Disclaimer: DMC + rights = Capcom

Emilia rushed through the streets of Fortuna, which ran wild with demons, and mutilated as many of them as she could possibly run her sword through at one time.

It was now she found herself so distracted by the destruction she was causing that her demon forced herself over Emilia's conscious and took control of her body.

Damn it, let me out!

"No," her now-embodied demon said firmly, "As much as I like being reckless, you're just being careless. That's going to get both of us killed."

Emilia, as angry as she was, could not deny the logic of her words. Fine...just make sure to maul as many of them as possible, okay?

A feral grin overtook her demon's face as the smell of blood and gore enticed her senses. "I wouldn't do anything less than that, love."

–

The demoness touched down just outside of headquarters, reveling in Emilia's burning desire to wipe the floor with Credo's, Agnus's, or anyone else's face that happened to be contained within that building at the time. Why, she was practically drunk with Emilia's violent passion. With a satiated smile, she lazily unwrapped her conscious from over Emilia's, and she disappeared with a flurry of feathers as Emilia surged forward.

She chuckled to herself. It was low, humorless, and dangerous; one that made even her demon bristle with surprise. She could smell Credo and Agnus, and, boy, was she going to mutilate them. And maim them. And mangle them. And...you get the point.

Emilia dashed up up the long pathway to HQ, her sword arm merely a blur as some very idiot demons tried to block her path. She had just made it to the beginning of the stairs outside of the grand building...only to be greeted by the site of Nero handing Credo's ass to him.

Well...there goes my chance.

The ginger, in her shock, could only stand there and breathe laboriously as Nero beat Credo into submission. Just as Nero was about the deliver the final ass-whipping blow, Kyrie conveniently walked outside to witness just what Nero had done. As she freaked out, Agnus appeared behind her. Credo and Agnus argued about God knows what, and Kyrie...was carried off. Credo was not far behind in the defense of his sister.

Emilia could feel her demon's shock, and the demonic entity said, "She's a miserable little waif, isn't she?"

...I'm starting to think so.

Nonetheless, she begrudgingly decided to be neighborly and help Nero out. Though she had wanted to do it herself, he did kick Credo's punk ass, and she had to respect that. Her demon automatically jettisoned her wings through Emilia's shoulder blades. They had done that process so many times that day, it didn't even hurt anymore.

She leaped into the air, hovered overhead, and called down to the white-haired male beneath her. "Want me to go after her for you?"

Nero just stood there, frozen, staring at the space everyone else had previously been. He looked at her blankly for a long moment, until a dangerous look of realization dawned on his face.

Emilia's lips tightened into a grim line. She herself had finally figured out that she was the main component of their successful experimentation. Those white suits of armors, Credo's and Agnus's "angel" forms—those were from studying her. And now Nero had figured that out, too.

The half-demon suddenly began shaking, and anger burned in his icy eyes. "You! You helped them! Get the hell away from me, and if I ever see you again, I will kill you!"

"Well, so much for being neighborly, love," her demon commented flatly.

Normally, Emilia would've allowed Nero's words to rolls of her shoulders, and she would've calmly explained her situation. But nothing about this whole damn thing was normal, and her patience had officially broken after her confrontation with Leon. She was well aware of Nero's problems, but she had lived with the hate and fear of her own flesh and blood her whole life. She didn't need his accusative bullshit. The only reason all this was happening was because her own damn grandfather signed her off as a lab rat, and she could've been killed for defying his orders. He was that influential.

So, while her mark was definitely there, none of this was her fault. That little brat was making it out like she had willingly consorted with that pack of scum bags, and it suddenly made her so angry that sparks began to ignite and fluctuate dangerously around her delicate frame.

She hurled her words at him. "You stupid boy...you have no idea the hell I've gone through just because of them!"

And she flew away without another word, still in the direction of where Kyrie was, because she would not stoop to his level.

–

God, Emilia was so pissed. She couldn't ever remember being this angry. Not even when she left the hospital basically searching for something to kill. She was so immensely furious that she could barely keep her grip on her power to prevent everything within a hundred-yard radius of her from combusting. Despite her best efforts, most of the plant matter in her path burst into flames.

Can't believe I'm being so charitable for that idiotic little ingrate.

"That's just the male race for you. Can't live with them, can't live without them."

She spent the next several minutes...hours...days? Chasing after Credo and Agnus with no avail. Demons and terrorized people in need of saving kept slowing her down.

It's useless. The little motherfucker can do it himself.

Her demon chuckled in the recesses of her mind, causing Emilia's irritation to deepen further, if that was possible.

"Come, love, why don't we head back to the city? My gut tells me that's where all the action is going to be soon."

Your gut is almost always wrong, was her very curt reply.

There was a short silence from the demoness, along with a flash of red frustration behind Emilia's eyelids. "Just go!"

Well, there wasn't much else to do here now that she had decided to ditch her chase.

Emilia nodded silently, and Vincentia pushed her wings through Emilia's back.

With one powerful flex of her quickly fatiguing muscles, they were soaring in the air, back toward the city.

–

He lost her. He lost her again. What in the hell was wrong with him? Was he so weak that he couldn't even save one girl?

As his agonized screams shredded through the air, Nero's fists pounded onto the floor, fragmenting the intricate marble beneath him.

And just look want Emilia done. Even after he accused her of such terrible things, she still went to search for Kyrie, still tried to help him out. He understood now that she wasn't involved, and he was deeply sorry what he said to her.

He had so much forgiveness to ask for.

–

Lady took her anger for Dante out on the unsuspecting demons infesting the area, pumping them full of lead.

She had been stuck with back-up duty...again...while Dante got to play hero and get all the credit.

That son of a bitch.

She was willing to forgive Trish, though, who had shown up only minutes earlier. The demoness drew Luce and Ombra, lightning crackling from the barrels, and shot several demons. "Sorry I'm a little late."

–

Emilia's skin prickled as the city rumbled ominously under her feet. She gazed toward the source of the sound, only to be greeted by the sight of a massive Sparda statue hovering toward the city. Thankfully, she had allowed her wings to remain in the open, so she was already dashing off again and leaping into the air.

The closer she got to the statue, the more distinct the energy thrumming through the air became. It felt like Nero...? And possibly Kyrie? Her eyes landed on the smooth blue stones pitted into the statue's forehead and chest. It felt like their life forces were permeating from there.

She found Dante standing on a slowly crumbling tower, where she touched down beside him.

His exotic blue eyes glanced toward her mirthfully. "Well, if it isn't little Emmy!"

She bristled with surprise and anger at the nickname he used for her, but she decided that there were more important things that needed attending to at the moment than her pride. "I'm going with you."

"I'd rather you not be around the huge lump of marble. Wouldn't want your cute little ass to get hurt, now would I?"

She was about to give him a violent chewing out about just how capable of protecting herself she was, but he cut her off again. "It would really help me out if you found Trish and Lady and helped evacuate the city."

Emilia found herself not being able to say no to the pleading look on his handsome face. She looked down and grumbled all sorts of profanities under her breath until she ground out, "Fine."

He grinned at her, before using all the demons flying around them as a launching pad for higher ground.

She watched irritably as Dante grew smaller, before she finally realized just what he said.

That bastard had called her a cute little ass.

–

First things first, she had the hospital evacuated. She sure as hell wasn't going to let Leon die as hard as she worked to get him there, not to mention the other wounded patients wouldn't be able defend themselves if the threat presented itself.

When they were all safely outside the danger zone, she worked her way through the rest of the burning, crumbling city trying to find the women named "Lady" and "Trish."

Emilia turned one last corner, only to have a bullet graze the top of her right wing. She hissed and dodged another onslaught as she unsheathed Shadow's Bane.

She caught sight of her attacker, a woman with short black hair clad rather scantily in white, and her senses bore into the overdrive of battle. The woman shot at her again, but the bullets seemed to fly at her in slow motion, and she dodged them easily.

"Stop!" another feminine voice yelled, and the black-haired woman instantly ceased fire, but still had her guns trained on Emilia suspiciously.

"Mary, that's Emilia. She's on our side."

Emilia glanced at the other woman quizzically, only to be struck with a sense of familiarity. Now the she thought about it, the voice and the voluptuous shape seemed like...

"Gloria?" Emilia asked with alarm. What happened to the white hair and the strange costume?

The blonde-haired woman smiled slyly. "Actually, my name is Trish."

Emilia nodded slowly. God, this was so not the time for head games. "So, you're Trish," she said gradually to the blonde woman and then looked at the black-haired female, "and you're Lady." They both nodded. She sighed with relief. "I've been told to look for you."

"Dante," Trish sighed with a shake of her head.

Lady frowned. "Always leaving the women to do the cleaning up." She finally holstered her guns. "You do know you look like those white knights that keep flying around?"

"I've noticed," replied Emilia with a wry smile. She figured that was Lady's way of apologizing. "Well...do you guys need anymore help?"

"Well," Trish, assuming a thoughtful position, began carefully, "the hospital—"

"It's done."

Trish smiled. "Well, I guess the only thing left to do is get a good seat and watch the battle play out, hm?"

Both Emilia and Lady growled under their breaths. It seemed that Lady, like Emilia, preferred to be in the middle of the action and did not appreciate sitting on the sidelines while somebody else did all the work.

The three of them ambled along in comfortable silence, and it didn't take them long to find a nice enough view to watch the spectacle play out below. The sculpture was indeed massive, and Dante was flashy enough that you could spot him a mile away.

Dante had finally coaxed Nero out of his prison, Kyrie clasped firmly in his arms. Emilia, to her great surprise, found herself a little jealous of this display. Then again, it looked as if Lady and Trish were turning a little green with envy themselves, mumbling under their breaths about how Dante didn't treat them with such loving care.

Nero's moves were clumsier than Dante's, but she did think his glowing left arm was certainly interesting and very handy (no pun intended). At this point, Sanctus had overtaken the statue and tried his best to destroy Nero, who made very short of work of him by using Devil Bringer to crush the sculpture's head. It collapsed with a magnificent crash that sent shards of marble and dust in such a large scope that they were even enveloped in dust on their high perch.

It was a spectacular end to all the craziness they had endured in the past—God, Emilia couldn't tell you how long—days, maybe? Though she would never admit it out loud, she was glad that she had stayed out of the fray. It had been just that satisfying of a battle to watch.

Dante leaped up to where they were standing, grinning like he had just the lottery. "Did we give you a good spectacle, ladies?"

Trish and Lady nonchalantly blew him off, as they had all seen it before. Dante deflated sadly like a too-old balloon, and he turned to Emilia hopefully. "It was good, right?"

She tried her best to keep a straight face, but her golden eyes still twinkled with awe. "I suppose you did pretty well."

"Ah, see!" he said happily as he ruffled her hair, "At least she appreciates my talent!"

"Oh, by the way, Dante," she began, and he turned to stare at her questioningly. His line of vision was greeted by a slim fist that slammed so viciously into his jaw that it dislocated it. "That's for calling me a cute little ass," she growled.

"Oh, I like this one," whispered Lady to Trish as Dante tried to work his jaw back into alignment.

"It's a step up from being shot at," commented Dante dryly to himself. He gazed at the short redhead in front of him. "I suppose I deserved that."

She didn't say anything, but one of her eyebrows was cocked and her lips had that sassy curl to them, basically screaming damn straight. God, she was the secret lovechild of Trish and Lady! But her hair was red, so she was mutated! Even worse! He must've molested babies or something in his past life to deserve something like this.

Yeah, he just needed to stop thinking while he was ahead. Thinking never did him any good. Ever.

"Well, kiddo," he said casually as he pulled a plain white business card from his jacket, "if you're ever in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by." It wasn't often he met half-demons like her, and like himself, they were always magnets for trouble. He'd take the initiative to put forward the olive branch and go ahead and offer some good assistance if needed. Because, most of the time, someway and somehow, half-demons got sucked into world domination plots (like the one they had just foiled). Those were always annoying, nasty little things to get dragged into, so it was good to have back-up.

Emilia smiled slightly and accepted it from him. The two other females grinned at her and waved over their shoulders as they followed after Dante.

A huge hoard of demons showed up around Nero, but she was sure he could handle them by himself. He had just saved the world from domination by "The Savior," so he could handle a few measly scarecrows.

Besides, she really wanted to make sure her uncle and cousin were safe.

–

"Oh, Emilia! Thank Sparda you are safe!" Her uncle rushed toward her and clamped her in a very painful bear hug. He gasped at her clothing, "You're covered in blood! You're not wounded, are you?"

Emilia shook her head. She really didn't want to mention that most of it was probably Leon's.

"Goodness, girl, you've had it rough. Leon told me what happened."

Emilia could feel herself beginning to shrink. "He did...?"

"Yes, he told me how you saved his life."

"...But I almost killed him in the process."

He grinned at her and clasped her shoulder. "The keyword there is almost, isn't it? He's awake, if you want to see him."

Emilia could feel her demon chuckle, though it was slower and more languid than usual, from the sudden perkiness of Emilia's form. Her demon had expended a lot of her demonic energy for Emilia, so she was exhausted.

Now that she thought about it, Emilia also realized just how tired she was – and how sore. The top of her head to the tip of her feet positively ached, especially where she used her wings so much.

Emilia meekly stepped into the room they were keeping Leon in. He smiled at her as she came in and beckoned for her to sit in the chair beside his bed. Pain wracked her heart – he was very pale, and his eyes didn't gleam quite as brightly as they normally would when he smiled.

"So, it's all over, huh?" His voice was barely over a hoarse whisper, so thank goodness for her sharp hearing.

"Yeah," she said simply. A weight suddenly lifted off her shoulders as she finally realized it was over, and she stood up a little straighter and smiled.

"Did you kick plenty of ass?"

"The white-haired wonder seemed to beat me to it most of the time."

"That's very unlike you to let him do that."

Emilia shrugged. "I guess he and Dante were just meant to."

"Dante?"

"Yeah, remember the guy that assassinated His Holiness?"

Leon nodded, and Emilia launched into her story. He listened intently, never breaking his silence, until the flow of Emilia's words stemmed. It had taken her so long to tell all the details, it was dusk when she glanced toward the sky.

Visiting hours would be over soon, so Emilia bid him solemn goodbye. As she got up to leave, Leon grabbed onto her fingers and stopped her.

"I don't blame you, you know. You did what you had to do."

Emilia smiled grimly. "I know. It's just that you're supposed to stab things you dislike, not things you love very much."

"Oh, so I'm a thing now?"

Emilia couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "You've always been a thing."

"Oh, I see how this is gunna be."

She merely rolled her eyes. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Don't miss me too much."

"I won't!" she replied cheekily. He laughed quietly and wished her a goodnight, and she left with her uncle to return home. She was dreading the damage they were sure to see.

Their jaws dropped upon their arrival.

It was, by some miracle, completely standing. A few broken windows and long gashes in the walls were the only damage it received. She and her uncle practically moaned with relief.

Emilia walked numbly to her bedroom and paused long enough to tug off her ruined clothes. She didn't even bother taking a shower or pulling on any pajamas—she just flopped on her bed and instantly fell asleep.

The huntress ended up breaking her promise to see Leon the next day. She was much too busy sleeping.

–

One month later...

Emilia could say things were going relatively well. The rebuilding effort was in full swing, and everyone still had those warm fuzzies that came with coming together as a community due to traumatic experiences. But she could tell that wasn't going to last long. Very long at all.

Their newly-scabbed wounds were going to be reopened, family was going to be pitted against family, and Fortuna was going to reel with chaos. Their eyes were finally going to be opened to the very ugly truth. The Order's council elders were being tried for corruption, and all those records of those obscure private meetings and secret experiments would be out in the open. Including the documentation of the testing she was forced into.

Emilia figured it had only been a matter of time before she was run out, anyway. During the Savior incident, she had openly used her powers to get people to safety. And in a tight-knit community like this, news traveled like wildfire on a hot, windy day. She was already beginning to see the distrustful looks in their eyes.

A strong hand clasped her shoulder, and she was broken out of her thoughts. She turned from her place staring out the window to the person whom the appendage belonged to. It was Leon, and it still amazed her sometimes how much better he looked. He had been released from the hospital two weeks ago, and with his permission, she poured some of her demon's energy into him to heal the rest of his wounds. Of course, people inquired about his amazing recovery, but he smartly brushed it off as very good doctors and lots of healthy food.

He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and smiled at her. "What are you thinking so hard about?"

She glanced back at the window. "About how hard our family and its legacy is about to get screwed over in less than a week."

He chuckled a bit. "Ah, don't worry about it so much. It won't be that bad."

"You do realize that when all of Grandfather's dealings are brought to light, I'll be one of the people completely effed?"

"It'll all work out! I promise."

"People around here never change, Leon," she said quietly.

"But..." his eyebrows furrowed. "You shouldn't have to be punished. It's not fair."

She shrugged with a indifference that surprised Leon. "They'll do what they want, fair or not."

Leon spluttered with another reply, but she just stood up and shushed him. "It's fine. I'll cross that bridge when I get there." She smiled, patted his shoulder comfortingly, and walked out of the study.

Emilia pulled on her coat and exited their house out into the street. She deeply breathed in the lukewarm breeze, and it smelled of the steadily-approaching autumn. With a stretch and a yawn, she decided to search for a nice little patch of grass in the forest to take a nap.

She twined her way through the labyrinth of back alleys, preferring to keep out of everyone's path. Just as she wound around the last corner, a person touched down in the ground in front of her. She reacted out of instinct...and ended up kicking said being in the stomach.

"Ow! What the hell?" Nero shouted as he clutched at his smarting abdomen. "Is this how you greet someone?"

"Well, excuse me!" Emilia spluttered in a mixture of anger and shock. "Can't help it if I react violently if someone appears out from the middle of nowhere!"

"I thought you heard me coming!"

"I was in deep thought!"

His angry expression suddenly transformed into a unpleasant little smirk that Emilia didn't like one little bit. "...Didn't pin you down as the contemplative type."

Emilia could feel the very nasty reply building on her tongue, but she just clenched her jaw and fists. With narrowing eyes, she hissed, "If you're just here to insult me, you're wasting your time. I'm leav—"

"Okay, wait! Geez, I'm sorry. You can't take a joke, can you?"

"...Yeah, I'm leaving now."

"Damn it, I said I was sorry, so just freaking wait!"

God, that boy. That freaking boy. She sighed and turned back to face him. "Fine. What is it?"

"I just wanna say...I'm sorry."

Emilia honestly had to will herself to remember what he was apologizing for. The last month had put her brain in such a fritz it wasn't even funny. She finally remembered what he was talking about, and she said, "Are you seriously still worried about that?"

"...Well, yeah."

"...Hm, that's funny. I've forgotten about that until now."

His visage entirely deadpanned. "...Really?"

"Pretty much."

Nero face-palmed then, and he grumbled something along the lines of "Why do I even try?" under his breath.

She chuckled to herself as her sharp ears caught his words. "Well, anyway. I forgive you officially or whatever. See you later."

"Hey, wait!" he called again. "...What's going to happen to you when your grandfather goes on trial this week?"

Emilia paused. Should she really tell him her plans? But, then again, she trusted him. It just came with the territory of almost dying together. With her mind made up, she replied, "...I probably won't be here to find out."

His mind reeled with shock. "You're going to leave?"

She nodded wordlessly.

"But...why would you leave? You have family here!"

"Let's think about this a minute, Nero. I'm not entirely human as it is, and when it gets out that I was used to help create the Savior, I'll probably be banished, if not killed. Not to mention my uncle and cousin could be tried for treason for just housing me."

He attempted to say something to challenge her way of thinking, but he knew what she said was sadly true. "...Well...I suppose that makes sense."

"Of course it does."

"So...where are you going to go when you leave?"

She shrugged with a indifference she didn't feel. "I'll worry about it when I get out of Fortuna."

"You could probably call Dante."

She tapped a finger to her top lip in contemplation. "...I haven't thought about that."

He snorted. "You haven't been thinking about much at all, have you?"

Her lips twitched irritably. "That's funny coming from you."

Nero glared at her disapprovingly. "Why can't you just take a joke?"

"Bye."

"Dammit!" he yelled as he ran after her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

–

Tomorrow morning was the trial. It was just past midnight in Fortuna, and all was in a hush. The calm before the storm.

She had her things packed neatly into her large army surplus backpack, and she pulled that onto her shoulders as she snatched a wad of cash from one of her drawers. Remnant demons were running rampant all through Fortuna since the Savior incident, so she had been able to save a decent amount of money over the last little while to add to her savings. Hopefully, it would hold her over until she could get to Dante's. She wasn't sure exactly how far Capulet City was from Fortuna, but she knew it was quite the distance.

Emilia still hadn't contacted Dante, but she was going to do that as soon as she safely sneaked out of town. She didn't want to stir up a violent uprising complete with torches and pitchforks if she could help it. (Emilia knew she sounded immensely paranoid, but she believed it was better to be that way than possibly be attacked.)

She silently descended down the stairs and avoided as many creaky spots as she could on her way to the kitchen. Grabbing a notepad and pencil, she paused for a moment to think about what she wanted to write to her uncle and cousin. She hadn't told them about her little plan, and she wanted to write something loving and meaningful to them if she could. Dinner earlier that night was probably the last time she was going to see them in a very long time.

Emilia bit her lip to hold back the tears that were suddenly threatening to fall. She had never been thirty miles past the limits of Fortuna, and now she was going to completely uproot herself and travel hundred of miles toward a sanctuary she didn't even know was accessible. Not to mention she was basically abandoning the people that had unconditionally loved and cared for her all these years. It was all so much to take in.

She breathed in deeply and mercilessly suppressed her emotions. All she wrote on the notepad was I'll call you.

–

Emilia grumpily shuffled into a gritty old bar on the outskirts of a sleepy little town. The sky had decided to open up and pour down onto her just as she had risen high enough into the sky to begin her journey. Along with the unexpectedly heavy weight of her bag, the poor visibility and gusty wind had made it difficult for her to get very far. Dawn was just touching the horizon, and she was more exhausted than she hoped to be.

The bartender eyed her a bit strangely as she plopped down at the bar. She sighed; it felt so immensely awesome to sit down. "Excuse me," she inquired wearily, "is it all right for me to use your phone?"

"Sure," the bartender grunted and motioned to the old phone attached to the wall.

"Thanks," Emilia replied as she fished around in her jacket for that dog-eared business card of Dante's. She reached for the receiver and punched in the number. With a rising sense of apprehension, she listened to the phone ring...

ring...ring...

Her call began with a violent thump and a whoosh. "Devil May Cry," greeted a sleepy, slightly irritated voice.

"...Dante?"

A long silence ensued. She could hear him scratching his head. "...Is this Emilia?"

"Yeah."

A sigh. "Just what the hell are you doing calling at five in the morning?"

"Well," Emilia began slowly, her tone growing increasingly sheepish, "I was wondering...would it be okay for me to stay with you awhile?"

Another long, uncomfortable silence. She could almost hear the cogs in his head sluggishly turning. "...Could this have waited 'til morning?"

"Um...not really."

He grumbled incoherently. "Ah...what the hell, kid. Whatever. I don't care. Come on."

Suddenly, a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. A grin nearly split Emilia's face in half. "Thanks a lot!"

"Yeah, yeah," he retorted grouchily. "Bye."

The receiver went dead before Emilia had time to say anything else. But, heck, she didn't care if he hung up on her.

She had a place to stay.

–

Emilia arrived in Capulet City several days later. It was a good thing she got there when she did because her stash of money was growing quite scarce.

Capulet City was a sprawling metropolis, teeming with grim-looking people, buildings that hunched ominously over the streets, and vehicles that seemed to spew impossible amounts of black smoke. Her senses were violently assaulted with the smell of pollution and, well, sin. No wonder Dante chose to live here—business was good. The city reeked with demons and general unholiness.

After she found a convenience store with a map of the city, she pulled out Dante's business card and set straight to searching for his shop. It would be growing dark soon, and Emilia honestly did not like the thought of getting caught in the streets after sunset.

It took her a little while to discover the street she needed to turn on to (it was way out in an awesomely seedy part of downtown, note the sarcasm), but once she found the street, she figured it would be smooth sailing from there.

Turns out she was kinda wrong.

–

Dante was beginning to get kinda worried about his sorta-guest. Wasn't she supposed to be here by now? She had called earlier and said she was in the city, but that was hours ago. Yeah, he knew his place was pretty out of the way, but city navigating wasn't really all that hard. So, she should've been able to breeze through it. Right?

Oh, shit. That's right. She was a small-town girl. Two entirely different things.

Oh, God. He had to go find her. Before somebody creeped on her, and she beat that idiot into a pulp.

Just as he leaped up from his desk to pull on his signature trench coat, he heard a very violent knock on his door. He considered fleeing out the back because it sounded like Trish or Lady, but then again, they would've just kicked his doors open. So, he mentally steeled himself for a hysterical customer. "Come in!"

The doors flew open ominously, and the dusk painted a very angry silhouette of the dainty Emilia. "You!" she growled. "Why. Are you. All the way. Out here?"

He chuckled nervously. "Uh...because the rent's cheaper?"

Emilia, not trusting herself to speak at the moment, merely glowered at him as she trudged inside.

"Well," Dante began anxiously as he tugged at his shirt collar, "the guest bedroom is down that hallway. Second door on the left. I'll order some pizza."

She huffed and stalked in the direction Dante had indicated. Upon throwing open the door, Emilia went into a violent sneezing fit. The room positively reeked with stale air and copious amounts of dust.

Emilia could almost hear Dante cringe as she spluttered and cursed loudly. Eventually, to her great relief, her acute senses adjusted to the staleness of the room, and she cautiously placed her bag on the cleanest scrap of floor she could identify. She spent the next fifteen minutes surveying her room and the bathroom, making mental notes of how things were arranged and what needed copious amounts of bleach and elbow grease.

"Hey!" Dante's voice pricked her ears. "Pizza's here!"

A sudden hunger gnawed at Emilia's stomach. She hadn't eaten since her very light breakfast that morning, and her mouth was suddenly watering at the thought of stringy melted cheese and greasy pepperoni. Faster than she had moved in nearly a month, she zipped into the front room and pulled up a chair to Dante's desk with a loud scrape.

Dante laughed. "Went without for a couple of days?" Emilia nodded, and he laughed again. "I've done a fair share of that myself."

He graciously handed her the first slice of pizza. "First and last time I'm doing that."

Emilia laughed and all but snatched the slice from him. "Thanks."

Dante grinned and grandly gestured around his modest shop. "Welcome to Devil May Cry! Now don't diss it."

Emilia smiled wryly at his last statement, but she decided it was best not to comment. She greedily tore into her pizza slice, and when she felt like she wasn't going to die of immediate hunger, she finally replied, "Glad to be here."

The pair raised their pizza slices in a congratulatory manner...and gorged.

Extended Ending:

"Um...yeah, by the way...you better be ready to work your ass off..."

C'mon...you know you wanna... :D