Is this my servant?
"Thoughts"
"Telepathic"
Dante considered oneself an experienced individual, in more ways than others ever will. But now he was at a loss. Usually if someone summoned a demon, it was clear business; he went, he shot, they died. End of story. Being one on the receiving end felt kinda bizarre. So he decided whoever was responsible for his current predicament shall pay. The guy will curse the day he dabbled with demonology, because Dante Sparda himself will personally fulfill his request to play with the demons by sending his sorry ass directly to Hell!
Then came the light, and after that, the explosion. Right now in the trashed room Dante is standing, Ebony and Ivory drawn, prepared to make Swiss cheese out of his wannabe contractor. The only problem is that the idiot is nowhere to be seen. "Ok, that's strange." thought the hunter. "Usually if someone attempts a summoning, he stands right in front of the called entity, putting on the I-am-mightier-than-thou appearance, and behaves like he got a stick showed up in his ass. Of course only in the first couple of minutes, because a Devil or demon with average intelligence, not those beasts who roam aimlessly on the oblivion plane I might add, are fully aware of their standing and quickly dispose of the prospective master. I mean don't humans realize that the veil is in place to protect them and not in reverse."
"Maybe he botched and was blown to pieces." called Alastor in Dante's mind. "Your entry was quite dynamic."
"Yes really Stylish!" added Ifrit.
"Yup! All is well that ends well." said the hunter. He was already in motion putting away his pistols, or as he calls them; his girlfriends, when his sensible ears picked up the sound of footsteps, closing in rapidly. "Or not…"
"So what are you going to do?" inquired Nevan.
Dante placed himself on a makeshift couch, made from the furniture in the room and answered casually. "First, we're going to chat a little, and then I am going to leave."
"And if he doesn't want to let you go?"
"Then we have to negotiate."
It needs to be mentioned, that Dante's negotiation skills were quite famous in hell, or rather in the abyssmal realm, hell only being one of the negative spheres of existence. His negotiations usually ended with his partner being dead, bloody, or severely damaged. In essence he was behaving more immature than before, probably because of the changes in his body. Because of his tendency to cause problems he found himself frequently kicked out of the necropolises. No he wasn't beaten in submission, rather simply teleported out and, the boundary field around the city was modified, so he couldn't enter again. It was one of the reasons Nevan was so determined teaching him proper etiquette. She hated sleeping in the wastelands. She was a woman for crying out loud! And being the only one in the group didn't make things any easier.
The noise outside indicated that someone, probably his summoner, or possibly the owner of this building, was fumbling with the doorknob. Unfortunately it heard like it was stuck. Dante laid back on his "couch" like a king, in casual manner, crossing his hands behind his head, and put his foot over the other. Then the door came down…hard.
"Looks like today is the day of surprises." observed the son of Sparda.
In the doorway stood not some old geezer, or a molded mummy, but a girl, teenager to be correct. She stared blankly inside the room unmoving, giving the man in red enough time to take a good look at her.
The girl looked to be in her teens, and being of Asian descent. Dark hair, with two pigtails and aqua-blue eyes. That clears the: where am I, question so far. She was a little on the petit side; decent endowments and a nice hip. Not a great body per se, but it was nice enough. Give her a couple of years and she will be a babe to recommend with. She was wearing a scarlet, long-sleeved shirt with a cross symbol over her bust, and a mini skirt barley long enough to cover her rear. On her legs she wore a pair of black stockings. "Yeah! I definitely like her style!" The girl had a calculating look in her eyes; she didn't seem scared, rather…miserable? Fortunately devils and some of the higher demons have the gift of languages. Just like an infernal text can make itself understandable, devils are able to use a special kind of communication. They instinctively use the right language as it is needed like some minor psychic link.
"Now, to break the ice. What should I tell her?" mused the half-devil
"Compliment her! Girls like that, or not?" offered Alastor, and Dante decided to go with it.
"Yo! Ahm…Nice room." This little sentence was seemingly enough to wake the girl from her stupor.
Rin had mixed feelings as she entered the room. Then she looked at the man sitting there like he was important. No that's wrong, just by sanding there she could feel that this ting has enormous power radiating from it, it is certainly an existence far beyond human. Her though process suddenly got aborted by the thing itself. "Yo! Ahm…nice room." she heard. "Nice room? Is he mocking me? I can't be overwhelmed forever."
"So what are you?" she asked away irritated.
"Hmm…Interesting choice of words. Shouldn't you rather ask, who are you?" came the flippant reply.
"Is this supposed to be my servant" mused Rin over "Since they call it a familiar, I thought it was something shapeless but this is quite human-like." "Just to check, but are you my servant?" inquired the girl.
"Wrong door missy, try the next one." called the man in a sloppy manner, and pointing his thumb right, to indicate his opinion.
"Huh? I can see he has a twisted personality" noted Rin "I asked if you are the one I summoned?"
"So it was YOU who made that blunder. Man I got a rough ride, that's for sure. You should keep your hands from stuff like that. It's bad for your health not to mention your soul, missy" concluded the man in front of her.
"Is he mocking me?" Rin felt her head begin to boil. "So you are."
Dante's only response was a one word "So?"
"That would make me your master." This was getting ridiculous. "Or are you incapable to understand the meaning of it?"
Dante was simulating a thoughtful expression. "It' not that I don't understand, it's more like I don't care." he nailed down. "So nice to meetcha and good bye!" he got up to leave.
"What are you doing?" asked the girl.
"Leaving. Duh…"
"But you can't." This was the worst day in Rin's life. At first seeing the man she thought that things were salvageable, but her servant turned to be rather uncooperative. Topple that with his big-mouthed attitude and her short fuse; in a couple of seconds Rin saw red.
"Make me!" Baited the man.
"Ok, that does it!" She calm feel it her cool is gone. Dignity? Screw that, this thing needs to be taken down a peg or two. Her command seal activated, and she gave the order without thinking: "Stop Right There!"
Dante Stopped. In the exact moment as the words left the girls lips, he felt something pulling on him, trying to force him. He felt resistance, like he was abruptly walking in water. Nothing major but the implications were there, so he stopped…and turned around. His posture changed, losing all its previous levity, his smile was also gone, but the scariest were his eyes. Those eyes now really reflected the cold of a glacier.
"A feisty one, she is!" commented Beowulf.
Suddenly Rin felt smaller than ever. She wanted to crawl away but her body refused to obey, like a deer caught in a cars spotlight. She was completely aware that she made a mistake. If those eyes could kill she would be dead several times over. Before she only saw a flippant boy, her defiant little servant, who needed a little demonstration in power. Now she saw something entirely different. Before her stands a man who got the aura of, no not a king, but something noble, mighty and dark. Rin knew she had two more command seals but she doubted even ten of her could stand up against him. She needed to calm him down and fast!
"What. did. you. do?" came from the mouth of the being. Although it was formulated as a question, it was clearly meant as an order for her to answer.
"Now, now, let's not be hasty." tried to negotiate the girl. "I am sure we just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we just…talk it over?" Damn it all, if she wanted to compete in the war then she needed him. It would be nice if she could just forget this fiasco and summon another one, but previous experience taught her better.
Dante was in deep conversation with the others. "She did pull us out you know. At least hear her out. Try it just once" pleaded Nevan "In the worst case you just ignore her and step out."
Amazing what the voice of a woman can achieve. "Alright." softened up the man. "I guess I have some time to kill. But it'd better be good missy."
"This way." indicated Rin. They went in her room, which lay right next to the demolished one. She didn't want to admit but it was rather cold, now that the ceiling over the living room was gone.
They sat down in front of each other, and waited. "Because of…" Rin decided to go first, but was interrupted by her partner. "Dante."
"Huh?" stared the girl confused.
"My name, Dante, you know what your parents give you at birth." again his sarcastic streak came forth.
"Yes! I mean…Tohsaka Rin. Nice to meet you" she felt uncomfortable again. "Right, I am sure you know why I wished to summon you?"
"Not really." Dante was back in his laid back personality, in the really irritating one.
The girl was put off by this comment. It seems time just stopped for her for a couple of seconds. "What do you mean by not really?" She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She couldn't make a blunder that big, could she?
"How could I? You didn't tell me anything as of yet."
"But surely you do know of the Holy Grail" asked the girl
"Sorry missy, religion and I don't mix." Dante was calm as ever. The girl, Rin not so, hm… this was awfully familiar to him. "And you didn't tell me what you did with me before."
Rin felt her headache strengthen. "I am Tohsaka Rin heir of the Tohsaka family, I was granted the privilege by the Holy Grail to participate in the war obtaining it. Because of that we the masters, me and six other, receive command seals, to summon and supply our familiars, called servants that would be you by the way, with prana and to ensure their obedience to us."
"How do I come in the picture" asked the man, Dante apparently. She only heard of one Dante in history, some crusader. Maybe she did get saber after all.
"Only the last standing pair of magus and servant are able to get the Grail, and get they wishes fulfilled."
"And the others?"
"If a servant is killed then the magus drops out automatically. There is a safe-house for those at the church in the city. But because most servants are Heroic spirits with they own legend, killing one is especially hard, even for another servant, so it's not an uncommon tactic to go after the masters instead." At the mention of killing the masters, her servant's complexion became colder again.
"So basically you are telling me that there are at least six others like me, roaming around in the city doing whatever they want." Dante didn't seem very thrilled. Rather he seemed deep in thought. "What about the police?"
"The mage association makes great deal to hide the grail war from outsiders." Didn't he know anything at all? What about the rules then?
At the mention of the association her servant's mood became even darker. "Fuck, just my luck."
"You heard of them?" This was good…right?
"Yeah, those guys are more trouble than they are worth." spat the half-devil "Let me rephrase then: There outside." indicated the man with his hand. "Is a cutthroat free-for-all with no holds barred?"
"In a nutshell, yes."
Dante's mind was full in gear. There he was in a city at Japan, where demons were roaming the night and playing tag. It was too long since he enjoyed a good hunt.
"Well you did pull me out of that hell-hole so I am kinda' indebted to you." Began the hunter. "I suppose I could tag along."
At those words the face of the girl lit up. Although she didn't know what he meant by hellhole, but she was more than content with the situation, at least for now. But one more thing "Just to be sure you are Saber right?"
"Are you deaf missy? The name is Dante, D-A-N-T-E!" he spelled out irritated.
"I am not, and don't call me missy, it's rude! Then what kind of servant are you?"
"Ah… you could say I am a unique one." smiled Dante
"What I asked is what your class is?" She desperately needed some aspirins. "Don't tell me you don't even know your own class?"
"Humor me."
She was too tired to argue with him anymore, she just went with his stupid game, but there will be repercussions. "Saber is a class who prefers to use swords, obviously." then a single thought came to her that maybe, just maybe she summoned Berserker. The madness did remarkably fit this servant.
"Hmm…I am good with swords." There is it again that spark in her eyes." Thought Dante. "But on the level of skill, my brother was much better than me. He was the one with the idiotic attitude, and the self-imposed rule, to only use swords. I myself preferred to shoot things first and ask questions later."
"Archer it is then." She was disappointed, but she already steeled herself. "Now then, first if you going live here, you have to show me some respect! Second don't call me missy! And third…" She threw a mop at Dante, which he caught by reflex. "Clean up the mess you caused in my living room!"
"HAHAHA" "HAHAHA" "AHAHA" "HAHAHA" "The master holding a mop, that's good!" "I never thought I would see the day!" "Patty would be so proud." The voices stormed Dante's head in an instant.
"Sorry missy, but that's not in my contract." answered Dante
"Now it is." shot back Rin "As a servant you should make it your priority to please me. And don't call me missy!"
At that Dante got an evil grin plastered on his face. He put up his best seductive voice to state his opinion, and bent toward the girl. "If you're serious… oh well…although you are a bit young for my usual tastes but, I will do my best to PLEASE YOU in every aspect, Mistress." He made sure to emphasize on the words, please you. The last word, was whispered in a sensual manner in her ear barely an inch away of her face.
It took a moment or two, for his words to sink in. In that instant Rin realized that, she was alone in her room, with a man, in the middle of the night, and said man towering over her while she was sitting on her bed. Her face got redder than a boiled lobster, as her hormones kicked in. "Huh? But I…I meant…It wasn't… I mean, how dare you! You perverted servant! Get out of my room!" Dante was faster out that she could blink "And stay there…AWWHH!" With her cry of irritation she slammed the door. She really needed that sleep now.
Dante was grinning like the cat that got the canary.
"How cute and innocent she is" deducted Nevan. "So will you mop?"
"As if." answered her, Dante and summoned Ifrit, "This is how you clean up Stylish" and begun to incinerate the demolished furniture in the living room. The air transport of the dust was provided on behalf of Rudra and the hole on the ceiling. It was over under a minute. Only the couch got spared. Dante dismissed his devil arms and lumped down in it. He gazed trough the hole into the night sky. Man he really did miss the stars.
Author notes:
Thank you all, who reviewed so far. Because of the positive reviews I decided to add the next chapter a little earlier. Enjoy!
Of course I am still looking for mistakes, even in the previous chapters and correct it as fast as I can. Sometimes I even change the phrasing a little, and one or two of the sentences, but nothing major. So you don't have to re-read them. It's just a quick-fix.