Heya everyone, hope everyone had a good Christmas.
I held off on posting until after Christmas, so all of you can read this when you're settled in and everything before New Years. Plus, I had to do some real big brain thinking for the end section of the chapter, which you'll see why.
In any case, here's the chapter.
Extra note:
~ Eclypse mental speech ~
*Navara mental speech*
That way you guys will know who's talking in Dante's head.
So yeah, let's begin.
Chapter 62: Alone in the Woods
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"Secret freaking elevator… There's always some secret elevator or something to these kinds of places." Dante noted as he stood perfectly still, Eclypse and Navâra still clinging to him.
"But of course, good Dante! I had Avara build it for the day I would leave this place." The little Empress said, "I realized making the trek back up would be nothing but a trivial task for the one who would wield me, but also one that is rather tedious. So in a moment of pure genius, I decided to make both of our lives easier! Go ahead, you may praise me now!"
"Well… I guess it was smart thinking on your part."
Navâra giggled to herself happily as she stood up on the tips of her toes, as if she were asking for another head pat to go with her praise. Unfortunately for her, Eclypse kept Dante's other arm in place, growling silently at her.
"Popular indeed…"
"Would you shut up about that already?!" Dante complained at Noland's witty remark, "I'm seriously gonna kick your ass if you keep saying that!"
"I think we both know you won't. You're much too kind to do that over some witty banter."
…
The devil didn't know if it was Noland's smugness that made him angrier, or the fact that he was right to some extent.
Before Dante could ponder any further, he could feel the cold brushing against him once more, and saw a few flakes of snow filter into the hollow cavern. Light peeked through above, signaling the end of their ride shortly as the marble platform came to a slow halt.
They were inside one of the houses in the small citadel, seeing the rays of early morning shine through the open ceiling.
"We're out…" Dante noted as he stepped through the front door.
"Indeed… Although, if I remember correctly, we said we would go hunting, did we not? Perhaps it'd be best we find some prey to catch for the others."
"It's not necessary though, is it? I mean, we've got enough food and water to last us six days, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna leave today unless some freak accident happens." Dante commented.
"True. But if the food gets destroyed?"
"That's highly unlikely. Besides, I checked the geographical data before we left and saw that Argus isn't that far away. If Yang fixes her bike and we get back in time, we can get there a little later in the afternoon."
"And if she can't?"
"Then it's gonna be a two day walk that I'm not gonna look forward to."
"Why you in particular?"
"Didn't notice the cart in one of the sheds? It can fit all of us." Dante answered.
"I see… Everyone else rests while you play the mule."
"More or less." The devil shrugged, "Not that I'd mind really. Though… it'd be easier if I had my Shadow Skin. I could power my way through it in no time."
Noland looked to Dante's left arm, keeping in mind the hollowed out white diamond branded on his ally's flesh.
"Seeing as we can't undo the mark, we'll have to hope that woman comes back to find you so we can defeat her." Noland noted, "Of course, it'd be more practical for you to develop new skills in the meantime. Especially now that you have a new Blade in your possession."
"He is indeed correct, good Dante." Navâra spoke up as she stopped in front of Dante, "Soon enough we will need to conduct a test run of our combined might. With my abilities merged with your Semblance, it should provide for some very interesting combinations and ideas."
"Maybe we'll get lucky on our way back."
"Perhaps."
Sticking her hand out, the Empress let flakes of snow fall into her palm, her curious emerald eyes scanning the snowy plains as she saw her frozen breath wisp in front of her.
"So this is snowfall…"
"Never saw snow before?" Dante asked.
"I may have had a curious mind that allowed me to try all sorts of things, but I never quite managed to leave the kingdom. There was always too much work to be done, and too many difficulties that left me with powerful headaches by the end of the day." Navâra explained, "Instead of focusing on myself and my own needs or wants, I devoted myself to improving the conditions of my people however I could."
"While dealing with your senate at the same time I presume?" Noland asked.
"Unfortunately so." The golden haired girl nodded, "After the death of my uncle, there was a large power vacuum that threatened the very fabric of our kingdom. And unfortunately, one after another of my blood had died of mysterious causes, leaving me the thirty-first in line to inherit the throne, Avara the thirty-second."
"If the histories are correct, you took the throne at age fourteen, did you not?"
"Indeed. In spite of the circumstances of my birth, my rule was recognized and I immediately set to work on fixing that power vacuum. Instead of inflaming the power of the nobles or their cohorts, I worked on expanding my Empire, and keeping our society intact as it was in the days before. For a time I succeeded, but the more I put focus on the people, the more the senate fought back. Then…"
"The senate attempted a coup, and turned the people against you."
"That is so." The Empress answered in an uncharacteristically meek tone, only to brighten up a moment later, "But that is a story of a time long ago. My only focus now is to see the new world before me and how much it has changed! For instance!"
Navâra quickly around, pointing to Dante's chest. More specifically, she pointed to the black diamond stud on the collar of his shirt.
"What form of device may that be on your chest?"
"This? It's my heavily modified Scroll."
The devil brought up his hand, a white holographic screen appearing in front of him in the form of multiple rectangular monitors that floated around him. The Empress cooed in awe as she stepped near Dante, reading each monitor that displayed a variety of information.
Date and time. Weather. Geological maps. A list of contacts. A screen that played some sort of motion picture. And a list of titles she had no idea what they were.
"Phantom Souls..?"
"It's a game of sorts."
"Oh? What kind of game is it? How are you even able to play a game on this contraption?"
The Empress tapped her finger on the title, instantly pulling back all other monitors behind the monitor that loaded up Phantom Souls.
She was utterly shocked, but at the same time all the more curious.
"I forget you're from a far away age…"
"No need to explain all too much, good Dante. From the information in your mind I was able to glance at a moment ago, this… 'video game' is like that of a sophisticatedly advanced moving picture, is it not? But one that you can take control of for entertainment purposes."
"That's more or less it." The devil shrugged, "With videogames, you take control of a character and play as them through the game world on the monitor. There's a whole bunch of different games you can play, but I prefer ones like these with monsters and magic and all that nonsense."
"I see! But you hinted at another form of motion picture, did you not? Film, or television?"
"Yup. Television and movies are something you just watch while you sit back and relax."
"Interesting! Very interesting!"
"You can play music in this too, draw, and do a whole bunch of other things that'd take me hours to explain."
"Truly a versatile device! And you constructed such a device? Much less one of this level of sophistication?" The Empress asked.
"Well… I didn't invent Scroll technology if that's what you're asking. I just improved on it using the knowledge from the World I came from, where technology was much more advanced."
"I see… So that's why you're in possession of technology Atlas is still working on developing." Noland state as he peeked over Dante's shoulder, "You're certainly one of many talents."
"Indeed, my Wielder is!" Navâra proclaimed proudly, "It's only natural that someone such as me would be wielded by one so skillful!"
"I'm not really all that talented…" Dante commented, "I just work harder than others most of the time…"
"You see? Modest as well! Never could I have been wielded by someone other than you, good Dante!"
The devil sighed, "You're just blowing things out of proportion."
"Nonsense!" She patted his back, "Now then, I'll be resting for a good while, if you don't mind. My limbs are still rather stiff."
"Sure thing. If I run into anything, I'll call on you and we can do that test run of yours."
"Splendid!"
With that, Navâra's body quickly turned into a burst of platinum Aura, vanishing out of sight soon after as he heard her cooing pleasantly in his head.
*Ooh, it's very spacious in here!*
Dante looked to his side to see Eclypse had also disappeared, hearing her voice a moment after.
~ I don't think I need to remind you to behave and not run around like some child. ~
*But of course not! As much as I would like to explore the cosmos that is our Wielder's mind, I would ask for his permission first.*
Go crazy Navâra. I don't mind. You said it yourself, right? If we're gonna be partnered from now on, it's best we get to know each other better, right? Just tell me more about yourself once in a while when you feel like it.
*But of course! I will happily tell you more about me when convenient!*
He couldn't help but nervously laugh a little.
Just make sure not to fight you two.
"Well… She'll certainly make your life more interesting from now on. I only wonder what Ms. Rose and Ms. Kitsukami will have to say about the Empress' marriage proposal to you."
"You tell them nothing, and then I won't have to bury you out here like Jack Nicholson was buried with snow in The Shining."
Noland chuckled slightly as his attention shot up to the sky, prompting Dante to do the same. In the distance, Tâz swooped down, panting heavily as he landed on Noland's forearm.
"What..! What the hell have you two been doing?!"
"Dude, we literally just got out." Dante noted.
"Do you have any idea how freaking cold it is out here! Very freaking cold!" The bird squawked, "If I'm not close to mr. Superstar here, I can't function properly. I can't function properly, I can't fight. I can't fight, I die. That a good enough explanation as to why I'm sorta pissed, Pretty Boy?!"
"Whatever."
"Whatever he says. Alright." Tâz shrugged off, looking to Noland, "Anyway, I was hiding out in one of the buildings waiting for you two to come out. Literally just a few minutes ago the ground was shaking a little. And not like earthquake shaking, I'm talking about big guy shaking."
"Did you manage to see who it was?" Dante asked.
"I didn't actually. It was just a few seconds, then nothing. If you noticed, it's a bit shit out here."
He was right. The wind was strong and a blizzard was brewing around them, making it a bit harder to see outside.
"What do you think? Shall we split up for a while to find and kill whatever this creature is?" Noland asked.
"I would say so. If we leave, there's a good chance whatever's out there will follow us back." Dante pointed out as he scanned the area with his eyes, "So if it's alright with you, let's search the place for a few minutes. Neither of us run into anything, we leave and try drawing it out. If we're lucky, we won't get followed."
"But knowing our luck, whatever's out there will likely follow us."
"Hey, you're learning." The devil pointed out happily as he patted his ally's back, "Remember, even if we've got a bit of blizzard going on, we still have long range connectivity that'll get a message through. You see it, you ping me and I'll be right over."
"Remember to do the same yourself." Noland smiled as he walked off towards the edge of the citadel.
Now then…
Dante clasped his fingers together, raising them up above his head as he stretched side to side a few times, hearing his bones pop.
For the teen, it was always fascinating to hear his bones pop whenever he stretched or cracked his knuckles. It wasn't some sick fascination in hearing the cracks his bones made, but it was the fact that they were able to pop and crack at all.
It was a fact that Dante and his siblings' bones were not only pitch black, but completely indestructible. They wouldn't bend, break, fracture, snap, melt; any type of harm imaginable to their skeletal structure would have no effect. That included the ligaments connecting his joints.
If anything, the devil was fascinated with the process because it made him a little more human, or like a person.
Dante adjusted his black fur trimmed collar, also tugging on the fur trimmed hood a little to make sure it covered the back of his neck.
Snow… It had been a while since he had seen it like this. Out in the open, outside of a city.
In Vale, Dante never left the borders of the city during the winter, only ever going as far as the protected zones in the Emerald Forest to see some snow. It was fun, but it was… limited.
New Wellington was a very large city, but outside, it had a large and vast forestry to the east, where the west was mostly vast oceans. In essence, he and his friends could get as far away from the city as much as he wanted to really enjoy it.
Though, when he thought of friends, he mostly of her.
He remembered the times he and Satannya left the city on weekends. They went to the coast during the summer and enjoyed some time together at the beach, and went to mountain resorts during the winter to enjoy their time in the snow.
Those times were always the best back then in a constant sea of battle and death.
"Wielder?"
Dante stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder quickly to see Navâra walking alongside him.
"Done already?"
"Of course! Time moves differently within one's mind compared to the outside. For instance, five minutes was actually five days."
"Plenty of time then."
"Indeed. But… there seems to be a significant portion of your memory missing from the age of four backwards."
"All of that's missing. Frankly, I don't really care about that stuff anymore, but if it comes back, it comes back."
"You do not wish to learn more about your past?"
"Nope. I already know who I am, so I don't need anything from the past telling me who I am."
Navâra laughed a little, patting Dante on the back, "How very like you, good Dante. I am especially glad I entrusted myself to you now!"
The devil smirked a little, now a little more used to Navâra's proclamations.
"May I ask you something personal, good Dante?"
"Sure?"
"This Satannya person… Will you tell me about her?"
"Why-?"
"It's come to my attention that even now you still have a fixation in this. And frankly… I think it's because you haven't spoken much about her to anyone. Not even the Fox Girl I saw in your memories."
He never really spoke to about it to anyone really. Eclypse would likely know all, but she never asked or pushed the subject. For the most part, he kept quiet about Satannya. The old him buried the memories of that time deep within to avoid the pain. But now that he was different, that he was better…
There were times where he couldn't help but remember her.
"Satannya was someone I cherished very deeply a long time ago. It was your typical boy-meets-girl, girl-meets-boy scenario. She was the student council president at my school, so as you can imagine, she was for the most part strict, but understanding and caring. Always making sure the students were helped and taken care of. And whenever someone was in trouble, she'd do her best to help them."
"So how did you two meet?" The Empress asked.
"Well… It was a rocky start really. At the time, I had special privileges I earned because of excellent academic skills, so I usually went home from school around the evening. Then just out of nowhere, she took a keen interest in me. Basically, she wanted me to work for her as a member of the student council, said she needed my talents as a member of the Disciplinary Committee."
"What does that title entail?"
"Basically I kept the peace on school grounds and investigated matters around the school. However, since our school was pretty famous, we were requested on occasion by other schools. So she'd send me out at times to help out other schools."
"How did she get you into her employ?"
"I refused of course since I valued my freedom more than anything at the time. However, she was so adamant that I be hers that she began revoking my privileges one by one. Eventually I realized she'd continue making my life a living hell, so I just gave up and joined the Student Council." Dante shrugged.
"So? What happened next?!" Navâra asked, treading through the snow with Dante in eager anticipation.
"We were literally at each other's throats, me complaining, her threatening to revoke more of my privileges. At first I thought she just hated my guts and wanted to see me suffer under her thumb, but… I guess that wasn't really the case. Overtime we got closer to one another. We did however hit a small bump in the road before we took the next step."
"W-What kind of bump?! Please tell me!"
"Well… Aside from being a student, I basically saved the World on occasion from threats supernatural or otherwise. This meant Dark Entities, or demons as most people call them. Among them… I was basically known as the bane of their existence since I never failed to kill any demons. We got into a heated argument about them ironically enough, and… poof." Dante clapped his hands together, spreading them out slowly, "She showed herself to me."
"Show..? Then..!"
"That's right. If the name didn't give it away… then you should know that she was a Dark Entity. Ironic right? I killed her kind for a living, and she got close to me and fell in love." The devil smirked, "At first, for only a moment, I thought she went through so many loops to get close to me and take me out. But I easily remembered soon after that she was always genuine with me. The only thing she ever lied about to me was her existence."
"What happened next?"
"She asked me, 'Is it so wrong for my kind to live? Is it wrong for my kind to know peace? Is it wrong for my kind to know what it means to love?'. Satannya asked me all that while she showed me her true self. I was in such a shock I couldn't say anything. All I can remember really is having this stupidly confused look on my face that she didn't take as a good sign. So she started crying then ran off."
"Y-You chased after her, did you not?!"
"Shouldn't you know this?"
"I skipped this section because I wished for you to tell me directly. Now please, continue!"
Dante smirked as he looked ahead, passing by one of the homes.
"I did chase her. Took me damn near an hour to find her. When I did, we had a brief fight, but really, she was kicking my ass. She was a demon that used Light, so naturally, she was damn tough to fight. Even when I was getting my ass handed to me, I couldn't help but think the whole time about how beautiful she was as a demon. I mean… she was as beautiful as could be in her human form, but… Seeing the real her just… stirred something inside me. I'm still not sure if it was the part of me that's demon that was attracted to her but… I was just mesmerized by her.
"And?!"
"And… things calmed down after a bit. I told her I didn't care that she was a demon or how she looked liked. I said that the only reason I was mad at her was because she thought I'd be stupid enough to think anything bad about her because she hid who she was. After some more talking, we eventually went home and… well… you know. Indulged in one another." Dante gestured with his hands, Navâra nodding in understanding, "The next morning we woke up in each other's embrace, all embarrassed and everything. But it didn't really take long for us to… get more touchy feely with each other."
"How wonderful! Such powerful love between a man and a she-devil! I mean that with all respect of course."
"No offense taken." The teen smiled, "When we weren't busy with school or other activities involving the Student Council or saving the World, we were most of the time in a sexual frenzy. We uh… did some interesting things in interesting places at times. Often enough that sometimes I didn't even go home. I kinda lived with her in a sense."
"And then?"
"One day she shared her dream with me. And that was to bring Dark Entities who fished for peace over to the Human Realm. Previously, I helped Inuba's friend, Princess Satsuki Ryūkami, establish a peace treaty between the Human Realm and Apparition World to allow humans and yōkai to cooperate with one another and traverse into each other's Realms. It… took me a good while to understand the gravity of her dream, and what she was asking for. But as a young man in love and eager to please, I gladly helped her with her dream."
"What occurred next, good Dante?"
"Well, it was messy at first, but I was doing one good deed after another, helping Dark Entities that were hiding in secret and helped convince the World that there were some out there that just wanted to live alongside us in peace. So with some help and efforts from Satannya, we actually made it happen. But… that peace was short lived."
"W-What do you mean?! What happened?!"
"Her father Zûrkesh is what happened. He was the Fourth Dark Entity with the rating of King Class, so in essence, he was nothing short of a Demon Lord. Not long after we brokered peace, he invaded, and revealed his plan to get Satannya close to me so that she could bear a child and steal them away. Of course, Satannya denied knowing anything about it. I believed her too, because she'd never do something so despicable. She didn't even know that was her father's plan afterall."
"And..?!"
"We took the fight to him. We kicked all of his lieutenants' asses and got to the end, and we just about kicked his ass too. Just when we thought it was over, he pulled a fast one on us and set off a spell that would destroy my World in a matter of minutes. After I killed him, I tried everything we could to stop it, but to no avail. Eventually… Satannya realized that since she was of his blood, she could stop the spell. However… neither of us realized it'd cost so much."
"She… perished?"
"Not because she stopped the spell, but she protected me. She knew to some extent I couldn't die at the time, but at that point, I never had the pleasure of surviving what was the equivalent of a collapsing star, and neither of us were keen on finding out." Dante shrugged, "She didn't fully dismantle the spell either, only used what power she had to significantly lessen its effectiveness. Satannya used what life-force she had left to protect me from the blast."
"No…"
The devil sighed as he stopped in his tracks, placing his hands on his hips as he looked up at the sky.
"She told me before she vanished, 'Keep our dream alive, and continue believing in your own justice'. And then that was that. I begged her to stay, but I think we both knew that wasn't going to happen."
Dante hummed briefly, looking over to a sniffling Navâra as she tried her best to hold back her tears.
"Are you seriously crying?!" Dante asked in amazement.
"H-How could I not?!" She said as she hugged him tightly, literally squeezing the life out of him, "It's such a beautifully tragic tale of love and loss!" The Empress cried.
The devil was actually hurting a little from the hug, trying to tap out and let the girl know she was crushing him as she continued crying.
She was surprisingly strong, evidenced by the fact she effortlessly lifted him up and swung him around like a little girl who swung around a teddy bear. His suffering now at an end, Dante found himself being carried in Navâra's arms in a princess carry as the Empress' eyes gleamed at him with determination.
"That settles it then, good Dante! From now on, you shall know the exclusive love of an Empress! Rejoice, for now, there will be nothing in your life that you shall miss! If there is anything you wish for that's in my power to grant, I shall give it to you!"
Eclypse does it, and now Navâra?! Why were both of his swords obsessed with doing this?!
…
Not that he really hated it though…
"I-I'll keep that in mind…" Dante said, "Can you put me down though?"
"But good Dante, this seems like something enjoyable to both of us! Do you surely wish to walk on your own? There's no need to worry! I may be small, but I am incredibly strong!" The Empress said as she let Dante down.
"I figured as much if you lifted my heavy ass so easily."
"Come now, you were as light as a feather!"
…
He dated a relatively normal high school girl. He dated what was essentially a Demon Empress, but a good one that wished for peace. He's currently in a relationship with an adorable girl in a red hood that hunts monsters. He's also in a relationship with a cute, cuddly, bubbly kitsune that not only loves him to pieces, but is also an ultra badass. He also was in a relationship with an older woman that used to be his Commander, but also his caretaker; also an ultra badass.
Then there was Eclypse as well. The very first person to love and accept him. Not only was she immensely beautiful like Ruby, Inuba, and Blaire, but Dante considered her the badass of ultimate badassery.
And he had to admit… secretly, he did enjoy how constantly lewd and naughty she was.
But… to have the favor of a genuine Empress? Not only that, but apparently her love as well? That was a first. And she seemed adamant to give herself to the teen.
Dante never really felt all that special ever in his life until recent… happenings in his romantic life that would make just about every man in any universe jealous. But he felt a little more special now that an Empress basically confessed to him.
Just as he walked on in thought, yet again Navâra quickly walked up and interlocked her arm with the young devil, glancing at him with her usual beaming smile.
"Your praise warms my already enkindled heart, good Dante!"
"What..? I didn't…"
Oh crap… If Eclypse can hear my thoughts…
"Indeed! I can hear your true thoughts too!"
"Perfect…" Dante sighed.
"Worry not, my Wielder! You will warm up to me very quickly! Though, I feel you're quite taken with me already."
"What can I say? Your direct your approach is... having some effect…"
"Splendid! Then we grow closer by the minute!"
"Why are you in such a rush?"
"To shower you with my affection more effectively, and make you fawn over me so that you too may give me your affection in return! Simple no?"
"I guess it is…"
Navâra hummed briefly, pulling Dante closer to her.
"Did you know that I never married, good Dante?" The Empress stated.
"Really? I mean, you're definitely an excellent person from what you've told me. Were people too intimidated by your greatness?"
Navâra laughed a little, "On the contrary, I was proposed to on an almost weekly basis, good Dante. Many powerful and respectable suitors from both within my own kingdom and from visiting kingdoms came to me with marriage proposals each time."
"And?"
"I rejected all of them each time, of course. Yes, there were reputable men and women of respectable fame, fortune, and power… But none of them were either suitable or material for being a lifelong partner. Their only concern was having my name, or having me as a trophy."
"I guess it was good for you to be picky then." Dante stated, "You could've easily chosen anyone to be your partner, but status and all that didn't matter to you. You wanted genuine love over anything like that."
"Precisely! I'm glad you understand me so well, good Dante!"
"You've seen my memories. Before that, you read my heart and made your decision based off of what you saw at a quick glance." The young man said, "But why pick me?"
"Because good Dante… You have what all other suitors lacked. You have genuine passion to you. A genuine desire to know love and to be loved. But! You are not one who cares about a person's status. You care not for how wealthy they are, or what position in society they hold. And… you do not actively seek power out of vanity."
"Pretty understandable reasoning…"
"Indeed! That is why I am so fervently drawn to you! Not only did I choose you to wield me as a powerful Blade, but I also chose you to be my life partner! So cherish me forever, good Dante!"
"Remember what I said about getting to know you better first?"
The little Empress grumbled in frustration as she puffed her cheeks in a rather cute pout.
It reminded him of Ruby and Inuba's pouting, which were seemingly powerful forces of nature on their own.
"Very well… I will go along with this process of the two of us becoming familiar with one another first… But be prepared for me to propose to you again in the near future! Likely a week from now!"
Dante couldn't help but chuckle a little with how persistent and stubborn she was.
I guess we do have a lot in common after all.
The devil and the Empress' heads jolted upwards, sensing something a little further ahead and prompting the teen to clasp his lapel.
"Hey Noland, do you read?"
Static.
"Noland?"
More static.
"Maybe the blizzard's too strong… No… I modified everyone's signal receivers to be able to broadcast or receive transmissions in the harshest environments. Only thing that can scramble a transmission would be a high energy signature. But…"
"Considering we are in the middle of a blizzard, I would assume both the force of nature and our enemy's energy signature are betwixt with each other." Navâra noted.
"Right… I never did get around to asking Dawn to enhance our Scrolls against high concentrations of energy. In that case…"
Dante summoned Eclypse in her gun form, giving her a quick twirl in his left hand as he aimed up in the sky. His left arm brimmed with a fiery glow of platinum Aura, cloaking his entire gun. One pulse later and the gun glowed a little brighter, where another final pulse made the gun's brightness grow intensity before Dante pulled the trigger. A laser-cannon like gunshot echoed through the chill air, a beam of platinum Aura shooting up into the sky quickly to only fragment moments later, turning the powerful shot into a sort of explosive flare.
"If he can't contact us, he'll see that at least. Along with anyone else lurking about." The young devil stated as he disapparated Eclypse.
"Worry not, good Dante! For now is your Empress' time to shine!"
She stuck her hand out towards Dante, who extended his left hand in response. Navâra's body turned into a burst of white Aura, which soon took the shape of a sword as the teen looked her over once more.
A weapon almost as tall as he was with the butt of the handle stopping just at the base of his neck.
The base surface was black, but the areas of the blade's large edges looked to be made of polished silver. Embedded lines of gold ran from the hilt down the black surface, stopping a foot near the tip.
As a blade, Navâra was elegant, but aggressively curved and staggered, the tip being the only part of that was double-edged. Her blade form curved in on both sides to form an inlet before curving out again into twin corners, pulling back across the expanse of the blade in crooked curves and smooth, rounded bends before ultimately settling into the finer details of a small hilt, which was made to glance caught strikes away.
And she was incredibly light.
Eclypse certainly had a dignified, powerful elegance to her sword form, but Navâra's form was pure elegance, royalty and power in one.
Prepared, Dante stepped forward into the courtyard near the small citadel, eyes glancing around as small wisps of his breath puffed about every few moments.
A loud roar was heard up above as the teen looked up, seeing a house flying right at him. The small building crashed down on him, allowing him access through one of the windows as the building tumbled and rolled to a halt into another building. The front door flew off its hinges as Dante stepped out, sighing as he dusted himself off.
"If you throw another house at me, I am seriously gonna get pissed."
A massive body crashed onto its feet, blowing up some snow around it briefly. Dante, now sitting on the roof of the building that was thrown at him, saw that the humanoid creature was at least twenty or so feet tall and very hairy with black hair and sharp white claws. Given the large white tusks he saw, the young devil assumed this had to be some sort of wooly mammoth being.
More precisely, one of those beings with a Grimm mask like a mammoth, red marks, and glowing red eyes.
"The infamous White Swordsman…" It spoke in a bellowing, deep tone, "I did not expect to run into you so soon."
"Oh, so you were looking for me then? Well, here I am Dirty Hairy. So what's up? Here to have some fun?"
"I am here to kill you!" The creature brought it's fist down unto the building, crushing the domicile with it's massive fist.
Looking behind it, the beast saw Dante sitting on the roof of a building behind him, wiggling his fingers into a coy wave as he pursed his lips together and rested Navâra on his lap.
"Strike one, Sasquatch. Two more swings and misses, and you're outta the ballgame."
"Tiny child… Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Nope. Don't really care either."
"You face the dreaded terror Golrâk, slayer of Huntsmen and Huntresses!"
He smased his fists onto the building Dante was on, this time landing a few more crushing strikes to try and mash him into jelly. However, the teen was already behind him once more, letting out a bored sigh as he plunged Navâra into the ground, and leaned on her.
"Strike two, Hairy Dumbo. One more and you're gone."
The creature slowly raised up both hands in the air as the snow from the blizzard encircled his arms rapidly, making the teen look on in curiosity. As he smashed his fists onto the ground, the Mammoth-giant unleashed a powerful, jagged and rapid wave of ice that Dante quickly side stepped, watching the dangerous trail destroy a nearby home from the inside as spikes of ice jutted out with pieces of the home on each spike.
"Not bad, not bad. But I know an icy bitch by the name of Freya, and trust me when I say she's a lot worse than you."
The creature let out a roar that kicked up the snow to blind him, but the attack was predictable if anything. As he expected, Dante leapt backwards and avoided the downwards, twirling Navâra around once before his body shot forward like a bolt, his feet gliding across the snow as he lead with his sword point. The platinum blade quickly found its mark, plunging into the red eyeball before it was dragged upwards and through the beasts head, making it flail an arm around wildly as it covered its face with the other.
Dante immediately leapt backwards a few feet, whipping Navâra outwards to clean her of blood as the teen allowed his opponent to howl in pain. When it regained its senses, the beast roared loudly, focusing its one eye on the teen as it lunged right at him. It's fists lashed about wherever it could see the devil, but the young man easily dodged each swipe and slam with minimal effort.
Every movement, every swing… He could see them so easily, and because of that, he could easily dodge his opponent. But with how seemingly slow the beast moved…
Have my reflexes been enhanced..?
*Indeed, good Dante! This in thanks to my Light based power! Utilizing me will allow you to naturally move quicker and sharpen your senses dramatically! Go on, praise me for how impressive I am!*
Thanks Navâra. I can actually goof around a little with this bozo.
Hearing her giggle briefly, Dante's eyes trailed back onto an oncoming giant fist, making him leap up high into the air. A trail of jagged ice spikes shot out from the ground, fanning out into a cone shaped blast as the devil landed on the creature's arm. Running up the creature's arm, the teen leapt up and swung for his target's neck, only to flip himself over a backhanded swing and leave a deep cut in Golrâk's cheek.
As he landed on the snowy ground, Dante's body immediately glided backwards in a quick, instantaneous burst to avoid the palm trying to crush him.
"You will freeze to death!"
"Sorry, but I'm too hot to be put on ice!" The devil jabbed back, "Seriously, the ice will just melt!"
Dropping his smile, Dante's eyes widened briefly as he let out a brief "Oh", and ran away a good distance as he saw the snow building up around his enemy's hands. Finding the tallest building he could, the teen ran up the wall and jumped up, landing atop an old chimney as he watched Golrâk slam his charged hands down.
The ground trembled with violent intensity as the snow and ice began to spring up, instantly forming large stalagmites that branched off into smaller, spear-like spikes. Houses all around the beast were shattered and splintered into pieces, chunks of rubble pierced through by sharp ice.
Leaping off the chimney and onto the ground of the other, untouched side of the village, Dante watch the beast leap over him and onto the ground, roaring loudly.
*Now for my second trick, Wielder! Allow him to approach and attempt to strike at you!*
You want me to let him hit me?
*I want you to let him try to hit you! Go on!*
Dante titled his head briefly and readied himself, feeling a heat building up in his right arm as his platinum Aura flowed above his forearm. Noticing his opponent sprinting at him with a fist raised, the devil raised up his own right arm as his Aura began to shift about, forming a transparent, spectral arm of platinum Aura. The spectral arm seemed like a copy of Dante's Shadow Skinned arm, a limb enshrouded in thin, twisted, segmented armor, and clawed fingertips.
The spectral arm of platinum Aura itself was three times the size of Dante's arm, and as Dante moved his own arm, so too did his other arm of Aura. Rearing it back, the teen immediately punched forward, his giant fist colliding with Golrâk's massive fist and stopping him entirely, even blowing back the beast's arm.
Instead of giving up, the creature charged forward with both hands raised, prompting Dante to keep his right arm up as he brought up his left hand. It too briefly pulsed with platinum Aura before the devil had another spectral arm in play, allowing him to grapple his opponents hands as they stood in a deadlock. The teen could feel the resistance from the spectral hands in his own hands, but not so much that it was overbearing or hurting his own hands. Instead, he just couldn't fully squeeze his hands shut.
Even so, the devil could feel how his own strength added to the separate strength of his spectral arms, making them all the more powerful as he slowly but surely pushed back the colossal being. The creature let out surprised growls as Dante kept pushing, eventually giving one pushful shove that sent the best on its back and on top of a few homes, crushing them flat.
Having pushed back his enemy, the young devil brought up his arms, the spectral arms following his movements precisely as he clenched his fingers, rotated his wrists, and smashed his fist into his palm.
"Nice…" he smiled.
*Very nice, if I do say so myself! After Beacon, you've had difficulty replicating some of the abilities you showed that night, have you not? With me at your side now, I will slowly but surely help you remove the limitations of your Semblance and make you grow stronger, my Wielder!*
You really are praise worthy. Thanks again, Navâra!
*I-Indeed! Your thanks is much appreciated!*
Dante's head snapped to the rubble exploding upwards into the sky, seeing his mammoth-like enemy angrily scamper back onto its feet. When it saw him, it bellowed loud enough to make the remaining homes shiver, and the snow fall from the trees.
*Go on good, Dante! Have fun and experiment with this new ability of yours!*
Navâra's sword form having long since disappeared when his spectral arms formed, Dante brought them out once more as he kept them low at his sides and charged. Golrâk ripped a huge chunk of rubble from the house nearby and flung it at the teen like a ball. The teen leapt up and lead with his right fist, his spectral arm crashing through the debris with ease as he flew towards his enemy's face.
The beast flailed about wildly as Dante grabbed onto one of his tusks with his spectral hand of Aura, swinging up onto it with his feet as he grabbed his trunk. With his right hand, the devil repeatedly punched his opponent in the face with both his own fist and spectral hand, loud cracking noises sounding out through the blizzard in clear echoes.
Leaping off, Dante reared back his right arm and shot up into in an uppercut, his phantom limb of platinum Aura crushing the underside of his enemy's jaw. Not done, he brought forth both spectral arms, swing them down upon Golrâk's head like hammers to disorient him. Now having his opportunity, the teen's eyes moved down to the whipping tail he could see, his spectral right arm extending outwards to grab a firm hold.
"Come here!"
One forceful pull was all it took to pull the giant off his feet, allowing Dante to grab hold of the tail with both spectral hands as he raised the beast up and slammed him into the ground. Feeling his body being moved, Golrâk let out a terrified cry as he tried to dig his claws deep into the ground, but it wouldn't help him. The young devil started slow, spinning his enemy around as his platinum spectral arms shone brightly. Each rotation, the spinning quickened in pace until the giant could no longer see straight.
"And you're outta here!"
With a final, powerful spin, Dante hammer-tossed his foe high up a great distance away, his huge body crashing into the spire at the center of town, tumbling down through the structure. Moments later, Golrâk rolled out of the rubble as he finally fell to ground level, his face buried in the snow and his huge form brought low.
"You're..! Just a child..! No more… than a mere… weak human..!"
"Says a mere… Grimm, beast, thing? What the hell even are you guys?" Dante shrugged. "Whatever."
Making his spectral arms disappear, Dante summoned Navâra to his left hand and took her up with both hands, ready to split the beast's head like a watermelon. Before he could bring his sword down, the devil noticed black feathers falling down around him, making him look back and see Noland on approach.
"And here I thought I might've been some assistance to you. A shame it took me some time to reach you."
"Yeah… Real shame…" Dante noted as he lowered Navâra.
"You..?!" Golrâk weakly shouted as he looked up at Noland, "Why are you with..?!"
"Shhhh shh shh shh. No need for you to speak any longer." The young man approached.
The beast growled and raised itself up, making Dante move to pull him out of the way. It wouldn't be necessary however, for Noland's Beowolf Râzla appeared out of thin air and back flipped, its tail transforming into an elastic, reaping blade. The first flip sliced off both legs, while the second flip left a devastating cut across Golrâk's chest.
His heavy body crashed into the ground, kicking up some snow past Noland as he kept his smile up, twirling his cane around as he approached. The beast looked up, only to have its head pulled backwards by Râzla to expose his neck.
"Return to the darkness from whence you came."
He quickly lashed his sharp edged cane out across the creature's neck, brutally slitting its throat before he plunged the tip underneath the chin, burying it deep into its head. A few short gurgles was all that could be heard as Golrâk's body turned a pale white, like ash, and fell apart into pieces.
"That takes care of that. Now-"
Noland turned around, finding Dante pointing Navâra at his face. In spite of this, he kept calm, narrowing his eyes on the devil.
"I think it's about time we had that chat."
"I'm assuming it can't wait?" Noland asked, digging the tip of his cane in the ground.
"Not after hearing that, no." Dante answered, "Friend of yours?"
"I don't understand."
"It's obvious he knew you. So mind telling me how that is?"
"Is now-?"
"Either we clear this up now or I bury you here."
Râzla roared loudly, snarling at Dante as he protectively stood in front of Noland. The young man snapped his fingers, making the Beowolf vanish out of sight as he placed both hands atop his cane.
"I met two of their kind a week ago before I found you. The one I just executed was one of them. Although, he had a more human shape the last time I saw him."
"I'd ask if you were one of them, but I'm pretty sure my uncle wouldn't haven given you his cane and Grimoire if that were the case." Dante noted, "You working with them?"
"Far from it. If anything, I'm an enemy to them really considering I killed one of their own. Then again, maybe I'm not." The young man said as he stuck out his hand, letting snow fall into his palm, "All I know is that humanoid beings walk the World of Remnant utilizing both form and abilities of various Grimm. I know that they're dangerous, and that from the last one I interrogated before I killed them… they seem to have some sort of fascination with you. Why is that?"
"Believe me, I'd like to know why myself." The young devil stated, "Fine then, you aren't working with them. Who are you then?"
Noland's fingers slowly clenched into a tight fist, his hand brushing over his other as he looked up at Dante with serious eyes.
"I am a forgotten son, lost to the fabric of time and history. My true name was stripped from me long ago, and with it, my true power."
"Your real name's not Noland then."
"Correct. It's only a name I invented for myself afterwards when I was… cast aside."
His name was stripped from him, and with it his real power…
"I was once the son of a proud nobleman, who only ever had good intentions at heart. You see… my father's dream was to save the world from the evil plaguing it. As a young boy, some can't help but want to make their father's noble dream their own. Therefore… my dream was to save the world as well."
"So? Why the banishment then?"
Noland smiled, "You see, I was in something of a rush. Every passing week I could see my father grow more weary and worried with the state of things. As a good son, I wished to grow a lot quicker, that way, I could be of use in accomplishing his dream. Unfortunately… my rapid growth proved to be an issue for my father."
Dante narrowed his eyes, lowering Navâra slowly as Noland continued his story, eyes glued to the snowy ground.
"My father became a fearful man. He was so afraid of an enemy lurking around every corner, that he convinced himself the enemy could be in his home. So as I and my power grew, he too grew fearful of me. I always tried to show him how quickly I progressed, thinking I was making him proud. Only… I made him more afraid of me each passing day."
Noland's hands tightened around the handle of his cane as he looked up at Dante.
"The day came when he would cast me out. He took away my name, and in the process, took away my power. Even with all that… I refused to let him take everything from me. It's why I still have some fraction of my power left." The young man said as he held a hand to your heart.
"You thinking your old man's in Atlas?"
"No… But I have a feeling he will be there soon enough." Noland said as he looked up at the now clear sky, "If Atlas is to be the epicenter of a catastrophe equivalent to that of Beacon, and the crisis avoided at Haven, then surely he will appear. With that in mind, I've a request to make of you."
"I'm not assassinating your old man."
"I wasn't going to ask that of you. If that man is to die… it will be with my own hands. I only ask that you… assist with making the path leading to him, should we find him in Atlas."
"That's your goal? You want revenge on your father?"
"Not just vengeance. My goal is to not only destroy that man, but to destroy his legacy entirely." Noland spoke as he gave Dante a serious stare, "My father turned his back on justice and all things good long ago. All so that he could fulfill his selfish ambitions at the expense of my life. No matter what… I will not allow him to walk freely on this planet and gain more power. I will destroy him. But I need your help to do it."
The young devil crossed his arms, listening to Noland's proposition.
"He's without doubt grown stronger. Even with the power I've acquired, I'm still uncertain I could face him alone. That's why I would like for you to assist me. I'm not asking you to kill anybody, nor to litter the way with the corpses of those innocent."
The young man threw up his cane a little, catching it with his palm as he stepped towards Dante.
"Only one man needs to die. But even I can be overcome with emotion. That's why… I want not only your help… but for you to be my guide." Noland asked as he extended his hand, "I won't ask anything of you that would bismrich your name or your honor. So… will you help me?"
Dante sighed slowly as he reached up and shook Noland's hand.
"It's my responsibility to tell you not to kill your father… but if we get there to the end, and you still want to kill your old man… I won't stop you. So I'll help you up until then."
"Good to know we're on the same page then." Noland said as he walked ahead.
"So your old man… He have some crisis detector built into his brain?"
"You jest, but I suppose it would be something akin to that. He… senses evil. Particularly in large clusters. Should a force powerful enough rise in the city of Atlas, one intent on evil purposes… he will know. And he will be there."
"So we have a pre-set lure without doing anything… Convenient." Dante spoke as he took a moment to look behind him, "But just so you know, we aren't gonna let a city burn just so he can show up."
"Never my intention." Noland spoke out as he twirled his cane twice, "Mass conflict is also enough. So long as we're fighting, he'll come."
Dante wasn't looking forward to when that time would come. He was a man that could steal someone's name, and with it, their power as well. How effective was it though? Or rather…
Could it work on Dante?
Maybe not. Navâra's already ridiculous ability served as a possible testament to this idea. If the target is stronger than the person using the ability, it won't have an effect. That, and Dante had insanely high resistance to all forms of magic and elements.
Hmm… Troubling…
"I wonder how Ms. Kitsukami and Ms. Rose will react when they see you've brought home a new woman on your arm."
"Don't remind me…"
"Popular indeed…"
"Will you shut up already?!" Dante said as he shoved Noland.
"I must ask though… How is it that you came to be in such a circumstance?" Noland asked.
"I bought really great flowers."
Noland smirked at the young devil's sarcasm as they trudged through the village.
"We just… All have a really strong connection to on another that can't be… messed with, I guess. We see each other for what we are. And we've all been through some really rough patches together through various parts of my life. Frankly… I think the better question to ask is how could I not love the four of them for making me feel like a person that matters."
"Heh… Well spoken. It seems my general impressions of you were incorrect."
"What?"
"I first I thought you were some sort of lust filled vagabond privy to the ways of wooing women, but it seems I was wrong."
…
"I am seriously gonna kill you and tell everyone you got eaten." Dante calmly declared.
Both of the young men stopped in their tracks momentarily, eyes blinking at one another before they split their gazes.
"You hear that?"
"I did, but… It can't be what it is…" Noland stated as he looked around, "How-?"
A cry rang out, deafened by the wisps of wind as the duo's eyes focused on a building further ahead. The closer they quickly rushed, the clearer the cries were.
A child.
As Dante approached the building first, he quickly noted that the doorway had collapsed, as well as some of the roof. But from what else he could spot, there was a huge chunk of rubble that had crashed through the ceiling. Considering they came from this direction, he remembered the building didn't have a huge chunk of rock lodged into it. Which meant…
Had to be from the battle… Damn…
Both devil and man heard the cry again within the broken down domicile, and Dante acted quickly by summoning Nevâra to his left hand. Her platinum edge brimmed with white light as the teen took to the rock, quickly carving a rectangular doorway before he plunged the blade in the topside and pulled.
The carved out piece easily left its place, allowing Dante to poke his head in. His eyes immediately focused on the child in the corner, sobbing her eyes out in front of the chunk of stone. Another person, or rather, a body. The rock crushed their entire lower half, leaving the dead person with an arm outstretched towards the child, who was… strange in terms of appearance.
At first glance she seemed relatively normally. That was until Dante noticed her other features. Two smooth, small, thin black horns peeked out from the young girl's long and messy white hair. Her pale little body was covered with greyish rags to make out some sort of tattered dress, but upon closer inspection, it looked as though the cloak-dress was made out of the fabric of flour sacks.
From behind her back, two little black draconic wings with grey webbing stuck out from near her shoulders, as well as a small black dragon tail near her rear.
Faunus? No… Faunus have one trait at best, rarely two if ever. She has three.
His eyes trailed back to the dead body, sighing.
Must've been the guardian.
Stepping inside at last, the young devil slowly approached the crying girl, kneeling down.
Can't be older than three…
…
…
Doing what he was about to do… Would it have been fine? If he did so, it would mean…
…
No, it's something that didn't really need much thought to it in the first place.
Dante's hands reached out and gently grabbed hold of the young girl, raising her up from the cold ground as her small eyes opened up, ruby red eyes with black slit pupils staring back at him. Her sobbing had calmed, if only a little, as she looked at the young devil in confusion.
Her confusion seemingly transformed into tearful gratitude as she began crying again, her hands reaching out towards Dante. He was surprised at first by the gesture, but quickly brought her close to hold her.
"You're alright." he said, calming her, "You're alright. I have you. You'll be okay."
The little dragon girl's crying began to quiet down as he held her close, her tiny arms hugging his neck.
~ How did she end up here?~
Her and her guardian must've stopped by to take shelter from the blizzard. There's a sleeping bag and some busted gear that has some serious wear. Must've been on the road for ages.
*How terrible… To be alone out here would've been…*
Probably best not to think about it…
The young man looked around quickly, seeing the corpse in the room had worn a fairly thick black scarf.
"Sorry… But I'm gonna borrow this."
As he knelt down and unraveled the scarf, he looked it over quickly twice, spotting no signs of blood at all. And so he set to work, quickly wrapping the dragon girl up with the scarf. He carefully tucked her wings in, and finished by gently wrapping around her neck, tucking the fabric in.
He wanted to keep her head warm too, so Dante quickly tore off a large enough chunk of fabric from the sleeping bag. Using his Aura, the young devil intricately and very quickly stitched the fabrics together, making a hood. Thankfully the girl's horns were small, so they fit in perfectly.
Stepping outside, Dante almost bumped into Noland, who took the chance to glance the small child over.
"Interesting… She doesn't seem to be a Faunus."
"That's what I was thinking, but…" Dante paused, sighing, "Inuba and her parents are the only other Faunus-like beings on this World that have two animalistic traits, their fox ears and tails."
"Perhaps she came from the outside?"
"Not likely. Travel passages have been broken for nearly a year now and are still broken thanks to me. Only highly powerful beings like my uncle are able to crossover from different Worlds." Dante explained, "She could just be… I don't know, a Super Faunus?"
"Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"
"You got an answer smartass?"
Noland sighed in defeat, moving on ahead.
"Super Faunus it is then. For now."
Dante hummed victoriously as he carried the small girl in his arms, who was now resting comfortably all snug in her blanket.
It was actually pretty cute, now that she calmed down and was fast asleep. His smile was brief though, the devil's head turned back at the house he found the young dragon girl in.
I don't know who you were, what you did or where you came from, but you're pretty amazing if you made it this far while protecting her. Rest easy. I'll take over for you.
"Don't take my question the wrong way."
"Hmm?" Dante looked
"Why decide to care for this child? Unless you plan to drop her off at an orphanage when we reach Argus?"
I'm the first person she saw, and with how comfortable she is with me already, us separating would be…
"From your expression, I assume you do intend to care for her. You two are but strangers. Nothing tying you together. So why take up such a responsibility?"
The devil knew Noland didn't mean any offense, but it still didn't annoy him any less with how crude the question was.
"Honestly speaking… I've got a soft spot for kids. As someone who had their own future stolen at a very young age, I can't help but feel for kids in tough spots. So I be nice to younger children and help out if I can." Dante answered honestly, "If I can help it… I won't let a child's future be stolen from them."
"Heh… In spite of the rumors, you appear to be more like a Saint than a Demon."
"I'm neither. I'm just me. Though I will on occasion say I'm a devil just for fun."
Now out of the village and in the open, Dante and Noland continued traversing the snowy ground, unimpeded by the blizzard that died with the beast.
A few more steps forward though, and the young devil froze in his tracks as he felt his skin crawl and the air tremor violently. Quickly looking behind him, he could see Noland was completely unfazed. But one look at Dante's expression immediately made the young man go wide eyed as his eyes darted around quickly searching for their would be enemy.
When the young devil turned around, he saw a person standing in the distance.
A short, small, but still significant figure, if only due to her black attire against the white backdrop of snow around her.
She looked around 5 feet tall, black boots barely poking out of the snow she stood in. Black short-shorts sat nestled beneath a black, sleek coat with a low tail that reached the backs of her shins. Her hair was long, and mid-back length. Eerily of all were her luminescent lime green eyes that stared straight at him without any indication of her intent. Considering she was small, her features were very much on the lithe side of things with mild curvature to her hips and small chest, but her legs were seemingly her best feature with how she showed them off.
If she was even trying to show them off in the first place.
Wasting no time, Dante immediately summoned Eclypse in her gun form to his left hand, cradling the small dragon girl with his right as he hid her from view.
"That's a good way to get yourself shot, little miss!" the young devil shouted as he narrowed his eyes on the girl.
She may have been over a hundred yards away, but he could still hit her. With Eclypse's insane firepower in her double barrel revolver form, it was practically the equivalent of a highly accurized tank round.
"Now if you don't mind, turn around and walk away please. I don't feel like killing another jackass today who thinks they have a shot!"
He was of course bluffing, but he wasn't sure if the girl at the other end of the open field knew that.
"She doesn't seem like she'd be too much trouble." Noland spoke in a hushed tone, "And yet you seem to be overreacting."
"You can't feel it?"
"I can't sense anything from her."
That's bad… If he can't feel her monstrous Aura Signature and I can… It means she's unbelievably powerful..!
"Take a few steps back. I'll draw her in, and you use your pet wolf to take her out when I lock her in place."
Let's just hope I can keep the little one safe.
Dante looked back at the mysterious girl, who kept a calm gaze upon as she took slow steps forward. It had been a while since he was this unnerved, but the sheer presence alone…
What was this small girl that she was immensely powerful?
…
Was she one of them?
Dante slowly curled his finger on the trigger, hesitating a moment before making his decision to pull the trigger. A loud "bang" echoed through the chill air, yet when Dante looked onward, the girl was still standing, hand raised in a fist. When she opened her small hand, the massive platinum bullets shot at her simply dropped into the snow, her hand completely unscathed.
She caught them?!
As he thought this, he saw a small puff of snow where the girl was, and looked down to her up close, knees slightly bent as her arm was reared back and her palm was open. Eclypse vanished from the young devil's left hand as his own fist shot forward to meet the palm strike. Instead of a standstill, Dante skidded back on his heels as the girl stuck with him, pushing him further back a few yards until they both came to a halt.
Dante tried his best to push back, but couldn't get the girl to budge an inch. She just stood there calmly, effortlessly keeping him in place as she stared deep into his eyes.
"Ah… You stopped me." she spoke, her voice gentle and slightly hushed, "You must be fairly strong."
"Been hitting the gym lately..!" Dante said in a strained voice, "They added some killer weight lifting machines..!"
She smiled a little, "Funny too."
"Been told my jokes could use some work…"
The girl chuckled faintly as she pushed harder, prompting Dante to keep pushing back with what strength he had.
Then both of them heard a noise that made the two froze. The little dragon girl stirred, hidden behind Dante as both turned their heads and ceased the clash. The dark haired girl seemed… profoundly intrigued and even tried peeking around the protective Dante.
Did I jump the gun..? I've been randomly attacked by Aizûr and his kind out in the open before. Funny enough… I think she's stronger than he is. Now that I look at her up close, she gives off a different vibe than they do. But… for all I know they could disguise that.
"You… have a child with you?" she asked.
The devil was hesitant, but slowly brought forth the young girl, cradling her in both arms as he kept a skeptical glance on the young woman in front of him.
Any semblance of a potential threat vanished when she smiled warmly at the small child with a light giggle, her eyes sparkling a little.
He could tell now that she meant no harm.
"Your daughter is very cute." she leaned in to take a closer look.
If Inuba were the mother, then sure, there'd be a resemblance. Except she's a dragon, and Inuba's a kitsune.
"She's not my daughter, she's… someone I found that got left behind." Dante nodded towards the citadel.
"I see… Still… It's good of you to take care of her."
"Hopefully she actually likes me when she wakes up."
The young woman chuckled slightly, looking up at Dante once more before she narrowed her luminescent lime green eyes on him, making him lean back a little.
"Something I can do for you there?"
"I feel like I've seen you before…"
Oh shit...
"Wait a moment." she raised a hand before reaching into her pocket.
She brought up a black scroll, the holographic display shooting out from the black rectangular piece.
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"There you are!"
The two spun around seeing a man sprinting towards them out of breath with Noland following behind the man, zooming forward on a patch of shadow.
The new arrival had messy black hair, steel colored eyes, and wore grey jeans with black dress shoes, a black shirt, and a fitted brown leather jacket.
"If it weren't for your friend here, I would've gotten eaten a moment ago!" the man spoke, fixing his perfectly round glasses, "You're supposed to be staying by my side to protect me, you know? Why did you rush-?"
The man looked at Dante, mouth agape and eyes going wide as his glasses slid down his nose.
"You're him!"
"Nope. I'm not him." the devil immediately replied.
"You're the White Swordsman! I finally found you!"
"Don't know what you're talking about."
"Snow white hair, bright sky blue eyes... I know your appearance well enough by now from all the reports!"
Dante sighed, "Who are you?"
"Avery Davis. I dropped everything in Vacuo when I heard you had left vale after the Beacon Incident!"
"Avery Davis?" Noland spoke up, "The same Avery Davis who is well renowned for his interviews and articles?"
"The very same!" Avery answered, turning to Dante, "As you probably already guessed, I'm something of a freelance reporter that travels around Remnant. I write about current events in the kingdoms I visit, and have had the pleasure of interviewing some pretty important people, such as Jacques Schnee, and even the elusive Ozpin!"
"What makes him particularly excellent at his craft Dante is that he always writes the truth." Noland explained, "He's actually exposed some rather unsightly happenings with his articles and interviews."
"Impossible. Politicians and the like lie." the devil argued.
"Normally they would. But… I too have a Semblance." Avery pointed out, "The longer I maintain a conversation with a person, the more truthful they become. It's why the juicer details usually come out towards the end of the interview."
"Now I see… Normally reporters and journalists get straight to the point, but you cunningly draw out conversation in order to use your Semblance to discern the truth." Noland smirked, "I had always wondered why your format was so unorthodox."
The man shrugged with a smile, guilty as charged.
"So what's a reporter like you want with me?" Dante asked.
"Why, for a lot of reasons really!" Avery spoke as he stepped up to Dante, "You were one of the stars of the Vytal Festival, and highly talked about. After I saw you fight, I took a keen interest in you and decided to follow you and the events surrounding you."
"Really now?"
"Indeed. While I may not have been able to discern your origins, I at the very least managed to trace events involving you for the last year, and managed to predict your movements towards Argus."
"Where you on the train?"
"No. My bodyguard and I have our own transport we've been using. Speaking of…" Avery looked over at the short girl still staring at Dante's lost child, "Did you introduce yourself?"
"No. We were… playing for a short while." The young girl looked back at Dante, nodding her head briefly, "Nira Ezdeil."
"Dante Aetherveil."
"Dante Aetherveil..! Spectacular name!" Davis spoke up.
"So you came all the way from Vacuo just to interview me? And why the bodyguard?"
"Of course! I traveled throughout the continent, gathering stories about your adventures along the same path you took. And let me tell you, I've heard some fun and interesting stories!" the man eagerly spoke up, "As for my small yet effective bodyguard… Reporting, as you surely know, has some risks to it. Not long after I started telling your story to the World of Remnant an attempt was made on my life. Hence why I found Nira before I left Vale."
Who'd want to kill him? Salem? Or maybe Aizûr's people?
"Ever since she tagged along, I've been safer than I've ever been in my life." Avery offered the girl a smile, fixing his glasses as he looked at Dante once again, "I'll be blunt Dante. The World of Remnant as it is now is a mess with the CCT Towers inactive. I've only managed to mail my materials to the four kingdoms to print or play them locally, since the kingdoms can't communicate with each other anymore. Still, in these darker times, your exploits thus far have been… something of a light in the dark for others."
"I find that hard to imagine if I'm being honest…" the devil stated.
"On the contrary, it's had profound effects! The public's moral has risen a great deal once I started reporting on your journey so far. In fact, my coverage on Haven Academy was my most popular work on you so far." Avery explained, "Even with the good effect it's had on people, there are still some searching for that spark of hope in these dark times. That's why I decided to write about you, to provide people with that spark of hope so that they too may overcome the impossible in their lives!"
Were that many people actually inspired by him?
"Mr. Aetherveil! In these times, people need stories like those about you and your allies! Stories give people something to grab hold of! An ideal to chase after!" Davis dramatically gestured, "That is why I want to show the World the hero you are and the hero we need! I want to make you… Remnant's Symbol of Hope!"
Dante was… a little taken aback. Which is why he sighed before he spoke.
"Look, I'm not who you think I am. More importantly, I'm not the hero you make me out to be. As far as everyone else is concerned, I'm just a dangerous vagabond with pointy sticks."
"Not to the people." Avery affirmed, "I'll admit, the upper class in Atlas don't look upon you and your allies favorably. You most of all. The reason why is because they know full well, and are afraid of you upsetting the power balance, should you attempt to do so. But overall public opinion of you is immensely positive. They recognize that a true hero is out there doing some good for people."
"There's gotta be plenty of other people like me out there who are doing a hell of a lot more good than me."
"None as good as you."
"You can flatter me all you want, but-"
"It isn't simple flattery!" Avery spoke with his voice raised, recoiling slightly, "Mr. Aetherveil… I've seen your work for the past year. I don't know what circumstances made you the way you are, but frankly, I do not care. All that matters is the here and now. What you do and what you accomplish moving forward is what matters most. We may not have asked for you, but you are here. You may not be perfect, but you get results and invoke change. We may not deserve someone like you, but you are here! That's why..!"
Davis quickly dropped to his knees, bowing his head low into the snow.
"Please, mr. Aetherveil! The World of Remnant need a Symbol of Hope! And it needs to be you!"
Noland hummed in amusement as he looked to Dante, making the young devil sigh.
"I hope you know that you're gonna be sorely disappointed…"
Avery jumped up with glee as he immediately shook Dante's hand with fervent strength.
"And I promise you won't be disappointed!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Dante waved off, "Look, I'm not doing an interview in the dead ass cold with her here." the devil nodded towards the small dragon girl.
"Understandable." Avery nodded, "Then how about we meet tomorrow in Argus? Get everyone safe and sound first and settled in before we get to it."
"Works for me."
The two looked down, seeing Nira playing with the little girl's tiny hand as she hummed happily to herself.
"Nira, we have to go."
She seemed disappointed given she was pouting.
"You can see her tomorrow you know?"
"I can..?!" Nira asked Dante.
"Y-Yeah…"
Is it me, or is she too eager?
"Stay safe mr. Aetherveil."
"You too, Davis."
The young devil looked to Nira, who looked up at him in response.
"He's kind of a wimp, isn't he?"
"Somewhat. It's why he hired me." the girl replied.
"H-Hey! I'm right here you know!"
"I know. It's why I said it." Dante patted him on the shoulder as he walked ahead, Noland giving the reporter and bodyguard a nod as he followed next to him.
"So I finally got to meet him…" Avery smiled as he waved goodbye, the two young men far away now.
"That boy… He's very strong." Nira spoke as she kept her eyes on the distant devil.
"Well, you heard the testimonies, didn't you?"
She shook her head, narrowing her eyes, "I wasn't talking about that. True, he's very impressive… but his soul… It's been damaged so severely many a time before now." Her eyes softened as a smile curled on Nira's lips, "But now it's so bright, and whole."
"Part of me wants to know his life story so far… But like I said, our focus is on recent happenings and events." Avery said as he fixed his glasses, "Still, for you, Nira Ezdeil, to call him impressive in terms of raw power… It's not often you compliment someone in that manner."
"It's because I haven't found someone this strong for a while now since meeting Kira."
"Right… Sykira Aaryndus… Atlas called on her recently, right?"
Nira nodded.
"They could use her with how uppity the kingdom is these days…" Avery said as he held his hand to his chin, "Which reminds me… When we reach Argus, I need to send a message."
"Message?" Nira asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah… I have a feeling we'll need the person I have in mind."
Looks like Avery Davis found who he had been eager to meet. And we have our newbie Nira. Who could she be?
And who might the little dragon girl be? Find out some more next time.
Other than that, I've got nothing much else to say. So with that...
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story Rogue Huntsman written by Xera Stark. The story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story. Plus, I'm working on it with him as a co-author, and my characters are in it too. So if you want to see a sort of alternate story and such with my characters in it, go on over and give Rogue Huntsman a read.
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story!
With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!