[Part 19]

“Are we all prepared?” I asked, watching as everyone began adjusting their chains, both around their necks and wrists. The locks weren’t shut yet, but the jangle of metal cuffing me was no comfortable feeling.

Dante and Daniel grumbled incomprehensibly while Vergil silently locked his chains in. Marcy and Trish were struggling, so I went over to help them.

“Nervous?” I asked as I helped lock in Marcy’s chains, watching as she tapped her feet at a fast tempo.

“Duh.” She replied in an impatient tone, still tapping away.

“Well, don’t be. You’ve got me and Vergil. Carry yourself with confidence and don’t ever doubt yourself down there. Hell finds your weakness, and uses it against you.” I advised as I made sure the catch to the lock was there, so that Marcy could open in case of emergency.

“You sound very experienced.” Marcy observed, and I gave her my gentlest smile.

“With the piece of Hell I’ve seen from Sparda and his sons? I am. Look, Marcy.” I said, taking the full attention of my sister, “if this, by some way or the other, becomes the last time we can talk peacefully, and let this be known to you. I love you more than I love myself. True, I love Trish more, but you are not lacking behind either. Whatever I do is for you, so don’t doubt me, alright? I’ve been your brother for eighteen years, and I want to continue being your brother. But if by some chance that I do not, let me tell you that I am proud to have you as my sister, and you are the best sister I can have. Given any chance that I can to choose a sister again, I would still choose you. Strike yourself up with confidence when you return to our world. If you really hate Kries Tech, then be like Daniel. Find your interest, and help Kries Tech with what you like.”

Surprisingly, my sister shook her head adamantly, not wanting to hear more as she covered her ears with her hands.

“You are not going to die, Damon, so shut up! We will make it out together!” She declared, and before I could say anything more, she ran away as quick as her chains could allow, finding solace with my doppelganger.

 I turned to Trish with a shake of my head at Marcy’s firm belief that we would make it out safely, and then stopped when I saw Trish glaring at me with slightly teary eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly, not understanding what caused the change in my girlfriend.

“Why are you doling out on your farewells now? You will never leave my side, and you will never leave Marcy’s side. I don’t care what happens; you can NEVER leave me, because I need you. I need you so much; I don’t know what to do without you.” She said fiercely, as if she was trying to threaten that risk out of me, but how could she try to change the risk which would always be there?

“I love you, darling, but you should know Hell is no place to be professing your weakness. It is no great news that you and Marcy are my biggest weakness, and I would do anything to protect the two of you. It is a fact that cannot be changed.”

She nodded, sighing explosively as if she had hoped a different answer from me. But how could that be when that was what she loved in me?

“Is there really no way to change you?” I smiled at her and took her in my embrace, though the movement was awkward with our chained hands that had me looping my arms over her. Still, we huddled close with no problem as she leaned against me.

“I don’t want to lose you, so don’t lose me too. I want to walk this road with you, and eventually with another pair of small feet too.” She whispered and a bit back a smile. These days Trish had been hinting pretty heavily that she seemed to prepare herself for a child. It was as if she wanted to prepare me too, but hey, my little Damons were all waiting to show off their process at Trish’s awaiting egg.

“We will, darling. We will. This will be another story that we will tell our kids in the future.” I reassured though I had no means to guarantee it. What I could do was to hold her close and let her feel me beside her now.

At that, she did smile.

“Oi! You wanna have last minute sex, don’t do it in front of us. You’ve got chains on him, Trish? Didn’t know you were into bondage.” Daniel waltzed in on us, grinning at his not-so-subtle dig at us, and I sighed, letting my lover go.

Only Daniel would do this. Only Daniel.

“Oy, you think waltzing up to your bro and giving a dirty hint can get you a chance for three-way? Dream big, kid.” Dante demanded, shouting over to us, and I hit my forehead in exasperation despite the inconvenience of my chains. Dante was out to prove me wrong, wasn’t he?

“We are not getting naked here, guys, and if anyone’s going to get naked, it’s going to be the two of you when I castrate both of you.”

Both of them recoiled at the same time in reply to Trish’s light threat.

“You wouldn’t.” Daniel gulped uncertainly.

“Like you wouldn’t ask a man to a date, you never wish to tempt fate.” Someone interrupted us, and we all turned to see Trickster walking out of a tear in reality with another appearance.

“Nice entrance.” Dante approved, and Trickster, this time wearing the face of a young, clean-shaven man with sharp blue eyes and a lovable smile, nodded back in reply. On him was a crisp, sharp-looking suit, and he looked more an innocent, too-gullible businessman as compared to the con artist his soul held.

“This form was what I held, when my name was still Neil Witherteld. An appearance I had all too innocent, and it certainly gained my cheating more than cents. All thanks to the look of my face, since when I opened my mouth was yet another case. I could persuade a mother to part from her baby, or even a man from his beloved lady. I never had a soul to sell, how strange it is that I am now condemned to Hell.” Trickster narrated with a grin, and Dante clapped the man on his back.

“I don’t know about the ‘when you open your mouth part’, kid, but your face makes a perfect con artist. By which I mean your face has absolutely no inch of cunning.”

“But all chattiness aside, might I ask for the rule I must abide? Our teamwork is vital, and the choice without it will be fatal. Down to hell we will go, but we will not make our progress slow. To gain approval from Lucifer I must, hence we much make things fast. From servitude I must be freed, and afterwards I will answer your every need. Free me and complete your task, from then on I will answer everything you ask.” Trickster turned to me, exchanging a nod with Vergil, in which the half-devil replied quickly before turning and walking away despite slight difficulties with his chains.

“You should do good to know that I don’t trust you. I don’t trust anyone who proposes something stupid to Marcy and persuades her to jump in for the ride. I will be watching you closely during the duration of our time in Hell, and you had better watch out, because I am going to skewer you dry if you even think of laying a single hand on her.”

It was the first verbal proclamation that Marcy belonged to him, and it sounded funnily strange coming from him and not his brother. Daniel and Dante whistled at the sudden discovery as Marcy blushed red immediately.

“Your desire to protect your lover is commendable, but you should know in hell, in keeping her safe you might not be able.” Trickster replied, unfazed, and so was Vergil.

“You don’t have to me that. I have spent years in Hell. I know what I can do and cannot do. You, on the other hand, have not truly dealt with me or Damon yet. We would be kind, but if you were to take a single step out of line, a swift death and infinite servitude to Lucifer will be what you will beg and grovel for.”

With that, the cool, composed man snapped his chains shut and reached for his trusty Yamato. The sound of it unsheathing was unnerving, for when had Vergil made any sound in unsheathing his sword before? He took a look over to us, all armed but chained up.

Then he frowned, as if something struck him.

Then he walked to me, his chains clinking noisily.

“Punch me.” He ordered while we stared at him. Had he a screw loose up there somewhere?

“Look at us, Damon. Do you not see something wrong?” He replied ambiguously, and I did as he told.

Then I realized exactly what was wrong. Without warning, I spun around and gave Vergil a punch so quick but heavy that it actually took him by surprise.

The rest of the family stared in shock while Marcy gave a shriek of horror. Not done with our little faced yet, I swiped Vergil’s feet from beneath him, trying to work as fast as the chains on me could allow. Leaning into his falling space, I dug my elbow into his chest, slamming him down.

It was kind of satisfying to see the shock in his eyes as he fell, the thud as his body collided with the floor. The room was left to sudden, awkward and painful silence as Vergil collected himself from the shock.

“A little warning would have been good.” Vergil’s voice was still calm and composed, and I could see the area where I punched his face turning black. Boy, that had to hurt.

“But it defeats the purpose, no? You need to be injured, and seemed like it took you by surprise.” I grinned as I pulled him up, watching as he touched his face tenderly, eyes narrowing dangerously when the pain sent a jolt through him.

“I would have killed you if this wasn’t what I asked for.”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t have done it if you didn’t ask for it.”

“I wouldn’t have asked for it if you thought of it sooner.”

“I wouldn’t have to think of it sooner if you thought of it first.”

Vergil opened his mouth for another rebuke before he realized what exactly he was doing. He was protesting against me. Arguing with me –to be exact. Arguing, in which he would have never done to anyone, especially his brother or mine. But here he was; arguing against me and not realizing it himself.

Marcy stifled her giggle by covering her hands over her lips, but we could see the glee in her face. This was her piece of work; her success.

“This is no time for fun. Deal with the rest of them and get me when you’re done.” Vergil brushed me off quickly, but the damage was done as he walked off quickly, trying not to show his embarrassment.

We had a pretty good laugh afterwards. Yes, even Trickster laughed.

Because in this and my world, there was only one person who could make Vergil so crazy. Even Madeline, Marcy’s other half in this world, could not compare to the effect she had over a man so dangerous.

This was only Marcy.

Solely Marcy.

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

There we stood, standing in the middle of Devil May Cry, looking at each other as if it was going to be the last time we saw each other.

Even Daniel and Dante had grim faces as they looked at us, at their chains, and each other again. The foreboding feeling seeped into our pores, seeping down into our bones, and tried to eat away at us.

We were all bruised and otherwise covered in fake blood. For Dante and Daniel’s case, the blood wasn’t fake, since they resumed the fights that I had been breaking up between them for many times. Even Trickster had some make up, but not too much since he didn’t want to appear as if he had lots of trouble with us. The funny thing was that it was almost impossible for him to capture us all together, even if he didn’t work with us.

“Do it.” I ordered clearly, and Trickster nodded. It was nice to see a different face instead of ours on him, and his first form –his human form –had its own appeal to him. The black silhouette was the true form of his soul, he explained, but this form was the form of his utmost joy; for it had been the identity belonging to him before he died and went to Hell to be named Trickster. As such, this man before us was Neil and Trickster not one bit. Funny how a demon, a servant of hell could be so philosophical when he was already dead and doomed with a black soul.

Trickster –no, Neil –raised the sword that looked like Force Edge, the sword Sparda once held, and sliced it in the air, creating a magnificent tear in reality big enough for us to step in without even needing to bend to fit in the entire thing.

“This are the last amiable words I speak, for Hell, what you are allowed is merely a squeak. I have placed the utmost faith and trust of my soul, upon you, which weigh more than all that I stole. Thus, reciprocate what I have given thee, or my revenge will be burn alight in times of three. To keep you safe, I would be willing to lay down my life, hence for your own safety I hope you will not skive. The words I will say in hell will not be mine to sell. Keep in mind that it is only the circumstance that begets my future countenance. This is my true self, as I have shown yourselves, and in this form only that truth I voice, the rest speaks works for toils. But do be reminded; for all your wishes to be satisfied there are always things to be sacrificed.” The last sentence was spoken in a foreboding tone, and I wasn’t sure if Neil –Mr. Trickster –was trying to portray some poet in deep though, or if he was just trying to be an ass to scare us. Not like it was going to work on me.

“Let chit chat be done and let’s go. I still have Sparda’s ass to save.” Dante grumbled, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“Come back quick.” Lady sent him off with a kiss on his lips, earning a grunt from him. It seemed almost as if Dante visited Hell often, and he didn’t seem fazed by the fact that he could die at all.

“You could have come along, and blasted them all to bits with Kalina.” Dante suggested, but we knew Hell was no place for Lady. Human and Hell didn’t mix well if the human wanted to stay alive, so Lady allowed herself out of this even though her help could be great.

“How about they chop me up to bits and send my body parts to you?” Lady asked, and Dante winced.

“That wouldn’t happen.” He said, as if he were trying to convince himself of the very fact.

“That wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t risk it. Go, before I go with you.” She urged, and so her boyfriend obeyed her.

He limped towards the portal –since Daniel had done a number on him –turned around and looked at us with something like a crooked smile.

“See you suckers on the other side.” With that, he took on a step back, and disappeared through the portal.

There was a moment’s worth of hesitation, and then Daniel started running.

“Fucking you is the best thing that happened to me!” He yelled, and in a moment of unison, the entire family remaining turned to Lady, who turned beet red instantly.

“You betrayed my brother?” Vergil asked with a poker-face, and everyone saw the flash of wariness that flickered past her face.

“For credits, he pushed himself on me.” She defended herself, but it didn’t change the fact that she got naked while with Dante. This Lady was truly, truly different as compared to the one I knew years ago.

“But you had sex with my brother while dating Dante.” Marcy added in, with an unbelieving look on her face.

“We were trying to lure a succubus out of hiding!”

“By what? Having sex in front of her eyes?” Trish asked pointedly, and though we held no trace of condemnation at all, we watched as Lady got more guiltily flustered. This was not a good moment for her, now that my brother had revealed their special secret to us.

“We were supposed to just pretend! The succubus was feeding off sexual pheromes, and just a little would lure her out. Daniel and I had an argument and he pushed himself on top of me!” Lady did her best to vindicate herself, but it wasn’t the cleverest of ways to put it. On the other hand, I could totally visualize my brother pushing himself on the woman of his dreams.

“Ewww! Like I totally needed that picture in my mind! Thanks a lot, Lady!” Marcy exclaimed, apparently able to come up with something with an imagination like mine.

“So you guys totally had sex and killed a demon. That’s all?” I asked skeptically.

I knew Lady’s character well –no matter how much she had changed –and this time was no different. Lady wouldn’t fluster so much if it was a one-off thing. Daniel wouldn’t declare it if it was a one-off thing too.

“Okay, so we had sex more than once. But we agreed to be friends with benefits! Nothing else. Dante isn’t feeling very horny these days; so isn’t it better to have sex with someone that’s almost like him?”

“Does Dante know?” Vergil asked; his calm tone slicing in sharp in the conversation. I wasn’t exactly sure if he truly cared for Dante, or if he was just asking for the sake of asking.

“No… but he has his own fuck-buddies outside. Why can’t I have one?” It was a crude way to put it, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t growl lowly at how Lady viewed my younger brother. Daniel, though annoying as hell, didn’t deserve to be tied on a string, to be pulled and tugged when Lady felt like it.

“He loves you, Lady. Do you not know that? You are misleading him.” I replied with a slight frown, watching as Lady did the same to me.

“He knows he cannot expect me to leave Dante. He knows all I want from this is a sex-partner, not a lover.”

Marcy was the one who snorted in my stead this time. “Not going to happen, Lady. Fuck-buddies are going to turn out more than just sex partners and if you don’t want to hurt Dante or Daniel, you should stop what you are doing now.”

Lady turned to my sister indignantly. “Like you know anything about sex buddies?”

It was meant as a playful joke, but Marcy grew tomato red before Vergil, signaling the one fact that I was sure Vergil reveled in –my sister was still a pure flower, waiting for her virginity to be stolen. The man himself deliberately looked away from Marcy’s blush, as if he didn’t want to admit that he was glad of the fact, but who could deny that slight smile written on his face?

“At least I know enough that it will never work out. You need to stop pulling my brother on your string, Lady, or Damon and Vergil are going to get you.” Marcy spoke, and I exchanged a look with my doppelganger. What did Marcy know about us planning to harm Lady anyway?

The woman in topic thought our shared gaze was some agreement and got duly unsettled.

“But what is so wrong about a sex partner? No one forced me to celibacy!” She frowned, getting a little upset now.

“It’s alright, Lady. The Kries are getting just too uptight about it. But you should really think about it, Lady. Daniel loves you –there is no question about that. Much as you convince yourself, do you think, honestly, that no one would get hurt? No man desires to be made a cuckold –you have seen Damon’s wrath when you and Dante happened. You think Dante doesn’t care. But he’s a man. He loves you. It’s not going to be simply brushing off if he knows. I, too, know Dante. No one is blaming you for anything, but you should give this serious thought before you have sex with Daniel another time.” Trish put in, trying the softer way for Lady.

Then, finally, the one who had stayed silent all the while, at the side, because it hadn’t been his position to speak up, vocalized his thoughts.

“Yes, let’s, in another time, speak about this –perhaps in another time where our lives are in bliss. Please, for I am anxious –to meet the freedom from slavery that is so vicious.” Trickster –Mr. Neil –but in, and we turned to him with surprise. We had been so caught up that we forgot that Dante and Daniel were in Hell, together. It was a mixture that could potentially destroy the entire place, so someone –anyone –needed to be there to keep them in line.

“Right. We’ll leave this until we come back for further discussion.” Vergil said, and walked briskly towards the portal with my sister in tow. He exchanged a quick nod to me; as if he were promising that he would stay by my sister as Marcy gave a soft farewell wave to Lady.

They stepped through the portal and were gone quickly.

Trish went forward and embraced Lady tightly. It seemed as if after returning from my world, the two women had grown close like sisters, and they spent almost every waking moment together. Of course, I knew they craved a little ladies’ time, but I was slowly getting jealous with Lady about the time she spent with my girlfriend in perspective to the time Trish spent with me. I, after all, was still her boyfriend, no?

“Take great care of yourself, dear! No matter what you do, please think of yourself and your state of health! Damon would be distraught if anything happens to you.” Lady implored of my girlfriend, and Trish nodded vigorously in reply, as if she was appreciating the motherly advice Lady was giving.

“Wait, Trish is sick? How come you didn’t tell me?” I asked, a little surprised that I hadn’t detected anything. Trish hadn’t been eating lesser. In fact, she had been eating more than what her usual appetite was, wasn’t she? Granted, I had heard her vomiting a few times, but she had assured me that it was stomach flu. Was it bothering her so much?

“It’s nothing, Damon. Just stomach flu. Lady’s overly-concerned.” Trish replied quickly, but she didn’t look at me, suggesting that she had things to hide from me.

“We should not waste more time. Lady, we will leave you here now, just fine.” Trickster finally stepped towards his own portal with insistence, as if he couldn’t take more waiting. To be honest, we had dragged long enough, and made Dante and Daniel wait for us long enough. If we didn’t get moving now, I was going to get murdered by an impatient Dante and an irritated Daniel.

Trish went on in the portal first, and I was about to step through before Lady called me for a moment. Trickster shook his head, as if he couldn’t stand anymore waiting and stepped through, leaving me the last to go.

“There’s something… Trish has to tell you about. It has been plaguing her for days, and she will breakdown if she doesn’t tell you soon. But she doesn’t seem to know how to open her mouth about it. When you get back out, just ask her. Don’t let her go crazy, suffering with a secret that should be shared between you two.”

“What? What secret?” What could possibly force my darling in such a corner that she would break down if she didn’t tell me? Trish had always been an emotionally stable woman, no?

“I cannot tell you. Please, ask her after you get out of hell. And no matter what happens, keep her safe.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. I will.” I promised, and since she wasn’t looking like she would let up on the secret, it was time I went on my way.

I gave her a final wave, and stepped through the portal.

Then I was falling through, down and down.

Further down to hell.