Mission 8: Birds of a feather

Reclaim a lost relationship

Wow. 50 followers. Just, wow. As for the votes, that has come to a close. By far the result was to keep them close, though there were one or two that I personally liked. *smirk*

Dante's holidays went by in a blur of blood and tears, by the time school came back he had slayed quite a few demons. Looks like his spars with Vergil had payed off, he'd have to thank the bastard. He did, however, receive one gift that he'd always treasure as he was looking through his 'safehouse'. It was a picture. Where as Dante's picture was one that he had salvaged from the fire after waking up, this one was surprisingly well cared for, not a spec of dust on it in contrast to all the other ones. The picture consisted solely of Eva in her signature red jacket as she looked around in boredom before her face light up upon seeing Dante. Eva had almost jumped at the glass that separated them as she soundlessly called his name. The half demon had picked up the picture in awe of what he was seeing.

"Mistress Eva...Kreacher adored Mistress Eva above all others." The house elf had said upon noticing. Dante was unable to tear his gaze from the picture as he numbly sat down, taking in her kind, blue eyes that held a fierce fire in their depths and the deceptively gentle face framed by long, blonde hair.

"Your favorite?" He echoed breathlessly. Kreacher nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes. Mistress Eva was, as you say, completely insane. Yet her insanity was in a completely lovable way. All who met her loved her, especially her brothers. Kreacher remembers Master Sirius used to seek her out for comfort when he felt neglected or troubled, while Master Regulus would go to her for job advise. If only Master Regulus had listened to her and become an auror." The house elf said with loving tears in his big eyes as he too looked at the picture.

"What about her parents?" Dante asked quietly. Kreacher gave a wistful smile at the question.

"They loved her. Mistress Walburga was so proud when she started displaying interest in demonology. They dismissed her being a Gryffindor as being brave enough to study that field with such passion, unlike Master Sirius." Dante gave a small grin at the reverent way the elf was talking. Leave it to his mother to gain such respect.

"I'll keep this." He said as he carefully put the picture back down. Eva gave him an understanding smile when he forced himself to leave.

The holidays had been a little better after that. Whenever he woke from a nightmare or was over whelmed he'd seek out the picture as a form of comfort, much like Sirius had apparently done. With his mother's support, he was able to survive the holidays a little easier. The picture had become just as treasured as the amulet Dante always wore. Both irreplaceable mementos.

It wasn't long after that he returned to school. People seemed to be greatly releaved at his return for some reason, but he didn't pay much attention to that as he didn't feel killing intent. Besides, he was looking for someone specific. When Dante caught sight of a blue coat, he smirked and approached his brother, who seemed to be talking to a professor.

"-tolerate it anymore." He had been saying when Dante got in hearing range. McGonnagal, the professor he'd been talking to, pursed her lips into a thin line.

"The sorting hat put you in Slytherin. It's impossible to change now." She said sternly. Vergil did not seem pleased.

"They are rather insistent on provoking me. There will be consequences if I lose control." The older twin said with his infamous stare. It was quiet for a few seconds before-

"I'll talk to the headmaster." And she left. Dante smirked as he approached his twin, who was watching the deputy headmistress with an unreadable gaze.

"Nice coat." He said as if his brother hadn't just indirectly threatened an entire dorm. Vergil hardly reacted, simply turning his head to look back.

"Same to you." The older said in reply. Dante crossed his arms as there was a slight stare down. It was Dante that decided to break it.

"I've got more info on Mom's past." He said after a moment, peaking his twin's interest as he fully turned around.

"I'm listening." So Dante once more spoke of what he'd learned. Vergil listened with rapt attention as Dante spoke of their mother's reputation, occasionally quirking his lips when he heard certain parts as he had done last time.

"Somehow, I have no trouble believing this." The blue devil said afterwards. Dante chose to keep the picture to himself though. He knew it was selfish on his part, but really, how much did he talk to his twin nowadays?

It wasn't long after that he met up with his maybe-friends. Hermione had drug the other two as she searched for him. After that, things had quickly fell back into their usual routine. Dante was once more sleeping on the couch while others tried to goad him to open up. The weekly spars came back too, though Dante noticed a slight change in Vergil.

"You've got that transfer." He noted as he parried a strike from Yamato. Vergil nodded as he jumped back from Dante's counter-strike.

"Yes. I am now a Ravenclaw, and I must say it is far more enjoyable than Slytherin." Vergil said as he warped above Dante, causing the younger to dash to the left to evade. He was getting better at his air trick it seemed. Dante used his own air trick to warp behind Vergil and immediately go in with a million stab before attempting a high roller. Naturally, Vergil countered him by using a type two arial rave when he was sent in the air. The two broke apart for breath just as they heard footsteps approaching, causing them to quickly hide their blades.

"I smell blood." Dante muttered after a moment with no sign of anyone. Vergil gave the smallest frown in agreement before the two shared a look. Coming to a silent decision, the two moved as one to see what was going on.

Red and blue moved seamlessly through the forest as the twins easily honed in on the source of the, rather tasty smelling, blood. They swiftly weaved through some of the thicker trees and jumped through branches when the path became impossible to follow without cutting said limbs down, but the centuars wouldn't be happy if they did. The only reason the two hadn't been attacked on scent was because they were the sons of Sparda, and that only gave them a thin line.

Neither twin was quite prepared for what they saw.

Both were familiar with hellish creatures, having dealt with them on a daily bases and being some themselves, but they had next to no experience with divine creatures. Just such a being layed there, wounded and being stalked by a cloaked being. The majestic unicorn whined softly, it's ivory coat stained with a silverish blood from a large gash on it's side. Dante didn't think, he acted. Luckily for him, Vergil seemed to be in a similar state as both twins charged the creature that seemed ready to devour the divine beast.

Dante opened with a stinger that grazed the creatures side as it reacted quickly in charging to the side, Vergil following up with a few quick swipes of Yamato. The creature landed on all fours with a feral hiss before dodging to the side as Dante fired a single round from Ivory. Unfortunately for it, three phantom swords materialized above it before dropping gracefully on it's back, but as it was a wraith like creature, it fazed through the swords as if they were nothing and retreated. Dante could smell strong fear and anger from the creature - which was saying something as the garlic that cloaked it covered most scents.

Vergil sheathed Yamato with a flourish as Dante returned Rebellion to his back, still loosely gripping Ivory.

"I can't tell rather that was a human or a demon." Dante said lightly as Vergil gave him a brief glance.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't human. Though I don't think it was quite a demon either." The older twin said calmly. Dante gave an easy smile as he put Ivory away.

"Well it's gone for now, but it will probably be back. Very soon." He said as he turned around, just in time for the herd of centaurs to reveal themselves.

"You are correct, Son of Sparda." Said a female one that covered her top with her long hair as she stamped her hoof. Vergil turned to face them at this declaration as another centaur, one Dante recognized as Bane, spoke up.

"For devils, even half, to protect such a divine beast...I see now that I miss judged the both of you." He said with a nod as he gestured one of his men to check the unicorn's vitals.

"With the proper care it will survive, thanks to these two." The apparent medic said after a moment as the unicorn gazed at his eyes. The centaur seemed taken aback for a moment as he blinked in surprise, even as the unicorn neighed in reassurance.

"What does it say, Firenze?" Bane asked after a moment. Firenze seemed to be momentarily speechless as he got up and looked at the twins seriously.

"She wants us to guide these two to the Divinity Statue." He said softly, in a way Dante was sure a human couldn't hear.

"Divinity Statue?" Vergil echoed, looking as lost as Dante felt. That was a rare occurance.

The centaurs led them deep into the forest, to an area where they could easily get lost without the right guidance, and sitting innocently in the middle of a clearing was a golden statue of a woman holding what looked like an hourglass. Dante looked around, noticing a plaque a little ways away reading: In the lost forest the power of the gods will guide you home. Vergil read over his shoulder before looking back at the centaurs, who just watched without a word. It was then that the red clad twin approached the golden statue, inspecting it closer.

"What is this?" He muttered as he reached for the statue. Just as his hand brushed the edge of it, a golden light emitted from the golden piece. It was reacting to his power?

A glance back showed Vergil had an almost paranoid hand on the hilt of Yamato, even as the light died down and the sand in the hourglass began moving.

"This, is a divinity statue. By trading the blood of demons, you can receive gifts from the gods." Bane said as he took a step forward, "It is time for you to leave, sons of Sparda." And with that, the whole herd took off.

Dante and Vergil shared a look before following a newly appeared orb of light out of the forest.

"'Blood of demons? Do you think he was talking about the crystallized orbs?" Dante asked quietly later, while the twins were walking down the hall towards their respective dorms. Seeing as Vergil was now a Ravenclaw they were able to walk a longer distance than before as Slytherin dormitories were in the dungeons, now they were both in a tower.

"Perhaps. That is the only thing I can think of."

"So we'll have to keep some of that on hand then. Well see ya bro." Dante waved his brother off when he spotted the corridor to Gryfindor tower. As soon as he entered the building, he was bombarded by a brown blur.

"TONY! You won't believe what happened today. We found out what the dog's guarding! It's the sorcerer's stone! Can you believe it? Nickolas Flamel-" She was cut off by Tony holding a hand up as he tried to process what she had said. Usually, he could understand her rapid babbling just fine, but his mind had completely stopped up and his instincts reared at the mention of the 'sorcerer's stone'. Naturally he knew what that was, the first stone was made to bind demons to do as the alchemist pleased so his parents had made sure he and Vergil knew what they were. If one was here...that wouldn't be pretty.

"Not human, remember? It's best you don't tell me any more." He gritted out at Hermione's scandalized expression, quite sure that his eyes were glowing red at the moment as the girl gasped.

"I'm sorry, I forgot! Are you a dark creature or something because only those-" She cut herself off at Dante's light glare, apparently having forgotten how personal that question was. Great, now that he knew that it was a scorer's stone his instincts wouldn't shut up at him to either destroy the threat to himself or use it for his own gain. Fun.

"Why did you even tell me that? Surely you of all people realize the teachers want it to be kept secret." Dante asked after a moment to get himself under control. Hermione looked scandalized at the idea of outing the teachers for a moment.

"Because Tony, you're our friend." She replied anyway. Dante gave her a look, wondering what he had done to give her that impression. Maybe they were just trying to guilt trip him in to revealing his species.

Dante didn't pay it any more mind for the following days as he continued his routine, if the humans got themselves killed it wasn't his problem.

This chapter is a little forced, so just bare with me here.