Chapter Two
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"I'm really sorry for the trouble Nero. Credo's can be such a bully at times." Kyrie clasped her hands on her lap, looking adorably sulky in Nero's opinion.
"No prob'." He swung the car around the corner with a slight recklessness that made bystanders wary. "Its on the way to work anyway."
"Um… no it's not." Kyrie's head swung around to look at him. "The police station is in the opposite direction."
"Not today. I have some business in the docks- classified detective stuff." Startlingly blue eyes met her own as he slowed down to a halt in front of the stoplight. "Otherwise known as grunt work depending on your point of view."
"Be careful out there." Kyrie couldn't help but smile at his dismissive snort as the stoplight turned green.
"Actually, I'm kinda relieved that Credo's asking me to drive you there and back. This saves me the trouble of convincing him to allow me." Nero's gaze was firmly fixed on the road ahead, his voice and features composed to pure and utter indifference.
At the sudden silence, Nero discreetly glanced at her through the corner of his eye only to catch his breath at the smile that glowed out from Kyrie's face.
"What got Credo so annoyed anyway?" He floundered for a topic, jabbing at the radio in an effort to mask his sudden self-consciousness.
"Oh, some silly message on the answering machine." Kyrie turned back to gazing out the window.
"Must have been pretty bad to get you on house arrest."
"It was immature! 'Girl's leave your name and number'" She mimicked. "But why Credo had to be so over-protective about something that didn't even concern me is… Nero? Why are we turning back?"
"Those two!" Kyrie grumbled under her breath while she scrubbed the sink with a vengeance.
Persuading Nero to turn the car around had taken a good half-hour, with Kyrie growing more and more exasperated at the irrational protectiveness that she received from the two most important men in her life.
"You're just as bad as Credo! Both of you have to let me out of the house and take some independence at one point." There was a stubborn glint in her eyes and Nero sighed, as he knew that the only thing he would achieve with arguing with her was the silent treatment. Besides, it kind of stung that she thought he was on the same level as her prudish older brother…
"Alright, alright." He conceded defeat, but gave the house a suspicious glare. "I'll pick you up at six sharp. But if you see a man in the house I want you to kick him in the shin and call me immediately."
The squabble with her best friend had brought back memories of yesterday's harassment, courtesy of her brother.
After a long lecture and argument with Credo, she had barely managed to convince him to let her go back to work. It was only after Kyrie had called Trish up and Trish had explained that her answering machine was broken so she had to borrow one from her friend, that he grudgingly agreed- on the condition that either he or Nero drove and picked her up from work.
That, and the fact that she was under house arrest for the rest of the month.
"Just find another job!" Credo's voice had taken on an almost pleading tone. "Somewhere where I know you're safe?"
"You didn't think working at the bakery or supermarket or post office was safe enough." Kyrie reminded him. "I don't see what other options I have left!"
"You didn't see the looks that those men were giving you!" Credo took a deep breath to keep himself from hoping up and down in rage at the memory.
She eventually wore him down though, as Credo was finding it increasingly difficult to say no to his sister who had hardly ever argued or disagreed to his wishes.
So as a last resort he had gone and treated her like an errant eight year old- grounding her for a month in exchange for keeping her job.
Kyrie splashed water on the tiled floor and watched with satisfaction as most of the grime was now gone and even the sink was gleaming dully.
She scowled at her slightly sodden and disheveled reflection for a while before stalking out of the bathroom to go beat out the cushions in the garden, feeling the need to hit something…
However, both her anger and energy soon failed and she beat the cushions half-heartedly.
The sunlight shone through the leaves, making hazy patterns both on the ground and on her skin. Kyrie pushed an errant lock of hair off her face and turned her head to bask in the sun's kiss.
All of a sudden, there was a crash from somewhere in the house.
Kyrie cautiously peered through the doorway. "Trish?"
She gathered the pillows and made her way back to the living room, alert for any further movement or sound.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Kyrie headed out into the hallway to see a blacked cloak figure swivel its head to look at her.
Out of its misty cloak's folds hung long arms and legs composed of naked bone that ended in claw like fingers and toes. In one hand was a scythe that glowed an ominous purple and it's eyeless, skeletal face turned to stare in her direction.
Kyrie dropped the pillows.
In a flash, the scythe's blade embedded itself on the doorway where her head had just been. Kyrie ran blindly down the hallway, her throat too constricted and mouth too dry to let out anything more than a whimper of fear as she heard the scrabble of nails on the tiled floor as it gave pursuit.
The cotton folds of her dress whipped around her legs as she flung herself into the kitchen and grabbed a spatula from the counter, brandishing it wildly.
There was a blur and Kyrie felt cold steel graze her knuckles as the spatula she was holding was cut cleanly in half.
There was not even time to scream as the creature swung its arms back to strike.
Shiiiiing!
The creature stopped in mid-swing as it stared dumbly at the blade that suddenly protruded from its chest. Its arms dropped limply to the side before slowly turning into grey ash.
The blade clattered by her feet and Kyrie sank to the floor in a trembling heap.
There, standing in front of her with an indifferent look in glacial blue eyes was a silver-haired man. His blue trench coat rustled as he kneeled in front of her to take the sword and re-sheath at in a scabbard in his hands.
"Still breathing?"
His lips quirked up a little and in the midst of her fear and shock she was struck by the similarities between him and her child-hood friend Nero.
His silvery hair was sleeked back carelessly, bringing out the sharp contours of aristocratic features. There too was a certain aloofness with the way he held himself, as if he found the simplest of social interactions tedious. For all the similarities to her best friend though, the differences stood out just as glaringly obvious. Although both blue orbs were of the same hue and had the same steely determination and painful pride, the stranger's eyes were cold and lifeless. There was none of the warmth and almost shy-ness that she had found so endearing in Nero's own, and Kyrie was filled with a sudden longing to see her friend.
"Can you get up?" He continued.
Kyrie wasn't sure if she could even breathe, but she nodded and rose stiffly.
He studied her openly, a strange look on his face as he turned heel. "Sit down, I'll call Trish." He called back, and that was when she noticed the tears streaking down her cheeks with no intention of stopping soon.
"It's just the shock…I'll be fine." Kyrie sobbed as her hands flew up to cover her face and her cry began in earnest.
"But how did a Hell Vanguard steal up here without anybody noticing?" Trish demanded, torn between the desire to hit something and comfort Kyrie.
"It's not a matter of anyone not noticing but one of having anyone left alive to notice." Vergil replied coolly.
His words made Kyrie shiver involuntary. The slight movement drew Trish's attention and she wrapped a motherly arm over the girl's shoulders. "Really- trying to fend demons off with a spatula!" She scoffed.
"It was the only thing in reach!" Kyrie replied defensively.
Suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello?" Trish picked the receiver up. "So what did you find out? Mm-hm. Yeah. I see." She hung up abruptly and turned towards the two. "It was Dante. He said Lady's still tying up a case but he'll do an extra round on the hotspots right now to tend to any other demons. To quote: 'They can't start the party without me'."
"Will your friend be alright in his own?" Kyrie began to fiddle with the tassels on her bag. "My brother works in the Police's Special Forces. Maybe I can call him for help or…"
"Don't worry." Trish assured. "Dante isn't easily killed. Trust me- I've tried."
"Um, I'm… glad to hear that."
Vergil's cold gaze fixed itself on Kyrie. "Who are you?"
Kyrie suddenly felt nervous. There was something decidedly dangerous about this man that both frightened and enticed. "My name's Kyrie. Pleased to meet you."
"I hired her to keep this pigsty your brother calls house clean." Trish added.
Vergil gave the room around him a distasteful once-over before resuming his interrogation. "And what kind of creature are you this time?"
"'Creature?'" Kyrie looked confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."
"Quit play-acting." He raised his chin to stare her down. "I've been asleep for a week, trying to conserve as much power as I can when all of a sudden I'm overtaken with a need to rush down and protect a girl who I didn't even know existed. I felt your fear and it woke me."
Kyrie wondered what to make of the sudden turn of events. She had always known that creatures of the otherworld had existed, twisted beings that killed and preyed on humans. Both Credo and Nero had been too immersed in the darker side of society for her not to know about this. But to have almost been killed, and now accused as one was just too ridiculous.
She gave a hysterical giggle.
Trish opted for raising a perfect eyebrow. "That sums up my thoughts too. There's not a hint of magical energy flowing from her Vergil, I can attest to that."
"There are other forms of power." He replied simply, a shadow passing over his face.
"That aside, I won't be surprised if you never come back to work again Kyrie." Trish tilted her head in contemplation of the room. "Pity. I was just starting to hope that we'd see the floor soon."
"If you don't mind, I would like to continue working tomorrow." Kyrie tried to arrange her thoughts to coherency. "It had been difficult to convince my brother to allow me to take this job so I would prefer not to have him know. I'm unharmed and I see no reason to hide away because of an occurrence that could've easily happened anywhere else." She spoke calmly, hoping that she convinced herself too.
"Brave girl." Trish gave a throaty chuckle. "You're welcome to come back here at anytime you wish. If you change your mind about the time out, that's all right too. Just leave me a message on the infamous calling machine anytime you want out."
There came a honking of a car from outside.
"I assume that's your brother. Come on, I'll bring you out and see what I can do to make him feel better about you working here." Trish sauntered out of the room.
Kyrie picked up her bag and hurried to follow, only to turn heel at the last second. "Thank you." She smiled tentatively at the silent man before sweeping out of the room.
AN: A special thank you to Yuu-ko, Belladonna-Isabella, Caffeinegoddess and spacegall 19 for being such dears and reviewing/ putting my story on alert. You've inspired me to post this chappy up. I hope to hear more from you guys soon!
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And yep, you've caught me, this is AU... Um, imagine the events of DMC 1 and 3 having finished. then, instead of Fortuna, Nero and the others live somewhere in the city where Dante's agency is located. This was the general idea I had for the setting anyway... I'm still debating whether or not to bring Lucia in anyway. Suggestions anybody?