Chapter 31

Dante and Trish stopped a short way from the throne room, Trish looking excited and pleased, Dante looking as grave and as serious as ever. Trish's grin faded away rapidly as soon as she noticed the look on her best friend's face.

'What is it? What's wrong?' she asked. Dante was silent but he slowly frowned as if deep in thought. 'Aren't you happy? Rose has now become queen!' she cried, her happy smile returning to her face, making her eyes shine and glitter brilliantly. Dante took in her expression of glee silently before shaking his head and padding off, his eyes darkened with concentration. 'I'd be happier if I were you,' Trish called after his retreating back. 'Now that Rose is queen, the vampires can get what they want. Reiko can finally get what he was after.' Dante stopped at that and sighed.

'Provided Reiko is still alive.' There was a stricken silence. 'Let me guess, you actually forgot that Reiko's a vampire, that he's one of them.' There was still no answer from the usually high-spirited blond. Dante sighed. 'I thought as much. Come on, instead of wasting time, we could be looking for a way down into the dungeons.'

'I didn't ever forget that he was a vampire, Dante.' There was a pause. 'Do you really think they would have put him down there?' she asked, her voice anxious. Dante sighed again, suddenly feeling very very weary.

'I don't see why they wouldn't. I don't see why any of the harpies would think of Reiko as anything special.'

'To them, he's just another run of the mill vampire.'

'Exactly.'

'I never understood that about humans,' Trish sighed. 'I hadn't realized that when I would join you that I'd actually give up some of my…well…I never thought that it would make me become even a little bit more pure. I thought it was impossible.' Dante knew better than to interrupt, secretly wondering where all of this was leading up to. Eventually, he realized that if anything else, Trish just needed to rant. He immediately felt guilty, and laughed softly, inwardly to himself. He'd come a long way. To think that once he had been immature, that once he'd been so…brash. Many people had thought that he was selfish, and many more assumed that he just didn't give a damn about what others thought of him and that he just didn't care about how his actions or words might affect those who surrounded him. In some respects, they had been right. He had been thoughtless many a time and looking back, he could understand why Lady had hated him at first. Now look at him.

Yes, he'd definitely come one hell of a long way and the thoughts that were running through his mind more than proved it. And now, listening to Trish, he realized that he had more or less completely neglected her. He hadn't been moving from stage to stage by himself, Trish had been there with him all the way and he had been totally blind to it and had ignored her, moving straight down a path while wearing blinkers over his eyes, letting him see what was only straight ahead. He'd forgotten that anyone or anything else existed apart from him and his failure, apart from him and the phoenix that he had desperately sought out. So it was that he continued to walk, but made sure to actually listen to what his faithful companion had to say.

'And even though I'm part human now, I still can't understand how everyone can be so blind, that people generally can't see past blood or race or even species.'

'We live in a world of stereotypes, where everyone is given a label.'

'It's hard isn't it? Being hated by all. Not being understood.' Trish sighed. There was a silence, broken only by the sound of their footsteps echoing off the marble floors. 'I miss him. I can't stop thinking about him.'

'I know.'

'Inferno…he brought it all back for us, didn't he?'

'There wasn't anything to bring back. He's never far from my thoughts.' There was a slight pause. 'Sometimes,' Dante confided, 'I think he's the same bird.' Trish blinked up at him. 'He used to have one. Never called him a pet, but always his friend.'

'And he called him Inferno,' Trish finished, to which Dante nodded. The two of them were silent as they walked, each of them lost in their own unique thoughts. Dante found it hard to imagine the amount that they had all been through, found it hard to think of all they had seen and done, yet somehow, they'd been able to pull through. It was hard to imagine all these things, yet the thoughts and memories in his mind had somehow come to pass. His thoughts were suddenly shattered into irretrievable fragments as Trish's voice suddenly sounded.

'Hey, look.' Dante obeyed thoughtlessly, feeling drained and weary, just wanting to rest somehow. He laughed again at himself. And that was when he knew that mentally, he had grown old, perhaps a bit too much so. Physically he was in optimum shape, but he needed to take a break, even if it was only for two days. He quickened his pace to catch up with his friend.

'There's a door here. I've got a gut feeling it leads down.'

'It leads up,' came a voice from behind them. They both turned around, only to see Rose standing there, her face grim. 'Follow me, I can lead you to the dungeons.' She walked away quickly, Trish and Dante wasting no time in following her, both of them dreading what they would find when they reached the prisons. It soon transpired that they had been walking in the wrong direction completely. They soon came to a hidden door at the very end of a corridor and it was unlocked and pushed open without delay. The three hesitated momentarily before Dante and Rose stepped inside, only Trish holding back, having spotted a fourth person moving towards them hurriedly, her eyes as hard as emerald.

The four walked down without any further delays, Lorelei shivering as they went further and further down, the walls becoming damp, the air turning foul and acrid the deeper they progressed. Lorelei gave vent to a more than audible whimper, causing Trish to pull back from the other two, moving to hold Lorelei's hand, squeezing it gently in a bid to comfort the girl who had quickly become her friend. The two exchanged a look, the expression on Lorelei's face tremulous and anxious with Trish looking as grim as the silver-haired demon slayer. Yet somehow, seeing her look so emotionless made the newly discovered harpy feel somewhat safer.

And then they were at the bottom of the stair-case, and a total silence had fallen upon the group of four. To Trish, it seemed oppressive, ominous, as though they were standing as part of a funeral ceremony. And as soon as the Queen unlocked this next door that led to the prisons, Trish knew that maybe they had come too late.

The four trooped in and slowly began to pass cell after cell, peering in swiftly at each one, searching it worriedly for any sign of the vampire. And then Lorelei gasped, the sound more than audible, bringing everyone running to her side, to the cell that she was staring into, abject terror stamped on her face.

At first, when he looked into the cell, Dante saw nothing but a mess of blood and a pile of bloodied rags in the centre of the room. Only when the rags moved and gave vent to a feeble moan did Dante realize that it was Reiko.

For a few seconds, all they could do was stand there in horror as their eyes fell upon the once proud figure as he lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. Dante silently took in the sight of the ruined raw flesh, the blood that dripped from ghastly wounds and from his mouth, the clothes that barely covered the vampire's body, the way he was trembling all over. But what he really noticed, was the stink of death that was coming from him. Dante let the anger build up in his heart before it forced him into action. He snapped his head to the right, to stare piercingly at Rose.

'What are you waiting for? Open it up!' Rose jumped before looking towards him with tear-filled eyes. 'If he's going to die it won't be in a hell-hole like this. At least he'll have us with him.' Rose continued to stand there, statuesque, before she at last nodded and slipped the key into the lock with trembling hands. She slid the barred door open and stood back, her thoughts only breaking when she heard a thump from behind her. She turned to see Trish kneeling to support Lorelei's head, the girl in question having fallen to the ground. Trish looked up at her hopelessly.

'She fainted. Take care of her.' As Rose silently resumed her place, Trish got up and joined Dante, where he had knelt down besides their fallen friend. She watched as Dante pulled out his last vital star before placing it on Reiko's chest, trying to ignore the harsh cry of pain this elicited from the vampire. The green glow washed over the prone vampire's body and once it died away, the slayer looked desperately for any sign of improvement. Whereas the few cuts and bruises had been healed, the more serious injuries had not been affected in the slightest. Inferno gave vent to his eerie song before hopping down to the vampire's side, crying silent tears, pressing his face against one of the wounds. There was a hissing sound as tear met flesh and then a loud cry that shook the rafters as the vampire managed to put his strength into one last agonized scream, his eyes snapping open and rolling back in his head. The holy bird gave vent to a startled shriek before flying out of the cell and up the staircase. The phoenix had only made things worse.

The vampire's voice failed him again, dying down to a grating rasp. He lay there, his chest rising and falling rapidly, harshly, having been sent into such a panic. Trish blinked back tears.

'Reiko, it's us. It's Dante and Trish. We're here.' And to her relief, the vampire calmed visibly and managed to refocus his vision onto them. Dante tried to slip his hands under his body, wanting to get him away from that awful place but immediately flinched when Reiko vomited up a vast quantity of blood, his eyes clouding over. Trish looked towards Dante. 'We can't move him,' she said unnecessarily. She watched with pity as Dante's face contorted with rage.

'But-'

'We can't. It'll hurt him more. He'd die even before you took one step out of this place.' Dante stared again at his fallen friend again helplessly.

'Why? Why didn't it heal you?' He took out another vital star and was about to press it to Reiko's chest when he was interrupted.

'It's no use,' Rose whispered, her voice choked. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. 'It's poison. They poisoned him.' Trish stared from the harpy to the vampire, her mouth open with shock.

'No…oh no…' she gasped. 'Reiko…' Her eyes ran over his body, took in all that he had suffered, remembered all that they had been through together and shook her head in disbelief. 'He can't die though…not like this…' She pulled him slowly, carefully into her lap, trying to fight back her tears, failing when one splashed upon the dying vampire's cheek. He opened his mouth and tried to gasp out something, barely forming words and Trish saw the missing fangs and started crying in earnest. Dante had remained where he was, silent as a grave. He bit down hard on his lip before turning his head to look at Rose.

'If harpies poisoned him than you can heal him, can't you?' he demanded, his voice raw with anger, the only way he really knew how to respond. Rose stared at him hopelessly.

'That's not the way it works. I cannot heal him.' The words looked as if they were killing her even as she spoke them. Dante glared at her before narrowing his ice-blue eyes dangerously.

'Why not? What stupid rule is there this time?'

'This is nothing to do with rules. It's impossible for a harpy to heal a vampire if their blood wasn't the one that acted as poison. There's no way of knowing who's blood did this.'

'It was Romana's,' came a miserable voice from behind them. Jay. Rose lowered her head and closed her eyes, letting her breath out in a great sigh. Dante's face became warped with fury as he stared back down at his friend, who was watching him silently, listening to every word, his face calm despite the obvious pain he was in.

'It's all right,' he croaked, forcing the last of his strength into those words. Dante let out a soft, bitter laugh, one that seemed perilously close to tears of his own.

'Idiot. We should be comforting you, not the other way around.' He watched as Reiko smiled weakly, even as blood trickled out of the side of his mouth in a steady unending stream.

'I want to see Lorelei,' he gurgled, his voice becoming weaker. Dante sighed softly as Trish gave vent to an audible sniff.

'Isn't there any other way of saving him?' Dante heard her ask as if from a distance.

'Only the King can save him,' Jay explained, his voice low. 'He is the only one who can heal the damage done by any harpy. We don't know where he is though. Romana imprisoned him, we are certain of it.'

'Dante,' Reiko gasped again. 'I want to see Lorelei.'

'She fainted.'

'I don't care. Let me see her…' Obeying his request, Rose slowly stood up, cradling the other woman in her arms. She walked into the cell and knelt down beside the friends, aware that Reiko's eyes had remained fixed on his lover's face the entire time. He gritted his teeth and momentarily screwed his eyes shut, reaching out to place his hand on Lorelei's forehead, sending a telekinetic message to her mind, the note a simple one. He smiled exhaustedly to himself at that point, his face alarmingly pale, even for him. He gasped as his body shuddered wildly, uncontrollably in Trish's arms. He heaved, more blood leaving his body from his mouth. Trish slowly shook her head, her eyes dulled.

'You…can't die now…' She struggled, trying to hold him steady, sighing with relief as Dante tried to help. At that point, the vampire scrabbled wildly until his grip found Dante's arms, excruciating pain forcing him to cling to the slayer for all he was worth. Dante held him silently, only his eyes betraying any emotion.

'Tell her,' Reiko growled through a flood of liquid. 'Tell her…tell her I love her…Lie. Tell her I wasn't…in any pain…I wasn't suf…' And then, to Dante's horror, the vampire stopped shivering, and his grip loosened completely, his arms coming to drop limply to either side of his body.

'Reiko?' There was no answer. The vampire lay still in his arms. 'Reiko?' Trish's crying became louder. Dante stared down at the vampire in shock, fearing the worst. Then logic kicked in. His friend wasn't dead yet. He hadn't turned to a pile of ash in his arms. This brought some relief to him before I vanished unexpectedly. So what if he wasn't dead now? He'd be dead soon enough and the knowledge that he was going to lose someone else who had become close to him tore him to shreds inside. No, he told himself. He had to be strong. He had to be so much stronger than this.

But he had failed before. He had failed that poor child, his life snapped up in an instant and he'd been powerless to stop it. And he'd been powerless to stop this too. An image of his brother floated in his mind's eye. Was this why Vergil had done all he had? To try and…

At that point, they heard the phoenix begin his song again as he returned, fluttering outside the cell before coming to cling sideways to several of the bars. He spread out his wings and continued to sing, raising his head so then the melody carried, so then it floated up to the rafters. Dante felt a sudden sense of hope rising within him, soothing the rage. And still the phoenix continued to sing, until all eyes were resting upon it.

And only then did Dante notice the brown-clad man, with tangle blonde hair that fell just to his shoulders. And much to his surprise, Rose and Jay had fallen to their knees before him, bowing low. Not long after, Trish followed suit. Dante held his ground, an uncharacteristic sneer beginning to pull at his lips.

'Who the hell are you?' He snapped, his worry and stress refusing to let him mince his words. The man said nothing but looked towards the new queen.

'Rose, Queen. I must thank you for freeing me from my confines.' At that point, Dante knew who it was, and yet he still remained utterly unimpressed. He looked down towards his unconscious friend before gently lowering him and looking towards the harpy king.

'This vampire needs your help,' he said. If he was expecting the King to heal the vampire without asking any questions, he was sorely disappointed. The King hid his hands in the large volumous sleeves of his brown robes before peering at the devil hunter, as if out of mild curiosity.

'Why should I help him?' he at last asked. Rose looked up quickly, her face showing only to obviously her shock.

'Don't you want to form an alliance?' The King was quiet as Reiko slowly opened his eyes. He watched in agonized silence as the King nodded, much to everyone's relief. 'Well, this vampire is a clan leader and has been asked by the vampire master to form an alliance. He offered us a gift of power in exchange but he was cheated by Romana.' The queen's voice had suddenly become drained, and the king's face also had looked old and exhausted.

'Is this true?' he asked in confusion, looking somewhat disbelieving. Dante stood up to his full height.

'If you've changed your mind about trying to help Reiko, then do this in honour of Adele.' Rose looked towards him sharply.

'How do you know about Adele? She was the one who first gathered us together. She was our first Queen. And our most loved one as well…' The king nodded in agreement to this.

'We are a very young society indeed.'

'Then do this for her. Reiko is her son.' There was a gasp and Dante turned around, only to be met by a pair of dazed hazel eyes. There was no time to explain, for the king moved forwards, lightly bidding Dante to step to one side, just as darkness claimed the vampire once again. The king began muttering under his breath, a golden light washing over the prone vampire before dying away. Trish looked towards him anxiously, her question shining unspoken in her eyes. The king looked towards her before turning his calm eyes to the obvious leader.

'It has been done and he shall soon be recovered due to his powers. It is regrettable, what happened to his fangs, but with time, even they shall heal and re-emerge.' Trish gave an audible sigh of relief before her attention was diverted by Rose, who had risen to her feet.

'Jay, please take Reiko to the infirmary, and have him settled in a room without a window please. I believe that Marcel, Dante and myself should talk. We have plenty to discuss.' The king nodded in agreement, his eyes jaded. Dante made no move to go but turned towards Trish, his eyes darting rapidly towards Reiko and then back towards his oldest friend. The blonde woman raised her eyebrows and Dante knew immediately that she had understood before he was led away. Jay stood up and gingerly picked up the vampire, grimacing as blood stained his clothes. He made his way out of the dungeons, closely followed by Trish, who had Lorelei in her arms.

They placed the two on beds next to each other, Reiko opening his eyes just as Trish was about to leave the room.

'Trish,' he called out to her, his voice barely above a whisper. She turned around and blinked before smiling at him, stroking a lock of hair away from his face when she returned to his side. 'Was it true what he said? What Dante said? That my mother was a harpy? That she used to be a queen? I can't believe it…'

'Dante's not given to telling lies. And don't let him know that you know, but he was desperate when he said it. We all were.'

'But…so I used to be part harpy?'

'You used to be an hier to the throne.'

'I don't care for that. What use is that to me? The vampire who turned me, he's dead because of my mother's blood. I wanted revenge; he did this to me.' Reiko's voice was devoid of all anger, instead it sounded flat and hollow, as if someone had sucked away all the soul he had struggled to keep for so long. Trish shuddered, the slight movement barely perceptible. Reiko sighed and closed his eyes briefly. 'Where is Dante?'

'Discussing.'

'He'd better hurry.'

'You need to rest. It's not as if we're going anywhere just yet. Not until you've recovered.' The vampire was silent at this, his eyes closed, his breathing turning deep and steady. Sleep had claimed him for its own and for this, Trish was grateful. She glanced at her watch before sighing.

Dante…what was going to happen now?