Cecelia truly did not see herself to be placed in a situation such as this.
After all, the woman was used to being alone and fending for herself. Ever since she mysteriously lost her memories, she never really knew what to do with herself. She's been slowly gaining them back, a lot of times it being something she discovered on accident, which triggered her remembering what it was and where she first discovered it.
For instance, when she first came to Red Grave City and discovered its name, she realized she had lived there before. She had even discovered her old apartment that she used to live in, but it didn't prove much of a new lead of what her life was. Apparently it was one of her recent old homes, which gave her the lead that she used to live there for some time. She had even gotten a document from the man at the desk, showing that she used to live there for about a year before losing her memories. It was the freshest lead she got, but it still wasn't enough to make her feel satisfied.
After paying for the hefty payment of the apartment, she gathered all the things that seemed to mostly matter. She left the room and gave it a small incantation. There was the briefest glow of the door before it dimmed down. She opened it briefly to see that the darken room had changed completely, being replaced with the average white hotel room. She left the apartment building, not once looking back as she knew she needed to keep looking for her past. It has already been close to five years now of being an amnesiac. But she never gave up on finding those memories.
Which is what led her to Devil May Cry. A shop that specializes in demon hunting and supernatural experiences. Considering that her entire case was almost supernatural, she figured she'd give it a shot. After all, it never hurt to try following random leads. And it was that lead that led her to Morrison, after saving him from an assault of demons, and then meeting the infamous Legendary Demon Hunter, Dante. To be honest, he wasn't quite what Cecelia was expecting.
At all.
He was maybe in his mid thirties, what Cecelia had approximated what her age was, but definitely didn't act like it. He acted more of a teenager, if not perhaps a young adult. He had a rather lazy and carefree aura to him, if it wasn't obvious by how he leaned in his chair with his legs crossed on top of his desk. He also made it very clear to her that he was a rather blunt flirt with not much tact, making various suggestive comments to just her attire alone. Clearly cocky, and probably had quite a bit of pride and ego to him as well. But then again, Cecelia wasn't exactly one to talk.
His looks were definitely something else. He wore a dark black vest with a red jacket over it, along with what appeared to be black cowboy chaps with red pants. He also wore similar cowboy boots to the outfit. His body was built, Cecelia will give him that. Clearly strong just by the sight of him, and tall, too. But through all that, the one thing Cecelia was staring at the most was his hair. It appeared fully white, a look that just didn't seem quite natural. For a moment she pondered if it had turned white from the stress of his job. It wasn't quite an abnormal thing to happen to human beings. But it was far too white for it to be that. She then questioned if it was dyed, but his greyish eyebrows said otherwise. His white hair was completely natural.
And for some reason, that felt familiar to her.
She felt the familiar itch in the back of her head, something in the far corner of her cogny that she just couldn't grasp yet. Cecelia knew the sensation. It was a key sign that something was stirring a memory, and the longer she pursued the memory, it eventually surfaced. Cecelia knew that she just had to chase after this lead. If it would give her insight on something of her past, then she needed to go after it.
Now the black haired woman found herself on a bus with this man named Dante, both of them leaving Red Grave City to travel to Néma, which is quite a ways over. All that Cecelia really knew was that she used to be a part of The Charmer Sanction, which is a government created by their own beliefs, following ways of witchcraft and magick ideologies. She also knows that many people from there want her dead for supposedly breaking the rules. What these rules are, Cecelia had no idea. After all, her memories didn't give her too much insight. All she does know is that if she's going to find anything about herself, it's going to be there, as dangerous as it is.
Going straight to the city that wished for her death. Brilliant, wouldn't you say?
Cecelia had no real idea of how the city worked, or what it even looked like for that matter. She just looked up directions for it and is going with that. Needless to say, underprepared would be an understatement. The only thing she truly did was get an extra part of arms, and those would be Dante.
If I'm going to be fighting a city filled with magical beings with powers like mine, then I'll need as much help as I can get…
That's what she coaxed herself with, at least. She's been fighting agents of the Charmer Sanction before, and needless to say they're no push over. Even Dante seemed to realize that when she spoke with him previously. If she was to do anything even remotely close to Néma city with people like that around, she would definitely be dead.
Cecelia couldn't help but have her mind racing about it. This was probably the most anxiety inducing thing she's done in a long time. After all, she is going right to the place that wants her head. To be blunt, it felt like a suicide mission. But what else was she supposed to do? She wasn't getting anywhere close to having all of her lost memories, and at this point she was genuinely desperate. All she could really do was hope and rely on this Dante, hoping that he was as good as the rumors say.
But her thoughts were immediately shattered just like the sound of the back window.
Dante's eyes shot open by the sound, both adults jumping at the sudden noise. Whipping their heads around they looked in the back and saw a demon half way through the back window. The demon reared its ugly, evil head at the two and screeched. Soon enough the passengers on the bus were screaming too, and before Cecelia could even stand she felt the bus begin to swerve back and forth.
She gripped the back of the seat as hard as she could, feeling the bus rock back and forth as a feeble attempt of shaking the demon out. Instead of throwing the demon out, it was making it harder for anybody to even stay still, much less move. Cecelia was trying hard to dig her heels into the floor as she felt like she was going to go flying at any moment.
Suddenly more sounds of shattering windows and screams, causing Cecelia's head to whip towards the front of the bus. The driver was screaming in horror as another demon was sticking half way out of the window. As she feared the driver was going to die, the sound of a gunshot rang in the air and the demon got flung out the window.
Cecelia looked in front of her to see Dante, standing from his seat with bent legs to try his best to stand stable on the bus. Holding in each hand, arms crossed over each other as each gun was pointed at either side of the bus. Glancing at the end of the bus, she saw that the demon was gone too, seeming to also have been shot through. Gazing back at Dante, the man simply grinned and gave her a wink. Before any words could be said the bus swerved again, causing the two to almost buckle from the force and grip tightly onto the seats.
"You sure do have such a lovely fanbase," Dante said to Cecelia. "Breaking through moving buses just to get to you? That's a bit brash, huh?"
"Believe me, I'd prefer to have no "fanbase" than any at all," Cecelia groaned as she prepared for another harsh swerve from the bus driver. "Gods, can't he learn how to drive…!?"
"Well, he did almost got killed by a demon," Dante said as they heard more window shattering. "Did The Charmer Sanction attach a tracking device to you or what?!"
"Hell if I know," Cecelia said as a gun materialized in her hands as she pointed and fired at the new beast on board. She watched it disintegrate before gazing back at Dante. "The demons you've been seeing are known as tracking demons. As long as they have a scent, they'll find the target. It's why they are so lithe with their movements."
"So why are they attacking random citizens, then?" Dante asked as he spun his gun and fired out the window, causing it to shatter as Cecelia caught the briefest sight of a demon.
"They're still demons," Cecelia shook her head back and forth. "They get powerful with every drop of human blood they gain. Of course they'll attack anybody near their target. Any source of power to help get the job done, right?"
"When you put it like that, it feels like these demons are smarter than the average," Dante stated.
"It's 'cause they aren't your average demon!" Cecelia exclaimed as she heard clawed feet overhead. "These demons have made pacts with those of the Charmer Sanction, doing their biddings. Although they can't control every action they do, they are still the ones responsible for sending them here…!"
After Cecelia's exclamation, a loud screeching of metal could be heard, causing everyone to look up. Three demons poured in, each one screeching as they sighted some source of prey. Both Cecelia and Dante fired off their guns, filling the demons with enough bullets to make them fall to the ground.
Before they could do anything, the bus skidded to a halt, almost vaulting Cecelia over the seats if she hadn't been holding on so tightly. Quickly people began scrambling out of the bus in a panic, even the bus driver, as Cecelia and Dante were left to their own devices.
Cecelia couldn't help but sigh out, gazing at the damages around her. No matter where she went, no matter when or how, they always seemed to find her. There's been times where she almost died trying to protect others from the demon attacks, but there was only so much she could do. This just felt like another reminder of how she won't ever be safe wherever she went.
"You definitely keep things interesting, I'll give you that," Dante said as he was staring at the bus's new sunroof.
"You can say that…" Cecelia murmured softly as she moved past him.
Dante noticed her quiet voice, his eyes on her as she moved past him. She carefully stepped over things and maneuvered around the bus until she was climbing down the stairs. Once she stepped outside she was rather surprised to see that they were actually close to the outside of the city. She gazed behind them and could see in the distance the blurs of dark red. A small growl was released under her breath as she looked to Dante, witnessing him step off of the bus.
"We got even more company coming our way," Cecelia announced as she gestured down the street.
"Damn, these things never really give up, do they," Dante stated more than questioned. He put his pistols away and began pulling off the silvered sword on his back. "It's a good thing that I don't either…!"
"This one is a larger horde than normal," Cecelia noticed as she got her gun up and at the ready. "Be careful. There might be someone controlling all of it!"
"More the merrier, right?" Dante flashed a grin at her before running forwards. "I've been waiting for this all week!"
"Wait…!" Cecelia called, only for Dante to keep rushing forwards. She couldn't help but huff in annoyance. "You better not die on me…"
The woman began walking slowly, knowing that the horde was already coming to her anyways. As she swapped her gun into her right hand, she flicked her left hand as if she was getting something off of it. A blade instead materialized in her left hand, the shine of it seeming supernatural in itself. The entire sword seemed to almost be multicolored in itself, being shades of blue, purple, and turquoise, the colors sometimes shifting and changing depending on the light. The entire blade seemed ethereal in itself.
Cecelia can see the first line of demons now, seeing a good amount of them distracted by Dante. After all, he was making quite the distraction with that giant sword, and being loud all together. But some of the demons targeted their sights on Cecelia, the original target, and made a b-line towards her.
The woman lifted her gun up and began firing at them, knowing how well the bullets are if they hit the spots just right. Some hit dead onto their targets while others seemed to bounce off. As they got close Cecelia finally prepared for close combat, rushing forwards with her sword close and at the ready. She dodged the claws and snapping mouths, her blade slicing along the side of the demon before she spun, shoving the end right under the chin of the other. With the blue tip of the sword poked out of its head, Cecelia watched as the demon went limp. Without a second thought she yanked it out, witnessing the trail of blood that followed the blade as the demon hit the ground, not at all bothered by the squelching sound it made.
The woman couldn't help the smile that began to curl on her lips, her tongue briefly tasting her lipstick as wet her lips. She couldn't help it, she truly couldn't. The excitement has begun pumping, and she can already feel her mouth watering. Without even a second thought she rushed into the frey, jumping up as she got close to the horde.
Dante gazed up, hearing noise above him, and witnessed Cecelia doing a backwards front flip over his head. He sliced down a demon without even looking, his eyes on the black cladded woman who was falling right towards the center of the demons. As soon as she got near one she threw her right hand out, the gun now gone as she grasped the head of a demon.
The devil hunter watched in fascination, seeing that something was completely different than before. The demon hissed before screeching in pain, a strange blue energy coming out of the demon as it wrapped up the arm of Cecelia. The woman simply grinned devilishly, absorbing the energy as she heard the demon screech. She heard hissing behind her and spun her blade around, holding it backwards as she thrusted upwards behind her. She glanced behind her to see another demon dying upon her blade.
Dante couldn't believe his eyes. He watched as the demon in her grasp slowly began disintegrating, it's voice weak and nonexistent as it practically disappeared from her hand. Facing the crowd before her, Cecelia lifted her right hand to show a bit of the blue energy circling in her hand, spinning in the air meere inches from her hand, looking perfectly like a sphere. She then clutched the sphere in her hand, breaking it entirely as it splintered off, absorbing itself into her body. Dante couldn't help but feel unsettled by the sight alone.
"Let's have a little fun, shall we?" Cecelia said as her eyes narrowed at the demons around her.
Immediately she began attacking, her sword swinging back and forth until she saw demon blood being sprayed with each attack. She was so sick of dealing with these hordes of hunting demons. Feeling her anger and frustration coursing through her, she thrusted her fist forwards towards a line of demons. Dante caught a glimpse of the attack, witnessing a gigantic transparent fist suddenly coming out of a gigantic portal, precisely punching the line of demons where Cecelia was going to punch. The man couldn't help but feel a nervous sweat come on as he stared at this woman.
"Holy shit…" was all he could murmur before thrusting his blade into an oncoming enemy. "What the hell are you…?"
Not even remotely hearing what Dante said, Cecelia spun around and thrust her sword into the chest of another demon. She just couldn't help it. The adrenaline, the rush of excitement as she sliced and squashed every demon around her. Between herself and Dante, it didn't take long at all for them to slice every demon down. Just as Cecelia yanked her sword out of another demon, the sound of it's squalshing flesh falling into deaf ears, she heard a gunshot loud and clear. She whipped her head around to see Dante pointing his pistol pass her. Gazing to the other side she witnessed a demon far too close for comfort fall to the ground with just a single bullet wound through its head.
"You have my thanks," Cecelia spoke calmly as she turned to Dante, a teasing grin on her face. "I must say, you are quite the shot. Makes me wonder how many bullets you shot through women's hearts."
"More like they shot it through me," Dante said, vaguely remembering past incidents with Lady. "I gotta say, I definitely didn't expect floating blue fists and feet to be popping up from the air. It's quite the party trick, you'd get plenty of customers with cash as long as you don't kill all of the clinentel."
"It's not the only thing I can do," Cecelia shrugged as she allowed her sword to disappear from her hands. "You only caught a glimpse of what I can do. If you stay fully on the job, perhaps you'll get a sight of all of it."
"I'm starting to wonder if you really need me on the job," Dante said as he strapped his sword back to his back. "You seem pretty capable of yourself back there, especially with all that, uh, glowy stuff back there. Do you actually need help with this?"
Cecelia stared at him, the jesting smile on her face gone and now into a frown. She sighed and briefly hung her head, as if it was something hard to say, before lifting her head up and gazing back at him.
"I do need your help," Cecelia said almost softly, her expression almost pleading as she placed a hand on her hip. "There's only so much I can do against The Charmer Sanction, whether I like it or not. You saw what they just did. They specifically want me dead. And the only way to get it to stop is to go to Néma, or at least try to get some sort of memory back…"
"Alright…" Dante said slowly as he eyed her, curiosity getting the better of him. "Walk and talk, then?"
"Why not?" Grumbled the woman as she began walking with him. "Might as well get a head start to Néma while we can."
"Well, here's something that I'm dying to know," Dante said as he eyed the woman next to him. "What are you, exactly? Because humans don't normally suck the souls out of demons so easily."
"How do you know? You're not exactly human yourself," Cecelia countered, turning the question onto him. "Plus, that speed and agility you have? Not to even mention the sword on your back. And don't even get me started on your hair."
"What, got a problem with it?" Dante asked, holding his hands out as he vaguely felt insulted for once.
"Not at all, actually," Cecelia spoke with genuine honesty. "I quite like it. It's unique."
"Oh. Good, then." Dante said, not at all expecting such a genuine response. It was quiet for a moment before he snapped his attention back at her. "You haven't answered my question,"
"Neither you to mine!" Cecelia exclaimed, gazing at him from the corner of her eyes.
"I asked first," Dante stated.
"And I asked second, and I believe last should always go first," Cecelia spoke, confusing Dante with her warped sense of logic.
"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" Dante accused.
"What ever do you mean?" Cecelia asked, giving him an innocent look in matching her tone. "I just simply wish to know about who I'm partnering with. After all, the rumors around you can be quite nasty…"
Dante sighed, already feeling annoyed that she was running word circles around him. Needless to say, he really wanted to know what she really is, because frankly he's still unnerved by the experience.
"If I tell you, are you gonna answer me?" Dante asked with a raised brow.
"Perhaps," Cecelia said as a playful smile returned to her lips. "Hopefully my memory loss won't suddenly act up all of a sudden…"
"Ha ha, very funny," Dante grumbled at her. He gave a sigh, trying to think of what to really say. "To make this short and sweet, my dearest daddy was that big ol' demon, and my mother was a pretty human lady. They married, birthed yours truly, along with my dearest twin brother who's all the way down in hell and probably dead."
Cecelia halted in her footsteps, staring at Dante with a baffled expression. "Ex… excuse me?"
"You asked for it," Dante said with a shrug. "I'm a big, scary half demon. Now, time for you to explain your being."
Cecelia eyes him for a moment before continuing onwards. She stared off in the streets ahead, seeing that they were just getting out of Red Grave City, which just proved to her how far this entire trip will be. As much as she wanted to keep tracking on in silence, Dante's greyish eyes were burning their way into Cecelia's soul, making the woman want to creep away from his sight. With a heavy sigh, she tried to collect all that she knew in her head before speaking.
"Well, you know I came from Néma, obviously," Cecelia said quietly as they continued forth. "As strong as The Charmer Sanction is, Néma is very secluded, and pushed far away from other towns and places. There are giant walls that prevent intruders from going in, or even out of the city. Well, the reason for that is that every citizen inside of Néma is a witch."
"A wi-what?" Dante raised a brow at her.
"Witch. Someone who possesses an innate ability for magic," Cecelia explained. "And I'm not talking abouts the whole pointy hat and broomstick nonsense. It's hard to explain, but everyone has some sort of ancestry with magic. No one is really the same with it, as everyone fits into a category of magic. I can't quite remember all of it, but what I do know is that I'm labeled as "Demon Eater.""
Dante slowed his walk, giving Cecelia a long look before slowly beginning to increase the distance between them. The raven haired woman sighed, shaking her head at his reaction. Not the worst reaction she's seen so far, but certainly not a pleasant one.
"Calm yourself, I don't plan on eating you," Cecelia scoffed at him, as if annoyed by the idea. "Here's a way to understand it. Humans don't have an innate sense for power or magic like demons or angels, so in order for us to have those powers, we use it off of actual magic beings. In other words, I use demon essence to not only use my magic powers, but it also allows me to heal myself, along with others. Think of it as a transfer of energy."
"Okay, hold up," Dante lifted his hand up as he spoke. "You're telling me that you suck the life out of demons, just to use it as power? Damn, and I thought the demons were the worst thing out there."
Cecelia shrugged, not exactly insulted by his words as they were laced with their own sense of truth. Even if he was acting rather snide about all of it. "Look, it is what it is. I use demon essence to help trigger my abilities, allowing me to do a whole bunch of things. I understand that it may seem wrong or gross, but it's the only way for me to use my powers."
"I don't know how helpful it is for humans to eat the souls of demons, but just don't do it on me," Dante said with his hands raised partially. "I personally like living, and I don't feel like having my life sucked out of my body."
"Don't worry, I don't plan on having it," Cecelia murmured and briefly mimicked his gesture. "I don't need demon energy to live. I'm still technically human. Just think of it as an upper hand in battle. If either of us ever gets hurt, at least I can give enough energy to heal us. As long as I can steal it off of demons, that is…"
"Okay, new question," Dante said as he looked down at her. "Can you use that on humans?"
Cecelia seemed to pause, not exactly liking where the conversation may be going. "...Yes, I can. But I don't normally do it. I'd rather suck the life out of a blood thirsty demon than some human. At least it'll be saving someone at that rate…"
Dante became quiet as he watched her facial expression, watching as she gazed off into the distance again. It was like she was clouded with thoughts. It was only then did Dante noticed that she had something decorated in her hair, largely resembling the large red jewel that was on her chest. As much as he was curious about it, he wondered if he had asked enough questions for the day. After all, her facial expression didn't seem so pleasant. So, the man simply patted her back, not only snapping her back to reality whilst confusing her, as he quickly picked up his pace and started moving past her.
"We've got quite a ways to go, and if you can utilize that energy, then use it to keep up with me, because I want to get this job done!" Exclaimed the man as he turned away from her.
Cecelia watched as the white haired male jumped up, a gust of wind briefly hitting her from the momentum, as she watched in awe as he landed quite a distance away. What he had said before about being half demon truly didn't seem so far fetched with the abilities that he had. The man stood up and flashed her a grin from afar, as if silently challenging her. She scoffed, but couldn't resist the smirk curling on her own lips.
"Alright, you asked for it," she murmured as she rushed forwards.