The Reckoning

The Reckoning….Chapter 1: Part 1

A lone figure prowled down the darkened street, humming a nameless tune. His thick leather boots scuffed across the sidewalk as he turned a corner sharply, stopping short in front of a worn grey building. Full lips curved into a partial smirk as his eyes glanced over the dingy sign hanging rather haphazardly from rusted poles. "You never did have classy tastes." He eyed the crumbling building critically. "Never one for keeping up appearances either I suppose. All grown up and you have not changed a bit. I finally found you....Dante." Icy blue eyes glinted amusedly under the weak glare of the street-lamps. "I do wonder how you'll react when you see me. It’s been a rather long time I suppose." The figure released a small puff of air, brushing his long silver hair back from his eyes and spoke softly into the night. "Unfortunately it is too soon for me to show myself to you. But from what I can tell, you will have your hands full until then." He tilts his head back, listening intently to the quiet sounds coming from the sleepy city, the darkened streets empty as vitality is hidden beneath the dense cloak of night. Everything was silent and still, peaceful really. It was a pity that the serenity wouldn't last long. Pulling himself from his reverie, he took one last look at the silent building before turning on his heel, his dark violet over-coat swirling around him. As he headed deeper into the shadows, he whispered one last parting statement over his shoulder. "Until next time...My son." With that, he let himself fade into the shadows completely, leaving no trace of his presence behind.
Thump. Thump. Thump. A sleepy groan surfaced from beneath a large lump hidden amidst a pile of blankets. As quiet returns the lump twitched slightly before becoming still again, presumably to once more fall back asleep. Thump. Thump. Thump. The white haired half-demon muttered a low growl and flipped onto his stomach, yanking the pillow over his head, determined to salvage at least part of his dream. After all, there was a certain babe in his dreamscape that needed attending to. And who was he to deny a lady? Smirking, he buries his face into the bed and prepares to go back to sleep. Unfortunately sleeping, it seemed, was no longer an option as his dream was interrupted yet again. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. "OLD MAN IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED, I'M GONNA COME IN THERE AND MAKE YOU! AND I PROMISE YOU, YOU WON'T LIKE IT!" A bleary eye opened and peeked out from beneath the nest of blankets. Turning his head he addressed the door. "Aw com'mon kid. It's only ten o'clock. I got at least another two hours before I gotta get up. Go play with Trish. I got my own stuff to do." His jaw cracked a bit as a yawn breaks through, before flopping back down on the bed. "And stop calling me OLD!"
From the other side of the door Nero gritted his teeth. Leave it to Dante to be lazy on a day they actually had shit to do. "Save your perverted fantasies for later old man. We've got a job to do today! Trish sent me up to get your lazy ass out of bed." Pressing his ear to the door, he listened for any noticeable sign that Dante was actually moving. With a muttered curse he pulled back, narrowing his eyes, and glaring at the door. Dante wasn't moving. Again. With a very put upon sigh, he called down the stairs. "Trish! Dante won't get up." There's movement at the bottom of the stairs before Trish called up to him."Go ahead and get him up, Nero. I don't care how you do it." He swore he could hear the smirk in her voice. His face took on a similar expression as he picked up the bucket of ice water, sitting innocently on the floor beside him. He had a feeling Dante was going to be like this, this morning. Trish had merely snickered when she saw the bucket and had asked him to try and wake Dante up nicely first. He had agreed but had taken the bucket up anyway. With a slightly wicked smirk, he threw Dante’s door open and quietly made his way over to the lump on the bed. Nero quickly got a firm grip on the blankets and ripped them off the sleeping man. His eyes immediately roved over Dante’s boxer clad form, staring and nearly forgetting the reason he was in there to begin with. Shaking his head to clear it, he rubbed his human hand over his eyes, mentally slapped himself. What the fuck? He was standing there like an idiot drooling at Dante’s ass. Whoa. Back that thought up. Nero’s eyes opened wide in realization. Drooling!? Over Dante’s ass!? No. Fucking. Way. Nero shook his head in denial. That was not acceptable. The man was a womanizing, straight, thick-headed, infuriating, straight, ego-inflated, self-absorbed, and did I mention straight as a fucking pole, man. Nero clenched his jaw tightly in frustration and blew his hair out of his eyes. Forcing his shoulders to relax, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Okay. There’s no need for alarm. Let’s just pretend this never happened. I was not admiring Dante’s ass and I am most definitely not attracted to him in any way what-so-ever. There. All fixed. Nero glanced at Dante again and groaned inwardly. Riiiiiiiiiiight. He mercilessly crushed the next thought that had surfaced before pulling back the bucket of water. Well…Back to business.
Trish flipped the coffee maker on, unable to stop the smirk that forms upon hearing a cry and a muffled thump come from upstairs. She shook her head slightly in amusement. Dante never learns. The kid has less patience then even she has and that was saying something. It was hard enough to get Dante up at noon, let alone any time before then. Sighing, she blew down into the steaming liquid filling the coffee mug cupped between her hands. Normally, she wouldn't have bothered but Dante was needed today and the kid was still a bit too inexperienced with the particular demons they'd been hired to take care of. The benefactor said it was only a small nest of what he described as shadow demons, but something about the job itself made her uneasy. She'd learned long ago to go with her gut feeling, so that unfortunately called for getting that pain in the ass out of bed. At least Nero was here to do it for her. He rolled into town yesterday evening for a brief visit to catch up with Dante and get a break from the mundane town that was Fortuna. His timing couldn't be more impeccable. Her eyes flickered up as she's pulled from her musings, watching as a disgruntled Dante staggers into the kitchen, followed by a rather smug Nero. Grinning from behind her coffee cup, she watched Dante pull a cold beer from the fridge and pop the cap. "It's a little early to be drinking beer isn't it?"
Dante pressed his fingers against the lump on the back of his head that had formed there from cracking it against the floor when he was so rudely awakened. He was having such a pleasant dream too. That is, until that brat decided to be viciously evil and dump fucking freezing ass water all over him. Luckily, he had been lying on his stomach; otherwise his dick might have suffered a severe case of frost-bite. Glaring at the said brat, he slumped down into a kitchen chair taking a swig of his beer. Dante chose to ignore Trish and focused on the beer sitting in front of him. In his opinion, if it was too early to have a beer, then it was too damn early to be out of bed. Dante narrowed his eyes briefly as the sexy little bastard, a.k.a. Nero, sat down in the chair across from him, grinning smugly. Dante marveled at how adorably cute that expression was on his face before narrowed his eyes further. Too bad that exceptionally sexy brat was the cause of his suffering. For that, revenge was in order. He rested his head against his hand. Unfortunately, revenge will have to wait. He was too damn tired to think right now. "So what are we after again?" Turning his head a bit, he regarded Trish for the first time. He remembered them talking about this job last night. A nest of something or other.
Trish frowned a bit and replied, "We're after a nest of shadows near the bay on the edge of Caturbury. There have been various sightings there and one or two fatal attacks."
"Just shadows?" Dante raised an eyebrow at her. "You can't take care of a few damn shadows?"
As his eyes darted between other two, Nero decided this was a good place to intervene before Dante gained himself another hole in the head and make them be delayed even further. "It's more than that. There have been sightings of other things there as well. Demons are beginning to multiply in that general area. It has more than just the locals worried. There has to be a reason why they're all gathering there so it's probably best that we all go. One of us can take care of the demons while the rest search for whatever is causing the disturbance." He convinced himself intervening had nothing to do with being concerned for the old man’s well-being. Abso-fucking-lutely not. It’s just they were late enough as it is. Well, that and a pissed off Trish is as creepy as hell. He shivered. He'd much rather save the bloodshed for when they get to Caturbury.
Trish smiled at Nero gratefully. At least one of the two men employed the use of his brain.
"What are we getting paid for this gig anyway? Better be damn good for all the trouble it sounds like it’s gonna be." Dante kicked back on two legs and crossed his booted feet on the table, shutting his eyes.
Nero smirked a bit and glanced over to Dante. "Damn, old man you're awfully whiny this morning. Maybe we should leave you in the retirement home so you can get the sleep you need with the rest of the folks your age."
An eye twitched slightly in irritation before cracking open. "Watch it kid. I can still run circles around you." Closing his eye again, Dante grinned wickedly to himself. Teasing the brat was always amusing. "After all, I had to rescue your ass just yesterday, pup. Or did you forget already?"
Feeling his face flush in embarrassment, Nero glared at the elder hunter. Of course Dante wouldn't let that damn incident go. He completely and utterly humiliated himself yesterday and really didn't want reminded of the fiasco, thank you very much. "Just shut up old man and get ready to go." Shoving himself away from the table, he left the kitchen and headed to the office area.
Smirking slightly as Nero stormed out of the room; Dante opened his eyes and glanced at the doorway contemplatively. Nero was so much fun to tease. It was almost too easy to rile him up. And once the little firecracker was lit, woo boy, stand back and watch the sparks fly. Grinning widely, Dante decided the fun was just beginning. He certainly was looking forward to an entertaining afternoon.
Trish watched as Nero quickly made his way out of the kitchen and sighed. Dante had a knack for pushing the right buttons. Her eyes turned to the said man and folded her arms at the smug grin on his lips. “Really mature Dante. Sometimes I wonder which one of you is the elder.” She shook her head and walked toward the door before stopping and tapping on Dante’s raised legs. “And what have I told you about putting your smelly boots on the kitchen table?” Not waiting for an answer, she gripped both boots and threw his legs off the table, causing the chair to tip over backwards. She smirked upon hearing the muffled curse as Dante’s already sore head slammed against the tile floor before turning on her heel and slipping through the door to grab her pistols.
Meanwhile, Nero had already started readying his weapons with more force than necessary, fuming and cursing silently. Damn Dante. Damn those freaky tentacle demon things. Some experienced devil hunter he was. The first day in the city and he ran across some demons on his way to see Dante. There was only a shadow and two scythes. Easy right? Mere amateur stuff. HAH! He'd been so engrossed in the battle that he'd forgotten to keep his eye out for other enemies and had gotten pinned down by two different demons with tentacles. (WAH...I can't remember what those blasted jelly-fish looking demons are called.) He would've had a gaping hole in his midsection had Dante not shown up. So. Damn. Embarrassing. Nero slammed the last rounds into Blue Rose before holstering it and hefting Red Queen up over his shoulder. He glanced over to the other side of the room, watching as Dante appeared in the doorway, holstering his twin guns, Ebony and Ivory. The elder hunter strode over to his weapons rack and selected a sword, Alistair, sliding it into place on his back. Nero raised an eyebrow a bit as his eyes followed the elder demon hunter. “You’re not taking Rebellion this time?"
...To be continued...

Yes, I know I cut off in kind of a random spot but....I don't want to go too much further if it doesn’t flow well.