Hello~ ^^

Thanks to everybody, who read, subscribed, faved and reviewed! I'm glad you're interested. ^^ This chapter is still kind of an introduction... the real thing starts with chapter 2.

Again, thanks to my beta reader Blood of Dusk for her support!

Chapter 1

Nero moaned softly in pain. If that was how humans had to deal with their injuries, they deserved respect.

Dante was stitching up the gash in his upper arm, as it just wouldn't stop bleeding.

"Fucking shit! Do you mind being a little more careful? It hurts like hell, you can't even imagine!"

Dante smirked and tore off the thread he had used to suture the younger one's injury. Now he understood why Nero was acting like a total pussy: he was scared. Scared shitless, that is.

"Poor, little, injured human kiddo." he said in a sing-song voice, then frowned. He felt a sense of déjà vu and grinned lightly. "Don't worry about that, I'm sure it's just a phase, you'll be alright again. Demonic powers included. You shouldn't have acted like an ass though. You should have just told me about it and we'd have already found a solution by now. Ha!"

Nero rolled his eyes and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

"Whatever…" he mumbled angrily.

"What? You still got a problem? Look, I'm not a psychiatrist; it'd be nice if you talked to me once in a while instead of just-"

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm really not comfortable with this situation! Kyrie … broke up with me. … And now this. Will you just for once do me the favor of shutting up and leaving me alone?"

There was an unpleasant moment of silence which was interrupted by Nero hissing in pain, his soft features contorting as he clutched his Devil bringer tightly. Dante, alarmed, shifted a little closer to place a comforting hand on the younger devil hunter's shoulder and squeezed it just enough to remind him that he was there, right by his side. The boy started to shake uncontrollably.

Suddenly, there was a soft cracking noise and a large red scale detached itself from Nero's arm, leaving behind a bleeding hole in the skin of his demonic arm.

"Kid…" Dante watched in shock. He was speechless. This was becoming rather disturbing; how was it possible for a half demon to lose their demonic power, if that really was the reason Nero was going through this complete hell? He was jolted out of his thoughts by a scream of agony and the teen beside him squirming and writhing. More pieces of scaly skin were falling off Nero's arm and leaving him bleeding badly and panting in pain.

"No… my arm. … What's happening to my arm?" he whispered with a weak and breathless voice and then clenched his teeth to keep himself from screaming another time.

Dante was overwhelmed with what was happening right then. He had never heard about something like that before. He was clueless on how to act and therefore just did the first thing that came to his mind. He wrapped an arm around Nero's convulsing shoulders and pulled him close against himself, keeping him tightly against his chest. The embrace wouldn't make the horrible scenario in front of him stop or soothe the pain. But maybe it would help the kid morally.

The teen just fisted his red jacket and didn't seem to pay direct attention to him. The older man knew that Nero would never allow himself to show any kind of weakness in normal cases, but this was probably considered an exception. Because fucking hell – there wasn't anything remotely normal about what was happening!

After a while, the fit stopped and Nero calmed down. He stayed motionless for a long time, just leaning against the other male's broad upper body and trying to catch his breath. He freed himself from Dante's strong arms and scratched his nose, strictly avoiding his gaze. He looked down at his arm and cringed in shock. The biggest part of it was torn open and bleeding heavily.

"You alright now?" the older man asked cautiously.

"Do I look like I'm alright? My fucking arm is falling apart!" He didn't sound as cocky as he usually did though. "Why is this happening?" he whispered, not really meaning to say it out loud. Dante didn't reply. He didn't know the answer, either, after all. He hadn't taken the teen too seriously when he had said that he might be losing his demonic powers; even demons had their crisis sometimes, which could have lead to some dysfunctions in his healing process. But yeah, what he had just seen clearly changed his mind.

"When did this sick shit start?"

Nero sighed. "I don't know. It started a few weeks ago when I wasn't able to trigger anymore, I guess… My wounds started hurting more and healing slower."

"No, when was the first time you noticed a change – you have to be precise!"

Nero fell silent. He lowered his gaze and answered softly. "It was after Kyrie broke up with me. I was careless during a mission and a demon injured me. I couldn't trigger. The wound hurt like hell and didn't look like it was gonna heal for several days."

Dante thought about what he had just been told and was tempted to ask the younger devil hunter what had happened between him and his now apparently ex-girlfriend, but he knew this wasn't the right moment to do so. He also couldn't recall ever having heard of a demon or a half demon losing its demonic powers, but he supposed it was possible. If humans could turn into demons, demons could probably turn into humans, as well, right? But how? What was the reason for a phenomenon as this? He didn't have time to think about it, however, he had to take care of the teen now; he was too fragile to be left alone.

Who'd have said I'd ever describe Nero as fragile someday! Haha!

"Hey, we'll find something to stop this, alright? Don't worry about it. I'll take care of you, kid."

Nero huffed and pulled the sheet over himself again. Dante couldn't help but smile when he saw the teen rubbing his nose. He stood up and went downstairs to fetch some more medical supplies and then returned into the boy's room to have a look at his Devil Bringer.

"You know, I can do it myself. It's not like you're a caring nurse anyway. It seems to me that you're hurting me on purpose."

Dante smirked darkly and dropped a great amount of ethylic alcohol into the deep gashes, chuckling lightly as Nero winced and cried out in pain.

"Yeah, well, maybe I really am a little sadistic after all."

He had always hated his Devil Bringer. Wished for it to be a normal arm, wished for himself to be a normal person. And now that he was becoming human, he wished he could turn back to what he used to be before. Nero scrutinized his still healing right arm. It was soft and pale like the rest of his body.

Two weeks had passed since the incident with his Devil Bringer had taken place and he was starting to feel slightly better. The gash on his left arm had closed up and didn't hurt anymore. Dante had insisted that he couldn't come along when they got calls for new missions in the Devil May Cry office. He had also insisted on him staying at home and adapting himself to the new situation. But Nero was dying of boredom; he hated to stay inside and wait for the older man to come home with a satisfied smirk on his face. Today was no different. The teen was lying on the worn out couch in the office's lobby, feeling like a withered vegetable, when Dante stepped into the shop.

He lazily swung Rebellion in a circle for two or three times, then set it aside against a wall. Same for Ebony and Ivory, dropping them onto the desk. He let himself fall into his favorite chair, bringing his feet up to stay on its surface.

Nero huffed in annoyance and stood up. He walked up to the other devil hunter and stopped in front of his desk, arms crossed.

"I'm not staying in this shit hole anymore! You better bring me along tomorrow. And now let's train or something – I'm bored out of my mind!"

Dante yawned and stretched a little, trying to look as uninterested as possible. He didn't feel like battling, but his gaze fell onto Nero's crossed arms. He noticed that his ex-Devil Bringer had almost healed up completely; the skin covering it had turned into a soft-looking, rosy texture. He wondered if the kid would still use that arm as a shield without realizing it during a fight. He decided that he wanted to know and abruptly jumped to his feet.

"Alright, kid. Let's battle a little!"

The two went outside. It was still early in the afternoon and the sun was shining high in the sky. It was a beautiful, pleasantly warm day and Nero found himself sighing in contentment. He had secretly craved for some fresh air.

Both got into fighting positions and started with their training.

Nero activated the engine of his sword, filling Red Queen up with gasoline. He was overly excited about the roar it emitted. The adrenaline-abstinence of the last two weeks had definitely done him no good; he was glad to swing his sword again. The young devil hunter jumped in the air, pouncing at Dante, who mirrored his actions, and their swords clashed against each other. They fell back onto the ground; Dante elegantly, Nero wobbling a little. He frowned. What if the change from demon to human had affected his fighting skills, as well? He noticed that Red Queen did indeed feel much heavier than it usually would.

He couldn't hear and smell the world around him the way he used to. Every color seemed to be less bright.

A wave of desperate realization came over him. Why?

Dante surprised the teen, who was lost in his thoughts. Nero barely managed to block the attack before Rebellion could deepen itself into his abdomen. A little taken aback, he countered with a forceful slash which Dante effortlessly dodged. The older devil hunter smirked, encircling Nero in a slow pace. Then he lunged at him again.

They had been fighting for half an hour when Nero realized that he had no strength left. He tried to hide it, of course, but his body was betraying him. He stood on shaky legs and his arms were strained under Red Queens weight – something he had experienced really, really rarely during his life.

He wiped the sweat off his face and was too distracted to see Dante's move coming. The teen tried to block his attack, but was disarmed and hurled back. Moaning softly, he sat upright only with difficulty since the biggest part of his body was hurting. He froze at the sight of Rebellion falling upon him and instinctively lifted his right arm to shield himself and grab the sword.

Rebellion never brushed him though. Dante was looking down at him with one hand clinging to his hip and the other still firmly enclosed around the sword's handle. He raised it to have the flat of it resting gently against his nape and cocked an eye brow.

"You've definitely fought better. Oh, and you do realize you would be dead by now, right? How about rolling to the side?"

Nero was confused for a moment. He unceremoniously dropped his arm onto his lap and stared at it... Of course he fucking knew! He knew perfectly that he had fought like shit! Still, he was surprised Dante hadn't figured out why.

"I fucking know that! It's not my fault if everything feels different since my goddamn arm literally fell off!"

"There may be some changes in the way you perceive things now, however, you didn't focus! Or better, you focused on the wrong thing: your despair. If you really wanna come along on missions again, you better learn to focus on fighting and stop pitying yourself! You lost your Devil Bringer, alright! That's how things are, right now, and we still haven't found a way to change them, so adapt yourself!"

Nero stood up, picked up Red Queen off the ground and started to walk back to the office. He definitely didn't have the nerves to listen to the older devil hunter right then; the man couldn't understand how he felt anyway. Of course he couldn't – it wasn't him who had lost his demonic side, after all; he didn't have a clue about how weak and pathetic he felt!

He reached his room and tossed his sword aside, then let himself fall onto the mattress, groaning in frustration.

He studied his right arm; a soft, pale human arm that wasn't covered in scales, that didn't glow when he was agitated. Was there any advantage to being human? He couldn't see any now.

As always, feedback of any kind is welcome. ^^ Hopefully see you next time!