"Well well well, looks like you lost yet again, Dante."
"You're cheating! You couldn't have won five times in a row!"
"Actually, she did. You just suck."
Cecelia burst into laughter from Trish's harsh words, Dante hanging his head in a sulking manner. Cecelia had been playing against Dante at a game of cards while Trish watched, being the judge of who won and who lost. At first it was just for the sake of entertainment, but at this point it was a slaughter on Dante's pride. Cecelia won all of Dante's pocket money, and his whiskey collection, and all of his devil arms. As tempting as it was to take all of his things, Cecelia just took the pride of kicking his ass at cards. Plus, he sold all his Devil Arms anyways months ago.
"You've only been here for a year and you're already kicking my ass," grumbled Dante as he threw his cards on the table, clearly sick of the game. "If this keeps up I'm gonna call Morrison about harassment."
"You call me beating you in cards "harassment"? May I remind you of what you told me when I first came into your shop…?" Cecelia said with a smile as she tapped her cheek with her finger in mocking thought. "What was it that you said again? "Are you here for a job or a night of pleasure?""
"Oh," Trish said as she smirked in Dante's direction. "Flirting with a client? I thought you were better than that, Dante."
The man firmly crossed his arms against his chest as he leaned back, giving the two women a glare as it was clear he was becoming bashful. He may wear red a lot, but there was no denying the rise of redness in his face.
"I can't win against you two," grumbled the man almost childishly.
Cecelia chuckled again as she picked up her drink, bringing the glass to her lips as she downed the last of it. Trish could only shake her head at Dante whilst she began to collect all of the cards on the table.
A year had already passed with Cecelia being a part of the Devil May Cry shop. Through that time she spent most of it on jobs, usually working with either Dante or Trish, Lady tends to come and go a lot of the time, but it was common for Cecelia to bump into her on jobs. After several incidents with The Charmer Sanctions, none of them wanted to risk her being alone on a job. Multiple times Dante said that he had no doubts of her capabilities. But even he knew it was a bad idea for her to go on her own unless she felt confident. Cecelia had even agreed to the terms, knowing just how brutal her fellow witches can be.
During that one year Cecelia had only managed to really remember small things. She remembers her childhood being a happy one, ironically. Not so much doom and gloom as her life is now. She recalls being sent on small missions around Néma. But she also recalls having a strange fondness for singing, even though she's never done it in front of the group…
She couldn't quite recall anything important. Just small things that she has done through life. But, she was lying if she said it wasn't a little reassuring. Just the fact that she even could say she remembers makes her happy. Funnily enough, it's when she's talking to people that she'll remember things. The Devil May Cry crew have actually made an effort in chatting with Cecelia in helping her remember things. Although they're small memories, to Cecelia it means everything.
Although none of her memories pertain to anything that happened that night in the forest so many years ago, Cecelia hasn't given up on trying. At times she has been frustrated, continuing in facing off against witches and their summons alike. Each confrontation ends up being the same. They face off, they battle for either a few minutes or for hours, the witches are left unconscious and Cecelia gets to walk away with her life with some new threats. In her honest opinion, she's amazed that a Seer hasn't come chasing her at this point. If she beats up anymore underlings she's just going to walk away from now on. She's sick of feeling the guilt for beating up witches and warlocks who are so much younger than her. Yes, they threaten to take her life, but she's a woman somewhere in her thirties. She's sick of hurting all these kids.
Although the Charmer Sanction hasn't changed at all in their ways, Cecelia has. Mainly in her looks, though. She has changed her battle suit quite a bit. It was now in shades of black and gray, her golden trims only on her shoulders, as she now had some white sleeves. And Dante's "favorite window" was now less revealing as it only showed a bit of the top of her cleavage. Cecelia enjoyed owning her sexuality, truly she did, but even she needed a wardrobe change every now and then. Not only have her clothes changed, but so has her hair. Her hair had grown so much that she had to chop a few inches off, but it still wasn't enough to consider the hair short anymore. Trish was maybe the one person she would trust with cutting hair, but it was nerve wracking that she decided her method would be through the Sparda sword. She found herself leaving her hair up in a high ponytail as it made fighting a lot easier.
Even the others have changed a little bit. Trish's hair is more pulled back, and her clothes have slightly changed. They're still the same black clothing, but she's gotten some new pants and boots. Lady had even gotten a bit of a wardrobe change, now wearing a white jacket and matching white shorts. Cecelia wondered if she ever wore a shirt under it, but she never questioned her. She did dig the new sunglasses on Lady, though. Dante, on the other hand, was wearing more cowboy-esque attire, like chaps and boots. His hair was maybe a bit more parted, claiming to have changed it about a week ago, but honestly Cecelia couldn't tell.
Either way, no matter how much they've physically changed, Cecelia had gladly enjoyed the company of the entire Devil May Cry shop. She even had friendly banter with Morrison when he stopped by to give a new job. Or to reprimand Dante for his constant debt. Honestly, Cecelia had to wonder just how the man kept the shop up.
As Cecelia placed her cup down there was loud, frantic knocking coming from the front doors. All three of them lifted up their heads and looked at the doors, only to share confused glances at each other. Suddenly the door flung open, a man stumbling through as he fell to the floor. Cecelia and Trish pushed themselves onto their feet while Dante leaned forwards on his desk, prepared to stand up if needed.
"Pl-please! Help!" Choked out the man as he struggled to stand on his feet.
Dante pushed up from his desk as he eyed the man. "What seems to be the—"
Almost immediately was Dante cut off. Suddenly a black blur jumped up and came right through the opened doors, landing right on the man. He gave a scream, trying to crawl away as he was suddenly pinned. A demon was standing on top of him as it gave a chuckle, raising its arms up as it was made of a sharp metal blade instead.
A series of gun shots went off as fast as the three's reflexes. Each of them pulled out, or summoned, their guns and began firing. The demon didn't even get the chance to bring its arms down as its body was riddled with bullet holes. It stumbled back before falling into a heap of embers and dust. The man from before, seeing himself alive, pulled himself to his feet before rushing around the corner, only to squat down and hide. Although they get some strange customers every now and then, this was one of the stranger jobs they've seen in a while.
"It's one of those scarecrow demons again." Trish stated, keeping an eye on the place it had been.
"They've been showing up more often than they have before," Cecelia said as she looked at Dante. "What do you think we should do?"
"Well, as much as I usually demand payment, we can't risk these guys attacking people on the streets." Dante said as he holstered his guns, making his way from around his desk and to Rebellion. "Come on, girls. Let's do some light extermination and figure out what the hell's going on."
"Who's going to pay for the job?" Trish asked as she grabbed the devil sword, Sparda.
"We'll figure it out later," Dante said as he walked past her. He then pointed at the man quivering on the floor. "Hey, hide all you want, but if I find anything stolen you'll have worse things to worry about than demons."
A shaken, fearful cry came from the man and he cowards away from Dante.
The half demon could only shake his head and sigh as he made his way to the doors. Cecelia and Trish followed after him, weapons ready in hand, as they all rushed out of the shop. They didn't even take five steps on the streets before they spotted more demons. Seeing demons in Redgrave honestly wasn't uncommon. Demons tend to either be summoned, or they manifest a lot in places where there aren't strong barriers. Redgrave just so happens to be one of those places. But what is uncommon is seeing multiples of the same demons, especially for long periods of time. And they've been seeing a lot of scarecrow demons as of late.
"More of these guys," Trish grunted as they could see the demons on top of buildings and in the streets, waiting for targets to ambush.
"I don't suppose you recognize any of these demons with your witchy knowledge?" Dante asked, shooting Cecelia a glance over his shoulder.
"Not in the slightest," Cecelia spoke honestly as she watched them for a moment. "At first I would say that they may be marionettes—demons who're controlled by other demons—but these ones have minds of their own. I don't see any collars or witches around, so it's not the Sanction's doing. They're just your average, blood thirsty demons."
"Alright then," Dante grunted as he spun his beloved sword as a grin curled on his face. "Let's rock!"
Dante lunged forwards, charging head on into the demons in front of them. Cecelia and Trish turned in the other direction, Trish to the left and Cecelia to the right, as they faced off more demons there. A smile was on Trish's face as she battled, practically dancing her way between demons as she cut, slices, shot, or even punched and kicked them down. Cecelia, on the other hand, was humming to herself as she shot demons off of the buildings, resulting in them falling to the ground.
As Cecelia aimed she would sometimes hold her tune as she focused, only to pull the trigger and hit her targets. Eventually the demons got too close, so she had to resort to her sword and other abilities. She just kept up with her usual tactics. Slicing down demons, absorbing some of their energy, and sometimes doing a flurry of magic giant fists or heeled feet. Those are some of her favorite moves, personally.
Just as they killed some demons, the two girls met back up with Dante through the center street and continued helping him kill those demons. The more the group killed, the more of the scarecrow-like demons tend to pop up. It started to become worrisome to the three. Usually only a few pop up and the fight's done. These demons seemed to keep coming. It really did make them wonder if there was someone behind it. Knowing that it would give them a firm warning, Cecelia took matters into her own hands and began summoning one of her pact demons. Trish and Dante bought her plenty of time, holding them off while it took her a couple of minutes to summon one specifically.
Cecelia moved both of her hands in the air around in a circle, a red transparent circle forming in the air. Bordering the circle was foreign, forgotten words that can only be remembered in witch incantations. Cecelia raised her hand, her hand swiping over the gem on her chest as the final step to her pact. Giving off a brief shine, a dark swirl of power came out of the gem and went into the floating circle. All of a sudden Cecelia felt something hit her chest, sending her back and kneeling on the ground.
Her gem shattered.
Trish and Dante both looked behind them, hearing her exclaim of shock, only to see that something was wrong. Cecelia felt herself begin to panic as she realized what this meant. She swiped her hand over her gem as fast as she could, trying to stop the spell all together. She looked up with horror filled eyes as she watched the portal. A small blast came from it, sending Cecelia to the ground while Dante and Trish stumbled back. Screeches and roars came from the portal, startling the demon hunters as they watched in horror. Large, gigantic demons came from the portal with ease. As soon as they came through they took off, some taking to the sky while others ran through the streets.
In a rather sloppy attempt, Trish and Dante both tried to cut any of the demons off as best as possible, but their attacks didn't seem to cause too much of an effect. They did, however, witness the demons scoop up the small fries, taking out multiple scarecrows along the way as they ran through the town. As they looked back to the red portal, it suddenly closed after the last demon.
"Cece! Are you okay?!" Dante called, both him and Trish running over.
"I-I'm fine…!" Grunted Cecelia as she lifted herself off of the ground. "Just stop them…!"
As the Demon Hunters turned to watch where the demons were going, they saw the remaining few disappear. The big ones that came from Cecelia's portal, however, all seemed to be running off in a similar direction. Seeing as they were all taking off, Dante helped Cecelia to her feet while Trish kept her eyes on the demons.
"They're not staying in the city?" Trish questioned as she turned to look down at Cecelia. "Where do you think they're going?"
"I-I have no idea," Cecelia said as she tried to come down from her panic. "Wherever it is, the place isn't going to last long. Those demons are going to be hungry…"
"What happened? That's never happened before when you've summoned them." Dante said, knowing that Cecelia has a better control on her powers than this.
"My gem caused this…" Cecelia murmured as she looked down at the red jewel on her chest.
"It's shattered!" Trish exclaimed, her brows pinching together in confusion. "How did that happen?"
"I-I wish I knew," Cecelia stumbled over her words for a brief moment.
Dante gazed up, looking at their surroundings in general. As he gazed at the rooftops, he spotted a figure in black and purple clothing. He gave a shout, pointed in their direction, and yelled at them to come down from there. The figure turned away immediately and disappeared from sight. Dante jumped up, kicking off of a sign in the process, and got on top of the roof with inhuman speed and agility. Once he was on the rooftop, however, they were gone.
"Damn it…!" He cursed before turning around to leave.
Trish and Cecelia jumped onto the rooftop, having followed him, landing just in time to see him walking back.
"What happened?" Trish asked.
"It was the damned witches," Dante hissed as he gestured in the general direction they had been in. "They were watching us overhead. I bet you that they caused this whole mess."
"That doesn't make any sense—that goes against their rules," Cecelia quickly said. "They're not allowed to summon anything without placing a collar on them."
"But how much do you want to bet they broke your crystal," Dante said as he pointed at the broken gem on her clothing. "They were just waiting to ambush us, like always!"
"Let's try to calm down," Trish said as she could see Dante's anger flaring. "We can get back at them later. Right now we have to figure out where those giant demons are heading."
Cecelia picked her head up at Trish's words. "I… I might be able to figure it out if you give me some time in my room. I can try to track them. I just need time."
"Is there anything you need for it?" Trish asked, knowing how sometimes she needs objects for certain spells.
"Just time," Cecelia said before she gazed at her feet. "This is my mess. Those demons are my responsibility. I just need time to figure it all out…"
"What about that gem?" Dante asked as he tried to keep his anger leveled. "It's broken and in pieces. How're you going to get them back?"
"The demons are the pieces." Cecelia stated as she gazed back up at him. "I would prefer to capture them with the gem, but I know demons aren't so obedient. Either way, if we kill them or capture them, my gem should return back to normal. That's what I believe, at any rate…"
"Just great…" Trish shook her head as she began pacing slowly. "We're definitely not getting paid for this job."
Cecelia bowed her head as she stared at her feet, anger and guilt burning in her chest. "This is my fault. I promise I'll take care of it."
"We'll take care of it together," Dante said as he gave her a brief pat on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's get demon hunting before they cause some serious damage."
"...Right," Cecelia murmured as she followed after him.
The three jumped off of the building and headed back to the shop. The previous man from before was still inside, hiding in the corner like a child. Dante and Trish had to take care of him while Cecelia went straight to her room, knowing she'll have everything she needs in there. She made sure the door was tightly closed behind her. She couldn't be interrupted while doing this. She didn't want any more mistakes happening.
Feeling her heart racing with anxiety she began pulling books, gazing at each title and cover name as she hunted for a specific kind. She has read and reread every single book in this room. She knows what they contain, but sadly none could ever help with her memories. The most that they did were give her a feeling of nostalgia, but never a recollection of anything remotely important. After spending who knows how long pulling books from her shelves and sending a few to the floor in her panic, she finally found the cover she was looking for.
Quickly she opened it and began skimming through, trying to remember how the ritual went. The nice thing about Cecelia's room was that it was partially filled with books from Néma, written in the handwriting and print of actual witches. It wasn't any of the fake stuff that she had found so many times at stores. This was the real, dangerous art of witchcraft.
Feeling her anxiety simmer, Cecelia went around her room, gathering some incense and candles as she read her book. She grabbed some white chalk along the way and began making the symbols, carefully writing them down on her floor like she's done so many times before. She then proceeded to surround the circle with candles, lighting them along the way as she knew what this would entail. With her incense filling the air, her candles lit and ready, she set the book down on her desk and sat in the center of her chalk drawn circle.
Her legs were crossed indian style, her hands grabbing her knees, as she closed her eyes. Foreign words came out of her mouth as she chanted, recollecting each word from the book carefully. She continued the chanting, knowing well that saying this spell once wasn't going to do her much good as she needed to give it the power of her attention. By the time she chanted it all the third time, she felt a tingling in her eyelids. The smell of her incense has changed, now smelling like salt water and chilled winds.
Cecelia opened her eyes, but didn't see her room anymore. Instead she saw the demons that all escaped her gem, each of them either flying or swimming in a specific direction. They surprisingly didn't bother each other, each of them moving almost like a flock or herd of animals. She counted five demons in total.
That was bad.
Recognizing each demon, she was able to gaze past them, seeing an island in the distance. She could see a town, or city, of some sort with certain buildings towering over others. Cecelia did her best to focus on it, feeling her head slowly begin to build with pressure against her skull. As she felt her body project further into the island, all that she could really was a large, giant statue holding a sword. When she gazed at its face, she came to the realization that it was a demon.
The project stopped.
Cecelia gasped, regaining her breath as she felt like her head was about to explode. The candles around her went out one after another, the incense having burned all the way to their ends, and her room was dim once more. Her spell has stopped. Cecelia climbed to her feet slowly, only to feel something hot drip from her nose. Touching her upper lip, she brought her hand back and saw blood stained on it. She wasn't exactly phased by this. The book did warn about side effects. She was just lucky it was a minor one.
She went to the corner of her room and wiped away the blood, getting rid of the blood so there was no sign of it in the first place. Throwing the tissues away, she left her room. Although she has no idea where exactly her demons are going, she knew it was to an island. Unsure of where or which one for that matter, she knew she needed to report this to Dante and Trish. They could help her find them. As she traveled out of her room and down the stairs, she was quick to pick up on the white cladded figure standing in front of Dante's desk. There was Lady, chatting with Trish and Dante about something. As Cecelia walked down the stairs she quickly tuned in, wondering what she needed this time. Once in a while she would come in for a job or two, and from the sounds of it, it seemed like it would be a job.
""The Order of the Sword," huh?" Dante said as he looked back at Lady.
"Yes," She said. "Are you familiar with them?"
"Sorry, religion and I don't mix," Dante said with a shake of his head. He then pointed a finger at her. "But if it's another witch cult I'm not getting into it. I don't need any more magic wielding people on our hands."
"That's too bad," Cecelia spoke up, drawing attention to her as she finally reached the first floor. "I thought you enjoyed my "magic wielding" company!"
"You don't shoot out magic at me when you see me on sight," Dante said as he made throwing gestures with his hands. "You don't count." He looked back at Lady. "Anyways, what's this thing about swords?"
Lady could only sigh at Dante, already having enough of him. "The Order of the Sword is a congregation that gathers in the castle town of Fortuna." She explained. "It's on a far off island away from the continent. I guess the only people who have heard of it are the type of people who are into that kind of thing."
"Like you?" Dante shot at her with a cheeky smirk.
"Exactly." Lady said before pushing off of his desk.
"An island?" The words themselves grabbed Cecelia's attention. "Have you been to it by any chance?"
"I've only seen a bit of it, but I haven't been able to make much headway," Lady stated as he looked at her. "You interested in the job?"
"More like I might have a job of my own on that island." Cecelia stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell me more about this "Order of the Swords.""
"Well, how much do you know about Sparda?" Lady asked her with a hand on her hip.
"Only that he's his son," Cecelia stated as she pointed a thumb at Dante. She then began talking in an exasperated manner. "He was a demon lord who betrayed the actual demon king, saved all of humanity, and fell in love with a human woman by the name of Eva. They secretly had two twin boys and he was never heard of ever again." She gave Lady a flat expression. "Is that a good enough summary?"
"At least you're well versed in it," Lady said as she went on to explain. "The people who live in Fortuna today take these legends as truth and worship him…" She then faced Dante. "Just like a god."
"They worship a demon as a god?" Dante asked, taking his feet off his desk as he leaned towards Lady, now taking interest.
"With statues, by any chance...?" Cecelia asked as her heart began pounding in her chest again.
"Probably," Lady shrugged at her. "Peaceful worship can't be condemned. But the real problem is the Order. Lately they've been running amuck, catching demons and even butting in on some of my jobs."
"Catching demons?" Cecelia questioned as her brows pinched together in concern. "Nothing good can come of that…"
"Maybe they've started a zoo?" Dante suggested, clearly joking, and not taking Lady's words seriously.
"Not just demons." Lady said as she yanked the slice of pizza out of Dante's hands to keep his attention on her. "They've also been targeting Devil Arms, like the ones you have."
""Had," would be the proper term," Cecelia commented as she turned away from Dante.
"You try paying the rent of this place!" He exclaimed at her. It was something that he was sick of hearing, and Cecelia knew it well. But she still teased him anyway. He scoffed at her before looking back at Lady. "They're starting a museum then. So what?"
"Well what if their intentions are foul?" Lady suggested, keeping Dante's pizza out of reach. "And what if there's a diabolical plan behind these apparently random acts?"
As they talked, Cecelia turned and noticed Trish walking out of the door. She looked back at Dante and Lady, seeing that they hadn't even noticed her left, as they continued the bickering. Cecelia could only shake her head, knowing well enough that Trish was already on her way for the job.
"You know," Cecelia spoke up as Dante tried to make up excuses. "I just found out where my demons went. An island that worships demons with Sparda statues? Sounds exactly what I saw when I traced after them. It's worth the investigation, or at least a visit."
"What do you mean by "your demons?"" Lady asked, raising a brow in her direction.
"Long story short, my gem is busted and I just lost over half of my powers from it," Cecelia said as frustration was clear in her voice, gesturing a lot with her hands. "Just because we were ambushed doesn't mean they're not my responsibility. I need to check out this "Fortuna" island to see if they've gone there. I don't even want to think of the destruction they'll cause, or what they'll even try to do if these cultists try capturing one of them."
"That's… definitely a problem." Lady said as she took a step back.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dante waved his hands back and forth until he was looking Cecelia in the eyes. "What do you mean you've lost your powers?"
"I can feel my energy draining," Cecelia confessed. "Not enough to be dangerous or anything, I promise. I can still fight. Just not as strong as before. If I collect these demons, however, my powers should be restored."
"And if they're killed?" Dante asked with a raised brow.
"I'll need to find a new pact demon," Cecelia said with a shrug.
"For the love of…" Grumbled Dante as he sounded frustrated. He stood up from his desk, a cheering smile growing on Lady's face that he ignored, and he turned to the side. "Trish, what do you—"
He cut himself off as he saw the blonde gone. He turned fully to look behind him. The Sparda sword was gone, and in its place on the wall was writing in lipstick. "See you there," it said in very feminine writing. Even Cecelia couldn't suppress the smirk on her face, practically hearing the mischievousness of Trish's voice saying that.
"Try not to keep us waiting, Dante," Lady said as she grabbed her weapon, the Kalina Ann, and shouldered it.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her leave.
Cecelia gave Lady a friendly wave as she made her way out the door. Cecelia walked over to where she had been standing before and gave Dante one of her signature smirk. She could already see the man gulping at the sight.
"Ready to capture some demons?" Cecelia asked with a sarcastic joyfulness in her voice.
"I guess," sighed the man as he reached into his pizza box. When he felt no slices left he looked, only to be disappointed as he released another sigh. "Yep. This is going to get ugly…"
"Can't be as bad as you playing cards," Cecelia jested with a smirk as she walked backwards towards the door. "As you say all the time, "Let's rock!""
.
