There isn't very much more to this fic, about another three or four chapters, possibly even five if I can draw it out for everyone. So far, I love the fact that everyone has been so kind and so supportive of my writing. It does me the world of good, to think that right now, in a period of my life that seems to be so full of differences never before seen, that some things such as my fanfic writing will never change. Words can never express how much all of you, and your reviews mean to me.

Dante and Trish do not belong to me. However, anyone or anything that is not mentioned in the Devil May Cry games does belong to me. That's one hell of a long list that I will not go through because it would most likely take up to ten pages.

Reiko would also like to thank everyone from the bottom of his heart for not being hated and not being labelled as a Gary Stu. Though if he is, then could someone please tell me so then I'm not carrying on the fic with the misguided conception that Reiko is loved when really he's hated? Thank you.

Without further ado, I present Chapter 21 of Dark Legion 2:- Cursed Gifts.

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Chapter 21

When Reiko next opened his eyes, he found himself in a position that had been similar to Dante's. He was in a bed, but in a room he distinctly recognized. The room had no windows, the walls and the ceiling had been painted white. They had once been pristine in their colour but as the years had passed, the walls had decayed to turn grey. Reiko sighed, staring around the room, his eyes falling upon the boxes that had been there unmoved and undisturbed. He could still see the Christmas decorations that Trish had taken great delight in strewing about the building. The general air of the room was one of gloom and neglect.

He wondered what time it was, whether it was day or night. He wondered how long he had been lying there. He licked at dry lips before carefully inching his way out of the bed, surprised to see that his wounds had been dressed, even though they had already healed and were no longer there. The whole building appeared to be silent so Reiko assumed it to be night. He stretched his limbs carefully, like some kind of cat, before wincing. His muscles were stiff but he acknowledged that this was nothing to be really bothered about. What really mattered was that there were no broken bones, no fractures. All he had left were faint bruises and other than that he felt as though he were in perfect health

He slowly went out of the room and paused when he found himself in the corridor. He stood still for several minutes, remaining motionless, at one with the darkness, simply listening for any type of noise or movement. He gave it a few minutes more before nodding once in acceptance and padding downstairs noiselessly, his eyes already well adjusted to the dark. He stood in a patch of moonlight that filtered through the living room curtains and checked the time on his watch, seeing that he had little time left to spend in the dark. He sat down on the couch, bored and feeling displaced and at a loose thread, as though he had nothing to do.

'Reiko?' He tensed and jumped out of his seat before spinning around, startled. Lorelei stood in the doorway to the lounge, her head tilted to one side, her hands behind her back, leaning against the doorjamb, one heel lifted off the ground. The pose made her look utterly innocent, a creature that knew no spite or malice. 'Are you okay?' Reiko smiled at the question before nodding silently. Lorelei shyly came closer, smiling timidly, as if unsure what to do or say. She eventually seemed to recover her voice. 'I feel so out of place here, as though I'm useless.' She paused and then looked at him carefully. 'And Rose is staying here too.'

'Aah…' he merely replied. He cursed himself inwardly as soon as the word escaped his lips. Was that really all he could come up with? Stupid man! Vampire! Thing! Oh whatever! Lorelei hesitated before moving even closer. Reiko closed the rest of the gap between them and held her close before sitting down with her on the couch, still hugging her to him.

'Lorelei?'

'Hm?'

'How long have we been here?'

'Oh, just overnight.'

'I see.'

'We waited an extra day before we moved you. We didn't want to risk anything.'

'I see.' Lorelei smiled up at him, and at his quiet manner before resting her head against his shoulder.

'I'm so glad you're okay…' Reiko ran his fingers through her hair before kissing her gently.

'You can't sleep?'

'No…I hate going to sleep in new places. I just can't do it. It was okay in your house. It was…you know…'

'Clean?'

'Yes! Exactly! When I go to sleep in a new place, I need at least one thing around me that isn't totally alien to me.'

'You look exhausted…' Reiko whispered gently. He watched in fascination as she yawned. 'Look, you can barely talk because you're so tired. You keep yawning…' Lorelei let out a soft little laugh before snuggling further into his body, which was still warm from his time spent in bed.

'Reiko? I brought your laptop along too. I thought that you might want to keep on top of your work,' she murmured tiredly. Reiko blinked in surprise but said nothing, only watching her as her eyes began to droop, as her head began to nod, as she wriggled closer to his warmth and the solid weight of his body. It was…sweet…And how had she guessed that he'd want to keep busy? It seemed that she thought of everything. Yet here she was, providing him with company because she couldn't sleep. All because she had nothing around her she was remotely comfortable with. Unless…

'Come with me…' he whispered, standing up. Lorelei blinked before righting herself and smiling up at him. She yawned again, her eyes watering before she followed him, almost as though she didn't really care about where the vampire was taking her. She became more alert when she found herself in the vampire's room, and found that Reiko's eyes were resting on her and were filled with an almost expectant light.

'Why don't you try going to sleep in here? With me?' he asked softly. Her eyes widened and she stared at him.

'With you?' Reiko took a step back, so affronted was he and hung his head, blushing as well as a vampire could.

'Well…ah…I…I didn't mean it like that…it's just that you were falling asleep against me downstairs…and I…er…I thought you…might be more comfortable if you did so while you were in bed…if that makes sense. It probably only does to me but…aha…well…' He was waffling and he knew it, but he couldn't stop it. Lorelei stared at him almost incredulously before she started to giggle.

'Who'd have thought it? That you could actually trip up over your own words?' Reiko wasn't entirely sure what he should say to this but smiled sheepishly. Lorelei laughed again and to him it was like music. He watched as Lorelei climbed into bed and shoved herself against the wall, still looking nervous and uncomfortable. Reiko sighed softly before sliding into bed beside her. She turned her sea-green eyes onto him and he was momentarily taken-aback by their piercing brilliantness.

'No funny business, okay?' she demanded, her voice hard.

'Okay…' There was a pause between them before Reiko propped himself up on one elbow. 'Do you really think I'd be quite so disgusting as to do that to you or as to force you into anything you don't want to do? I love you!' Hearing those words falling from those lips filled her with a warm and indescribable warmth. She turned onto her other side and kissed him lightly on the nose. He wrinkled it, looking for all the world like a disgruntled cat.

'No…I know you're not like that. It's just that I've never done something like this before.'

'No…' there was a soft chuckle,' No, neither have I.'

'I thought guys weren't ever meant to admit to being new at anything.'

'Well…since when have I been ordinary or like other guys, hm?'

'Mm…' Lorelei giggled again. 'You do make a good point.' Reiko smiled before kissing her on the forehead lightly, tenderly.

'Goodnight…' All was still for about ten minutes. Reiko listened as Lorelei's breathing became slow and deep, indicating that she was in a heavy sleep. He smiled before slowly resting his head down upon his pillow and closing his eyes, though he was far from tired. He sighed softly before he opened his eyes again, contenting himself with watching Lorelei's face as she slept. He smiled tenderly towards her, even though she was completely unaware and gently stroked his fingers through her long copper-streaked hair.

She stirred after a little while, her face crumpling into something of a frown. Reiko paused and looked uncertain and waited, hoping that her dream would end so then she could continue her sleep. Much to his dismay, she began thrashing slightly in her sleep. He chewed his lip anxiously before trying to wake her. She let out a loud piercing scream at that point before sitting bolt upright in bed. Her eyes snapped open and she stared about her in confusion. Reiko slowly sat up, so as not to alarm her and noted how she trembled. He pulled her into a gentle hug, much like how he had done only a few nights previously.

'It's okay…' he soothed, 'It's okay…it was just a dream…a meaningless dream…' Lorelei relaxed into his arms, still shaking lightly before nodding.

'I know…I know…' she whimpered. Moments of silence passed between them, Reiko holding her comfortingly, Lorelei's breathing slowly becoming calmer and regular. After a small while of this, Lorelei closed her eyes and sighed softly, her breath tickling Reiko's neck gently. He squirmed slightly, a smile ghosting across his face before disappearing.

'Why don't you tell me about it? What happened?' Lorelei stared at him, her eyes growing wide, as though he had just suggested something obscene. God knew…enough of his nightmares were. He shuddered, shaking his head slightly, trying to pull himself away from those thoughts.

'I couldn't possibly…it was so vivid…'

'As vivid as mine?' Lorelei paused and looked at him as though terrified. 'What?'

'You…kn-know I s-saw th-that-'

'Of course I know. How else would you have known what I was crying out that night?' Lorelei looked at him blankly. ' "Iie Onegai?" ' Lorelei's face dawned with realization.

'O-oh! Right! Y-yes…it was as vivid as that…'

'Then tell me. I'll be able to understand.' Reiko smiled at her invitingly, but to his dismay, her face closed and became clouded.

'Maybe some other time…when it doesn't feel so…'

'Raw?'

'Yes…exactly.' Lorelei watched as the vampire nodded impassively before yawning, showing gleaming fangs. Instead of flinching like she usually did, she smiled. 'Let's just go back to sleep, okay?' The vampire nodded again in agreement before stretching languorously, giving Lorelei a brilliant view of his chest. She turned away, trying to suppress a smile before lying down against him, resting her head against his chest. She didn't see Reiko blink in surprise but she probably wouldn't have cared; it was a comfortable arrangement, and his body was warm from residing under the blankets. Somehow, the room wasn't quite as dreary when Reiko was with her.

'I love you, Rei,' she whispered. Reiko smiled and ran his hand through her hair before cuddling with her, feeling his eyes closing as he fell into a peaceful sleep. Lorelei soon began to feel weariness overcome her again, and though she tried to fight it off, it was a losing battle.

It was a while later when the two woke up. Lorelei went at once outside to the corridor to check whether it was night or day and then returned smiling, noting happily that it was the former. Trish was awake and was trying to cook, and from what Lorelei could smell, she was trying to cook half the kitchen at the same time. Lorelei smiled before pulling Reiko forcefully out of bed only to nearly succeed in pushing him down the stairs soon after.

Trish looked up and blinked in surprise as Reiko and Lorelei came downstairs together, smiling at each other fondly, Reiko holding her hand securely. Rose took one look at the situation, glanced quickly at Trish before looking at her coffee intensely, as though she had found something of incredible interest in her steaming drink. Trish nudged Rose warningly before smiling warmly at the two, who were so enthralled by each other's presence that they had sensed nothing at all amiss.

'Reiko!' she cried, smiling broadly. 'How are you feeling? How are your wounds?' Reiko returned the smile, with the usual courtly grace he always adhered to.

'My wounds are now completely healed and pain me no more. Thank you for dressing them for me.' Trish blinked and looked momentarily surprised before her face returned to a neutral expression.

'You knew it was me?'

'I'm sure you have had great experience in dressing Dante's wounds,' Reiko said, his voice full of warmth. Trish smiled again at him before laughing softly to herself.

'You make one hell of a better patient. Dante always struggles. I usually have to knock him out, or try to before he lets me go near him. When you were brought to me, you were already laid out!' She watched as Reiko smiled sheepishly and turned his head away slightly.

'It is…rather embarrassing, I'm afraid. I always seem to be getting hurt somehow or another.' Reiko caught Lorelei's eye and smiled at her widely before turning to face Trish again. Lorelei smiled back before wondering out of the kitchen and into the living room, hoping to watch some television. Rose glanced quickly at Trish and Reiko and then at the retreating girl's back before following after the latter.

Lorelei smiled absent-mindedly to herself as she padded slowly around the living room, her thoughts filled with Reiko, her heart captured by him and her very being snared by the vampire. If this was some kind of spell that the vampire had placed upon her then she never wanted it break. She felt so happy, so relaxed, as though she were living in some kind of paradise that only she could access. She felt as though nothing could possibly shatter the dream-like state she now found herself in. Who would have thought that it was possible? A vampire to fall in love? And she to fall in love with one such vampire? It felt bizarre in that it felt so right. If this was what falling in love was all about then she wanted to make sure that she never fell out of it!

Her eyes ghosted across the mantelpiece, along the photo frames she had somehow missed before. She smiled again; she loved photos. She loved looking back at little memories from the past. And if the photos weren't anything to do with her, so what? She took delight in thinking that they were someone else's memories, and that someone else held them close enough to frame them and keep them on display. She looked with interest of the many pictures of Dante sitting with Trish and two other women that she didn't recognize. One had her hair styled so then it fell over one eye, leaving only one emerald green eye to stare out at her piercingly. A smile, something that was sweet and shy adorned her face. The other woman however, was slim and petite, her raven tresses setting off her heart shaped face, her bi-coloured eyes. Unlike the other woman, her face was set in a scowl, suggesting that perhaps she'd just been a butt of a joke. Dante was laughing, his eyes closed with mirth, signaling that he had made another unsavoury comment that only he found amusing. Lorelei smiled, deciding that if she ever met the woman, that she'd get along with her quite well. Especially if she hated Dante's one-liners as much as she did!

Her eyes slid across to stare at another photo, but what she saw wiped the smile off her face instantly. The photo depicted Trish and Dante sitting on either side of a young man, who couldn't have been any older than twenty. All three of them were smiling happily, at some thing that was known only to them. The strange man had brown hair that fell into his eyes, and deep brown eyes that were set into a cheerful face that one felt was trustworthy the instant they saw it. He looked a lot like Dante, and Lorelei knew instantly that the two were related, though how she knew not why. Ordinarily she would not have thought anything of the picture, would have merely thought of it as a nice photo, a nice memory of a happy day. But there was one thing that had been bothering her.

Even before her mother had taken her away from Devil May Cry, even before she had started to live with Reiko, she had started having dreams. She dreamt of fire, of death, of blood and of pain. She dreamt of screaming and crying, and then she had seen the boy's face loom in front of her vision, his eyes closed, his face pale, blood streaming out of what looked like white wings. When she had been living with Reiko, the dreams had stopped. But now she was back, and they had started again. What did it all mean?

She decided that it would be best to ask Trish, knowing that if there was anyone who would be willing to shed light on the matter, it would be her. She turned around to go into the kitchen but was surprised and alarmed to find herself coming face to face with Rose. Violet burned into emerald green.

'Rose…' Lorelei ventured cautiously. 'Hello. How are you?' She struggled to keep her voice even, frightened by the hostile look that had crept into Rose's eyes.

'You were staring at that photo for a long time.'

'Y-yes…I was just curious. I love looking at photos.' Lorelei realized that her voice was beginning to sound angry and defensive. Rose frowned at her before glancing at the picture quickly.

'You sense it too, don't you?'

'Huh?'

'The feeling of loss and gloom that's always running through here. You can feel it, can't you?' Lorelei started backing away from her, a little frightened at the fact that Rose seemed to be able to read her thoughts. In her eyes, the harpy was transformed into a monster, a monster that would read her thoughts and would tell the whole world about her awful, terrifying dream.

'I don't understand! I can't feel anything!' she yelled. Rose paused and narrowed her eyes.

'But surely you must! I mean-'

'I don't feel a damned thing! Except maybe for the irritation that talking to you entails!' Lorelei expected Rose to become annoyed, perhaps mad enough to try and attack her. Instead, a thoughtful expression pasted itself onto the harpy's face.

'So…this is too much…I can't believe it…this is…'

'Can't believe what?'

'I don't understand…why have you not been told?'

'Told what?' Lorelei repeated again, her eyes flashing with wild anger. Rose looked at her and lowered her eyes, shaking her head, looking at her almost pityingly.

'It is not in my place to say. I am sorry. I must go now.' Lorelei growled in a most unladylike manner before grabbing the other by the arm, holding on tightly for all that she was worth.

'Not so fast! How do we know you're not going to go to the harpies to tell them where Reiko is? To tell them that he's here, at Devil May Cry? They could come here and kill him and it could very well be because you decided to betray us!' Rose blinked before smiling gently at her.

'No, you don't have to worry…I can't betray him anyway.'

'…?'

'You see, Lorelei,' she began to explain, her expression kind. 'I have no need to betray Reiko, because I have a lot to loose if I ever did anything so foolhardy. I trust Reiko, and I know he trusts me. That should be enough knowledge for you.' She pulled her hand out of her grip and started to walk away. Just before she left, she paused and turned. 'A word of advice, Lorelei.'

'What?'

'Don't get too attached to the vampire.'

'What? Why?'

'Because of what he is. He is a vampire, and you are not. He is also on a dangerous mission. He could very well end up breaking your heart.' Lorelei glared at her and remained silent. Seeing that she was going to be treated in this sour manner, Rose merely nodded at her once in good-bye and took her leave, leaving Lorelei to sit down on the couch and moodily flip through the channels on the television.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of the conversation that had taken place between the two women, Trish was telling Reiko all the information she had garnered regarding the harpies. She was delighted to find that Reiko was as attentive as ever and was drinking in every word that she spoke. She was also pleased to find that Reiko hadn't interrupted her once, not even to tell her to stop talking so fast, something that Dante always did, to her extreme irritation. It was one of the reasons why she loved talking to him, because he was so receptive, because he would always listen with interest, watching her alertly, his hazel eyes shining from time to time with excitement when she was in a particularly good mood.

'I found out so much from Rose! It's great having a girl around here, and imagine our luck that she's a harpy too! It was just what we needed to find out what we needed to know about harpies,' she exclaimed happily, coming to an end. Reiko stirred ever so slightly before making himself comfortable. He quirked an eyebrow at her before looking towards the living room, as though distracted. Eventually, he brought his attention back towards Trish and leaned forward.

'Did you learn anything that might make my mission slightly easier?'

'I don't know…Harpies are pretty power hungry. That's the only thing I was really able to learn. That, and they're ruthless.'

'Hm…'

'I don't think I've been of much use.' Reiko shook his head, telling Trish that she was wrong. He lowered his voice.

'I think you have been of considerable help to me. I am sorry, but I have to ask you a favour.'

'Anything for you, Reiko.' Trish's eyes had widened without her even realizing it, alarmed subconsciously by Reiko's serious countenance.

'Keep Lorelei safe for me.'

'What? Where are you going?'

'That does not concern you. I merely ask you to do me this one favour. I will return shortly. Do not tell Lorelei where I have gone.'

'How can I? I don't know where you're going!'

'And it is better that way.' Reiko stood up and granted her a brief smile before slipping out of the room, leaving Trish sitting at the table, staring blankly at the seat that Reiko had recently vacated. She had a terrible feeling that something untoward was about to pass, and that it would not be for the better.