[Part 3]

Damon’s P.O.V

It has been way too many years since I last found myself in a cosplay convention. The last time I found myself dressing up like the idiots in my house was before I inherited Kries Tech from Kevin, and that had been at least a decade ago.

I can’t believe I was stuck here, dressed in Vergil’s blue two-tailed trench coat, watching ‘Dante’ Daniel make his attempts at hooking up girls. In all sense, he acted a perfect Dante for the die-hard DMC fans who were trying–but failing quite miserably –to dress up as my wife. Still, I could not fault them for supporting the video game franchise, as I watched a blonde girl take a shine towards my brother and his charming ‘Dante’ talk.

“Daddy, Wynter and I are visiting the booth for Death Note!” Damien tugged at my sleeve, wearing a smaller version of Vergil’s outfit. My daughter had gone for Lady’s outfit –a smaller version, of course –and in place of her aunt’s rocket launcher Kalina Ann, Wynter wore her scythe on her back. It was the rare few times that Wynter was ever allowed to show her weapon out in the open –also the rare times I would ever be able to come out alongside Daniel.

“Be careful.” I said –or tried to –but they were gone in a blink amongst the crowd. I wasn’t so worried about their safety, for I could feel no demons nearby. The threat of demons was less real in my world, but there was no saying when Mundus would strike. And when he did, I needed to be ready. Ready to protect my children, ready to protect my family.

“Take this chance to unwind.” My favorite cosplayer said, her fingers kneading my shoulders strongly and releasing the pressure I hadn’t been aware had been building up there. “This could be a rare chance we are outside as a family.”

“I look ridiculous in this.” I stated in soft disgust, taking the hands of my lover who was cosplaying as herself. For the occasion, she had rifled through her closet for her old outfit and it had been an extreme cause of joy for her when she found out that she could still fit perfectly into it –even after pregnancy and motherhood. The children had kindly neglected to inform their mother that she was supposed to be able to still fit into the outfit, for she was still very much a beautiful model covering many front pages of magazines.

“Don’t be. Vergil had a kind of strange charm in those days.” Trish smiled softly, stepping to stand beside me and threading her fingers through mine.

“’Those days’ were probably twenty years ago.” I reminded lightly, still watching Daniel put his move on the group of girls. Trish followed my gaze, then giggled softly at the sight of the cosplayers trying to be here.

“Which one of them wins the prize for the best-dressed version of me?” Trish asked with soft interest, helpless exasperation crossing her features as the smitten girls squealed over how life-like the ‘Dante-cosplayer’ was.

“The one standing right beside me right now.” I replied with a loving grin, beginning to steer her away from the sight of fake-Trish falling in love with fake-Dante. Daniel was earning himself some Brownie Points by pretending to be Dante, but if the man himself were here –I wasn’t very sure what would happen.

“Let’s go find the kids.” Trish suggested, but I steered her away from the Death Note booth towards a relatively dark and abandoned corner of the large convention center. Standing beside the Devil May Cry booth with such almost-perfect cosplaying was getting Daniel, Trish and I quite some attention but it seemed that only Daniel was interested to bathe in the attention given.

“I have something else in mind.” I revealed softly, guiding Trish to the side. A small smile of secrecy and mischievousness had already crossed her face as she followed me gladly, hands holding on tightly to mine as if trying to tell me that she would never let me go. Of course she would never let me go; because I was never going to let her go ever again. Ten years in Hell was enough.

“Where are we going this time?” Trish asked lowly with barely concealed excitement. Being a half-demon in a non-demonic world had its perks, for with the magnitude of powers I now held, not only could I protect my family from danger, I could also bring my wife around the world in the blink of an eye.

It started when I tried to make up for my absence for ten years by sharing and creating more beautiful memories with her at iconic landmarks. While the children were asleep in their own beds, snoring away lightly, I had brought Trish travelling the magnificent sights of Asia and Europe, touring as if we were carefree teenagers with no worries. Of course, finding luxurious hotel stays were no problem given the wealth of the Kries family, and it was needless to say that Trish and I often found little sleep within the hotel walls, engaged in other activities that involved no clothes.

Now, it was becoming a norm for us to take steps out from our busy world –perhaps even for just a minute or two, to just admire the larger world.

Looking around to make sure that no one was watching, I pressed my hand on a darkened portion of the wall and let the power hiding within free. In an instant, they pooled to my hand and ran along the wall, creating a deep-red portal.

“Ready?” I asked lowly, not wanting to stay around for long to be seen next to the portal. Trish nodded excitedly, holding tightly to my hand.

We stepped through, escaping the bustle of the convention center.

“Wow.” Trish’s amazement was easily expressed through the one word that escaped her lips. The soft sound of waves pushed against the shore, the sound of sand rubbing clear seawater; it took over the sounds of chatter from the convention center. The stuffy, badly ventilated atmosphere was quickly taken over by the cool sea breeze coming in from the beautiful sea, and the sun bathed gently on our skins. There were no other people around, for finding an isolated spot on Bora Bora Island wasn’t that hard. Besides, there were little things that money couldn’t solve, and I got the general idea that Daniel wasn’t even aware that I’d tapped onto his bank account –since I was supposed to be dead and didn’t have a bank account anymore.

“Take this chance to unwind.” I repeated her words with a soft grin, slipping my hand from hers and holding her by the shoulders. Taking advantage of her admiration for the natural beauty around her, I led Trish to sit by the amazingly clean and pristine beach, bathing in the soft glow of our surroundings. “It’s only the two of us here.”

“It’s amazing, Damon.” Her perfect eyes took in everything with a touch of moisture brimming the corner of her eyes. “This place is so beautiful.”

“Nothing is near as beautiful as the sight I’m seeing right now.” I replied easily, watching her carefully. After ten years, simply sitting here and watching Trish made me so fulfilled, so complete. As if I had never been a proper man, never a proper soul, I only felt at home and finally full alongside her.

And even if I had half of my humanity left, the ex-demonness that was the beautiful mother of my children had more than enough humanity to cover us both.

“I love you, Damon. I can never say it enough.” The touched tears dribbled their way down her perfect cheeks, as I drew her to my embrace, the two of us sitting on the beach, watching the sea waves crashing, the wind blowing in our faces.

“I love you, Trish. Even if I’m not fully a human anymore, you have enough of my soul to make me humane.”

“You have a heart to love.” Trish replied, pressing a hand over my chest, feeling for my heartbeat. “That’s all you need to be human again.”

If only it were so simple… But with Trish, I was willing to accept anything. Even though her words essentially did not justify how I was no longer a proper human, I closed my hand over hers, placed over my heart, and simply soaked in the atmosphere. Our love was strong; there was no doubt of it. Our love could span between worlds, between Hell and the two worlds that we were both born into. Trish and I had braved the odds and changed to be this perfect together. She had given up her own world to come to be with me. I had given up my humanity to come to stay with her.

We were both half broken; lost important parts of ourselves. But together, we were whole and perfect. Totally human and demon at the same time.

____________________________________________________________________________________

“Where were you? Damien and I looked all over.” Wynter chirped, wearing what looked like Naruto’s cape, holding on to a fake Death Note booklet and carrying a wooden sword that looked suspiciously like Gintoki’s Lake Toya.

It would be an understatement to say that my daughter had been going around the booths, collecting freebies and collectibles. Damien was tottering behind his sister, barely able to see the path in front of him considering the mountain of freebies he was holding in his arms.

“We had to step out for a moment, sweetie.” Trish smiled, picking a Star Wars helmet from the pile that Damien was carrying. “We already have this at home, Damien.”

“But that one is old and broken!” Damien frowned, eyes pegging on the helmet in his mother’s hand seriously as if he were almost willing for it to be placed back in the pile.

“It is still useable.” Trish replied in her motherly way that I was just beginning to get used to. If I loved Trish as my wife, then I loved Trish as the mother of my children doubly. The finality in the mother’s tone was so strong that Damien’s protest faded away quickly as Trish dropped the helmet off at a collection point.

“Where is Daniel?” I pondered to myself, but Wynter’s reply was quick.

“He said he met this amazing girl, and then he disappeared.” Wynter’s input was filled with dry sarcasm, and I had to laugh at the likeness of my daughter with me. Of course, we were both skilled at making sarcastic digs at Daniel, but it amused me to no end watching Daniel helplessly try to deal with a ten year old girl’s words.

“Another amazing girl, huh?”

“She’s probably just has amazing boob-to-butt ratio, and cosplays as Aunt Lady!” Damien piped up happily, transferring the result of his apparent treasure hunt into a recycled bag Trish somehow managed to find nearby.

“Don’t keep that in your mind.” Trish said severely. “Your uncle’s golden boob-to-butt ratio isn’t realistic, and I’ll be damned if you start spewing the same rubbish as Daniel. Or Dante, for that fact.”

“Actually, I don’t think the boob-to-butt ratio even matters to Uncle Daniel at all, Mummy.” Wynter piped up intelligently, watching the other cosplayers walk around. There were a few Attack of the Titan cosplayers in tight costumes, and strangely a few Sailor Moons.

“Yeah, right now, an aunt Lady cosplayer is probably enough to get his pants dropping.” Damien added, but despite the inappropriateness of my son’s comment, I laughed. It was true. Daniel’s infatuation to Lady had somehow never faded away, even as the woman was now engaged to his doppelganger. Of course, Daniel congratulated Dante for his win, but it changed no fact that everyone –save Dante and Lady of course –knew that Daniel was still a little sore at being the only single man. Throwing himself into heavy flirting had only gotten him more teasing and digs from Dante and Damien, but there was still pity to be made towards my brother.

Daniel was really starting to get desperate for a woman. Considering his age of 35, the fact that his wild side couldn’t be properly contained by any person, and the fact that Daniel didn’t seem to want anyone else other than Lady, it wasn’t a good chance to go by to wish that my brother would end up married to some poor woman.

“And now, we have our best Cosplay Couple of the Day! Of the make-believe couples we have seen throughout the day, this chosen couple will stand to win a chance to go on a trip to Japan to visit the gaming studios of their choice!” The Emcee spoke through the blaring announcement system, earning the attention of many cosplayers as a crowd began to congregate near the stage at the end of the convention center.

“Do you think Daniel’s still around?” Trish asked, shouting above the loud music even as Wynter and Damien began debating on who could be the best cosplaying couple based on those that they had seen for the day.

“I don’t know, but I know we’re leaving soon. The event is coming to an end.” I shouted my reply, briefly scanning eyes through the crowd but not finding the iconic natural white hair that belonged to my family.

“Give a round of applause to…” The emcee paused for effect. It seemed to work well, for expectant silence suddenly filled up the convention center –so much so that even Wynter and Damien held their breaths in anticipation.

“Daniel Kries and Kalina Maria Ann, cosplaying as Dante and Lady from the Devil May Cry Series!”

My children’s jaws dropped at the sight of my brother running up the steps of the stage with a woman in tow, the widest grin taking his face as he received the trophy from the emcee with glee. Trish laughed helplessly, shaking her head while I could only sigh. What else had I expected from my brother? Of course he would take advantage of the fact that he was the doppelganger of Dante to win cosplaying awards.

I thought he had grown out of such childishness considering his responsibilities in Kries Tech, but it seemed like Daniel would never grow past the age of twenty.

What surprised me, though, was the sight of the woman who had been pulled onto the stage along with Daniel, smiling helplessly though her face blushed a pretty pink at being exposed to the spotlight. Daniel easily scooped her waist with a strong arm of his, planting a quick stolen kiss on her cheek and earning a roar of delight from the DMC fans in the crowd. The cheers were still going on, and my brother only seemed to bathe in the attention given to him. The poor woman named Kalina could only blush furiously at the audacious moves my brother put on.

“Excuse me for a moment while I go puke my guts out.” Damien said weakly, stepping away as if he couldn’t bear to see the sick scene. Wynter silently followed her twin, looking a little green herself. Sighing again at the reaction of my children to the amazing idiocy of my brother, I let Trish chase after them into the crowd as I waited at the edge, finding the perfect moment to meet Daniel’s eyes.

Eye contact formed quickly, but Daniel only grinned wider. I wasn’t sure what he saw in me to motivate that large grin, but it changed no fact that he grabbed both his woman and the trophy and jumped off the stage as quickly as he’d jumped on, pushing through the crowd. Standing at the end, I waited as Daniel caught up to us, the poor woman in tow.

“Vergil, my brother!” Daniel said, at the very least still keeping up pretenses. We couldn’t reveal to anyone that I was Damon, and so we were relying on the fact that I was supposed to look like a very convincing cosplayer, hence justifying my presence in the convention. “Meet my new girlfriend. Kalina.”

“Girlfriend?” I asked in disbelief. “That is fast.”

“I work fast, bro. We got to first base pretty quickly.” Daniel’s grin would have been better off placed on a kindergarten kid.

“I did not need to know that.” I replied quickly, earning Daniel’s wide grin in return.

“In my defense, she kissed me.” Daniel justified, but for the life of me, I couldn’t see the woman who was hiding behind my brother shyly. It was kind of hard to believe that my brother had just taken a random woman and called her his girlfriend. She must be too shy to reject him, then.

“I doubt that.”

“What!” Daniel exclaimed, as if totally taken by surprise that I would doubt that he was the one attacked into a kiss, and not the other way around. “How can you- How about you ask her then? You kissed me, right, Kalina?”

Spinning around, Daniel seemed surprised to see the woman hiding behind him. Still, my brother took no time to move to one side, pushing the shy girl in front of him as if he were brandishing a human shield between the both of us. The said girl, Kalina, kept her eyes adamantly on the floor, her head bowed in embarrassment as her fingers fidgeted restlessly on the hem of the Lady-style skirt.

“Tell my brother! Tell him you were the one who kissed me!” Daniel commanded, as Kalina made a soft sound of helplessness.

“Um…” She said, her voice striking rather familiar. Not only was her physique like Lady herself, her voice almost sounded like Lady’s. No wonder Daniel was so taken to her despite her apparent shyness. “I bumped into Daniel and we fell. Our lips touched. I-I-I didn’t mean for that to happen!”

The exclamation was quickly followed by the embarrassed lady burying her face in her hands as if she couldn’t bear to relieve the moment, but Daniel only grinned at me from behind her.

“You are just torturing the life out of her.” I shook my head in exasperation again, unbelieving of what the poor woman who had been relentlessly roped into Daniel’s wild life.

“Torture? We won the prize! Isn’t that amazing?” Daniel exclaimed, as if he had won the once-in-a-lifetime lottery.

“You win the prize for best cosplayer every other year when we cosplayed, Daniel.” I said with a sigh, as if the man needed reminding. He literally had a wall of fame lined with trophies from all the cosplaying awards he had won all over the world.

“But I’ve never gotten a prize for the best cosplay couple before.” Daniel protested in reply, and though I would admit that it made sense that he would at least be a little excited for it, I felt doubly sorry for the woman roped into the entire craziness.

“Kalina.” I turned my attention away from my brother, who offered a protest in which I ignored. “I’m sorry for my brother’s inappropriateness. Daniel often doesn’t think before he does anything.”

“I-It’s okay.” The timid voice came again, and never would I thought I would hear Lady’s voice sounded so timid and scared. Slowly, the woman removed her hands from her face, but she still adamantly kept her head bowed, refusing to look up. “I-I don’t mind.”

“You can have the tickets to go to Japan with a friend or someone close.” I offered. “Daniel doesn’t need it.”

The rising protest from the President of Kries Tech was silenced immediately by my glare.

“T-Thank you.” Kalina said shyly. “But I’d rather go with Daniel.”

 Surprise filled me, as my brother beamed widely at me, as if trying to prove some sort of a point which I pleasantly ignored.

“Will you look up and speak to me face-to-face? It is quite uncomfortable to speak to the top of your head.” I asked politely, purposefully neglecting the sight of Daniel pushing his chest out, trying to look manlier.

There was a nod from the woman, and the head of dark hair slowly lifted. It was almost like a dramatic slow motion moment, but the likeness was unmistakable.

It suddenly clicked in my mind –how Daniel and Kalina had won the prize so easily. It was entirely unmistakable, how Daniel had jumped to conclude that Kalina would be his girlfriend, and how happy he was to hear that Kalina wanted to go to Japan with him and him alone.

Blue and red eyes met me, along with the freckles dotting her cheeks and nose. The similarity was just amazing; every inch of her was the same.

“You see that amazing face, brother?” Daniel said, but I was too busy staring. I knew it was kind of rude, but I couldn’t help it. We had always been wondering where Trish and Lady’s doppelganger were –considering that everyone was supposed to have their own doppelganger in the different worlds. Since we couldn’t find Trish’s human doppelganger, we were willing to place the bet that Eva was supposed to be Trish’s doppelganger. But Lady’s doppelganger…

Stood right here before Daniel and me, blushing shyly.

“You look exactly like Lady.” I commented, not sure if it was a compliment or not. If only she had the real rocket launcher Kalina across her back –I could call her Lady in an instant.

“T-Thank you… it’s natural.” She blushed a little more, accentuating her freckles with the glowing pink on her cheeks.

“Of course it’s natural. Can you believe it? We’ve found Lady’s doppelganger!” Daniel cried out, but I sent him a glare. Doppelgangers weren’t supposed to be real, and it was thus obviously something we needed to keep away from our world. For Daniel’s luck, Kalina didn’t seemed to have caught the implication of the meaning behind his exclamation, only smiling softly at the apparent cheerfulness of Daniel.

“I wouldn’t call myself a doppelganger… but I look quite like her.” Kalina fidgeted a little more, but I could only laugh inwardly. Lady was a woman who was no-nonsense, a woman who had barely been able to find her feminine side when I first met her. Kalina was on the total other end of the spectrum, so feminine and gentle that I almost couldn’t see her as Lady at all.

“See?” Daniel gestured helplessly to the lady standing between us, as if trying to point out something obvious. “She’s perfect!”

I tried my best to not think of how ‘perfect’ to Daniel wasn’t exactly what ‘perfect’ meant to a common person, much less to me. Still, there was no way I could tear Daniel away from his new woman of interest –considering how much she looked exactly like Lady.

“Do what you want.” I surrendered with an exasperated shake of my head. “But don’t expect me to save you.”

“Whatever you say, brother.” Daniel replied in such a Dante-style reply that I had to sigh again.

Besides, the woman seemed nice enough. And even if her being almost totally alike Lady would be a little weird, there was always possibility that Daniel might eventually fall for Kalina. I rolled my eyes once, and turned my back on my crazy brother.

As a human, Daniel was already a crazy force –too hard for anyone to deal with. I wondered if Kalina would ever be able to control my brother. Even if she did, she would probably freak out at the idea of half-demon Daniel in the Devil May Cry World.

Daniel was going to have a hard time convincing this poor woman to settle down with him.

I could only pray hard for him.