I am so, so, incredibly sorry that this chapter's taken so long to come- I've been absolutely horrible about updating lately. All I can say is that GCSEs are looming, and that some teachers seem to forget that we do have other subjects when they give use homework. And on top of that, I've been somewhat lacking in inspiration... good thing I've had this particular event planned for a long time. So, I'll try to update more often (for those of you that are still reading), but I really can't promise anything (as usual). Sorry! --"
Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry, or any of the characters- only my OCs and this story; they're mine, yessss, my precioussss...
The speedboat hurtled through the water, forming a trail of white foam in its wake. On the horizon, the sun was just beginning to rise, throwing bands of orange and pink across the sky. While Sher stood at his usual position steering the boat, Aline conversed with Nelo in the back. They both wore grey 'semi-dry' diving suits.
"Okay, so what we do is pretty routine," she was saying. "We enter, search for whatever's causing the demonic activity and, if we need to, destroy it."
Nelo nodded. He had beet pretty... cautious, for lack of a better word, about going out of the house at first. Almost as if he was afraid something was going to swoop down and attack him. But he had been able to master his irrational fear- if it was irrational, which Aline was beginning to suspect might not have been the case, at least for him- and accompany them on the trip.
"You remember what demonic seals look like, right?"
Again, another nod.
"By the way, did you really have to bring that sword along with you?" She gestured toward the slim katana, which he carried at his side.
"Yes." Well, at least he spoke this time. "It's... very important."
"Okay," she sighed. Then her face brightened and she grinned. "Sher's a still a little dubious about bringing you along, though, so try not to get yourself killed," she joked. After all, it was probably nothing. Just a false alarm. People were taken by the sea every day, right?
A whole group of marine archaeologists? a voice in her mind said quietly.
"Hey you two! C'mere!" Sher turned and addressed them.
"What?" Aline asked, coming up beside him. He pointed to a spot several meters away.
"Right over there." Then he turned. He crouched down and, from a long case at his feet, extracted-
"A sniper rifle?" Aline said incredulously. "You want to send me down with that?"
"Modified M14," Sher explained. "0.5 MOA accuracy. Increased penetration and range, and it's lighter. And the bullets are blessed. And, before you ask, yes it will work under water." He handed Aline one rifle, and another to Nelo, who took it dubiously.
"Whatever you say," she shook her head. Nonetheless, she took the holster he handed to her. Stooping down, she grabbed two diving regulators from a corner, putting on hers with ease and helping Nelo's with his.
"We'll be in constant radio communication." Sher said. "If anything goes wrong, I'll be the first to know." He frowned. "Well, second," he amended.
Unable to speak, Aline merely flashed a thumbs-up. Then both she and Nelo submerged themselves into the Mediterranean sea.
—
The water was always cold this deep down. Light from the surface barely reached those dim depths. On her own, Aline might have been nervous. Down here, who knew what could suddenly appear... She shuddered. But Nelo's presence beside her was comforting. At least it meant she wasn't alone.
"There," he said softly, pointing ahead. Sure enough, the blurred outline of the underwater ruins could be seen.
"All right," Sher's voice crackled in her ear. "This could be a false alarm, but both of you be careful anyway. Once you're inside- if there's anything left to be inside of- tell me, okay. You know what to do, but do it quick. The less you stay down there, the better." Well duh. Aline rolled her eyes.
"Gotcha," she responded. Cautiously they approached the ruin, now not much more than a series of disconnected walls and pillars, covered in all sorts of seaweed and molluscs. As they passed through a ruined archway, she spoke again.
"Okay, we're in. I don't see anything at the moment."
But that was the worrying thing. As far as Aline could see, there was not a living creature in the immediate vicinity apart from her and Nelo. The ruins should have been teeming with schools of fish, yet it was eerily bare. Aline's skin prickled. This didn't feel right.
Quickly and efficiently, she and Nelo searched the ruins. But they found no bodies- a fact that made Aline both thankful and apprehensive at the same time. She ran one hand over a stone. Maybe they just went somewhere and forgot to tell any- wait.
There, partially buried in the sand, was... Oh no.
"Nelo!" she called, and immediately he came. She pointed to her discovery. With one hand, he hoisted it up out of the sand. He looked at her gravely through his face mask. It was even worse than she had thought. Shit.
It was a diving regulator. Or, more specifically, the remains of one. Something had perforated it, leaving a huge gash. But that wasn't all. Here and there, plainly visible, were...
Bite marks? Aline thought. This was bad. The bite marks alone could be explained away as being from a shark, but the gash... no animal could have done that.
"Sher..." she said. "I think we've-"
At that precise moment, Nelo gave a warning cry. A split second later, a veritable shockwave of water collided into her.
—
"Aline!" Sher called into the radio. "Dammit, Aline, answer me! Nelo!" he pounded the dashboard in frustration. Why weren't they answering? He checked the controls quickly- fine. But, apart from that last statement- mysteriously cut short- there was nothing from either of them.
His knuckles went white as his fists curled into balls. He could only imagine what was going on down there. And he knew he was powerless to help. A sick feeling settled in his stomach.
—
Disorientation. Aline no longer knew which way was up, or down. It was so dark and dim; her vision was blurred, she could hardly see. She tried shaking her head. As her vision settled, she was able to discern... tentacles.
A kraken?
A demon.
She fumbled with the holster at her shoulder, pulling out the sniper rifle. Though, it wasn't like the telescopic aim was even remotely necessary. The thing was huge. She shot at the demon and was rewarded by a shriek as the bullet penetrated its rubbery dark brown skin- though whether it was of pain or rage was anyone's guess. A tentacle shot out towards her, which she narrowly avoided. Where the hell was Nelo? An arm pulling at her answered her question. He pulled away from the demon, righting her as he did so.
Dimly she could hear Sher's voice buzzing in her ear. Now is not the time, Sher, she thought . She fired off another shot at the creature, and it shrieked again. Another tentacle lashed out. As she and Nelo separated to escape the lightning-quick blow, she felt a sharp, stinging pain in her leg. Looking down, she saw a gash in her shin, a thin line of crimson blood blossoming and dissolving into the water.
The bloody thing has spikes on its tentacles! But as pain began to claw its way up her leg, she realized something far, far worse.
The spikes were poisoned.
Already she could feel a numbness in her extremities. Her arms felt leaden, and her breath started to come in short gasps. Nelo... she thought dimly. I need help... she didn't want to die at the bottom of the sea! Groggily she looked around. There... it was Nelo, and... he had his katana unsheathed. Was he intending to attack the demon with that? No, you idiot! Use your gun! She tried to speak but found she couldn't. She could only look on, and even that looked like it wouldn't last. Tunnel vision was already setting in.
But something strange was happening. Nelo was fighting the demon with his sword, and... the demon was retreating. Was he actually besting the demon? That... that's... im- impossible... her thoughts were starting to slip away from her. The pain had started clutching at her torso. She knew she wouldn't last much longer.
"Ne- Nelo!" she managed to choke out.
The demon was retreating. As her vision started to fade, she dimly saw Nelo swimming over to her.
—
She was fading. Nelo could see her life start to slip away before his very eyes. And he knew that unless something was done, fast, she would die. Locking his arms around her slim waist, he started to drag her limp form to the surface. Breathe deep. Kick with your legs. Faster. She's dying! Dammit, he wasn't going fast enough! As he strained to lift her faster, he could feel something inside himself, straining to get loose, to emerge. To take over...
For a split second, the hands gripping her became claws.
Then they surfaced, and the... thing straining inside him settled. With powerful stokes Nelo swam to the speedboat, handing the comatose Aline over to Sher's firm grasp. Hauling himself over the side of the boat and ripping off his face mask, he gasped-
"Demon... poison."
This was all the information Sher needed. Laying Aline gently down, he strode over to a cabinet and pulled out a small metal case. This he opened, drawing out a small syringe filled with a clear liquid. That seemed to be glowing.
"Hold her down." he instructed. Nelo placed both hands on her shoulders and his knee on her legs. Then Sher jammed the syringe into her thigh.
For a second nothing happened. And another. Then, Aline gasped. And she screamed, a cry of pure agony. Her back arched upwards and her head tilted back, her hands curled into fists, and she clenched her jaw, fighting not to scream again- a battle already lost. She screamed again, and again. Her breath came in racking sobs. Her arm lashed out hitting the deck, and she arched her back again, straining against Nelo's restraining grip.
Suddenly she collapsed. For a moment Nelo feared she wasn't breathing- but then she drew a shuddering breath, and her eyes opened. She stared up at him for a moment, then her face broke into a weak smile.
"Ow... what the heck... was that? I feel like a train wreck," she groaned.
"Welcome back. You don't look much better, either." Sher couldn't hide the relief in his voice.
"You didn't... have to... revive me, did you?" She sat up with another groan, and a fair bit of help from Nelo.
"Nope. Nelo got you back up here in time for me to use this." He held up the syringe for Aline to see. She peered at the remains of the liquid.
"Isn't that... Holy water?" She blinked groggily.
"Yup." Sher nodded. Aline turned her head to Nelo.
"Thanks, then." she whispered- then she frowned.
"Erm, Sher..." her voice sounded slightly odd. Slightly... strained?
"Yeah, what?" Attentive, concerned; Aline had his undivided attention. Almost like devotion.
"Uh..." she looked dubious. Then she seemed to make up her mind about something. "Nothing." she shook her head. "Let's just get back to the house. You'll need to... call the Agency, that was a... a big sucker down there." She had her eyes fixed on Nelo's face, although searching for something. He was looking out at the sea with a distant look in his eyes. Occasionally a strange expression would cross his face, though what he could be thinking she had no idea. She didn't want to guess either.
As though had felt her eyes on him, he turned his head slightly to look at him. A shiver lightly ran its way up her spine as his ice blue eyes met her own dark ones. She tried to say something but couldn't- and this time it wasn't because of any poison. Thankfully, he looked away, and Aline was spared having to rack her brains for something to say.
She always had hated small talk.
—
By the time the speedboat had pulled into the small cove next to the house at around midmorning, Aline was sufficiently recuperated to walk. And so walk she did. In fact, she took off at a rapid pace toward the stone building, much to the surprise of Nelo and (private amusement of) Sher.
Shaking his head and smiling, Sher grabbed an armload of equipment. Nelo did the same, albeit without the head-shake and smile. Whether it was for some particular reason or merely because he was by nature more serious than Sher was debatable.
Either way, upon entering the house they found various things; miscellaneous diving equipment carelessly shed in several convenient locations around the house, an open first aid kit (minus bandages), and a locked bedroom door.
"Aline?" Sher knocked on the door. "You all right in there?"
"Yeah." Aline's voice came through the door, muffled- but unusually curt. "Don't come in right now," she instructed. Sher heaved a sigh.
"Whatever." He shook his head again.
"Dunno what's gotten into her all of a sudden," he told Nelo. "She's not usually like this after a mission."
Nelo said nothing, but merely turned away. If Aline wanted to be left alone, he would leave her alone. Besides, there was more than one thing he wanted to think about, himself.
—
The small, tiled balcony was rapidly becoming the most frequented place in the entire house. At that particular moment in time, Nelo stood facing the sea, hands resting lightly on the rail. Though, to all intents and purposes, he was contemplating the sea, the look in his eyes was distant. In his mind he saw, over and over again, the fight between Aline and he, and the demon. He remembered the whooshing sound of water rushing by, seeing Aline get hit by one of the whip-like tentacles. Though Aline had been using her gun up till that point, and he had known that he probably should too, the sudden inexplicable urge to draw his katana had been so strong... overwhelming.
So he had followed his instinct, and unsheathed it. For some reason, the water hardly inhibited his movements, slashing in all directions so he cut off the monster's tentacles, weaving, parrying, searching for an opening until finally one presented it to himself and he landed a hit on the demon's fleshy body. In those moments, he had felt so... at ease. Comfortable, in the middle of the battle. It had felt like... like something had stirred deep within him.
Suddenly, he was dragged out of his reverie by an ominous-sounding click. Slightly startled, he turned around. What he saw left him momentarily speechless.
It was Aline. Pointing directly at him with a gun.