Chapter 5: Reunions
As Naoki searched desperately through the rooms of the basement, any doubts he had about something having gone terribly wrong were rapidly fading.
At the very least, it was some sort of natural disaster. The power was out – he'd pressed the elevator button a few times in a vain attempt to get to the roof. That was where he'd last seen Ms. Takao – maybe she was still up there. But the elevator refused to work, so he was forced to give up on it.
There were no lights on, now – it was pitch black darkness, but it seemed being a demon improved your eyesight, because Naoki had no trouble seeing now. Not that there was that much to see in the underground facility – aside from the ghosts. They were popping up now all over the place, amused at him as he tried to avoid their gazes and stares, but some of them shouted at him anyway.
"Yo there, buddy! LOVE your tats!"
As he climbed the stairs to the lobby, two things were immediately apparent. The first was that the place had been pretty badly damaged, almost like an earthquake had hit it. The roof had buckled in certain parts, broken glass was littered all across the floor, and the entrance was blocked off completely.
The second thing that was immediately apparent was that there was no sign of Chiaki. Or of his jacket.
"Chiaki?" Naoki asked the world, not expecting an answer. "Chiaki! Chiaki, where are you!"
He didn't expect an answer, but he got one anyway. "R-right here.. . "
"Chiaki!" Her voice was faint, but it was definitely not a hallucination. She was here, but invisible. "Where are you? Are you okay?"
"Here. .. under the rubble!"
Her voice was coming under the rubble near the entrance. "Hold on, Chiaki! I'll get you out!" He ran to her voice, started digging. "Are you hurt?"
"I. . . I think the roof fell on my legs. They hurt. . .they really hurt, Naoki. Naoki, the sky. . ."
"What about the sky?"
"It's. . . fallen. . .the sky has fallen, Naoki!"
Fallen?
He'd worry about that later. "I found Ms. Takao, Chiaki, she was in the basement! But I haven't seen Isamu yet."
"T-Takao? She's alive? You found her? "
"Yes, I did! She told me. . . she told me . . . "
She told me that the world had ended and that she's part of this evil cult and now it's a demonic apocalypse and oh by the way I've been transformed into a demon and may murder you at any time –
"She told me not to panic, there's nothing to worry about. Chiaki, I. . . " Hs mouth had stopped working. He couldn't tell her. He licked his lips, tried to work up the saliva to speak, but it didn't work. He was mute.
He couldn't dig her free. The more he dug, the more rubble there was. Fate was laughing at him. Safety, or at least his own perception of it, would be outside the hospital. He could get help. He could meet with the others, maybe call the police or the emergency services. But he couldn't get out. Not through here.
"Naoki? Naoki, are you still there?"
"I'm still here, but I can't get to you. I need to go over to the Annexe, find another route out. Maybe I'll meet up with Isamu or something – but I will be back for you, I swear it."
"No. . .no! Naoki, don't leave me!" She had never spoken to him like this before. The façade of determination she always wore, the impassionate gaze, the almost Asshole-like countenance – it was gone, smashed into a million pieces by the horror of the situation. "Naoki please. . .don't leave me. . .. "
For a few fleeting seconds, Naoki was back in the nightmare, back crouched beside his mother, pleading at her lifeless body.
No, no! Mother, don't leave me! I'm sorry for not reading my bible, I'll never do it again. . .please don't go1
He shook his head, returned to reality. And the reality was that Chiaki was hurt and he needed to get to her and he couldn't' do it from where he was now.
"I'm sorry, Chiaki…" Naoki whispered, climbing to his feet and turning away from the lobby. "I'll be right back, I promise." He left her then at a run, going up the stairs 2 at a time, doing his best to ignore her desperate pleads.
"No – no! Naoki, don't go! I – I ORDER YOU!" She screamed, uncomprehending He left me..he left me...he left me!
"NAOKI!"
For the absolute first time in her life, someone had defied her order, and it was not just something stupid like a hot chocolate or an icy pole. No – she was in trouble now, she really did need his help, it wasn't just to show off to the others how much of a door mat Naoki was this time – she was pinned to the ground, lying on her back, her legs crushed beneath a semi collapsed building, staring up at a sky that could not be real.
None of this could be real.
It's wrong.
THIS WORLD IS WRONG!
She cried.
Naoki sprinted through the medical centre, searching for Isamu, but finding only despair, destruction and doubt. There were no humans here, only ghosts who jeered at him as he ran, peering out from behind hospital rooms.
"Well, look who's in a hurry to die!"
"Damn, what a racket you're making! Come on pal, just let me die in pieces!"
"It's a DEMON! A monster! Don't eat me!"
"Momma .. . MOMMA! What's happened to the world! I'm so scared! Momma!"
"What – ANOTHER demon! You're probably after Magatsuhi like the rest of them… leave us alone, would you?"
He was above ground now, able to see out through the windows into the sky, but all he saw was a desolate wasteland. The buildings were gone – obliterated where they stood, only random bits of rubble remaining. The grass and the gardens of the hospital were gone too – incinerated, only burnt husks where they once were. As for the sky.. .it was hard to see it from where he was, but it was red, very red. He'd tried the telephones, the vending machines, the computers – nothing worked.
In the car park was a single solitary car, surprisingly undamaged, perhaps even driveable.. He recognised the model and the colour as Ms Takao's. Aside from that, there was no other real sign of life.
We really could be the only humans left alive. . .
In one of the rooms on the first floor, Naoki had taken another look out at the sky, trying to see if he could see more from a different angle. It was then that'd he spotted the light – a light he'd recognised immediately as the sun that had burned him and Ms. Takao during the Conception.
The one that talked to me in that dream.
It had been such an unbelievable sight that he'd stared at it for several long minutes, despite the blindness hurting his own eyes. It fluctuated as he stared at it, changing in brightness as though it were a gigantic heartbeat, its changes in light almost rhythmic. Strangely though, the light was more soothing than disturbing., again like a heartbeat, so much so that it took Naoki several tries to stop looking at it and continue on his way.
Above all else, the thing that bothered Naoki the most was the sound. The sound of nothing. All his life, there'd been noise. Birds singing, cars driving, loud radios. The sound of life and of nature and of humanity and of technology.
There was nothing now.
Or was there? He pricked his ears.
Yes, there was a sound now, a sound of fighting. Whooshes and yells and demonic snarls – he could hear them now, distantly, off in the distance. Above him, on the second floor – a battle!
Isamu!
"Isamu!" Naoki shouted.
He's fighting back...he's in trouble...I HAVE TO HELP!
Naoki sprinted for the second floor, past all the rooms around him, galloping up the stairs, but he was too late. Even now, with his amplified muscles and enhanced strength and speed, he was still too slow – the battle had ended by the time he arrived..
I can't do anything. . .
The battle was over, but the aftermath was still clearly visible. There was blood, everywhere – black blood, too, mostly, but there were a few red spots of human blood. More than that, however, were the corpses – eight of them, all of the same type. They weren't human, not by any stretch of the imagination – or if they had once been human, they certainly weren't now. They were purple, emaciated beings, but with grotesquely bloated tummies and enormous canine fangs jutting out from their mouths. Little yellow tags hung from their ears and they had only glowing white holes for eyes.
They looked, for a lack of a better word, BUTT UGLY.
They also looked quite dead and their deaths were very obviously not of old age. Some of them were smoking, charred corpses, but it was more as though they'd been cooked from the inside, not exposed to a flamethrower or similar weapon. Others were completely rigid, their limbs more blue than purple. And there were things on their bodies, that looked like. . . teeth marks, and scratches.
This is not Isamu's doing.
There was a noise up ahead, by the passage to the Annexe, like a shuffling of feet and a crashing of medical equipment There was someone up ahead.
Isamu?
He followed the noise, came up to its source, just in time to see a small figure face plant onto the floor.
As he came closer, he had no doubt but to conclude that this was most certainly not Isamu. Nor could he be entirely convinced that it was even human.
She at least looked human, having brown hair and wearing a purple leotard with similar coloured stockings and gloves, but the problem was that she was tiny, way too tiny, barely thirty centimetres long. It didn't matter. She was hurt – badly injured, even, covered in burns and scratches and unconscious It didn't matter what she was – she was hurt, therefore he had to help her. He bent down to pick her up off the floor.
No reaction.
He put his hands around her, one underneath her, the other on top and lifted her up to a sitting position. He didn't know whether it was his new enhanced strength, or whether she was just really, really light, but it was as though he'd picked up nothing but air and she was so small he barely needed two hands to hold her. Naoki had no comprehension of first aid or medical treatment, so he did the first thing he thought of - he gave her a poke in the side and spoke to her.
"Hey. . . are you okay?"
Her eyes snapped open and Naoki found himself staring into a pair of glowing red eyes of pure evil.. He stared, so shocked that he couldn't move. "You're. . . .you're a – "
She scowled, noticed his hands were all over her body, realized that he'd touched her whilst she'd been unconscious, immediately drew her own conclusion. She pointed her hand at him, kicked out at his hands, shouted.
"YOU BIG PERVERT!"
There was a flash of light from her finger and suddenly Naoki yelped in pain, almost as though he'd grabbed an electrical wire and the current had shot through his body en route to the ground. He staggered and lost his grip on the girl, who fell from his hand, but in the very next instant she was back up again, eye level with him despite not even measuring up to his knee. For a few seconds they stared at each other. . .then she snarled, scowled and punched Naoki in the nose.
"Ow!"
She electrocuted me, now she's floating in the air and punching me in the nose. How. . . how did she –
"Take that, pervert!" She shouted. "You ain't getting my Magatsuhi!" He could see now that she was flying, two tiny wings flapping through so quickly they were almost invisible, red glowing eyes of rage boring into his skull, pointed ears laid back as though they were on a beast. She scowled as he continued to stare at her. "What, you want some more of this? I got plenty more Zio where that came from!"
IT"S A DEMON! ITS GONNA EAT MY SOUL!
"Get. . . get away. . . " Naoki shrieked, staggering from the shock – the shock of the electricity and the shock of seeing a demon so close. He took a couple of steps away from her. "You're a monster. . .leave me alone. . . GET AWAY!"
A flicker of stunned disbelief crossed her face but was quickly gone. "You got that right, Pervert boy! I've never seen a demon like you before but you'd better start running back home to your clan. FEAR MY LIGHTNING!"
She snapped her fingers, and Naoki stared in disbelief as sparks began to fly from the tips. "Prepare to die!"
She's going to shock me again!
"No!" Naoki snarled, lunging for her before she could move a muscle, grabbing her in both hands around her shoulders. The demon struggled in his grip and he held her tighter.
. "Let go, Pervert! It hurts!" She yelled, staring up at him with those terrible red eyes, eyes of pure evil. But those bright red eyes were also eyes of fear and of despair and pain, pain that HE had caused and Naoki stared back down, realizing how pitiful she looked. She didn't look like the stereotypical demonic being, more like a scared child, no more than eight or nine years old, who just happened to be able to fly. She was doing her best to hide it, but she was shaking in her leotard, trying to be as defiant as possible despite her absolutely tiny size. That made no sense. Why on earth is the Demon scared of ME?
He saw how insignificant she was compared to him, how WEAK, how her life was completely in his hands - literally. He realized now, why the demon would be scared of him – he was stronger. He was much stronger than she was. . . strong enough to kill her… He could do it – just grip a tiny bit tighter and she'd be-
No.
Naoki stopped squeezing, opened his hand and lowered her to the floor again. She wriggled free of his gasp and fell to her knees, coughing.
"You . . . you bastard. . . you'd be so dead if I was fully healed. . . damn, just wait until I've used my Dia spell. I'm going to kick your ass so hard. . ."
"I'm sorry!" Naoki protested. "I – I just wanted to see if you were okay. You're badly hurt!"
"Yes I am!" she said between coughs and wheezes. "Thanks to you and your fat hands!"
"I'm really sorry for hurting you," he told her, causing her to stop coughing and stare up at him in surprise. "What happened? Why are you badly injured?
"Why do you care?" she snarled at him. "Bah. Fine. Anything to make you be quiet." Actually, she was stalling for time – she'd already cast her Dia healing spell, but it would need some time to work completely.
So she told him. She'd come here with her buddy Jack Frost, having heard there was a wild party about to be held In Yoyogi Park to celebrate the fall of humanity and to consume all the Magatsuhi released when the humans died. Foolishly, she'd let Jack be the one to be the one who created the Demonic Portal from help. As a result, it shouldn't have been a surprise when they turned up here, slightly off course, although it was a lot closer than Jack usually got. The two of them had travelled through the hospital, eating a few humans along the way. Yes, they were very yummy.
The demon was greatly amused when this little snippet of information caused Naoki to dry retch onto the floor.
Continuing the story, they'd found some pass-thingies and stuck one in the annexe, which was invalid, then they'd gone down to the basement, and that was also invalid. Then a human in a freaky hat had pointed out that they'd put the wrong pass-thingy in the wrong machine.
"Human in a freaky hat!" Naoki gasped. "That's Isamu! Where is he? Is he alright? Is he okay?" He'd completely forgotten about his fear of her now – nothing mattered except for Isamu's well being.
"Slow down, would you? Let me finish!" The demon gave him a swat on the nose.
After realizing their mistake, they'd given up on the idea, and she had ordered Jack to teleport to Yoyogi Park again. Sixteen attempts later, when they'd been teleported to pretty much everywhere in Tokyo EXCEPT the Park, they'd ended up back here, because she still had the Pass-Thingy for the annexe. So they'd headed up to the Annex, but then they'd run into a whole heap of Pretas. A big battle followed in which Jack did pretty much nothing and she defeated all the demons, except for three.
"I would have defeated them too, but that stupid human with the freaky hat came out of nowhere, screaming. He ran right into the middle of the battle, totally threw off our concentration, so we got beaten up. I only just managed to escape with my life because the Pretas were too preoccupied with the human to bother with me. But that human must've taken the pass-thingy and now we're stuck and Jack ditched me and it's all your fault, you big meanie!"
"I'm really sorry about that," Naoki answered, "I thought you were an enemy. Thanks for telling me. Do you know where Isamu is now?"
"You're actually thanking . . ." The demon responded with a frown. This was a weird guy. . . something was off about him. "He'd be with the Pretas if he's still alive, They took him into one of the rooms, all the way over there. Why? You going to take him off them?"
Naoki blinked. "I . .. I have to. . . Isamu's has always helped me when I was trouble. . . Now he's the one in trouble. I have to help him."
I just have to kill some monsters. There's just monsters. They don't have feelings. . . it's for Isamu's own good.
The Pixie thought for a moment, then grinned. "Alright, then listen. I just got an idea. I need to get that pass-thingy, you want to swipe their human, we both want to beat up the icky Pretas. See where I'm going with this?"
"You want us to . . .team up?" Naoki swallowed. He didn't like this idea. Teaming up with a demon?
The demon nodded. "That's right. You look kinda flabby and weak, but at least you should be able to take a few hits before you drop. You keep those demons off me, and I'll electrocute their asses. Whaddya say? Are we partners? At least until we get out of this crappy place?"
Naoki blinked. He really didn't want to deal with any demon at all, but this was an emergency. Isamu didn't have the same powers he had now and could be badly injured, which meant he would need this demon's powers. Plus, Naoki had a sinking suspicion that if all the humans really WERE dead and he was stuck in a demonic apocalypse, then he'd need to take his friends wherever he could get them.
There was just one problem and Naoki's conscience ordered him to bring it up. "But you're injured! If you get into a fight, you might –"
"Injured?" The demon grinned. "Who, me?" She flew around him, showing off her speed and agility. All of the wounds he had seen on her before were gone, just like magic. "My Dia spell took care of those injuries. How about this – I'll heal your wounds when the Pretas cave in your skull. How about that idea?"
She actually had no intention of healing him at all. Anything to make this idiot help me. I'm missing the Party in Yoyogi Park. Thanks for nothing, Jack!
There was no other way. Naoki nodded. "Yeah. Partners. My name's Naoki Kashima. What is yours?"
"Pixie," she replied. "I'm Pixie of the Fairy Clan, and we don't do no stupid human rituals, we address in the demon way. Name and clan, just like me.
"Oh, sorry," Naoki blinked. "Okay – I'm Naoki. . .of the Kashima clan."
Pixie blinked. "What the hell are you, a HUMAN!" She didn't seem to notice Naoki's face going pale. "I wasn't born yesterday! Tell me your clan! Your real one!"
"But. . but that's the only clan I know!" That wasn't quite true – back in the nightmarish world of Amala, Ms. Takao had told him that he was a Hito-Shura, what ever the heck one of those was, but he was stuck in a dilemma. He didn't want to acknowledge to himself that he was a demon and he didn't want to acknowledge to the Pixie thing that he was a human. He felt she wouldn't appreciate that. She seemed nasty enough to him as it was and she thought that he was a demon like her. What would she do to him if she learned that he was not a demon at all but a human?
""Are - are you SERIOUS? What sort of demon doesn't know their own clan? How on earth can you not know something so vital!
Naoki shrugged. "I just don't. Is it really that important?"
"Yes it is! I refuse to team up with you until you introduce yourself in the proper demon way: by announcing your clan affiliation. Pick one, or otherwise take a hike!"
"Fine," Naoki said, exasperated. "Let's just pick one, then. Which Clan do you think I'm from?"
"Hmmm..." she looked him up and down. "Let's see here. . . with the way you're speaking, you certainly sound like a Brute, but they usually have horns poking out their forehead, not the other way. .. You're too tall for a Fairy. ..you can't be a Beast, you're too hairy. . . maybe you're a Foul. You certainly smell bad enough."
"No I don't! It's just –" Just the blood on your face and hands and feet from all the demons you killed and probably some vomit here and there –
"Oh yes you do, Perv – hey, there you go."
"There I go what? Naoki didn't understand.
"I've picked your clan affiliation for ya," she said with a grin. "You are . . . " she did a drum roll on a wall.
". . .NAOKI OF THE PERVERTS!"
His metaphorical jaw hit the metaphorical floor so hard that it bounced, the markings on his body going bright red along with his face. "N-N-N-Naoki of the . . . Perverts!"
He could just see the look on his friends faces, on the people at Sunday school, on his newest foster family, on all the foster familles he'd ever met in his life . . .
"Yep, that's you," she said with a huge grin and a summersault in the air. "Nice to meet you, Naoki of the Perverts. Let's be friends!"
Naoki stared at her in disbelief.
How did my life ever come to this?
"Magatsuhi! Magatsuhi! Magatsuhi! Eat! Eat! Eat!"
"What are they doing?" The pixie asked.,
Naoki continued to look through the keyhole. "I . . . I really don't know. I can see three purple things . . . and Isamu, on the floor." Truthfully, Naoki did not want to know just what the three Pretas were doing to his best friend in there. The two of them were just outside the room she had indicated, getting ready for battle. "They're chanting about eating and Magatsuhi."
The pixie shrugged. "That's them, alright – only two priorities in their life, eating and gathering Magatsuhi. Not that it's unique to them, of course, they're just a little more rabid about it."
Naoki didn't like hearing the Pretas talking about eating in Isamu's near vicinity. This bothered him. "They. . .they won't eat Isamu, will they?" He asked his companion for reassurance, who was sitting on his head.
The Pixie glanced back at him with a snort. "OF COURSE they're going to eat Isamu, if they haven't already. What else do you think they nicked him for, to join them in a sing along? They're PRETAS. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they escape this room by eating through the wall. Why, what's the matter, Naoki of the Perverts? Having second thoughts about hurting the poor things?"
"Well, um. . . " Naoki stammered. She'd guessed correctly. All of the bravado Naoki had possessed a few minutes ago had dissipated as he began to fully grasp the complete mess he'd just gotten himself into. This. . . Pixie. . . believed Naoki was a demon, mostly because he WAS a demon – a human soul in a demonic body. Thus, she fully expected him to act like a demon. That was, do demonic things that God would most likely not approve of. This did not sit well within Naoki's conscience.
God hates me, Naoki thought to himself. I should have died back in the Conception. You were right, Ms. Takao – surviving the Conception is a million times worse than dying in it.
"Hey – hey, Pervert!" The pixie gave him a clout on the ear. "Stop spacing out, would you?"
"S-sorry!" Naoki replied, near automatically. "So, what's the plan?"
"I already told you – charge in head on, beat the crap out of the icky Pretas, revel in your victory and I'll support you, especially for the celebrating. Why – something wrong?"
"Yeah, there is," Naoki replied, testing the handle of the door carefully. "I think this is locked."
"So what? It's just a human door. Break it down!"
"No," Naoki shook his head. "We can't just charge in – Isamu might get hurt." The Pretas might get hurt as well. Naoki was almost fine with beating up the corpses back in the nightmare world – they were dead already, nothing but disembodied skulls floating around supported only by purple mist. The Pretas were infernal beings, yes, but alive. They would scream when he crushed their bones, when he ripped out their organs, when he –
Why the hell am I doing this?
Pixie had the same question running through her mind. "But he's just a HUMAN! I know that they've just become a little rare to find, but they're not much use aside from novelty value. They're only good for being a good source of Magatsuhi, but you mustn't want that, huh?"
"No, I don't," Naoki replied, not thoroughly understanding just what Magatsuhi was.
"Heh, you're one weird demon, not wanting Magatsuhi," Pixie shrugged. "More for me, then. You know this, don't you – the more freaked out the human, the more Magatsuhi they're emitting out of their orifices!"
If that's the case, then I must be emitting enough Magat-whatsit to summon the four horsesmen of the Apocalypse.
Of course, the situation being as it is, Naoki wouldn't really be surprised if he found them drinking Sake down at the local Dive, their horses tethered up outside.
The Pixie was still talking. "So tell me, Naoki of the Perverts. If you don't want one for Magatsuhi, what DO you want a human for?"
"He's my friend," Naoki replied.
The demon's jaw dropped. "Your. . . your friend? You're risking your life for a Frend? "Greeeat, JUST GREAT, you're one of THOSE demons.. . alright, let's try it this way. I'll lure them out by speaking in their nappy native tongue. They come out, we crush them, we go in and rescue your little pet human. There. How's that sound? Good?"
Naoki nodded.
"Alright then. Just give me a minute. .. " The pixie cleared her throat, then spoke in a much deeper tone. "Gruuuuuuuaaaahhhh!" It was not so much a spoken word as it was an unnatural grunt.
Demonic growls and shrieks could be heard from inside the room. "Gruuh? Who there?"
"Grrrrruruuuuh," Pixie replied. "Weeee.. . Haaaaaave Magat. . suhiiiiiii. Brooooooiought . . . Looooooots."
". . . Gah! Lots Magatsuhi?"
Pixie pointed to Naoki, signalling him to get ready. He nodded, crouched down.
"Yeeeeeeess. Brrought Looooots Maaaaaaagatuhi. .. . "
I'm actually doing this. I'm actually doing this.He couldn't help but tremble. . . in fear? Or was it anticipation for a fight?
Am I actually eager to hurt these demons? What's happening to me?
The door unlocked, was thrown wide open as the three Pretas came shooting out into the hall with eager shouts. "WE EAT! WE EAT!" They were the same monsters he had seen dead on the ground before, purple beasts with bloated tummies but emaciated bones. Naoki briefly wondered what it would feel like to break their bones. It'd probably be just like snapping toothpicks.
No, don't think about that!
He waited until the three Pretas were all the way out of the room and wondering around in the hall, looking around in confusion. "Gaah? Where. . .Where is. . . . Magatsuhi?"
"RIGHT HERE, HAUNT SCUM!"
The Pretas whirled around, saw Naoki, charged for him, but before they could he was already upon them, fists swinging, the Pixie whooping from her vantage point on his head. "YAAAA! Take that, you icky things! CHAARGE!"
And Naoki obeyed – he ploughed straight through the Pretas, snapping bones and sending the purple demons flying into the walls, where they crumpled to the floor.
"Magatsuhi. . ." one of the Pretas moaned.
It was all over in a flash – the demons cowering and whimpering on the floor, Naoki sweating bullets, but more from the stress, not from the actual fight. The fight was so one sided he wasn't even panting.
Unholy Hell, Pixie thought to herself from her position on his head. This demon's a lot stronger than I thought.
"Alright!" She cheered, leaping off his head and doing a couple of laps around his face. "You kicked their asses, Naoki of the Perverts! Let's finish them off, quick!"
"No!" Naoki didn't want to hurt anything any more than he had to, so he wasn't obeying this time. Instead, he appeared to have performed a magic trick, disappearing from view.
Pixie snarled. "Hey - Pervert! What are you doing!" She already knew the answer to that question: He was running into the recently vacated room in search of that pet human of his.
He probably wants me to heal that weak thing. BAAH!
She flew in after him, took in the scene with a disinterested glance, then began to look around on the floor for the Annexe Pass-thingy.
Authors Notes
Hi all, Black Snapper reporting, just wishing to take a moment to gloat at all the attention I'm getting ^_^ My handy dandy traffic stat graph tells me that this story has now registered 369 hits and 157 individual visitors, which is AWESOME. Better still, I have 12 reviews! A round of applause to: Hades378 , Lupus-Cantus-Grimoure , The Man Who Has No Life, Damien Black, DarkFlareFox (despite your review being only an emoticon, that's still awesome!) and 741852AuthorNicolaStarlaLili, despite the fact that you're scary. All hail my reviewers, and all hail the abilities of copy paste, without which I could never have typed out those pennames!
*The four horseman of the Apocalypse clap in the background*
Right now, I'm trying to uncover more details about Dante, specifically his character and personality. Searching for "Dante" in the Megami Tensei fic area was . . . err. . . less than productive (for those who haven't pllayed the game, the entire cast is NOT madly in love with each other!), and his Wikipedia article was essentially claims of how badass he was. I played Devil May Cry 2, in which he was almost completely a silent protagonist, so I'm assuming he's a bit chattier in the first one.