6Fear Is an Illusion
Disclaimer: I Don't Own Devil May Cry in Any Way. It is Rightfully Owned and Copyrighted to Capcom.
Rating: PG—PG-13 Due To Bad Language, Blood, Gore, and Certain Themes.
A/N: Please enjoy!
D—M—C
Mission 4: Indecisive
Lexica's eyes grew slightly and she brought her hand up to the scar that resided upon the right side of her face. It was smooth against her skin and plainly noticeable compared to her pale skin. She shrugged before letting her arm fall back to her side. She continued walking ahead of Dante.
"There's not a lot to it, I mean, it's just a scar…" she mumbled and kept on. Dante didn't buy it and he followed behind her. They made it to a street and he placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her just before the red light turned green and the cars started. Lexica looked up to him curiously. He smiled kindly at her.
"You have to pay attention around here," he advised playfully. "Otherwise, you'll get run over." Lexica smiled back and placed her hand on his and squeezing it.
"You're much nicer than what I imagined," she mumbled to him. Dante let her tighten her hand around his as she spoke; he figured she was seeking comfort and it was working.
"How so?" he questioned, his voice soft and gentle.
"Well,"—"Hold that thought," Dante interrupted suddenly. "Let's go to the park; it's nicer there." His hand slipped off her shoulder and the green light went red. He began walking, his boots clicking against the ground below his feet. Lexica, although slightly confused, followed silently behind him across the street. They continued walking for a little longer before Dante turned into an area where kids ran together, playing with dogs and parents. Although they were a strange bunch, no one seemed to pay too much attention to neither Dante nor Lexica. They came up to a wooden bench and Dante took a seat with more than enough space next to him for Lexica. The she-devil shrugged and sat down at his side.
Her icy-blue eyes scanned the area around her; a green field with several children and dogs of many breeds played mainly in the center. Around the field was a wide sidewalk that encircled it completely. Upon this sidewalk were people riding bikes, skating, running and walking while some listened to their walkmans or MP3 player's. It was a large area that was mainly rectangular shaped. Each corner had a nice fountain where birds and squirrel's scurried off or hid in nearby trees. Lexica smiled; it was relaxing.
"You have a very nice home," she said, looking back to Dante. He smiled as he leaned back on the bench and spread his arms upon it and hung his silver bangs in front of his eyes.
"It has its perks, I guess," he responded. "You have the open fields and slightly crowded cities; I suppose that's a win-win situation." Lexica shrugged contently as she continued staring at everything around her and taking in all the sights and smells she had missed even though she had been in this world for a month.
"I had never been around here," she told her silver-haired host.
"You've been running for a month now, right? You probably missed a lot, or weren't able to pay attention to it," Dante said lazily. "Paranoia can do that to you." Lexica frowned suddenly.
"Yeah…" she mumbled sadly. It stayed silent for a while.
"Dante…?" her voice spoke up once more as she hung her head low, her multi-colored bangs hiding her eyes.
"Hmm?" the devil-hunter responded without looking back to Lexica.
"Tonight…the hunt for me starts all over again," the she-devil began quietly. "During my training, they told me that it's better to hunt than to be hunted…I'm realizing, now, how true that is." Her voice almost cracked with every thought that was currently running through her mind. "I don't want to be hunted…and, if this is how my life is going to be…then I think I'd rather just let them kill me. A life spent running isn't a life; it's just as bad as the torturing they used to give disobedient demons…" she shut her blue eyes closed and tried to repress the tears.
"You're a lot stronger than you lead on, you know?" Dante asked in the same impassive tone as usual. Lexica shot her head up and looked up at him.
"What do you mean!? I can't fight them!" she denied immediately.
"You're already a traitor in their eyes," Dante explained as he looked over at her with his steely blue eyes piercing straight through her soul. "You can either fight for what you want or die trying. If you give up, you'll die with that on your mind. Do you honestly want to die giving up?" His words rang through Lexica's mind before she looked away.
"I'm not like you, Dante…" she mumbled. "I can't bring myself to fight them…I'm pathetic."
"I had to pick sides, too, Lexica," Dante explained. "Half-breed, remember? I could've fought for the demons but I chose to fight for humans, to protect them. And I don't care how many demons try to kill me; I still fight for what I want." The demon hung her head shamefully and held back her feelings. Dante stood up and left her guns next to her on the bench. "When you've made you decision," he told her sternly, causing her to look up at him.
"You know where to find me." With that being said, he began walking in the direction they had come from. Lexica looked to her belonging and then back to Dante's back.
"But…But, Dante, what if I make the wrong decision!?" she called out to him nervously. He didn't bother stopping but his response was loud enough for her to hear.
"Who knows?"
D—M—C
Lexica spent the rest of the day to herself, walking through the busier part of town, thinking on her next move. She had already equipped her belongings back onto her thigh and hips but, although she was grateful to have her things back, they weren't the main thing on her mind at the moment. Dante's words continued echoing through her cranium like an annoying little mosquito. She looked over her options.
She could keep running for the rest of her life until something finally brought her down. What good would that do, however? That would probably just send her to an early grave; this one month had already taken its toll on her. She was constantly paranoid and the simplest of movements, like walking as she was now, made her grow weary. She could already feel her legs burning at this moment and all she had done was walk today, and not a lot of it, either.
She could surrender herself back to hell. But that would just earn her more scars, wouldn't it? Punishment for what she's done would be severe and, certainly, they'd overdo it all and just torture her until she was killed or until they were satisfied. Not to mention, she would immediately be seen as a problem; restraining would be inevitable and other demons would still bother her most of the time, with either crude comments or physical pain. What better was that from her current lifestyle?
Lastly, of course, there was siding with Dante. She could become a demon-hunter and fight to protect these creatures known as humans. It certainly sounded better then running for her own life; at least, this way, she was protecting others from a horrible death by devils. However, she would need to get accustomed to fighting demons much stronger than what she's been killing lately. Lesser demons were much weaker but full-fledge ones were what had been sent to come and get her; they were much stronger and weren't mindless pawns. She'd need more training.
Lexica growled lowly at the thought. Training, after what she had been put through, didn't sound like any fun at all. Not to mention, where would she get said training? She had no idea whether or not Dante would do it, or if he even had the patience to put up with her. She could offer him pay…but, then, where would she get the money? Managing training and a job didn't sound exactly easy…but wouldn't it be worth it?
She'd work side-by-side with Dante and, when she was with him she felt safe from danger of any kind; she owes him her life after what he did when they first met. That was another thing; she had never properly thanked the demon-hunter for saving her. She just bitched about everything that had happened to her and accused him of being hired to kill her. She did have reason but, still, it was bugging her now.
Sighing, she reached her hand up and tucked some hair behind her ear. What Dante told her came to mind: I had to pick sides, too. She wondered what his usual lifestyle was like. She heard many rumors about him; some were true while others were pure lies made up to scare whoever heard them. One she heard was that Dante had no mercy; his demon-like nature prevented him from giving mercy; this was a lie. With evil demons he was heartless but, he gave her sympathy when he could've killed her.
Also, he wasn't necessarily demon-like; he looked like a human, obviously because of his human side, but he wasn't as horrible as most demons were. He was actually sweet, with a kindness in his steely blue eyes that Lexica couldn't help but trust. He was different; neither human nor demon but both. He was literally what they had called him; a half-breed. There was no other definition for him but that.
Lexica was no half-breed, however; would she have the same options as Dante? Was it possible for a full-fledge demon to become a hunter of her own kind? She had heard stories of demons who have converted to living as humans but still being demons; these were usually seen as traitors but ignored because they didn't harm anyone from the devil world. But what if she did injure her own? Would she be ignored, too, or killed for her betrayal? Needless to say, she was quite confused and unsure.
She sighed again and looked up; she had just reached an intersection. She stopped and smiled, in spite of everything, and remembered earlier when Dante had stopped her right before a car went by; that was the second time he had saved her. She placed her hand on the shoulder where his hand had been at the time, only to find that he was no longer with her. This caused her to frown as she realized that she missed his presence. She looked to the street; the light turned red and she saw the cars stop. Carefully, she began to cross the asphalt road, her hand sliding back down to her side.
Her eyes wandered all around her surroundings; gray building, black ground, and cars in dull yet shiny reds, blues or blacks. Lights indicated when people in said cars would stop and go as well as metallic signs such as the red ones that read STOP or the yellow, triangular ones with pictures or words upon them in black. She crossed the street and turned left to walk down that side walk instead of continuing straight. After a few moments of hearing the slight pounding of her own boots, she then heard the cars she had just been walking in front of moments ago begin to start up and zoom away to whatever destination their driver had in mind.
If only making this decision was as easy as picking a destination. Lexica shrugged and continued on her walk, her equipment clicking silently with each step.
D—M—C
The door to Devil May Cry opened to Dante and he stepped in, letting his door close behind him. Patty, who in front of the small TV to the left of the room, looked up to him and smiled.
"Hey Dante," she greeted cutely. The half-breed smiled as he stripped away his red coat and threw it upon his desk.
"Hey Patty," he responded. "What'cha watching today?" he asked, not completely interested but attempting to make some conversation. Also, if he was her current guardian, until her mother came by, he might as well make sure she wasn't watching anything inappropriate, no matter what she had already been put to in the past year or so.
"Just some cartoons; my soap operas don't come on until a little later," she replied. The silver-haired Dante smiled.
"Good," he told her and then walked up to his pool table. It was then that Patty took notice that someone was missing.
"Where's Lexica?" she asked curiously. Dante looked up to her, his eyes serious.
"She has a decision to make," Dante began as he started to set up the pool balls.
"What decision?" Patty asked him curiously. Dante shrugged silently as he prepared to hit the cue ball.
"An important one," her guardian responded.
"She's either a traitor or an enemy."
D—M—C
A/N: The last line, for anyone who doesn't get it, basically means that Lexica's either a traitor to her own kind or an enemy to Dante :) please R&R, constructive criticism, no flames ;D thanks!