Question: how original are you gonna get when making a fanfic ripoff?
Answer: It doesn't matter, As long as you have fun writing and those who read have fun as well. As long as no royalties are made, I believe it's safe.
Disclaimer: Neither the Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.
Let's try to return to the main plot shall we?
Too depressed at work so I just made this one on the fly for a laugh...
Let's Begin,
Mission 22 : The Water Spirit's Quest
／人◕ .◕人＼
Fantasy Fic: A figure stands on top of the Tristain Royal Palace tower whose face is hidden under the hood, in a sword drawing stance with Yamato on its hand, with the two moons rising behind it; the said figure is wearing Vergil's DMC3 blue long coat in tatters. He faces a group of figures off picture; the shadows that they cast surround the hooded one. …I wonder who this one is?
／人◕ .◕人＼
From the pages of a confiscated scroll said to have come from a forbidden text…
"The twelve constellations will herald the coming of the creator."
／人◕ .◕人＼
"Only a few people actually knew this particular piece of information, as most people merely regarded the figure of the Legendary Dark Knight as a myth. But in truth, he is one of the key factors why Brimierre and his familiars, along with the elves, won the battles against the True Enemy, for the reclamation of Halkegenia's freedom, as generally known to the public."
A cloaked figure talks drunkenly to a couple of mercenaries in a certain tavern…
His face was hidden beneath the heavy hood, and continued to talk after taking a swig from his huge beer mug.
While looking at his sword, so unlike the regular broadswords in Halkeginia, this one looks like a single edged curved longsword, ornamented by a dragon embossed on the blade...he spoke once more,
"Due to the dangerous nature of the true enemy, one of the allies of Halkeginia, made a supreme sacrifice…"
"How do you know of this?" One of the mercenaries asked the heavily clothed man...
"I was th...I mean, I just heard it from a VERY reliable source..."
"Tell us more..." they urged the hooded stranger, who looked rather small for a man of his supposed age...
／人◕ .◕人＼
Let's leave the conversing group for now and try to see the main characters on the progress with their quest,
Now we follow the gang as they try to find the solution to this travesty that is Louise…in love?
／人◕ .◕人＼
The hills and mountains overlooked the dark blue waves of Ragdorian Lake as they rippled. The sun's illumination on the lake was spread like a layer of shimmering glass.
Dante and others arrived at the lake by horse.
Well, Dante and Louise rode an 'Iron Horse' Sleipnir...
Because Louise disliked riding alone, she and Dante took the same ride.
She sat in front.
It seemed like she didn't want to leave Dante's side even for a single moment.
Montmorency and Guiche were riding on separate splendid grey horses.
"This must be the famous Ragdorian lake! No, the beauty of this lake is indescribable! The Water Spirit is in there! I'm impressed! HO-HO-HO – YAHOO!"
Yelled Guiche, whipping the horse and sending it plunging down the hill.
Unfortunately, the horse was afraid of the water and when it reached the shore it came to an abrupt stop.
Following the law of inertia, Guiche was flung off the horse and, with a thunderous crash, fell head first into the lake.
'I give that performance a Ten out of Ten points for sheer stupidity…' Dante rated,
"Can't reach the ground! It's deep! Deeeeeeep!"
'Yep…stupidity…' Dante summed it up as he watched hit protégé struggle in the water.
Half-shin deep of water…
Guiche desperately cried out for help while struggling in the water.
It seemed that Guiche did not know how to swim.
"I wonder if we should reconsider our fellowship after all?" Montmorency muttered.
'Fellowship? What fellowship?' Dante thought, but spoke aloud
"That would be nice..."
Dante nodded. Louise looked up at Dante with a worried face.
"Montmorency is nice?"
"No, I don't mean that way. Never mind, just wait, I will return you to your original self."
Dante brought the motorcycle close to the shore, and cuts the engine silent.
Guiche, after a long struggle, was shivering and soaked from head to toe as he finally reached the shore. He had a bitter look on his face.
"Hey hey, shouldn't you help me? Do not desert someone who cannot swim…OW!"
A fist hits the blond boy right on the top of his head.
"Idiot, do you have to swim in shin-deep water?" Dante berates with visible annoyance.
'Oops, I think I better stop hitting this kid on the head. It seems to lessen what intelligence he has left…' Dante reflects,
However, Montmorency completely ignored Guiche and was instead looking at the lake suspiciously.
"What is it?" Dante asked.
"Strange."
"What's strange?"
"The water level is up. Ragdorian's shore should be further up there."
"Is that so?" Dante asked, looking around at the place and tries to look for a bunch of things that should not be seen on a lake, such as...
"Yes. Look over there. There is a rooftop sticking out. It seems that village has been flooded."
Yep, that would be one of them...
Following Montmorency's gaze, the rest of the party could indeed see the roof.
Dante could even recognize the dark shadow of the sunken house under the limpid surface of the water upon further observation.
Montmorency walked up to the shore, dipped her finger into the water and closed her eyes. After a while she stood back up with a worried expression on her face.
"It seems as if the Water Spirit is angry."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I am a Water-element user, Montmorency the Fragrance. The Tristain Royal family is connected with the Ragdorian lake Water Spirit by an old oath. The Montmorency 'Water' family has been negotiating with it for many generations.
"And now?"
"And now, for various reasons, other nobles are doing it."
"Then, have you seen the Water Spirit?"
"Only once when I was small. When we needed to create a drainage for the territory, the family sought the Water Spirit's cooperation. A big glass container was made to transport it. However, because the Water Spirit has a lot of pride, it can be extremely aggressive. In fact, it is because of their aggressiveness that my family's drainage scheme failed. My father said to the Water Spirit 'Do not walk. The floor gets wet'…"
'It's not that the Water Spirit is aggressive. I was your father's fault it ended in failure. You have one stupid father, Monmon.' Dante thought as he looked at Montmorency with pity,
This doesn't escape the extremely observant eye of Louise.
"Hey, quit looking at her that way!"
"Ow!" Dante cringed in temporary pain as Louise kicked the devil hunter in the shin.
"What was that for?"
Louise suddenly rushed at Dante and hugs him tightly at his waist. Crying a torrent of tears, she cried,
"Please forgive me, I-I just want you to just look at me, and me alone."
Dante sighed once more at the how Louise is acting up,
The sentient sword remained silent throughout the tirade as the night before, Derflinger tried to make a snide comment, only to face Dante's even darker rage...
That aside, Dante asked the young protégé to be,
"Hey, what does the Water Spirit look like?"
Dante continued to scan the lake, showing curiosity.
"I have never actually seen it."
Guiche, flapping his wet shirt that he had taken off, nodded in agreement. Louise, who had absolutely no interest in the discussion, hid herself behind Dante's back and unconsciously held on tightly to the hem of his longcoat.
"Beautiful! Quite so…"
At that moment, an old lonesome farmer who was hiding behind a tree stepped out.
"I suppose, my lords, you are nobles."
A middle aged farmer looked up with an embarrassed face.
"Only these kids are," Dante points out.
"What's the matter?" Montmorency asked.
"My lords, did you come to negotiate with the Water Spirit? If so, then we have been saved! Please, quickly make your negotiations and solve this flood problem."
The party looked at each other. It seemed like this farmer was a resident of the village that sank into the lake.
"That, well, we... came here just to see the lake."
Surely, Montmorency could not tell him that they came here to get the Water Spirit's tear.
"I see… Really, lords and the queen are now only interested in the war against the Albion, not even noticing such remote villages as ours. They can't even imagine how hard it is to collect the harvest…"
"Haa," the farmer sigh deeply.
"What on Halkeginia happened to the Ragdorian lake?"
"The water started to rise about two years ago. The water level increased slowly, flooding the port first, then the temple and fields... See? Now even the eagles' nests are flooded. The local lords that are responsible for this territory indulge in royal court entertainments and pay no attention to our pleas."
The old farmer wept bitterly.
"For years we lived on this land, depending on the moody Water Spirit. Honestly, it's good when it stays at the bottom of the lake... We really want to understand why it has suddenly become interested in our land. Because this land belongs to men! But, only a noble could communicate with it. I'd like to know what we poor farmers did to make it lose its temper."
The rest of the Nobles present, besides Dante and the love struck Louise, bent their heads in embarrassment.
After the farmer finished grumbling and left, Montmorency took something out of the bag attached to her waist.
It was a tiny frog. It was bright yellow with many black spots.
Her familiar...
The thing reminded Dante of a certain frog he read back on earth which was used to make poisoned arrows...
Montmorency put the frog in the palm of her hand; it stared up to her inquisitvely.
"FROG!"
Louise, who was afraid of frogs, screamed and drew closer to Dante.
So much that she forgot how scary Dante actually could get.
"What is with this poisonously colored frog?" Dante asked,
"It is not poisonous, I tell you! It is my dear familiar!"
Apparently, this tiny frog was Montmorency's familiar. Montmorency raised her finger, and ordered to her familiar.
"Listen Robin, I want to contact an old friend of yours."
Then Montmorency reached in her pocket and took out a needle, in one brief moment she stuck her finger with it allowing a ruby of bright red blood to gush. Turning her finger over, she let a drop fall on the frog.
After that, Montmorency cast a spell, treating the wound on the tip of her finger. Then she brought the frog close again.
"Since she knows who I am, she should know who you are. Robin, please, in the name of the great spirits of the dead, seek the old Water Spirit, and tell her I wish to speak with her because of our alliance. Do it for me, understood?"
The frog slightly nodded and disappeared into the water with a splash.
"Now, Robin went to call the Water Spirit. If she can find it, she is likely to bring it here."
Dante looked doubtful as he looked over the water's surface.
"When it comes, what are we gonna do? Tell it sad stories or something?"
"Sad story? What are you talking about?"
"We need tears of the Water Spirit right? How else would we get it if not making it cry?"
"Seriously." Monmorency tries to say something rather insulting to Dante but instead faces the devil hunter's stern gaze,
"U-Um, the Tear of the Water Spirit is only a name. It doesn't really shed tears."
Montmorency stutterers as she explained,
Dante and Guiche looked at each other.
Louise, lonely without Dante's attention, 'rub-rub' rubbed her cheek against his back.
It was a really weird scene! Though any other guy could die from such a cute Louise, all that mattered now was Montmorency's story.
"Then, what is the tear of the Water Spirit?" Guiche asked.
"The Water Spirit... compared to human lifespans, it can live a long, long, long time. It is said to have existed 6,000 years ago, when the Founder Brimir established Halkeginia. Its body, like water, can freely change its shape... and in a sunshine it glistens with seven colors…"
The moment Montmorency said this, the surface of the water began to shine.
The Water Spirit appeared.
30 meters away from the shore where Dante and others were standing the water was shining.
The surface of the water was wriggling non-stop. Then the water welled up like a rising cake. Dante watched it with an expression of boredom.
The water was constantly changing shape so one could not even see hands. It looked like a huge amoeba. Though its flashing lights were beautiful... it also made the rest of the party uncomfortable.
The frog, Montmorency's familiar, hopped back to its master with a splash. Montmorency held out her palm and caught the frog.
She patted the frog's head with her finger.
"Thank you for helping to call it."
Then Montmorency stood up, spread her hands towards the Water Spirit, and opened her mouth.
"I am a Montmorency Margarita La Fère de Montmorency. User of water, member of the lineage of old oath. I have put my blood on the frog to help you remember. If you remember, answer in the way and words that we understand."
The Water Spirit... rising out of the surface of the water... started slowly to gain shape like a clay figure.
Dante showed no signs of surprise when watching this. Since he's seen worse…
The mass of water slowly shaped itself into Montmorency's form and faintly smiled.
However, it was bigger and had no clothes. It looked like a transparent nude Montmorency.
Just like an ice statue.
The Water Spirit's expression changed into various forms. After the smile followed angry, then - crying faces. Each time she tried a new expression, the lump face of water moved.
Indeed, she looked beautiful. Like an ever-changing jewel.
Then her face became expressionless again as the Water Spirit answered Montmorency's question.
"I remember, mere human. I remember the liquid that flows in your body. The moon has changed 52 times since our last meeting."
"I'm glad. Water Spirit, I need to ask you something. Although it might seem somewhat insensitive, could you give me a piece of your body?"
'Part of its body?' Dante wondered. 'That sounded kinda wrong…'
"Hey wait a sec, I thought we're looking for its tears." When he poked Montmorency, she turned around annoyed, then scared as she saw Dante's eyes glow threateningly red.
"A-although it is a tear, it is impossible to make immortal spirits cry. They are... different from us. I do not even know if one can call them living beings. Either way the tear of the Water Spirit is a part of its body."
"So we have to cut down its body?"
Dante grinned as he asked.
"Shh! Not so loud! The Water Spirit can get very angry! That's why it is nearly impossible to obtain the tear. How the people in the city's black market are able to get it… I simply cannot imagine."
The Water Spirit smiled.
"Oh, it smiled! It must mean it is alright!" Guiche gushed
But, the words that came from its mouth... maybe because it still didn't understand how to to speak properly, were completely opposite.
"I refuse, mere human."
"Is that so? How unfortunate. Oh well, we'll be heading back now."
Montmorency then turns around, only to bump to an unmoving wall that is Dante.
Dante was annoyed by how easily Montmorency gave up.
"Going somewhere?" he smiled serenely as he asked to the blond water mage with tick marks clearly seen on top of his temple,
And then looked up and called out to the elemental,
"Hey, Water Spirit!"
Dante pushed Montmorency aside and faced the Water Spirit.
"Wait! You! Stop it! Don't anger the Water Spirit!"
Montmorency tried to thrust Dante aside,
As if Dante could be budged.
"Back off, Girl." the devil hunter muttered in a tone that chilled her very soul.
As if it wasn't enough, Dante glared at her, his eyes once more temporarily flashed red, causing her to draw back in fear,
Guiche inclined his head wondering. Louise silently drew closer to Dante. Seeing such a scene, it was hard to tell which one of them was the Master.
As much as Dante wanted a match with this apparently a powerful force of nature, he also considered the possible effect of said action, would be more trouble with the locals and probably in later times the rest of the natural magical cycle. So this will have to suffice...
"Great Water Spirit! Please! I will do anything you ask for your tear!"
The Montmorency shaped Water Spirit didn't answer anything to Dante, who remained standing upright, defiantly staring down at the said powerful being.
Then he did the unthinkable, he bows his head to the water spirit.
"Please...An important person to me right now is in trouble. Don't you have someone important to you as well? My important person right now needs help... and for that, a part of your body is needed! Could you please hear me out? "
Hearing this, Montmorency stopped trying to pull Dante away and let out a deep sigh.
Guiche, who was moved to tears already, nodded. Louise, feeling insecure, kept on clinging to Dante.
The Water Spirit changed her appearance few times before taking Montmorency's shape again, and said to Dante,
"Very well."
"Is that a yes?"
"But with one condition. As someone that doesn't know the reason of this world, you said that you would do anything?"
"Yeah! That's what I said!"
Silence...
"Then repel those that attack me." The Water Spirit once again spoke,
The party looked at each other.
"Repel?"
"Yes, I have raised the water level as far as I could. I no longer have the energy to fight them. If you can fight them off, I will bestow unto you my tear."
"No, I hate fights." Montmorency shook her head,
Dante put his hand on Montmorency's shoulder and patted it while speaking ominously.
"You want to have some extremely painful S & M action together with your beau instead?"
The blonde water mage shuddered at the memory of the things Dante had showed the couple the day before, all of it promised to bring pain in all manner of ways...
Montmorency could not help but to give in.
"I know, already! I'll do it!"
So it was decided that they needed to discover the identities of the people attacking the Water Spirit.
／人◕ .◕人＼
The place where the Water Spirit lives – the very bottom of the lake. Someone, using magic, attacked her there in the middle of the night.
Dante and the others hid themselves in the shade of the tree on the shore at Gallia's side – a place that the Water Spirit showed them – and waited quietly for the assailant to come.
Guiche, to cheer himself up before the battle, took a sip of wine that Dante brought. When all of his anxiety was gone he started to sing.
He's dead drunk.
'I'm not so sure that he'll be effective by the time these guys arrive' Dante sighed,
Dante pushed his head aside.
Louise was in an extremely bad mood because Dante was only talking to Montmorency.
"Why he is nicer with Montmorency than with me, does he love her, or maybe he just hates me, waah waah" – she cried angrily, and, with her roaring around like that, Dante had no choice but to kiss her cheek many times to calm her down and put her to sleep.
Much to his annoyance…
'I will certainly hunt down the one who put me in this fix in the first place.' Dante swore...
The thing is, he also knew that it was partly his fault anyway...
At the moment, she was sleeping calmly next to him, breathing softly with a blanket wrapped up around her.
'Guess anyone would be like that if a potion made them fall madly in love.'
Dante now began to formulate tactics, starting with knowing how the enemy might possibly work…
"The people that attacked the Water Spirit went to the bottom of the lake. How can they breathe under the water?"
Dante asked Montmorency.
Montmorency thought for a while.
"Maybe it's a water element user? With a ball of air created around the user it's not that hard to get to the bottom of the lake. At the same time, even if you use water magic and are able to breathe underwater, directly touching the water would be suicidal as the Water Spirit controls it here. So maybe it was an air element mage, that way one can avoid touching the water."
According to the Water Spirit, she was attacked every night on a regular basis, having bits of her body cut off.
"But how could someone wound it and still go unnoticed?"
"The Water Spirit's movements are slow… Besides, if you separate the Water Spirit from her source of water, her magic eventually wears out. Using a strong flame would make her evaporate gradually. It becomes impossible to connect back to a liquid again once being turned into gas."
"It is impossible to turn back?"
"The Water Spirit's soul is like moss. Even being torn to pieces it can reconnect itself into one again, as long as it has all the pieces. It is a really complicated creature compared to us."
"Hmmm…"
Dante nodded.
"And because the attacker is not touching the water, the Water Spirit cannot reach him." The blond water mage continued,
'So this one can be easily beaten, given the right tools, huh? Oh well, there goes my dream fight.' He thought,
"Then it is not that powerful at all. "Dante comments,
"Really… You do not know how scary the Water Spirit can be… Even if for a single moment one lost concentration and the air ball disappeared allowing the water to connect – then it would be dreadful. Water controls other creatures' lives, if you lose the protection of an air ball, then you would enter the Water Spirit's territory where challenging her is something that even the greatest daredevil should not do."
Dante sighed. Really, Halkeginia has no idea how powerful Dante could get. The Devil Arms Agni and Rudra would be enough to beat the elemental spirit to submission.
But since the Water Spirit gave its word, he decided to go through with the commission. Who knows, if they could give the water spirit the run to its money, then these guys could even prove a challenge...
Then a crazy idea came to him…
"Hey Guiche, GET OVER HERE." Dante calls his apprentice, with emphasis on the last three words, which sounded like a certain yellow rope dart using, undead ninja's.
"Y-yes, master?" Guiche asked, with his teeth chattering.
"Don't you think it's time you show off what you learned to Monmon..."
Guiche's face paled…
／人◕ .◕人＼
Two moons were shining high above in the sky. It's midnight.
Guiche shut his mouth and with one hand brought Derflinger which Dante loaned him and was hanging on his back, closer.
Montmorency, scared by the sudden tension, muttered in a shaky voice.
"Anyhow, because I hate savage fights, I'll leave it all up to you."
"Don't worry Montmorency. I am here. I will bravely protect the maiden from war and punish the villain."
Guiche, who is apparently a bit tipsy from drinking wine, started leaning towards Montmorency.
"Listen, just go to sleep already. You reek of alcohol."
A huge hand picked the drunken boy by the collar, and Guiche suddenly finds himself staring at the Dante's angry gaze, that it seemed that the devil hunter's eyes are glowing red...
The boy gulped with fright at the sight, so much that he turned sober.
"YOU. DECOY." He growled in an inhuman voice at the blonde boy,
Guiche quickly nodded, red-faced.
And so here he is now,
Guiche took a deep breath. The fighter's intuition that he gained from experiencing through the hell Dante has put him through, is now telling him that someone was near.
／人◕ .◕人＼
At Dante's side, he carefully lays the mini mage to rest in a grove not far from the lake, just far enough for her not to be involved in the crossfire that might occur.
He gazed at Louise's sleeping face.
"Wait for me, I will definitely bring you back to sanity..." he muttered silently.
／人◕ .◕人＼
One hour passed after that. Shadows appeared on the shore. It was two people. Because those figures were wearing jet-black hooded robes it was hard to tell whether they were men or women.
Dante gripped Rebellion's handle. His eyes began to shine in anticipation.
However, he hadn't left the hiding spot. He still could not decide whether it was these people that attacked Water Spirit or not.
Then, the pair pulled out their wands while standing at the waterside.
It looked like they started chanting spells.
Convinced that there was no mistake by now, Dante stood up from the shade of the tree and moved towards the pair.
'These two people should be an easy match for the boy.' He thought,
Dante hid himself behind the tree right next to the pair.
Seeing Dante squatting down with his hand ready to signal the attack, Guiche started chanting the spell.
Dante tried to signal *Wait*, but it was too late…
Guiche is too nervous to notice the signal.
The ground where the pair stood suddenly rose and became a huge hand-like tentacle that twined around the assailants' feet.
Silence.
"Tch." Dante clicked his tongue, but something caught his eye.
He then gestured to Guiche that the devil hunter will move out somewhere else.
And he's leaving Guiche on his own?
As soon as Dante signalled his intentions, he disappeared in a flash…
Guiche was at a loss for words…
'But come to think of it, he may be have noticed something even more dangerous went after it, and entrusted me to fulfil my role.' Guiche thought,
Elsewhere, Dante stood on a tree branch just tall enough for him to observe the battle. He may not be needed to do anything at this point.
Besides, by the looks of it, they are just humans, mercenary mages.
So Dante had to hold himself back a few notches…
And maybe let the boy experience two against one battle.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Guiche dashed out of the shade of tree. The distance to the mages was about 30 mails.
The blonde apprentice demonstrating his speed out of his training, managed to close the distance in less than three seconds.
However, the enemy's reaction was quick. The assailants started muttering spells the same time as the ground raised. The flame flew out of the end of the wand, burning down the soil that was gripping the pair's feet. The smaller shadow acted even more surprisingly.
Instead of releasing their spell towards Guiche's earthen hand, the person aimed it towards Guiche, who was surprised that the strategy failed him.
'Where is Master Dante?' he thought,
The boy turned around quickly and the enemy's wand swung around.
Suddenly, an air hammer spell hit Guiche's body. Guiche, who did not expect such attack cast in such speed, was hit in the front and easily blown away.
"I have to do something...' the boy thought, shaken by the hit, as he tried to recover,
In no time, an ice arrow followed. Guiche turned his body and jumped up dodging it, but the taller mage shot a big fire ball at him. Though the boy tried to dodge that too, the aiming was accurate as Guiche's movements were anticipated beforehand.
"Partner! Raise me!" Derflinger, the sentient blade Dante lent to him, shouted.
Guiche quickly blocked the flame ball with the sword, yet, even though it was sturdy enough to block said attack, it exploded, scattering around the fragments of fire, raining bits of burning flames to his clothes.
Guiche for a moment was taken off guard, as he got damaged from the attack.
'T-they're strong!' he thought, casting a rock shard spell, which the two barely evaded.
It seemed like he underestimated his foes...and for some reason they seemed pretty familiar with the ways of fighting in this manner.
Unlike him, who barely survived the last real battle he had…
It seemed the enemy was experienced in combat and anticipated an attack from a different direction, not being surprised in the slightest.
Moreover, they worked together skilfully. While one was preparing the spell, the other was releasing it. Though this was a simple tactic, the results were very effective. Anyhow, there was no opening.
He quickly thought of a strategy. And as per Dante's instructions, he really needed to be careful not to hurt these assailants.
Unfortunately, the two cloaked mages had no such restrictions...
Raging winds tried to snatch the sword out of the hands of the Guiche, who is now ready, and stood his ground firmly. And muttered a spell for a rock wall to shield him…
His body suddenly felt heavy, another spell was cast on him preventing him from moving further. In the corner of his eye he could see another huge fireball coming his way.
The moment before the fireball knocked against Guiche, the area in front of him exploded.
"What the..." Guiche exclaimed,
This was totally unexpected for his part.
The fireball and the boy were blown off.
This magic was… Louise's 'Void'!
"Don't bully Danteee!"
Louise's scream echoed through the night.
'Though she was asleep earlier… but she was probably woken up by all this noise.' Guiche thought,
She screamed Dante's name just then.
Where is he?
Louise waited for an attack, but it seemed like the assailants' guard was off now.
Since they apparently lost their magical foci,
The pair stopped moving. Aside from having their wand and staff taken out of their hands, Louise's scream made them realize something.
*Click*
Dante stood behind the two cloaked mages, with his eyes blazing, biting their staff and wand like a rabid dog, with Ebony and Ivory drawn and pressed against their heads, and a leather pouch with couple of recently killed rabbits tied to his belt…
'Where the heck did you come from?' Guiche thought, then saw the pouch tied to the devil hunter's belt,
'Oi! You left me in a life or death situation just to hunt for rabbits?' Guiche complained in his mind, being mindful of not to tell Dante off…
Then as suddenly as he appeared, the devil hunter's expression changed into a look of instant recognition…relaxed and holstered his firearms.
The two shadows looked at each other.
And removed their hoods.
The faces that appeared in the moonlight were…
"Kirche! Tabitha!" Guiche shouted loudly.
／人◕ .◕人＼
Later...
Dante, who returned the magical foci of the two mages, had begun questioning Kirche, who was roasting the rabbit meat with Tabitha around a bonfire.
It seemed that Dante took the time off during the battle to hunt rabbits.
Guiche appeared to be completely content after getting healed and had been talking loudly to himself with a glass of wine in his hand. He seemed only too relieved that the trouble is over, and apparently forgot much of what happened earlier.
It was well past midnight, and the twin moons glittered beautifully over the surface of the lake.
It was a wonderful sight to behold.
Kirche approached Dante, just to be near her 'Darling'.
Dante felt that there is some reason of them attacking the water elemental, he could not help but admire both their team work.
"You guys are really good."
"Victory or defeat is also dependent on luck. If Guiche's luck were better, we could only have run..."
Though saying so, Kirche proudly brushed up her hair.
Dante suppressed a knowing grin.
"But why are you attacking the Water Spirit?" Dante asked, sitting near the bonfire.
"Why do you need to protect it?" Kirche countered.
Louise, who had been nestling up to Dante's back for some time, pulled the sleeve of his coat sadly.
"Do you think Kirche is better than me?"
"What? Er... No - that's not true! I was just asking about what's going on! Anyway, why don't you get some sleep?"
"No way, I don't need to rest! Don't you want to talk with me? That is the 32nd time you've told me to sleep today."
It seemed as if Louise had been counting the words Dante had said to her. Although a little scary, Dante felt that Louise was really lovable at that moment, AS A YOUNG SISTER, that is.
But right now he was busy so he gently placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke as if she was a small child: "We can talk afterwards, you should go to sleep. You just cast a major spell, aren't you tired?"
Louise was bashfully tracing circles with her finger on Dante's chest.
"Then... promise me with a kiss."
"What...?"
"Kiss me or I won't go to sleep."
Dante felt that this might be the worst time of his life,
Dante sighed, and thought of the fact that dealing with love struck girls is a lot more troublesome than hunting high levelled devils.
Kirche's stared at them, her mouth agape. Looking at each other, Guiche and Montmorency giggled. Kirche and Tabitha were still unaware of what had happened.
Dante very reluctantly kissed Louise's cheek.
"Cheek isn't enough!"
Louise puffed up her cheeks and muttered bluntly.
Dante felt extremely awkward, it would be too embarrassing to kiss Louise straight on the lips with everyone watching.
Even more so without anybody watching.
'How about I punch you in the kisser to get you to sleep instead...' Dante thought in annoyance, about to do just that.
But then again this is Louise under the powerful Love Spell…
He worried for a while and finally decided to kiss her forehead.
Louise was reluctantly satisfied, and crawled into his lap, resting herself between his knees and pressing her body against his chest she closed her eyes. Just like a kitten snuggling against a pillow…
Soon her breathing slowed and light snores escaped from her slightly open pink lips.
Kirche was amazed at how the scene ended…
"How did you manage to domesticate Louise to this degree? I do know that you were the kind of guy who was able to entice any girl, but I'd like to know the details on whatever did you do that made her treat you like a god?" Kirche asked in admiration, as she made a smooth move to go to his side.
"Umm… and would you please do the same thing to me?" she asked him in a very seductive voice.
"Hmm... Maybe later..." Dante half-jokingly considered the offer, causing the Redhead to squeal and gush with joy and excitement...
And did I mention that it was a Half-Joke?
Dante decides to explain himself anyway...
"It's not like what you think, Montmorency made a love potion and Louise accidentally drank it. The first person she saw was me and now she has fallen in love with me."
"Love potion? Why did you make such a thing?" Kirche asked Montmorency, who was nibbling some meat.
"Oh, I was just curious to see if I could do it."
Montmorency had sidestepped the question with a trivial answer...
"Really, a woman who has no confidence in her charms is the worst. Don't you agree?" Kirche comments,
"Go die! Anyways, it's all Guiche's fault, if he had drank it, we would not need to search for the antidote now!"
"Are you saying it's my fault to begin with?"
Dante explained the entire situation to Kirche.
In order to make the antidote, they needed the Water Spirit's tears. And in exchange for it they needed to repel the attackers...
"So that was it, that's why you are protecting the Water Spirit?"
Kirche looked awkwardly towards Tabitha who had been staring into the fire with a glazed expression.
"This is bad; we can't fight you, but if we don't stop the Water Spirit, Tabitha's family will be in trouble..."
"Why is it necessary to get rid of it?"
Prompted by Dante, Kirche replied hesitantly. She could not openly tell the private matters of Tabitha's family for sure.
"You see, the water levels have caused damage to the surrounding area. Tabitha's family has suffered losses because of the damage so we have been entrusted to get rid of it."
So that was it. They couldn't go home empty handed. Then how should they handle it... Dante considered it for a while and concluded.
"That's fine, you can stop attacking the Water Spirit and we can find out why the Water Spirit is raising the water level so much and ask it to stop."
"The Water Spirit will listen to us?"
"This morning we negotiated with it and it agreed to give us a part of its body if we stop the attackers."
Kirche considered for a second and asked Tabitha, "As long as the floods stop and the land is restored to its original condition would that be ok?"
Tabitha nodded.
"Great, it's decided! We can carry out the negotiations tomorrow!"
／人◕ .◕人＼
Early the next morning, Montmorency, like the previous day, released her small frog familar into the lake to call the Water Spirit. The water parted and the Water Spirit rose up through the morning mist.
"Water Spirit, the attackers will no longer bother you, as per the agreement will you give us a part of your body?"
As Montmorency finished talking, the Water Spirit's body trembled and a portion of its body was repelled as a thin line into the vial Guiche was holding.
Its promise completed, the Water Spirit sunk back towards the lake, however Dante quickly called for it to stop.
"Please wait! I have something to ask you!"
The Water Spirit rose up from the water's surface, taking, to Montmorency's displeasure, a naked Montmorency's shape once again.
"What is it, Son of Sparda?"
Dante was taken aback by the elemental's statement. But that will have to wait. He asked,
The name mentioned shocked the entire party the first time the elemental mentioned it…but kept their silence… as the devil hunter gestured a *Questions will be answered later* sign at them.
"Why have you raised the water? If there is a reason can you tell us? We would be willing to help if you can stop."
The Water Spirit's body grew in size and assumed various positions. It concluded by twisting its form into that of Montmorency in a gesture that seemed to express feeling. Perhaps its form reflected its thoughts.
"I will consider entrusting this task to you, Son of Sparda, as I have known your father before. And since you honored our previous contract, I know that I can trust you."
Suddenly seeming angry, the Water Spirit paused. Dante said nothing, and waited for the spirit to continue. After several shape changes, the Water Spirit had settled once again in Montmorency's form and continued to speak.
"A long time ago, their kind stole one of my treasures." The elemental indicated the rest of the party, the humans.
"A treasure?"
"Yes, my most important possession was stolen from the deepest part of my lake, about thirty months before the moon's crossing."
"Approximately two years ago..." Montmorency murmurs.
"Are you trying to take revenge on humans by increasing the water level and flooding villages?" Guiche asked,
"Vengeance? Our kind does not have that purpose. I am simply trying to retake my treasure, and even if it takes eternity, water will slowly erode the land. Even if I must sink the entire continent I will regain what I have lost."
"You're willing to do so much?"
This was going too far, the Water Spirit was willing to submerge an entire continent in order to reclaim its treasure in a process that could take hundreds, even thousands of years.
"You sure are patient." The devil hunter sighed,
"Our concept of time is different, for me the whole is the same as the present. All time is the same to me, regardless of the present the future will always come. It makes no difference as I will always exist."
The Water Spirit did not seem to have the concept of death. Time on this scale would be unimaginable to a human.
"Well, we can help you retrieve your treasure. What is it?"
"My treasure is the Ring of Andvari, it had been with me until now."
"I think I have heard of it."
Montmorency muttered.
"A legendary magic item of the water system. It is said to give false life to the deceased..."
"That is not incorrect, but death is a concept that I do not understand, therefore I cannot understand your description. The Ring of Andvari does not simply bring false life, it is the embodiment of the ancient "Strength of the Water", it is not simply a magical item."
"Then who stole such a thing?"
"Using wind magic, several humans came into my dwelling. They did not disturb me in my slumber and took away my most prized possession."
"So you don't know their names?"
"One of the people went by the name Cromwell."
Kirche said to herself, "If I haven't misunderstood, he is the new Emperor of Albion."
Everyone but Dante could not help but look at each other in dismay.
"I think he might be the one…" Dante surmised,
"Could he be a different person? There could be two people with the same name... If he has gained the power of false life, what will he use it for?"
"Those who are revived have their freedom stolen. They must obey the owner of the ring."
"It is a truly evil ring, animating the dead is a disgusting power." Kirche said in a low voice.
Kirche continued to mutter to herself, she felt as if she should have remembered something but couldn't grasp the thought.
Dante nodded with a firm resolution, and turned towards the Water Spirit.
"I understand. Will you please stop raising the water level and I guarantee you that I will return your ring."
The Water Spirit vibrated.
"I believe you; if you can bring back the ring I will no longer raise the water."
"Then when should I bring it back to you?"
This time the Water Spirit shook and trembled.
"Before your life ends, otherwise I am unconcerned."
"You don't mind such a long time?"
"I don't care, to me tomorrow is no different from any other part of the future. So I bid you farewell, Son of Sparda." After saying this, the Water Spirit began its return to the depths of the lake.
'How on earth did this spirit would have known of Sparda?' Dante wondered, but puts it aside to get this fiasco done and over with...he can ask it later.
Tabitha stopped it from leaving by calling out.
"Please wait."
Everyone stared at Tabitha in surprise. Although she had been with them all this time, this was the first time she had spoken out.
"Water Spirit, I wish to ask you something."
"What is your question?"
"We humans have always called you the "Spirit of Oath', I would like to know the reason."
"Mere human, my own as well as that man's and your existences are completely dissimilar. I cannot understand your question completely, but I can speculate. My existence in itself is the reason for this name. I do not have a fixed shape, yet I will never change. For uncountable generations I have always been here with the water."
The Water Spirit, trembling, spoke. The sound rang in the air.
"Because you are eternally unchanging, therefore you will forever carry our hopes."
Tabitha nodded, and then shut her eyes. In the end, who had she made an oath to?
Kirche gently put a hand on her shoulder.
Montmorency, having seen such Tabitha's appearance, immediately poked Guiche.
"What?"
"Quickly, make an oath too."
"What oath?"
"What did you think I made the Love potion for anyways?"
"Mmm! Ah... I swear that I will consider Montmorency above all others from this point forward..."
She poked Guiche again.
"Oww... Ah...! Really! I swear!"
"I don't want to be above others, I want to be the only. Swear you love only me!"
Guiche forced sad words out in a tone that most people would find hard to believe.
"I swear..."
'Looks like I had just witnessed someone damn himself to eternal bondage yet again…' Dante thought, trying his best to keep himself from laughing at his sort-of- protégé's expense.
Louise had also pulled on Dante's sleeve; her eyes were gazing up at him.
"You too - swear to me."
Dante looked into Louise's face looking as if thunderstruck,
'Aw, Hell No…'
He may think that way, but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel somewhat lonely should he tell her off like that, Love potion or not.
Even though it was only because of the Love potion, how many times had she told him that she loved him?
But Dante preferred the original Louise. Even if she was a bit hard to deal with without having to scare her from time to time, he thought the original was better.
"You are not willing to swear to me? You don't love me?"
'This one is more tenacious than my all my obsessed exes combined.' Dante thought as he heard the line.
Tears filled Louise's eyes.
"Sorry... I cannot swear to you... I cannot make a promise to you the way you are."
When Dante said this, she began to cry. Dante hugged Louise, as he gently stroked her head.
／人◕ .◕人＼
In one of the rooms in the girls' dormitory at Tristain's Academy of Magic, Montmorency was trying her very best at mixing something while Dante and the others watched her.
"Done? Fuu! Still, that really was difficult?"
While wiping the sweat from her forehead, Montmorency flopped onto her chair.
Inside the pot on top of the table was the cancellation drug that she just mixed.
"It's fine to just drink it like this?"
"Yes."
Taking the pot, Dante brought it to the tip of Louise's nose. Louise grimaced from the smell.
"Well then, Louise. Drink this."
"No. It stinks really badly."
Louise shook her head. Crap, I should have mixed it with something and have her secretly drink it. In order to have children eat carrots, you chop it and mix it into a hamburger.
"Please. Drink this."
"If I drink this, will you kiss me?"
Dante nodded, realizing he had no other choice.
"Got it. If you drink this, I'll kiss you."
Louise answered, "I understand", and took the pot.
She looked at the contents with a disgusted expression for a while, but she closed her eyes resolutely and drank it all. Montmorency, observing this, poked Dante.
"For now, shouldn't it be best if you run away?"
"Why?"
"Because the memories of the time when she was madly in love with you after drinking the love potion don't disappear. She remembers everything. That Louise remembers everything she did and was done to her."
Dante's look went blank and looked at Louise.
'Now she tells me...'
"Buhwa!" went Louise who drank the whole thing, and then she hiccupped once.
"Funya."
After that, as if an evil spirit had left her, her facial expression completely returned back to normal. Seeing Dante in front of her, her face suddenly turned red. Chewing on her lips, she started trembling.
Dante muttered, "Oh Hell," and tried to sneak out of the place.
"Wait."
"Sorry, but I need to feed for my pigeon..."
"You don't even keep a pigeonnnnnnnnn!"
Louise's voice resounded.
Sometime Later...
Explosions filled the Academy halls as Dante quickly dodged on explosion after another, as Louise cast numerous explosion spells, all aimed at Dante.
'And I thought she will forget the entire thing once she recovers' Dante thought as he Air Tricked out of the halls and out into the field...
"DANTEEEEE! COME BACK AND FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT!"
"It's not my fault you drank the damn potion laced wine."
Another explosion and Dante just sort of...SNAPPED!
"ALRIGHT, THAT. IS. ENOUGH!" the devil hunter spoke, once more taking the voice of his alternate form, his devil trigger...
And thus in mere minutes...
Louise is once more reduced to a scared, shivering wreck...
"Sorry, I just needed to do that." Dante consoled the shivering girl with a mug of warm chocolate.
Louise once more realized how scary her guardian being could get when pissed off…
On a bench in Austri Plaza, Dante was laying on it lazily. Beside him was the finally calmed-down Louise, sitting on the edge of the bench, who was blushing and thinking about something while pursing her lips out as if she was angry.
The two moons had risen and were shining on the two gently. However, the atmosphere running around the two was far from gentle and was awkward, hot, and numbing. In other words, the atmosphere between the two had returned to normal.
"Do you feel satisfied now?"
Dante muttered.
"I-if I was normal, I definitely wouldn't have done something like that! Really! Hmph!"
"I know that."
Dante muttered in an exhausted voice.
By that time, finally, Louise realized that it was not Dante's fault at all. Even so, he let Louise do what she did and received her outrage.
For a while that is...
But… It really was embarrassing. The memories of the moments after she drank the love potion kept her from approaching Dante.
"…It's fine."
Dante muttered to the pinkette before she could say anything, in an exhausted voice.
"I-I'm not worrying about it. Really I just want to hurry and forget."
Haa, why can't I be honest? She thought. Then, Louise asked about one thing that was bothering her.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
"About what?"
"When I was, well, in a state where I couldn't live without you thanks to that drug… why didn't you, um, d-d-do anything?"
Dante answered frankly.
"That's because, that wasn't you. I can't do something to you when you aren't you. I can't leave myself to lust and defile a person important to me."
'Besides, I'm not into brats...or Lolis'
Being told she was important, Louise blushed. However, she couldn't show him such a face. Louise turned her face away. But, she was really bothered. 'Why am I important? Hey… why? '
"Wh-wh, why am I important?"
She asked in a trembling voice.
"Well, you provide food and a place to sleep."
"Haa..." She felt disappointed.
'Well, that makes sense. I'm embarrassed I even got excited for a moment.'
Louise had turned her face from Dante.
Still, he's a summoned being that still does his best to help her out, calling her "someone important" after all that. Becoming a bit more honest, Louise apologized in a pouting manner.
"...I'm sorry. I won't get angry anymore. You have the right to do stuff freely too."
To be truthful, she didn't want to say this. She remembered the time when the love potion was in effect. Those might have been her own true intentions, she thought.
"It's fine. You aren't you if you don't get mad. Do what you want."
Then, the two fell silent.
And relaxed as they watched the scenery...
／人◕ .◕人＼
We leave this scene in such a manner and proceed to the next part of this tale...
Mission 22.5 : (Insert Awesome Title Here) XD
Morning came to the Tristain Academy of Magic.
It had been three months or so, since Dante started his life as Louise's familiar at Tristain Magic Academy. If one were to explain an average day for Dante, it would read like the following:
First, like the majority of animals and humans in Tristain, he woke up early in the morning. His bed was the sofa bed laid in the corner of Louise's room.
Dante slept like a log but always seemingly able to keep an eye on things that occur during his rest, and waking up at times to see and hear things, such as Louise's sleep talking about a stupid familiar dog that she seems to constantly torture and insult to no end, Its name seems to be Sai.. something.
'Must be how she lets her frustrations loose.' Dante chuckled. Wrapped in the rich blanket that Guiche had so graciously bestowed upon him, he just shrugs and returns to sleep.
After waking up, the first thing Dante did every morning was to wake Louise up, like a rooster, only with more noise, sometimes, other tricks as well.
One of them is by moving the bed outside, along with the sleeping pinkette…
So poor Louise, will have to suffer being jolted up out of bed by the epic wailing of Nevan's wakeup musical entertainment, until she learns to get up early herself.
Then, after breakfast, he accompanied Louise to class.
In the beginning, the lessons fascinated Dante with their marvels: turning water into wine, combining various reagents to brew special potions, materializing fireballs out of nothing, levitating boxes and sticks and balls out of the class windows for their familiars to fetch, etc...
…
He promised himself that if the instructors would ask Louise to have Dante fetch the levitated object, he will fetch the thing alright, but he will definitely shove it down the instructor's throat, upon his return.
That might be the reason why Louise was not called to do a demonstration.
After a while, the novelty wore off.
In later days, Dante then just wander off through the Academy halls, hang out with the kitchen staff, and have a friendly chat with Siesta. All while Louise goes to class….
And at times, something stupidly funny, or just plain stupid stuff happens.
And one of those days might be this…
With this day being the day of the Void, No classes were held.
A perfect day to just kick back and relax.
Of course, if you live with someone like Dante and Louise you could kiss that relaxation part goodbye.
A loud 'boom' shook the Academy dorm, as Dante was asked by Louise to further train her spellcasting.
"Well, judging from the way you cast spells, the words, concentration of willpower and how you manipulate the magical energy; it's pretty much greater than other students who normally cast the same spells." Dante commented as he checks the damage being done on the ground where Louise is supposed to cast fireball, trying to hit a row of pots, which remained intact. "I think you should try holding back the will to achieve better accuracy."
"No matter how many times I cast, turns out to be this." Louise said, looking worse for wear after casting spell, after spell, after spell.
All results are the same, inaccurate hitting explosions….
"Well look on the bright side," Dante said
"What bright side?"
"If you ever manage to get the hang of casting explosions, you can find a job with me." Dante stated
That sent Louise thinking about her recent dreams about the guy. She still hasn't asked him on what he was doing before he came to this world.
"What do work would you do here?" Louise asked,
"Oh, nothing much. Like I told you earlier, I do odd jobs, but mainly the jobs I ended up doing tends to be more on the pest extermination."
She was too afraid to ask further what pests are those, especially after seeing him thrash Guiche much like how a cat would play with a mouse, right before ripping it to pieces.
Then upon seeing Dante in action in his other battles, Louise wondered on how on Halkeginia did she manage to summon a monster like Dante.
And speaking of Guiche, he's currently sparring with a shadow version of him.
And it's painfully obvious that the shadow is winning.
Meet the Doppelgänger, one of Dante's abilities, the ability to summon a living shadow to aid him in battle.
Guiche is thrown on his back once again, panting hard as his shadow sparring partner looks at the boy in a rather sorry manner.
Dante took to himself to train the boy even more intensely, especially after what he did at the Ragdorian Lake. The boy only fights seriously whenever his feelings take over him. And he was completely drunk and useless during that time...Not that he can blame the kid, as he was doomed to a life of monogamy...
'Must be due to the revelation that Guiche might have been Montmorency's love slave if he ended up drinking the said potion...'
Not that it's any different at this point really, as the fop has now swore to the Water Spirit to devote his entire love towards Montmorency only...
"Poor kid..." Dante mumbled, and said to Guiche aloud,
"Hey kid, are you done already? This is just a warm up, you know."
"I-I-I can still go on, Master Dante." stuttered the Blonde, whose appearance can be considered terribly battered from the practice, albeit he has no bones broken, yet.
"I can still fight."
He still hasn't lost his touch in finding potential devil hunters.
But why is he training this boy to be one is something beyond him at the moment.
Knowing Guiche's military background, he knows that his teachings will be found useful whether he will face monsters or not. Well, that is if he can survive this training.
Then the Lavinia and the Gorgon came...
He hoped that the boy won't be seeing any more devils anytime soon.
Teaching some skills might do him some good, as he had shown the boy how effective it is in both capturing the ladies hearts and prove himself to be a 'better man', during their now infamous duel.
So much for that ladies man part...
Anyways after the said, 'duel', Dante has gained the awe and respect of the almost entire student body, and that included some of the teachers as well, who have heard of this particular event.
As it resulted for the students to be more aware of giving proper respect in regards to dealing with people, regardless of their stature. And in treating servants properly and kindly, as exemplified by the devil hunter in regards to his relationship with the rest of the Academy workers.
"And some of them even called him their Almighty Piercer." Guiche once commented, eliciting knowing grins from the Louise and Siesta.
The two girls eventually warmed up to each other after awhile, and now began sharing stories and some books, the contents of which has to be read to be believed.
'Even in the Middle-Ages, porn already existed.' The devil hunter thought,
Dante got interested in reading one of the books, and is now currently in awe as to how the authors have managed to convey the feelings of the characters to the readers, and how vividly did they picture each and every scene of the stories they wrote.
That included the deeds...
For the record, they are mostly told in the first person perspective…
／人◕ . ◕人＼
And so, Dante continued to drill the two young nobles that morning, as they practiced their respective skills, mainly, at least teaching Louise with the proper aiming with regards to casting of her explosions, and Guiche in exercising sword play with Dante's Doppelganger version of the boy.
"Well, let's take a breather, Louise." Dante suggested as he took the girl by the hand and assisted her to a chair to rest. Siesta then served the little lady with some breakfast and tea.
"You know what? I just don't think I'm cut out to learn magic in fighting after all." Louise said as an air of depression
Louise sighed as she laid her head on the tabletop out of sheer exhaustion. Siesta then kindly took the used dishes away, and replaces it with a cold dessert, the strawberry sundae.
Oh, how Louise's amber eyes glittered at the sight of the confection, and be
Dante just lounged around the on the tea table, still trying to figure out how to train this girl.
Whilst Louise had her morning breakfast at the table near him, looking at the devil hunter in a sidelong glance, wondering why did this powerful being has managed to put up with her, a zero.
Though during the invasion attempt by Albion proved that she has a capacity to do great magic, with the help of the Founder's Prayerbook. Since then, she practiced fireball, and projecting each and basic elemental spells she knew of, mainly earth, wind, fire, and water, as per Dante's suggestion, with varying levels of effects.
Though there were successes, and then there were unexpected results in some of them.
One of them is the wind disarmament spell which was supposed to be a spell of stripping a foe out of his/her weapon/s.
"Alright Louise, try to cast the spell at me," Dante instructed the mini mage,
"Can't just do it..."
"Then think of me as someone dangerous and is after your life."
With Dante saying that, it got a whole lot easier for Louise to cast...
But when Louise tried to cast said spell,
*WHOOOOOOOSH!*
A man sized tornado appeared, and began sweeping across the academy halls.
"I don't think its supposed to do that…" Dante comments, as he looked on,
As it seemed that the tornado is not letting up, and its strength seems to be growing,
"OOOkaaayyy, I think, we should be running now…" Dante deadpanned as he picked up Louise like a cat and began to run off…
The tornado was basically harmless.
But then came…
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."
"DON'T LOOOOOOK!"
"OH FOUNDER, WHAT IS THIS!"
"WAAAAHH!"
"Such wonderful view!"
"IYAAAAAA!"
"HEY!"
"Are those pads?"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"WAIT FOR MEEEEE!"
"AAAAAAHHHHH!"
"WHAT THE?"
"NO RUNNING AROUND NAKED IN THE HALLWAYS! WAIT, WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST SAID?"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"STOP STARING, YOU PERVERTS!"
"OOOOOHHHHH YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"JUST DIE!"
"PLEASE STAY AWAY! KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Panicked shrieks and screams from both student and teachers alike rang throughout the campus,
As if the tornado in itself was not enough trouble, combined with the uncontrollable power of the void...
It was the magical effect of the twisting wind which ended very harmful, to the female populace mainly, actually causing the clothes of the victims to be shredded to bits.
Many of the red-blooded males fainted right away, due to the shock and nosebleeds that followed, upon seeing the number of semi to fully naked beautiful young lady students, maids, staff and young teachers alike as they ran for cover, adding to the increasing number of 'casualties'.
It was chaos unleashed...
Even Old Osmond wasn't spared from the devastation, leaving him utterly stark naked.
Not at all ashamed at his predicament, the old man even posed like a professional body builder…
For some reason, Osmond still has the most ripped body ever seen for a person said to be the eldest among the magic instructors at the academy...
It was only by the afternoon did the now dubbed 'Stripping Storm" did let up… but not without leaving utter devastation… both in mind and body to those involved…
*DING*
In such an emergency, a bell was rung…
／人◕ . ◕人＼
Later…
Louise and Dante, waited at the Academy Head's Office…
"As much as I would like to say it otherwise…" an elderly voice said,
The old man enters the office looking very grave, looked at the duo and…
Suddenly began to feverishly congratulating Dante and Louise,
"Oh! Thank you! Thank you! You two… For giving me the most beautiful experience I ever had in my life. Now I have no regrets in living…"
The old man continued to ramble on to the point that "I will have your statue erected in your honor…just please tell me what spell you used?"
The embarrassment was too much for Louise, and then turned to fury...
"EXPLOSION!"
*BOOOM*
"GUHAA!"
A quick cast of the wand and an explosion that renders the old perv unconscious...
Looks like Louise's aim got better…
If you are wondering,
With the help of the Magic Bell of Sleep, Dante has managed to save the situation by making the rest of the populace think of it as a…
"Hey, Hey, Guiche…" A random boy asked the blonde mage, while the teacher wrote lessons on the blackboard…
"What?"
"I had this dream of having seen a gaggle of our classmates and teachers being stripped out of their clothes by this strange whirlwind that appeared out of nowhere…"
"Really? That's weird, it seemed that I had the same dream too.." Guiche replied,
The other boys nodded in agreement,
"Even though, it was a dream, I will keep it in my heart for the rest of my life…" Guiche declared with his fist clenched, and drooled as he remembered that sweet, sweet dream.
They all nodded in agreement…equally drooling.
／人◕ . ◕人＼
A few days after the "Stripping Storm Mass Dream" incident…Louise has got her head up in the clouds as she got depressed for some reason…
The training continued on,
Being stomped with the problem regarding offensive and defensive magic for his contractor, Dante is presently spending his free time performing a thorough inspection of his beloved weapons, the pistols Ebony and Ivory.
The parts are currently disassembled and carefully laid in the white cloth placed across the table. The activity usually calms him down and relieves a part of his boredom, just like meditating, as he conducts the task to have the guns thoroughly inspected.
Magically enhanced items they might be, they could still susceptible to locking up if it weren't for Dante's extremely careful and loving maintenance, though now they have a resilience level that is way beyond their original weapons designs' supposed to have.
Minutes after the much required inspection of the parts, he looked up towards the two students of his before he proceed with the cleaning and maintenance of the pistols.
Louise is panting really hard from continuous exertion of will as she tries to cast controlled bursts of magical explosion spells with small clay pots, provided by Dante, as targets. Currently, her aiming skills are found wanting, for out of the ten pots, only one got hit.
"At least she managed to hit something," he inwardly comments, remembering his first time to use a gun, a strangely designed white Derringer pistol called 'Luce', said to be his mother's before its other pair was destroyed. It was the predecessor of the later pair of 45 pistols she used before she settled down.
He later found the Smith who constructed Luce and had the other pair, Ombra, the black Derringer made to make the pair complete once more. And proceeds to make a new set of weapons, designed to be used by a girl in mind.
He is now then wondering why said Smith had these made, since the latter set was supposed to be made for Umbra Witches.
"Consider it as a gift from me; I'm pretty sure that you will find a suitable lady for these." Rodin, the trendy weapons smith and dealer in sunglasses grinned.
"Maybe you could even use that as an engagement dowry or something." The bald black smith adds.
Therein ends Dante's reminiscences…
／人◕ . ◕人＼
Guiche, on the other hand faring a bit better, still fighting on gallantly against his shadow opponent, which Dante constructed based on Guiche's stats, only three times stronger, unknowingly to the kid.
At Dante's instruction, the boy must try to score a strike three times, without using any form of magic.
All of his attempts at defeating his shadow clone were mostly thwarted, albeit two of his attacks already went through.
Suddenly, the rapier that Guiche's holding was knocked away from the boy's hand, and flies, point end first towards Louise, who had her back turned and couldn't see it coming.
A gunshot rang through the air, and the rapier gets broken into tiny pieces, keeping the girl from getting impaled by the runaway weapon.
It was Dante, courtesy of Ebony.
Just as Guiche is about to be run through by his dark double, Dante claps his hands causing the shadow to dispel in a puff of smoke, leaving the boy breathe a sigh of relief.
"Nice job kid, you're getting better at this. At the rate you're be better in no time. Just always be aware of your surroundings." He said giving the boy a thumbs up.
Guiche falls to the ground, exhausted, but still alive.
"That's if for today guys." Dante declares, dismantling Ebony, and puts the parts in row on the table and began cleaning them with a rag, and greasing the necessary parts, with inhuman speed.
Louise dragged herself and drew closer to Dante, and to look over as to what the devil hunter is doing.
But before she could ask, Dante smiled "I'm just cleaning out my babies,"
"Are those the guns you use?" Guiche asked, as he somehow recovered from the earlier beating, er training.
Yes. Dante seemed to have stumbled on someone good here.
"Yup," Dante gestures at the pieces of white and black metal objects neatly arranged.
"They don't look like much." Louise absently comments.
Dante didn't reply, but instead, in a flurry of motion that was too fast for the girl to see, and reassembles the two oversized M1911 pistols. Dante ends the reassembly by cocking both empty guns and presents them to the girl.
"Um how do they work?" Louise asks, curiously looking at the weapons.
"You just aim it, "Dante begins, launching a stone high into the air with his feet, draws Ivory and fires it, sending five magical rounds obliterating the stone all in one fluid motion.
"And pull the trigger." Dante said as he turned to the duo.
"Unfortunately, these guys give a lot of kick, making it near impossible for normal guys to use."
Strong enough to the point that its powerful recoil could be used to take Dante into air.
"Whoa," was all the two could say, marvelling at the speed of the reassembly, the demonstration of the weapons, upon seeing the weapons up close. She was kind of expecting for Dante to start talking about himself.
But that was not to be.
After a minute and a half of admiring the guns' beautiful craftsmanship, Dante puts them away back to their respective holsters hidden behind his back.
"May I ask how you load the guns? What ammunition does it use?" Guiche asked, knowing that if this technology could someday be mass produced, it'll spell the end of the rule of Nobles.
"The bullets are 45 caliber sized, magical rounds. And as to how to reload, Magic, 'nuff said." Dante grins.
The statement caused the diminutive mage-to-be to fall again. Dante thought fast to resolve the situation, and found an idea.
"After you take a rest, mind if we shop later?"
／人◕ .◕人＼
Dante wanders around the Academy for rest of the morning, planning take the girl shopping around town, and finally go somewhere other than the academy grounds.
Not that he hated the place. Just a change of scenery could do well for a while.
As she slept, Louise's breathing was even and gentle. There were heavy dark circles under her eyes though, having exerting much when she practiced earlier.
Her sleeping face is always so adorable. It's so doll-like.
So she can be nice sometimes, he thought. Suddenly her side profile looked intensely cuter.
Louise's eyes flickered open.
"Fuaaaaaaaaa~~"
She made a great big yawning stretch, which the devil hunter could compare to a kitten waking up, and then her gaze fell upon Dante, who was sitting on the chair right next to the bed, blinking in surprise.
"Ah. You're awake."
"Y-Yeah..."
He figured he should try to talk to her about something else other than magic.
"Louise. Had a nice nap? Let's go shopping..."
The pair spent the last part of the day, shopping, with Dante treating Louise to anything she wanted, at least for that day.
On one occasion, Dante spots in the crowd of people, a cloaked figure stands among them. And the figure holds a long curved, sheathed blade…
"That sword looks familiar…It can't be…"
But as he tried to approach the said someone, the figure fades away among the crowd as if the said person never existed…
'What the heck…' Dante thought, 'Was I dreaming?'
／人◕ .◕人＼
That same moment…
Up on top of one of the city buildings, Cobalt observed the palace, trying to assess the security of the place…
With him are eleven other cloaked figures, with their sizes ranging from petite, to downright humongous…
Each of then had a specific symbol emblazoned on their cloaks, which appears to be similar to ancient Roman Zodiac symbols… upside down…
"Cobalt, is everything going as planned?" a voice echoed in the assassin's mind.
"Yes Master…"
"Master," one of the figures with the symbol of Leo asked in a growling voice asked, "Will we be needed here?"
"Cobalt and Gigalodon can perform this one by themselves; the rest of you can leave…"
"Tch, I was hoping we could play as well…" the lithe cloaked one giggled, one bearing the reverse sign of Aries,
"You have your orders." The behemoth cloaked one bearing the reverse Taurus boomed, sounding displeased.
And the other ten began to fade into the shadows.
"Don't you screw this up, assassin…" The Leo threatened Cobalt,
Cobalt bearing the symbol of the Archer, merely ignored it.
"Then… proceed." The voice orders,
"As you command,"
Cobalt disappears in a puff of smoke.
Gigalodon, the streamlined figure whose cloak is emblazoned with the reversed Pisces symbol, melts into water and disappears as well.
The City of Tristain continued to bustle busily, unaware of the storm of coming events that could very well shake their very peace…and their souls…
／人◕ .◕人＼
Author's note:
Skim-read and you might miss out small bonuses here and there…
Check out the new cover for this story I just changed as well…
Now for the rants:
Skit on...
One of my dreams in life is for a friend of mine to say to me..."ARE YOU CRAZY?", denoting to anything that I'm about to do or have done...
Ahhh, pipe dreams,
I was currently being teased by my office workers for being single, as I haven't found a girlfriend since I worked in the establishment I'm at now...
Thus, my current state of sadness...GU HU HU HU HU HU! (Imagine me crying like Yui from K-On as she peels onions...) TT-TT
(That is so gross…)
*Sigh...* as much as I wish to have one. But alas, I'm too poor for a relationship.*grumbles*
PLEASE GOD, AT LEAST GIVE ME SOME INCREDIBLY KINDHEARTED, HOT GIRL TO LOVE AND HOLD!
…
*Faints from over ranting...* XD
…..
Skit ends….
／人◕ .◕人＼
Many pardons to those who might be offended…
Hope you had fun reading…
See you next time…
Please DON'T EVER FORGET TO REVIEW!
／人◕ .◕人＼