"He looks like me!" Dante laughed and took Nero almost enthusiastically from my arms. I had always expected Dante to hate kids, but this was a pleasant surprise.
"You mean he looks like Vergil," I grinned, watching Nero stare blankly up at Dante as if to say "Put me down you freak!".
"Ha, same thing. I must say, he doesn't look anything like you. Not in the least,"
"I was hoping he would at least have my eyes. It's hard enough for halfbreeds to have kids, that's why I was surprised when I found out I was pregnant. Since I thought there's a good chance this might be the only child I have, I was hoping I could at least look like I was related to him somehow, but as usual, Vergil has to dominate over everything! Even in the gene pool!" I sighed. I wasn't dissapointed with the way things turned out. Not at all. What was bothering me was what I had come to Dante for.
Alice's threat hadn't left my mind. Well, not so much her threat as the topic. Vergil knew I was against his plan to release the tower just for the sake of Sparda's power and he also knew that I wouldn't do anything to stop him, whether I loved him or not, but I also wouldn't do anything to help him.
"Sarla," Dante's tone made a 180. He was looking down at Nero in his arms with an almost sad expression. He must have saw himself in Nero. How could he not? The boy was replica of himself, "How much time do I have?" His silvery blue eyes shifted, now looking at me with utter seriousness glazed over them.
There was a moment, where I could not say a word. Vergil had found time to lift the seal he'd ignored when I was in labor. There was only the final seal left and according to Arkham, he already had a pretty good idea as to where it was located. The only one who was hesitating was Vergil, he'd said. Vergil wasn't one to hesitate and so it had weighed heavily on my mind as to what he was hesitating for. Trying to ask him about it was easier said than done. For one, he would just deny it and second, I was simply scared. There are few things that scared me, but Vergil did which was quite ironic given our relationship.
"With how things are going, it could happen at any moment. There's only one seal left, and Arkham already knows its whereabouts. The reason it hasn't happened already is because of Vergil," I allowed myself to sit. For such an old chair it was comfy and I examined the contents of his desktop. Seeing Eva's picture I ran my fingers over lightly on instinct. Pictures didn't do her justice, "Speaking of which, I came here for another reason,"
"What?" He'd found Nero's bottle and was feeding him with ease as if it were only natural. Honestly, Dante had never given me the natural father like image. Not as bad as Vergil but still, it was hard believing.
"Could you kill, Vergil?" The silence that followed felt as though it could suffocate. Those frosty blue eyes that I'd known since childhood, darkened with his thoughts. It was hard enough to decide on asking him. I'd thought if over the past two weeks since Alice's interrogation and finally found the guts to ask. They may have hated each other now, but they were still brothers. Twins at that. You couldn't be more related and close than that. My body ached just thinking about it. A world without Vergil was one I didn't wish to imagine, and getting my best friend since birth killed really twisted my insides.
He was quiet, peering down at Nero thoughtfully and almost sternly. The vein in his neck was starting to become visible; the sign that he was frustrated. It was a horrible thing for me to ask, and selfish at that, but... what else could I do? Dante... was the only one who stood a chance against Vergil.
"Yes," He said lowly. I almost didn't hear, "He's no longer my brother,"
"Dante-"
"I'm no saint, Sarla. I've done my fair share of things, and the temptation of power is not something I'm entirely against. Though I don't see the real need for me to get stronger," He paused, "But, I can't let him open that gate," I realized what he meant by that.
"You mean because of my father," I'd almost forgotten that Dante knew who my father was. He'd been shocked when I told him more than anything however he accepted me all in the same moment.
"That's not the only thing. My life's hard enough as it is, I don't need thousands of demons to add to the fire," What a liar. Heaven forbid he admit anything. He was like Vergil in that sense. Neither one could just say what they really wanted. Always having to hide their intentions and themselves behind their mask as the bad guys. Really, it got old sometimes.
"My father is waiting, Dante. He's waiting for one of you to claim Sparda's power so he can either devour you or something else. He's sealed. Not dead. Once Vergil awakens with your father's power, my father's seal won't hold out much longer. The sword may seal the worlds but Sparda's gone. My father is going to break free sooner or later," I closed my eyes. Of course the first thing I saw was Vergil. I saw him holding Force Edge. Then I saw him falling; falling ever so far into nothing, and then I saw three red dots engulfed in flame staring back at me in the darkness.
"SARLA!" I jumped when two large hands shook me by my shoulders desperately. Instinctively, fire came to my defense and Dante jerked his hands away, cursing as he did. My first thought was where had he put Nero and had he been close enough to be caught in my flames, "Fuck, that hurts!" I saw Nero lying in the carrier by the couch: Out of range, and so I relaxed, then took Dante's hands in mine. The burns would heal in a matter of minutes as it was already healing, "That's quite a defense you have,"
"You should see when I use electricity, even Vergil can't move for a good ten minutes or more when he gets zapped. Leaves a hell of a burn too," I gloved my hands with cold water and took Dante's hands again. It wouldn't heal it but it would sure as hell feel better.
"I'll bet. You seem to be able to handle your elements better. Been training?"
"Well, before when I couldn't fight with it against that Lord you saved me from, it was because I was pregnant. Being prego sends everything out of balance because Nero's lifeforce was colliding with my own while in the womb," Later in my pregnancy my powers had spiraled out of control. I'd even frozen Vergil into his own bathwater just by walking into the bathroom.
"Makes sense," It was quiet. Nero hadn't even made a sound. He was awfully fussy on rainy days like this but he'd been surprisingly quiet. Vergil had been damned near shocked when he woke and was quiet up until we left the mansion. Trying to ease the tension in my body I focused on Dante's aura.
Dante's aura was normally vibrant and brilliant red. Full of a form of passion. Lively, whereas Vergil's was dark and foreboding. Menacing and cool; The opposite of Dante's burning radiance. While they were twins, it amazed me how different they were. They always had been opposites. Dante was louder and passionate about the things he loved and liked to do. He always rushed into things, alot of the time without thinking, and whatever happened just happened. Vergil was calm, calculating, and sardonic. He could say anything with a straightface. Any "normal" girl would probably choose Dante because he was so unpredictable and exciting. Of course, I wasn't "normal". I was more like Dante than Dante was. I often wondered if the term "Opposites attract" proved true in case of Vergil and I.
Not only were they opposites in attitude, but their color scheming as well. They had each always worn red and blue for the most part since they were young. Once I realized I could see auras I wondered if their auras influenced that. Before Vergil dissapeared he was always surrounded by gentle shades of blue and white. Calm. Occasionally now, when he was in a Good Mood, his outer layer of gray, black, and purple would shed.
Beautiful.
We didn't say a word, and just stared at his burnt hands as they healed. It wasn't until the last bit of flesh sealed up did Dante speak, "You love him," I almost didn't hear that. I also hadn't realized that I still held his hands, "So why are you asking me to kill him?" He let go but I still couldn't look up at him.
The sigh that escaped me was really a much needed one, "I'm not. I could never ask you to kill your brother. Even if you say you could,"
"So then what are you asking?" I could feel those blue eyes burning their way into me so hard that I had to look up.
"I don't want to lose him," I exhaled and realized for the first time that Nero was crying. I teleported to the car seat in less time then it took to blink. My training had started back up almost immediatly after having Nero, and Vergil made it perfectly clear that I would learn teleportation at all costs. Of course, it was only short distance. Only demons that specialized in such a skill could change their entire location. Vergil and I were no such specialists. Altering and controlling the space and distance between us and our desired change of position was our specific ability. One that a great deal of the higher leveled demons could do.
"You want to know if I will kill him?" He ignored my distraction. He scoffed, "Would you care to shed some light on what you are-"
"I don't want to lose him!" I yelled, trying to rock the crying out of Nero as I repeatedly shhd and offered him the bottle, "And I'm afraid I will," Unconsciously I'd lowered my voice. Nero finally took the bottle and I could hear his greedy gulps.
I went to continue but the spine shivering scream that interrupted me came from outside the shop. Dante ran to the door, looking around before running back to me and throwing Nero's things into the bag, "Run out the back,"
"What's going on?"
"It's nothing I can't handle, but you have Nero, so get out of here," He ordered, slinging the bag around me and helping me tuck Nero into his seat. As he was ushering me out the back door, I heard whatever or whoever it was that was threatening us crash through the front.
"Where are you, Princess?" It was a man's voice.
"Dante-" I tried but he shut the door in my face after yelling for me to go. He was right. I couldn't just set Nero down to fight. Coming onto the street from the ally, I started to run.
"And just where do you think you're going?" A woman this time. Her sensual voice purring from behind me. I whipped around and thoughtlessly released the crimson flames from my palm in a serpent like whip. She blocked, her arm sizzling from the point of contact, "My my my, so it's true. You can use the elements. No wonder he's so obsessed with you and that bastard of yours," She looked a few inches shorter than me. Probably five-five or six. Straight, blonde hair just past her shoulders framed her beautiful, pale face and the palest shade of blue I'd ever seen formed her irises. I couldn't help thinking I was looking at a blonde and older version of myself. She was light and I was dark, but with a severe attitude misplacement. The arrogant and cruel twist of her lips. I was arrogant, but she was an inflateable egoist. I didn't have to read her aura to see it.
However it added a little extra to my irritation, "And just who the hell are you?" I glanced at Nero, quiet and staring. Odd, really.
She gave a haughty laugh, "I'd thought you'd recognize your own kin," Wow, full of yourself much?
"I have no kin to recognize other than my "bastard"," I snarled, "Now answer the question,"
Another laugh, "Adabella. And you dear sister have been a thorn in father's side for some time," Her hand came up as if awaiting a high five but instead, eerie green light materialized into sword of middle eastern origin, but the blade was black with a violet design etched into it. A truly evil weapon, "I am to take you back. You and the brat. If you don't come willingly then-"
"Then you'll have to take us by force am I right? I'm afraid that as tempting as that sounds, I will have to Decline!" Ice sealed her in place and I didn't hesitate to form the sphere of water around her body. She struggled to breathe, and succeeding to once her blade sliced through the water and broke my concentration. Without missing a beat she transformed.
Her demonic form was something like that of an upright cat. It was odd to say the least. Two large horns branched out from both sides of her head and her skin was now black with with the same shade of purple as her sword etched into zebra like stripes. Her face reminded me of a panther with enormous canines like that of a sabertooth.
"When you say kin, do you mean as a fellow demon?" I thought back to her previous words. As strong as she was, I couldn't imagine actually being related. Her power level seemed less than my own at the given moment.
She smirked and the flashed a toothy smile, "Our father claims that you're stronger than me, but I just had to see for myself. Even if you are a child of the demon king like myself, there's no way a halfbreed can defeat a pureblood,"
"Daddy issues much? You came to bring me to Mundus so that you can prove yourself? How pathetic. Why bother? You're nothing but a pawn. A tool that he uses to do his bidding because he can't do it himself. And you call me the weakling." I scoffed, this time releasing a fire binding to hold her in place. The multiple wreathes of flames around her body left her defenseless and this time I tried something even better. I raised my middle and index finger to the sky and the once white clouds instantly morphed and grew to black coverage over the city.
"What are you doing?" She panicked, looking up for some clue.
"You'll see,"
"Stop! What-what are you doing? I demand in the name of the Demon King that you stop!"
"Blood may run thicker than water, but who was to say that the water wasn't accompanied by lightning?" She yelled and screamed in protest but the moment the white electricity fell from the heavens and met my fingers, I directed straight into her chest. I watched her wriggle and scream before finally falling silent within my flame's embrace. I witnessed her aura completely vanish before I released her body, hearing the clunk sound as she hit the ground.
"And for the record," I said, "I have no father," And with that, I walked away, not even turning back to see her burst into ashes and fly away with my storms.