A/N: Hey guys, it's a nice grey dawn right now and about quarter to seven in the morning, I'm absent the good creepy music that I had last night but let's see what kind of nightmares my imagination can dredge up now, I think I'm just going to go at this chapter until the fic is done so this may end up being much longer than your average chapter, but then again, it may not… so let's get started shall we?
Disclaimer: I think I'm getting as much sleep as the average game maker, that's for sure…
Monster Among the Pines
"Natalie!" Cheri exclaimed when Dante knocked on the door, her father, whom the half devil hadn't met yet, was standing behind his wife, looking amazed yet tired.
"You might want to tie her down." The slayer said and both adults looked at him with horrified expressions
"What are you…" Dante raised his palm and cut Cheri's husband off
"I had to drag her kicking and screaming from that forest, whatever's keeping her there doesn't want her to leave, I'm afraid that she'll hurt herself…" with that he turned and looked out into the forest, wondering where Nero was and if he was okay. The half devil had to keep reminding himself that Nero was a tough kid and he'd get through this all right… that didn't stop the worries in the back of his mind though…
"Where are you going?" Cheri asked, Dante just looked over his shoulder and said
"To get Nero." Before Triggering and taking off, he seemed to have better luck above the trees than amidst them, when he was in that fog and repetitive landscape it cloyed at his mind and made him sluggish, neither of those things would be productive or helpful when it came to finding the kid.
"C'mon Nero…" Dante whispered "Where are you…?"
-Predator and Prey-
Nero felt every muscle in his body tighten as he took long powerful strokes through the water, trying not to think about what could possibly be underneath him at any given moment, what that watery darkness could be hiding… His head snapped to the left when he heard that thing again, whatever it was, it certainly wasn't human but strangely its aura said otherwise, the teen was confused until the thought of that disturbing skeletal creature came to his mind again, what had that thing been…? Human? Demon? Somewhere in between…? Nero didn't know and didn't want to think about it. Though it's hard to keep something off your mind when that very thing is making noise not far from you and making it loud; the partial devil was so distracted by the growls and shrieks that came from the woods that he didn't at first notice the feeling of something poking at his toes. Another tickle and Nero jolted back to awareness, he kicked his foot hard and felt it connect with something under the water. A massive shiver ran down his spine, and it wasn't from the cold, something was down there, he had known there would be something down there! He'd stayed up watching enough horror flicks with Dante to know that there was always something in the creepy dark water. As soon as these thoughts were through his head the thing grabbed his ankle and pulled him under.
The partial devil felt his shocked breath leave him in a trail of bubbles, he pulled his body toward whatever had him by the leg with the intent of clawing it off with his Devil Bringer. What he didn't expect to encounter, however, was a girl with dark hair and a pale face, from what he could tell in the murky water, one side was marred with what looked like burn marks and long, deep scars. Any air that was left in his lungs swiftly left as the teen let out a small shout of surprise, the noise muffled by the water around him. In his startled panic he Triggered, the shockwave knocking the girl off and the energy enough to allow him to make it to shore in a few scant seconds.
Nero panted on his hands and knees for a moment, trying to regain what semblance of sanity he had remaining. When he looked back out at the water he saw the top of the girl's head, her eyes reflecting back the light of his Devil Bringer. She didn't move any closer but neither did she turn to leave. The teen shivered, what the hell was sh… he didn't get to finish his thought as he heard footsteps crunching on the sand behind him. He whirled, grabbing the closest thing off the sand and pointing it at his attacker, said thing happened to be the flashlight and the beam fell on his attacker. The other girl stopped maybe ten feet away and hissed, shielding her eyes from the bright light. She took her hand down and then the light hit her eyes once more and she hissed and recoiled again, Nero couldn't help himself, he snickered.
"You're not the sharpest tool in the shed now are you?" he asked when she repeated the action once more. The partial devil carefully kept the beam trained on the girl while he knelt and retrieved both Red Queen and Blue Rose before cursing and realizing that he'd dropped his boots in the lake when he'd been attacked. He looked at the girl caught in his flashlight beam, she wore a plain mask, with her eyes and mouth outlined in black, though the latter had no slot or opening of any kind. Blood splattered her hands and formerly white hoodie, the sight of blood on white reminding the teen of Credo and he felt his heart pang. Then he shook his head and stood up straight and stared his enemy in the eyes, just as his adoptive brother would have done, the partial devil smirked as the girl recoiled again, not seeming to understand that if she stopped shirking away, her eyes would adjust to the light.
"I don't suppose you'll tell your friend to nicely bring my boots back huh?" all he got in response was an animalistic snarl. Grouchy and fed up, the partial devil snarled back, this seemed to startled the girl, quite a bit actually, she paused, blinking at him from behind her mask before realizing that the flashlight no longer hurt and leaping straight at the teen who fired a warning shot that did nothing and startled no one but himself.
Nero felt all of his breath leave him in a big whoosh as the knife he hadn't seen in the girl's hand plunged into his gut. She proceeded to scratch at his face a few times before leaping from his body and vanishing into the forest.
"Ouch…" the devil hunter groaned, putting a hand to the wound as it slowly started to heal, it had happened so quickly… why hadn't she just finished him off when she had the chance…? Nero sighed and walked into the forest and was quickly surrounded by dark trees and fog once more…
-Predator and Prey-
Hours rolled by slowly and Nero's internal clock told him that it should long since be day but the forest remained stubbornly dark and foggy, he'd collected a few drawings and other scraps of paper, things left around by people when the woods hadn't been a place of fear. Why were people so afraid of the woods again…? In amidst all his wanderings he'd somewhat forgotten why he was here… There was a girl that chased him, like a dangerous game of tag, he'd been tagged a few times and had chased her down, inflicting a minor injury in return, the last time she'd spoken to him for the first time, her voice echoing pleasantly in his head when she mentally touched him…
It's fun isn't it…? It's always like this, you're good at it too, some newcomers don't understand… The next time she caught him and tackled him to the ground, Nero couldn't help himself, he started giggling and left his hands over his head in a gesture of surrender. She giggled back, the sound distorted behind her mask. Nero didn't think he just asked, his head felt thick and fuzzy anyway, everything just had a fun shiny coating over it. It was almost like when he really let loose on his demonic instincts, it was all play, it was all a game, except that was always a little serious, this wasn't, this was just pure unadulterated fun…
Are there other newcomers? He didn't know how he connected his mind with hers, but it didn't matter, it worked and that was all that mattered. The girl, the chaser, he somehow knew, daintily got off of him and lifted her mask to the blotted out sky.
Not right now, there was a little girl but the red monster took her away, at least that's what the boy told me.
Boy…?
The one who's been with our master the longest, he has the best connection to the forest and what happens in it. The one who's changed the most. The Chaser replied, looking back down from the branches to Nero, who had a sudden flash of a skeletal looking boy in his mind, where had he seen him before again…? The teen flexed his claws, looking at them in mild fascination as the color pulsed from blue through green to yellow and back again.
It changes color? The chaser asked, warily pointing at the glowing limb, she didn't like the light, it hurt too much, the white haired teen wondered why this information kept flowing into his head but didn't question it.
I guess… and then with a cruel grin he swiped out with them and The Chaser hissed, leaping back, though when she looked at him her eyes were smiling in their own strange flat way. The game was back on, the teen couldn't remember why he was here, who he was, or how long he'd been here, but it didn't matter, the game was on…
-Predator and Prey-
It wasn't long until the two were joined by others, the game was a strange and dangerous mixture of hide and seek and tag and capture the flag. The boy, the skeletal looking male with empty eye sockets seemed to be the best, much to the clawed teen's surprise. Then he remembered what The Chaser had said, the boy had been around the longest; he knew when and where the strange openings in space would happen, he knew every tree root and every leaf, and would disappear behind one tree only to appear elsewhere, generally behind one of them and get in a good tag or would rearrange their papers. To the teen the system of who was winning by where the papers were made perfect sense, to anyone else, it looked like the papers were disappearing and reappearing with no order whatsoever. That's how ghostly they moved, until the boy would tag one of them from behind, then there'd be a shriek of laughter or a sharp cry of pain and all would be silent again.
The teen was enjoying himself greatly until the other girl showed up, she refused to join in the game and the teen couldn't understand why, couldn't she see how much fun this was? When The Chaser approached her she backed away, shaking her head, speaking strangely from her mouth.
"No, no, no… don't touch me…"
Pet…
"Shut up! I am not a pet! My name is Lauren! Lauren! Don't you remember Kate?!" she grabbed The Chaser by her shoulders and she let off a fierce growl, raking sharp nails across the other girl's face, she collapsed and strange choking sounds came from her and her shoulders heaved. The teen tilted his head and looked to the boy who knew he was looking and met the teen's eyes with his own orbless sockets.
She is the Master's pet, she has a hard time letting go of her previous life, her breaking was… harder than most and she refuses to see the fun in the games we played…
Previous life?
When she was human, that is why she cries, that is why breaks the beauteous silence of the trees, that is why she speaks aloud. The teen looked at his hands, one soft and pale peach, the other hard and red and blue with a glow that was slowly fading to red.
Was I human? Bony hands traced over his glowing arm as the boy tilted his head from one side to another.
I do not know, I saw you in your previous life but I cannot say if you were human… the boy seemed about to continue but was stopped by the feeling of a heavy presence, thick and warm, as though an old quilt had been thrown over all of them. They turned and saw the Master standing there, his eye-less face taking them all in, he turned his 'gaze' to The Chaser and Pet.
What happened? His voice was gentle but stern in their heads.
She refuses to forget master… the Chaser replied, Pet looked up and saw the Master and shrieked, backing up as fast as she could but the master's inky black tentacles grabbed her before she could go too far.
"NO!NO! LET ME GO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" the other three winced at the volume of her shrieks.
Pet… I warned you what would happen if you didn't let go, you have an incredible opportunity here, why do you waste it…?
"I am not your pet! You're a monster!" She was still screaming when the master took her away, disappearing without a trace.
It was only a few moments later when he returned, his attention focused on the teen now, who watched with curious eyes, as the master reached out with a white hand and ran it gently over his face. The teen wasn't sure why the urge overcame him but it did and he turned and bit the hand violently, sharp teeth easily drawing blood. Instead of the reprimand he was expecting, laughter echoed in his head.
Despite having given in you can't help but challenge anything that's set in front of you tcan you my little challenger? A silver brow shot upward over bright crimson eyes in curiosity. Let's see how far you will go… I have a challenge for you, the Master raised his head, for all of you. There is a man I need you to play with, I need him as scared and unsettled as you can make him, and then you, little challenger, shall go and fight him, I will help you when it becomes too much…
I'm strong! I'm plenty strong! The teen protested
And for as strong as you are, he is stronger still.
-Predator and Prey-
Dante was worried sick over the kid, it'd been almost a day and a half and Nero was still nowhere to be found. He'd gone in shifts of flying over the forest and walking inside it, trying to find his younger partner, it was almost like the teen didn't want to be found. The half devil was currently walking in the trees and for the past two hours had had this nagging feeling of slight, mostly human auras darting around him, it was like he was being watched and the elder slayer didn't like it one bit. He paused and felt something hit his head, at first he blew it off as a leaf or a drop of water but when one became two then three, the smell that struck his nose made him pause. It was coppery and sharp, it was blood.
"No…" Dante looked up and saw a body horrifically impaled on the tree branches above him. The brown hair assured him that it was not his hunting partner but that didn't make it any less worse. The trees were scaled in seconds and he saw it was a young woman, her eyes twitched over to him and the half devil realized with horror that she was still alive.
"Hold on!" he said, frantically looking in different directions for how she'd become so entangled and impaled to help him get her off. Her fingers touched his knee, the closest thing to her, there was a blood choked giggle and the words.
Found you… echoed in his head and then she became still.
"Dammit!" the slayer swore, he did the best he could to get her down and closed her eyes once she was laying on the ground.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." He said, now more determined than ever to find Nero. As soon as this thought ran through his head he heard a vicious growl behind him, one that he recognized. Dante whirled around only to see something that only vaguely resembled his hunting partner.
"Nero…?" he asked, the teen was dirty and his Devil Bringer was now pulsing a deep crimson to match his eyes which seemed blank and absent.
Nero made no response, simply swung at him, his typical weapons missing; Dante sidestepped the attack.
"Nero! Kid! Come back! You're stronger than this thing!" the half devil was now actively dodging and trying to get the younger to back down as well. Nero was showing no recognition to any of the elder's attempts at reaching him, mentally. What Dante didn't expect though was to be grabbed from behind by what appeared to be inky black tentacles. He swung Rebellion behind himself, freeing himself from the imprisonment only to turn around and see an enraged… well the elder wasn't quite sure what to call this thing, it was a faint mockery of a man, a man in a suit, only this monster had no face and was far taller than any man that Dante had ever seen. If that wasn't enough the tentacles emanated from this creature, roiling up from the ground around its shadow as well.
In his distraction the half devil received a good clawing from Nero's Devil Bringer down his back, Dante cursed and did the best he could to fend off both his hunting partner and this new monstrosity. Even for the great son of Sparda this was a bit much, two enemies of this caliber was no problem, the problem was trying to fend off one while not hurting him. Finally he'd gotten a good enough swing in at the monster that it teleported off for a moment. That moment was enough for Dante to turn and run the kid through with Rebellion. He knew Nero would survive, and despite the blade in his gut the teen was still fighting tooth and nail to get his claws into the half devil. Dante grabbed the partial devil's shoulder and stared into those eyes that glared such hate back at him.
"Nero. Remember. Remember me? Remember the obnoxious guy dressed in red with the bad jokes?" the tiniest bit of confusion came across the teen's face. "Good to know that's how you remember me kid," the elder grumbled to himself before continuing. He could feel the presence of the creature behind him but for whatever reason it hadn't moved to attack him. "C'mon Nero, come back to me."
Iiiiiit iiiiiissss hoooopeelllleeesssss, ssssssooooonnn ooooofff Spaaaarrrrdaaaaa. The creature said behind him, Dante ignored it and continued to encourage his partner.
"Nero, what about Kyrie? What would she think if you just gave up like this, you've got to fight through it, for her." This got a reaction, tears welled up in the teen's eyes and he took a step back, sliding off Rebellion and collapsing to his knees, choking and crying as he started to heal, both mentally and physically.
"Nero's not a kid you can just mess with," Dante sneered as he reengaged the now furious monster behind him. "he's quite the firecracker, and has more stubborn pigheadedness than even his father. I think it just comes with the Sparda bloodline," The elder dodged a few tentacles, regaining more of his battle wit as things took on a more normal pace. "You kick us down and we come up swinging harder than ever." A tentacle grazed his cheek and the half devil hissed lightly as it healed.
He is nothing more than a pup. A toy for a more powerful devil. At these words Dante growled and Triggered, but what he didn't notice was Nero's face lift, an expression of pure fury on his face.
The monster didn't expect the fiery attack from his former pet, his former toy, he thought the boy would be incapacitated by shock and sadness for quite a while longer, instead the partial devil grabbed Red Queen from where she'd been amongst the leaves and Triggered, going double bladed at the monster in front of him.
To both of the slayer's horror when the monster was decapitated tentacles laced up and formed a new head. The decedents of Sparda's blood shared a quick sidelong glance and Dante went to town hacking at the back of the monster, chopping off as many tentacles as he could as Nero took it on from the front.
"Nero, now!" the elder yelled, Nero swung Yamato clean through the creature's neck and jabbed Red Queen into its heart, at first it chuckled, then the partial devil turned the handle and lit up the powerful blade. It easily lit fire, as though its body were made of dry leaves but its final words were what scared Nero the most.
As long as man shall fear the dark, there shall be another…
-Predator and Prey-
Dante watched as Nero collapsed to the ground and both of them raised their heads when two agonized screams met their ears.
"What was that?" Dante asked, Nero bit his lip, he didn't want to remember the time under the control of that monster but he did…
"That was the two others under that thing's control." The teen paused for a second as though debating something and then promptly threw up, as though emptying his stomach would help to cleanse him. "They're too far gone to save…"
"You weren't…" the half devil said softly, he paused then rubbed his partner's back before offering him a hand up.
"Come on, we've still got some work to do, Natalie's back with her family, let's see if we can't help out these two as well." Nero took a deep breath then nodded, grabbing the elder's hand and rising to his feet. The two nodded to one another and then plowed into the forest, ready for whatever other surprises it held for them.
A/N: Holy. Shit. I've been working on this chappie like all day… I know that's kind of a weird ending for the story but honestly, I like leaving some things up to the reader to decide, this actually more typical of how I write my original works, the endings are a little more open. Anywho, I thought this was lots of fun, super-duper creepy, but fun, it was pretty cool to get into the proxies' heads and see things from their points of view. Now I think I'm gonna get going on more FoH cause… yeah I'm going to! It's been lots of fun guys! And I hope to see you in the crossover realm again soon!
Till next time,
-Winged Element