18.

Morbid Homecoming

“Niet Gahn regressus?” Anna asked.

She had run into the living room from her usual hiding spot in the hallway. She stood looking at Verden as much as her little neck would allow her.

“Niet Gahn regressus?” she repeated, her eyes glossy.

“Sorry,” Diorela said, appearing into the room as well. “She used her Magika on me.”

She grabbed the little girl’s hand and gently tugged her to return with her, but Anna refused to move.

“Anna,” Verden spoke in a firm voice.

Her teary eyes met his just as a single tear ran down her cheek.

His face softened but he said nothing.

It was enough for Anna. She lowered her head and grasped Diorela’s hand tighter.

“Come on,” Diorela whispered and placed her other hand on the girl’s black locks.

“Despues,” Verden promised as they walked away.

Anna nodded but kept her head bowed as Diorela guided her away from the room.

Verden watched the two until they entered the hallway and then turned back to the seated Reyna and Dante.

“Is she okay?” Reyna asked. “What did she say?”

Verden crossed his arms. He seemed more irritated at the recollection of Anna’s words instead of Reyna’s questions. “She asked about Gahn. She wanted to know if he was coming back.”

“Oh.” Reyna looked down.

Dante ran a hand through his saggy hair. “Yeah, well like we said earlier, he left with Auronmar. We came back on our own.”

“That is obvious,” Verden said, “but I want to know why.”

“Why?”

“Yes. Why? Why return here? What do you wish to accomplish?”

“We want to help,” Reyna said. “I don’t know how but there has to be a way. We…”

“We know staying with Auronmar won’t get us any answers,” Dante picked up. “He never told us anything about the war. He wouldn’t let us do anything to help.”

Verden stared at them with cold eyes. “Help in what way?”

The two were silent.

“Help take care of what’s left at least,” Reyna spoke. “We can at least help Anna, Diorela, and Michael.”

Dante nodded. “Yeah. We can at least help here.”

Verden’s eyes weren’t as icy. “Are you sure you wish to aid me?”

“Yes,” they said together.

“Then I’m going to need you to get more food.”

They stared at the half demon, baffled.

Verden’s grin was a bit of a tease but also sincere. “Don’t you look at me like that. If you want to stay here, we are going to need more food to settle you in.”

“From where?” Dante asked.

“Your human world franchise and grocery stores may no longer exist, but there are animals that roam about you can catch.”

“Um. I thought you just made the food appear out of nowhere like this house and the stuff in it,” Reyna said. “I know Diorela told me you were on a food run when she got attacked, but I didn’t think it was literal. I thought you were just on a random errand.”

Verden shook his head. “I want to give the humans I care for an authentic feel for the human realm. I cross over to retrieve clothes, foods, and other things. The house and furniture was pulled from Magika, yes, but it is a mistake I do not wish to make with their appearance. I came to learn humans are quite judgmental with one’s appearance.”

“So, just get food?” Dante asked. “Any food from animals we come across? Do we just bring the carcass over or what?”

The half–demon chuckled. “Whatever seems easier for you. I am sure catching and kill them should not prove to be difficult.”

Dante scratched his stubble. “I guess we can do that.”

“Very well. I will be sending both of your through the portal then. Right now.”

“Now?” Reyna and Dante exclaimed.

“Yes. Now.” Verden looked at them as if they were crazy. “Is there a problem? Do you wish to take any previsions?”

They glanced at each other and shook their heads.

“Then follow me.” Verden crossed the room.

They went all the way down the hallway and entered the room that was at the end of it: Verden’s. The walls were grey and the only furniture in the room was a full sized bed with a red comforter. He went up to it, placed a foot on one of the frame’s wooden beams, and slid it clear across the floor.

Reyna and Dante flanked him as Verden waved a hand at the tiles, summoning open the portal that had been under the bed. The scenery framed by the oval shape was grey and green.

“The portal will be in the same area it spits you out on the other side. You should be able to Summon it open, Reyna. Don’t take too long now. I am hoping to hear back from you in at least four days,” Verden said.

“Four days,” Dante repeated. His hand reached back to grip his sword’s hilt. “Ready?” he said and looked at Reyna.

Still gazing at the portal, she grabbed his other hand. “Yeah.”

They stepped through and fell down onto solid ground. The portal above them briefly showed the face of Verden that stared down below before disappearing.

Reyna and Dante rose from their crouches and took a few steps forward, eyes agape. They landed in what seemed to once be a neighborhood. Broken planks, shards of glass, and other unidentifiable rubble littered the entire area. Years’ worth of grass and vegetation weaved through the debris and climbed into the sky. Glimpses of grey, the remains of roads, peeked through the overbearing foliage.

The horizon itself didn’t hold as much green; it was a savanna brown, dotted with shrubs with scrawny branches. Occasionally, a grown tree would break the beige grasslands, but its appearance was endless.

“There’s nothing,” Dante said. “No people.”

Reyna hugged herself as she gazed around. “But still…” 

Despite the isolation, there was a sense of familiarity. A sense of home.  

The air was crisper and had a fresh, grassy taste to it. The warm sensation of the setting sun soaked into their skin. Crowning the flaring orange orb was a flat ring of clouds. The hues of blue, red, purple, and orange that served as the sky was a welcoming and awe–inspiring sight.

Reyna deeply inhaled as if to swallow the sight around her. “Dante, do you also smell that?”

He sniffed the air and his eyes lit up. “I hear it too. It’s water! There’s a river nearby!”

They turned around and saw the deep blue arches of water weaving through land in the distance.

She laughed. “A river!”

The two ran towards it and despite the lengthy distance they were from it, they arrived by its vine–filled bank within minutes and even then, they didn’t stop. Both waded into the cool liquid, their laughter overlapping with their splashing.

 “I don’t remember rivers being this clean!” Reyna smiled and cupped the water in her hands over her head.

Dante stared at the stream. “Probably because there’s no one around to mess it up.”

She lowered her hands. “Yeah.”

He grinned. “You never know. Maybe we’ll run into some.”

Reyna couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “We should probably find shelter. I don’t think it was a good idea just running into the river.”

“Doesn’t help that it’s almost night time. Probably should’ve brought some stuff with us after all, huh?”

“We’ll show Verden we can manage on our own,” Reyna said as she made way out of the water.

Minutes later they were back in the rubbled neighborhood. Their pacing was slow—hair and clothes drying in the warm evening—to observe their surroundings with greater detail.  As they walked on, the savanna was more apparent as the crumbled houses disappeared and were replaced by half demolished stores, shopping centers, restaurants, and hotels that bordered the grasslands.

“I think we’re downtown,” Reyna said.

“Think so,” Dante agreed and looked around as they came to a halt in what could have been a street intersection at one time.

“Where are we supposed to get food? I mean, Verden showed up with chicken breasts. What the hell?”

“He probably has his own routine, I guess. We can’t really venture out. We may get lost and not be able to find the portal again.”

Reyna crossed her arms. “I guess we can check out the stores here.”

“Most aren’t even standing.”

“What about that one?” She pointed at the building ahead of them. Half of the roof had collapsed along with the walls, but the other half still stood.

“We could try,” Dante said and scratched his stubble.

Reyna giggled. “Trying to look manly by growing a beard. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

He rolled his eyes. “More like I haven’t had the time to shave.”

“I don’t know. You look kinda cute with stubble.”

He watched her walk away to the broken store. “Wait. Really?”

“Come on!” She hurried him from the distance.

It was dark by the time they stepped in, but the roof had plenty of holes to allow enough moonlight to shine inside the area. Green vines had embedded and grown through the walls and were starting to ensnare items into their grasps. The few rusted store shelves that were still standing were scarce with food. Only canned goods or bloated bottles remained. In the back, rotten clothes and miscellaneous house items were scattered on the floor.

Reyna and Dante walked through the isles, stepping over thick vegetation or fallen cans. Dante picked one out from the shelves and looked at the bottom of it.

“Do you think these are still good?” he said, reading the expiration date.

Reyna plucked one as well. “I don’t know. Who knows how long has passed since all this happened.” She sighed and put the dirty canister back. “Why don’t we just settle here for the night?”

Dante turned to her, about to suggest they simply search somewhere else, but instead he held his tongue. She seemed tired, her face heavy with thought.

“Sure,” he said. “Maybe we can find something to use as beds.”

After half an hour of picking scraps of cloth and clearing up a corner area, they had a moderate amount of them piled up against the wall for a makeshift bed. They sat on it and the canopy of foliage over them shadowed them into darkness.

“You know, I’m not so sleepy anymore. Or maybe I never was. It’s almost weird now, seeing the difference between day and night,” Reyna said, hugging her legs to her chest. She immediately recoiled.

“My jeans are still wet!” she said.

“Yeah. Mine are too,” Dante said but he seemed distracted.

“Dante?” She looked at him.

He turned towards her. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about…everyone. Everyone that has probably died that used to live here. Everyone that died elsewhere.”

Reyna sighed. “Usually I’m the one that thinks like that.”

“I always thought of that too you know.” He playfully elbowed her.

The two stared at the broken ceiling, catching glimpses of the stars. Clouds would at times block the rays that filtered through the building and a crude checkerboard pattern would fall on the ground.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you this before, but it’s nice seeing you in skinny jeans again,” Dante said and grinned at Reyna. “You look cute.”

She blushed. “I could say the same to you. I’m surprised you found a polo shirt that fit you and your freakish muscles.”

“You make it seem like they’re huge.”

“They are!”

“Only ‘cause you’re so tiny compared to them.”

A second of silence passed before the two burst laughing. The sound warmed them.

Reyna was the first to stop. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Her odd words halted Dante’s laughter. “What?”

Her eyes were on the floor. “For all the stuff I put you through back then when, you know, we were dating.”

His eyebrows shot up. “What? Why are you saying that?”

“Because I never said it.”

“Um. Okay.”

“No.” Reyna gazed at him. Though the darkness her glossy eyes were seen.

“I was too caught up in my situation with Mundus,” she continued, “and I am sorry. I pretty much cheated on you. I catered to him first and pushed you aside. I left you as I left my family. I didn’t think of anyone’s feelings or distress. And in the end of it all…there just wasn’t anything to show for it. I’m sorry, Dante. I’m so sorry.”

He was frozen, his eyes caught within hers. He spoke slowly. “Reyna, did you ever actually like me? At all?”

 She kept eye contact with him. “I did a little. When we were friends, I’d always have these little moments when you’d smile or say something sweet, I’d find myself blushing or feel a flutter in my stomach, but that’s all they were. They were just little moments yet they were enough to convince me to give us a try.

“When we were together, the little moments started to grow and they weren’t little moments anymore, and I was happy when you kissed me that day. I wanted to give us a try, and I wanted it to work.

“But then the whole deal with Mundus happened and it just blew to hell any potential our relationship had. With him, it was just a rush. Infatuation flooded me, and I was just so drawn to him. I wanted to help him. I…I liked him. Almost right away. I don’t know why. I liked being around him to the point where I could just say I loved him.”

Dante flexed his jaw. “I don’t think I wanted to know that part.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rub that in or anything. It just came out.”

Another moment of silence.

“How do you feel about him now?” he quietly asked.       

Reyna gave a half–hearted laugh. “I know how I should feel, but”—she sighed—“I do have feelings for him still. Saying I still love him isn’t totally right, but it also is. It’s like a lingering fog. It’s almost gone, but it’s not. I don’t know. I don't...I don't want to feel anything towards him anymore!”

Dante watched Reyna fall back on their makeshift bed and place an arm over her eyes. He counted the times her chest rose and fell with each of her breaths. When he got to nineteen, he scooted over to sit by her.

“Reyna,” he said and moved her arm.

Her eyes were closed and her voice was strained. “What?”  

“I’m here for you.”

A small smile crossed her lips. “Okay.”

“I’m serious.” He gripped her arm tighter. “You know that, right? We have to be here for each other. We’re all we have right now.”

Reyna opened her eyes. “Yeah, I know that.”

They stared at each other a while longer before Dante let go of her and stretched out next to her. Reyna took his hand and slid her fingers with his.

“Thanks, Dante. I'm glad you're here with me instead,” she said.

~*~*~

They both woke up to the feel of an approaching power level. It wasn’t high, but it was enough of a disturbance to the essence around them to jerk them from their sleep. The broken light from the early morning son revealed the store to be empty of other beings, but they knew it wasn’t in the building.

“Where exactly do you feel it coming from, Reyna?” Dante asked her. His sword was in his hand now.

“Not too far from here. A little bit behind the building actually. It’s definitely an Upper, but I think…” she trailed off and narrowed her eyes. They then widened. “It feels like there are humans with it!”

They scrambled to their feet and rushed to the pulsing Magika while keeping their own naturally suppressed. The Upper demon soon came into view. It seemed to be a female. Her body was curvy but also covered with light grey and fur streaked white around her pawed hands and feet.

“What is she doing?” Dante asked from their hiding spot behind an overgrown tree.

“I don’t know, but I’m more interested in where the humans I’m sensing are,” Reyna answered.

As if summoned, they appeared from the vegetation near the Upper. They were only two: a redheaded woman in her thirties and a teenage boy. They appeared to be the definition of jaded. Their clothes were dirty and tattered, hair a mess, but they were also unfazed by the demon before them. In fact, they approached her.

“I don’t feel any surge of Magika from her. She’s not tricking them, I think,” Reyna said.

Dante didn’t answer and left his hidden place to rush towards the scene.

“Dante! Wait!” Reyna said scuttling after him.

The Upper turned towards them and the humans showed fear for the first time. They backed away into the vegetation.

“Reyna? Dante?” the demon exclaimed.

They halted at the sound of their names.

“How do you know us?” Reyna asked.

“Are you with Blethinette?” Dante added.

The Upper’s wolfish eyes narrowed even further. “No. I do not serve such lewdness.”

“Auronmar then?”

“Yes. He is my true ruler though I have come to word that he has been captured.” Her elated face faltered.

Reyna came up to her. “Who exactly are you?”

She gave them a sad smile that was astonishingly conveyed through her multiple fangs. “I am Neeri, a Commander of King Auronmar’s sent to Earth.”

“And them?” Dante pointed at the wide eyed humans.

Neeri waved them over and they hesitantly approached. She spoke to the woman in French and the teen in Spanish. They sent hesitant glances to Reyna and Dante but after Neeri’s talking, it was replaced with hesitant smiles.

“Please,” Neeri said in English to Reyna and Dante, “I will answer your questions, but we need to find shelter and food for them.”

Reyna pointed at their building behind them. “We were in there. It’s a store of sorts. There is also some canned food, but I don’t know if it may be edible for them.”

“We can try.”

The group filed into the building and settled in the back where the cloth mattress was. The two humans accompanying Neeri sat on it and nervously looked around. She again spoke to them in their respective languages and ease crossed their features. The wolf demon turned to the other two humans that stood next to her.

“How long have you been here?” Reyna asked her.

Neeri placed a clawed hand on the nearby broken shelf. “I have been sent to the human world multiple times, but it was not until recently that I came across any humans, namely my current companions.

“There used to be five of them. The woman had a daughter and the young man a younger brother. There was also an orphan boy accompanying us as well”—she paused, a brief look of defeat on her canine face—“He succumbed to exhaustion and hunger. The other boy was already ill upon coming to my care, and then the girl was taken. Attempting to save her meant losing all of them. It was a difficult decision.”

“You had been alone the whole time before meeting them?” Dante asked.

“No. King Auronmar had deployed me with a platoon of my own. Our orders were always the same: secure as many humans as we could possibly encounter and protect them. If we came across any, we were to rendezvous through a rotation of portals to meet up with Gahn. His one–of–a–kind Teleportation skills made it simple for him to meet with us and deliver the humans to the safety of King Auronamar’s castle.

“The only individuals we would come across would be Blethinette’s forces, however. The entirety of our returns to King Auronmar’s fortress were always empty handed. At least until now. Yet when I heard King Auronmar had been taken captive, I decided to keep us all on the move in order to throw any of Blethinette’s men off of our path.

“I lost most of those under my command until only I remained. I have lead these two and protected them to the best of my ability. Most of our enemy encounters, rare as they are nowadays, are against three Lowers at the most. Easy for one such as myself, but now…

“Perhaps they all would have been saved had King Auronmar not been captured.”

“But he’s not,” Dante said. “He’s free.”

She eyed him with excited golden irises. “What do you speak of?”

“Yeah,” Reyna added. “We saw him before crossing over here. When did you hear about this?”

“It must have been about a week ago.”

“That was about how long ago he left.”

Neeri scowled. “How odd.”

“What?”

“I have never seen the timeframes between the two worlds align so well.”

“Is that bad?” Dante asked.

“I do not think so. It is simply strange.”

He shook his head. “I—”

“Verden!” Reyna was so eager she almost jumped.

“Who?” Neeri asked.

“What?” Dante said.   

“Yes,” Reyna exclaimed, “we should take them to him. He does seem to want to help humans in need.”

“He didn’t treat us too well when we showed up with a demon though,” Dante pointed out.

“But this is different. They are in need. He wouldn’t turn them away.”

“Who is this Verden?” Neeri asked again.

Reyna and Dante glanced at each other.

“He’s a demon that takes care of humans on the demon side,” Reyna said. “He can probably tell you more about it than me. He’s also why we’re here.”

Neeri’s confused look begged for more information.

Dante sighed and crossed his arms. “Well, it kinda happened like this…”

After their account with Verden had been explained, Neeri asked the question they were expecting.

“King Auronmar’s son?” she gasped, white paws grasping her chest.

They nodded.

“He does live then!”

They paused.

“You also know about him?” Dante asked. “Are we always the last ones to know things?”

Neeri ignored him and turned to the two curious humans behind her and addressed them. They replied to her, the woman hugging the young man, smiles on both their faces.

“Take us to Verden. Summon open the portal, please,” the Upper said to Reyna.

She turned to Dante, her eyes asking for his opinion. 

“What? Don’t look at me. It was your idea,” he said as he poked her forehead.

********************

Author's Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Sorry for the millions of typos and awkward sounding sentences and what not. I try my best to catch them all...but I know they are there...laughing at me...always laughing at me...

Dedicated to WhisperRiddle for being such an awesome supporter. She was there since the beginning with her awesome comments and votes. Thanks so much! :D