Seven Months of Hell von Khaosprinz ================================================================================ Kapitel 2: ----------- Dante couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nero was here, he wasn't dead, he was here. He was alive and kicking and had just saved his arse. He had followed him into hell to get him out of there after Dante had originally gone here in search for the younger. He was alive.   Immense relief washed through him and he almost felt like weeping. His knees gave in as he gave a shaky smile, but before he could hit the ground, Nero rushed over to catch him.   "Come on, old man. You have no idea how long I've been searching for you."   Same here, shot through Dante's head and he had to fight laughter bubbling up in his still hurting chest. Slumping over he took a shuddering breath, fully aware of the fact that it was only Nero who was keeping him upright.   "Man, you look like a train ran you over more than once. Come on, let's get out of here."   Dante felt himself being pulled up and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't find the energy in him anymore to move his body by himself. Nero put one of his arms around his neck, his own Devil Bringer tightly gripping Dante's waist to slowly lead him over to the motorcycle. The older hunter's mind was in a haze and all he wanted was to sleep. Now that he knew he was in good hands, his mind stopped being constantly on edge, and all the exhaustion that had built up in the recent- weeks? months?- but had been suppressed emerged like a wave, crashing into his brain and putting it almost to a halt. There was something on his mind, something urgent, but everything in his head was too fuzzy for him to grasp. What was it again? He was so glad Nero was here and alive. If Nero was alive, maybe Trish and Lady-   He bolted upright, his eyes widening in almost madness. With a sudden surge of strength, he tightly gripped onto Nero's collar, staring into the other's dark blue eyes intently.   "What about Trish? And Lady? What happened to you? What-"   "Later, Dante, first we-"   "No! What about them? How's Trish?"   "She's fine! She's currently keeping the gate I came through in stasis, so we can get-"   "And Lady? What about Lady?"   "She's- alive."   In any other situation, Dante would have noticed Nero's slight hesitation. But as it were, he didn't and instead kept pressing forward.   "They're both-?"   Nero carefully reached out and loosened the death grip the other had on his shirt. Holding onto his wrists in fright that he might keel over without any support, he repeated in a soft, hopefully reassuring tone what he had said before.   "They're alive, Dante. They're alive. We're going back to them, okay? We're returning to the Devil May Cry, all four of us."   He held Dante's almost manic gaze and felt sorrow creeping its way into his stomach. Dante had been in this place for four months and he didn't know what it had done to him. After a few seconds, Dante finally seemed to believe him and just slumped over, all energy having left his body. Nero caught him, the elder's head resting on his shoulder, arms hanging limply at his side. With a sigh, he carefully cradled his relative, encircled his waist with his arms and closed his eyes.   How did it come to this?, he wondered. He could barely remember what exactly had happened on that fateful day. He only remembered being shocked when Dante had suddenly triggered, looking completely different normally. And behaving differently, too. He just tore through the demons with the blades on his arms, none of the usual mocking and joking, only feral grunts and snarls coming from deep within his chest. Trish and Lady had been shocked as well, neither of them knew what it was, but that was their mistake. The demons, void of human emotions and mannerisms like freezing into place due to surprise, had ganged up on them. He only remembered sharp pain throughout his whole body before darkness had taken him in. The next thing he knew was awakening in a weird place somewhere in the demonic realm, put into chains just as Lady and Trish. The demons had been smart enough to take their weapons, so any kind of breaking out had to wait until his and Trish's demonic blood had helped them recover enough to rely on their personal strength alone.   Lady... was another story. As a human, the demon's treatment had taken a whole different toll on her. But she was still alive. As soon as he and Trish had rested enough, they were able to break out, beat all the demons that had captured them into one bloody pulp and make their way out of there. They had stumbled upon their weapons at some point which had made the job a lot easier. For a while they were just walking around aimlessly, not knowing where they were or where the next portal could be until they had finally found a place that Trish was familiar with. Then it was just a matter of time until they could return. They took turns searching for everything they needed to open up a portal, unwilling to let Lady alone in this place, in her condition. It had taken a while, but they had finally been able to escape. The gate, however, had let them out in the middle of nowhere, so it had actually taken another two weeks until they had finally reached civilisation. Three more weeks were wasted when Lady was finally admitted to a hospital somewhere in Russia to get patched up as much as possible, and another two with their journey back to the Devil May Cry. They had tried calling Dante, but to no avail. While Trish was escorting Lady back to her own flat, Nero made his way to the shop. After a short fight with the red-haired woman- Lucia?- he found out that she had been the one to assign Dante's last mission. He learned from her what happened, and after finding out that they had been gone for almost five months and Dante apparently been trapped in hell for over three, Nero felt dread rising in his stomach that he hadn't felt ever before.   He was calling the Devil May Cry his home for over eight years now. He couldn't even imagine the place staying strong without Dante around. Hell, he couldn't even imagine a life anymore without the older slayer. They still didn't know how exactly they were related and had agreed on never wanting to find out, but they were family nonetheless. Trish and Lady, too. So as soon as Lucia had briefed him on everything he needed to know, he had called the female demon up and told her what happened. She hadn't even hesitated to meet with him so he could go and get their friend back, and even Lady had insisted on coming along, despite their protests. Even if she was handicapped now, she could still cover their backs with her guns from a safe distance, and so they went and opened a gate to hell. Nero had gone in, while Trish was now keeping it up, but closed, so no demons could emerge, with Lady waiting at her side for the two of them.   For a while, Nero had just been wandering around, going deeper and deeper until he reached a point that matched Lucia's description, and from then on it was only a matter of following the path of destruction that Dante had left behind in his battles. He grew more and more restless the further in he went, which ultimately morphed into worry and dread when he found the other's bike and weapons scattered throughout the demon realm. Determined to not leave them behind, he had dutifully picked them up but never used them to kill the stray demons he stumbled upon on his journey. And so he drove from battlefield to battlefield until he spotted a huge mass of demons gathering at the same spot, and with one glance to his faintly glowing Devil Bringer, he was sure he had finally found Dante.   He opened his eyes again, the familiar weight still resting in his arms. They needed to get out of here, and fast. He wasn't sure how much time passed between each of the waves, but he sure as hell wasn't going to take any more chances than absolutely necessary. Picking the older hunter carefully up, he made his way over to the bike before setting him down on it. Keeping him steady with one arm, he carefully strapped both their weapons, apart from Blue Rose which he kept attached to his belt, on Dante's back. He didn't even stir. He just sat there, chin touching his chest and messy and dirty hair falling into his closed eyes. With a sigh, Nero sat on the machine in front of the other half-devil and shuffled a bit until he was leaning forward with Dante's heavy weight resting almost comfortingly against his back. He snaked his relative's arms around his own waist so he wouldn't fall off as easily. Kicking the bike into motion, he held onto the other with one hand, steering the motorcycle with his Devil Bringer alone. Now they just had to get back to the portal.   Some time later, Dante slowly awoke from his unconscious slumber. He was wondering where he was, his mind not able to grasp why he was moving and why there seemed to be a body in front of him. He carefully blinked himself back into reality and needed a moment to understand what was happening. The first thing his eyes saw was white hair, much like his own, and a shoulder covered by a dark blue, almost purple coat. It took a moment until his body was back in action, feeling oddly refreshed until he realised what situation he was in.   Nero had found him, and apparently put him on the motorcycle he had originally gone to hell with in order to get them out of it again. He felt his upper body leaning heavily on the younger's back, the warmth seeping through his tattered clothes was surprisingly welcoming. He shifted a little to get more comfortable before noticing that his arms were encircling the younger's waist, wrists tightly held onto by another hand. His moving about, however, had drawn Nero's attention to his awakened state. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder and shot Dante a brief smile when his eyes were met with greyish-blue and thankfully much more lively than before ones.   "Hey. Good to see you're up again, man. You scared me there a little", he said over the noise of the engine. Dante couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle.   "I would say I'm sorry, but you probably scared me a lot more when you just disappeared."   Nero hummed in agreement, "Yeah, I guess so... But it really is good that you're awake again. There's a hoard of demons right on the way to the portal I used, and I almost feared I'd have to take the longer way around to avoid them. I can't exactly do much with you on my back and only one hand."   Dante straightened up, carrying his own weight now, even if his arms never left the other's waist. He looked around, and indeed, several hundred metres in front of them a big nest of demons was waiting for them. They were probably drawn to the gate Nero had mentioned. He reached for Ebony and Ivory, briefly relishing their familiar weight in his hands.   "You can let go of me and use that hand for more useful stuff than keeping me on your back now, Nero. I'll be fine. What do you say, think we can just break through?"   He was awarded the familiar smirk he hadn't seen in too long and Dante couldn't help but grin back. He felt another wave of relief and thankfulness? washing over him at the sight of his young relative alive and kicking.   "Sure thing. You'll need to clear our path a bit, though, then I'll push this baby as much as I can."   Dante shifted on his seat so he could keep his balance by pressing his legs against the machine and Nero's thighs. He lifted his arms, resting them on the other's shoulders while aiming straight ahead at the demons they were now directly heading for. He saw the other bringing his other hand to the handle of the bike, revving it up.   "And here we go!"   With a sudden jolt, they sped up considerably and Dante had to increase the pressure of his thighs on the machine to keep his balance. They had drawn the demon's attention, but he didn't give them more than a second before he pulled the triggers on his beloved twin guns again and again. The devils were falling one after another, clearing out a path for them straight through their middle. Nero leant forward in his effort to channel as much of his demonic energy into the bike as it could withstand to make it go even faster. Blue lightning emerged from his hands and slowly covered first the handle, then the rest of the motorcycle and only seconds later the glass on the speedometer shattered as the pointer was far exceeding the numbers written.   They didn't even feel the impact as they ran the first poor demon over that had decided to get into their way. The howling of the engine, the crackling lightning and the repeated gunshots drowned out all other noises. It took less than a minute to break through the mass of demons, but Nero didn't let go and kept pushing the bike. After putting his guns away, Dante resumed his grip around the other's waist, leaning forward as well so the wind wouldn't whip into his face as much. He rested his cheek against the other's shoulder, feeling the ends of white hair brushing against his face. He was tired again, the rush of adrenaline having worn off again and leaving exhausted emptiness behind. He stared tiredly ahead but couldn't help the pure joy surging through his entire being as he could see the signs of a gate ahead in the distance. He closed his eyes and his tightened his grip, and even though Nero didn't take his eyes off the path ahead for even a split second, he flashed a brief smile when he felt the comforting, warm weight settling against his frame once more. Felt the slow, but strong and heavy heartbeat through the layers of clothing.   "Yep, we're almost home." Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)