Blessed and Cursed
Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters = © Capcom. I don't make any profit from this story.
A/N: At the moment, I am quite busy with school. I am trying to get my Abitur – I'm not sure how you call that in English, "general qualification for university entrance" or A levels? Idk... xD – so I won't be able to update for a while because I have to study for the exams. I hope you like this chapter and well... we'll see us in about two or three weeks ^.^
Replies:
SirenaLoreley – Thanks, I'm glad you liked it ^.^ Thanks for the review!
bitbyboth – Thanks for pointing that out :) Searching for a beta reader has to wait a little but I'm working on it ^.^ Thanks for reviewing :D
KuroOkamii77 – Aw, thanks for the compliment and the review :D
xXchantillyXx – Thank you :D Yeah, German is a really complicated language. But I learned (well, tried to learn xD) French for three years at school and to me, it is also a very difficult language xD
Thanks for reviewing! ^.^
Scheska – I don't think that Kyrie will miss Nero. She has her husband now xD
Thanks for the review :D
Not-Completely-Insane – Well, this chapter is not so sad :D After all, Dante is taking care of Nero now XD Thanks for reviewing! ^.^
Chapter 4 – An Ocean of Lights
The ride to Dante's shop had been quite long and uneventful. We talked during the trip and I came to the conclusion that I didn't regret my decision at all. Cities and landscapes passed us by – not a single one looked the same. There were rural areas with cornfields or fields of a rich emerald green, then again a small town with only one small main road and we also drove across the highway for a while.
We discovered that we had a similar taste in music. While Dante preferred classic rock, I was more into modern metal. I showed him some of the music, shoving the CD into the music player although he protested the entire time. When he listened to it, he sniggered a little and asked me how I could enjoy the way the front singer screamed his lungs out. He received a punch on the shoulder for that. Maybe he enjoyed teasing me about everything a little too much and for whatever reason I found myself kinda liking it. I was just comfortable with him, a thing that was quite rare to me. Nonetheless, I found that things were so much easier with Dante than with any other person I have ever known. We didn't know each other for a long time and we tried to kill each other at one point but there was a mutual understanding from both sides that made our friendship – if you can call it that way – special.
I shifted in my seat, leaning back and relaxing. The music blasting through the speakers of the car made me sleepy…
I stirred when we drove down a slightly bumpy road. Outside, the sun was setting, dusk fell. I gazed at the red and orange horizon which faded into a dark and velvety blue above the clouds. It looked quite beautiful, in fact.
"Are we there yet?", I asked and yawned loudly.
"Not yet", Dante replied, "We'll be there in about an hour. You can go back to sleep, kid."
"No, it's alright", I said and suppressed another yawn, stretching as far as the confined space in the car allowed.
Dante pulled down the small country road and a little later we passed some industrial buildings and after another couple of miles a huge sign announced Capulet City. We were there.
Compared to Fortuna, this city was quite sleazy. But then again, every city would seem sleazy when compared to Fortuna. Even the small towns I used to visit on the mainland, Fort Rosemount and Bulferry Hills, which were clean and tidy had looked shabby next to Fortuna. Capulet City was a metropolis though. The main street was wide and looked quite clean – in contrast to that there were some small back alleys which led to dark and uninviting looking places. There were also some skyscrapers. I stared at them in awe, up to now only having seen them on TV. Basically everything here was just the opposite of Fortuna. Somewhere on the left-hand side, there was a church in the same gothic style as in Fortuna but the façade was crumbling and there was a latticed metal platform, indicating that it was being repaired. Probably the sandstone needed to be fixed. I found myself liking the platforms attached to the building more than the artsy example of architecture itself. I guess I was fed up with those Fortunian buildings who looked all the same. In Capulet City, the buildings looked so different from what I was used to. The architecture was different from Fortuna too – more conceptual and modern – simple brick buildings, not overly decorated with millions of swirls. There were a lot of cars – in Fortuna, there were only few cars since everything was in reach anyway. The only times I drove a car there was to get my license even though I questioned myself why I was even doing that since there was no real opportunity to actually drive.
There were also loads of shops, bars and restaurants here and so many flashing neon signs and billboards – everything was lit up so brightly, making me almost believe the sun didn't even set. One club particularly sparked my attention. At first glance, I thought it was another baroque-style church – but the huge circular glass front instantly gave away that it wasn't: on the front window, there was scantily clad woman with huge colorful wings whose clothing consisted of two thin black strips. Beneath her were some demons that clung onto her. The gargoyles of the builing were not angels but demons – demons that kind of looked a little like birds with long tails and sharp claws. Beneath the impressive piece of art, there was a neon sign, declaring the name of the club was "Phoenix". It looked interesting, that was for sure.
"What'cha looking at, kid?", Dante asked, "You're almost pressing your nose up against the window."
"Shut it, old man", I said in response, sticking my tongue out at him, "This club looks quite interesting."
"The 'Phoenix'? Yeah, it's a great club", he said, "Looks pretty good on the inside too but is expensive as hell. The DJs there are quite acceptable as well."
"Well, it looks awesome", I said and craned my neck so that I could still look at it while we were driving down the road.
"How about we go out tonight?", he asked, "Everything's on me – you could say that's my welcome present to you."
My jaw nearly dropped. "Really?"
He smirked boastfully. "Yeah really", he replied and ruffled my hair with one hand while the other was still on the steering wheel. "Just don't embarrass me, kid."
"Tch, as if old man", I said and crossed my arms in front of my chest, excited and happy.
"Tell me about this city", I said after a while.
"There's not much to say about it", Dante said, "There are some good clubs here and there. I used to go to Love Planet but they had to close it a while back."
"Why?"
"Well, a customer found a rat in her purse once and that scared others off", he explained.
I burst out laughing. "Are you serious?"
"Yep." He let out a short laugh, once again wearing that dorky smirk on his face. "It's been closed for quite a while now, in fact", he said, "When I was younger I just took whatever I could get. It didn't matter that it was a rat hole back then. Anyway, Capulet City is an active city. There are some concerts every now and then –" My eyes sparkled at that. I really was acting like a silly kid. " – and a couple of great bars. Also, some demons live here."
"Demons?", I asked and raised a brow in question.
"A couple of vampires live here", he replied, "Some succubi and incubi and a coven of witches too. As long as they don't run amok in the city everything's fine."
"Did something like that happen?", I asked with a hint of laughter in my voice.
"Yeah, and it ended up quite ugly", he replied.
We drove in silence for a while.
"And of course –", Dante continued, "There is my shop – welcome to Devil May Cry."
It looked very ordinary from the outside – just like a normal brick building. The only thing out of the ordinary was the huge red neon sign declaring the name of the shop, the 'D' was slightly flickering. There were big wooden double doors and some steps that led up to them.
I got out of the car, grabbed my things and followed Dante up the steps. Inside, he switched on the lights.
"I'll carry your things upstairs into your room", Dante said and took my traveling bag, "It's the door next to the stairs. Next to that is my room, on the opposite is the bath and the room next to it is a simple storage room… I actually don't even know what I'm even storing in it, huh… Anyway, you can take a look around and make yourself at home." He lifted the bag onto his shoulder. "Oh and kid – what's mine is yours, besides the pizza. Keep your hands off that", he added with a wink and I simply shook my head in response.
I observed the whole office.
Well, it looked interesting. The only thing that bothered me was the dirt and trash that was everywhere. I never considered myself being overly clean, let alone a maniac for housework but this dump really needed to be cleaned.
The office was a large, square-shaped room. A door close to the entrance led to what I supposed was the kitchen. In the far end of the room, there was a huge oak desk, slightly raised due to standing on a small platform. Behind the desk, there was an impressive collection of weapons of all kinds and some stuffed demon skulls. I stepped closer to the weapons, admiring the swords – maybe Dante would let me use them? – and gauntlets that were hung up neatly on the weapon wall. There were some guns too and a creepy looking briefcase. Was that a weapon, too? Weird.
At the right-hand side of the office, there was a small bar, made out of the same oak as the desk and it seemed like the only thing that was kept clean in the room. Close to the bar was a vintage juke box which looked a little beaten. A pool table was standing next to it.
On the left-hand side were stairs that led upside to the second story. Above, there was a small balcony and and four doors that led to the rooms Dante had mentioned earlier.
I took some steps forward, observing Dante's desk which was cluttered with papers, magazines (porn magazines to be precise), an old fashioned phone and a picture of a woman. She was quite beautiful with her long blonde hair and her light blue eyes. Was that his girlfriend? I felt a pang of disappointment at that and decided to take in more details of the office to distract and keep myself from overthinking.
Beneath the stairs was a red leather sofa, accompanied by a circular coffee table and a small TV in front of it. In the corner, there were some instruments – a drum set and two guitars.
In an instant, I stood in front of the guitars, admiring them. They were both beauties – one of them was a classic Fender strat in a deep crimson while the other one looked more modern – it was purple and V-shaped, the edges seemed particularly sharp.
I jolted out of my haze when I heard a loud bang behind me and the doors were kicked open. Two women entered and both smiled snugly at me.
One had long blonde hair while the other had short, fringed brown hair. Both were sparsely clothed, the blonde wore a low-cut corset top and was clad in black leather from top to toe while the other wore the most scanty outfit I had ever seen: her jacket was cut so lowly and her shorts were so short that I wondered why she was even wearing clothing. As soon as she would lean forward, everything would pop out, wouldn't it?
The blonde had a huge resemblance to the woman on that picture, actually…
"Um, hi?", I said uncertainly which caused both of them to exchange a knowing look while their grins got even wider.
"You're Nero, aren't you?", the blonde asked.
"Yeah…", I said slowly. Somehow I didn't trust them, after all they just burst through the door.
"You may know me as Gloria", she said, "But I prefer being called Trish."
She took some steps forward and I shook the hand she had offered me, although still a little reluctantly. "Oh yeah, I remember you."
How could you not remember someone that had put on the most impressive acrobatic demon slaying show you had ever seen? But even back then, she had scared me a little. She was kinda… unreal? As if she wasn't human…
"You looked kinda different back then", I said slowly. Even though I wasn't into women I recognized an attractive female when I saw her. I wondered whether one of them really was Dante's girlfriend.
"It was required for the job", she explained, "I don't think the Order of the Sword had accepted me like this." She gestured to her outfit.
The other woman came closer, too. Why didn't I notice the huge rocket launcher that she was carrying on her back earlier? There was a bayonet at the tip, too.
"Lady", she said and I shook her hand too. Now that she was up close, I could see that there was a scar across the bridge of her nose and that her eyes had two different colors.
All in all, these girls seemed quite strange to me.
"Nice rocket launcher", I said and gestured to her weapon.
"Thanks", she said, seeming a little confused but still, she smiled a little. Once again, the both women exchanged a look. Eh, women…
"Are you 'that kid' from the savior incident?", Lady asked me then and scanned me from top to toe.
"Yes, he is", Trish replied before I could even open my mouth, "I told you that before. Also, you lost the bet. Give me my cash."
"What are you two talking about?", I asked confused but they ignored me.
"Yeah, whatever Trish", Lady said, suddenly in a pissed voice and gave a wad of cash to Trish. Hell knows where she kept her money in that tiny outfit of hers.
Trish nodded in approval and put the wad … somewhere in the depths of her corset. Women, really…
"So what about the bet you've mentioned?", I asked and was ignored again as Lady started to rant about Trish's greed for money.
"Shut it, Lady", came Dante's voice from upstairs as he made his way down, "You are just the same kind of leech she is."
A shot rang and Dante fell onto the floor. It went so fast I almost didn't believe my eyes. Lady twirled a gun around her finger and holstered it again.
I glared at her, completely dumbfounded. "Did you just shoot him?" Where did she even get the gun from so fast?
"Yup", was her short answer.
I turned to face Trish who didn't seem to be fazed by what had just happened. Those girls were very dangerous and very weird.
A groan came Dante who sat up slowly and threw the bullet onto the floor.
"What do you want?", he asked and rubbed his forehead.
"Time to collect some money from you, Dante", Lady said in a sing-sang voice, "You still need to –"
"Pay off the debt", Dante finished angrily. He walked past us to his desk and pulled an envelope out of the drawer. "Here. Now get the fuck out."
Lady hissed something about Dante being rude while Trish stepped closer and gave him small folded piece of paper.
"Look, I got you a job", she said and wriggled her eyebrows. "The client said it's a big nest so you should bring Nero along." She gave me a wink and I smiled a little. I still thought that both of them were crazy. Just nod and smile, maybe they will go away then.
With that, both women turned to leave the shop. "Oh, and Nero", Lady said in a gentle voice and faced me again, "Welcome. I'm glad Dante finally has someone to accompany him." She smiled at me which made me blush slightly.
"Thanks", I mumbled and looked away.
"Wow Lady, I didn't even know you could be this friendly", Dante laughed, lips curling into his trademark grin.
"Don't push it", she went on, her tone of a voice changing back to pissed, "Even though I care about you, I won't hesitate to shoot you if you act like an ass again."
And then the doors slammed shut.
Still wide-eyed, I looked at Dante. "Is this your normal routine with them?", I asked, believing that it was.
"Unfortunately, yes", he replied, still rubbing his head where the bullet had broken through just a minute ago, "She didn't have to shoot me though…"
He sat down onto his desk, propping his feet up and closing his eyes.
"Hey Dante", I started a little insecurely.
He opened one eye to look at me.
"Is that Trish on that picture?", I asked and pointed towards it.
"No, it's my mother", he replied and set his feet back to the floor. "Trish is a demon who was created by the demon lord Mundus. Well, long story short: he tried to open a hell gate and Trish was supposed to act like she was my client. She almost thrashed my shop when I met her some years ago, saying something about she was testing me. It was expensive as shit to get it fixed – she drove in with her bike, can you believe that? Anyway, she had to lure me to the island where Mundus tried to kill me. Trish almost died there herself, sacrificing herself for me. Guess she somehow has some motherly instincts deep inside, looking like my mother and such…"
So this was why I thought of Trish as unreal. She was a demon.
"And Lady?", I continued to ask.
"She shot me in the head when we first met", he said, "That's the 'thank you' you get when you catch a woman when she falls down a tower."
I glared at him.
"That's a different story though", he laughed, "Let's just say she really loves to see me in pain."
"Yeah, I've noticed that."
"Why are you asking about them?", he asked.
"Well, they made an impression and I got curious", I answered, "Also, they seem kind of… I don't know…"
"Insane?", he offered with a grin.
"Yeah, but I didn't want to use that word", I said.
"But they are", he insisted, "I try to avoid them as much as possible but somehow, they always find a way to piss me off or steal my money."
He shook his head.
"How about you go upstairs, take a shower and unpack your things, kid?", he suggested, "I'll order dinner meanwhile."
"Sure", I said and climbed up the stairs.
The second story of Devil May Cry was much more clean. I entered the the first door next to the stairs that led into my new room. My bag laid on the floor, next to the bed.
The room was a little small but light and inviting. The bed was placed on the center of right-hand side of the room, opposite of it was a closet, accompanied by a dresser. The furniture here was also made of dark oak just as in the office downstairs.
I plopped down onto the bed and closed my eyes for a minute. Why did I doubt so much about moving in here? Now I felt silly for it. For the first time in my life, I felt welcome somewhere and it was a damn good feeling.
A little later, I came down the stairs again, dressed in my jeans only while I ruffled my still damp hair with a towel.
"You came just in time, kid. Pizza's here", Dante said.
Eagerly, I jumped down the last few stairs and joined him on the couch.
I opened my pizza box and licked my lips. I hadn't eaten the whole day and it was only now that I realized that I was starving.
Something was off though… Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Dante was staring. Staring at me. It confused me – but it was still funny somehow: he had seemed to have forgotten the slice of pizza that he was currently holding.
"What is it, old man?", I asked, smiling widely.
"Nice tat, kid", he said, smirking himself and taking a bite of the pizza slice in his hand.
"Thanks", I said, "You should have seen the look on the tattooist's face when I showed him my gun and said I wanted a similar design as the decorations on it."
He laughed at that. "Guess he was a little surprised."
"Yeah, a little." I was laughing, too.
The look on that guy's face in the tattoo parlor had been priceless, in fact. The tattoo had turned out to my liking as well. It showed two blue roses, one on each of my hip. In the center of the V-shape of my torso was a crest in which both Red Queen and Blue Rose were displayed, crossed above each other. The roses were connected to each other by thorns and barbed wire. I made sure to tell the guy to make the design look manly – after all rose tattoos could look sappy and corny or even slutty easily which I wanted to avoid. But he did a great job – despite being blue, the roses looked quite realistic and were shaded expertly which give them a velvety look and depth.
We both finished our pizza in amiable silence.
"So, are we going out later tonight?", I asked him and failed at suppressing my excitement.
"Definitely", he confirmed. He glanced at the clock on his desk. "Let's head out in around an hour, that should give you enough time to primp yourself up."
"Oh shut up, old man!" I punched him onto the shoulder.
"Whatever you say, kid", he chuckled, "Just be ready to go in one hour."
One hour later, I was standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Dante. My outfit consisted of a navy tight muscle-shirt, a pair of ripped black jeans and my usual blue coat. Did I already mention that Kyrie had sewn patches onto the insignia of the Order on my jacket? The logo of the Order had really pissed me off and when I had found those patches with the usual rose design that was on my belt and my gun, I asked her to sew it onto my coat. Maybe I should get a new one instead? This one reminded me too much of Fortuna. The brown boots I wore on missions had been changed into 8-hole lace-up combat boots.
"Hey old man! What's taking you so long?", I yelled into the direction of the balcony and bend over to tie my boots.
After some seconds, Dante clattered down the stairs. As usual, he wore red and black – a simple crimson t-shirt and his black leather pants which were tucked into black boots. It was kind of weird to see him without his hunting gear – his holsters, leather gloves and the many buckles on his outfit were missing.
"Let's go", he said and slipped into his red leather trench coat and I followed him outside to the car.
A little later, we stood in front of the "Phoenix", lining up behind other people that waited for entrance.
Music blasted through the thick walls of the building, making me treble slightly in excitement. I observed the other people in the line. It seemed like the club was more underground-oriented, considering the way the clientele looked – though most of them were dressed casually like Dante and me, there were also some punks and goths and some really weird creatures that seemed to like bondage. The craziest thing in the line was a woman dressed in some kind of pink nurse latex outfit with enormous plateau boots which looked as if they were made out of plastic. In her hand was a leash, connected to the collar of her … dog? The guy was on his fours and he was dressed in a strange straight jacket. Creepy. Still, it was quite fascinating to look at the other people in the line.
It didn't take long and we were inside. Dante took my coat from me and went to the wardrobe.
While he was busy with our coats, I looked around in the club. From the wide main doors up to the end of the church where the DJ stood on a small stage, a cross ran through the floor. It was made out of plexiglass, beneath it lights were installed that changed their color to the rhythm of the music. To the left, there were some booths where people sat and talked, opposite to it, there was a long bar.
Everything here was decorated pompously but instead of the usual angels, there were devils and demons everywhere. The windows of the church-like building didn't show saints or the apostles, let alone Jesus. The cross on which Jesus would usually be, was turned upside down and a marble statue of the same woman as on the main circular window, the one with the huge wings, was pictured on it.
The furniture was carved beautifully, there were those baroque swirls everywhere. The smoke that the fog machine emitted made it a little difficult to make anything out on the dance floor but behind it, directly beneath the DJ's balcony, was a fence where hundreds of candles glowed dimly.
Although there were these clichéd symbols everywhere – inverted crosses, demons, bloodsplattered walls, and so on – they managed to keep it tasteful. Nothing looked ridiculous or over the top here. I wonder how they accomplished that. It must have been a pain in the ass to convert a church into a club, too.
Dante directed me to the bar where a woman was currently busy washing some glasses.
"Dante!", she greeted as soon as we approached and leaned over to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek. Instantly, I felt jealousy flare up inside me. Calm down, Nero. No need to make a scene, you and Dante are just friends.
She was quite pretty, in fact. Her face was round and friendly, she had big dark eyes and her lips had a perfect heart shape, painted in a deep burgundy. Her hair was long, a little waved and of a rich black. She wore a black high necked lace dress, complimenting her pale skin that was even paler than mine or Dante's, almost white and a little translucent. When she leaned forward, I could see that the dress had a low-cut back, showing off her back that was covered in tattoos. Her nails were long and also painted in black, the tips of them sharp, reminding me of the talons of my devil bringer and there was a ring on each one of her hand, most of them decorated with either skulls or flowers.
All in all, she fitted perfectly into the scenery of the club.
"Veronica, this is Nero", Dante introduced me to her and she leaned over again to give me a kiss as well.
"Um, nice to meet you", I managed, though I sounded a little awkward and scratched my nose in embarrassment.
"The Nero?", she asked and I heard that she had an Italian accent, the way she rolled the 'r' of my name giving it away. Her voice was seductive and smoky.
"Huh?"
"Well, Dante won't stop –"
"Hey", he cut her off, "Give each of us the drink of the house."
"Two shots of 'Lucifer's blood'!", she announced and other people that were seated on the bar and in the booths raised their glasses at us and yelled something.
"What was that about?", I asked confused.
"There is a secret ingredient in our special drink", Veronica said in a mysterious whisper and I leaned close to understand what she was saying, "People don't know where it came from, how it found its way to the Earth. But this little thing here –" She held up a crystal carafe " – will make sure that you will experience an evening you will never forget."
She smiled mischievously and I saw that her incisors had increased in length.
"You – you … You are a vampire!", I sputtered and instinctively reached for Blue Rose – that was back at home.
"I can behave myself but can you after you drank this?", she asked and set the small glasses in front of me and Dante.
They were shot glasses, filled with a bright red liquid. Veronica opened the carafe and trickled exactly one drop into each glass.
"What did you just put into my drink?", I asked her and looked at my shot in which the drop swirled around. This was one of the reasons I didn't trust women.
"They say it's the blood of Lucifer", Veronica said.
Well, the drink was called "Lucifer's blood" after all.
"It's real blood?", I asked, lifting the glass and smelling on the liquid. Indeed, it was real blood. "But what do the humans say about that?"
"They think it's a joke", Dante said and lifted his own glass, "It's only one drop of blood, so they can't smell it. But they can feel its effects. And now come on." He shook his glass a little and the blood swirled around a little. "Cheers!"
With that, he threw his head back and knocked the shot down. I did the same.
It tasted a little too sweet for my liking but I felt heat spreading through my body. Both Veronica and Dante regarded me with curiosity.
"Can you feel it?", she asked me.
"Aw yeah", I replied, my voice husky and I shuddered a little. "Hey Dante, let's dance."
Without waiting for his answer, I tugged him along onto the dance floor.
Once we were there, I instantly lost myself in the music, enjoyed the way the bass made my heart thump and my nerve endings jump, how the lights reflected everything and shone brightly from every direction. The stroboscope lighting made the moves of the other dancers seem like they danced in slow motion. It made my head spin and I loved it – it was as if I was in another world.
I was swaying with the rhythm, my hips moving of their own account. I let my body move the way it wanted, directed by the music only while I was feeling high. Was it the single drop of blood that made me feel this way? I didn't know and I didn't give a fuck either. I had never felt so comfortable on the dance floor before – and I have been out clubbing almost every other night for the last year.
When I turned around though, I froze. Dante was dancing and there was a chick pressed close to him on the front and on the back. They both ground up against him and he obviously enjoyed it. Why did I even allow myself to raise my hopes? Obviously, there was no way Dante's feelings for me could go past a friendship. I didn't have the right to be angry. He was just having fun and things would never work out between us anyway. What the hell did I expect? That he would fall in love with me? I'm just pathetic.
Was I even in love with him? All I knew was that I was confused and strangely attracted to Dante. Although I did drool over him, I knew this was far deeper than just craving for his body. I had the feeling that something connected us. I liked to spend time with him. Everything with him was so natural. We got along very well, we teased each other and took that lightly and I had discovered that he also had a soft side, even though he usually doesn't seem to show it.
Am I mistaking friendship for love?
I tromped back to the bar and dropped down onto one of the bar stools.
Veronica was in front of me in a blink of an eye, frowning lightly.
"Is everything alright?", she queried.
"Yeah."
She didn't believe me. Even I didn't believe myself.
"It's about Dante, isn't it?", she asked.
"No", was my automatic response. Dear God, was it that obvious? Shit.
She simply smirked at that, detecting my lie. And with a quick motion of her hand, she set a cocktail glass in front of me, filled with a bright blue and exotic looking drink.
"Don't let this evening go to waste, Nero", she chirped, "This one's on the house."
"Wow, thanks", I said, somewhat feeling better now that I started making friends.
I turned a little on the bar stool, looking for Dante on the dance floor but couldn't find him.
"You know, he didn't hook up with someone for a long time…" With that, Veronica ended my search.
My head shot back to her. "What?"
"Dante", she said, "Both men and women usually throw themselves at him and he used to take someone home every other night when he left but that stopped since… I don't know, but it's actually been quite a while…"
"Men and women?", I repeated, doubting that I got it right.
"Oh yes, he isn't picky", she replied, "I think he said something like 'I like what I like fullstop' once."
She focused back on the glass she was scrubbing, her nails and rings scraping lightly on the surface while my thoughts crushed down onto me.
Could it be that … no, no, no. Wait. I didn't want to raise my hopes. Maybe he was in love with somebody else, thus he stopped hooking up with people? I needed to clear my thoughts, needed to stop overthinking and found myself back on the dance floor, captivated by the music yet again.
Out of a sudden, I felt someone press close to me and turned around a little to see who it was, never falling out of rhythm. It was Dante.
His hands slid onto my hips while he crept closer until other bodies touched intimately.
My heart rate quickened. Just being close to him make me feel like I was going crazy – but in a good way.
We just kept on being in this position and I felt him grinding against me and threw my head back, the fingers of my left hand lacing together with his hand on my hip and he drew me even closer to him. His head was next to mine and suddenly I felt him licking the outer cartilage of my ear, gently tugging on the three rings that were placed there with his teeth. There was a strange sound in my head, it sounded like … a purring?
When he let go of my ear, I turned around and ran my hands over his chest, pressing myself closer to him with a cocky smirk which he returned with his usual grin. His arms tightened around me and I felt his hand sliding down my back as we stared into each others eyes and approached each other. I rubbed against him, gave him a teasing twist of my hips and watched as his eyes widened slightly. We were so close now and all I could think of were his lips that were –
Several screams, filled with pure terror resonated above the music. Said music was stopped with a scratch.
In an instant, Dante and I broke apart. "What the –"
And there it was: a mass of black tentacles and more people started screaming.
Dante gestured to Veronica to get all the people outside while he was already swinging a nunchaku – hell knows where he got that from.
I summoned Yamato, waiting for the moment to strike.
The beast came crawling forward and I realized it was the same kind of demon that Dante and I had already slain at Kyrie's wedding. This one was a little larger though.
This time, I had a little time to look at my enemy – it seemed like a crossbreed between an octopus, a tarantula and a shark: it's head had eight bright yellow eyes, two big ones and six little ones around them, its huge shark-like jaw was wide and filled with sharp teeth and it seemed to have gills which sprayed something.
"Watch out, this thing is poisonous", Dante said and jumped into the battle with a propeller-like motion of the nunchaku.
I followed him quickly and sliced my way through the body of the octopus.
Around us, there was havoc – people screaming and crying, panic and chaos everywhere.
This monster was stronger than the one we had already battled. The wounds Dante and I inflicted started to dissolve again – but after a little time, the skin of the monster knitted itself back together. It healed – fast. Oh shit. We had to wrap things up quickly before someone seriously got hurt.
"Dante –" I started but was cut off when the thing slammed on of its tentacles into the ground. Alarmed, I rolled out of the way.
"Yeah, kid?", I heard him yell from somewhere.
"What did you do –" The thing slapped me with its tentacles. I grabbed the offending appendage with my devil bringer and ripped it out, satisfied with the gurgling shriek I received.
" – the last time when that thing swallowed you?", I managed to end the sentence and continued the assault with Yamato.
"Ripped its heart out", came his reply some seconds later.
But how? Getting swallowed by this thing was dangerous because of its teeth.
Without really thinking about it, I thrust the blade deep inside the sludgy flesh of the demon, trying to cut a hole.
I couldn't believe it myself when I succeeded but my victory was washed away by the venom that spilled out of the huge gashes I inflicted, burning my skin.
I hissed in pain but kept going nonetheless, digging the blade in even deeper until I hit something hard. Guess it had been a vitally important organ by the way the demon let out an eardrum shattering cry. I thrust Yamato further in, feeling the organ split and moved the sword upwards, ripping more skin in the process and stared on the pulsating organs that I managed to lay open. Grabbing the heart would be very stupid, considering the amount of poison it was emitting but when I reached out with Yamato, one of its fucking tentacles slapped the sword out of hands. Just my luck.
Without pondering for too long, I grabbed the grayish mass of innards with my right hand, screwing my eyes shut as pain flared up in my whole arm, and tore it out.
With a final scream, the demon collapsed and started to fade away. Its heart shone brightly in my palm for another few seconds before the flesh disappeared, leaving behind a little black perfectly shaped pearl.
I stared at it for a moment – and yelped in pain when it absorbed itself in my devil bringer. Fuck! What was this thing? Usually, it didn't hurt when things were absorbed into my arm… How do I get it out again?
"Kid, are you alright?", Dante asked and I nodded weakly. The burns stung like a bitch, especially on the soft ribbed skin of my right hand.
I looked at him and saw that he was rather uninjured. How could he do things like these with such ease?
"I'm not sure, kid – those burns look pretty bad", he said and stepped closer, lightly running his hand across a burn on my cheek. His hands were cool against my skin and I leaned a little into his touch.
He ruffled my hair and let go of me.
I felt how my demonic healing started to kick in, my skin getting smooth again and the scales of my bringer went back from a dull and grayish hue to their red and blue color while the pain on the sensitive skin on my fingers faded into a dull ache. The poison was potent to a dangerous degree if it even managed to get through the hide of my bringer.
It was only then that I could look at the damage that both we and the demon had caused. Outside, I heard sirens. Several people were laying on the ground, badly burned by the poison but fortunately, no one had died. But nonetheless I couldn't help but wonder where this thing had come from. It was just a coincidence, wasn't it? But both of the demons had looked alike and both were killed in the same way. Call me paranoid but I had the feeling those things were after Dante and me. But where did they come from and why should they follow us? Were they set to kill us? And what about the pearl?
We both kept quiet during the ride back home. It was not our usual friendly silence, there was something in the air.
"Where did you get that nunchaku from, old man?", I asked and tried to break the tension.
"Hid it in my bootleg", he replied, "It's a devil arm actually."
"A what?"
"A devil arm", he repeated, "I have some of those at home. They're basically demons that turned into weapons after I defeated them. The nunchaku used to be a dog with three heads that called himself 'Cerberus'."
I remembered the purple guitar with the strange sharp edges I had seen in the office. "What about the guitar?"
"Oh, that's Nevan", he replied, "She tried to suck out my life but I could restrain her. I haven't used her in a while, in fact…"
And it was silent again.
"How are your burns?", he asked after a while.
"I told you I'm fine, old man", I replied.
He hummed in response. "You sure?", he continued asking.
"Yes", I said tiredly, "Stop pestering me about it already, I'm alright." All I wanted now was to go to sleep – after all, I had taken much damage.
We both remained silent the entire rest of the ride.
When we arrived at Devil May Cry, we said good night to each other and I stumbled into my room and almost instantly fell asleep. The fight had worn me out and currently, my body was trying to heal itself.
All in all, this day had been quite eventful even though I couldn't shake my paranoia from earlier off. But Dante and I were supposed to go on another job tomorrow, maybe that could ease my mind.
But the demon attack was not the only thing that made me restless – I remembered the way we had danced together and how close we had been to kissing… Why did the damn octopus decide to ruin that moment! Couldn't it barge in later?
I was definitely attracted to Dante but I didn't know what to do now. As corny as it sounded but I didn't want to destroy the friendship we created. I also didn't get the way he acted. I was confused. And tired. Getting some sleep seemed like the best thing to do. After all, I would have plenty of time to figure out a solution for my 'problem' with Dante.