AN: Hello! Been a long time, but I'm back with an update. Sadly not the start of a new arc, but it is an action packed sequel to a few old faces! Hope you're ready to fill that style meter! Let's rock!
Normal font is English, Italics is Halkeginia's language.
Interlude: A Hunt In Italy Part 2
—oo0o0oo—
Large paws padded across the cold stone floor. Crimson red blood dressed the entirety of the lonely warehouse, even staining the footsteps of the imposing creature. Its fur and mouth were dyed a deep scarlet, and its tongue gingerly wiped the ruby fluid from its lips. Its stomach was bulged full from its late night meal, the numerous workers that were just about to leave for home. It lazily pawed the ground like a cat searching for a spot to sleep. It widened its maw in a quiet yawn, and arched and stretched its back. It focused its gaze on the empty space before it, drawing upon its otherworldly power, tearing open a small rift that cracked like glass.
Slowly getting bigger and bigger, it poured more of its strength into the portal. Finally wide enough for its size, the fiendish creature took a step forward, the crunching of glass echoing in the warehouse as it did. It then paused. It had not felt the sting of broken glass crack beneath its paw. It whipped its head around, spotting a figure cloaked in black approaching it.
"You seem to be surprised," the figure said, "'The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit: watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits.' you didn't think we wouldn't notice your gluttonous habit did you?"
"Shouldn't eat so much at night, y'know," another figure called.
The creature turned to see a lady saunter over with a large weapon on her back.
"All the calories stack up together when you sleep," she continued.
"Though we know an extremely good way of burning them all off," another figure called. She walked past an open window, the light of the full moon reflecting on her golden hair.
"Care to give it a try?"
The trio of hunters all aimed their weapons at the beast. It grit its teeth and eyed its predators, steeling itself for battle.
The demon raised its snake tail, letting loose a toxic purple mist that shrouded its body. The trio hastily jumped back, moving away from the demonic toxin. Pouncing from within the cloud, Afráto targeted the man in black. V vanished just as the beast flew through where he stood.
The chimaera turned around, sliding on the concrete floor, and pushing away several dishevelled boxes with its size. Several rounds of gunfire, and the ignition of a rocket soon followed. The bullets bounced off the demon's hardened skull as it leapt to the side, letting the missile explode behind it. Dishevelled items flew across his vision as the fire of battle was lit.
V then appeared before it, his cane wreathed in an ethereal purple glow. He tossed his silver weapon, and the demon swiped at it with claws wreathed in its own power. The metallic rod flew upwards, and was caught by a teleporting V. He spun in mid-air and stabbed the cane into the chimaera's skull, right where Dante had cut through previously. The demon let out a howl in pain, narrowing its eyes to glare at the man in black. The snake head flew towards the dark clad hunter, fangs out to take a bite out of his flesh. Using his cane as leverage, he flipped himself upside down, and kicked off the tail as the jaw snapped shut around air, taking his cane with him. V landed back on the concrete ground, but Afráto wasted no time in ushering in a counter strike. Raising both his paws and letting his demonic energy flow into them, he slammed his feet into the ground, creating a shockwave that the man in black barely had a moment to react to. He guarded with his cane, but the force sent him flying back past his comrades.
As the demon watched the man fly, he felt three ticks on his skull. Focusing his vision, he spotted three small and oval objects that seem to have bounced off his face. The next thing he saw was three flashes of lightning pierce the objects, blinding his vision with smoke, electricity, and fire.
Afráto leapt back, its body catching small embers and sparks as it shook off the explosions. A streak of yellow lighting stormed towards him. He widened his eyes, but his reaction was too slow. Trish stomped on his head with her heeled boots, a small grin on her lips as she stared down at the demon. She backflipped off, pushing the chimaera back with the impact. The demon recovered quickly, however, and quickly followed her, its goat maw wide to take a bite of her with its jagged teeth. Trish focused her demonic energies to the soles of her feet, forming a yellow platform beneath her. She hopped off it, narrowly dodging Afráto's bite with the unexpected tactic. She then let her demonic lightning run down her guns, charging her shells with hellish electricity. She fired shot after shot at the chipped skull, all the bullets landing within the crevice made by Dante's sword. Its red blood burst from the newly opened wounds, and the demon howled from the electrifying pain. As the golden haired demon landed next to her female colleague, Lady fired another shot from her Kalina Ann, the rocket soaring towards the demon with dead aim. It burst on his skull, making the demon flinch from the powerful explosion. Lady continued to fire, alongside Trish, taking closer and closer steps as the projectiles continued to land.
"ENOUGH!" The demon yelled. It slammed its paw down into the ground, charged with ethereal energy. The women hoped back, avoiding the blow, but the mad demon was unrelenting. He slammed its other paw down and trotted forward, relentlessly trying to squash the female hunters. Trish picked up her pace to avoid the blows, while Lady aimed her large weapon at a wall behind the beast. With a click, she fired off its grappling hook, soaring out of the way as the demon stomped past where she stood.
The heterochromatic woman landed on an upright shelf. From the corner of her eye she spotted the snake head staring at her, its throat bloated. She quickly launched the hook to the far wall and leaped, just as a ball of purple venom hit the shelf. She ran on the wall, hoping over more balls of venom as they narrowly missed her backside. Reaching the corner of the room, she kicked off the structure on her left, bringing back in her hook as she did.
The snake head kept track of her the entire time, even as the main body shook and weaved. It bloated immensely, coughing up an extremely large ball of venom that flew towards the mid-air huntress. She had no angle to dodge from, and her hook was not fast enough. This time, the snake head had caught her.
As the ball of poison flew, however, V's silver cane pierced through it, still wrapped in its ethereal glow. It lodged itself into the wall, allowing Lady to use it as a foothold to leap from. The cane disappeared soon after she jumped, and the blob of poison missed its target.
Lady landed and sent a wave in thanks over to the man in black, but the reptilian tail was not finished. The snake head bloated with a large orb of toxins once more, and opened itself maw to attack. Yet another ethereal cane flew from its master before it could, sewing the mouth shut. A messy sputtering of red and purple fluid sprayed from the reptilian head, as the cane sealed away its usefulness.
-o-
As Trish cartwheeled away from the stampeding claws, she could see Lady avoiding noxious orbs behind the demon. The blonde demoness' vision was soon blocked by the wide jaws of the Chimera. It snapped at her once more and she vaulted back away from them, but the demon lunged forward again. Trish bent over, flexing her body in a way that would make a gymnast jealous(and it had, frequently, as Lady complained how Trish never got back aches). The jaws snapped shut above her, and the demoness countered with a flash kick from below. The chimaera raised its head upwards from the impact. In fact, it recoiled far more than she expected. Her eyes widened when she noticed its paws were wrapped in the glow of demonic energy, now too late to get out of the way. As the demon tried to bring it down, several of V's cane's struck and repelled the attack, demonic energy meeting demonic energy and neutralising the blow. The phantom canes vanished as soon as they came, with the hunter in black walking slowly up to the blonde demoness.
"You sure took your time," Trish remarked.
V merely smiled and turned his attention back to the panting Chimera in front of him.
"You… despicable… worms… with your tricks."
V raised his cane, pointing the gleaming silver end to the beast.
"'The fox condemns the trap, not himself.' Perhaps if you had reigned in your hunger you would be able to live longer," the raven haired man replied.
A click from behind the demon gave him notice of Lady's presence. She had her large weapon mounted on her shoulders, and gave a mocking smile and wave at the beast.
The demon growled and faced the two before him once more. V was still pointing his cane at the demon, and Trish, the twin pistols.
"Tssk. How cruel of you. Abusing my poor and lonely pet with your toys."
The hunter's eyes widened as the new voice rang throughout the warehouse. Not a moment later, streams of something dark and light honed in on the three.
Lady swung her massive weapon to her left, using its weight to assist her cartwheel, bypassing the mysterious attack.
V backed away, using the heavy end of his cane to bat at the phantasmal stream of light. Two clangs echoed as he struck what he thought was the centre of the mysterious assault.
Trish backflipped from the feathery stream of darkness. As she landed, she set her gaze on the flock that spiralled back around for her. She sent her lighting crackling through the pistols. Aiming them at the approaching stream, she let loose three striking bolts. Each shot vaporised a section until the mysterious stream was no longer there.
The three hunters collectively drew their weapons towards the chimaera, who now stood alongside a new shrouded figure. They stepped forth into the moonlight, just as the two remaining streams swirled around them. The ethereal light of the moon revealed a buxom black haired woman in a dark silk dress, reminiscent of a stereotypical witch, complete with pointed hat and broom.
"Well that's a look that doesn't care much for subtlety," Lady said as she aimed her weapon. "The 1800s called. Want their tacky outfit back."
The witch giggled.
"Oh my, trying to rile me up? Why must all you hunters be so hostile? I am merely here to recover something that belongs to me."
"Mistress," the demon spoke as it took a bow.
The witch affectionately placed a gloved hand on its skull, tracing her fingers around the massive crack in it.
"Tch… and look what you have done to my poor dear… don't worry, mommy will fix that up soon."
"What makes you think you're leaving here?" Trish asked, both guns pointed at her.
The witch gave her a sly glance.
"Little girl, if you value your life you would let us go."
The chimaera laughed and grinned as it eyed the blonde demoness.
"Little girl? I think you may have a problem with your eyesight. How about letting me help with the lighting?" Trish replied as she sent electricity into her guns.
"Careful. Lightning is a big girl's element. Someone like yourself should stick to her little toys."
V could almost see the vein appear on Trish's head.
"Trish, wait-"
"Done waiting."
She fired off three more electrically charged shots, each one crackling loudly. The raven haired witch merely gave a wry smile as she watched them approach.
A stream of darkness fluttered from beneath her dress, making a beeline for Trish's bullets. The feathers disappeared in three flashes of light, but had successfully defended the witch from the attack.
"Hmhmhm!" The witch chuckled with the back of her hand to her lips. "I seem to have hit quite the sore spot. How about I make up for it by teaching you what REAL lightning looks like."
She lifted her right hand, with a crooked wooden wand held between her fingers. V widened his eyes as the witch spoke her spell. The man in black dived to the right, just as a flash of blue lightning flooded the spot where he and Trish stood. He glanced back, spotting a mass of smoke and a scar of glowing orange heat trace all the way to the back of the warehouse. A large dark imprint was left on the wall, having taken the full brunt of the strike.
"Now what did I say? You shouldn't have tried to fill mommy's shoes, little one," she said with a voice full of mockery. She then turned her attention to V. "But aren't you a clever boy? You're a fair cut above your friend there. Or what was your friend I should say."
The witch heard the click of a weapon behind her, and turned in time to see a rocket fired from Lady's weapon. The witch once more sent out a stream of black feathers to take the blow for her.
She turned around once more to spot V walking forward, eyes glaring at her.
"Very well, if you wish to join your friend, so be it."
She let loose two streams, one black, and the other white. The lighter of the two ran towards V, who backhanded it away twice with the head of the cane. Once more he heard two clangs, but this time the stream split into two, much to his surprise.
The darker stream of feathers soared towards Lady. Her hands quickly flew to her belt of grenades, unhooking and pulling the pin in one smooth motion. She flung it towards the coming attack and was immediately swallowed by the darkness. Lady then tumbled to her left, avoiding the stream as best she could. The feathery darkness wrapped around for another assault, but was quickly swallowed up by the exploding grenade. Several dark figures sprung from the smoke, flying out in all directions.
V eyed the separated figures, his eyes widening upon recognition.
"Crows? And… panthers…" he said as the figures of white leapt back to their mistress, their paws touching the ground in silence. The crows swarmed like insects as Lady did her best to shoot them down.
"Lionesses, to be precise. The more fearsome and active predator compared to their lazy male counterparts. Or panthers for that matter."
"Are you a summoner then?" V questioned.
"Those who can summon beings that they are bound to or have a contract with? Not in the slightest honey. I'm more of a conjurer. These lovely beauties were made by my hands."
She smiled as she placed a gloved hand over one of the light lionesses. Her smile shrank when she noticed something gleaming from the back of the warehouse. Immediately the witch sent her light creations to shield her from pulses of lightning.
Her eyes widened when she saw Trish walking over with pistols raised.
"How?"
Trish gave a smirk.
"Didn't you say it yourself? Lightning is a big girl's element. Best stay with the kitties and birdies you're so accustomed to," Trish replied.
Trish then shook her head, letting loose some soot that clung to her face.
"Although you did do a number to my complexion. Luckily, I don't burn easily when I tan."
The witch grit her teeth.
"Someone like you surviving my spell so easily? Impossible… Unless… You, you're no ordinary human are you?" the witch asked.
Trish grinned as she spoke, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
The witch sent two more lionesses in response, both of whom were greeted by the gunfire from Trish's pistols. Pelting them in the legs, and then the head as they lost their balance, they vanished in particles of light.
As Trish aimed her guns back towards the witch, the spellcaster sent six more light creatures to assault the demoness.
However, in her focus to deal with Trish, she had forgotten about V.
The man in black tossed his cane at the equally raven haired woman, who barely managed to step out of the way. She did not expect V to materialise next to her, his left hand clasping the cane. He swung it and sent her crashing into the ground.
"Mistress!" The Chimera yelled.
V gave a wry smile.
"Go ahead and strike if you dare. But you're a bit too large for more niche attacks," he said as he stood between the two with his cane raised
The witch glared up at the man in black.
"I believe this is Checkmate."
The witch began to laugh.
"Well you and your friends are swift. But I still have far too much to do before I fall."
Her eyes shined with an ethereal pink, and V quickly tried to impale her with his cane. He was soundly blown back by the explosion of magic, and the distance was more than enough for Afráto to raise his claws in attack. V, eyeing the large creature, threw his cane to the wall, disappearing in the nick of time. Taking the silver weapon out of the wall, he eyed the witch and her Chimera, both of whom grinned as they watched the man.
The witch's attention then turned to his two female colleagues, their bullets destroying the last of her creations.
"Mistress, your servants," the demon spoke.
"I'm aware. My little pets have a hard time against firearms, but that's why I have you," she said as she pet the large beast.
"Deal with them, will you?" she said with a snap of her fingers. The rod piercing his snake tail dispersed, allowing the venomous appendage free to strike again.
The demon hopped back, let out a roar, and chose Trish as his first victim. As his claws and teeth snapped at the demoness, he made sure to keep Lady busy with more globs of poison.
"That leaves you and me, dear. As one dark clad stranger to another, what say you lay down your arms and we call this a draw, hmm?"
"Tempting… but I rather not make a deal with a seductress such as yourself."
"Too bad… you could have lived."
She then stretched her right arm forward, wand in hand. Set forth were the twin streams of crows and lionesses.
V huffed in amusement.
"'As the air to a bird, or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible.'"
He extended his can forward, mirroring the witch's posture.
"Well aren't you cute, spouting poetry in the middle of a fight. Let's bury you and that literary tongue of yours."
The dark crows and shining lionesses charged at the man in black.
Yet in the face of such dangers, he merely smiled.
"Pierce'em through."
A dark shadow flowed from his body and along his arm. It leapt from his cane, taking the form of a black panther. It tackled one of the lionesses to the ground, fangs digging into it. Shadowy tendrils then shot from its back, gouging the other and scattering the birds. As the flock flew off, they gathered together once more and made a beeline for the raven haired hunter.
"Reap what you sow," he said as he extended out his left arm. Another shadow crawled from his body, this time taking the shape of a large bird of prey.
"Crush them!" V said as he flung the bird towards the dark flock, letting the avians meet in mid air. A spark erupted from the fowl, clocking itself in a sphere of lightning that sent the other birds reeling.
The witch widened her eyes.
"A panther and a crow… so that's the reason why you misidentified my pets earlier. We're one and the same, you and I."
"Hmmm, I don't think so."
"Yeah, I mean, look at 'im. He's thin and scrawny, and you're… well… quite the attractive lady," the bird spoke.
The witch gasped in amazement.
"It speaks?"
"'It' has a name too," the fowl said as it circled around to V, "name's Griffon. The baddest bird you'll ever meet an' greet. And you can call short, fluffy, and handsome over there Shadow. Simple ain't it?"
The witch watched as Griffon nested itself on V's shoulder. She then spoke with an amused tone to her voice.
"Griffon? Dear, a Griffon is more than just a bird. You named your creature after that despite only manifesting a half of what it's supposed to be? Ha, Hahah…"
She placed the back of her hand to lips, enjoying a moment of humour before addressing her for once more.
"But an impressive conjuration nonetheless… or perhaps familiar?"
V grinned and took a page from his teammate.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
The witch twitched her face in slight annoyance, but noticed the movement of her lionesses. With a glow they pushed off the dark panther, and retreated back to their mistress. Her flock of ravens too, circled back around, looking no worse for the wear.
"Hmm, but it seems they are merely a pale imitation. All that bravado and yet their strength is negligible."
"Ohh, we're just getting started missy. You wanna see what we can really do?" Griffon asked.
"I believe I can imagine. But if you're so certain, why don't you show me?!"
She stuck her wand forward, chanted and let out a stream of lightning.
Griffon flew to take the blast, the surge of electricity doing little damage to the thunderbird.
V had glided to his right, Shadow melting into his owner's darkness to ferry him into a more advantageous position. The two lionesses raced towards them both, and V commanded his dark companion to strike. Still melded into the ground, the panther slid forward, the tendrils flailing to catch the beings of light. The two conjured beings melded into streams, dancing through the whips of darkness. They raced towards V, fangs and claws outstretched. They struck air, the dark clad hunter having vanished into purple mist, appearing behind the lionesses. They turned to strike, but were quickly assaulted by the feathery body of Griffon. The two angrily growled at the avian summon as he stared them down.
"Ohh, I always wanted to be the centre of a cat fight. Alright ladies, LET'S DANCE!"
Griffon let loose arcs of electricity from his body, basting the lionesses in bolts of lightning.
From V's left came the flock of crows, noisily screeching as they flew closer. With a wave of his cane, V commanded his dark panther to strike. It leapt from its master's cane, forming into a bladed saw that whirled to cut through the stream. The flock of crows immediately flew away, dodging past the familiar as it cut through nothing but air. The shadowy beast quickly landed on the floor, and turned to eye the flock that regrouped around the otherside of V. The panther would not let them go so easily. It's head morphed into whips, flying out to catch all of the flock and slamming them down into the ground. V took the moment to stab one of the birds as it was pulled towards the floor, letting it impale onto his cane and dissipate into black mist. The witch, however, would not let it stand, and aimed her wooden wand towards the dark summoner. She flashed a burst of magic towards the raven haired man. He smirked in response, and quickly warped from one downed avian to the next, stabbing them as he did. The lighting sailed by and blasting the wall behind him as he quickly disposed of her allies. The witch eyed him as he vanished from one creature to the next, her wand outstretched in an attempt to blast him with her magic, but the man in black was a tad too fast. Just as the last one vanished, he threw his cane at the spellcaster, her eyes growing wide as she saw the silver cane fly towards her. She sent it rebounding with a burst of magical energy from the wand. The silver cane quickly vanished into purple mist, and the black haired woman widened her eyes once more in shock. She turned around, catching V as he swung the silver cane at her, now cloaked in purple energy. She raised her wand to block it, imbuing it with her magic, but the demonic energy channelled into the cane sent her reeling nonetheless. Stabilising herself, she waved her wand in a backhanded strike towards the hunter. V causally parried her blow with a backhanded swing of his own with his silver weapon. Her arm was thrown back from the clash, but she quickly swung it again, colliding into the cane as V parried her, once, then twice more. On the third repetition, V placed more power into the blow, sending the witch stumbling back from the impact. V carried the momentum of his swing into a spin, adjusting his position into a thrust forward. The witch brought her wand up once more to defend herself, but was quickly thrown aback again, her feet stumbling even further. V smirked and added in the final nail in her coffin. He materialised three more canes in front of him and let them fly. In a hurried panic she lifted her wand to block, but the force of the cane sent her crashing down to the floor from the impact. The other two flew past her, and the witch did not fail to notice the missed attacks.
"Your aim is a bit off. You're wasting your resources."
"I like to imagine that it is a resource well spent," V replied as he pointed his cane behind her.
She turned to see her lionesses, now a strange colour, twitched with lightning flowing through their bodies. They soon vanished alongside V's canes, which were impaled into their bodies.
"On a similar matter, you appear to be running out of pets," V said.
"Ah… I see now. Your familiars are not weak, they merely have an inability to slay foes. You have to do the last part yourself."
She turned to the dark hunter, her own smirk on her face.
"I believe my resources were well spent too."
"All that and brains too. Too bad you're one of the bad guys," Griffon added as he and Shadow went over to their master.
"And too bad someone as skilled as you decides to work as a repulsive hunter." She then widened her wry smile. "You know… I could use an assistant to help with my work."
"'The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow,'" V quoted as he tapped his cane on the ground.
"Guess that's a "no" from you, buuut~ if your offer's open to others of the non-human variety, Miss…" Griffon began.
V shot a disapproving look at his familiar.
"What?! I was only kiddin'!"
V then turned his attention back to the witch.
"One chance," he said.
The witch scoffed.
"Too bad. I could have used another pet. So be it."
V clacked his cane on the ground and caught it when it bounced. He then stepped forward to strike her with the silver weapon. Immediately he was stopped by two more streams, one light and one dark. He backed away immediately, Griffon gripping his shirt and flapping his wings to give his master more distance. Shadow leaped up to the front to take the brunt of the strike, but the streams flew past it entirely, soaring up and back around to the witch. The raven haired magic caster stood to her feet.
"Earlier your familiar called itself a 'Griffon.' An idiotic notion. Allow me to show you what a true Griffon looks like."
The two lionesses formed into a single being, their two heads placed side by side. The dark stream of feathers fused together with the lionesses. Their shadows covered the back and formed into wings, and a dark beak formed around the mouths. It landed with a loud screech that made V and his familiars wince.
"Get them," the witch commanded
It flew towards V, and Shadow quickly retreated to its master's darkness and pulled him away. Griffon flew over in the opposite direction, letting the light and shadow creature soar right past them.
It made a beeline for V as it circled around, eyes locked onto its prey. It slammed into the floor as V jumped back. Griffon flew behind his master and launched balls of lightning at their new foe. The miniature attacks did little damage, but they did their jobs nonetheless.
"Yesh, pretty tough for a two headed fleabag on wings. Any ideas V?" The lightning bird asked.
"'No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings,'" he quoted.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning we'll need to clip their's off to send it falling to hell."
"Mahhaha! I like the sound of that! Let's do this!" Griffon said as he took flight around the warehouse.
The Twilight Griffon roared in response. It opened its two maws wide, an orb of shadow and light in both. The left head fired first, shooting its ray of darkness at V. He slid to the side, letting the blast fly right past him.
It then fired its ray of light, and he once again slid past to the right. However, this time the beast tracked his movements, moving its head with a continuous stream of energy spewing from its mouth. V widened his eyes and tapped his cane on the ground, summoning his dark panther to his shadow. He glided across the floor, keeping ahead of the ray of light. However, the second head had cornered him with another ray of darkness, coming from the direction he was moving into.
Yet when he spotted the pincer attack, he grinned.
As the beams crossed into one spot, they formed a large sphere of light and dark, enveloping the spot before their magic swallowed the spot in an explosion.
A moment of silence passed. The Twilight Griffon watched with keen eyes, but no figure stood within the smoke. That was only for a second however, a dark shadow rose from the ground. The dark panther had enveloped its master in itself, shielding him within its own darkness.
"Surprised? A useful technique I learned a short while back," V said as he tapped his cane on the ground. "Great for finding a moment of silence, especially from a flash of lighting."
He pointed the head of his cane at the being of light and darkness, and several columns of electricity tore through them.
"Awww, fu- *ahem* heck yeah!" The thunderbird shouted as he discharged his stirred electricity.
The Twilight Griffon easily recovered, though arcs of energy jumped from its body. It turned and leapt towards the blue thunderbird.
"Woah!" He called as he narrowly avoided the claws. He flew around the room, but the being of light and shadow easily copied his every manoeuvre.
"Uh, V, can use a little help over here!" Griffon called as he flew in a panic, flapping his wings as hard as he could to escape the beast behind him.
-o-
Afráto slid across the ground on its side, courtesy of another combined lightning explosion from Trish and Lady. It soon felt something small touch its back.
"Relax darling," the witch said.
"M-mistress…"
"Hush. We're leaving. We're wasting too much time here."
"B-but…"
The loud screech from the Twilight Griffon caught the Chimaera's attention.
"I have that present here for them. Come, we still have much to do. Finding the person who has been stealing what is mine being chief among them."
"Y-yes…" The demon said as it got to its feet.
"Not so fast!" Lady called as she fired another rocket.
The witch had already had her chant completed, however, being one step ahead of the female hunter. A surge of lightning tore through the explosive and darted right for the heterochromatic woman. Trish was quick to save her comrade, shooting forth her own blast of yellow lightning to greet the witch's. The spellcaster's was stronger, however, but Trish was well aware of the difference in power between her quick and small charge. Using her lightning as a pathway, she guided the spell to her hands, letting the energy flow into her body instead of Lady's. This time the demoness suffered no burns or damage, having controlled the flow to be something she could easily absorb. When the last spark was drained, however, the witch and Afráto were long gone.
-o-
Griffon's tail feathers were soon caught by the beak of the twilight creature. The thunderbird shrieked as he was pulled backwards.
"V! DO SOMETHING!" Griffon cried out.
The thunderbird was swung around like a ball on a chain, the sharp beak of the twilight creature firmly holding onto the bird. The creature of light and darkness twisted itself around, aiming to slam the thunderbird into the ground. However, mere moments before he hit the floor, Griffon burst forth with electricity, far stronger than what he had gone previously. The arcs of lightning seared the body of the twilight beast, causing great damage.
"YYYYEAH! Nice timing V!" The thunderbird called out.
The twilight beast let go of the thunderbird, shrieking and landing on the ground as it did. Griffon now glowed with an ethereal purple aura, and flapped his mighty wings.
"'The Angel the presided o'er my birth, said 'little child full of joy and mirth, go love without the help of anything on Earth.''" V read aloud from a book of poetry. Dark mist arose from the pages as he spoke those words, the lines granting him a focus for his demonic power. That power was channelled into Griffon, allowing the thunderbird to tap into greater strength. He let loose several balls of electricity, all landing away from their target. The twilight beast was a bit surprised, but surprise soon turned to shock. The spheres of energy arced into two streams of lightning, blasting into two different directions. They all unanimously closed together, zapping the beast and causing it to stumble.
V then flipped a page, and continued to read.
"'To see the world in a grain of sand, or heaven in a wild flower. To hold infinity in the palm of your hand, an eternity in an hour.'"
He then closed the book, and with a smirk he said, "Gouge them."
Black tendrils sprung from the ground and pierced the twilight beast. They tore through its body, its shadowy appendage covered in an ethereal glow. Shadow emerged from the ground beneath it, empowered by V just like Griffon was. It formed itself into a massive maw, with two columns full of jagged teeth.
"Finish them."
Shadow pulled the Twilight Griffon close and snapped its maw shut. Cartoonish struggles bloated the body of Shadow, with muffled bumps coming from the inside as it squirmed. V casually sauntered up to the flailing creature. He aimed his cane towards it, then paused for a moment to think. Taking two fingers, he dragged them across his silver cane, coating it once more in an ethereal glow. He then plunged the cane into the Twilight Griffon, going through a small hole that Shadow had opened. It screeched one last time, and was forever silenced.
Shadow undid its casing, letting the particles of light and shadow drift off into the ether.
"Phew glad that's over," Griffon said as he perched himself on V's shoulder. "But uh, not to alarm you or anything, V, but did you see where tall, dark, and gorgeous went?"
V turned around, spotting Lady and Trish walking over to him.
"It appears our prey has escaped," the hunter replied.
"Tch. She's slippery. After all the effort we took to finally find that chimaera, he gets away scot free with his mistress," Lady said.
"There was something interesting she mentioned. Apparently there's a thief going about in her things," V commented.
"It won't do us any good if we can't find them, or the witch," Trish replied.
Lady sighed. "What do we do now? We can't find Dante, Vergil, or Nero, and now we can't find our target cuz they just vanished into thin air."
"We'll find a way. Although, perhaps we should make a phone call to our information broker first."
"Why, you think he might be able to find something?" Lady asked.
"Perhaps. If the witch is going around collecting her things, perhaps she has left a trail we can follow."
Griffon and Shadow returned to their sealed forms as V's tattoos, disappearing underneath his clothes.
His cane clacked the floor as he walked.
"We should make haste, before we are blamed for this mess as well," V said.
He turned his eyes to a window, spotting the sun just as it rose.
"It's already a new day. Which means new trouble awaits around the corner."
He then turned his head skywards.
"I can only imagine what troubles await you all…"
—o0o—
In another world, the morning sun rises over the misty Tristain Academy. A boy with golden hair stands atop the roof, watching the black midnight sky turn into vibrant energised orange. He tightens his grip over his wand as he stares out into the courtyard, the fresh drops of dew sparkling in the morning rays, shining like pebbles of gold. Heis gaze lingers over the delicate scene before him, his eyes taking in the temporary beauty. He swiftly closes his eyes, and turns away from the courtyard. He makes his descent downward, towards the darkened inner halls of his school. Many still slumbered at this hour, and only silence was his companion as he descended lower into the stone building.
His ears eventually picked up on the chatter of voices as he reached the lowest floors. There he saw four people, setting out from the mess hall. He watches them chatter and smile, and overhears their plans to set off on the road before them, with hopefully a wagon and horse generously prepared for their travels. He watched his enemies as they set off on their own ways, tackling their day with vigour and excitement. A sad smile crosses his lips as he slips from the shadows. The boy fishes around in his pocket, digging up a piece of metal that glistened with a metallic yellow hue as he stepped out into the courtyard.
"The time has come, I suppose. The time for me to earn my keep."
He holds up the metal to the sun's rays and eyes it, watching the light flicker and bounce off its surface.
"But only a fool would continue to chase after bronze thinking that it is more valuable than gold."
He tossed the metal into the air, letting it sail through the sky before it fell towards the floor. Its soft body was nearly lost to the groves of grass and residents of sediment, were it not for the hand of the blonde boy, saving it from its fate. He clenched it tightly within his fist, feelings of resentment and anger flowing into it, before he released it all with a tired sigh.
"And what am I, but a fool in all but name?"
-End of Chapter 13(Interlude)-
Hello everyone! Sorry this is super late. I have finals, and overdue assignments at Uni, so I'm trying to catch up. Hopefully I get the next chapter done soon, but it might not be up until Christmas. Hopefully you all enjoy the small interlude into the next arc! Take it away Dante.
Dante: Gonna be quite the show, so keep yours peeled! Next time on My Familiar Cries Not The Devil's Tears: Breaking Ground. And the start of the new arc- "Fool's Gold"
See you next time folks! And keep maintaining that Smokin' Sexy Style!