I don't own any of the characters here with the exception of original characters, Characters from Rwby and Devil May cry Belongs to Rooster Teeth and Capcom.
Also, if you are underage, don't drink alcohol. speaking from experience
Intermission 1.
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Blood, all she felt in her body was blood, not hers…Human blood as the taste was not of a demon. It was still warm and dripping, ah…She went into another blood frenzy and she wasn't surprised. She felt someone calling her name.
"Mistress…" a voice said with respect, it was soft and echoes in her lost mind.
She only saw darkness in her vision, maybe it was the blood covering her eyes or her senses being overloaded by all the human blood covering her body. It might be Faunus too but both tasted and smelled the same, not different at all yet delicious and addicting as candy. Shameful.
"Lady…" another voice said, this one was scared and shaky but soon got lost in her mind again.
Her head felt dizzy, mushy and lost. she didn't know where she was nor who she was, she was losing herself. Not happy yet not sad nor angry, she felt just lost. Lack of memories was one thing but she knew what she was, she was a demon.
"M-monster" Another voice stuttered but like the rest, it was lost in her mind, falling to deaf ears.
Ah! the feeling of blood covering her body…it felt nice, it felt exciting, like if it was a drug that no one could quit and addiction.
"Nyx" A stern voice talked, with so much authority and power.
Nyx came to her senses to see the battlefield or rather, what was left of the battlefield by her side were some of her human and Faunus slaves, some confused, some worried about their mistress and the majority…scared for their lives.
She saw it all, the destruction around and the bodies of the humans and Faunus who hadn't surrounded, the ones she had killed. In front of her stood the right hand of her master, Sparda.
"Good, you have come to your senses again" Sparda said, resting the legendary devil sword on his shoulder "I thought you were lost forever to your bloodlust"
"My apologies Sparda, I was just…enjoying the moment" Nyx says.
"I see…you were enjoying the mindless slaughter then" Sparda says, his tone low and with a simmer of rage.
"Don't you do the same?" Nyx asks with a smirk.
Sparda just grunted in annoyance before speaking again "Come, Lord Mundus has summoned us"
Nyx noticed the annoyance in the grunt and chuckled. Sparda was getting soft in her eyes.
"Is that the fearsome Sparda annoyed or you are starting to care about these weaklings" Nyx motions to the humans and Faunus.
"Aren't you the same Nyx? You could have left your slaves die since they are so useless in your eyes and yet, you decided to defend them" Sparda counters without looking at her "Now come, Our lord has no patience for dillydallying"
Nyx scoffed, she didn't have any care for these Faunus or humans, she was a demon, She was Nyx! the shadow of death! She is the ruler of shadowlands in the underworld! She is one of the lords of hell that serves the Emperor of Darkness himself!
And yet, as time passed, she could only prove her comrade right. She grew attached to the weak races on Remnant. It wasn't because they were weak or scared of her, she was a demon after all and many were. No, some grew to care about her, to respect her for keeping them alive while other demons would just kill them.
When the Grimm attacked, the boogeyman of this twisted world, she defeated them, she was turning into someone they respected despite her being a demon that could tear them apart.
She softened thanks to humanity but grew ever more distant at the same time, wearing a fake mask because she yearned what they had, a heart, a genuine smile and she didn't have any of those things. Nyx wanted to feel the joy humanity felt and wanted to be like them.
These…people, she can't believe she called them people, somehow managed to fill an empty space she always tried to fill with too many failed attempts. She grew to care yet she had her duty to fulfill to her lord…that was until Mundus broke the news to all demons under his reign…Sparda had betrayed them.
Nyx didn't know how to feel. Demons never had friendship, it was either loyalty out of fear or wanting to follow a stronger demon to learn until they could take their place in their hierarchy but for some reason…she felt what Faunus and Humans called friendship towards that particular devil, fleeting but she liked his presence.
The news kept flowing, Legions of demons cut down, turned into pieces, lakes of blood were made on Sparda's warpath. Nyx knew that Sparda was strong as he was the right hand of Mundus but she never dreamed to see the slaughter he was able to create with his sword…it was fitting for a devil, indeed it was.
Soon, she stood in front of the devil itself, his namesake tightly being wrapped by his hand and yet, he was calm.
"Sparda, why did you betray us?" Nyx asked the betrayer.
"I grew to love this world, its air, its people and yet, our kind is poison, destroying this world…there is no honor in our actions, there has to be justice" Sparda said calmly.
Justice?! A demon speaking of love and justice is unheard of. It was blasphemy, undemon-like and yet a devil was speaking of this, his tone made Nyx see that he wasn't telling a lie. Sparda truly believed what he said, that he wanted to be the one protecting Remnant and its people.
She knew what he said was right, her subjects lived happy lives because she grew attached to them but other demons subjects? they were lucky if they survived a month.
"Mundus is a mad tyrant, how many people have died? how many innocent since we arrived as the plague that is eating this world, that even the creatures of the Grimm seem like child's play" Sparda says, his red shining eyes closing "They have been tortured, experimented by Machiavelli, killed, mained, used as food as Mundus orders but they never give up, they fight…but this time, they won't have to fight as I will be the one protecting them. I'll be the knight in dark armor that defends the innocent"
The demoness felt…Jealous as Sparda gave his little speech. She dreamed of being able to escape Mundus clutches since she grew to care for her subjects but she never had the courage, she was always a coward…and Sparda is there, pouring his heart, rebelling against the dark emperor himself.
She hated Sparda, she hated what he represented, her own weakness, her fears, her cowardice. She wanted to be like him, to feel love, to feel…human, like the ones who look up to her in her fief.
"Now step aside old friend" Sparda says as he brands his namesake "Or meet my blade"
She wanted to step aside but her pride wouldn't let her or rather, her fear of Mundus retaliation against her for not following orders as every demon had been given direct orders to bring Sparda's head and him calling her old friend stings. He considered her a friend, humanity's kindness rubbed off too much on the devil as it did to her, the difference was that he was brave and courageous while she was a coward who stood in line…
Her right arm morphed into the blade she uses to cut her enemies down. She couldn't go against her master's wishes, she desired to but she couldn't but deep down, she wanted to fight the devil that was able to fight a war alone against the underworld and make the residents shake in fear and hatred.
"Show me your resolve…Dark knight Sparda" Nyx said, she was ready to fight.
Nyx dashed towards the dark knight, towering over him and threw the first cut…only to find out that she was already defeated as Sparda cut through the attack with his sword, shattering her own blade and piercing her flesh.
One single strike from Sparda was enough to defeat her and humiliate her…No, she was wrong, Sparda didn't humiliate her. As she falls to the ground wounded, Nyx remembers the fateful day that Mundus went to her domain to recruit her. Recruiting a demon was a show of strength and Mundus was perhaps the strongest demon in history and when the duel came, she was played with, Mundus never went all out.
Like a predator playing with its food, Mundus played with his demonic magic during the combat. It was…humiliating that Mundus didn't bother to show his strength, was she so weak? so below the dark emperor that he just swatted her like a fly with demonic magic while grinning the whole way.
What Sparda did was different, he didn't grin or smirk, he didn't hold back on his power, on his mastery with the sword. Yes, he spared her, but he took the fight with all the seriousness of the case, he showed her respect even if he was much stronger than her unlike Mundus.
She touched the ground and felt her blood pour out, it wasn't critical but she would be out of combat for a while. She rolled over so she could stare at the Dark knight, he wasn't grinning, he wasn't mocking her, he was silent and calm. Sparda wasn't one to mock a demon or an enemy unless his heart was in turmoil because of righteous fury. She has found someone worthy to serve by her own will
"Don't…lose…Master Sparda…protect this world and its people" Those were Nyx's words before she passed out, she felt his demonic power rise.
Back in the present.
Nyx opens her eyes after examining the cuts on the golems her Master left guarding. The dark energy from the Yamato was nostalgic, making her remember her fight with the Dark Knight and his powerful demonic energy.
After all, the Yamato was created from his own powers so it made sense she felt nostalgic from that power…but it wasn't time for reminiscing of the past as this was bad news. Someone was using Sparda's sword to destroy his legacy, to bring demons back to Remnant made her blood boil.
Shadows quickly surrounded the demoness, engulfing her until nothing was there. Soon she appeared in a shadow in Ozpin's office to find out the strange headmaster was going out. She felt something off in the headmaster, almost if magical but not in demonic magic but something else but he was so far, trustworthy for taking care of Dante.
"Ah! Nyx" Ozpin greeted her "I take you are back from Atlas"
"Indeed I am and I need to speak with Dante immediately" The demoness says with urgency.
"Fancy for you to say as I am myself going to meet him after Team RWBY and himself had quite the adventure tonight" Ozpin chuckles.
"Demons?" Nyx tilts her head, she was used to Dante doing reckless stuff but Team RWBY meant that something was going on.
"From what they informed Glynda, there was one, a higher demon according to Ms. Belladonna but they managed to defeat them with minor injuries" Ozpin gives a really brief explanation of what happened.
Team RWBY defeated a Higher demon with the help of Dante? Well now, Nyx was impressed by the four girls' success even if the higher demon wasn't a strong one. Nyx felt curiosity on knowing what demon was slain by team RWBY and Dante so one can forgive the demoness' curiosity on the matter.
"Very well, I would like to hear of their exploit myself and see the body of the demon if Dante or the girls actually left a body of course" Nyx said, feeling a bit proud.
"Indeed, sadly Dante is currently restrained by Atlas military at the moment alongside the corpse of the beast" Ozpin can't avoid but sigh. the paperwork of the damages was already big enough
"That…sounds like Dante" Nyx sighs too, that reckless boy.
"Come friend, Glynda is waiting in the bullhead bay for us" Ozpin gave a soft smile.
Meanwhile, in an interrogation room inside Vale police department.
Dante was leaning against the chair, balancing a bit as he rested his feet on the table, in front of him two Atlas soldiers trying to play good cop and bad cop. He couldn't avoid rolling his eyes, it wasn't the first time he was "Arrested" by the authorities of Atlas.
Dante couldn't avoid chuckling at the interrogation, like seriously, these weekend soldiers think they can intimidate him with their bad cop good cop routine? Ruby is more intimidating when someone takes one of her cookies or Nora when a girl flirts to Ren or she hasn't eaten pancakes that morning.
Sure, they have taken his weapons and thankfully, they were using gauntlets since he doesn't know what Rebellion would do to the mind of someone who isn't himself or a demon. Dante could break out at any moment since he still had Rahab stored in his soul and could bring it at any moment, hell, he could call Rebellion and it could come flying through walls to him.
"Where did you find that Atlesian Paladin punk?" The "bad" cop soldier slammed his hands on the table.
"Found it in my favorite morning cereal, Pumpkin' pete" Dante quips and shrugs.
"Redgrave, Don't make this harder than it is" The "Good" cop soldier says trying not to get annoyed by Dante's attitude "And tell us about that…beast you were standing by"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" Dante chuckles "But that's a new type of Grimm, pretty scary ain't it?"
"Stop playing games Redgrave!" The bad cop yells "We are going to get the answers we want!"
Dante was about to continue joking when the door opened to reveal the general itself, James Ironwood. Dante wasn't particularly fond of the man but didn't hate him either, just found him annoying as the general was way too stiff and pragmatic for his liking.
"General!" Both soldiers salute their superior.
"At ease and leave us" Ironwood says, fixing his tie with his gloved right hand.
The two soldiers leave the interrogation room, leaving just the son of Sparda and the commanding officer of Atlas military. Danta had faced Ironwood before in a one on one when he used to be Tony Redgrave, without his newfound strength and the experience of the general made it a hard fight that ended in a draw.
"Well well well, if it isn't the general itself, I must have caused quite the trouble" Dante chuckles, taking his feet off the table.
"Tony Redgrave, it's been…a while although this meeting is rather different than our last" Iron wood says sitting on the chair across the table "I must thank you for helping neutralizing that stolen paladin prototype"
"Just doing my good deed of the day" Dante nods but his gaze sharpens "Tell me what you really want Jimmy"
Dante wasn't for games at the moment of pleasantries either way. Oran was on the loose and he was wasting time here and there is also the matter of the corpse of the amorph hunter.
Atlas would probably use the body, study it to create something, a weapon is the first thought that pops in Dante's mind and anything related to demons will be a problem sooner than later even if tried to be controlled.
Ironwood sighs, he knew that Redgrave was always sharp and ahead of his game despite his carefree and nonchalant attitude. The general takes from his coat five pictures, four from the amorph hunter and one from a demon that Dante recognized as Volcano.
"New Grimm?" Dante feigns ignorance.
"You are similar to those two Redgrave" Ironwood says sternly "We did a bioscan to your body through the cameras of the ship that transported you here"
Dante's eyes widen slightly before narrowing again.
"Not entirely the same as there is human biomatter in you, half of it but the other half is similar to those two…beasts" Ironwood starts explaining how they found out about his speciality "And there is the matter of your aura, it has never changed levels, at first I thought that you were an experienced mercenary but it seems there is more to you"
"Nice job on the homework General" Dante says in a small growl "Now what?"
"Why did you infiltrate Beacon academy Redgrave? For whom are you working Mercenary? What are you?! What are those creatures?!" Ironwood asks, paranoia clouding his mind "Are you working for her?!"
"Ignorance is bliss Jimmy" Dante says "Some things are best left unsaid and your questions with the exception of one, are best for me to know and you to forget"
The general frowned at Dante's answer, he wasn't going to make things easier at all.
"And what is the answer to that one question" The general's voice was irritated.
"I'm a student at Beacon, no infiltration nor anything, scouted actually" Dante smirks.
The general grunted, Redgrave? scouted? Does Beacon not do background checks before scouting a potential student? Redgrave is a mercenary and a dangerous one at that. Ironwood thought Ozpin was losing his mind or Redgrave was telling a lie.
"Don't lie to me, Redgrave!" Ironwood tries to put pressure on the teenager.
"What do I gain from lying?" Dante shrugs and puts his hands behind his head.
Ironwood had to use his semblance to not attack Dante and keep things peacefully but that teenager was trying his patience but he had to have resolve and after all, studying him would be useful for Atlas military and the incoming war with Salem.
"Fine, let's say you are being truthful, there is still the subject about what are you Anthony" Ironwood decides to soften his tone, trying to sooth the teenagers.
"Antho-" Dante bites his tongue, he might as well play ball and give some information to Ironwood as he is not a bad man just pragmatic "Right, that's not my name, It's actually Dante and lets say i'm special"
"How special?" Ironwood raises an eyebrow at the answer.
"Not in the mommy and daddy saying that I'm special, think of me as something different than the Huntsmen and Grimm" Dante shrugs.
"So part monster" Ironwood says plainly, Dante flinches a bit, he still wasn't comfortable with his demonic side.
"In a way but at the same time, I'm still human but with a few things that others don't have" Dante bites back.
"Interesting…" Ironwood thought about it and decided to ask an important question "...And you can defeat those monsters?"
"That is my job" Dante says, narrowing his eyes.
"What if you join the Atlas military? You can be useful to us and the world, we could study your speciality and we could make you stronger" Ironwood immediately said, despite Dante being who he is, he could be molded into a soldier…A weapon.
Before Dante or Ironwood could continue, the door was open revealing Ozpin, Goodwitch and a Nyx that was staring daggers and bloody murder at Ironwood. Nyx felt Ironwood intentions for Dante and she was livid to the point that the youngest son of Sparda noticed her killing intent, something that surprised the demon hunter as Nyx swore she couldn't kill humans or faunus anymore.
Dante also felt…happy that Nyx would go that far for him. There was also the fact that Goodwitch was also staring daggers at ironwood, the two have gotten close with the therapy sessions but Dante didn't understand why she was angry.
The teenager was oblivious that Glynda and Ironwood had history and two, Ironwood was interrogating Dante and Glynda grew fond of the demon hunter. The instructor heard of tragedy stories, she has seen them but Dante's…was something else as she noticed that the young man had way too many issues and wears a mask to hide his pain and his self loathing.
A few weeks ago, before the summer break.
Glynda was sitting in her office, she's been doing therapy sessions with Dante since he got his memories back and the death of Nell, his foster mother. To say it was working would be a lie since the demon hunter was still pretty closed off and would be wearing that carefree mask.
Nyx warned Glynda that working with Dante's psyche would be an herculean task since he is way too stubborn but Glynda was also too stubborn for her own good…that and she decided to get a title in psychology during her first years as member of the staff on Beacon.
There is a good reason why she hasn't given up on Dante, the one reason being that Dante has the potential to be a force of good like the world hasn't seen before but she also felt pity for him. Dante was someone she saw without a real place in Remnant, someone who doesn't belong despite everything…he was also someone who had to grow up by force,
Her thoughts were derailed as Dante knocked and got inside..he looked different, his body language wasn't confident and more defeated…and the look of his eyes…Goodwitch recognized that tired and hollow gaze anywhere from veteran huntsmen and huntresses, the same stare that Taiyang had when Summer died, the same eyes that Qrow has when he is sober or extremely drunk.
This gaze was something she never expected to see from a sixteen year old, soon to be seventeen, to have in his eyes so early in his life and something tells her it wasn't the first time he had that gaze. Today she didn't have a session planned with the half breed teenager and the strong scent of alcohol meant that he came on his own, he needed help or someone to hear him at least.
She wondered why now and why with her? She thought it was a primal motive since Dante's support was based on Nell, a blonde woman who he considered a mother and least to say, his mother was also blond so he seeked a blond woman, her.
Dante sat down in the chair but said no word. A whole five minutes passed and the silence was deafening so Goodwitch decided to break the silence.
"How much have you drank?" She asks, with curiosity and small worry."Seven bottles of Whiskey" Dante answers, his voice was…low, hollow, she could tell he wasn't in a good place by his tone alone.
Seven bottles?! She is surprised to see him this composed, even a drunkard like Qrow would be already speaking nonsense and wombly, it must be his demonic biology that make him more resistant to alcohol and that she has to inspect his room again to see where he hid this.
"That much alco-" Glynda tried to talk but her words were cut by him.
"Do I deserve to be alive?" Dante asks, shutting her up.
Surprise again hit her, like a cold as ice shower, Dante's question was a loaded one to say it lightly. Glynda had to take a moment to process the question, how can this teenager consider the reason to deserve to win? It feels like a foolish question, every human has the right to deserve to live but that's when it clicked on her…Dante isn't fully human.
"Why do you ask?" Glynda had an idea but asked anyway for the student to elaborate
"How many lives have been lost because of my existence? Either by my hand or just because I exist and become collateral damage?" Dante clenches his fist.
Glynda gaze fixed on his eyes, by each word Dante said, the shine on them was growing paler and paler. She could tell that killing Donn might have an effect on the young man, it might be something he wasn't comfortable doing.
The combat instructor was sure, during the therapy or counseling sessions she noticed that Dante always wanted to deal with humans without killing, he values human and faunus lives quite a lot but despite everything he isn't afraid of taking them if it means stopping demons.
Before she could say anything, speak a word, Dante continued.
"How long until someone else dies because of me?" He asks, hanging his head.
"No one is going to die" Glynda said, trying to believe in her own words as hard as they could be.
"Bullshit" Dante scoffs "Nell said the same thing and she is dead because of me! Who's next? Weiss? Pyrrha? Blake? Nora? Yang? Jaune?! You?!"
Dante raised his voice with each name he said. Glynda understood that he mentioned the names who were close to him, including her. She felt her heart feel warm and hurt at seeing the young man distress.
"When will be the next time I see someone I care about die because I exist!" Dante exclaims.
Seeing Dante in this state awakened something inside Glynda…she never had younger siblings nor family with younger kids but right now, she felt that she needed to protect Dante, she felt a motherly instinct.
The irony wasn't lost to her, all the motherly figures for the young half-devil were blond and now her. Glynda can only wish she won't meet the same end. Glynda grabbed his hand softly and sighed, trying to find strength to believe in the words she's going to say next.
"No one is going to die Dante, believe me, they are…I am stronger than you believe" Glynda says with a soft smile.
Back to the present time.
Glynda just sighs and shakes her head but before she could speak, Dante raised his voice.
"Nyx, calm down" Dante said sternly.
Nyx stiffened at the tone that Dante used. It reminded her of Sparda and she immediately simmered down when the order was barked at her. Everyone noticed her reaction and the confusion it gave the general.
"James, what is happening here?" Glynda decided to give her former fire a piece of her mind.
"My soldiers arrested this mercenary" Ironwood says.
"More like i came without a fight" Dante quips with a smirk.
Seeing that Dante was taunting Ironwood, Ozpin decided to intervene, make things peacefully and stop foolish bickering when his allies were on the same side…after all, he has enough with Qrow doing the same.
"Now now, let's not bicker and calm down" Ozpin says fixing his gaze between Dante and Ironwood "Our friend here is one of our star students and an ally"
The word ally made Ironwood lower his defenses a tad alongside his paranoia but there was still the matter of Dante not being fully human.
"This young man isn't human" Ironwood retorts, pointing out the flaw.
"We know," Glynda says as she crosses her arms.
Everybody stood in silence for a while, Ironwood speechless of the revelation that they call Dante an ally and they know he isn't human but part of those monsters that attacked the museum and the beast they recently retrieved.
Nyx slowly walked over to Dante, glaring at the general with caution and a semblance of aggressiveness. She was ready to strike the human down if it meant protecting Dante, she wasn't going to let this…pathetic human make Dante a weapon, a child. The demoness took a glance at the photos in the desk and recognized the demons.
"Inferno…so he was here too" Nyx thinks out loud as she picks the picture.
"Fitting name, knowing that it almost burned a museum to the ground" Ironwood explains "You have knowledge of those monsters?"
Nyx shifts her gaze to Ozpin and Glynda, she was analyzing them for a moment.
"Is he trustworthy?" the demoness asks.
"He is rough around the edges and a pragmatic soldier but he can be trusted" Glynda is the one that answers Nyx's question, knowing that both want Dante to be safe. Nyx just nodded.
"Tell me James" Ozpin starts speaking, resting his hands on his cane "What is your favorite legend?"
The general found the question nostalgic despite the change of the last word on the question but he knew immediately that Remnant hides more secrets that he thought he knew or that Ozpin is hiding more to his inner circle than he expected.
"It would be the Girl who fell through the world" the general states wary of the question.
"James, old friend, that is a fairy tale, I'm talking about legends, stories of old that are rarely passed down because their content feels so alien to this world unlike the fairy tales" Ozpin points out.
"You mean like the legend of that supposed dark goddess of the Faunus or the like?" Ironwood raises an eyebrow.
Ozpin and Glynda nod to Ironwood's question, affirming that he was on the correct path in his train of thought. The general started making the gears in his thinking box start spinning, what could Ozpin mean with that question? It wasn't hard for the general to find the answer as the hint from Nyx.
There was an old legend of dark creatures that comes from the deepest parts of another dimension, one filled with hatred, destruction and despair; however, filled with incredible unholy power. The legend of a Hero with the power of the darkness, a betrayed who fought for Remnant against his own kind…The Dark Knight Sparda, a demon.
"Demons, those things are demons" Ironwood's eyes widened at the realization.
"Welcome to the dark secret of the world Jimmy" Dante smirks "Let's hope you don't blink when the abyss stares back"
"you…are allying with demons?!" Ironwood turns to face Ozpin and Glynda, raising his voice "Have you two lost your minds?!"
"I assure you James, we are surprised as you are, we learned about the existence of demons thanks to our friend over there" Ozpin motions at Nyx with his hand.
"And Dante is a good young man despite his status as a half-breed and his brash attitude" Glynda tries to explain her point of view.
"He is still a demon!" Ironwood yells.
"Mind your words human" Nyx snarls at the general.
"He's the son of Sparda" Ozpin states plainly.
The fact that Dante is the son of Sparda made Ironwood go silent, Sparda was real and lived long enough to have an offspring? Dante was Sparda's son, the mercenary that has been a thorn in Ironwood's side from time to time was the son of a dark hero of legend.
"Yeah, he was my old man but I take more after my mother" Dante shrugs "I also don't take kindly to being talked about when I'm right here ya know?"
Glynda rolled her eyes, of course Dante would joke about this, he still lacks respect for others and making light of the situation; despite said situation needed some desperate change of mood.
Ironwood on his side was thinking over this new information, if what they are saying is true, with Dante being a half demon and the legends of demonic power…they might have a chance against the Queen of the Grimm in what seems like an eternal cold war. The general has trained his armies, made new models of the Atlesian knight, ordered the craft of multiple airships to have enough firepower for a direct confrontation with the endless armies of the Queen and to keep Remnant safe.
Yet, here he has a demon, two of them as he quickly guessed that Nyx is a demoness; despite her human appearance, those two will be a huge asset to Remnant and finish this long war. Humanity finally has a chance once again…or so he thinks, little does he know that this war is getting more complex by the second with a third enemy now lurking in the shadows.
"Does he know about her?" Ironwood asks.
"He doesn't" Ozpin says "Dante has too much on his plate at the moment to worry about her"
"Who's her anyway?" Dante decided to speak "You keep speaking about a woman but i am kept in the dark"
"No one to worry about yet Dante, as I said, you have too much weight on your shoulders to worry about another war to fight on" Ozpin shakes his head.
"But he could help us defeat her!" Ironwood exclaims, raising his hands.
"He's a child!" Glynda yells, surprising both Ozpin and Ironwood "And he is already involved with demonic beings who want him dead, he is fighting his own war against another enemy!"
The sudden volume and tone of irritation on Glynda's voice really stopped the General on his tracks and that there was another enemy lurking; a headache was coming to Ironwood's head and was planning on staying.
"She's right, and we have bigger problems right now since there is an unknown factor with the Yamato and breaking the seals to the portal that connects the demon world with Remnant" Nyx's tone was serious and stern, she knew that the stakes were getting more dangerous.
The sound of steel bending broke the silence that was created making everyone turn their heads to the origin of the sound. Dante had his right hand gripping the edge of the steel table, his fingers bearing into the steel, bending it with anger like it was a piece of paper and his blue eyes shining red.
Someone or something was using the Yamato, his brother's weapon to destroy the world he now calls home, where he lives, where his mother lived and where the few people important to him lives.
Dante was shaking with anger as he bent the steel of the table, he stuttered his words as he tried not to scream and yell. He doesn't turn to face his demoness caretaker, he just looks at nothing trying to dismiss all the red mist in his head.
"Did you see who has my brother's sword?" Dante asks, his tone was cold as the winters in Atlas.
"No, but I can confirm from that someone is using the Yamato to break the seals on the seven hells, the demonic energy on the statue I found in Solitas made it clear" Nyx explains
"The situation is more dire than we imagined" Ozpin rubs his eyes, this turn of events was the least he expected.
"Yes and no" Nyx tries to calm things down as she senses the rise on the fear of the humans "First, i want to see the body of the demon here, I'm sure you got them General"
"Both of them are in the research bay of the ship, i wanted to show Ozpin the body we acquired in the museum" Ironwood nods, understanding that the situation is dire and an expert must examine the bodies…even if it's a demon.
"Very well, Take us there General, I'll explain as we get there" Nyx puts her hand on Dante's shoulder, trying to calm him down and sensing his demonic power.
The demoness felt that Dante's power was strong, incredibly strong but like a dying flame with little oxygen to burn; so much untapped potential that isn't growing at the pace she expects. She couldn't put a finger on what it is, she can feel there is more inside Dante that is dormant but doesn't understand why.
The inner circle of Ozpin alongside the halfbreed and the demoness moved to the research bay of the airship. Nyx explained that the seals of the seven hells are meant to be the first line to unlock the true portal to hell, the Temen-Ni-Gru; however, there are more steps to truly open the portal and connect both worlds.
There was a ritual made by Sparda when he separated the worlds, one that needed a key she would keep a secret and the blood of Sparda himself. Said ritual needed to be done inside the Temen-Ni-Gru, even if the tower is risen, they are missing two vital components.
At first they thought they were pretty much out of the woods since Sparda's blood is long gone and Dante's is a halfbreed. Nyx quickly puts those hopes to rest as blood in demonic rituals are more powerful than people think as blood carries special magical properties that are passed down meaning that Dante has enough of Sparda's blood to break the seal.
"In other words, Dante can't enter the Temen-Ni-Gru" Ozpin states with the information Nyx provided.
"It would be ideal but a small pint of blood would be enough break half of the seal" Nyx tilts her head to the side as she thinks, glancing slightly at Dante's amulet "Even so, no demons aside from me or the humans of old know the key to open the portal, so the only worry would be defeating the legions of sealed demons in the tower"
"Sounds fun" Dante smirks, finally calmed down after his fit of rage.
"A legion of demons sounds fun to you? Are you mad?" Ironwood raised an eyebrow.
"It's in his demonic blood, the desire to fight and be in combat makes his and my blood boil with excitement" Nyx explains some of the nature associated with demons.
"That and if I keep killing demons I'll hit the jackpot" Dante says "And talking about Jackpot, you think it's a minion from Mundus who has the Yamato?"
Nyx stayed silent, she was wondering the same thing. Did a demon take the sword from Vergil during the night of the attack? It's a probability but why act now? Dante has gotten stronger and they'll need his blood plus the amulet to open the portal to the underworld…Even if they wanted to open the other portal to the underworld in Fortuna they could have done it already, something is amiss.
"I wouldn't think so" Ozpin shares his thoughts on the matter "From what Nyx has explained Demons are rather impulsive, I don't see why they should have waited"
Ozpin had a similar train of thought, call it experience if you will, knowing that he has been in a war for so many years with Salem and he knows that Salem likes biding her time, finding the right moment but Demons? They already have a great tool at their side, akin to a relic in his mind and Salem would be one to take the opportunity as soon as possible.
Moments after they reach their destination, it was a big room inside the ship filled with machines making soft noises and beeping. The corpses of the two demons are laying on tables being examined by machines and scientists that soon raise their heads to see Dante and the rest of Ozpin circle.
With a simple hand motion, the scientist left the research bay, leaving the five alone with the corpses. Dante and Nyx immediately examined the bodies of both demons, Dante went for Inferno with curiosity in mind as he thought it was Volcano at first.
"Looks the same as Volcano" Dante whistles.
"A friend?" Ironwood taunts.
"James!" Glynda scolds the general
"The opposite" Dante scoffs and crosses his arms.
"That is Inferno, Volcano's twin brother" Nyx explains "Slightly stronger but not by much but nasty as his kin, didn't know he crossed to Remnant"
"How can you tell? They look the same" Ozpin asks, despite not being able to recover Volcano's body after Dante killed it, he saw security footage, out of curiosity and to delete it.
"I'm over two thousand years old my dear, noticing the difference between demons was my thing at some point out of boredom" Nyx giggles at her own response.
Dante checks the injuries on the body. It was full with cuts wounds, deep ones that cut bone despite them not being wide so it meant that the method of killing this bastard was a blade, a sword by how deep they are.
The son of Sparda discarded a dispute between demons that ended in a duel of supremacy, those wounds were methodical and with purpose, to sniff out the life of the victim in a quick manner, with little time to waste and Dante was impressed.
"Nice clean cuts" Dante points out as he examines the body of Inferno "Too damn clean and precise"
"Indeed, from what my people said, it couldn't be done by a normal blade" Ironwood slaps the body "This thing is too robust and though to be cut with a normal blade, we had to use a high quality steel blade and small lazer just to get a sample"
"Makes sense, demons of this caliber are tougher, you would need an aura user and good weapons to injure them but this…" Nyx explains as she runs her finger through the injury "...It's like Dante said, the enemy he thought is a professional and has the Yamato"
"Though so as well" Dante nods "Would make sense since this was found in Atlas and the statue was also in Atlas…"
"So the one that has that sword is an enemy or a fool?" Glynda asks, raising an eyebrow, she was slightly confused by the individual actions, kills a minion from the big bad devil but starts breaking the seals.
"Another faction perhaps" Ozpin chimes in
Ironwood and Glynda dreaded the thought of another enemy faction on the board because Remnant already had too many hidden enemies that wanted to see the world ablaze. Of course, this individual apparently is fighting the demons too but at the same time helping them? It's odd but Nyx seemed to understand what might be in store.
It was hard to say, why did a demon or human wanted to open the world to the demon world and kill demons? doesn't make any sense unless it was a twisted desire of revenge…unless…
"The Sparda…" Nyx says, her eyes opening wide as she realizes it.
"Sparda?" Ozpin asks, confused.
"Not Sparda but The Sparda, his sword" Nyx explains as she starts pacing back and forward "When he sealed the portal, he left his sword behind after storing his power on it"
"And our best bet is that someone or something is trying to get said sword and its power?"Glynda asks.
"It's a legendary devil sword named after its owner, it has felled demons and Devils alike and even dealt a mighty blow against Mundus, you might consider it the strongest weapon ever forged in demonic lore" Nyx says, his tone deeply implying that this was no exaggeration.
"That isn't good" Glynda points out.
"Nothing to worry about, if, massive if, someone takes the sword, I doubt they'll be able to use it to its full extend because they lack the blood of it's owner" Nyx says and walks to the corpse of the Amorph Hunter "And would you look at that, a beast that tries to mimic the ones from my lands"
"From your lands, what do you mean demoness?" Ironwood narrows his eyes, he wasn't fully trusting Dante or Nyx yet.
"You see, this beast it's one of the weakest higher demons, I would consider it a lesser demon but his power it's too high for that despite its lack of intelligence" Nyx chuckles. "This is a demon created based on the shadow, a powerful demon beast from my land. This attempt to match their power was created by Machiavelli to some semblance of success"
"So a failure" Ironwood understands.
"In a way" Nyx says touching the beast "It lacks the immunity to conventional weapons, it cannot change forms and cannot melt in the shadows, it's a good hunting dog for some demon captains, expendable for big battles, surprising that it lacks so much since it was created by Machiavelli"
"Who is this Machiavelli you speak about Nyx?" Ozpin asks, curious about the name.
"An demon artisan that serves Mundus, great gunsmith and inventor, no one could match him…well, except for one person, Miss Goldstein could definitely beat his genius when we are talking about gunsmithing" Nyx says, Dante felt proud of his former foster mother and guilty, he still blames himself for her death.
Ironwood was silently taking mental notes, he wasn't trusting of Dante and Nyx but he couldn't deny that their knowledge was impressive when it comes to these things, especially Nyx's since she is a demon herself with thousands of thousands years of accumulated knowledge of her kin.
Ozpin and Glynda in their minds were occupied on another matter, bringing Nyx into the fold, her experience could be invaluable as a master of the dark arts in the war against Salem. She was a good ally despite her nature and she cared about Remnant as if it was her home but the biggest question laid in if they should bring Dante into their inner circle.
Dante had way too many issues and trauma, besides, he also was fighting his own war so they weren't sure to add him to another war as a field agent. Ozpin had the nagging feeling that he'll be brought to it, his gut feeling is telling him that Oran might be working with Salem but he has nothing solid as to it yet and with Qrow out in the field he doesn't have someone here in Vale to confirm it yet.
While everyone was distracted, Nyx used a shadow to disappear and reappear in the armory. She made sure it was empty before making the jump in her shadows but she needed to recover three items. When she entered the ship she made sure to leave a shadow to explore.
On a metal table she found the two of the items, Ebony and Ivory. She grabbed both guns with care and felt the urge to aim with them, a rush of nostalgia invaded the demoness when she aimed the twin handguns. She felt exactly the same when she once held Luce and Ombra, Sparda's twin handguns and she couldn't deny the similarities between the weapons and it's user.
The craftsmanship was out of this world, she couldn't deny it, a fitting weapon for a warrior. She stored the handguns in her dress and started looking for the Rebellion. She sneaks around the armory to find a Soldier unconscious and the Rebellion leaning against an oper locker
Nyx chuckled at the sight, she knew the meaning of this…the Rebellion was awakening slowly. When the Atlesian soldier tried to touch the sword with his bare hands he must have felt the will of the Rebellion on his mind and passed out.
The demoness slightly touched the Rebellion's handle and she felt the intense desire to kill demons within the sword in her mind. She immediately retracted her hand, odd, the bloodlust in the sword was strong for being in a dormant state, was it reacting to Dante's feeling about the demons? it was a possibility as it recognized Dante as its owner.
She wondered what was the secret hiding in the sword, Sparda always said that the Yamato and the Rebellion were special. The Yamato being a dark sword capable of cutting through space and time, creating portals and a key to a portal to gate in Fortuna while on the other hand the Rebellion behaved like a normal sword with nothing special about it. While the Rebellion's conductivity for demonic energy is indeed off the charts and its resistance makes it almost indestructible, there is still nothing special about it making her wonder what was Sparda hiding about this sword.
Nyx was sure that Sparda didn't make a weak sword as the dark knight made the twin's swords equal in power so there must be something else. She shook her head, it was no use thinking about it at the moment, she decided to cover her hand in demonic energy and grabbed the Rebellion so the sword would recognize her as an ally and to her luck it did.
Whispers invaded her mind, they were weak but she understood one thing, that Dante, the "Master" was still asleep. What did the Rebellion mean about it? Was it talking about his demonic side? She would agree on this train of thought, as she was thinking earlier when she noticed Dante's demonic levels being strong yet weaker because of all of its dormant and untapped power. Maybe that's the key she's missing in this puzzle.
Regardless of the puzzle, she has to return the weapons to the rightful owner, she becomes one with her shadows and returns to the others. She immediately hands Dante its weapons.
"Sweet" He grins "I was missing these already"
"Did you just sneak into the armory?" Ironwood asks surprised to see Nyx disappear and reappear in three minutes
"Indeed, you were withholding some of Dante's equipment and i would advise someone to recover the unconscious guard who decided to touch the Rebellion unprotected and a psychologist, he will need it" Nyx says, gaining some puzzled looks "Demonic weapons are alive and they have their own thoughts, a human shouldn't be touching one carelessly or will either die, go mad or lose consciousness out of shock, thankfully it was the last one after he hear the whispers"
"Uh? didn't know that" Dante raises an eyebrow "I can communicate with Rahab but I never heard Rebellion said anything to me"
"You are an odd case Dante" Nyx points out, she wasn't sure what to think of yet so she wouldn't say anything to Dante yet until she had more solid proof.
"Regardless if Dante is an odd case or anything" Ozpin interrupts "I believe our brave demon hunter deserves some rest, besides, I believe a certain team of girls is worried about him, don't we all agree?"
"Crap, the girls are going to kill me" Dante groans, he wasn't completely wrong after he sent them on their way with no reassurance on when he'll be back.
"I don't envy you Redgrave" Ironwood said with honestly as he pulls two scrolls, he gives Dante one, he was withholding his scroll while in the other he writes something and sends it "I had this as evidence but it seems it won't be necessary anymore and I informed my soldiers you are free to go and take you back to Beacon"
"Awesome, I don't have to walk" Dante takes the scroll and stores it in his coat "You coming Nyx?"
"No my child, I need to examine the corpses" Nyx motions with her hand to the corpse of the Amorph hunter and Inferno "I might learn more if I study the wounds and maybe I can track Oran's demonic energy from that failure"
It made sense, Dante saw how Oran activated the Amorph hunter under the highway after the girls dealt with Torchwick's mech. Oran did lend his demonic energy to the dormant state of the beast so maybe Nyx is onto something there.
The gears on his head started working overtime, Nyx was known to be an expert in demon's magic, if someone could track Oran would Nyx but something tells him it isn't going to be easy at all because Oran has been really quiet lately; unlike the stunt he did on that hotel when Dante and Weiss had that small concert to play. There is also the fact that Dante killed his master meaning that he had to hide and wait knowing that Dante was now in fact stronger than before.
Dante shrugged, did his two fingers salute as a goodbye and walked away. Meanwhile Ozpin had enough time to think, he has an opportunity that he is not going to waste. He has been through many reincarnations in this war of attrition against Salem and her endless hordes of Grimm but now, he had someone who is as strong and possibly as strong as her.
While he was dormant before the god of light made an immortal spirit that goes from body to body in this long war, another war happened with creatures he didn't think existed. He was glad he wasn't part of it and that during that time his reincarnation time was so long that it could take years because if he reincarnated, the little magic he has left would have been lost.
Ozpin then turned around, his brown eyes meeting with Nyx amber's and his choice was made. Goodwitch and Ironwood recognized that expression on the headmaster's face as they had seen it before their world views were changed.
"Nyx, tell me…What is your favorite fairy tale?" Ozpin asked the question with the same tone he always did.
Half an hour later, in the dormitory building of Beacon Academy.
Dante was finally back home, it still sounded weird in his head, to call a place home even if he has lived there already for half a year. Dante walked through the halls with his hands in his pocket, thinking of what happened earlier and he was now sure that the situation got more complicated with the relay of information that Nyx just gave him. Someone had the Yamato and was trying to open the portal to the underworld where demons could come in and invade again.
The youngest son of Sparda stopped for a second as a foolish idea lighted a small fire in his mind, The portal is not only an way to get Remnant but a way to get out of Remnant and Mundus is in the underworld and if the gates of hell are way open then…he could go and look for Mundus for revenge.
The mere thought was satisfying for the young man, killing hordes of demons that served under the devil that killed his mother and brother, the devil that is responsible for making him the way he is. Dante shook his head and killed that small flame as the idea was for one, too risky as a demon invasion would mean innocent would die, too many innocent and for the sake of revenge? It wasn't worth it so he will look for another way without risking the whole world.
Maybe if the idea was in his head a few months ago he would have agreed to it, hell, even after Nell was killed he would have agreed to it if it wasn't for those meddling teenagers he calls friends as they are his anchor to reason.
Dante kept walking and finally got to the area of his room, JNPR's and RWBY's room and to his surprised, Sun and Neptune were walking out of team RWBY's room, slouching their shoulders from what Dante can only deduce to be a stern scolding from Weiss as she rarely minced her words.
"'Sup idiots" Dante greets them.
"'Sup idiot" Sun grins and fistbumps Dante "Heard you got arrested"
"Yeah, how did you get out so soon from Atlas military?" Neptune asks, curious of Dante being free and not in an interrogation room.
"My dudes, they can't keep this world without this face" Dante points at himself with a sly grin.
"Yeah, whatever" Sun rolls his eyes "The girls are pissed so I would be careful"
"I can imagine, after you two ditched us" Dante crosses his arms and stares at the two.
"Uh…yeah, about that" Neptune rubs the back of his neck.
Dante sighs and shakes his head, in a way, he was also mad because the extra hands would have been appreciated and useful but at the same time he was more glad that they weren't there thanks to the demonic beast as Neptune has no experience or knowledge of demons being an actual thing and he doesn't think that saying crap like mutated Grimm would have flown pretty well.
"Actually, it was for the best that you two weren't there, we got a big Thing over there to deal with" Dante says, making emphasis on the word thing while eyeing Neptune for a second then staring directly into Sun's eyes.
"Ah, crap, that explains some of the bandages on the girls, bullet dodged then" Sun breathes in relief "Related to you know what?"
Dante just nods while Neptune was annoyed by the two secrecy, what could be those two hiding from him? What is Sun, one of his best friends, hiding from him?!
"What's up with the secrecy? you two are girls gossiping about something random dudes" Neptune scoffs.
"Ignorance is bliss my blue haired friend" Dante pats Neptune on the shoulder "Anyway, should I be worried going inside?"
"Aside from Weiss, you'll be fine" Sun gives Dante a thumbs up, trying to give him confidence.
"We should get going, Sage and Scarlet are waiting for us Sun" Neptune points out.
Soon, Dante is left alone once again in the lonely halls of the dormitory building and well, it was time for Dante to face the music so he started walking directly to Team RWBY's room who's door was open. As Dante stood under the doorframe, he saw that the girls were chatting about random stuff so he decided to knock on the door three times to make his presence known. The four girls' heads immediately turned to see who knocked and in a second they stood up after they saw Dante.
"Guess who's back?" Dante asks.
"Are you okay?!" Ruby quickly tackles Dante into the ground with her semblance.
"There she goes again" Yang rolled her eyes, approaching her sister and lifting her from her cape.
Dante stands up after getting the red reaper off him and notices an annoyed Schnee heiress arm crossed and tapping her feet, her brow furrowed as she stares daggers at the demon hunter. Time to face the music.
"Do you have any idea of how worried we were, you idiot?" Weiss asks sternly.
"Sheesh, I'm fine Weiss, don't worry about it" Dante shrugs and smirks.
"You were taken in by Atlas military!" Blake exclaims, raising her voice a little to make her point.
"It was fine" Dante rolls his eyes.
"My point being that what if it wasn't fine? What if you couldn't talk your way out? you could have been thrown to jail for all we know!" Weiss scoffs.
"Yeah, well, I got the general on our side on a manner of speaking" Dante sighs and leans against a wall "And a whole bunch of problems coming our way"
"Marvelous" Weiss' tone is filled with sarcasm and a hint of worry.
"So, what's going on D-man?" Yang asks.
"Many things but first, congrats on defeating your first higher demon, keep the good work babes" Dante smirks.
There was a round of blushes when Dante complimented them, it felt nice to hear that from the experienced demon hunter, yet, their blushes died down when Dante's expresion turned stern. After a brief explanation of what was the situation that someone might have the Yamato on their hands and they are breaking the first seals, the weight finally sets in.
Ruby shifted on the bed she was sitting awkwardly, Yang was uncharacteristically silent while she leaned against a wall, Weiss had her hand on her chin while she paced back and forward in deep thought and Blake was more calm, knowing more of the situation and knowing what possible missing components that Dante left unsaid.
"I decided to keep it a secret until I know it was for sure, now I'm pretty sure what's going on" Dante sighs while rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger.
"Don't you guys miss when Grimm was our biggest concern?" Yang says, trying to make a stupid joke to lift her mood.
"Simpler times, yes but now it feels like a distant memory" Wiess sighs "What a mess…"
"H-hey, we'll be alright, we just have to stop them!" Ruby says, her voice shaky but putting a brave face.
"Nyx said that raising the tower wasn't enough, they are still missing key components for the ritual, i.e, Sparda's blood and a secret key only known to Nyx" Dante points out "My job would be to clean the tower if or when it raises"
"But what if they already have Sparda's blood? like in an ancient vial and they know the secret key?" Blake asks "Someone clearly knows how to raise the tower that holds the portal to the demon world, they might now what is the secret component"
Blake raised a good question. They already know about the seals of the Seven hells, they must know that they need Dante's blood for the ritual and the chance of knowing that secret component to unlock the gate to hell.
Dante couldn't fight that logic and yet, he trusted Nyx that she would do something about the missing key knowing that she couldn't fail Sparda right now but this raised a question on his head. Is it worth it to drag his friends into this mess?
"You girls can still get out of this, forgetting about me and-" Dante's words are cut by Ruby.
"No!" Ruby furrows her brow and crosses her arms in defiance.
"Gotta side with my sister here, you are our friend Dante and we take care of each other around here" Yang says, walking over to Dante and giving him a playful punch to the shoulder "You aren't getting rid of us that easily cowboy"
"We still have a problem though" Weiss interrupts the moment.
"Yeah, we have another enemy, first the White Fang, Torchwick and Oran, now we got someone trying to unleash hell" Blake tone was tired and mildly annoyed
"I might get a meeting with Torchwick soon" Dante informs them and Blake opened her mouth but before she could say anything or any of the other girls, Dante continues speaking "And I'll be going alone, that means no blonde brawler, no Heiress, no red reaper and no faunus revolutionary"
The sound of groans let him know that they weren't happy with his choice but he didn't particularly care, it was necessary though as he was just going to chat, have a conversation and not to apprehend Torchwick for goodness sake. Dante rubbed his eyes with his index and thumb as he knows that he will have to give a rational explanation of why he can't take them and why is it a bad idea to take them to a meeting.
The halfbreed also knew he had to make a fair of sensible choice of words because he has three temperamental teenage woman, two of them with varying levels of anger issues and one with a strong sense "I need to find redemption"; Ruby being the expectation of the cases yet she has a hero complex.
"Look, before you start saying anything or throwing accusations or shoes at me, hear me out" Dante said, raising his hands in defense, trying to avoid damage to his face "If Roman decides to get the meeting, one, it might be a trap"
"Then we need to-" Blake starts speaking but Dante soon cuts her off.
"A trap you probably won't handle alright? If he wanted you four dead he would already have done something" Dante narrows his eyes and sighs.
"I highly doubt it" Weiss scoffs.
"Trust me, you don't have a red dot in your pretty little head Weiss, I've seen him hiring assassins before if not doing the job himself or having Neo do so" Dante doesn't bother sugar coating. Weiss purses her lips and gives Dante the side eye.
"And what if it isn't a trap?" Yang asks, her arms crossed and tapping her foot in a bit of anger.
"Then I get to talk with him and get some information that he will give me, information that he wouldn't give if any of you would be there since you girls are his enemies" Dante groans, it was so easy to understand.
"But he might lie to you!" Ruby's tone was full of concern, worried about Dante's safety.
"I fully expect him to lie about his business but Oran? He is a stranger with a tendency of backstacking that came out of nowhere and Roman is a paranoid man. Even if he doesn't tell me anything I will leave on his skull some food for thought and being a thief, he knows when to keep his mouth shut…and when to speak to save his hide and Roman loves to speak as I do" Dante explains more of his case
There was a silence in the room as RWBY pondered Dante's words. On one hand, they still think it was a bad idea and worried about the safety of Dante sans Blake who knows that a human couldn't really hurt Dante and was more worried about not having Roman behind bars.
The other hand was that Dante has worked with the thief before and knows him better than they did and besides that, the girls also know that under all that craziness Dante is a calculating person when the situation calls for it and he has a literal demon that he can call forth at any moment.
Dante just stared and waited for the girls to stop thinking, he believes he saw smoke coming from their ears at some point. While the girls waited, he sent Jaune and Blake a private message to their scrolls to meet him later after midnight in the training arena. Blake felt her scroll vibrate, saw Dante's message and just answered with an "ok" without drawing any attention from the rest.
"Fine…you win this time Redgrave" Weiss sighs in defeat after thinking.
"Just…be safe okay?" Ruby begs Dante.
"I will, now if you excuse me babes, I'll hit the sack" He says, leaving the room.
Author Notes.
I'm not dead or at least not yet and it's beeen a whiiiiiiile since i wrote anything and made a new chapter…Long story short, life's been a bitch ever since, in one of the chapters i said that things were getting complicated in my IRL life.
Well, it certainly didn't disappoint as shit got worse, my grandmother got sick again and more trips to the hospital were needed to be done, funnily enough i got sick, different thing but i got off quickly but then my mother got really sick and i've been dealing with a lot of stuff that normally she would deal with plus time in the hospital and everything.
Also, Work was a total motherfucking bitch since they started rotating my schedule because some internal issues every damn week so i literally had no time for writing and free time for myself which is annoying as you might expect, i literally had like one hour or two to myself and it was spent playing or using it as an extra sleep because boy i was a tired as hell.
The good news is, well, i'm getting back on track, my schedule has been lighter or i've gotten used to this, whichever you believe but i'm leaning more on the i'm gotten used to. So, here is how it is going to work. I don't know when I'll be posting, maybe in a month's time, maybe in two but I'll be posting and taking my time. Does it mean that I'll take a month to write a chapter? Probably not but I'll be already.
My idea is to have a chapter done and until i have a good portion of the next chapter, Example: I have already done chapter 4 but until i'm not halfway/or far enough with chapter 5 i won't be posting chapter 4 and so on and on. Sounds like a bad idea? Probably it is but i'm trying stuff, especially since i'm starting a new crossover with RWBY and DBZ as a side project (Blame my Latino heart and childhood, if everyone knows anything about latin America is that we were risen with Dragon Ball and arguably, the best Dub, FITE ME!)
Also, small self plug for the new crossover, as always, don't like it, don't read but if you are interested, i'll probably be publishing the rules and the first chapter in a week or so with everything. In the pre-first chapter/Rules everything will be explained so yeah. It's a side project, smaller, less wordy and shit to avoid being burnt fast too.
Now, about this chapter, Why intermission 1? Literally had no idea what to name it and it will probably be the first of other intermissions between the Volumes' big stuff where things aren't hectic or there is that small breather. In this chapter we finally introduce Ironwood, the paranoid pragmatic man itself and make him be in the known since he is part of Ozpin group, i'm literally giving them the same relationship that Qrow and Ironwood has, but less amicable since Dante is practically an outlaw.
We are also exploring more about Nyx backstory and Goodwitch bonding with Dante. I want her to become the new mother figure to Dante and one that won't die. gotta give our boy a win in something that isn't demon hunting related.
Once again, Dante is trying to give the girls an out, his own fears taking center but honestly, there is not a lot to talk about the intermission. I think it was pretty straight forward.
Now to Reviews to which there isn't a lot.
Waterdemon9999: Literally has my favorite 4 digit number, damn you! Anyway I honestly didn't know that Oran Forrest is a dungeon in a Pokemon Game, i barely play Pokemon, if my memory serves me right, i went with Oran Forrest for color naming rule, Oran is like green one and forrest is similar to forests…forest are normally green so yeah but I didn't know about that in pokemon…let me do a quick search…Oh shit, you are right, a pleasant coincidence i believe. And sure, I already added you in discord, haven't written to you because of the reasons above but hit me up, I'll give it a read about the demon and see if it works or if it doesn't.
About Bayonetta, i'll be honest, I have zero knowledge about it, i know it's made by Kamiya, the original creator of DMC and has made references but i don't believe those two universes are connected, and Kamiya only worked in DMC 1 I believe. So yeah, No Bayonetta and I like more the idea of Sparda falling in love with a normal human being, with no power, weak, frail, innocent compared to himself who is well..Sparda for lack of words.
I'm glad you liked some of the jokes that i've written, i'll be honest, i suck at comedy but i try my best but all in all, i'm glad you have been liking the story so far.
Erik: I have a similar idea with the teams going to a village outside the kingdom walls and to do something like that but no devil arm, since the ones that i have are already planned so far and right now in the lore, there is no Devils in Remnant…Well, there is one but that would be an spoiler. Point Being, the Rank of Devil is too strong for Remnant at this point and I'm not planning on Giving Dante a devil arm of hand to hand combat, that will be Beowulf thing but i like the idea.
But as i said before, i have 3 more Devil arms planned, one that we will see soon, one that we'll see at the start of Volume 4 and the last one around volume 7-8. If this was before i planned the devil arms i would have used the idea of another demon like Nyx and used like this. I think that the story of RWBY and DMC works really well around the idea of Humans being corrupted by the dark entities of the world, Aka, Salem and Mundus, that's another reason why a lone devil wouldn't work so well since is there what I'm building for. Hope you don't take it in a bad way, as i said, i like your idea but i don't think it would work with what i have planned.
Blazing Ice Cream: The man with the name of legends. Okay, Dante right now, is slightly stronger than Winter, On par with Raven without maiden powers and slightly less stronger than Ozpin. As he awakens more the devil inside him he will be on maiden level. On a Comparison, Vergil right now is stronger than Raven with Maiden powers because he is more in tune with his devil side, Against Salem however? probably on par if not slightly stronger but as Salem is inmortal...Thins are inconclusive, just a theory on my own.
Eli Villa: Oh yeah, We got some JNPR action, not gonna let that team on the dust too. Specially since the dork knight has been training with Dante, meaning that he is getting experience at fighting a Jack of all trades while Pyrrha is already a great fighter on her own, Ren being the first to sense demonic energy and Nora is…Dante in cocaine and LSD if i'm honest.
Enzo is annoying, but I added him as a Cameo, he will show up later as another cameo but soon he'll disappear and Morrison will be a regular when the business is open…way later if i'm honest. I mean, It makes sense, Dante knew Roman and Dante is/Was a merc, mercs operate outside the law so he will know junior and other outlaws like himself, Dante is a smart guy and knows that if the police don't know something, then the mafia, other mercs, thieves will know something since they are more on the dark sides of the streets and what lurks in the dark sides of the streets? demons
Next chapter is a more spicy one in terms of getting everyone of Dante's group a tool to fight demons and them to realize how much more Dante is a broken being under all the craziness.