Seven Months of Hell   von Khaosprinz
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                                  Kapitel 1: 
                                  -----------


Dante was tired of fighting, something he had never, ever thought possible.
Here he was now, though, deep in literal hell and fighting was all he did- could
do. He didn't know for how long he had been here now, fighting, wandering and
more fighting. Ivory was all he had left at this point. The motorcycle he had
come here with long since abandoned when it had been necessary for him to make a
quick escape that hadn't left him any time to start it up. His beloved
sword Rebellion, the keepsake of his father, had been knocked out of his hand
and there had been simply too many enemies to even take the second to call it.
He hadn't even realised they were pushing him away from the place where he had
been fighting them, only noticing the unknown environment when the last demon
had fallen, and at that point he was too far away for Rebellion to heed his
call. He had gone searching for it, flicking his wrist every other time in hopes
of hearing the familiar noise of it wheezing through the air on its return to
him, but it was all in vain. Too soon the next wave, army of demons had found
him and forced him to abandon his effort. Ebony had been lost during a huge
explosion that had caught him off guard, knocking him through the air and his
precious gun away from him. He watched in horror as it fell down a cliff,
causing flickers of a memory from over twenty years ago to pass through his
mind.

Clutching Ivory tightly in his hands, Dante heaved a breath. He was tired, so
very tired. This wasn't at all what he had expected when he had decided to enter
the deepest pits of hell. He thought he had seen it all, and he took a moment to
curse at the overbearing arrogance he just couldn't let go of. All because he
had been careless, overconfident, and his family had paid the price. He could
still see the scene unfolding in front of his inner eye- Him, Nero, Trish and
Lady fighting. He was mocking their enemy, they all were because they had grown
too confident over the years. In his carelessness, he had been hurt, which had
first surprised him, then awakened his anger. He had triggered, but it had felt
different from usual. He had barely been in control of his movements, demonic
instincts having taken over, and the next thing he remembered clearly was
finding himself alone surrounded by a mountainside of dead demons. No sight of
any of his friends. Horror had crept through him and tried to overwhelm him, but
he had forced it down and the gears in his head only took seconds to launch into
all the action they could offer. For weeks, months he had been trying to find
them, setting everything into action and recalling every favour he was owed in
order to learn their whereabouts. But nothing, nothing.

And that's when he had been called by the clan of the Vie de Marli. His first
instinct was to refuse, he didn't have time to waste on some faraway island. He
kept telling himself there was still a chance to find them alive and well, and
he clung to it with every fibre of his being, no matter how this hated part of
his head told him that they were gone for three months now. That the chance of
finding them still alive and kicking had dwindled to almost nothing as time
passed.

But then he had heard the name of the demon that this crazy business man wanted
to summon- Argosax. He still remembered the stories about him, how he dwelled in
one of the deepest parts of hell, and Dante had made his decision. If he
couldn't find them in the human world, they must have been taken to hell, and he
would turn it upside down in his search for them. He would keep on searching
until he had either found them or the dreaded confirmation of their demise. Lady
worried him most. She was the only human in their little group of friends with a
bond that was forged through battles and bloodshed over the course of years. He
had started to notice a few years back that her movements weren't as sharp and
precise as they used to be.  Age was catching up to her, and the realisation
had hit him in the face stronger than the humongous statue of a Saviour ever
could. She was 41 now- or maybe 42, he didn't know for how long he had been in
this literal hell now- and he knew that she would have to retire sooner rather
than later. But he also knew that she never would. It scared him.

He recalled his journey on his way to battle Arius. The closer he got, the more
thrill he had felt in the prospect of finally doing some progress in his quest.
At least that what he had kept telling himself. He made it a point not to ever
take any of his enemies too lightly again, considering it was the reason his
life had become such a mess in the span of a few hours, the cause of things
happening that he had never thought possible.

But here he was now. Leaning against a deformed rock of some kind, tired of
fighting hoards of demons day in, day out, with nothing left but Ivory. He
didn't want to give up, it went against everything in his nature, but... he was
so tired. He could already hear the next wave of demons coming and his eyes
briefly took in the tattered mess that had once been his coat. I must look like
I feel, he thought to himself while clutching Ivory and standing straight. No,
giving up wasn't an option. He would either get out of this again or die trying.
He took a step away from the stonewall and prepared himself for the onslaught.

Only a few seconds later Dante could see the first demons approaching him. More
followed, more and more, until he was faced with another ocean of devils
attempting to drown him. He raised Ivory, aimed, and started the massacre. The
first demons were already disintegrating long before they reached him, but it
was the same as always- for each one he killed, two more seemed to appear. He
quickly rolled out of the way when a few Sloths materialised out of thin air
next to him, their scythes impaling the ground where he had been standing a
split second ago. They were dispatched of with a few precise shots and without
missing a beat, he returned his attention back to the army ready to pounce on
him. His jaw clenched in a grim smile as Puias started to descend on him, their
sheer mass casting a shadow over his surroundings. His fist connected hard
enough with one of them to knock it back into its brethren, never once
stopping Ivory's rapid fire into the mass of demons. There was no need for him
to pay too much attention, there were enough enemies to ensure that every single
bullet would hit a body part, no matter where he shot. He felt a prickling
sensation in the back of his neck and was just in time to dodge the huge pair of
scissors emerging from the wall. He used his momentum to run the surface up a
few metres before jumping off it, firing off round after round at the demons
below him before safely landing on the Sin Scissors' head, disintegrating it. He
reached for one part of the broken scissors before it could vanish, blocked
incoming projectiles with it and finally threw it into the awaiting mass of
devils with enough force to cut the first few targets cleanly in half.

His eyes quickly scanned the area for any Wraths. They were both dangerous and
incredibly useful in this environment. The sound of battle and demons was too
loud to make out any particular noises. More than once had he been forced to
make a quick, sloppy escape or take a few blows because a Wrath had managed to
make its way over to him without being noticed before exploding right in his
back. But if he found them early enough, they were an amazing help in
dispatching big chunks of the demon mass. There was one, the tell-tale mass on
their backs pulsating, slowly making its way over to him. Dante leapt high into
the air and jumped off a Soul Eater that had attempted to sneak up on him from
behind, kicking it right into a scythe in the process. He aimed at the Wrath and
fired a few shots until it blew up, taking all the demons with it within a ten
feet radius. He saw a Frost coming straight at him, icy blade aimed at his
chest, but before it could impale him, Dante grabbed it by the head and hurled
it with all his force into the devils below. He landed on the ground again,
immediately ducking to avoid the demon's attacks and kept firing.

Dante kept fighting for what felt like hours, even if he didn't know for sure.
Maybe it was really just minutes, or maybe it was days. There was no way for him
to tell. There were finally fewer demons around. It didn't look like an endless
ocean anymore, no new devils taking the place of their fallen brethren. He felt
a sharp pain in his right arm and his grip on Ivory faltered for a second. A
quick look revealed that an Enigma's red arrow had embedded itself in his flesh,
and with a growl, he kept firing despite the pain. He just ripped the arrow out
of his arm and threw it back at the statue that had managed to hit him, watching
in grim satisfaction as it shattered into pieces, the larger chunks knocking
other demons off balance as they were hit. But his moment of triumph was
short-lived as an Assault dived at him from behind. He blocked the lizard's
blade with his gun before delivering a kick hard enough to shatter its shield
and throwing it back a few feet. He was panting and his body was short from
simply giving out, but he refused to give in now. Not when this wave was almost
finished and he would have time to rest and search and wander afterwards. Not
much time, granted, but enough to gather the strength necessary to survive the
next attack.

While he was focussed on shooting the Assault down, its thick skin
withstanding Ivory's bullets, he failed to see a Mephisto emerging from the
ground in complete silence. He was too exhausted to notice it regarding him for
a second before sticking out a single, claw-like finger.

He hissed in pain as the elongated nail pierced his shoulder and Dante had to
stop himself from whirling around. Without turning, he aimed behind him and
fired blindly- one of the bullets had to hit their goal. He heard the signature
shriek that the Mephisto had indeed been wounded, but apparently the demons were
smarter than he gave them credit for- or he was simply too exhausted to prevent
it from happening- because they noticed his moment of weakness and immediately
jumped into action. Before the spear in his shoulder had completely vanished,
more pain erupted in his chest and stomach. Looking down he saw a multitude of
red and blue arrows protruding from his torso and he felt his knees giving in.
Even though he could feel his strength leaving him, he ripped them out of his
flesh, one after another, and hurled them back at the descending demon hoard. He
had gotten so far, had managed to survive until this point, there was
absolutely no chance that he'd die at the hand of some low demons like those!
Forcing himself to stand upright again, he unleashed his inner devil, sending
his attackers flying with a shockwave. He hated using the form that had caused
all this mess, even if he had his instincts under control now, but it didn't
feel as though he had a choice right now.

He charged into the demons, the red, glowing swords on his forearms slicing
through hide and flesh like it was butter. Swords and arrows simply bounced off
his skin, unable to penetrate his armour while he unleashed his fury in a
macabre dance of death among the devils. This form was powerful, much more
powerful than he remembered his father's having been back on Mallet Island
fifteen years ago, but it was all the more taxing. It put a great strain on the
human half of his body, and all too soon he felt it wearing off again. A small
part inside of him sighed in relief when the power went dormant again, but a
bigger part realised the excruciatingly bad timing when he saw the blade aiming
at his chest but he was unable to move.

Pain exploded in his ribcage and for a short moment, a black veil obscured his
vision. He blindly shot at the demon who was wielding the weapon that was
pinning him to the ground, but his arm was trembling, causing the bullets to
miss their target. Dante tried to breathe through the blood filling his lungs,
tried ignoring the agony in his chest to keep fighting, but the demons were
closing in on him. Still unwilling to give in, he simply ripped the blade out of
his chest, even if it took more effort on his side than it should have. He threw
it at his enemies in a way that made it bounce off them, hitting the others
surrounding him and giving him a brief moment of air. He struggled to sit up,
coughing up blood and had to close his eyes in order to get them back into
focus. When he opened them again, he was surrounded once more.
Clutching Ivory tightly in his hand he started firing. Over his own wheezing
breath, Ivory's firing and the screams and shouts of the devils dying, he
failed to hear the sound of an engine approaching. And even if he did, he would
have thought it to be an illusion, a hallucination caused by blood loss,
exertion and the slow descent into madness he was almost sure was slowly
enveloping him.

Then suddenly, a lot of things happened too fast for his tired mind to pick up
on. The sound of the engine had gotten louder, loud enough to make him wonder
about it briefly, but before he was able to make something out of it, the sound
of screeching brakes tore through the air and something slammed forcefully onto
the ground next to him. He felt the demonic energy of a shockwave washing over
him without hurting him, and Dante was confused. Dust was obscuring his vision,
so instead he tried to hear what was going on around him. He couldn't hear
anything but the breathing of another person, but that was impossible. Demons
didn't breathe like that, it almost sounded like another human-

"I finally found you, man. This sure is some mess you've gotten yourself into."

The dust finally started to settle around him and Dante could make out a
familiar shape he had hoped to see again, but deep down not been expecting to
anymore. He saw Nero rising from his crouch on the ground to stand in front of
him, Red Queen in his left hand and his right, demonic arm glowing
brightly. Ebony and Blue Rose attached to his belt and Rebellion fastened
to his back.



                                  Kapitel 2: 
                                  -----------


Dante couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nero was here, he wasn't dead, he
was here. He was alive and kicking and had just saved his arse. He had followed
him into hell to get him out of there after Dante had originally gone here in
search for the younger. He was alive.
 
Immense relief washed through him and he almost felt like weeping. His knees
gave in as he gave a shaky smile, but before he could hit the ground, Nero
rushed over to catch him.
 
"Come on, old man. You have no idea how long I've been searching for you."
 
Same here, shot through Dante's head and he had to fight laughter bubbling up in
his still hurting chest. Slumping over he took a shuddering breath, fully aware
of the fact that it was only Nero who was keeping him upright.
 
"Man, you look like a train ran you over more than once. Come on, let's get out
of here."
 
Dante felt himself being pulled up and no matter how hard he tried, he just
couldn't find the energy in him anymore to move his body by himself. Nero put
one of his arms around his neck, his own Devil Bringer tightly gripping Dante's
waist to slowly lead him over to the motorcycle. The older hunter's mind was in
a haze and all he wanted was to sleep. Now that he knew he was in good hands,
his mind stopped being constantly on edge, and all the exhaustion that had built
up in the recent- weeks? months?- but had been suppressed emerged like a wave,
crashing into his brain and putting it almost to a halt. There was something on
his mind, something urgent, but everything in his head was too fuzzy for him to
grasp. What was it again? He was so glad Nero was here and alive. If Nero was
alive, maybe Trish and Lady-
 
He bolted upright, his eyes widening in almost madness. With a sudden surge of
strength, he tightly gripped onto Nero's collar, staring into the other's dark
blue eyes intently.
 
"What about Trish? And Lady? What happened to you? What-"
 
"Later, Dante, first we-"
 
"No! What about them? How's Trish?"
 
"She's fine! She's currently keeping the gate I came through in stasis, so we
can get-"
 
"And Lady? What about Lady?"
 
"She's- alive."
 
In any other situation, Dante would have noticed Nero's slight hesitation. But
as it were, he didn't and instead kept pressing forward.
 
"They're both-?"
 
Nero carefully reached out and loosened the death grip the other had on his
shirt. Holding onto his wrists in fright that he might keel over without any
support, he repeated in a soft, hopefully reassuring tone what he had said
before.
 
"They're alive, Dante. They're alive. We're going back to them, okay? We're
returning to the Devil May Cry, all four of us."
 
He held Dante's almost manic gaze and felt sorrow creeping its way into his
stomach. Dante had been in this place for four months and he didn't know what it
had done to him. After a few seconds, Dante finally seemed to believe him and
just slumped over, all energy having left his body. Nero caught him, the elder's
head resting on his shoulder, arms hanging limply at his side. With a sigh, he
carefully cradled his relative, encircled his waist with his arms and closed his
eyes.
 
How did it come to this?, he wondered. He could barely remember what exactly had
happened on that fateful day. He only remembered being shocked when Dante had
suddenly triggered, looking completely different normally. And behaving
differently, too. He just tore through the demons with the blades on his arms,
none of the usual mocking and joking, only feral grunts and snarls coming from
deep within his chest. Trish and Lady had been shocked as well, neither of them
knew what it was, but that was their mistake. The demons, void of human emotions
and mannerisms like freezing into place due to surprise, had ganged up on them.
He only remembered sharp pain throughout his whole body before darkness had
taken him in. The next thing he knew was awakening in a weird place somewhere in
the demonic realm, put into chains just as Lady and Trish. The demons had been
smart enough to take their weapons, so any kind of breaking out had to wait
until his and Trish's demonic blood had helped them recover enough to rely on
their personal strength alone.
 
Lady... was another story. As a human, the demon's treatment had taken a whole
different toll on her. But she was still alive. As soon as he and Trish had
rested enough, they were able to break out, beat all the demons that had
captured them into one bloody pulp and make their way out of there. They had
stumbled upon their weapons at some point which had made the job a lot easier.
For a while they were just walking around aimlessly, not knowing where they were
or where the next portal could be until they had finally found a place that
Trish was familiar with. Then it was just a matter of time until they could
return. They took turns searching for everything they needed to open up a
portal, unwilling to let Lady alone in this place, in her condition. It had
taken a while, but they had finally been able to escape. The gate, however, had
let them out in the middle of nowhere, so it had actually taken another two
weeks until they had finally reached civilisation. Three more weeks were wasted
when Lady was finally admitted to a hospital somewhere in Russia to get patched
up as much as possible, and another two with their journey back to the Devil
May Cry. They had tried calling Dante, but to no avail. While Trish was
escorting Lady back to her own flat, Nero made his way to the shop. After a
short fight with the red-haired woman- Lucia?- he found out that she had been
the one to assign Dante's last mission. He learned from her what happened, and
after finding out that they had been gone for almost five months and Dante
apparently been trapped in hell for over three, Nero felt dread rising in his
stomach that he hadn't felt ever before.
 
He was calling the Devil May Cry his home for over eight years now. He
couldn't even imagine the place staying strong without Dante around. Hell, he
couldn't even imagine a life anymore without the older slayer. They still didn't
know how exactly they were related and had agreed on never wanting to find out,
but they were family nonetheless. Trish and Lady, too. So as soon as Lucia had
briefed him on everything he needed to know, he had called the female demon up
and told her what happened. She hadn't even hesitated to meet with him so he
could go and get their friend back, and even Lady had insisted on coming along,
despite their protests. Even if she was handicapped now, she could still cover
their backs with her guns from a safe distance, and so they went and opened a
gate to hell. Nero had gone in, while Trish was now keeping it up, but closed,
so no demons could emerge, with Lady waiting at her side for the two of them.
 
For a while, Nero had just been wandering around, going deeper and deeper until
he reached a point that matched Lucia's description, and from then on it was
only a matter of following the path of destruction that Dante had left behind in
his battles. He grew more and more restless the further in he went, which
ultimately morphed into worry and dread when he found the other's bike and
weapons scattered throughout the demon realm. Determined to not leave them
behind, he had dutifully picked them up but never used them to kill the stray
demons he stumbled upon on his journey. And so he drove from battlefield to
battlefield until he spotted a huge mass of demons gathering at the same spot,
and with one glance to his faintly glowing Devil Bringer, he was sure he had
finally found Dante.
 
He opened his eyes again, the familiar weight still resting in his arms. They
needed to get out of here, and fast. He wasn't sure how much time passed between
each of the waves, but he sure as hell wasn't going to take any more chances
than absolutely necessary. Picking the older hunter carefully up, he made his
way over to the bike before setting him down on it. Keeping him steady with one
arm, he carefully strapped both their weapons, apart from Blue Rose which he
kept attached to his belt, on Dante's back. He didn't even stir. He just sat
there, chin touching his chest and messy and dirty hair falling into his closed
eyes. With a sigh, Nero sat on the machine in front of the other half-devil and
shuffled a bit until he was leaning forward with Dante's heavy weight resting
almost comfortingly against his back. He snaked his relative's arms around his
own waist so he wouldn't fall off as easily. Kicking the bike into motion, he
held onto the other with one hand, steering the motorcycle with his Devil
Bringer alone. Now they just had to get back to the portal.
 
Some time later, Dante slowly awoke from his unconscious slumber. He was
wondering where he was, his mind not able to grasp why he was moving and why
there seemed to be a body in front of him. He carefully blinked himself back
into reality and needed a moment to understand what was happening. The first
thing his eyes saw was white hair, much like his own, and a shoulder covered by
a dark blue, almost purple coat. It took a moment until his body was back in
action, feeling oddly refreshed until he realised what situation he was in.
 
Nero had found him, and apparently put him on the motorcycle he had originally
gone to hell with in order to get them out of it again. He felt his upper body
leaning heavily on the younger's back, the warmth seeping through his tattered
clothes was surprisingly welcoming. He shifted a little to get more comfortable
before noticing that his arms were encircling the younger's waist, wrists
tightly held onto by another hand. His moving about, however, had drawn Nero's
attention to his awakened state. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder and
shot Dante a brief smile when his eyes were met with greyish-blue and thankfully
much more lively than before ones.
 
"Hey. Good to see you're up again, man. You scared me there a little", he said
over the noise of the engine. Dante couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle.
 
"I would say I'm sorry, but you probably scared me a lot more when you just
disappeared."
 
Nero hummed in agreement, "Yeah, I guess so... But it really is good that you're
awake again. There's a hoard of demons right on the way to the portal I used,
and I almost feared I'd have to take the longer way around to avoid them. I
can't exactly do much with you on my back and only one hand."
 
Dante straightened up, carrying his own weight now, even if his arms never left
the other's waist. He looked around, and indeed, several hundred metres in front
of them a big nest of demons was waiting for them. They were probably drawn to
the gate Nero had mentioned. He reached for Ebony and Ivory, briefly
relishing their familiar weight in his hands.
 
"You can let go of me and use that hand for more useful stuff than keeping me on
your back now, Nero. I'll be fine. What do you say, think we can just break
through?"
 
He was awarded the familiar smirk he hadn't seen in too long and Dante couldn't
help but grin back. He felt another wave of relief and thankfulness? washing
over him at the sight of his young relative alive and kicking.
 
"Sure thing. You'll need to clear our path a bit, though, then I'll push this
baby as much as I can."
 
Dante shifted on his seat so he could keep his balance by pressing his legs
against the machine and Nero's thighs. He lifted his arms, resting them on the
other's shoulders while aiming straight ahead at the demons they were now
directly heading for. He saw the other bringing his other hand to the handle of
the bike, revving it up.
 
"And here we go!"
 
With a sudden jolt, they sped up considerably and Dante had to increase the
pressure of his thighs on the machine to keep his balance. They had drawn the
demon's attention, but he didn't give them more than a second before he pulled
the triggers on his beloved twin guns again and again. The devils were falling
one after another, clearing out a path for them straight through their middle.
Nero leant forward in his effort to channel as much of his demonic energy into
the bike as it could withstand to make it go even faster. Blue lightning emerged
from his hands and slowly covered first the handle, then the rest of the
motorcycle and only seconds later the glass on the speedometer shattered as the
pointer was far exceeding the numbers written.
 
They didn't even feel the impact as they ran the first poor demon over that had
decided to get into their way. The howling of the engine, the crackling
lightning and the repeated gunshots drowned out all other noises. It took less
than a minute to break through the mass of demons, but Nero didn't let go and
kept pushing the bike. After putting his guns away, Dante resumed his grip
around the other's waist, leaning forward as well so the wind wouldn't whip into
his face as much. He rested his cheek against the other's shoulder, feeling the
ends of white hair brushing against his face. He was tired again, the rush of
adrenaline having worn off again and leaving exhausted emptiness behind. He
stared tiredly ahead but couldn't help the pure joy surging through his entire
being as he could see the signs of a gate ahead in the distance. He closed his
eyes and his tightened his grip, and even though Nero didn't take his eyes off
the path ahead for even a split second, he flashed a brief smile when he felt
the comforting, warm weight settling against his frame once more. Felt the slow,
but strong and heavy heartbeat through the layers of clothing.
 
"Yep, we're almost home."



                                  Kapitel 3: 
                                  -----------


Nero only slowed down when they approached the gate, his death grip on the
handles of the bike gradually loosening and the demonic energy he had sent into
it dissolving. The portal was still almost closed and frozen, not allowing them
to go through, which meant that Trish hadn't noticed their arrival yet. He
briefly wondered for how long he had been here now. Time flowed differently in
the demonic realm, so he had no chance of making any assumption that could be
considered even vaguely accurate. He slowly came to a stop and put one of his
feet on the ground to keep his balance, a few feet away from the gate. He threw
a careful look over his shoulder, observing the relaxed features of his
companion and found that he had fallen asleep again. Worry gnawed at him once
more. Right now, Dante seemed a bit like a loony... but Nero was pretty sure
that was only temporary. As soon as they were back in the human world, back in
the Devil May Cry, back home, Dante would be able to recover from this ordeal.
He could only imagine the strain this whole 'adventure' had put on the elder's
mind and soul.

Nero noticed a movement in the corners of his eyes and carefully turned to see
what had caught his attention. A bunch of demons, maybe a couple dozen, were
making their way over to them. With a sigh, Nero's gaze flickered back to the
portal that still gave no signs of opening anytime soon. Closing his eyes in a
brief moment of consideration, Nero carefully loosened the grip around his waist
and climbed off the bike, trying his best not to wake the older hunter. He
positioned him in a slightly awkward way against the handles to keep him
balanced before taking Red Queen off the other's back and making his way over
to the demons that were slowly, almost curiously approaching them. He scanned
the remaining directions quickly and found that no other devils were coming
near.

He broke into a sprint, determined to let the fighting happen as far away from
Dante as possible. As soon as he felt that he was far enough away to use Blue
Rose, he pulled his beloved revolver out of her holster at his hip and aimed at
the first demon. Nero felt a twisted kind of satisfaction rising within him as
he watched the demon explode, splattering its green, slimy insides over its
brethren. He shot a few more of them until they were close enough to cause him
to stop. The young hunter stood still for a second, regarding his enemies that
seemed to be observing him in turn, before he slowly pulled Red Queen off his
back. He stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground, revving it up before
addressing the beings in front of him.

"So, you're the fuckers that did that to him, huh?"

His voice was cold and hard as steel. He let his icy eyes take in every single
demon opposing him.

"Well then, let me show you what I think of that, you little shits."

With that, he ripped Red Queen out of the ground and pounced on the first
demon, cleanly slicing it in half with his flaming sword. He punched one of the
burning parts into the rest of the demons, causing some of them to burst into
flames and scattering them in their panic. With every shriek and cry of a dying
devil, Nero felt a perverse, convoluted mixture of wrath and satisfaction
pumping through his veins, cheering him on, causing him to hit faster,
harder, deadlier. He grabbed a charging Abyss with the spectral version of his
demonic arm and slammed it into the ground before kicking it with all his might
into the mass of devils approaching him. It exploded into a sea of blood upon
impact, painting the surrounding enemies in a coat of red. Nero felt his blood
boiling hotter and hotter as he fought the beasts, and as soon as the remaining
half had him surrounded, his lips contorted into a grotesque version of a
predatory smirk. With a shout he unleashed his inner devil, knocking the demons
off their feet and almost thrived at the sound of Yamato cutting through
flesh, bone and armour alike. Being a devil hunter had never felt so
good before.

It wasn't long until all the demons but one were disposed of. He looked at the
crouching Blade before him his as it bared its teeth, hissing at him, clearly
intimidated by the bloodlust he displayed. It almost tried to scramble away, but
Nero created one of his blue, spectral swords right above it. He let it drop
down, and the Blade screeched as it pierced its torso and pinned it to the
ground. Green-yellowish blood oozed out of the wound as the lizard was writhing
on the floor. The hunter stood right in front of him, slowly lifting Blue
Rose and aiming the two barrels right between the demon's eyes. His own were
glaring down at it in a dangerous red, his distorted voice echoing and the
spectral being behind him standing tall and menacingly.

"That's what you get for messing with us- with him."

And then he pulled the trigger.

Feeling oddly content, Nero detriggered and cleaned the blood and gore off his
sword before putting it back on his back. He almost felt like whistling as he
made his way back to Dante, who was still sleeping peacefully, albeit weirdly
positioned on the motorcycle. His gentle movements as he sat back down in front
of his friend and relative were a stark contrast to the massacre he had just
caused and thoroughly enjoyed, but that didn't matter to him. Now that he had
found Dante, he wanted to make everything and everyone pay for what they had
done to them. On Trish and Lady's behalf, too. After 17 years of being an orphan
and having been forced to leave the small thing that almost resembled a family
behind in Fortuna, he had finally found one for himself. He was not going to sit
by and idly watch it being harmed.

Nero made himself as comfortable as he could while waiting for the portal to be
opened from the other side. He was a bit worried, Trish had said that she'd know
when he would be back, so why was nothing happening? They were fine, weren't
they? She had said she'd keep the portal as shut as possible without actually
deactivating it so no demons could come through. If anyone knew about this kind
of thing, it'd be her. Right?

Time passed, and for what felt like hours later, Nero could finally see the
portal flickering to life. Slowly, very slowly, the dimly glowing rift widened,
revealing a colourful vortex that was gradually growing until the distorted
shapes of a forest in the human world could be made out. He breathed a relieved
sigh before kickstarting the bike into action and drove towards their way back.

Passing through the portal felt like walking through a waterfall that was both
scaldingly hot and freezing cold at the same time. All kinds of different
colours and indiscernible shapes surrounded him in a seemingly bottomless place
and Nero had to suppress a shiver. He glanced over his shoulder to the older
hunter, who was... still out of it. If they were in any other position he'd
snort at the fact that Dante was able to sleep through an earthquake if he
wanted to, but right now it was more worrying than anything else. Only seconds
later, however, they reached the end of the portal and passed through, back to
the human world.

The bike broke through the distorted surface of the rift and hit the ground.
Nero slowly came to a stop, eyes searching for his two female friends and found
their eyes full of anxious anticipation, only barely soothed by the fact that
Dante was resting at his back. He gave them a smile and nodded, gaze focussing
on Trish as she came over, Lady's arm around her neck to help her walk as they
came over to him.

"What happened to him? Is he okay?", the blonde demon asked, her tone hushed.

Nero nodded, "As okay as he can be, I guess. We didn't get to talk much, he
passed out almost right after I found him and only woke up for a few minutes
before actually falling asleep. I don't think he got all that much during his
stay there."

All three of them looked at the red-clad hunter who was still out like a light,
face void of any emotion, chest rising and falling slowly with each deep breath.
The young man hesitated before addressing the two women once more, eyes averted.

"He seemed a bit... out of it when I found him. From what I figure, he went
almost crazy when we disappeared, and that trip to hell wasn't really helping
matters. Let's just say all of the fighting that we've done before looks like a
walk in the park now, compared to what little I know about the shit he's been
through."

He saw Trish biting her lip as she looked down at the man she was once supposed
to kill. She still looked the same as always, long, blonde hair combed back and
reaching her waist. Black leather corset with a lightning shaped motive on the
front, black pants. She had two things going for her- one, she was a full demon
and therefore had a much higher life expectancy than a normal human, and two,
she had been born looking like this. She probably would for hundreds of years,
depending on how much effort Mundus had put into her creation.

Lady on her right was an entirely different story. Having had her fourtysecond
birthday during the time in the hospital in Russia, the skin on her face wasn't
as smooth as it used to be. There were small wrinkles around her mismatched eyes
and the corners of her mouth. She spotted countless scars on her body, and even
if there wasn't a speck of grey in her hair, Nero knew that it was dyed. He
still remembered the day two years ago when Dante had pointed out the first grey
hair on her head and had found himself eye to eye with the barrel of a gun less
than a second later. What really sold the deal, however, were the various
bandages on her body covering the remains of torn muscle and flesh, courtesy of
the demons that had captured them.
Don't get him wrong, despite being a human devil hunter, Lady was still a threat
to almost every demon that might be unlucky enough to cross her path. The
problem was the part with the hunting.

Even though both Nero and Trish had tried to patch her up as much as they could
with their very limited resources, and the doctors in the hospital had given all
they possibly had, her left knee had still been crushed beyond repair. It was
almost a miracle that she had been able to keep her leg, but it was stiff, and
even with the prospect of physiotherapeutic exercises, the chances of her being
able to bend it more than an inch or two were next to nothing. She was less
lucky about her left hand, though. Nero pointedly avoided looking at the
bandaged stump and instead put both his hands back on the handle of the
motorcycle.

"Let's all just go back, okay?"

Both women nodded and backed off, allowing Nero to start the engine and make his
way back to the Devil May Cry.

A little over two hours later, he stopped in front of the shop again, the
glowing neon sign welcoming him much more than any time before. Dante was still
in deep slumber, and if it weren't for his slow, but steady breathing, Nero
would have gotten even more worried. From what he figured, however, this was to
be expected. He just wondered when his relative would wake up again. Putting all
their weaponry back on himself, he picked him up and carried him through the
heavy oak doors inside, up the stairs and into the elder's bedroom. There was a
fine layer of dust covering every surface of the room, but it looked the same as
before otherwise, magazines and clothes scattered everywhere. Putting Dante on
the bed, Nero took a moment to let his gaze linger on his friend.

Now that he could really look at him, he noticed how torn and utterly
destroyed his clothes were. There were holes and tears everywhere, the trademark
coat little more than a tattered piece of leather. Enough blood had drenched the
cloth to make it obvious despite the inherent red colouring. Nero wasn't sure he
even wanted to know how much of it was Dante's. The black leather strap used to
keep Rebellion on his back was gone, too. He looked severely beaten up, which
was new. On the other hand, compared to the amount of time the elder had spent
in hell, it was only little damage, a testimony to the other's power. With a
lingering sigh, Nero removed what was left of Dante's black leather gloves and
his knee-high boots, which were in surprisingly good condition.

The sound of an engine dying down in front of the shop tore Nero out of his
musing. With one last, unreadable gaze, he turned and headed for the door, but
paused to take Rebellion off his back and lean it against the wall next to
him.

Placing Ebony and Ivory on the shelf next to him, the young hunter finally
left the room. He was halfway down the stairs when the door opened, Trish
helping Lady into the room. He went over to the desk, dropping down into the
chair behind it, while the women settled on the antique couch. For a while, they
all stayed silent, until Trish spoke up.

"You were gone for two weeks, you know."

Nero's eyes widened, but then he shrugged, eyes unfocused and staring straight
ahead into nothingness.

"'Time flows differently', huh... I guess that's why it took so long for you to
open the gate again when we arrived?"

Looking up, he saw Trish's lips curling into a humourless smile.

"I reopened it right after you were there, can't have been more than a few
minutes."

Barking a short, unamused laugh, Nero shook his head and let his gaze flicker to
the blonde.

"To you, maybe. Felt like a few hours to me."

Lady listened to their exchange in silence. It was hard for her to openly worry
about someone, even if she did on the inside. Neither of the three spoke for a
while, each trailing their own thoughts until Nero shook his head once and let
out another deep sigh. He looked much older than 26.

"I'll hit the sack, I'm dead tired. You can just make yourselves comfortable
around here, you know where the guest room is and shit. Night."

Not even waiting for a reply, Nero heaved himself out of the chair and headed
for the chairs. Entering his room, he took Red Queen off his back and
stretched. Pulling a face, he noted how sore he was, but it really didn't matter
all that much to him right now. Shrugging his coat off, he heel-toed out of his
boots before taking up his sword again and returned to Dante's room. The red
half-devil hadn't even moved, his breathing still even and deep and features
relaxed. Settling down in the red plush chair that looked like it fit much
better in a teenage girl's room than a deadly demon hunter's, Nero put Blue
Rose on the windowsill next to him. He leant Red Queen against the side of
the chair, before making himself as comfortable as possible, gaze never leaving
the sleeping form of his friend. He felt exhaustion and tiredness getting the
better side of him and it wasn't long until his eyes fell shut, his mind
welcoming the soothing darkness.




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