Mortals (Devil may Cry book 2)

The Doubts take their Toll

Juliette walked along with Vergil and I as we returned to the car. Dante followed close behind. Juliette pressured Vergil to tell her everything. She was very curious, and kept eyeing me funny.

"Please, Vergil, please tell me everything."

Vergil sighed, "Well... somethings have always been. There have always been angels. There have always been demons. And they've always been at war. Nine millenia ago, one demon rose to the top of the ranks. The strongest. The cruelest. Mundus. Tobias' s father.

"But Mundus did not rule alone. At his right hand was his most trusted blood-brother. Sparda. Our father. Sparda fell in love with an angel, Eva. Our mother. Now, the eternal companionship between angel and demon was... inconceivable.  But it happened. And with it came new life: twin boys. Dante and me. Mundus hunted out parents down. He murdered Eva, and banished Sparda for an eternity of pain in Hell. Now there is only one being that can slay a demon king. The Nephilim: a hybrid of the warring angel and demon," he pointed to Dante, "Him and me."

Juliette cocked her head, "So, if Mundus was a demon king, and you are Nephilim, and you are going after his son... that means you killed Mundus. "

Vergil nodded curtly, "Yes. We had to disable the Hell Gate; for when connected to the Hell Gate, a demon king is... immortal."

Juliette nodded, "And you didn't know Mundus bore a child I assume?"

"No. Mundus had a mistress named Lilith. She was pregnant with his child. I shot her with a sniper. My old helper, Kat - a psychic like you - became pregnant with his child as well. I too killed her."

Juliette stared at him in horror. I smiled at her face. This was a girl my age who had not been exposed to violence. She wasn't used to it.

"So wait," she said to quickly change the subject, "if you're Nephilim... then what is she? I noticed something off about her."

I smiled, revealing my fangs, "I'm a Vampire."

Juliette reeled back in horror, "A VAMPIRE?!"

I nodded. She shook her head, trying to grasp everything. After a few deep breaths, she stared at Vergil again, "Okay. So what am I going to do?"

"I will tell you when we all are secluded. Too many seeking eyes and ears. Where should we stay?"

I shrugged,  "We can stay at the Order. Vergil, that place is still secret."

Vergil shook his head, "No. The SWAT members found us in all of our other hiding places. I will not sacrafice it again. I lost way too many men. They are not easy to come by."

"Hmm... Your house?"

"Already compromised. Surely they will still linger there."

We all went silent as we thought of potential places to hide. We were running out.

"Well..." Juliette interjected hesitantly, "You can stay at my place. But I don't want it being raided."

"Juliette, there is no guarantee that, if we stay there, it will not be infiltrated. "

She sighed, "Whatever. Maybe you can fill me in and teach me the basics of this psychic stuff."

~o0o~

"Okay. This is called a Bailed Fragment. It contains a small trace of lead, which is a base for some spells. If you boil this substance, you get a smooth, black liquid. The liquid itself is useless, but combined with other ingredients,  it can be used for opening gate ways to Limbo."

I watched Vergil show her how to mix the ingredients together correctly, and boil them on the stove. He showed her how to can it, and how to spray it on the template.

"Now, those weird, glimmering lines and patterns you see on the ground are Rifts; places where Limbo and the real world collide. That is where you want to spray this. It will only work there."

She held the spray can in her hand, "A can of witchy stuff? "

Vergil shrugged, "Some spells take a LONG time to prepare. Can it, and it's all ready to use."

"Hmm. Don't they do that with cheese?"

Dante clapped his hands together suddenly, pointing at her,  "That's what I said!"

I relaxed on the couch as Vergil explained what she should expect to help us with. Her house was a cozy place in the country. It was well secluded from others. "I'm socially awkward. Best to avoid most people, " she had said.

There was a knock at the door. Vergil, Dante, and I scrambled to hide as she opened the door. I dove behind the couch, Vergil disappeared in the closet, and Dante tried his luck by "blending" into the coat rack.

"... Brook! Where have you been?"

"Shh," she said, "I have to talk to you."

We all decided we wanted to listen to this, so no one moved.

"Uh, sure. Come in."

I heard Brook sit on the couch. I winced. Don't look behind the couch, whatever you do.

"Jules.... he is getting on my nerves. I almost can't stand doing this temporarily."

Juliette hesitated, "Uh... doing what?"

"Helping my master. Mr. Wane."

"Ohhh," Juliette sounded very confused, "Is that who you ran off to meet when you were helping Dante?"

She was silent, so I decided that she had nodded. After a moment, she spoke again, "Wait a minute... are those legs coming from between your coats on your coat rack?"

I stood up suddenly from behind the couch, "Brook I am appalled at you!"

She jumped, "Cassi?"

"Yeah!" Dante exclaimed.

She swung over to see Dante push out of the coat rack, "Dante!"

"Utterly revolting," Vergil growled, stepping into the lighting.

"Vergil?! Guys... this isn't what it looks like!"

"Oh yeah?" I growled, "Then what is it?"

She sighed, tears springing to her eyes, "My master is the man who made me what I am. I have no choice but to do as he says..."

Vergil's brow furrowed, "The scientist?"

She nodded, "He told me that if I didn't help him, He'd kill my boyfriend, Leon. I'm sorry I kept you in the dark guys."

Vergil and I shared a look.

She was lying.