That night crossed his mind frequently ever since. Dante just could not stop thinking about her. He wasn't sure why - for fuck's sake, it was just a one-night stand. He wasn't shy at all when it came to women, but something about her made him feel like a kid. Maybe it was just because of what she was - he couldn't be sure, but no matter how he tried to rationalize, he just tried to shake what he hoped was not turning into an obsession.

He found himself needing a distraction, at least for the first, few weeks. Business was picking up at least, thanks to Morrison having whatever contacts he had (Dante decided not to ask too many questions, because he had to keep the water and electricity running somehow).

About six months had passed since his visit to Blackwell Castle. Since then, some things had changed. His demeanor was off around Lady and Trish, who noticed he was easily distracted. His friendship with the two women was never anything romantic. After all, he was pretty sure they were screwing each other when he wasn't around. Usually, the idea would get him all sorts of horny, but he hardly thought twice about it nowadays. Sure, they all still partnered up when it came time to putting an end to demonic trouble, but they were quick to go their separate ways afterwards.

When the girls weren't around, which was almost always, his nephew, Nero was there to help Dante out. He really admired the kid, oftentimes liked to think of him as more of a little brother than a nephew. It was nice to be the "big brother" for a change, being as him and Vergil were always at each other's throats.

When Nero came to him with information about Blackwell Castle coming back to life, Dante's memories returned to him like a flood. The devil-fighting business had been pretty busy as of late, so it hadn't really occurred to him until now that maybe Lyssa was still out there. He wondered how she was doing, and then selfishly, wondered if she wondered how he was doing.

"So, when do we go?" Nero asked. He was always so energetic, and Dante had to admit, he'd been working an awful lot lately. He deserved a break.

"I got this one," Dante insisted, throwing his red coat over his black shirt. Nero didn't really question him. It wasn't uncommon for Dante to want to do things on his own. He always worked best solo. "Go spend some time with Kyrie. I'm sure you guys could use it."

"You sure? It's a big place. Wouldn't want you to get lost." Now he was just mocking him. Their back-and-forth banter wasn't uncommon, either.

"Eh." Dante shrugged, playing it cool. "I've been there before. Trust me, you're not missing out on anything." He wasn't about to let it out of the bag that he hoped to find a certain someone there. Not that the chances were very likely. He was sure Lyssa had left her demon days behind her long ago.

With a few of his favorites from his arsenal, especially Ebony, Ivory, and Rebellion, Dante made his way for the door. From the Devil May Cry building that had been rebuilt well more than once, it was about a five-day walk to the castle, but with the speed of the Cavaliere motorcycle, he could make it there in less than half the time. Before he headed out, Nero tossed him a small, purple bag made of velvet. "Don't forget this."

Skillfully, Dante caught it, his thumb tracing over the velvet for a moment. Inside was a finely crushed substance, something that he had obtained and used sparingly. Perhaps while he was at the castle, he could make a small supply run. After all, anthodite was not only financially valuable, but it was also a key item in magnifying any spell, not just blood magic. So, banishing demons was a piece of cake with this stuff.

He got ready to snag the last slice of supreme pizza from the table, but it seemed that Nero had thought to do the same thing at the same time. Dante grinned, giving him an amused look. "Go ahead, kid."

The roaring Cavaliere alerted a lot of demons to his presence during the ride, but he made short work of them. By sundown of the next day, Dante arrived at the bridge of the castle. He came to a skidding halt before the massive doors, shut off the engine, and dismounted. It was hard to believe it was the same place he visited nearly half a year ago. It had been renewed, and it was evident that it was being lived in now. Dante thought he might be able to enter without disruption, but he was only momentarily surprised when a pair of black, winged knights dropped down from the top of the tower, the metal armor of their boots crashing loudly with their impact on the ground. Clearly, they were guarding the front door.

Dante drew his sword, ready to make this quick. Ebony and Ivory wouldn't do much good here, as their armor didn't appear to have a whole lot of weak spots. So the blunt force of his blade was the best way to get the job done. He targeted the one on his left, driving the sword from the ground up. The blow didn't land, as the knight had already taken flight into the air, soaring above his head and around the back. Dante furrowed his brow. He supposed he should have known they would be great jumpers. He only just watched them drop from the top of the great tower.

It wasn't with immense ease that he took them out, but once one was down, its brother fell in a matter of a couple of minutes. Surrounded by heaps of broken, black metal, Dante helped himself to the doors. They groaned as he pushed them open, and like a welcomed guest, he strolled inside.

To his surprise, the massive foyer looked much different than how he left it last. It certainly looked renovated, but much drearier than before. All of the old portraits were taken down, replaced with macabre paintings of forests, haunting trees, and gothic sceneries and portraits that were unfamiliar to him.

"At least someone finally got off their lazy ass to clean up the cobwebs," he said, making no effort to be stealthy. His voice echoed through the hall, and to his surprise, there was no answer.

He shrugged and proceeded through the studies first. The rooms were dimly lit in candlelight, so he knew someone had to be home. Yet, the place was oddly silent. Dante had already decided he would track down the demon that stayed here first before going to the caves. Maybe the countess had made her comeback, despite that Dante thought he most certainly ended her with Lyssa's help. It just went to show that many of those greater demons could never just stay dead.

Perhaps the ugly bitch had returned to her lair. Dante returned to the foyer, but he stopped in his tracks as he saw a figure standing on the stairs. It moved at lightning speed, throwing what appeared to be a dagger before he could get a good look at it. Dante leaned back to dodge the projectile, allowing it to fly past him. He could feel the breeze from the blade, and he smirked faintly.

"I knew I needed a shave, but that was cutting it pretty close, don't you think?"

He looked at the person on the stairs, which was clearly a woman, by the slender figure. She wore all black, a mask covering the bottom half of her face. She had incredibly long, black hair, and for a moment, Dante pondered over the resemblance. It couldn't be her. If it was, why the hell would she be attacking him?

She came at him at an insanely fast sprint, and it was then that he realized she had black, inky claws for hands, extending out a good foot and a half from her wrist. Dante leapt out of the way of a swipe, kicking himself off of the nearby column and aiming his pistols at her as he flew into the air. Bullets shot, but none of them seemed to hit where he wanted.

Then, just when he thought she was going one direction, she had moved so quickly, she came from the opposite way. He hadn't been ready for it, and the claws tore into his chest. It felt like hot knives had split his flesh, and it did not feel good. He was certain there had to be something venomous about the wound, but as he staggered to the ground, he watched the ninja-like demon tower over him.

He was still ready to fight, but before he could draw Rebellion, he watched something silver tear through the front of the demoness's chest, clearing the air in front of her to just a mere, few inches from Dante's face.

"Claws off, you bitch."

Dante's heart nearly pounced up to his throat at the voice that came from behind his attacker. It was unmistakably Lyssa, and the curved blade that was protruding from the other demon's chest confirmed it.

As it was torn up the middle and split the demon in two, blood sprayed in all directions. Dante felt the splatter, but he was too busy gawking at his good luck. Lyssa's hair was significantly longer than before, though she doned the same attire, for the most part, minus the coat. Instead of the two sickles she had before, she now wielded one, giant scythe, a moulding of a metal skull adoring the top of the blade. She was totally badass.

She outstretched her hand to him, and Dante staggered up. The slash in his torso seared with pain, but he was quick to brush it off.

"Fancy seeing you here," he said.

"You too, Dante " Lyssa said with a smile. She leaned in, planting a lingering kiss on the corner of his mouth. It was sensual, leaving him almost weak in the knees. His loins stirred, and he hated them for it. This was probably not a good time to throw her down and have his way with her, despite how desperately he wanted to.

"We need to go, before he comes."

"He?" Dante repeated. "Do I have competition I need to be worried about?"

"I'll explain everything later, but right now, we need to book it."

Dante listened. Although he wasn't usually territorial, he wondered if he might have been right. Did Lyssa have some sort of jealous lover that would try to kill him as soon as he saw him? As they headed to the exit, more of the armored knights started making their appearance. Two came from the top of the stairs. A third one emerged from the other side of the foyer's bottom floor. Dante slid for the front doors, but he hadn't anticipated for the succubus to fall behind. While he knew she could take care of herself, he wasn't about to leave her stranded. After all, they had just been reunited. It would have sucked to lose her so quickly after.

The two daggers that were left behind by the ninja chick from earlier were still on the floor. Dante glided across the floor to pick them up, then threw the both of them at the knight closest to Lyssa. It might not have done a lot of damage, but it was enough to slow him down so she could get ahead.

Once outside, Dante mounted the Cavaliere. It revved to life, and as Lyssa ran out of the door right behind him, she was driving her scythe in a diagonal swipe, slashing at one of the knight demons that had already been outside. She swung her weapon around, appearing to do so with ease even though it was taller than she was. Then, she smacked her palm against the side of the rod. From the butt end of it, a straight blade emerged that resembled a giant spear. She plunged it into the neck area of her pursuer, then yanked it out. The enemy made somewhat of a hissing sound that was mixed with a sort of unnatural howl. Then, it grabbed the hilt of the spear end, throwing her across the courtyard. Despite his injury, Dante reacted quickly. He followed her flight with the motorcycle, although as he did, the four knights were closing in. He could hear their metal boots clanking against the concrete.

Thankfully, Lyssa had noticed he was ready to catch her. She landed in front of him, straddling the seat, although she was not facing away from him, but towards him. Dante was ready to speed off again, but the quartet of metallic fiends had them surrounded.

"Hey, Dante?"

"Yeah?"

"Is that a shotgun in your pocket? Or are you just happy to see me?"

Before he could respond, he felt a tug where he kept the Coyote-A. Lyssa had grabbed it and started shooting at the knights, starting with the ones that were directly to her right. The first shot blew its helmet off, and then, the second one ended it completely.

"Careful with the goods," Dante said with a grin, but he went along with it, even going as far as to riding the Cavaliere into a series of donuts so that she could fire at all four in constant rotation. Then, the moment that Dante had a window to speed past them, he did, looking over Lyssa's shoulder so that he could see what was ahead of them. As they made their escape like a couple of bats out of hell, Dante only hoped that she couldn't feel his raging boner.