A/N- I'm a little sporadic when it comes to updating, aren't I? Umm, if it isn't too imposing, I have a question. When you were a kid, did you play with Pokemon cards/Beyblades/Duelmaster cards? I sure did. I remember the time my older brother let me play with his cards and beyblades. My favourite Pokemon card was Blaziken. (Well, it was my first starter...I was never allowed to play genereation I or II games) I relished the feeling of using metal beyblades instead of the plastic ones. And the sparks that came out of them gave me such joy. I was reminded of all of these when I saw some of the guys from my class playing with duelmaster cards. Everybody swarmed around them. The people who played duelmasters before were shouting out instructions, whereas the people who had no clue about what was happening just cheered the guys on. Aaah, memories.

Chapter 3- Black Rose

Rose (black) — death

An open hooded white Ferrari drove past the the old and deserted buildings. It looked out of place, as the roads rarely had such expensive cars crossing it. The people on the roads were even more shocked to see the rider. The rider's long black hair was pulled back in a loose pony-tail. She had adorned black sunglasses which gave her a sexy edge. Her clothes looked like they cost a million dollars. A black felt cape, with tinted golden buttons. They saw the beginings of denim jeans pants. They wondered who could this rich girl possibly meet in this area. Their curiousity immediately died away when she did a turn. The turn which led to the demon-hunting shop, Devil May Cry.

She lifted her sunglasses up to have a better view of the shop. To say Aria was elated to see Dante's shop would be a complete lie. She was heavily dissapointed. The neon sign loked like it came straight from a strip club. The poor state of the building nearly made her want to clean it up right there and then. She knew her house/shop wasn't in tip-top condition, but atleast she tried to beautify it. She halted her car and gave a honk to announce her presence.

Dante was not one to make a simple entrance. He kicked the doors open, making her feel sorry for the doors. He wore his traditional red tranch coat and inside a black shirt and a buckled on red vest. His guns and sword were attached on to his back. He was surprised to see the Ferrari and Aria not dressed up properly for fighting.

"What, did you hit a gold mine or something? Why the fancy ride and clothes?" he snickered as he sat beside her.

"Ugh. Tell me about it. I asked my best friend for a ride, and this is what she gave me. She seemed to be under the delusion that I'm going on a date, even though I reminded her million times that it was a mission. So she dressed me up." she said but had a small smile.

"You don't seem too unhappy about it."

"Well, I am a girl. I appreciate fashion."

"Yeah, I noticed that. I'm guessing your friend is loaded and is also the one to give you all the clothes?"

He noticed she was grinning now. "Vee is an awesome fashion designer. Of course she's stinking rich. Her clothes are to die for. Her clothing is a must to all celebrities. I mean, I'm so proud of her. All the hard work she did, it's crazy. You have no idea about all the late-nighters she pulled to achieve this succes. She nearly collapsed with exhaustion, yet she kept on working hard. How can I say no to her dressing me up when she worked so hard!"

He saw that she was glowing with life. The way she talked about her friend made him think she was truly innocent. He pondered over why a girl like her could be a demon hunter. It wasn't that he doubted her skills (he found they were a force to reckon with yesterday). It was just that she had something inside her. He felt sickingly warm now, he hadn't felt like this around her before. It was like the love she held for her friend radiated off her body.

"Whatever, let's just go."

She pulled her tongue out in fustration and let her sunshades down. She pushed her feet hard onto the accelerator and turned the car around. With amazing speed, she zoomed out of the area. She entered the main road now and she was happy to leave the depressing area. She slowed down a bit, to adjust to the speed limit. Her hands flicked over to the CD player of the car and turned it on. A sweet piano melody filled the air. Dante was not pleased. He immediately turned the music off. This did not go unnoticed by Aria. So she turned it on again.

"Would you change the fucking piece of shit you call music?" he practically growled.

Now he was just pushing her buttons. "You have no right to call that beautiful piano piece 'fucking piece of shit'."

"It's a free country, I can call it whatever I want. I think it'd be wise to just change the damn music."

"Are you threatning me? Cause if I remember correctly, I totally beat your deadbeat ass yesterday."

At this Dante shut up. He was still sulking, which affected the lass' mood from mad to sympathic. She changed the music to something more on the lines of Pop/Rock. This time he let her be. Though he mentally told himself to teach her the beauty of heavy metal after they were done with the mission.

Aria was glad that they reached a compromise. While driving she remembered the conversation which led to the car ride...

"Listen. The party isn't gonna start for a long long time." she said with a smile. His childish nature wasn't that bad once she thought about it.

"What? Why?" he shouted in disbelief.

"Cause, the journey will take a minimum of two weeks. Plus, we have to take care of the minor demons rampaging in that vincity and do some tasks assigned to me."

"A little warm up before the main event? Sure thing. But help you with your work? What, you too lazy to do your own work?"

"God, no. I've just got some important jobs. If you're worried about Constellation, well, you're wasting your time. Pluto's friends are gonna keep watch for any activities. She'll warn us. We can skip the jobs only then."

"So then, what's our ride? Please don't tell me it's the bird."

The hawk squaked angrily, but Aria just laughed. "You're joking right? How do we fit onto the back of Pluto?"

"Oh it doesn't grow bigger. What a relief."

"SILENCE! YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO MOCK ME!"

"Zip it birdie. Babe, you haven't answered my question yet."

"You'll see tomorrow. Go back home and get ready to go on a long journey. I'll pick you up."

"My date's picking up. Now that's a first. Do you even have any idea where you gotta pick me up?"

"Don't worry Dante. I'll get the address."

She hadn't told him of their destination yet. That hadn't annoyed him as strangely he trusted her. He hoped that he wasn't making a mistake in placing his trust in her. Suddenly, he heard a different music playing from behind him.

"Yo, can you get that call for me. My bag's in the back seat."

He checked the back seat and found a large, black, leather handbag. He searched the contents until he found a vibrating iPhone with earphones attached to them. The caller ID only showed the letter V and a picture of a smiling, extremely thin girl. She was pretty and could possibly be a model. Somehow, she was distinctly familiar. Maybe he had seen her in one of Aria's pictures?

"Hey." he said in that sexy voice of his. On the other end, he heard a high-pitched giggling. A really high-pitched giggling.

"So you must be Aria's date. tee hee. You've got a really hot voice." the high-pitched voice spoke and he immediately knew who it was. It was the fashion-designer friend.

"Well, well. You must be the million dollar babe." he said casually.

"Puh-lease. I'm only a billionaire." she proudly said. "Anyways, I'm guessing Aria's driving. Tell her to check her bag for a notepad. There's a list of all the jobs she has to do. I wrote down the addresses in the next page. Please tell her to not bitch about them."

"Yes, maam."

He hung up after that and slipped the phone inside the bag. His hand went through his soft locks as he let out a soft sigh. Usually demon hunting meant just hacking and slashing demons. This was the first time everything was scedhuled. That Aria was a strange woman to him. The calm and nonchalant expression was fixed to her face while she focused all her attention to the road. She didn't even question him about the phone call.

He repeated what her friend had just told him. She requested him to get the notebook out of the bag and to check the list of jobs. He obliged and took out the notebook. Checking the list of jobs, he was greatly dismayed. The jobs were boring, they were absolutely no fun at all, apart for one. The list was like this:

1) Clean up Garden!

2) Take care of crazy man's chihuahua!

3) Relationship counseling!

4) Demon Hunting in a romantic getaway 3

5) Sssssh! Undercover work!

6) Get information on latest trends =P

Dante felt like the 'no bitching' was addressed to him rather than the huntress. How could he not complain? These were the chores of men who had nothing better to do. Hoping that she would put her foot down at the jobs, he read them and the addresses out loud in contempt. To his disgust, she merely 'hmmm'ed and still kept her eyes on the road.

Realizing that there was nothing more to do, he picked up the iPhone, plugged on the earphones and scrolled through the music. He was not a huge fan of the band which they were currently listening to and he needed to hear something more his forte. The music she had however was not all appealing to him. All the genres he either rarely listened to or the ones he usually avoided were there. There was blues, classical, rap, hip-hop, country, pop, rock, dance, etc. Everything but heavy metal. Eventually, he settled on some club music. Better this than nothing.

Suddenly, she made an abrupt turn which jerked him out of his seat. With the turn, the scenery slowly changed drastically. The buildings on the sides of the roads turned into lush, green trees. The number of cars decreased. The wide road was turning narrower by the second. He mildly cursed before relaxing into his previous position.

He let the music devour him as he leisurely fell asleep. Aria slightly shifted her eyes to take in the sleeping form of Dante. It took everything in her to not laugh out loud. He was adorable, with his mouth ajar, saliva drooling out of his mouth. His head bobbed up and down along with the small bumps on the road. Traces of soft snoring could be heard from him.

She turned the volume of the music down although it wouldn't matter to half-blood. The earphones were still stuck to his ears, but she didn't notice. She just drove on the isolated road. Remembering the address, she looked over at the signs which pointed out directions. A few more minutes and she would arrive for the first job.

Time flew by and the car had arrived at the first destination. It was a large mansion with big iron gates serving as the entrance. In between the entrance and the residential area was a fountain of Aphrodite, the goddess of love with a vase in her hands, pouring out the water. The trees surrounded the area and gave a pleasant shade from the sun. She could feel a dark aura emitted from the mansion. She couldn't place what it was, but prayed that it wasn't something she couldn't handle.

Not having the heart to wake him up, she parked the car as silently as possible. She opened the boot of the car to check her luggage for the journey. A couple of spare clothes and shoes (courtesy of best friend), a pair of guns, a dagger, her katana, and of course packets of chocolate. One thing she could never live without is anything sweet. Especially chocolate.

Her fingers unbuttoned the cape, one by one. Underneath her cape was her blue kimino top. The same one from yesterday. The cuts were stiched so finely that, miraculously, it felt like the cloth had never torn. The wonders a fashion designer could do. She still had her crescent moon necklace. She wished to strip off of her jeans, but knew better than to do it.

Taking only the dagger, she closed the boot. As she entered the house she did not notice the half-lidded eyes following her. Nor did she hear the low chuckle accompanied by the gaze. "What a tease." Dante said, smirking. He closed his eyes again.

Aria felt an erie feeling as she walked past the hundredth skeleton in the hall. It was not normal to see so many skeletons in the hall and why was the hall so long anyway. She knew to take out Constellation, she needed to this job. She had specifically requested V to find a job which offered a specific reward. The reward vital in Constellation's destruction.

A tug was felt in her heart. Could she finish off all the members of Constellation? All of them combined were so very powerful. She personally knew that. How many years had it been since she had confronted them? She mentally counted. Four. Four fucking years. Raw anger filled her body. It felt foolish of her to try to live a normal life, while Constellation kept plotting. She should have done something earlier.

Deciding it was no time to regret about the past, Aria moved on. She would walk a million miles just to finish off Constellation. She finally found a way, and she was going to seize the oppurtunity. Then her mind went to the demon hunter who tagged along. Dante. She thought her friend made a foolish mistake asking for help from another demon hunter. But the way her friend begged, she just had to comply. Unfortunately her friend had failed to mention that the hunter who would be helping her was a half-demon. Though it was good that he was a half-demon, for now she didn't have to look out for his life, but she still regretted placing him in her business.

Also, could she tell him? The truth about her that is? She fiercely shook her head. Not now. But somewhere near the future. When she'll be able to trust him with the truth.

Finally, she saw an end to the hall. There was big wooden door with a brass doorknob. She tenatively opened it. It didn't shock her when she saw the skeletons decorating the room. There was a skeleton table in the middle with chairs made of bones surrounding it. There were skeletons holding vases filled with black roses. She knew what they symbolised. Death. The walls of the room were decorated with pictures from Tarot cards. A chill ran down her spine as she felt a creepy presence in the room.

When she entered the room, she could see the source of the creepy presence. A terrifying woman with ghastly pale skin and shocking neon green straight hair. Her eyes were bleeding furiously, there was no stop to the gush of blood. The only thing normal about her was her clothes. A white t-shirt with blobs of blood staining it and black bell-bottoms. She broke into a full grin when she saw Aria.

"Come, come in child. Have a sit" she said in a warm and inviting voice, with absolutely no signs of pain.

Cautiously Aria sat down on the bony chair. It was awkward. The bones were hard and cold making her butt feel very uncomfortable. It was not the most ideal place to talk. But, she's faced worser predicaments. Instead of focusing on her butt, she tried to give all her attention to the smiling, bleeding woman in front of her.

"Do you want some tea, coffee, hot chocolate?" the green haired woman said, dropping an octave for hot chocolate. Aria thought it was a bit strange so turned down the offer. "No? Too bad. You are star-crossed demon huntress Aria right?" A nod. "Good. I am Grandine, daughter of the Witch Queen."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Higness." Aria greeted politely. She carefully masked her shock at the revealation of the woman's identity into politeness.

Grandine smiled magnificently. "You were special to my mother. There is no need for formalities. Please, call me Grandine."

"Grandine." she regarded. The bleeding eyes still freaked her out, but tried to hide it.

"You're curious about my eyes, aren't you?" Grandine said. Apparently Aria wasn't good at hiding it.

"A tiny bit." Aria was far too inquisitive to remember etiquette.

"It's a curse. A wretched warlock placed a curse on me."

"Couldn't you ask Rosa- I mean you're mother to take away the hex?"

"My mother won't fix it. She has grounded me."

"But why?"

"For flirting with a warlock's son." Grandine said with a wink. "Now then, your job is to exterminate the horrendous plant demon haunting my wonderful forest. I would have killed it myself, but magic has no affect on it. Please, I beg of you, get rid of that ugly thing from my precious forest." the desperation in her voice was apparent when the princess begged.

"Heh...don't worry, this is what I do for a living." Aria said a bit too enthusiasticallly.

Grandine laughed sweetly at that. "Here let me show you the way."

Aria was happy to finally get out of those bony chairs. If she spent even a minute more, than she would have screamed. She followed the Witch royalty to another hallway, which seemed twice as long as the first one. After walking for an aggravating hour, they finally reached the door which lead to the depths of the forest.

She left the princess and made her way through the forest. There was no path but she didn't mind the hike. The trees were merciless. Their roots had covered the forest floor, and the places which weren't had shrubs and other small plants growing. There were three things she found strange: the lack of bird cries and the lack of animal activity. She guessed it was the demon. She steadied the dagger in her hand. It was a poor weapon of choice for slaying a demon, but, for the current location, it was perfect. She doubted that she could fight without any space to wave her katana around.

The third thing she found strange was that the whole forest radiated the Witch magic. How was that possible, she didn't know. The magic was soothingly warm. It somehow reminded her of the witch she had met, the Witch Queen, Rosalind. Rosalind was like a mother to her. She aided her when she was growing up, when she and her brother were all alone with no family, when she got a foster family. Then came the painful period of separation, the nightmare which still haunts Aria's mind. Immediately the green-eyed woman stopped reminiscing. The memories...the pain they brought, she couldn't handle it.

Suddenly, a sound caught her attention. The rustling of leaves. It was nearby, and she could tell it was definitely no animal. In fact, the noise was transfixed to one place. Whatever was making the noise was definitely not moving.

With her ears as her guide, she closed in onto the source of the noise. The rustling noise grew louder and louder until finally she reached the it. Surprise, surprise. There were no demons, but only signs of demonic activity. Surrounding her was a pile of dead animal bodies, with the occaisonal human in between. Their organs were ripped apart, the guts, spleens and intestines all unceremoniously scattered around the corpse pile. The demonic miasma, mixed in with reeking smell of blood and gore, was prominent in this area. She offered a small prayer to the departed souls of both animals and humans, like she always does if there are any victims.

It was then it striked.

An enormous green tentacle had snaked its way to Aria. Fortunately she managed to dodge it in the last second. She looked at the direction it came from, and berated herself for not noticing it earlier. A large plant like demon, replicating a mutant Venus-fly trap. The demon had those vicious mouth that the plant had, but instead of stems it had bones. The green tentacle had come out of the ground like as if it was the root of the plant. There were hundreds of other tentacles shooting out of the ground.

Aria, dagger in hand, ran to the demon. Avoiding it's tentacle attacks, she dashed to the centre of the demon. With one quick slash, she sliced the mouth off. She saw it wither away into dust. She was ready to slice off the othe parts of the demon's body, when suddenly she felt a burning sensation around her thoat. The tentacle from earlier had caught her offguard and was now strangling her. The tentacle was secreting toxins, which created the burning feeling. It was if Death had gripped her, she could already feel her senses slipping away.

"Fuuuck." she gasped out. There was only one option left. She didn't really want to use her "extra" energy resource right off the bat, but at that moment, she didn't have a choice.

The sound of a gunshot was what stopped her from resorting to her final option.

A/N- Yeah, I took the name Grandine from Fairy Tail. Watcha gonna do? =D Personally, it was a little shocking when I found out that Porlyusca was Grandine's Edolas counterpart...aaah well, I guess it's good for Wendy ღ I just loooove Wendy. When I first saw her during the Oracion Seis arc, I was like awwwww, that's the perfect little sister. If only all little sisters were like her. *sigh* and...Elfman won! Woohoo! Suck that Quarto "puppies". I just absolutely adore chapter 278's cover picture. I love the "Lucy and friends" thing Hiro Mashima did. It's absolutely wonderful.