Well, I'm certainly not dead yet. At any rate, this is the last chapter for this fic, and it's going to be a fair while before Dark Legion 3 will be started on, let alone finished. Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone so far who's been reading. It really is lovely to know that I've had so much support.

Updates are going to take even longer than usual, thanks to University and my Creative Writing module that I've taken, in the hopes I could learn some new tactics to put to good use on here.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this. Read, review, but most of all, enjoy!

Disclaimer: To avoid any confusion, Reiko, Rose, Marcel, Lorelei and any characters that you see here that have NEVER appeared in any of the games belong to me. Dante and the rest of the Capcom crew, belong to Capcom and will never belong to me, outside me purchasing the video games now and again when I have some spare cash. Sometimes, I let people borrow my original characters, BUT ONLY IF THEY TALK TO ME ABOUT IT FIRST (if people are actually crazy enough to love them as much as I do). So in short, The Tyrant Hamster is not plagiarizing. If you look at his disclaimers or author notes, you'll see that for the most part, he always tells the readers that Reiko and Arson and yes, Hade, a character in my upcoming novel belong to me and me only. So blah!

Chapter 32

Dante had remained in stony silence with the harpies as he found himself being led from the dungeons and back into the more glamorous aspects of the castle, which was equal to a breath of fresh air when compared to the dark prison area. Rose looked towards him once to exchange a quick smile before she returned her eyes to the front, keeping in step with the newly re-established King.

'So you were imprisoned?' Dante asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Marcel looked relieved and smiled warmly.

'Yes, yes I was. Indeed I was.' To Dante, it seemed as if Marcel was only too willing to try and keep talking, just so then the awkwardness would not settle upon them again. Yet the only one who really seemed to feel uncomfortable was the King himself. It seemed completely unnecessary and somewhat foolish. 'Why do you ask?'

'How did you get free?'

'The phoenix.' The answer was immediate and assertive.

'Inferno?' Dante couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice and for this he inwardly cursed himself. The King though, knew no better and merely regarded this as normal behaviour. He nodded in response to Dante's question.

'If that is his name, then yes, Inferno.'

'How?'

'Romana placed me in a deep slumber, one from which I could not wake. Only a powerful and holy force could rouse me. And when I opened my eyes, the bird was there, singing. I believe it was his song that awakened me.' Dante was silent to this but he secretly decided that when he next saw the bird, he would give him the best head-scratch possible. It wasn't much but the phoenix was intelligent; he'd know what it meant. Or so he hoped.

Eventually, they reached a small chamber, that was well hidden and secluded, the type of place that no one but those who knew of its existence could ever hope to notice. Upon entering, the slayer immediately decided that he liked it and that it made him feel somewhat closer to home. There was a mess of books and papers and various pens, strewn about in a haphazard order, dust rising only to settle again where they walked. It was altogether cosy and made him feel comfortable at once.

'I was hoping that the board room would have been better kept than this,' Rose sighed. 'Perhaps we should find elsewhere to talk.' The King nodded in agreement but blinked when Dante spoke up.

'Nope. We're staying here.'

'Dante,' Rose said, her tone one that would be used to explain something to a small child. 'It's a mess.'

'And that's why I like it. And that's why we're going to stay in here.' Rose shot him a look of disbelief before rolling her eyes and pulling up a chair, the King following her example, the look of weakness and exhaustion returning to his eyes.

'So,' he said, clearing his throat. 'What exactly has happened? Why are we here? What needs to be discussed?' At the look on Dante's face, he smiled. 'I just want this meeting to be ordered. I want some form of structure. It will help, I feel.'

'There's a lot to talk about. There is a lot that must be done, especially now that you're back,' Rose said, her face grim. Dante nodded in agreement, his eyes serious.

'Like for instance, the fact that there's a war coming and it's going to hit us pretty soon. We've only got a year to prepare.'

'A war?'

'An empress is raising a huge army, and all the demons are joining her side. I'm guessing that's probably going to stretch to include Fallen Angels as well. And we all know what a pain in the ass they are.' The King leaned forward, steepling his fingers, his expression one of concern.

'And what are you planning to do about it?'

'The obvious thing. We hope to raise an army to oppose it.' The King nodded in approval but the worry did not leave his face.

'And how many have joined this army of yours?' He asked. Dante and Rose exchanged a swift look before the silver haired slayer turned to look at the King once more.

'So far, there's only Reiko, the vampire you healed, Trish and myself. We were hoping that Reiko would have been able to get some vampires to join us but…' Dante trailed off, his irritation showing clearly on his face. Rose decided to take up the conversation from where her friend had left off.

'The vampire master made Reiko a deal that he would issue compulsory orders for all the vampires to join and fight on our side but only if he managed to strike up a friendship with us.' She noticed that the king's eyes had narrowed slightly, as if he had something he had not liked. She bit her lip out of brief concern before plunging on ahead. 'Don't think ill of him, Majesty,' she added quickly, picking her words carefully, out of fear of making the vampire appear even more unappealing. 'I know for a fact that he wanted to stop the wars, regardless of whether the Vampire Master ordered him or not.' The new Queen's voice ended on a firm and authoritative note. The King had settled back in his chair, looking thoughtful.

'The way I figure it,' Dante said slowly. 'Your differences with the vampires are nothing compared to what's coming now. To me, an outsider, it seems as though your fight is a petty squabble that's costing lives on both ends.. When this invasion happens and if we're not together to stand against it, there won't be enough of you to fight anyway. The vampires have already made the first move by sending Reiko to you with a peace offering. It's about time your people got their heads out of their asses and started facing the real problem at hand.' There was a resounding silence following this statement. Rose watched the King with bated breath, secretly cursing Dante and his inability to be polite, or even to learn what "being polite" meant.

Still, much to her relief, the King did not appear to mind Dante's somewhat uncouth language. The King shifted himself heavily, peering towards the slayer calmly.

'It would probably be best if the vampire had some sort of document that proved that the alliance between the vampires and harpies is real and not some sort of a farce. Rose, could you get me a treaty parchment?' The Queen shook her head.

'Romana destroyed all the old ones because they had your name on it.'

'Stupid bitch,' Dante muttered, none too quietly.

'Language,' Rose hissed.

'I will have no formalities here. There are many more important things to think and discuss,'; Marcel cut in before the conversation could go on for much longer.

'What's the big deal anyway?' Dante scowled. 'It's just a seal. There's nothing to worry about. We're wasting time that we can't afford.' Rose and Marcel didn't agree, much to Dante's surprise and irritation.

'They take a while to forge,' Rose said simply.

'Then don't bother with a seal.'

'I'm afraid the Vampire Lord won't see it that same way. I understand you're stressed, we all are, but this has to be done properly. We can't use Romana's seals.'

'Why?' There was no mistaking the growl of anger and there was no ignoring the intimidating flash of crimson that momentarily cloaked his usual ice-blue eyes.

'You're the kind of guy who likes to run into a room, all guns blazing, but try and think this through for once.'

' "Try and think." Please, I've been thinking more than ever recently and you know what? I'm tired of it! Just tell me what I need to know.'

'Think of how it would look if we used Romana's seal instead of Marcel's.'

'I don't see the big deal.'

'Well it is a big deal. Romana is dead, she's not in power. If we used her seal instead of Marcel's, the vampire leader could very well say that it isn't a valid alliance and that Reiko failed. He'd refuse to help us.'

'What if, what if, what if. Stop worrying about something that might never happen.' He paused and sighed when he saw how the two harpies were staring at him. 'Look, it's just frustrating. We've been through so much and then we're waiting when we're so close to the end of all this due to formalities!'

'That's the way life sometimes is, Dante,' Rose muttered in response.

'All I'm saying is that this nameless empress isn't going to wait while we deal with this. Do what you have to, but do it fast.' Marcel listened politely to the growled words of the slayer before sighing and sitting back.

'A dangerous army and one man trying to gather enough sources,' he mused. Dante snorted with disgust.

'Thanks for stating the obvious,' he grumbled, 'but like I said, I haven't got the time to waste.'

'A prophecy…a premonition…' Marcel continued, his voice faint. 'So this must be what she was talking about…' Dante was silent, but he frowned, waiting for Marcel to continue. He wasn't disappointed. 'Rose. I need you to scour the library. I need you to find the records that were kept during Queen Adele's reign.' Rose nodded and stood up. Dante blinked.

'Don't you have servants to do that sort of thing for you?' he said loudly, feeling protective. Rose smiled.

'I could give an order, but I'd rather do this myself. I don't trust myself enough to give orders just yet.'

'Whatever.' He watched as Rose left, closing the door fully behind her, the loud slam echoing in the crowded, cluttered room. Marcel smiled.

'Queen Adele kept all of her own records. She wrote them out by hand. During the later years of her reign, before she abdicated the throne, they turned into a diary of sorts, filled here and there with her personal thoughts as well as the hopes for the future and her dreams.'

'Good for her.'

'In fact, she had a very interesting dream, and now that my tired eyes have seen you, I am inclined to believe that it wasn't a dream at all, and that it was a prophecy. Our beloved Queen had a wonderful talent.' Marcel grew silent as the door opened again, revealing Rose, who was holding several thin books in her hand.

'I didn't know what copy you wanted, so I brought the original and the copied version.'

'Wouldn't the originals be delicate? Wouldn't you have to be careful handling them?' Dante sniped, his impatience and restlessness making him feel sour. Rose seemed to think that it was easier to ignore him. Marcel also seemed to think the same. All of a sudden, Dante felt as if he were being treated like a teenager, like how his old friend Mary and once treated him, with scorn and disdain. He sighed and tried to calm his emotions. He wasn't nineteen anymore, he was sitting in a palace of a thoroughly incompetent kingdom and he was behaving like a frustrated, bored child. He settled down and tried to pay attention to what the other two were saying.

'I'm glad that you brought both. I would like for you to wrap the original and lay it to one side for now.'

'Yes your Majesty.' Rose murmured respectfully, apparently forgetting that Marcel and her stood on level ground and were on equal terms. She bobbed in a bow before tending to her task, continuing to listen to her King as he began to address the slayer.

'You see,' he murmured, 'I think we owe your vampire friend an apology. Freeing him and healing him isn't enough, I don't think. I would like to do something else for him.'

'Marcel,' Dante cut in quickly, feeling that the King was veering way way off track, 'you mentioned something about a prophecy.' Marcel didn't reply, instead taking the copy from Rose and leafing through it. Dante sighed and looked towards his friend but she was staring fixedly at Marcel, her eyes serious, her face grim. For a second, Dante felt out of his depth, felt as if he'd been thrown into a world which he knew nothing about. The sensation lasted only a second, but somehow, it was enough.

At last, Marcel began to speak, reading aloud from Adele's records.

' "Last night, I had a strange dream, which I am inclined to believe was a premonition, such was the vividness of the images. I dreamt of a war, a horrible and fearsome army invaded this mortal realm. Yet there was a force that rose to oppose it. There were four leaders, a warrior clad in red, a demoness, and a harpy queen. But my attention was most captured by the fourth leader, a vampire wielding a metal staff. He had my eyes, he had my face. I think he may have been some relative of mine in some way. The battle wore on but sadly, I am too overcome by the memory to relate the events that took place. I could hear someone singing. The lyrics were memorable and now, I write them down here so then I might never forget." ' Marcel paused. 'I'm afraid that at this point, the ink becomes illegible. We don't know the lyrics of the song but there is an equal chance that they might not be so very important.' Dante had his own opinion on the matter but he bit his tongue, knowing that there was a time and a place for everything. He looked towards Rose but again, the expression on her face was unreadable. He rolled his eyes before looking towards Marcel again.

'Well? All this proves is that there's a war coming and that we fight in it. And we knew that anyway. Stop wasting our time!'

'There is talk here, just a small sentence, that describes the red jewel that Reiko had with him.'

'You're giving it back to Reiko, aren't you?' Rose said, her voice soft. Marcel smiled slightly.

'That man has Adele's eyes and there are a lot of her features in his face. I have no doubt that Adele's dream was a prophecy. And if that is the case, then it is decreed by fate that this jewel will stay in your possession.' He grew quiet and turned away from the two. Dante sat there in silence, a frown on his face until Rose tugged gently at the sleeve of his coat.

'Come on. Let's leave him to it.' The two walked side by side towards the chamber door, drawing to a halt when Marcel's voice sounded again.

'By the way, be sure to give Reiko the original transcript. I am sure he will appreciate it as a mother's memento.' Dante found himself unconsciously touching the amulet that hung around his neck.

Once outside, Dante turned to the new harpy queen. 'Are you sure it's all right to give those to someone else?' he asked, indicating the records. Rose sighed and shrugged.

'The King has ordered it. No one will challenge his will.'

'Not even you?'

'Definitely not.'

'But you're the Queen. You have the power to, don't you?' Rose was silent to that and Dante did not persist. He was surprised when Rose spoke up a few minutes later.

'The King is always the one who holds the most power.'

'Yet Romana managed to seal him away. He didn't look so strong to me. He just looked like a fraud.' Rose glared at him, finding his usual bluntness irritating.

'Dante, you can't break traditions so easily. It's not as simple as that. This is culture and this is the way we are and this is most likely the way we'll always be. For as long as we have been grouped here, it was always the King, when there was a King, who was the most influential. The Queen is second to him. But that does not mean that the Queen never gets what she wants.' Dante one again found himself keeping his thoughts to himself but only to protect his friend from his own words.

Tradition. Wasn't it always the thing that held people back from change, change that could very well benefit the society? Yet here was a civilization that was kept more or less stable because of this one figure, this male monarch. Take away the traditional figure of power and what would happen? Well, Dante had seen that for himself. Look at all that had happened during Romana's reign as a lone ruler. Chaos. It had all fallen into chaos and disrepair.

Reiko was sitting up in bed when they reached the infirmary. The vampire's face was utterly devoid of expression, even as he looked towards the new queen and the demon slayer.

'Dante,' he said, his voice as bland as his face. 'How long have you known?'

'I don't see how any of this even matters anymore. I don't see what the big deal is.'

'It's a big deal to me,' Reiko replied, his voice low yet calm.

'Why?' Rose blinked at Dante's tactlessness.

'Dante…' she tried to admonish him.

'It's a simple question. I just want to know why it's a big deal.' Some expression was beginning to leak back into Reiko's face. He looked bewildered by the obviousness of Dante's question. Dante watched as the vampire took a few minutes to think.

'It is a big deal. But I cannot tell you exactly why. All I can tell you is that I wouldn't be feeling this way if it didn't matter.'

'I personally think that you're a glutton for misery. What good will feeling sorry for yourself do? Will being angry change anything? It won't bring her back and it won't change what you have become.' This stung the vampire, and his face contorted into an expression of fury.

'It's probably not going to change much, except for the fact that I'm not who I thought I was all this time. It doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but that's because it wasn't your life being kept a secret from you by your family and your best friend! Why don't you have a bombshell dropped on you and see how happy you can be about it. It probably won't make a difference in the long run but what bothers me is the fact that you decided there were facts of my life that wasn't important enough for me to know about.'

'Oh, so you're the only one who's ever had something hidden from you, Reiko? That it?' Dante's voice had turned hostile. Reiko said nothing but he glared at him, all traces of his timidity disappearing. 'What's wrong? You decided to grow a backbone all of a sudden? Well, I could tell you a few things about having something hidden but I'm a bigger man than that.'

'So you advertise your own virtues? That's very big of you.'

'You're both acting like pathetic children,' Lorelei cut in, annoyed. 'I'm the one who should be pissed at the world. I can't see why this even started.' Lorelei looked towards Trish, who merely blinked at her.

'I was finding this amusing,' she muttered, sounding disappointed. The vampire gave vent to a sudden sigh, sinking back against the pillows, even though the blaze of anger hadn't died just yet.

'I apologize for snapping but I refuse to apologize for what I said.'

'Whatever,' Dante shrugged, his eyes watching him frostily. 'All I'm saying is that we have better things to do than listen to you whine all day.'

'Actually,' Rose interrupted, 'we can't do much until the seals are formed.' She placed the records in the vampire's lap. 'I don't know if it will help but these were written by Adele. Marcel wanted you to have them. We have the transcribed copy.'

'He wants me to have this?' the vampire repeated, his voice bleak once more. 'Why?'

'It's not for me to question what our King orders.'

'So if he suddenly ordered you to cut off your head, you'd do it?' Rose looked affronted and frowned, turning away.

'Someone is in a bad mood.' An uncomfortable silence fell amongst the group until Trish broke it.

'Only a few more hours until dark,' she said, somewhat unnecessarily in Dante's eyes. Reiko stirred slightly, his eyes dull and lifeless.

'I'm sorry, everyone, for everything. But I just want to be left alone, until my bitterness passes, at least.' Dante scoffed and left the room without a backwards glance, Trish following closely. Rose shot the vampire a concerned look before leaving. Lorelei hung back and then smiled at him sadly.

'Whatever you decide, I'll wait,' she whispered. Reiko nodded numbly before averting his eyes. Lorelei took this as a sign to leave.

---

The morning dawned and Dante entered the infirmary, wanting to tell Reiko that the seals had been sent out and that progress was being made much faster than expected. Yet when he saw the empty bed, he knew that the vampire had left, leaving behind a scrap of paper. The hunter picked up the parchment and frowned, his eyes scanning it rapidly. He growled to himself, shaking his head and crossing over to the window.

Dante could only hope that the vampire knew what he was doing…