A/N: VERY quietly curses the a/n and the individual reply bans I'm so glad to be back, the warm welcome provided me with enough inspiration to write another chapter. (Which, by the way, focuses more on character interaction and individual reflections than fighting, Nevan makes a brief appearance, twins spend some quality(!) time together, also leaning toward slightly darker themes I promised in the beginning of the fic) You guys are simply amazing. And so, I do dedicate this story to all of you out there who read and reviewed. Cheers!
"We are falling
The night is calling
Tears inside me
Calm me now"
-Devil May Cry theme song.
Splendid…Was all Vergil could think as he examined the trapped corridor with grave silence, his icy cerulean eyes capturing the flash of blades whirring and the rows of razor edged spikes thrusting out of the polished chrome floor and the walls, ready to impale the careless intruder. His sharp mind quickly assessed the chances of making it to the other end without getting shredded into fine confetti somehow.
"Race you to the other side, Vergil?" Dante asked with a curl of his expressive mouth.
The older half-devil cast an irritated glance at his jovial mirror-image. His thoughts it seemed, were always being interrupted by Dante, who was now most annoyingly nudging his arm and wiggling his silvery brows toward the passageway with interest.
"I believe the exercise might offer a brief distraction from the bitter disappointment of having imbecile for a brother!" Vergil snapped, and then added with an inward sigh. "Very well, ready when you are."
"Now that's what I call team spirit!" Dante snickered, ignoring the less than subtle insult that Vergil had no trouble hurling at him at every turn.
If Vergil had handled Lady in the same brusque, arrogant and tyrannical manner, Dante wondered how his twin managed to elude the tempestuous girl's wrath and still retained his precious crown jewels.
The sudden thought dragged Dante's attention to Lady, who was standing away from the twins and calmly glancing about. Dante sighed, glancing at the only exit which happened to be a death trap.
Having both been through their own share of harrowing physical trials and other soul-destroying experiences that tested the twins' demonic resilience and agility, Dante instantly realized the death trap would be just another mundane ordeal to sharpen and refine their skills. But a human, regardless of how athletic they were, could not expect to come out of this one in one piece.
"She will never make it, you know." Dante observed forlornly, his voice hushed low so as not to be overheard by the ebony-haired huntress.
Vergil retained his silence a moment longer. It was impossible to determine just what was going through that dark, calculating mind of his, as his pale, sculpted face did not even convey the faintest shadow of his thoughts.
Vergil, also glanced briefly over at Lady, and despite his better judgement, indulged in the moment's fond reminiscence of her body so close to him…He recalled the blue-brown flicker of her eyes in vivid shades of anger, in hesitation, in unbridled desire…The smooth, porcelain texture of her skin, the velvety raven dark tresses in boyish disarray beneath his fingers…The infinitely human beauty and mystery of her that was invading his thoughts more often he would care to admit…But the most alarming was the reaction of his soul, not his body.
Her strength, her determination and courage that could be counted upon a crisis no matter what, the compassionate streak, and the gentle warmth sealed deep inside of her that somehow brought out the dormant maiden-rescuing, -therefore utterly ludicrous and idiotic- knight within him; one he repeatedly refused to acknowledge. All this and more elevated her worth in his eyes, and the idea of leaving her behind troubled him.
All the more reason to split up now…He could not waste any more time in pursuit of fleeting companionship, especially female companionship, which only served to addle one's judgement anyway. Vergil was, and had always been, a firm believer that any form of emotional attachment would be a pesky obstacle in one's path to obtaining power and fulfilling his ambitions. The path of demons was a solitary one to walk.
The thoughtfulness fled then, and his icy resolve returned.
"That is none of my concern."
Dante regarded his twin with startled disgust, humour vanishing instantly from his face. He quietly registered the inhuman coldness in Vergil's eyes and the complete indifference with which he tossed the subject aside frustrated him thoroughly.
"Dude, you can't be serious! We can't just leave her here like that!"
"I certainly can, and shall, Dante. If you are unable to resist the foolish inclination to play the hero, by all means do so." Vergil said darkly.
"Trust you to say something like that. I guess that makes our father a fool too, isn't that right, Vergil?" Dante fumed, his voice rising an octave or so. How could Vergil be so callous and uncaring?
"I am vastly overjoyed to see you are finally developing more than a passing interest in our father, whom, I clearly recall you have renounced not too long ago." Vergil said humourlessly.
"Damn it Vergil! That's beside the point. I don't care what father did, but I know that he had honour and balls to stick up for the entire human race. You can't even seem to do that for one human!"
"Honour that overrules common sense and logic is just another definition of foolishness, Dante. Besides, the human in question is a grown woman, and despite her lamentable fighting skills, she is adequately capable of managing on her own."
"I don't understand you, Vergil! Mother was a grown woman too, and a decent fighter on top of that, but that didn't stop her from getting killed"
Vergil's frown deepened at first, at the mention of the mother they had both lost. Anger replaced sorrow, throbbing with a muted ache with every beat of his heart. Eva was a sore point, his Achilles' heel. The hand that casually rested on Yamato's cold, slender hilt clenched restlessly.
"Kindly refrain from sullying her memory. It is evident you can not exercise restraint and contribute anything insightful to our present situation."
"Meaning in English…?"
"Shut up!"
"Thank you." Dante said sternly, and then turned to the demon huntress. "What the…?"
Both silver-haired heads snapped up, Dante following the scorching line of Vergil's blank gaze toward the crevice in the ceiling; through which Lady had disappeared with the aid of the versatile Kalina Ann…one the twins had overlooked in the heat of their dispute.
"Somehow I do not think she will be tremendously upset to leave us behind" Remarked Vergil with half customary sarcasm, half unexpected admiration.
"Damn that was quick!" Dante agreed miserably, preparing to go after her.
Vergil did not move an inch, however. He was familiar with the layout of Temen-ni-Gru, and realized the trapped corridor could possibly be a shortcut to the tower's zenith.
"It seems in addition to common sense, you also lack dignity, Dante, by choosing to follow a woman that stuck a gun in your face and who would not hesitate to do so again. But then, I should not act so surprised at how swiftly your brain ceases to function when you are in the presence of a female." With those words, Vergil charged into the passageway.
Dante gloomily watched him flash through the thrusting blades in a flurry of blue, then with a sigh, darted after his twin, leaving Lady to her fate.
Lady climbed up and hauled herself up over the rock ledge with a low grunt. While the twins bickered below, she was already in one of the uppermost chambers that were just as bizarrely decorated as the others she had seen so far. She wiped sweat from her face with the back of her hand.
Let them kill each other…The sooner the better…They're just demons anyway…Both of them.
An unforeseen stab of pain, a pinprick… –something besides the sting of Vergil's callous words could inflict- startled her. It was a deep, hollow pain akin to the one she had experienced just after her mother had died, and Arkham had betrayed her the second time…
I don't want him to die…
Lady could already feel his absence, excruciatingly so.
She tried to console herself with the fact that Vergil was not human, and had the heart of a demon; he embodied everything that opposed the concept of boyfriend material.
Boyfriend…? The very absurdity of the idea made her want to laugh out loud…She frowned suddenly.
Here she was fussing over the demon she had thought she loathed; Arkham must be laughing at her. The unpleasant image was enough motivation for Lady; she took a deep breath, and refused to look back…
Vergil emerged on the other side of the trapped passageway, Dante a second later, grumbling about the battered state of his trench coat, which was now tattered and shredded in several places.
"Aww, damn! There goes my coat again. It's enough to make a grown man cry." Dante whined obnoxiously.
"Devils never cry, brother." Vergil remarked tonelessly.
Dante glanced at his brother long and hard with fresh insight, and then smiled nonchalantly.
"I guess devils don't fall in love either." He wriggled his eyebrows.
"What are you prattling on about?"
What indeed, Dante? Are you actually encouraging your brother to acknowledge his nonexistent feelings for her so you can have just one more excuse to challenge him to a duel? My hero…
Dante blinked, glancing about suspiciously, trying to determine the source of the mysterious, decidedly feminine and sultry voice.
"Nothing, just making idle convo." He said distractedly.
"I see you too, have developed an odious tendency for excessive chatter." Vergil observed dryly.
"You know what your problem is mate? You're not chatty enough. You gotta get that giant pole out of your arse and let human nature take over for once."
Don't you mean animal nature? Yes, he's a bit uptight, but who wouldn't be in his situation? What's your excuse, Dante? Are you jealous that he actually scored for once and you didn't? Big deal.
"Man, I'd better to lay off the joint…" Dante murmured warily as the elusive, seductive voice invaded his mind again.
Vergil on the other hand, paid no attention to his annoying younger twin, surveying coldly the colossal dimensions of the room, the giant tunnels dug into the walls, the skeletal seraphs adorned with a sinister smile, towering over the legion of smaller statues of blood-tinged gargoyles perched low and vigilant in various platforms. A marble staircase followed an obsidian trail upwards past the statues, toward the blood hued double doors engraved ornately with a crest of skulls.
The gloom of shadows and solitude seemed to deepen with her departure, the artificial brightness of the blue torch-lights glared into his eyes. There had been no artifice in Lady at all…
"What the…" Dante checked beneath his boots as he trod into something grossly squishy, inspecting the white ooze that clung to the soles of his worn, steel capped boots. "I wonder where this slime's coming from…Speaking of which, I hope that bloody scumbag Arkham's choking on our father's soul." Dante gave his tiwn a sideways glance, then inquired breezily, amused at the oh so familiar shadow of thoughtfulness softening his otherwise frigid features. "Hey earth to Vergil, you listening to me?"
"Unfortunately brother, I am." Vergil said dryly, snapping out of his brief reverie. "As for that bloody scumbag you aptly described, I cannot help but suspect he's well on his way to becoming a demon as we speak." His voice darkened.
"Wow, he must have really pissed you off, you're actually swearing for once." Dante's brows shot upwards.
"What can I say; Lady's a bad influence on manners." Vergil shrugged nonchalantly.
"I would never have guessed." It was Dante's turn to be sarcastic, but his face was bright with glee.
"Don't forget she's got a nasty habit of shooting a guy in the face."
"I've never noticed." Vergil sneered.
"So how come you guys hooked up anyway? Didn't know you were such a flirt Verge."
Your sleaziness would eventually rub off on him…After all you share the same blood…
"She provided a worthy sport during our brief association, and that is all I can say about her."
"Is that all you can say about her arse as well?" Dante gave a lewd grin.
Vergil groaned inwardly at his twin's below the waist comment. Funny, it should irritate him, but strangely enough, the aimless chit chat seemed to elevate his spirits. He had actually forgotten momentarily that they were enemies…Dante possessed an unmatched talent for getting under one's skin…
"Dante, I fail to see the relevance of her derriere to this meaningless conversation. I would like to remind you that when I feel inclined to discuss my personal life with you, I shall do so. In the meantime, it would be in your best interest to kindly cease being a pest." Vergil hissed through gritted teeth.
"Geez, bro, say it, don't spray it." Dante said flippantly as he studied the massive throng of gargoyle statues also covered in the same gooey white stuff, blocking the stairs. At the twins' confident approach, the ground shook ominously, high stained glass windows rattling and smaller tremors running through the sturdy marble foundations of the entire section.
"Man, this tower's all fun and games, I'm actually warming up to the place." Dante chuckled.
"I agree Temen-ni-Gru is an excellent venue for choice entertainments." Vergil said as he dodged cascading debris.
In the pandemonium, the grotesque statues shook free of their immobility and suddenly came alive, circling the air and diving toward the half-devils. Dante eagerly whipped out Ebony and Ivory.
"I don't suppose you want to join in, Verge?" Dante smirked cockily as he waved Ebony in Vergil's unimpressed face, knowing full well the only way to neutralize and prevent the blood-goyles from multiplying was the use of firearms.
"In this instance, I am obliged to accept the invitation, brother." Vergil snatched Ebony from Dante's hand, and began to shoot the creatures stunned, Yamato coming down on the frozen statues with vengeance.
"I'm glad to see you haven't entirely lost your sense of fun, Vergil. I'm proud with a capital P!" Dante chortled, Rebellion and Ivory dispatching the wretched creatures efficiently. "Too bad a certain "Lady"s not here to join in the bash."
"I have no doubt she is well entertained, brother. She seems to invite herself to every occasion. She's what you would call a party –crasher." Vergil felt the ripples in the air, the advent of a behemoth sized aberration burrowing its way out of the tunnel, towards its prey…
"Ahh…A lady after my own heart!"
Dante's laughter suddenly disappeared along with his body into the enormous maw of the devouring gigapede that had slid out of one of the massive, slime covered tunnels.
Vergil shrugged to himself as he calmly continued fighting the gargoyle statuary, smiling ever so slightly.
He could almost feel something akin to sympathy for the hapless gigapede…
Night soared on dark wings all around Temen-ni-Gru, moonlight a ghostly pallor across the decayed tapestry of the city beneath, dotted with twinkling lights, and overhead the sky was black velvet, bejewelled with glimmering stars.
The pale light bled through the tiny stained glass window on the ceiling, spilling over the unmoving female body clutching a rocket launcher desperately to her breast.
I am trapped, and this time, there is no way out…
She squeezed her eyes shut, willing away the pesky tears, trying to figure out what went wrong…
She had been ascending the wide, stone steps leading to the tower's summit, her heart pounding with the bleak task that lay ahead…She had passed through the strange, transparent black portal that undulated at the top of the stairs…So close to that black hearted bastard…so close to finishing him off…
The ground had shattered beneath her, and she had fallen through a pitch black void…
Lady closed her eyes. Tears came unbidden, marring her cheeks. Tears were her only companion…And would remain so indefinitely…
"De ja vu…" Vergil groaned quietly, eyes flicking open to perfect darkness. This time he had fallen hard, still furious at his impatience to have overlooked the Doppelganger's tenebrous trap.
Vergil drew himself up, his disoriented gaze scouring the semi darkness ominously. Even his demonic senses took sometime to adjust to the otherwise impenetrable, unnatural blackness of the doppelganger's lair. He was surrounded on all sides by light absorbing onyx marble walls, chrome shutters sealing the windows. Vergil was sure he had read the description of such a chamber in one of the ancient tomes lining the crammed shelves of the Divine Library. The only exit out of this abyssal prison was to defeat the doppelganger…Of the monster itself, there was no sign, which did not bode well, not at all…
He instinctively turned to the faint cascade of moonlight, and the slender body bathed in its spectral illumination. The ebony highlights in her short hair gleamed, her soft, ivory skin took on a heavenly radiance, her knees were drawn up to her chest, her head bent low as if in silent prayer…Next to her lay her rocket launcher. She hadn't seem to notice his presence yet…Buried in her own silence…Or maybe she was injured…
Cursing his curiosity, Vergil approached Lady with quiet steps muffled by the writhing, tangible shadows.
He crouched beside her, his hand reaching out to her face with the lightest of touches, brushing the wayward black locks out of her eyes. Her soft, rhythmic breathing brought some semblance of relief to his harsh, stern features.
Her head lifted up quickly at his faint touch, mis-matched eyes blazing with outrage. He had caught her at her most vulnerable.
He had seen her cry.
Lady sprang to her feet, recoiling from him as though he was plagued. She shivered….Vergil was going to be her undoing…She could not allow it. She would not, she didn't care what it took. She would eventually have to come to grips with the gravity of her situation.
Why am I longing for his touch still?
"Where is Dante? Did you kill him? Did you kill your brother?" Her voice rose in anger.
Vergil was unfazed as ever, cool and steady under any kind of pressure.
"It never ceases to astonish me that you are always prepared to assume the worst of me." Vergil said in icy softness.
"You give me no reason to do otherwise!"
"I could gladly provide you with sound reason to alleviate your low opinion and incorrect assumptions of me, but I doubt such an exertion would be worth the effort." Vergil's bitter voice was a whip, cracking across the darkness dangerously.
"I'd like to see you try!" Lady was incensed. Her hands balled to tight fists at her sides.
"I hate to be indelicate, but the question is; how much longer could you bear the indignity of defeat at my hands?"
Tension and anger steadily ticked between the two of them like a bomb about to go off any moment.
And it finally did.
Lady slapped him fiercely across the cold, arrogant, handsome face, and her eyes promptly widened in regret. It was an ugly way of venting her frustration, one that almost bordered on cheating…
She waited tensely for him to draw his katana.
To her utter surprise, silence was all Vergil offered. Moonlight shaded the blue devil eyes to a luminous brilliance, casting one side of his face in resplendent, ephemeral radiance; in vivid contrast with the rest of his face that remained in the dim, sinister refuge of the shadows. Lady fancied that the arresting visage was a reflection of his soul, the human half and the devil half, and not exactly in that order…
The hallowed light of honour, of goodness and purity of heart tainted by the desolate blackness of his ambitions, his ruthlessness and obsession to acquire more power…But not yet thoroughly corrupted, not like Arkham…
Restless shadows seemed to writhe, eager to take over the aloof, handsome visage and devour the last shreds of light that so faintly shone through his divine being.
It is time to pick a side…
"Vergil…? I did not mean to do that." Lady's stubborn expression softened somewhat.
What the hell am I doing? Am I actually apologizing to this…demon? Lady mused with deep wariness…She was exposing too much of her soul…
Without any warning, Vergil's hand closed tightly, painfully around her wrist. He backed her up against the cold marble wall, the hard length of his body pressed against her softer one. Lady gasped, her fingers instinctively dipping for her guns, but were also pinned against the wall. His muscular thigh slid between her legs, firmly holding her trapped between the wall and his steel-firm body.
She wasn't as composed as she appeared, and Vergil found this oddly gratifying.
"You are a certainly persistent, incessantly aggravating creature, and you would be well advised not to treat me in such an impetuous fashion, ever again."
She was quiet, defiantly so. But she did not struggle or fight against him either. Acute discomfort and acute longing rushed through her, making her feel giddy again, if not shaken…
Neither said a word for a moment that became an eternity, listening to each other's heartbeat and quickening breaths.
"And contrary to your assumptions, I did not kill Dante." When Vergil spoke, it was without sarcasm or cockiness; he was merely stating a fact. His hold on her did not loosen an inch, his body relentlessly crushing hers with shocking intimacy.
Lady leaned into the searing warmth; even as she lifted her delicate chin boldly, her head tossed back proudly.
"Did not, or could not, Vergil?" Lady breathed against his mouth, struggling hard to keep the tremor out of her voice.
The question was an echo of the voice of doubt inside him…
"I fail to see why it would make any difference to you either way." Vergil captured her breath with his own, a whisper that touched her lips with a warm pressure, teasingly, unbearably, cruelly… Vergil leaned in for the kiss, then his head whipped upward suddenly.
"What is it?" Lady demanded, her voice still husky as she too, glanced up, seeing nothing.
A loud thud crashed through the silence, followed by a string of colourful obscenities that would make a Tourette's syndrome patient blush with shame.
"Party-time." Vergil was livid…
Well, we're getting close to the final showdown between the twins and the giant blob. -grins- review if you liked this chapter. still not sure about the happy ending..what do you guys think?