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There was a sound of defeat coming from the young woman as she crossed her hands and leaned on the table. The final reports laid before her, ready to be handed in. None of the reports and statements of the involved persons imputed her with any blame for the failure of the operation but it still felt like all of it rested on her shoulders. So many dead people, so many lives destroyed, and they achieved absolutely nothing.She looked up from her position when she heard a knock at the door. Whoever it was the person didn’t wait for her reply and entered swiftly.“Ma’am,” the soldier said. She nodded in acknowledgement. The soldier removed his helmet, revealing a man, she would’ve assumed him to be in his 30s, whom she has seen before while they had the briefing for the mission. Kyle was his name she believed to remember.“What is it?” she asked him.“I came to gather the reports,” he nodded towards the papers on the otherwise empty table, “and also to give you a lift. Given the situation we don’t want to leave you walking around town on your own.”She smiled softly. She could hold her own quite well, him and the other soldiers probably knew that as well, but the notion was nice nonetheless. Her smile faded as fast as it came though as the severity of their situation came crashing down on her yet again. Kyle tilted his head, obviously noticing her sudden change in demeanor. His brows furrowed a bit.“What is it?”“I just wonder if there’s anything I could’ve done,” she murmured. It wasn’t professional to talk about one’s thoughts and concerns while on the job. But her contract basically ended with signing the last report, so she didn’t really care anymore, and the soldier didn’t seem to be put off by her words either.“You did what you could. None of us expected anything like this,” he sighed, “I guess many more people would’ve died without your information. We managed to kill many more demons than we would’ve without your analysis.”She couldn’t deny that there was some truth to his words. She knew she’s done everything she could have in that moment. She made the right choices, she gave the order to retreat soon enough. There was nothing else she could’ve done. But it was not enough. Her best wasn’t even close enough to help the people in Red Grave City, wasn’t enough to help all the soldiers and civilians that died today. And she didn’t have a clue about what was going on. She was called in to analyze and explain what’s going on in that city. Fact was, though, that she never came across anything like this. She pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment.“Still feels like it’s on me,” she sighed, “Maybe I missed something. I mean, there’s gotta be some information about that…tree thing somewhere. We didn’t even get close to that thing. We couldn’t even deal with the amount of demons that spawned from it.” She rambled now a bit and she quickly stopped herself. She didn’t know the guy, she wasn’t even sure if Kyle really was his name, and if she wanted to get another job with the military in this country she should probably be a bit more professional. If she didn’t blow any chance of another job here anyways…“I…” The soldier frowned as if contemplating his next wordsm “I know that one of the guys knows an information broker from around here. Don’t know the details but I remember them saying this guy knows how to find someone who could take care of these things.”The young woman stared at the soldier, trying to follow what he was saying. So, there was someone out there that could deal with these demons? Someone who maybe knew what was going on with that tree?“Of course, it doesn’t have to be true because if you as an expert on these things don’t know what’s going on, I doubt that someone else does.”If the situation hadn’t been so desperate she would’ve felt flattered. Yes, on certain things she was like a walking encyclopedia, but she met her limits today. Still, she appreciated his words. It was nice to know that the people here didn’t despise her because of the – her - failure today. Even so, if there was someone who potentially knew someone who could help, she should probably try to seek him out. Even if it was just to ease her own mind that she could make it right again, that all these people didn’t die in vain today.“Could you… bring me to that person?” she asked after a while. Kyle shrugged.“Yeah, I guess… I mean, I would need to ask the guys again, but sure…”“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
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The young woman swung her backpack over one shoulder after Kyle, she confirmed his name during the relatively calm drive through town, and some fellow soldiers brought her to the address these soldiers gave him earlier. She watched the light truck as it disappeared around a corner before she turned her attention back to the situation at hand.
She was standing in front of a huge, and seemingly also pretty old building with its ornate double front door and equally as huge windows; the building was almost striking in this environment. The huge neon sign above it kind of seemed out of place though.However, her attention was immediately drawn to the car on the left. An older man was leaning onto it, a hand in his pocket. He was neatly dressed, she noted, and it also seemed to be the guy the soldiers were mentioning before. She was told that he would be waiting for her here at this address, and there was no one else in sight; the two streets leading to the left and right were completely empty; there were no other cars or people around, and only she could only see lights coming through the windows of the building in front of her. As the man approached her he took off his hat. There was a seriousness but also a kindness in his eyes that made it easy for her to meet him halfway.“Mr. Morrison?” she asked.“Yes, good evening, Miss…?” the young woman shook his hand as he offered his with a gentle smile on his face.“Oh, it’s Cara Fiore, sir.” The young woman replied at the man’s unasked question. The man nodded.“My apologies, ma’am, but the call I got from the base didn’t tell me your name. They just said their advisor would want to meet me because of what’s happening in Red Grave City. But please, you can leave the ‘sir’ be.”Cara smiled. “Then likewise. My contract ended this afternoon, so there is no need for these formalities anymore for my part. And also, please, just Cara is fine.”Basically she came here in private, she had no affiliations with the military or another organization at the moment, so dropping the formalities and letting other people use her given name felt really liberating. She just hoped now, that the man could help her or at least give her some answers. Some answers that could help her come up with an idea on what to do, to not let all these soldiers and people die in vain today, to get rid of these demons that overran the city…“Well then, Cara, how can I help you?” Mr. Morrison asked and Cara couldn’t help but think that there was a urgency hidden in his voice as if he was low on time or actually did not have any interest to talk to her; although the latter seemed unlikely judging just by looking at his posture or how polite he was. She thought for a moment to gather her thoughts.“I was in charge for the strategy behind the military’s mission to deal with what’s happening in Red Grave City,” she made a pause here and took a deep breath, “I assume you know what happened. A lot of people… too many people died today. And while I know I did all I could,” she hesitated a moment as if she needed to convince herself of it again.“I still feel like it’s on me. My knowledge should’ve helped today. But it did nothing. Absolutely nothing… The guys at the base said you’d know someone who can deal with this. And that’s why I wanted to meet you. I wanna help. I wanna do something.” She stopped as she felt she started getting emotional again. The man looked at her, listening attentively, only his brows furrowed a bit by the end.“Do you have experience in dealing with demons by yourself?” he asked after a long pause.“I’ve been hunting demons for most of my life.”Cara was confident in her skills. Sure, she was human, so her abilities and skills were limited, but she never had issues facing demons so far. She was a fighter. That’s what she was raised to be after all. Mr. Morrison seemed to think for a long moment before he finally spoke up again.“Please follow me.” He said, and turned around, heading right for the old building with the huge neon sign above its door; he put on his hat while walking again. Cara adjusted the strap of her backpack again and followed the man; a sense of nervousness but also curiosity settling deep in her stomach.There was an instantly unnerving atmosphere hitting Cara like a gust of wind when she stepped past the threshold. She immediately noticed that something was just off. It wasn’t a depressive or even hostile aura, but intense nonetheless. There were four people in the spacious room. A man to her right simply standing in the room, one man sitting behind a desk in front of her, a woman in front of her sitting - almost laying - on the table, and another woman to her left, walking down a staircase that was leading to an upper floor.
And each one of them had their very own aura surrounding them, heavy and intense, and each of them seemed to collide with that of the others.It made Cara feel uneasy.Every single one of these individuals had a story to tell, a tale they all kept hidden within them but that was still all around them. Everything about these people, even the room they were standing in seemed to bear secrets to a story only they knew about and it created a wall around them hard, if not impossible, for a bystander to overcome.Cara felt like an intruder.The young woman tried to ignore the feeling of uneasiness setting in the pit of her stomach and observed the inside of the building just like she always did. Her eyes looking around without moving her head and without too many frantic movements. A habit and a means to protect herself. To shield herself from any potential danger, even if she was in a completely safe environment, but the atmosphere around her made all of her own walls come up immediately.
The entire place seemed pretty shabby as if it hasn’t been cleaned or tidied up in months. There were empty bottles, sheets of papers, random objects lying around everywhere, posters were half hanging off the walls, the carpet beneath the desk has probably never been cleaned; just the plant next to the desk seemed to be pretty healthy.The persons have been talking when they came in but of course they stopped once they saw not only a friend (Cara at least assumed as such) entering but also a stranger.The fact that she now had all the people in the room staring at her wasn’t what made her uncomfortable. She was used to that due to her work, especially with the military. After all she was the one who briefed the soldiers before the start of each mission that required her input. However, what made her uncomfortable was the fact that all this intensity that surrounded each of the present people was now directed at her. And also it seemed as if she just interrupted an important conversation between colleagues or – more likely – friends.“Morrison,” the man behind the desk said, and Cara was incredibly relieved that the sound in his voice was rather optimistic, no hostility, no ill will, There was no strain or tension in his voice nor any discomfort because there was a stranger now in the room disrupting whatever was happening here. And still there was this air around him whispering that there was more behind that invisible wall. An air that got twirled with a sense of energy that Cara has felt before just never like this. It raised her suspicion, but also her interest.“Didn’t expect you to bring a guest over after you left so suddenly,” the man said and gestured with his open hand to Cara.“Must be someone important when you bring her here right before we depart.” The woman on the stairs said. Cara couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was a judgemental tone in her voice, and while it also wasn’t ill willed it also wasn’t very welcoming. That woman was incredibly wary of Cara, two differently colored eyes staring directly at her and looking her over. Beautiful eyes, hard and watchfully. They told a story all of their own of hardship and conviction and yet they hid anything Cara was not supposed to see and know. But Cara also couldn’t blame her for the woman’s judgement and caution.Was she any different right now?“Why don’t you introduce her to us?” the blonde woman, who was almost laying on the table, stood up from and walked behind the chair where the man was sitting, putting a hand on the backrest of the chair. Her tone was friendly, just like the man she didn’t seem to be really put off by her presence at all. Even her expression was one of friendliness. But, just as the rest of them there was something about her. And with her it was completely different compared to the others. There wasn’t an air around her. It was an energy, similar to that of the man’s but more conscious like a sparkling electric wire wrapped around her promising Cara a tale of strength and endurance. Cara hoped it didn’t show on her face, but she knew that kind of energy. She’s faced it countless times before.Cara couldn’t deny it, now that she knew these were friendly people, that she was incredibly curious about what secrets they kept hidden within and between themselves, and she could feel some of the uneasy feeling in her body fading. The tension that was left in her body was because of what’s happening outside of this building and in Red Grave City.But not only that.Cara could feel eyes burning into the side of her skull, and it bothered her. She didn’t turn to the side to look at the man that was standing there, but she knew he was staring at her, looking her over, analyzing, observing their newly arrived guest. It induced the same kind of atmosphere around her whenever she arrived at a new job and she could feel some nerves in her body starting to tingle as her shoulders tensed slightly.“Ah, yes, this Cara. She was the leading advisor for the military operation in Red Grave City,” Mr. Morrison introduced her, taking off his hat again.“Didn’t go as planned I assume?” there was an almost lighthearted tone in the man’s voice behind the desk, which irritated Cara immensely. People died?! Half the city got destroyed already and so many completely innocent people died while demons roamed the streets? Was that man serious? Cara frowned.“It is Dante’s job,” Mr. Morrison nodded towards the man behind the desk, “to take care of that mess.”So that’s the guy the soldiers at the camp were referring to… Cara couldn’t deny that the atmosphere that surrounded him spoke of strength and courage. One look was enough to tell he was capable of dealing with the demons, but she didn’t understand his almost cheerfulness. At all.“Ah, indeed.” The man, Dante, got up and walked around the desk, rolling in shoulders while doing so. Cara couldn’t understand his enthusiasm, but… if it helped, and if it led to getting rid of that tree…“We’ll take it from here,” the blonde woman said, confidence nearly oozing from her voice. If Cara’s assumption about the woman was correct, and she usually was never wrong with these things, then she actually had no doubt that these people could take better care of the situation now. Especially since even the military failed…“The military probably should have stayed out of this from the beginning,” the woman at the foot of the staircase said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.“We’ve faced demons before and succeeded easily. We weren’t prepared for such an invasion.” Cara countered, for the first time raising her voice since she came into this building. She has worked with the military for years and they never faced such difficulties. Neither she nor anyone of the military could have done anything to turn this mission around after all.Still feels like I could have…A short moment of silence followed before Dante rose to speak again. “Well, anyways, what do you want? I don’t imagine you’d just come here to say hi.”Cara held his gaze, her own blue eyes colliding with his incredibly bright blue ones, and inwardly she gathered herself, reminding herself that she should stay professional. That she was here in the first place was based entirely on emotions, letting them win over her now again wouldn’t get her anywhere.“I want to help.” Her voice was steady and even, but the hand that was holding the backpack on her shoulder clenched the string almost painfully. A gesture that probably didn’t go unnoticed. Especially not by the man that was still watching her who had the clearest view at her right hand.“I know… I did my job, and I did it right. But…” she inhaled deeply, convincing herself again of the truth behind her words “it still feels like it’s on me. So… I want to help. Someone at the camp said you could deal with this.”“And how exactly do you think you can help, sweetie?” the question was almost instant even though Dante talked very slowly, that rather lighthearted expression still on his face. Cara wished she could follow his example and be a bit more optimistic. These people definitely held power, a strength she couldn’t fathom in this moment, but she knew they were her best shot at getting this situation right again.“I’m a demon hunter too. Also I’ve studied demons for years-““I don’t think theories and books can win this,” the black haired woman cut in, though her tone was much softer than before. Cara’s face fell a bit. She already felt like an intruder from the beginning. She didn’t fit in here with these people, all of them were connected by secrets and tales. She could see how history bound them. These people weren’t just colleagues fighting for the same cause. These seemed more like family. How could she hope for these people to just accept her? Especially if they knew nothing about her. Even less so about her skills.“Well, I think, Lady, our V here would disagree.” There was a mild teasing tone in Dante’s voice, though Cara didn’t pay much attention to it as she finally looked at the man who stood in complete silence and kept staring at her since she arrived here.A tall, slender man, covered in a black leather vest stood close to the wall, leaning on a metal cane. Cara’s gaze was instantly fixed on all these twirling tattoos that covered his arms and parts of his open chest. They almost looked alive like waves of clouds and smoke traveling over his body. Fascinating patterns, which made Cara wonder if they served a purpose, if there was a meaning to them…Cara met his eyes and had a hard time keeping the contact. They were beautiful, an almost objective fact, but the green in them was hard, not granting her a look behind that unyielding layer of color.His posture spoke of confidence. He knew his purpose and intent in this room, there was no doubt in his stance, no question in his eyes.And yet there seemed to be a hidden vulnerability about him that he hid well behind his walls of confidence. The shadows under his eyes, his lean figure, the cane… but these were visible, completely open facts, he did not allow a deeper look at him or what he hid beneath his appearance.He was pressing his walls right into hers, while also trying to penetrate her own. He was observing, analyzing but didn’t allow her to do the same. He kept his barriers up well. It created an intimidating air around him, which was probably his intention and Cara couldn’t even catch a tiny glimpse at what laid beneath those deep green eyes.She turned to face Dante again, now even more aware of the man, V, next to her.“Please. Let me help.” She didn’t give the tattooed man a chance to speak, and her emotions were dripping from her words now. Dante studied her face for a moment, his brows furrowing, a sympathetic look on his eyes and still, Cara could see that he wasn’t about to let her tag along…“I think, Dante,” Cara felt a shiver run down her spine as a deep voice sounded suddenly, a voice she didn’t expect and that caught her completely off guard, and Cara looked at the lean man again as he took a few steps forward, his cane in his hands and only leaning onto it again as he stopped walking.“We can take her with us. Some help at the ground is surely in our favor,” the man was speaking really slowly as if he was contemplating his phrasing while he spoke, and Cara wished he could see his expression, wanted to see if there was a change in those green eyes. But she could only see his back now that he has taken some steps forward.Dante looked at the man, his brows furrowed before he looked at her again and his expression changed to one of defeat and he shrugged his shoulders.“Alright, but,” he held up his finger, pointing at her, “you stay away from the tree, this is my gig.”Cara tried to ignore how he seemed to chastise her like a child. Instead she nodded, saying a quiet thank you, and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that they gave her the chance of getting this right. She would do what she could to help. And right now she didn’t have a lot of options than to take what she could get. She knew going to Red Grave City to jump into battle all by herself would kill her. She needed help.“That should also be the cue for us to get going,” the black haired woman, Lady was what Dante called her earlier(?), said as she grabbed a huge fire arm that was leaning against the stair case and swung it over her shoulder. Cara admired her for that. That thing must be heavy as hell.“Right. Let’s get started, ladies.” Dante said clapping his hands together, an enthusiastic grin on his face. Cara still found it more suspect than admirable that he was so cheerful given the situation.There was a little, sudden tumult as all these very unique individuals geared up apparently, grabbing weapons like swords and guns. Cara observed how them while they did that, feeling a little out of place in that building in that moment. She was not part of that team. There was nothing that bound her to these people. Unlike them. They knew each other and they shared something – a history – and Cara assumed this was something she couldn’t establish with themShe would help them. Get this right again. And then hopefully continue her life and work the way she has done before.“Alright, then I leave this to you. Cara, I bid my farewell,” Mr. Morrison nodded towards her, putting his hat back on and after she thanked him for his help left the building. Cara admitted she felt a bit lost now. Mr. Morrison seemed to be on her side and now when that support’s gone… she felt a bit alone.“Let’s go then.” The blonde woman had a huge fleshy sword on her back and Cara immediately wanted to ask her about it. She came across many demon arms in her life, either in person or in theory, but this was something completely new. It was disgustingly looking but it was also strangely fascinating.“I’m Trish by the way,” the woman smiled at her, laying a hand on her shoulder as she walked past Cara outside of the building and that intense feeling of energy was back again. A hidden power within that woman, lingering on her fingertips, threatening to spill over to Cara but never actually doing so. Cara felt a distinct tingle where Trish’s fingers touched her bare shoulder.She seems really nice though, Cara thought.V in front of her turned around as well, throwing his cane slightly up and catching it with the same hand again so he could carry it properly while walking. Cara followed that movement a bit too closely for her own liking. The tattooed man walked past her, a smirk on his features that made her heart skip a bit. It was intimidating. And again, it felt as if the walls he pulled up around him pushed Cara aside when he passed her, as if he had an invincible shield around his personal space that kept everything and everyone at a notable distance.She wondered if this was the same situation for the others.Or just her. A stranger. An intruder.Someone you couldn’t trust.Cara exhaled deeply through her nose and left the building, following the two other women and V, hearing Dante’s heavy footsteps behind her.
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The first things that reached Cara’s ears once they got as close to the tree as possible were horrifying screams and cries mixed with the deafening sounds of gunfire and blood spilling.Cara’s eyes widened as her mind tried to take in and process what was happening in front of her, but the flashing lights, the inhuman screeches of the demons, the people screaming for their lives and the fleshy mess of the tree threatened to overwhelm her immediately. The young woman gripped the weapon in her hand tighter.Breathe, she told herself and Cara closed her eyes. She took a deep breath through her nose, held it there and then slowly exhaled through her mouth. She was in the midst of a life threatening danger but granting herself a second to focus on her breathing allowed her to shove the overwhelming noises and visuals into the background, allowed her to remember the mission at hand and to focus on her goals. Her heartbeat slowed a bit.When she opened her eyes again Cara had a chance to take in the situation properly.The tree was huge.From afar it didn’t seem this big and even though she had the measurements of it from the military it was still an entirely different thing to be standing in front of it. Just the roots alone seemed to cover an entire district… if not more.A sense of nausea settled in the pit of her stomach as Cara took in the disfigured corpses and remains of the civilians who couldn’t outrun those vile demons, pierced by these fleshy roots and tentacles of the tree. Demons were never kind to people, there was no mercy in their attacks and killings, but even so, Cara has never witnessed such a massacre before. There were still people running around here right now, the military was still here despite their failed operation earlier…… but how many people have already lost their lives in this city?“Alright, let’s keep going. No use hanging around here.” Cara heard Dante’s voice as he already walked past her. There was a calm confidence in the way he carried himself over this battlefield which upset but also amazed her. She desperately wanted to know if he really was such a carefree person that none of this affected him or if this was another layer that kept her and other people at a distance.The tattooed man, V didn’t really seem to fit into this group with his lean frame and the cane as Cara noticed when the man approached Dante to tell him something that Cara couldn’t understand. And yet he seemed to know about the happening and horrors around them because Dante changed his direction after V’s mouth stopped moving.The others followed Dante, so Cara did the same, but not without noticing that the other two women looked at the situation around them with disdain all over their face. Despite what they may have seen and gone through in their lives, this didn’t seem to be something they have come across before.More than anything though did it surprise Cara to see the blonde woman like this. She wasn’t wrong about her, about what she sensed earlier. No way. Now that they were in the midst of all this chaos and fighting the energy that this woman emitted was almost buzzing, Cara could’ve sworn one could see it if the lighting had been better. Not to mention this huge fleshy sword on her back which looked incredibly heavy, and it rested on her back like Cara’s bag pack which she left in the helicopter in which they arrived. It made Cara incredibly curious about her and what her involvement with the others was.This was not the time to ask or let her mind wander though.Bullets from two pistols dug themselves so fast into the tentacle root that suddenly shot up from the ground in front of them that Cara could barely follow what just happened. She just caught a glimpse of two pistols in Dante’s hands which he put back under his red leather coat as fast as he pulled them out. The speed impressed Cara immensely. And for the first time she caught a glimmer of assurance that there may be a reason behind Dante’s laid back, seemingly uncaring, attitude. Maybe he really had the skills to carry himself so confidently forwards. Maybe that was all his attitude was… an attitude. Maybe he did care after all…Dante dealt with more of the roots the same way as the first and Cara admitted that she was amazed by it. She could take these things on herself, no doubt and no problems there, but she wasn’t that fast nor effective. She didn’t have a gun, so she would have to engage in close combat, which again, was not a problem but it would take a moment longer.A moment they probably did not have.They barely encountered any other demons on the way as they seemingly climbed up the roots of the tree until they seemingly reached something that could be considered an entrance to the tree. A pathway leading into pure darkness that was surrounded and kept closed by fleshy living roots. The roots were covered up by thin red strings, creating a layer of bright red veins that seemed to flow together in the middle. It looked like a very macabre and abstract eyeball.Cara has seen this phenomenon before. In different shapes and forms but the purpose was always the same:Protecting a demonic entity from enemies.And if this is here, Cara thought as she scanned their surroundings. The roots created an almost hilly environment, giving any demon enough space to vanish and spawn again without getting seen by them. Cara tried to keep as much as possible in her field of view, her hold on her weapon relaxed, ready to tense and swing it whenever it was needed. The sounds of the gunfire from the military were quite distant from where they were now. Cara really hoped these guys would be alright. She should’ve known they would dive back into battle after she left. They didn’t have any other option. They needed and wanted to do what they could to protect to the people. If she had done a better job earlier maybe there wouldn’t be a need for them to be here anymore. They could be home. With their families…Cara gritted her teeth.She would make this right again. She would take the goddamn tree down.She looked at the covered entrance to the tree, a burning determination in her blue eyes. Whatever was lurking inside of there she would face it. And Cara could not deny the pulsing curiosity inside of her. Despite everything, this was something new, something she’s never seen before. The prospect of learning and getting new information about demons and hell was exciting, even though it was anything but a priority in this moment.Dante and the two women approached the entrance, hands on their weapons, and Dante swung the sword on his back once down the red veins and roots, the end of his red coat swirling up. A move that looked so easy, almost boring to him. There was no tension in his muscles from what Cara could tell, there was no effort in swinging such a heavy sword like this. That feeling of a hidden energy was all over him, tangible to anyone who ever had any experiences with the supernatural, but it was still completely different to Trish. She was carrying that energy openly, no hiding or suppressing it, but Dante seemed to hide it… it was covered up by so many layers and Cara wondered if it was intentional or if he wasn’t aware of it himself.The red veins fell apart, bled out until they lost their color and turned to dust in front of Dante. But even now there was barely anything visible from the inside of the tree. In fact, it seemed as if the entrance was still covered up. The entrance of the tree looked like a foggy black night, no stars or moon as a guide, no promise of finding the sun at the rise of dawn, and for the very first time since this whole mission started did a cold shiver run down her spine. She took a deep breath to keep it from affecting her too much.“Alright. Then let’s get going.”Cara made an attempt to walk up towards Dante but his raised palm stopped her dead in her tracks. She knitted her brows.“We had a deal, miss. Remember?”Cara stared at him. She did remember his earlier words, but he couldn’t be serious, right?! He would bring her here just to keep her from coming with them now?!“I can help.” She stated. It wasn’t a question nor a plea. Cara knew what she could do. If she couldn’t take on the demons inside there, she could lend them some strategic ideas. Maybe they would face something she actually knows about – theory or not.But most of all, she wanted to go with them. She wanted her shot at this. She wanted to learn about what was happening inside of there.And she felt like she literally achieved nothing by just staying outside here while they fought to get this mess right.She was supposed to do that.So many people died because she made too many analytical and strategic mistakes today.She needed to go in there.“Listen,” Dante started, his voice hard but friendly, “I get that. But this is my gig.”“Leave this to us. We’ve been doing this together for many years.” Trish smiled at her, one of her arms on her hips. Her smile was genuine“Yeah. This is not the time and place to rethink our plans and strategies because someone joins the team. We know each other. Let us handle this,” the black haired woman adjusted the huge weapon on her back. She smiled, a fiery determination in her eyes that told Cara that she didn’t mean to offend her but that she was just confident in her own and her partner’s skills to do this. And Cara understood this. They haven’t seen her fight before, they weren’t aware of her skills and abilities, and this was a life and world threatening situation.She probably wouldn’t want to experiment and let a stranger join them in her situation either. It could prove to be fatal for them and the mission.And still…“Maybe you’re better off clearing the path here,” Dante smiled at her, something glistening in his blue eyes that Cara couldn’t quite identify.But as soon as the words were spoken a hideous screeching sounded behind Cara. She gripped her weapon tighter on instinct as she was fully aware of the demons spawning around them.“Get rid of those things for us, so when we come back we can celebrate,” Dante elaborated his earlier words, clasping his hands together.Cara felt as if she was being cast aside. As if they tried to find something to do for her so that she wouldn’t feel useless, but deep down she knew they were probably right. Maybe helping out here and killing the demons that spawned from the tree was the right and only thing she could do right now.She sighed.“Alright.”“Nice! Now, lets get going.” Dante made a waving gesture over his shoulder and simply stepped forward into the tree, no doubt, no hesitation, not even a second glance at the roots still surrounding the entrance. Cara really wanted to know if he was affected by any of this or if this really was just another job and nothing new at all.“Keep your head up. Also, seems like you got work to do as well.” Trish walked past her, nodding behind Cara where the demons were still spawning, before she vanished inside the tree as well.The other woman, Lady, walked behind them without looking at Cara again. There also was nothing left for her to say. They didn’t know each other. If one looked at it rationally then Dante and Trish were overly nice to her by letting her tag along this far and even gifting her some encouraging words.V walked after them last, cane in hand, steps slow and head lowered. He did not look at Cara nor did he say anything. Cara got the very distant feeling that he also wasn’t that close to them. Either it was because he kept them at a distance with his walls and barriers around him or Cara was missing the bigger picture of this entire situation.But he was also the one that kind of convinced Dante to let her come along. Even so… he also simply said some help on the ground might be useful. He also never mentioned her tagging along with them.Cara sighed defeated once they all vanished inside the tree.Maybe they were right.Maybe she should stay here and get rid of these vile demons. Maybe this way she could help the civilians and the soldiers fighting for everyone’s lives better this way.And she would let Dante and the others handle whatever was causing this.Because despite his weird attitude, there was something about Dante and these other people that at least told her about the potential in these people. Trish was not human, Cara was certain of it, and there was something going on with Dante too, but she couldn’t put her fingers on it yet.But Cara was sure, these people were probably their best shot at dealing with this right now.Cara turned around, gripping her Kama in her hand and facing those disgusting insect-like creatures that screeched and focused their entire attention on her.Cara raised her weapon. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A veil of darkness settled around his heart and soul when he passed that invisible barrier separating the pits of the hellish environment from the human outside world. Dense, suppressive air hung heavy around him, keeping him reminded of the dread and severity of their fateful situation.Blood covered by thin skin engulfed by grey and black roots stretched over the ground, creating a twisted nightmarish image of a thick forest soil. And yet it was anything but lively nature.His steps were slow, his eyes were lowered, a stark contrast to the blue-feathered demon now at his side burning with electricity. Eagerness and enthusiasm in every flap of his wings, drive and ambition in his strong posture, determination shining in those bright yellow eyes.V looked up at the feeling of a vibration wandering through the air, a faint red glow illuminating the colorless roots for the length of a heartbeat.He paused.Wrong. This was wrong.Too many roots twisting and growing, too much blood spilling and flowing. It fueled the darkness around him, creeping into his bones and grabbing a hold of his heart and mind.“This is far worse than I thought,” his tongue tingled, and words spilled from his mouth without control, his lips refusing to close again, his brows raising.Dante and his two companions stopped walking and turned around to him. V stared at the man, his expression open and sincere as he felt reality claiming his hopes and their chances of success in this grim situation.You can not win, he wasn’t able to banish the thought from the dark corners of his mind as he stared at the devil hunter, proud and confident as usual but incapable of comprehending the hopelessness of their fate.“There’s no crime in turning tail, V,” Dante told him as V stared with too much openness, too much sincerity into his light blue eyes. V’s mind wandered to the one option he still had, the one shot at raising their chances, the secret he kept hidden from Dante, the one secret he needed to keep hidden…“These things might be a little too much for ya.”V lowered his head to the side, retaking control over his emotions; the openness disappearing, leaving only the cold resolve behind that allowed him to face the severity of their reality without faltering, without abandoning his goal, while also refusing to show Dante and his companions to see through the darkness that clouded his mind and soul.“You’re right,” he spoke deliberately “I’ll leave the rest to you.”He turned around, face lowered, his steady voice sending his words into the heavy dreadful air, leaving nothing but a decision behind that was made without a doubt.“What, what... what?! Oh, oh, oh, my, my V… all the way down here and turning tail, really?! Hu?!” the feathered demon complained, his determination and eagerness shining through in his words, not understanding his master’s decision but not going against him either.“One must always have an insurance policy,” the summoner replied as he walked back outside of the tree, his choice of words just hinting that his last words to Dante were not truthful. He would leave this hellish Nightmare and return.And hopefully return with hope and a new chance of loosening the strings of darkness that settled around him as this horrid scenario turned out to be much worse than he could have imagined. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Cara pressed her knee into the demon’s head, keeping it pinned to the ground as she twisted the blade of her Kama inside its thin neck until the sound of flesh snapping and blood spilling reached her ears, effectively ending another demon’s life.The amount of demons was dwindling fast. She almost got rid of the entire wave of minor demons that spawned before Dante and the others went inside the tree. While she was certain the demons could spawn endlessly usually there was a pattern visible after some time. They would spawn, fight until they’ve either won or were all killed and then there would be a period of calm. A moment in time that allowed a fighter to take some deep breaths, to rest the strained muscles, to calm the racing of the heart. Sometimes demons didn’t spawn again in that place.She was sure, though, that this wasn’t the case in this situation.She rolled to the side to avoid the claw of another minor demon from stabbing her through the head. Luckily this already put her into position to ram the Kama inside its insect-like back. These demons could swing their claws pretty fast, but they were slow and not agile at all in their movements. It was easy to overcome them.The demon screeched in agony and Cara groaned as she effortfully pressed the blade deeper down into its body until the demon finally disintegrated in a fleshy and bloody mess.She turned her weapon in her hand facing the last two demons that remained. They kept their distance to her, not charging at her right away; not because they were thinking or capable of coming up with a strategy but more a natural instinct to preserve their own lives as they know and have realized that most of their kind has been eliminated already.“Don’t you think this is too time-sensitive?! We’ll probably be too late and if we are it’s gonna be the end.”“Well, we have to take the risk.”Cara turned around, the demons still in her field of view, as she heard two voices behind her. She has heard V’s deep voice before, it was hardly confusable even after listening to it for only a very words, but the other voice was totally unfamiliar; high, a bit pitched, and slightly panicked.Cara’s brows furrowed as she spotted the tattooed man walking out of the tree, but alongside him was a… bird? No. That was not a bird. The blue glowing feathers, the unusual beak and most of all its capability of human speech. This was a demon. A demon that did not enter the tree with these people.Where did it come from?Who was that demon?And V seemed to be… friends with it?But what made Cara question the unexpected situation even more was the fact that only V and that blue bird came out of the tree. No one else. And not enough time passed for Dante and the others to have made any significant progress. And Cara also couldn’t imagine that they may have lost. V’s calm composed posture didn’t speak of that. Neither did the bird demon’s earlier words.What was going on?V noticed that she was still there of course and for just a moment he stared at her. Though the moment was so short, so brief that it seemed as if he had just let his gaze glide over his surroundings and just happened to linger on here for an instant. V tapped his cane on the ground once and Cara stared in undeniable wonder and fascination as black smoke appeared seemingly out of nowhere and gathered under his feet, engulfing them in clouds of smoke and lifting them barely noticeable off the ground. It intrigued her. This demon at his side, this smoke under his feet; there was something going on with the man but again, she could not see past what he offered visually. He did not have the same sense of energy around him as Dante or Trish, but the feel of distance he created around him was still intimidating.But in this moment it sparked Cara’s curiosity and at the same time she wanted to get away from this intimidating atmosphere around him.And then V quite literally took off.Cara stared a bit baffled after him as the man slid on these black smoky clouds over the ground, much faster as if he just walked, the bird flying after him. She looked after him until he vanished behind some destroyed buildings and the screeching of the two remaining demons pulled her back out of this unexpected scene.Taking on the last two demons took the young woman longer than it should have.They actually tried to coordinate themselves to only charge at her at the same time to raise their chances. It wasn’t an issue for Cara dodging their attacks, but it was much harder finding an opening to take them out.Once again Cara used her knees to keep the demon pinned on the ground, her feet stopping it from moving its claws. She gritted her teeth at the effort it took to keep the creature in this position. It was a minor demon, but its physical strength succeeded her easily. So she had to make this quick.“That’s how we get inside?! This better be worth it.” An unfamiliar voice reached Cara’s ears as she pushed the blade into the demon’s skull, flinching at the sound of bones cracking and blood starting to flow from the wound.She looked up to see V with the demon bird but ahead of him was another man. The same silvery white hair as Dante caught her eyes immediately. Such an unusual hair color it surely was an eye-catcher. He looked pretty young, though his expression was something between suspicion and annoyance as if he didn’t want to be here at all. He was much more open than any of the other people she met today; there were no walls or barriers he created around him to keep her and other people at a remarkable distance. He actually seemed… approachable. Cara also noticed real quick that the man was missing his right arm and to her it didn’t look like he was born with this condition. The way it was bandaged made it look like a rather fresh injury.The young man noticed her and looked at her, then staring at the demon that was slowly disintegrating underneath her. She met his gaze only for an instant before he turned, his hand on the handle of his sword on his back and went ahead into the tree.Cara looked after him before she looked back to V while she was standing up, finally no more demon arounds for the moment. V’s brows furrowed the tiniest bit for an instant as he looked around the area which was completely free of demons now.“V, come on, we gotta hurry,” the blue bird chimed in, a sense of panic evident in his unusual voice.“You, come along.”Cara’s look on her face turned to one of utter surprise. This was the last thing she expected to hear right now. V’s expression was unreadable. She knew he was analyzing her again just like he tried earlier but nothing about him allowed her to do the same yet again. Maybe it was also because it was really dark around them that she could barely see his face, not to mention his eyes. His deep voice also did not allow her to take a guess why he was saying this now. Earlier he was also the one who sort of persuaded the others so she could come along, but now…She didn’t know why, she only knew it wasn’t out of sympathy, he had something in mind, but right now she also wouldn’t ask or complain. She never would’ve entered the tree on her own, she wouldn’t survive this, but now…She simply nodded and followed after the tattooed man, her heart thumping loudly in her chest as she entered the tree.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
3rd chapter:
Cara felt as if she literally stepped into hell once she passed the roots that originally protected the tree from being entered.Everything seemed as if she just walked into an entirely different world. A world full of darkness and evil.The expanse of this tree was huge. The roots spread from the ground and created an almost hilly ground. There was an almost red hue over everything, there was even red mist in the air. Cara was afraid of the fact, but it was almost a certainty that it was blood.The smell of blood and death hung heavy in the air accompanied by the sounds of gunfire and faint shockwaves of energy being released from what could only be described as a giant bud at the far end of the inside of the tree. There was something like a room encased by giant petals out of blood and demonic roots. There was obviously a battle going on in there.So inside of there is the source of this tree, Cara furrowed her brows at the scenery. From the point where she was standing and considering how much the inside looked like a maze it could take some few minutes to maybe even a few hours to get to that place where the battle was taking place depending on the number of obstacles they would face on the way there.“What am I doing wasting my time here?! He’s got this,” the young man in front of her said.Does he though? Cara thought. There must’ve been a reason for V coming out of this tree again only to come back with this guy now. Then the bird said that they needed to hurry…What’s going on?“You should not underestimate this demon.”Cara almost flinched when she heard V’s deep voice behind her and she looked at him as he passed her slowly and stood next to the young man. The blue bird flew next to him.“After all, it was he who took your right arm. It gained a great deal of power from it.”Cara looked with furrowed brows at the stump of the young man’s right arm. A demon… took his arm? What did a demon want with a human’s arm? Even more so, how was a demon supposed to gain power from it? Cara was confused but a thought sneaked into her head that she was probably missing the bigger picture again. She was not a part of this team… that became clear much earlier and now it was thrown at her yet again.V turned around to the both of them and Cara’s eyes were drawn to the black smoke that started to swirl around his feet just like before. Clouds of black smoke and shadows engulfed his feet, a constant movement, itching to move forward and to carry the man with him.“I’m leaving. I suggest you do not fall behind.”And then the smoke carried him forward. Cara’s eyes followed how the man didn’t move a muscle as the shadows slid him over the ground, completely unmoved by the rough texture of the ground, ignoring the roots and blood around him; just gliding forward further into the depths of the tree just as if he went down a slide. It… looked like fun.Cara shook her head slightly, but the thought didn’t really leave her.“Yeah. Okay, V, you’re an interesting guy but you’re right,” the young man said still directed at V although the tattooed man was long out of sight. He reached for his right shoulder and Cara caught a look of anger and determination on the man’s face.“I’ve got a score to settle with that son of a bitch.”Cara didn’t say a word, but her curiosity swelled to unbearable limits inside her. There was so much that she wanted to know, so many questions that left her mind searching frantically for clues and answers she couldn’t find on her own.“Who are you anyway?”Cara’s eyebrows rose as she looked at the man not expecting him to suddenly talk to her. No accusing tone in his voice she noticed, just a curiosity masked by the anger and determination burning in his blue eyes.“Cara. I’m… here to correct a mistake.”The man nodded once. Slowly. A look of suspicion in his eyes but what else could she tell him right now?! They didn’t have the time and she wasn’t lying either.“Nero.” He said, not asking her anything more. Instead he nodded towards the direction V went. Cara nodded in agreement.“So, do you know this guy?” Nero asked her while they were running through the hellish landscape of the tree, climbing up some roots to get to a higher level. Cara was impressed how he handled that with only one arm, especially since he seemed to have lost it only recently.“No. Actually I don’t know any of them. Met them a few hours ago.”The look Nero threw at her was something between disbelief and confusion, but he didn’t comment on it. Cara found it actually a bit amusing because he looked like he was asking himself how he got caught up in all of this. Though she didn’t blame him one bit.Cara tried to take in as much of her surroundings as possible while running. But the scenery did not change. The same roots, the same vines, blood streams and vessels. The only thing that she noticed was that some of the walls of the tree seemed to be much thinner than others. At least the way the blood was much more visible flowing through them was an indication for that.They stopped in their tracks when they saw a bunch of demons bent over a pool of blood on the ground. It didn’t take long for the insect-like creatures to notice their new company. They let out a screech as they gestured with their arms ready to attack them.Cara gritted her teeth, grabbing her Kama from the sheath at her hips but Nero beat her to it. He grabbed the sword on his back, an angry spark in his eyes before he lunged at the demons and before Cara had even time to process what was happening his blade already sliced through the first demon.“I can take you with no arm!” he exclaimed swinging the heavy looking sword around as if it weighed nothing, slicing through flesh and bones of the demons who had absolutely nothing to oppose the attacks. Cara stared with lips slightly parted, eyes wide as the demons fell within seconds and shortly after the battle started a delusive silence settled over the battlefield again.“Sorry, maybe I’ll leave some for you next timem” Nero grinned at her for a moment and she almost let out a huff. Curious guy for sure and words like this were a pretty huge contrast to the anger she saw in his eyes earlier. Still… she was grateful he didn’t outright ignore her. They didn’t know each other and this was not the time and place to make someone’s acquaintance.“Let’s just go.” There was a small smile on her face as she started running further ahead.They were approaching their destination faster than she expected. The sounds of the battle raging within that bud-like location grew louder with every meter they got closer and the shockwaves passing through the tree seemed to be far less faint than before.Again, they reached a wider area that was full of demons. Though this time the minor demons from earlier were accompanied by a bunch of flying ones. They still belonged to the same type of demons as Cara noticed. Their anatomy was obviously similar as were the sounds they made.Though flying demons were always a bit more difficult for Cara to handle. She couldn’t fly obviously. So she had to come up with a strategy to get them down to her level, which was not that hard but it required a bit more thinking.“Try to keep up,” Nero said next to her before he dived into battle. But not alone this time. She finally had a chance to help making all of this right again. She would not let other people do all the fighting for her now.Cara grabbed her weapon and followed Nero.The Empusa demons fell easily enough. While one direct hit could kill Cara they just weren’t very agile or fast. Unlike her. The demons swung their insect-like limbs at her and yet she easily avoided the attacks. She rolled to the side, bent her body backwards, twisted her body around, until she found an opening and swung her weapon at the demonic insect.She got lost in the battle, focusing entirely on the enemies that came after her, not paying any attention to Nero, even blending out the sounds of his weapons or the taunts he threw at the demons.She had to focus on herself and her opponents especially when she was faced with those flying demons who stayed annoyingly out of reach for her. She had to come up with something.Cara let her eyes wander over her surroundings once more, never letting the demon out of her field of vision, looking for something in the environment she could use to her advantage.The shot that sounded tore right through the demon’s wings.Cara was caught a bit off guard and she looked at Nero who was standing a few feet away from her, a few demons still behind him.“Looked like you could use a hand.” His sassy grin spread from one ear to the next and yet his brows were still furrowed, whatever goal he personally had to do here – Cara assumed it had something to do with his arm – it was still on the forefront of his mind.His determination was admirable.Not to mention his sense of humor given his circumstances.She allowed a smile of her own to appear on her face, not denying how uplifting this little scene was. No matter how gruesome their surroundings were and how terrible the situation was, it managed to relieve some of the burden on her shoulders.The demon was no match for her without its wings and she ended its pitiful existence quickly.The rest of the demons were killed within a matter of seconds. A few wipes of Nero’s sword and the deceptive silence settled over the battlefield once more. For a short moment at least because they both already saw more minor demons spawning in the distance.Nero and Cara both looked up though as they heard the flapping of bird’s wings. V’s blue bird appeared in the air and hovered over the both of them. V entered the battlefield from another pathway, coming to a halt with still quite a distance between them. Cara watched how he leaned on his cane and still wondered if he actually needed that for walking.“Hey, thought you took off.” Nero called over to him.“Do you not understand? We cannot hope to do this without you,” V replied, his words bordering on chastising and yet, Cara could not see anything past the movements of his head. It felt like the need and want to express himself but whatever barriers he created around him did not allow a look past some physical superficial gestures.“That’s all right, superstar, go on with your bad self. Go ahead, we got this,” the bird said to Nero. The demon surely had an interesting attitude given how V refused to let anyone or anything get past his walls.Nero didn’t say anything, he just looked at the bird, grabbed his sword that rested on his shoulders and started to go, not paying the new spawning demons any mind.Cara didn’t move.She wanted to. She really did. She wanted to follow him and face the threat herself, wanted to see who or what was truly behind this catastrophe.But she didn’t.She had to face that she was no match for whatever caused all of this. She could take on minor demons, even stronger ones, but she couldn’t fight, not to mention beat such a creature that posed a threat to this world.She knew this, and still it was a bitter thought because she desperately wanted to set this right herself again. But… there was nothing she could do.Cara exhaled heavily through her nose, closed her eyes and focused on her breathing for a moment until she could feel that her focus returned to herself, that her mind was back in the here and now, so she could concentrate on the demons spawning around her again.“So, princess, you better stay back and let the experts handle this.”Cara stared at the bird with furrowed brows, lips parted, the remark already tingling on her tongue but then she decided against it. No use starting an argument with a demonic bird. Especially not in this situation.“Pretty sure I can handle this just fine,” she said instead and if he could have the bird would’ve huffed at her response.“You better not turn into a damsel in distress then,” the demon snickered as it flew closer to V, who threw his cane up a bit to catch it in the middle just like she has seen him do before.Wisps of smoke started to twirl on the ground before the man, the same way they engulfed his feet before. This time, though, they rose from the ground in shiny black clouds and fog, twirling and blowing, rising up and then they formed something. Cara watched in astonishment as the shadows and smoke slowly took the shape of a four-legged animal. The black panther roared as soon as it had formed, the last wisps of smoke fading into the heavy air around them.Cara stared in absolute amazement at the creature. Did the bird appear the same way? How did they appear in the first place?She looked at V who had his eyes fixed on the demons approaching them. Cara wasn’t sure, given how there was quite a bit of distance between them and how there was still this blood red fog around them, but she could’ve sworn that some of the tattoos on his arm vanished.And then she realized that she would get to see how the tattooed man fought against demons. It seemed these two animal-like demons were his in some way and they probably did the fighting too. But what would V do? His lean figure, the cane he had… it didn’t seem like he was a fighter.Sadly, she couldn’t pay a lot of attention to what the man was doing as she had to focus on killing the demons that attacked her herself.She dug the blade of her Kama into the head of a demon, twisting it inside the skull, internally cringing at the disgusting sound it made as blood spilled from the wound when she heard a roar behind her.Cara visibly flinched, the hairs on the back of her hair standing on edge immediately as she felt something behind her and she spun around.She only caught a glimpse of the demon behind her.But she barely registered the whirl of black directly in front of her, knocking the demon onto the ground before it could reach her, before it could dig its raised limbs and claws into her skin.Cara watched with a racing heart and a sudden shaking of her hands as the panther dug his claws into the demon until it started glowing in a very faint purple light.She heard the sound of a gust of wind and out of thin air V was in front of her, stabbing the demon with the cane and kicking the demon’s lifeless body away.He looked at her, strands of his black hair falling into his face, his mouth a straight line, two deep eyes finding her own, but she could not identify anything that lay within those green orbs.“Thank you,” she said genuinely. V just saved her life, no denying that, and the confirmation how easy it was to end a life was once more thrown at her. One moment of inattention, one moment of not paying too much attention to the surroundings. Cara’s heart was racing and not from the effort and the heat of the battle. She just made a mistake. A mistake that shouldn’t have happened to her. And she would be dead now if it weren’t for the demonic cat and the man.He merely nodded once, just a slight tilt of his chin, but a sign of acknowledging her words. Despite him shielding himself from her and probably other people, at least he did not let others die if it could be avoided.The wave of demons was finished off quickly afterwards. But the next one was already approaching. Cara shook her arms, relaxing the muscles and making sure she could still fight without problems. She was completely alright though.V’s gaze however was fixed on the path where Nero left them. She couldn’t see his expression, but he didn’t pay attention to the demons spawning once more behind him. The black panther walked around him, close enough to brush along the man’s clothes and hands, growling softly. Cara wondered if he understood what the demon said, if there was any meaning at all. The blue bird was the only one who watched the new demons. Cara looked at the man, and after a moment she thought she understood what was going on.“Just go. I can handle these by myself.” She called over to him.The tattooed man looked over to her, his expression again completely unreadable.“Haha, you?! You were almost turned into shashlik just now!” the blue bird mocked her. Cara glared at him.“Well you better hope that’ll still happen or else I’ll turn you into chicken soup later!”Last time she ignored the bird’s comment and while remarks like this were not her strongest point she would not let a bird – demon or not – mock her skills. She worked hard for those. And while this previous mistake was not supposed to happen, that was not a reason to mock her abilities altogether.The bird made a grumpy sound but didn’t say anything more. Instead he flew back to V.“I leave these to you then,” the tattooed man said, his deep voice carried through the air like the fog around them. Again, it sent shivers down her spine. There was something so definitive about the way he talked. It played right into the walls that surrounded his entire being; kept anyone from looking past them, didn’t allow anyone to even hear anything behind those barriers.She simply nodded but she couldn’t help but think that there was an urgency in his movements when he started walking away, as if he would break out into a run any second but didn’t want her to see that.Was she missing something? Was he worried about something?She had no time to think about him, though, as a new wave of demons approached her. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* V couldn’t deny the dread that settled deep within his bones, wrapping around his nerves like barbwire and making his skin crawl. Shadow had retreated reluctantly into her tattoos, she would never go against her summoner’s wishes, but he felt her concern. A faint purr, only noticeable by him, hidden deep within the markings on his body.He passed the distance to the heart of the battle, the source of the evil, the origin of the dread and horror he was facing, leaving the woman behind to clear their path for whatever ending this hellish situation would bring them.
Do not forget your mission, his own mind reminded him.
He wouldn’t. He couldn’t fail here.But when he arrived and his gaze fell upon the entity placed onto the throne of bones and blood, roots binding it to its place, there was absolutely nothing that could have prepared the summoner for the severity of their situation. Hopelessness crushed over him as he had to witness how their only chances of ending this calamity were overpowered, beaten on the ground; helpless, powerless, not standing a chance.V felt the familiar surge of despair creeping up from deep within his chest, grabbing a hold of his ribcage, attempting to crush it under the weight of not knowing what to do. He couldn’t help, he couldn’t fight the demon, he was nothing but a burden to the bloodline of Sparda, nothing but a fragile human with some minor demonic power binding his life to another demon, forced to obey…Words escaped him, thoughts numbed by the helplessness he was facing.“This is it, this is the end! It’s all over!”V barely comprehended Griffon’s words. He barely understood just how real their worst nightmare and the end of their world suddenly has become.He just stared with parted lips and wide eyes as the entity raised its arm, channeling and focusing pure demonic energy in its palm, aiming it at the young man he brought with him. Their last chance if Dante couldn’t beat him. And he was struggling to stand on his own feet, powerless, beaten…A shot reverberated through the heavy air and V’s eyes fell onto Dante standing again with his two guns in his hands; exhausted, breathing heavily, but still standing. He was still standing. Not beaten, not beaten yet. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe they could still win. Maybe… they had to.“Round two,” he said and V couldn’t avoid it, couldn’t stop himself from accepting that small flicker of hope that not all was lost yet. The half-demon transformed into his devil form, the pure demonic energy he released still completely overshadowed by the power of the demonic entity resting on its throne, barely moving, barely even reacting.He watched with open mouth and wide eyes as Dante attacked it again, charging straight at the demon and colliding with a barrier entirely created and upheld by the entity’s raised hand.V felt the demonic power in every fiber of his being as these two powers clashed. Such a dense and dark energy that sent shockwave after shockwave through their surroundings, threatening to come tumbling down around them and yet V couldn’t help the new feeling of despair as he had to realize that Dante’s last resort, his most powerful state of being was not even enough to breach the demon’s shields.
But we have to win. We can’t let him destroy it all. I need to…
“V, get Nero out of here! This was a bad move!”, he heard Dante scream and V looked between him and Nero. Nero, the boy was their last chance. Maybe… maybe they could find a way. They had to.“I can still fight.” Nero grumbled under his breath, forcing himself to stand up and barely succeeding.“Nero, go! You’re just deadweight.” Dante yelled again before he was forced to turn his attention back to the entity who still hasn’t made another move than to raise its arm.V put his hand on Nero’s shoulder to pull him back but the young man pushed him off.“Back off!” he screamed, his voice full of anger.Debris fell from the above them, the sheer demonic energies of the two beings fighting even destroying the area of the Qliphoth around them. V stumbled back, the ground shaking under the force of the tree collapsing partly around them.He got up quickly, he needed to prevent Nero from running back into battle, the anger and hurt over Dante’s words making him too reckless to truly realize what was at stake. V tried to force his own thoughts of despair and hopelessness into silence, tried to stop his limbs from shaking under the weight of the severity, tried to stop the darkness from weighing too heavily on his nerves and mind to do what he had to do. To make sure Nero would survive, to make sure there was a chance remaining to end this nightmare, for him to succeed in his mission, to fulfill his purpose.“Come on,” he said and tried to drag the younger man away from the scene.“Let go.”“We must leave here. He is far stronger than we ever could’ve imagined,” V said through gritted teeth, his words strained through the effort it took to drag the younger but much stronger man away. Nero screamed in anger and pushed V off again, making an attempt to climb over the still collapsing roots of the tree.“That bastard called me deadweight! I didn’t come all this way for nothing!”There was hurt in his voice. Anger and hurt and grief over potentially having to witness how Dante lost combining into a recklessness that clouded the young hunter’s mind. And while V knew how such an emotional baggage could weigh on one’s mind, how much it could shroud one’s judgement and composure, it didn’t do them any good now. They needed to get away, to safe their one and only chance, no matter how frail and slim it may have been, to end this.V used his cane, putting it one Nero’s chest as an extension of his arm and pushed the man away from his futile attempt to dive back into a hopeless battle.V breathed heavily under the effort of pushing the hunter away, and he forcefully used his cane to keep him pinned to a wall of demonic roots behind him.“Stop hitting yourself, and think of ways to get stronger and actually help,” he almost made it sound like a demand. He breathed heavily, tried to calm his own racing heart, tried to keep his composure and tried to find a way out of this situation in his empty and by darkness covered mind.“If Dante loses…” he paused as once more the harsh reality they were facing now came crashing down on him. Nero looked at him, eyes shimmering with too many emotions to distinguish them anymore.“You are all that can defeat Urizen,” he continued, looking to the side where he could still faintly hear the sounds of the battle, although the sight was now completely blocked by the fallen tree parts. There was a darkness in his own green eyes now. A darkness that grew out of the deeply rooted hatred for demons within him, fueled by how dangerous this demon actually was and the newly awakening determination to not let him win, to not let the human world end like this and to succeed in his mission because he knew – no matter what a success would imply – that the consequences could and never would be as severe as they were now.He released his hold on Nero as the young man calmed down a little, though V did not avert his eyes from where Urizen was.“Is that what you call him?” Nero asked, his voice hoarse.“Yes. Urizen, the demon king…” V’s gaze fell onto Nero and the stump at his right arm, “That’s the name of the demon that took your arm.”There was no lie in his words, but it also wasn’t the truth. But there was no way and need to tell the young hunter the truth about Urizen and his core right now. It would hinder him. It would make his mind and heart falter, and they needed him to beat and end this. Somehow.“Come on. We need to go.” V said, one last time looking to where Urizen was before turning around and starting to run. Nero luckily followed him albeit begrudgingly.They had to find a way out of the tree. Quick. They couldn’t take the entire way they took on the way here. He felt Shadow in her respective tattoos, urging him to use her powers, let her carry him, and of course she was right, but he could not leave Nero behind. And while he knew just how powerful Shadow was, he had no intention of letting Nero cling to him so he could utilize this ability as well.Besides, they had another person with them. The woman stood with their back to them, a demon vanishing in front of her as they reached the area where V fought earlier. V did not know who she was, and he did not trust her. However, she has proven herself to be quite helpful and capable, there were no more demons around right now, so they could focus entirely on getting out of this hellish environment. V would not sacrifice someone that helped them and was beneficial to their cause.“What happened?” she was confused but V made no attempt at stopping his movements. Nero grunted next to him. The woman followed them.“We need to leave. And find an exit fast.” V replied while running. He didn’t look at her, he could only imagine her confusion, but he had no intention nor the time to explain the situation. The ground was still shaking below them, the walls were still rattling. The battle was not over yet.They ran along the pathways within the tree as fast as they could, but V could not see a way to exit the tree. V tried to ignore the nervous shivers running along his nerves. At this rate they would need to leave the same way they came and pray that they could make it in time.“Wait!” V did not stop running, they couldn’t afford it but he turned his gaze to the woman who was looking ahead and pointing at the outer wall of the Qliphoth.“Can we somehow dig through the walls of the tree? With our weapons? The roots are much thinner over there. We should be able to break through it.”V did stop this time. So did Nero. They both followed the woman’s outstretched hand to where she was pointing. V did not see really see that much of a difference to that part of the tree compared to anywhere else. Nothing aside from that the bloodstream inside the roots and vessels seemed to be brighter, more visible.But they had nothing to lose.And they were running out of time.Nero made yet again a grunting sound, but his hand went to the handle of his sword and he moved forward.“Wait. You would take too long this way.” V said. Nero looked at him with still too many emotions in his eyes but he didn’t say a word. V himself couldn’t cut through the roots of the tree. Griffon and Shadow could but they would need time to do so. However, these two were not his only summons.He disliked relying on that entity. Disliked the demonic energy that cursed through his body then, making every nerve and muscle shiver with the tension of having this power putting strain on his frail human body. This demon was his last resort but also his most powerful tool and weapon.V snapped his fingers. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Dante felt the effort and the tension of keeping the pressure of the attack up in every part of his body. Even in this form, even if his body was nothing more than humanoid, the true human hidden deep within, leaving nothing but pure demonic energy coursing through his system.And yet, all this strength did absolutely nothing against him.He put his all into this last attack, this last shot, this last resort he still had to beat him.He has never been in such a situation, has never faced such an opponent. Although this one was a familiar opponent. More or less.The punch against Rebellion by the demon’s fist came so fast that Dante could not react.He felt the power and energy pushing against him, felt it breaching every shield he had, every mean of defense; cracking and breaking like glass.It overpowered him.Dante could only feel himself getting pushed back, felt the strain and pain erupting in his body, something he has never felt before, felt how all the strength and energy left him as if it has never been there in the first place. He was forced out of his Devil Trigger.He fell back, unable to fight back.He did not hear or see Rebellion shattering, but he felt it reverberating in his very soul, felt as if a part of him was dragged out of him, taking a part of his soul and spirit with it. This weapon, this gift, this part of him, breaking and shattering with just a punch, just vanishing, leaving him defenseless and unable to fight back anymore.The last thing Dante saw, when he forced his aching eyes open, was the glowing green eyes of him.And then Dante’s body collided harshly and painfully with the ground. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* He felt the familiar surge of energy spreading through his body, setting his nerves on edge, felt the ink on his skin fade into particles and wisps of smoke, felt the energy surrounding him, felt his hair waving and changing colors from the pure demonic power that left and surrounded his body.It only took a mere moment until the released energy took shape.The giant demon created out of pure demonic energy and solid mass appeared above them through a portal that allowed the demon to leave the confines of V’s markings and enter this realm. He saw Nero and the woman next to him flinching back in surprise, maybe even fear, the woman taking a much bigger step back than the demon hunter.V used the magic of the darkness, of Shadow’s powers to climb onto Nightmare’s back, piercing his cane into the solid mass of the being that didn’t notice such a minor touch.Nero now below him stuck close to the demon, unworried now, too occupied in his mind to actually care as he probably figured out V’s next step already. The summoner looked over his shoulder at the woman. Her eyes were switching between him and Nightmare, trying to comprehend what was happening, what the demon was, what he was. If the situation hadn’t been as hopeless and severe as it was it probably would’ve made him smile.“We need to move,” he said and made a gesture at her pointing to Nightmare’s back. She hesitated, but she understood what he wanted. And she also seemed to understand that they did not have time for hesitation and pauses. She managed to climb up Nightmare’s back quicker and easier than he expected. She clung to the dips and little crevices along its body and V deemed that it had to be good enough for this.They couldn’t wait for her to get a comfortable stance and grasp on the demon. They needed to get out of here.Now.Vs command to Nightmare was easily conveyed through his mind. As the demon lacked sentience to the most part it blindly did what V commanded it to do.Luckily the wall was truly easy to breach at this point. The woman was right. Nightmare tore through the blood and roots easily and they jumped through the opening into the outside world again.The impact on the ground was a bit rough, even with the giant demon, but V straightened up almost instantly, and jumped down over Nightmare’s shoulder, finally feeling solid normal ground underneath his feet again as he let Nightmare retreat. The energy it took him to uphold the summon was too much, too straining to keep the demon around for longer than absolutely necessary. The woman made a surprised sound as the demon underneath her started to vanish in a mass of liquid energy and demonic ink.There were people around.Lots of civilians that didn’t understand what was happening. But V couldn’t find it in him to look even one of them in the eye. He knew what would eventually happen here and he was more than aware of the fact that he couldn’t save them all. There was no way to keep the city from its imminent doom because of their failure now, because they failed to defeat the demonic entity and their last hope barely made it out of there alive.“What happened to Dante?” V heard the man, Morrison, ask.“Where is Dante?” he asked once more when Nero didn’t answer him.“He’s buying time but… it doesn’t look good,” V replied being confronted with how helpless this entire situation was once more.And then there was a rumble wandering through the air, a shaking of the ground. When V looked back up the Qliphoth the ground tore open. Spiky, tentacle-like roots emerging from the ground, the tree itself now defending and attacking the people caused by the raging destruction it was facing inside. People started screaming and running in sheer panic as the roots came swinging down, stabbing the people as if they were nothing but paper, sucking their blood as sacrifice for the Qliphoth to heal its damaged part and to make it grow even more.
So it has begun…
“This can’t be happening… Dante lost?” Morrison said more to himself than to anyone else. V didn’t say anything. There was nothing for him to say. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Dante was supposed to win against Urizen, was supposed to end this threat and clear the path for V to get the fruit, to fulfill his side of the contract for which he only had time as long as the Qliphoth was still standing-V reacted fast, putting his cane in front of Nero’s chest as the demon hunter tried to engage in battle again. The woman seemed to have wanted to do the same thing but stopped when V held Nero back.“Forget it, there’s nothing we can do… We must go,” he said, his voice hoarse, strained with his own inability to do anything about the situation. If they cut down these roots, new ones would emerge. At this point fighting was futile. And they were all exhausted and weakened, especially Nero. They needed to retreat. Needed to leave and hope and try to think of a plan. Anything to maybe give them another chance, a glimmer of hope that they could stop the world’s ending from happening.Nero pushed his cane away forcefully, making V almost stumble. But then the young hunter turned around and left the scenery; angry, wounded, grieving, desperate. V turned around as well and tried to ignore the horrific sound of the people screaming and being murdered behind him. The young woman following just like the man Morrison did…
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4th chapter:Cara didn’t say a word during the flight away from Red Grave City. She looked outside the helicopter, her head leaning against her hand, though she hardly took in anything they passed by. The rest inside the helicopter has been silent as well since they left the city. Mr. Morrison was flying it; his hands were clutching the controls in an iron grip probably to keep his nerves under control. Nero was sitting in the ‘passenger seat’ in front of her not saying a word, but what just happened, and the consequences of hit weighed heavily on him. There was too much going on within him right now, it was all around him. The tense atmosphere in the helicopter was filled by anger, grief and frustration, it was undeniable. V sat behind Morrison, unmoving and silent; there was no way to tell what he was thinking about.Cara herself couldn’t even define what truly went on inside of her own mind.She failed.They all failed.These people who seemed to have so much potential, and they all lost, beaten without standing a chance. And Dante with the two women didn’t even make it out of there.Did they survive?Was there a way for them to survive this?And now Cara was again right at the beginning. Not one step closer to undo her mistake. Not one step closer to taking that tree down.The flight took quite a while since they didn’t go back to the same place where they came from. Cara thought she picked up that they were going to Fortuna when Morrison said everyone should get into the helicopter. No one had any objections to her tagging along. In fact, no one said anything regarding that, but everyone’s mind was focused on something else. She hardly mattered right now. They simply didn’t care.They were faced with a world threatening catastrophe and from what Cara understood the only people who should have been capable of stopping it were beaten or even killed.So what to do now?Cara had to admit that she felt absolutely helpless. She had no idea at all. And she was surrounded by strangers who didn’t trust her and whom she maybe couldn’t trust either. She felt even worse than after the military operation failed.The helicopter landed after what felt like an eternity on the island of Fortuna. Cara has been here before during her studies but there was not much she could figure out about what went on here on this island. Information about the cult that used to run this city was hard to come by…No one said a word as they walked up to a nearby building. An old house with a garage seemingly covering up most of the ground floor. Nero went first, head lowered and he bumped his hand on the door.Cara watched as the door to the house was cautiously opened. Though she barely caught a glimpse of copper red hair before she heard a gasp and saw a woman throwing her arms around Nero. Cara felt a bit awkward watching them, but she also felt a sting of melancholy in her heart at the scene unfolding in front of her. It must be nice to have someone waiting for one at home, someone who welcomed one after a long hard day at work, someone to catch you when work and emotions have been draining you all day…She smiled ever so barely. She didn’t know these people at all, but seeing the woman grabbing Nero like this, full of relief and happiness, made her glad that Nero made it out of there. That he could return home to a person that cared about him, that they didn’t have to come here to tell her that Nero didn’t make it.She was glad. And it was at least a slight positive shimmer in this expanding darkness they were facing.Nero wrapped his arm around the woman and even from her position Cara could see how he was squeezing her, not saying a word, but assuring her that he was alright, that he made it back.Their embrace lasted quite a while and none of the other present people – neither V nor Morrison nor Cara – said a word or made another move.“Is that Nero?!” Cara heard another voice from inside the house.“Yes.” The woman that embraced Nero replied. She then looked at the other people that were in front of their house. She was a beautiful young woman, Cara noted, with her long hair – still a bit shorter than Cara’s though – her soft brown eyes and how the relief and joy made her entire face light up in a way that Cara could only describe as angelic. She looked between Nero and them for a moment, obviously waiting for Nero to say something but he only looked to the side. Cara couldn’t see his expression.“Please, come all in. Morrison, it is good to see you again,” the woman said. The man took off his hat and offered the woman his hand and apologized for taking Nero away in this condition and for arriving in the middle of the night like this.“I’m just glad he’s okay,” the woman smiled. The man went inside.“I’m truly sorry for the disturbance. We won’t take a lot of your time, I promise. I’m Cara,” apologizing like Mr. Morrison felt only right to her as she shook the woman’s hand and introduced herself.“I’m Kyrie. And that’s fine, really. I just want to know what happened,” there was concern in her voice and Cara could understand her so well.“Man, again, I leave ya for like a few minutes and you just fly off, hu?! You’re supposed to be resting, dude.” Said the voice Cara heard a minute earlier already. Another woman approached Nero as soon as they entered the house. There was a sense of anger and a chastising tone in her voice, but the glance in her pretty brown-green eyes was anything but.“Will you sh- just be quiet,” Nero countered. He sounded exhausted. But then again, they all were.“Yeah, yeah, whatever. But ya better tell us what happened.”Cara followed the people into their living room. A small cozy looking room. Cara saw a lot of photos on the wall and on the furniture, she easily spotted Nero and Kyrie in a lot of them as she let her blue eyes slide over the room. She wasn’t subtle in observing the room, she never was but after all these years she didn’t even try breaking that habit. There were a lot of different objects decorating the room, none of them fitted together, neither in shape nor color, they gave the impression of random gifts by other people who haven’t seen the interior of their home. Cara also saw some colorful toys lying around on the floor.
Do they have kids?
If there were kids involved Cara was even more glad that Nero got home safely.“Pretty sweet place, don’t cha think?”Cara almost flinched as the other woman walked past her with a grin on her face and let herself fall onto the couch. Cara avoided her eyes to prevent a blush to creep onto her cheeks. She knew she wasn’t being subtle about observing her environments, that didn’t mean it wasn’t embarrassing getting caught in the act.“Hey, relax,” the woman patted the spot next to her on the couch, “I’m Nico by the way.” Cara followed her invitation and sat down on the couch. She allowed the quiet sigh to escape her lips as she threw her light brown hair back over her shoulders. She would really appreciate a shower. Now that the battle was over, the effort and strain it put on her body was slowly becoming more prominent, and after all that time fighting demons she just felt filthy.“I’m Cara. Hi,” the two women shook hands and Cara was incredibly grateful for the rather uplifting attitude from Nico. It made the situation feel a bit less heavy for her.“What about you, pal?” Nico leaned forward to look past Cara at V. The man had just quietly followed them inside, Cara couldn’t even tell if he introduced himself to Kyrie, but she thought it was interesting that these people didn’t seem to know him.What was his role in this group?“Call me V.” The man replied as he leaned with his back against the wall next to the couch, crossing his arms in front of his chest and barely looking up to Nico while answering her. There was more than enough space on this side of the couch or the other side where Nero and Kyrie sat down right now, but Cara wouldn’t be the one to offer it to V. He seemed to be so deliberate in this moment. Leaning on the wall, away from all of them, his gesture defensive, like raising yet another wall between him and the others.Nero buried his face in his hand for a moment, groaning in frustration and Cara was reminded about the seriousness of the situation they were in again. Kyrie had her hands on Nero’s shoulders, squeezing them encouragingly, but Cara almost could’ve sworn how much the situation and the emotions weighed heavily on him.“I am really sorry for all of this. I’m having a hard time accepting this myself if I’m being honest here,” Mr. Morrison said who sat down in the armchair. He ran his hand over his face and then let it drop onto the arm rest.“It’s okay. Will you tell us what happened?” Kyrie asked softly. Cara admired her strength to smile right now, even if she saw and felt just how tense and heavy the atmosphere was.Mr. Morrison nodded.“Where are the kids though? They shouldn’t listen to this,” he asked.“Kids?” Cara couldn’t help her curiosity, the word just left her mouth without taking a halt in her brain for her to think it over.“Not theirs,” Nico chimed in, grinning at her, “they’re taking care of a bunch of orphans.”Cara made a very quiet oh sound, but she could’ve sworn she saw V from her peripheral vision lifting his head for the shortest moment after hearing Nico’s reply. But when she turned her head to him the tattooed man had his head lowered again, not a chance to catch a glimpse of his face and expression.“Nero, what happened?” Kyrie asked the young man softly. Nero looked at her before he sighed and ran his hand over his head again and scratched his neck. Cara looked at him expectantly because she didn’t know what really happened in the tree either. Maybe whatever he told them could give her some ideas about how to proceed now. Because she was totally lost at this point.Nero looked at Kyrie once and then started explaining. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Nero clenched his teeth in frustration as he finished his explanation of the previous events. Or at least, what he knew about those. Kyrie’s hand rubbing his back felt like heaven, but even she couldn’t take this weight of his shoulders. He couldn’t believe he lost, couldn’t believe they all lost. That bastard just finished them all off. Like they were nothing. Like ants underneath his foot. Weak, pathetic…… dead weight.Nero’s hand clenched into a fist and he pressed his lips tightly together to avoid making a sound or saying anything more.“So what is the plan now?” Morrison’s question hung heavy in the air and the entire room fell silent for a long while.“We need to find a way to defeat him.”Nero looked up to V who made a step forward, uncrossing his arms and leaning on his cane as he looked at the people in the room but at no one in particular. Nero’s brows furrowed. This guy brought him out of there. He still had no idea about his abilities and powers aside from having a weird blue bird and a giant golem thing as companions, but he looked weaker than Nero, weaker than Dante, and yet he was still here. Alive and well. Nearly unscathed by the events, and here Nero was, bruised, exhausted, weak…“What the hell can we do even? I’m just dead weight after all.” Nero said through gritted teeth, his blue eyes burning holes into his knees as he felt his fist shake in anger and frustration.“No, you’re not. You tried your best-““But it wasn’t enough!” he snapped. Kyrie’s expression fell for a very short moment, before her beautiful eyes lit up in sympathy. At least that’s what he made himself believe. He didn’t want pity. He didn’t need pity.Fuck this, the words never left his lips. Never in front of Kyrie but he desperately wanted to scream all his frustration off his soul. Instead he felt like it was suffocating him inside this broken, powerless body.“Well, you know, buddy, I just may have an idea for ya.”Nero looked at Nico with an exasperated sigh leaving his lips. What now?! This was not the time for playing guessing games or empty claims, so he really hoped she would expand her little statement.“I’m gonna build ya a new arm.”“What?!”“Didn’t ya hear me?! Or do ya doubt my genius yet again?!”“Just… ugh,” he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, “please explain,” it was actually hard staying calm. Nero couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted to punch something or if he just wanted to scream and since neither of it was an option right now, and Kyrie’s soothing touch on his shoulders could only do so much right now, he was left with his blood boiling and his knees and hand shaking from too many emotions coursing through him.“I don’t know exactly yet,” Nico said thoughtfully, the kind of thoughtful she only got when it was serious, this much Nero knew about her so far, “but I could use my genius and the research and work it into a prosthetic arm. Or more a weapon. I would need to think this through first.”Nero stared at her, just like everybody else in the room. Nero wasn’t doubting what she could do. He had no idea how far she could go, but he knew she could do something. And this something was probably more than whatever he could come up with himself.“But I assume this will take time, right?” the other woman said – Cara. Nero had no idea who that woman was. She was just suddenly there, said she wanted to help. And she did. But he still had no idea who she was, where she came from. Hell, at this point he trusted V more than her. And he didn’t know that guy either. At all.“Yeah. I mean, I’d need to do the planning, and no idea how long that’ll take. The construction and so on will be faster usually,” Nico replied.“How much time would you need?” Nero countered, raising his eyebrows. Nico seemed to think about it, but Cara chimed in again.“How much time do we have? That tree is still out there, and I suppose it’s not going to get better the more time passes.”She had a valid point. For all they knew this tree could grow even more and probably destroy the whole world within a few days. A new arm wouldn’t do him any good then anymore.“The tree will continue to grow for at least one more month.” V answered and Nero simply wondered how and why this guy knew this. Who was he? How could he know these things? But Nero doubted he would get an answer from the guy now, so they all would have to take his word for it.“That should be enough. Not enough time to explore all the possibilities but enough to get something done.” Nico looked up at the ceiling, lost in her own thoughts for a second.“Then we can use these four weeks to figure out how to take that tree down.”“Do you have an idea what we can do?” Morrison asked Cara after her statement. The woman, at least Nero assumed so, seemed a bit older than him though he also wasn’t totally sure. He was bad at guessing the ages of women.“I could look into my parent’s research. I never came across something like this but maybe they have found some information in their time.”“Are your parents researchers?” Kyrie asked her, curiosity and genuine interest embraced each of Kyrie’s words. It almost brought a smile to Nero’s face. Bless her. Cara chuckled.“Were. And yeah, sort of I guess. Let’s just say they were interested in demonology.”“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kyrie apologized as the woman’s parents were obviously not alive anymore. Cara waved it off.“Oh please, no, it’s alright.”“V, do you know how to take that thing down?” Nero asked the guy then. V looked at the ground, the hint of a smirk appeared at the corners of his lips. Weird guy…“I’m afraid that my knowledge about the matter has reached its end at this point.”Nero didn’t know if he was lying or not. There was something about V’s expression that made him incredibly irritating and almost intimidating, and Nero had a hard time finding any sort of sincerity in his voice, words or even posture, but what choice than to believe him did they have? The world was ending, he was just a weak, pathetic dead weight, and they had absolutely no clue whether or not Dante was still in there and still alive.“Then I guess this is settled. I’ll try to help out where I can and then let’s hope to get this situation under control again,” Morrison said and got up from his seat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Cara wrapped the blanket closer around her shoulders as she got settled cross-legged on her couch, stacks of books, folders and loose sheets of papers in front of her on the coffee table alongside a nice hot cup of green tea.The sun was already rising again, and she knew she wouldn’t be getting any sleep anyway, so she might as well get started doing her research. Mr. Morrison has been so kind as to take her back with the helicopter, so she could get a cab to take her home. V has left Fortuna alongside her and Mr. Morrison, though they didn’t exchange another word and she also had no idea where he went. They were both too lost in their own thoughts about the situation and arguably tired as well.And now, they all had work to do.Cara had to admit that she really liked these two women she met in Fortuna. Kyrie and Nico. Wildly different, but they seemed to get along fine. Cara wondered if she would see them again if they went back to Red Grave. As of right now she was honestly just glad that they allowed her to accompany them and let her help.She still got a chance at this.She could still set this right again.But for now, she had to dig through her parent’s research. Her mother’s research from her time as a journalist for the supernatural was vast, a lot of it made Cara question how her mother even got this info, but it has been helpful on more than one occasion for her work so far. However, she also couldn’t remember all the information and details by heart. It was just too much.There was also this nagging thought that she might actually find something helpful, which she could’ve used for the military mission. If this was the case Cara had no idea what she would do. If there was something in these files that could’ve saved lives…While the call to get her to coordinate the operation was urgent and she barely has had a chance to grab her bag before they picked her up, so she really didn’t have time to do any research at all.She was fine.She did all her could.It was so hard to make herself believe that and she could feel the weight of it still crushing her shoulders. All the dead soldiers, all the civilians died because the strategy she came up with failed miserably.Cara closed her eyes and buried her head in her hands. The sob erupted from her throat unintentionally, but she also didn’t try to stop it. She allowed the sobs to escape her lips, she allowed the tears to spill from her eyes, she allowed it all, granted herself the moment of just breaking down, letting it all out. She hugged the blanket closer around her body as the young woman shook from the emotions and how heavy the events of the last hours actually weighed her down.By the time the tears finally ceased, the sobs slowly quietened, the tea was long cold and the sun has risen fully above the horizon. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* It has been a few days and some all-nighters for Cara to finally look through all the files and papers she had. Days and nights to keep herself busy to avoid letting her own emotions overwhelm her again. It was unprofessional and uncalled for right now. She needed to focus. She needed to help. And she actually did find something. It didn’t give her any answers at all. It more like threw a hint at her; just a page full of questions her mother jotted down about it but without explaining anything.So now she was in the nearly completely abandoned library aside from the woman at the reception - because no one wanted to spend their time relaxing in a library while a demonic tree grew in the nearby city - to see whatever she could find the old-fashioned way. There was actually a much bigger chance to find an old long forgotten book about demonology in the depths of the shelves of an old library than to dig through the internet. Not to mention that she knew this library by heart. She always spent time here to do research as long as she was at home and didn’t have to travel for work.She loved the long, narrow shelves that formed a maze of old, good smelling books full of stories and information just waiting to be discovered by her. Even more did she appreciate though the huge working space in the middle of this maze. Comfortable chairs, old wooden tables, illuminated mostly by daylight shining in through the huge windows. It was nice working in broad daylight.And today she also appreciated that the lovely weather outside distracted her from the ongoing catastrophe in Red Grave. It allowed her to concentrate more on the matter at hand and not on the fact that she should probably be in the city helping people.
“He who respects the Infant’s faith
Triumphs over Hell and Death.”
Cara raised her head from her book, blue eyes widening a bit, her lips barely so parting as she heard that deep and unique voice. V stood in front of her on the other side of the table, leaning on his cane, a book in his free hand, apparently quoting from it. He closed the book and looked up from it, the corner of his lips rising into a smirk as his green eyes bore into hers.And they were beautiful. Cara had a hard time denying that, now that she saw the man in broad daylight for the very first time. A bright green, dimmed by strands of wavy black hair falling into his face. His eyes bore into hers and just like before it seemed as if he was looking for something. As if he tried to analyze her, judging her whether or not she could be trusted, if she was a threat to him, just how much of his walls he could break down for her to allow this interaction between them.There was nothing intimidating about him right now. Whether it was the change of scenery or circumstances or because he stood in a public place, illuminated by the sunlight and not the moon, but Cara also didn’t feel comfortable letting down her own guard around him. She knew nothing about this man aside from him having non-human abilities. She didn’t and couldn’t trust him just as he didn’t.That, however, was not a reason for not allowing this situation or reject the prospect of a possibly pleasant conversation, as odd as it seemed they would meet here coincidentally. And Cara was definitely not against getting to know him - or new people in general.“That.. is an interesting quote,” his smirk grew broader for a moment as he obviously read between the lines and noticed how she had absolutely no idea what he was quoting nor what he meant by it. But, he didn’t feel the need to respond to her comment.“May I?” he asked her nodding towards the chair in front of him across from her.“Please,” she allowed a smile to appear on her lips as the man slowly, but in an almost elegant way, which she didn’t expect from him, lowered himself into the chair. He reached underneath his black leather vest and put the book away which he quoted from earlier. She was surprised that it was apparently his book. Given they were in a library she assumed he had found it somewhere here.“So, tell me, what was that quote you said just now?” Cara asked, making a small attempt to break the ice but also because there was a shimmer of interest in her about this since poetry was a topic she basically knew next to nothing about.“The Auguries of Innocence. By William Blake,” he didn’t sound annoyed at her question at all, rather he seemed to gladly give her that info albeit it was a very short answer.The name “Blake” rang a bell, but she has neither heard of this poem nor could she think of any other poem by him. So she resorted to not commenting on it. No need to fake her knowing something about it and she suspected V could see through her anyway. Cara nodded.“Sorry. Poetry is not really my forte,” she admitted, avoiding eye contact with him and looked back at her notes and the opened book about demonology.“It rarely is.”Cara didn’t know what to say to him as a reply, but an apologetic smile appeared on her face, and while there was no indication for it in his voice, his words could easily be interpreted as sad or at least disappointed. Cara knew it could be hard if you didn’t have someone to share a passion with.“Has your research brought you any results?”Cara looked at the man a bit surprised, but then she remembered that she told all of them that she would be doing research days ago in Fortuna. Also the fact she held a pen in her hand and was writing down notes from a book was also a big indication.“Not a lot honestly,” she replied. She didn’t know if she could trust him, she didn’t know him at all, but they at least seemed to be on the same side, and they could use all the help they can get. Not to mention that he did save her life in that tree as well. She might as well share her results so far. Cara reached into her backpack and pulled out a little folder. She pulled a very old, slightly yellowed piece of paper out it, and laid it on the table.It was just a pencil drawing of a tree that looked suspiciously similar to the one in Red Grave City along with a lot of questions like “where does it come from?”, “how to take it down?”. Basically the same questions they had now, but without any answers.A tattooed hand reached out to the sheet of paper. Long, slender fingers, which didn’t appear to be the hands of a fighter, they looked like pianist’s hands, too controlled in their movements, too graceful for the hardships of battle, slid the paper slowly closer. Cara forced herself to stop staring and observing his hands with an almost completely unnoticeable shake of her head.“Was your mother a demon hunter?” he seemed genuinely interested as he eyed the notes on the paper.“No, but my dad was. She was a journalist. Though she did focus on demons,” Cara replied. Her parents were maybe not the happiest and her most favorite topic but also not something she would completely avoid talking about. And her mother’s work has been helpful in the past already after all. She was just glad when people didn’t linger too long on that topic.V nodded barely visible and slid the paper back over to her. She put it back inside her backpack.“Aside from that actually nothing so far. I haven’t found anything about a giant demonic tree that suddenly spawns in the human world like this.” Cara told him. V looked at her out of his deep green eyes, his brows slightly furrowed. He listened closely to every word she said, she noticed. Despite how… off he looked and appeared, he was rather courteous.“Do you know anything about it?” Cara dared to ask him, looking him in his eyes with a challenging glance. She assumed he knew more. Not how much but everything about him screamed that he was not completely uninformed. He protected himself too much from her and other people with the barriers and his composure to not have more knowledge about this.He smirked again. “It’s called Qliphoth. A tree that grows in the underworld. It grows for 2000 years before breaking through the gate to the human world.”“I suppose it doesn’t need water and sunlight in order to grow?” it was almost a rhetorical question. The sun didn’t shine in hell and she didn’t know of water existing in hell either. But, he did know what it was. How he knew was a question for another time probably.“It thrives on human blood.”Cara didn’t say anything but she nodded as she got the sad confirmation of what she already assumed.“Do you know how to take it down?” she asked after a longer while. He said he didn’t know back in Fortuna, but maybe he has figured out something during the last few days.“No. The assumption would be to defeat Urizen.”“Urizen?”“The demon that rises with the Qliphoth. An entity bound to the tree, unable to leave it.”“Is… this demon the reason you lost?” Cara asked carefully after a while of contemplating what little information V was offering her.The man nodded. His expression was unreadable, he was hiding his thoughts and emotions well behind his walls but Cara couldn’t imagine that it didn’t affect him. If he truly was on their side, if he cared about the others, then it couldn’t leave him cold and disinterested in their fates.Silence fell upon them as Cara was thinking about what V said and dug through her mind and brain to come up with an idea, but right now there was just a blank space. She had absolutely no idea. “V…” she started then, almost whispering. The man looked at her, maybe surprised at her tone, with slightly rosen eyebrows.“There’s much more to this, right?” she asked him and looked him into his eyes again. There was a flicker of something in there this time - surprise, intrigue, she couldn’t really tell - before he closed his eyes, long lashes flattering against very prominent cheekbones and a smirk broke out on his face again. It gave her the same answer as if he had just said ‘yes’. She nodded, exhaling through her nose and looking away.“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” he said then. He didn’t trust her. One bit. The little information he gave her was probably the same information he gave Dante and the others, and now Cara had to occupy her mind with the questions what he’s keeping from her and whether or not she could trust him. At least a little bit.“I’ll take my leave now. I’ll see you in three weeks in Red Grave City at the church square,” with that the man rose from the chair.She whispered a quiet “yeah. See you there.” before she watched him walk away, his black hair swinging with his movements, his cane in hand. Cara watched him until he was out of sight before she let her head glide into her hands. She didn’t know what to think or feel.Why was V even here? And while she was glad for some company, it was the last thing she expected. And he didn’t really give her any answers either. He didn’t trust her, was definitely hiding something and kept his distance as much as possible.
But he has beautiful eyes...
She shook her head, shaking the thought literally from her mind, although she knew those green eyes would probably haunt her until she saw him again.Alright, think rationally, she told herself and thought about the few things he did say. The tree’s name was Qliphoth and the demon that beat them all was called Urizen. Maybe she could make use of that info after all… ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* V walked down the steps in front of the library slowly as he felt the faint breeze of energy coursing through his body. Particles of the black ink marking his skin faded, demonic energy left his body as the blue lightning demon manifested next to him. His wings sparkled with the electricity spreading through them, blue feathers filled the air as Griffon shook his body before floating to keep up with V.“Was there really time for a chitchat like this just now, V?” the bird chastised him.“It doesn’t throw us back in our schedule,” he replied simply.At this point he has done everything he could to assist in saving as many people as possible and by now one could only hope that most people have gotten away from Red Grave. And if that was not the case, it was time to return and try to save as many civilians as possible. It wouldn’t stop the Qliphoth, couldn’t halt its growth, couldn’t stop Urizen from gaining more power, but if it could just give them a few more seconds it would be worth it.“Then what did you gain from it?”“She is not in this for her own gain,” V replied, going over what the woman has told him in his mind. “Are you sure, Shakespeare?!”“No.”But we will see soon, he thought. Of course, she had her own motives. She was talking about how to make up for her mistake. But neither was she a demon nor did she know about the truth of the Qliphoth. She wanted to clear her own conscience. She did not seek the fruit for herself.And maybe, just maybe did he also seek some form of human contact. And after seeing the woman in the library after checking out some books, he took that chance. Didn’t think, didn’t consider the risk involved, a grave mistake. The last ten years should have taught him different.Arguably, this was the longest conversation with another human he had in years.Griffon sighed as he flew next to him, watching him out of his keen, but very thoughtful yellow eyes.“Just, don’t forget your mission, kid.”V’s brows furrowed. No, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. His mission has been with him for over ten years. Has been a beating pulse in the marking on his skin, has been a breathing life flying next to him, has been a weapon in his hand, has been a threat in the back of his head should he even consider disobeying.They needed to beat Urizen. Or else he could not fulfill his own mission. But Urizen also needed to be stopped. He was too powerful, if they failed to defeat him he would bring the end of this worldHe needed to beat him.V gripped the cane in his hand harder as he felt the weight of his situation trying to break him down.He needed to proceed, needed to see this through.Just as he has always done. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Nico could feel her joints make cracking noises as she stretched her arms and legs at her desk. She adjusted her glasses and took a deep, long sip of her coffee as her eyes fell upon the countless drawings and concept art on the table. She grinned as she looked at the most recent one.It was finally turning out the way she wanted it to be!She was a genius!One more all-nighter and she should be able to start getting to the fun part in the morning. Should take her another 24 hours to get a prototype done and then she could finally work on the actual masterpiece.Nero better be appreciating this.Nah, Nico may joke a lot, and bicker with him, and tease him, and she meant at least half of it too, but she also knew the dude would know how to appreciate her art.She would make sure Nero could kick demon ass the same way he used to do it again. She would give him a way to make up for the loss of his arm and maybe it would also cheer him up again. Kyrie had her hands full with the orphans but also with her boyfriend being absolutely down and grumpy. He never acted against her, but it was all around him. Nero had a hard time accepting and coming to terms with what happened. Getting his ass kicked put him down more than Nico could’ve imagined. He was a proud young man, sure, but that it completely shattered his pride like this… duh…She would finish her masterpiece, grab some cash from him for it and then they could go to Red Grave City to kick demon ass the proper way again.She was looking forward to it.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
5th chapter:Cara looked after the truck that brought her as close to the city of Red Grave as possible as it drove away again, leaving her alone in the city again. This probably has been the last favor she could ask of the guys at the military base she worked at, but nonetheless she was grateful that they brought her here.Everything looked absolutely horrid. Everything was broken, burnt, crumbled. This city looks like it has been subjected to a war and was bombed until it was only ruins. She really hoped most people made it out of this after all.The tree - Qliphoth - stood high and threatening in the distance, roots spreading from it, red clouds and fog of blood engulfing the crown. Without disturbances it would take a few hours to reach it, but approaching it without a plan of attack, without a strategy would only end in all of their deaths. While Cara had a very simple idea, which was all she found and could come up with after meeting V in the library, she needed to talk to V about this again. He seemed like he could either confirm or deny that theory.But first she would need to find him.It was still the middle of the night, and she knew it was way too dangerous to wander the demon-invaded streets of the city on her own. But until she really got to the town centre she would still need to walk a while. And then she would stay hidden until the sun rose. Fighting demons in the night was of course possible. But a town where electricity was barely functioning anymore, where demons lurked in every shadow… it was a risk she simply could not take.She would meet up with Nero and Nico at the same place she would hopefully meet up with V. He said he’d be waiting at the church square, so she passed that info on to Nero in Fortuna (it was a good idea to ask for Nico’s phone number four weeks ago after all).Cara pushed the sleeves of her thin black coated jacket up to her elbows and adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and made her way towards Red Grave.
This is it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Nero watched in satisfaction as the ugly houseplant demon disintegrated into dust and only left a puddle of blood behind. A surge of electricity surged through his right prosthetic arm, leaving a tickling feeling behind. He would have to get used to that one. But he couldn’t deny how his body was almost aching for testing it more, for beating up more demons, just to see what this thing could do.He was back in the game.Nico drove up to him in the van now that the road was clear of demons and they could continue driving into the city.“Hey, tough guy. That’ll keep ‘em, but not for long,” Nico said leaning her arm on the open window of the van.“What do you mean?”“Soldier boy said city’s goin’ to hell and back, taken over by the underworld. Not just here, but everywhere.”Nero didn’t reply to her. His brows furrowed and he almost instinctively reached for his right arm, placing his hand right above the metal that now covered his stump. All of this was caused by his arm. By Yamato. By that demon that stole it.Nero’s eyes glided over the burning street, the destroyed cars and buildings, the roots of the tree spreading everywhere…… none of this would’ve happened without his arm.“Yamato did this,” he whispered into the early morning, as memories of that fateful day a few weeks ago flashed through his mind.He remembered the man appearing in his garage, remembered the glow of his arm, remembered the groaning and coughing of the man, remembered the man’s voice, remembered the pain as his arm was torn off effortlessly, so much pain… and blood… there was blood everywhere… He remembered seeing Yamato through his dizzy mind, a rift… then darkness. Nothing but darkness as the pain and blood loss overcame his body and shut it down.And when he opened his eyes the next time he was looking into V’s face entering his bedroom through the window, telling him about helping Dante, that he knew who took his arm and that they all needed his help…All of this had led up to this.“Hey, stop dreaming, boy. Get a move on.”Nero looked at the woman still leaning out of the van through the window, one of his eyebrows raised, his lips pursed. He made a waving motion with his hand but got into the van. Not a snarky remark, no comment, he just sat down in the passenger seat and stared ahead as Nico started the engine again.Time to meet up with V and Cara again. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Cara sat down on a heap of debris when she was sure no demon was around anymore. She placed the Kama back into the sheath around her left thigh. She sighed when she stretched her legs and allowed herself the moment of rest in the early morning hours; by now at least the sun has risen. The distant sounds of demons screeching and growling were probably something she would need to get used to while being in Red Grave City, but at least no threat was around anymore. She stayed on her guard though. She was in a street without any side roads. And while it was risky because she could get approached by demons from both sides, the street was broad enough for her to get past them if she needed to escape.She used this moment of rest to pull out her notebook and pen. It was something for her to cling to. Gathering all this info here in the city now for her to study in more detail and use for her work later.Later.When all of this was over.When the tree was taken down.And when she corrected her mistake.She started scribbling down notes what she observed and figured out about the demons she encountered so far. There was nothing new to observe about the Empusas, same went for the Hell Cainas. She was pretty sure she saw some flying demons looking like bats as well, though she couldn’t tell from a distance what demons they were exactly. Maybe Pyrobats… but she would need to encounter one directly to pinpoint it exactly. And if she could avoid it she would stay away from them because flying enemies were the worst kind of enemies she could take on by herself. But still, she wrote down everything she figured out. Attack patterns, movements, eventual strategies, mostly in words because she couldn’t draw to save her life; all the while keeping one eye and ear on her surroundings, paying close attention whether or not a demon may be too close for comfort. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* “I turn my eyes; and pensive as I go
Curse my black stars and bless my pleasing woe.”The words drifted through his mind, entangling his soul in such a beautiful net of delicate images and captivating words that a notion of delight scraped against his ribcage, begging to be let in and to wrap up his heart in the same confinement.The flaps of Griffon’s wings broke the spell of the book before the words even had a chance of penetrating his chest.The blue demon landed next to him on the remains of a broken wall, shook his feathered body and craned his neck, ridding himself off dust and the exertion of his investigation of the area. Shadow lying by V’s feet looked up at the noise, growling softy, her markings lighting up, illuminating her shiny black fur in a pink and lucid glow.“Alright, Shakespeare. It seems the youngster has arrived. He’s at the hotel we’ve been to a few days ago. Oh! I also spotted that soldier girl nearby. Guess she really showed up, hu?!”V closed the book in his hand and put it back beneath his vest, close to him and safe from unwanted hands before he grabbed his cane and rose from his position.He assumed the woman would show up. Everything about her words and actions back then in the Devil May Cry and even in the tree spoke of genuineness. In the library her questions and replies were sincere, no dishonesty in her eyes, nothing about her body language suggested she would not be here at this day.He couldn’t say the same about her motives however.If she had some ulterior motives she hid them well, and V had no idea about her lying capabilities. Nor about her morals in doing so. She could be an honest person as much as she could be deceiving them for all his experiences in the past with strangers taught him.And until he had a clear answer, until he had the confirmation that her words and motives have always been genuine he would keep her at arms length and feed her the portions of the truth and story she needed for him to keep her on this track. They needed all the help they could get.And she has proven herself to be useful.He would see where her story went in this ordeal.“I suppose we get going then,” V spoke, the hints of a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. He assumed the boy would be able to take on the demons by himself. Even without his arm he still was a descendant of the Sparda bloodline, it should grant him enough potential to oppose the hordes of darkness and cruelty that were thrown upon them.Shadow returned to him, dissolving into black smoke and particles, her markings appearing on his body again, while Griffon stuck close to him, the flap of his wings a familiar sound in his ears as he walked down the destroyed streets of the city.The woman was on alert the moment as soon as he stepped into sight and earshot, shoulders tensed, she jumped to her feet, one hand on her weapon; no doubt she’s been caught up in precarious situations before. Though when she really saw him her body visibly relaxed again; she didn’t see him as a threat. And still he hasn’t gotten the impression from her that she trusted him. She has seen through him in the library, easily deducting that he knew much more about Urizen than he told her.Impressive, he knew about his rhetorical skills, he knew one could not see through him if he did not want them to. A smirk tugging on his lips, a stern glance in his eyes, a confident stance; people believed him and did not question him if he fed them information.“Haha, at ease, soldier! It’s just us,” his avian companion floated around her, a chuckle leaving his parted beak, his yellow eyes gleaming with faint mockery and amusement.“I wasn’t expecting to find you so soon,” she said focusing her gaze on V. The right corner of his lips twitched upwards the slightest bit, a gesture barely noticeable but he saw her blue eyes following it still. Griffon chuckled again.“Sweetie, what do you think these eyes are for?”“Are they meant for more than to dodge people attempting to put you in an oven?”V actually smirked at that. There was an ounce of respect for every person that managed to counter the demon’s attempts to mock and belittle someone, for every soul that did not hold back because he was a demon and because a flap of his wings could turn a human into ashes blowing away with the wind. And he certainly did find amusement in such banters. A little spark of joy and fun in the midst of obscurity and hopelessness that kept him in a bruising hold for years.“Ohooo, how feisty.”“We should go.” V interrupted the little banter as entertaining as it may was. They should make some progress and meet up with the boy. While he could deal with the demons himself they did need to meet up. There was no way to emerge victorious out of this situation without him. And by now he definitely was ahead of them.He heard her quick footsteps behind him after he turned around to walk away to catch up to him.“V,” she said and V only looked at her out of her peripheral vision quickly, but she was observant enough to notice that she had his attention, even though he kept his gaze focused on his environment to look out for the demons swarming the city.“A few weeks ago you said that the Qliphoth was a tree. I tried to look deeper into it, and there’s info to be found on that tree or how to take it down. So I researched demonic plants generally a bit more. And...”He looked at her again though did not say anything, just signaling her that he was still listening as she made a pause. In the back of his mind he realized how she not only listened to him in the library, she also believed him and used that new knowledge as the base of her further research. From the way she was talking and the sound of her voice he could tell there was almost a sense of excitement awakening inside of her. As if the words and thoughts have been stuck on the tip of her tongue and just waited to be set free.Has she been waiting to tell him about this the whole time?V did not know what to make of that thought. Hard to fathom, hard to believe, not to mention that there has not been anyone who has been waiting for him since he was a little child, so there hardly was a chance of the situation being different now.“Can’t we just try to chop it down? As huge as it is, but from what I’ve gathered it still is a demon plant and these almost have the same weaknesses as well, normal plants.”“An interesting thought,” he commented, and he noticed her face lighting up with a smile and a sparkle in her eyes. She definitely knew how to do her research. While V knew about the Qliphoth, about Urizen and how that entity worked and came into existence, he did not know about ways to take it down. One must beat Urizen in battle to gain the fruit, but was there a way to make it easier? To maybe take the Qliphoth down without fighting him? That was the theory he also came to the library for that day.“And not too far from what we will have to do,” he told her. She looked at him and even without returning her gaze V knew she was silently asking him to elaborate.“We will have to exterminate the roots of the Qliphoth. It may take a while but as it is, it’s our only chance of weakening the Qliphoth.”Weakening the Qliphoth meant weakening Urizen. And no matter how fragile the chance was that it would weaken him enough to make a difference when the boy fought him again, it was at this point their - his - only hope. He did not want to fail. He could not fail. He was not ready to face the consequences of that.Urizen had to be beaten.“That may take days,” the woman said after a longer pause of thinking.“Indeed.”They would have to deal with that issue later when they reached the boy and that young hunter was apparently rather busy in dealing with a rather huge demon on top of the still standing church right now. V tilted his head as he watched the scene from a distance as they got closer to the church square. He assumed that church wouldn’t be standing for that much longer.“Woah!” the woman called out as she noticed what was happening and she walked a few steps ahead of them to catch a better look at the battle. He recognized the demon’s giant body and its dark brown fur pretty soon.“Goliath. Interesting to find him here,” Griffon said, flying a bit lower to avoid being seen, though the battle seemed to have both fighters engaged rather well.“Goliath?” the woman asked, turning to them for a short moment.“A powerful demon, but not really intelligent,” V simply explained. Goliath surely had an interesting ability but nothing that should be hindering Nero or giving the boy some trouble.They stopped walking when they reached the edge of the church square, staying behind piles of debris and rubble that were bigger than them but with a small passage to still enter the square without issues. A good hiding and waiting spot for them until the battle was done.An ear-deafening sound of breaking stone filled the air. Marble crumbled, stone broke, metal bent, waves of dust filled the air as the church collapsed under the attacks of the giant demon.V barely moved, he just watched as the old architecture was turned into ruins as the battle continued, now right in front of them. The young woman cowered behind the walls of debris in front of her, covering her eyes from the slowly settling dust before she turned to him.“Does he need our help?” she asked. V shook his head once, strays of black hair obscuring his eyes for a moment. He saw her swallow. There was a conflict all over her as if she didn’t know what to do. She was human, that V knew, so there was hardly anything she could do against Goliath and she probably was well aware of that too. However, if all her words about correcting her mistake and making up for it were true, then her conscience did its best to persuade her. This was a battle of the mind and soul and in her attempt to stay rational she turned to him.“He can handle this for now.”“Yeah, would be pretty pathetic getting killed by such a no-brainer,” Griffon mused landing on some rubble near to the ground.She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, but she nodded. V watched her as her backpack hit the ground and she threw her long brown hair over her back, before she turned around and climbed a bit onto the pile of debris until she was completely leaning onto it and could peek over the edge of it and watch the fight. V’s eyebrow rose barely visible at the little scene but his gaze stayed on her back for a moment longer. She was dressed for the occasion. None of her clothes were restrictive in movements, the materials looked fitting(Griffon would give him a run for his money if he heard V talking about being properly dressed for battle…); that woman surely had experience in field operations. She has done this before.V did not regret his decision of involving her when he told her to come alongside them into the tree.He pulled out his book and sat down; waiting until the boy would beat Goliath so that they could make their move. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Cara watched completely intrigued at the battle happening in front of her. She has never seen such a demon before. Aside from its sheer size and that very peculiar ability with the mouth on his belly, he also had fur. There were barely any demons which had fur and she had a hard time coming up with any other demon like him in this instant.She watched as Nero continuously struck the demon with his sword, splatters of blood flying through the air but the demon was surprisingly sturdy, taking hit after hit, shot after shot and it only ever made a step back before launching at Nero again. She watched as Nero used a mechanic on his arm (was that the idea nico talked about?) to latch a wire onto the demon to drag himself close to it again. She watched as the demon threw powerful punches and kicks at Nero, watched as it opened that mouth on its belly and shot fireballs at Nero. She watched full of intrigue, almost forgetting that she was dangerously close to the battle herself, almost forgetting about the man and bird behind her.Cara turned her head around, wanting to know what V was doing since he hasn’t said anything in a while and for all she knew he might’ve left, but…… he was reading?!He seriously was sitting there. On some rubble. His book in his hands. His eyes fixated on the pages, a look of calm disinterest to his surroundings on his face. Cara blinked multiple times and her lips parted, the battle for a moment forgotten.“You are reading now?!” the words left her mouth before she could stop them and she was definitely judging him. How could he have the nerves to stay calm to read right now?!“There’s nothing for us to do. Might as well pass the time.” he sounded almost bored, as if he was waiting for the bus to pick him up. Cara just stared at him. Did he really not care? What if Nero got in trouble after all?Cara shook her head and turned around again.Just in time to witness as the demon - Goliath - unleashed a new attack. Cara had no idea what happened but suddenly he opened his belly mouth and a beam of twirling flames erupted from it. The flames consumed more of the environment, pulling in everything in its path and Cara had to duck, had to cower behind the debris to not risk getting into the path of this powerful attack. She didn’t have a chance to watch, didn’t have a chance to see what happened to Nero.And only when the sound of the flames ceased and she didn’t feel the pull of the energy in the air anymore did she look up again.And luckily Nero was alright; already lunging at the demon once more.Cara grabbed her backpack real quick before the battle was over and she may not get the chance anymore. She had her notebook and pen in hands immediately and leaned back over the rubble and started scribbling down notes. Details about the demon’s looks, its attack patterns, its skills, thoughts about a potential strategy; everything she could come up with right away.“You’re writing now?!”Cara felt as if someone caught her doing something absolutely embarrassing. She was even sure her shoulders twitched for a moment as V mimicked her earlier words and turned this situation around just like that.He totally caught her.He was reading but she was taking the time to write notes while a fierce battle took place.She pursed her lips, her ears were burning, she felt like a kid that has been caught lying, but she still turned around.V had his head slightly turned to her, a smirk adorning his face and for the first time Cara saw something almost playful glistening in his green eyes, as if for just a moment a part of his walls has crumbled down to allow this moment of jesting, to allow some genuine emotions to be visible in his deep green eyes. She was totally caught off guard by his unexpected display of a sense of humour and the expression directed at her.“Hehehe, he’s gotcha, sweetie.”Cara did not know if she was grateful for the bird’s interruption or if she wanted to fry him in a pan.V’s expression dropped and he returned his gaze to the book again and somehow Cara felt her shoulders relaxing a bit. She looked at the chuckling bird instead.“Yeah, yeah, you got me,” she made a waving gesture with her hands, granting the demon that little victory in their banter because she honestly had no response to counter that. A painful roar could be heard along with some more stone crumbling and collapsing and Cara returned to her observation point at once.There was the demon Goliath, thrown back by Nero, the hunter slowly approaching him. It seemed as if Nero had won. Or was about to at least.“The fruit… is mine… I will rule the underworld, not him…!”Cara furrowed her brows as the words of the demon reached her ears. Fruit? King? What was he talking about?“Alright, my turn now!”The blue feathered demon stretched his wings before he took off, flying right past Cara, swirling up her curly hair in the process. Cara watched as the bird flew around Goliath like an annoying fly around one’s head, not attacking, not saying anything, just distracting the demon and evading its arms that tried to hit him.She didn’t even notice how V stood up and walked right passed her, his book still in hand, his eyes still locked on the pages, swinging his cane around as if he took a relaxing walk through the city. Everything about him just spoke of calm and composure, he wasn’t in the slightest worried about the situation that Cara almost envied him. She knew how to stay calm and rational in battle, it saved her life countless times, but this was the result of long and hard training.“I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe,
That made my love so high and me so low.”Another quote Cara didn’t recognize nor could really tell if it meant anything or if V was just being really extra when he introduced himself to people and situations.She stayed behind and watched as he raised his cane and pointed it at the demon. Her eyes widened when wisps of smoke appeared around his arm, shiny black clouds spread right from the cane into the air, particles that looked like splatter of ink filled the air and this time she could clearly see how some of his tattoos on his arms vanished.And before she knew it the black panther demon emerged from the cloud of black fog, charging like a bullet at the huge demon with a roar. The panther turned its body, starting to curl in midair and almost seemed to transform into a blade like from a circular saw.Goliath growled in pain, blood splattered through the air, covering the white marble of the remains of the church in a crimson red color before the demon fell, groaning in pain and unable to move.And it started glowing.That same purple colored light she saw appearing around demons in the tree.Before V killed them.V approached him. Calmly. Slowly. Cara could only see his back but there was no hesitation, no faltering in his steps as he got closer to Goliath.“Why… Why are you…?”Cara furrowed her brows at that. The demon stared at V as he approached him, undoubtedly referring to him. But these words… this is the kind of question you asked someone after one figured out they betrayed them.She stared at V’s back as he raised his cane on his eye-level, suspicion and distrust in her blue eyes. She assumed she had to be careful around him after all. “Little wanderer, hie thee home.”And with that the man stabbed his cane right between Goliath’s eyes. There was barely a sound coming from the demon as he had nothing left to evade this lethal attack, and when V retreated the cane again, blood dripping from its tip, the demon almost immediately started to dissolve, leaving nothing but a puddle of blood behind.Cara didn’t say anything as she now walked closer to V and Nero who approached the man as well again.“Thought I was gonna have to pick you out of his… tummy teeth,” Nero said and V smiled at that.“Pardon my delay, I was catching up on some reading,” he replied and showed the demon hunter his book of poems. Cara chuckled to herself. V really seemed excited about this. The way he chose his words and emphasized them did seem genuine and heartfelt. It made Cara wonder just how distant he truly was. Neither this moment nor the one earlier when he mimicked her words indicated that he was cold in the first place.And still Cara got the feeling that Nero couldn’t get past his shield more than this moment as well. V seemed to throw these glimpses of his sense of humor and his love for this particular book at them both, but refused to let them see anything beyond that.“Yeah… looks like a real page-turner,” Nero kinda disregarded his statement before he turned to her.“So you’re here too, hu? You know, we could’ve picked you up. I know you have our number at least.”She raised her eyebrows a bit. She did have Nico’s number and she did call her a few days ago, telling her that V would wait for them right here today, but she didn’t feel like she belonged to this little group of people and since Nico didn’t offer it herself she stayed silent.“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind for next time then,” she smiled at the younger man who simply made a ‘hmph’ sound.“Hehe, I assume we’re just much better company than you, kid,” the bird demon chimed in floating around their heads and chuckling. Cara wasn’t so sure about that since she barely knew Nero but she also wasn’t going to deny that the time spent with them on their way here was rather pleasant. It could’ve been much worse on every level.Nero shook his head, his brows harshly furrowed as he turned around to V who was looking at the Qliphoth in the distance.Cara looked down at the black panther demon who sat down on the ground next to her. Black shiny fur, glowing red eyes with too much intelligence in them to be a simple animal, some deeper markings covering the body. It was a beautiful creature.Cara crouched down a bit to be more on eye level with the panther, her fascination and curiosity with the creature getting the better of her. But she kept listening to V’s and Nero’s conversation, so she could get involved if necessary.“So… you think Dante’s still in there?”“If Urizen defeated him, then I expect he’s not much more than Qliphoth pollen by now.”V for sure had a sense of humor, Cara had to hand it to him, but the implications that Dante still may have survived that fight four weeks ago was as surprising as it was interesting. But what about the other two women who were with him?The panther turned its attention to her now. Those red glowing eyes watching her cautiously, analyzing her whether or not she was a threat in its very own mind. Cara wasn’t afraid, even though she knew that demon could end her life with just one paw. But V wouldn’t let the demon stay around if it would attack them, she assumed.She very slowly reached out to the demon with her open palm, just testing the waters and letting the demon decide how to react to that gesture; all the while she listened to the conversation going on between V and Nero, but V was just explaining what the Qliphoth was and how they needed to exterminate its roots first before they could approach the tree directly again.Cara smiled, a joyful glance in her eyes as the panther leaned into her hand and allowed the young woman to pet it. Demon or not, it seemed to be just a giant cat after all.“Looks like our soldier girl has tamed the big bad kitty,” the demon bird commented the scene, leading to V and Nero turning to her again. She didn’t look at them, instead focusing on that giant cat demon in front of her that was closing its eyes and tilting its head as Cara scratched it behind its ears.“Does it have a name?” she asked, only once looking at V quickly who was observing her out of rather thoughtful eyes. Nero just had his eyebrows raised and his lips pursed a bit.“Her name is Shadow,” V replied. Cara smiled at him and the demon.“You’re a good girl then, hu? Fighting big demons like that,” the demon growled just slightly but Cara was almost certain it was an appreciative sound from her.“I’m Griffon by the way, thanks for asking,” the blue bird pouted, landing on V’s raised arm and Cara laughed. She didn’t think it was possible but just these earlier moments with this little scene managed to lift her spirit more than she would’ve imagined before coming here. V displaying his sense of humor, playfully mocking her even, this lighthearted bickering with Griffon, the new information about this giant demon she managed to gather, befriending a demonic panther apparently. She just wished V would be a bit more trustworthy. Still, she didn’t expect any of this to happen during her time here, but she was glad about it. It made this whole apocalyptic situation muss less dull and hopeless.“V,” Nero finally spoke up after witnessing all of this and staring at the two demons accompanying V.“What the hell are you?”Cara thought the question was rather harsh and she only caught a smirk on V’s face, but before he could answer (if he intended to do that in the first place) the sound of an engine stopped all of their thoughts.They spun around on their heels, mind and body on alert but relaxed pretty quickly again when a van stopped right in front of them and Nico suddenly leaned out of the window.“I know, I know, I’m late. Shut it! The roads were all clogged. Oh, good to see you again, girl. Hey to you too, V,” Nico directed the first words at Nero alone, pointing a finger at him to dare him to say anything before she waved to Cara and then nodded at V.Cara didn’t say anything but waved back. She has spoken to Nico once after that night in Fortuna, telling her that V said they would meet up here. There was a bit of smalltalk happening on the phone but sadly no deeper or more meaningful conversation because Cara had a feeling that Nico had a lot of interesting stories to tell and she didn’t seem as reserved as V or even the other people back then at the office where she met Dante.“Hey, you gonna get that? Ding, ding, ding, right by your feet!”V threw her the horn that the demon lost in his battle against Nero with his cane. “I’m gonna make something amaaazing out of this.”“Did you just sniff that? Do you have any idea where that’s been?”“Up your butt?”“Focus on the mission.”Cara smiled at that banter between Nero and Nico. Nero was visibly agitated but he didn’t seem to take any offense to Nico’s words who just smiled unmoved at the hunter. Cara wondered for how long these two have been knowing each other. They didn’t seem as if they were related but still, they gave off this typical brother-sister vibe. Then again, it was hardly Cara’s place to ask them about this. Maybe they got the chance to talk about this stuff later on the road.“Get in the car everyone.”The car was more a trailer from the inside than anything. Cara was completely astonished as she saw the interior. A workstation, a kitchen, a separate room even (she assumed it was a toilet), a jukebox and even a table with some seating possibilities.“Alright, where to go next?” Nico asked from the driver’s seat. Nero sat down on the passenger seat next to her but he didn’t answer her. Neither did Cara because she had no idea yet.V walked past her and she noticed how Griffon and Shadow were not around anymore. But V’s tattoos were all completely visible again. She would have to ask him about it at some point. She desperately wanted to know how this worked. Especially how V managed to make these demons follow and obey him like this.“I give you directions. It will take a few days to exterminate the Qliphoth roots. We need a place to stay for the nights.”“A place to stay? Where? Even the hotels are overrun by demons,” Nero countered.“Do we even have days?” Cara interfered.“Time surely is a luxury at this point but without exterminating the roots we cannot proceed.”So exterminating the roots was essential but they were still running against the clock. And not pressing forward in the night was only natural with barely any lighting and having all these different kinds of demons around. This could easily be fatal even for someone like Nero (it was undeniable that something was off about him as well or else V never would’ve said that they needed him if they wanted to succeed).“Gotcha. Tell me where to go, mystery boy.”V ignored the pet name and Cara almost smiled at it but as she realized how truthful that pet name actually was the smile kinda got stuck, never actually reaching her lips.After a while of hellish driving - seriously Cara thought she might get a whiplash injury from it - they certainly did not arrive at a hotel. It was a rather broad street in a residential area of Red Grave - or what’s left of it - with lots of smaller houses, some rather intact, others have collapsed completely under the weight of the roots.V left the car first, approaching one of the still rather undamaged houses. The roof had a few issues and it didn’t look as if the door could still get locked but the walls and windows still looked fine otherwise.Given how the apocalypse was happening outside the house looked quite normal from the inside actually. They stood right in the living room after entering. A three-piece suite with a coffee table pretty much took up the entire room and only left space to reach the other rooms. Everything was quite dusty, lots of stuff has fallen over as if an earthquake has shaken this place up. However, there was a pillow and a blanket on one of the couches, not folden, it looked like it was used recently.Did V stay here before?It was the only logical conclusion in that moment. V brought them to this house on purpose, he knew where it was and for all Cara knew the man might have been living here this whole time or even before.“What now?” she heard Nero ask as she went over to a dresser at the wall. She picked up a fallen photograph. That was definitely not V. A young couple was depicted on it but the man couldn’t have looked more different. The other photographs didn’t look like him either. She assumed it wasn’t his place after all.“We’ll stay here for the nights. And tomorrow we’ll start extinguishing the Qliphoth roots,” V said and sat down on the couch with the pillow and blanket.“There are two more beds upstairs,” he answered the question that hung in the room and Cara suddenly had the feeling that she really did not want to sleep in these beds. These beds have been used by strangers before, probably without getting cleaned and who knows what happened to these people. She wouldn’t find proper sleep there.“I’ll gladly stay down here and take the couch,” she said and Nico started laughing. Probably because how Cara felt was very obvious judging by her expression.“Whatever.” Nero just said.“I certainly don’t mind a proper bed,” Nico grinned, stretching her arms above her head.“Good that we have cleared everyone’s preferences,” Nero said, this time with a smirk of his own.Cara shook her head slightly but made her way into the kitchen to see whether or not there was still something edible in there for them.While there wasn’t a lot and more instant and microwave stuff than anything fresh it was better than nothing. “Is this your place?” she dared to ask V after Nero has cleaned the area of any remaining demons in the late evening so they could get some hours of sleep that night. Nico and Nero have went upstairs already and Cara must admit that she was getting really tired too.“No,” the man replied “I found it when I returned here a few weeks ago.”“Do you know what happened to the owners?”“Probably sacrificed to the Qliphoth. The odds that they have been evacuated in time is unlikely,” V told her, his face focused once more on the pages of his book.Cara nodded. She just was curious about this, maybe too much. She decided that she has asked him enough for one day and that she would let him read in peace. Her eyes were getting heavy too. She laid down on the couch, her back to him and pulled up the blanket she found in the dresser earlier.She murmured a goodnight to the man, but she wasn’t sure if he heard her. Not to mention if he said something in return.She was glad she could fall asleep within a few minutes because she felt she would need every minute of rest she could get, and it was kinda awkward with V being wide awake on the other side of the couch...
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6th chapter:“I think we should split into two groups.”“And cover more ground. Good idea.”Cara only heard little of what the men in the front of the van were talking about. She was much more fascinated by watching Nico work on Nero’s prosthetic arms - the Devil Breakers as she called them.“So, are those made out of demon parts?” Cara asked and pointed to the horn of Goliath which was splitted up into tiny pieces, some were even crushed into powder.Nico turned around to her, a grin spread out on her face. “Only to an extent,” she stated and lifted the Devil Breaker she was working on right now, “you see, if I build parts of it into the arm it will be capable of utilizing its demonic energy. A masterpiece, don’t you think?”“It is impressive for sure,” Cara said smiling. Also it was nice to see how excited Nico got when she was talking about her work. What the young woman created in the back of the van was remarkable. Building prosthetic arms that could be used by Nero in battle, which were also capable of powerful attacks fueled by demonic energy. Cara had no idea how and what exactly Nico did, but it was fascinating to watch.“It’s truly a work of art!” Nico exclaimed raising the new arm and examining it from all the angles.“Woohoo, so you’re an artist now, hu?!” Griffon chimed in chuckling. “Yes, I am! Got any questions, little chicken?”The demonic bird flinched back, a few blue feathers flying through the air in the process. Cara only caught a short glimpse of V looking over his shoulder at them, a small smirk on his face before he turned his attention back to Nero.“My grandmother was called the ‘.45 Caliber Virtuoso’... legendary gunsmith. I hope to be like her someday. An artist, and a lethal artisan. Everything I create is art, whether it’s a gun… Or a steel pot... to cook birds in. Anymore questions, hu? Little chickee.”Astoundingly enough Griffon actually did not say a single word as a reply, but Cara was more fascinated by the gun that hung framed on the wall, which apparently was made by Nico’s grandmother. But she assumed this interest and passion in something this specific had got to come from somewhere.“Hey tough guy, you better treat this one better than the other.” Nico told Nero who turned around in the passenger seat.“Yeah, well, your quality control sucks ass. Otherwise this wouldn’t be an issue.”“Well how about you don’t let the demons smack you around so much?!”“Whatever. What does this do?”“The propellant injection device is based on the combustion mechanism in that numbskull's demon tummy. It's basically a rocket-powered punch, but I bet a show-off like you could go along for the ride if ya like.”“Nice.”Griffon chuckled, and a smile also tugged at the corners of Cara’s lips. She still didn’t know the relationship between these two. Were they related? Were they working colleagues? Friends? It was hard to tell by how they were interacting. Nonetheless, Cara appreciated that they were so open and honest with her around. From what she could tell V kept mostly to himself, but she was the biggest stranger in this group yet. But Nico and Nero didn’t seem to behave any different just because she was there now.The woman looked up in question as she only picked up her name.“Sorry?”“I said we’re gonna split up. Nico and I will be a group and you’ll go with V.” Nero told her again.Cara had to admit that the prospect of accompanying V some more was an intriguing and rather compelling thought. Maybe she could also figure out a bit more about the mysterious man and his demonic companions. Though, it was also futile to deny that she couldn’t exactly call his presence unpleasant. She recalled the moment of their little teasing in the ruins yesterday in way too much detail; especially how his deep green eyes stared at her, observing her, analyzing her…“I’ll take my leave now.” V finally said and rose from the seat. Cara watched as Griffon dissolved into a whirl of feathers and black particles which seeked refuge on V’s skin, his tattoos reappearing; mostly on his arm as Cara noticed.“I guess that’s my cue then as well,” Cara said, shouldering her backpack, adjusting her open jacket again and followed the tattooed man outside of the van.“Hey, Cara, honey! You have a phone, right?!” Nico called after her. The woman turned around, not minding the pet name and pulled out her cell phone from her backpack.“Good!” Nico said, leaning out of the van’s window, “call me if you need my help!”“Great, thanks!” Cara made a waving gesture and smiled before she turned around, following after V who was a few steps ahead of her but has stopped walking when Nico called her. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* “So, V, you think this kid can kill Urizen?”“One can only hope.”He was not nearly as confident as the sound of his voice made it seem. The thought of Nero confronting Urizen again filled his soul with dread, it crawled underneath his skin and held his mind in an icy hold. There was not a flicker of light granting him a warming glimpse of hope. Urizen was too strong, and his powers grew with every soul, with every amount of human blood that was sacrificed.The entrance to the tunnel behind them collapsed, startling the woman behind him a bit.“But for now we have more… pressing engagement,” he said, one corner of his lips twitching upwards. He walked on ahead, only turning his head around to see if Griffon was still there, still following him.At the end of the tunnel they were greeted by Empusas and one Hell Antenora demon.He smirked while Griffon landed on his outstretched arm; his wings bursting with crackling electricity, an eagerness to dive into battle shining in every one of his blue feathers, an ambition burning in his yellow eyes unrivaled by any other living being still residing in this city.Shadow rose from the depths of the ink covering his skin, emerging in front of him from a pool of pitch black ink and a cloud of black smoke; she growled, the sound carrying fierceness and raw strength across the battlefield, her crimson glowing markings equaling his own and a constant proof and symbol of their lives being bound.He smirked as he tilted his head, watching his companions out of green gleaming eyes. His smirk did not even falter when the woman stepped into his peripheral vision, her own weapon in hands. There was a sense of determination all over her, the same conviction he felt from her in the tree and he knew that he would not need to think about her while in battle; she was capable on her own.“Go.” Was all he said and Griffon and Shadow charged at the demons. Bolts of lightning filled the battlefield, crackling through the air and burning the demons with pure electric energy, while a whirl of constantly transforming black fur pierced through the demon’s skin like paper. In this moment they were weapons, the means for him to end those demon’s pathetic lives and to send them straight back into hell. Satisfaction settled in his green eyes as he heard the pleasing sound of his cane digging into the Empusa’s skull, destroying its brain and causing it to disintegrate in front of his very eyes.He caught a glimpse of the woman fighting the Hell Antenora. While he had no time to watch and focus on her, he did see how she twisted her body around to evade its attack, before she used the dumpster close to a wall to gain the upper ground. It was one fluent movement; she climbed on the dumpster with one step, jumped down from it, her weapon over her shoulder and slashed the demon’s throat with one solid swing. She rolled on the ground to quickly gather herself before continuing attacking the other demons.He was impressed. For a human that was admirable. More than he could pull off on his own.And it also made him realize that the moment in the Qliphoth, when he had to save her from a demon she didn’t see coming, has been a foolish mistake and not a common experience for her.It only took mere minutes until the battlefield turned silent again. No more demons left. Just Griffon’s chuckle at their victory reverberated through the narrow street they were in.Shadow and Griffon both returned to him, once more retreating into their respective tattoos on his skin. V knew they felt his approval, felt them show their signs of recognition and gratitude like a soft breeze carried through his body and soul.He knew the woman watched him, watched how his familiars vanished in strands of fur and bunch of feathers, mixed with black particles that reappeared on his skin. But she didn’t say anything, although V could almost hear the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue, which she held back for what reason he could only assume; she didn’t expect an answer from him.There was a mutual feel of mistrust in the air between them. He did not trust other people, and he even more so did not allow people to see beneath the layers of confidence and pride he pulled up around him. His heart and soul had too much to bear, too much he would not share with another human being; he was alone in this, would always be.She did not trust him because she saw right through him. She knew that what he showed her, the glimpses she caught of him were just an outer layer albeit not pretentious. She was aware he knew more about the situation at hand, which he did not tell her. He truly did not give her any reason to trust him.“Are those the roots we need to destroy?” she asked him once they reached a staging area of the Qliphoth roots. A giant knot of pulsing blood vessels, surrounded by dark grey demonic roots, tendrils and spikes protecting the source of the Qliphoth strength.“A small one, but yes, indeed,” he replied and with a sound of effort breaking from his lips did he stab his cane right into the knot of blood cells. There were much bigger roots all over the city, looking almost like miniature versions of the Qliphoth, but every single one counted.If they wanted to have a chance at success they needed to get rid of every single one of them.The blood turned brown right after he pulled his cane out of it again, the root drying up and dissolving into dust within a matter of seconds. Nothing really happened to their environment as a result but it still brought them one minor success: the Qliphoth wouldn’t get any more blood sacrifices through this one.“Do we have a destination or is the plan just to roam the city trying to find as many of these roots as possible?” the woman asked after fighting off another small wave of Empusa demons. There was the hint of a judgemental tone in her voice but it was overshadowed by a genuine interest.He didn’t stop walking as they were now reaching a damaged bridge which was leading across the flooded part of the city. He raised his cane, pointing to a building ahead of them. He wasn’t sure if she could see it. There were a few moving tendrils sticking out of the destroyed roof of that building, but it was this kind of root closest to them, so they would take care of this one while Nero took down another.“This is still quite a way to go,” it was just an observation, no judgement in her voice in that statement. He agreed.“We’ll probably get the chance to exterminating more roots along the way. Like this one,” he once more used his cane to point towards a smaller root like the previous one. Shadow was at his side immediately. She purred quietly, brushing along his hands as she circled him, waiting for a command or a word from V. He let his fingers slide through her fur as she brushed along his skin, before sending her forward to get rid of the roots.“Wait, V.” He told Shadow to halt her attack, listened to the woman’s voice calling out to him, though his brows furrowed as he looked over at her. She was at the side of the bridge, leaning over the railing of the bridge.“This bridge will collapse if we destroy that root,” she said pointing downwards where the tendrils of the root went across the bridge and disappeared from his sight. They probably were wrapped around the pillars of it. He didn’t voice it, but it was quick thinking from her. While he could avoid getting injured with his familiar’s help, if the bridge did collapse, she probably couldn’t.“Then you go up ahead,” he nodded towards the other side of the bridge. She looked at him for a bit, staring at him out of deep blue eyes, trying to analyze what was going through his mind right now.But she listened to him.It actually surprised him a bit. She didn’t say anything else, didn’t question him, instead trusted his decision and just nodded once and made her way towards the other side of the bridge, even running as to not waste any more time.Once she was away from the bridge he sent Shadow at the root again, making her slice through the blood vessels with her claws, all the while Griffon appeared close behind him, ready to interfere should something happen to the bridge.He felt the shaking of the brickwork before he heard it. It happened in the blink of an eye. The roots turned into dust, no longer supporting the unstable bridge - just as she said before - the stone and bricks crumbled, falling with rumbling noises into the water down below.V was grateful for his familiar’s quick reflexes. Shadow jumped, easily reaching the other side of the bridge, while Griffon hooked his claws into V’s bracelet on his raised arm and carried the summoner away from the collapsing bridge.“Did you see that, sweetie?! Pretty amazing, don’t you agree?!” Griffon exclaimed, as he let go of V near the woman again.“Since you’re a bird it must’ve been really hard to actually use your wings.”V smirked at her remark, but he did see that she was affected by the previous scene. Maybe she wasn’t impressed, her posture and gaze didn’t seem so, maybe she appreciated him sending her away beforehand or his teamwork with his familiars; ultimately he couldn’t know, but he knew she wasn’t as nonchalant about it as she made it seem.“Well, maybe you should hope I won’t forget how to use them, if you need them eventually,” Griffon countered.“We’ll see about that.”“Oh, we will.” Griffon chuckled. V didn’t say anything. The discussion was over with Griffon’s statement but V knew that a threat by Griffon was at least empty if it was directed at people on the same team as V. He wouldn’t let someone get hurt or die if it would lead to putting more pressure and strain on V’s exhausted bones.Shadow let her slide her hand along the fur of her head as before on the church square - which still caught him by surprise - before she padded over to him and retreated back into her tattoos.“Let’s go.” V said.“Yeah.”V has already walked most of the streets in Red Grave City countless times within the last four weeks; eradicating demons and exterminating Qliphoth roots, although a lot of these huge roots have only grown very recently. But he knew his way along the destroyed buildings, through the ruined streets, to find the way to his destination.He almost flinched back when a warmth settled upon his arm.The touch was fleeting, just a brief caress of her hand on his skin to gain his attention without having to speak up for it.He followed her hand with his eyes as she withdrew it, silently pointing to a side street at which end another root was visible, but also a Behemoth was lurking there. She looked at him in question, nothing in her blue eyes hinted at her thoughts still lingering on that gesture and he prayed there was nothing in his own eyes as he nodded, wordlessly agreeing on taking the Behemoth down.The touch of another human being… how much time has passed since that was a sensation he had felt? Since he sought out that gesture, that caress of attention? Since it was not meant to make him flinch and hinder him in his path? He could not deny how his ribcage squeezed his heart in a painful embrace as his mind could only recall the touch from his mother of when he was nothing but a child.The touch on his skin still lingered, felt like a burning imprint on his inked body, long after it ended as they quietly approached the Behemoth as to not alert it to their presence.Griffon flew silently above them until it was above the Behemoth, ready to attack, while Shadow slid beneath the ground. A Behemoth was dangerous, one hit and V met his end, but with very precisely aimed attacks while it still didn’t know opponents were there, and it was beatable within mere moments despite its heavy armor.The attacks were launched at once. Bolts of lightning charged with demonic energy and a precision unrivaled into the demon below Griffon, while Shadow leaped from the ground, morphing into a spinning blade and stroke the Behemoth head-on.V watched as the demon’s armor broke apart instantly, its giant two tongues unfurling and falling onto the ground. His familiars did not cease their attacks, they couldn’t allow themselves too. They needed to bring this eyesore down as fast as their skills allowed.“Exterminate the roots,” he told the woman. He assumed she could come up with something to get rid of the Behemoth. However, just letting Shadow and Griffon handle this was more effective right now if they did not have to be cautious not to hurt her in the process.She nodded and he looked after her for a moment as she went ahead before he turned his attention back on the demon.He slid along the ground with Shadow’s help to evade the Behemoth lashing out at him with his tongue, but it was distracted by Griffon unleashing electric strikes across the area. The lightning fueled by demonic power stroke the giant demon, digging right through its thick, unprotected skin and leaving behind the stench of rotten flesh. And when the Behemoth finally emitted that faint purple glow V threw his cane.He used the very little demonic energy he could utilize with the cane to teleport to the creature’s back. His cane dug easily into the demon’s skull, although it started to wriggle and fight against his upcoming doom.“Resist all you want.” V said, focused on his cane digging deeper into the Behemoth’s head, focused on not losing his balance on top of it until he heard that all too familiar sound of demon bones cracking and giving in. He allowed the sense of satisfaction as yet another obnoxious creature was sent back to hell, dissolving into goo and blood and leaving only the smell of death behind.Shadow and Griffon both returned to him, Shadow’s markings on his body reappearing, Griffon staying with him, when the woman joined him again; the roots long gone and vanished.“Such vile things,” she commented, looking at the pool of blood on the ground.“Those are even feared by their own kind.” V told her. She nodded.“Apparently they’re also cannibalistic.”V did not know how she knew that or that what he just said was seemingly nothing new to her, but he assumed there was a reason for a simple human like her being a demon hunter and strategic expert and surviving this long. Knowing about the enemies one was fighting was doubtlessly a necessity.“You bet they are!” Griffon chimed in, “that’s why over time the restraints on their bodies got heavier. They kept breaking through the armor all the damn time. That’s one species no one would miss,” the demon bird complained. V smirked. He knew Griffon has had more than one confrontation with these demons in the past long before they met.“We should go.” V said, throwing up his cane and catching it again to walk away from the side street they were still on.“V,” she said from behind him, and for a moment there was tension settling over his body, anticipation as much as dread, that she would touch him again to gain his attention. He did not understand why he tensed so much.She did no such thing however.“Shouldn’t we consider taking a break? I assume more demons are waiting for us, especially when we reach that bigger root. I… don’t know if we can go on for this long without some rest.”“A break may not be the worst idea our soldier girl had.”V had to admit that they had a point. His soul and body weren’t resilient like Shadow’s and Griffon’s were. Effort and movement took a much faster toll on him than he would like. Despite being granted these powers of having these demons fight at his side it did nothing to enhance his capabilities as a human. In fact, he felt the weight of the battles and the constant walking in his feet, he felt his shoulders slumping after each time he had to raise his cane…He had a mission to see through. They did not have that much time. But he could not deny that he needed a break at some point too. Just as they could not proceed in the darkness of night they could not walk on an entire day without rest.He closed his eyes and nodded wordlessly at the both of them.“Let me call Nico. Maybe she can supply us,” the woman already took out her mobile phone and dialed the number. V did not say anything, instead he walked on until they reached a tiny square and lowered himself onto a wooden box. He felt the gratitude of his bones and muscles immediately, as if every nerve in his body gained the ability to breathe and sighed in relief.The woman did in fact arrive with the van in a matter of mere minutes, driving over anything in her path without caring for the vehicle’s condition. V considered it to be foolish but her driving skills were still admirable. He did not have a license himself but he still knew not everyone would handle driving in a demon-infested city like this.“Hey guys!” the woman exclaimed through the open window waving at them. Griffon chuckled.“Be right back.”“Our soldier girl has important business to tend to I assume?” Griffon laughed, and V allowed the slight upward curve of his mouth. The woman also didn’t seem to take any offense to his statement.“Just you wait,” she even winked at Griffon, and while it did silence the demon, V wondered why she seemed to be in such an uplifted mood now of all times.A hand appeared in his peripheral vision after a while.He followed the hand up the arm until his eyes met her blue ones. She was smiling at him, a softness on her features that didn’t speak of the gravity of their situation. He wished that attitude was able to break through the walls around his soul to grant him a slightly more optimistic outlook on this endeavor.She held a sandwich in her hand, offering it to him.He took it, a wondering glance in his eyes as he stared at the bread in his hands.“Oohoo, did you make that?” Griffon leaned forwards and looked first over V’s shoulder and then at the woman. She nodded.“Yeah. Sorry, buddy, I wasn’t really sure about your diet. If you want there’s still some left in the van.”“I surely wouldn’t mind some human flesh right now.” V looked at Griffon with one eyebrow pulled up. The demon laughed, shaking his feathers.“Don’t worry, sweetie, whatever V eats also sustains us just fine.” Griffon explained then before his yellow eyes bore into V’s, wordlessly telling him he should better eat that bread.The truth was that he really wasn’t very hungry. His appetite usually was very low, shoved into the back of his mind so he could focus on the tasks at hand without any distraction. But he figured that he really should eat something, and she took the time to prepare this despite them being in a hurry, despite them facing the eventual apocalypse. Also V can hardly recall the last time someone prepared food for him.He thanked her, noticed her appreciative smile, and took a bite. His palate was anything but defined, but even he could distinguish between a variety of different flavors and it made him wonder just how she managed to accomplish that in the van with minimum ingredients. “Hey, can I leave ya alone again? Nero called. Gotta save that guy’s ass.” Nico leaned out of the window of the van again, rolling her eyes when she mentioned the boy.“Sure. We’ll call you or see you tonight at the safe house again.”“Great. Don’t get killed on the way there.” And with that the van drove away, leaving V with the woman alone again.“V, can I ask you something?”V looked at her, eyebrows slightly risen to show her she had his attention. He still took another bite of the sandwich.“Who are you? I mean,” she pursed her lips in thoughts for a moment before continuing, “how is it possible for you to summon demons? I’ve never heard of a human having such an ability.”V swallowed the last bite of the sandwich and rubbed his fingers together to get rid of the crumbs as he let her words slowly sink in.
“V, what the hell are you?”
The boy’s words from yesterday rang in his ears again, they never truly left his mind. They made him realize how different these two people were, how differently they approached him. This woman was interested in him, she saw him as a human, a soul with curious capabilities. The boy, however, dismissed him, putting him down and taking his humanity away with the simple choosing of a phrase. And even though the young hunter did not mean any harm, it confronted V exactly with the consequences he has chosen for himself all these years ago. That realization settled deep within his mind but it made the words she’s chosen much more meaningful, and he felt strings of his heart reaching out, clawing at his ribcage to allow his walls to come down, to let her in, indulge her in the truth.Sentiment…, he forced the feeling back, refusing to believe how hard that process actually was simply because of her phrasing a question in a different way than someone else. He still did not know her, still wasn’t sure if she may not have some personal objectives - just as he had - despite her seeming as if she wore her heart on her sleeves; trying to refrain from sharing too much but failing to eyes like his who have been forced to see behind other people’s actions and gestures.Still, to not give her an answer seemed to be as wrong as it was rude. There was a genuine interest in her, it was all over her, and her blue eyes have not averted from him since she asked the question. Since his childhood no one ever has paid so much attention to him. He did not know what to make of it. He did not know how to handle it. The need to indulge her at least in a bit of his mind became almost unbearable. He decided to give her a taste of the truth to satisfy her curiosity and to clear his conscience.“These demons, Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare, are bound to me. They reside in these markings on my skin and I can summon and use them in battle.”“Why do you stab the demons with the cane then? Can’t they do that? Sounds a lot safer if you simply stood back.” The corner of V’s lips twitched at her question.“They can not kill other demons. They do as I say but they can not turn on their own kind. They weaken them and I end their lives.”“How or… why is this possible though? Were you born like this?” her question sounded as if she did not believe it herself. She probably had enough experience with the supernatural to know it was impossible to be born this way as long as one’s parents were human. And there was no demonic blood in his family bloodline.“No. We are bound by a contract.”“Also, just to clear that up, sweetie, we are our own individuals. We have our own brain and mind. Well… aside from the big guy maybe.” Griffon leaned forward on the pile of debris he was standing on.Their own individuals… yes. As long as he would fulfill his obligation.V did not say anything in return.“I assumed as such,” there was a smile on her face as she replied to Griffon before she looked at him again.“Thank you for telling me,” she said. He nodded, though the thought that he barely explained anything pushed at the back of his mind. She was so interested in knowledge and information about demons. And him. It was hard to imagine for him that she was content with the limited information he gave her. She did not even try to ask for what his side of the contract contained. Was he glad she didn’t ask? He was not even sure, but he knew he would not have given her the truth anyway.A moment of silence passed before V grabbed his cane and rose to his feet again. He thanked her for her effort for making the food - and he truly was grateful - and V was astonished how her face lit up with a smile and a shimmer in her eyes.Sometimes he wondered if he had forgotten how much words could affect people outside of poetry. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* They continued their way until they finally reached their destination. The giant root of the Qliphoth looked almost like a miniature version of the actual tree. Branches, tendrils and blood vessels twirled in a grotesque way, filling up the entire width of the half-destroyed building they were now in.Some sort of market as it looked like. There were market stalls everywhere, mostly destroyed, and Cara even spotted some long abandoned boxes with groceries. There certainly was a lot of clutter around, it kinda looked like a hurricane has blown through here and destroyed half of the building.However, she didn’t spot any demons in the area. Neither did she see pools of blood on the ground from where demons could spawnCara walked forwards, her gaze locked on the giant root of the demonic tree, when a sudden pressure on her left shoulder stopped her in her tracks.She looked at her shoulder, confused but not concerned, and followed the length of V’s cane to his face. His brows were furrowed a bit, his eyes not looking at her but their surroundings and then his smirk appeared on his face again; really subtle, just a slight upwards curve of his lips.She could’ve sworn her breath got caught in her throat for a moment when he turned this gaze to her; she was now even more aware of the pressure of his cane on her shoulder as his green eyes looked at her with an intensity she hasn’t seen from him before. “We are not alone.” The words were spoken so low, just a deep grumble of his voice. There was something hidden beneath those words, beneath that smirk and intense glance. As if he was looking forward to what was to come, a confidence and determination to face the impending threat of the situation, which was rather surprising because so far he hasn’t seemed eager to fight demons.It raised so many more new questions in her and she wished she had more time and another opportunity to ask him more.V stood next to her and released the cane from her shoulder. He looked at the root ahead of them and then looked at her once more.“Stay back,” he simply said; not a request, not a demand just a simple statement.“I can-”The look he directed at her made the words stop on the tip of her tongue before they could escape. No smirk, not even a glance in his eyes that told her anything. Just a hard expression that made it impossible for her yet again to look past his demeanor. All she was able to gather from this instance was that he apparently knew about what was going on, and for whatever reason he did not want her around.She decided to trust him.Cara nodded, not content with the situation because she was convinced she could help but she gave in and stepped back.V didn’t turn to her again or waited for her to retreat; he just walked straight up ahead, posture upright, gaze locked on the giant root.She only caught a blur of colors and a breeze rushing past her as something charged at V so abruptly that Cara instinctively jumped back and reached for her weapon.She only saw a giant serpent-like creature retreating back to the root while V rose back to a standing position; the bird demon landing on his bent arm.Cara did not make a step forward, heeding V’s earlier words and just observed from a few feet away from behind one of the abandoned market stalls as a fleshy, pulsating humanoid life form emerged from within the root. She didn’t know what it was, a demon most likely, but even though it literally came from within the tree it didn’t appear to be a part of it. The scales surrounding the heads of these serpents had a different color,then the orange humanoid thing. So far it never seemed as if these roots they have destroyed had any creature living in them and while this was a much bigger root, it just seemed odd.“You dodged me! Did you dodge me?!” the demon said with a distorted voice although there was no mouth, just a shape of a face full of spikes.Griffon groaned. “Ugh; Nidhogg. I never liked this guy.”“You pest. Do I know you?” the creature, Nidhogg, whom Griffon apparently knew (Cara had so many questions), growled.“Dumb as a box of rocks. Let’s not even mess with this guy, V. He can’t even leave the Qliphoth anyway. Just a Qliphoth parasite.”So a parasite. Cara was right that this thing did not belong to the tree. She assumed Griffon being a demon would know about creatures like this and since she hasn’t known about the Qliphoth before she also couldn’t have known about this demon. Her fingers twitched as she desperately wanted to take out her notebook. But she didn’t wanna draw any attention to her by moving too much. She much rather observed the scene to get to know more about this life form.“Did you insult me?”“Uh-oh.”“You insulted me!”“I think he heard me… and he’s angry!” Griffon yelled the last words and Cara’s hand reached for her weapon again as another serpent demon charged at V. The man rather easily jumped out of the way though.“I’m going to kill you.” The demon growled at him.V turned around to face the demon with a calm and composure which Cara found admirable. There was a confidence in his posture and the short glimpse she caught of his face just now that left no doubt in her mind that he was absolutely unfaced by this demon.“Not in this lifetime. ‘As the air to a bird, or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible’.”Cara wondered a bit how these quotes - she assumed it was one - came to his mind like this in such a situation. However, it was clear that V was about to fight that demon - Nidhogg - and Cara did not know how to act. She didn’t want to let him fight all on his own. She could fight too! This was her job after all!But she also didn’t want to interfere and get in his way. He told her to stay back, and probably for a reason. Her hand was still gripping her weapon from when the serpent attacked before.Her hand tightened almost painfully around the handle of the Kama. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* “Even the big bad kitty knows you got shit for brains!” Griffon mocked Nidhogg after Shadow growled as a response to the demon’s lack of an intellect. His familiars evaded yet another attack of the tentacle-like arms of Nidhogg while V kept his distance, his eyes switching between the humanoid core and its appendages.“Qu-qu-qu-quiet! You… you… bird and cat!”It was almost astounding how this demon did not even possess a basic level of intelligence. It just attached itself to the Qliphoth and fed off the blood that was sacrificed to it. Just a parasite as Griffon has said, and it barely posed a threat to him and his familiars.V was in control of that battle. Griffon and Shadow utilizing their strength and energy to attack Nidhogg again and again, using their speed to get V out of range if the parasite got too close, V’s cane dealing the finishing blow to the serpents that regenerated after a while when they did not manage to just deal enough damage to the core for V to kill it for good.It all changed within a heartbeat.A screech and a shiver; a cold he never thought he would ever have to endure settled around his bones, freezing him in place.He had to watch him fall.He has never seen him fall before.He was not supposed to fall.V felt the agony of the energy leaving his body as he had to witness how Griffon got hit by that parasite and fell to the ground. He transformed into the blue glowing sphere he only knew from his explanation should it ever happen to him.A heartbeat was all it took.He felt the crushing grip of the pain as the energy of his long-trusted companion was being pulled from within V’s body. He had to witness how the so prideful and ferocious demon lost to that obnoxious creature.It was a sensation so foreign to him, such a disgusting and dreadful feeling in his mind and body that he lost his focus; his chain of thoughts gone, his defense dwindling.He heard the sound of crushing wood and clattering metal long before he felt the impact.His bones rattled in agony, every nerve in his body being set on fire from the pain of being thrown into the clutter all around them.V moaned in pain, squeezing his eyes shut as he fought through the agony, through the hammering in his head, through the shaking of his limbs and he raised his head to face that distasteful creature again.A fiery hatred and the overwhelming need to destroy that monstrosity took over his mind and body, pushed the pain his body was in from the impact that could have ended his life aside and allowed him to grip his cane once again and straighten his posture.Shadow was at his side immediately again, growling and her eyes glowing with the guilt of not preventing him from getting hurt, but she fought Nidhogg all on her own, making up for Griffon getting hit and doing the best she could to prevent anything worse happening.V stretched his cane out to the side, signaling the woman behind him to not get involved. He knew she called out his name when he got hit, he knew she was already grabbing her weapon.But this was his fight.Now more so than before.“Uah, I can’t believe this dimwit got to me! Kitty, make way, I have some roasting to do.”V could not deny the relief settling inside of him when the sphere transformed again and Griffon reappeared. His wings glowed with newly sparked electricity, his feathers sizzling with the lightning and thunder he was ready to hurl at the parasite. V could feel the energy returning to him, a faint breeze within his body that told him Griffon was alright.Still, V would not ever see this happening again.“V, you’re hurt. Better take a step back.”“I’m fine,” he simply replied, even after Shadow’s growl, approving of Griffon’s words. He was alright. He would fight through the pain. This was not the first time he got hit during a battle after all. He could endure it. He had to destroy that pathetic excuse of a demon.And he would see it through.“Make haste,” he told them and pointed his cane at the creature.He sent attack after attack, wave after wave of lightning at Nidhogg. He did not allow the monstrosity to even utter a single word again. All it could do was to endure the onslaught of attacks, driven by a rage V was all too familiar with but which barely ever consumed him this way.And when the parasite began to glow purple he felt the hatred and eagerness in every fiber of his being.He threw the cane and used the demonic energy for himself to teleport into the air right in front of the dying demon.He took a twisted satisfaction from the painful screams of that monstrosity, a grin settling on his lips, a cruel glance in his eyes as he stabbed the demon right through the head.He held onto both ends of the cane as the creature wiggled and screamed in pain. The agony erupting in V’s body wrapped around his nerves like barbwire as the harsh movements of the demon threw his body around in a desperate attempt to shake him off, to prevent him from ending its pathetic existence.But he refused to let the pain hinder him in his task. He would see this through. This pitiful parasite would not live another moment.“The cut worm forgives the plow. What do you say?” he quoted as he twisted his cane inside the demon’s head, the sound of blood splattering and its life ending with a groan made a smirk appear on V’s face again.He jumped away from the demon back to the ground, wincing a bit from the pain that still got a hold of his body.He watched as the parasite sank to the ground alongside the serpents, dissolving into particles and blood. Within mere moments there was nothing left of that obnoxious parasite.And it took nothing more than mere moments until the giant root of the Qliphoth began to crack and crumble as it was only being sustained by the parasite’s now passed life. Vines and vessels faded and lost their colors before they crumbled leaving nothing but dust behind.One step closer. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Cara held her notebook still in hands as she stared in awe at the display of V’s abilities in battle. She could barely blink as she saw how V stabbed that demon and just held onto it until it finally gave up and was defeated.She was worried before, admittedly. Seeing how V was being thrown into the clutter of the destroyed market stalls around them did make a shiver run down her spine. It looked frightening and it looked painful and she had called out his name before she could think about her next step. In all honesty, to her it looked as if V hasn’t been capable of continuing that battle. That he stood up and pulled off that finishing move was impressive to her. He certainly did not look like he could pull this off with his lean figure and the cane he occasionally leaned onto…Once the dust settled again and there was this relieving silence settling over the place after the battle, Cara raised her notebook again. She turned around and started walking slowly with the full intent of leaving this area and finding a calm area to sit and write down everything she could think of now that the stress of the battle was over. She also assumed V needed a place to rest for a while. They would find a secluded area, sit down, let him rest and then call Nico to pick them up for today.She completely froze in place when she heard a groan accompanied by a clang behind her.Cara turned around slowly, too slowly, as if her mind was warning her that she wouldn’t like what she was about to see. And the growl of Shadow alongside Griffon calling out V’s name made a lump appear in her throat.“V,” his name was nothing but a whisper as she saw the man fallen onto his hands and knees, Shadow steadying him so he wouldn’t fall over, his cane out of his hands, strangled pants leaving his lips.She was at his side in a moment, kneeling next to him, her hands on his shoulders as well to support his trembling body. It was then, that she noticed the blood dripping onto the floor, gathering in a small pool on the ground. Her eyes widened, a sense of dread settling over her as the man barely responded, just breathing heavily and shaking as if he was desperately clinging to his consciousness as to not to faint.“V, come on, lay down,” she said to him, trying to keep her voice calm. She pulled his shoulders a bit, urging him to just roll over onto his back and to stop him from using his strength to keep him upright. V barely put up any resistance, he didn’t have the energy to do so and with a strangled, painful sounding moan, he tumbled over onto his back. Cara managed to catch his upper body and she was grateful for Griffon and Shadow helping her.Shadow purred worriedly, but she laid down on the ground and allowed V to rest his head and upper body against her, so Cara could take a look at where the blood was coming from.“That shithead really did got him. Wish I could roast him again,” Griffon said.Cara paid little attention to the demon. The wound was easily found and she winced as she saw the stabbing wound on his upper body just below his left kidney. As she looked to the side, to where he was just kneeling, she even spotted a small piece of metal, coated in blood. Has this thing been stuck in his body the entire time?He has been fighting while being stabbed?She focused on the wound again. It was still bleeding. She needed to stop the bleeding before thinking about treating it properly. Cara pressed a hand on the injury, flinching when her hands got covered in his blood. She hated the feeling, she hated the smell. She grimaced again when V groaned in pain.“I’m sorry,” she was sure he didn’t even hear her. He was rather out of it, his eyes were half squeezed shut, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Fighting this battle, getting thrown around and getting such a wound in the process and still pulling off all these moves… she could hardly fathom how he managed to do that. It wasn’t surprising that it all caught up to him now that the battle was done and everything calmed down again.She dug into her backpack with her free hand and pulled a piece of cloth out of it. She pressed it to the wound instead of her hand. It still wasn’t ideal but it was better than just her hand.It took a few minutes of V wincing in pain, Cara’s hands trembling, her face twisting as she saw her hands and the cloth being covered in blood, Griffon silently watching the scene and Shadow purring quietly, occasionally licking V’s face to calm him down, until Cara finally was able to say the bleeding ceased.Oh thank god, it seemed as if nothing had been seriously injured. The issue was that probably any movement now would reopen the wound again. It needed proper treatment, but she neither had the materials nor was this really a place to do so.She kept her hand pressed onto the wound and dug into her backpack again. She had Nico’s number dialed quickly and put the phone between her shoulder and ear. Come on, Nico, she thought as she waited for the woman to pick up. Her now free hand absentmindedly settled on V’s bare shoulder, not moving, just settling on his cold skin as a gesture of comfort and a reminder to herself and him that he was not fatally wounded. It was a nasty wound, it hurt him like hell, but he would make it.“Yo?”“Nico, thank god, you need to pick us up. Now. V’s hurt.” Cara replied quickly as she heard the woman’s voice, but she kept her own voice steady so she could understand her words properly.“Woah, woah, what?! Be there right away. Hang in there.”“Thanks,” Cara responded and put the phone away.She sighed, trying not to get the dread and worry get to her. She’s been in these kind of situations before, but it was horrific each time. She never ceased to remove the pressure from the wound, but she rubbed her eyes with her other one.“Hey, sweetie, you’re doing great. It’s appreciated what you’re doing here right now.”She looked at Griffon, surprised at the unusually kind words. She nodded and thanked him quietly, forcing a small smile onto her face as the panther demon purred in approval. V was still trembling. He still looked as if he could pass out any moment. She never assumed he could pull off moves and skills like this, especially not while having a piece of metal stuck in his body, but she also didn’t expect the fight to drain him this much.She wouldn’t let him fight completely on his own again.Even if he had been right about this one. She could’ve landed a few hits but altogether this was not an enemy she could take on on her own. It would’ve required her to climb the root and attack it directly from there, and it was questionable if she could’ve gotten enough hits to kill it.Cara sighed in relief, her blue eyes lighting up as she heard the familiar sound of Nico’s van approaching.
Let’s get you out of here, V...
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
V groaned, his face contorted in pain as Nico and Cara dragged the man into the safe house. It was a difficult task with V being so tall and one of Cara’s hands being occupied with applying pressure on the wound that has started bleeding again, though luckily not as severe as before, due to the movements. Shadow was behind them, steadying V and slightly pushing him forward.Both women made a sound of relief when they managed to take V to the couch, laying him down on his back. Though him squeezing his eyes shut and gasping in pain made Cara wince.“Keep the pressure up. I’ll be right back,” Cara told Nico and when the woman took the cloth from her to keep it pressed to the wound Cara hastily went to the bathroom. She washed her hands thoroughly, pulling her lower lip inside her mouth to keep from making noises as she rubbed the blood off her skin. She hated it so much. It was common to see blood as a demon hunter, and she didn’t have an issue with seeing demon’s blood or her own, but other people… especially people on her team… She exhaled deeply, grabbed a few towels and returned to the living room with a bowl of water.“V, we’re gonna have to open your vest to treat the wound properly, alright?”The man nodded and swallowed, beads of sweat running down his forehead. Cara exhaled deeply through her mouth once more.“What do you need me to do?” Nico asked with furrowed brows as Cara worked on loosening the string that held his vest together to be able to treat the injury fast.“Maybe bring me sugar from the kitchen. I saw some there yesterday, and please, hand me the bandages from my backpack,” Cara replied.“Gotcha.”Cara’s brows furrowed and she pursed her lips when she finally saw the wound properly. Though she couldn’t deny the wave of absolute relief as she saw that the wound wasn’t that deep at all, and that they probably could avoid stitching it.She winced as V groaned in pain when she poured water from the bowl onto the wound to clean it and caught the water with a towel to avoid it spilling onto the couch too much. “What’s the sugar for?” Nico asked as she handed it to Cara.“We don’t have any antibiotics but sugar is such a highly concentrated medium that bacteria won’t survive.”Nico made an “oh” sound. There simply wasn’t anything else to say in this situation. V gritted his teeth and Cara felt deeply sorry for doing this and simply pouring the sugar into the wound, but it was their best option right now. “Damn, V, you got us really worried there for a second,” Griffon said as the bird landed on the back of the couch looking down at the man when Cara leaned back with a sigh after she wrapped up the wound.V made a ‘hmpf’ sound but his lips twitched upwards again at the bird.“Didn’t assume you’d know so much about wound treatment,” Nico commented. Cara rubbed her forehead, the exhaustion now getting to her as well.“Had to do this so often over the years. Someone always gets hurt while fighting demons.” She sighed. Truth was also that Cara dreaded this moment each time. She knew what to do if someone got injured, she could keep a cool head in these situations just as right now, but that still didn’t mean she liked doing that.“Can I leave ya alone for a bit? I gotta go get Nero.”Cara simply nodded at the other woman. The worst part was over. She could relax now for a bit. She would just need to keep an eye on V for a while. And he should rest. A lot.She assumed at this point that the wound only got to him this much because he simply overdid it. He pushed his body beyond its limits during the fight. Not to mention that he didn’t seem to get much sleep and rest in general. It all just came together in this moment and crushed him.Nico patted her shoulder, an empathetic smile on her face before she left the house again.Cara leaned back and looked to the ground once the woman was gone. She was still crouching in front of the couch, still in front of V, but she didn’t care. She had tried not to let it get to her too much, she had dealt with wounded people so many times before, but she still was so surprised and almost shocked about how worried she had been. The moment of V fallen to his hands and knees had created a sense of dread and almost panic in her, her hands had trembled when she tried to help him, her heart had been racing in her chest…She didn’t anticipate it, but it was obvious that she started caring about the man.Her thoughts were interrupted with V slowly moving. He trembled as he tried to raise his upper body and seemed to reach behind him with his hand. Cara’s hands were on the leather that covered his shoulders in an instant, gently pushing the man down again.“You really shouldn’t move right now.”“Listen to the soldier girl, buddy, at least this time,” Griffon agreed with her, though the snarky remark regarding her didn’t escape her. She just had absolutely no energy to reply to that.“Just,” V murmured still trying to reach his arm around to his back. Cara furrowed her brows and followed his movement with her eyes. And when his hand wrapped around an object Cara’s gaze softened. She slowly took the book from him, his fingers brushing his in the process, and put the book onto the coffee table; out of reach, out of danger of getting bent or damaged with him lying on the couch like this. He must really cherish this book.His fingers were cold to the touch, but the feel of them still lingered on her skin just like before when she touched his upper arm.“I suppose I owe you one. Thank you,” V spoke quietly after a moment, looking up at her out of half-lidded green eyes. She shook her head, but smiled.“Get some rest. You need it.”V looked exhausted. Like someone just drained him completely. And yet he still had a defiant glance in his eyes, as if he didn’t want to rest and continue their quest, but even he had to realize that there was nothing he could do anymore right now.He let his eyes fall closed and Cara, mindful of the bandaged wound, pulled a blanket over him.She threw her hair back over her shoulders and used this opportunity to clean up. She brought the used and bloody towels and cloths to the bathroom into the laundry basket just to get them out of her sight and she returned with a new wet cloth. She put it down on the table for a moment and put the sugar back into the kitchen before she took off her jacket and sat down on the couch across from V.Griffon seemed to follow V’s lead and lowered his head and closed his eyes. Whatever happened to him during that battle must have been exhausting to him as well. This weird orb that appeared in his place… she would need to ask later what that was all about. Shadow laid down on the ground, her snout coming to rest on her front paws.There was hardly a lot Cara could do right now aside from waiting, so she might as well help out where she could. So she grabbed V’s cane from the ground, where Shadow put it after she brought it with her, and grabbed the wet cloth as well again. Shadow raised her head, watching her out of curious but cautious eyes as Cara held her master’s weapon. Cara smiled at the demon, hoping she would understand and that it reassured her that she didn’t intend to do anything with the cane.Cara was surprised that the cane was rather light in weight. It seemed so sturdy with how it easily pierced through demon’s skin and flesh, and there was a weight to it, but it was much less than Cara expected. She started to carefully clean the demon blood which was still covering half the cane; all under Shadow’s watchful eyes.Cara looked up and she was on her feet immediately, Griffon screeching and shaking his feathers as the front door of the house burst open and Nero entered; a look of worry and anger on his face as he carried an unconscious woman inside.Cara’s lips were parted, her eyes wide at the unexpected entry, but she recognized the woman on Nero’s arms as one of the women who entered the tree with Dante four weeks ago.“How about not breaking down doors, kiddo?!” Griffon complained. V stirred, being pulled out his very short sleep because of the sudden noises. Cara felt a bit sorry for him.“Shut up. I’ll bring her upstairs,” Nero said through gritted teeth and left the room. Nico followed him into the house only an instant later.“Geez, what a day…” she murmured.“Is she hurt?” Cara asked referring to the unconscious woman on Nero’s arms. Nico shook her head.“No, just completely out of it. She was trapped inside a demon?! Well, don’t ask me. I have no idea what’s going on, but hey, she ain’t dead yet.”Trapped inside a demon?! How?! Cara knew that some demons used humans to gather more energy, pretty much like the Qliphoth drained their blood to grow, but she never heard of a human being trapped inside one.“Hey man, you feelin’ better?” Nico asked V who has woken up but hasn’t moved or said anything otherwise.“What do you think, smartass? After bursting in here only a few minutes after you left,” Griffon said. Nico squinted her eyes at the demon and leaned closer to him.“Next time how about you start helpin’ then instead of fluffin’ ya pretty little feathers, chickee?!”Griffon didn’t say another word but he seemed to be pouting, a wave of shimmering energy coursing through his blue feathers once.“Hey, Nico, take a look at her if she’s really not injured and needs anything,” Nero called from upstairs.“You better not be staring at her again!” Nico called in response and walked upstairs.Cara smiled as she could only her Nero’s exasperated sigh and: “I’m not. God, just get up here”.When she looked back down to V she caught the man smirking at the almost familiar banter between these two.Nero came downstairs a moment later and he rubbed his hand over his face before he fell into the armchair in the living room.“Are you okay?” he asked V.“I’m fine.”He was anything but, however, Cara wasn’t about to say anything. The distant tone in V’s voice at least gave her the impression that he didn’t like the position he was in right now; wounded, tired, vulnerable. He has always given the impression that he did not want to appear weak despite his rather fragile looks. The walls he pulled up around him, with his confident stance, the unreadable expression in his eyes, were exactly because of that; to not give other people any reason to believe he’s weak. But now… all of these defenses were forcefully broken down. There was just a man who was forced to show other people he didn’t trust and who didn’t trust him this side of him and to put his life into their hands.“What happened to her?” Cara asked Nero after a moment of silence.“Lady?”Cara nodded. The name didn’t occur to her anymore, she had to admit.“I wish I knew. She can probably tell us more about it.”“Urizen used her as an energy source.”Nero and Cara looked at V who made an attempt at raising his upper body but then chose to rather stay in his previous position despite his reluctance of doing so.“What?” Nero exclaimed looking at V as if the man had just done something absolutely stupid.“Urizen can control a variety of demons but these demons are not sustainable without a core to supply them.”“It doesn’t matter if the core is a demon or human or something else. It just needs to have some life energy to fuel the demon. The stronger the core, the stronger the demon, one should probably add that,” Griffon added to V’s explanation.Cara furrowed her brows. Did that mean that other woman and Dante were also used as such a core? The possibility seemed to be plausible.“How do you know that?” Nero wanted to know, one eyebrow raised.“Do you believe we’ve only been in the underworld since yesterday? Have some respect, boy.” Griffon shook his head, his yellow eyes burning with annoyance and aggravation about Nero disbelieving him.“Just… argh,” Nero ran his hand through his hair, sliding it down his face, trying not to lash out at the demon, “we’re gonna have to wait for Lady to wake up. Maybe she knows about Dante and Trish,” he finished that sentence. Cara wondered what the younger man went through on this day.“Well, that gotta wait. She’s probably gonna be down until tomorrow.” Nico came downstairs and joined them in the living room.“She’s fine though?”“Yeah, yeah, just needs time,” Nico replied making a waving gesture with her hands. Nero nodded.“What now though? I’m not gonna go out there anymore today.” Nico snorted. Cara agreed. It was getting late anyway, the sun slowly set and V was hurt, he couldn’t even sit up properly right now. Not to mention that they shouldn’t leave Lady upstairs alone here.“We’ll continue tomorrow. We made progress today. We should all probably get enough rest to continue tomorrow,” Cara replied and she smiled to herself when the rest agreed. Nero rubbed his forehead.“I’m gonna have to find that demon again tomorrow,” he said. Nico’s lips parted, recognition glistening in her eyes. She made a few steps forward so she could catch Nero’s eyes. There was a sudden excitement all over her. It was interesting to watch. Nico half leaned over the back of the couch on which V was laying on and the man frowned at her. He was visibly uncomfortable but Nico didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in whatever she was thinking about right now. Griffon threw her a judging look as the woman invaded his personal space as well.“You mean that huge machine demon thing?!”Cara had no idea what she was referring to but it was fascinating to see how excited Nico got about demons. It reminded her of herself years ago when she started gathering information about demons.Nero nodded.“We can’t have that thing running around like that. He’s too big to leave alone. I better take care of it.”“Well, given its size we shouldn’t have issues finding that fella.” Nico shrugged but the grin never really left her face. Nero agreed.“Where’re you going, honey?” Cara looked back over her shoulder to Nico as she made her way to the kitchen.“I’m gonna try to make us something to eat,” she replied with a small smile on her lips. “Need help?”Cara made a face and shrugged. There was barely anything in the kitchen to really make something proper, but some company and help was always appreciated. Nico followed her into the kitchen.“So, whatcha making?” Nico asked her while Cara dug through the cupboards and fridge again.“I might be able to make some soup actually. The veggies are not the best, but they’re still good for that,” Cara replied looking through some of the items in the fridge that were still edible.“You hear that, chickee?! We’re making chicken soup!” “I’ll roast you where you stand!”Cara laughed a bit as Nico called out to Griffon. She did find chicken, but… that was not good anymore at all. She threw it in the bin. The good thing was though that this kitchen was equipped with all the materials she needed including all the spices she could think of. So, while the actual groceries were limited in variety, she could make enough soup to last for tomorrow as well (if they needed that).“Alright, tell me whatcha need,” Nico told her. Cara looked at her equipment for a moment.“We’ll start by cutting those,” she said then, handing Nico a knife.“Gotcha.”The two women spent the next hour chopping vegetables, potatoes, mushrooms, frying onions and potatoes, boiling the stock, spicing and tasting the soup until it gained the desired flavor and the kitchen was filled with the incredibly smell of a comfy and delicious food. Nico and Cara talked about what happened during that day, what Nero has experienced today with that demon that had Lady trapped inside of it, what Cara figured out while watching V fight that parasite demon. Occasionally Cara explained to Nico what they were doing right now as to get the soup as tasty as they wanted. And in the few moments of silence Cara could hear Nero’s and V’s voices coming from the living room. She couldn’t understand what they were talking about, but probably about the same topics as Nico and Cara. It was a carefree situation, the conversations came naturally, not awkward or forced, and it distracted Cara from how serious their situation still was.Nico pulled out a crisped up bread from the oven which they found in the deep freezer and cut it into pieces while Cara prepared bowls of soup for everyone. She was quite content with the result. Nothing special, nothing fancy, but it would refresh them and the meal would hopefully satisfy everyone.The women came back to the living room, trays with the bowls in their hands.Cara noticed that V has sat up by now, although he still looked as if he was in pain. He was deadly pale and the way he straightened his back seemed rather unnatural as if hunching his back even a bit would cause the wound to send new stings of pain through his body. Cara hoped he intended on laying back down after eating…“Oohoo, this smells nice. Did you pull that off, girls?” Griffon asked leaning forwards on the back of the couch and stared at the bowls of soup. “Yep. I did what Cara told me though,” Nico replied, patting the other woman on the back. Cara chuckled. She was a great help though.“Impressive,” V commented. Cara smiled,thanking him silently.“You like to cook?” Nero wanted to know. Cara nodded.“Yeah. It’s what keeps me occupied the most in my free time,” she told the others.“That looks good. What is it?” the demon hunter asked her afterwards.“Potato soup with mushrooms, carrots, onions, few spices. It’s a bit improvised maybe but it should taste okay at least,” Cara explained and sat on her side of the couch again.The all ate mostly in silence, only occasionally commenting on the food or saying something about their current situation. But Cara was just glad that no one complained about the soup.Nero groaned, stretching his limbs after eating while he stood from the armchair.“Alright, guess I gotta take a walk. Check up on any demon that wants to ruin our night and then gotta call Kyrie,” he said.“Don’t get lost on the way, kid,” Griffon replied. Nero made a derogative sound, but grabbed his weapons, including these Devil Breakers, and left the house.“Well, then I guess I check up on Lady and get to work some more,” and with that Nico went upstairs, leaving Cara alone with V, Griffon and Shadow again.“The soup was delicious.”Cara looked up in surprise as the man across from her raised his voice. He was genuine in his words. There was a glance in his eyes. A shimmer of sincerity and contentment, a rare display of open emotions, and she found herself trapped by the intense depth of his green eyes. “Thank you,” it took all her willpower to force these words out before the silence turned awkward, before she found herself in a situation she really wanted to avoid.He nodded, closing his eyes for a longer moment in the process. He looked tired. His long eyelashes caressed his cheekbones, the shadows around his eyes created such a sharp contrast to his pale skin and only seemed to have gotten darker within the last day. Cara wondered if he had gotten any sleep last night at all. He went to sleep after her but when she woke up he had already been awake (and she was an early bird to begin with).Cara forced her gaze away from him before he opened his eyes and could catch her staring and suppressed the urge to sigh. She really didn’t know if what she was doing was a good idea. She needed some air.“I’m in front of the house. Call me if something’s wrong,” she said pulling her jacket on while walking outside. She left the door open a bit, so she could hear if something was off and sat down on the few stairs in front of the entry door.“Tired of our company already?” Cara looked up as Griffon came skipping out of the door, flying up to pull the door shut with his feet before coming to stand next to her.“You’re not that bad.” Cara chuckled.“Thanks for the sentiment, solder girl.” The bird looked at her out of his multiple yellow eyes; there was an underlying tone of humor in his voice albeit it was a bit hard to make out. Cara smiled, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes.“Alright, listen, I may not have a lot of respect for most of your kind but eh, credit where credit is due, I guess, so,” the bird made a pause there shaking his head, some small feathers floating through the air as a result, “thanks for today. This was the first time he got injured like that and it’s our job to make sure this doesn’t happen in the first place. So thanks, sweetie.”Cara stared at Griffon for a really long moment. The words were surprising and completely unexpected. The demon had a foul mouth and from what she could tell he mocked and belittled everyone he came across. She didn’t expect to see such a different and honest side of him. That he came here to express his gratitude, which she assumed wasn’t easy for him, just caught her off guard. But she also appreciated it. It gave her the confirmation that all his mockery was not truly heartfelt and she… liked that thought.“You’re welcome. It’s not a bad injury. He should be okay again soon if he rests enough.”“Yeah about that…”“Hu?”“You can bet that he’s up on his feet tomorrow again. The kid has some fighting spirit, you know?! But he’s not gonna allow himself the rest he needs.”Cara contemplated the demon’s words. In the end they confirmed what she already guessed. V looked as exhausted as he was. She wondered what his life looked like that he pushed himself so much that it affected his health in the long run. He probably shouldn’t be here right now in the first place. Or at least he should hold back on fighting and get as much rest as he could. She hoped he would get some proper sleep this night…“Can… I ask you something? About that fight today?” she asked Griffon, her curiosity flaring up again but also an attempt to distract these depressing thoughts.“You didn’t take enough notes?” Griffon countered. Cara raised her brow at him. The demon chuckled but told her to go on.“What was that orb you turned into during the fight? I saw you got hit and when you hit the ground you appeared as that orb?”Griffon looked like he was pouting, as if that memory was embarrassing to him, but that scene was what stuck most with her while watching that fight.“It’s what happens when we take too much damage. Our life is bound to V, as long as he is still breathing we can’t die, but we can get stalemated. This sphere you saw is our core-state. We can recover in it but it takes a while. It… was the first time this happened since we made the contract with V.”Cara nodded slowly. She would need to write this down later.“For how long have you been a team?” she asked the avian demon after a while. “Ten years,” Griffon replied and Cara rose her eyebrows. She did not expect that at all. That they weren’t companions only for a few weeks became apparent when one took a look at them interacting, but a decade was also more than just a few years. That would also mean that V was probably in his mid to late twenties by now because she couldn’t imagine he made the contract with the demons when he was just a child.“One more question,” she started and Griffon chuckled.“Hehehe, you are quite a curious one,” he said to which Cara simply shrugged. She had way more questions than just one but she figured she should probably ask those V himself.“Why is he in this?” she started and the blue bird stared at her, silently urging her to go on, “I mean, Nero is here because of Dante apparently, I wanna make up for my failure, but what about him? He doesn’t seem to do this out of a sheer desire to save the world.”Griffon was surprisingly silent for a long time.“Listen, girl, he has a good heart. He really does, but… this is all I can tell you. Maybe you will get a chance to ask him yourself on this mission.”Cara didn’t reply. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t doubt Griffon’s words, but she knew now that V had some motives on his own. Now it was just a matter how much she was willing to believe the demon that V was a good guy, that there was just a wall between them that couldn’t be broken down unless V decided to do so and open up. And despite what occured up until that point on this journey they were incredibly far away from that point…Mystery boy indeed, she thought, remembering Nico’s pet name for him yesterday.“I see,” she finally said, “thank you for talking. Didn’t expect it, but I definitely appreciate it.” She smiled at the demon who snorted lightly in response.“Don’t get all emotional on me now, sweetie.”Cara’s shoulders shook as she allowed herself to laugh. She sighed when silence settled upon them again and she rose to her feet intending to go back inside.“I am okay. This isn’t your fault, you did great today.”She paused as soon as she opened the door and these words reached her ears.There was V. Lying on his back on the couch and Shadow sitting next to the couch, her right paw on V’s belly, mindful of his injury, and her licking his face, a faint purr escaping her throat while doing so. V didn’t notice her coming in again right away. His eyes were half closed as Shadow displayed her affection and care for the man just as a normal cat would and there was a small smile on his face, one of his hand stroked her black shiny fur.Cara found this so endearing that she just stood in the doorway and watched this scene, a smile appearing on her lips as her heart beat a bit faster in her chest to cope with the tenderness of the situation.She didn’t expect to see this, to see V so open and honest in his caring and affection for his companions - despite them being demons. It made her believe Griffon’s words that V had a good heart a bit more and she found herself wanting to believe that whatever ulterior motive he may had that it wasn’t severe, that it was nothing bad, just something he didn’t want to share with people he barely knew.“Alright, alright, Kitty, enough cuddling,” Griffon said and flew back to his previous spot on the back of the couch.Shadow growled very quietly, laid her forehead against V’s face once more before she retreated and laid back down on the floor. V looked at Cara, though that delighted expression that was brought upon his face due to the previous moment, stayed for a while longer. He didn’t pull up his walls right away, only when the mirth of the shared affection with his companion naturally faded did that smile disappear and that glance vanish in his eyes. But Cara was extremely glad to have been able to witness that moment.Maybe… just maybe V truly wasn’t so distant after all. These short moments of genuine emotions in his eyes, these short situations of him allowing his sense of humor, his gratitude or even his vulnerability show. Maybe he just seemed so unapproachable because he simply did not trust her to allow more of himself to be revealed in front of her.Maybe it was also more complicated than this, but Cara sort of clung to the hope that it was just a matter of trust since that was something they could work on and overcome. And Cara found herself more and more intrigued with him and everything he’s shown her so far.Although she could already see how she would come to regret that realisation.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* V followed the woman - Cara - out of his peripheral vision as she grabbed her backpack and went to the bathroom. His eyes fell upon the empty bowl of soup again still standing on the table.He still had the taste of it in his mouth and he felt how his body responded to it, the warmth settling around his bones, the silence of his stomach, he was comfortable, and comfort was the last thing he expected to experience during this journey, much less because of food. But the soup has been amazing, there was no way around to describe it as such. And she took the time and effort(with the help of that other woman) to prepare it for them. Just like earlier today with the sandwiches. And he figured it was only polite and appropriate to express his contentment and gratitude.But what was he supposed to tell her? That he can’t remember eating something this tasteful before? That it was probably half a lifetime ago when he experienced so many flavours at once? So V settled on very few but genuine words. And he could see her surprise. How she raised her head suddenly, how her eyes widened slightly, shining blue orbs blinking at him for a long moment as if she had a hard time fathoming his words.When he spotted his clean and shining cane after being pulled out of his rest earlier he probably has been just as surprised as she had been. What drove her to do it? What did she gain from it? Why would she care? V did not know how to answer these questions. He couldn’t fathom why she would care enough. Wound treatment was one thing but taking care of his personal belongings? Just like her taking the book from him to keep it out of harm’s way. Her fingers grazing his. A warm touch of another person that lingered way too long on his skin afterwards and if he focused hard enough he could still feel the tingling of his nerves where she touched his hand. Just like earlier today...“I suppose you had an insightful conversation?” he turned his attention to Griffon to distract him from his own thoughts lingering on her for too long. Griffon laughed.“Of course! The girl can learn a lot from me after all!”V smirked. He knew his companion’s ego and he knew that his conversation with her was probably rather honest and deep despite what he may tried to tell V.V heard Shadow’s yawn from the ground and the man had to realize he was rather tired as well. It has been a long and draining day; and him getting injured was the last thing he planned to happen. But there was no helping it now and he knew he should get some rest, so he would be back on track tomorrow. He hated falling asleep when he knew the people around him were still wide awake despite him knowing that they didn’t mind nor would do anything. And Shadow and Griffon were there too. He simply disliked other people seeing him in this open and vulnerable state, even more so than the one he was in right now.But he couldn’t do anything about it and he felt his eyelids grew heavier by the second.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Cara put all the materials for wound treatment she could find in her backpack after she changed his bandages. The wound was far from healed, but she wouldn’t be able to stop him from continuing their mission today just like Griffon told her yesterday. She has already been relieved that she saw him fast asleep when she returned to the living room after her shower yesterday. It was probably all she could ask for right now. And she didn’t have any right to say anything anyway. But at least she could be prepared in case something happened on the way again.V rose from the couch and tied his vest back together. She didn’t watch him while he did it, but she secretly admired his patience for tying the vest each time.“Take care, though, please. Too much strain and it will take even longer to heal,” she told him. V nodded at her which she just returned.“Alright, fellas, Lady is awake. But she’s not coming with us today,” Nico declared as she came downstairs.“Is she alright?” Nero wanted to know. Nico nodded enthusiastically.“Just tired. Said she won’t be of use to us today. But, if we don’t happen to save the world today she’ll be with us tomorrow. Oh, also! She doesn’t remember a lot right now, so questions may be better at a later time.”“Will she be alright though? Alone here that is?”“While it may not be ideal, it is relatively safe here.”“And she’s got a gun. Not gonna leave a girl without her weapon,” Nico added to V’s reply. Cara nodded. They slept peacefully at night despite demons roaming the city, she should be alright. Maybe they could check up on her occasionally.“Better you go with V again. Just in case something’s off,” Nero said as he shouldered his sword, obviously referring to V’s injury.Cara just nodded as a response. She was a bit reluctant to admit but despite the factor that she could treat his injury should something happen on the way she was also looking forward to this alongside him. Maybe she could get to know more about him this way. She had questions. So many questions. And being around him and his demons was… rather pleasant. Given the circumstances and the gravity of the situation she never expected to find such… joy in his and his companion’s company. It distracted her mind enough to not think too much about her mistake, to not let her own dark emotions catch up with her. And after yesterday she also came to appreciate the blue bird demon a lot more. There was more to him than just a foul mouth and an offensive attitude.“Shall we drop you off anywhere specific?” Nero wanted to know once they were inside the van.“The Qliphoth roots are everywhere. It does not really matter,” V replied, sitting behind the driver’s seat.“Then we’ll drop you off along the way. This should be enough for you to avoid that machine demon,” Nero replied. Cara agreed and as much as she wanted to see and get some information about that demon she would stick to the plan and get rid of these roots and then she could hopefully take this tree down and prevent any more deaths from happening.Nico dropped them off at a larger crossroads where they could see a larger conglomeration of roots blocking off a whole street in one direction. With such a high concentration of roots and vines demons were probably around or at least would spawn as soon as someone approached them. And it truly didn’t take long. As soon as the van’s engine wasn’t audible anymore and V and Cara made a few steps towards the pools of blood on the floor seemingly began to boil. Blood started to rise, twirling around before changing colors and taking shape. A twisted demonic figure appeared before them. Red and purple tentacles wrapped around a disgusting figure and two long sharp blades formed on the long arms.Cara pulled her weapon from the holster around her left leg, her eyes quickly scanning her surroundings. The street where the demon spawned was too narrow to risk getting behind it, those arms were too flexible and long. But she knew these demons could teleport, so the first thing to do was to lure it out of the street and onto the open crossroads.Two Hell Cainas spawned alongside the Hell Judecca, but Cara paid those hardly any mind. Of course she should not underestimate them but they weren’t the real threat here.V next to her stretched his arm to the side, his gaze darkened, his lips curved upwards into a small smirk. Just like before the fight against Nidhogg he seemed almost eager. There was a twisted sense of enjoyment all over him. He hated demons, didn’t hide this disdain, didn’t make it a secret and Cara would like to know what his reasons were. Cara watched him as the black tattoos on his body dissolved and the particles flowed through the air to take shape. Like wisps of smoke did the ink glide over the ground until the panther demon stood in front of V; the last particle vanishing with a growl from her. Griffon appeared on V’s outstretched arm, shaking his blue feathers which sizzled with electricity.Cara joined their determination and anticipation of killing yet another bunch of demons. While she couldn’t say she loved fighting them as much as V and his companions seemed to do, she still loathed with them with a passion. These distasteful creatures took her parent’s lives all these years ago, none of them deserved to continue their pathetic existence.There was a subtle movement. Just V smirking and moving the hand that held his cane. But it was enough to start the battle.It was one fluid motion. V pointed his cane at the demons, Griffon jumped from his arm, Shadow charged at them with a growl, Cara ran at the demons while they released their typical growls, raised their arms to attack.Evading the attack of the Judecca as it stretched its tentacle arms at V and Cara was easy enough; Cara jumped to the side while V V slid over the ground with Shadow’s assistance (a move that still fascinated Cara). But Cara could use the attack to get closer to the demon. She still needed to lure it out of this narrow street, so she was well aware that her move would be of no use, but it would force it to teleport. She dodged the Hell Cainas, raised her Kama over her head to bring it down on the bigger demon, but before the blade even had a chance to connect with the demon it vanished in a blur of purple and red colors as predicted.It reappeared near V, though Griffon reacted quickly, grabbing V’s bracelets and putting some distance between them. Cara looked at V for a moment, a concerned glance in her eyes. He really shouldn’t move too much with his wound. However, the worry in her eyes vanished within a moment as a plan formed in her head. Yes, it was simple, but these demons weren’t smart, so there was no need for a complex strategy.“V!” She called out his name over the battlefield and she felt a sense of pride when he reacted immediately, his attention on her despite the fight around them.“Can you keep their attention on you, so I can get close to them and end this?” These demons couldn’t understand human speech, so she could freely raise her voice. V nodded, a gesture barely noticed and Cara could have sworn there was a warm sensation in her chest when he listened to her and did as she told him to because she knew he wouldn’t have followed her strategy back then in the Qliphoth; hell, not even when they arrived in Red Grave again. It was hard to explain but it meant something to her that he seemed to have let her in that far at least.“Alright, let’s go then!” Griffon called as V retreated him and Shadow back to him and focused on long-range attacks which allowed his familiars to still stay nearby as to not divert the demons’s attention from them.Cara smirked as it truly worked and the demons didn’t pay her any mind anymore. She tried to stay out of their field of view and she moved slower than before, not trying to gain the demon’s attention by doing reckless and harsh movements. She kept an eye out for Griffon’s lightning attacks too, so she didn’t accidentally run into one and got roasted.Only when she managed to get behind the Hell Judecca her motions needed to become faster. Demons could feel humans if they were really close, so she had to be fast, and she only had this one chance.She gripped her Kama tighter and attacked.She jumped, getting a well aimed grip on one of the purple, but tangible, tentacles wrapped around its upper body. Cara used it as leverage to pull herself higher and closer to the bigger demon’s head. It was just one deliberate swift of her weapon. The blade dug through the demonic flesh and nerves like paper, the screech of the Judecca was all that indicated the lethal strike. It fell down and dissolved into a pool of blood within mere moments.Cara allowed the satisfied smile on her lips as she landed back on her own feet. Now all that was left were the two Hell Cainas who surprisingly didn’t charge at her. V apparently was doing a rather great job of keeping their focus on him.She looked over to him to see what exactly he was doing.Only to halt every thought and motion instantly.V was dancing.There he was. Swinging his legs around, his feet jumping and tapping the ground in a rhythm only he heard, his arms following the swings of his feet, his cane spinning in his hand. There was a smile on his face, his features carefree and relaxed with his eyes closed as for just this moment he was lost in his own world, in the music playing in his head.Cara was hypnotized. She stared at him dancing, this open display of happiness on his face, his elegant and deliberate steps. She was aware he was doing this to provoke their enemies, still, that didn’t stop her from admiring this unexpected gesture.Whatever spell she was under in that moment broke when Shadow’s claws and Griffon’s lightning rained down upon the Hell Cainas, almost instantly beating them down. It didn’t take long for V to reach them and to stab them with his cane, ending their lives for good. And within moments silence settled upon the battlefield again.“Do you like dancing?” Cara finally asked him after they eliminated the Qliphoth roots in the area after the question has been burning on the tip of her tongue, she just didn’t dare to actually ask him. V didn’t stop walking and Cara also noticed he used his cane for it, which worried her a bit but he didn’t look hurt, neither did his wound seem to bother him, so she hoped he was just exhausted. He really shouldn’t have come with them today… V turned his head to her, she couldn’t read his expression but he watched her intently for a moment as if he wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly before he turned his attention back on the road.“Under every grief and pineRuns a joy with silken twine.”That was another quote, Cara recognized that much, but her first thought was that it wasn’t a random one. V seemed to choose the quotes very carefully, putting emphasis on certain words, his voice lowering each time; he didn’t quote poetry just for the sake of it. But before Cara could try to analyze what he meant by that quote V raised his voice again.“I do not indulge in it often.”“What a shame. It looked really good.”The words spilled from her lips before she could stop them but she was speaking her honest mind and she figured she really didn’t care. His unexpected steps and moves and his carefree expression still replayed in her mind and very deep down she hoped that she may get to see it again.V, however, did not seem to have expected to hear such a compliment.His head turned to her way too fast, his eyebrows rose, not much but very much so noticeable, his lips parted the slightest bit, his steps slowed. There was no wall left, no barrier that protected him from anyone seeing how he felt, what he thought. The surprise and bewilderment was clear as day in his green eyes and everywhere around him. V didn’t say a word. He just looked at her completely caught off guard before he gathered himself again and wordlessly continued his way.That’s… adorable, Cara wondered for the next minutes where this thought came from.They reached a rather big square after quite a while of walking. Roots and vines of the Qliphoth blocked off most of streets, leaving only a few routes they could take. But still, despite the huge amount of roots and the vast space of the streets and the square, this place was rather quiet. There were no demons around and the only sound in the air was the breeze blowing through the streets. They definitely shouldn’t let their guard down but…“Shall we take a break?” she asked V. Cara could have continued their path for now but she was a bit worried about the man. While V was not heavily leaning on his cane when he walked he did use it, which he hasn’t done before since she met him. So they should use this opportunity.V thought for a moment but nodded in agreement.They walked to a building as to not settle down right in the middle of the square where every demon could easily spot them.“I wonder if these still work.” Cara thought out loud as they approached a telephone box at the side of a road. Compared to the conditions of most of the buildings the box seemed pretty unscathed, it just seemed really old.“Most of the electricity has been cut off. The line may still work however,” V replied. The man sat down on the ground, his back to the phone box. Cara shrugged and reached for the phone. She smiled when she heard the familiar peep sound. It was really working.“Do you need me to call Nico?” she asked V. She had her mobile phone but she still would try this phone to call her this time, even if it was just for fun, since she didn’t need supplies from Nico right now. She had everything she may need in her backpack. So she mostly asked for V. The couch in the van was probably more comfortable than the cold stone ground.“I don’t think that’s necessary right now,” he answered. Cara nodded and put the phone back.She looked around the area, observed the many buildings and streets, but there was absolutely no sign of any demonic entity anywhere around. When she turned around she was a bit surprised to see V sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, his cane leaning against his shoulder and his back against the telephone box. He looked like he could fall asleep right there.“You can,” she started but hesitated for a moment, “get some rest. I’ll keep an eye on the area.”V stared at her for a moment that seemingly never ended. His green eyes studied her face, her expression, considered her words and contemplated about if he could listen to her, if he could trust her. Cara couldn’t deny how her heart seemed to skip a beat when he nodded, wordlessly agreeing with her suggestion.A quiet purr sounded as Shadow emerged from the particle of V’s tattoos and the panther demon nudged V’s face with her forehead. There was the hint of a smile on V’s lips but he didn’t react otherwise. Shadow jumped and laid on top of the telephone box, her head laying on her paws but she didn’t look like she was about to go to sleep. V looked at his companion out of his peripheral vision before he leaned back, lowered his head and closed his eyes. He didn’t let go of his cane but he allowed himself to drift off to a hopeful peaceful rest. Despite her being around, despite them still being out in the open.Cara couldn’t help but think that he wouldn’t have allowed himself to do that around her a few days ago.She watched him for a few moments. How his posture, while properly not the most comfortable, was relaxed, how the grip around his cane softened, how his black hair fell into his face, blowing gently from where his even breathing hit it…She smiled as she sat down on the ground next to him, carefully and quietly so he wouldn’t wake up and fetched her phone from her backpack. There was not a lot she could do right now aside from being wary of her surroundings, so she might as well could indulge in some mindless fun. It would also distract her from getting lost in her own thoughts while V was getting the rest he desperately needed apparently.She played the little game on her phone for a while before Shadow jumped down from the phone box and Cara felt her body brushing her shoulder. She looked at the panther demon who sat down on her hind legs and watched her out of glowing red eyes. Cara smiled at the demon’s display of curiosity about what she was doing. She scratched Shadow behind her ears, her smile widening when the demon leaned into the gesture. It was such a beautiful and adorable contrast to how ferocious the demon could be in battle.After a while the demon resorted to laying down, her head on Cara’s legs, while the demon hunter kept playing the game, occasionally looking up and observing the surroundings.“What are you doing?”She looked up in surprise as she heard V’s dark voice next to her. Shadow raised her head to acknowledge the man but then laid back down. Cara couldn’t really tell if V looked more relaxed now, the bags under his eyes were still deep and she also had no idea for how long he rested, but she assumed it wasn’t longer than an hour.“There’s not much for me to right now, so I’m just playing a game on my phone.”V knitted his brows a bit and tilted his head, his eyes falling onto the device in Cara’s hand.“A game?” he didn’t sound judgmental or accusatory, no, in fact he seemed much more lost. Cara didn’t doubt that he knew what a game was. However…“Were you… not aware you can play games on your phone?“Never owned one.”“You never owned a phone?” the surprise was everywhere around Cara, in her eyes, her hand gesture, her voice. If V was in any way surprised or bothered by her reaction he didn’t let it show.“Never had the need for one,” he simply replied. Cara wanted to ask him immediately how he couldn’t own one. How was he even living?! But then she reminded herself of everything she learned about him so far and how he seemed to be. If he had been with his demons for already ten years then maybe he truly had no need for one. Cara wondered what kind of life he had led to end up here at this point.V didn’t really look at her and it took Cara a moment to realize he was looking at her phone where the game was still running. It was nothing but the hint of a smile on her lips as she noticed how curious he was. Too proud and still not trusting her enough to let her in that much to actually ask her about it but she could see that intrigue in his deep green eyes.She inched a bit closer towards him, earning a dissatisfied purr from Shadow in the process, until she was close enough that she would brush V’s arm should any of them move. It was only then that she noticed just how close they were. And this time not because she had to treat his injury or because they were fighting. This time it was just because they were taking a break and they were about to indulge in a simple but fun activity that had nothing to do with demon hunting.V was looking half over her shoulder before she offered her phone to him to explain the game to him, a gesture that caused their fingers to brush against each other’s. His skin felt cold. It reminded her of the previous day when she touched his arm to gain his attention. The touch of his cool skin on hers still lingered long after he took the phone from her. Just like it did yesterday.“Here, look. You just drag and swap matching colored pieces. If you cleared enough you’ll move on to the next level,” she explained and demonstrated it to him while he held the phone and looked at the screen. She automatically leaned a bit closer to show and explain it better, causing her arm to brush his and Cara regretted having the sleeves of her jacket all pulled down and she only truly realized how close they actually were in that moment.Cara remembered how intimidating the aura and his gaze was back in the office and during the time in the demonic tree. He was so different now. Now after she spent some time with him, talked to him, got to know him at least a little bit and caught glimpses of what was hidden beyond his walls and barriers. There was nothing intimidating about him now and she felt even comfortable being this close to him. Something she wasn’t expecting to ever happen but she also wasn’t fighting this realization. In that moment she decided to much rather embrace it. Maybe she could find some comfort and contentment under these so grim and severe circumstances.Cara tried not to stare as V played the game on her phone. She switched between looking at Shadow, her head still in Cara’s lap, observing their surroundings and watching V. His black hair fell into his face, so only caught glimpses of it as he played, but his eyes were fixated on the little screen, his finger slid over it, dragging the colorful orbs around to clear the level. It was adorable to see him like this, there just was no denying that. This man who managed to intimidate people despite his lean and fragile looking frame, who fought with demons that were bound to him, who fought powerful demons despite being injured.V handed her the phone back after a while with an unreadable expression. But given how he took the time, allowed himself to take this break on their mission to play this game, Cara supposed he did enjoy it. She made a mental note to offer it to him later again.“We should go,” V said then. Shadow growled quietly, rising from her lying position and dissolving back into V’s tattoos.Cara agreed. She shouldered her backpack and followed V again, who this time didn’t use his cane for walking. Looked like the rest helped. And was apparently really needed.“V,” she started after a while. The man didn’t stop his steps but he turned his head to her slightly, showing her he had his attention. She really appreciated gestures like this. It didn’t matter if his walls made his reaction unreadable but knowing he was still listening was a highly valued thing.“Why are you in this?” Cara asked with a hint of hesitation in her voice. She was walking a thin line, she knew that. Griffon told her she may be able to ask him somewhere along this mission, but she may have pushed her buttons too soon. But the question was still nagging her. Why this man, as unusual and weird his methods were and as mysterious as he seemed, was on this quest to save the world. Griffon said he had a good heart but that he couldn’t tell her more. So there was a reason that went beyond just doing something good.“Is it difficult to believe a person simply wants to stop the end of the world from happening?”“Maybe if that person is traveling with demons that reside in their skin.”Cara knew she probably pushed a bit too far with that judging by the way V turned his head to her, a scrutinizing look in his eyes. For a moment she felt like back in the office when he tried to analyze and judge her but not allowing her a glimpse at what was hidden beyond his walls. She was alright with dropping the topic again, apparently it was too soon, but V raised his voice again before she had the chance.“My parents were killed by demons when I was a child. I merely seek to destroy that evil. By any means necessary.”Cara stared at him. Lips parted, her eyes studying his own and features. The words only slowly sank in, they clouded her mind like a fog and only a few heartbeats later did her mind realize what he just told her, how much he actually just revealed to her.“I’m sorry,” she said, after she felt like she stayed silent for too long and should say something. She averted her eyes from him, his words repeating in her mind like a broken record.There was a part in her that related to him, that made her heart ache when she listened to these words, although she could not imagine how terrifying it must be for a little kid to lose their parents.“I… my parents were killed by demons too,” she didn’t look at him as she dug through her mind and revisited these still painful memories, though she was incredibly aware of his green eyes staring at her, “my mom died when I was 13… My father… a few years later…” She stopped there, didn’t know what to say next.The sheer gravity of his words, the fact that he had just revealed such a huge part of himself, she never expected it. Never thought he would just like that let down his walls for a moment and let her in… it only seemed right to do the same thing. She wasn’t good with gestures of comfort, but maybe telling him that she could relate to the feeling of losing one’s parents to the demons may be helpful to him. Even if her father’s death was a very much different case the culprit was still a demon; still a devil that took his life.V didn’t say anything and Cara didn’t hold it against him. She hardly had any more words of comfort to offer, even saying thank you for telling her this seemed out of place, so she didn’t expect anything from him either.But something’s changed. Maybe she wanted to see it this way, but she had the thought flickering inside her mind that they have gotten a bit closer. As if V had torn a hole in his walls for her to peek through. She didn’t know why he did that so suddenly and maybe she interpreted too much into it, but she appreciated it nonetheless and she would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she was happy about this unexpected development.“I absolutely hate to interrupt but something’s coming,” Griffon appeared behind V, his voice hushed. He flew close to V, as to not draw any attention to himself by anything that may be close by.Cara looked around, her left hand reaching for her weapon, but she couldn’t spot anything. High walls and pillars made up the narrow street and while there were notches here and there nothing was big enough for anyone or anything bigger than a human to hide in there. Cara took a deep breath, kept her hand near her weapon and let her eyes observe her surroundings. Neither V nor her stopped walking ahead though.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*V was wary as he walked onwards. The same wariness that caused Griffon’s feathers to sizzle with electricity. V could sense demonic energy if he was close enough, but he was no demon, a change in the air, the presence of an entity was hard for him to notice if it wasn’t in sight. Griffon hardly ever warned him. There were few instances in the last decade where the avian demon felt inclined to appear and warn them.He almost didn’t notice the two giant demons on the square and barely so hid behind a pillar to avoid getting seen.Cara was behind him and the woman had reflexes fast enough to follow him and hide from sight.V’s heartbeat spiked as he peeked around the corner and the demons which have been nothing more than a blur of colors because of his quick reaction became clear. He couldn’t deny the layer of dread that settled around his bones as he took in the detestable form of the amalgam demon. He did not know what it was, he couldn’t explain why something in his body screamed to turn around and get away from it. He seeked to destroy it, such a disgusting creature did not deserve a place in this world, but something stopped him. It was like his mind and body froze when confronted with it.Maybe it has been because of the display of a power over years he could not understand. The manipulation of demonic energy to an extent that it created possibilities which could only be described as sorcery; endless and incomprehensible.V inhaled the breath deeply through his nose to prove to himself that he was composed, that his nerves were not shaking.“Who is that?” he heard Cara whispering, though he did not look at her. He kept peeking at that hellish creature standing atop of destroyed buildings surrounding the square with his eyes locked on it, his lips parted, his back laying against the cool stone wall.“Malphas,” Griffon replied, standing on the ground close to V’s feet, “of course, more trouble. Not sure about that one though. Never seen him before- Not in the underworld anyway?!” Griffon squeaked as V pressed him against the wall with his cane, signaling him to stay quiet as voices reached his ears - not to mention that whispering was not Griffon’s forte.V peeked back around the corner as the distorted voice of Malphas reverberated through the area.“Search for the devil sword Sparda. You know where it is. He told me to leave it be, but I’m afraid it still concerns me. As long as there is a blood descendant of Sparda I cannot take any chances.”The devil sword… still existed?!V looked down at the ground as he dug through his mind to comprehend that information. If it wasn’t destroyed in the battle against Urizen then maybe there was still a chance… He did not know what happened to Dante. He had an assumption, though the probability of him being dead was far more likely, so… that only left the kid. Maybe they could destroy Urizen with the power of the sword and V still had a chance to see his own mission through.He still had a chance. They all had one.“Do you understand?! Find it, and destroy it! Only then will his reign be truly realized!”V stared with slightly widened eyes, parted lips and a pounding heart at Malphas as the amalgam demon made a waving hand gesture and a dark purple colored portal appeared in front of her. A cloud of purple smoke and darkness, raw demonic energy. V swallowed to avoid releasing a shaky breath at the sight of this power. Few demonic objects had the ability to create portals, so very few, and to see a demon being capable of doing that with a wave of its hand was as awe-inducing as it was terrifying.V hated to face the truth that wrapped around his heart like barbwire that he could not face this demon. He did not have the strength.Once Malphas disappeared only this other demon remained and V agreed with Griffon that he has not ever seen him before. A demonic knight riding a horse was an unfamiliar concept for him. He has come across demonic knights, demonic horses but the combination was… unusual.“I’ve seen that horse before.”V looked at Cara who was still peeking around the pillar, gaze locked on the demon they had to face in mere moments.“Hu?!” she looked down at Griffon who stared up at her with confusion evident in his yellow eyes.“I… don’t remember the name but it looks like the same kind that can manipulate time.”“But that would mean it’s Geryon! I thought Dante killed it already!”“A rare species, but apparently not quite extinct. Until today that is,” V replied to Griffon’s statement. He did not doubt Cara’s suspicion, she has proven herself to be quite knowledgeable in these areas, but it made V wonder still who that rider was. If it could tame and ride Geryon but was neither familiar to V, his familiars nor the woman, then it was assumingly an artificial demon, created by Urizen. And that would mean...“No use coming up with a strategy beforehand if we don’t know who that other demon is though,” Cara whispered and V agreed. But those two didn’t seem like an opponent they couldn’t take on.“Then let’s go.” V said. He barely waited for a reply, instead stepped out from behind the pillar and made his presence to the demon by hitting the ground with his cane.The demon turned the horse around, heavy steps from its hooves that only hinted at the power behind them, its blue mane flaring, its nostrils releasing breath that showed an agitation which was not yet visible in its stance. The heavily armored demon on the horse’s back scowled at them through purple-glowing eyes, a growl leaving its lips which was barely audible over the horse’s neighing. The horse reared when the demon held out its weapon, the huge sword burning with purple lightning, which was all the confirmation V needed.The fact that it was apparently brought into existence by Urizen, its striking lightning powers... To V there was no doubt in his mind.“I see. I know what you are,” he said and threw up his cane, catching it in the middle. The smirk that appeared on his lips grew until his expression was taken over by a vicious grin as he kept tapping his open palm with his cane.“I’ll be gentle.” He finally said, holding the cane up and pointing it at the demons. His objective was to get rid of the horse, sealing the race’s extinction, and to beat the lightning demon to free the source of its power.Cara stared at him for a reason he couldn’t explain and out of his peripheral vision he caught her shaking her head before she let her backpack drop to the floor and reached for her weapon. “Alright then! Gonna show ‘em what real lightning looks like!”V allowed the smirk on his lips to appear as Griffon spread his wings, the blue feathers shining with sizzling electricity and the avian demon flew forwards, drawing the hostile demon’s attention to himself and allowing them get to closer.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*“It’s your turn.”Cara saw that V pointed downwards with his cane and Shadow leaped out of a pool of ink and energy right at their enemy but she herself did not charge right away. She entered the battlefield, a circular place almost like an ancient arena, and kept her distance, although her eyes never left the two demons they were fighting.The demon riding the horse threw balls of lightning in their direction, orbs out of sizzling electricity cutting the air. V slid to the side, he easily evaded the attack with Shadow’s help.Cara observed, tried to figure out a pattern but since Geryon and the rider were their own entities it was not as easy as assumed. The horse’s movements looked hectic, sometimes uncoordinated and just unpredictable. Griffon started laughing when the demon failed to hit him with its sword. The horse nickered as if it was agitated because of Griffon’s mockery and chased after the avian demon. It galloped across the battlefield, leaving behind a trail of crackling lightning and blue flames.“Weak, powerless creatures.” The demon growled, the words barely audible over the sound of the horse’s hooves and the lightning flying through the air.Cara jumped to the side to evade a bunch of flying rocks the demon launched into the air with its attacks. Griffon laughed again and Cara wondered how the demon managed to stay so confident or if it was already just recklessness. “So? You got a comeback for that?” the demon called to V, who stuck close to his demons and used Shadow to evade their opponent’s attacks. You hoped his injury wouldn’t bother him so much in this fight.“One thought fills immensity…”“This is not the time for poetry! Wait, what does that even mean?”“Where there’s a will, there’s a way… Now let’s go!”V’s words seem to have triggered something because Cara could feel a shift in the atmosphere. The attacks of V’s companions came faster, they seemed more urgent and intently. And the enemies reacted in kind. The horse’s moves became erratic, it galloped and stomped, turned around and kicked without aim. The demon riding it moved more deliberately it would seem. It swung its huge sword around, though it was much slower in its movement than the horse.And unpredictability was their worst enemy in such a battle. Not to mention that Geryon could manipulate time, an ability it hasn’t revealed yet. Which led to only one conclusion.“We need to get rid of Geryon first.” She told V once she managed to get closer to him. V looked at her, determined green eyes bore into hers before he nodded once. There was no time for another word as they had to jump to the side to evade another attempt of Geryon crushing them under its feet.Cara rolled over the ground to the side, the hard stone digging into her arms despite wearing a jacket and she groaned. There were definitely more comfortable places to battle. The flowers of the Qliphoth all across this place didn’t soften the ground at all. She shouldn’t do this too often or else it would take a toll on her real fast.She got back up on her feet again only to see how the horse raised its forelegs, it neighed and raised to an impressive height while its clear blue flames flared up. Her brows furrowed as the demon on its back held the giant sword down towards the ground. Purple lightning surrounded the sword, it crackled and sizzled with the intensity of the electricity. But then something changed. It was subtle but Cara caught it. There was now lightning in the air as well. Small streaks that were barely visible and light enough to not make a sound. But they were there. And they moved towards the sword.As if it was charging-“V, get away from it!”She only caught a glimpse of surprised green eyes before the demon brought its sword down.For a moment Cara’s eyes were blinded by the brightness of the lightning and she didn’t know if V managed to get away after all. Over the crackling of the lightning shooting and spreading across the ground, barely missing her and destroying flowers and stone in its wake like thin paper, she couldn’t make out any other sounds. Her heart started to race, now concern mixed with the adrenaline of the battle. A state she didn’t like. Not on the battlefield. It made her emotional and it created a possibility of her missing something, details that could be crucial for the outcome of this fight. When the lightning faded she saw V getting closer to the demons again as well as his familiars. So he did manage to evade the attack. Cara didn’t even try to push the sense of relief that spread through her away.There was a moment of pause as Cara noticed. Geryon lowered its head while the demon on top of it pulled its sword out of the ground again.Cara used this opening. It was probably the only one she would get anytime soon.She crossed the battlefield quickly, her weapon in her hand, and once she was within reach she swung her Kama. She brought it down hard on the horse’s leg as V’s familiars used the opportunity and charged at the demons at V’s command. The following neighing was ridden by pain. Cara evaded the horse’s lashing out without getting some distance since she knew the opportunity to get close again might not present itself again. Shadow’s transformed tail and back pierced Geryon’s body and the neighing filled the air accompanied by the horse’s hooves lashing out.And then everything came to a halt.There was a visible wave of energy crossing the entire battlefield and within a heartbeat everything was covered in a layer of dull blue and grey colors.The sensation was almost impossible to fathom. Cara thought and planned and ordered her body to move, for her muscles to do what her brain was telling them, but her body hardly reacted. Everything felt heavy and so slow, she could barely move, let alone move her head around to observe the battlefield. Her mind was working as if nothing was wrong, but her body didn’t follow it at all and it became clear to her that Geryon just used its time-bending ability. She didn’t like the sensation, it caused a shiver of dread to course through her body and clawed at her brain, trying to send her mind into a panic.She was so focused on staying calm, of not allowing the undeniable fright that this unusual and unfamiliar sensation brought with it to get to her that she barely registered that Geryon was still incredibly close.She couldn’t do anything about it, even if she wanted to. Cara tried to raise her arms to shield her head but to no avail.The pain that erupted in her upper body wiped her mind entirely blank.The side of Geryon’s leg hit her hard in her chest and sent her flying backwards. It happened as if time wasn’t slowed down, as if her getting hit was not affected by the attack. Cara collided hard with the ground, the impact knocked the breath right out of her lungs and she gasped for air. She was rendered completely immobilized. It felt as if her mind and body were imploding from the pain. The attack hit her normally, fast and swift, but the pain spread through her body in slow-motion. She could feel every nerve that screamed out in pain, she could feel the agony crawl through her body, felt her nerves burning with the agony of being irritated in this slowed down time. She didn’t register what was happening around her. Didn’t hear the sound of her name being called, didn’t see how her enemies turned their attention to her again now that she was on the ground, vulnerable and weak.She gasped for air when she managed to roll onto her side, her instincts kicking in and tried to bring her to move and to get to safety, but her mind and body were solely focused on themselves, struggling to cope with the pain and her mind only slowly came back to reality.She started noticing the blue and grey colors around them fading as the adrenaline finally kicked in and pushed the pain a bit into the back of her mind, but time was still moving too slow for her, she still could hardly move a muscle. She heard a neighing and a growl again and only caught a glimpse of purple lightning and blue flames as the demons prepared to launch another attack. Her body still hurt as she tried to move onto her feet. She needed to get away, get out of range, but her body barely reacted.She heard the sound of the hooves on the ground, heard the sizzling of the lightning of the sword, saw the dull colors and the attack finally fading, felt the dread and realization settling in that the demons charged her, that she had no idea to escape-She yelped as she lost the ground beneath her body.She could feel the heat of the blue face, could feel the electricity making the hairs on her arms stand up, felt the wind of the horse’s swift movements as she was lifted into the air, barely so avoiding getting trampled down.She breathed and gasped in relief and for a moment she remained on her knees after she was dropped again. “Are you alright?” she looked up at V with parted lips and slightly widened eyes. She swallowed, took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her racing heart. But she nodded and got back on her feet.That one was too close for comfort.“Hehehe, guess you’re glad I didn’t forget how to use my wings after all.”She looked up at Griffon but she didn’t reply at his callback to yesterday’s conversation. But that she was glad and relieved that he got her away from the demons was evident. Cara wiped the sweat off her forehead but that’s all she managed to do before she jumped to the side to evade yet another ball of lightning being thrown her way.She rolled her shoulders as she grabbed her weapon again. Her muscles were still aching, the pain was still a throbbing sensation inside her body but it wasn’t overwhelming anymore. She would need to push through. She’s been there before. She could do this.Geryon neighed again and once more stormed across the battlefield in an attempt to trample them down.There was a firm grip around her wrist and suddenly she was pulled away just quick enough to once more avoid the heat and energy from the demons. She slid over the ground smoothly, out of the demon’s reach. The black demonic cloud of Shadow vanished underneath her feet quickly but the touch of V’s cool fingertips lingered for much longer. She didn’t dwell on it too much, not in this situation, though she was grateful for his quick reaction.But now it was time to take these things down.“Can we do it the same way as before?” she asked V. They evaded more lightning balls being thrown at them before V looked at her.“We distract them and you take them down?” he put the plan into words, mindful so that the demons couldn’t hear them talking about their strategy.“Yeah,” Cara replied. It worked perfectly before. And while the demons were vastly different in their capabilities and powers, the same strategy could still be applied here. The more attacks Cara witnessed the more apparent it became that the demons were limited in their perception. They both never looked into a different direction than the other and if the demon riding Geryon looked to the side and wanted to change his position he turned the horse around as well. They should be occupied enough if V kept their attention on him and his own demons, so she could get close again. Without getting kicked again. The spot where Geryon’s leg hit her still throbbed, it would probably turn into a dark nasty bruise later on.There was a nod from the man and then a whirl of claws and lightning raining down on their opponents, which allowed Cara and V to put some distance between each other and for her to get close to the demons again.Cara approached the demons in what must be their blind spot, not exactly from behind as to avoid getting kicked but an angle right out of the horse’s eyesight. V and his demons were focused on keeping the demon’s attention on them, especially Griffon was incredibly devoted to his cause. Under V’s command he threw his lightning attacks at the demons with one snarky remark spilling from his beak after another. He was confident in facing the enemy head-on, but Cara also got the impression that he wanted to prove himself in front of V, not only because of entering his so called core-state last battle but because he was also up against an enemy who used the exact same element for its attacks.Cara relaxed her hand holding the Kama before she swung it, tensing her muscles shortly before impact to utilize the most strength her body allowed her to. It collided hard with the horse’s hock, it tore easily through the thin demonic skin, cutting muscle and flesh and rendering the limb useless.The reaction was immediate.Geryon neighed, a loud, high-pitched sound that pulled the corner of Cara’s mouth upwards in satisfaction. The horse stumbled, barely so held itself up with one of its hind legs bleeding and the joint destroyed. It tried to defend itself, tried to turn around to get his wound away from the attacker, but it didn’t have a chance to do so. With a growl, dark and dangerous, Shadow latched its teeth and claws onto the horse’s neck while Griffon unleashed bolts of sizzling lightning upon Geryon’s rider. All under V’s watchful eyes.They were in full control of the battle now.Geryon and its rider had nothing to counter their assault.Cara slid across the ground to the horse’s other side to repeat the very same attack on its other hind leg. The blade of her weapon bored into the demon’s flesh and the wave of demonic energy the demon unleashed as a last resort pushed her back on her feet, away from the demon. But the damage has already been done. It screeched and neighed, blue flames flaring up, a desperate attempt to shake Shadow’s claws off its body. The demon on its back had nothing to counter the imminent demise of the horse demon.And then everything happened way too fast that even Cara had a hard time following all the details.Geryon managed to rise onto his destroyed hind legs one final time, neighing and forelegs kicking, before there was a purple glow surrounding it. Cara only caught a blur of black before V was in front of it, his cane in hands and raised, ready to strike it down.“The hours of folly are measur'd by the clock, but of wisdom: no clock can measure. Die!”The sound of V’s deep voice was hardly audible over the sizzling of the lightning and the crackling of the flames but there was no doubt in Cara’s mind that the man quoted poetry once again. V drove his cane deep into the demon’s neck, ending its miserable life for good and with one final push pulled the cane out of the hellish skin and flesh, causing the demon with its rider to be pushed back on the battlefield forcefully.One enemy down.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*V did not pay the dissolving body of the horse demon behind him any mind. He was entirely focused on the demon that was thrown off Geryon’s back and against a metal gate, groaning in pain. V turned his body towards him, stance widened and the cane made contact with the ground with an ominous sound as a reminder of what it was capable of. His gaze was hard. There was no hesitation to be found in his green eyes despite his heavy breathing as he stared the fallen demon down. He had a mission to fulfill. Open this pathetic demon’s shell and stop it from reaching the sword Sparda.The demon groaned in pain and scrambled to its feet as the gate behind it opened. V caught on fast as the demon stumbled backwards to flee from the fight.The stinging pain shooting through his body brought him to his knee with a painful moan as he attempted to chase the demon. He had to stay like this for a moment, his heavy breath left his parted lips while his body tried to handle and suppress the stinging pain from his wound. He did not expect the battle to wear him down like this, it should not have and he refused to allow a wound like this to do so now. Warm hands settled on his shoulders immediately. A firm grip, meant to help and support his exhausted form and he couldn’t help but find the contact almost soothing. His chest felt heavy as that warmth lingered and felt as if his heart and soul reached out to keep that comforting feeling around him. He could not find an explanation to why he did not want to let go of such a feeling and he denied it to be because of the lack of physical warmth and contact in his life. He never sought it out, never felt his heart and body yearning for it in all these years, so he had no idea why it all at once became so desirable.And still, there was a pulsing thought in his mind that hoped for the contact to last a moment longer, for her not to retreat her hands just yet.He couldn’t explain it.“V!” Griffon called out his name.“Are you alright?” Cara asked him. V tried to take a deep breath, though the pain and strain this battle took on his body turned it into a shaky gasp for air.“I’m fine…” he said before he looked up to where the demon disappeared, “We must chase him,” he continued and pushed himself up. The hands on his shoulders, although hesitantly because he knew she didn’t believe him, she was observant enough to catch his heavy breath and the slight shaking of his limbs. Still, she let him go once he was steady on his feet again, but the warmth and touch still lingered like a mark burned into his skin. It was distracting to his already stressed mind but still he could not find it in him to label it as unpleasant. It was anything but.“If the devil sword Sparda still exists it may very well be our only hope,” V said, though the breathlessness of his voice was drowned out by the sound of a building ahead of them collapsing, burying the street to where the demon escaped underneath debris and making it impossible for them to seek the same route.“V, uhhh, think about this for a minute now. What will you do if you find it? You gotta be strong in mind and body to wield the Sparda, and you, sir, are neither. Hate to break it to you, but the Sparda will just be too much for ya.” Griffon circled him as he looked on ahead. “For me, yes. But what of the boy… Nero?” he wondered out loud, brows pulled together, mind focused on whatever he had to do to take down Urizen and to fulfill his mission. If that meant he had to make the young devil hunter wield that sword to take that demon down then he would do it. Urizen had to be beaten no matter what its demise would mean. The human world would come to an end soon if they didn’t stop him and V would not allow this. They would defeat Urizen and he would fulfill his mission and then deal with the consequences. And as of right now that sword was their last hope. When they fought Urizen the first time it was wielded by that woman, a demon, but not a descendant of Sparda himself. The situation was different.And Nero was still their last and only hope. They needed him to finish off Urizen. No matter what that meant for the devil hunter in the end. They just had no other choice.“I’m sorry, are we talking about the sword that Sparda himself used? I know about the sword but I’ve never come across actual proof that it exists, only myths and stories.” V looked to his side to Cara. The battle has taken its toll on her as well. Her chest was heaving, he spotted small cuts and bruises on her hands, but the attack that hit her earlier didn’t seem to have wounded her severely despite how bad it looked in the moment it had happened.“Indeed, sweetie.”“Why should that be around here?”“You already saw it,” V replied this time and she frowned slightly as her blue eyes stared into his.“Blondie had it when we first entered the tree,” Griffon added. V could almost see how Cara got lost in her mind as she thought back to that day.“This organic looking sword?!”“Yep!” There was a longer pause before Cara spoke up again, “and Nero? According to what you said, is he… a descendant of Sparda?”There was disbelief in her voice, she didn’t even try to hide that but he could not really blame her. While the legend of Sparda was widely known to most people it was just that, a legend. And even people who knew the legend was indeed true usually had no idea there were still blood descendants of Sparda alive today.V only replied with a nod. Cara formed a very small, barely noticeable, “wow” with her mouth. He assumed for someone who made a living of gathering information about demons this was incredible knowledge to gain.“Then Nero wielding the Sparda would mean he could utilize its powers fully and give us an advantage.”“Indeed. It may give us another chance,” V replied, impressed by her deduction. There was a spark of something in her blue eyes, something he would interpret as hope, a sense of optimism and relief. It was admirable but at the same time he hoped it wouldn’t be in vain.V felt the dread settling in his soul even before he heard the sound of the portal opening behind them.“You!”They spun around.The echoic voice proved to V indeed that his body’s reaction did not deceive him and when he turned around he came face to face with the abhorrent form of the amalgam demon. The giant creature stood on small platforms of purple demonic energy, the portal behind it sizzled with its raw energy. A part of V told him to turn around and run. He could not face this demon, he could not beat it. Now, after the exhausting battle against Geryon and that other demon, even less so. He swallowed. And desperately hoped Malphas was not able to see through him. He wanted to convince himself that he was alright, that he was not nervous, that there was no tension inside of him, but the hard and fast beating of his heart didn’t give him any chance to deny it.Cara next to him grabbed her weapon tighter, eyes set on the obnoxious creature and burning with a determination. It impressed him that she was seemingly so unconcerned by the demon, though that was neither the time to wonder about the reasons nor if she ever encountered this demon’s powers before.He held up his cane to the side, just slightly, but enough to stop her from making a move. As strategic as she was he doubted she would, but V had no idea how Malphas would react to an offensive stance.They could not allow themselves to fight this demon now.Cara looked at him, he saw it out of his peripheral vision, but she lowered her weapon again.“We should’ve expected something like this from the likes of you! Siding with blood descendants of Sparda.” the amalgam demon yelled at him, its piercing, echoic voice invaded his ears like a parasite, wrapped around his nerves and unsettled his mind. He wanted to deny the feeling, instead he focused on not letting it show on his face and body language and held the demon’s gaze.“You have no respect for our kind and yet you serve him.” The demon made gestures with its three hands before Malphas started laughing, a sound that was ear-piercing and simply revolting. V was not surprised Malphas was aware of him and his mission, despite them never encountering each other like they were now, always watching from a distance, always observing the display of these incomprehensible powers while staying out of reach. But he had no idea how observant this amalgam demon was, if it watched him just as much as he did over the years. The thought was terrifying.“So devoted to your cause. We wonder if you would show the same resolve, if you knew whom you’re truly siding with.”“Hey, you stu-”V stopped Griffon from interfering by raising his cane again and making a single step forward, his gaze still fixated on the demon, though the wrinkle between his eyes got deeper with each passing heartbeat.“What do you mean?” he wanted to know and for a moment he felt his heart sink at the possible implications of the demon’s words. There wasn’t something he had missed. He had spent the last decade researching demonic contracts, his mission and how to fulfill it, the demons he has come across. Yes, the demon he was bound to by that contract had no name he was aware of but that never made him falter. Knowing a demon’s name could give one so much power over said demon if one knew the right tools to utilize that fact. It was the very same reason why he only went by V and abandoned his real name over a decade ago. So he was never surprised when a demon did not reveal its name to him. But there was this dreadful feeling wrapping around his bones, that told him that Malphas was not lying.“On that day 22 years ago it was Mundus, once the demon king and the very demon you bound your life to, who sent demons to look for someone here in this town. They found your powerless kin instead.” Malphas laughed again.V felt his blood run cold.Nothing. Absolutely nothing could prevent his eyes from widening, the cold spreading through his body, wrapping around his heart and squeezing it in its devastatingly freezing grasp. Not even his mind had a chance to scream in denial at him, he just felt everything he was freezing from the inside out. Not even because of the revelation of what demon he sold his life and soul to, no. It was because he entirely knew who that someone was without asking the question. It was just a morbid realization.And still he asked the question.“Whom?”“The son of Sparda, Dante. So you better be sure of whom you’re siding with. Your loyalty can only lie with one,” Malphas said and disappeared into a portal of black and purple smoke. But V didn’t even took notice of that.His hand clenched the cane in his hand so tightly he thought it might break. But then a soberness and apathy settled over his very being. This devastating cold left his body and soul and only left behind an emptiness that made everything irrelevant. He just stood there. Gaze fallen to the ground, shoulders slumped, cane barely held in his hand, not saying anything, not listening, not even thinking anything.A strange silent settled around him and he could not say nor think about whether it was just him or if he just did not perceive anything that was being said or done around him.“Listen, V-”“You knew? All this time?” his voice was quiet and sober, completely void of any emotion and it made it all even worse. There was a tension in the air, threatening to snap with even the slightest word or gesture. Griffon did not reply and it was all the answers V needed. He did not move a muscle and he did not look up nor said anything as he forcefully pulled Griffon back inside the confinements of his tattoos.“V?” the voice was quiet, careful and confused as Cara approached him slowly. He only looked at her out of his peripheral vision for the moment of a heartbeat before he looked ahead into nothingness again.The moment when she laid a hand cautiously on his upper arm again something snapped inside him and he was pulled out of his apathetic state.He shook her arm off. Neither being able to deal with something that confused him already nor did he want to want to deal with any other being. He only caught a glimpse of her looking to the ground and pulling her hand back.He turned on his heel and walked away from the place. This dreadful, obnoxious place that just broke a part of his soul. He wanted to fight it, but he utterly failed at mustering any energy to resist that sense of hopelessness spreading through every fiber of his being.“I’ll meet you at the safe house,” he said with the same monotony he talked to Griffon just now and walked away with a soul at the very edge of breaking.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Cara ran her hands through her red hair as she let herself fall onto the old red leather couch in the van. She didn’t know what to focus on, the exhaustion of her body, the throbbing of her bruise, Nico’s insane driving or the thoughts in her head. She closed her eyes.“So what happened? Where’s our mystery boy?” Nico asked her while she drove through the destroyed city.“Give me a moment, please,” Cara replied with her eyes still being closed. She inhaled deeply through her nose, tried to ignore the shaking of the van or the loud noises and exhaled deeply and longer through her mouth. She repeated the process a couple of times until she felt her mind calming down and allowing her to sort through her own emotions to deal with the situation at hand.She rubbed the part of her body where Geryon hit her earlier but aside from a still throbbing pain at least she could say that nothing was fractured. She should be fine.“V will meet us later again. I can tell you everything once he’s back,” she finally replied to Nico’s earlier question. However, it was not the complete truth but Cara also had no idea how to properly phrase what occured only minutes ago. But even more so did she wonder if she even wanted to put it into words.She saw everything, she heard everything, but she did not really understand the extent and meaning of it all. What this hideous demon said to V, the way he reacted, even going so far to ignore his familiars and leaving all by himself… Something was wrong. And it was hidden between the spoken and unspoken words between the demon and him and the story of his life she didn’t know.V being bound to Mundus was unbelievable. Him siding with that demon was just unfathomable to her because while she always believed he had his own agenda, his own reasons for being involved in this situation, this… this was something she didn’t expect. But everything now made so much sense. V’s connection to his familiars, Griffon being unable to tell her fully why V was with them, V’s vague replies to her questions...And… what happened on that day 22 years ago?V told her demons killed her parents when he was a child… was that it? It had to be. If she took everything that obnoxious demon said at face value then the demons back then actually wanted to kill Dante and they ran into V’s family? Was Dante living in this town back then? And apparently V’s demonic companions did know about it all but didn’t tell him? Why? And then there was also the fact that V worked alongside Dante and that ugly demon was not fond of that concept. If it really was Mundus as the demon said then it was natural it would not like V working with descendants of Sparda(the fact that all the legends were indeed not just legends was another matter altogether). So where did V’s loyalty truly lie? It was all a lot to take in and the more she thought about it the more questions she got. Maybe it truly was the best idea to keep the information she gathered by listening to that conversation to herself for now. V would return, he said so and she believed him. He should have the chance to explain himself. It wasn’t her place to tell them something this important and… private. And Cara would make sure he would give her answers this time. She got the impression that they have gotten closer, that there was a sense of trust building between them, that he tore a part of his walls down to let her peek through it, and they were an amazing team earlier in the battles against the demons. Yes, he shook her off but then again, he seemed entirely disappointed and hurt, even though how happy he has been earlier this day. He was dancing, taunting the demons and he even seemed so fascinated and happy while playing the game on her phone.She didn’t want to believe their process wasn’t real.She hoped he would return soon. And that nothing bad happened along the way. He was so exhausted after the battle. He tried to hide it but it was all over him. His body breaking down, his breathing, his speech. And he still had that wound as well… They arrived at the safe house a short while later and Cara was surprised to find Nero already there, but also the black haired woman, Lady, if she remembered correctly.“Where’s V?” Nero asked her right away.“He’ll join us later again. He is looking for the devil sword Sparda. And he wants to be alone.”“What?! I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Especially not by himself,” Nero countered. Cara thought for a moment while she sat down on the couch.“He’s got some bad news and he just wants to do this on his own,” Cara replied, although that was not the truth. He wanted to be alone apparently, but he didn’t say he would still look for the sword. They could only wait. If the sword could really give them an advantage they should definitely seek it out. If V didn’t do it now they would need to do it later.“Can we trust him?”Cara looked up at Lady. There was still a hint of exhaustion in her voice but the distrust and suspicion was still very prominent, especially in the way her differently colored eyes bored into hers. It may have been subtle but the woman was not only talking about V. And as much as Cara disliked it that she wasn’t just being open about distrusting her as well she also couldn’t blame Lady. Aside from the fact that Cara still was a stranger to this group of people who have known each other for years this situation and her not telling them literally everything would’ve been suspicious to her as well. “Your guess is as good as mine. He might be useful though,” Nero replied, his voice getting softer by the end. Cara looked down into her lap. She wanted to trust him and deep down she knew she did but still, right now that trust was cracking, getting more fragile with each question that appeared in her mind. She needed answers. And she desperately hoped V would offer them later, that their level of trust was high enough to exchange some honest questions and answers later.And she hoped he would be alright.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*V’s steps were heavy as he walked through the ruins of another district of the city. He tried to follow that lightning demon and pick up the devil sword Sparda’s energy and he felt the pulse of it in the distance once but in the end his walk was aimless and unfocused.As little as he found himself caring and as apathetic he was only moments ago now that he was by himself, alone, surrounded by darkness and ruins, the severity of the revelation crashed over him like a devastating wave and only left despair and hopelessness behind. His mind tortured him by repeating those same words over and over again until they seemed to invade every corner of his mind and soul and left absolutely no shelter anywhere inside. He could not escape.You’ve sold your life to a demon who’s responsible for your parent’s death. He had nothing to even attempt to deny that, to find that these words were lies. He knew they were the truth. He knew.Images appeared in front of his eyes, images that stuck with him for over twenty years, images that he tried to suppress but kept coming back to haunt him at night still. His father being pushed to the ground by something horrendous, his mother falling to the ground, blood splashing and coating the area...And he could still hear the screams.Even his own. The crying and screaming from a little boy who could not understand what had occurred in front of him still echoed in his ears.He had dedicated everything he was and had to find a way to deal with demons, to find a way to extinguish these pathetic creatures and stop them from hurting people. He was alright with making a deal with a demon, the very creatures he despised, if it meant he could gain the ability to fight other demons and prevent the same traumatic experience that befell him as a kid from happening ever again.But this… this was nothing he ever expected.He made a contract with the demon who was responsible for this tragedy, for this horrific event no child should ever have to witness.And he couldn’t run away. There was no way out for him. He had a mission. He couldn’t fail, he couldn’t go against the contract.He had to see it through.And the despair at the realization of that settled deeply inside his soul. It was a freezing feeling that spread through his weak, fragile human body and threatened to crush him under the hopelessness of his situation.He stopped walking.V pressed his lips tightly together as he noticed the faint shaking of his hands and his expression turned dark when he felt the familiar surge of demonic energy leaving his body.He glared at the avian demon who flew at his eye level but had trouble returning his look.“Why?” was the single word that left his lips. The demon visibly flinched at the harsh and unusual tone in his voice.“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked when Griffon stayed silent. The demon landed on the ground, opened its beak before closing it again.“How were we supposed to tell ya the truth? We knew but the contract was made. There was nothing we could’ve done anyway.”“It’s been ten years. You knew right from the beginning on the island when you introduced yourself. It was not that you only figured it out years later. Which would not have made it better either,” V’s voice was still quiet, still way too calm, like a warning.“But what would’ve changed if we told ya?”“I deserved to know the truth. I should’ve known whom I bound my life to.”“And then? What would you have done if you knew?” Griffon’s voice got louder now, more demanding. V tried to ignore it but he felt the sense of irritation rise within him. If he had known he could’ve planned something. He could’ve thought about something that he could do. But now he was so close to the end of his mission. He waited ten years for this. All this time he was working for…His hands started shaking again.“I could’ve thought about something. It didn’t have to come to this.”“Ah, screw that! Ya know that’s not true. It only would’ve escalated. Mundus would’ve turned us into his mindless puppets like other demons of our lineage and who knows what he would do to ya. The truth wouldn’t have changed the outcome. You know you don’t have a choice!”“I deserved to know,” V said, gaze turned to the ground, his right hand clenching his cane tightly. They’ve been through hell and back the last ten years. Griffon and the others were all the companions he’s ever had. And now this… He never thought it would be this way, he never thought he would feel this betrayed.“And what about Nero?”V turned his gaze to the demon, who flew on his eye level again, and for a brief moment a spark of scepticism crossed his green eyes. There was a pulse in the back of his mind flaring up. A pulse that told him he knew where this was going, but the combination of anger, despair and hopelessness didn’t allow this pulse to take over his thoughts.“What do you mean?”“Have you ever planned of telling him the truth?” “What’s your point?” he knew what Griffon’s point was and he was more than aware of what the demon was trying to achieve here and it caused his hands to shake out of anger instead of desperation. “Have you ever had any intention of telling the kid what killing Urizen truly meant? What you are truly making him do there?! You-”Griffon squeaked in shock as V’s hand shot up and grabbed the demon’s beak and pulled him close. Anger burned inside V’s eyes as he stared the avian demon down.“Be quiet! I never would’ve dreamed of using him, if we had any other choice. Do not compare my actions to what you have done for over ten years. I trusted you!”The roaring and screeching of demons closing in on them interrupted them. V let the demon go, even though in his anger he had more things to say, especially about Griffon trying to turn this situation on him.He turned his gaze away from Griffon as a group of minor demons approached them in the narrow passageway between walls of rocks and ruins. When Shadow emerged from the depths of the demonic ink covering his skin the panther demon looked only shortly at him, but V paid her no mind. There was anger and the despair of knowing he had no choice but to use these demons to fight if he wanted to survive holding his heart in an iron grip as he commanded them to charge at the enemies.Griffon and Shadow fought the demons as if nothing’s changed, as if nothing’s happened but the more he watched them attack and weaken their opponents the more the anger was replaced. There was a soberness that wrapped around his soul as the realization sank in that he would die here if he didn’t have the demons. An emptiness grew inside of him when he watched them fight, when they did the work he could not do, when he delivered the final blow to the demon’s existence. With each stab, with each attack delivered by his familiars there was less and less inside of him.And then, once the battlefield grew silent again and he only heard the faint steps of Shadow’s paws on the ground and the flapping of Griffon’s wings, did he realize how weak and pathetic he actually was. He could not fight by himself. He was nothing but a weak, fragile human. Without the demons he was nothing. He needed them. These demons who were given to him by the demon who killed his parents. He made a pact with that demon. With the demon who dictated his life ever since he lost his family. Everything that defined his very being for so many years was built on a lie, everything he was and could do was shaped by the same demon who was responsible for him being in this miserable situation to begin with. And he had to see it through. There was no way out for him.V, without a sound, slid down the stone behind him to the ground.There was nothing left. No anger, no bitterness, just the cold and harsh realization of being in a hopeless situation which there was no escape from. He felt the surge of despair creeping up from the depths of his soul and wrapping around his bones, putting them in a freezing hold as he pulled his knees up, crossed his arms on them and laid his head against them. There were no tears, he had no energy left for those, only the cold remained.Deep in the back of his mind he wondered how normal people would have someone at their side when faced with such a devastating situation. There would be someone to offer words… a touch maybe? He has never considered it before but he could not deny the squeezing of his heart at the thought of how the touch of another person could maybe take some of the cold away. A warm, comforting gesture like... a hand on his arms, the brushing of fingers, hands on his shoulders… V wondered if she would offer him such a touch again if she were here with him. He didn’t want to admit it, but had no strength left do deny it either, but he craved it.There was a purr, quiet and cautious, and V felt Shadow lick the side of his hair and face once. When he didn’t react, she moved closer and nudged his face with her snout. V barely so looked up to his side as the panther demon kept emitting sounds so quiet that he barely noticed them. She licked his face again as he lifted it a bit. V knew she tried to comfort him, that she tried to apologize to him and he did not know how to react. He wanted to believe she - nor the other demons - didn’t have any ill will towards him… but they knew. All this time they knew and never told him the truth. And now he had to deal with the consequences of it all.Griffon landed in front of him on the ground, head lowered. “We just wanted to make it easier for you, V. The deed was done, but we thought we could take some of the burden off of ya, if you didn’t know.”Shadow made a soft growling sound and tried to snuggle close to his chest, squeezing her head between his torso and pulled up legs. “We are sorry.”V exhaled heavily through his nose and lowered his head. He did not know what to do. He knew he had to proceed, he had no choice. But could he go on with his familiars the same as before? Could he trust them again? The only demons he ever allowed to be around him regardless of the contract? V thought back to all the moments in the last ten years where Griffon snatched books or his cane out of his hands, teasing him with them by staying just out of reach while laughing. It was carefree, fun even. But now he knew Griffon only ever did that to distract him from figuring something out.He did not know what to do.But he also had no other choice but to press on.Urizen needed to be defeated. No matter how much his own life just came crashing down on him. He would have to deal with the consequences later.V allowed Shadow’s display of affection for a moment longer, the only way the demon knew how to express her emotions towards him, before he grabbed his cane and forced himself up on his feet again. His body and soul were still tired, so exhausted and drained, he also knew that his injury was not healed yet. But there was no helping it.“Let’s go. Once we are near the Sparda, even I should be able to sense its presence.” The walk through the ruins and rural area of the the city was quiet. The tension around and inside them made every step seem much heavier and V could still feel the freezing hold it had on his heart. Nonetheless he knew he was getting closer. It was faint. Just a very faint energy he could pick up. Like a pulse hidden beneath the tension and the presence of other demons, but V had learned to distinguish demonic energy. He couldn’t sense a lot and it was more a feeling rather than skill, but it was sufficient enough to know where he had to go.Griffon took flight without a word and there was still a somber expression on V’s face when he followed him with his eyes, but he did not say anything. He walked onwards, following that pulsing energy that he could feel more and more the closer he got.The avian demon returned after a little while.“Did you find it?” V didn’t look at him, his gaze was locked onto the ruins in the distance, from where he supposed the energy originated from, but he also still had no idea how to handle the situation at all. Mixed into the exhaustion and heaviness of his body and soul there too many thoughts and emotions he was not familiar with weighing on him. He did not know how to handle it…“Uh, well, I don’t know what I found, but… I think I saw some demons dancing?”“Well, then I guess we keep going. The devil sword Sparda is nearby,” V replied and started walking again. And for the very first time in over ten years V did not look behind him, did not seek out the confirmation that his companion still followed him. And despite the freezing cold wrapped around his ribcage he felt his heart clench at this so unusual gesture.V was getting close to the Qliphoth itself but it wouldn’t be unexpected if the devil sword Sparda was close to it. If it still existed it would either be inside of it or close by. However, V had neither the strength nor the capabilities to enter the tree on his own without losing his life in the process. The Qliphoth was growing more and more and with it Urizen’s powers grew. With the core that sustained Urizen he has already been too much of an opponent for them all together. But now… now that it has consumed so many souls, so much blood… There was not a flicker of light inside his soul that granted him a glimpse of a chance. But still, if there was a chance, even if he couldn’t see it, the devil sword Sparda was the very last shred of hope they had.They passed the ruins of some ancient architecture of the city only to reach a wider place with three distasteful Nobody demons. The vaguely and hideously humanoid creatures twitched and wriggled in a pool of blood and didn’t pay him any mind. V’s own gaze, however, was not drawn to them either even if he knew he would have to get rid of them. His eyes were entirely caught by the fleshy, unusually shaped sword stuck in the wall of an old building that was only kept standing by the enormous root of the Qliphoth surrounding it.He allowed the almost pleased smile on his lips as he looked at the devil sword Sparda and as he realized that at least this objective worked out for him before he looked down at the demons since Griffon caught their attention now.“Woah, this is some kind of ritual shinding, isn’t it? You guys got the dance fever for Sparda, don’t you? Woah, easy on the dance floor there, partner.”V did not know if Griffon ran his mouth because he couldn’t help himself or because he desperately tried to lighten the mood and relief them of some of the tension surrounding them. Either way, these grotesque looking demons stopped their dancing and focused on him now.“I’ll be taking that back,” V said and used his cane to point at the Sparda, “you know you’re endless worshipping isn’t making the Sparda any happier,” he continued as he slowly approached the deformed figures of the demons, tapping his cane in his hand.The Nobody demons were unintelligent, looked down upon even by their own kind, but their strength was remarkable; their will to survive and the power to do so was something impressive, although V refused to be amazed by such dull creatures.They did not understand a word V said. But they realized the threat that entered their space and took his words as a provocation to attack.The bolt of lightning flashed through the air and struck the leaping demon mid-air, causing it to fall to the ground with a screech and twitching limbs. Shadow was at his side immediately. The dark particles of his tattoos vanished on his skin and shaped the panther demon in a whirl of ink and living fog. She leaped from the ground, transforming into a spinning wheel of blades, and aimed right at the pathetic demons.V watched with a somber expression on his face as the demons kept attacking the Nobodies. Griffon threw his lightning at them, the crackling energy cut through the air in shapes and forms that made escape impossible from him. There was a determination shining in his wings that left no room for any doubt, he had no intention of losing this. Shadow stayed close to him. She transformed parts of her body to attack her opponents from afar but she never left his side. He knew why she did this. She has been protective of him from the very beginning, she was docile and showed him affection just like a normal cat would despite being a feral demon. But right now she stayed close as her own way of apologizing, of telling him that she cared and only had the desire to protect him. He knew that. And he believed her. But he found it so difficult to accept it, yet alone appreciating it. They let him live with that knowledge for over a decade, even if they had his best interest in mind.They defeated the Nobodies very quickly. Griffon and Shadow were relentless in their attacks. There was not a single shred of will in them to drag this out for longer than necessary and V, once more as he pushed his cane deep into the bodies of these obnoxious creatures, had to realize that he could not do any of this without them. And they were assigned to him by that demon. They were his to command, they would not disobey him in battle, their life force was bestowed by him. And despite everything they’ve been through, they were given to him by that demon. Every twirl and line of ink on his skin was a proof of that. They would only be truly his once he fulfilled his mission.He hated it. He knew he had to see it through, he had no chance, no escape.Urizen needed to be defeated, no matter the consequences. And V just prayed that a completion of his mission would not be as severe. It would personally be the worst, as if someone made him live through his very own personal hell and he himself would be responsible for it, but Urizen had to be stopped. And beating him would automatically imply the success of his mission.There was no way out. One way or another.V breathed heavily as the last Nobody dissolved and he pulled his cane back. He felt the exhaustion spread into every fiber of his being, it made his muscles feel stiff and his limbs heavy, there was a faint throbbing where his wound was while his chest heaved in an attempt to regain control over his breathing again He could not deny how much he needed a break. But he did not have time for that yet.He walked up to the giant root of the Qliphoth and plunged his cane deeply into the root, a sound of effort leaving his lips as the sturdy root only slowly gave in to the pressure. V observed with parted lips and heavy breath as the root with all its vines and vessels lost all life energy and turned grey and dry before his very eyes. It crumbled within moments, just falling apart and taking the structure of the old architecture with it.V’s gaze slid to the ground to where the devil sword Sparda fell as the dust settled. This weapon, fueled by the energy of the legendary Sparda. He wondered… Maybe he could…V’s cane fell to the ground as he approached this intimidating and awe-inducing weapon. The moment his hands wrapped around the handle of it he could feel that incredible power it held surge through him, it filled his entire being and collided with the bit demonic power he had because of his familiars. He could feel how it put a strain on his body, it seemed as if the power of the sword drained him of every bit of energy he had left, but he refused to give in just yet.A quiet groan left his lips as he tried to raise the sword. His muscles tensed, his stance widened and he took deep and heavy breaths as the sword in fact moved. There was a spark of pride in his eyes when he managed to raise it from the ground, but with another sound, strained and exhausted, he had to let the sword fall again. V lowered his head as the weight and power of the Sparda took their toll on him. He was not strong enough. Deep down he knew that. He was a mere human, how was he supposed to wield the power of the legendary demon Sparda, but…It was the same childish naivety as back then, when he made a deal with a demon of whom he did not know the name, that made him try anyway.And the thought creeped up inside of him, if he could truly blame his demons for his situation now. But then again, every attempt and every chance he ever encountered to figure out who that demon was has been interrupted or disturbed by his familiars. They should’ve told him…“It seems this sword is still too strong for me,” he eventually said, if only to distract himself from his own thoughts.“So close, though, so close. You got a lot of heart, kid, you really do, but-”The thundering roar seemed to shake the very ground they stood on. V’s head spun around, Griffon jerked around and Shadow growled, markings flaring up, stance wide as they all stared into the direction this ear-splitting sound came from.“That’s a sound even the oldest of my lineage has barely ever heard. If that’s who I think it is we should get out of here right now,” Griffon said, voice dropped to an unusual quite tone. There was a seriousness in the echoic voice V barely ever heard before. Shadow growled in approval, jerking her head in the direction to get away from this place quickly. V’s gaze got darker. He knew the emergence of the Qliphoth gave lots of stronger demons the chance to enter the human world, now he had the confirmation that this demon escaped as well.“Let’s go,” he said. They had no chance of fighting that one. Not alone, and especially not in his condition, “if my assumption is correct, then we have no chance but to fight him eventually though.”“What a hassle,” Griffon complained. V did not comment on it. He just walked forwards, dragging the Sparda behind him while Shadow tried to steady his shaking legs by walking close to him.They left the area just as another roar tore through the air.The roar of the demon Corson.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*It was almost completely dark outside already and Cara was writing down more notes from what she remembered about Geryon as the door to the safe house opened and revealed V in its frame.He looked horrible. Body slumped, chest heaving, breath leaving his parted lips in huffs, she could even spot some faint shaking of his arms and legs. She wondered instantly what he went through after they parted ways. But she was incredibly glad he was alright.“V!” Nero’s voice came from upstairs.“How did you find this?” Lady exclaimed, an almost shocked undertone in her voice, as she came back from the bathroom and stared at the sword V was dragging behind him. That huge fleshy sword, the devil sword Sparda as Cara learned, looked intimidating, gross even, and she wondered if it truly was so heavy that V could not lift it. She wasn’t going to try to figure it out, though either.Nero came downstairs and he inspected the sword in V’s hands with a frown on his face.“Near the Qliphoth,” V replied, a shaky breath accompanied his words, “maybe with this we have a chance to beat Urizen,” he continued then and handed the sword over to Nero.“Damn,” the young devil hunter said quietly. His hands wrapped around the sword and Cara could see how the muscles in his arm and shoulders tensed as he lifted it from the ground. He gritted his teeth, it didn’t seem to be that easy for him either, but he succeeded, and Cara’s lips twitched upwards as she spotted the small grin appearing on Nero’s face for a moment. V closed his eyes for a second before he anything but dragged himself to the couch. He grimaced for the duration of a heartbeat but the relief settling on his features and body afterwards was evident. He truly needed some rest.“Did you find Dante by any chance?” Lady wanted to know.“No,” V replied. Lady lowered her gaze.“What happened, V?” Nero asked him after a while, he put the Sparda down again and instead leaned on it. V looked at Cara, a glimpse of surprise and wonder in his green eyes. She shook her head, a gesture so small and subtle that only V caught it to signal him she hasn’t told them about what happened after the fight against these two demons. V’s lips parted slightly and he held her gaze for quite another while before he looked over his shoulder slightly.“There have been some… revelations. This was something I had to do alone.”“Wanna talk about it?” Nero wanted to know, his brows furrowed a bit, but the offer of some comfort was a genuine one. V shook his head, strands of his black hair falling into his face in the process.“It won’t change our goal. Let’s leave it at that.”Cara frowned at that. What that demon told him seemed to have affected him quite a bit but there were his walls again, high and secure, not allowing anyone to see through him, he did not trust anyone to let them in. And she couldn’t even blame him. If everything that ugly demon told him was true, and given his reaction it seemed like it, then he was carrying quite a heavy burden with him and she probably wouldn’t trust anyone with it either. But there still were so many questions she had and needed answers to. Maybe he would answer some of them. She hoped he would.“Alright. Then I guess I gotta take this thing out for a walk,” Nero grinned as he raised the sword Sparda again, “I’ll tell Nico you’re back too. She’s working in the van again,” he added as he already had one foot out of the door. V looked half over his shoulder and nodded once.“I’ll join you. I could use some exercise again.” Lady grabbed her white jacket and walked up to Nero who closed the door behind them, leaving V and Cara alone in the house.There was a heavy exhale of breath and Cara looked at V again only to catch him slumping down a bit more obviously on the couch. She easily caught how he grimaced for the length of an blink of an eye.“Is your wound bothering you?” she asked him, a worried glance crossing her blue eyes.“It’s fine,” he replied, but she didn’t believe him one bit after everything that happened today, all the fighting and all the movements. They should at least take a look at it again.“Let me take a look at it again though please. The bandages should be changed too,” she requested and she waited for a long moment for his answer. But eventually he closed his eyes again and his fingers slowly rose to work on the binding of his vest. She smiled softly. She couldn’t tell his exact reasoning for agreeing to this, but the knowledge that he trusted her enough to let her do it filled her with a warmth that was not only pleasant but also welcomed.Cara grabbed the bandages from her bag and the rest of the materials from the coffee table as V opened his vest and slightly shifted his position. She tried not to stare at the way the leather parted and revealed parts of his upper body to her as she sat down beside him, although it was hard ignoring the pale skin covered in twirls and lines of ink. She pushed one side of the vest a bit further to the side to get a better look at the covered injury, all under his watchful eyes, and carefully removed the slightly dirty bandages. She furrowed her brows a bit as she inspected the stab wound, although surprisingly it didn’t look half as bad as she expected. It already started healing even. Cara wondered if the demonic energy of his companions had something to do with it. Nonetheless, the wound also wasn’t gone yet, so she would keep it clean and make sure it could heal properly.He flinched slightly when the wet cloth made contact with the wound and she gently cleaned it again, her eyes fixed on the wound and refusing to even let her eyes switch to the skin around it. Now that the urgency and concern for him and the possible danger of the injury was gone she found that it was much easier to get distracted, especially since she realized how… pleasant it was to be around him.“Why didn’t you tell them?”His question caught her off guard and she looked up into his green eyes out of surprise. A warmth appeared in her chest as she forgot how close they actually were right now and she found his face much closer than she thought it would be. The intensity of these deep green orbs, staring at her with a look of curiosity and intrigue, made her stomach flip. She quickly looked back down and continued her task. She knew what he meant but she didn’t expect him to ask her that at all.“It didn’t feel right,” she eventually replied and she only caught onto the implication that he totally expected her to tell the others what that ugly demon told him earlier, “I didn’t really understood what was said, so I felt like I had no right to tell the others about it.”“Hm,” he let out a small chuckle, the unfamiliar sound sent a chill through her body and she could almost feel the sound vibrate in his body. “Surely you understood what Malphas said.”So Malphas was that demon’s name. Cara would make sure to remember that. She put the wet cloth away. “Maybe. But I don’t know the whole story. And I would prefer to hear your side of the story before jumping to conclusions or judgements.”There was a very long moment of silence and Cara didn’t look up from her task because she knew V was staring intensely at her, trying to analyze her, trying to figure out if she had an ulterior motive for doing and saying anything like that. And then he spoke, his voice deep and calm, contemplating every single word before allowing it to leave his lips. “Ten years ago I closed a contract with a demon I didn’t know the name of. I shall bring it the fruit and it grants me the power to fight demons.”“The fruit?” Cara dared to ask after he paused. She neither wanted to interrupt nor ask too many questions. Her heart was beating loudly and wildly enough in her chest as it was with V being this close and seemingly opening up to her. She didn’t wanna ruin any of that.“The fruit of the Qliphoth. It would return the demon’s strength and would break the seal that keeps it in the demon world.”So that was his agenda. He wanted to beat Urizen to get his hands on that fruit. Something about this didn’t sit right with her. Aside from this being something he definitely shouldn’t do, there was nothing about him that made it seem as if fulfilling his side of the contract was his conviction. It was a task, a chore, but it did not seem to fit his own beliefs and principles.“And if you don’t?” she asked as she started putting the new bandages on. Her fingers brushed his inked skin and she felt the muscles twitch beneath her hands at the faint contact.“My familiars would be forced out of me and turned into the demon’s puppets. Their only purpose then would be to wreak havoc on the world.”“And you?” she asked softly. While she could understand he didn’t want that to happen and the implication that he didn’t want that to happen to the demons who stayed with him for so long. But she couldn’t imagine that demon, especially if it truly was Mundus, would just let him go.“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.”“Don’t say that.” The words left her mouth before she could think about them and she closed her eyes for a moment, a gesture he couldn’t see, in the hopes that she didn’t just ruin this situation and made him stop talking. There was a very long moment of silence and Cara already prepared herself for just finishing her task and moving on as if this conversation never happened.“The only reason for closing this contract was to gain the power to prevent incidents like my parents from happening again. But,” he made a pause and Cara could almost hear how his jaw clenched, she didn’t need to look up to see that, “you heard Malphas.”He didn’t put it into words again but he didn’t need to. While Malphas did not outright say it, given what V just revealed and explained to her she could connect the dots herself. Mundus truly did send the demons that ended up killing his parents to this town. Having to serve that monster must be devastating.“And… Griffon and your other demons?” The question left her mouth slowly and cautiously, she wasn’t sure if he would reply to it but he has opened up so much right now and not only did she appreciate this, but it also awakened a sense of comfort in her that she never thought was possible in their situation and with her own burden she had to carry around.“They knew,” his tone became bitter, his voice dropping even lower and she heard his sharp intake of breath and it wasn’t because she adjusted the bandages on his body, “they never told me,” he added then.Cara was quiet for a moment. She could understand his bitterness. If his demons were the only companions he’s had for ten years then a revelation like this could feel like a betrayal of the worst kind. But…“I know they’re demons, but… do you believe they really did this out of an ill will? Or because they can’t stand you? They seem to care a great deal about you, from what I’ve seen at least,” she eventually said. V was quiet but she knew he was still looking at her and contemplated her words.“I’m just saying, but I can’t imagine that they actually meant any harm by not telling you. And… regarding the contract, I… I don’t really have a solution for that either but if all else fails we just have to kick Mundus’s ass after all of this. Can hardly be worse than the tree. He was beaten before after all.” She looked up at him then, fully prepared of seeing his face too close to her own, but the sight of these really pretty green eyes watching her still caused her heart to skip a beat. She ignored the beating of her heart or the warm shiver spreading through her body and gave him a small smile, hoping it was encouraging, hoping that just maybe she could lift some of the heavy burden off his shoulders this way.“I don’t know,” he replied after yet another long moment. Her smile grew wider for a moment.“Well, until you do know I won’t tell the others. As you said, it’s not interfering with our goal here and I’m not comfortable with sharing personal stories.” She raised a finger in front of his face. “But, they will have to know eventually. And it’ll be your job to do so.”V made a ‘hmph’ sound, almost a chuckle, the noise made his chest vibrate and caused her fingers to brush his cold skin again.“Thank you.” The words hit her hard. There was an unusual softness in that deep voice of his that managed to raise goosebumps on her skin and made her secretly crave more of it.“You’re welcome,” she whispered as she finished bandaging his wounds and softly pulled his vest back into place. She pulled back from him but she really didn’t move away from him completely. It felt nice being so close to him, next to each other, knees brushing… “Say,” he started and she looked up, her eyes catching his fingers tying his vest again along the way. From her shifted position she could barely see his face, black strands of hair fell into his face and blocked her view. “Is there any of the soup left?”To say he caught her by surprise was an understatement. She didn’t expect that question, she didn’t even consider the possibility of it but once the initial shock faded she couldn’t even fathom how her features lightened up and a smile broke out on her face. He caught all that, of course he did, but the gentle upward curve of his lips was the only reaction to hers.“Of course. Let me heat some up for you.” Cara got up and walked into the kitchen. While she surely didn’t want to leave her position next to him this was an almost better substitute. Him asking for her food she prepared yesterday instead of simply asking if they had any food for him to eat filled her with such delight she could hardly explain it. Sure, cooking was her passion, the one thing aside from her job that truly brought her joy and contentment but she could not deny that it caused an extra spark of glee in her that V asked for it.She was in trouble. And she wondered if she even cared about it or if she wanted to embrace it and see what would happen.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*V never, not once in his entire life, believed that food could bring him such comfort. But as the heat of the soup and all the flavors it contained entered his mouth and warmed his body he couldn’t help but feel slightly at ease again after his situation has gotten so hopeless today.Cara was tidying up the materials from bandaging his wound as he ate that flavorful soup. He was hungry, horribly so, despite how heavy the situation weighed on his mind and body, and he barely so resisted the urge to shove it down, instead opted to take his time and enjoy the rare sensation of eating something nice and proper.V watched her out of the corner of his eyes as she vanished into the bathroom and he couldn’t help but to think back to how delighted she was when he asked her for the soup. He was surprised to say the least about how easy it was to make another person happy. But they way her blue eyes glistened with joy, her features lightened up and the smile on her face reached her eyes was a pleasant thing to see and he found himself wondering what else he could do to lure the same reaction from out of her.He inevitably thought back to earlier, how he slumped against the rocks, how his body and soul craved the same kind of contact she gave him before without asking. And maybe… just maybe that’s why he agreed to let her change the bandages. He wasn’t in pain anymore, he could’ve done that himself, but when she offered it… he wanted her to do it. The fleeting touch of her fingers as they brushed the skin of his abdomen, was warm, comforting even, causing his stomach to flip and his breath to hitch. It may not have been meant to be a comforting touch, she was treating an injury after all, but he had no willpower left to embrace it as such either. He just wanted the cold that settled around his bones to leave.It did not feel wrong to talk to her. To let her in. She could not possibly know how much he appreciated her silence, that she didn’t tell the others about his situation, so he did not fight the urge to tell her what happened, to indulge her and allow his walls to crumble down for her. After everything she has done for him these past few days and her will to listen and trust him despite now knowing why he truly was in this, it felt right. He did not regret his decision.And when he lay wide awake on the couch, everyone else already fast asleep, her words drifted through his mind again and again until his mind and soul readily accepted them. Maybe she was right and Griffon’s earlier words were true. He still was not sure how to proceed, but maybe he could start by believing that his familiars did not mean to hurt him by keeping the truth away from him.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Cara shut the small boxes with sandwiches and stuffed them in her backpack before Nico could pull a crazy stunt with the van again. She was surprised enough as it was that she managed to make sandwiches while Nico was driving through town without cutting off her fingers.“Alright, there’s no coming through here with the van,” Nico said as she stopped the van on the destroyed train rails in front of one of the tunnels leading the trains through Red Grave and the city’s suburban. “We’ll walk from here. There’s only one way up that tree,” Nero said and went to the back of the van where his weapons where. That he now had two swords leaning against the wall seemed to put his actions to a hold as he stared at both of them with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Cara made a face at the mess in the van and the many dirty dishes. If she had the time she would clean all of these immediately, but right now she had to add even more dirty dishes to the mess. She exhaled heavily, but shouldered her backpack and joined Nero.“Can’t decide?”Nero smiled whimsically at her and scratched the back of his head. “Kinda? I mean, I know I have to use the Sparda, but eh… feels like I’m leaving a part of me behind.”“Like an arm?!” Cara did not understand Nico’s remark completely, she knew it had to do with Nero’s missing right arm but she didn’t know the whole story. However, with the way Nero’s eyes widened and went through a dozen different emotions within the blink of an eye before he spun half around, tips of his ears rosy colored, and glared at the mechanic, she could only assume it bothered him in some way. Nico just laughed.“I’m sorry,” she choked on her laughter, “but your face.” She wiped her eyes, her glasses in hand as she continued to laugh. Lady, who sat quietly on the couch in the van chuckled softly. Cara didn’t really want to but the laughter was quite contagious and she pressed her lips together tightly as her chest rumbled in quiet laughter. Nero glared at her too, although it was hard to take him seriously.“If it eases your mind a bit, Sparda is the only real choice you have, but Red Queen is definitely the prettier one,” Cara told him then. Nero wanted to be irritated at her for laughing but she could see the proud glance in his eyes at the compliment.“We should go.” V’s voice sounded and Cara turned around to catch his green eyes for a moment before he left the van. She followed him after he looked over his shoulder again to see whether or not she and the others were following his words.“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Cara turned around again, eyebrows raised. Nico with her hands on her hips stood in the door of the van and looked down at her. Cara stared at the woman, blue eyes wide in confusion.“The girls stay here. We have some shoveling to do to.”Cara only threw a side glance at the piles of debris Nico pointed at before she shook her head. “Forget it. I have a mission to accomplish, I have to go.” This was about making up for a mistake, a mistake that cost lives. She had to correct that. And she could do that the best way by proceeding and extinguishing demon’s lives. She was trained for that. She was qualified for that. She couldn’t stay back to get gravel out of the way and let others do all the fighting.“Hell no! I’ve already told Lady that, so you’re gonna-”“Let her go.”Cara raised an eyebrow as she heard Lady’s voice from inside the van. Her voice was quiet, but the apparent distrust in the woman’s voice was hard to miss. “But-”“We can do this on our own,” Lady said again which caused Nico to purse her lips. She made a dismissive hand gesture.“Well, whatever then, but ya better make sure to not leave any demon standing!” Nico sounded the slightest bit pouty. Cara’s lips twitched upwards.“Will do,” she said and turned around with a wave of her hand to where Nero and V were surprisingly waiting for her. Nero had his eyebrows a bit raised while V’s expression was unreadable. He was a few steps ahead of Nero and looked at her while leaning on his cane.“They’ll manage,” Nero commented. Cara just shrugged, she didn’t doubt that in the slightest. She just wouldn’t pass up on the chance of exterminating these roots and actively fighting demons.They entered the old train tunnel, which was crumbling and broken down partially already. Cara didn’t like the scenery in front of her. Everything looked way too unstable. The main structure was still standing and unlikely - but not impossible - to get destroyed, that however, did not go for the non-supporting structure.Cara was proven right.The spawning of a Riot demon atop the debris, its shrieking and jumping, was all the already frail architecture needed to shake and collapse.The remaining entrance to the tunnel crumbled and crashed down and Cara leaped forwards in order to evade the falling stone. She fell to the ground and covered her head quickly with her hands to protect it from the falling stone. The ground shook for a while, the sounds of crumbling stone and metal filled the air, dust covered the area before everything became silent again.Cara rose to her feet again, a breath of relief leaving her lips, as she saw the destroyed structure now blocking the path they came from with the riot demon nowhere to be seen. She had a much bigger problem though. When she evaded the collapsing structure she moved forwards and now she was on one side of the tunnel’s train rails.With Nero and V on the other side. Separated by a barred wall and no way of turning back.“Hey, are you alright?” Nero wanted to know, a hand on the grid wall separating them with V next to him.“Yeah, I’m okay,” Cara replied and inspected the wall.“I can blast a hole through this,” Nero suggested, his mechanical arm already sizzled with electricity and energy. Cara raised a hand to stop him before her eyes settled on his. Nero blinked.“Don’t. This structure is already unstable enough, it may crush completely if we damage it further. We’ll continue like this. I’ll meet you on the other side of the tunnel.”She caught the subtle frown on V’s face but he didn’t say anything. Nero knitted his brows, for a moment he was lost in thought but he nodded.“Then better keep up.” She nodded at Nero’s reply. She would. She didn’t doubt she could go through this on her own. She usually worked on her own, this didn’t worry her. Though hurrying didn’t seem to be a bad idea. This place wasn’t the safest and she had no idea what it would be like further down.“I’ll see you outside,” Cara said. Her gaze lingered on V until she completely turned around and couldn’t see the man anymore. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*V’s cane repeatedly stabbed the Empusa demon in its chest, his hand made sure the demon would stay where it was until he was certain he put all the disdain he had for these creatures into this final blow. He pulled his cane back, twisted it around to get rid of the blood on it as he watched the Empusa dissolving into blood and particles in front of him; all the while the sounds of Nero wielding the sword Sparda filled the area.It was a different sight compared to when Nero wielded his own sword. The way he moved and how he executed the attacks gave the impression of an almost completely different fighting style. V had to admit the young demon hunter’s adaptiveness to this new weapon was impressive. Maybe it was also the blood of Sparda that granted him the strength to wield that powerful source.A power he himself did not have. Depended on others, bound by the cruelty of the fate he was burdened with, he had no powers to call his own.Shadow circled him after the last demon fell, her head grazed the hand that clutched the cane and she looked up at him out of her red glowing eyes. V closed his eyes for a moment, tried to calm the sense of anger and defeat that settled around his heart, before Nero joined him.“Not gonna lie, this is pretty sweet,” he said with a grin on his lips and shouldered the sword.“And it may be enough to defeat Urizen.”Nero looked at him out of slightly narrowed eyes. V could understand that the concept of defeating such a powerful opponent depended on a weapon sounded questionable. However, it was also not the entire truth. It had to be wielded by someone related to the Sparda bloodline in order to utilize its true potential.“It better be. I’m not gonna walk out of there without that bastard’s ass on a stick.”The corner of V’s mouth twitched upwards. At this point Nero was their only hope. He had to do it. No matter the implications and consequences. Neither what that meant for Nero personally nor for V’s mission. This is wrong. The thought hit him unexpectedly but he also couldn’t fight it. It appeared in his mind and refused to even budge. Fulfilling a mission for a demon who brought nothing but death and destruction upon the human world and completely shattered the life of a little boy who still struggled with the consequences, now more so than ever before. He shouldn’t go on. He shouldn’t obey that demon. He should help beat Urizen and leave that demon in hell for eternity.But he had no choice. He would only unleash more destruction upon the world.He had to see this through. And deal with the consequences in the moment itself. If Nero managed to beat Urizen then maybe he would also be capable of something more.“Let’s get out of here,” Nero said after a moment as he looked at the dried up roots of the Qliphoth in disgust.“Indeed.”They made quick progress through the underground as there weren’t any major demons lurking down here but ultimately they were still going against the clock and being down here was just a waste of time. And they had to meet up with Cara again as well. There was a distinct thought that he hoped she would be alright but he also didn’t find a spark of worry inside of him. He was certain she would be. He has seen her capabilities in battle and by now he did not doubt her competence at all.They made their way through the half-destroyed tunnels and corridors until daylight illuminated a still accessible exit. V’s eyes narrowed as they adjusted to the light when they ascended the stairs. The Qliphoth was right in front of them, rising high into the sky, the atmosphere it emitted was absolutely dreadful, the feeling wrapped around his heart like barbwire.The Qliphoth has grown this large. How much blood has been sacrificed? the thought sent an ice cold shiver through his body. They had to stop Urizen. Regardless of all implications and consequences. His existence had to come to an end.“You see Cara around here?”V looked at Nero but he slightly shook his head. She was nowhere to be seen around here. So either she wasn’t as fast as them or-“I’m here!”V looked up as Cara emerged from another way leading down into the underground. He couldn’t fully comprehend the feeling but he could not deny the relief that settled over his heart and soul when he saw her approaching them, unscathed, just a layer of dust covering the leather of her pants and boots. Nevertheless he caught her relieved exhale as she combed through her long curls with her fingers in an attempt to tame the red hair a bit. The corner of V’s lips twitched upwards.“Hey, come on, if you wanna enjoy the scenery do so after I take that damn tree down.” Nero was already steps ahead, brows furrowed. V turned to the young devil hunter and followed him down the hill.Huge parts of the old theatre were astoundingly still standing. The stage and auditorium were still stable enough to withstand the roots of the Qliphoth destroying the foundation it was built on. He felt the chill of Shadow’s uneasiness in the ink covering his skin before he heard the wood above them cracking.The demon landed in front of them with a thud, the weight and impact of the creature causing the ground to crack beneath its feet. A layer of sheer animosity settled over his soul as he took in that distasteful shell of a demon. He knew this creature. Griffon told him about those when V decided to ask Dante for help against Urizen. Just empty shells, almost without any mind of their own, created as prototypes for the Black Angel. He should have expected to come across those on this quest to destroy Urizen. This was Mundus’s futile attempt to copy the strength of Sparda and his sons to utilize that power for himself. Mundus...V felt the anger rising up within him unexpectedly. Like a wave crashing over him and washing away his sense of calm and rationality. The grip around his cane got tighter. But when more of these demons dropped from the ceiling and took a fighting stance in front of them that feeling of anger seemed to wrap around his ribcage, keeping the bones in a crushing hold, and V could not help but let it out. “Nice, getting the band back together, huh?” Nero chuckled while V closed his eyes and raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.“What evil lurks…” he lowered his hand, raised his hand to focus his eyes burning with a fury he has barely ever allowed to show, “I must destroy.”The words reverberated deep within his mind and soul, though the true meaning of them was lost in the anger that wrapped around him. This was his opportunity to deal with such a direct connection to Mundus, a way for him to deal with the anger and hatred for this demon and himself, an outlet his incapability of doing something about his fate.“I thought that was the plan all along,” Nero agreed, completely unaware of the meaning and intention behind V’s words.Cara made a “hm” sound in agreement before the three of them raised their weapons at the group of demons.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*The demons were very good close fighters, Cara had to give them that. She took to taking on one at the time, trying to lure it away from the group so she could focus on it without having to evade the other demons often. Those shields were the only real issue. Always held up, always in a good position to shield their entire bodies from her weapon. She could only win if she timed and aimed her own attack perfectly.Her first attempt failed. While her aim was right, she targeted the only thinly armored waist of the demon, her timing wasn’t. The demon reacted just in time, turning its body and shield around to block her attack. She jumped to the side to dodge the demon’s own sword attack, the blade of her Kama sliding along the sword as she pushed it further away from her.The opening was brief and small. But the kick to the demon’s side made it stumble. Long enough for her to charge after it and stab the blade of her weapon into its side. The Kama broke the armor at this part easily and Cara allowed the satisfied grin as the demon howled in pain. She reacted quickly. She turned on her heels and when she was behind the slumped demon she brought her weapon down once more. The sound of broken metal and torn flesh reached her ears as she thrusted the blade into the demon’s body between his armored shoulder and neck. It fell to its knees, releasing painful sounds which almost got lost in the sound of battle around them, before it anything but exploded in particles of energy and only left behind a pool of blood on the floor.Cara took a deep breath to calm herself down to continue the battle with a clear head. She looked up in time to see Nero slaying one of the same demons while simultaneously fending off the bigger demon who seemed to be able to lead the smaller ones on the battlefield. She didn’t have much time before she had to continue fighting but her eyes caught V near her in a similar position to her and Nero; killing one of the smaller demons, and Cara couldn’t explain it, but there was something to that gesture. There was something to how he grabbed the demon’s head with a straight back, standing at his full height with a fire burning in his eyes as he pulled the cane across the demons’ neck. For the duration of a heartbeat it made Cara remember back to his “I’ll be gentle” before the Geryon fight. It made her realize that there was a completely different side to V she has barely encountered yet. But the glimpses of that side he has revealed to her yet were exciting and thrilling in more ways than she liked to admit under these circumstances.The remaining smaller demon was closest to V and it charged at him as soon as V delivered the finishing blow to its fellow demon. Shadow was quick to let V slide over the ground in a cloud of smoke to dodge the attack. But V had this fight under control, so Cara joined Nero in his battle against the bigger demon. That giant sword, sizzling with electric energy was impressive and it would most likely and any of their lives with one swing. Evading and dodging until an opening presented itself was once more in order.Nero could definitely land stronger blows and the way he jumped and shot around the demon with the help of his mechanical arm was impressive. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely while fighting these demons. And as glad as Cara was that the battle was under control and while she contributed her own part to that, she was hardly needed now. In the last steps of the battle there was no use for her anymore. Despite the situation being overall a positive one she didn’t like that feeling.Nero pushed himself off the demon with a grin as it fell to his knees. The devil hunter raised the fleshy sword to charge at the demon one final time.But before he could reach it a well-aimed shot blasted the demon into pieces.“What the hell?!” Cara heard Nero exclaim over the sound of the explosion as she shielded her head from the flying pieces of metal and armor. What just happened?!“Thought you kids could use some help.”Cara looked up at the woman who stood on the broken auditorium with a smile on her lips and fiery glance in her eyes. She shouldered her giant weapon with an ease that was still remarkable to Cara. She didn’t doubt that Lady was human but handling a weapon like this without a single sign of effort in her body language, Cara doubted she herself could do the same thing.“We had this perfectly under control.” Nero glared at her though Lady just shrugged it off when she joined the three of them.“Nico is waiting at the foot of the Qliphoth. You should restock your Breakers,” Lady pointed at the slightly damaged mechanical arm, “and then we’ll head up that tree.”“Alright, then let’s go.” Nero shouldered the sword Sparda(Cara had to admit she was truly curious about what it felt like. Aside from the texture of it there had to be a very certain sense of strength and power on it) before he moved onwards, further down the hill and closer to the Qliphoth.Lady threw Cara a side glance when she walked by her and Cara had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. She got it. Lady didn’t trust her, she wasn’t a part of this team, she didn’t know them. Cara knew exactly why she rather stuck to going with Nero and V instead of staying with her(aside from other reasons). However, Lady threw the same look at V. Cara looked at him as they followed Nero. He carried himself the same way he usually did around people, walls and layers of confidence and mystery raised up high around him and right now not even Cara could see through them. If she didn’t know this was not the way V displayed himself around her anymore by now she would assume they were at square one again.“Took us long enough to get here,” Nero said when the root of the Qliphoth became visible at last. Still a distance ahead, but within reach.They had reached an old, destroyed playground when Cara spotted V pausing out of her peripheral vision.“V?” she asked. Nero turned to him as well.“What, tired already?” he joked when V let his eyes wander over the area. No, that definitely wasn’t it. While any battle was exhausting after a while and a little break would surely help them before going up that tree, V would not let it show. He didn’t do that even when he was alone with her albeit it was before they made progress.“I just thought about something,” V said, “this town was attacked once before,” he finished, raising one finger while making a few steps ahead, lost in thought. For a second Cara’s heart skipped a beat at the prospect of V opening up, right here and now. “Is that so?” Nero asked but Cara actually wondered if V even heard him.“I was here.” Cara’s heart skipped a beat as V turned his head and looked at her. Not at Nero, not at Lady, his expression was directed at her. And he wore a smile on his lips. It was not a smirk but a smile, altered by the small wrinkle between his eyebrows, but it was the most genuine expression of a positive feeling she has seen on his face. And Cara could not help it, she didn’t even try to fight the thought just how handsome he looked like this, just how much this expression lightened and highlighted his features. And the only thought that stuck with her mind, that settled deep within her soul was how much she wanted to see that expression again and again.V averted his gaze, the smile faded but so did the wrinkle between his eyebrows, “I can still see it,” he said and let his eyes wander until it fell onto an old broken spring rider in front of him. He kneeled down in front of it. Cara was grateful that the other two couldn’t see her face as she watched him with slightly parted lips. “In fact, I was playing right here.” His words broke the spell she was under and made her realize what he was talking about, what he was revealing to them. She knew he was talking about that day when his parents got attacked. She didn’t know the exact details, and Nero and Lady didn’t know it at all, but she had this bit of info at least, and it made it impossible to deny that there was something happening, there were making a progress of something neither of them could or would really talk or think about too much. But it was there. V was lost in thoughts, unable to properly keep up his walls and appearance as he touched the old toy. Cara assumed he probably didn’t know they were in this exact area given how destroyed the city was but it was incredibly nice to see him this way, he was revealing a sense of vulnerability which made him seem all the more approachable, so unlike how he usually presented himself.He looked to the side slowly and raised his cane, used it as an extension of his arm to point at something in the distance. “That was the house,” he said quietly. Cara, like the others, followed the direction of the cane and she spotted, still far away in the distance, an old house. She couldn’t tell, it also could’ve been a couple of houses next to each other or a more mansion-like place, but… did he used to live there? Were they near his old childhood home before the death of his parents?V rose to his feet again, his expression at ease. “This is where we part ways. You go ahead.” This time he looked at Nero, nodding towards the direction of the Qliphoth. “Why?” Lady wanted to know.“You can have a walk down memory lane later, come on,” Nero interrupted her. Cara didn’t say anything.“No, there is something I must do first.”“Whatever you say,” Nero shrugged, “we’ll wait at the van. Don’t take too long or you’re gonna miss all the fun.”There it was again. V’s typical smirk.“What about you?” Nero asked Cara. She contemplated it for a moment but ultimately she decided she would test her luck and stay with V. If whatever he wanted to do was something he also wanted to do by himself he could protest. But she knew by now that she could ask him questions, and she wanted to know what he needed to do. She assumed it had something to do with his… mission, but he hasn’t mentioned anything of the sorts before, so… she was simply curious.“I’ll stay,” she replied finally to which Nero only nodded and Lady raised her eyebrows for a second. V did not say anything.“Then let’s go,” Nero said. He didn’t look at V and Cara again before the two made their way further down and disappeared from sight quickly. Cara watched after them for a moment before she turned around to see how V sat down on one of the broken playground toys.“Time for a break?”V nodded once. Cara wouldn’t object to that. Then they would have a break right here and now instead of later in the van. She pulled her backpack from her back and sat down next to the man. She was deliberate in how close she sat next to him. There was enough space on this toy to leave lots of room between them, but she had any intention of pushing their boundaries regarding this situation. And V did not push her away nor did he inch away from her. He stayed where he was and allowed the close contact. He allowed their thighs to brush, he allowed their arms to graze each other and did not make any attempt of putting distance between them. It made Cara smile softly.“Hungry?” she asked him after a moment, and when he turned his head to look at her shortly she noticed just how close they truly were. She could see every shade of green in his pretty eyes, saw how his lashes flattered against his cheekbones when he blinked, but she could also see even more clearly the dark circles around his eyes. He didn’t get a lot of sleep… she wondered since when this has become a normal condition for him…The corner of his mouth twitched upwards and broke her train of thoughts. “You have anything?”“Of course!” she smiled, almost laughed even. As long as she had supplies she would never leave the house without anything in her bag. Especially on such an endeavor as this. Their situation may be serious, the gravity of it may be hard to fathom, but breaks were needed, eating was still a necessity. So she might as well try to make something nice for these breaks.She pulled out the plastic box from her bag and held the open box in his direction. V reached for one of the sandwiches without giving it a longer look and when he just took a bite without hesitation Cara smiled widely again, though she hid it behind her own sandwich. He was so thin that it gave the impression he hardly ate at all, but he jumped at and ate her food and enjoyed it, which filled her with pride, but deep down she just wanted to provide him with more food. Especially made it want her to prepare a proper meal for him, not just sandwiches or something made out of leftovers. She wanted to be home in her kitchen where she had everything she wanted and needed and prepare a dish for him he could enjoy without having demons and death breathe down his neck.“Tastes nice,” he said after a moment, looking at the half-eaten sandwich in his hands, “what is in there?”“Oh, not much, just some lettuce, onions, cucumber, tomatoes and remoulade, and some herbs.” It really wasn’t much and certainly nothing special, but it would have to do given the circumstances. But since he complimented that simple sandwich like this… she really wanted to show him what she could truly do in a kitchen.“You like doing this?”She nodded, trying to hide her excitement about him showing interest in this passion of hers. “I love cooking! It’s what I spend most of my time on when I’m not working.” V’s lips twitched upwards again. “The busy bee has no time for sorrow.”Cara almost smiled bashfully at the obvious quote. How he always had a fitting quote on his lips for every situation was astounding. It amazed her. She never really was into poetry, so her knowledge of it was limited, but that he knew poems by heart like this and that these quotes either perfectly described a situation or accompanied it made her consider she should look into it more after all.“Can I,” she started, contemplating her next words, “see your book?”He hesitated. Cara thought he’d deny her request with the way he studied her expression and body language. He tried to read her again, look for anything that should advise against giving her the book. Cara’s chest filled with warmth when he obviously found none and slowly reached beneath his vest. His movements were slow, he was still thinking about this, but eventually he held it in her direction. Cara rubbed her fingers together to get rid of the rest of the bread crumbs and reached for the book. She did it slowly, gave him all the time in the world to pull back again because she knew this was a very important thing for him, and while she hoped for it, she didn’t know if they were close enough yet for him to trust her with it.But he did.She took the leather-bound book before she handed V the plastic box with the sandwiches, which rested in her lap until now. He seemed a bit taken aback by the gesture but took the box.“Please, you can have more if you want to,” Cara told him and nodded towards the sandwiches. She slid strands of her red-brown hair behind her ear and turned her attention to the book in her hands. The brown leather felt soft, had a nice feel to it, but she was most of all so amazed in what good condition the book still was. Sure, it looked old but given just how old it was it nearly was in perfect condition.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*V felt a sense of uneasiness stirring up inside his soul as he saw his book in her hands. Seeing most treasured possession, the only memento of a time when his life was not ruled by demons, in the hands of someone else was daunting, he had to admit that. But when her fingers slid over the leather with a gentleness one would consider impossible for a demon hunter he felt his mind being put at ease piece by piece.He ate another one of her sandwiches but his eyes never left her. She had her hair slid behind her ear to stop it from falling into her face and he couldn’t help how his eyes were drawn to it. The red- brown hair fell down her back in wavy curls, right now a bit messy because of the previous battle, and he had to fight the urge in his hands to reach out to arrange the strands properly again, to make them look as nice as before the battle.He wondered for a long time where this thought came from.The uneasiness faded after a while and left him with an unfamiliar sense of peacefulness swelling inside his chest as he watched her look through the book with a look of intrigue on her face. He couldn’t remember a single person that ever showed this much interest in any of his belongings or interests, no one aside from his parents. After their death other kids were scared of him because he talked so much about that day and the demons that killed his parents. Never did anyone care about his interests, not even the adults at the orphanage.But now there was this woman. She jumped into his life because of a sense of guilt and responsibility. And she did care about him. That thought was as strange as it was unknown, but… not unwelcome. This moment right here showed him that he made the right decision. She sat there with his most cherished possession in hands, reading the poems with an interest he did not expect from her, while he ate the sandwiches she prepared. There was nothing that seemed wrong to him, so V allowed himself to give in and to enjoy this moment of peace.“I like this one,” Cara said after a while. He looked at the page she was reading, and in the process leaned just a bit closer to her. His inked skin brushed her bare forearm and he felt how his ribcage squeezed his heart tightly in his chest as his cold skin soaked up her warmth, trying to take and keep as much for itself as it possibly could. It was a thought that creeped up the back of his mind for the blink of an eye but for that short moment he wondered how it would feel if he leaned in further, if he allowed her body to engulf him and wrap him up in that warmth that eased the cold around his bones, and for the first time in so many years made him feel at ease. He did not, but it was difficult to deny how much his soul was crying out for this comfortable gesture. That she did not shy away from him at all was not helping him either.“Under leaves so green
A happy blossom,” he read a part of the poem she was reading out loud. He caught her smiling.“It sounds nice,” she said and turned her head to look at him. And suddenly there was shift in atmosphere V could neither identify nor explain.Too close. Her face was too close. But he found himself frozen in place, completely incapable of pulling back. Bright blue eyes right in front of him, lips that looked much softer than his own dry ones, he could feel her breath reach his face. His eyes looked down to her lips, to her neck as she visibly swallowed before he met the clear blue again. He found his body in an invisible hold, tense and overwhelming, and he did not know how to handle it. He felt his mind getting hazy as single strands of her hair brushed his face because of the breeze. Too close… too close… Suddenly the urge to lean further forwards to accept her incredible warmth became almost unbearable. His hands grabbed the box in his lap he thought it might break under the pressure.It was the last bit of his composure, a last attempt to pull the walls around his heart and soul back up, that made him find his voice again.“We should go.” It was almost a whisper and he couldn’t believe how quiet his voice was. But whatever was happening between them just now he managed to break it. Cara blinked before she nodded. She barely looked him in the eyes when she handed him back the book and he swore he caught a red hue on her cheeks. What was that just now? His inability to move, his captivation by the depth of her blue eyes, the allurement of her warmth…V did not find an answer to that. And still, the feel of her warm soft skin on his own lingered even as they stood up again, even as they moved onwards again. V only allowed the smirk to appear on his lips again as she walked a few steps ahead of him.So, he thought, a happy blossom, huh?“Will you tell me what you actually plan to do?” Cara asked him once they made their way down a few rocks. The corner of his lips twitched upwards. While he did not intend on telling Nero just yet, since he was still uncertain himself, he could indulge her, especially since she would see it for herself soon as well.“When the Qliphoth grew it allowed a significant amount of very old and powerful demons to enter the human world. One of those is very close by. We are going to see whether or not that demon is a threat that needs to be dealt with.”“How do you know about it?” she made a face after asking the question before she elaborated, “I mean, I know you studied this for a long time, but how do you know where it is exactly? Can’t it be like… anywhere?”V smirked again. “We spotted it yesterday when we looked for the sword,” Griffon replied for him instead. Cara made an “oh” sound. No more words were spoken, instead they climbed down some more rocks until they arrived a more even area again. V’s face fell onto the house in the distance again as it was visible from this point again.“Thinking about mommy dearest?” Griffon asked him, his tone unusually serious. V glared at him. Given their new circumstances this was hardly a question he should be asking. He knew the answer to that. Cara looked at him, but didn’t pry, she averted her eyes again.“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But the past is… a bitter place for me.” It always has been since that dreadful day. And these new revelations and developments made it even worse.“Listen, V, we didn’t want to put you through any more hardship. You’re human and all but hey, you’re pretty alright, so… after a while we were afraid you may have thought about going against Mundus, of abandoning the contract,” Griffon paused here for a moment to make sure V was listening. He was. “You cannot turn against him. If you do, he will know. He knows when you made the decision, even if it’s just in your mind. He doesn’t care about your intentions after you fulfilled the mission, he doesn’t see you as more than an annoying pimple he can get rid off, you’re not a threat to him. But if you decide to not bring him the fruit… even we don’t know what he will do to ya then.”It was nothing really new to him, but receiving yet again the confirmation that he had to see this through filled his soul with an icy feeling he couldn’t shake off. Cara’s words from yesterday came to his mind again. He found it a bit easier to believe that his familiars did not keep that information from him to hurt him. He still considered it wrong, but their intentions hadn’t been bad ones.He exhaled more heavily than needed before he directed his attention to the here and now. They had to deal with something else for now. V tipped his cane on the ground. The clouds of black particles and smoke surrounded his feet almost immediately and lifted him barely so off the ground. He met Cara’s eyes when she looked up from staring at Shadow in this current shape. “The path is even enough from here on. We’re faster this way.”Cara took a moment to process his words and to understand that he just invited her to get close to him again and to use Shadow’s powers with him. She was a bit hesitant as she approached him, her eyes switching between him and the clouds and wisps of smoke beneath his feet. He smirked, amusement glistening in his eyes. He nodded behind him when she stood next to him.She made a sound of surprise when she stepped behind him and Shadow lifted her up just like him. Her arms came around him very hesitantly.“Hold on tight,” he told her, more as a warning than advice. Shadow’s way of moving, while directed by V, was fast and shaky, it could take time to get used to if one has never used this kind of power before. He heard her exhale heavily behind him before she stepped closer and pressed himself against his back, her arms wrapping tightly around his middle. He smirked as he noticed that she trusted his words without question, and V came to realize in what kind of position they were in. Though this time it was also different yet again. He could feel her body press up against him, could feel how she pressed her forehead to the base of his neck, could feel her arms cling to him around his body. He could not feel her warmth as much as he could before because of the leather and fabric separating them but his stomach seemed to flip at the unusual and, dare he say pleasant, proximity. V could not explain what was happening, did not know why he reacted like this, but he hardly had it in him to resist it.Cara made another sound when they started moving and instinctively she clung tighter to him. V moved them through the narrow ways between the hills, rocks and mountains, moved them onto higher ground again until they got close to their destination and he stopped their movements again. Shadow disappeared into her tattoos and they both found the ground beneath their feet again. It took a moment but Cara slowly eased her grip around him and stepped away from him. It was then that the sound reached his ears. Laughter. Unrestrained and cheerful sounding laughter. He turned around only to look into Cara’s delighted face. Eyes closed, hand in front of her mouth as the happy sounds left her lips and her shoulders shook with the laughter. He blinked and when she opened her eyes, a clear blue glistening with tears of laughter, his heart skipped a beat.There was something off. Something was happening. And he did not know if he liked it. Because there was absolutely nothing in him, even his mind stayed quiet, that told him this was wrong, that he should fight and reject whatever was happening to him.“That was fun!” she exclaimed after her laughter ceased and she rubbed the tears from her eyes. He just stared at her in silence, an amused smirk on his lips but deep inside he was too overwhelmed by her reaction to say or do anything else. Regardless of what was happening between them, he did not expect such a reaction from anyone.“I hope we can do that again.”“Maybe,” V replied, closing his eyes for a split second, “but for now-”He didn’t need to finish his sentence. The earsplitting roar that shook the very ground they stood on proved his point regardless. Cara’s eyes widened. They stayed as silent as possible as they walked closer. As soon as they rounded a corner in these narrow passageways between the walls of rocks they halted and ducked down, hiding behind the rocks.V peeked from behind the rocks to look at the giant demon pacing in this way too small area for him. V has never seen this demon before, only knew about him from his studies and what other demons told him. Corson. Once the ruler of a territory in hell he was sealed after going on a rampage against his own kin. His incapability of distinguishing ally from foe and his strength made him too much of a threat. He was bound and sealed away deeply hidden in hell to never be conjured again. Whether Urizen freed him voluntarily or if his bindings were broken by the rise of the Qliphoth, V did not know. But when he stared at the huge demon, easily a few meters tall, body covered in muscles and dark grey armored skin that seemed to cover a stream of lava running across his body, V realized that this demon may just be too much for them to take down by themselves.And yet, the slow pacing of Corson, the occasional roar, that his area was completely undamaged so far, and the fact that he hasn’t moved from this area, spoke of an inner conflict or turmoil, which shouldn’t be possible for this demon. Corson was a being of instinct. Born and formed as a tool of raw strength and nothing but devastation. A being incapable of thoughts and common sense. It should not be pacing.This made V realize something else.That his assumption was correct.And now they had no choice but to take it down. Because the consequences of defeating Corson were too severe, were too much of a chance to simply leave him be.“We need to get back to Nero,” V whispered to Cara as he leaned a bit closer.The sudden turn of the demon’s head in their direction made V’s blood run cold. He shouldn’t have heard him, not from this distance.They barely had a chance to react. The demon roared, a sound full of anger and rage, and it charged at them mindlessly, without a second glance, without confirming for himself that something was there that needed to be attacked.A mindless beast, purely working on instincts alone.Griffon barely managed to catch a hold of V as he himself grabbed Cara’s arm before the rocks they stood on exploded into countless pieces. The demon’s fist tore through the stone as if it was paper.And when the dust of the crumbling rocks finally settled V and Cara found themselves standing right in front of this giant demon, with no way out but to fight him now.