AN: I figured I would push another chapter out before I have to go back to work tomorrow and before the VMAs tonight(I need to watch for the hunger games clip). I also realized I never know where this story is going till I sit down and pull out my laptop. Oh and I wanted to work on it before my boyfriend came back home. I was trying to read a D/N ff earlier and he walked in on me and tried to go through my internet history. I was like "Trust me you don't want to." LOL. Anyways thank you again for the reviews!Oh also I have never written a fight scene before so please forgive me as I need some practice.
Hours had passed till the ferry finally came to a stop at a busy port, different types of boats hurrying in and out of the harbor. The sun in the sky was signaling that it was late afternoon. The sky giving off a harsh yellow color as it threatened to turn the sky orange and red with sunset. A fog rising from the waterfront spilled into the street. All along the harbor was a busy street, filled with factories and shops for trading.
Nero walked off of the dock onto the bustling of the street. He looked down at this feet, the road he was standing on was covered in water and grime. The street was lined with open crates filled with goods, meats and some of them just crates of trash waiting to be thrown out. Everyone moved around quickly, shouting things at other shop owners and passer-bys on this street. The commotion was loud, louder than even festivals back in Fortuna. There wasn't just the yelling but always things being carelessly thrown out into the streets along with loud grinding noises coming from some of the shops. Smoke was rising out of pipes coming from every one of the buildings lining the harbor.
Nero walked through the bustle of the street, moving between the dirt covered workers of this street. No one seemed to notice him, his striking features not attracting anyone's attention. Everyone moved around him just as if he was any other person standing in this street. Nero smiled lightly at this thought, being able to blend in so easily. Nero kept walking down the street, away from the busy port; store owners screaming out deals and offers to him of their merchandise. He paid no attention to them as he kept walking through the throng of people, to what he assumed was the end of this trading market.
Nero kept walking, taking in all of his surroundings. He made it out of the market and into a still busy street. This one wasn't nearly as loud though and these people weren't yelling but most of them still carried themselves in a hurried manner. Most of these people were better dressed though, their clothes more tailored, fitting their bodies better. Their faces weren't covered with sweat and dirt. Nero matched his pace with the passing bodies, most of them too busy and focused on their day to notice him walking amongst them.
All around him, the further into the city that he walked the buildings became taller and more intricately built. Towers of glass, stone and steel soaring into the sky. Nero adjusted the bag strapped to his shoulder as he glanced at the sky above him, getting a better look at the buildings. There was nothing like this back in Fortuna, he had never even seen pictures of buildings of this magnitude. Nero kept walking, moving his gaze ahead of him. The streets away from the trade market were still dirty, trash littered in random places, black stains on the once white sidewalk. It was no where near to the amount of dirt from the harbor though. Cars sat pushing against one another on the roads nestled in between the buildings. Most of them honking to usher the other cars to move even though the light at the intersect was red. Puffs of smog emitted from some of the cars, creating a heavy air around Nero. The honking continued once the light turned green and all of the cars started slowly inching forward just to hit another red light at the next intersection. Nero had never seen so many cars, most of them were in styles he had never seen before. A lot of them sleek, showing the care that was taken of them. A few others with faded paint and rusted bumpers pushed their way along the street with the others. Nero watched the scene unfold before him. The cars doing nothing but pushing each other, inching up on one another until they were almost touching as if this were to move the rest of the traffic along faster. Nero couldn't fathom why everyone was in such a rush and where all of these people were going.
Nero kept walking though, not really paying attention to the time of day. Before he even realized it the sun had already set and the mass of people that had been crowding the street were now just a few scattered people here and there. The scenery around Nero had changed drastically though. The tall graceful buildings that he was walking through earlier had turned into smaller buildings, most of them run down, barely any windows on any of them. Some of then only having one heavy door leading into the entrance. Nero looked around confused for a moment, wondering when the scenery changed so drastically.
The streets down here were once again covered in grime, the buildings also offering the same care. The street light flickered above him before fully burning out. The rest of the ones on the street still offered a soft orange glow. A light breeze blew through the street, sending old newspapers that had been carelessly discarded down the street into a gutter. Nero kept walking, looking around at the tarnished and seedy buildings, seeing what each one had to display. The few that did have windows were blacked out with neon sings hanging in them. The further he walked the rest of the buildings started to show neon signs mounted from their roofs, all of them stating what types of business' they were.
Bars, lounges and gentleman's clubs.
Nero wasn't too sure what a gentleman's club was but he did definitely know what a bar was. Even if the only one in Fortuna closed at eleven. Nero walked toward a building with no windows, just a neon saying stating BAR with a neon blinking arrow pointing down at the door. Nero clicked down on the handle of the door, pulling it open. A waft of cigarette smoke billowed into his face clouding his sight for a second. The door closed behind Nero with a click. The bar had patrons filled all through-out, most of them taking up booths that lined the walls. The lighting in the bar was dim, all of it coming from handing lamps with large dark covers.
The bar still held a few empty seats, one of them off in the corner at the end of the bar where there was less light. Nero went over to the side of the bar that guaranteed quiet. He slid onto a leather bound barstool, keeping his bag attached to his back. The bag was starting to have its wear on him, the muscles in his shoulders and upper back aching. It wasn't something that he couldn't handle though.
Nero's eyes flitted through the bar once more, this time noticing that some of the patrons were staring at him. Once his eyes scanned the room, most of the eyes that had been looking at him went back to doing other things. Nero tried not to be agitated by this, especially after his day of traveling. The people at the bar though paid no attention to him, most of them to engulfed in their own problems to notice the young man attempting to hide in the shadows of the broken lamp at the end of the bar.
The bar tender stood in front of Nero, leaning on the counter while the white rag in his hands cleaned a crystal glass. "What can I get for you kid?" Kid? The one word started to itch its way under Nero's skin but he tried not to let it get to him, shrugging his shoulders a few times as if he were literally shaking the word off of him.
"Bourbon, on the rocks." Nero laid a bill out on the bar, the bartender sliding it into his pocket. The bartender nodded to him in acknowledgement of his order. Nero had only been into the bar in Fortuna a few times, never to actually drink. The few times that he was there it was in attempts to meet up with some of the other members of the Holy Knights once Nero was actually old enough to be in the bar. The bar in Fortuna was a lot cleaner than this one though, mirrors lining most of the walls, hanging crystal glasses from cabinets, every seat in the bar in a soft clean fabric that was cushioned. This bar looked like it had attempted the same style but over the years gathered too much wear. Nero only remembered the name of the drink because of how odd it at sounded to him at the time that one of the members of the Knight's had ordered it.
Nero watched as the bartender pulled out a glass bottle with a black label encasing it with white bold lettering, a red ribbon in the middle of the bottle. The liquid cascaded down the ice sitting in the short wide glass. The bartender set the glass on the bar, sliding it down to Nero who stopped it with his bandaged hand.
The amber liquid swirled in the glass, unsettled from sliding across the bar. Nero looked down in the glass, watching it whirl around the ice, the ice slowly melting into the liquid. Nero held the glass up to his lips, the smell of the whiskey hitting his senses causing him to pull the glass back from his lips for a brief moment. Nero took a breath before bringing the smooth glass back to his lips. Tilting his head back Nero took all the liquid in his mouth at once, the amber liquid slid down his through causing it to burn on the way down as if someone lit a fire that trailed the liquid. The burn eventually reached his stomach. Nero wanted more than anything to show his distaste for the stuff but thought better of it. His face wanted to distort, his nose wanting to scrunch as his eyes closed. Instead he bit the inside of his mouth to keep from doing such a thing. The bartender was back to Nero, noticing that the glass was now empty, the ice slowly melting.
"Another?" Nero nodded his head at the bartender in a yes motion, still biting the inside of his cheek while the strong warm taste still lingered on his tongue. In less than a minute there was another glass sitting in front of Nero, this time Nero decided to take it slow, taking only a sip from it. The burning was less severe this time but the taste of alcohol still prominent over the other tastes of the bourbon trying to fight their way to his taste buds.
"Hey John, don't he remind you of Tony?" The bartender practically yelled across the bar to a patron sitting in a both by himself, the color on his black jacket flipped up around his neck. The bartender motioned his head towards Nero as he said this. Nero tried not to roll his eyes as he took another sip of the amber fluid in his glass.
"Tony who?." The man at the booth replied, for the first time that night his head not looking down at the table as he sat up straight correcting his slouched back.
"Tony Redgrave." The bartender said this name with a slowness, making sure to pronunciate each syllable as if that were to add the stress of the name. The accent of the people in this city was rough making even their words sounds gritty, when all Nero was used too were the smooth pronunciation of words in Fortuna. "You know Tony kid?" The bartender asked looking back at Nero.
"No, I don't know Tony." Nero said a little irritated, looking straight into the bartender's dark brown eyes. He finished off his whiskey, letting the burn return to his throat, embers cascading their way down. Nero put the glass back onto the counter a little more loudly than he intended. He dropped another bill onto the counter before heading out the door.
Nero stood out on the sidewalk, deciding which way he should go to look for a place to stay for the night. The sound of the door shutting behind him caused him to turn around to look back at the bar. The man who had been sitting a booth by himself was now standing outside. He stood taller than Nero thought he would, reaching about 6'7 in height. His body looked very thin, his back still hunching at the top. There appeared to be a sag to the man's skin, making it look worn, probably loose on this man's small frame. Black hair that seemed to have lost its luster hung in front of the man's eyes.
"Listen, I already told you, I don't know this Tony." Nero said, the annoyance in his voice seeping out. A grin played across the other man's features. What the hell is wrong with this guy? Nero thought as he tried to anticipate this man's next move. Not wanting to severely harm an intoxicated human.
"Really because you seem like the type of person that he would know." The mans voice came out deep and raspy this time, sounding as if he had just smoked for the first time. The man lifted his head, his hair falling out of his eyes to reveal glowing red ones.
I should have known.
The skin of the man shed onto the ground around the demon, the clothes falling into bits with it as the demon broke out of the human casing around him. With the human flesh gone all that was left was a very thin looking demon covered in tight gray skin, showing prominent points of bones underneath the flesh. The fingers on the demon long, a curve inward on the end of each one. The demon's hunch was more noticeable now, its back curving upward as its stomach curve in giving it a strange shape.
Nero reached down quickly to the holster on his left thigh, pulling Blue Rose out into the open. The demon rushed at Nero, moving at a speed faster than his own. Nero dropped his bag in an attempt to move out of the way faster. Nero barely dodged the demon as it ran a few feet past him. Nero could feel himself becoming light headed, his actions not fully matching the speed or skill he wanted them too.
I shouldn't have had those fucking drinks. Nero was cursing himself as he watched the demon charge him again. Nero shot the double barrel gun at the demon, who only flinched at the bullets dug into its shoulder, blood sputtering out of it. Nero switched Blue Rose to his Devil Bringer getting ready to channel energy into the revolver to give them demon another shot. Nero began to focus on his arm when he realized that it was too heavily bandaged to have any effect.
Nero tossed Blue Rose too the side as he went running head on to the demon. Just as they were about to collide, Nero moved out of the way, swiftly running along the side of one of the buildings surrounding them, his feet connecting with the wall perfectly. The demon turned back around with a snarl ripping through its chest. Nero just grinned at the demon, his head now throbbing from the drinks.
It had been a year since Nero had been in a fight with a demon. All he wanted was to drag this fight out, no matter how much his head hurt or how disoriented he was becoming. He knew that even on his worst day that a demon like this really wasn't much of a challenge to him.
The fight continued on, the demon charging Nero with all of its speed all the while Nero dodging out of the way at the last moment. Nero was standing on top of a dumpster, their fight now in one of the trash filled alleys of the city. Nero couldn't help but laugh as the demon approached him with more ferocity, pissed mostly from Nero's constant taunting.
"You're really getting on my nerves." The raspy voice of the demon hissed at Nero who went to claw at him with its extended fingers, sharp nails trying to shred at this skin. Nero jumped out of the way quickly, flipping over the demon to stand behind it. The demon swiped into the air, growling loudly in frustration at not hitting anything once again. The demon looked around before it realized that Nero was standing behind him.
"I'm getting on your nerves? Funny since you were the one who came after me. Little did you know that I've been itching for a good fight. Well I guess I can't really call this one good but a fight non the less." Nero couldn't help the smile that was resting easily across his face.
The demon lunged for Nero again, launching himself into the air. Nero pulled Red Queen from his back, twisting her throttle at the same time. The sword purred to life as it went connecting into the demons chest,the blade crunching past bone but sliding through the thin skin with ease. Blood from the demon sprayed into the air, some of it reaching parts of the alley. Red dots scattering themselves against the objects that rest there. Nero dug Red Queen in further until its base was hitting the demon's chest.
"I told you I don't know Tony Redgrave." Nero claimed as the demon eyes went wide before it turned into nothing more than a wisp of black smoke until it finally dissipated into the night.
"Are you sure about that kid?"