A/N-Aaaaah done! Sorry for the delay. I was busy with exams, after exam party, after exam studies, little sister's birthday, beelzebub, baka to test to shoukanjuu, fairy-tail, making a close friend looove fairy tail, falling in love with my best friend and other close friend all over again. Yup, super busy =D. I'm sorry if Dante seems OOC, but that's cause I'm not a 100% in sync with him (Like how I am with Natsu and Lucy) Aria is about 22. Enjoy =P
Chapter 2 Orchid
Orchid — rare beauty
Dawn. A new day. A new begining. It's the perfect time to refresh your body and soul. It's when you forget about yesterdays pains and confusions and relieve yourself of it. When you brace yourself for the troubles life was gong to throw at you. For a young man dawn was the time for new meetings, and for that he couldn't leave behind yesterday's bewilderment.
Dante was puzzled. The woman he had met yesterday, why in the world would she tell him to visit the old house again. Could she know the devil hunter personally? It seemed impossible, especially someone as cute as her, then again anything is possible in this world. She could even be a demon disguised as a human. No, she didn't reek of demonic essence.
He was walking on the same path on which he had met the woman. He passed the ice-cream parlour, the now empty roads. He had decided to go early today, hoping that he would not miss the other devil hunter. His sword and guns were with him just in case there was trouble with the devil hunter. He had slightly hoped he would meet that woman again. He didn't know he'd get his wish so soon.
He had yet again bumped into something today. This time it was something much shorter. He looked down to see a dog, panting. A leash was tied around him, and he was tied to a tree on the walkway. He tried to pet it, but the dog growled dangerously at him. A curse was muttered. He began walking away, when the dog pulled on his pants roughly. He tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't let go.
He was close to pulling out his guns and shooting the dog into oblivion, when he heard a familiar woman's voice. A very familiar voice.
"Stop! Sirius! Let him go."
The dog stopped immediately and he saw many small holes in his pants, in the shape of the beast's mouth. He was pissed at it, but in the effort of trying to get into her pants again, he cooled down.
"Aria. We meet again."
For there she was. This time she was wearing a black and white track suit. She was sweating profusely, most probably due to jogging. Her long hair was tied up in a high pony-tail. On her hand was a large half finished chocolate chip cookie. She completely ignored him and dived straight to the dog. He felt annoyed as she affectionately scolded the dog, rubbing it's neck. He noticed the dog was a Golden Retriever, but other than that made no other observation.
He let out a cough, to announce his presence. It startled her and she gave him a sheepish smile. She got up and ushered him to follow her. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't question her. They walked down the road to his original destination. The crazy botanist's house. Now he seriously regrets telling her the nickname. God knew what their relationship was.
She opened the door and let the dog loose. It happily went away. She beckoned him forward into the house. He was shocked to see a perfectly normal living room. A couch, a television, a book shelf, various gaming consoles hooked to the tv and a grand piano adding a touch of elegance. On the walls were numerous pictures hanging. She gestured to him to sit down on the couch and left the room.
Instead of sitting, he walked over to the pictures. With interest, he saw that all of them were of a young Aria and some others. They all looked about thirteen. Most of the pictures were bizarre. There were pictures of them making ridiculously funny faces, laughter everwhere, the girls making pouting faces, the guys trying to look cool. He knew what they were. Precious memories, fragments of the hearts that will never come back. That's what they were. He was sure of it. He had a couple of them before his mother died and his brother left.
He wondered when the devil hunter will come. He tried to find anybody who looked like a plant maniac in the pictures but couldn't. He heard footsteps and immediately scampered to the couch. He expected to see the devil hunter only Aria came back. She sported a different outfit. It was like a short kimono on the bottom with delicate cherry blossom designs on the edges. Her obi was red and white and the bow on her back made it look like she had small wings on the front. The top was a halter neck and the place where her cleavage was supposed to show instead showed a cherry blossom. She had sleeves begining from her elbow and they had many cherry blossom petals as a border. The overall outfit was sky blue and reached to above her knees. On her neck she wore a black pendant the shape of a crescent moon, which had beautiful intricate designs.
"Follow me." she commanded. He complied.
They came to a study room, with even more book shelfs than the living room. There was a desk and a large window behind it, bringing in light into the room. The walls here weren't filled with pictures, but potted orchids of different colours. The fragnance of the orchids spread out in the entire room which brought peace and serenity to Dante's mind. He asked himself whether Vergil felt this all the time.
"So then, where's the crazy botanst?"
"You're looking at her."
He eyed her as she crossed her hands in front of her breasts and her face turned solemn. She looked amazingly cute, almost like a five year old, if it weren't for her hourglass figure. He laughed. "Really girl. I don't have time to listen to such chit-chat. Lady's gonna get mad if I don't finish this quick."
"I am the devil hunter. Or huntress. Whatever. But I am her!" she said with vigor, trying to defend herself. Yet again he was reminded of a kid
"Hmph. Anyways, you were given a job to assist me, right? Well, forget about it! I can do everything by myself! I don't need no third rate demon hunter helping me out."
'Hey, hey! Who are you calling a third rate demon hunter? Besides I gotta do this job, Lady's gonna kill me if I don't."
"I don't care what you're fricking 'lady' says, you're not doing the job."
"You can't change my mind." He glared at her. She glared right back at him. They were like that for a few minutes until she finally gave in.
"Fine, fine. You can come along. But first, you have to prove your worth to me. Fight me."
"Fight you? Hmm doesn't sound that bad. What the hell. I'm in. Just don't mess this pretty face."
"Where the hell are we going?"
"To my training dojo, duh."
"And where exactly is your training dojo?"
"In my basement, can't you tell?"
"I don't know it could be in hell!" Dante screamed out as they passed their millionth step. After they had made their deal she took him to a stair case which led downstairs. He did not expect it to be this long.
"Sheesh, stop fussing like a little girl." she says with a smile.
They finally reached the last step. The room they entered was like a typical Japanese room, with tatami floors and sliding doors. The room was lighted with candles on the corners of the room. Scrolls, books and weapons were scattered in the room, which Aria cleaned up quickly. The huntress took out a sheathed sword from the arsenal of weapons she had. She stood on one side of the room. He realized she wanted him on the opposite side, and did as she wished.
"This will be an honourable match. No guns will be used, and nobody will aim for killing. Agreed?"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
Aria softly growled in anger. She didn't want to be taken lightly. She brought out the sleek weapon out of it's sheath. It was a Japanese katana blade. It was a long katana, the blade itself being 1 metre long. The edges of the blade were mildly jagged, proof that it must have been used for a long period of time. It had a deadly aura around it as if carrying the souls of the many it must have slayed. For a moment Dante remembered his brother as the sword resembled the Yamato, the weapon his father had bestowed Vergil. He passed that thought as he brought his claymore Rebellion. It was also a gift from his father and the sword fitted his defiant nature completely. He wasn't the graceful type, so he was glad Yamato wasn't his.
She wasted no moment. She dashed forward to attack him, but he swiftly blocked the attack with his weapon. She took one step back then began her onslaught of strikes. She was swift in placing strikes not even wasting a second of her and because of that he did not have the luxury to waste a second. He used his sword to block her attacks. For minutes this went on until finally she was getting annoyed that not a single one of her attacks had hit him. In fustration she let out an angry growl.
"Whoa, pussy, calm down. It's not your fault you can't hit a face as hot as mine."
This aggravated her. She hated these demeaning taunts. She striked with more vigor, her attacks picking up more speed. 'Not Good' Dante thought, as he picked up his pace. His sword skillfully blocked the attacks.
His defence was good and she needed to stir it. She backed up, but he was hot on her heels. It was time for payback. His attack on her began. He was not as acute as her but each attack was robust. Power was his key element. It didn't take her that much time to realize it.
His sword skills did not impress her though. They were not graceful, but more barbaric. As time went by her guard began to drop. Understanding the need to put him at a disadvantage, she searched for the blind spot in his attacks. It was nearly impossible to observe him while defending his attacks.
Noticing an opening, she punched his stomach. She expected him to falter for a second. She was diappointed to see a smirk in his face. Suddenly she felt something solid on her stomach. She looked down and saw the hilt of his sword.
"Shit." she muttered. He pushed her with great force resulting in her hitting the wall with an enormous thud.
"Come on. Is that all you got?" he taunted once more.
Swiftly she got back up. She frowned at the mess created by the impact. Even though the room was usually messy, she abhored it when somebody else messed it up. She dusted out any dirt in her clothes then charged ahead. Her sword clashed with his again.
Their battle dance continued. Dante now holds a smug expression. Slowly she will deplete all her stamina. Him? His stamina will run for a long, long time. Time to play with his prey. He momentarily stopped attacking. Confusion flashed through Aria's mind, but she seized the oppurtunity to attack. Her aim was to get her sword close to Dante's throat and ask him to surrender.
Whish! He gripped her sword. Shock ran through her body as she saw blood flow through his palms and onto to her sword. He grinned at her surprised expression and then threw the sword away. Before he could do any more action she cartwheeled back. Her mind was making up only one conclusion as to why he did something so risky and looked like he wasn't in pain.
"You. You're a demon aren't you." she hissed out.
"Oh man. Yup, I'm part demon. Why is that always such a huge issue with you ladies?" he groaned, remembering the first time he met Lady.
Taking in a deep breath, she calmed herself down. "No. I don't care that a demon hunts down other demons. What angers me is that you failed to mention this earlier."
"Why should it bother you, huh?"
She smirked maliciously. "Cause now I won't have any restrictions to wounding you."
"Right. And you're going to do that how?" he asked humoured by her guts.
"With my fists!" she roared.
She aimed for his jaw but her hands barely scraped his skin as he swiftly moved away. Her next target was that lovely face of his. Only he dodged it again with lightning speed. Neck, arms, chest, stomach. She tried hard to hit him, but his speed was overwhelming her.
'Dammit. What the fuck do I do now. He's a demon. I won't be able to defeat him. Unless I...no. I can't use that now. I'll have to think of another way.'
Her mind pondered for a weakness. What could she do turn the tables round? Immediately, an idea sparked in her mind. Maybe there was something she could. She knew it was a stupid idea, but she was up for anything to beat him.
First a distraction.
She stopped attacking him. With glee he was going to finish her off, when he noticed her actions. She peeled off the cherry blossom off her chest, revealing her cleveage. The fingers of her other hand slowly went down the valley of her breasts. He was so entranced by this small action that he was unable to notice what was happening in the first hand.
Suddenly he felt something sharp in his neck. Blood seeped out of his neck as he took it out and saw that it was the cherry blossom earlier. The injury healed quickly. Brushing off the small attack he proceeded to finish her off again, when he noticed his prey wasn't there. He looked around, but she had vanished.
Now time for the kill.
Glomp! Something had dropped on him and was holding onto him like a leech. The soft white hands and the smooth legs wrapped tightly around him confirmed that it Aria. He tried to shake her off, but she was latched onto him tightly like a second skin.
"Prepare to get your ass whipped." She whispred softly to his ear as he felt a small jolt of electricity flow through him.
Right then his whole body turned numb. He couldn't feel her get off him, he couldn't feel her taking his sword from his hands. His breathing turned harsher as he found it hard to take in air.
"I win!" she excitedly shouted. She now had a full grin on her face. It was then she observed the great sword in her hand. The excitement on her face faded away as she studied it.
"You...what...did...you...do..do to me?" He mentally struggled as he painfully got the words out of his mouth.
"Just messed around with your nervous system. The things you can do with a small taser gun." she said while admiring Rebellion. "Wow. This is one nice sword. Where'd you get it from?"
"Fix...me...right...now."
"Oh yeah." she said, embarrassed.
Feeling another jolt of electricity, he started to feel his body again. He flexed his fingers and stretched his legs, making sure everything was moving again. He snatched the claymore out of Aria's hands and was rewarded with a raspberry from her for the action.
"Have I proved to you my worth now?"
'Yup!" he could practically feel the energetic vibes she was giving off. It was strange how quickly her personality changed.
"Now then, give me details about the mission." he hastily asked, feeling slightly irked. It was the first time a human female had beat him in his game.
"Right now? How about we fresh up first?" she suggested.
"Fresh up? Woman, we should try to eliminate the demons as soon as possible."
"Come on now! You can't possibly ask me to explain everything while in this condition."
He looked at her carefully now and saw the condition she was in. Sweat had drenched her entire body and made her hair flat. The sleeves were torn and had eidence of slashes from his sword. Ofcourse he had to notice the swell of her breasts. Her heavy breathing made her chest rise and fall. He couldn't possibly complain about the view.
"What? There's nothing wrong with the way you look." He commented gleefully.
"Hmph. Men." she huffed out.
One sip of the tomato juice and Dante was in heaven. Nothing like tomato juice after a nice hot bath. Resting on the couch in the living room Dante recuperated from the fight. Although, there wasn't much for him to recuperate, being the devil's son and all. He waited for Aria to finish showering. She had offered him a hot bath to refreshen up, and he accepted. She had lent him some clothes, which made him question the origin of the icy glare on her face immediately shut him up.
The cotton t-shirt and the denim jeans she had given him luckily fit him perfectly. They were comfortable too. He tried to imagine who was the clothe's previous owner and drew one conclusion. An ex-boyfriend. For someone with such great looks that was the only reasonable explanation. However, he wasn't the type to get satisfied with his own imagination. He would have to wait to find out more.
The creaking of the wooden door pulled his attention away from his thoughts. Aria came inside with a mug of hot chocolate in hand. He noticed that she had changed her outfit again. This time it was lilac coloured tube top with white jeans. It was the first time he saw a devil hunteress who was actually fashionable. Then again he hadn't met many devil huntress, so who was he to complain?
He made space for her to sit on the couch. She graciously accepted. After taking a sip of the drink, she placed the mug on a small table near the couch.
"So then, how much do you know?" she inquired.
"Oh, the basic crap. New evil organization, trying to take over the world, demons following them, bla bla bla. The same old shit." he replied with a monotonous voice.
"Alright. I assume you know about Constellation."
"Yeah. Twelve half-breed posers and one big demon ruling over them."
"Ten half breeds." she murmured.
"Whoa ten? What, did you already kill off two of them?"
"I guess you could say that." the voice she used was soft and mellow and the look on her face was reminiscent.
"You guess? Anyway details please."
"Right," she snapped out of her thoughts. "So far Constellation hasn't made any huge moves. They're only strategising their moves. Obviously all the members follow the leader's commands. You won't find them doing anything other than what the full demon says. But..."
"But...?"
"Recently Constellation has taken over a small town. My resources tell me that only one member resides over there."
"Resources?"
As if on cue a hawk came into the room through the window. It came over and perched on Aria's shoulder. She lovingly stroked it. The hawk however gave Dante a piercing look, as if curious about him.
"Great. First plants, then a mutt, now a bird? What are you an enviromentalist?" he asked.
"Sirius is not a mutt. And what's it to you? My animal freinds have always helped me. Especially Pluto" she gave the hawk a final gentle stoke.
"God help me. Lady has fixed me up with a tree hugger."
He then heard a completely different shrill voice speak. "Silence Half Blood! Do not insult my mistress."
He dumbfoundedly looked at the predator bird, then at Aria. "Riiiight. I'm just gonna ignore the talking bird. So then, our job is to go over to the town and do some major ass kicking? Let's get this party started!"
A/N Wonderful readers, again...if possible, please review. Criticism welcome and...thank you for reading this. It's not great, it's not really awesome, but it's my first devil may cry fanfic. Actually, my first fic with Action! Aaaand, Oh My God! People who like Fairy Tail, don't you hope that Elfman will win? I mean he has to!