Author's rant :
I"M BACK!
First of all, I would like to say thanks for the reviews being given and the PM s sent to me, I really, really appreciate them.
As this is my first baby to materialize and published in the web, I'm quite happy with the results…
To tell you the truth, the ZNT world I ended up making seems a little larger than I expected...
Looks Like this series will be continuing a bit longer... XD
To answer some questions to some of the reviewers here's some of it,
SweetKagamineKiss: He's there... either you missed him and haven't realized it yet.
RPG247: Siesta's personality might be said to be linked to a certain clue, please read mission 17, for details.
On Dante and Louise's weird relationship, might be linked to the fact that both have been living mostly alone all their lives and the fact that Dante's life mostly revolved around hunting and killing demons and not usually having to take up daycare as a sideline, and also the fact that he just came from hell for heaven's sake. God knows how long he stayed there since, you know, he managed to clean up hell of all the demons.
Louise, due to her notoriety as a failure, ended up growing friendless due to her complex regarding her inability to cast spells properly...
On Saito references...read carefully and you might get it : )
Might as well tell you that it has been a blast telling this tale to you guys and an honor to have been reviewed on both positively and otherwise.
I learned a lot.
Hopefully I get to apply it in later fics if I'm allowed to do so...
This chapter has a part that is kind of an experiment for me so…pardon me for the randomness. And the way I tell this tale.
Oh yeah, just a warning: Children, please prepare for a slight shock, and please read this from beginning to end, and not just the end part.
Hence, let's begin:
Mission 20 : Silliness, Tragedy & GAR
／人◕ .◕人＼
Fantasy pic: Guiche stands on a cliff holding Rebellion across his shoulders, trying to look manly, in a pose similar to Dante's DMC 3 Poster, with the twin moons rising behind him, and wears a longcoat similar to Dante's DMC 3 coat.
The thing is, instead of Bloody Red, the coat's color is Flaming Pink…
／人◕ .◕人＼
As the Victory Celebration on the Tristainian victory over the Reconquista invasion winds down, life remained pretty much the same at the academy.
A place where things normal people call 'weird' happen.
Then again, this is a world where magic is commonplace.
That's not a bad thing at all.
Most of the time.
／人◕ .◕人＼
"Everyone's here, right? Then let's start the classes going-"
Being the newly hired potion making teacher, M'selle Michelle d' Ermegarde (who introduced herself before) stood in front of the blackboard as she earnestly smiled at everyone.
Dante, who took the time to stick to class as to see the said new teacher, looked rather confused.
She has a petite figure, and doesn't look any different from a student. However, wearing clothes that don't match her body made her look even more petite. And it was even more out of place with those large olive green eyes behind those hazy glasses.
How should I say it?
Instead of saying that it was a disproportionate sense of 'a kid wearing adult clothes'...it was more like a kid being forced into adult clothes.
But that body sure look like a ripe adult's.
Dante is sure that he wasn't the only one thinking this way.
That curves...
"Then everyone, let's get along with each other for the rest of the year~"
"..."
However, the classroom was filled with an intense atmosphere, and nobody could react.
"Now, let's move on to self-introductions. Mm, we'll go by seating arrangements."
Even though Dante thought that the new teacher was a little cute when she panicked, that didn't stir the rest of the students with a 'at least I've got to do something' kind of mood, because unfortunately, most of them had no time for that.
Most especially the boys.
If you want to know why,
There are new transfer students in the class as well.
Two of them in fact.
There's Emily S. Crewe, a clumsy young lady with wavy golden locks, at the same age as Louise and Co. Stunningly sexy that could even rival Queen Henrietta, in spite of her wearing a modestly made uniform, courtesy of a certain Taylor Swift, it sure shows off her perfectly proportioned curves.
The thing is, she has the personality of a painfully shy bookworm, currently reading a certain book entitled "A Little Princess"…
And the second is a real rival to Kirche in the abilty to seduce boys, is named Lavinia la Herberte, a mysterious transfer student. She wears her long, vibrant violet hair down, vivid violet eyes, an angelic face and an extremely curvy body to die for. Her uniform is made similar to Kirche's design, with the only difference is that the hems and the cuffs are more intricately laced. The most shocking part is her skirt, in which the front part is made of a cloth slightly thin enough to look transparent, enabling a nice view of, ehem... her asset. All in all, just the sight of her makes normal guys automatically want to rip her clothes off and do her right there.
Many boys are beginning to fight over her, as she laughs lightly at the expense of the young Nobles.
Though her laugh is soft like that of a refined noblewoman...
As for Kirche, currently occupied with seducing Dante to the Ardent side, so she has no problems regarding said affair.
"Darling, it's getting rather too noisy in here, can we go somewhere where WE-CAN-BURN-OUR-PASSION?" Kirche whispered to the devil hunter as she had her arms around his neck, while perched on his lap.
As much as Dante wanted to have some 'fun', there's something bugging him about the turn of events, such as the lull of Albion regarding their failed invasion attempt. This left him in a meditative state. But not before doing something for the heating up Germanian.
In a flash, we see Kirche, back to her seat, basking in an afterglow of a certain activity wherein intimate connection between opposite genders occurs.
"D-Darling, you are simply the best there is…" she moaned, as she took a nap to recover her lost energy.
The perks of quicksilver style…
Louise tries to ignore the small scene while concentrating on her lessons.
Unfortunately, the argument among the young men regarding who should be sitting next to M'selle Lavinia, turns to into a full on fistfight.
Dante sighed, as he watched the chaos grow worse and worse, as the flustered M'selle Ermengarde tries to put the class in order but was unable to do anything.
"Please stop that…" the new teacher whimpered, as tears began welling on her eyes.
Louise's eyebrows twitched in irritation, as Dante took this as the cue to raise his hand up wordlessly to do something.
The said beauty then rose from her seat, leaving the crowding young men and some girls, and gracefully walks towards the most unlikely place...the sulking Guiche.
"It's been a long time...Gui...My Love." She spoke in the most seductive voice, the likes that could only be compared to a certain busty, red haired Germanian.
The confused Guiche looks at the girl in question, and then a look of realization crossed his face.
"It can't be...Could it be YOU?" he exclaimed in surprise,
The then proceeds to give the surprised Don Juan-nabe a hug, putting his face in between her voluminous chest.
"Wha-"was the last word he said before fainting from lack of air...
'Well, that's one way to go...' Dante thought as he observed the event.
The rest of the class, were shocked at the development, knowing that the said boy would have been joyous if a woman would give "that" kind of attention to him.
Most of the young men will probably attempt to call the playboy fop out.
But then, upon seeing the deadly aura that is for some reason became visible from Montmorency, they decided that she would probably deal Guiche with something worse than they could even think about.
The potion teacher sighed in relief as the chaos in the classroom came into an unexpected and abrupt end.
'Interesting.' Dante thought as he noticed something from the entire fiasco.
／人◕ .◕人＼
At the Alviss dining hall...
"I see. So that girl over there is supposed to be your fiancé?" Dante said as he along with Louise, who looked rather shocked at the way Lavinia treating Guiche like some adored pet, stroking him on the head and forcing his head to rest on her lap.
"Err, How can I explain this.." Guiche tries to speak,
Then a cloud of killing intent appeared behind them.
"Yes, please do explain yourself." Montmorency spoke in an ominous tone in her voice...
"I thought you guys broke off." Louise asked the blonde water mage, regarding their relationship status.
That caught Montmorency off guard, as she now began to look elsewhere as she tries to find something else to say,
Dante knows the fact that Guiche maybe a womanizer, but he still adores Montmorency.
But then again, the situation became an entirely different ballgame when an old flame showed up.
"Just leave it at that Louise," Dante interjects, "Let's hear what she has to say." indicating the passionately blushing and panting violet head kissing all over the now love-showered lad.
Palpable silence covers the group, as they looked at the rather unbelievable scene...
"How scandalous!" the blushing Louise blushes as she covers her eyes with her hands in embarrassment, but peeks a bit between her fingers.
Montmorency just stomps off leaving the rest at the table, making an impression of Godzilla leaving the premises with booming footsteps.
"Oookay...Nuff said." Dante sums it up.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Let us try to tell this short tale in a few words,
A long time ago, the Gramont and Herberte families got together and agreed to have their children married to strengthen their alliance...
Thus, we get Guiche + Lavinia as the promised pairing,
The six-year-old Guiche was then happy to be of some use for their family, being instilled to them the values of being a Noble early on.
Though he doesn't know much what 'marriage' is, at least he still has a something to look forward to.
Lavinia, during that time is a rather plain-looking girl in general, but has one of the most beautiful violet eyes he had ever seen. She loved to wear simple clothes during that time. That and her air of usual air of innocent shyness is also part of her charm.
They are what you call childhood friends.
Both of them tend look forward to their next meeting. Whenever any of the family visits the other, Guiche and Lavinia would go off somewhere to play together.
In the times that they were apart, they would send each other letters to keep track of the other's current activities.
This trend continued for two to three years...until...
News reached to the Gramont family that in one group of hostile Gallia brigands attacked the Herberte family estate, in which the castle was looted and burned down, with most of their retainers slain, in the confusion of it all the entire Herberte family disappears from the records.
It is said that the entire main Herberte family line has been wiped out.
Until now.
Lavinia suddenly appears, wishing to reclaim her estate from royal custody. With the only explanation that she was the sole survivor of that massacre, taken under the wing of a Gallian Noble in which she did not disclose who.
That and the large sum of money that was donated to the school, this Noble is quite loaded.
Basing from her academic records, she studied in an exclusive school for girls in Gallia before she transferred here. And judging from what was written there, she has a rather good academic standing.
Not only that, she also bears the title of 'chevalier' and has worked alongside Tabitha on some missions, therefore her proficiency at magic is at par with the bluenette.
Though the chevalier missions mentioned are a bit too sensitive for normal eyes.
This is what Dante had uncovered as he browsed through the records, referring to the said transfer student.
'There's something here that looks rather out of place, but what?'
／人◕ .◕人＼
Anyways, on to the next scene...
The following day, we find Guiche sleeping soundly in his room...
Slowly opening his eyes as the sun's rays began to peek out from the horizon.
Even in waking up, he tries his best to look dashing as he even took the time to yawn cutely...
The thing is...this time, there's someone actually watching him wake up.
"My, my. I see you've learned a lot of things when I was gone..." a familiar voice whispered close to his ears.
Way too close.
"..." Guiche was a bit too groggy to realize at first, thinking that he might be dreaming...
Then came a tickling feeling of someone lightly nipping at his right earlobe, along with the light sighs of pleasure from the one doing the nibbling...as it actually stimulated something on his person...
As much as he regretted losing the feeling, Guiche turns to face his whoever it was who is doing it...
And sees Lavinia in a nearly transparent, lacy violet negligee, which accentuates her curves...
"Good mornin', Gui." She greets the boy and at the same time drawing herself to him to give him a passionately deep, deep kiss...which includes tongue playing...
Whatever happens next is up to your imagination... XD
／人◕ .◕人＼
In the days that followed, Guiche was always accompanied by the M'selle Lavinia in almost every activity, trying to catch up with the times.
Whenever they had the time, they always wandered around the Academy, talking mostly about anything under the sun.
Upon knowing mostly of how she managed to get by to this day, Guiche tries his best to make his childhood friend as welcome as possible.
Though in his heart he is quite surprised to see the great change that she went through, she's a lot more outgoing than he had ever known her before...
To the extent that she always stole kisses from him whenever she has a chance to do so.
Back in the day, she would always lecture him on how to become the best gentleman he could be, since Lavinia always dreamt of marrying to the perfect lover, which is everything Guiche was not.
Resulting to...
*Flashback...
"Hey, Gui, check this out, "
"Lavinia, what is it now?"
"Let's read this together. It's called 'The Queen's toy knight.'"
"EEEhhh, aren't we too young for those ero-"
"Quiet, you fool. I'm just doing this for your education, you know." Lavinia clamps the boy's mouth shut, and pulls the hapless boy away...into a secret room...
Shy girl. my ass.
One should know that even in this era and world, there were novels that explicitly depict erotic stuff...
(The contents of that novel... maybe I'll post it someday...)
*Flashback ends...
But then again, the boy also changed a lot especially after he thought he lost Lavinia, his then only friend. For in the days that followed after confirming the news, he tried to disguise his grief by becoming or trying his best to become the best lover that Lavinia wished for, but he ended up a stupidly suave skirt-chaser that he is currently known for.
The thing is, said bravado kind of stuck to his person until this day.
Yet the inner pain still it remained, until he found Montmorency...
Though he never got rid of his womanizing ways...
But now that his past lover returns, it reignited something within him.
Though he is not sure of what could it be...
For the first time in his life, he's not acting like a jerk.
He just sat there quietly as his onetime fiancé talked to him a lot of things...
"Hey Guiche, Do you still remember our promise?"
Guiche looked up from reading his notes from his class, to smile at the girl and answer,
"To be together forever with you, why'd you...mmm.."
The blonde boy's reply was cut off with a passionate kiss from Lavinia.
After a while, she removed herself from the lip lock and beamed at blushing Guiche, and said,
"I'm so glad that you remembered."
"Well, yes. Why would I forget such a promise?" Guiche asked
An ecstatic Lavinia once more claimed his lips.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Not far from where grove that the new couple is occupying, three figures watched the scene unfold from the shade of a nearby tree in the person of Montmorency, Louise and would you believe Dante.
Montmorency bit at her handkerchief, as she saw Lavinia kiss Guiche for the umpteenth time, she whispered in an annoyed voice,
"There she goes again! What a scandalous hussy!"
"Care to answer why were dragged into this?" Dante deadpans, as he leans on the tree trunk and stole a glance at the two 'lovebirds'.
"I just need to know who she is and what exactly she wants with de Gramont," Montmorency replies,
"Weren't you guys broke up already?" Louise sleepily comments,
"Well, it's just...I find this situation rather suspicious...I mean how did she manage to make Guiche act like a..."
"Gentleman, right?" Dante finished the sentence for her, "After all, he was his fiancée and as I looked up into it, his first love as well..."
"First LOVE?" Louise reacts,
Well, she isn't quite exposed to that kind of love being discussed at the moment so she is puzzled.
The only time she felt something close to that particular feeling is in her dreams... describing the feelings she had towards a certain Sai...something.
Those feelings are felt only in her dreams, so she is not quite sure if that is the same as the 'Love' that Dante might be referring to.
As prudence tells her, Monmorency had no choice but to just look on with annoyance.
Dante however had a different expression, and shook his head sadly...
"I know I'm going to be hated if I tell him that one small detail about his fiancée though..."
／人◕ .◕人＼
One night, Katie(Guiche's one time girlfriend should anyone), has just returned from town after shopping for some sewing materials when suddenly as cloaked shadow accosts her,
A shrill cry for help was the last thing ever heard from her...
／人◕ .◕人＼
Morning...
Dante returns from his morning rounds and sees a mob of students and teachers looking at something.
It was Katie...turned to stone, probably a petrifaction spell, trapped in the pose that conveyed the sheer terror of the last thing she ever saw...
Upon seeing the center of attention, Dante's eyes flashed red as he sees the energy signature coming from the victim's body.
"A Devil'work." He muttered in visible anger.
／人◕ .◕人＼
The Academy head's office, later that morning…
Osmond is in serious mood as he reviewed the reports sent by the members of the Swords of Halkeginia stationed throughout Tristain.
"Hmm, looks like they're becoming more increasingly active these days."
Though he spoke in such an offhanded manner, the rest of the people in the said office knew that he is not fooling around this time.
Colbert read other reports, and paled at the contents,
"This is terrible." He said,
Dante, appeared more attentive than usual. Tapping his foot impatiently, he spoke in even tones.
"Even in this world…"
Though he has known that devils exist in the shadows, seems like this one is on the move.
There are the probably organized groups of these creatures besides the main organization that he's been tracking for some time now.
Although Dante already has the pieces of the puzzle, he is still in the process of putting things together.
"…Were still doing what we can to alleviate the situation. But as you can see, we're still having trouble as it is. We still have no idea what we're dealing with. To make things worse, we still haven't found the way to get the victims back to normal. " Osmond said narrowing his eyes.
"How many?"
"About two hundred sixteen or so have been reported." Colbert reads out a sheet,
"When did this start, by the way?"
"About two weeks ago."
"Two weeks ago huh," the devil hunter muses,
"And the places where the events occurred are marked in this map, right?" Dante asks as he pored over the large map placed on the wall, with the places where the attacks happened were marked with blue.
Taking the piece of paper containing the dates when and where the attacks happened, comparing these to the map, and another piece has been added.
"It came from Gallia, huh?" the devil hunter mumbles,
"What did you-guh?"Osmond asks but was interrupted by a white blur, hitting him squarely at the face.
Silence...
Colbert takes a look at the thing that hit the Academy Head, turns out to be a Snow Owl Familiar, which was knocked out cold from the impact.
Well, it was a double knockout, if you put Old Osmond's condition in it.
On the owl's leg is a tube, which contains a small parchment.
Colbert pales as he read the contents.
"We need to get to the Murial village as quickly as possible." Colbert said,
Dante also reads the message, his eyes narrowed and said, "You better stay here and tend to the professor."
"But."
"Since Old Osmond is indisposed at the moment, you keep watch of the students here. A well as coordinate the rest of the Swordies regarding the situation."
Swordies is Dante's coined term referring to the Swords of Halkeginia members, if you must know.
Dante then jumps out of the window, summons the Icarus in Karnival Form and flies off.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Twilight,
The Village of Murial, lies north of the Tristain's main city. Famous for its cheese, it is one of the outlying villages that are quite prosperous.
Though at the moment, the said status does not matter.
For scores of inky black Servitors, are all over the village like a scourge of nightmare locusts.
They ripped through the settlements with such force that in mere hours, the village is almost completely destroyed, injuring and killing many of the civilians who tried fight them off.
But what can pitchforks, spades and hoes can do against these otherworldly creatures?
In the midst of the chaos, a shadowy, man-shaped writhing mass of snakelike things shambled about, calmly observing the events unfolding in front of its single bloody violet, serpentine eye.
It shambles through a burning house where a family of three huddles together hidden under the table, waiting for this nightmare to end.
Unfortunately, this is reality to them.
To be trodden on by Nobles, their petty wars, and then these horrible, unspeakable creatures adding to their grief.
The nightmare creature constricts the table and finally breaks it to pieces, leaving the family exposed to its gaze.
Knowing that this is the last thing they could do as their little girl's parents, they both gave a final, sheltering hug to their daughter and whispered to her,
"Close your eyes child."
An eldritch, sickly yellow beam emanates from the creature of tentacles' eye, and hits the family in a manner like a stream of water splashes to a rock.
The abomination was apparently laughing in a sound which couldn't have come from a natural being's voice leaves the burning house, with the family in it turned to stone.
As if the creature hasn't dealt enough already, the burning house falls crashing down on the petrified family.
That event aside...
Despair hangs in the air, as the people who are currently escaping, looked back to see their village destroyed by these...things.
For one, there are a number Servitors carrying off young girls for an obviously sinister purpose.
The captives screamed and struggled in vain as the silent, seemingly emotionless creatures held them with unnatural strength.
Just as hope is about to be completely crushed,
A dozen Servitor heads suddenly explodes as a single bullet pierces through their eerily elongated, yet human-like skulls, killing them on the spot, and drops their captives, who then seized the opportunity to run away.
"Hey, hey. Didn't your mothers ever teach you the right way to pick up chicks?" A cocky voice rang through the darkness.
A man in red appears, holding a large, long rifle obviously made not in this world.
Dante has just arrived.
Meet Dante's modified Lahti anti-tank sniper rifle, the Spiral, and its Trick Shot ability.
The Servitors looked amongst themselves, trying to decide what to do, slowly nods their heads as they have arrived at the same conclusion,
'Destroy all that impedes us. Servitors, you have your orders.' A mental command reached out to their minds.
Dante, for some reason, managed to hear the same command.
"Servitors, huh? Another set of puppets.' he said to no one in particular, as he manages to catch the names of the creatures he face.
"Next name you'll take up will be 'Carcasses'. "Dante gave a rather morbid joke, narrowed his eyes and points the Spiral to their general direction.
*BOOM*
A single shot from the rifle destroys the remaining Servitors, each and every one of them are shot in the head in an instant with one bullet ricocheting from different surfaces...
The Trick Shot.
As the corpses of the devils falls down, Dante shoulders the Spiral and runs among the dead devils whose bodies transformed into Red Orbs, which ware drawn to Dante as if magnetized.
Red Orbs were then automatically added to Dante's already immense store of infernal magic.
Turning to a street, he gets accosted by a batallion of Servitors.
Poising the Spiral once more, Dante was about to deal a shot when suddenly, a rain of stone spikes skewered the blackened abominations, while ice spears, ran through the other group of the devils, a great fireball bathed into the impaled devils in flames, an explosion smashes the grouped devils, and finally, a dozen, Iron Valkyries stabs the remaining Servitors.
"Isn't this what you call an overkill?" the intelligent sword asked,
"I couldn't have done better myself," Dante said as he heard a familiar flapping of wings, and the 'Kyui, Kyui,' sound,
Looks like cavalry has arrived, though not what he had in mind, in the form of Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha and Lavinia, riding on top of Sylphid.
Oh, and Louise came along for the ride as well,
"Darling!" Kirche leaps into Dante's arms and nuzzled him.
"What are you guys doing here?" Dante asked, letting the Germanian girl remain embraced to him.
"Mission." Tabitha replies,
"Same here," Lavinia salutes the devil hunter playfully and gave a sexy wink, eliciting a hiss from Kirche.
'Oh yeah, both of them are chevalier ranked so they're basically a Noble soldier of sorts,' Dante thought,
With Kirche, he already knew the reason,
Guiche, as a Lavinia's fiancé came along to assist her.
With Louise however...
"Technically you are my familiar, so I am responsible for your actions. I'm here to...ehem... supervise." She stated putting out her flat chest...
"My, my, aren't we the cheeky one," Dante smirked as he playfully pulled her cheek, eliciting a cute cry from the mini-mage.
"Geez, give me a break here." Louise pouts, as laughter infected the group.
For a time least, the trouble has be neutralized,
Dante takes the time to look at the last disappearing Servitor, which eventually turned to Red Orbs and disappears.
But these are not the culprits that turned some of the victims to stone,
Dante suddenly felt a strong demonic presence,
"Everybody, GET DOWN!" Dante barks an order, as the group follows his command.
A beam of sickly yellow energy arcs through the air, which would have struck the group if it weren't for Dante's timely warning.
The beam splashed to a tree similar to how water would have done.
Though the resulting effect surprised the group as the tree, slowly turns to stone.
"Jackpot!" Dante crowed as he aims the Spiral and fires a quick magically charged shot straight to the devil's eye, with the bullet breaking it into shards.
The devil bursts into green flames and fades...
"That was easy. Way too easy." Dante comments, putting the large sniper rifle back to the infinite armory.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Later into the night...
Within the academy grounds, a figure under the twin moonlight can be seen.
Holding up a long staff in its right hand, the jewelled end of the staff glowed in eldritch light,
All if the sudden, the head of the staff suddenly sprang numerous snaky things.
And the snaky things began crawling all over the figure, which then appears to be struggling.
And in the end, the figure stopped struggling and let the tentacle things do as it wanted.
It seems like the nightmare on Muriel just went to another place...
／人◕ .◕人＼
A few days that followed, there were no other incident occurred.
Thus, life continued on, though the students were a bit sombre due to Katie's demise, as there have not yet found a way to reverse the petrifying spell cast on the girl, along with the rest of the victims...
After a heavy bout of training, courtesy of Dante running after the poor boy around the grounds, Guiche tiredly rests his aching body on the grass, under the shade of a tree in the courtyard, and falls asleep.
It was already afternoon when Guiche woke up.
But instead of feeling the cool grass on his head, he felt that he was lying on something soft and warm.
He looked up and sees the sleeping face of Lavinia, who's also asleep while she provided a lap pillow for the tired boy.
She must have felt Guiche move, for she opened her eyes and lovingly greets the boy.
"Good afternoon," and gives the boy a slight peck on the blushing boy's cheek,
"Y-yes, and a good afternoon to you too... Umm, you must be getting tired of this so..." Guiche tries to get up, but Lavinia stops the boy by putting her hands on the boy's shoulders,
"Please, stay put for a while. It isn't a bother for me at all. " She replies,
"... Uh, if you insist," Guiche said, remaining in his place.
A gust of cooling wind blows from the west with the sun slowly setting down to the horizon.
"Hey, Gui."
"Yes?"
"Do you love me?"
"Of course I do,"
Lavinia sighs as soon as she heard the answer,
"I'm not so sure at all, since there are times that you seem to be looking somewhere else when we're together."
"...There is something you want to tell me right?..." Guiche asked
"Well…I…"
"Just so you know, I am all ears to listen to whatever it is you wanted to tell me…" Guiche rambled on
She can't say it…
She really wanted to be with Gui for life….
As much as she wanted for him to be together with her, it seems that they can't do so anymore.
Her staff glows a sickening green light, unnoticed by the two.
Suddenly, they are no longer alone.
Tabitha is standing right in front of the two...
With her staff pointed at Lavinia.
Guiche gets up quickly and said, "Wha- What's this all about Tabitha? Please put away your staff before you hurt someone."
"Guiche, get away from her." Tabitha spoke, it is not a request, it is an order.
"What's the matter, Tabitha?" Lavinia tilted her head and asked, as if she was talking about the weather.
"Possessed." Tabitha indicated towards Lavinia,
"P-possessed, what do you mean?' Guiche stutters at the confusing statement made by the blunette.
He then turns towards his fiancé, who looks away…
"She meant that your fiancée is now a vessel of the devil which turned many people to stone, and caused much destruction with those Servitors under its command. Due to that, her commanding officer now wants Tabitha to eliminate the threat." Kirche supplied the remaining information as she appeared from under the shade of the tree.
"Th-This is a joke, right? Tell me that they're joking..." Guiche began to feel the seriousness of the situation, as he takes a look at Lavinia.
"I'm sorry Gui, I'm afraid they are correct…AAAHHH" Lavinia was about to explain herself but was interrupted by the Staff that she was holding, which burst into an indescribable mass of snake-like tentacles.
Lavinia fell to the ground in a fit of a seizure…as the staff that she held suddenly melted and merged into her hands, and the snaky things now began to slither from that point and began to grow an multiply, slowly and surely, with a purpose of completely covering Lavinia, with these abominable things…
And a burst of eldritch energy instantly turns the entire Academy into a petrified nightmare, along with the Academy staff and students.
Everyone present with Lavinia was petrified as well.
All except for Guiche,
Guiche was speechless, shocked at how Lavinia turned into,
She then tells him "This is what I am now. Do you still want me to be with you?" in the most eerie voice he had ever heard.
The slithering devil slowly shambles closer to the terrified boy,
It reached out with it's 'wriggling hands' and touched Guiche on the forehead.
As the amalgam creature touched his head, Guiche then finally saw the truth on what happened to the Lavinia and her family.
The Vision:
It was a perfect summer night, as the entire family had dinner together, laughing, eating and talking.
They are one of the Noble families who kept each and every one of the family members close-knit.
Then something crashed through the window, and imbedded itself to the wall right behind the chair of the Duke Herberte.
And just like that, the slithering devil, Gorgon, just, spread out itself into a mass of snake like tentacles and constricts everyone in the family, savouring the victims' suffering, pain and despair; while it slowly and deliberately ate the entire Herberte family alive all at once…consumed both their bodies and souls in the process.
The only one who survived from the process is Lavinia, by using the power of the Devil which tried to feed on what remained of her body and soul; she managed to take vengeance to the Devil that massacred her family by petrifying it with its own powers.
She thought it was over…Unfortunately, the Gorgon's shard of its soul remained within her, as it slowly tries to regain its sealed magical powers, and form…
For the last six years, she kept the devil at bay and her soul alive by sheer force of will.
But for the last few weeks , the devil, has emerged once more, and began to turn victims to stone as it fed on their despair.
Wishing to see Guiche once again before she completely disappears was the reason that she came to the academy.
It seems that it too late for her, as the Devil within has already begun to finish what it started.
Lavinia, in her spasms, sheds a final tear as a human,
"Gui, please...Kill me..." she begged the stunned boy,
… as she slowly loses her soul…
The devil finally caught up with her as the devil residing in the staff finally removes her soul, leaving her body empty.
And became a devil's playground.
The snake-like things slithers in and out of her body, until...it become a creature only composed of a violet serpentine eye in the center of a mass of sickeningly green tentacles, resembling eyeless snakes.
"I'm sorry Lavinia, I just can't do it." He laments, with doom moving ever closer...
The Guiche steels himself for the end, as he cannot kill Lavinia, possessed or not.
*CLANG*
Suddenly, a blur forces the Gorgon away from the boy.
"Hey kid. Are you actually refusing a girl's request?" a familiar voice spoke to him,
It was Dante, keeping the monster at bay by shooting at it with Ebony an Ivory.
"But…"
"Did you not ask me to train you to man up?" Dante chides at his student, as he gave the human shaped mass of tentacled nightmare a powerful sidekick, sending it crashing to the Academy wall.
'Hopefully, Old Osmond won't blame me for this.' The devil hunter thought on the damage he caused right then.
Speaking aloud, "Listen, being a man, doesn't always entail doing things to please a woman or to be doing nice things for her, At least try to be honest with her from time to time. That way, your relationship could grow."
Dante dodges a beam which would have petrified him.
Guiche remained silent,
"A man should be a like a rock, strong in body and spirit, enough to bear the weight and pressure that life gives him, to provide support anyone who need his help, even more so for the woman he loves." Dante said this as he rapidly shoots at the Gorgon with Ebony and Ivory,
"Like fire that passionately burns, driving him on forwards, to live, learn and love."
The Gorgon stretches its numerous tentacles that resemble snakes to capture and crush the devil hunter, only to be cut down by the Rebellion performing a Prop Shredder.
"Cool and calm like ice, able to think clearly amidst the maelstrom of life's challenges."
Dante was suddenly struck by the beam, as he was about to leap away, and slowly petrifies his body.
"And finally a compassionate heart, that you may be able to understand others and especially for those he loves."
Dante said, as the petrifying effect finally takes hold of him, forcing him down on one knee.
"Master!" Guiche snaps out of his shock as he runs to the fallen devil hunter's side.
"A pity really. Is this, the power of the Son of Sparda?" Gorgon sneered at the devil hunter, as it grew it size to about twenty mails. (Approx. 20 meters for those who don't get it.)
"Not really, I believe even this boy can defeat you," Dante said rather cockily.
"I-I can't…" Guiche stifles a cry as Dante puts his hand over the boy's head.
"Kid, you always had it in you. If you don't believe in yourself, then you should at least believe in the me that believes in you." Dante said as he hands to him the Rebellion Zweihander with his remaining unpetrified hand.
"W-well, seems like my time is up, I'm lending this to you, so better kick his ass…" Dante said as the spell finally turns his entire body to stone.
"He's still keeping that annoying cocky smirk to the end." Guiche quietly said as he rose,
Gripping tightly on to the Rebellion, he takes one final look at his fallen master,
"Master? Is this alright?" he asks the stoned Dante, (Pun intended) "Never mind, I'll just do what you just said then."
Out of nowhere, he suddenly whips out a longcoat...that is similarly designed like Dante's, only his version is Rose Pink…
Guiche throws the Rebellion spinning to the air, at the same time, flashily puts on the coat, before catching the Zweihander in one hand in an audible...
*Clang*
Yes, Guiche looked rather cool this time,
The thing is… no one else besides the monster is watching…
(Note: why didn't the devil attack during this sequence?)
For the firs time, Guiche cared nothing of his appearance at all as he concentrates and glows with his elemental magic, channelling the will of the surrounding magic to his person, allowing him to strengthen himself further.
For now let us call this method the Magical Enhancement.
"Are you saying that you can actually beat me? How absurd?" the Gorgon laughs, in a distorted voice.
All of the sudden, Guiche, holding the Rebellion quite easily, managed to instantly close the distance between them.
The devil tries to strike him down by using its numerous snake-like appendages to stab him.
But to its frustration, the boy proved to be much faster, evading all of its attempts, thanks to the training Dante gave him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Guiche then swings the Rebellion upward, slashing the Devil and launching it at the same time as the Guiche also instinctively casts an earth spell that creates a giant, earthen fist which rose to thirty mails and gave the devil an uppercut for good measure.
A modified version of the High Time.
Guiche wastes no time and follows suit, delivering multiple sword strikes combo that deals devastating damage to the airborne enemy.
The Aerial Rave.
It was delivered in such speed that the devil was unable to counterattack.
As the writhing mass falls down, Guiche performs a backflip, and took a quick foothold from the raised earthen platform he created earlier, and push kicked with all his might, sending him hurtling downwards, with the Zweihander extended.
His Finishing move, the Skyfall Stinger,
"I love you, Lavinia." Guiche conveyed his feelings to the wind.
At the same moment, he thought he just saw a flash of an image of Lavinia, smiling at him, just like when they were young.
The Stinger Move pierced the crystal-like eye of the devil, breaking it to pieces, and then spectacularly exploded in a shower of bright lights.
Guiche, tired of his exertions, lets go of Rebellion and lets himself fall down to catch his breath.
A clapping could be heard from behind the boy. Rebellion flies off the ground and towards...
"Congratulations kid, you just managed to kill your first true Devil." A Dante congratulates, easily catching the huge blade and putting it on his back in one fluid movement.
"And I'm sorry that you had to do it yourself. But she requested it."
"You knew? Wait, how did you manage to dispel the petrifying spell?"
"Apparently, I'm immune to it, as I returned to normal before you hit it with the first blow... And with the death of the true caster…" he snaps his fingers,
Another wash of magical light traversed throughout the spell-affected area.
It miraculously reversed the recently pertrified court along with Kirche and Tabitha.
And the entire Academy.
All over Tristain, the people who were affected by the spell recovered, much to the relief of everyone…
A great shout of joy could be heard from miles/mails around Tristain of the people celebrating their reuniting with the then petrified victims.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Later, in a cemetery in the outskirts of Tristain,
A recovered Dante and Guiche, along with Louise, Kirche and Tabitha, silently looked on the pile of stones, carefully made by Guiche, in honor of Lavinia,
Guiche then hangs a cute bluebird pendant on her epitaph, something she wanted to have one time they wandered out the day before.
After a moment of silence…
The girls leave the two behind as Guiche sadly watched the setting sun...
"After what happened, I'm glad to see that you've outgrown yourself…" Dante comments,
"To be honest, I don't feel like I have grown at all, though…" Guiche mumbled, as he knelt, staring blankly into the crude grave.
"You can cry if you want..." Dante puts a hand to the boy,
With that, Guiche's tears began to fall.
A cry to the heavens could be heard...
Someone was watching Guiche from a distance.
Montmorency, who distanced herself the whole time, but still kept watch of the nearly entire thing, also wept.
"You should go to him right now." Someone spoke behind her,
It was Dante, currently relaxing on a tree branch,
"I'm not much on the comforting type of guy, but I know a certain someone who needs you."
"But, How? Where to begin?"
"Just being with him right now would be a nice start." Dante smirked before Air Tricking out.
Later...Montmorency stayed with Guiche, as he cried his heart out in front of the grave...
／人◕ .◕人＼
A week later…
With the devil attack case closed, the school activity resumes its normal course.
Though, that depends on the point of view.
'...' Dante was speechless as he took back his comment about the said boy growing up,
Guiche pull another woo session with the girl now known as the sexy bookworm, M'selle Emily Crewe.
"Ah, M'selle Crewe, It would be an outmost honor to me if you please allow me to carry your books." Guiche tries to look his best in speaking to the rather distraught but blushing young lady.
Flashback,
"I've decided to continue being like this..."
"Is that so?" Dante raised up an eyebrow,
It seemed that Guiche wanted to return to his old ways, with a slight sense of responsibility towards his actions (hopefully), apparently to honor the deceased Lavinia's wish of Guiche to become the best lover.
"Do what you want. It's your life after all. Just make sure that once you settle down, stick with your true love..." Dante lectures the boy,
"My true love, huh..." Guiche stares into space...
Truth be told, Lavinia still has a space in his heart, but then again, so is...
"Montmorency..."
Flashback ends...
'Oh well, can't be helped then, time for some even more intense training…' Dante decides, as his trigger finger itched for another crazy idea walking towards the boy...
／人◕ .◕人＼
After that episode... here's a little something to slightly tickle the funny bone, depending in your sense of humor of course.
Here's an Omake-like but Canon skit...
This evening as the curtain opens up, we see our devil hunter looking rather nostalgic, as Louise slept peacefully on her bed.
Scanning through the Media Player he earlier acquired (Please See Mission 6), he looked at the contents of the over 200 TB memory of files. Besides the music files, he finds a bunch of movies, books, other files, sceneries, and finally, lots of pictures of beautiful girls in trendy clothes.
Strangely, there is no information within it about the owner of the device.
Though he suspects that the corrupted data he found could be the owner's.
Well, it seems like he's been gone for some time… judging by the stuff he saw in the said Media Player.
Not to mention, the device itself.
It has other various operational applications that Dante has never seen before, it even has a solid light keyboard function and voice command, which are originally set in Japanese…
And this device was at least thousands of years old when he found it…
"…." Dante continued to stare at the device, and realized…
How long was he gone from earth?
"Man, I really wish I would return home and see things myself…." Dante groans as he looked at the scene of the white sand beach teeming with hot, beautiful babes in the sexiest bikinis ever seen.
The original owner must have been a babe enthusiast, just as he is.
Girls might refer to him as a lecher,
"Watch it Bud!" Dante growls,
Sorry.
He had to admit, he's currently bored… browsing through the picture files, he sees at a certain young model's ensemble, another crazy idea popped in his head…
"Hmm."
／人◕ .◕人＼
Later in the morning,
The sunlight shining radiantly at Austri's Plaza, Dante was in deep thought.
Then he raised his face, gazed at the work of art he had a certain tailor make for him, and once again started to go grin from his excitement.
Dante muttered quietly.
"Man. The things people do out of boredom."
Dante let himself fall down on the grass and said,
"All I need now is a model. One who should look like an angel, maybe someone like..."
"HER!"
Then he said as he randomly pointed at the said angel that he first saw with his eyes.
And of all people who had to come across his vision,
"Siesta?"
Siesta, dumbfounded, was staring at Dante's whole act of randomness.
"Dante-san... is strange..."
She murmured unintentionally.
That was exactly just how abnormal Dante was acting.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Holding up the clothes Dante had custom made earlier, Siesta comments…
"B-but, these clothes..."
"What? Something wrong with it?"
Dante walked towards her.
"W, well... I mean, this is a military uniform, right? Even if I wear this, it won't look good..."
"Don't say such things, You'll Look Good in it!"
Dante's intimidating attitude caused Siesta to go "Hii..." and back off.
"In this world, that is certainly an outfit for the naval soldiers. But In my world, girls your age wear that and go to school, continuing in present its progressive form."
"Y-Yes..."
'Aah, Dante-san is surpassing strange...'
Then Dante spoke, but his eyes seemed teary.
"It is called sailor uniform in my world."
Siesta thought 'So that is what this was about...'
This is an outfit from Dante-san's birthplace...
Well, not exactly.
Even so, Siesta honestly felt happy that Dante had clothes made for her.
And now, to Dante who was delighting over having her dress in his birthplace's outfit, she felt darling.
If Dante was normal right now, pulling away from him would be the only thing possible to do, but for that reason, Siesta blushed.
"At first, I thought Dante-san went crazy, but he had such a reason..."
I understand! Siesta nodded, and turned around to face Dante seriously.
"What should I do to please you even more?" she asked,
Dante, once again, looked at Siesta's appearance from the top to bottom.
First, the upper half.
It was a beautiful gem made which is inspired from an Albion's sailor suit he saw during his wanderings through town, and he had a set of four made, for some reason.
White long sleeves with black cuffs. The collar and scarf were deep blue in color. Three white lines ran across the collar.
And then, Dante condensed his genius into "length".
Dante, to his utmost ability not to mention that one particular picture he found in that IPOD, which is hidden under the file name, S.H. - Secret Stash, and instructed M'selle Swift to make the waist area short as he saw from the picture.
By shortening the length of the upper half, it only reached to the top of the skirt. Therefore, whenever Siesta twisted her body, he could see her belly button.
Dante was pleased with the results and will have the original owner of the IPOD to be thanked, should he ever see that guy.
Now, the skirt.
He had based the designs on Louise's alternate uniform, a pleated skirt, since the design on that particular picture he saw was out of the question. This, as well, was shortened to the best he could muster.
As a result, most likely the first skirt in this other world to be fifteen centimeters above the knees was created.
And then the socks.
Those were the result from a clash between the picture and reality. Dante carefully chose and arranged deep blue socks.
Dante shook his head as he did this,
"For some reason, I feel compelled to do this..."
Seems like the fate is still forcing stuff that was supposed to happen, whether Dante liked it or not.
Back to the designing...
Shoes.
They were the high-laced boots Siesta always wore. It was the only scratch in this glittering work of art.
Well, that depends on the beholder.
He really wanted loafers in the ensemble.
But sadly, loafers did not exist in this world.
Anyways, these articles were all scrutinized and coordinated by Dante, the best he could.
'Great. Now I'm a fashion designer for girls...' Dante deadpans, commenting on his current activity.
Not that he can't design an ensemble…it's always directed to his own clothing.
Well, he already did the same with Louise few days after that summoning ritual, with that costume of hers at the presentation of familiars.
On to the fitting...
The current model's big breasts, usually covered and hidden by an apron, were raised up by the hand-made sailor uniform. Her healthy slender legs were sucked into the fifteen-centimeter-above-knees skirt.
Siesta usually didn't wear such short skirts. Well, she never had before.
The mix of nostalgia and freshness made him even more emotionally moved.
"Tell me! Dante-san! What should I do?" the maid asks,
Dante thought.
Seriously, he's staking his dignity here.
Not like he has any in the first place,
*BANG*
HEY! What Gives?
*BANG* *BANG*
Oi, you're shooting at the author here,
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Hey, Stop that!
*CLICK*
"Then you should stop trying to write insults at me." Dante growls as he continued to point the smoking Ebony at the said Author.
Sure, sure...Shall we continue this?
"Like do I have a choice?" Dante sighed as he replied at the author, holstering the black pistol.
Siesta just stares at the strange behaviour of her beloved,
Er, anyway, on with the scene...
The devil hunter recalled all kinds of stuff regarding modelling.
Like a high-powered engine, Dante's gearhead rotated, something popped up.
'That is not what I had in mind but...'
With an obviously forced voice, he squeezed out
"Spin around."
"Eh?"
"Round and around, turn like that. Then, after that, say 'Sorry to keep you waiting!' cheerfully to me."
Siesta drew back.
Dante was now coinciding with the type of men her mother told her not to get close to when she was young.
Still, Siesta wanted to please him.
Love wins over common sense after all...
Well, most of the time…
As if to prepare herself, "Y-yes..." she nodded, and Siesta spun around. Her scarf and skirt lightly flew up into the air.
"So-sorry to keep you waiting."
"That's not it!"
"Hii!"
"At the end, you raise a finger and go "ne". Cheerfully. One more time."
Nodding, Siesta repeated what she was told. Seeing this, Dante smiled, with tears in his eyes.
'What the hell am I doing?' his inner self asked,
Now he seemed to recall a certain someone's statement,
'This is just like my favourite Anime.'
"Thank you for y, y, y, your bravery." Siesta stammers, as her thoughts on the situation continued to bug her.
'Is this okay, Siesta? Is it really okay for this person?' She kind of felt that from the more composed part of her, but Siesta shut off that negativity.
'Every person has hobbies and preferences that they can't tell others. Dante-san is no exception. Yeah, that's all... Yes, that's it!' She tells herself brightly and smiled.
Siesta is strong.
Very strong.
"What should I do next?"
"Hmmm, next is..."
When Dante folded his arms and started pondering over this, a group of two walked over to them in an awkward manner.
It was Guiche and the fat Malicorne.
An unusual duo.
It seemed the two had been staring at Siesta from some shelter.
"Ehem, Master?", Guiche coughed to grab attention.
"That is... what? What are those clothes?"
For some reason, Guiche was furious while looking like he was going to cry. Malicorne, too, pointed to Siesta while trembling.
"O-o, o, outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Isn't that right? Guiche!"
"Aah, this! I've never seen such an outrageous outfit before! It-it-it!"
"It directly attacks the br-br-brain!"
The two's eyes glittered heatedly, and stared at Siesta as if to eat into her.
*Waaan* the headaches multiplied, Siesta felt miserable, but these two were nobles.
Because she had to, Siesta forcibly smiled.
That smile and sailor uniform seemed to have completely damaged Malicorne and Guiche, since they started to draw near her in a staggering gait like a somnambulist's.
'Not good, it seemed that this ensemble totally killed their sense of morality…" the devil hunter thought upon seeing the scene.
Yep, she's in trouble should she remain here.
"Siesta, Run!" Dante yells to the maid, causing the said girl to flinch,
Siesta, sensing danger to her body as well, said hurriedly as she bowed, "Well, I'm going back to work!" and ran away.
"How lovely..." Guiche murmured in a dreaming tone as he watched her run off.
"Absolutely..." Malicorne also murmured, spellbound.
Actually the reverse happened to Dante, as the situation seemed to have let its grip of his actions.
And the fact that this is even a slightly toned down set, Dante is now worried what would happen should he actually suggest to M'selle Swift to make more of these 'modern' styles of clothing line to the Nobles.
And with the job Dante commissioned her, it gave her some new ideas she would like to try, with Dante's critical eye of course.
Dante shrugged, 'Fashion marches on.'
Back to the current scene…
He then hears the giggling of the veiled woman...
"Ohohohohohohohoho!" her laughter echoes,
As Dante then turns around and finds himself back to that space where he met the said entity.
"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just passing through..." the veiled lady cheerily waves at the confused devil hunter, he really felt as if he's being played with.
Then finds himself back to the Austri's Plaza, and upon seeing the dazed duo...
"What did you come here for?" Dante yelled at the duo, just to get the kinks out of the confusing event that just happened, and the two finally came back to their senses.
Then, Guiche, in a speed unknown to the devil hunter, suddenly found the boy grovelling in front of him.
"M-Master. Where did you buy that outfit?"
"What about it?"
Guiche said with an embarrassed smile, as he looked up to his master's face,
"Th-there is a person I want to give the outfit to as a present."
"The Princess?" Dante guessed,
"It's not her, Idiot! Ow!" Guiche was stopped from insulting the devil hunter further as a big boot steps on his head.
"You were saying?" Dante grinned ferally, as he sunk the boy's head to the ground by stepping on his head, before he let the boot off the young man.
"Sorry Master. But she's too much! Her Majesty the Princess is now Her Majesty the Queen! Aah, she has gone to a high place where I cannot reach... It was better when she was a princess, but now as the queen..."
'What high place? You never had a chance since the beginning.' Dante thought, but he decided to stay silent and listen.
"There, I finally remembered. That person who was always beside me, constantly looking at me with her lovely eyes... That beautiful blond hair. That sweet, perfume-like smile..."
'Ah, his ex-girlfriend.' Dante realized.
"Monmon-something, right?"
"Not Monmon! It's Montmorency!"
"I see. You want to be close to her again." Dante muses
Guiche nods in agreement,
"You know, you really don't have any integrity." Dante follows it up.
"I don't want to be told by… OW!" Guiche was about to insult Dante the second time when a fist came crashing on his head.
"Seriously. Are you secretly a glutton for punishment?" Dante asked,
"Master, Please, tell me. Where is that outfit sold?"
"It's custom-made."
"I-I see, it can't be helped..." Guiche spoke sadly, like a kicked puppy.
Though he was kind of kicked earlier.
Dante, having similar experiences with girls, (on very rare occasions) couldn't help it but...
"I still have two more. Use them as you please."
It pulled out Dante's maximum concession instantly.
"But still, just what is that outfit? I think I've seen that somewhere before... Don't sailors wear these clothes? For, hmm, a girl to wear it and give off such charms! How mysterious..."
Folding his arms together, Dante grins with pride.
"Of course. It has my charming magic cast on it."
／人◕ .◕人＼
End note:
I had no idea what to write as a filler of sorts but then again this came up...
To well-read readers, I'm sure you can recognize where I took the names of our guests from in the fic...
And there are some clues in it regarding their possible roles in the future...
Just an experiment, but still Canon in my tale...
So I did...
Real Life Work sucks in this side of the world... X( Help!
PLEASE REVIEW...
TILL NEXT TIME! XD