed the book to her and then looked outside.

'It is cold out there. You were outside for a while when trying to find me. The air is icy, and you won't be able to fly because the cold will hurt your feathers.' He coughed slightly, uncomfortably, as though his next words were to suggest something profane. 'Would you like some coffee?'

'Thanks. That would be great,' she smiled at him. 'Coffee sounds great now that you've reminded me how cold it is out there.' Reiko graced her by smiling before he walked noiselessly towards the kitchen, Rose at his heels.

Lorelei was sitting there already, curled up quite comfortably in a chair with several cushions she had dragged over from the living room, reading and sipping quite happily at some hot chocolate. She looked up as the two came in and frowned slightly seeing Rose.

'Hello…' She sounded surprised, as well as somewhat peeved. Rose flinched mentally at the tone of her voice. She smiled warily at Lorelei before glancing at Reiko anxiously. He looked up at them both from filling the kettle with water and blinked seeing the two watching him. He glanced from one to the other before putting two and two together.

'Oh sorry. Lore, this is Rose, a harpy friend. She asked for my help on behalf of Dante. Rose, this is Lorelei. I'm acting as her protector. She was the first one who saw the dragon and she got caught up in the crossfire of one of the dragon's attacks.' He went back to his coffee making. Rose gave Lorelei an uneasy glance, and found to her astonishment that the look was being mirrored.

'Two sugars?' Reiko's smooth voice cut into her thoughts.

'Uh…yes please…thanks,' she replied somewhat shakily. The tense atmosphere seemed to be lost upon the normally sensitive vampire.

'Milk?'

'Just a little.' Rose tried to return to her thoughts but blinked and gasped with shock as she suddenly saw a mug of steaming hot coffee appear out of nowhere and hover close to her nose. She took the mug from Reiko and smiled her thanks at him before sitting down opposite Lorelei, watching her balefully as she took a sip of her coffee. Lorelei narrowed her eyes slightly before getting up.

'I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Reiko.' She watched him as she passed. Reiko nodded politely in acknowledgment.

'Goodnight, Lore.' She threw him a smile, but stared at Rose almost warningly before she took her leave. Rose's coffee, which had seemed so pleasant before now seemed to turn suddenly bitter. She sighed and pushed the mug away.

'Thank you, Reiko. I'd better go and give Dante the book.' Reiko nodded again but then frowned at the virtually untouched mug of coffee. He picked up the mug.

'Hey Rose, you haven't even-' he turned and blinked seeing that the harpy was gone. '-finished your coffee…' He sighed before he shook his head and started to wash up. 'Women…'